AMD's connectivity-rich Ryzen Threadripper HEDT platform may have an Achilles's heel after all, with reports emerging that it lacks support for booting from NVMe RAID. You can still have bootable NVMe RAID volumes using NVMe RAID HBAs installed as PCI-Express add-on cards. Threadripper processors feature 64-lane PCI-Express gen 3.0 root complexes, which allow you to run at least two graphics cards at full x16 bandwidth, and drop in other bandwidth-hungry devices such as multiple PCI-Express NVMe SSDs. Unfortunately for those planning on striping multiple NVMe SSDs in RAID; the platform lacks NVMe RAID booting support. You should still be able to build soft-RAID arrays striping multiple NVMe SSDs, just not boot from them. Pro-sumers will still be able to dump their heavy data-sets onto such soft-arrays. This limitation is probably due to PCI-Express lanes emerging from different dies on the Threadripper MCM, which could present problems to the system BIOS to boot from.

Ryzen Threadripper is a multi-chip module (MCM) of two 8-core "Summit Ridge" dies. Each 14 nm "Summit Ridge" die features 32 PCI-Express lanes. On a socket AM4 machine, 4 of those 32 lanes are used as chipset-bus, leaving 28 for the rest of the machine. 16 of those head to up to two PEG (PCI-Express Graphics) ports (either one x16 or two x8 slots); and the remaining 12 lanes are spread among M.2 slots, and other onboard devices. On a Threadripper MCM, one of the two "Summit Ridge" dies has chipset-bus access; 16 lanes from each die head to PEG (a total of four PEG ports, either as two x16 or four x8 slots); while the remaining are general purpose; driving high-bandwidth devices such as USB 3.1 controllers, 10 GbE interfaces, and several M.2 and U.2 ports.

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast memory, high-performance gaming hardware and PC components, today announced three powerful new configurations of its multi-award-winning CORSAIR ONE performance PC. Hailed by press as "the new benchmark for small-form-factor gaming systems*" and "a triumph in both performance and design," CORSAIR ONE has redefined what gamers, content creators and power-users can expect from a small-form factor PC.

Now CORSAIR takes CORSAIR ONE even further, with three new configurations pushing the limits of PC performance. Equipped with a liquid-cooled Intel Core i7-7700K CPU, Intel 200 Series motherboard and iconic bead-blasted aluminum casing, CORSAIR ONE PRO is now available with NVIDIA's most powerful GeForce GPU, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti in top-end models, high-speed M.2 NVMe SSD storage, and up to 32GB of CORSAIR DDR4 memory. Incredibly small and unbelievably quiet, CORSAIR ONE is now available fully loaded to master the most advanced games and demanding workloads. It's the fastest ONE yet.

There are two kinds of desktop CPU platforms. The mainstream tier runs from two cores up to eight, and it's great for gaming and general use. Its high-end sibling takes everything up a level with more cores, more memory channels, and more bandwidth for graphics and storage. A considerable upgrade in every regard, this high-end desktop platform appeals to power users, content creators, and prosumers who want to blur the line between desktop and workstation. AMD's Threadripper CPU is the latest addition to the desktop's heavyweight division, and it walks into the ring with an entourage of SocketTR4 motherboards in tow. This guide explains the ASUS and ROG family to help you pick the best X399 motherboard for your high-end desktop or gaming PC.

All of our X399 boards share core DNA that includes one-touch overclocking, refined cooling control, and improved RGB lighting. Yet they each have their own distinct flavor as well. The ROG Zenith Extreme brings Threadripper into the world of premium dream PCs with provisions for custom liquid cooling and 10G networking. With the Strix X399-E Gaming, hardcore gamers can build stylish rigs with power to spare for high-quality streaming. And then there's the Prime X399-A and its well-rounded foundation channeling the professional side of the platform's prodigious power. Which X399 motherboard should you buy for your build? Let's find out.

It has been a huge weekend of product announcements and launches from AMD, which expanded not just its client computing CPU lineup on both ends, but also expanded its Radeon graphics cards family with both client- and professional-segment graphics cards. This article provides a brief summary of everything AMD launched or announced today, with their possible market-availability dates.

Intel today launched its new Intel Xeon Scalable processors, providing businesses with breakthrough performance to handle compute-hungry tasks including real-time analytics, virtualized infrastructure and high-performance computing. Today's launch marks the greatest set of data center and network processor advancements in a decade.

"Data center and network infrastructure is undergoing massive transformations to support emerging use cases like precision medicine, artificial intelligence and agile network services paving the path to 5G," said Navin Shenoy, executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Data Center Group. "Intel Xeon Scalable processors represent the biggest data center advancement in a decade."

