At the beginning of 2021, MSI, a would-leading motherboards brand, had announed the latest Intel 500 series platforms will launch soon. Through few weeks of waiting, on January 27th, MSI Intel 500 series motherboards are officially launched.

As MSI official announcement mentioned, all of MSI 500 series motherboards with 11th Gen Intel Core processors support PCIe 4.0, and all of Z590 Wi-Fi motherboards have at least one 2.5G LAN and the latest Wi-Fi 6E solution which extends to 6 GHz spectrum providing remarkble user experience when streaming, gaming and even working from home.

Intel has today quietly launched its newest generation of Next Unit of Computing (NUC) devices with some nice upgrades over the prior generation. Codenamed the "Phantom Canyon", the latest NUC generation brings a major improvement for the "enthusiast" crowd, meant mostly at gamers who would like to use a small form-factor machine and have decent framerates. This is where the Enthusiast NUC 11 comes in. With its 28 Watt Intel Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake CPU, which features four cores and eight threads clocked at the maximum of 4.70 GHz, this Enthusiast NUC 11 mini-PC is rocking the latest technologies inside it.

To pair with the CPU, Intel has decided to put a discrete GPU, besides the Integrated Xe model, to power the frames needed. The dGPU in question is NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 2060 model with 6 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, based on the last generation "Turing" architecture. For I/O, Intel has equipped these machines with quite a lot of ports. There is Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 plus Bluetooth 5 module, a quad-mic array with beam-forming, far-field capabilities, and support for Alexa. There is a 2.5 Gb Ethernet port, along with two Thunderbolt 4.0 ports for internet connectivity and other purposes (TB ports support fast charging). When it comes to display output, the Enthusiast NUC 11 has HDMI 2.0b and a mini DisplayPort 1.4 port. You can run four monitors in total when using the Thunderbolt ports. On the front side, there is also an SD card reader, and the PC has six USB 3.1 Gen2 ports in total. You can find out more about the Enthusiast NUC 11 mini-PCs here.

On a momentous day for the Mac, Apple today introduced a new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini powered by the revolutionary M1, the first in a family of chips designed by Apple specifically for the Mac. By far the most powerful chip Apple has ever made, M1 transforms the Mac experience. With its industry-leading performance per watt, together with macOS Big Sur, M1 delivers up to 3.5x faster CPU, up to 6x faster GPU, up to 15x faster machine learning (ML) capabilities, and battery life up to 2x longer than before. And with M1 and Big Sur, users get access to the biggest collection of apps ever for Mac. With amazing performance and remarkable new features, the new lineup of M1-powered Macs are an incredible value, and all are available to order today.

"The introduction of three new Macs featuring Apple's breakthrough M1 chip represents a bold change that was years in the making, and marks a truly historic day for the Mac and for Apple," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "M1 is by far the most powerful chip we've ever created, and combined with Big Sur, delivers mind-blowing performance, extraordinary battery life, and access to more software and apps than ever before. We can't wait for our customers to experience this new generation of Mac, and we have no doubt it will help them continue to change the world."

Apple today announced M1, the most powerful chip it has ever created and the first chip designed specifically for the Mac. M1 is optimized for Mac systems in which small size and power efficiency are critically important. As a system on a chip (SoC), M1 combines numerous powerful technologies into a single chip, and features a unified memory architecture for dramatically improved performance and efficiency. M1 is the first personal computer chip built using cutting-edge 5-nanometer process technology and is packed with an astounding 16 billion transistors, the most Apple has ever put into a chip.

It features the world's fastest CPU core in low-power silicon, the world's best CPU performance per watt, the world's fastest integrated graphics in a personal computer, and breakthrough machine learning performance with the Apple Neural Engine. As a result, M1 delivers up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, up to 6x faster GPU performance, and up to 15x faster machine learning, all while enabling battery life up to 2x longer than previous-generation Macs. With its profound increase in performance and efficiency, M1 delivers the biggest leap ever for the Mac.

TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products including network-attached storage (NAS) devices, launches the D8 Thunderbolt 3 8-bay professional-grade RAID storage. Designed for professional creators, the TerraMaster D8 Thunderbolt 3 offers large storage capacity support of up to 128 TB along with fast read and write speeds delivered by Thunderbolt 3 technology.

The TerraMaster D8 Thunderbolt 3 via its 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3 interface can deliver speeds of up to 1600 MB/s. It is the perfect storage solution for non-linear editing applications such as 4K video editing, allowing professional creators to enjoy rapid video workflows. The D8 Thunderbolt 3 also offers high scalability allowing creators to daisy-chain more than five devices in a single Thunderbolt 3 connection. Creators can daisy-chain up to two 4K monitors to create a smart working space with large displays for professional video editing and productivity.

Today, HP Inc. unveiled the HP Spectre x360 14, offering the viewability of a 15-inch device with the mobility of a 13.5-inch form factor for the ultimate browsing, reading, editing, and viewing experience. Also announced today is HP's expanded 11th Gen Intel Core Processor Spectre and ENVY line up, packed with incredible performance gains and increased battery life for the perfect work-at-home lifestyle.

The PC has become more essential than ever, with many doing more from home like work, school, and doctor's visits, for the foreseeable future. But the home is a place often filled with roommates and family members also working or learning, requiring work and personal devices to be as flexible as the user's environment. Less than one-third of users have an office where the door can be closed, making living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens the open office floorplan of 2020. HP is creating devices like the new HP Spectre x360 14 to be adaptive and smart, with the use of intelligent features - like performance management and new AI-based audio capabilities - to anticipate needs before the user does.

For years, MacBooks have been the de facto standard for digital DJ setups. Apple's recent product iterations, however, have left much to be desired in terms of professional connectivity - using industry standard DJ equipment with a MacBook requires the purchase of expensive and impractical adapters or hubs. XMG responds to the DJ community's growing demand for a functional, reliable alternative by releasing the DJ 15 - the first ever laptop designed, optimised and tested specifically to meet the needs of professional DJs. Weighing in at a mere 1.6 kg, this machine features a 15" non-glare Full HD IPS display and a wide array of standard ports. An entirely bloatware-free Windows 10 Pro installation, perfectly tuned to the DJ 15's hardware components, ensures ultra-low, stable DPC latency out of the box, even running off battery with WiFi and Bluetooth activated. On top of that, XMG offers unique and highly specialised support - by DJs, for DJs.

Lenovo is very excited to unveil the latest addition to our premium X1 portfolio, ThinkPad X1 Nano. The lightest ThinkPad ever at just 1.99 pounds (907 g) breaks new ground for performance and functionality in an incredibly featherweight package. Lenovo's first ThinkPad based on Intel Evo platform and powered by 11th Gen Intel Core processors, the X1 Nano delivers supreme speed and intelligence while maintaining outstanding battery life. Stunning visuals are delivered through a narrow bezel 13-inch 2K display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and four speakers and four 360-degree microphones enhance the audio-visual capabilities. For a truly immersive user experience, the X1 Nano supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. State of the art connectivity is provided by WiFi 65 and optional 5G will deliver higher bandwidth capability and drive new levels of always on always connected efficiency and collaboration in a new hybrid working world.

Lenovo today is also delighted to announce that the world's first foldable PC, ThinkPad X1 Fold, is available to order and will ship in a few weeks. A pinnacle of engineering innovation, the X1 Fold offers a revolutionary mix of portability and versatility that defines a new computing category enabled by Intel Core processors with Intel Hybrid Technology and made possible by Intel's Project Athena innovation program. Blending familiar functionality that we all know from smartphones, tablets and laptops into a single foldable PC device that will forever reshape the way you work, play, create and connect. With optional 5G, you can trust that your connection speed is more secure and optimized where available and that you are better protected with ThinkShield security features. Find out more how ThinkPad X1 Fold is pioneering a new category: A Game Changing Category

CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gaming peripherals and enthusiast components, today announced the launch of its first-ever Thunderbolt 3 dock, the CORSAIR TBT100. Combining iconic industrial design, aluminium construction, intuitive operation, and smart power delivery, the TBT100 puts the power of Thunderbolt 3 within reach, with a huge array of ports and connections that make it the heart of your workstation setup.

