Lenovo unveiled the Titanium Enterprise NCC-1701A, a gaming PC with the phrase "enterprise" in its name. Only they aren't referring to the market-segment, but arguably the most famous ship, real or fictional, to bear the name "USS Enterprise." This gaming desktop looks like a scale-model of the Star Trek starship USS Enterprise from TOS (the original series) cinematic renditions, in which Captain Kirk and his motley crew get an upgrade to a modernized starship bearing the Starfleet registry NCC-1701-A. Perhaps the only perfectly-overlookable bits Lenovo got wrong is that bulge near the drive section, between the warp nacelles, because it accommodates some cutting-edge hardware.

Its warp-core so to speak, is a 9th generation Intel Core processor, which could very well be 8-core. In charge of its fire-power is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card. Other drool-worthy specs include 32 GB of DDR4 memory, 1 TB M.2 SSD + 2 TB HDD in charge of storage, Killer DoubleShot networking, and RGB LED embellishments all around its body. Lenovo is serious about bringing the Titanium Enterprise NCC-1701A to market, even if in small quantities. This is not a concept. Now if only the saucer section opened up from the top to reveal a Blu-ray drive, Discman-style.

Gigabyte today announced they were expanding their SSD storage lineup (started with the UD PRO series SATA III SSDs) with M.2 solutions. The new SSDs transfer data under the NVMe protocol and carry the M.2 form factor, in 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB sizes.

According to Gigabyte's own product pages, the 256 GB version has a sequential read and write speed of up to 1200 MB/s and 800 MB/s, while the 128 GB model cuts those speeds down to 1100 MB/s read and 500 MB/s write.

The ECM23 from SilverStone is one of the more interesting M.2-PCIe SSD risers to come out in recent times. It looks like a game cartridge from 1980s, and slots into one of your PCI-Express x16 slots, which it then uses to wire out an M.2-2280 M-key slot with PCIe x4 wiring. The riser itself has x16 interface, but beyond x4, all the other lanes are blank, and only serve to add retention, since the riser doesn't feature an add-on card bracket to hold it in place. The main PCB has no logic of its own, other than link/activity LEDs for the four PCIe lanes.

It's more optimal to use drives with all their hot components on one side, since that side has access to the chunky ~40 g main heatsink. Heat from the other side is drawn from a copper mesh printed on the PCB, which supposedly conveys it to the back side, which has an aluminium back-plate, which bolts onto the main heatsink, sandwiching the PCB and drive in the middle. Measuring 105 mm (W) x 11 mm (H) x 44 mm (D), the ECM23 weighs 52 g (excluding the weight of your drive). The company didn't reveal pricing.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND flash products, today launched the ADATA IUSP33F PCIe ball grid array (BGA) solid state drive (SSD). The SSD sports a form factor that is 80 percent more compact than M.2 2242 SSDs. Combined with a PCIe Gen3x2 interface and 3D Flash memory for excellent performance and durability, the IUSP33F is an ideal solution for slim-form-factor tablets, notebooks, hybrids, mini-PCs, thin clients, and wearables.

"We are thrilled to be introducing the new IUSP33F SSD, a compact solution that will enable next-generation tablets, ultrabooks, and other slim devices, but without compromising on performance and reliability," said Hedi Huang, Sales Directorof ADATA. "But the versatility of the IUSP33F goes beyond just these applications, and are also well-suited for new emerging applications in areas such as robotics, augmented and virtual reality, and automotive.

KINGMAX, a world-renowned professional memory manufacturer, has consummated its product line of M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe solid-state drives (SSDs), providing users who want to improve their PC performance with a greater variety of choices. In addition to the ultra-fast M.2 PCIe SSD PX-3480 (Gen3x4) and the PX-3280 (Gen3x2), the affordable/entry-level PJ-3280 (Gen3x2) has also been introduced, allowing users who are considering turning to SSDs to boost their computer performance a higher-speed and more economical option aside from 2.5-inch solid-state drives.