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched its XPG GAMMIX product series, first shown at Computex 2017. The debut consists of the GAMMIX S10 PCIe3x4 NVMe 1.2 M.2 2280 SSD, capable of 1800 MB/s read and 850MB/s write thanks to premium 3D NAND in up to 1TB capacity. The S10 features a stylish heatsink for expedited heat dissipation. It is joined by GAMMIX D10 DDR4 memory modules, which likewise boast a custom heatshield to ensure lower temperatures and more stable performance. They are offed in black and red colors, and in up to 3000 MHz factory speeds with a starting speed of 2666MHz on new Intel X299 motherboards. The GAMMIX line provides gamers, PC DIY enthusiasts, and overclockers with additional options that combine performance and design, stemming from the core XPG mission statement of ensuring better experiences.

MSI, the leading gaming motherboard brand, is proud to announce its newest X299 flagship motherboard, the X299 XPOWER GAMING AC. Designed for PC enthusiasts and overclockers who love sheer performance, the new XPOWER features an incredible 14 phase (12+1+1) DigitALL premium power design with Loadline Calibration to harness even the most powerful Intel Core X-Series processors. With the addition of MSI's Turbo Socket and External Clock Gen, powered by top quality components from Military Class 6, such as Titanium Choke II for higher efficiency and power delivery, even the most demanding overclockers are being challenged to push the new XPOWER to its limits.

Corsair has quietly added a new SSD to its portfolio which is currently available on Newegg. The new Neutron NX500 SSDs come in somewhat unusual 400 GB and 800 GB capacities, which likely means an overly increased over provisioning so as to ensure top endurance and performance. The Neutron NX500 SSDs come in the add-in NVMe card form factor, with a beefy heatsink to top it all up. That heatsink serves to cool not only the NAND chips, but also the Phison E7 controller that's lurking underneath.

Interestingly, and even though 3D TLC NAND is all the rage these days due to increased density on the same footprint, without bringing any serious, real-world problems related to endurance, as we've seen, the Neutron NX500 appears to pack MLC memory. Do you even remember that? That's part of the reason why performance is rated so high: there's 3,000 MB/s read, 2,400 MB/s writes, 300,000 IOPS in random read, and 270,000 IOPS on random write workloads. Though you will have to pay a pretty penny for this kind of performance: the 400 GB Corsair Neutron NX500 is currently retailing for $319.99, while the 800 GB version won't give you any benefits from the economy of scale: it retails for $699.99.

PNY Technologies (PNY) considered one of the worldwide leaders in consumer electronics market and flash memory products, is ready to take on the gaming industry by storm with the launch of the Gaming Series to Asia market. The PNY Gaming Series offers best-in-class PC components to deliver gaming performance ranging from affordable to the most intense for die-hard gamers. Scheduled to be released in the 2nd half of 2017, the product categories will include gaming grade graphics cards, SSDs, and PC memory products that promise to deliver the competitive edge advantage in PC gaming.

Apacer introduced the PT920 Commando, a PCI-Express SSD built in the add-on card form-factor, with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 host interface. The drive is characterized by a plastic shroud shaped like the top of an M4 or M16 assault rifle. Available in 240 GB and 480 GB capacities, the drive takes advantage of the NVMe 1.2 protocol. The company didn't reveal controller or NAND flash manufacturers.

The drives offer sequential reads of up to 2,500 MB/s, with up to 1,300 MB/s sequential writes for the 480 GB model, and up to 860 MB/s sequential writes for the 240 GB model. 4K random write performance is rated at up to 175,000 IOPS for the 480 GB model, and up to 160,000 IOPS for the 240 GB model. The drive feature most common SSD features such as ECC, NCQ, and TRIM. The company didn't reveal pricing, although it backs the drives with 3-year warranties.

Especially intended for out of the ordinary use in vertical markets, Shuttle is now offering a fanless barebone PC in a versatile 3-litre format. Under the name XC60J, the range of the mini PC manufacturer now adds a 7 cm tall mini PC with an Intel Celeron J3355 dual-core processor (2 GHz) in 14 nm architecture.

The virtually silent platform, which is suitable for constant operation (24/7) at an ambient temperature of up to 40 °C, boasts a total of eight serial interfaces (8x RS-232, one of which can be switched to RS-422/RS-485) as its key spec and is therefore aimed at the areas of automation, POS, industry and machine control in which USB or IP-based transmission will not apply.

Beijing Memblaze Technology Co., Ltd. today announced the launch of its next generation of PCIe NVMe SSD products, PBlaze 5 700 and 900 series, for hyper-scale data center deployment and for enterprise mission critical applications, respectively. PBlaze5 utilizes high-quality 3D Enterprise-level TLC NAND and supports NVMe 1.2a protocol, with SSD user capacities up to 11 TB.

PBlaze5 comes in 2.5-inch U.2 and HHHL add-in card form factors and provides high performance 6GB/s read bandwidth (128KB) and >1M IOPS random read (4KB), with typical read write latency of 90/15μs. PBlaze5 U.2 interface is hot plugable, hot removable and hot swapable, effectively reducing data center operation complexity.

