Sparkle introduced the PCIe Gen 4 Quad M.2 Riser Card. This single-slot, full-height card is meant to be installed on a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, which it wires out as four M.2-22110 slots with Gen 4 x4 wiring, and mounting bolt set to M.2-2280 by default. With the drives in place, the card is meant to be covered up by a metal shroud; there's no contact between this shroud and the drives underneath. Cooling comes in the form of two lateral-blower fans that guide airflow under the shroud.

The first (intake) fan is 60 mm in size, while the second one (exhaust, near the tail-end), is 50 mm. Both are controlled by a localized fan-speed control, with three speed settings that can be selected by a 3-way switch on the rear I/O shield. Next to it, are four LEDs that denote power/activity of the individual drives. The card is 28 cm long, and 12 cm tall. What sets Sparkle's card apart from other brands is that the card relies entirely on the PCIe slot for powering itself—unlike some other cards that use a 6-pin connector. The company didn't reveal pricing.

The current crop of PCIe Gen 5 based M.2 NVMe SSDs run scorching hot to deliver sequential transfer speeds of 10 GB/s, requiring some massive cooling solutions with tiny fans. All this might change, as Phison, a leading SSD controller manufacturer, unveiled three new controllers at the 2024 International CES. One of these that stands out, is the PS5031-E31T, which is built on the 7 nm node, and could power the first Gen 5 SSDs delivering 10 GB/s without elaborate cooling solutions. This is a big upgrade from the 12 nm node used by their first Gen 5 controllers. The PS5031-E31T is a DRAMless controller meant for mainstream Gen 5 SSDs. This controller has a 4-channel flash interface (16 CE), a PCI-Express 5.0 x4 host interface, supports capacities of up to 8 TB, and is claimed by Phison to offer sequential transfer rates of up to 10.8 GB/s, and up to 1500K IOPS random access; exceeding the fastest Gen 4 SSDs.

Phison also updated its high-end controller lineup with the new PS5026-E26 Max14um. This is a variant of the E26 that's designed for the upcoming Micron B58R NAND flash chip that offers 2400 MT/s per channel transfers. Over the 8-channel interface of the E26, this finally unlocks sequential transfer speeds exceeding 14 GB/s reads, and 12.7 GB/s sequential writes. This is merely a revision of the existing E26 with updated power-optimized firmware, the underlying silicon is identical. The E26 Max14um is the first controller to surpass 1000 MB/s in all three PCMark 10 storage tests. We have a sample of an SSD powered by the E26 Max14um in our labs, and will post our review soon.

KIOXIA brought a handful of its latest data center SSDs to the 2024 International CES. The lineup begins with the CD8P series designed for a balance in data-heat (frequency of access) and capacity, with applications that include CDN, compute, read-intensive use-cases, and data streaming. The drive comes in the 2.5-inch 18 mm U.2 and EDSFF E3.8 form-factors. The CD8P features a PCI-Express 5.0 x4 host interface, and comes in capacities ranging between 1.92 TB, going all the way up to 15.36 TB. Write endurance recommended is between 1 DWPD to 3 DWPD, so this really isn't a major write-intensive drive, for that, you'll need to pay attention to our next drive, the KIOXIA FL6.

The FL6 from KIOXIA is a scribe par none. It's aimed at write heavy applications such as server caching, and the hottest tiers in tiered storage; and Big Iron database machines. The FL6 comes in capacities of up to 3.2 TB, but offers a mammoth 60 DWPD write endurance. It comes in the 2.5-inch 18 mm form factor with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface. Security features include SIE, SED, and FIPS 140-2.

Patriot Memory brought their latest ware to the 2024 International CES that use recent advancements in tech on both the SSD and memory fronts. On the SSD front, this year sees 14 GB/s capable PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSDs thanks to Phison's E26 Max14um controller; and a new crop of USB4 portable SSDs; while the memory front sees DDR5 speeds go far north of DDR5-6000, thanks to on-module CKDs. Patriot showed us examples of each.

