BIOSTAR today introduced the first AMD X370 chipset based socket AM4 motherboard to the market, with the X370GTN. The board comes with out of the box support for AMD Ryzen processors, with TDP of up to 95W. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin ATX power connectors, and conditions it for the AM4 SoC using a 7-phase VRM. The socket is wired to two full-length DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory; and the lone PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, besides some of the I/O ports.

Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports from which two are directly wired to the AM4 SoC, and one 32 Gb/s M.2-2280 slot with NVMe booting support (reverse side). USB connectivity includes two 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 ports (including a type-C port), and six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two via headers). The board features BIOSTAR's Hi-Fi onboard audio solution, and a gigabit Ethernet connection driven by Realtek DragonLAN controller. Display outputs include DVI and HDMI.

Intel's first consumer (client) SSD based on its revolutionary new 3D Xpoint memory is an Optane branded cache SSD that improves the performance of slower local storage, such as hard drives, or even slower NAND flash based SSDs. On machines with larger hard drives, Intel claims that a 3D Xpoint based cache SSD could halve booting times, improve overall system performance by 28 percent, and lower game level load times by up to 65 percent. As a cache-SSD, it's also designed to be affordable, and that's because it's local storage is 16 GB or 32 GB.

The target consumer is one that which is transitioning from hard drives to SSDs, and is happy with a noticeable performance boost, as long as they don't lose the immense capacities of their HDDs. It also targets gamers with SSDs that are running out of space for multiple >50 GB games, so they could start installing some of those games on their larger/slower HDDs and get reasonably improved performance. As with all SSD caching technologies from Intel in the past, such as the ReadyBoost and Smart Response, Optane cache SSDs juggle "hot data" (frequently accessed data) in and out of their user-space from the host storage. On the software side of things, Intel Rapid Storage Technology 15.5 and later handles the caching tasks.

MSI today announced the X370 Krait Gaming socket AM4 motherboard. Based on AMD's highest-grade X370 chipset, and ready for its Ryzen processor family, this ATX form-factor motherboard appears to be based on the same exact PCB as the X370 SLI Plus, with a few added features, such as higher grade capacitors, VR Boost specialized USB ports, a higher SNR audio CODEC with Nahmic 2 and EM shielding, white LED lighting, and of course the signature white+black color scheme of the Krait series.

Like the X370 SLI Plus, the X370 Krait Gaming draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the processor with an 8+2 phase VRM. The AM4 socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, and two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 with both populated), besides two each of the board's USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s ports. In all, storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot with NVMe booting support, while the USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 ports (one each type-A and type-C), and six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two by headers). 8-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of it. We expect this board to be priced at a $20-30 premium over the X370 SLI Plus.

NAND has come here to stay, and it's market penetration still has a lot of leeway. Samsung, bar none the biggest and best player in the NAND field, is in a uniquely privileged position to develop new technologies and capitalize on them. Remember that Samsung has so many distinct product lines on which to monetize its advancements that any new investment is hardly a make it or break it affair.

Z-NAND is Samsung's answer to other developing technologies such as 3D XPoint, of which Intel has just announced the first commercial product. Z-NAND looks to stand at the intersection between NAND and DRAM, and is more of an evolution of the NAND design than it is a totally new technology (thus distancing itself from the likes of 3D XPoint.)

The EVGA SC17 1070 G-SYNC Gaming Laptop has arrived. Sporting a 4K-ready IPS panel with NVIDIA G-SYNC technology, this high performance laptop was meticulously crafted from the ground up for hardcore gamers, performance enthusiasts, and even overclockers. No shortcuts here. This new EVGA SC17 1070 laptop also features NVIDIA G-SYNC technology, which provides you more of what you want in a gaming experience with smooth, tear-free gameplay.

