At Bilibili World 2025, Colorful quietly introduced a unique all-white version of its iGame Ultra Duo SSD graphics card that combines high-end GPU performance with built-in storage. The card features a two‑fan cooler coated in matte white, which immediately sets it apart from the usual dark designs you see on the market. Although Colorful has not confirmed whether it is based on NVIDIA's new GB206 or GB207 architecture, either RTX 5050 or 5060, the real point of this product is the dual M.2 SSD slots on the back of the compact PCB. Users can simply slide in drives without any extra cables, and the heatsink mounting points are cleverly positioned between the storage bays and the rear I/O bracket.

Thanks to PCIe bifurcation, the card splits a standard x16 slot into eight lanes for the GPU and four lanes for each SSD, so neither graphics nor storage performance is compromised. Given that the PCIe bandwidth is more than enough for this GPU SKU, even an x8 lane is enough for performance to stay intact. By placing SSDs near active cooling, Colorful ensures they stay cool even under heavy workloads. Official specs and pricing are not yet available, but this hybrid design is sure to catch the eye of gamers and content creators looking for a sleek, high-capacity storage build.

A lack of PCIe bandwidth can reduce RTX 5090 performance by as much as 25% in video editing and 3D workloads. Puget Systems conducted a series of tests on NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090, comparing different PCIe versions and lane configurations to assess the impact on content creation tools. At its launch, TechPowerUp's scaling tests noted that the GeForce RTX 5090 is the first high-end card to adopt PCIe 5.0 x16, delivering 64 GB/s of bidirectional bandwidth—twice the 32 GB/s that the RTX 4090 achieves on PCIe 4.0 x16. Our testing revealed a potential performance impact of up to 25% when utilizing limited PCIe bandwidth. Puget Systems today put this interface to the test, confirming real‑world impacts on video editing workflows when lanes or generations are constrained.

In DaVinci Resolve benchmarks, Puget Systems found that configurations running at PCIe 5.0 x16, PCIe 5.0 x8, or PCIe 4.0 x16 yielded virtually identical render times. Dropping to PCIe 5.0 x4, PCIe 4.0 x8, or PCIe 3.0 x16 introduced a modest 10% slowdown. Further reducing bandwidth to PCIe 4.0 x4 or PCIe 3.0 x8 resulted in an increase of roughly 25% in render times. After Effects exhibited only minor slowdowns once the bandwidth dropped below 8 GB/s. Unreal Engine 5.5 virtual production tests recorded about a 7% drop in average frame rates at the lowest lane counts. By contrast, Blender offline renders and OctaneBench scores remained essentially unchanged, and Llama LLM benchmarks showed no measurable dependency on PCIe speed.

To support the new storage standard adopted by Nintendo Switch 2, AGI proudly announces the release of the TF338 microSD Express card. Built on the microSD Express standard and powered by the PCIe Gen 3 x1 interface with NVMe protocol, the TF338 delivers performance far beyond traditional microSD cards—offering up to 800 MB/s read and 700 MB/s write speeds for lightning-fast game loading and data transfer.

Compared to previous UHS-I microSD cards, microSD Express offers more than 4 times faster speeds, approaching SSD-level performance. This makes the TF338 an ideal solution for both high-performance gaming and mobile content creation. The card is backward compatible with UHS-I devices and has passed multiple durability tests—ensuring water, dust, shock, and temperature resistance for stable operation across demanding environments.

In another breakthrough in single-board computing, AAEON has released the de next-RAP8, the world's smallest board featuring embedded 13th Generation Intel Core Processors, measuring just 3.31" x 2.17" (84 mm x 55 mm). Available with a choice of the Intel Core i7-1365UE, Intel Core i5-1335UE, or Intel Core i3-1315UE, all at 15 W, the de next-RAP8 can leverage up to 10 cores and 12 threads. The board also boasts up to 16 GB of LPDDR5x system memory and Intel Iris Xe graphics.

