ASUS at a private pre-Computex event gave us a closer look at a treasure of upcoming products. The star-attractions, however, were its AMD X570 motherboard family that's spread across nearly every brand: ROG Crosshair, ROG Strix, TUF Gaming, Prime, and for the very first time for the AM4 platform, the WS series. The crown jewel of course is the mini-ITX form-factor product, the ROG Strix X570-I Gaming. This board is quite an engineering feat considering the ≥15 Watts TDP of the X570 chipset, which requires active cooling in most cases. An intricate network of heatsinks suspended along heat-pipes leading up to a dense aluminium fin-stack ventilated by a 30 mm fan, cools both the chipset and CPU VRM. ASUS designed this board to handle even the 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X, but we don't expect too much overclocking headroom.

Xilinx, Inc., the leader in adaptive and intelligent computing, today announced that it has introduced a complete HDMI 2.1 IP subsystem to its portfolio of intellectual property cores, enabling Xilinx devices to transmit, receive and process up to 8K (7680 x 4320 pixels) ultra-high-definition (UHD) video in pro AV equipment, including cameras, streaming media players, professional monitors, LED walls, projectors and KVM, as well as broadcast products such as end points and infrastructure that are being upgraded to handle 8K video.

Customers are increasingly adopting machine learning to monetize and improve workflows in diverse applications such as broadcast, pro AV, automotive and surveillance. HDMI 2.1 data rates are provided by Xilinx's highly reliable high-speed I/O transceivers. This, combined with native 8K interfaces supported by HDMI 2.1 now make it possible to replace several ASSP's or fixed-function products support processing, compression, high-quality analytics and decision-making with a single Xilinx device.

AMD today unveiled its big annual driver releases for its consumer-graphics Radeon line, and the professional-graphics Radeon Pro and FirePro lines. The BAR (big annual release) for the latter is titled AMD Radeon Pro Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 WHQL, and introduces a slew of new features that add value to the company's FirePro and Radeon Pro graphics cards. Since its 2016 BAR (Radeon Pro Crimson ReLive), the company's regular driver updates for enterprises achieved a predictable cadence of the 2nd Wednesday of the 2nd month of each quarter, capped off with a big annual release in December, besides prioritized 24x7 support. This, AMD claims, has been well received by its customers.

With the Radeon Pro Adrenalin Edition, AMD is expanding its software in four key directions - Pro Render, Pro Settings, New Driver Options, and Virtualization. It also chronicles driver releases over 2017 have gradually increased performance levels by up to 16 percent compared to last year's big annual release. AMD expanded the feature-set of ProRender, its in-house and highly modular 3D rendering engine for CAD designers and 3D artists, including its support for Maxon Cinema 4D; interactive viewport de-noising for Blender; a new Game Engine Importer extension that can import geometry and materials in real-time from SolidWorks to Unreal Engine; accelerating VR ports of popular games and professional 3D scenes; and a set of additional features such as PBR Shader for Blender. The drivers also add macOS support for Maya and Blender, which will be implemented "soon," along with support for 2018 releases of 3DSMax and Maya.

ASUS today introduced the WS X299 SAGE motherboard, a socket LGA2066 motherboard designed for Intel Core X "Skylake-X" processors, in the SSI-CEB form-factor. This board is targeted at the same quasi-workstation crowd that the company's WS X299 Pro and WS X299 Pro SE are designed for, but unlike the latter, it lacks an iKVM remote-management chip. Those looking for more serious workstation builds involving something from Intel's Xeon stable or even 2P setups, should consider the larger WS C621E SAGE. The WS X299 SAGE is targeted at those who need the massive PCIe loadout of the C621E SAGE, but can make do with 1P Core X processors.

The ASUS WS X299 SAGE draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and a 6-pin PCIe power. An 8-phase VRM powers the CPU, and is rated to power 16-core and 18-core CPU models. The CPU socket is wired to eight DDR4 DIMM slots supporting up to 128 GB of quad-channel DDR4 memory; and seven PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots. Storage connectivity includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and two each of 32 Gb/s M.2 slots and 32 Gb/s U.2 ports. Four USB 3.1 gen 2 ports, two 1 GbE interfaces, and a dozen USB 3.0 ports make for the rest of it. The company didn't reveal pricing.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the release of the powerful Double Server TDS-16489U that integrates an application server and storage server into one chassis. Distinguishably powered by dual Intel Xeon E5 processors with up to 1TB RAM, the server-grade TDS-16489U supports Qtier Technology, 12Gb/s SAS and 10GbE/40GbE networks to provide unrivaled performance for Big Data computing and to assist enterprises in mission-critical tasks as a one-device solution for applications, storage and virtualization.

"The TDS-16489U resolves the difficulty of building virtualization environment infrastructures for businesses," said David Tsao, Product Manager of QNAP. "Its unrivaled power from its dual processors also facilitates Big Data computing to process the data deluge created by Internet of Things applications." With its server-grade hardware design, the TDS-16489U features two Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 processors (with 4-core, 6-core and 8-core configurations), up to 1TB DDR4 2133MHz RDIMM/LRDIMM RAM (16 DIMM) and three independent SAS 12Gb/s controllers that deliver outstanding performance for data transmission and applications.

GIGABYTE Technology, a leading creator of high performance server hardware, releases today its line of server motherboards based on the Intel Xeon processor D-1500 product family, a System-on-a-Chip platform aimed at low power and high density server applications. This new lineup includes at launch four models of Mini-ITX boards mixing different SKUs of the Xeon D-1500 processors and different networking solutions.

