*In the interest of full disclosure, my trip to Computex and China has been sponsored by ECS. This is not an uncommon practice as companies often invite members of the media to events like Computex, in fact ECS invited representitives from other hardware sites around the world. All that was asked of us was that we look over their new products, tour their factory, and meet their representitives.

ECS

My first stop at Computex was the ECS booth, and to say they have a lot going on would be the understatement of the year.

Known for their reasonably priced motherboards, ECS has launched an entirely new line built around INTEL's Series 3 chipset. Besides being the only chipset that supports INTEL"s upcoming 45nm processors (at this time), the Series 3 Chipset offers many other features, including a 1333FSB.

First up is the flagship of the new INTEL Series 3 line, the ECS P35T-A, which will support Core 2 Extreme Quad Core and Core 2 Duo processors. While feature-rich, ECS promises that the P35T-A will be reasonably priced compared to the competition. The P35T-A will offer a 1333FSB, 2 x16 PCI-E slots (x16/x4), 1 PCI-E x1 Express slot, up to 12 USB 2.0 ports, an E-SATA port, and 8-Channel HD audio.

A couple things I want to point out are the chipset and MOSFET cooling, which are maybe a little strange considering this board's enthusiast target audience. While I was a little puzzled by the use of such basic heat sinks, a pair of INTEL chipset designers who happened by explained to me that the new Series 3 Chipset actually runs much cooler than its predecessors, due in part to better design, as well as the lower power requirements of the new INTEL line of processors.

I also need to point out at this time ECS will not be offering this board with DDR3 support, as they want to wait for DDR3 to mature a bit, which given the performance I've seen from the memory, isn't a bad idea. Lastly, you'll notice a 4-pin 12V power connector, which again may catch some off guard as most everything has moved to a 8-pin 12v power connector.

Along with a G33 chipset based motherboard, I also saw the G31T-M, based on the (drum roll) G31 chipset. Both of these boards support Intel's upcoming Penryn update to the Core 2 architecture, and both of these boards are shunning DDR3, at least initially.

One thing I noticed is that many companies weren't showing AMD much love. ECS did offer a few AMD boards, most notably the great looking KA4-MVP.

ECS really impressed me with the depth and quality of their product lines. While many companies offer but a single board per class, giving the consumer little to no choice, ECS in fact offers several boards covering a wide price and feature range, meaning the end user can basically get the exact features they want, without having to compromise.

Most people think ECS is all about motherboards, but they in fact offer a full line of NVIDIA graphics solutions covering everything from the extreme enthusiast 8800GTX to the most budget minded 8500GT

Everyone's favorite high end GPU right now is the 8800GTX, and ECS had one on display, further shedding their long held image as a low end, budget oriented company. The ECS model comes clocked at 575MHz (core) and 1.8GHz for the memory. The heatsink graphics looked pretty spiffy too, now if only there was a way to show them off once installed in a system...

ECS was also showcasing an 8600GTS, 8600GT, 8500GTS, and 8500GT. In other words, they're carrying the entire lineup of nVidia's DirectX 10 8x00 videocard series.

You'll notice that ECS offers HDMI versions of their graphics card. These cards simply include the HDMI adapter, which connect to your HDMI capable device (Monitor/TV). They decided against including the HDMI connector in every retail box, stating that only a small percentage of consumers are actually using HDMI, and this approach allows ECS to offer the non HDMI cards at a lower price.

 

Gigabyte

Next up was Gigabyte, another company thats made some tremendous strides over the past two years when it comes to product quality, especially that of the motherboards.

Gigabyte's main selling point over the last year has been its "Solid Capacitors", which offer cleaner and more stable power to the board and its key components.

Last year Gigabyte earned the respect of many overclockers with their GA-965P-DQ6/DS3/ and DS4 motherboards, and this year they'll try to continue that tradition with a new line of motherboards built around INTEL's Series 3 Chipset.

For anyone wanting to know what a DDR3 based motherboard looks like, here you go. Gigabyte's GA-X38T-DQ6 supports Intel's upoming Penryn refresh on a 1333MHz frontside bus, along with DDR3 memory at 1600MHz.

Like ECS, Gigabyte is offering a full range of videocards, from top of the line the budget options. Sorry, still no R600 sneek peeks to be found!

The same held true for Gigabyte's nVidia lineup, giving early DirectX 10 adopters plenty of options to choose from at any budget.

