Acer at the 2023 International CES showed off its latest lineup of memory and storage products targeting the DIY PC enthusiast market segment under its high-end Predator brand. Leading the booth is the Vesta II line of DDR5 memory modules featuring a high-end product design, and RGB LED lighting. The one shown to us featured a rather modest DDR5-5200 speed and 2x 16 GB density, but the company assured it is spreading the lineup to higher frequencies. The Pallas II line of performance-segment memory targeting creators, for example, does DDR5-6000.

A star attraction in the booth was the Predator GM7 M.2 NVMe SSD. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, the drive features a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 + NVMe 2.0 host interface, and combines a Maxiotech MAP1602 controller with YMTC 232-layer 3D TLC NAND flash based on the Xtacking 3.0 architecture. The drive offers sequential transfer speeds of up to 7400 MB/s reads, with up to 6300 MB/s writes, and comes in sizes of 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB, priced at USD $49.90, $89.90, and $159.99, respectively. Acer is backing these drives with a 5-year warranty.

ADATA SE920 is the company's first portable SSD to take advantage of USB4 and offer transfer-speeds that utilize that added interface bandwidth. The drive features a 40 Gbps USB4 interface, with a single cable handling both power and host connectivity. Internally, this is an M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD that's been wired to an ASMedia ASM2464PD chip that converts a 40 Gbps USB4 uplink to a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 downlink, and hence the internal drive has slightly more bandwidth than PCI-Express 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps).

The ADATA SE920 comes in capacity variants of 1 TB and 2 TB. Both variants offer sequential transfer rates of up to 3800 MB/s reads, with up to 3200 MB/s writes. The brushed aluminium enclosure has a mechanism that slides out a diagonal insert with air vents for an active cooling mechanism inside, which cools the internal drive, the bridge chip, and some power components. A USB4 type-C to type-C cable is included with the drive.

This week at CES 2023, KIOXIA America, Inc., the inventors of NAND flash, will highlight new technologies, products, and form factors designed to meet upcoming IT requirements and standards - including PCIe 5.0 and UFS 4.0.

In an ever-changing technology landscape, where evolving standards push performance levels higher and higher, KIOXIA stands ready for what comes next - thanks to its broad, diverse lineup of flash storage solutions. "Whether it's the next connected vehicle, the next personal mobility device or the next smart city - we keep advancing flash memory to make the next thing possible," said Alex Mei, vice president of corporate marketing for KIOXIA America, Inc. "Countless consumer devices and applications require flash memory and SSDs, and we are committed to continued innovation."

Acer today announced refreshed models of its Aspire all-in-ones and laptops, designed to support families' day-to-day productivity and entertainment needs, while adding a touch of style to the home environment. The sleek Acer Aspire S all-in-one PCs come in both 27-inch and 32-inch models and are equipped with up to the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors and Windows 11 to empower a seamless computing experience. Providing efficiency and reliability for multi-tasking users working from home, the Aspire 5 Series laptops come with the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs, while the lightweight Aspire 3 Series notebooks deliver ready-to-go performance.

Acer also introduced the newest member of its smart speaker family with the Acer Halo Swing Smart Speaker with Google Assistant, DTS Sound and features a LED dot display, bringing users quality audio and dazzling lights everywhere they go.

Phison Electronics Corp., a global leader in NAND flash controller and storage solutions, today is demonstrating the company's latest PCIe Gen5 innovation that is transcending system-level performance to new heights at CES in Las Vegas. Phison is demonstrating the E26 with Phison's proprietary I/O+ Technology to usher a new evolution of gaming experiences. For enterprise, Phison is previewing the company's latest Gen5 X Series SSD enterprise controllers, which can provide twice the performance per watt (in comparison to X1, the previous generation). Following the success of the world's first PCI-SIG Association certified PCIe 5.0 Redriver PS7101, Phison is also introducing the PS7201 Retimer with industry-proven IP. Phison's Retimer is designed to solve performance and data integrity issues in enterprise and automotive applications and further enhances the Gen5 ecosystem.

