ASRock launches the company's first all-white motherboard available on both Intel & AMD platforms, and the exciting thing is, this design is not limited to just high-end product, the first three motherboards to have this brand new outfit will be B760M-HDV/M.2 & H610M-HDV/M.2+ D5 from Intel, as for the AMD side we have B550M Pro SE. Looking good is no longer a privilege to expensive motherboards, for the first time stylish budget-friendly product has become a new trend of DIY.

Besides the brand new outfit, the functionality has been upgraded too, new Dragon 2.5G Lan and DDR5 memory support on selected models gives the new motherboard a boost of performance, all three motherboards are compatible with NVMe M.2 storage devises and most importantly, RGB LED header is available for stunning yet creative PC builds.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to announce three additions to its gaming product lineup - the new Lexar NM790 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4×4 NVMe SSD, Lexar ARES DDR5 Desktop Memory in 6400MT/s, and Lexar ARES RGB DDR4 Desktop Memory in 3600MT/s.

The NM790 M.2 NVMe SSD is perfect for gamers and content creators, delivering incredible speeds of 7400 MB/s read, 6500 MB/s write thanks to its PCIe Gen 4 tech, which includes HMB 3.0 and Dynamic SLC Cache. So whether users are looking to vanquish foes in their gaming battles or conquer their latest creative pursuits, the NM790 SSD is ready to take on the challenge.

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for Cloud, AI/ML, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is announcing several new servers to its already broad application optimized product line. These new servers incorporate the new AmpereOne CPU, with up to 192 single-threaded cores and up to 4 TB of memory capacity. Applications such as databases, telco edge, web servers, caching services, media encoding, and video gaming streaming will benefit from increased cores, faster memory access, higher performance per watt, scalable power management, and the new cloud security features. Additionally, Cloud Native microservice based applications will benefit from the lower latencies and power usage.

"Supermicro is expanding our customer choices by introducing these new systems that incorporate the latest high core count CPUs from Ampere Computing," said Michael McNerney, vice president of Marketing and Security, Supermicro. "With high core counts, predictable latencies, and up to 4 TB of memory, users will experience increased performance for a range of workloads and lower energy use. We continue to design and deliver a range of environmentally friendly servers that give customers a competitive advantage for various applications."

Axiomtek—a world-renowned leader relentlessly devoted to the research, development, and manufacture of series of innovative and reliable industrial computer products of high efficiency - is pleased to announce the SHB160, a new PICMG 1.3 full-size single board computer powered by the LGA1700 13th/12th Gen Intel Core i7/i5/i3, Pentium or Celeron processor with the Intel R680E/H610E chipset. The industry-specific SBC supports dual 2.5 GbE LAN for the ultimate connection experience with blazing data-transfer speed. It also supports PCIe 4.0 for more flexibility and higher bandwidth to GPUs, SSDs, and other peripherals. Offering superior computing performance, rugged design, flexible I/O expansion as well as enhanced graphics capabilities, the SHB160 aims to satisfy the requirements of AIoT applications such as vision inspection, objective classification, factory automation, intelligent video analysis, and smart city.

Axiomtek's SHB160 offers up to four DDR5-4400 MHz ECC or non-ECC U-DIMM slots for up to 128 GB of system memory. The full-size slot CPU card has six SATA-600 ports with software RAID 0/1/5/10 support (Intel R680E chipset) or four SATA-600 ports (Intel H610E chipset). In addition, the SHB160 has one M.2 Key M 2280 slot with PCIe 4.0 x4 signal for NVMe SSD (Intel R680E chipset). It also delivers superior graphics performance with the Intel UHD Graphics and offers dual display configurations via DVI-I and DisplayPort++ (internal header) ports. One PCIe x16 Gen 4 slot, one PCIe x4 Gen 4 slot or four PCIe x1 Gen 4 slots, and four 32-bit PCI bus masters are available on the board to provide an optimum solution with a diverse range of configurations. Equipped with one M.2 Key E 2230 slot, the SHB160 also supports Wi-Fi 6 for faster data transferring while reducing latency and enhancing security.

