Valve may be working on a new Steam Controller with swappable components like those found on the Xbox Elite Controller according to recently published patents. While this patent doesn't guarantee we will see a next generation steam controller it does highlight Valve's internal efforts in developing a new controller. The original steam controller wasn't the success many had hoped for and was discontinued in late 2019 after a myriad of issues.

The patent was filed in late 2018 but was only published last month and reveals several interesting abilities of the controller, the new version while maintaining the distinctive steam controller design would swap the joystick for a D-pad. The patent also includes information about a feature that would introduce more customization options for button and trigger mapping depending on the game or software. These ideas build on the original premise of the steam controller and presents a vast array of modding options.

Rambus, a maker of various Interface IP solutions, today announced the latest addition to its high-speed memory interface IP product portfolio in form of High Bandwidth Memory 2E (HBM2E) controller and physical layer (PHY) IP solution. The two IPs are enabling customers to completely integrate the HBM2E memory into their products, given that Rambus provides a complete solution for controlling and interfacing the memory. The design that Ramus offers can support for 12-high DRAM stacks of up to 24 Gb devices, making for up to 36 GB of memory per 3D stack. This single 3D stack is capable of delivering 3.2 Gbps over a 1024-bit wide interface, delivering 410 GB/s of bandwidth per stack.

The HBM2E controller core is DFI 3.1 compatible and has support for logic interfaces like AXI, OCP, or a custom one, so the customer can choose a way to integrate this core in their design. With a purchase of their HBM2E IP, Rambus will provide source code written in Hardware Description Language (HDL) and GDSII file containing the layout of the interface.

NZXT, a leading developer of software-powered hardware solutions for PC gaming, today announces the NZXT RGB & Fan Controller. Powered by NZXT CAM, the RGB & Fan Controller gives users the tools to customize lighting and fan profiles to perfection.

The NZXT RGB & Fan Controller was created for builders to easily and affordably add digital RGB and fan control to their system controlled via NZXT CAM. Any chassis can now have the same enhanced capabilities found in the i versions of NZXT award-winning H Series cases. Bringing beauty to any battlestation is simpler than ever with two RGB lighting and fan channels that are compatible with all NZXT lighting accessories such as LED strips, underglow, cable combs, and AER RGB 2 fans. Additionally, three dedicated 10 W fan channels are included, giving users direct control of their airflow performance digitally.

As standalone wireless headsets such as the Oculus Quest grow strongly in popularity, 3dRudder is preparing full support of the wireless experience. The new 3dRudder Wireless Bridge adds wireless supports to the 3dRudder foot motion controller for PC. This new module enables developers and businesses to create games and applications for wireless headsets that integrate native 3dRudder support, providing users with a natural motion experience. It is especially of great importance as hand tracking becomes the main interaction method.

The release of wireless headsets such as the Oculus Quest paves the way for a massive adoption of VR by consumers and businesses. The objective is an out-of-the-box ready experience, where users do not need powerful PCs and do not have to juggle with complex command schemes found in hand controllers. The hands suddenly become free of controllers and the user can interact naturally with the VR worlds, either bear hands or with gloves offering haptic and force feedback. The feet are used for what they are best at: moving. The 3dRudder foot motion controller is used to handle effortless and hyper intuitive movements at the feet, offering 4 axes that can be combined together to move in the 3 dimensions seamlessly (forward/backward, left/right stafe, left/right turn, up/down) as shown in this video.

Shortly before Christmas, the German company Aqua Computer introduces a new 8-channel controller for PWM fans. The control with the name OCTO impresses with an enormous range of functions and this on a surface smaller than a credit card.

In addition to the core function of a fan controller, the device also offers two channels for digitally controllable LEDs and can control up to 180 LEDs with many effects. In addition to Aqua Computer's own RGBpx LED products, the OCTO can also be connected to LEDs from many third party manufacturers via optionally available adapters.

CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gaming peripherals and enthusiast components, is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire high-performance controller pioneer SCUF Gaming "SCUF " and its extensive patent portfolio. The transaction is expected to complete by the end of December 2019. Since launching in 2011, SCUF has recognized that one size does not fit all and set a new standard for performance controllers for use with Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. SCUF radically changed the way controllers are used by redesigning the layout of a controller to increase hand use and improve performance, matching the evolving complexities of competitive games.