"Phison is ecstatic to be ringing in the new year by showcasing our product milestones for the industry, our partners and enterprise customers because we are committed and dedicated to engineering next generation technologies through ecosystem excellence," said Michael Wu, GM & President of Phison Technology Inc. (USA). "As a proven category leader, Phison's E26 with I/O+ Technology, latest Enterprise PCIe Gen5 X Series, signal enhancing Redriver and Retimer are product breakthroughs that are a testament to our engineering success."

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is unveiling new products specifically made for gaming at the Consumer Electronics Show 2023 (CES 2023). The new gaming portfolio includes a variety of products, including DRAM, internal SSDs, portable gaming SSDs, and to keep up with increasing mobile category growth, microSD cards.

Among the gaming lineup are the new ARES DDR5 RGB 6000 MHz, as well as existing products NM800PRO with Heatsink M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, the SL660 BLAZE Gaming Portable SSD, and the PLAY microSD UHS-I Card. "We are excited to bring the quality, performance, and reliability you expect in our professional photo and video products to the gaming market. Our gaming products are designed to meet the unique needs of gamers and enable them to play at their peak without worrying about load times, game lag, or stuttering graphics," said Joel Boquiren, General Manager of Lexar.

Leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, proudly announces its new series of Intel B760 motherboards, including B760M Steel Legend WiFi, B760M Pro RS, and special edition B760M PG SONIC WiFi. These feature-filled motherboards are designed to bring supreme performance and the latest technologies - including up to PCI-Express 5.0 & overclocked DDR5 - to benefit more PC enthusiasts, gamers, and office/workstation builds than ever before. The B760 chipset is designed for the latest 13th Generation Intel Core 'K' or 'non-K' series processors (socket LGA1700), while also supporting the previous 12th generation.

Followed by the success and critical acclaim of the ASRock Z790 PG SONIC, the company has released another officially licensed motherboard featuring SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog: the B760M PG SONIC WiFi. Based on the mainstream Intel B760 chipset, this micro ATX motherboard features all the exciting SONIC elements in a small form factor and budget friendly design.

Intel introduced the Z790 platform to the market last year and impressed enthusiastic gamers. This year, we expect the introduction of the latest B760 platform. MSI's new B760 motherboards lineup will spring a surprise for mainstream users, attracting interest and sparking widespread discussion. Targeting the mainstream market, MSI B760 motherboards have unique designs and loaded specifications. Let's explore more about the B760 platform.

The B760 platform has lots of amazing features accompanied by MSI's MPG, MAG, and PRO Series. The mainstream users' choice - MAG Series includes black TOMAHAWK and white MORTAR motherboards. The MSI MAG Series motherboards adopted 12 Duet Rail Power System with 75 A DrMOS and 6 layer PCB with 2oz thickened copper, which provides stable currents delivered to the CPU. For expansion, the MSI MAG Series supports Lightning Gen 5 PCIe and owns up to 3 onboard M.2 Gen4 slots. To deal with the heat generated in high-loading operation, the MAG Series features premium thermal solutions including All Aluminium Design and Extended Heatsink. The M.2 slots are covered with M.2 Shield Frozr as well.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions today unveiled the latest Intel B760 series motherboards. With enhanced XMP and hardware design of memory, the full B760 DDR5 lineup can achieve superb Z790-like memory performance of DDR5-7600. Featuring up to 16+1+1 phases of 60 amps digital power VRM design with full-coverage heatsink, GIGABYTE's B760 lineup provides premium power and thermal design for the high-frequency operation of Intel 13th gen processors. Meanwhile, the innovative PCIe and M.2 EZ-Latch technology are implemented to simplify the upgrade of graphics cards and M.2 SSDs, and to avoid accidental damage to the surrounding components. Moreover, the features of 2.5 GbE LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type C with 20 Gbps, and up to 3 sets of PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slots with armor on select models offer superb connectivity. Further with the latest GIGABYTE PerfDrive technology and GCC software platform, GIGABYTE delivers the outstanding B760 platform with the optimal hardware, software, and firmware which covers from DDR4 to DDR5 with full form factor options of ATX, Micro ATX, and Mini ITX.