EVGA is known for performance hardware, and the EVGA SC17 1070 laptop is no exception. An Intel Core i7 6820HK Unlocked Process combined with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics gives you unbelievable performance in the latest games. An aluminum unibody design and thin 1.07in thickness makes this one of the sleekest laptops around. An IPS display capable of delivering up to 4K resolution for crystal clear graphics and wide viewing angles. When its time to game, the GTX 1070 will take full advantage of the display's integrated G-SYNC technology to make your gaming smooth and beautiful.

MSI, the leading gaming motherboard brand, is proud to announce availability for its latest TITANIUM model, the Z270 MPOWER GAMING TITANIUM. This motherboard is set to deliver the best experience in audio, when gaming online and when using VR. Next to this, MPOWER is designed to deliver the best performance as well as the top-level overclocking.

The unique TITANIUM motherboards based on the critically acclaimed and award-winning TITANIUM concept, introduced first in the motherboard industry by MSI in 2015. The Z270 MPOWER GAMING TITANIUM features a unique silver metallic color PCB design and matching heavy plated heatsinks & covers. The addition of a TITANIUM backplate adds to the boards strength while matching the titanium look & feel.

Eurocom is proud to announce the launch of the EUROCOM Sky X9E3 Supercomputer laptop. This new platform has support for NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Pascal SLI graphics, powerful Kaby Lake Intel Core i7-7700K Desktop Processor, up to 64GB of DDR4 3000MHz memory and up to 14 TB of RAID storage via five drives, including three NVMe based M.2 SSDs.

The Sky X9E3 is an SLI Ready and VR capable super high-performance supercomputer laptop. With an upgradeable desktop CPU and two upgradeable desktop GPUs cooled with high-quality copper heatsinks and IC Diamond thermal paste, and controlled by an unlocked system BIOS for the ultimate in overclocking capability.

Almost three years ago, MSI introduced the world's first AMD-based GAMING motherboard. Today, together with AMD, MSI sets a new standard for AMD-based GAMING motherboards with the launch of Ryzen. Based on the new AM4 platform, MSI unleashes a complete lineup of game-changing motherboards, ready to cater to gamers worldwide. Available in three GAMING segments: Enthusiast GAMING, Performance GAMING and Arsenal GAMING, there's a motherboard for every type of gamer.

Enthusiast gamers are looking for the absolute best in terms of performance, style and pushing the limits. To satisfy even the most demanding enthusiast, the X370 XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM is built on MSI's award-winning TITANIUM concept, using only the best components. Introduced in the industry in 2015, TITANIUM models inherit a sleek and unique silver design, beefed up with solid silver heatsinks and enough power to break world records when overclocking. The X370 XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM is the first of its kind based on an AMD platform. For gamers looking to top the ranks in the world of eSports and enjoy the most immersive gameplay, this motherboard offers performance-oriented gaming features like: Audio Boost 4, GAMING LAN, Turbo U.2/M.2, M.2 Shield and VR Boost.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the new business-class TS-1685 desktop 16-bay Xeon D Super NAS that supports twelve 3.5" hard drives and four 2.5" SSDs, provides six M.2 SSD slots, and features a powerful Intel Xeon D processor to deliver outstanding performance with high-capacity storage. Designed to optimize enterprise IT infrastructure, the TS-1685 comes with three PCIe slots that support 10GbE/40GbE NIC, PCIe NVMe SSD, graphics cards, and USB 3.1 expansion cards to provide a complete business-ready storage solution incorporating security and scalability.

The TS-1685 leverages the high-performance Intel Xeon D multi-core processor and up to 128 GB DDR4 RAM to reach read speeds up to 2,339 MB/s with a dual 10GbE configuration. The dedicated four 2.5" SSD slots and six M.2 SATA 6Gb/s SSD slots excel in cache acceleration, and coupled with Qtier Technology the TS-1685 can continuously optimize storage efficiency across M.2 SSD, SSD, high-capacity SATA drives, and the optional PCIe NVMe SSD.

