Biwin, a PC memory, SSD, and flash storage product licensee for top-tier PC brands, launched its consumer brand in December 2024. Here at CES 2025, the TechPowerUp team headed over to Biwin's booth to check out up close the entire lineup of products ranging from SSDs in all shapes and sizes, and DRAM modules to memory cards, and card readers. The products on display were available on Amazon Japan in December 2024, followed by Amazon UK this January, and at the start of 2025, they will be available in Taiwan, APAC, Mexico, Latin America, and the Indian market.

Biwin showcased Black Opal premium SSDs and DRAM modules such as the Biwin Black Opal X570 PRO PCIe Gen 5x 4 NVMe 2.0 SSD capable of reaching read speeds of up to 14,000 MB/s. The Black Opal DW100 RGB DDR5 CUDIMM series stands out with 9200 MT/s and a CAS latency of CL42, a product tailored for professionals and enthusiasts. For mainstream users, Biwin presented SSDs, DRR5 memory modules, memory cards, card readers, and USB flash drives.

ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming A2 SSD enclosure for gamers seeking a superfast and reliable storage solution. The enclosure features USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 connectivity to deliver data transfer speeds of up to 20 Gbps—twice that of TUF Gaming A1. With IP68-rated water- and dust-resistance plus durability that meets U.S. MIL-STD-810H standards, TUF Gaming A2 keeps the SSD safe in almost any environment. Additionally, its silicone-rubber exterior provides superior on-the-go protection for the SSD. The Q-Latch mechanism allows for easy, tool-free SSD installation, while an efficient thermal management system ensures outstanding cooling to ensure consistent performance. With broad compatibility across PC, Mac, mobile devices, and the latest game consoles, TUF Gaming A2 is perfect for anyone looking to maintain an extensive library of games.

Exceptional SSD performance
TUF Gaming A2 doubles the data transfer speeds of its predecessor, TUF Gaming A1, with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connectivity delivering up to 20 Gbps of bandwidth. Even though the latest AAA titles often exceed 100 GB in size, it takes just 90 seconds to transfer an entire game from the SSD to a console such as ROG Ally, or to any other popular gaming platform. When it comes to installing or removing the M.2 SSD, the innovative Q-Latch makes it easy, without requiring specific tools. The latch design employs a simple locking mechanism to secure the drive, so there's no need for screws. Additionally, TUF Gaming A2 features both PCIe NVMe and SATA interfaces, and can accommodate various 2242/2260/2280 SSD form factors while providing up to 4 TB of storage capacity.

DIGIERA introduces the external SSD, a cutting-edge storage solution designed to meet the increasing needs of iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro users. With mobile content creation and data management evolving rapidly, this SSD delivers the perfect balance of speed, portability, and durability, making it ideal for high-resolution video capture, fast data transfers, and other demanding tasks.

Advanced Performance and Speed
At the heart of the DIGIERA external SSD lies its USB 3.2 Gen2x2 technology, delivering blazing-fast data transfer rates with read speeds of up to 2000 MB/s and write speeds of 1800 MB/s. This makes it six times faster than traditional external hard drives, ensuring users can seamlessly store and transfer 4K ProRes videos, high-resolution images, and large project files directly from their iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro.

Detailed specifications and a somewhat blurry slide showing off all the details of MSI's upcoming high-end MEG Z890 Unify-X motherboard have leaked courtesy of @ChamberTech_ on X/Twitter. The motherboard is likely to appeal to those looking to squeeze every extra bit of performance out of their new Ultra 200K series CPU when they launch next month. You get support for memory speeds of up to 10,000 MT/s and with only two DIMM slots, it might be able to go even higher with the latest DDR5 CUDIMMs. The board also sports a 110 Ampere 20+1+1+1 VRM design on an eight layer PCB, and it also ships with what MSI calls an OC Tuning Controller, suggesting the board is targeting overclockers.

MSI has included a pair of PCIe 5.0 x16 slots for GPUs that presumably operate in dual x8 mode when both slots are in use, and a third PCIe 4.0 x16 slot that operates in x4 mode, as well as a single PCIe 4.0 x1 slot. There's also no less than six M.2 slots, of which two are PCIe 5.0 and one PCIe 4.0, as well as six SATA ports. Where things get a bit interesting is in the network connectivity, as the slide claims that the board features a 5 Gbps Intel Killer Ethernet interface, which is the first we've heard of such a thing, as well as an Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 module for wireless connectivity.