First up, there's the Patriot Viper PV573 Gen 5 NVMe SSD. This thing comes in capacities of up to 4 TB, and combines a Phison E26 Max14um controller with Micron's latest B58R TLC NAND flash chips that offer 2400 MT/s per flash channel. The controller also gets some incremental thermal optimizations, which means the cooling solution for the PV573 is a 16.5 mm-tall fan-heatsink. The drive offers up to 14 GB/s sequential reads, with up to 12 GB/s sequential writes. There's also a slightly de-rated version of this drive, the Viper PV553, which has the same combination of controller and NAND flash, but with transfer speeds of up to 12.4 GB/s reads, with up to 11.8 GB/s writes.

Intel today announced the release of its 14th Gen Core HX series "Raptor Lake Refresh" mobile processors. Processor models from this series are supposed to cap off the upper end of Intel's mobile processor portfolio. Although Intel released the Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" mobile processors late last year, those chips cover the U-segment, and H-segment (ultraportable, thin-and-light, and mainstream); with the fastest model being the Core Ultra 165H, which caps out at 6P+8E+2LP. The HX segment, which started out as enthusiast-class, broadened in scope over the years to cover the bulky gaming notebooks and portable workstations. These chips typically have a power rating of 55 W. All chips have maximum turbo power rating of 157 W. Intel is tapping into its "Raptor Lake Refresh" silicon to carve out these processors. This is a monolithic chip built on the Intel 7 process, and its package is a multi-chip module with an on-package PCH.

The lineup begins with the Core i9-14900HX, which maxes out the "Raptor Lake Refresh" silicon, with an 8P+16E core-count, with 2 MB of L2 cache per P-core, 4 MB of L2 cache per E-core cluster, and a shared 36 MB L3 cache. The processor's full I/O is wired out, including support for dual-channel DDR5 (SO-DIMMs only), a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 connection for discrete GPUs, a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 connection for a CPU-attached M.2 NVMe SSD, and DMI 4.0 x8 link between the processor die and the PCH die. This PCH puts out up to 16 PCIe Gen 4 lanes, besides up to 12 Gen 3 lanes, which notebook designers can combine with discrete Thunderbolt 4 controllers, and the likes. You can expect Wi-Fi 7 to be prevalent in this crop of premium gaming notebooks. The i9-14900HX features a P-core maximum boost frequency of 5.80 GHz, and an E-core boost frequency of 4.10 GHz.

UGREEN just announced its NASync line of NAS servers at the 2024 International CES, and we went hands on. Our tour begins with the large NASync DXP8800 Pro 8-bay 3.5-inch NAS; and DXP6800 Pro 6-bay 3.5-inch NAS. These are powered by unspecified models of 12th Gen Core i7 and Core i5 processors, respectively, along with 8 GB of single-channel DDR5 memory, a 128 GB SSD for as their internal system disk, and dual 10 GbE networking interfaces. The two also feature their own HDMI display outputs from the UHD 700-series iGPUs, SD card readers, and Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Next up, are the smaller NASync DXP4800 4-bay, and DXP2800 2-bay NAS; which are powered by Intel N-series SoCs that feature only E-cores; 8 GB of DDR5 memory, 32 GB of eMMC based system disks, an SD 3.0 card reader, and 2.5 GbE networking interfaces. The DXP4800 has two 2.5 GbE interfaces, while the DXP2800 has just the one. The star attraction is the NASync DXP480T Plus, an all-flash based NAS. It has pretty much the same underpinnings as the DXP6800, including a 12th Gen Core i5, 8 GB of DDR5 memory, and a 128 GB SSD as system drive; but comes with four M.2-2280 slots, each with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring. You get one 10 GbE networking interface, two Thunderbolt 4, an unspecified Wi-Fi + Bluetooth interface (possibly 6E), and an HDMI output from the iGPU of the Core i5.