Rapid loading and smooth navigation through endless open worlds has long been a goal of gamers and developers alike. Even with the incredible performance of NVMe SSDs, this goal has remained out of reach. Modern game engines have exceeded the capability of traditional storage APIs; a new generation of Input/Output (IO) architecture is needed.

Enter NVIDIA RTX IO, enabling fast GPU-based loading and game asset decompression, massively accelerating IO performance compared to hard drives and traditional storage APIs. NVIDIA RTX IO leverages GPU decompression for smaller data packages, enabling faster load times and lower CPU utilization, allowing developers to create a new generation of games with massive, highly detailed worlds. NVIDIA RTX IO makes its debut alongside the free Portal: Prelude RTX mod today, and will also feature in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, launching July 26th.

Durabook, an innovator in purpose-built, rugged computing solutions, today announced upgrading its U11 Rugged Tablet with the 12th Gen Intel processor and other architectural innovations that establish it as the most versatile 11-inch rugged tablet. The U11 rugged tablet solution goes above and beyond standard requirements to elevate the professional user's experience.

Upgrading the U11 CPU to the latest Intel 12th generation Alder Lake platform, with Intel Core i7 and i5 processors, is significant in part because it enables performance up to 225% faster than the previous, 10th Gen CPU. Sporting the Coolfinity fanless thermal solution lets the U11 tablet operate quietly while offering higher reliability and decreasing downtime and repairs that negatively impact productivity. Delivered with Intel Iris Xe Graphics boosts the U11's computing power to process large amounts of data, images, and video feeds in real-time. Packing these and a trove of functions and features into a rugged tablet appeals to professional users that desire the utmost performance with the ease of a tablet.

The first batch of PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs didn't quite deliver on the promise of doubling performance from PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs, but now it appears that Sabrent has managed to work some magic with its upcoming Rocket X5 SSD. The SSD is still based on the same Phison E26 controller as all other current PCIe 5.0 NVMe drives and from what we know, the controller is paired to Micron's 232-layer B58R NAND, a combination that should be able to reach 2400 MT/s across eight channels. However, it's not the only drive with this combination of components, so it seems like the magic here might be in the firmware.

A 2 TB version of the Rocket X5 was tested in CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 and reached a read speed of 14,179 MB/s or just over 14 GB/s, with write speeds trailing somewhat at 12,280 MB/s. The random 4K numbers are looking good too with 106 MB/s for reads and 448 MB/s for writes, a step up from the competition at least, if not a major one with regards to the read speed. The downside you ask? Sabrent has equipped the Rocket X5 with not only a heatsink and heatpipes, but also a tiny fan, which is likely to add some noise at some time in the future when the fan starts to give up. We obviously don't know the price of the Rocket X5 either, but Sabrent tends to have competitively priced products.

TrendForce reports that OEMs have continued making concerted efforts to scale back production. However, given that the trajectory of market demand is still unclear, it's expected that the NAND Flash market will continue to be in a state of oversupply in 3Q23. Cautious inventory management by buyers is preventing a stabilization in NAND Flash prices even with an anticipated seasonal surge in demand for 2H23. TrendForce predicts that NAND Flash wafers will be the first to see a price hike in 3Q23 as prices for module products such as SSDs, eMMCs, and UFS will likely continue to fall due to tepid downstream demand. Consequently, the overall ASP of NAND Flash is forecast to continue dropping by about 3~8% in 3Q23, though a possibility exists prices may recover in 4Q23.

Client SSD: Although notebook shipments are expected to gradually recover in 3Q23, reversing an oversupply of SSD will continue to be challenging. Furthermore, a portion of suppliers have implemented aggressive promotions to secure customer orders and hit shipping targets in light of weakened demand and less-than-satisfactory order volumes from major clients, putting pressure on other suppliers. TrendForce estimates that the ASP of client SSDs will fall by 8~13% in the third quarter.

