Thread: Anandtech News

In a spate of announcements today, ASUS have shown us their latest innovations, including the new ASUS Transformer Book. In almost every way, this looks like a normal ultrabook. The difference however, is that it transforms into a tablet:

Specifications of the device include an Ivy Bridge i7 processor with 4GB DDR3, and in notebook mode, the power of discrete graphics. ASUS claim this will be the thinnest Ivy Bridge i7 device available.

The Transformer Book should come in 11.6, 13 and 14 inch models using an FHD IPS display.

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In a move sure to come as a surprise to approximately no one, HP is updating several members of their workstation lineup with new Ivy Bridge-based processors, including Ivy Bridge-based single socket Xeons for desktop models. What may surprise you are some of the additions to their EliteBook mobile workstation line.
We reviewed the HP Z210 small form factor some time ago and found it to be a surprisingly powerful little machine, a product that a currently very hungry Dell still doesn't have a great answer for (unlike the larger workstations in HP's lineup.) Physically virtually nothing has changed in the move to the new Z220, with the only major update under the hood being a move to Ivy Bridge-based processors and accompanying support for PCI Express 3.0. Unfortunately, to demonstrate just how little has changed, despite updating with a new chipset with built-in USB 3.0 support, the four front USB ports on the small form factor Z220 are still all USB 2.0. Meanwhile, the standard mini-tower version features two USB 3.0 ports in the front and a single USB 2.0 along with 6-pin FireWire.
HP's top-end mobile workstations, on the other hand, receive slightly beefier updates. The 14-inch EliteBook 8460w gets updated to an 8470w with Ivy Bridge processors along with AMD FirePro M2000 dedicated graphics with 1GB of GDDR5. It's also configurable with a 1600x900 resolution display which should be a welcome change, although it may lose some of its luster with ultrabooks sporting 1080p displays impending in the consumer sector.
The 8570w and 8770w, 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch models respectively, both still offer HP's IPS DreamColor 1080p displays, making them ideal for work that requires the highest color fidelity. These systems are both updated to Ivy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors just like the 8470w. The 8570w supports installing additional hard drives in the optical drive bay instead of an optical drive, and will be offered with AMD FirePro M4000 1GB GDDR5, NVIDIA Quadro K1000M 2GB DDR3, or NVIDIA Quadro K2000M 2GB DDR3 dedicated graphics hardware. These are new models across the board, so we don't immediately have any information to offer.
Meanwhile, the 8770w sees up to three drive bays counting the optical drive, but also features the following graphics options: AMD FirePro M4000 1GB GDDR5, NVIDIA Quadro K3000M 2GB GDDR5, NVIDIA Quadro K4000M 4GB GDDR5, and NVIDIA Quadro K5000M 4GB GDDR5. This is particularly interesting as if the K does indeed signify Kepler hardware, these Quadros may actually wind up being inferior in some tasks (mainly double-precision tasks) to last generation's GF100-based Quadro 5010M.
One of the high points of the new workstation lineup is the inclusion of mSATA ports across the line, though. While HP only offers optional 24GB Intel SLC SSDs for Intel's Smart Response caching technology, industrious end users should still be able to replace those drives with dedicated SSDs, allowing for a substantial amount of storage even in the 14-inch 8470w.
The Z220 refresh starts at $699, while the EliteBook 8770w, 8570w, and 8470w mobile workstations start at $1,699, $1,449, and $1,329 respectively. All are expected to become available before the month is out.



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Not content with just showing the Transformer concept to AIOs and Notebooks, ASUS had another couple of new interesting devices of note in our press conference today. The first is their new monitor range, earmarked as the DesignoMX Series. As a set of ‘bezel free’ models, the MX279H (27”) and MX239H (23”) are slated to offer 178-degree viewing angles, matte IPS panels, Bang and Olufson audio, and dual HDMI ports.

As for the ASUS Taichi, this is an interesting concept, if not a little abstract. Take your notebook device, and imagine putting a screen on the lid so that other people could see what you are writing, or watching a presentation that is being played specifically on that screen. Yes, that’s the concept behind the Taichi.

Specifications for the Taichi were slim – Ivy Bridge processors in 11.6” and 13.3” form factors, SSD storage as well as being ‘as light and this as the ASUS Zenbook’.
Gallery: Other new ASUS products: Monitors, and a Reverse Screen Laptop





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Earlier today Patriot announced its EP Pro UHS-I SDXC card. The UHS-I spec is really about driving up performance. The EP Pro is rated at up to 90MB/s reads and 50MB/s writes, with capacities of up to 128GB. The EP Pro is Patriot's new professional line for removable Flash storage. I've got a 32GB card I'll be trying at the show, I just need to find a SD card reader fast enough to measure its peak performance.