MSI is planning to expand its small lineup of motherboards with ATX12VO power connectivity—the new desktop motherboard power standard that does away with the 5 V and 3.3 V power domains, and relies entirely on 12 V, with the aim of simplifying PSU designs and desktop PC power cabling. ATX12VO is still an emerging standard that hasn't gained traction in the DIY channel, but PC OEMs and systems integrators are beginning to catch on, for the cost savings to be had. MSI has been targeting this class of customers—OEMs and small SI, with motherboards under its mainstream PRO series. For the Socket LGA1700, the company has the PRO H610M 12VO, and now the company has its first ATX12VO motherboard for AMD Socket AM5—the PRO B650M 12VO/WiFi.

The company hasn't finalized the board design, but we know from its silhouette to be a Micro-ATX (240 mm x 240 mm) board, with the Socket AM5 wired to two DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16, a handful M.2 NVMe Gen 4 slots, and some basic connectivity, including onboard Wi-Fi. As with all ATX12VO motherboards we've seen to date, onboard VRM is used to switch 12 V to lower voltage domains, including 5 V and 3.3 V needed for SATA drives, and the likes. MSI also revealed that it is working on a branded ATX12VO power supply series, so both the retail and OEM/SI channel customers can buy the motherboard+PSU as combos from a single source. Not much else is known about these PSUs at this point.

AMD is preparing to launch its first APUs on the Socket AM5 desktop platform, with the Ryzen 7000G series. While the company has standardized integrated graphics with the Ryzen 7000 series, it does not consider the regular Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael" processors as APUs. AMD considers APUs to be processors with overpowered iGPUs that are fit for entry-mainstream PC gaming. As was expected for a while now, for the Ryzen 7000G series, AMD is tapping into its 4 nm "Phoenix" monolithic silicon, the same chip that powers the Ryzen 7040 series mobile processors. Proof of "Phoenix" making its way to desktop surfaced with CPU support lists for the latest AGESA SMUs (system management units) compiled by Reous, with the AGESA ComboAM5PI 1.0.8.0 listing support for "Raphael," as well as "Phoenix." Another piece of evidence was an ASUS B650 motherboard support page that listed a UEFI firmware update encapsulating 1.0.8.0, which references an "upcoming CPU."

Unlike "Raphael" and "Dragon Range," "Phoenix" is a monolithic processor die built on the TSMC 4 nm foundry node. Its CPU is based on the latest "Zen 4" microarchitecture, and features an 8-core/16-thread configuration, with 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. The star attraction here is the iGPU, which is based on the RDNA3 graphics architecture, meets the DirectX 12 Ultimate feature requirements, and is powered by 12 compute units worth 768 stream processors. Unlike "Raphael," the "Phoenix" silicon is known to feature an older PCI-Express Gen 4 root complex, with 24 lanes, so you get a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 PEG slot, one CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slot limited to Gen 4 x4, and a 4-lane chipset bus. "Phoenix" features a dual-channel (4 sub-channel) DDR5 memory controller, with native support for DDR5-5600. A big unknown with the Ryzen 7000G desktop APUs is whether they retain the Ryzen AI feature-set from the Ryzen 7040 series mobile processors.

ProGrade Digital, Inc., founded with a mission to provide the highest quality professional grade digital memory cards and workflow solutions, announces the 3rd generation of its CFexpress Type B Cobalt-class memory card in a new 1.3 TB capacity. This new generation features the same industry-leading quality of ProGrade current 2nd generation 325 GB and 650 GB capacity cards, but now leverages PCIe Gen 4 interconnect with NVMe 1.4c host controller interface. ProGrade Digital's 3rd generation CFexpress Cobalt cards are fully compliant with the just released CFexpress 4.0 specification, and provide read speeds of up to 3,400 MB/s, burst write speeds of up to 3,000 MB/s, and sustained write speeds of up to 2,800 MB/s - ideally suited for the highest-resolution cinema-grade video capture applications. As in past Cobalt-class memory card generations, the highest endurance and reliability memory technology is utilized - ensuring years of trouble-free, high-performance capture.