FinalWire Ltd. today announced the immediate availability of AIDA64 Extreme 5.92 software, a streamlined diagnostic and benchmarking tool for home users; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Engineer 5.92 software, a professional diagnostic and benchmarking solution for corporate IT technicians and engineers; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Business 5.92 software, an essential network management solution for small and medium scale enterprises; and the immediate availability of AIDA64 Network Audit 5.92 software, a dedicated network audit toolset to collect and manage corporate network inventories.

The latest AIDA64 update implements optimized benchmarks for the upcoming Intel Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors, and supports the latest graphics and GPGPU computing technologies by both AMD and nVIDIA.DOWNLOAD: Finalwire AIDA64 v5.92

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products,today launched the industrial-grade IM2P3388 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 solid state drive. It employs 3D MLC NAND Flash and an SMI controller to deliver performance several times faster than SATA III SSDs, with read up to 2500MB/s and write reaching 1100MB/s. The M.2 2280 form factor fits easily in the IT setup of industrial and enterprise users, while the IM2P3388 can withstand a wide temperature range, shocks, and vibration. The IM2P3388 is offered in up to 1TB and supports a range of features such as S.M.A.R.T, TRIM, power fail protection, and secure erase.

The IM2P3388 complies with NVMe 1.2 specifications to provide performance optimized for low latency, big bandwidth PCI Express 3.0 x4 (four lanes). Users tap up to 2500MB/s read and 1100MB/s write, greatly accelerating data transfers to help increase productivity and efficiency. ADATA is offering the IM2P3388 in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. All models carry premium 3D MLC NAND that has been carefully sorted, tested, and verified to the highest standards. SLC and DRAM caching provide speed boosts for sustained performance during even the most intense activity sessions, preventing bandwidth or IOPS drop offs.

MSI today announced its Infinite A Gaming desktop PC. The desktop is build around a custom-design chassis by MSI, which incorporates RGB LED elements along a stylish front-bezel, with a tempered glass side panel, with lighting controlled by MSI Mystic Light RGB software. The Infinite A is positioned in MSI's "Enthusiast Gaming" segment for gaming desktops, which includes the likes of the Aegis Ti3.

Under the hood, the Infinite A features a micro-ATX motherboard, although the primary graphics card is flipped vertical (along the plane of the motherboard), using a PCIe riser. This, MSI states, is the reduce graphics card PCB bending over time. The Infinite A is driven by a 7th gen Core "Kaby Lake" quad-core processor (various Core i5 and Core i7 options available); up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory (options); NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10-series graphics (Gaming series graphics cards); M.2 NVMe SSD; wired GbE, and WLAN with 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.1.

PCI-SIG Developers Conference 2017 - PCI-SIG, the organization responsible for the widely adopted PCI Express (PCIe) industry-standard input/output (I/O) technology, today announced 32GT/s as the next progression in speed for the PCIe 5.0 architecture, targeting high-performance applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, gaming, visual computing, storage and networking. Slated for completion in 2019, the specification development is well underway with Revision 0.3 already available to PCI-SIG member companies.

"In our 25-year history, PCI-SIG has maintained its commitment to our rigorous specification development process, while delivering specifications that are in lock-step with industry requirements for high-performance I/O," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG Chairman and President. "PCIe 5.0 technology is the next evolution that will set the standard for speed, and we are confident that its 32GT/s bandwidth will surpass industry needs."

The preceding PCIe 4.0 specification is designed with key functional enhancements that future-proof the PCIe architecture design, thereby accelerating future specification development. This undertaking, along with improved silicon design processes, serves as the foundation for the PCIe 5.0 specification.

Intel introduced the SSD DC P4501 series enterprise solid-state drives based on its latest-generation 3D TLC NAND flash memory. The drives are available in 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor with 32 Gb/s U.2 interface, and the M.2-2280 form-factor with 32 Gb/s interface. It takes advantage of PCI-Express 3.0 x4 with the NVMe 1.2 protocol.

Available in 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB capacities, the drives offer sequential transfer rates of up to 3,200 MB/s reads, with up to 900 MB/s writes. Their 4K random-read performance is rated at up to 360,000 IOPS, with up to 46,000 IOPS 4K random writes. Their endurance is rated at up to 1 DWPD (random) and up to 3 DWPD (mostly sequential). Both form-factor variants of the drives feature power-loss imminent protection, where a bank of capacitors gives the drives just enough power to finish its outstanding write operations in the event of a power-failure, to mitigate data-loss. The drives are backed by 5-year warranties.