Transcend Information (Transcend), a leading manufacturer of embedded memory products, is proud to release the latest U.2 NVMe SSD, the UTE210T. Designed for generative AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and big data analytics, this powerful SSD is built with the 112-layer 3D NAND flash, an 8-channel controller, and a PCIe Gen 4x4 interface. Experience high speeds, low latency, and minimal power consumption with your systems, but most of all, enjoy sequential R/W speeds of up to 7,200/6,500 MB/s and stable and reliable system performance that supports various applications of use.

Compliant with the NVMe 1.4 specification, Transcend's UTE210T comes bundled with a U.2 connector, enabling the drive to configure the PCIe interface with the U.2 backplane, ultimately enhancing transfer stability without compromising your servers. To address the demanding workloads associated with AI, its built-in DRAM provides exceptional random read speeds, which not only reduces NAND flash Program/Erase cycles (P/E cycles), but effectively extends drive lifespan to help manage a wide range of workloads. The UTE210T comes with up to 8 TB of storage capacity, ensuring servers and data centers are able to process vast amounts of data without compromising system performance.

In the world of modern embedded computing, motherboards and systems are equipped with numerous M.2 and Mini-PCI Express sockets. These sockets provide ideal homes for networking communication adapters and solid-state drives (SSDs), including NVMe-compatible SSDs. With an abundance of sockets, embedded systems now have unparalleled connectivity and storage options.

Cervoz recognizes this need and introduces a new industrial SSD perfectly suited for these boards and systems: the M.2 2242 PCIe Gen 3 x 2 (B+M Key) SSD, T421. This SSD is designed specifically for embedded motherboards and systems, making it a perfect fit for industrial applications ranging from retail and gaming solutions to embedded computing devices.

ASUS Chinese GM—Tony Yu—has shown off a graphics card concept on Bilibili that has a rather unusual feature, a slot for an M.2 NVMe SSD. The card is based on NVIDIA's GeForce RT 4060 Ti GPU and although not all details are clear at this point in time, but ASUS is taking advantage of the unused PCIe lanes on the card, since the AD106 GPU only uses eight PCIe lanes, the PCIe connector on the card has space for a further eight lanes. In theory ASUS could have added a pair of SSDs, since there are a total of eight lanes available, but as this was just a proof of concept, they seemingly stuck with a single SSD.

It's unclear if ASUS relies on bifurcation or if the company has added some kind of bridge chip, but bifurcation makes more sense, as a bridge chip would add a lot more cost. The neat thing with the NVMe drive being on the GPU, is that it also connects to the heatsink of the graphics card, which means the cooling should be rather good. However, for this to work properly, the SSD would have to be mounted back to front compared to how it would be mounted on a motherboard. Based on the test results, the SSD runs at a cool 42 degrees C, even when the GPU is being stress tested. It's likely that this product will not make it to markets outside of China, if it's ever launched into retail.

In today's world demand for visual brilliance and digital content creation is skyrocketing, paving the way for more advanced technologies that support the production and consumption of rich content. For consumers, students, and professionals, fast, reliable tools are a must-have to keep their imaginations flowing. Building upon its award-winning SSD portfolio, Western Digital released the WD Blue SN580 NVMe solid state drive (SSD). The new, NVMe PCIe Gen 4.0 internal flash drive is purpose-built for the creative enthusiast community and professionals to use when upgrading current PCs or elevating a custom build.

"As creator workflows become more robust and complex with heavy applications and large multimedia assets like 4K video, it's easy to become frustrated with long load times," said Eric Spanneut, vice president of client and enterprise SSDs for Western Digital. "The new WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD boosts productivity, so professionals and entrepreneurial creators can focus on bringing their imaginations to life without having to wait long for files to transfer or programs to load."

[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the SN580 is now live]

The European brand expands its portfolio of PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSDs in M.2 format with a model dedicated to the PS 5 console. It is the IRDM PRO SLIM - ideal not only for gamers, but also professionals and enthusiasts.