"The introduction of our 3rd generation CFexpress Cobalt card at the 1.3 TB capacity point provides the extra space and unparalleled performance needed for the very highest resolution video capture needs," said Wes Brewer, Founder and CEO of ProGrade Digital. "Our inclusion of PCIe Gen 4 controller technology, coupled with upcoming USB4 high-speed readers will allow offloading speeds 3x greater than previously possible, providing a dramatic reduction in workflow processing time."

ProGrade Digital, founded with a mission to provide the highest quality professional grade digital memory cards and workflow solutions, announces its new PG05.6 card reader, a single-slot reader designed specifically for the latest CFexpress 4.0 (PCIe Gen 4) Type B memory cards. The PG05.6 reader is based on the latest USB4 technology which is designed to achieve speeds of up to 40 Gbits/sec. When used in conjunction with the latest CFexpress 4.0 (PCIe Gen 4) memory cards, benchmark tests highlight a tripling of data transfer speed from card to host. The PG05.6 is also equipped with ProGrade's patented magnetic base and an adhesive metal plate that allows users to mount the reader to any work surface, such as the back of a laptop. The new reader is also supplied with a certified USB 4.0 cable - assuring the maximum performance possible.

"Our new PG05.6 reader provides a tremendous leap forward in workflow performance by allowing content offload speeds to be reduced by 67% when compared to the performance of USB 3.2, Gen 2 technology of our current product line-up", said Wes Brewer, CEO and Founder of ProGrade Digital. "Along with faster speeds comes the need to provide extra cooling capability for reader and card - something we've spent more than a year perfecting in the new design."

GIGABYTE unveiled the first Mini-ITX motherboard to feature the entry-level AMD A620 chipset. The UD-A620I-X offers a comprehensive I/O feature-set. The board draws power from a 24-pin ATX and a single 8-pin EPS, and uses a 9-phase VRM to power the SoC. This board is restricted to 65 W TDP processors (7600, 7700, 7900 and possibly Ryzen PRO desktop processors that are 65 W). The processor is wired to two DDR5 DIMM slots, and a PCI-Express 4.0 x16, which is really all you need for this generation of graphics cards.

A downside of the A620 platform is that it doesn't support PCIe Gen 5 on even the CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slots—the one on this board is Gen 4. Display connectivity on the UD-A620I includes an HDMI and DisplayPort. Networking interfaces include Wi-Fi 6 wireless, and 2.5 GbE wired. Storage connectivity, besides the Gen 4 NVMe slot, includes two SATA 6 Gbps ports. You get at least two USB 3.2 ports from the processor, four USB 3.2 type-A ports on the rear I/O, an internal type-E port (for security keys), and an internal USB 3.2 header. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Apple today at WWDC announced a slew of new products, but one major one that the industry has been waiting for is the Apple silicon update to the Mac Pro. The new Mac Pro features the similarly new M2 Ultra which combines two M2 Max SoCs together via their UltraFusion interconnect, similar to M1 Ultra. M2 Ultra remains on TSMC's 5 nm and features 24-cores as well as configuration options for up to a 76 FSTP GPU slice and 192 GB of unified RAM. Apple is making bold claims about M2 Ultra's performance in comparison to the outgoing Intel Mac Pro, claiming it to be 3x faster than the fastest Intel configuration. The new Mac Pro doesn't change the chassis or aesthetic of the 2019 Intel based Mac Pro, which means that it retains a much wider array of expansion options in both tower or rack mount configurations. Expansion options include eight Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB 3.2 Type A, two HDMI, dual 10GbE ports, and a 3.5 mm audio jack on the rear. Inside the mostly empty chassis there are six open PCI-E Gen 4 x16 slots for expansion, however Apple will likely still not support third-party graphics options on Apple silicon machines so these slots are for predominantly for accelerator, capture, network, broadcast, and storage expansion boards. However, what appears to be a 12VHPWR sits alongside a pair of SATA expansion ports above the PCI-E on the motherboard. The 2023 M2 Mac Pro will start at $6999 USD and is available starting June 13th.

