The QUADRO made by Aqua Computer is a four channel PWM fan controller with outstanding functionality, equally suited for water cooled or air cooled computers. In addition, QUADRO has an RGBpx output for individual control of up to 64 addressable LEDs.

Fan controller
The four fan channels of the QUADRO can be configured independently, the high maximum power output of 25 watts per channel allows for connecting multiple fans to each output of the QUADRO using suitable splitters.

Realtek, known more for its cheap Ethernet PHYs and audio CODECs, entered the SSD controller market in 2017, with mainstream SSD controllers. This year, the company plans to take on giants such as Silicon Motion, Phison, Intel, and Samsung, with its own high-performance controller, the RTS5762. The PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface provides 4,000 MB/s of raw bandwidth per direction, and while it's technically impossible for any device to transfer its payload data at that speed (on account of various protocol overheads), very few PCI-Express 3.0 x4 SSDs get within 80th percentile of it (3200 MB/s per direction transfers). It's only recently that 3400 MB/s became the gold-standard of high-end M.2 NVMe SSDs, but Realtek plans to change that.

The RTS5762 is capable of up to 3,500 MB/s reads, or 87.5% saturation of the PCI-Experss 3.0 x4 bus. It supports up to 8 NAND flash channels, 3D TLC and 3D QLC NAND flash memory, and takes advantage of the newer NVMe 1.3 protocol. The only other controller right now that's capable of 3,500 MB/s reads is Samsung "Phoenix," found exclusively on the 970 Pro series (and no other brand's products). Sequential write performance is where this Realtek chip edges past Samsung, with the company showing CDM performance of up to 3,000 MB/s writes, whereas the 970 Pro is only specified to write up to 2,700 MB/s. Realtek also beefed up its mainstream NVMe controller portfolio with the new RTS5763DL. If drives based on this chip are priced right, it could carve out a new market segment between cheaper PCIe 3.0 x2 drives, and "upper mainstream" x4 drives such as the Samsung 970 EVO. Armed with just 4 NAND flash channels and no DRAM to cushion it, the RTS5763DL reads at up to 2150 MB/s, and writes at up to 1475 MB/s (as tested on CDM), making it faster than PCIe 3.0 x2 drives, at least in the sequential reads test.

Marvell, a leader in storage, networking and connectivity semiconductor solutions, today announced its latest NVM Express (NVMe ) solid-state drive (SSD) controller family for mainstream and high-performance PC client and edge computing SSDs. The Gen 3x4 PCIe SSD controllers, the 4-channel 88SS1084 and 8-channel 88SS1100, bring leading performance, endurance and reliability to the industry and will help broaden the adoption of NVMe SSDs across emerging client and edge computing applications. The controllers integrate Marvell's fourth generation of NANDEdge technology, offering the advanced error correction capabilities to address the increasing demands required to enable future SSD solutions with emerging 96-layer triple level-cell (TLC) and quad level-cell(QLC) NAND architectures.

As gaming, video-on-demand, CAD, imaging, photography and video surveillance proliferate and scale, NVMe SSDs can meet the increasing storage performance and capacity requirements that these end use applications seek. The new Marvell client NVMe SSD controller family can provide up to 3.6GB/s of bandwidth and up to 700,000 input output per second (IOPS). The 88SS1084 and 88SS1100 devices can save system power consumption by supporting lower voltage NAND devices and LPDDR4 DRAM components. These features enable PCs and edge computing devices to process and store increasingly data-intensive workloads more quickly and reliably.

Aquantia, a leader in Multi-Gig Ethernet, today introduced the AQtion AQC111U and AQC112U, two USB to Multi-Gig Ethernet controller ICs for third-party USB v3.1 adapters and docking stations. These high-performance, small footprint devices enable a new class of accessories for laptop users who want mobility combined with the reliability and performance of wired Multi-Gig Ethernet connectivity when at their desks. The small form factor of these adapters makes them a perfect solution for notebook users.

Transitioning the notebook market to Multi-Gig is a huge opportunity. Global notebook shipments for 2017 registered 161.6 million units. At the same time the total docking station market is anticipated to reach 7.52 billion USD in revenue by 2024. Further, the global docking station market is expected to witness a CAGR of 5.42% over the forecast period.

Phanteks today announced the availability of the new Digital RGB product line up. Featuring High Quality and High Density LED chips for the smoothest color gradiants and vibrant colors. The controller lets you choose between the many stylish color profiles with an easy to use remote. Digital RGB from Phanteks is simply plug-and-play with the highest lighting quality.