In the Intel product plan, the "Z" chipset is the only platform to support CPU and memory overclocking. However, the B chipset with limited DDR frequency tuning offers more budget friendly options, especially those only require memory overclocking. In order to provide solid power for high-performance operation of CPU and XMP overclocking, GIGABYTE B760 AORUS motherboards are geared up to 16+1+1 power phases with 60 amps DrMOS design, while the well-received B760 AORUS ELITE features 12+1+1 power phases, and the leading power design of 14+1+1 phases on B760M AORUS PRO. These power designs allow GIGABYTE B760 AORUS motherboards of all configuration to deliver the most stable power, as well as to provide sufficient power when the CPU runs full loading. Meanwhile, enhanced by full-coverage heatsink, 5 W/mK thermal pad, and 2x copper PCB, B760 AORUS MASTER/ PRO/ ELITE/ GAMING X lineup covers from ATX to micro ATX models boast superb thermal design to improve the stability and keep the power supply area which is most likely to generate heat staying cool.

TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products for home, businesses and enterprises, announces the launch of the T9-450 and T12-450 high-speed network storage server featuring 10 GbE networking capabilities which are designed for professionals that require high-speed, large-capacity for applications like virtualization, databases, image and video content creation, and others.

TerraMaster T9-450 and T12-450 come in a compact design for its class making it ideal for small- and medium-sized businesses with limited space for professional data storage devices. The T9-450 and T12-450 are also designed for high-capacity storage configurations, supporting up to 20 TB HDD models and a total capacity of 180 TB and 240 TB, respectively. Its compact design and high capacity support makes the TerraMaster 450 Series ideal for creative professionals and growing businesses.

SK hynix Inc. announced today that it will showcase a number of its core and brand-new products at the CES 2023, the most influential tech event in the world taking place in Las Vegas from Jan. 5th through Jan. 8th. The products, introduced under the theme of the "Green Digital Solution," as part of the SK Group's "Carbon-Free Future" campaign, are expected to attract Big Tech customers and experts given the significant improvement in performance and energy efficiency compared with the previous generation as well as the effect of lessening the impact on the environment.

Attention on energy-efficient memory chips has been on the rise as global tech companies pursue products that process data faster, while consuming less energy. SK hynix is confident that its products to be displayed at the CES 2023 will meet customers' such needs with outstanding performance per watt and performance. The core product put forward at the show is PS1010 E3.S, an eSSD product composed of multiple 176-layer 4D NAND that supports the fifth generation of the PCIe interface.

MSI, the leading brand of gaming products, is launching the MEG Trident X2 with the latest 13th-Gen Intel processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics card. This launch focuses on "Play Unbound". This gaming desktop is equipped with the Intel Core i9 processor, enjoying a 41% of performance increase compared with the previous generation. With RTX 40 Series equipped with the latest Fourth-Gen Tensor Cores, Third-Gen RT Cores, and New Streaming Multiprocessors, the frame rate performance of games has been greatly improved as well. Gamers can play at 100 frames under 4K image quality and with special effects turned on. Designed to completely liberate the next-generation performance, MSI's exclusive HMI (Human Machine Interface) has also ushered in a major upgrade. In addition to the original intuitive operation controls, a 4.5-inch touchscreen and G.I. function are now added.

This MEG Trident X2 is not only equipped with the top-of-the-line i9-13900K processor and RTX 4090 graphics card but also comes with MSI's exclusive Silent Storm Cooling 3 heat dissipation technology, which can effectively reduce the heat generated by components. The Air Baffle design can effectively collect the surrounding cold air and prevent the excess heat inside the chassis from flowing back to the graphics card. It is supplemented by the motherboard's upside-down design so that the graphics card is placed on the top to be cooled by the cold air first.