An increasing variety of motherboards or notebooks are currently available on the market, including motherboards equipped with Intel Z270, X99 and the latest 2 Series/3 Series chipsets, all of which are equipped with the M.2 PCIe interface as standard equipment to enable future upgrades. As long as the M.2 slot is the M key version, a solid-state drive that comes with the M.2 PCIe interface can be employed to push the speed and performance of a computer to higher levels. The KINGMAX M.2 2280 NVMe SSD PJ-3280 (Gen3x2) is manufactured using 3D NAND Flash stacking technology, making it highly efficient, stable and durable. Meanwhile, the M.2 2280 is 22x80 mm in size and is available in capacities of 128GB, 256GB or 512GB, suitable for improving the performance of space-challenged notebooks and ultrabooks while expanding capacity.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc. today unveiled the Samsung Data Center solid-state drive (SSD) lineup to address current and future trends in high performance computing storage in the big data era for small and medium businesses (SMBs). Samsung's new family of Data Center SSD solutions, which consists of the 860 DCT, 883 DCT, 983 DCT and the 983 ZET, are engineered to meet the evolving needs of SMBs, including faster, sustained performance, higher capacities and enterprise-class reliability and security.

Samsung's Data Center SSD portfolio will raise the bar for efficiency compared to legacy storage systems, requiring fewer servers and reduced power and cooling for a lower total cost of ownership (TCO). The new lineup delivers better Quality of Service (QoS) for SMBs by reducing latency and lowering data delays. The entire line provides enhanced reliability and endurance for 24/7 operation backed by a 5-year limited warranty and impressive Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD) ratings.

Silicon Power today introduced the P34M85 solid-state drive. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, this drive features PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface, and takes advantage of the NVMe 1.2 protocol. The company didn't drop any hints as to what combination of controller and NAND flash is under its heatspreader. It comes in capacities of 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB. It could be DRAM-less, given its HMB (host memory buffer) support, wherein the drive uses a small portion of your system memory. The P34M85 offers sequential transfer rates of up to 2,700 MB/s reads, with up to 1,400 MB/s writes. The drive is backed by a 5-year warranty. The company didn't reveal pricing.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today announces the launch of XPG SX6000 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 SSDs. With NVMe 1.3 technology and 3D NAND Flash, they sport excellent speeds and up to 1TB of capacity, making them a viable alternative to SATA SSDs. In addition, SX6000 Pro SSDs are slimmer than standard M.2 2280 SSDs for a higher level of compatibility thanks to a single-sided design.

ADATA produces the SX6000 Pro in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. For PC users looking at tangible performance enhancements, the SX6000 Pro makes complete sense as a SATA successor. The principal advantage of the SX6000 Pro is embodied in its superb cost-performance ratio. Using 3D TLC NAND, NVMe 1.3 technology, and a PCIe Gen3x4 interface, it reaches up to 2100 MB/s read and 1500 MB/s write and random performance of up to 250K/240K IOPS. This means up to four times the speed of typical SATA SSDs.

GIGABYTE introduced an Aorus-branded, quasi-premium mini-ITX motherboard based on AMD B450 chipset, for socket AM4 processors, the B450-I Aorus Pro WiFi. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS, conditioning it for the SoC with a lean 4+2 phase VRM. The AM4 SoC is wired to two DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory; and the board's lone PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

Storage connectivity on the B450-I Aorus Pro WiFi includes an M.2-2280 slot with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps wiring; and four SATA 6 Gbps ports. USB connectivity includes six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two by headers); and two USB 3.1 gen 2 (both on the rear panel). With just 6-channel jacks, the onboard audio solution may look cheap, but is redeemed by Realtek ALC1220 CODEC. The Intel 9260 adapter is at the helm of wireless networking, with 802.11ac + Bluetooth 5.0, while GbE is handled by Intel i211AT. There's also some RGB LED fun to be had, with two 4-pin ARGB headers, and a small 8-pixel diffuser behind the PCB. GIGABYTE could price this board around $120.

Today, Lenovo is launching a brand-new addition to its ThinkPad mobile workstation portfolio - the ThinkPad P1. Lenovo's thinnest, lightest and sleekest mobile workstation, the ThinkPad P1 gives users the style they want and the performance they need.

The ThinkPad P1 fulfills the desire for workstation performance and reliability in a thin and light design. The result is an ideal recipe of workstation power and an ultra-premium look and feel.

Intel Tuesday introduced the new SSD 660p series M.2 NVMe solid state drives. At the heart of these drives is the new 64-layer 3D QLC (quadruple level cell, or 4 bits per cell) NAND flash memory by IMFlash Technology (an Intel and Micron joint-venture). This memory is mated with a SIlicon Motion SMI 2263 controller. This chip is a derivative of the popular SMI2262EN, built on a newer process, with support for QLC NAND flash, compacted to have a smaller PCB footprint, and is driven by a custom firmware by Intel. The drives use over 10% of the QLC NAND flash area as SLC cache. The 660p series comes in three variants based on size - 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB. The prices are the biggest dividend of QLC: the 512 GB variant goes for USD $99.99, the 1 TB variant at $199.99, and the 2 TB variant for $399.99.

Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, the SSD 660p series drives feature PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface. Intel's pricing puts these drives close to competing drives with PCIe x2 interface, but offering higher transfer rates thanks to the wider bus. It's also interesting to note here that the controller is cushioned by a DRAM cache (something PCIe x2 drives tend to lack, to keep costs down). Performance numbers differ by variant, and the 512 GB drive is the slowest, sequentially reading at speeds of up to 1500 MB/s, with up to 1000 MB/s sequential writes; up to 90,000 4K random reads, and up to 220,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The 1 TB and 2 TB variants both sequentially read and write at up to 1800 MB/s. The 1 TB variant offers 150,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 220,000 IOPS random writes; while the 2 TB variant has 4K random reads/writes numbers of 220,000 IOPS.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass producing the industry's first 4-bit (QLC, quad-level cell) 4-terabyte (TB) SATA solid-state drive (SSD) for consumers.

Based on 1-terabit (Tb) V-NAND with outstanding performance equivalent to the company's 3-bit design, Samsung's QLC SSD is expected to bring a new level of efficiency to consumer SSDs.

Following the launch of the first XPC cube for Intel's latest processor generation, now the product family of XPC slim Mini-PCs in a 1.3-litre format welcomes a new member. Based on the Intel H310 chipset from which it also derives its name, the XPC Barebone DH310 supports Intel Core processors of the "Coffee Lake" generation with a TDP of up to 65 Watt. This even includes the versions with 6 cores and 12 threads. Reflecting this, two SO-DIMM slots permit the installation of 32 GB of DDR4 memory modules.

For the first time in this range, it is possible to support two monitors in 4K resolution with 60 Hz. For this purpose, an HDMI 2.0 and a DisplayPort 1.2 connector are available in each case. If required, despite the highly modern features, an analogue VGA connector can also be routed from the mainboard to the back of the device. Two of the three connectors can be used at the same time.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the global leading motherboard, Mini-PC, Notebooks, mobile device and smart city solutions provider, is pleased to announce the LIVA Z2 and Z2V silent, energy efficient multi-functional mini PC designed for digital signage, workstation, and noise sensitive situations. The LIVA Z2 and Z2V are available with three Intel Gemini Lake based options, for varying processing needs. Both models are supported by 64GB of on-board eMMC, with a 2.5" HDD bay available for expanded storage options, 3 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0 and a high-speed USB type C connector. The LIVA Z2 features HDMI 2.0 for high bandwidth needs while the Z2V has HDMI 1.4 and D-Sub connectors for legacy and presentation situations. The all new LIVA Z2/Z2V Mini PC features a fanless design, allowing power saving and complete silence. It provides stunning 4K / UHD high quality playback with the full function of a desktop in a space-saving design.

The LIVA Z2 fits a lot of tech into its small size. The case is only 0.48 liters yet provides a multitude of connectors including one reversable USB type C, two HDMI, 802.11ac Wi-Wi, Bluetooth 4.1 and a Kensington lock. For the maker and professional developers, the LIVA Z2 includes a GPIO, an uncommitted digital signal pin whose behavior is controllable by the user at run time. The LIVA Z2/Z2V is easier to upgrade than many mini PC despite its small size. Simply remove four screws and the user can access the M.2 Wi-Fi, memory modules and 2.5" HDD storage slots.

Intel is ready with pre-built NUC desktops based on its 8th generation "Coffee Lake" SoCs. The cases of these NUCs are mosty similar to those the company debuted its low-power "Gemini Lake" based NUCs with, this March. The NUC8i3BEH, NUC8i5BEH and NUC8i7BEH, differentiated by Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 chips, respectively; come in larger cases to cope with the 28-Watt TDP. In addition to a bigger heatsink, these three serve up a 2.5-inch drive bay with SATA 6 Gbps back-plane, in addition to an M.2-2280 slot that has both SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4 wiring. The slimmer NUC8i3BEK and NUC8i5BEK, differentiated by lower TDP (15 W) SoCs, lack 2.5-inch drive bays. You still get a full-featured M.2-2280 slot. Retailers hint at availability from the first week of August.

