A Chinese Topton company has brought new life to the AMD Vega graphics architecture by integrating it into a Network Attached Storage (NAS) motherboard. The Topton N9 NAS motherboard features the Intel Core i7-8705G processor, a unique chip that combines Intel CPU cores with AMD's RX Vega M GL graphics. The Intel Core i7-8705G, initially released in 2018, is an unusual choice for a NAS system. This 14 nm processor features four cores, eight threads, and a boost clock of up to 4.1 GHz. What sets it apart is the integrated AMD RX Vega M GL GPU with 20 Compute Units and 4 GB of HBM2 memory.

The Topton N9 NAS motherboard is designed for the 17×17 cm ITX form factor and offers a range of features like maximum support for 64 GB of DDR4 RAM, M.2 NVMe/SATA and SATA 3.0, eight Intel i226-V controllers for 2.5 Gbit networking, USB 3.0, USB Type-C, and HDMI 2.0 connectivity. While the Intel Core i7-8705G may not be the most obvious choice for a NAS system, the Topton N9 motherboard demonstrates how this unique processor can be repurposed to provide affordable computing power. The integrated AMD RX Vega graphics offer capabilities beyond typical NAS requirements, making this motherboard suitable for various applications, such as home firewalls and routers. The collaboration between Intel and AMD in creating the Kaby Lake-G processors was a rare occurrence in the industry. The Topton N9 starts at $288.56 without a fan/cooler, and adding another $20 bumps the price to $308.46.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced its new DC600M Enterprise SSD. DC600M is optimized for mixed-use workloads with excellent Quality of Service (QoS)1 to ensure latency and IOPS consistency to hit Service-level agreements.

DC600M is 6 Gbps SATA 3.0 storage with 3D TLC NAND, suited for use in high-volume rack-mount servers. The drive includes hardware based on-board power loss protection via power loss capacitors to protect data against unexpected power failure reducing the risk of data loss, and ensures the drive successfully re-initializes on the next system power-up. With predictable low latencies over a wide range of read and write workloads DC600M is designed for system integrators, hyperscale data centers, and cloud service providers.

On January 7th, the Minisforum UM773 was launched in China with the AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor and received widespread praise from consumers. Now, the new version of UM773, UM773 Lite, has arrived globally with a more affordable price. Considering that users usually connect external keyboards and mouses, the two USB 3.2 ports have been replaced with USB 2.0 ports. All other design will be the same as UM773. The price, however, will be more favorable.

The new UM773 Lite features the new AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, AMD Radeon 680M Integrated Graphics, DDR5 dual-channel memory, PCIe 4.0 SSD, and the most advanced USB4 Type-C port. The Ryzen 7 7735HS is one of AMD's new Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads, with a based clock of 3.2 GHz and a maximum turbo clock of 4.75 GHz and a default TDP targeted at 54 W. The RDNA2 Radeon 680M integrated GPU has 12 CUs up to 2.4 GHz.

Minisforum has launched a new mini PC UM690 of its Venus Series. The new UM690 featuring AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, AMD Radeon 680M Integrated Graphics, DDR5 dual-channel memory, PCIe 4.0 SSD, and the most advanced USB4 Type-C port. It is also their first mini PC with AMD 6000 series CPU.

Ryzen 9 6900HX is one of AMD's most powerful Ryzen 6000 processors, features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a maximum turbo clock of 4.90 GHz with a default TDP targeted at 45 W. The integrated GPU, Radeon 680M, based on RDNA2 architecture, has 12 CUs up to 2.4 GHz. Thanks to liquid metal and smart fan in thermal design, UM690 can run at low noise even in full speed. UM690 supports total up to 64 GB dual-channel DDR5-4800 MHz memory, also different types of storage expansions—1×M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD and 1×2.5 inch SATA HDD Slot (SATA 3.0 6.0 Gb/s 7 mm).

