COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: We haven't had a chance to get around to the ECS Computex booth yet, hopefully we'll get to run past it today but just in case the ECS Computex booth has come to us and they're showing an absolute wealth of products.

Tablets seem to be a big thing at Computex this year and ECS are representing in a big way with a load of tablets on display.

Motherboards are of course big as usual and while X79 is making a strong appearance the P67 chipset continues to be very prominent throughout the show floor. The P67H2-A from ECS supports Lucid 3-Way GPU support which of course means you can do a bit of mixing and matching when it comes to your VGA setup.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: Getting excited about X79? Well we are and there are a bunch of boards for the upcoming CPU and Chipset being shown at Computex.

First up we've got the ASRock X79 Extreme 4. 3x PCI-E x16 slots, 3-Way CrossFire and SLI support and a whole bunch of other yummy features can be seen on the board card.

Next up is the MSI X79A-GD65 with all those MSI features like Military Class III, OC Genie II and more. It's indeed a good looking board and follows the trend we've seen with recent MSI boards.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: I'm a massive fan of QNAP, so much so I bought myself a TS-859 Pro+ NAS to replace my aging server. I couldn't be happy with it; coming in at 8-Bays, though, it's hardly a cheap device. If you're looking for something a bit smaller, though, that can stream your media the MS-2000 might hit the spot.

Apart from not only looking good the MS-2000 packs some great features like native FLAC lossless audio support, one-stop player for Picasa, Apple movie trailers, Flicker and Internet content, either reporting software and an easy to control user-friendly interface to name just a few. You can see more below.

Oh, and I'm sure there's some rule that says if I do a news post on a product I like I can request the sample, so boss consider this my request. Hopefully we'll no doubt get the chance to really show you what this little unit is capable of.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 - Yesterday we were invited to visit Master Image 3D and Rightware at the Hyatt hotel where we were given access to look at an early mockup of a new 3D user interface designed by Rightware and using autostereoscopic 3D (AS3D) aka 3D glasses-free screen technology from Master Image 3D.

In the video below we see an Android 2.3 tablet; they call it the 3D CELL reference tablet which is based on Texas Instrument's OMAP 4 platform technology. It is purely just used to enable the demo of the 3D UI interface from Rightware. Basically to explain it quickly, Rightware add their UI over the top of Android with a new home screen and other cool screens to allow flip style access to your apps and so on.

The UI will work basically on any device that supports OpenGL ES API, it will work. Tero Sarkkinen, CEO of Rightware, told us that it will not require a high powered processor because of the hardware acceleration provided through OpenGL supported devices.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 - Lian Li has always been known for being creative and coming out with some weird and whacky case designs in previous years at Computex.

This year the strangeness comes in the form of what is going on inside the case. With the upcoming PC-100, the folks at Lian Li have reversed the motherboard around so that the rear IO ports are actually at the front of the case. This means you get very easy access to the IO and lessen the need to have as many cables inside your case such as USB extension cables for instance.

Next up there is the PC-90 which has some rather impressive engineering. It is a mid-tower case that wait for it, can support not only EATX but also HPTX motherboards. I think this is the first time we have seen a mid-tower case that can fit large GIGABYTE EATX mobos and dual socket boards such as the EVGA SR-2.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 - Another stop yesterday was with Tony from SilverStone who introduced us to something completely crazy and ridiculous - we are talking about the prototype concept Temjin TJ12 case.

This massive sucker of a chassis comes with no less than 19 expansion slots, you have never ever seen anything like this before from a desktop solution. In the demo at their booth they were showcasing the TJ12 with six GeForce GTX 580 video cards. These video cards take up two slots each, still leaving a lot of expansion for other PCI Express based devices at the same time.

SilverStone is able to achieve this feat by introducing a ribbon cable that runs from the motherboard to another area of the case. If you don't want to use all those video cards, the top part of the case is module so that you can add in extra power supplies. As you can imagine, it will fit basically any motherboard you throw at it including quad processor boards and of course the EVGA SR-2.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 - Yesterday we also stopped by the BitFenix meeting rooms to check out their latest wares. As with many companies, we work closely with BitFenix and we had no idea they would be showing what we saw. Let me tell you a bit about it.

First up we got a look at the new high performance Spectre 2 Pro fans which offer a new ridged fan design with impressive airflow for maximum case cooling. What was super exciting to see though was BitFenix' entry into electronic devices - no longer are we just seeing cases and cooling fans, they are expanding.

Later this year you will see the introduction of the Recon thermal control device, which will sit at the front of your case and take up two front drive bays. This is a black passive LCD touch screen device that allows you to monitor temperatures and adjust fan speeds with the touch of your finger. The device has six channels each at 30 watts which should be plenty even for those who want to hook up pumps and radiators.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 - Yesterday we stopped by the Thecus booth where we got a look at some upcoming NAS devices from the Taiwanese company that are still in development, but are due to go on sale later this year.

The prototype NAS devices we saw are codenamed TopTower and they had three models on display including the N6, N8 and N10. The big daddy N10 comes with no less than 10 drive bays with SATA III support for full performance.