Gigabyte recently broke into the high end case arena with their 3D Aurora 570 chassis, which recently earned a 93 verdict and an Editor's Choice in our review. A few different Auroras were on display, unfortunately they weren't showcasing any of their upcoming top tier offerings.

DFI

DFI pulled a no-show earlier this year at CES, and with the dissolution of the DFI-Street forum (they now host their own support forum, DFI Club), they've fallen off the enthusiast radar in the past six months. Many were left wondering what would become of DFI, but they're hopping back in the tech saddle, showing off a full array of motherboards at Computex

DFI fans will be happy to know that the LanParty series lives on, with their X38-T3R motherboard every bit as colorful as we've come to expect from a DFI product. The T3R will offer DDR3 support, and of course accommodate Intel's hotly anticipated Core 2 refresh. Dual x16 Crossfire finds it way onto DFI's LanParty, along with "Physics Rendering technology." Also present is an 8-phase digital PWM.

For those not ready to jump aboard DDR3 (and I suspect there will be many), the T2R iteration is an almost identical board, save for the DDR2 support.
 

Yet another DDR3 offering, the P35-T3R also supports Crossfire and Physics Rendering, and carries the same 8-phase design as above.

And again, those smitten with DDR2 will not be left out in the cold, as the T2R version is the same board, sans the DDR3 support. Everything else remains the same.

Thermaltake

Next up on my list were the Case and Cooling experts from Thermaltake. One of the most active participants in the PC component and peripheral market, they never cease to impress at events like this, and today was no exception.

We saw Thermaltake's concept hydraulic chassis at CES, and I had to restrain Hardware Editor Paul Lilly from running off the show with one (on hindsight, it would have made for a great Youtube video). Officially dubbed the Sword, it's basically a modified Tai Chi, an outstanding case in its own right, but with the added bling that comes with a Pimp My Ride theme.

The Sword remains structurally the same chassis as the last time we viewed it, but with a gorgeous yellow paint job and black accents. The bright yellow finish makes it even more of a head turner than before, and will now attract attention even before showing off the hydraulics.

The Tai Chi (and hence, the Sword) was designed with the water cooling enthusiast in mind, providing ample room inside for a kit's tubing, pump, and radiator. But air cooling aficionados need not lament, as the Sword I saw on display came outfitted with a wealth of 120mm fans, four of which sat on the side panel, and two more at the bottom of the chassis. While overkill for modest setups, the Sword would make a great choice for overclockers and those running dual videocards or jumping on the quad-core bandwagon.

Thermaltake's ultra quiet BlueOrb gets an update to the BlueOrb II, adding support for both dual-core and quad-core processors. Look for a HardwareLogic review in the future, as we're curious how the cooling performance will balance with the noise control on today's CPUs.

With Intel's aggressive price cuts, quad-core processing is looking to break into the mainstream a lot quicker than it took dual-core processors to dominate the landscape. And if that weren't enough, we're seeing enthusiast level DDR2 kits push the voltage envelope, with some requiring anywhere from 2.3V to 2.4V! In short, today's systems are pushing the thermal envelope, and the all copper DuOrb follows in the footsteps of the Cooler Master GeminII. These massive coolers not only provide extra material for heat dissipation, but the wide design also helps cool complimentary components, such as RAM, capacitors, MOSFETS, and the chipset, particularly those that utilize heatpipes.

Taking this same cooling philosophy and running with it, a version of the DuOrb will also be available as a GPU, nay, videocard cooler. Sporting a low profile design, you'll be able to use the VGA based DuOrb in SLI and Crossfire configurations, and will be compatible with nVidia's 8800 series. ATI owners aren't as lucky, however, as compatibility stops after the X1950 Pro/XT/XTX series.

Scythe

Most users recognize the Sycthe branding from their popular Ninja and Katana coolers (notice a theme?), and I paid their booth a visit to see what kind of cooling solutions they had in store. It was an interesting visit, as I saw some innovative designs being showcased, and will look forward to putting their coolers through HardwareLogic's torture testing.

First up is the Scythe Hybrid, an interesting looking cooler with dual towering fins. Shooting up through the fins are four heatpipes on each side for a total of 8, and a pair of copper planes that lay flat against the base and shoot upward along the inside of the fins.

Next up is the Kama Cross, aptly named for its unique criss-crossing shape. By slanting the finned heatsinks in a cross direction, the downward blowing fan is able to blow air across a wider area, and in theory a case's airflow should flow a bit easier through the heatsink too.