The IRDM PRO SLIM is a twin model of the IRDM PRO M.2 SSD. Unlike its predecessor, the new drive is offered without a heatsink, making it 100% compliant with Sony's requirements for PlayStation 5 console drives. The technical parameters speak in favour of choosing an SSD from a European manufacturer. Maximum read and write speeds are 7000/6850 MB/s, respectively. The PCIe 4 x4 NVMe interface delivers twice the speed of older 3 x4 solutions. The memory speed is also influenced by DRAM buffer of up to 2 GB, thanks to which the drive works stably even under heavy use.

Seagate Technology Holdings today introduced the next generation of SSD technology to its lineup, the FireCuda 540. The PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD delivers unparalleled performance to gamers, creators, and tech enthusiasts - adding the fastest speeds and endurance to the company's line of PC storage products.

Seagate's fastest and highest performance M.2 2280 SSD, the FireCuda 540 delivers sequential read speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s. Built for sustained, pro-level gaming and accelerated content creation, the new drive performs up to 50% faster than Gen 4 M.2 NVMe drives and 17 times faster than SATA-based SSDs. With the latest 3D TLC NAND technology and built with a Seagate-validated E26 controller, the FireCuda 540 provides the most advanced speed and durability - allowing users to push limits when gaming or creating content. Plug-and-play compatible with all PCIe Gen 5 motherboards and backwards compatible with PCIe Gen 4, the drive is accessible and ready for trailblazing.

Not entirely unexpected, Seagate is getting ready to launch its first PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD which will be going under the name of FireCuda 540 and now details of the upcoming drive have appeared online courtesy of Amazon UK, B&H Photo and others that have put up the product for pre-order. For those worried about the lack of a 4 TB SKU, you can relax, as the company is planning a 4 TB SKU, which is made clear from the pictures posted by Amazon UK. However, changing the digit in the model number that represents the drive size, doesn't bring up any info about a 4 TB SKU at the moment.

It doesn't look like the FireCuda 540 will be competing with the fastest PCI 5.0 NVMe drives, as it's only listed as offering sequential drives speeds of up to 10 GB/s, although this applies to both read and write speeds for the 2 TB SKU, with the 1 TB SKU being somewhat slower with read speeds of 9.5 GB/s and write speeds of 8.5 GB/s. The 1 TB SKU is good for 1,000 TB TBW, with the 2 TB SKU doubling this to 2,000 TB and the 4 TB SKU apparently hitting 3,949 TB or as Seagate put it, this allows you to erase 90 percent of the drive every day for five years. B&H Photo has the drives listed at US$189.99 for the 1 TB SKU and US$319,99 for the 2 TB SKU—making both SKUs cheaper than Crucials T700—with Amazon UK listing the 1 TB SKU for £203.48 and no pricing for the 2 TB SKU. It's unclear when the Seagate FireCuda 540 will launch, but it can't be far away.

It appears that Western Digital is getting ready to expand its budget line of WD Blue SSDs with yet another model, this time a smaller jump from the SN570 to the SN580, compared to the jump in model numbers from the SN550 to the SN570. The drive has passed through the PCI-SIG integrators list and from that information we only know it's a PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive with a four lane interface. However, some retailers have already put up the drive for pre-order and this helps us with a few more details.

For starters, it appears that we're once again looking at drives in the 500 GB to the 2 TB range, although this doesn't mean that WD couldn't launch a 4 TB variant as well, but it seems unlikely. What we also learnt is that these product pages are place holders, as the drives are listed for the same, or higher pricing than the WD Black SN850X, which makes no sense for a budget drive which should be closer to the US$100/€100 mark than the equivalent of twice that. Another European retailer is also listing the current SN570 as being EOL:ed on the 31st of July, suggesting that the SN580 should launch around that date. The same retailer is listing the SN580 as the replacement drive under its part number, which is WDS200T3B0E for the 2 TB SKU.

Today, Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, announced that its PCIe 4.0 NVMe and SAS SSDs have been successfully tested for compatibility and interoperability with Microchip Technology Inc. ("Microchip's") Adaptec HBA 1200 Series, SmartHBA 2200 Series host bus adapters (HBAs) and SmartRAID 3200 Series RAID adapters.