Kingston today announced the DCP-1000 line of high-performance PCI-Express SSDs, targeted at enterprises, particularly at data-centers with high bandwidth demands, the drives come in the half-height add-on card form-factor, and take feature a PCI-Express 3.0 x8 host interface (64 Gbps), and takes advantage of the NVMe protcol. It puts this interface bandwidth to good use, belting out sequential transfer rates in excess of 6,800 MB/s. The drive comes in capacities of 800 GB, 1600 GB, and 3200 GB.

All three models offer sequential read speeds of up to 6,800 MB/s. The 800 GB variant writes at speeds of up to 5,000 MB/s, while the other two models write at up to 6,000 MB/s. The 4K random access performance of the 800 GB variant is 900,000/145,000 IOPS (reads/writes); with the 1600 GB variant belting out 1,100,000/200,000 IOPS, and the 3200 GB variant 1,000,000/180,000 IOPS. The drives come with full-length heatsinks cooling the MLC NAND flash chips and controller; and a bank of capacitors that provide power-outage data-loss mitigation.

Team Group, the world's leading memory brand, today officially announces the launch of its fastest storage solution designed for gamers with the introduction of the T-FORCE CARDEA M.2 solid-state drive. The T-Force CARDEA M.2 SSD utilizes x4 PCIE 3.0 for up to 2600MB/s read speeds along with NVMe and TRIM support. The custom-made T-FORCE cooling module enhances looks as well as endurance for continuous high-intensity usage. This combination of high-speed data transfer, aggressive looks and effective cooling makes the T-FORCE CARDEA the perfect upgrade for gamers who want the best for their system.

Named after the Goddess of Storm, the T-FORCE CARDEA utilizes new-generation PCIE Gen3 x4 to breakneck 2600 MB/s read and 1450 MB/s write sequential performance and with up to 180K/140K IOPS in random read/write operations. The T-FORCE CARDEA's speed brings fast boot-up along with a responsive operating system that loads games and application faster for a smoother experience with reduced loading time.

NGD Systems, a pioneer creating intelligent solid state drives (SSD) for public and private cloud data centers, today announced the availability of the industry's highest density storage solution. Shipping immediately and currently being qualified at leading OEMs, the Catalina SSD is available in capacities up to 24TB with 3D TLC flash in a PCIe edge card form factor.

"The Catalina is the industry's highest capacity PCIe NVMe SSD, designed and optimized for applications requiring consistent and low latency mass storage," said Nader Salessi, founder and chief executive officer of NGD Systems. "We are setting a new metric for energy and storage density to meet a key concern within data center and cold storage applications alike."

Super Talent introduced the SuperCache AIC314 PCI-Express SSD. Built in the half-height add-on card form-factor, with PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface, the drive combines a Phison PS5007-E7 controller with MLC NAND flash memory, and comes in capacities of 480 GB, 960 GB, and 1920 GB. The drive takes advantage of the new NVMe protocol, and offers sequential transfer rates of up to 3000 MB/s reads, with up to 2200 MB/s writes; 340,000 IOPS 4K random reads, with up to 260,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The drives feature banks of capacitors that mitigate data loss to power outages. Super Talent is targeting enterprises with these drives.

Eurocom launches the fully upgradeable, high performance 15.6" Tornado F5 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics, Intel Core i7 7700K processor, 64 GB DDR4 memory via four slots, dual M.2 SSD slots and a 4K 15.6" display.

EUROCOM Tornado F5 users who own an Intel Core i7-6700K SKU can upgrade to the i7-7700K since the two processors share the same LGA 1151 socket. The EUROCOM Tornado F5 is one of the few laptops with a Z170 chipset, LGA 1151 CPU socket and MXM 3.0 graphics slot for a wide range of customization options. Two M.2 SSD PCIe x2/x4 or SATA SSD and one 9.5mm SATA3 6Gb/s storage drive is also supported to offer a great combination of capacity and speed. Four memory slots are available to support up to 64 GB of DDR4 SODIMM. Customers have a 15.6" FHD matte display and a 4K matte display to choose from as well.

At CES 2017, Plextor announced their next SSD product line. Dubbed the M8Se, these will be restricted to NVMe SSDs with 15nm 3-bit-per-cell TLC of Toshiba manufacture, ranging from 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1TB capacities leveraged by Marvell's Eldora controller.