Marvell, a leader in storage, networking and connectivity semiconductor solutions, today announced that it is launching innovative NVM Express (NVMe)-based chipset solutions that will accelerate the time to market for application-optimized data center SSD implementations. These new, highly-versatile building blocks can optimally address current and emerging workload storage requirements, spanning capacity, latency, performance, power and cost, to enable tailored SSD solutions for specific cloud and enterprise workloads.

The proliferation of cloud services and new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, is driving various workloads in the data center. These evolving and expanding workloads can have differing storage requirements that emerging SSD form factors are targeted to address. Marvell has developed innovative NVMe chipsets capable of powering the larger Enterprise Data Storage Form Factors (EDSFF), Next Generation Small Form Factors (NGSFF) and various customized form factors, providing the ability to increase storage capacity, performance and overall workload efficiencies.

Thermaltake today introduced the Riing Plus 20 RGB TT Premium Edition, a large 200 mm fan studded with RGB LEDs. The 30 mm-thick fan features a 11-blade impeller backed by a motor that features hydraulic bearing; and a fan frame with 24 RGB diodes studded along the bore of the frame, which support 16.7 million colors. What's interesting about this fan is that it plugs into your motherboard via the 9-pin USB 2.0/1.1 header, from which it not just powers the fan and the lighting, but also takes in software control for both.

The included Digital Lighting Controller (DLC) module ensures you don't run out of USB headers if you have many of these fans, by taking input from one header (two 500 mA inputs), and putting out three USB headers for up to three fans. Additional power is drawn from a 4-pin Molex input. The Tt RGB Plus software lets you control the fan on your PC, and through a connected smartphone. As a fan itself, the Riing Plus 20 RGB spins between 500 to 1,000 RPM, pushing up to 118 CFM of air, at up to 29.2 dBA of noise output. Available now as a single-pack that includes one fan, the DLC, and cables, the Riing Plus 20 RGB TT Premium Edition is priced at USD $59.99.

Micron Technology, Inc., a leading memory and storage provider, today announced with Rambus Inc., Northwest Logic and Avery Design, their efforts to deliver a comprehensive solution for GDDR6, the world's fastest discrete memory. This first-of-its-kind solution would enable GDDR6 use in advanced applications such as high-performance networking, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and 5G infrastructure. Prior generations of GDDR memories, enabled by GPU vendors, were focused exclusively on the graphics market. While this allowed graphics and game console designs to take advantage of the significant performance advantage offered by GDDR, other applications could not because the necessary building blocks were not available.

QLC is the next big step in flash memory, with another bump in density increases and, crucially for consumers, revised, lower pricing for flash-based products that employ the new technology. We've already had a sneak peek at what QLC-based products can deliver - Intel's leaked SSD 660P employs QLC memory and is expected to deliver 1,800 MB/s in sequential read and up to 1,200 MB/s in sequential write speeds with 150,000 IOPS. Expect base drive capacities to increase - QLC being higher density would mean fewer NAND chips, but manufacturers want to keep the added performance of chip parallelism.

However, flash needs controllers to deliver its true potential, and Marvell has one up its sleeve. The new controller will eventually replace the NVMe 1.1 Eldora (88SS1093) used in some popular SSDs that are already shipping, such as Plextor's M9Pe, and the folks at Tom's hardware took a peek at it - running the current TLC memory, that is. The controller delivered over 670,000 IOPS and 3,500 MB/s in the demo, though there's no information on the density of the drive. But for those performance levels, it must've had a good amount of silicon. While not representative of final QLC memory performance of the controller, it's good to know that at least this part of the ecosystem is good to go. Now if only QLC was quick and hot off the presses, we could see a $100 512 GB SSD.

At its 2018 International CES booth, Phanteks showed off four new RGB LED product lines, beginning with the Digital RGB Controller and Digital RGB Expansion Hub. The Digital RGB Controller lets you put out three RGB headers with a manual control pod that gives you color, brightness, and light modes with a 3-button wired remote pod. You can also connect this controller to a USB header for software control (via Aura Sync, Mystic Light, etc.). The RGB/D-RGB Expansion Hub lets you connect an addition four RGB headers by taking in two upstream inputs (D-RGB and RGB), and power from SATA-power. You can expand up to 5 meters of RGB LED-strips, and connect up to 8 D-RGB products from Phanteks.