In comparison to generic game controllers, SCUF controllers are modular by feature and design, built to specification to shorten hand movements and gain a measurable performance advantage, making it easier for players to tailor the controller to their individual preferences. SCUF controllers feature a vast range of configurable components, including a patented paddle control system, removable back paddles, a quick-access remapping switch, customizable thumbsticks, hair trigger, trigger stops and extenders, choice of D-pads, and an interchangeable magnetic faceplate.

Editor's note: Our review is here, for those interested.

CORSAIR, a world leader in PC gaming peripherals and enthusiast components, today announced a new line of PC cooling fans to elevate the aesthetics of any build: CORSAIR iCUE QL RGB PWM fans. Available in 120 mm and 140 mm sizes, every QL RGB fan features quad light loops lit by a total of 34 individually addressable RGB LEDs, creating incredible visuals from either side. Multi-fan kits of QL RGB fans are bundled with a CORSAIR iCUE Lighting Node CORE RGB Lighting Controller, capable of controlling the lighting for up to six CORSAIR RGB fans at once through CORSAIR iCUE software.

No other RGB fan comes close to the brightness and vibrancy of QL RGB. With inner and outer light loops on both the front and back of the fan, it is uniquely capable of intricate, bright, and detailed lighting effects that impress from any angle, regardless of whether it's used for intake or exhaust. A semi-transparent fan blade allows the RGB lighting to shine through, while a durable machined aluminium hub cover on either side completes the QL RGB's stunning look.

Rambus Inc., a premier silicon IP and chip provider making data faster and safer, today announced it has achieved industry-leading 18 Gbps performance with the Rambus GDDR6 Memory PHY. Running at the industry's fastest data rate of 18 Gbps, the Rambus GDDR6 PHY IP delivers peak performance four-to-five times faster than current DDR4 solutions and continues the company's longstanding tradition of developing leading-edge products. The Rambus GDDR6 PHY pairs with the companion GDDR6 memory controller from the recent acquisition of Northwest Logic to provide a complete and optimized memory subsystem solution.

Increased data usage in applications such as AI, ML, data center, networking and automotive systems is driving a need for higher bandwidth memory. The coming introduction of high-bandwidth 5G networks will exacerbate this challenge. Working closely with our memory partners, the Rambus GDDR6 solution gives system designers more options in selecting the memory system that meets both their bandwidth and cost requirements.

In times of Tempered Glass, not only the cooling performance and volume development of the PCs want to be adapted to their own and changing requirements, but also the RGB lighting suitable for the hardware. The Lamptron SM436 Sync Edition PCI RGB & Fan Controller offers not only extensive functionality, but also high compatibility. It runs up to four fans with or without PWM control and RGB products with or without digital RGB LEDs. The separate LC display can be attached to PCI slots, which can be admired by a transparent side section made of hard or acrylic glass. The control is operated by an infrared remote control.

CORSAIR, a world leader in PC gaming peripherals and enthusiast components, today announced the launch of the new CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB Mid-Tower ATX Smart Case, offering PC enthusiasts smart RGB lighting and strong cooling with three included CORSAIR LL120 RGB PWM fans behind two beautiful tempered glass panels in a black or white chassis. Users can create stunning, customizable visuals out-of-the-box with the included iCUE Lighting Node CORE RGB Lighting Controller and iCUE software.

The 465X RGB features premium, 4 mm-thick edge-to-edge tempered glass panels on the side and front of the chassis, perfect for showcasing the vibrant light shows from all of your high-profile RGB components. Three included CORSAIR LL120 RGB PWM fans light up your system with 16 individually addressable RGB LEDs each, while keeping temperatures down with powerful cooling by running up to 1,500 RPM.

At the 2019 Flash Memory Summit, Realtek announced a slew of new Flash memory controllers targeting a diversity of devices, spanning from USB flash drives to USB external SSDs, M.2/U.2 NVMe internal SSDs. Leading the pack is the RTS5771, the company's new flagship NVMe SSD controller that features a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 host interface, 8 NAND Flash channels with up to 1,200 MT/s speeds per channel, NVMe 1.3, and DRAM cache. This becomes the third PCIe gen 4.0-capable client-segment NVMe SSD controller after the Phison E16 and the Marvell 88SS132x.