The new mid-range NVMe SSD uses a new heatsink design (slight cost-reduction when compared with the one the M8Pe carries), that Plextor says will improve cooling by up to 20% - convenient, since throttling does happen with NVMe based SSDs - and particularly with Marvell's Eldora controller - as it did with Plextor's M8Pe line of SSDs. The card also features blue accent lighting. Plextor will also sell a heatsink-less M8PeGN model in the M.2 form factor.

SilverStone showed us the ECM22, a neat accessory that provides M.2 slots to machines that lack them. The half-height PCI-Express 3.0 x4 addon card gives you two M.2-22110 (110 mm long) slots with PCI-Express 3.0 x2 wiring. One of the two slots features SATA wiring, which simply relays connection from a SATA port on your motherboard. The card doesn't have any native logic of its own, and as such NVMe booting support will depend on your motherboard BIOS supporting it. It could still come as a boon to setups such as video-editing rigs, in which the creative professional could want as many high-bandwidth storage devices as possible.

Toshiba showed off its new BG Series M.2 SSDs, which will grab your attention for being quite small. Measuring 16 mm x 20 mm, these drives are shorter than the shortest (30 mm) M.2 length standard. They still take advantage of the PCI-Express 3.0 x2 interface, and the NVMe protocol. At the heart of this drive is Toshiba's BiCS Flash, a multi-chip module that combines stacked TLC NAND flash memory with an SSD controller into one package. The drives come in capacities of 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB. Toshiba is also separately selling these drives as chip-only, to notebook manufacturers, so they can solder them directly onto the mainboards of their low-cost ultra-portable notebooks.

Western Digital has announced the WD Black PCIe SSD, their first PCIe SSD for the consumer market. This particular SSD is aimed at the cheaper half of the M.2 PCIe SSD market rather than competing for the highest performance: it will be available in 256GB and 512GB capacities for $109 and $199.99 respectively, making it cheaper than any currently available M.2 PCIe SSD except the Intel 600p.

MSI, the world's leading manufacturer of true gaming hardware, has fitted its Aegis gaming desktop line with the recently introduced Intel Kaby Lake chipset. Besides the new chipset, MSI has revamped its high-end Aegis Series desktops in terms of design, convenience and performance. The MSI Aegis Ti3, Aegis X3, Aegis 3, Nightblade 3, Nightblade MI3 and Trident 3 will be available worldwide in January 2017.

On the outside, a handy headset handle is added to the sides, and a touch of carbon effect on the front. Applied to MSI's full gaming desktop family, MSI VR Link provides an HDMI port on the front side and 'One-Click to VR' software to optimize your VR experience. The Aegis Ti3 and Aegis X3 also feature the MSI Game Boost button on the front side, automatically overclocking the system when pressed. On the backside, a convenient carry-handle enables gamers to easily carry their Aegis when on their way to a friend or LAN-parties. For those who like to add a little personal touch to their system, MSI Aegis Series feature RGB Mystic Light. By using the Mystic Light App or MSI's Gaming Center software, gamers can change the color and effects of all LEDs individually.

QNAP, Inc. will unleash full-throttle network-attached storage innovations at CES 2017 in Las Vegas ( The Sands Expo, Level 2 - No. 41169), including industry-leading Thunderbolt 3 NAS solutions, revolutionary Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet (T2E) Converter technology, game-changing Internet of Things applications, 4K live-streaming/broadcasting, alongside the ultimate storage device that combines NAS and optical discs. This versatility demonstrates QNAP's willingness to break boundaries, and will stand out at CES across the consumer, SMB, and enterprise markets.

QNAP advances its renowned Thunderbolt NAS with the latest Thunderbolt 3 technology. Supporting higher speeds than the previous generation, the pioneering Thunderbolt 3 NAS is the best companion for the latest MacBook Pro, providing compelling features, storage, and reliability for creative professionals and enthusiasts who focus more on 4K or 3D workflows. The innovative T2E Converter (available in QTS 4.3) bridges Thunderbolt and Ethernet networks, making the Thunderbolt NAS a native Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter for wider application scenarios.

