ASUS demonstrated its first SSD, the HyperXpress. As its name might give away, the drive is co-developed by HyperX, the enthusiast memory and storage brand of Kingston. Built in the 9.5 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor, the drive features SATA Express interface, which will hit the consumer space this May, with the arrival of Intel's Z97 Express chipset, and Core "Haswell Refresh" processors. Internally, there's not much to this drive. It's a host-agnostic RAID 0 array of two mSATA 6 Gb/s SSDs, wired to a host controller made by ASMedia. To the host machine, it will look like a single drive. The sample demoed to the press, ASUS claims, is a very early prototype, and future iterations could run two M.2 SSDs instead of mSATA, for even higher throughput. The drive was tested to offer sequential transfer rates as high as 778 MB/s. At Computex 2014, flash memory manufacturers are expected to launch legions of new SSDs in the SATA-Express and M.2 form-factors.

With less than three weeks to go until the official launch of the 9 Series chipsets, Gigabyte has decided to share a few pictures depicting three of its boards powered by the Z97. Seen below are the Z97X-UD5H BK (Black Edition), the Z97X-UD7 TH and the overclocking-ready Z97X-SOC Force which feature support for Haswell Refresh and older LGA1150 processors.

All three boards have an Ultra Durable design, they are SLI and CrossFire capable (the UD5 and UD7 provide three PCI-Express x16 slots while the SOC model offers four such slots), and include four DDR3 memory slots, one SATA Express connector, two (Z97X-SOC) or four (Z97X-UD5H, Z97X-UD7) SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, 7.1 channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet (the UD7 TH and SOC Force pack a Killer E2200 NIC).

MSI is ready with its Gaming series socket LGA1150 motherboards based on Intel's next-gen 9-series chipset, which are ready for Core "Haswell" refresh processors. The series includes three boards in the ATX form-factor, the 9-series Gaming 9 AC, 9-series Gaming 7, and 9-series Gaming 3; and one in the mini-ITX form-factor, the 9-series Gaming. The 9-series Gaming 9 AC is loaded with features, including a 12-phase CPU VRM, four DDR3 DIMM slots, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, a PCI-Express x2 M.2 slot, Killer E2200 NIC, 802.11 ac WLAN, and more.

Next up, is the 9-series Gaming 7, which offers the same 12-phase CPU VRM as the 9-series Gaming 9 AC, same three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, four PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and an identical storage connectivity. The 9-series Gaming 3 is the most affordable of the lot, with a 6-phase CPU VRM, one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and three PCI; six SATA 6 Gb/s, one M.2, and Killer E2200 NIC. Lastly, there's the 9-series Gaming ITX, which offers a decent 6-phase VRM, single PCI-Express 3.0 x16, 802.11 ac networking, Killer E2200 NIC, and AudioBoost audio. The three should launch in the run up to the mid-May release of Intel's new processors.More pictures follow.

With Intel's "Haswell Refresh" CPU lineup around the corner, motherboard makers are giving final touches to their next-gen socket LGA1150 lineups based on Intel Z97 Express chipset. MSI, which practically reinvented itself in the DIY hardware scene with its Gaming Series of motherboards and graphics cards, is readying three products based on the chipset, the mid-range Z97 Gaming 3, the premium Z97 Gaming 5, and the high-end Z97 Gaming 7. With it, MSI is ditching the "G45," "GD55," and "GD65" brand extensions. In addition to M.2 slots, some of the three will include SATA-Express add-on cards, which let you plug-in drives with a staggering 10 Gbps of bandwidth.

MSI unveiled early versions of the top of the line Gaming 7 and the mid-range Gaming 3 at this year's CeBIT event. The Z97 Gaming 7 offers a 12-phase CPU iVR, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, four PCIe x1 slots, eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, an M.2 slot, and possibly an included SATA-Express add-on card; in addition to a wealth of connectivity. The Gaming 5 could be based on the same PCB, but with a lighter feature-set. The Gaming 3, on the other hand, is based on a lighter PCB, with a 6-phase CPU iVR, a lack of the M.2 slot, legacy PCI slots, yet retaining the ground-layer isolated on-board audio, and Killer NIC. The "Haswell refresh" Core processor lineup, along with motherboards based on the Z97 Express chipset, could be launched around the same time as Computex.

Plextor, leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and storage equipment, will reveal its new M6 Solid State Drive Solution at the upcoming 2014 edition of CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. The M6 multi-form factor lineup features Plextor's next-generation and new 2.5" M6S, the new M6M mSATA SSD and the new ultra-fast M6e M.2 PCIe SSD.

Building up to the official introduction of the highly anticipated M6 series Plextor will be continuously demonstrating the full lineup from March 10 - 14 in its showcases in the Business Center (Hall 15, Stand A18, Room 18) and at Planet Reseller (Hall 15, Stand D21, Number 66).

Transcend Information, Inc., a leading manufacturer of industrial-grade products, today announced the release of its SATA III 6 Gb/s N8S750 M.2 and MSA340 mSATA solid state drives (SSD). Featuring ultra compact dimensions and the next generation SATA III 6 Gb/s interface, Transcend's N8S750 and MSA340 SSDs are best suited to address the strict size limitations and high performance needs of today's advanced portable devices.

N8S750 SATA III 6 Gb/s M.2 SSD
The N8S750 SSD's space-saving 80 mm M.2 form factor (80.0 mm x 22.0 mm x 3.5 mm) is designed to meet future market demands of ultra-thin and light mobile devices that require an SSD, including Ultrabooks, notebooks, tablets, portable gaming systems, and smartphones. It features the latest SATA III 6 Gb/s specification, DDR3 DRAM cache, and is comprised of high-quality MLC NAND Flash chips. With exceptional transfer speeds of up to 520 MB/s read and 330 MB/s write, the N8S750 easily handles everyday computing tasks as well as demanding multimedia applications.