Patriot Memory announced its latest high-performance solid state drive for the client platform, the Patriot Pyro. The new SSD comes in the 2.5-inch SATA form-factor, uses SATA 6 Gbps interface, and is driven by SandForce SF-2281 controller. It will be availabile in capacities of 60 GB, 120 GB, and 240 GB. The 120 and 240 GB variants will offer transfer-rates of up to 550 MB/s read, 520 MB/s write; while the 60 GB variant gives 515 MB/s read, 490 MB/s write. Similarly, the 120 and 240 GB variants offer 85,000 IOPS 4K random write performance, while the 60 GB one offers 80,000 IOPS. Backed by three-year warranties, all three variants will release in markets soon. Pricing is not known.

PCI-Express x1 met its match with the recent flood of devices such as 2-port SATA 6 Gbps and USB 3.0 controller chips that maintain their tiny package sizes thanks to a single-lane PCI-Express bus connection. The single-lane connection is already saturated with these kinds of devices: SATA 6 Gbps is moot with 250 MB/s per direction bandwidth of PCI-E 1.1, and could face bottlenecks with 500 MB/s of PCI-E 2.0, it is a similar case with USB 3.0 controllers. Use of PCI-Expresss x4, the bigger PCI-E bus standard, is a bad option as it increases PCI-E data pins by four times (significantly impacting chip package sizes), while eating into the limited lane budget of today's desktop chipsets.

The next best thing is PCI-Express 2.0 x2. While 2-lane PCI-Express is hypothetically possible, it has never been implemented by motherboard manufactures, neither on client, nor enterprise platforms. PCI-Express' parent organisation PCI-SIG doesn't have a slot or port specification for PCI-E x2, either. Intel seems to be of the idea that PCI-Express 2.0 x2 will provide immediate relief to manufacturers of small-footprint devices such as inexpensive third-party USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps controllers, it provides a total of 2 GB/s bandwidth, 1 GB/s per direction, which greatly alleviates bandwidth bottlenecks, while not significanly increasing chip pin-counts. PCI-Express 3.0 is still in its infancy, while implementing PCI-Express 2.0 x2 is the easier, short-term solution. It will cause minimal R&D overhead on manufacturers to implement it. PCI-E 2.0 x2 will fit nicely into the limited lane budget of today's desktop chipsets.

For the greater part of the last decade, PC device connectivity was limited to the 480 Mbps bandwidth of USB 2.0. The pressing need for more bandwidth to run external hard drives and disk racks was alleviated by eSATA, but eSATA lacked the versatility of USB. After quite some delay, came the next big version of USB, the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, with its massive 5 Gbps bandwidth, plenty for fast and capacious flash drives, and external storage devices.

There was, however, a potential bottleneck lurking with running SSD-based RAID boxes in USB 3.0, as many SATA 6 Gbps SSDs are getting close to the bandwidth limit of USB 3.0. There has also been the need for an interconnect faster than USB 3.0 for high-bandwidth applications such as lossless ultra high definition video streaming in professional environments, and hence came Thunderbolt, which is a copper-electric variant of a fiber-optic interconnect Intel had been working on, codenamed Light Peak. The successor to Thunderbolt is reportedly already under development at Intel Labs.

G.Skill showed off its fastest SATA solid state drive (SSD) at CeBIT, the Phoenix II series. Based on the SandForce SF-2000 series controller, Phoenix II pushes the limits of SF-2000 series in terms of throughput, and advertises some of the highest transfer rates for the chipset: 550 MB/s read, and 500 MB/s write. The company even validated these speeds using a session of ATTO disk benchmark. The 120 GB Phoenix II SSD was connected to an AMD SB850 SATA 6 Gb/s controller, on a system headed by Phenom II X6 processor. G.Skill said that the 120 GB model would be priced at €299.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today unveiled its next generation Vertex 3 SATA III SSD product family, a lineup that caters to both client and enterprise applications. Harnessing the 6Gbps speed of the SATA III interface, the new series delivers double the performance of the previous generation.

The Vertex 3 is the first solution to feature the new SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor, and raises the bar in performance with up to 550MB/s read and 500 MB/s write transfer rates and up to 60,000 IOPS (4k random write). This maximized speed significantly improves gaming, multimedia, and the overall computing experience over traditional mechanical hard drives, as well as other competing SSDs.

ASRock is readying a new high-end socket LGA1156 motherboard based on the Intel P55 chipset, the P55 Extreme4. Designed to be a notch above the P55 Deluxe3, which packs two SATA 6 Gb/s and two USB 3.0 ports, the Extreme4 uses two 2-port controllers to drive four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and two USB 3.0 controllers to drive two USB 3.0 ports on the rear panel, and two ports by internal headers (for the latest cases that come with USB 3.0 front-panel ports, or simply by USB 3.0 expansion brackets). Connections to these four controllers is conveniently handled by configuring the PCI-Express x4 port from the P55 PCH to work as four x1 ports, apart from the four x1 ports it gives apart from the x4 port. This way, the board is also able to provide three x1 expansion slots and drive the PCI-E GbE controller.