Lenovo has recently released the specifications for their 2017 Thinkpad series line-up, with several models (T470p, L470, L570, T470, T570, X270 and Yoga 370) featuring the usual, evolutionary hardware improvements, such as being equipped with Intel's latest generation Kaby Lake processors and increased screen resolutions. However, one of the hardware announcements for the new Thinkpad series goes a little further than your usual, run-of-the-mill updates: these solutions will feature what is expected to be the first consumer-level adaptations of Intel's Optane technology.

PNY announced the CS2030 line of high-performance SSDs in the M.2-2280 form-factor. The drives take advantage of PCI-Express 3.0 x4 (32 Gb/s M.2 slots), and the NVMe protocol, and are available in two capacities - 240 GB and 480 GB. Combining a Phison PS5007 controller with MLC NAND flash memory, the drives offer sequential transfer-rates of up to 2,750 MB/s reads, with up to 1,500 MB/s sequential writes. 4K random access performance is rated by the manufacturer at up to 210,000 IOPS reads, and up to 215,000 IOPS writes. Backed by 3-year warranties, the 240 GB variant is priced at US $179.99, and the 480 GB variant at $329.99.

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast memory, high-performance gaming hardware and PC components today announced the immediate availability of the CORSAIR Force MP500 range of M.2 solid state drives, the fastest SSDs yet produced by CORSAIR. Available in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities, the MP500 range delivers blistering performance up to five times faster than traditional SATA 6Gbps SSDs, offering users the next step in high-performance storage in an ultra-compact form factor.

Equipped with a Phison PS5007-E7 NVMe controller and high-bandwidth PCIe Gen. 3 x4 M.2 2280 interface, the MP500 range of drives put your data in the fast lane. Delivering phenomenal data performance including read speeds of up to 3,000 MB/s and write speeds of up 2,400 MB/s, the MP500 range of SSD accelerate system boots, game load times and file transfers beyond anything possible over a single SATA 6Gbps connection.

Western Digital Corp. today further expanded its data center SSD and HDD portfolio with the introduction of next-generation storage solutions designed to help IT managers address the intensive data and extreme performance demands of today's enterprise, cloud and hyperscale workloads.

The new solutions include the blazingly fast HGST-branded Ultrastar SN200 NVMe-compatible PCIe solid-state drive (SSD) series, which offers class-leading random read performance of up to 1.2 million IOPS in key workloads, and the company's fastest and highest capacity SAS SSD to date, the HGST-branded Ultrastar SS200 Series SSD. The company also introduced its fourth-generation helium-based HelioSeal enterprise-class hard disk drive (HDD), the 12TB HGST-branded Ultrastar He12 drive. Additionally, the company announced it will extend the He12 platform to 14TB, leveraging Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR).

On their Facebook page, MSI have given a little tease regarding their upcoming next generation Intel Z270 boards. Details are scarce at the moment, but these motherboards are to be marketed under MSI's PRO series, with the Z270 SLI Plus featuring a clean, high-contrast black and white color scheme, while the Z270 SLI opts for an almost totally black design.

The Z270 SLI Plus is the higher-end product of the two. It sports a 10-Phase PWM circuitry, cooled with the aid of two heatsinks in the ATX form-factor. As usual, it has four DIMM slots which leverage MSI's DDR4 Boost feature, and support for XMP profiles. All of these four DIMM slots are protected by metal shielding, and expansion slots include three PCIe 3.0 x16 (x16/x8/x8 electrical), three PCIe 3.0 x1 and two Turbo M.2 NVMe slots. Storage options include 6 SATA III ports and a dual USB 3.0 front panel header. It also features MSI's latest Audio Boost panel for premium audio quality, with what they call a "Mystic Light" RGB solution, and the I/O panel is covered by a black and white shroud.