Sapphire introduced the FS-FP5V, a mini-ITX (147.3 mm x 139.7 mm) SFF motherboard designed for AIO desktops, digital signage boxes, and compact desktops. At the heart of this board is an AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 series FP5 SoC based on the 14 nm "Raven Ridge" silicon. Since this SoC also integrates a southbridge, the board is practically chipset-less. The Ryzen Embedded V1000 chip is configured with a 4-core/8-thread "Zen" CPU clocked at 2.00 GHz with 3.35 GHz boost, and 4 MB L3 cache. The iGPU is a Radeon Vega 11, which may look overkill, but is required to pull the four DisplayPort 1.4 outputs of this board (handy for digital-signage applications).

The Ryzen Embedded V1000 is wired to two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2933 memory. Storage connectivity includes an M.2-2280 slot with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 wiring, an M.2 E-key slot with x1 wiring for WLAN cards; and a SATA 6 Gbps port. Networking options include two 1 GbE interfaces. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 gen 1 ports at the rear-panel, and two USB 3.1 gen 1 ports (direct ports) at the front side of the board, one each of type-A and type-C. Stereo HD audio makes for the rest of it. The board draws power from either 2-pin DC (external) or 4-pin ATX.

GIGABYTE introduced the CMT4034 and CMT4032 M.2 PCIe riser cards, which convert a PCI-Express gen 3.0 slot to M.2-22110 slots with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 wiring. Your motherboard needs to support PCI-Express lane segmentation, as the cards have no switching logic of their own. Both cards are built in the half-height (low-profile) add-on card form-factor. The arrangement of the M.2 slots is where the two slightly differ. The CMT4034 has four M.2-22110 slots and takes in PCI-Express 3.0 x16, while the CMT4032 only has two M.2 slots, plugging into PCI-Express 3.0 x8.

While the CMT4032 features a single PCB with two M.2 slots on the obverse side of the PCB, the CMT4034 is designed with two PCBs such that a smaller PCB features the x16 host interface, while a larger second PCB is elevated from the main PCB, and has two M.2 slots on each of its side. The idea here is to provide clearance on the reverse side of the card, lest the M.2 drives installed there intrude into the space of the adjacent add-on card. Both cards include metal heatspreaders. You also get thermal sensors and link/activity LEDs for each individual slot. The company didn't reveal pricing.

BIOSTAR unveils its newest solid-state drive featuring 3D TLC NAND flash - the M500 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD. The BIOSTAR M500 uses the compact M.2 2280 form factor that is compatible with latest-generation motherboards, laptops, and mini PCs. It supports the ultra-speed PCI-express Gen3x2 interface which offers builders greater compatibility. The BIOSTAR M500 SSD is NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) 1.2 compliant delivering high-performance speeds of up to 1700MB/s sequential read and 1100MB/s sequential write and random read/write IOPS of up to 200K/180K.

Smart Temperature Display
The BIOSTAR M500 Series SSD features visible smart LED indicators on its heatsink cover for temperature and data activity. The LED Smart Temperature display delivers real-time temperature status of the solid-state drive in three different levels: green for temperature below 50°C, yellow for temperature between 50°C to 65°C, and red for temperature above 65°C. The LED Data Transmission display data transmission status: blue light for access status and a green light for PCIe transmission mode (Gen 2 / Gen 3).

MSI showcased their upcoming overkill solution for users that want to have a dedicated PCIe x16 expansion card - and one that brings the true and final cooling solution to end all thermal throttling. Basically, the company appropriated its Aero cooler, which is used for some of their graphics cards, and applied it to a 4x M.2 expansion card. The result? Up to 50 W of cooling capability with this solution - which can go up to 75 W if users connect the additional 6-pin power connector for the fan to go into overdrive.

It's almost as if MSI was giving users a "yes we can" shout on designing this cooling solution, with the amount of overkill this has. No amount of thermal throttling should occur here - ever. Maybe overcompensating for the M.2 Shield debacle? Whatever the reason, this is certainly a competent cooling solution, and it will be included inside their Threadripper X399 MEG Creation motherboard - an outrageous motherboard, with an outrageous M.2 cooling solution. Balance is brought back to the world. Naturally, the company also has plans to offer their expansion M.2 card as a standalone product.