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ASUS had another amazing Computex press conference this year. Along with the dual-screen Taichi notebook, the Transformer All-in-One and the Ivy Bridge based Transformer Book, ASUS announced two more Windows 8 tablets.
At the high-end is the 32nm Clovertrail based ASUS Tablet 810. The 810 features an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 Super IPS+ display, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of solid state storage, NFC, 8MP rear facing camera and 2MP front facing camera. It's a full featured Windows 8 tablet that can dock into a full keyboard similar to the Android based Transformer Pad. About the only thing the 810 is missing is a higher resolution panel, although I wonder if Intel isn't comfortable greenlighting higher resolution panels driven by Clovertrail (effectively a non-phone Medfield).

At the low end is the Tegra 3 based ASUS Tablet 600 running Windows RT for ARM devices. The 600 features 2GB of RAM, 32GB of NAND and the same 8MP/2MP camera configuration as the 810. The display is smaller at 10.1-inches, but keeps the 1366 x 768 resolution. The 600 is dockable, just like the 810.
Pricing and availability are both unknowns at this point. Intel, Microsoft and their partners are putting forth a real effort to make a dent in the non-iPad tablet market.
Gallery: ASUS Tablet 810 & 600: Giving us Almost Exactly What We Want in a Windows 8 Tablet




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Intel's Sandy Bridge-E platform is slated to be with us well into 2013. Thus if you want the highest performing system with no expense spared, there is only one way to achieve this - through the X79 chipset. This chipset has been with us since November, and typically eight months into a chipset we get a new set of motherboards based on feedback and updates. Such is the case when we met with Gigabyte today, who showed us their top end X79 refresh board.

Rather than simply reuse the X79 chipset, Gigabyte have gone a different way with the X79S we saw. Using the server based C606 chipset, a motherboard manufacturer has access to a variety of different features - SAS ports, full Xeon support, and also ECC memory. By using a server chipset, we now have a total of 14 SATA ports on board, with 8 of them being certified for SAS use. Combine this with 8 DIMMs and ECC support, and what you have on your hands is a really nice workstation product.

The heatpipe design connects together the chipset, and both the VRM heatsinks. The backpanel gives us two NICs - one Intel and one Atheros, and also a trio of buttons on the side. The top one, marked OC, should presumably give a factory set overclock. The button underneath lets users switch between BIOSes (useful if the system is in a case), and the third button is a simple ClearCMOS.

Gallery: Gigabyte and the X79 Refresh




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Thunderbolt based motherboards have become a talking point over recent weeks, with our look at a pre-certified MSI solution, followed quickly by ASUS and Intel's certified products. Now it comes the turn of Gigabyte, who are showcasing several Thunderbolt enabled boards at Computex. However, one board obviously caught our attention - a dual port (4-channel) Thunderbolt motherboard.

The ports shown here on the Z77X-UP5 TH are each capable of 10 Gbps throughput. The lanes powering the Thunderbolt Controller come directly from the chipset through a PLX chip to expand the number of chipset PCIe 2.0 lanes. This still leaves 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes for the main PCIe slots.

Similarly like the FM2 board we saw, the Z77X-UP5 TH also has the 60A per phase / low temperature power delivery aimed squarly at minimal airflow overclocked systems, specifically those using water cooling.

Gallery: Gigabyte - Dual Thunderbolt on Z77




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One of the meetings today was with Gigabyte, up on the 36F of the Taipei 101. We got a chance to see close up their FM2 prototype design, for use with upcoming AMD Trinity CPUs. The CPUs will feature an enhanced Bulldozer core (Piledriver), but information concerning the chipset and the types of motherboards coming to market is currently sparse. Hopefully that will change at Computex this week, and our first look at Gigabyte's GA-F2A85X-UP4 is a good place to start.

The UP4 features Gigabyte's new power delivery system, which promises much cooler VRM temps thanks to some interesting IP from International Rectifer and 60A per phase. A demonstration of these VRMs showed that surface temperatures under load reduced from the high 90s (Celsius) to the mid 60s in a very low airflow environment. The purpose of this power delivery is to help system builders utilise minimal airflow in overclocked systems, such as those using all-in-one cooling. Systems using this technology will use the 'UP' naming system rather than the 'UD' that Gigabyte has been using recently.

