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ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU Mini set at $399 with May 20th release, up for pre-order (video)
ASUS' GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini graphics card first broke cover in April without a price or concrete release date, but now Newegg has dished out just those details along with extra specs. Loaded with 1,344 CUDA cores and 2GB of 256-bit GDDR5 RAM, the silicon boats a base clock of 928Mhz and a boost speed of 1,006MHz. The 6.7-inch-long hardware bound for diminutive -- or even full-size -- PCs rings up at $399, and is slated for availability on May 20th. Click the source link below to pre-order the dual-slot dwarf or head past the break for the retailer's unboxing video. [Thanks, Cody]
ASUS unveils GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini graphics card destined for little rigs
It's easy to chop and change components in spacious towers, but small PCs need upgrading, too. If your stunted desktop has fallen into the "minimum system requirements" category for the latest games, then maybe the newly announced ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini graphics card will interest you. Quite the mouthful, we know, but its long name contrasts with its small size -- the dual-slot, 2GB card measures 6.7 inches on its longest edge, shaving almost 3 inches off the reference design. There's no reason you can't put the card in a regular case, of course, but it's intended mainly for compact rigs with mini ITX or micro ATX motherboards. We don't have pricing or release info yet, but if the cost of NVIDIA's GTX 670 is anything to go by, expect to drop at least a trio of Benjamins on the petite version. Glamor shots and all the finer specs are available at the source links below.
VIA Technologies APC 8750 mobo / CPU combo will go on sale today for $60
Did you get giddy at the thought of playing around with VIA Technologies APC 8750 Android-based board, but failed to get in on the pre-order action? Good news for you, as folks wanting to dig into its custom Gingerbread OS, 800Mhz ARMv6 CPU and 3D graphics engine can head on over to Newegg and get one for $59.99. Unfortunately, it's currently out of stock, but our gadget senses tell us that more APC's will be available soon, and you can head on over to the source link below and sign up to be notified when it happens. If patience isn't your thing, feel free to hit up the source and give your F5 key a workout instead. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Lian Li PC-U6 Cowry desktop case hands-on
As usual, Taiwan-based Lian Li showed up at Computex with a whole bunch of desktop chassis, and this year's highlight is none other than the eccentric PC-U6 Cowry. From our brief hands-on, we'd say that this seashell-like case looked even more gorgeous in real life than in its renderings, especially how the internals and the spiral grooves were lit up by the red LED strip. As expected, the widest part of the Cowry can indeed house a single 310mm (12.2-inch) graphics card, so multi-card enthusiasts will have to get the internal measurements right before ordering the components. Alternatively, maybe our hands-on photos below will give potential buyers a rough idea to start off with, before they drop a cool $349 on Lian Li's doorstep. %Gallery-125009%
Lian Li PC-U6 Cowry case: an aluminum seashell to keep your PC looking stylish
It takes quite a bit to get us excited about desktop case designs these days, but Lian Li's voluptuous new PC-U6 Cowry would seem to qualify pretty easily. It's fashioned after a seashell, giving it an appearance that's remarkably fresh and novel for such a well developed market, but it's also functionally useful -- the deepest part of the case is exactly where graphics cards would be expected to reside, permitting it to accommodate a video card as long as 310mm. There are also two 120mm side-mounted fans, a red LED kit, room for a full-sized power supply, and tool-free mounts for three 3.5-inch and two 2.5-inch storage drives plus an external 5.25-inch ODD. All that goodness is encased in an aluminum body and coming at you later this month for $349. How could you possibly resist? Video of the Cowry follows after the break.
Digital Storm's slim Enix desktop takes Sandy Bridge to 4.7GHz
Overclocked, custom-built PCs are nothing new, and neither is 4.7GHz from the factory. But Digital Storm has managed to take one of Intel's newest Sandy Bridge chips to that height, and it's doing so in a case that's far sleeker than most of the towers out there. The all-new Enix relies on a Micro-ATX system board, vertical heat dissipation and a mobo that's rotating 90 degrees -- a move that's being made in order to "take advantage of heat's natural tendency to rise." Consumers can order one starting today, with the $1,132 base unit boasting a Core i3-2100, 4GB of DDR3-1600 memory, NVIDIA's 1GB GeForce GT 220, a 1TB hard drive and a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. The high-end model tops out at just north of two large, with each model offering a hot-swap bay and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. Eye candy is below, and the source link shouldn't be ventured to unless you're fairly immune to impulse buys. %Gallery-114981%
Fractal Design's Define Mini custom PC case ditches LEDs for style
As anyone who's shopped around for a custom PC case knows, the options are virtually endless -- but it's a bit of a different story if you're looking to keep things as sleek and simple as possible. Thankfully, the folks at Fractal Design have now provided one more option for the more modestly-inclined folks out there in the form of their new Define Mini case, which is a Micro ATX version of their larger Define R2 and R3 cases. As you can see above, it's suitably monolith-like, and it doesn't come with too many compromises in terms of specs -- in fact, you'll actually get a generous six HDD trays among all the usual accommodations. No word on a price just yet, but we're guessing it won't demand too much of a premium if the company's other Define cases are any indication.
Habey's ENT-6564 nettop packs Ion and Atom D510 power for potent playback
The nettop hits, they just keep on coming. This one's from Habey, who we've seen delivering a number of microATX wunder-machines over the years. Its latest delivers Intel's latest 1.6GHz Atom, the dual-core D510, and pairs it with Ion 2 graphics to deliver a system capable of 2560 x 1600 output over HDMI, easily handling 1080p or, as you can see in the video after the break, triple Flash video playback without much of a hiccup. There's gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 wireless, four USB ports, and 250GB of storage. Price? Well, that's up in the air. Like many of the company's products this is really meant to be bought in bulk, so we're guessing the cost is wholly dependent on how many of these you want for your business or man cave. But, if you're the DIY sort, you can just get the board itself, the MITX-6564, complete with graphics and processor and dual slots just waiting for your DIMMs. Again, though, no price for mere consumers. Update: Ya'll never fail to impress. Moments after this post went live commenter Brent found these for sale (individually) at a reasonable $329. It's also available at Newegg. %Gallery-104874%
Foxconn distracts all with TXM-355 bamboo desktop chassis, brews bamboo tablet rumor
Look, we've all been giving Foxconn a bit of a hard time recently with all those Apple tablet and iPhone rumors, so it's only fair for the Taiwanese giant to take some time off for something fresh. What we have here are a couple of self-proclaimed "world's first" desktop chassis with bamboo front cover (so we guess that Dell Studio Hybrid doesn't count to them), aiming to achieve environmentally-friendly status in China. While Foxconn's Bamboo Forest 1 ATX case on the right has been announced for about a month, the TXM-355 or Bamboo Forest 2 microATX case on the left is fresh from the oven -- visually already a good candidate for your next HTPC build. Despite a few rough cuts and the ugly glue work on the optical drive flap, PCPOP has given the smaller brother a thumbs up overall. Not bad for ￥368 ($54) either, and it's only an extra $2 for the big daddy. Just watch out for that panda behind you. %Gallery-80067%
