EVGA introduces you to the ultimate in raw performance for the next-gen Intel Extreme lineup, the EVGA X299 Dark. The Dark is crafted from the ground up to be the performance apex with everything you need to make a record-breaking benching run or a 24/7 number cruncher, and nothing you don't - a board that is as reliable as it is fast.

Earlier today, we brought you a story about NVIDIA TITAN V setting you back by up to $7,196 for two cards and two $600 NVLink cables. We got word from NVIDIA that the card neither features NVLink, nor supports SLI, and have since edited it. The NVLink fingers on the TITAN V card are rudiments of the functional NVLink interface found on the Tesla V100 PCIe, being developed by NVIDIA, as the TITAN V, Tesla V100, and a future Quadro GV100 share a common PCB. The NVLink fingers on the TITAN V are concealed by the base-plate of the cooler on one side, and the card's back-plate on the other; so the female connectors of NVLink bridge cables can't be plugged in.

With the lack of SLI support on what is possibly it's fastest graphics card based on the "Volta" architecture, NVIDIA seems to have responded to market trends that multi-GPU is dying or dead. That said, it would be interesting to see if professional overclockers chasing benchmark leaderboard glory pick up the TITAN V, as opposed to two TITAN Xp in SLI or four Radeon RX Vega 64 in 4-way CrossFireX.

Apacer knows it best when it comes to speed and uncompromised gaming performance. Z280, the latest answer to advanced SSDs, supports PCIe Gen 3 x4 and is compliant with NVMe 1.2 in a M.2 form factor. The blazing speed will boost the game status without getting too costly. With sustained read/write performance at 2750MB/s and 1500MB/s, the compact M.2-2280 keeps everything efficient at a massive capacity of 480GB. Want to be one step ahead of others? Look no further than Z280, the high-performing SSD that is compatible with mini PCs and laptops.

Rapidity & Jumbo Storage
Built with upscale SSD technologies that Apacer is synonymous for and excellent quality MLC, the cutting-edge Z280 is compliant with NVMe 1.2 standard and features the latest PCIe Gen 3 x4 interface to provide up to 4 times of bandwidth. The expert team at Apacer raised the bar of the industry by creating a blistering transmission at 2750/MB & 1500MB per second. Offering a massive memory capacity of 480GB, Z280 has a random write of 175,000 IOPs to ensure all actions in each gaming scene is smoothly processed, fluid and sharp, efficiently boosting a gamer's status.

Kontron, a leading global provider of Embedded Computing Technology (ECT), introduces a new member of its high-end industrial computer platforms for control cabinet environments - the Kontron KBox C-102-4. The new model allows the integration of up to four PCIe expansions slots and is thus ideally suited for users requiring a large number of additional interfaces, industrial I/Os, or fieldbuses.

The KBox C-102 series is now available in four alternative design variants: the compact KBox C-102-0 without additional expansion slots, the KBox C-102-1 and KBox C-102-2 with one or two PCI(e) expansion slots respectively, and the new KBox C-102-4 with four PCI(e) expansion slots. The industrial computers are used mainly for control, visualization, and inspection in the production process.

Raijintek have just release three new cases for their tempered glass series: the Coeus Elite, Coeus Evo, and Paen M. The Paean M is Raijintek's first watercooled open bench case. All three cases feature up to four individual panes of 4.0 mm tempered glass giving a great view to their new range of LED fans. In addition to the three new cases, Raijintek have also announced the PAXX conversion kit consisting of a riser card extender cable and a special PCI slot bracket.

Team Group, world renowned memory solutions and accessory provider, is proud to announce today the addition of new products as to their prestigious T-FORCE gaming line of products. Announced today, the T-FORCE arsenal welcomes the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO M.2 PCI-E solid-state drive and the T-FORCE FORCE SABLE gaming mouse pad. Both designed by Team Group, the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO is a patented M.2 PCI-e M.2 SSD featuring graphene copper foil cooling on the SSD module allowing the SSD to maximize cooling benefits from both natural passive cooling and directed air cooling via fans to deliver excellent heat dissipation.