MSI is announcing the launch of our new Gen4 PCIe NVMe models to its SSD category - SPATIUM M461, M452 & M453 in M.2 2280 form factors that can be easily installed into compatible desktop motherboards and laptops. These new products allow MSI to continue to refine its identity as a high-performance PC brand and grow its product ecosystem by expanding SPATIUM, our high-performance storage category. Our SSDs are built with high-quality, high-density 3D NAND flash that delivers astonishing performance and endurance for professionals, content creators, and gamers.

SPATIUM M461, The Competitive PCIe 4.0 SSD for Mainstream Segment.
SPATIUM M461 was developed to meet the expectations of mainstream SSD consumers. Blazing fast speeds up to 5000 MB/sec sequential read and 4200 MB/sec sequential write speeds allow users using the latest generation of PCs to enjoy the capabilities of the PCIe Gen4 interface. Available storage capacities are 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB.

Greenliant is now shipping mSATA and SATA M.2 2242 ArmourDrive EX Series solid state drives (SSDs) with EnduroSLC Technology for superior data retention and high endurance ranging from 60K and 120K to the industry-leading 300K program-erase (P/E) cycles. Built with Greenliant's advanced in-house controllers, these SSDs are available in 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 80 GB, 160 GB and 320 GB capacities.

mSATA and SATA M.2 2242 ArmourDrive EX Series SSDs are included in Greenliant's Long-Term Availability (LTA) program (http://bit.ly/SSD-LTA-program), providing customers with a stable portfolio of high-endurance data storage products for up to 10 years. Greenliant is also shipping mSATA and SATA M.2 2242 / 2280 ArmourDrive PX Series SSDs using cost-effective industrial 3-bit-per-cell (TLC) 3D NAND. These SSDs support 5K P/E cycles and are available in 64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB capacities.

Ahead of CES, Lenovo unveiled its latest generation of consumer devices loaded with standout features and enhancements designed to help people connect with their passions and achieve their daily goals. With five new performance-driving and portable IdeaPad laptops, a sleek and compact IdeaCentre desktop, and a 9-inch Lenovo tablet, these devices are designed for all the spaces and places in line with the on-the-go lifestyle of today's consumer. Whether working, studying, creating, or just catching up with friends out of town, these new products offer speed, versatility, and convenience to suit their needs wherever they are.

"As consumers continue to seek out the most effective ways of working and studying in a hybrid world where versatility and convenience are paramount, Lenovo's IdeaPad products continue to provide reliability and performance at incredible value," says Jun OuYang, Vice President of the Consumer Segment, Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo. "This latest generation of products come with a range of striking new features and enhancements that significantly improve the user experience while still maintaining its reputation as an affordable product."

ADATA, the world's leading memory module brand and XPG, their performance and gaming arm, today announced that they will be attending the CES 2023, where they will showcase a number of new products with the theme "Make it Fusion, Make it Xtreme!" The feature product to be displayed will be the XPG FUSION 1600 W Titanium power supply developed in collaboration with Delta Electronics. Other impressive power supplies also equipped with the latest ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0, such as the XPG CYBERCORE II and CORE REACTOR II series will be shown as well.

ADATA will also present impressive offerings in other categories, such as the XPG PCIe Gen5 SSD which offers a patented heat dissipation design, up to 8 TB of storage space, and read/write speed of up to 14,000 MB/s. Additionally, ADATA will present other award-winning memory and storage products, as well as gaming focused products in system, chassis, special themed pc build and peripherals categories.

GIGABYTE, the world's leading computer brand, is known for its stylish and high-performing motherboards, graphics cards, gaming monitors, and more. The award-winning products are praised by worldwide consumers for their class-leading build quality and performance. What makes GIGABYTE products even more impressive is their friendly designs based on a thorough understanding of user needs and expectations. These ingenious designs are primed to make the products easier to assemble and upgrade for a much-enhanced user experience.