Axiomtek Gaming - a business unit of Axiomtek, a leading designer and manufacturer of PC-based industrial products - is pleased to introduce the GMB140, its powerful Mini-ITX motherboard with the AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000/R1000 processor. With an effective procurement strategy plus a good relationship with AMD, Axiomtek can deliver the GMB140 with a short lead time to satisfy customers' needs - either in the gaming industry or in the retail or healthcare industry - at a time of a global material shortage.

The compact GMB140 provides powerful computing with the AMD "Zen" CPU and brilliant image processing performance with the AMD Radeon Vega Graphics to deliver stunning visual experiences. The GMB140 integrated with the high-performance CPU, GPU and extensive I/O offers superior computing performance and multi-display capability, making it suitable for graphics-driven embedded applications such as digital casino gaming machines, medical imaging, interactive kiosks, control rooms and video surveillance, and more.

EliteMini TL50 is an ultra-compact and high-performance mini PC specially designed for home and office use. Equipped with Intel 11th generation CPU and Intel Iris Xe graphics. Intel Wi-Fi 6 & triple output, upgrade-friendly & windows 10 pro pre-installed.

TL50 comes with Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor (Tiger Lake), 4 cores/8 threads, backed up by Intel Iris Xe graphics, with 8M Cache, max turbo frequency up to 4.20 GHz. It is 20% faster than its predecessor with more cache memory, DDR4-3200 memory and PCIe 4.0 support. Not only ordinary work but also a little heavy games and video editing can be done comfortably.

Minisforum, the leading innovator of mini PC products, has just released their another new product: the EliteMini UM700 which comes with the AMD Ryzen 7 3750H CPU up to 4.0 GHz, 4 cores 8 threads, total cache 4 MB, equipped with Radeon RX Vega 10 10 cores Graphics with frequency up to 1400 MHz. A few months ago, MINISFORUM had launched DeskMini DMAF5 with an AMD Ryzen 5 3550H processor on INDIEGOGO, now DMAF has completed the shipment. UM700 is an upgraded version of DMAF5, with higher performance and more powerful.

With a one-click design you can easily make upgrades, EliteMini UM700 supports different types of storage expansions—2.5 inch SATA HDD Slot (SATA 3.0 6.0 Gb/s) and M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Slot (support up to 2 TB), you can mix and match between HDD and SSD to better meet your needs. With windows 10 pro pre-installed, intel Wi-Fi6, BT5.1 and triple output. which allows you to freely enjoy quick response speed.

Micron Technology, Inc. today launched the Micron 5200 series of SATA solid state drives (SSDs), maintaining industry-leading performance, consistency, capacity, reliability, and overall infrastructure value. Built on Micron's new industry-leading 64-layer 3D NAND technology, the Micron 5200 series of SSDs offers a cost-optimized SATA platform for business-critical virtualized workloads that cripple on a hard drive, such as OLTP, BI/DSS, VDI, block/object and media streaming.

Leveraging the proven architecture, performance and capacity of the well-regarded 5100 SATA SSDs, the Micron 5200 series is engineered to deliver a fast, easy and cost-effective enterprise storage solution to replace existing hard drives and legacy SSDs. Micron 5200 SSDs immediately deliver better total cost of ownership and improve data center efficiency through server and storage platform consolidation, reducing IT costs and simplifying infrastructure and maintenance. Now it is easier than ever before for enterprises to add more flash into the data center and get more out of server deployments.

MSI, world leading in motherboard technology, announces the most powerful X99 gaming solution, the X99A GODLIKE GAMING motherboard. Featuring Killer DoubleShot-X3 Pro, Turbo M.2 connectivity, 2X Faster USB 3.1 Type-A and Type-C and a whole new gaming oriented LED feature, MYSTIC LIGHT, the X99A GODLIKE GAMING is the most powerful motherboard to serve you in battle.

The X99A GODLIKE GAMING is world's first RGB LED motherboard, supporting more than 2000 colors and many style presets such as breathing, flashing and waving. Make your build look on fire or cold as ice. You are in control. Simply select any of the colors from the palette to suit the systems' design. Just change it to another one using the easy to use Mystic Light APP available on PC, phone and tablet, and make your PC look & feel brand new! With 2048 different colors and 7 different LED modes, the Mystic Light provides infinite possibilities for gamers to personalize their gaming rig.