The T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO M.2 PCI-E SSD is the world's first super slim SSD on the market built specifically for gaming laptops and high-performance tablet PCs. The newly released T-FORCE GAMING mouse pad, the T-FORCE FORCE SABLE, features special 3D sensing technology to effectively enhance the performance of optical or laser-sensor gaming mice. The mouse itself is made from environmental-friendly fabric which provides better comfort and smoother control and is completely washable and easy to clean.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the general availability (GA) of its DCP1000 NVMe PCIe SSD in the European marketplace. The company will demonstrate the performance capabilities of the DCP1000, the industry's fastest NVMe SSD for the Half Height Half Length PCIe form factor, at the 2017 International Broadcasting Conference (IBC), working with multiple partner vendors, featuring the solid-state solution in a variety of configurations.

These include accelerating the complete Adobe Creative Cloud 2017 Suite of applications; a 60 frame-per-second (FPS) 4K streaming video demonstration with Bluefish444; real-time color grading with 4K resolution video and higher with demonstration partners Eizo and Marquis Technologies; and several other deployments showcasing the consistent, industry-leading data acceleration capabilities of the Kingston DCP1000, regardless of use case.

After years of continued innovation in PCIe's bandwidth, we've hit somewhat of a snag in recent times; after all, the PCIe 3.0 specification has been doing the rounds on our motherboards ever since 2010. PCI-SIG, the 750-member strong organization that's in charge of designing the specifications for the PCIe bus, attribute part of this delay to industry stagnation: PCIe 3.0 has simply been more than enough, bandwidth-wise, for many generations of hardware now. Only recently, with innovations in storage mediums and innovative memory solutions, such as NVMe SSDs and Intel's Optane, are we starting to hit the ceiling on what PCIe 3.0 offers. Add to that the increased workload and bandwidth requirements of the AI field, and the industry now seems to be eager for an upgrade, with some IP vendors even having put out PCIe 4.0-supporting controllers and PHYs into their next-generation products already - although at the incomplete 0.9 revision.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched the XPG SX9000, its fastest consumer SSD yet. The SX9000 caters to gamers and PC overclockers. It arrives in an M.2 2280 form factor and uses the PCIe3x4 interface to deliver up to 2800MB/s read and 1450 MB/s write. ADATA has selected a new Marvell controller to ensure consistently optimized performance, while in-house ADATA manufacturing, assembly, and quality control result in up to a 1000TB terabytes/total bytes written (TBW) rating. The SX9000 uses MLC NAND Flash and ships in 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB capacities.

The SX9000 goes even beyond the XPG SX8000 thanks to balanced ADATA design and the integration of a new Marvell controller. It reaches 2800MB/s read and 1450 MB/s write, leveraging the PCI Express Gen 3x4 interface and the NVMe 1.2 protocol. A compact M.2 2280 drive, the SX9000 also manages 310K/140K IOPS random 4K read/write. For fast boot, reduced cross-drive transfer times, shorter game loads, and quicker in-game asset delivery, the SX9000 offers an excellent foundation.

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.

AMD is organizing the "Meet the Experts" webinar, which will focus on AMD's upcoming Ryzen Threadripper motherboard designs and offerings from AMD partners. As we inch closer to AMD's HEDT X399 platform launch, we've gotten confirmation from AMD on Threadripper's specs and pricing. However, the actual motherboards where you're expected to sit your awe-inducing 12 and 16-core processors have largely been absent from the show.