The "AD107" is expected to be the smallest client GPU based on the NVIDIA "Ada Lovelace" graphics architecture. The upcoming GeForce RTX 4060 (non-Ti) is rumored to be maxing this silicon out (enabling all available shaders). MEGAsizeGPU scored one of the first pictures of the "AD107" in the flesh, revealing a small fiberglass substrate, and a visibly smaller die than the "AD106" powering the RTX 4060 Ti.

The "AD107" silicon is expected to feature 3,072 CUDA cores across 24 SM (streaming multiprocessors). The GPU features a 128-bit wide memory interface much like the "AD106," and NVIDIA is expected to use conventional 17 Gbps GDDR6 memory, which works out to 272 GB/s memory bandwidth. 8 GB is the standard memory size for the RTX 4060. With "Ada," NVIDIA has rebalanced the memory sub-system with greater reliance on on-die caches, and the "AD107" features a 24 MB L2 cache. Much like the "AD106," the smaller "AD107" features a PCI-Express 4.0 x8 host interface. The ace up its sleeve has to be power, with even the maxed out RTX 4060 only being rated for 119 W of TGP.

NVIDIA has traditionally refrained from lowering the PCIe lane counts on its mid-range GPUs, doing so only with its most entry-level SKUs, however, this is about to change with the GeForce RTX 40-series. A VideoCardz report says that the upcoming GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, based on the AD106 silicon, comes with a host interface of PCI-Express 4.0 x8.

While this is still plenty of interface bandwidth for a GPU of this market segment, with bandwidth comparable to that of PCI-Express 3.0 x16, using the RTX 4060 Ti on older platforms, such as 10th Gen Intel Core "Comet Lake," or even much newer processors such as the AMD Ryzen 5700G "Cezanne," would run the GPU at PCI-Express 3.0 x8, as the GPU physically lacks the remaining 8 lanes. The lower PCIe lane count should simplify board design for AIC partners, as it reduces the PCB traces and SMDs associated with each individual PCIe lane. Much like DRAM chip traces, PCIe traces are meticulously designed by EDA software (and later validated), to be of equal length across all lanes, for signal integrity.

ASUS today unveiled the TUF Gaming A620-PRO WiFi, a Socket AM5 motherboard based on the entry-level AMD A620 chipset. When ASUS debuted its A620 motherboard lineup, it lacked a product in the ATX form-factor, and its top motherboard model at the time was the Micro-ATX TUF Gaming A620M-Plus WiFi. The new A620-PRO WiFi is feature-packed, and looks like a product from a segment above. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, and 8+4 pin EPS, and although you don't get CPU overclocking support with this chipset, there's plenty of CPU power delivery for even 12-core and 16-core processors. A 13-phase VRM conditions power for the processor.

The Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, and two CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slots, each with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring. A PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot (electrical Gen 3 x2), and two Gen 3 x1 slots wired to the A620 FCH, make for the rest of the expansion feature-set. Besides the CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slots, you get four SATA 6 Gbps ports from the A620 chipset for storage. Display connectivity includes a DisplayPort and HDMI. Networking connectivity consists of a 2.5 GbE wired Ethernet driven by a Realtek 8125 series controller; and 802.11ax (WiFi 6), with Bluetooth 5.3 (possibly an Intel WLAN module). USB ports include two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A, two 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 type-A and type-C, and four 5 Gbps ports via two internal USB 3.2 headers or internal ports, besides a handful USB 2.0 headers. The onboard audio solution is driven by an entry-level Realtek ALC892 CODEC, with 7.1-channel analog jacks. The motherboard offers USB BIOS Flashback. The company didn't reveal pricing.