Based on the Broadwell microarchitecture, the Intel Xeon processor D-1500 product family features System-on-a-Chip processors based on the 14nm process. Designed for high density and scale-out server infrastructures, these processors focus on high power efficiency while maintaining datacenter grade features. Through this density and computing power, this processor family aims at lowering the total cost of ownership of server, storage and networking applications.

Qualcomm, which holds a ton of ARM SoC patents, and put them to good use with its Snapdragon line of SoCs for smartphones, tablets, and convertible notebooks, is foraying into enterprise computing market. The company is ready with its first prototype of a 24-core high-performance CPU based on the 64-bit ARM machine architecture. ARM-based processors are picking up momentum in the server and micro-server markets owning to their low cost, low cooling requirements, and high energy-efficiency; and Qualcomm wants a slice of that pie. Most enterprise Linux and FreeBSD distributors have versions of their server operating systems for the 64-bit ARM architecture, as do most popular server software providers.

The prototype 24-core CPU is socketed, and ships in a large land-grid array (LGA) package, much like Intel's Xeon chips. The first production chips will have a lot more than 24 CPU cores, said Qualcomm senior vice president Anand Chandrasekhar. As a proof of concept, Qualcomm assembled three server blades using these chips, which were running Linux with a KVM hypervisor, streaming HD video to a PC using a LAMP stack (Linux + Apache + MySQL + PHP) built with OpenStack. Qualcomm's target consumers are big Internet companies like Google and Facebook, which purchase hundreds of thousands of CPUs each year to cope with growing user- and content-traffic.

StarTech.com, a leading manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity parts, has announced the availability of a new Portable USB Crash Cart Adapter (NOTECONS02). The adapter makes it easier for server technicians and field engineers to perform maintenance on servers, PCs, ATMs, kiosks and other headless devices by turning their laptop into a portable console, instead of using a conventional - and more cumbersome - server room crash cart. The NOTECONS02 is the second crash cart adapter from StarTech.com, and builds on the popularity of the previous model with the addition of local file transfer capability and improved USB transfer speed.

ASUS today announced E8 servers and P9D serverboards for new Intel Xeon processors based on the Intel Denlow platform. E8 and P9D models are engineered for High Ambient Temperature operation at up to 40°C, and deliver over 90% voltage regulation efficiency, representing a major improvement over previous models. Both series also feature PCI Express 3.0, USB 3.0, and ASUS PIKE storage upgrade support.

With ASUS-exclusive air cooling designs, the E8 and P9D Series perform well in HTA (High Ambient Temperature) environments, and maintain stability even at sustained temperatures above 40°C. Their high energy efficiency reduces power consumption, a key aspect of data center applications. Exclusive ASUS Beat Thermal Chokes decrease operating temperatures by 3-5°C and achieve up to 90% voltage regulation efficiency. E8 servers use 80 PLUS power supplies that help reduce operating costs through lower electricity bills.

NEC Display Solutions of America, a leading provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announced today the 23-inch MultiSync P232W-BK and P232W-BK-SV desktop monitors. The full HD MultiSync P232W can be seen at InfoComm 2012 (NEC Display Solutions Booth No. C6819) from June 13 - 15, 2012, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

The budget-friendly MultiSync P232W display joins the next-generation MultiSync P Series, which features standard-gamut displays designed for web graphics, online video and photography professionals to ensure accurate, consistent and repeatable color performance. Its white LED-backlit IPS panel allows a low power consumption of 29 watts and slimmer depth compared to its predecessor, while its ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display's brightness based on lighting conditions.

GIGABYTE recently rolled out the 6PXSV3, a workstation motherboard designed for Xeon E5-1600/2600 processors in the LGA2011 package. Based on the Intel C604 chipset, the motherboard is designed to provide essential modern and legacy connectivity to workstations in mission-critical environments. The LGA2011 socket is powered by a 6-phase VRM with CPL-made chokes, and IR-made FETs and VRM controller. It is wired to eight DIMM slots, which support up to 256 GB (RDIMM) and 64 GB (UDIMM) of quad-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory.

There are just the three expansion slots, two PCI-Express 3.0 x16, and one open-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x4. The remainder of the processor and chipset's PCI-Express lane budgets are allocated PCI-Express DMI-assist, which helps drive the mini SAS with 4 x SAS ports (3Gb/s), apart from four SATA 3 Gb/s, and two SATA 6 Gb/s ports. An ASPEED 2300 provides display output (resolutions up to 1920x1200 supported), and remote management (iKVM, IPMI 2.0). There are two gigbit Ethernet interfaces, driven by Intel 82574L chips, a third management port is also available. The GA-6PXSV3 will be available shortly.

Japanese company Princeton took the concepts of Bluetooth input devices for tablets and smartphones, and turned it around. Its newest creation, the PSC Bluetooth KVM, is a combination of a USB Bluetooth 3.0 dongle, Bluetooth input device driver model, and its own software, that lets you use the input devices that are connected to your PC/laptop (your wired keyboard and mouse), with your Android, iOS, or Windows Mobile smartphone or tablet. This could come particularly handy to those who have their iPads on a stand, next to their PCs on their desks, as you could instantly give input to the iPad, and get things done faster. The PSC Bluetooth virtual KVM, from Princeton, is priced at 4,980 JPY (US $61).