Magewell's USB Capture family has long been the gold standard for professional video capture devices, earning a reputation for being the easiest and most reliable way to bring video and audio signals into software for live streaming, video conferencing, medical imaging and more. Magewell has expanded the renowned product line with the unveiling of a new model that captures video sources up to 4K resolution at 60 frames per second - the USB Capture HDMI 4K Pro. The new model will be demonstrated alongside other Magewell innovations in stand 7.A44 at the IBC2024 exhibition in Amsterdam from September 13 to 16.

Magewell's compact USB Capture devices enable computers including laptops to capture high-quality AV signals through a USB interface, with no additional power source required. The new USB Capture HDMI 4K Pro offers everything that users love about the existing USB Capture HDMI 4K Plus model, while leveraging 20 Gbps USB transfer performance on compatible host systems to enable the capture of 4K video at higher frame rates and color precision.

GIGABYTE just released its second AMD 800-series chipset motherboard following last week's debut of the X870E AORUS Master, the more affordable X870 AORUS Elite WIFI7. This board is based on the slightly more affordable AMD X870 (non-E) chipset, which offers connectivity nearly identical to that of the previous-generation AMD B650E, but with the addition of USB4. The board is built in the ATX form-factor, and features a 6-layer PCB. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors. The CPU VRM solution consists of a 16+2+2 phase setup, with the vCore side of it being 8-phase with phase doubling. The Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots for up to 256 GB of memory.

Expansion slots include a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 wired to the CPU, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical Gen 4 x4), and a third PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical Gen 3 x2). The main Gen 5 x16 PEG slot gets a quick-release lever. You press a button, and it ejects the graphics card. Storage connectivity includes three M.2 Gen 5 x4 slots, two of these are wired to the CPU's dedicated Gen 5 x4 NVMe lanes, while the third slot subtracts 8 lanes from the Gen 5 x16 PEG slot. There is a fourth M.2 slot, which is Gen 4 x4, and wired to the X870 FCH. All four slots get heatsinks. Four SATA 6 Gbps ports make for the rest of the storage connectivity.

Since its reveal last week, we got a slightly more technical deep-dive from AMD on its two upcoming processors—the "Strix Point" silicon powering its Ryzen AI 300 series mobile processors; and the "Granite Ridge" chiplet MCM powering its Ryzen 9000 desktop processors. We present a closer look into the "Strix Point" SoC in this article. It turns out that "Strix Point" takes a significantly different approach to heterogeneous multicore than "Phoenix 2." AMD gave us a close look at how this works. AMD built the "Strix Point" monolithic silicon on the TSMC N4P foundry node, with a die-area of around 232 mm².

The "Strix Point" silicon sees the company's Infinity Fabric interconnect as its omnipresent ether. This is a point-to-point interconnect, unlike the ringbus on some Intel processors. The main compute machinery on the "Strix Point" SoC are its two CPU compute complexes (CCX), each with a 32b (read)/16b (write) per cycle data-path to the fabric. The concept of CCX makes a comeback with "Strix Point" after nearly two generations of "Zen." The first CCX contains the chip's four full-sized "Zen 5" CPU cores, which share a 16 MB L3 cache among themselves. The second CCX contains the chip's eight "Zen 5c" cores that share a smaller 8 MB L3 cache. Each of the 12 cores has a 1 MB dedicated L2 cache.

MSI introduced the PRO B650-A WIFI, a feature-rich entry-mainstream Socket AM5 motherboard under its PRO series. Built in the standard ATX form-factor, the board features a 6-layer PCB, and includes heatsinks for all its M.2 slots, The board draws power from a 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors and uses a 14+2+1 phase VRM solution that's capable of even the top 170 W TDP Ryzen 9 chips. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, and two M.2 NVMe Gen 4 slots. The board's third M.2 Gen 4 slot is wired to the B650 FCH.