The company also unveiled 40 cm long RGB LED strips that come with 30 diodes, each. These strips come with 3M adhesive tape on one side, and silicone casing on the other, and are rated by its makers to be water-resistant. Each pack of the Digital-RGB LED strip comes with two 40 cm strips, which each take in standardized D-RGB inputs. Lastly, there's the Halos Lux RGB digital fan frame, which lets you convert any 120 mm fan into an RGB LED-lit fan, so you can light up your favorite (and expensive) SanAces or Noctuas. You attach the frame ideally along the intake end of your fan, and bolt it in place. 30 diodes project a smoothly transitioning lighting onto your impeller. The body of the frame is made of aluminium. It takes in standardized D-RGB input. The RGB/D-RGB controller hub is priced at USD $24.99, the RGB/D-RGB Expansion hub at $19.99, the Halos Lux Digital 120/140 at $$19.99/21.99, respectively; and LED strips (pack of 2) at $19.99.

3dRudder, an innovative technology company, leader in delivering solutions to virtual reality motion issues, announces today the 3dRudder Blackhawk, a new foot motion controller for PC Gaming and VR, to be honored with a 'CES Innovation Award' in the "Computer Accessories" product category and presented for the first time at CES 2018 in Las Vegas.

The 3dRudder Blackhawk represents the next evolution in the product line and offers a newly redesigned device providing added functionalities. It fully really takes the space limitations out of the room-scale VR experience. Users control their motion intuitively with their feet while sitting, leaving the hands free to grab hand controllers and maximize the immersion while playing games.

Today Intel is announcing the Intel Thunderbolt 3 controller JHL7x40 series, code named Titan Ridge. Comprised of three controllers, the JHL7x40 series is a compatible extension of the current line of Intel JHL6x40 Thunderbolt 3 controllers, code named Alpine Ridge. The JHL7540 and 7340 controllers provide computer makers the same Thunderbolt 3 40Gb/s performance and feature set as Alpine Ridge, and also adds DisplayPort 1.4 capability for increased video performance.

The JHL7440 controller was specifically designed for Thunderbolt 3 monitor and enterprise dock makers who choose to offer basic compatibility when a Thunderbolt 3 monitor or dock is connected to a USB-C computer port. To accomplish this, the JHL7440 controller integrates USB-C computer port compatibility so a Thunderbolt 3 monitor or dock can intelligently provide more performance and features when connected to a Thunderbolt 3 computer port, and basic compatibility when the Thunderbolt 3 monitor or dock is connected to a USB-C computer port. Additionally, as with the other controllers in the JHL7x40 series, the JHL7440 supports DisplayPort 1.4.

Vancouver-based startup BioInteractive Technologies Inc. has developed TENZR: the only accurate, hands-free, camera-free, wrist-worn gesture recognition controller for VR AR. For the last three years the company has focused on developing an easy to use, comfortable, accurate, and reliable gesture recognition wearable that will help replace current mobile VR AR controllers. This innovative product will provide a more immersive experience to users by freeing the hand from holding bulky button-based controllers. TENZR's new design is aimed at developers and early adopters that are interested in building and interfacing with systems that have Bluetooth connectivity. Its new design is comfortable, easy to use, and has a similar form factor to Fitbit Charge.

Thermaltake, a leading brand in PC chassis, power supply units and cooling markets, is thrilled to launch the all-new 9 port LED hub crafted for Thermaltake Plus RGB Family - TT Sync Controller TT Premium Edition. Manufactured with a stable SATA power input, the controller is designed for synchronizing Thermaltake Plus RGB series addressable LED products with selected ASUS, GIGABYTE and MSI motherboards. The supported product list includes Riing Plus RGB Series radiator fans, Pacific W4 Plus CPU waterblock, Pacific V-GTX 1080Ti Plus Transparent Series GPU waterblocks, Pacific PR22-D5 Plus Reservoir/Pump Combo, Pacific RL360 Plus RGB Radiator and Pacific Lumi Plus LED Strips. Once users have connected the aforementioned products with the controller and downloaded ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion or MSI Mystic Light Sync on the PC, they can control the light directly from the software without installing Riing Plus RGB software and any extra lighting controllers.

Kingston Digital Europe Co LLP, an affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it has shipped over 18 million SSDs worldwide utilizing Phison controllers symbolizing the strength of a longstanding relationship. Kingston and Phison Electronics Corp have been close collaborators for over a decade, first starting in USB Flash drives and then moving onto SSDs.