Designed for drone and robotics applications, the de next-RAP8 hosts two Intel-based RJ-45 ports, one for 2.5GbE and one for 1GbE speeds, alongside two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports on its rear I/O. Rounding off its physical ports are an HDMI 1.2a port and a 12 V DC Jack. The board adds to these with a relatively dense set of pin headers and connectors. Given the board's target application fields being robotics and drones, the most notable inclusions are an 8-bit GPIO, four USB 2.0, and two RS-232/422/285 signals, all of which are available via a 40-pin header on the board's CPU-side. For more industrial use, the de next-RAP8 offers SMBus/I2C as an optional function.

TrendForce's latest investigations reveal that several negative factors weighed on the enterprise SSD market in the first quarter of 2025. These include production challenges for next-gen AI systems and persistent inventory overhang in North America. As a result, major clients significantly scaled back orders, causing the ASP of enterprise SSDs to plunge nearly 20%. This led to QoQ revenue declines for the top five enterprise SSD vendors, reflecting a period of market adjustment.

However, conditions are expected to improve in the second quarter. As shipments of NVIDIA's new chips ramp up, demand for AI infrastructure in North America is rising. Meanwhile, Chinese CSPs are steadily expanding storage capacity in their data centers. Together, these trends are set to reinvigorate the enterprise SSD market, with overall revenue projected to return to positive growth.

AMD is pleased to announce that the initial devices in the Spartan UltraScale+ cost-optimized family are now in volume production! The three smallest devices, the SU10P, SU25P, and SU35P, are currently available for order with production device support in AMD Vivado Design Suite 2025.1. Built for cost-sensitive edge applications requiring high I/O, low power, and state-of-the-art security features, this new offering in the AMD Cost-Optimized Portfolio brings modernized connectivity, post-quantum cryptography, and more to the proven UltraScale+ portfolio of FPGAs and adaptive SoCs. First production shipments of the three lowest-density devices mark a significant milestone in the availability of proven, small FPGA solutions for the low and mid-range markets.

A Proven Foundation for Fast Time to Market
Engineers looking for cost-optimized, compact FPGAs also want simplicity and a fast time to market. They need programmable logic, high I/O, robust security, and world-class reliability. They also need tools that deliver push-button timing closure and rapid debug capabilities. Above all, they need a low-risk path to market. Built by the industry leader using proven UltraScale+ technology, Spartan UltraScale+ FPGAs deliver exactly that.

Intel appears set to retain its familiar 48 PCIe lanes while delivering a significant memory speed boost with the upcoming "Nova Lake‑S" desktop platform. Hardware leakers have shared fresh details indicating that Intel will allocate 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes directly from the CPU, with an additional four DMI Gen 5 lanes connecting to the chipset. The chipset itself will provide eight PCIe 5.0 lanes alongside sixteen PCIe 4.0 lanes, matching the total lane count of current-generation parts. For storage and peripherals, the new platform will support eight SATA 3.0 ports along with a wide assortment of USB options. Fourteen USB 2.0 ports will cover legacy devices, while five USB 3.2 ports at 20 Gbps, 10 at 10 Gbps, and 10 more at 5 Gbps. The CPU's PCIe lanes can be configured in multiple ways to suit different use cases: one 16-lane slot paired with two 4-lane connections, two 8-lane slots plus two additional 4-lane links, or a four-by-four configuration supplemented by two extra 4-lane connections.

Memory support is where Nova Lake‑S will shine. Whereas the current Arrow Lake-S lineup handles DDR5-6400 natively and may reach 9200 MT/s when overclocked, Nova Lake-S will offer 8000 MT/s out of the box in a one-DIMM per channel, single-rank configuration. This enhancement is expected to provide a performance boost for data-intensive tasks and games, where the rumored 52-core top-of-the-line SKU will need all the possible bandwidth to feed so many cores. A new LGA 1954 CPU socket and motherboard design will be required, although it remains unclear whether the improved memory speed stems from a redesigned on-die integrated memory controller or advanced motherboard trace layouts and power delivery systems. Partners have received preliminary specifications, but no engineering samples or motherboard prototypes have appeared in public benchmarks or regulatory filings as of yet.