MSI, world leader in motherboard technology, is proud to announce its latest motherboard, the Z97S SLI Krait Edition. Inspired by and developed in cooperation with the world's elite case modders, the new Z97S SLI Krait Edition is equipped with an arsenal of new features, improvements like NVIDIA SLI certified for enthusiasts looking to pair up multiple graphics cards. On-board M.2 and SATA Express provides the latest storage technology with transfer speeds up to 10 Gb/s, with flexible solutions for using preferred devices. Military Class 4 provide all the stability you need through carefully selected and thoroughly tested components and materials. The Z97S SLI Krait Edition motherboard caters to those looking for a feature rich motherboard with a unique look & feel.

According to IDC research, business data storage has expanded continuously at a compound annual growth rate of 3.9%. Global data storage is estimated to expand 50 times larger at the year of 2020. Therefore, how to employ "Information Lifecycle Management" (ILM) has become a must-know in developing cloud-based storage technology and big data structure.

The concept of Information Lifecycle Management is to store application system and a company's most heavily accessed data (certain trivial operations such as searching for e-mails and updating database etc.) in the SSD with the fastest response speed as On-Line storage. The secondary information can be stored in low-priced traditional hard disks as Near-Line storage. As for backups and archives, they can be stored in lower-cost storage media, such as magnetic tapes, as Off-Line storage. Through automatizing the Information Lifecycle Management, the company can reduce over 40% of its Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). The structure highlights the balance between information value and storage costs.

Kingston Technology Europe Co LLP, an affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced a series of Na'Vi branded products , developed in collaboration with the world's multiple champion eSports club Natus Vincere. The long and productive partnership of Kingston and Na'Vi has helped to create a series of bright & stylish branded products. Having won seven world championships and more than 2.5 million dollars in prize money, unlike anyone else, the professional players of Natus Vincere team, know which technical resources are necessary in order to become a champion.

The Na'Vi branded limited edition products are primarily aimed at gamers and enthusiasts, who require high performance and reliability, as well as all fans of Na'Vi and eSports, who want to own this unique product to show their support. The Na'Vi Limited Edition collection includes the SSD drives based on the high performance, award winning HyperX 3K model, available with a capacity of 120 GB or 240 GB, as well as top quality HyperX Genesis memory module kits.

MSI's IPC division proudly announced a new embedded system, MS-9A68, for display-critical applications in diversified industrial fields. Aiming at the monitoring, video-interactive, or demanding applications with both intensive displaying and processing tasks, MS-9A68 is designed with high-performance CPU power and brilliant display capability that well-satisfy those applications, such as digital signage, gaming, surveillance, Kiosk, and public transportation. In addition to its outstanding performance, the slim, light-weighted mechanical design makes the MS-9A68 especially ideal for space-limited sites or cabinet installation.

Axiomtek's MANO861 industrial-grade Mini ITX motherboard based on the Intel H61 Express chipset is designed for the 3rd Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3 processors in LGA1155 socket. The high performance MANO861 comes with two DDR3 1333/1600 MHz SO-DIMM slots with up to 16 GB memory capacity. This cost-effective motherboard supports dual-view capability through DVI-D, VGA, and LVDS interface. It also reserved one PCI Express Mini Card slot and one PCIe x4 slot to provide for flexible applications. With a small footprint of only 170 x 170 mm, the embedded board offers a full feature set of I/O which allows system integrators to deploy their solution with this platform easily. The MANO861 is designed for customers in the industrial automation, gaming, kiosk, POS and signage markets, who are looking for advanced performance in both computing and graphics and cost optimized solution.

According to the top ten Taiwan ICT market trend predictions of 2013 published by IDC, as reaction to the uncertainty of prosperity in the next year, the enterprises will continuously increase IT budget and expenditure with primary growth power from cloud computing, mobility and the market driven by massive data, and expects a robust growth of 3.9%. To respond to these trends and needs, the storage devices will definitely continue to develop toward energy-saving, high efficiency and compactness. Therefore, Apacer correspondingly launches three SATA 3.0 SuperSpeed transmission interface SSDs, including 2.5-inch SFD 25S-M, MO-297-compliant SFD 18S5-M and mSATA S1-M designed in compliance with MO-300, respectively applicable for cloud data center, various servers, embedded system, and compact Ultrabook and Networking devices, which meet different needs for cloud, massiveness and mobility.