Each of these NAS devices is based on the Intel Sandy Bridge platform, so expect very good performance. They come with not only gigabit LAN, but also USB 3.0 support for high speed transfers if you intend to hook one of them up directly to your PC that also has USB 3.0 support. Not only that, but these devices also add in HDMI output which means you will be able to use these devices as somewhat of a media player, too. We didn't get to see that part of the interface, but it will be interesting to see what Thecus come up with.

Some people want an iPad 2 real bad, but this kid takes the word "want" to an entirely new level. A 17 year-old boy in the Anhui province in China has sold one of his kidneys for 22,000 yuan ($3,400) so that he could run out (or maybe limp after the surgery) and get an Apple iPad 2. The boy got the idea from an online advertisement offering cash to anyone who is prepared to become an organ donor.

Of course, he has expressed regret from his actions especially after his health has deteriorated after his kidney was removed. He told Shenzhen TV "I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it, a broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan." In China, trading organs online is common practice, even if it's against the Government and their attempt to stop it from happening.

The boy and the broker arranged the procedure without his parents knowing and he underwent surgery at a Chenzhou hospital in the neighboring Hunan province. After he turned up home three days later sporting a new notebook and the flashy iPad 2, his mother forced him to explain how he was able to afford such luxuries. Once she was made aware of what happened she immediately notified the police. Since then they have been unable to contact the three men as all of their mobiles were turned off.

I don't believe I'm writing about this again, but it appears Sony has been hacked, again. Just after they were getting full restoration of their PSN network up, LulzSec has hit Sony again with an SQL injection tactic which gave them access to Sony Pictures account database. This hack let LulzSec obtain 1 million user accounts (inclusive of passwords, email and home addresses as well as DOB), all admin account details and passwords, 75,000 music codes and 3.5 million music coupons.

On top of this, opt-in data was accessible which gives even more information about Sony's customers and their preferences. One of the shocking things to come from this hack is that Sony stored all 1 million user passwords in a simple plain text file, with no encryption at all. LulzSec have said "It's just a matter of taking it, this is disgraceful and insecure: they were asking for it."

LulzSec expressed themselves further:

The E3 teaser trailer for the upcoming Aliens-themed Aliens: Colonial Marines has come out and while it doesn't show anything off, it's a tease of things to come. The game is being developed by Gearbox (the peeps behind the revival of DNF, Borderlands) and published by SEGA, it'll hit the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC and has an estimated release date of Q1, 2012.

The game is explained as: "Aliens: Colonial Marines begins with an ostensibly abandoned ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco, recovered in orbit around LV-426. Players lead a group of highly trained United States Colonial Marines as they board the deserted craft to uncover the fate of the crew. They will have to fight to survive unspeakable horrors and their own anxieties as they chase down the truth behind a galaxy-spanning deception that places humanity at the mercy of the most murderous and deadly species in the universe. Aliens: Colonial Marines features authentic environments, such as the surface of LV-426 and Hadley's Hope, weapons inspired by the film series and is designed to provide an exhilarating and engaging new chapter in the Aliens universe."

Another game that I'm way too excited for, I truly hope they don't stuff it up and can recreate the tension of the movies and the popular Aliens Vs Predator games from way back when.

Windows President Steven Sinofsky has given the first live demo of Windows 8 at the D9 conference in Southern California, and it makes one hell of a statement. The first impression is the complete overhaul of the UI. Everything is touchscreen crazy but with the familiar feel of a Windows Phone 7-based handset. The Windows 8 homescreen is a bunch of tiles that lead to each app. Each tile displays information (such as weather, email, etc) and can be touched (or clicked) to go into it.

One tile leads to the traditional Windows desktop, another is marked "Store"; we're seeing Microsoft make some bold moves here. One of the best things I took from the video was the ability to be in an application or watching a video and you swipe from the left of the screen and it brings up background tasks. Dragging and dropping them keeps them in view, and another swipe from the left brings up the next background app.

It's things like this Microsoft, things like this. Right now, I'm kinda blown away - and this does not happen easily for me. The excitement is surely building and if they can do a few more things (partner up with Samsung for example and release a Windows 8-based Galaxy Tab) or partner with another company and release a Windows 8-based touchscreen PC, specifically built for Windows 8, it could be quite the change for Microsoft.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: The new SandForce SF-2000 Series of controllers allow SSD manufactures to go crazy with customized options this year. So far we've seen Toggle, Async and Sync flash but the next chapter is starting to unfold before our eyes at Computex.

To data we've only seen new SF-2200 drives in 60, 120, 240 and 480GB configurations but that is about to change. Part of the customization options for the new controller is the ability to turn RAISE off via programming at the factory. It looks like Silicon Power will be the first to off a RAISE free SSD based on the new SF-2200.