In 2010, both companies jointly invested in a new company to create embedded solutions to ease the design-in effort for handheld device makers expediting the overall product development cycle and bringing products to market faster. Both Phison and Kingston share and combine their expertise in engineering, production, sales and procurement. The company, Kingston Solutions, Inc., has grown exponentially from smart phones and tablets to a diverse portfolio including wearables, slot machines and consumer appliances such as smart beds and thermostats.

This news may really not come as such; it's more of a statement in logical, albeit unconfirmed facts rather than something unexpected. AMD is working (naturally) on a GDDR6 memory controller, which it's looking to leverage in its next generations of graphics cards. This is an expected move: AMD is expected to continue using more exotic HBM memory implementations on its top tier products, but that leaves a lot of GPU space in their product stack that needs to be fed by high-speed memory solutions. With GDDR6 nearing widespread production and availability, it's only natural that AMD is looking to upgrade its controllers for the less expensive, easier to implement memory solution on its future products.

The confirmation is still worth mention, though, as it comes straight from a principal engineer on AMD's technical team, Daehyun Jun. A Linked In entry (since removed) stated that he was/is working on a DRAM controller for GDDR6 memory since September 2016. GDDR6 memory brings advantages of higher operating frequencies and lower power consumption against GDDR5 memory, and should deliver higher potential top frequencies than GDDR5X, which is already employed in top tier NVIDIA cards. GDDR6, when released, will start by delivering today's GDDR5X top speeds of roughly 14 Gbps, with a current maximum of 16 Gbps being achievable on the technology. This means more bandwidth (up-to double over current 8 Gbps GDDR5) and higher clock frequency memory. GDDR6 will be rated at 1.35 v, the same as GDDR5X.

As a brand, BitFenix is best known for unique PC cases and modding accessories, always striving to provide high-quality PC components and offering diversity for modders and gamers alike. Today, BitFenix is proud to announce its latest addition to the Spectre fan series, the Spectre Pro RGB.

As a direct successor to the Spectre Pro, the Spectre Pro RGB is a high performance silent fan, featuring a high-pressure CFM design for maximum pressure and airflow, delivering a torrent of air to keep systems cool. It is equipped with reinforced fan-blades to assure they resist warping even while spinning at high-speed for long durations, thus providing durability and longevity. The fluid dynamic bearing technology will keep the fan silent, even during heavy load.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveiled the Razer Wolverine Tournament Edition, an addition to its Razer Wolverine XBOX controller line designed specifically for professional gamers. The new controller retains the ergonomic design and highly praised features of Wolverine Ultimate. Tested and validated by many of the world's best professional esports athletes, the Razer Wolverine Tournament Edition ensures the highest levels of performance and comfort.

"Razer has been great to work with throughout the development of the Wolverine Tournament Edition, taking direct feedback from our professional players and implementing it into the controller," says Alex Gonzalez, Head of Red Reserve's North American Operations. "This process has helped guarantee that the wolverine gives our players the biggest edge over the rest of the competitive scene.

NZXT today announces the newest member of the GRID+ family, providing a smart solution for advanced digital fan control. "Finding the right mix between cooling and noise reduction can be complex and time-consuming, even for experienced builders. GRID+ V3 provides a smart solution for advanced digital fan control using our intuitive CAM dashboard. We're also introducing Adaptive Noise Reduction, allowing you to reduce fan noise up to 40%. With GRID+ V3, you won't have to choose between silence and cooling-you'll get the perfect balance of both." says Johnny Hou, NZXT's founder, and CEO.

By measuring fan noise levels, CPU and GPU load, and system temperature, CAM leverages machine learning to provide the optimal thermal profile with the lowest possible fan noise. Custom fan profiles can also be set and adjusted through CAM.

MSI, leader in true gaming hardware, today announces an all-new series of game controller, named Force. The Force GC30 and Force GC20 controllers are specifically designed for use on multiple platforms including Windows, Android and popular gaming consoles. PC gamers will be able to enjoy their sports, racing and role-playing games with the comfort of these new controllers.

For an optimal gaming experience, both the GC30 and GC20 controllers feature an 8-way D-pad (directional pad) with a replaceable metal cover kept in place by a premium magnetic design. Depending on the type of game like ACT, FPS or RPG, you can easily choose your preferred cover. Ergonomically designed, the new Force controllers feature rubber side grips on both handles to ensure a solid grip for long-term play. Equipped with dual vibration motors, GC30 and GC20 controllers are able to use haptic feedback to enhance the gaming experience and provide an additional dimension of sensory input.