The RTS5765DL is its cost-effective sibling, which has PCI-Express 3.0 x4 host interface, just 4 NAND Flash channels, and is DRAM-less, allowing manufacturers to design cost-effective SSDs. It still has 1,200 MT/s bandwidth per channel, so drives that implement it can offer sequential speeds similar to premium drives from the previous generation. The new RTL9210 is a bridge chip that converts USB 3.1 gen 2 (10 Gbps) to PCI-Express 3.0 x2, ideal for cost-effective external NVMe SSDs. The controller also features an integrated RGB LED logic, so drive designers can bling up their creations.

As the first and only company shipping PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe SSD solutions, Phison Electronics is the industry leader in enabling high-performance computing for bandwidth-hungry applications. In developing these solutions, Phison is ushering in a new era for applications expected to meet the demand for increasingly faster and higher-definition digital experiences.

The PCIe 4.0 standard offers double the data transfer rate over the prior PCIe 3.0 version. The increased data transfer rate, signal reliability and integrity of PCIe Gen4 enables technology solutions providers with the ability to deliver greater performance, additional flexibility and lower latency to a multitude of applications, including PC, gaming, mobile, storage and networking.

Marvell today released the industry's lowest power PCIe Gen4 NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) controller portfolio. Marvell's newest SSD controllers are designed to meet the need for lower power and higher performance in next-generation data centers and edge devices as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G gain momentum. This breakthrough technology delivers unparalleled performance in an ultra-compact footprint, leveraging the company's complex system-on-chip (SoC) design expertise and groundbreaking storage IP to help data center, notebook, tablet, gaming and edge computing platform architects advance their solutions for the highly distributed data era.

"Marvell's latest family of storage controllers has been architected to optimally address edge computing and data center pain points of power-performance and capacity-performance," said Nigel Alvares, vice president of marketing for the Flash Business Unit at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. "With today's launch, we're once again demonstrating Marvell's leadership in storage, delivering the industry's first 4-Channel PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD controllers with the industry's lowest power consumption that will help revolutionize SSD solutions for the data economy."

CORSAIR, a world leader in PC gaming peripherals and enthusiast components, today announced the new iCUE 220T RGB Airflow Smart Case and iCUE SP RGB PRO range of 120 mm and 140 mm RGB cooling fans, enabling vibrant RGB lighting and strong cooling performance out-of-the-box with full iCUE software integration. The CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB Airflow offers PC enthusiasts the cooling they need for high-powered systems along with stunning visuals to stand out from the crowd. Meticulously designed for powerful and efficient cooling, the 220T RGB Airflow sports a distinctive removable steel front panel allowing for high airflow into the case, and an internal layout that directs that cool air to your PC's hottest components.

Behind the steel front panel are three included SP120 RGB PRO fans, cooling your system down while lighting it up with eight individually addressable RGB LEDs per fan, for a total of 24. SP120 RGB PRO fans provide high airflow and static pressure along with their stunning lighting, optimized for low-noise operation with a maximum speed of 1,400 RPM. The 220T RGB Airflow offers the potential for even more cooling with ample room for up to 6x 120 mm fans, up to 4x 140 mm fans, or multiple radiators in sizes up to 360 mm.

LIAN LI Industrial Co. Ltd., a world leading manufacturer of aluminum chassis and peripherals, is proud to unveil the latest addition to its family of well-received RGB fan with the BORA Digital. Following the great success of the BORA and BORA Lite cooling fans, the price competitive BORA Digital is here to dominate in style with 3 frame finishes, built-in 12 addressable LEDs customizable via a RGB controller (or motherboard), and one of the most silent performances in the field, thanks to its adjustable speed and fluid dynamic bearings.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced KC2000, its next generation M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD for enterprise and power users. Kingston's KC2000 NVMe PCIe SSD delivers powerful performance using the latest Gen 3.0 x 4 controller and 96-layer 3D TLC NAND. Offering superior read and write speeds up to 3,200 and 2,200MB/s, respectively, KC2000 delivers outstanding performance and endurance, and improves workflow in desktop, workstations and high-performance computing (HPC) systems.

KC2000 is a self-encrypting drive that supports end-to-end data protection using 256-bit AES Hardware-based encryption and allows the usage of independent software vendors with TCG Opal 2.0 security management solutions such as Symantec , McAfee , WinMagic and others. KC2000 also has built-in Microsoft eDrive support, a security storage specification for use with BitLocker.