The MSI PRO B650-A WIFI offers a fairly premium onboard audio solution driven by a Realtek ALC4080 CODEC. USB connectivity includes a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 type-C port, three 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A, four 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1, and a few USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 ports by internal headers. Display outputs include HDMI and DisplayPort. Networking connectivity includes a 2.5 GbE interface driven by a Realtek 8125B controller, and an AMD/Mediatek sourced WLAN module with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Besides the three M.2 Gen 4 slots, you get four SATA 6 Gbps ports. The board supports USB BIOS Flashback. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Gigabyte's new Stealth series of motherboards has to date only had a single product, the Z690 Aorus Elite Stealth, but now, Gigabyte has added its first Stealth board for AMD CPUs. The B650E Aorus Stealth Ice not only has all of its connectors on the back of the board, but it also has a white/silver PCB with a similarly coloured front and back cover. Apart from the DIMM slots, all connectors are also in somewhat matching colours, although judging by the pictures, the colours don't quite match on all the connectors and slots. That aside, the B650E Aorus Stealth Ice is a pretty competent board, as long as you're not interested in adding anything more than a graphics card and some NVMe SSDs, as it has zero additional PCIe expansion slots. It's a rather bold move by Gigabyte, but at the same time, most gamers and consumers don't tend to add PCIe devices to their computers outside of additional storage these days.

Besides the PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, you get two M.2 sockets wired to the CPU, one PCIe 5.0—with its own, larger heatsink—and one PCIe 4.0, as well as a third PCIe 4.0 M.2 socket via the chipset. There's also support for four SATA 6 Gbps drives if more storage is needed. Gigabyte has also added an internal HDMI 1.4 port that's limited to 1080p30, which is intended to be used with Gigabyte's LCD Edge View display. Other connectivity on the back of the PCB includes a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) port, a USB 3.2 (5 Gbps) pin-header as well as the usual USB 2.0, fan headers and LED headers that you'd expect from a modern motherboard. The VRM design is a 12+2+2 design with a 60 Amp DrMOS configuration for the 12+2 phases for the CPU and GPU.

At Computex last week, we got a first look at Gigabyte's new TRX50 AI TOP motherboard—where TOP stands for trillions of operations per second—designed for AMD's Threadripper and Threadripper Pro CPUs. Now the company has released the full specifications of the TRX50 AI TOP and the board is packed to the brim with features. The E-ATX board is home to four PCIe x16 slots, all of which can operate in PCIe 5.0, but one can be limited to PCIe 4.0, depending on your choice of CPU. There's also four NVMe M.2 slots, with CPU dependent functionality. Other features include eight DIMM slots, but these are again CPU dependent, two 10 Gbps Ethernet interfaces via a pair of Marvell AQtion AQC113C controllers, WiFi 7 via a Qualcomm QCNCM865 module and dual audio chips, one for the rear ports and one for the front panel audio.

As this is a 2024 model, USB4 is of course also part of the package, but only one of the two USB4 supports DP Alt-mode, due to there only being one DP input. The board also has an internal USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps) header for a case mounted USB-C port, a further six rear 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports, plus a pair of internal headers for a further four 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports. The board also has four SATA ports, a 16+8+4 power phase design, a 14-layer PCB, a debug display and the now common easy release features for the M.2 drive heatsinks and the graphics card. The TRX50 AI TOP also sports what Gigabyte calls "UC BIOS" which has a "User-Centred intuitive UX with Quick Access function", but there's currently no details of how this differs from previous UEFI releases from Gigabyte. There was no word on pricing.

Team Group showed off its latest portable SSDs at the 2024 Computex. We begin our tour of the Team Group booth with the T-Force M400, a portable SSD that takes advantage of the 40 Gbps USB4 interface to serve up phenomenal transfer speeds of up to 3700 MB/s reads, with up to 3400 MB/s writes. The M400 comes in capacities of 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB. The T-Create P35 is a compact high-security portable SSD, which comes with native encryption, and the SSD Security Toolbox interface that protects data even against bruteforcing and BadUSB attacks. This drive packs TCG-Opal 2.0 with 256-bit AES hardware encryption. The drive takes advantage of the 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, and offers transfer speeds of up to 1000 MB/s reads/writes.