The UP4 clearly has access two at least two full length slots for GPUs (the third full length slot is electrically only x4, suggesting it comes from the chipset), all four display outputs, DualBIOS, and USB 3.0/SATA 3.0. Gigabyte expect this board to be at the launch of Trinity.

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Earlier today ASUS announced its first Windows RT device, the Tablet 600. Based on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 SoC (T30), the Tablet 600 features a 10.1-inch 1366 x 768 IPS display and an optional keyboard dock with trackpad and integrated battery. Earlier tonight I had the opportunity to play with ASUS' Tablet 600. Check out the gallery below for more shots of the 600.
In short, the build and feel of the device are both what we've come to expect from ASUS. The display looks awesome, and Tegra 3 felt reasonably quick (albeit not perfectly smooth) running Windows RT. Drivers still need tweaking however as the platform is far from final. Still no word on pricing or availability.
Gallery: Hands on With ASUS' Tablet 600 & Windows RT




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It looks like there’s a bit of confusion on some embargo dates, but Origin PC has released some details on their upcoming EON15-S and EON17-S notebooks. The big news is a new GTX 680M GPU based on a higher performing Kepler core. NVIDIA has asked us to hold off on providing the full details of the GTX 680M until the embargo lifts later today, so we’ll just stick to what Origin has disclosed: you get 1344 CUDA cores and 4GB of GDDR5 memory. The new EON models (which are basically customized Clevo builds) also support NVIDIA’s Optimus Technology to give you high performance without necessarily sacrificing battery life.

Given what we’ve already seen of mobile Kepler in the GK107—and here’s the DDR3 variant with a ULV CPU—the GTX 680M looks to be a mobile beast. Origin has their updated EON15-S and EON17-S configuration tools live already; pricing looks to start at around $2000 for the 15-S with GTX 680M while the 17-S starts at closer to $2100 with the GTX 680M; the 15-S has an estimated ship date of July 5 and the 17-S estimated ship date is June 25.
A quick run through of the remaining options shows that both notebooks support 1080p displays (in glossy or matte), have backlit keyboards with three customizable lighting zones, and there are a variety of CPU, graphics, and storage options. Both notebooks feature four SO-DIMM slots with support for up to 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3-1600 memory.
For the CPU, Origin offers dual-core and quad-core Ivy Bridge processors starting at the Core i5-3320M (2.6GHz, up to 3.3GHz Turbo, 3MB L3, 35W) and extending up to the top-end Core i7-3920XM Extreme Edition (2.9GHz, up to 3.9GHz Turbo, 8MB L3, 55W); the EON17-S also offers an overclocked CPU option that bumps the maximum clock speeds to 4.1-4.5GHz with Turbo Boost. Given the pricing, the i7-3720QM ($174 extra) looks to be the sweet spot in terms of maximum performance without breaking the bank. GPU choices other than the GTX 680M (a $524 upgrade) range from GTX 660M 1.5GB on the low end up through GTX 675M 2GB ($197) and Radeon HD 7970M 2GB ($238); Quadro FX 2800M 1GB ($763) and Quadro 5010M 4GB ($2209) are also available, along with GTX 670M ($48). A $50 upgrade will also buy you Origin’s “Professional Graphics Card Overclocking”, which provides you with a factory guaranteed GPU overclock, though it’s not clear how far Origin is able to push the various GPUs.
Rounding out the major configurable areas, storage options on the optical drive include the usual trio of DVDRW, Blu-ray combo, and Blu-ray burner—or you can get a hard drive caddy for the optical drive bay (no RAID support). For mass storage, Origin supports 40GB and 80GB Intel 310 series mSATA drives for caching (if you use a mechanical hard drive) or as additional storage. The EON15-S has a single 2.5” drive bay while the EON17-S features two drive bays and RAID 0 or RAID 1 support. Besides 320/500/750GB 7200RPM HDDs and a 1TB 5400RPM HDD, Origin offers 60GB-480GB Corsair Force GT SSDs, 120/240GB Kingston HyperX SSDs, 60-480GB Intel 520 Series SSDs, or 64-512GB Samsung 830 Series SSDs (and the same drive options are available if you get the optical bay caddy).
And as noted above, we’ll have full details on NVIDIA’s GTX 680M later today, so stay tuned.



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