GIGABYTE's Intel-based Z790 series and AMD AM5-based X670, B650 gaming motherboards are equipped with tech that makes PC building and upgrades as easy as possible. The DIY-friendly PCIe EZ-Latch design allows users to easily detach the graphics card from the PCIe slot with a quick-release mechanism; the M.2 EZ-Latch makes installing M.2 SSDs effortless thanks to the screwless design. These latest-gen motherboards also support Intel XMP and AMD EXPO overclocking memory modules for maximum compatibility, and GIGABYTE BIOS comes packaged with pre-installed profiles to help users get greater performance with ease.

Global market intelligence firm TrendForce states that Chinese memory manufacturer YMTC is now at risk of exiting the market for 3D NAND Flash products by 2024 following its formal placement on the Entity List of the US Commerce Department on December 15. From this point forward, the Commerce Department will be reviewing and approving individual transactions related to the exportation, re-exportation, and sales of equipment, technologies, and other related goods from the US to YMTC. With acquisitions of equipment parts and technical support from its US partners becoming very difficult and prolonged, YMTC is going to be severely constrained from raising its bit output. Hence, its foothold on the market for 3D NAND Flash products is expected to weaken as time goes by.

TrendForce points out that without the support of the key equipment providers, YMTC is now facing a huge technical obstacle in the development of its latest 3D NAND Flash technology known as Xtacking 3.0. In particular, raising yield rate for the 128L and 232L processes is going to be extremely challenging for the Chinese memory manufacturer. Taking account of this latest escalation in the US-China trade dispute, TrendForce has further corrected down its projections on YMTC's supply bit growth rate and the total NAND Flash supply bit growth rate for next year. YMTC supply bits were initially forecasted to grow by 60% YoY for 2023. However, there was a massive downward correction that put its growth rate at just 18%. Now, YMTC is forecasted to post a YoY decline of 7%, which is a complete reversal from the earlier projections.

TECNO, a global innovative technology brand with operations in over 70 markets, recently announced the latest MEGABOOK S1 at TECNO Flagship Product Launch 2022 in Dubai, delivering its first flagship laptop to users.

In 2019, TECNO announced new efforts in building a digital product ecosystem by launching its AIoT business strategy, aiming to deliver digital to every person, home, and organization and help them create a fully- connected smart digital lifestyle. Following this vision, as the upgraded line of MEGABOOK T1, the flagship MEGABOOK S1 highlights the concept of ideas that create wonders, targeting users in professional fields like business and the creative industries, helping them work with ease while still achieving a higher efficiency.

With Christmas fast approaching, a guide to holiday gift-giving is here. Shop the latest gift to get the greatest reaction. The Mini IT11 Mini PC is the newest member of the GEEKOM Mini series. Premium product. Premium gift. Prepare to buy the premium GEEKOM Mini IT11, which will be available on December 12, 2022. The GEEKOM Mini IT11 is ready to run Windows 11 Pro OS, delivering improved productivity and a personalized, intuitive user experience.

With a revolutionary microarchitecture with 4 Cores, 8 Threads, up to 12M Cache, and 5.00 GHz, the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor delivers incredible power and responsiveness. Applications such as document creation, web surfing, rendering, video and image editing can take advantage of its high efficiency and superfast response speed. In combination with fast memory and massive storage, the GEEKOM Mini IT11 is powerful enough to handle even users' most demanding tasks and entertainment needs.

For those looking at upgrading—or adding an SSD—to their Steam Deck, there's now a new option from Sabrent. The company has launched an M.2 2230 sized version of its Rocket SSD that will be available in sizes of 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB. As one would expect, due to the form factor, we're looking at DRAM-less drives. Sabrent has gone with Phison's E21T controller and it has been paired with Micron's B47R, 176-layer NAND.