The T-Create CinemaPr P31 is a high performance portable SSD meant for lossless digital cinematography. It's designed to fit with popular cinema camera rigs, as well as video rigs made of DSLRs or even smartphones. The drive features a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface, and has up to 2000 MB/s of transfer speeds on tap, with enough speeds for 4K or 8K raw captures. There's also the T-Create CinemaPr R41 CFexpress 4.0 Type B, a related product with similar camera-mounting capabilities.

Kingston at the 2024 Computex showcased its latest flash storage and SSD products. The lineup is topped by the company's popular IronKey series of storage devices with enterprise-grade security, some even with on-device physical keypads to unlock the first layer of security. The IronKey VP80 has a touchscreen UI with which you set and unlock passwords. The drive takes advantage of the USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), offering sequential transfer speeds of 230 MB/s to 250 MB/s. Capacities range between 960 GB to a massive 7.68 TB. On device encryption options include XTS-AES 256-bit. The IronKey Keypad 200 is a thumb stick with a physical keypad to unlock the first ring of security. Capacities range between 8 GB to 512 GB, with interface options that include USB 3.2 Gen 1 type-A, and type-C. Transfer speeds on offer are 145 MB/s to 280 MB/s. Encryption includes XTS-AES 256-bit. Lastly, there's the IronKey Vault Privacy 50. This one lacks a physical keypad, but has on-device encryption, and software level protections against password bruteforcing and BadUSB attacks.

The Kingston Swift XS1000 and XS1000 Red are a line of consumer pocket-sized portable SSDs, with a weight of just 29 g. These come in 1 TB and 2 TB capacities, take advantage of the 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2, and offer sequential transfer speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s. The Swift XS2000 is what Kingston dubs as the "vlogger's best companion." This device has similar dimensions to the XS1000, but with capacities ranging between 500 GB to 4 TB. It takes advantage of the 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface to offer sequential speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s. DataTraveler is the company's most popular USB storage brand, and Kingston is seen taking advantage of 10 Gbps and 20 Gbps USB3 interfaces for speeds in the gigabytes of second. Kingston also showed us a line of SD cards for content creators, drone photography, adventure cameras, etc., spanning the Creative React Plus V60, Canvas Go! Plus, and Canvas Select Plus lines.

MSI also brought plenty of SSD products to the Computex 2024 show, including the new SPATIUM M560 PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2 SSD based on the Phison E31T controller and Kioxia's 218-layer BiCS 3D TLC NAND, the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution, and a couple of SSD accessories, including the DATAMAG Magnetic Portable SSD and the DATAVAULT SSD Enclosure.

As said, the new SPATIUM M560 PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2 SSD will use the Phison 7 nm E31T controller paired up with Kioxia 8th generation 218-layer BiCS 3D TLC NAND and offer transfer rates of up to 10,000 MB/s. The controller, according to MSI, should bring up to a 15 percent reduction in power consumption as well as "maximize bandwidths and link efficiency". It will be available in 1 TB, and 2 TB capacities, and MSI will probably have a version that will include the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution which has been also showcased at the Computex 2024 show. MSI says that this is yet another world's first, which uses "a two-phase flow transition of gas and liquid with minimal signal interference, ensuring rapid and silent heat exchange." According to MSI, the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution should provide up to 11 degrees lower temperature compared to a standard aluminium heatsink.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation ("Silicon Motion"), a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, today launched the SM2322, the industry's fastest single-chip high-performance, low-power, and cost-effective solution for external portable SSDs, supporting up to 8 TB of storage and achieves unparalleled data transfer rates of 20 Gbps for storing and accessing large amounts of content seamlessly from AI smartphones, high-performance multimedia devices, and game consoles.

With the increase of AI-capable devices, high density and high-performance storage solutions are becoming more critical to consumers. Portable SSDs powered by the new SM2322 controller are the only solution that offers low-cost, high-density and high-performance, making it the ideal solution for these applications. Equipped with a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface with 20 Gb/s bandwidth and fully integrated hardware and software solution delivering peak sequential read and write transfer speeds of 2,100 MB/s and 2,000 MB/s, respectively, with up to 8 TB capacity, SM2322 powered high-performance portable SSDs enable an ultra-compact and lightweight form factor. The SM2322 supports the ProRes format and MFi specification for iPhone users while also being compatible with Windows, Android OS, and macOS, making it an ideal high-density, high-performance portable storage solution for AI smartphones, HD content creators, and gaming enthusiasts who require high-density, high-performance portable storage.