PCI-SIG today announced the official release of the PCI Express (PCIe) 7.0 specification, reaching 128.0 GT/s, to members. PCIe 7.0 specification targets data-driven applications like AI/ML, 800G Ethernet, cloud, and Quantum computing. Pathfinding for the PCIe 8.0 specification is already in progress to continue supporting the industry's investments and product roadmaps in the PCIe technology ecosystem.

PCIe 7.0 Specification Features

• Delivers 128.0 GT/s raw bit rate and up to 512 GB/s bi-directionally via x16 configuration
• Utilizes PAM4 (Pulse Amplitude Modulation with 4 levels) signaling and Flit-based encoding
• Provides improved power efficiency
• Maintains backwards compatibility with previous generations of PCIe technology

Matrox Video is making high-performance video wall deployments more efficient with the release of the Matrox LUMA Pro A380 Octal, a professional graphics card that drives four 8K displays or up to eight 5K displays from a single slot. The new LUMA Pro A380 Octal will be presented at InfoComm 2025, taking place June 11-13 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, at booth 2821. Designed to help OEMs, system integrators, AV installers, and developers do more with less, LUMA Pro A380 Octal enables high-density display setups while reducing hardware requirements and system complexity.

With LUMA Pro A380 Octal, users can now drive more displays per system and free up PCIe slots for other essential components like capture cards, storage, or networking. Traditional multi-display setups often rely on several quad-output cards, each consuming a full slot. LUMA Pro A380 Octal offers a compact alternative that makes it easier to build systems using standard workstations.

ASMedia Technology is getting ready to unveil its latest PCIe Packet Switch solution (ASM58048) at Computex 2025, with sampling expected in Q3 2025. ASMedia product lineup covers PCIe generations 2 through 6, offering channel configurations that range from 3 to 80 channels. The upcoming PCIe Gen 5 product (ASM68080 series) development is underway, with a fully verified PHY design nearing completion. Following the ASM58048, ASMedia plans for multiple products featuring 24 to 80 channels, while work on PCIe Gen 6 is actively underway.

The company's USB4 ASM4242 host controller has found a home in high-end motherboards and laptops from a variety of brands being certified USB4 and Thunderbolt 4. The ASM2464PDX USB4 controller is tailored for edge AI computing, allowing for plug-and-play external GPUs by converting PCIe Gen 4 signals to USB4. This makes it easy to connect graphics cards, NVMe SSDs, and Wi-Fi modules externally, delivering performance that rivals internal setups.Update May 22nd: Added more pictures

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, today launched the new QXG-10G2SF-NXE 10GbE SFP+ network expansion card. Equipped with the advanced Broadcom 57412 Ethernet Controller, this PCIe Gen 3 card can be installed into a QNAP NAS (including the TS-x64 and TS-x64U series) or Windows /Linux PC and servers, instantly augmenting connectivity with two high-speed 10GbE ports.

The QXG-10G2SF-NXE comes with two 10GbE SFP+ (10G/1G) network ports. Users can utilize SMB Multichannel or Port Trunking to combine bandwidth, providing up to 20 Gbps of data transfer potential, thereby accelerating large file sharing and intensive data transmission. The QXG-10G2SF-NXE supports RDMA to enhance data transfer efficiency and reduce latency, while also supporting SR-IOV that enhances network resource allocation for VMware virtualization applications, reducing network bandwidth consumption and significantly lowering CPU usage for virtual machine servers (hypervisors).