The farbwerk nano from Aqua Computer is a tiny USB powered RGB LED controller. It is capable of controlling 90 addressable RGB LEDs and offers unique new functions that also include a light sensor. With the integrated button it can be simply switched on and off, stored profiles can be changed by double-clicking the button and the brightness of connected LED strips can be adjusted by pressing it for a longer time. Much work has been invested in the powerful aquasuite control software. As in a video editing program, up to 20 controllers can be freely assigned, moved, copied and even cloned to areas on the LED strips using drag & drop. A newly developed technology that Aqua Computer describes as ALPHApx allows for the first time to freely combine many different effects through transparency in different layers.

Another highlight is the AMBIENTpx feature. This beautifully programmed intelligent backlight for monitors can now cover almost any panel size with up to 90 LEDs. If more LEDs are required, one can combine several farbwerk nano. The analyzed image areas can be configured and AMBIENTpx also features a filter to ignore the letterbox in videos. When it comes to video and sound, the farbwerk nano is really strong. With special Sound-to-Light effects, level indicators and effects controllable via sound, there are incredible possibilities to set sound on stage.

We knew this was coming, given Valve's own teaser confirmation from March, and then a faux pas that resulted in an incomplete Steam store page ending up public for a short time. Valve had promised more details would come in May, and here we are with a lot of information available about the Valve Index headset, the controllers, the base stations, as well as retail pricing + availability.

Name aside, the Valve Index specs that leaked before end up holding true with the retail product. The headset uses dual 1440x1600 RGB LCDs which Valve claims helps provide 50% more subpixels relative to an OLED display. This in turn should result in higher effective sharpness for the same rendering horsepower, and is further accentuated via a 3x better fill factor to mitigate the dreaded screen-door effect. The headset runs at 120 Hz with full backwards compatibility to 90 Hz to work with VR titles built around that specification and, more interestingly, also supports an experimental 144 Hz mode. PC gamers have long known the benefits of higher framerates, and this is especially valid with VR, but time will tell how the rest of the ecosystem works around this. Equally important to VR gaming is the illumination period, which allows on-screen imagery to remain sharp while you are in motion just as well as when at rest. Valve claims up to a 5x reduction here, with a rated illumination period of 0.33 to 0.53 ms depending on the real time framerate. More to see past the break, so be sure to do so if this interests you!

When we first covered Valve's own teaser about their first-party VR hardware ecosystem under the Valve Index moniker, we were not expecting to hear much more until May. Thanks to an error on their part, product pages for the headset, base stands, and controllers were all published prematurely on Steam for a few hours yesterday, and that was enough time for all the information to be saved online by others. The product pages were not complete, and lacked details that we expect to get sooner than later, but Valve has since confirmed that all information inadvertently leaked are accurate and we now more about the retail package now.

To begin with, May 1 is targeted as the official announcement date which will also bring with it pre-order options for those going this route in PC VR. The complete package will contain the headset itself with integrated headphones, of which we have a better render available now as seen below, a tether cable using DisplayPort 1.2 and USB 3.1 Gen 1 connections (and not the VirtualLink standard we were hoping to see), a region-specific power adapter and plug(s), and two face gaskets (narrow and wide). Interestingly the now-renamed Index Controllers are not included and are an optional, separate purchase. This is also the case with the Index base stations, which all leads us to assume that existing HTC Vive controllers and base stations will be compatible with the headset, or there will be another, more complete package to choose from. No pricing information available yet, and Valve says they are still finalizing this as well as actual shipping detail- with an aim to hit it in June.

Phanteks released today the new Universal Fan Controller, a simple solution to controlling all your fans with a single device. A new design for added functionality and expandability for all fans.

The controller can connect up to 8x fans or more and control both 3pin (DC) and 4pin (PWM) fans simultaneously. Fully take control of your fan setup using manual remote with three speed settings, Silent, Balanced, and Performance. The Universal Fan Controller can also be connected and sync to the motherboard with the provided input cable. Easily mount the Universal Fan Controller to any metal surface thanks to the integrated magnets and place your Manual Remote within reach using the provided Velcro. Whether its silent or performance you are looking for, optimize your system easily by using the new Universal Fan Controller from Phanteks.

AMD will launch its 3rd generation Ryzen 3000 Socket AM4 desktop processors in 2019, with a product unveiling expected mid-year, likely on the sidelines of Computex 2019. AMD is keeping its promise of making these chips backwards compatible with existing Socket AM4 motherboards. To that effect, motherboard vendors such as ASUS and MSI began rolling out BIOS updates with AGESA-Combo 0.0.7.x microcode, which adds initial support for the platform to run and validate engineering samples of the upcoming "Zen 2" chips.