ASRock today introduced the W790 WS R2.0 motherboard for workstations powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 series processors in the Socket LGA4677 package. Although its model name suggests that it is a revision of the W790 WS, the new W790 WS R2.0 appears to be a lite version of the original, which removes several I/O features. To begin with, the fancy I/O shroud makes way for bare connectors, where you can see several of the connectors stripped away. While the CPU VRM appears unchanged, the VRM heatsinks used on the R2.0 are of a simpler design. The design effort behind both these changes appears to be to make the board friendly to certain kinds of rackmount chassis.

Besides the design changes, the ASRock W790 WS R2.0 loses out on Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, and only has a single 10 GbE interface instead of dual-10 GbE on the original W790 WS. These aside, the W790 WS R2.0 is still a very capable workstation motherboard for the platform it's based on. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and a 6-pin PCIe power; and uses a 22-phase CPU VRM. The board features four PCI-Express 5.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/x16/NC or x16/NC/x8/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8), and one PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical x4). The CPU socket is wired to eight memory slots, supporting quad-channel DDR5 memory, with support for DDR5 RDIMM-3DS, a total memory capacity of 2 TB, and a maximum overclocked memory speed of DDR5-6800.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to announce their lineup of products to be shown at the 2024 NAB Show, from April 14-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Lexar products deliver the high-speed performance that professional videographers, filmmakers, and creators demand in their cameras while also accelerating workflows.
Lexar's new Rugged Series includes the ARMOR GOLD SD UHS-II V60 Card. This card offers a max read speed of 280 MB/s and a max write speed of 210 MB/s, features an IP68 rating, and supports seamless 6K video capture. The ARMOR SILVER PRO SD UHS-II V60 Card also clocks in at a max read speed of 280 MB/s and delivers a write speed of 160 MB/s. It is also rated IP68 and supports 6K video as well. In the SSD category, the ARMOR 700 Portable SSD leverages USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 to provide max read/write speeds of 2000 MB/s1 and an IP66 rating lets users know that its design protects against both water and dust and is built to withstand up to 3-meter drops and falls.

Lexar is also excited to announce a new line of products dedicated to improving the professional workflow. The Lexar Professional PRO WORKFLOW is a 6-bay dock designed to maximize efficiency in the studio by allowing professionals to customize a solution with the modules they need. It is compatible with a range of WORKFLOW readers for CFexpress Type B and Type A 4.0 cards, SD and microSD UHS-II cards, and portable SSDs. It adopts Thunderbolt 4 and supports speeds up to 40 Gbps. The Lexar Professional PRO WORKFLOW GO is a portable solution that allows users to back up on location without a laptop. This 2-bay dock is battery-powered and supports speeds up to 10 Gbps.

PNY announces the latest addition to their line-up of the portable SSDs - RP60 Portable SSD with USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C. The new RP60 Portable SSD was designed with creative wanderlusts and on-the-go professionals in mind to provide a highly portable and extremely durable data storage solution. With a compact form factor and convenient clip loop, the RP60 can easily go wherever the adventure takes you. Travel with confidence that your data is secure and protected, with the RP60's tough, outer silicone shell which makes the drive resistant to drops, water and dust Plus, experience top-tier performance with read/write speeds of up to 2,000 MB/s and 1,800 MB/s3, respectively, and broad compatibility across various devices, thanks to the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C connector.

Offered in 1 TB and 2 TB capacities, the RP60 facilitates convenient storage and swift transfers of large multimedia files. Creators can access and edit high-resolution images and videos with ease for smooth editing and playback experiences. While gamers can enjoy lightning-fast installations and loading times for their extensive gaming libraries. Mainstream users too will find the RP60 Portable SSD to be an excellent choice as both a dedicated system backup drive or an everyday-use storage companion, perfect for securely storing and accessing critical work documents, projects, and large libraries of photos and movies.

Sabrent today launched the Rocket Nano V2 portable SSD series. The drive measures 15 mm x 33 mm x 73 mm in size (HxDxW), weighing just 54 g, with the included silicone sleeve, and 11.9 mm x 29.6 mm x 69.5 mm, weighing 46 g, without the sleeve. It comes in 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB capacities, and uses a single USB type-C cable connection for both power and host connectivity.