AMD is preparing to set a new data-center performance bar with its upcoming 6th-generation EPYC "Venice" processors, built on the latest "Zen 6" and "Zen 6C" core designs and the industry's first 2 nm-class node from TSMC. Leaked engineering diagrams and forum reports suggest Venice will offer additional core scalability, memory capacity, and cache productivity for demanding server workloads. At the heart of the Venice platform lies a multi-chip module design featuring up to eight Core Complex Dies (CCDs) arrayed around one or more central I/O dies (IODs). In its Zen 6 configuration, each CCD houses 12 "classic" cores, yielding a maximum of 96 cores and 192 threads per socket. The cache per CCD is rumored to reach 128 MB of shared L3, double that of its predecessor, delivering up to 1 TB of L3 cache in a fully populated eight-CCD package.

For customers prioritizing raw thread count over per-core performance, the Zen 6C variant pushes the envelope to 256 "dense" cores and 512 threads by leveraging a leaner core design and higher CCD count. Despite the density boost, each Zen 6C core maintains 2 MB of L3 cache, preserving latency benefits even at scale. Memory bandwidth also receives a major uplift: Venice will support both 16-channel (SP7) and 12-channel (SP8) DDR5 configurations, accommodating up to 6 TB of system RAM per socket. The number of PCIe Gen 5 lanes is still unknown, but it could be well over 128 lanes, which the past 5th-generation EPYC CPUs had. Thermal and power targets differentiate the two sockets: SP7 models are expected to reach TDPs around 600 W, up from 400 W on current Zen 5 chips, while SP8 parts aim for 350-400 W to suit more moderate-density racks. This tiered approach will let hyperscalers and enterprise customers balance performance, efficiency, and cooling infrastructure, especially at the scale that hyperscalers have. A projected launch date is scheduled for late 2025 or early 2026.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, and storage solutions innovator, today announced the launch of the next-generation flagship 24-bay U.2 NVMe all-flash rackmount NAS, the TDS-h2489FU R2. The TDS-h2489FU R2 offers powerful and stable computing performance, robust networking, and scalable storage capability to meet enterprise demands for high workloads, multitasking, and low latency in applications such as virtualization, high-performance computing (HPC), data centers, AI/ML computing, AI Big Data storage, and 3D rendering.

"As enterprises face the rapid growth of data and increasingly demanding workloads, they need more than just performance. They require a stable platform that supports mission-critical operations," said Alex Shih, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "The TDS-h2489FU R2 is purpose-built for high-load, multitasking applications, empowering IT teams to handle virtualization, AI model training, or post-production editing with ease. We aim to help enterprises maximize the benefits of all-flash storage in data centers and high-efficiency collaborative environments, accelerating digital transformation and innovation."

ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., a global leader in memory and flash storage solutions, today officially announced the launch of its new enterprise storage brand, TRUSTA, marking a major step into the AI server, data center, and enterprise markets. Aligned with its brand spirit of "Together, Empowering Tomorrow," TRUSTA focuses on innovation, performance, and stability, striving to deliver SSD solutions that combine high-speed computing capabilities with exceptional energy efficiency. TRUSTA is set to make its official debut at COMPUTEX 2025.

Seizing Global Server Market Opportunities with the Launch of T7 and T5 Series
According to TrendForce, the global server market is projected to reach USD 306 billion in 2024, with AI servers demonstrating particularly strong growth momentum, potentially contributing nearly USD 298 billion by 2025. In response to this trend, ADATA will officially introduce the TRUSTA brand at COMPUTEX, launching the T7 and T5 series enterprise SSDs. These solutions are designed to support a wide range of applications, including AI training and inference, vector databases, high-performance computing (HPC), virtualization platforms (VM/VDI), and server boot storage, helping enterprises build complete storage infrastructures from system boot-up to intensive data operations.

