Happy New Year - 2012 is here!

ITshootOut.com hasn't been updated very frequently during 2010-2011 - but that is about to change. 2012 will be a year with a lot happening here: more reviews, news, technology insights and much more. The first new content will be presented later this week - so stay tuned.

Asus Releases THE RAMPAGE III BLACK EDITION

1st April 2011 – Today ASUS has launched newest and greatest addition to its Republic of Gamers motherboard line up - THE RAMPAGE III BLACK EDITION!

The ROG Rampage III Black Edition motherboard is an evolution of the award-winning Rampage III Extreme, which set new world records in overclocking. Everything that made the Rampage III Extreme so great is back, but with a stylish black-themed design, plus many hardware and software improvements. Most notable is the supplied ROG ThunderBolt expansion card that enhances both LAN and audio performance. This incorporates an award-winning Bigfoot Networks Killer™ E2100 networking platform that automatically classifies and accelerates online game traffic for maximum networking performance. Class-leading XONAR™ audio technology also provides increased sound quality and a built-in headphone amplifier with adjustable impedance settings — perfect for getting the drop on the competition when gaming. Combined, these two technologies provide gamers with a superior online gaming experience that will overwhelm the competition. Better yet, the ROG Rampage III Black Edition also comes with the ASUS GPU TweakIt utility that is upgraded feature combined in ROG Connect and allows gamers to modify the graphics card settings for greatest visual impact.

ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE

Pro-class overclocking needs professional equipment. Extreme Engine Digi+ is equipped with high performance digital VRM design can easily achieve the ultimate performance with adjustable CPU PWM frequency. It accelerates heat dissipation and achieves better electric conduction keeping critical components reliable.

FLEXIBLE, IN-DEPTH MONITORING ROG

Connect provides monitoring and tuning options for every important parameter, in real-time, via a note book. ROG iDirect expands your options, allowing you to take control of voltages and frequencies with an iPhone or iPad. Bluetooth v3.0 + HS support enables smart connectivity to a variety of Bluetooth and wireless internet devices – no additional adapters required – allowing control through any PC, mobile or desktop. GPU.DIMM Post allows quick and easy check of graphics cards and memory DIMMs status in the BIOS detecting potential component failure before even booting to the OS. The Rampage III Black Edition is already available for purchase from our UK launch partners such as SCAN Computers, Overclockers UK and DABS.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 Review Bonanza!

A great number of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 reviews have been posted today - here is a handful:

[H]ard|OCP: "Today NVIDIA is launching the GeForce GTX 590 with dual-GPUs on a single video card. We are going to take this beast and compare it to not only Radeon HD 6990 but also GeForce GTX 580 SLI and GeForce GTX 570 SLI. This video card is pleasant to the ears, but does it have the muscle to make it a competitive buy?"
Link: http://hardocp.com/article/2011/03/24/asus_geforce_gtx_590_video_card_review

AnandTech: "Back on Tuesday NVIDIA put out a quick teaser about a new video card that would be launching today. As virtually all of you correctly guessed, it was the GeForce GTX 590, NVIDIA’s latest dual-GPU monster. Coming only two weeks after the launch of the Radeon HD 6990, NVIDIA wants their spot back as the single card king, and it’s the GTX 590 that will fight for it. But does the GTX 590 have what it takes to dethrone the 6990 so soon? Let’s find out."
Link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4239/nvidias-geforce-gtx-590-duking-it-out-for-the-single-card-king 

TechPowerUp: "Today NVIDIA releases their new GeForce GTX 590 flagship which is based on two GTX 580 GPUs working on a single card. AMD released their dual-GPU HD 6990 design just two weeks ago, with power and heat being the decisive limit on performance it will be a tough fight between those cards."
Link: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_590

Benchmark Reviews: "Designed around their flagship GeForce GTX 580 video card, they've combined two titanic graphics processors into a package roughly the same size, and still manage to produce the quietest dual-GPU video card ever made. With 512 CUDA cores each, two independent NVIDIA GF110 GPUs join to deliver 1024 total cores of graphical processing power. There are six 64-bit memory controllers that offer 384-bit combined bandwidth per GPU, and feed 3GB of combined GDDR5 video frame buffer. All of this is said to deliver comparable performance to the Radeon HD 6990, which is good for gamers, but it does so while using less power and emitting less noise. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the GeForce GTX 590 against the AMD Radeon HD 6990 and an entire market of top-end desktop graphics solutions."
Link: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=716&Itemid=72

HiTech Legion: "The EVGA GTX 590 Classified video card consists of two GF110 GPUs on a single PCB. The EVGA GTX 590 Classified has 3,072MB of GDDR5 memory on a 768-bit memory interface equipped with 1,024 CUDA cores. Clocked higher than the stock GTX 590, the EVGA GeForce GTX 590 Classified edition carries a core clock of 630 MHz and a memory clock of 3456 MHz. Despite the muscle, the EVGA GeForce GTX 590 Classified runs silently with a single low RPM fan actively cooling a pair of advanced vapor chamber heatsinks and only measures eleven inches in length. For enthusiasts who want maximum performance in ultra high resolutions including 2560 x 1600 with up to 64x AA, the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Classified’s power is hard to ignore."
Link: http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/video-cards/9273-evga-geforce-gtx-590-classified

Ninjalane: "As we mentioned before the GTX 590 is the world's fastest GPU, but what makes it the fastest GPU?? Is it a mystery chip discovered in the basement graphics lab? Or is it an innovative product that leverages the best that nVidia has to offer in a compact package? Actually, it's a little of both."
Link: http://www.ninjalane.com/blogs/blogpost20437.aspx