The TBT100 fits right in with any working environment thanks to its stylish aluminium housing and slim profile. Its small size belies the massive 40 Gbps bandwidth and power delivery of Thunderbolt 3, enabling the TBT100 to connect a full range of devices, all at once. Equipped with two high-speed USB Type-C 10 Gbps ports and two USB 5 Gbps ports to transfer both data and power to your USB devices, the TBT100 can connect up to four USB devices at full power. For dual-monitor setups, the TBT100 includes two HDMI 2.0 ports, able to drive two displays at up to 4K 60Hz in vibrant HDR, as well as a combination 3.5 mm in/out jack for your audio. A gigabit Ethernet port connects to your local network at blazing-fast speeds, while a built-in UHS-II SD card reader provides convenient access to portable storage. There's even a Kensington Security Slot to keep envious colleagues from borrowing your dock.

Intel today launches its 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" mobile processors that introduce several new technologies on the backs of new IP. As described in the Architecture Day, "Tiger Lake" is built on the 10 nm SuperFin process, and combines new "Willow Cove" CPU cores with the first commercial debut of the Xe Gen12 graphics architecture that Intel is betting big on, to make a stab at the consumer graphics and scalar compute markets. Join us in this live-blog.Update 16:00 UTC: GB (Gregory Bryant, EVP Client), leads the event from the comfort of his home.Update 16:04 UTC: Here it is, the "world's best processor for thin and light laptops. You'll notice that like most Intel U-segment chips, this is an MCM of the processor and PCH die. Intel bases its "world's best" claims on a per-segment basis.

A lot is riding for Intel on its 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" system-on-chip (SoC), which will launch exclusively on mobile platforms, hoping to dominate the 7 W thru 15 W ultraportable form-factors in 2020, while eventually scaling up to the 25 W thru 45 W H-segment form-factors in 2021, with a variant that is rumored to double core-counts. The chip is built on Intel's new 10 nm SuperFin silicon fabrication node that enables a double digit percentage energy efficiency growth over 10 nm, allowing Intel to significantly dial up clock speeds without impacting the power envelope. The CPU and iGPU make up the two key components of the "Tiger Lake" SoC.

The CPU component on the "Tiger Lake" processors that launch in a few weeks from now features four "Willow Cove" CPU cores. Coupled with HyperThreading, this ends up being a 4-core/8-thread setup, although much of Intel's innovation is in giving these cores significant IPC increases over the "Skylake" core powering "Comet Lake" processors, and compared to the "Sunny Cove" cores powering "Ice Lake" a minor IPC (although major net performance increase from clock speeds). The "Willow Cove" CPU core appears to be a derivative of the "Sunny Cove" core, designed to take advantage of the 10 nm SuperFin node, along with three key innovations.

TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products including network-attached storage (NAS) devices and direct attached storage (DAS) devices, launches the all-new TD2 Thunderbolt3 Plus, a 2-bay 7-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock with RAID. Building from the success of the TD2 Thunderbolt3, the TD2 Thunderbolt3 Plus use high-speed Thunderbolt3 40 Gbps interface, now with a 7-in-1 docker function that allows users to connect multiple devices in a single Thunderbolt 3 cable.

The TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt3 Plus offers speeds of up to 800 MB/s, 50% faster than its predecessor. It also now comes with a DisplayPort that can support up a single 8K display or dual 4K display. Hence, the device can support a maximum of three displays. The TD2 Thunderbolt3 Plus also comes with more connectivity compared to the older model which includes a Gigabit LAN port, and two USB 3.1 Host ports aside from the two high-speed Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports. The TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt3 Plus retains the silver aluminium chassis with smart fan for aesthetics and cooling.