And since AMD knows that processors without a motherboard don't really equate to anything much, the company has invited ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock to detail at least some of their X399 motherboards. So far, the motherboards we have some info are the GIGABYTE X399 AORUS Gaming 7 (which has 5x PCIe x16 slots, no PCIe x1 slots, and 3x M.2 slots in an ATX form-factor); the ASUS X399 ROG ZENITH EXTREME (EATX, 4x PCIe x16 slots, 1x PCIe x1 slots, and 2x M.2 slots); the ASROCK X399 Professional Gaming (ATX, 4x PCIe x16 slots, 1x PCIe x1 slots, and 3x M.2 slots); and finally, the ASROCK X399 TAICHI, which counts with the usual ATX form-factor, and offers 4x PCIe x16 slots, 1x PCIe x1 slots, and 3x M.2 slots. All of these seem to be marketed toward gamer enthusiasts, though we'll see some increasingly workstation-geared motherboards closer to or after the launch.

GIGABYTE today announced its latest generation of servers based on Intel's Skylake Purley architecture. This new generation brings a wealth of new options in scalability - across compute, network and storage - to deliver solutions for any application, from the enterprise to the data center to HPC. (Jump ahead to system introductions).

This server series adopts Intel's new product family - officially named the 'Intel Xeon Scalable family' and utilizes its ability to meet the increasingly diverse requirements of the industry, from entry-level HPC to large scale clusters.. The major development in this platform is around the improved features and functionality at both the host and fabric levels. These enable performance improvements - both natively on chip and for future extensibility through compute, network and storage peripherals. In practical terms, these new CPUs will offer up to 28 cores, and 48 PCIe lanes per socket.

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.

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.

In a bid to increase options for budget-minded gamers, Acer has introduced the Nitro 5 gaming laptop, whose wealth of configurations start at a respectable $800. Choosing any kind of gaming-focused laptop over building your own desktop will always look like bad business, but how much one values mobility mays edge the decision towards one side or the other.

Specs-wise, it's a mix of respectable with the bare minimum: it features a 15.6-inch FHD IPS display, up to 32 GB of DDR4 2400 MHz memory, and is available in configurations featuring Intel's Core i5 or Core i7 processors paired with an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti graphics card, or your choice of an AMD 7th-gen A-series FX, A12 or A10 APUs, paired a Radeon RX550 GPU. Some models will include PCIe SSDs (up to 512GB) with up to 2TB of optional HDD storage. Ports include 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x USB 3.1 Type-C, 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 ports, and 1x HDMI output. The Nitro 5 also supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi with a 2x2 MIMO antenna. The Nitro 5 will be available in North America starting July 1. Acer did not release detailed pricing, so there's no idea of what the $800 configuration will net you spec-wise (though an AMD and RX 550 are pretty much guaranteed). The Nitro 5 will also be available in the EMEA in August, starting at a much less interesting €1,139.

AMD Ryzen 9 "Threadripper" series 12-core, 14-core, and 16-core client desktop processors, which will form the company's next-generation high-end desktop (HEDT) lineup, which goes against Intel Core i9 "Skylake-X" series, could come in a brand new socket. This shouldn't come as a surprise because the chips have higher electrical requirements, besides double the I/O of socket AM4 Ryzen processors, such as a 44-lane PCIe gen 3.0 root complex, quad-channel DDR4 memory interface, and more. This socket, according to a "HotHardware" report, is an LGA (land-grid array) with 4,094 pins.

The new LGA-4094 socket, so-called SP3r2, will be slightly scaled up from the SP3 socket AMD has been selling enterprise Opteron-brand multi-socket CPUs on (pictured below). The consumer version of this socket could feature a more user-friendly retention mechanism that shouldn't require a screwdriver to fasten. Motherboards based on this distinctively rectangular socket will feature up to eight DDR4 DIMM slots to hold quad-channel DDR4 memory, and over four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots, with support for 3-way and 4-way multi-GPU solutions. The motherboards will also feature copious amounts of onboard devices, M.2 slots, and other storage connectivity. Since "Threadripper" is rumored to be a multi-chip module of two 14 nm "Summit Ridge" dies linked together on-package with with an Infinity Fabric interconnect, only one of the two dies links to the motherboard chipset (AMD X399 chipset), while all the PCIe lanes of the second die (including those which would make up the chipset bus) are freed up.