At Computex 2017, Teamgroup put on a show with their products, hoping to place itself in consumers' eyes as having all the latest technologies they could possibly want. Starting with their SSD, there's the heatspreader-equipped M.2 NVMe SSD T-Force Cardea, an MLC SSD (so, a dying breed) with either 240 or 480 GB capacity, which includes a beefy red heatsink to reduce throttling possibilities.

At Computex 2017, Patriot put on a scorching show with their high-speed M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs, the Patriot Scorch. These leverage a Phison 5008-E8 controller to deliver up to 1200 MB/s reads and 800 MB/s writes at a 240 GB capacity. This controller is one of the only budget solutions to include a multi-core processor at its heart, which bodes well to the Scorch's rated speeds. MTBF operation is rated at over 2,000,000 hours, which is more than you'll ever need in your lifetime (and if it isn't, you really have to tell me your secret.) The Scorch will utilize Toshiba's 64-layer BiCS FLASH with 3-bits per cell (TLC) memory, which should decrease their cost, which should help Patriot release these Scorch SSDs on Q3 of this year, with a touted "attractive, budget" pricing.

Here are some of the first pictures of GeIL Shuttle series SSDs. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface, the drives take advantage of the NVMe 1.2 protocol, and are characterized by a prominent aluminium heatsink over the controller, DRAM, and NAND flash chips, which keeps temperatures of these chips below 38°C in a common work environment. The GeIL Shuttle series drives combine a Silicon Machines SM2260 controller with 3D MLC NAND flash (G2 variant) and 3D TLC NAND flash (G1 variant). The drives offer sequential performance of up to 2,000 MB/s reads, with up to 1,000 MB/s writes.

ECS took to Computex to showcase seven different motherboards from both AMD and Intel. First up we have the Z270 Lightsaber, which is great at deflecting laser blaster shots. It's an LGA 1151 socket motherboard, features 8-channel audio courtesy of a Realtek ALC 1150 audio chip, a Killer E2500 Gigabit controller, 1x M.2 slot with support for SATA, NVMe, and Intel Optane. There are 3x PCIe x16 slots, which work at x8 x8 x4 when all slots are populated, as is usual with Z270 motherboards.

Amidst the cutting-edge innovations in NAS, networking, and IoT presented by QNAP Systems, Inc. at COMPUTEX 2017, the announcement of the world's first AMD Ryzen-based NAS took center stage and underlined QNAP's commitment to push the boundaries of NAS performance and functionality.

The new TS-x77 series leverages the incredible power of Ryzen, featuring processors with up to 8-cores/16-threads with Turbo Core up to 3.7 GHz to greatly boost virtualization performance. The TS-x77 is designed as a high-performance, highly-capable tiered storage geared for I/O intensive and virtualization applications, and also supports AMD Radeon and NVIDIA graphics cards to satisfy resource-demanding video editing and playback.

ZOTAC broke new ground with its first tower-type SFF gaming PC, the ZOTAC Mek. This is one of the first ZOTAC PCs that isn't brick or box-shaped, and competes with your game console or the likes of Falcon Northwest Tiki in looks. It comes in white and black with blue LED accents. A sliding door up front covers the power button, status LEDs (ring-shaped), a pair of USB 3.0 type-A, and HDA jacks. Under the hood is some serious gaming hardware - an Intel Core i7-7700 quad-core processor, 16 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory, and GeForce GTX 1080 graphics. Also featured is a 240 GB M.2 NVMe SSD. Powering it all is a 450W SFX power-supply.

MSI is proud to unleash a complete line-up of next generation high-end X299 motherboards during COMPUTEX 2017. With the inclusion of the most popular models from MSI's Enthusiast, Performance and Arsenal GAMING Series there is a gaming motherboard available for any type of gamer, PC enthusiast, or case modder. Also content creators and professionals have a great, feature packed option ready to assist them with to the addition of the MSI X299 SLI PLUS motherboard.

ADATA showed off a pair of mainstream M.2 PCI-Express SSDs, which could form the gateway to M.2 drives for those wanting a little more than SATA drives, and a price slightly above the fastest SATA solutions. The lineup consists of the XPG SX6000 and the XPG SX7000. The XPG SX6000 is based on a Realtek RTS5760 DRAM-less controller, mated to 3D TLC NAND flash. Available in capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB, the drive serves up sequential speeds of up to 850 MB/s reads, with up to 850 MB/s writes, which is still higher than the fastest SATA drives, and its 570-ish MB/s rated speed. Add to this, the drive supports the NVMe protocol, and takes advantage of its huge command-queue depth.

The XPG SX7000 is positioned above the SX6000, and features Silicon Motion SMI2262G controller with a DRAM cache, mated with 3D TLC NAND flash. Available in the same capacities as the SX6000, the drive serves up over double its read performance, with up to 1,800 MB/s reads, yet the same 850 MB/s writes. ADATA had a live CDM session in its booth, and visitors could ask them to run the benchmark live, as you could see the drives in an open-air bench.