The other expansion slots are two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8/x8, when both are populated), supporting SLI and CrossFire, and two PCI. Apart from the four SATA 6 Gb/s ports (color-coded white), the six SATA 3 Gb/s ports (color-coded blue) are present internally. The CPU socket seems to be powered by an 8+2 phase VRM. The four DDR3 memory slots can take DDR3 modules with frequencies of over 2600 MHz with overclocking. Other connectivity features include 8-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet. ASRock will introduce the P55 Extreme4 in a few weeks' time.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and other computing hardware solutions today proudly launched their latest AMD AM3 Socket GA-890GPA-UD3H motherboard, delivering loads of performance enhancing bandwidth for applications such as high end gaming and high speed data transfer on systems featuring new AMD 6 core CPUs.

The first motherboard featuring the AMD 890GX chipset paired with the all new SB850 South Bridge, the GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H offers the industry's first native support for Serial ATA 6Gbps for up to 6 devices. The AMD SB850 also offers the industry's first Serial ATA 6 Gbps RAID support, allowing users to configure RAID 0,1,5 and 10 for maximum data performance or enhanced data backup. Also equipped with GIGABYTE 3x USB Power Boost and USB 3.0 support by utilizing the industry-leading NEC controller, the GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H ensures users are ready to take advantage the next wave of high speed data transfer and storage technologies.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), a leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system and notebook manufacturer, today announced the launch of the ECS U3N2 and S6M2 expansion cards as the most flexible solution for many upcoming USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps external devices.

The ECS U3N2 USB 3.0 expansion card which is powered by NEC USB 3.0 controller chip delivers a brand new standard SuperSpeed USB 3.0 performance up to 5Gbps data-transfer rate which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 and at least 900mA current output for each port to easily access SuperSpeed external devices, also, the ECS U3N2 USB 3.0 expansion card provides a great flexibility with its backward compatibility to USB 2.0 and earlier devices.

Here it is - the industry's first motherboard ready for market, based on the AMD 890FX chipset. This socket AM3 motherboard features a platform overhaul with its new chipset, support for USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps, and as many as six PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots. The electrical configuration of these slots isn't known as yet, but seeing that there are only two apparent groups of external PCI-Express lane switching, four of these could be electrical x8. The carries the markings of "quad-CrossFireX graphics support", which leads us to believe that at least four out of six of these are wired to the new northbridge.

The CPU is powered by a 5+1 phase VRM, with a large heatsink cooling both the VRM areas and the northbridge.Besides the six PCI-Express x16 slots, there is a lone PCI slot. This is also perhaps the first motherboard with native SATA 6 Gbps support, with as many as six SATA 6 Gbps ports. An additional controller seems to be in place for a couple of extra SATA 3 Gbps ports, and an IDE controller (indicating that the chipset has given up native IDE support). An additional NEC controller provides two USB 3.0 ports color-coded blue, on the rear panel. Its neighbours include powered eSATA, 8-channel audio with optical and co-axial SPDIF, a number of other USB 2.0 ports, FireWire one Gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth. There is no word on the pricing or availability, though hopefully more could be learned about 890FX-based motherboards at the upcoming CES event.

MSI decided to rev up its high-end socket LGA-1156 motherboard lineup with the new P55-GD85. A part of this board's design seems to have been inspired from the ASUS P7P55D Premium, in which a PLX PEX8608 PCI-Express bridge chip has been used over the PCI-Express 1.1 x4 link from the P55 PCH to give out PCI-Express 2.0 x1 connections, which then drive the NEC D720200F1 USB 3.0 and Marvell 88SE9123 SATA 6 Gbps controllers on their optimal interface speeds of PCI-E 2.0 x1.

The CPU is powered by a 10-phase VRM, which is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots. Expansion slots include two PCI-Express x16 (electrical x16/NC or x8/x8 depending on how they're populated), two PCI, and two PCI-E x1. One of these two is color-coded blue, and could be wired to the PEX8608, occupying its third port. Apart from the six SATA 3 Gbps ports the PCH provides, and the SATA 6 Gbps controller with its two ports, an additional controller provides two more SATA 3 Gbps ports and an IDE connector. Other features are standard issues for an MSI motherboard in this class: notably the OC Genie feature, centralized manual voltage measurement points, and support for both NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX.

Micron Technology, Inc. has raised the performance bar for SSDs. The company today announced its RealSSD C300 SSD, the industry's fastest for notebook and desktop PCs. Micron's new RealSSD C300 drive enables users to enjoy a more powerful and responsive computing experience including faster operating system (OS) boot and hibernate times, and speedier application load, data transfer and file copying.

"The C300 SSD not only delivers on all the inherent advantages of SSDs - improved reliability and lower power use - but also leverages a finely tuned architecture and high-speed ONFI 2.1 NAND to provide a whole new level of performance," said Dean Klein, vice president of memory system development at Micron.

Gigabyte is readying the industry's first socket AM3 motherboard that offers the new connectivity features combo that is turning out to be quite a selling point in itself: USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps. Enter GA-790FXTA-UD5P, a high-end socket AM3 motherboard based on the AMD 790FX + SB750 chipset, that isn't just a revised GA-MA790FXT-UD5P. Apart from the star attractions of USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps, the board features a redesigned expansion slot layout, among other new features. The socket AM3 motherboard supports AMD Phenom II AM3 and Athlon II series processors with support for dual-channel DDR3 memory.