Two days, two leaks on an upcoming Intel platform (the accelerated release dates gods are working hard with the blue giant, it would seem.) Now, it's Intel's own i7-7740K, a Kaby Lake-X HEDT processor that packs 4 cores and 8 threads, which is interesting when one considers that AMD's latest mainstream processors, Ryzen, already pack double the cores and threads in a non-HEDT platform. Interesting things about the Kaby Lake-X processors is that they are rumored to carry 16x PCIe 3.0 lane from the CPU (which can be configured as a singularly populated 16x or as a triple-populated 1x @ 8x and 2x @ 4x PCIe ports. Since these parts are reported as being based of on consumer, LGA-1151 Kaby Lake processors, it would seem these eschew Intel's integrated graphics, thus saving die space. And these do seem to deliver a quad-channel memory controller as well, though we've seen with Ryzen R7 reviews how much of a difference that makes for some of the use cases.

The rumor mill turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. However, some of those really do turn to reality, like recent accounts of an AMD Polaris 20 chip surfacing in the latest RX 500 series. This time, Intel is in the crosshairs, with the company's high-performance Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X desktop components being pegged for release between June 19th and July 9th. This would place an announcement on the new chipset and CPUs debut to drop around Computex 2017, which kicks off on May 30 and runs through June 3 in Taipei.

Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X parts are supposed to use the same LGA 2066 socket, with Skylake-X said to include anywhere between six to 10 cores, support quad-channel DDR4 memory and have a metric ton of PCIe 3.0 lanes. Kaby Lake-X parts, meanwhile, are reportedly limited to just four cores, dual-channel memory and just 16 PCIe lanes from the CPU - which gives an impression of a simple, Kaby Lake desktop CPUs being repackaged for the new socket.(And yes, inquisitive readers, that was a random reference to Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" in the first line of this article.)

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched theSX7000 SSD as part of its growing XPG gaming brand. The SX7000 uses an M.2 2280 form factor and carefully-sorted 3D TLC NAND Flash, paired with an SMI controller. The SX7000 interfaces with motherboards via PCI Express 3.0 x4 and meets NVMe 1.2 specifications to deliver 1800MB/s read, 850MB/s write, and 130K/140K IOPS. The SX7000 is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB, making the most of the flexibility of 3D NAND to present consumers with greater choice based on budget and need.

Market intelligence analysis company TRENDFOCUS revealed in its latest blog post how SSD market has increased by up to 36% in the last four quarters, with price hikes after prices hikes accompanying increasing demand (and sales) of the speedy storage media. And TRENDFOCUS warns that these price hikes are like here to stay until 2017 has run its course, with projections of price reductions only materializing in early 2018. This should put some brakes towards the trend of including SSD storage on mainstream OEM computers and laptops, as the price increase from adding this type of storage would bring prices beyond the mainstream. Likewise, the aggressive ratio at which SSDs were replacing HDDs as storage media as correspondingly declined a bit, though this move still stays strong and isn't likely to (nor should it) fully subside.

The company also sees an increasing pricing delta between conventional SATA-based solutions and their higher-performing PCIe counterparts, with the pricing of PCIe-based SSDs increasing more than those that leverage SATA connections. TRENDFOCUS reports how 2017 pricing hinges on 3D NAND ramping as predicted this year, with higher prices in the demand-heavy back-to-school season) if this ramp fails. The company still feels confident about an eventual return to quarterly takedowns on SSD pricing, coeteris paribus, come 2018.

Several months have passed since the original announcement, but FSP's Dagger line of SFX PSUs are now finally seeing the light of day. These are fully modular, highly efficient (80+ Gold), small form-factor PSUs, which look to deliver outstanding power quality to your small form factor experiments. The Dagger's platform uses DC-DC converters for the generation of the minor rails, and FSP announces the usage of Japanese electrolytic capacitors. Connector-wise, the Dagger PSUs deliver 1x EPS; 2x PCIe; 5x SATA, 2x Peripheral, and 1x Berg connectors, whose numbers are reasonable for a SFX PSU.