Die shots of Intel's "Arrow Lake" desktop processors have appeared online, confirming the chiplet design we have known about since the launch. The images annotated by the YouTube channel HighYield show a four‑tile arrangement mounted on a base die made with Intel's 22 nm FinFET process. The compute tile sits at the top left, built on TSMC's N3B node and covering 117.24 mm². To its right are the SoC tile on TSMC's N6 node measuring 86.65 mm², and the GPU tile, which houses four Xe cores alongside an Arc Alchemist render slice. The I/O tile, at 24.48 mm² on the same N6 node, completes the group at the bottom left. Intel has redesigned its hybrid core layout for Arrow Lake, moving away from separate P‑core and E‑core clusters. Four of the eight high‑performance P‑cores line the die's outer edges, with the remaining four in the center. In between these lie the four efficiency E‑core clusters, each sharing 3 MB of L2 cache. A unified 36 MB L3 cache ring bus connects to every core, allowing E‑cores to tap into that larger cache pool for the first time. Intel aims to spread heat more evenly and boost background task performance.

The I/O tile integrates Thunderbolt 4 controllers, PCIe buffers and PHYs. The SoC tile carries display engines, media accelerators and DDR5 memory controllers. All tiles are bonded to the base die via Intel's Foveros Omni stacking technology. Arrow Lake also reflects a shift in Intel's manufacturing strategy. Plans to use Intel's 20A node were dropped in favor of TSMC processes, making this the first desktop CPU from Intel that relies almost entirely on external foundries. On the software side, Intel has begun offering its IPO profiles in select prebuilt systems. These presets optimize CPU and memory settings for a hassle‑free performance boost that remains within warranty limits. Meanwhile, the native 200S Boost overclocking option is rolling out via BIOS updates. Early tests suggest that 200S Boost alone yields modest gains unless paired with very high-speed DDR5 modules, while IPO profiles deliver more consistent improvements with mainstream memory configurations.

XPG, a fast-growing provider of systems, components, and peripherals for Gamers, Esports Pros, and Tech Enthusiasts and gaming brand of ADATA Technology, the world's leading brand for memory modules and flash memory, has announced the launch of its latest high-performance PCIe Gen 5 SSD series—the MARS 980. Engineered specifically for professional gamers, tech enthusiasts, and overclocking specialists, the new series meets the soaring demands of artificial intelligence applications and high-performance computing.

Featuring breakthrough performance speeds of up to 14,000 MB/s and utilizing an advanced 6 nm process controller, the MARS 980 significantly enhances both performance and power efficiency. Furthermore, it introduces the industry's first-ever hybrid liquid-and-air cooling solution, effectively addressing the heat challenges posed by high-speed PCIe Gen 5 SSD operations. The MARS 980 SSD lineup comprises three distinctive models—MARS 980 STORM, MARS 980 BLADE, and MARS 980 PRO—each optimized for various user needs and scenarios, fully supporting AI-driven creative workflows, data-intensive tasks, and high-speed operations. Undoubtedly, the MARS 980 series positions itself as the most compelling choice in the Gen 5 SSD market.

ASUS has quietly added a useful new feature called "Equipment Installation Check" to its ASUS ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 series graphics cards, and many users only noticed it after a recent GPU Tweak III update. This tool watches for any unwanted tilt or sag in the GPU and sends an alert if it spots more movement than ASUS thinks is safe. The secret sauce here is a tiny Bosch Sensortec BMI323 inertial measurement unit, or IMU. It's essentially an accelerometer and gyroscope in one, and it costs just a couple of US Dollars. Tracking the card's angle lets GPU Tweak III know when you might need to give your graphics card a little extra support. That's especially handy for models like the air-cooled ROG ASTRAL RTX 5090, which can weigh about 3 kg and put real stress on your motherboard's PCIe slot over time. Equipment Installation Check joins two other hardware monitoring tools ASUS already offers.

Additionally, some features like Power Detector+ monitors each of the 16-pin 12 V rails for any odd current spikes. Thermal Map shows temperatures from sensors scattered around the PCB so you can spot hotspots at a glance. Together, these features give you power, heat, and tilt monitoring all in one place. Most PC builders use third-party GPU brackets or reinforced PCIe slots to hold up heavy cards. Some of those supports might be optional because the software will remind you if it senses a problem or if a support bracket slips or loosens. That's a big deal if you only move your desktop once in a blue moon and don't notice slow shifts in component alignment. GPUs keep getting bigger and more demanding mechanically, so it's easy to forget that they're also a mechanical load on your system, especially when moving the PC for cleaning or part upgrades.