Cryorig at COMPUTEX 2018 showed the most complex and impressive M.2 SSD cooling solution the market has ever seen with their Frosbit cooler. The Frostbit cooler, which the company had already teased going into the show, is the world's first M.2 cooling solution to feature heatpipe cooling technology - the heatpipe transfers heat from the M.2 SSD through its heatpipe loop and dissipates it in a large volume heatsink. This should alleviate any thermal throttling issues which some NVMe, M.2 SSDs are plagued with with inefficient airflow setups. The secondary, heat-dissipating heatsink can be adjusted so as to avoid contact with other components. This design really brings memories of OCZ's Reaper memory kits, as well as some other after-market modding solutions for RAM memory sticks which featured similar heatpipe designs.

Toshiba Memory America, Inc. (TMA), the U.S.-based subsidiary of Toshiba Memory Corporation, today announced that its RC100 Series of NVMe (NVM Express ) M.2 solid state drives (SSDs) is now available. First introduced earlier this year at CES 2018, the new RC100 Series is geared toward the retail DIY market and features a powerful yet cost-effective design to make the benefits of NVMe storage accessible to more users than ever before. The Toshiba RC100 Series is well-suited to the entire spectrum of mainstream computing - from gaming desktops and notebooks to mini-PCs (NUCs) and everything in between. The new drives are available in capacities of 120, 240 and 480 gigabytes.

While the performance advantages of first-generation NVMe drives are well known, this high performance has come at an equally high cost - until now. By leveraging its state-of-the-art 64-layer, 3-bit-per-cell TLC (triple-level cell) BiCS FLASH technology and an in-house-developed controller, Toshiba Memory Corporation was able to fit an entire SSD within a single BGA package. The RC100 Series balances cost and performance and bridges the gap between SATA and enthusiast-grade NVMe SSDs. A compact design also enables the RC100 to fit onto an M.2 2242 (22x42mm) PCB, making it one of the smallest SSDs commercially available.

Intel launched the Optane 905P SSD in the more practical M.2-22110 (110 mm long) form-factor, following up on its early-May launch in the add-in card (AIC) form-factor. These drives take advantage of the PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface and NVMe protocol, and feature the company's latest generation 3D X-point memory. The drive likely comes in capacities of up to 480 GB, with transfer rates of up to 2600 MB/s reads, up to 2200 MB/s writes, and 575k/550k 4K random access speeds. The USP here is endurance, with 10 DWPD, and 1.6 million hours MTBF.

COLORFUL Technology Company Limited, professional manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and high-performance storage solutions is proud to announce the addition of two new options for its CN600S line of solid-state drives. COLORFUL is adding the CN600S 240GB and CN600S 480GB drives featuring Intel 64-layer 3D NAND. Those looking for a cost-effective high-performance, high-capacity storage solution for low-profile applications including notebooks and other M.2 capable devices. The improved speed and capacity of the COLORFUL CN600S allows it to be used in a wider range of applications including gaming, professional use or HTPC.

The COLORUL CN600S is equipped with the SMI 2263XT controller, features a M.2 2280 design standard and is rated for transfer speeds up to 2 GB/s reads and 1.5 GB/s write performance. The SMI 2263XT uses the PCIe Gen3 x4 interface and can deliver 4x faster performance than SATA3 for reading, accessing and opening applications and games. The COLORFUL CN600 M.2 PCIe SSD is focused in offering the most compelling cost-benefit ratio in the market.

QNAP Systems, Inc. has extended the lineup of QM2 PCIe expansion cards with new models that support up to four M.2 SSDs slots on a single card. QM2 cards support either M.2 SATA SSDs or M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs to enable SSD caching for boosted IOPS performance or to form an auto-tiering volume for optimal storage performance. QM2 cards also allow QNAP NAS users to maximize both storage capacity and performance by installing M.2 SSDs without occupying any 3.5-inch drive bays.

"When faced with a performance bottleneck, the random read/write speed of the hard drives in a NAS is one of the decisive performance factors," said Joan Hsieh, Product Manager of QNAP, continuing "QM2 cards can greatly boost the performance of QNAP NAS with PCIe slots, while the flexible configuration of SSD caching and I/O-aware Qtier all helps multiply NAS performance."

Ahead of Computex 2018 CRYORIG announces new M.2 cooler Frostbit and RGB enhanced C7 RGB CPU Cooler. CRYORIG's Frostbit is not only the industry first aftermarket M.2 NVMe SSD cooler with dual heatpipes, it allows full adjustment of the Secondary Heatpipe and large volume Heatsink. The C7 RGB is based on CRYORIG's award winning ITX cooler C7, with a 12v RGB lighting enhanced 92 mm fan. Both products will be shown at CRYORIG's Computex booth at Nangang Exhibition Hall I0527.