Mushkin, Inc., an industry‐leading designer and manufacturer of high‐performance and mission‐critical computer products, today officially announced the worldwide launch of its new enterprise class ProSpec series solid‐state drives (SSDs).

"We have time after time demonstrated to PC enthusiasts how Mushkin's solid‐state drive solutions can dramatically improve performance and reduce data transfer times, delivering levels of performance that have earned Mushkin its place as one of the top SSD manufacturers," said Brian Flood, Director, Product Management at Mushkin, Inc.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced new products, a new distribution channel and a key notebook design win, all aimed at delivering the benefits of advanced SanDisk solid state drive (SSD) technology to a greater number of customers.

"With today's announcements, it's clear SanDisk is going all out in its commitment to delivering industry-leading SSD technology to our customers," said Kevin Conley, senior vice president and general manager, client storage solutions. "SanDisk now offers the broadest SSD lineup in the industry, with a full portfolio of products for consumers, OEMs and enterprises. We're also broadening our reach with a new distribution channel and continuing to see strong customer acceptance with our latest design win in the ASUS Transformer Book."

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) today reveals a full product line of Thin Mini-ITX motherboards, in three segments where low power consumption and a small footprint are desirable: enterprise, multimedia and consumer - to fulfill the different demands for AIO (All-in-one) and SFF (small form factor) applications.


Enterprise/Corporate Solutions: Q77H2-TI & B75H2-TI
For corporate and industrial use, the all solid capacitor ECS Q77H2-TI & B75H2-TI motherboards are based on the Intel 7-Series Chipset, which support 3rd generation Intel Core i7, Intel Core i5 and other Intel processors. Both of these platforms feature 2 x Mini PCIe x1 expansion slot, SATA 3.0/2.0/mSATA, 4x USB 3.0, 5x USB 2.0 along with support for digital signage.

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) introduces the XPand6104 Small Form Factor (SFF) system supporting a 3rd generation Intel Core i7 COM Express module. With commercial connectors, this SFF system can be utilized as an XPedite7450 COM Express development platform, a deployable SFF system, or a demo platform for applications requiring a high-performance Intel Core i7 processor solution.

In a natural convection-cooled SFF enclosure, the XPand6104 is ideal for Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP)-constrained applications at 2.10 in. (H) x 4.88 in. (W) x 7.70 in. (L) and weighing less than 4 lbs. It includes an XPedite7450 Intel Core i7 ruggedized COM Express module and an optional 1.8 in. SSD. The front panel features an RJ-45 Ethernet connector to a10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB 2.0 connector to a USB 2.0 port, an eSATA connector to a SATA 3.0 Gb/s port, two micro-DB-9 connectors to RS-232 serial ports, a DisplayPort connector for graphics, reset and power switches, and status LEDs. It includes an integrated MIL-STD-704 28 V DC input voltage power supply with MIL-STD-461 EMI filtering and an external AC/DC 110 V AC input voltage power supply for development.

Consistently devoted to the compactness and lightweight of the terminal devices, Apacer, one of top ten PC SSD manufacturers in the world, rolls out mSATA Mini M4 SSD of Small Form Factor (SFF for short) today to meet the market demands. The product is only 26.8 × 29.85 mm in size. Compared with mSATA SSD adopting JEDEC MO-300 standard specification, this latest model has its size reduced by over 1/2. Featuring ultra-compactness and slimness, it can break through the physical limit of the spatial design, and significantly reduce the size and weight of the terminal device. In addition, it also boasts anti-shock, anti-vibration and low power consumption, thus enabling itself to become the most reliable storage choice for the portable devices applied in the military, medical equipment, on-board navigation system, tablet computer, etc.