As one of the broadest portfolios of SSDs in the industry, KIOXIA drives are available for client PCs, as well as data center, hyperscale and enterprise servers and storage systems. KIOXIA CD6, CD8, and CM6 Series PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs and KIOXIA PM6 and PM7 Series 24G SAS SSDs all successfully completed compatibility testing performed by Microchip.

Seagate has released a new firmware update for its FireCuda 530 series of NVMe SSDs that adds DirectStorage support. Seagate is to our knowledge only the second company to release a firmware with DirectStorage support for its SSDs, but we're expecting more to follow. The FireCuda 530 is based on Phison's E18 controller, which is commonly found in a range of NVMe M.2 SSDs from several major and minor SSD brands, with Sabrent being the first company to have announced a DirectStorage firmware update for its drives based on the same controller.

To update to the new firmware, you need the serial number of your FireCuda 530 drive, which you then have to enter on Segate's support site to be able to download the update. The company didn't specify how the firmware update is done, but it seems to be a standalone installer, rather than using some kind of SSD tool, which most SSD makers provide for their drives these days. The new firmware is said to be "reducing CPU overhead and I/O latency, load times and asset streaming are streamlined—allowing for improved multitasking and optimized PC gaming with DirectStorage compatible games." The list of games that support DirectStorage is quite short at the moment, but hopefully we'll see more games implementing support now that there is supported hardware out there.

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for Cloud, AI/ML, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is announcing that its entire line of H13 AMD based-systems is now available with support for 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors, based on "Zen 4c" architecture, and 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology. Supermicro servers powered by 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors for cloud-native computing, with leading thread density and 128 cores per socket, deliver impressive rack density and scalable performance with energy efficiency to deploy cloud native workloads in more consolidated infrastructure. These systems are targeted for cloud operators to meet the ever-growing demands of user sessions and deliver AI-enabled new services. Servers featuring AMD 3D V-Cache technology excel in running technical applications in FEA, CFD, and EDA. The large Level 3 cache enables these types of applications to run faster than ever before. Over 50 world record benchmarks have been set with AMD EPYC processors over the past few years.

"Supermicro continues to push the boundary of our product lines to meet customers' requirements. We design and deliver resource-saving, application-optimized servers with rack scale integration for rapid deployments," said Charles Liang, president, and CEO of Supermicro. "With our growing broad portfolio of systems fully optimized for the latest 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors, cloud operators can now achieve extreme density and efficiency for numerous users and cloud-native services even in space-constrained data centers. In addition, our enhanced high performance, multi-socket, multi-node systems address a wide range of technical computing workloads and dramatically reduce time-to-market for manufacturing companies to design, develop, and validate new products leveraging the accelerated performance of memory intensive applications."

ASRock Rack, the leading innovative server company, today announced its support of 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors with AMD "Zen 4c" architecture and 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology, as well as the expansion of their new products ranging from high-density storage, GPU, multi-nodes servers all for the new AMD processors.

"4th Gen AMD EPYC processors offer the highest core density of any x86 processor in the world and will deliver outstanding performance and efficiency for cloud-native workloads," said Lynn Comp, corporate vice president, Server Product and Technology Marketing, AMD. "Our latest family of data center processors allow customers to balance workload growth and flexibility with critical infrastructure consolidation mandates, enabling our customers to do more work, with more energy efficiency at a time when cloud native computing is transforming the data center."

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, today announced the new TS-855X NAS offering hybrid storage space of six 3.5-inch HDDs and two 2.5-inch SSDs. Featuring an Intel Atom C5125 2.8 GHz 8-core processor with Intel QAT and SR-IOV technology, the TS-855X supports up to 128 GB DDR4 memory and comes with 10GbE/2.5GbE network ports. Storage capacity can be flexibly expanded, and 25GbE network ports are supported by installing a compatible PCIe card. With all-inclusive business backup, virtualization and cybersecurity applications, SMBs can achieve high-performance, high-speed and highly-expandable storage and virtualization environments with the lowest TCO.