In Win launches its Foldable POC Mini-ITX Tower - the latest iBuildiShare series case you can shape yourself! In Win Development Inc. (In Win), a leading innovator in PC enthusiast gaming hardware, has introduced its POC Mini-ITX tower PC chassis. POC is the latest addition to In Win's iBuildiShare series. Encouraging the development of dexterity skills both inside and out of a PC.

DIY PC builders of all ages can assemble a Mini-ITX enclosure from this vibrant modular kit by actually bending and shaping each panel. Similar to the art of origami, but using 0.8 mm foldable SECC steel panels instead of paper. This durable, lightweight material can withstand multiple bends. Delivered flat-packed, POC minimizes packaging materials and weight, reducing environmental impact.

Here's the first picture of the GIGABYTE A620M Gaming X, a product the company is targeting at the entry-level gaming PC crowd. The Socket AM5 Micro-ATX motherboard is based on the AMD A620 chipset, which lacks CPU overclocking, and limits both PEG and M.2 PCIe to Gen 4. The board draws power from a 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors; and uses an 8+2 phase VRM to condition power for the processor. You get four DDR5 DIMM slots, and expansion slots that include a PCI-Express 4.0 x16, and a PCI-Express 3.0 x1.

Storage connectivity on the GIGABYTE A620M Gaming X includes an M.2 slot with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring from the processor, and four SATA 6 Gbps ports from the A620 FCH. The M.2 slot gets an included M.2-2280 heatsink. Display outputs include HDMI and DisplayPort. Networking is care of a 1 GbE wired Ethernet backed by a Realtek controller; and a basic 6-channel HD audio solution consisting of a Realtek ALC887 CODEC, electrical isolation, and audio-grade capacitors. You get two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports, one of which is type-C. Four 5 Gbps USB 3.1 ports (two type-A on the rear panel, two via headers); and a handful USB 2.0 ports, make for the rest of it. The board's empty traces suggest that GIGABYTE has the option to create a variant that includes WiFi.

A curious OEM-only AMD Radeon RX 6300 desktop graphics card surfaced on Chinese peer-to-peer marketplaces. The card is a true single-slot, half-height (low-profile) graphics card, with an active fan-heatsink based cooling; and two display outputs—a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports. The card draws all its power from the PCIe slot, and features a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 host interface. The RX 6300 is based on the same 6 nm "Navi 24" silicon as the RX 6400 and RX 6500 XT, although it is rumored to be heavily cut down. The mobile RX 6300M has 768 out of 1,024 stream processors enabled, so one can expect a similar cut-down for the RX 6300. Perhaps the most interesting piece of specifications is the memory—2 GB GDDR6. It's possible that the card has a puny 32-bit memory interface, half that of the 64-bit interface the "Navi 24" is capable of. The person selling it has it listed at just ¥399 RMB (around $60).

It's almost cherry-blossom season in Japan, and MINISFORUM released a special edition mini PC to mark it. The UM773 SE has a pastel pink body color along with a cherry-blossom print. Under the hood, it rocks an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor (6 nm, Zen 3+, "Rembrandt Refresh" silicon), with an 8-core/16-thread CPU, and a 12-CU RDNA2 iGPU (Radeon 680M). You get two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots to drop in your own memory, and an M.2-2280 NVMe SSD slot with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring, to use your own SSD, and a 2.5-inch drive bay with SATA 6 Gbps.

Networking connectivity on the MINISFORUM UM773 SE include 2.5 GbE, WiFi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.2. USB connectivity includes USB4, for a type-C port that supports DisplayPort passthrough from the iGPU. There are a couple of 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-C ports, a couple of such type-A ports, and a couple of USB 2.0 type-A. A couple of HDMI ports, and HD audio make for the rest of it. The box measures 127 mm x 128 mm x 47 mm (WxDxH). The UM773 SE is sold either as a barebones that lacks memory and SSDs; or as prebuilts with 1x 16 GB, 2x 8 GB, and 2x 16 GB memory; each with a 512 GB NVMe SSD.