In other words, we're not talking about a high-performance drive here, but that might be a good thing as well, since it'll produce less heat, which should prevent drive throttling in the tiny space available inside the Steam Deck. Sabrent rates the drives as having a sequential read speed of up to 5,000 MB/s and a sequential write speed of up to 4,300 MB/s. The read IOPS are rated at up to 450K, with the write IOPS at up to 920K, which once again varies between the drive sizes. The 512 GB drive appears to have the overall best performance. The drives are rated for 200, 300 and 600 TBW and come with a five year warranty. No pricing has been revealed so far.

YMTC today at the Flash Memory Summit (FMS) 2022 unveiled its X3-9070 TLC 3D NAND flash powered by Xtacking 3.0 architecture. Since its debut show at FMS 2018, YMTC's Xtacking technology has become a hallmark of the company's vision for innovation, and the approach to hybrid bonding has been widely recognized as one of the key enablers of the industry's future growth. Built out to be a common growth platform that drives value and innovation in the semiconductor ecosystem, YMTC's Xtacking 3.0 architecture opens up a world of opportunities for diversified applications in 5G, AloT, and beyond.

From 1.0 to 3.0, YMTC's Xtacking technology, a heterogeneous 3D integration architecture, has established a proven track record of success, as evidenced by a diverse portfolio of Xtacking NAND-based system solutions, including SATA III, PCIe Gen3 & Gen4 SSDs, as well as eMMC & UFS for mobile and embedded applications, garnering recognition from leading OEMs.

Micron Technology, Inc.,, today announced it is shipping the Micron 2550 NVMe SSD to global PC OEM customers for use in mainstream laptops and desktops. The 2550 is the world's first client SSD to ship using NAND over 200 layers. Delivering performance that eclipses the competition through its density and power advantages, the 2550 provides users with responsiveness and the low power consumption needed to extend battery life for work and home PCs.

"We focused on delivering a superior user experience for PC users with this SSD," said Praveen Vaidyanathan, vice president and general manager of the Client Storage Group at Micron. "The new 2550 SSD builds on our established and broadly adopted PCIe Gen4 architecture. It also incorporates Micron's industry-leading 232-layer NAND and focuses on thermal architecture and power design. These capabilities deliver impressive application performance and phenomenal power savings."

Phison Electronics Corp., a global leader in NAND flash and storage solutions, announced today that its 8 TB M.2 2280 SSD solution has completed flight qualification tests required for Lonestar Data Holdings' historic first lunar data center mission. This SSD has been selected by Lonestar's contractor and Phison's partner, space logistics company Skycorp. Skycorp is also Lonestar's engineering design and manufacturing partner for the lunar data center mission scheduled for the second half of 2023.

"After comprehensive testing and certification process, Phison is thrilled that our SSD technology has passed all the rigorous requirements for Lonestar's upcoming Moon mission," said K.S. Pua, Phison CEO. "We are excited about playing a vital role on this important mission, and other future ones as we continue our foray into the new frontier. We also want to thank our outstanding customer, Lonestar, and partner, Skycorp, for helping to make this happen."

SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. ("SMART"), a division of SGH and a global leader in memory solutions, solid-state drives and hybrid storage products, announces that it is now offering a new class of high performance, power efficient, data center solid state disk drives (SSDs) beginning with the DC4800 PCIe Gen 4 family. SMART's DC4800 devices are designed with a specialized hardware-accelerated SSD controller that draws less power without compromising storage input/output (I/O) performance. Zero-induced throttling allows these SSDs to perform better under continued duress, even when they are pushed to their performance limit. This translates to significant power consumption improvement per server, as well as consistent latency performance of up to 7-nines or 99.99999% of the time.

"Today's leading-edge servers are not only expected to manage a significant mass of transactions to enable processes like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things, but they are also expected to be more power efficient," said Andy Mills, data center architect for SMART. "Data centers are increasingly challenged by performance and energy demands as they expand to address these new workloads that process data from an ever-growing array of intelligent devices at the edge."