Both USB-C to USB-C, and USB-C to USB-A cables are included in the package. At the interface level, the Sabrent Rocket Nano V2 takes advantage of 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2. It offers sequential transfer speeds of up to 1500 MB/s for both reads and writes. Available now, the 1 TB variant is priced at USD $119.99, the 2 TB variant at $199.99, and the 4 TB variant at $449.99.

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to announce the Lexar Professional SL600 Portable SSD. With spectacularly fast USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 performance of up to 2000 MB/s read and write, it's perfect for photographers, videographers, and content creators as well as business professionals looking to back up or transfer massive files on the go or shoot photos and video directly to the drive.

It features a durable, aluminium enclosure that helps protect users' files from bumps and drops while traveling or on location while also providing shock- and vibration-resistance. For further security it also comes with Lexar DataShield, a 256-bit AES encryption software so users can ensure their sensitive files remain private. It includes USB Type-C and USB Type-A cables, so it is compatible with a wide range of devices and a carabiner loop allows users to secure it to their bag.Buy the Lexar SL600 from BestBuy Canada from CA $129.99 onward

Cooler Master, a leading provider of PC components, gaming peripherals, and tech lifestyle solutions, has today announced the NR200P V2 - a redesigned new take on the classic high performance NR200P case. The V2 keeps things compact and frees up desk space without sacrificing any of the performance benefits users expect from an NR200P case, such as versatile cooling support and maximized airflow.

In Win Development Inc. (InWin), a leading innovator in PC enthusiast and gaming hardware, has launched its D5 E-ATX mid-tower PC chassis for PC builders looking for optimized airflow, sensible layout, and versatile hardware installment. With tool-less quick-release panels, a rotatable PCI-E mounting bracket, and optimized cable management, the D5 offers a PC building experience that unlocks build convenience and unparalleled performance.

The full mesh front and top panels ensure optimal cooling for the internal components. Inside is a removable cable shield on the motherboard tray, which not only discretely and effectively manages cable clutter, but also is designed to channel and concentrate airflow towards the main hardware. Offering mounting areas for a total of three front fans, three top fans, and one rear fan. There are excellent air-cooling opportunities, and liquid cooling support for both 360 mm and 280/360 mm radiators. Matching the all-black chassis aesthetic, InWin bundles a Neptune AN120 ARGB fan as a starting point for PC builders that often prefer to choose their own fans. The AN120 offers an exceptional performance-to-noise ratio at just 20.5 dBA nominal and up to 60 CFM airflow.

Serial leaker @yuuki_ans on X/Twitter has released details on Intel's upcoming Barlow Rridge Thunderbolt 5 controller which will be known as the JHL9580 or JHL9540 depending on the SKU. The good news is that Intel has finally moved to PCIe 4.0 for the bus interface, which was expected due to the increased bandwidth on offer by Thunderbolt 5 over Thunderbolt 3 and 4. Barlow Ridge will use a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface to connect to the host and it appears that the earlier leak that suggested native Thunderbolt support in Arrow Lake-S might be incorrect, as there are diagrams showing Barlow Ridge connected to Arrow Lake-S CPUs.

Besides the faster bus, Thunderbolt 5 brings asymmetrical data transmission support which means that for display applications there will be a 120/40 Gbps mode, whereas for data only applications Thunderbolt 5 will deliver a symmetrical 80 Gbps mode. We should point out that this only appears to apply to the JHL9580 SKU, which also supports 40 Gbps USB4 speeds, whereas the JHL9540 for some reason remains a Thunderbolt 4 controller. That said, both of the Barlow Ridge SKUs get support for 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, something that was lacking in previous Thunderbolt implementations. There will also be support for DisplayPort 2.1 via DP Alt Mode with full UHBR20 support when used with a DP80 certified cable. Actual data transfers are limited to the 64 Gbps PCIe 4.0 interface to the host system, just like USB4, but this does at least give Thunderbolt 5 extra head room for display data even in symmetrical mode. The Barlow Ridge controllers appear to be connected directly to the Arrow Lake-S CPUs via the PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, much in the same way USB4 host controllers connect to AMD's Ryzen 7000-series CPUS.