Update Mar 10th: MINISFORUM confirmed the US price of the UM773 SE to be $429 for the barebones, $579 for the prebuilt with 16 GB memory and 512 GB SSD, $639 for the one with 32 GB memory and 512 GB SSD, and $679 for the top model with 32 GB memory and 1 TB SSD storage.

Late last year, it was reported that Intel is skipping its upcoming "Meteor Lake" microarchitecture for the desktop platform, giving it a mobile-platform debut in late-2023, with "Arrow Lake" following on in 2024, which would address both platforms. In the interim, Intel was expected to release a "Raptor Lake Refresh" architecture for desktop in 2023. It turns out now, that both the "Raptor Lake Refresh" and "Meteor Lake" architectures are coming to desktop—we just don't know when.

Apparently, Intel will brazen it out against AMD with a maximum CPU core-count of just 6 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores possible for "Meteor Lake." It's just that both the P-cores and a E-cores get an IPC uplift with "Meteor Lake." The processor features up to six "Redwood Cove" P-cores with an IPC uplift over the current "Raptor Cove" cores; and introduce the new "Crestmont" E-cores. A lot will depend on the IPC uplift of the latter. Leaf_hobby, a reliable source with Intel leaks on social media, has some interesting details on the I/O capabilities of "Meteor Lake" on the desktop platform.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation ("Silicon Motion"), a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, today announced the SM2268XT, its latest high-performance PCIe Gen 4 SSD controller solution optimized for higher speed NAND transfer rates. The SM2268XT's superior performance and robust reliability allows customers to accelerate development of next-generation SSDs using current and future TLC and QLC 3D NAND flash with comprehensive data integrity and correction without compromising throughput and latency.

The SM2268XT features a dual-core ARM R8 CPU with four lanes of 16 Gb/s PCIe data flow and supports four NAND channels with up to 3,200 MT/s per channel, enabling designers to take advantage of higher throughput next-generation high-speed TLC and QLC 3D NAND flash. Its multi-core design automatically balances the compute load to deliver industry-leading sequential read and write speeds of 7,400 MB/s & 6,500 MB/s, and random read & write speed of 1,200K IOPS. In addition, its advanced architecture enables lower power consumption and rigorous data protection, providing high performance and reliability in a cost-effective DRAM-less PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD solution.

ZikeTech is a crowd-funded peripherals startup, which claims to have the "world's first and fastest USB4 SSD." The ZikeDrive is a portable SSD that features an extruded aluminium chassis that doubles up as a heatsink for the M.2 NVMe SSD underneath. The drive features a M.2-2280 slot with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 connection, and a bridge chip that converts this to a 40 Gbps USB4, giving it slightly more bandwidth than PCI-Express 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps). This allows a PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD to have sequential transfer speeds of up to 3.8 GB/s. The ZikeDrive starts at $99 for the bare enclosure, or with pre-installed 1 TB, 2 TB, or 4 TB drives that offer sequential speeds of up to 3763 MB/s reads, with up to 3146 MB/s writes; however, it is currently an Indiegogo project. Find more details on how to get one here.

At first glance, the HYTE Y40 may seem like a short and stout Micro-ATX tower, but up close, it's actually an ATX mid-tower that just so happens to look stout, and ready for the latest generation of CPU cooling solutions and 4-odd slot graphics cards. The Y40 retains HYTE's essential design language of making sure the front-left panel seems like a contiguous glasshouse. The case is horizontally partitioned, with the bottom compartment having the PSU- and drive bays, while the upper compartment has a spacious motherboard tray. This is where things get very interesting.