"QNAP's HDD/SSD hybrid-storage NAS series helps SMBs get the right balance of both performance and cost," said Andy Chuang, Product Manager of QNAP, "the hybrid 8-bay TS-855X with 8-core computing power, hardware acceleration, 10GbE/2.5GbE connectivity and PCIe expandability is the most cost-optimized and up-to-date data storage and backup solution for SMBs."

Western Digital introduced the WD Black SN850P M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD for PlayStation 5 game consoles, which is an officially-licensed PlayStation 5 accessory. The drive can also used with PCs. It comes with a factory-fitted heatsink, and has been extensively tested for compatibility with the game console. The drive comes in three capacity-based variants—1 TB (WDBBYV0010BNC-WRSN), 2 TB (WDBBYV0020BNC-WRSN), and 4 TB (WDBBYV0040BNC-WRSN. All three models offer sequential read speeds of up to 7.3 GB/s, and while the 1 TB variant offers up to 6.3 GB/s sequential writes, the 2 TB and 4 TB ones are rated for up to 6.6 GB/s sequential writes. Their write endurance is rated at 600 TBW, 1,200 TBW, and 2,400 TBW, respectively. Western Digital is backing these drives with 5-year warranties. The company didn't reveal pricing.

ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming AS1000, a portable high-performance M.2 NVMe 1 TB SSD with innovative cooling features to ensure ultrafast data transfers. TUF Gaming AS1000 uses a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x1 connection and is compatible with PCs, laptops, and the latest gaming consoles. This SSD has been subjected to stringent durability testing to ensure stored data is well-protected from everyday spills and knocks. Plus, bundled NTI Backup Now EZ software (valued at up to US$35.99) allows for easy data backup and recovery.

Military-grade toughness
The TUF Gaming AS1000 has been subjected to a rigorous battery of durability tests, including the U.S-military-grade MIL-STD-810H drop test and IP68 water-and-dust-resistance tests. Devices were dropped from various heights, submerged in water, and exposed to dust and dirt to ensure toughness, making the TUF Gaming AS1000 more than capable of withstanding accidental bumps, knocks, and spills.

YEYIAN Gaming, a leading global designer and manufacturer of innovative pre-built gaming PCs, peripherals, and computer components, is thrilled to announce the launch of four new RTX 4060 Ti GPU gaming desktop PC models: YARI II 27F0B-46T1N, YARI II 24F0B-46T1N, SHOGE 560XB-46T1U, and SHOGE 240FOB-46T1U. These models are part of the YARI II and SHOGE series, designed to deliver unparalleled gaming performance and reliability for content creators and pro gamers.

Four gaming desktops are powered by the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti graphics cards, which are based on the ultra-efficient NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture and offer an immersive, AI-accelerated gaming experience, including upgraded ray tracing and DLSS 3 technologies. The gaming desktops also feature the best-in-class components for both Intel and AMD platforms, as well as Core i7 and AMD Ryzen 5 processors, the NVMe M.2 SSDs, the DDR5/DDR4 memory modules, and come with Windows 11 Home pre-installed. Cooling performance is enhanced by RGB illuminated system fans and CPU AIO water-cooling for excellent system thermal performance under the most demanding of system loads.

Tyan, subsidary of MiTAC, showed off their new range of AMD EPYC based servers with a distinct focus on compute density. These included new introductions to their Transport lineup of configurable servers which now host EPYC 9004 "Genoa" series processors with up to 96-cores each. The new additions come as 2U servers each with a different specialty focus. First up is the Transport SX TN85-B8261, aimed squarely at HPC and AI/ML deployment, with support for up to dual 96-Core EPYC "Genoa" processors, 3 TB of registered ECC DDR5-4800, dual 10GbE via an Intel x550-AT2 as well as 1GbE for IPMI, six PCI-E Gen 5 x16 slots with support for four GPGPUs for ML/HPC compute, and eight NVMe drives at the front of the chassis. An optional more storage focused configuration if you choose not to install GPUs is to have 24 total NVMe SSDs at the front soaking up the 96 lanes of PCI-E.