ADLINK Technology Inc., a global leader in edge computing, a global supplier of industrial PCs and motherboards, and a Titanium member of the Intel Partner Alliance, announces the launch of the new IMB-M47 industrial ATX motherboard for 12th and 13th Gen Intel Core i9/i7/i5/i3 processors. The IMB-M47 ATX motherboard delivers high-performance computing power, with multiple I/O and expansion ports, including three simultaneous independent displays, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gb/s), up to 128 GB DDR5 4800 MHz, 3x 2.5 GbE, multi-M.2 Key M, TPM 2.0, and PCIe 5.0 high-performance add-on cards for complex Edge AIoT processing tasks in industrial automation, machine vision, factory automation, and logistics.

The IMB-M47 industrial ATX motherboard supports 12th and 13th Gen Intel Core processors that utilize a high-performance hybrid architecture with up to sixteen E-cores (Efficient-cores) for multi-threaded background task management and multitasking, and up to eight P-cores (Performance-cores) for demanding single-threaded work such as graphics and video rendering. The 13th Gen Intel Core processors speed up edge applications that benefit from faster memory performance with faster DDR5 memory.

Gigabyte has revealed its first TRX50 motherboard today for AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 7000 Pro and Threadripper 7000 CPUs and to call this board feature packed, would almost be an understatement. The product page is still scant on details, but there's enough there to give us a good idea of what's on offer. The board is a full size ATX board which appears to be somewhere between a high-end consumer board and a workstation board. The heatsink layout isn't as refined as some of Gigabyte's current consumer board, which spoils the overall looks somewhat. With no less than three PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2 slots and one PCIe 4.0, one has to wonder if the heatsinks covering the SSDs will be enough, considering how hot PCIe 5.0 drives can get.

The board has a further two PCIe 5.0 x16 slots and one PCIe 4.0 x16, so there won't be any need to worry about lack of PCIe lanes per slot here. Somewhat disappointingly, the board only has four DDR5 memory slots, although quad channel support is offered, as well as support for registered DIMMs. The 12 layer PCB also houses a 16+8+4 power phase design, which might be needed based on the expected core count on some of the Threadripper 7000 series CPUs. This is also one of the first boards with onboard USB4 support, with one of the ports offering DisplayPort output, although a DP to DP connection from the graphics card to a DP input on the motherboard is still required. The board also sports a 10 Gbps and a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port, WiFi 7, a front header for a 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port and apparently two audio chips, although the list of specs and the board feature image seem to disagree on what's on offer here. The board is likely to be available at the same time as AMD's new Threadripper CPUs.

In a recent interaction with the community on Chinese social platforms, Tony Yu, better known as Uncle Tony and serving as the General Manager of ASUS China, shed light on several questions concerning ASUS's products. One question that captured attention was about the ROG Z790 APEX motherboard, a premium offering from ASUS designed explicitly for overclocking. Tony clarified that the motherboard is currently out of production as ASUS gears up to unveil an updated version. This move is in line with industry trends, with rivals like Gigabyte and MSI also refreshing their respective Z790 lineups. The updated motherboards from ASUS are expected to align with Intel's next-generation Core series known as Raptor Lake Refresh, featuring incremental improvements such as WiFi-7 standard integration, new color options, enhanced power delivery mechanisms, and advancements in memory overclocking capabilities.

Launched initially in November of the previous year with a price tag of $699, the ROG MAXIMUS Z790 APEX motherboard stood out for its superior features aimed at overclocking enthusiasts. These include 24 power supply modules, dual 8Pin power connectors, AI-driven overclocking technology, and support for DDR5 memory with speeds exceeding 8000 MT/s. It also offers a plethora of connectivity options, like five M.2 interfaces, a 2.5G network card, WiFi 6E, and USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, along with 60 W QC 4+ fast charging. This motherboard gained popularity in December when it was used to set a world record CPU frequency of 9008.82 MHz using an Intel i9-13900K processor. Looking forward, the next generation of Intel Core processors could enable even higher overclocking frequencies. Apart from this, Tony tantalizingly hinted that ASUS is experimenting with innovative design changes, such as introducing connectors on the reverse side of motherboards, although this feature may not debut in the APEX series.