Since Apple has announced its transition from Intel to its custom Apple Silicon processors, there has been quite a lot of speculations on what the new processors will bring. Just a few days ago, Intel announced the latest advancement of its Thunderbolt port in the form of Thunderbolt 4, which further advances the Thunderbolt standard with a heap of new features. Since Apple has decided to do away from Intel silicon, there has been a question whatever Apple will offer Thunderbolt 4 support on its Macs. And it seems like we don't have to wonder any further. In the statement below, which Apple spokesman gave to The Verge, the answer is loud and clear.

Apple spokesman for The VergeOver a decade ago, Apple partnered with Intel to design and develop Thunderbolt, and today our customers enjoy the speed and flexibility it brings to every Mac. We remain committed to the future of Thunderbolt and will support it in Macs with Apple silicon.

OWC a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company and one of the world's most respected providers of Memory, External Drives, SSDs, Mac & PC docking solutions and performance upgrade kits, today announced that their new ThunderBay Flex 8 media workflow solution, revealed at CES 2020, is now shipping. A cutting-edge approach for world class Thunderbolt 3 storage, dollar for dollar, there is no better way for serious media professionals to handle their storage, connectivity, and PCIe expansion needs.

The exciting new ThunderBay Flex 8 is a recipient of the 2020 Future Best of Show Award, presented by Video Edge. Video Edge awarded the ThunderBay Flex 8 their Special Edition Best of Show Award in the store, charge and connect category. The awards are evaluated by a panel of engineers and industry experts, and are selected based on innovation, feature set, cost efficiency and performance in serving the industry. A Special Edition of the award program was held this year in the absence of a physical NAB Show.

Today, Intel revealed new details about Thunderbolt 4, the next generation of its universal cable connectivity solution, delivering increased minimum performance requirements, expanded capabilities and USB4 specification compliance. For the first time, Thunderbolt 4 will offer docks with up to four Thunderbolt ports and universal cables up to 2 meters in length. Intel's upcoming mobile PC processors, code-named "Tiger Lake," will be the first to integrate Thunderbolt 4. Intel also announced the Thunderbolt 4 controller 8000 series, compatible with the hundreds of millions of Thunderbolt 3 PCs and accessories already available. Thunderbolt 4 developer kits and certification testing are now available.

"Thunderbolt provides consumers with a leading connectivity standard across a range of devices, helping to advance computing experiences and delivering on the promise of USB-C with simplicity, performance and reliability. The arrival of Thunderbolt 4 underscores how Intel is advancing the PC ecosystem toward truly universal connectivity solutions," said Jason Ziller, Intel general manager of the Client Connectivity Division.

Acer today announced its new Swift 5 notebook that offers a new take on productivity, powerful yet light enough to be carried around throughout the day. The ultraportable device is a beacon of both design and performance, sporting a professional aesthetic that is backed up by impressive functionality. This year's model features ultra-narrow bezels that allow for a 90% screen-to-body ratio, a touchscreen with Antimicrobial Corning Gorilla Glass and new colors, such as mist green.

"The new Swift 5 pushes the envelope on what thin-and-light notebooks can be," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "A productivity powerhouse housed in a sleek and ultraportable chassis, the Swift 5 is an excellent option for professionals who are always on the move and seeking a device capable of keeping up with them."

Cypress, an Infineon Technologies Company, today announced that in less than five years, the company has achieved a landmark milestone by shipping its one billionth USB-C device. As the leading provider of USB-C technology, Cypress' leadership position spans a wide range of markets with its controllers used within mobile, computing, and power applications.

Cypress offers the industry's most complete portfolio of USB solutions, including device controllers, embedded hosts, hubs, application-specific bridges, and transceivers. Cypress' EZ-PD portfolio was the first in the industry to support the latest USB Power Delivery (USB PD) 3.0 specification, which enables more robust end-to-end power delivery and charging solutions for laptop and mobile devices. Cypress also offers AEC-Q100 certified versions of its controllers for automotive-grade performance.