The HYTE Y40 is unconventional in that all the 7 expansion slots of its motherboard tray are half-height (low-profile), while there are four full-height vertical slots, which is where you're supposed to install your graphics card. HYTE includes a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 riser with the case. All other expansion cards need to be half-height. Most aftermarket non-graphics add-on cards these days, such as WLAN cards, 10 GbE cards, USB/Thunderbolt cards, or even some sound cards, are half-height and include low-profile brackets anyway. The case is much longer than the motherboard tray itself, which opens up room for a 280 mm radiator mount along the plane of the motherboard tray. The Y40 offers clearance for graphics cards up to 4 slots thick, up to 94 mm tall, and up to 42.2 cm in length (the ASUS ROG Strix RTX 4090 should fit). There's also room for CPU coolers up to 18.3 cm in height.

The online datasheets of some of the first AMD Ryzen 7040 series "Phoenix Point" mobile processors went live, detailing the processor's I/O feature-set. We learn that AMD has decided to give PCI-Express Gen 5 a skip with this silicon, at least in its mobile avatar. The Ryzen 7040 SoC puts out a total of 20 PCI-Express Gen 4 lanes, all of which are "usable" (i.e. don't count 4 lanes toward chipset-bus). This would mean that the silicon has a full PCI-Express 4.0 x16 interface for discrete graphics, and a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 link for a CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slot; unlike the "Raphael" desktop MCM and the "Dragon Range" mobile MCM, whose client I/O dies put out a total of 28 Gen 5 lanes (24 usable, with x16 PEG + two x4 toward CPU-attached M.2 slots).

Another interesting aspect about "Phoenix Point" is its memory controllers. The SoC features a dual-channel (four sub-channel) DDR5 memory interface, besides support for LPDDR5 and LPDDR5x. DDR5-5600 and LPDDR5-7600 are the native speeds supported. What's really interesting is the maximum amount of memory supported, which stands at 256 GB—double that of "Raphael" and "Dragon Range," which top out at 128 GB. This bodes well for the eventual Socket AM5 APUs AMD will design based on the "Phoenix Point" silicon. Older Ryzen 5000G "Cezanne" desktop APUs are known for superior memory overclocking capabilities to 5000X "Vermeer," with the monolithic nature of the silicon favoring latencies. Something similar could be expected from "Phoenix Point."

GIGABYTE displayed their latest motherboards and graphics cards at the 2023 International CES, covering their Socket LGA1700 Intel 700-series chipset; and Socket AM5 AMD 600-series chipset. The Z790 AORUS Tachyon is the company's top-grade LGA1700 motherboard targeting the professional overclocking crowd. The board is designed to chase down CPU and memory overclocking world records, featuring the company's most powerful CPU VRM solution, and a 1 DIMM-per-channel DDR5 memory setup that preferred by overclockers for supporting the highest memory overclocks with the tightest timings. There are several overclocker-friendly features besides the onboard buttons—dual-BIOS ROMs, angled connectors for bench cases, consolidated voltage measurement points, and a feature-packed BIOS setup program.

Over in the AMD side, GIGABYTE's top Socket AM5 motherboard is the X670E AORUS Xtreme, which is a feature-packed motherboard with possibly the strongest CPU VRM solutions in the market for Ryzen 7000 processors, and with the best VRM cooling. In addition to the PCIe Gen 5 M.2 slot wired to the AM5 SoC, you get additional Gen 5 slots that subtract from the x16 PEG slot. The AORUS Xtreme also has the most feature-rich BIOS available among GIGABYTE's AM5 lineup. The B650I AORUS Ultra is a premium Mini-ITX Socket AM5 motherboard based on the AMD B650 chipset. Despite its compact size, it gives you a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 PEG slot, a Gen 5 M.2 slot, and two additional Gen 4 M.2 slots, besides the latest wired- and wireless connectivity. We also snapped the B650 AERO G motherboard targeting creators, and the mainstream B650 AORUS Elite AX.