Biostar is currently preparing the release of two more motherboards supporting AMD's FM2 (codename Trinity) APUs, the Hi-Fi A85S2 powered by the A85X chipset and the Hi-Fi A55S2 equipped with an A55 chip. Since they are part of the Hi-Fi Series, both models feature an integrated independent audio power design and built-in amplifier, as well as a noise-blocking multi-layer PCB layout, the goal being to deliver a higher quality sound.

Both boards have an ATX form factor and pack 100% X.D.C solid capacitors, two DDR3-1866 memory slots, one PCIe x16 and two PCIe x1 slots, three PCI slots, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1-channel audio, plus D-Sub and DVI outputs. The A55S2 also includes six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports and four USB 2.0 connectors, while the A85S2 comes with eight SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 plugs, and an HDMI output. No word yet on pricing.

As cloud computing becomes a mainstream, it is essential for enterprise servers to improve capacities and data transmission speeds. Apacer is taking cloud computing as one of its core areas of development, and has created the Apacer SAFD 25A - a SATA 3.0 SSD that boasts both capacity and performance gains to address the needs of this industry. This is a high-end SSD targeted for cloud-based computing, featuring outstanding efficiency, based on high IOPs, and a large storage capacity of 512GB. It aims to optimize data storage variables in cloud computing centers by providing speed within a stable and power-saving operating environment.

By using the exceptional features of SSDs such as anti-shock, anti-vibration, low-power consumption, and high-speed data transmission, Apacer expects to help enterprise servers to improve their data access constraints and, in doing so, take the place of traditional hard drives. This can all be accomplished in tandem with cutting a large amount of the cooling cost, providing ground-breaking efficiency to create an increasingly reliable operating environment.

SSDs, with their advantages of high performance, compactness and low power consumption, are the perfect adaptation of storage products to the emergence of tablet PCs and Ultrabooks. Indeed, SSDs have become the defacto storage solution for ultra-thin notebooks. Apacer, a leading manufacturer of industrial SSDs, understands the demands for even more compactness and has produced a new mSATA A1 modular SSD that features a SATA 3.0 high-speed transmission interface and complies with JEDEC MO-300 standard codes. Currently, this model supports Intel Rapid Start and Intel Smart Response technologies, enabling users to enjoy an almost immediate start-up within seconds and enjoy a continuous high performance of the computer.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today introduced release candidate firmware v1.4RC, which dramatically improves the performance of its Vertex 4 SATA 3.0 Series SSDs. Most notably, v1.4RC nearly doubles sequential write performance for lower capacity models, significantly boosts sequential read performance at low queue depths, and improves general performance under real-world workloads comprising mixed reads and writes.

Despite already achieving breakthrough levels of performance with its flagship Vertex 4, OCZ has taken aggressive strides to further distance itself from the competition and to maintain its undisputed leadership in SSD technology. Compared to Vertex 4's original firmware version v1.3, v1.4RC more than doubles sequential write performance of the 128 GB model and boosts the 256 GB model from 380 MB/s to 465 MB/s. These dramatic gains were achieved through proprietary algorithms which orchestrate the sequence of physical NAND programming operations to ensure that each NAND device is optimally utilized at all times. For the mainstream user, entry-level capacities of Vertex 4 can now achieve nearly the same sequential write performance as the industry-leading 512GB model at a mere fraction of the cost.

The versatile new MI-HM65T Mini ITX motherboard from Giada is at home in all environments, including the factory floor, tough monitoring and control applications, embedded computing, office desks, and the home. Built around Intel's HM65 chipset and the Sandy Bridge platform, this motherboard brings users high performance and almost unlimited connectivity, with economical power consumption. It offers all the industry-standard features of a desktop PC in a tiny package, to support a wide range of applications.

Powered by Intel's fast Core i7, i5, i3 or Celeron 867 CPUs, supported by up to 4GB of memory, with onboard integrated graphics and video support, the Giada MI-HM65T can easily take care of almost any task you throw at it. This tough but tiny powerhouse handles industrial control, monitoring and automation applications as well as office and productivity, or home entertainment.