The new RAISE free drives will allow users to take advantage of more capacity. In the future you will have access to SandForce drives with 64, 128, 256 and 512GB user capacity. At this time we're not sure how the RAISE free drives will perform or what their long term endurance will be. Hopefully manufactures are only going RAISE free on 3Xnm Toshiba Toggle flash and not 25nm IMFT that only has 5,000 write rating. When RAISE is enabled a space NAND flash chip is reserved for background functions and spare capacity for when blocks fail.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: Silicon Power has shown us their new V30 drive and it's looking the goods at the moment. Utilizing SATA3 and the Sandforce SF2281 controller the V30 SSD has read times up to 520 MB/s and write speeds up to 500 MB/s.

Silicon Powered showed ATTO Disk Mark performance comparing both the previous V20 drive and the new V30 and if you look closely you can see there's some serious performance to be had with the new V30 drive.

Available in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB, there's sure to be a size to suit any user and budget.

Ok so it's not exactly a demo and can be found as Deus Ex: Human Revolution PREBUILD READNFO-P2P. Either way someone's in some serious trouble for letting this one get out. A pre build of the highly anticipated Deus Ex Human Revolution has been leaked to the interwebz (Beats the hell out of some leaked Britney Spears single).

Apparently there's 10 - 12 hours of Gameplay and the graphics are meant to be retail quality. If they are or not it's good news either way because it means it should look good. Plus a pre build with 12 hours of Gameplay, that would represent most games these days being played through twice.

Of course we don't condone the illegal downloading and of course I didn't find it on one of the warez sites I frequently visit because I don't do that. So yeah.....anyway, I'm sure we'll start to hear some feedback about the game. Let's hope it's good, though, as the original Deus Ex was awesome.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: It's been ages since we've seen a sample from PowerColor but they've managed to seriously get the drool running out of our mouth with some offerings at Computex. First up we've got the HD 6970 X2 which brings with it two HD 6970s core onto a single PCB clocked at the default HD 6970 clocks.

That means the core comes in at 880MHz and the 4GB of GDDR5 that's present on the PCB comes in at 5500MHz QDR. Connectivity comes in the form of a Dual-Link DVI, Single-Link DVI, HDMI and two Mini DisplayPorts.

Performance on this one can probably be figured out by overclocking the HD 6990 but really the HD 6970 X2 makes the HD 6990 look like a card I'd put in my moms PC. Sporting Three 8-Pin PCI-E connectors for up to 600 watt of power, connectivity of the GPUs via the Lucid chip and more PCB then your standard motherboard the HD 6970 X2 looks like an absolute beast.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 - The next stop on the Computex crazy tour today out at Nangang was Thermaltake who had a big presence at the show and plenty of products on display.

We met up with Ramsom from Thermaltake who introduced us to their brand new white Level 10 GT called the Snow Edition. It's basically the same as the original Level 10 GT, but apparently due to market demand, Thermaltake take decided to offer a white version. The difference here though is that the case is not painted, it uses a coating technique called plastic injection. This essentially makes the case scratch proof and it should maintain the original color and not fade like others do. Ramsom tried to spoil the case, but without success.

Next up in the same video above we also got a look at the completely crazy (hopefully) upcoming Frio GT CPU cooler. This absolute monster of a cooler comes with no less than four 120mm cooling fans and that's all dedicated to the CPU with up to 300 watts of cooling potential. This cooler is designed especially for the Level 10 GT and I forgot to ask if it would fit in other cases, but if it does end up going on sale (not decided yet), you'll have to check into it a little more.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: I'm taking my normal TT categories hat off and putting on my Storage one; which is more like a paper pirate hat that I've made and drawn a skull on to look mean. With our storage man Chris and his wife on the edge of having a baby, (Congratulations BTW!) I'd thought show you what else G.Skill are showing off at Computex.

Alongside some awesome RAM, G.Skill is showing off the new Phoneix II Pro SATA3 SSD drive powered by the Sandforce SF-2200 Controller.

If you've been following what's going on in the SSD world, you'll of course know this is the latest Sandforce controller supporting SATA3, in the hand of G.Skill this translates to a S#&T load of speed. Up to 550 MB/s Read speed and 510 MB/s Write speed, these drives are so fast they should be illegal.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: Down on the Computex floor G.Skill are strutting their stuff showing us what the new 990FX chipset from AMD is capable of. In an ASUS Sabertooth 990FX board G.Skill has got a staggering 16GB of DDR3 running at 2133MHz DDR.

The timings come in at 9-11-9-28 at 1.65v and as you can see from a pic of the system this is achieved with four modules making all the banks full.

This is actually a really nice achievement, most the time we see AMD users miss out on high end RAM but like previously G.Skill have come to the rescue again with its Flare Series.

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 - One of our first stops today on the show floor in Nangang was InWin who has a whole bunch of cases and power supplies on display, as you would expect, but the stand out for us was the Carlian iV.

It's a gamer's case that is still in the prototype stage, but already looks really impressive. It is colored with a black and white theme and the design is based off a game, which for the life of me, I cannot remember as I type here.

It's comes with USB 3.0 as you would expect from a high-end case these days and one of the big things with this full tower is that it supports large EATX motherboards and of course long video cards. On the outside everything is basically designed without the need for tools including remove fan covers, a nifty side door that allows quick access to your hard drives. On top of the case you'll see in the video above you can also gain access to the fans which can be removed and fit a large radiator.