As industrial systems become more interconnected and data-driven, the need for connectivity solutions that offer superior performance, scalability, and flexibility is growing rapidly. Cervoz, a leading provider of industrial embedded modules, is meeting this demand with an expanding portfolio of innovative, real-world expansion solutions.

Seamless Expansion for Future-Ready Performance
Picture a smart logistics hub handling tens of thousands of packages a day, where Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) operates across vast spaces. In such environments, traditional RJ45 connections may initially suffice—but as operation expand and AMRs navigate distances beyond 100 meters, connectivity becomes prone to signal degradation and industrial interference.

Marvell Technology, Inc., a leader in data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, today announced in collaboration with TeraHop, a global optical solutions provider for AI driven data centers, the demonstration of the industry's first end-to-end PCIe Gen 6 over optics in the Marvell booth #2129 at OFC 2025. The demonstration will showcase the extension of PCIe reach beyond traditional electrical limits to enable low-latency, standards-based AI scale-up infrastructure.

As AI workloads drive exponential data growth, PCIe connectivity must evolve to support higher bandwidth and longer reach. The Marvell Alaska P PCIe Gen 6 retimer and its PCIe Gen 7 SerDes technology enable low-latency, low bit-error-rate transmission over optical fiber, delivering the scalability, power efficiency, and high performance required for next-generation accelerated infrastructure. With PCIe over optics, system designers will be able to take advantage of longer links between devices that feature the low latency of PCIe technology.

Kioxia's LC9 Series 122.88 TB NVMe SSD was photographed on the show floor at NVIDIA's GTC 2025 by Tom's Hardware, revealing the first production-ready implementation of the company's BiCS FLASH generation 8 3D QLC technology with 2 Tb die density. The 2.5-inch form factor drive delivers immense storage density in the enterprise SSD market on a PCIe 5.0 connection. The LC9 Series features a dual-port design providing 32 GT/s throughput via PCIe 5.0 1x4 or 2x2 configurations, with NVMe 2.0 and NVMe-MI compliance. Built specifically to address density requirements for AI workloads, the drive leverages CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) technology in its flash architecture. The enterprise-class unit is rated at 0.3 drive writes per day (DWPD) and 67,000 TBW endurance, positioning it for read-intensive applications rather than write-heavy workloads. The reported read speeds are around 15 GB/s, as demonstrated at the booth.

The LC9 supports vector database operations through Kioxia's AiSAQ technology implementation, which transfers vector database operations from DRAM to SSD storage. This approach significantly reduces system-level costs while maintaining acceptable latency profiles for AI RAG operations. Kioxia demonstrated the SSD at booth #1811 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center through March 21, with live performance demonstrations highlighting its capabilities in AI dataset retrieval operations. The drive represents a critical advancement for enterprise AI infrastructure where data density and retrieval speeds are becoming bottlenecks in scaled LLM deployments. A massive capacity will allow entire enterprises to operate AI LLMs on top of company data with RAG and at low latency and high endurance.

The AI data center buildout requires massive bandwidth from accelerator to accelerator and from accelerator to CPU. At the core of that bandwidth bridge is PCIe technology, which constantly needs to evolve to satisfy massive bandwidth requirements. Today, PCI-SIG, the working group behind the PCI and PCIe connector, is releasing details about the almost ready 0.9 version of the PCIe 7.0 connector and its final specifications. The latest PCIe 7.0 will bring 128 GT/s speeds, with a bi-directional bandwidth of 512 GB/s in the x16 lane configuration. Targeting applications like 800G Ethernet, AI/ML, cloud, quantum computing, hyperscalers, military/aerospace, and cloud providers all need massive bandwidth for their respective applications and use cases to work flawlessly.