To begin with, the CPU is powered by a 8+2 phase VRM supporting 140W processors, with a 2 phase VRM powering the four DDR3 DIMM slots. The board supports DDR3-1866 by overclocking, while DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1066 are naturally supported. A Precision OV controller provides fine (small step) voltage control for the CPU, memory and chipset voltages. Instead of two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots on the MA-790FXT-UD5P, this board features three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrical x16, x16, NC, or x16, x8, x8, depending on how they're populated). Each x16 slot as one slot spacing which is occupied by a PCI slot. A lone PCI-E x1 slot heads the pack.

Gigabyte's embracing new technologies such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps in making motherboards has taken the shape of an entire series of motherboards, which intends to cover every price point the company was eying with its large socket LGA-1156 motherboard lineup. The series is designated by GA-P55A before the model identifier. The series is lead by the high-end GA-P55A-UD6, followed (in order) by GA-P55A-UD5, GA-P55A-UD4P, GA-P55A-UD4, GA-P55A-UD3P, GA-P55A-UD3R, and GA-P55A-UD3. All of these are ATX motherboards. Some of these, such as the UD4s, UD5, and UD6, are multi-GPU friendlier with PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots that split into x8, and share 8 lanes with the next slot, while in lower models, the second PCI-E x16 slot is electrical x4, and wired to the P55 PCH. In all these motherboards, the SATA 6 Gb/s ports are two in number, and are color-coded white. Similarly, USB 3.0 ports on all these models are two in number, and color-coded blue, located on the rear-panel. These motherboards support socket LGA-1156 processors from Intel, currently available as the quad-core Core i5, and Core i7 "Lynnfield" series. It remains unclear whether all of these new models replace the existing GA-P55 series motherboards (that lack USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s) from the market, or somehow coexist at slightly higher price-points. What is certain however, is that you need to pay attention to the model names, and look out for P55A in the model names, since the rest of the nomenclature is identical. Detailed specifications are found in the specs sheets below.

Gigabyte is readying a new socket LGA-1156 motherboard, the GA-P55A-UD4. Bearing resemblance with the GA-P55-UD4, the motherboard features upgraded connectivity, with support for USB 3.0, and SATA 6 Gb/s. The new model also features an upgraded CPU VRM, with a 12+2 phase design compared to the 8+2 phase design on the GA-P55-UD4. USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s features are provided using additional controllers on board. A Marvell-made SATA 6 Gb/s two-port controller replaces the familiar Gigabyte GSATA2 controller, while an NEC-made controller provides two USB 3.0 ports on the rear-panel. The USB 3.0 ports are color-coded blue, and share the port cluster with the lone gigabit Ethernet connector, while the SATA 6 Gb/s connectors are color-coded white, next to the usual six SATA 3 Gb/s ones the P55 PCH provides.

The rest of the feature-set remains largely same, with four DDR3 DIMM slots to support up to 16 GB of memory, two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrically x8 when both are populated) supporting ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI, Dolby Home Theater supportive onboard audio, among other standard issues. The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4 will not replace GA-P55-UD4 from the market, it will coexist, albeit priced higher. It remains to be seen if this is the only "P55A" motherboard Gigabyte sells.

Here's our ASUS P55 motherboard of the day: the P7P55D Premium. Positioned in the high-end segment of socket LGA-1156 motherboards, this board boasts of support for SATA III 6 Gbps. Associated with the SATA III controller, is also an interesting feature. To begin with, the CPU is powered by a digital PWM circuit with "32+3" phases. Sure there are that many chokes, but we do suspect choke redundancy here. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots to support dual-channel memory.

Unlike the P7P55D Deluxe, this board makes do with two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, each of which arrange to 8-lanes PCI-E when both are populated. Other expansion slots include two PCI-E x1 and two PCI. Connectivity options include two gigabit Ethernet controllers, 8 channel audio, and a number of USB and Firewire ports. From the looks of it, there's also a place-holder for the NEC µPD720200 USB 3.0 controller, and its marked blue-coloured USB ports, though it's MIA.

Motherboard mogul ASUS is ready with a new premium motherboard for the LGA-1366 platform. The P6X58 Premium breaks away from the "P6T" nomenclature the company used for its Intel X58-based motherboards, and flashed "X58" in the model name. This motherboard brings two new connectivity standards to the platform: USB 3.0 "SuperSpeed", and SATA III 6 Gbps. It uses additional controllers onboard to expand the chipset's feature-set.

The board looks similar to the P6T Deluxe series at a glance, but uses a different layout of its expansion slots, rear-panel, and connectors in general. Unlike with the P6T Deluxe, the three PCI-Express x16 are spaced-out, with the first two (blue) slots providing full x16 lane bandwidth, with the third (white) one sharing 8 lanes with the second slot (x16, x8, x8, when all three slots populated). The chipset+VRM cooler is nearly identical to the one on the P6T Deluxe. The CPU is powered by a 16-phase circuit.