Dimension-wise, the Dagger PSUs come in at 125 mm (W) x 63.5 mm (H) x 110 mm (D), and both models are cooled by a 80 mm Dual Ball-Bearing Fan. The Dagger line of SFX PSUs will be embodied, at least at first, by the Dagger SDA500 ($99) and Dagger SDA600 ($109), both carrying 5-year warranties.

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.)

Only AMD's top-of-the-line X370 chipset will support competing NVIDIA's SLI technology. AMD's next-in-line B350 eschews SLI support but retains CrossFire compatibility, while the low-end A320 chipset will offer no support for any such multi-GPU technologies. While this may seem a move by AMD to purposely gimp NVIDIA products on its platforms, it stands to reason that even enthusiasts tend to stay away from multi-GPU solutions and their associated problems. Besides, AMD will surely avoid any way of giving NVIDIA more funds than the company already has, by way of paying the "SLI Tax" on every chipset it ships. By limiting SLI support to its highest-end chipsets, AMD shaves some expenses from licensing efforts, whilst keeping SLI support to those that are, in truth, more likely to use them: power users, who will certainly spare no expense in springing to a X370-based platform.

As of now, some details remain unclear in the overall feature-set and compatibility differences between AMD's upcoming AM4 chipsets, but it would seem that only AMD's X370 chipset manages to leverage the full 20 PCIe lanes (18x if you run 2x SATA connections) delivered by AMD's Ryzen CPUs. This would look like a way for AMD to impose a "motherboard tax" on users, by limiting the number of PCIe lanes available on lower-end motherboards, and thus urging them to take the next step to their own X370. Apparently, PCIe lanes are not a differentiating factor between AMD chipsets (with X370, B350 and A320 all offering 4 native lanes), only their ability to access (or not) Ryzen's own 20.

Not much time until all of this is adequately cleared up, though.

To strangely low pomp and fanfare, MSI has further increased its line-up of offerings for the RX 460 family of graphics cards, with the launch of the Radeon RX 460 4GT LP (4GB), as well as a 2GT (2GB) version. Based on AMD's Olaris 11 "Baffin" graphics chip, these graphics cards feature a 75 W TDP, thus eschewing any auxiliary PCIe power connectors. That TDP being tamed by a dual-fan cooling solution and the usage of MIL-STD-810G certified components mean that this is a card where MSI feels comfortable about its lifespan.

Connectivity-wise, the boards offer 1x DL-DVI-D, as well as 1x HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 support, which makes any of these a relevant choice for an HTPC. MSI has not revealed a MSRP for any of these cards, but considering the segment at which they fit in like a jigsaw puzzle, one can surely expect their pricing to not be that far off from those recommended by AMD ($109 for the 2 GB version, and $139 for the 4 GB one).

NVM Express, Inc., the organization that developed the NVM Express specification for accessing solid-state drives (SSDs) on a PCI Express (PCIe) bus, today announced the results of its recent board elections. Elected to Promoter positions were Facebook, Micron, Microsoft, Samsung, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Facebook and Toshiba are new to the Promoter level, and the others are incumbents. The election winners join existing Promoters Cisco, Dell EMC, Intel, Microsemi, NetApp and Oracle, whose current terms expire at the end of 2017.

Representatives from the 13 Promoter companies form the NVM Express, Inc. Board of Directors, which governs the organization, including setting strategic direction. All Contributor and Promoter member companies are eligible to run for Promoter positions, where there are elections each year for roughly half the positions.

"We're very pleased to welcome Toshiba and Facebook to the NVM Express, Inc. Board, to help shape the future direction of NVM Express technology and the organization," said Amber Huffman, NVM Express President. "In 2016, we marked major milestones, such as publishing the NVM Express over Fabrics specification. We look forward to publishing revision 1.3 in the first half of this year - with much more to come later in 2017."