Interestingly, as PCIe doubles bandwidth over the traditional three-year cadence, high bandwidth for things like storage is becoming available on fewer and fewer lanes. For example, PCIe 3.0 with x16 lanes delivers 32 GB/s of bi-directional bandwidth. And now, PCIe 7.0 delivers that same bandwidth on only a single x1 lane. Some other goals of the new PCIe 7.0 include significant improvements in channel parameters and signal integrity while enhancing power efficiency and maintaining the protocol's low-latency characteristics. All while ensuring complete backward compatibility with previous generations of the standard. Notably, the PCIe 7.0 standard uses PAM4 signaling, which was first presented for PCIe 6.0. Here is a nice PAM4 signaling primer if you want to learn more about PAM4 signaling. Below are the specifications of PCIe generations and their respective characteristics. We expect to see final version v1.0 by end of the year, and some PCIe 7.0 accelerators next year.

Today we are delighted to present you the newly launched VEGA M from CHIEFTEC, which boasts 80 Plus Gold certified efficiency, ATX 3.1 compliance and native PCI-E Gen 5 connector.

Features

• Compliant with ATX 12 V 3.1
• Support PCIe GEN 5 (12 V - 2x6)
• 80 Plus Gold certified efficiency
• LLC Half-Bridge converter with DC to DC technology
• Fully modular cable management

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for AI, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, announced a new optimized storage server for high-performance software-defined storage workloads. This first-of-its-class storage server from a major Tier 1 provider utilizes Supermicro's system design expertise to create a high-density storage server for software-defined workloads found in AI and ML training and inferencing, analytics and enterprise storage workloads. Supermicro worked closely with NVIDIA and WEKA to enable customers to create power-efficient high-performance storage systems for their AI factories.

"The Supermicro Petascale server with the NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip highlights Supermicro's focus on innovation and customer choice," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "We have developed the Petascale storage server using the NVIDIA Grace CPU with 144 Arm Neoverse V2 cores enabling high-performance I/O for software-defined storage workloads. We have demonstrated that the system can fully unleash the system's PCIe Gen 5 performance SSD bandwidth with linear scalability. Supermicro continues to bring to market the most advanced and optimized storage solutions available."

ASUS has discreetly modified its controversial Q-Release Slim mechanism in the newly launched ROG Crosshair X870E Apex motherboard, removing a metal bracket linked to GPU PCIe connector scratches. The unannounced revision, spotted by Uniko's Hardware, follows months of backlash from enthusiasts who reported cosmetic damage to high-end GPUs after repeated use of the quick-release feature. While ASUS has not formally addressed the redesign, it acknowledges the issue—a stark contrast to its earlier dismissal of concerns as "typical wear-and-tear" after 60+ removal cycles. The controversy, first spotted in January 2025, escalated when users shared evidence of scratched PCIe pins on platforms like Reddit and Bilibili.

ASUS's global responses varied sharply: its US division downplayed functional risks, while ASUS China rolled out compensation, including motherboard replacements and store credits, and confirmed a redesign was underway. This regional split shows differing consumer protection norms, with China's aggressive compensation contrasting Western markets' reliance on warranty assurances. Competitors seized the moment. GIGABYTE's AORUS Japan publicly mocked ASUS with a 100-cycle stress test of its EZ Latch Plus, showcasing zero GPU damage—a direct jab at Q-Release Slim's durability. The campaign, echoed by GIGABYTE's Western accounts, emphasized rivalries in the premium motherboard segment. ASUS's quiet hardware fix avoids a formal recall, likely due to the niche impact—frequent GPU swaps are rare among mainstream users.

MSI IPC, a global leader in industrial computing solutions, proudly unveils the MS-CF05, V2.0, a high-performance ATX motherboard engineered for industrial automation, edge computing, and embedded applications. Designed to support 14th, 13th, and 12th Gen Intel Core, Pentium, and Celeron processors, the MS-CF05, V2.0 delivers exceptional computing power, scalability, and I/O flexibility, including a PCI slot for legacy support, making it ideal for modern industrial needs.