At CES 2019, AMD unveiled more technical details and a prototype of a 3rd generation Ryzen socket AM4 processor. The company confirmed that it will implement a multi-chip module (MCM) design even for their mainstream-desktop processor, in which it will use one or two 7 nm "Zen 2" CPU core chiplets, which talk to a 14 nm I/O controller die over Infinity Fabric. The two biggest components of the IO die are the PCI-Express root complex, and the all-important dual-channel DDR4 memory controller. We bring you never before reported details of this memory controller.

When reading through the Gen11 GT2 whitepaper by Intel, which describes their upcoming integrated graphics architecture, we may have found a groundbreaking piece of information that concerns the memory architecture of computers running 10 nm "Ice Lake" processors. The whitepaper mentions the chip to feature a 4x32-bit LPDDR4/DDR4 interface as opposed to the 2x64-bit LPDDR4/DDR4 interface of current-generation chips such as "Coffee Lake." This is strong evidence that Intel's new architecture will have unganged dual-channel memory controllers (2x 64-bit), as opposed to the monolithic 128-bit IMC found on current-generation chips.

An unganged dual-channel memory interface consists of two independent memory controllers, each handling a 64-bit wide memory channel. This approach lets the processor execute two operations in tandem, given the accesses go to distinct memory banks. On top of that it's now possible to read and write at the same time, something that's can't be done in 128-bit memory mode. From a processor's perspective DRAM is very slow, and what takes up most of the time (= latency), is opening the memory and preparing the read/write operation - the actual data transfer is fairly quick.

Micron has curiously been releasing client-segment SSDs these recent weeks. The company's main brand was focused on enterprise products, while subsidiary brands Crucial and Ballistix catered to the client-segment. Following up on its late-February launch of the 1300-series client-segment SSDs, Micron unveiled the even faster 2200-series. These drives ditch Silicon Motion-sourced controllers in favor of a new controller Micron designed in-house. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface, taking advantage of the NVMe protocol. This in-house controller is mated with Micron's 64-layer 3D TLC NAND flash, cushioned by its own LPDDR4 DRAM cache.

Available in capacities of 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB, the Micron 2200 is rated to offer sequential transfer rates of up to 3000 MB/s reads, with up to 1600 MB/s writes, up to 240,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 210,000 IOPS 4K random writes, with an endurance rating of 75 TB, 150 TB, and 300 TB, for the 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB variants, respectively. Micron-exclusive features also make their way, such as native power-loss data-protection, and TCG Opal SED. The company hasn't revealed pricing or availability for these drives.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Valve had promised continued support to the Steam Link after discontinuing it last year, and most took it to mean basic updates to the hardware device itself at the time. That was 2018, and it is remarkable how the topic of in-house game streaming has come up since. Be it Google's Project Stream which seemingly is leading up to a major announcement by the company at GDC coming up very shortly, or Microsoft introducing their new Wireless Display app for PC game streaming on the XBOX One, as well as bringing its XBOX Live service to mobile platforms on iOS or Android alike, 2019 seems to herald a re-focus into the concept of game streaming whether the infrastructure is ready or not.

Valve for their own part has had their Steam Link be enjoyed by a fairly niche audience, one that shares a more local form of game streaming from a host device to another on the same network. NVIDIA's Shield offered a similar concept, and that too has not really made the news as much as NVIDIA would surely have wanted. This latest news from Valve allows streaming of one's Steam library (games, in particular) to phones, tablets, and TVs with no download or service fees applicable. Interested users can participate in the open beta program by simply downloading the app (Google Play store only for now) or on the Raspberry Pi as has been the case for a few months already. The Steam Link app is compatible with a number of popular Bluetooth controllers, including the Steam Controller, and Valve recommends a 5 GHz network or wired Ethernet for best experience. Looks like the weekend just got busier than I originally planned!

The RGB lighting theme remains a hot topic. The German manufacturer Aqua Computer is also following this trend and is expanding its product range with the new farbwerk 360.

With the farbwerk 360, Aqua Computer launches probably the most powerful RGB controller for PCs currently on the market. It is capable of controlling up to 360 addressable RGB LEDs on 4 channels. A newly developed technology that Aqua Computer describes as ALPHApx allows for the first time to freely combine effects through transparency in up to 20 levels.