Solid-state disks (SSDs) are seen as the next plateau for mobile computing. Companies like Alienware and Dell offer the high-performance drives in their notebook computers and end-users can add SSDs to their own notebooks thanks to online retailers like Newegg.

Samsung first starting making waves in the SSD arena with its 32GB drive in March 2006 and followed up with a faster 64GB unit in June of 2007. Today, Samsung is once again stepping up its efforts in the SSD arena.

The company has announced a new generation of 64GB SSDs which use 8Gb, 50nm single-level-cell (SLC) flash memory chips. The drives, which will be available in 1.8" and 2.5" form-factors, also feature a new SATA II interface for faster performance.

The faster chips and SATA II interface gives the new SSDs sequential write speeds of 100MB/sec and sequential reads of 120MB/sec. These numbers completely obliterate the previous Samsung 64GB offering which is rated at 45MB/sec write and 65MB/sec read. Samsung's first-generation 32GB SSD is rated for 30MB/sec writes and 53MB/sec reads.
"The 64GB SATA II SSD is based on Samsung’s cutting-edge NAND technology with dramatically improved performance specs that are taking system performance to a whole new level of efficiency," stated Samsung director of NAND flash marketing Jim Elliott.

Samsung's new SSDs also now compare favorably with Mtron's family of SSDs which are available in 2.5" and 3.5" form-factors. Those drives feature write speeds of 90MB/sec and read speeds of 120MB/sec.

Samsung is currently sampling the new SATA II SSDs and production examples should follow in early 2008.

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ASUS and Gigabyte both announced boards based on AMD's 790FX chipset. The AMD 790FX is the successor to AMD's dated 580X chipset and serves as AMD's new primary single and dual-processor platform. The new boards come with support for AMD's latest features, including compatability with AMD's upcoming Quad-Core desktop Phenom processors.

ASUS officially launched its M3A-MVP Deluxe WiFi, which comes with the latest bells and whistles. Highlights of the board include support for HyperTransport 3.0, 8-channel HD Audio, and Crossfire-support.

The most unique feature of the board, though, is its cooling system. Avid overclockers will be please to know that the board's memory slots come fitted with heatsinks that are connected to the central cooling system. The board's entire cooling system is passive, translating to less overall system noise, and is made of copper.



In addition to ASUS, Gigabyte is also releasing its first RD790 board, the Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DQ6 Ultra Durable motherboard.

The board features support for AMD AM2+ Phenom desktop processors along with support for AM2 Athlon 64 processors and HyperTransport 3.0. The board also comes with 4 PCIe 2.0 slots, meaning it support ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU technology.

Similar to the M3A-MVP, the GA-MA790FX-DQ6 also comes based on a passive cooling system made out of copper, however, it doesn't include cooling for memory.
Gigabyte will also introduce two slightly cut down version of RD790, the GA-MA790FX-DS5 and the GA-MA780X-DS4. The GA-MA780X-DS4 will only feature a single PCIe x16 lane.

MSI previously also announced its 790FX-based motherboard. The board supports Triple-Play Technology along with ATI CrossFireX multi-GPU technology.

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