Phison isn't just a budget controller brand, as you well know, so in addition to their interesting, 2-channel NVMe NAND controller in the Phison E8, which should see products hitting retail in the following months, the company is also catering to the high performance crowds with the impressive E12 and S12 controllers. The E12 is definitely the star of Phison's new controller line-up - just look at those ratings of 3200 MB/s sequential read, 3000 MB/s sequential write, and 600K random read and random write IOPS. Naturally, those rated speeds should be taken with a measure of salt, as NAND type, its implementation and firmware tweaks all matter tremendously in extracting the best possible performance from high speed storage.

Contrary to the E8 budget Phison controller, the E12 will feature a full NVMe PCIe x4 interface, which allows for those speed ratings. The S12, on the other hand, is a more common SATA III controller, which means that its speeds of 550 MB/s sequential read and 530 MB/s sequential write are already hitting the interface's limits. Other than the interface and the rated speeds and IOPS, though, the specs are the same on these controllers: support for 3D NAND on MLC/TLC/QLC arrangements, 8-channel, LDPC, SmartECC, and End-to-End DPP support.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, announced the availability of the industry's broadest portfolio of merchant turnkey SSD (solid state disk) controller solutions, including the new ultra-high speed SM2262EN and SM2262 for client, the SM2263 for mainstream and the SM2263XT DRAM-less controller, which supports the BGA form factor.

With the new SM2262 and SM2263 series, Silicon Motion provides PCIe G3 x 4 Lanes NVMe 1.3 controllers while supporting the latest 3D NAND from the main flash manufacturers. The SM2262EN, an ultra-high performance SSD controller solution, delivers peak sequential read and write transfer speeds of up to 3,500 MB/s and 3,000 MB/s, respectively, and random read and write IOPS of up to 370,000 and 300,000. The SM2263 is targeted at mainstream client applications and features sequential read and write speeds of up to 2,400 MB/s and 1,700 MB/s respectively. The SM2263XT, a DRAM-less controller solution, reduces BOM cost and form factor without compromising performance while enabling 11.5mmx13mm BGA SSDs ideally suited for 2-in-1 systems, chromebooks and mobile devices.

Lamptron, the specialist in PC fan controllers, rolled out the CL420, a combination of a fan-controller, and an RGB LED lighting controller. The unit fits into a 5.25-inch drive bay, and gives you four domains, with two selectors, each - fan-speed, and color spectrum. In the fan-speed mode, you can adjust speed of up to four 4-pin PWM fans per domain. In the color mode, you turn the same knob to adjust color from across the 16.7 million-color RGB spectrum. It's not just fans, you can also directly plug in your RGB LED strips. The company didn't mention pricing, but announced that the CL420 will go on sale some time this August.

VIA Labs, Inc., a leading supplier of SuperSpeed USB and USB Power Delivery Controllers, today announced that the VIA Labs VL820 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Hub Controller has achieved SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps certification from the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). The VIA Labs VL820 is the world's first USB-IF Certified USB 3.1 Gen 2 Hub.

The VIA Labs VL820 features one upstream port and four downstream ports, each capable of supporting SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps devices, while providing backward compatibility for previous generation USB devices. The VIA Labs VL820 was designed with USB-C in mind, integrating an optionally configurable USB Billboard Device for Alternate Mode applications such as Thunderbolt 3 peripherals or DisplayPort over USB-C multi-function dongles.

Even though current VR controllers already do a competent job of tracking our movements in the 3D world, there is always room to improve (and VR has much, much room to improve.) AS such, valve is looking to improve the way we can interact with the VR worlds we are offered. And one of those ways is by improving gesture and hand recognition in these worlds. If ever something seemed to be designed to allow you to taunt your opponent, Valve's "Knuckles" controller is it.

Through the use of a new "CapSense" tech, which basically adds capacitive fields to the grip of the wand controller, games will be able to know whether you're fully gripping the controller or not. These sensors, which for now need to be calibrated on a per-user basis, can "detect the state of the user's hands", meaning, they're able to track the degree to which your fingers are curled or sticking out. Valve has used a technologically impressive solution for those cases where you might drop your controller for eagerness of showing your fingers to your enemies: an adjustable strap on both controllers that tightens around your hands. Valve has started to ship the Knuckles controllers out to developers, but there's no word yet on when consumer versions of the device might be available.After the break: bonus taunts.