ASUS today unveiled the ThunderboltEX 3-TR its latest 2-port Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) add-on card for ASUS Intel 400-series chipset motherboards that feature the TB3 header. The full height add-on card features a PCI-Express 3.0 x4 host interface, and puts out two Thunderbolt 3 ports in the type-C format. There are two mini-DisplayPort inputs so you can add DisplayPort passthrough from your graphics card for each of the two Thunderbolt ports. ASUS even includes a pair of short-length miniDP to standard DP cables. It also includes a USB 2.0 cable, and a cable for the TB3 header on your compatible ASUS motherboard. Under the hood is an Intel "Titan Ridge" JHL7540 2-port Thunderbolt 3 controller. The card requires a 6-pin PCIe power input. For now its compatibility list includes all Intel Z490 and H470 chipset motherboards by ASUS that feature the TB3 header.

ASRock introduced the W480 Creator premium motherboard for creators, which supports 10th Gen Core and Xeon W-1200 series processors in the LGA1200 package, based on the "Comet Lake" microarchitecture. Built in the ATX form-factor, the board draws power from a 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS power connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with a 16-phase VRM cooled by large aluminium fan-heatsinks. The LGA1200 socket is wired to four reinforced DDR4 DIMM slots supporting up to 128 GB of dual-channel DDR4-4800 (OC) memory, including ECC unbuffered DIMM support when paired with Xeon W-1200 processors; and two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 with both populated, else x16). These slots are gen 4.0 capable with future processors that offer PCIe gen 4.0 support. Storage connectivity includes three M.2 NVMe slots with PCIe gen 3.0 x4 wiring, each; and six SATA 6 Gbps ports.

Much of this board's serious "creator" USP begins with its connectivity. It offers two Thunderbolt 40 Gbps ports via type-C connectors, each with its own mini-DisplayPort 1.4 passthrough input that you connect to your graphics card. Networking connectivity includes a 10 GbE wired network connection powered by an AQuantia AQC107 controller; a second 2.5 GbE connection driven by Intel i225-LM controller, and an 802.11ax WLAN connection by an Intel AX201 adapter that also provides Bluetooth 5. The onboard audio solution packs some serious hardware, with an ESS Sabre 9218 DAC handling the front-panel headphones out (130 dBA SNR), a Realtek ALC1220 HDA codec handling the other channels (120 dBA SNR), WIMA capacitors for the front outputs, and the right and left audio channel wiring being routed through distant PCB layers to minimize crosstalk. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Dynabook Americas, Inc., today announced the availability of the new 10th Gen Intel Core Processors with vPro technology on the company's premium Portégé X Series (X30-G, X30L-G, X40-G & X50-G) and performance Tecra A Series (A30-G & A40-G). The addition of the Intel vPro platform powered 10th Gen Intel Core processors deliver better overall system performance, faster data compression, stronger security and faster Wi-Fi bandwidth. Dynabook will begin shipping these laptops with the vPro platform by the end of the second quarter this year.

"The new 10th Gen Intel Core vPro processors are built to power the next generation of computing innovation which our Portégé X Series and Tecra A Series represent," said Phil Osako, vice president, marketing and engineering, Dynabook Americas, Inc. "By incorporating the latest generation of Intel commercial processors, Dynabook will deliver business solutions with technologies to address new and emerging challenges for IT and users."

Dutch researcher from the Eindhoven University of Technology has found a new vulnerability in Thunderbolt port that allows attackers with physical access to unlock any PC running Windows or Linux kernel-based OS in less than 5 minutes. The researcher of the university called Björn Ruytenberg found a method which he calls Thunderspy, which can bypass the login screen of any PC. This attack requires physical access to the device, which is, of course, dangerous on its own if left with a person of knowledge. The Thunderbolt port is a fast protocol, and part of the reason why it is so fast is that it partially allows direct access to computer memory. And anything that can access memory directly is a potential vulnerability.

The Thunderspy attack relies on just that. There is a feature built into the Thunderbolt firmware called "Security Level", which disallows access to untrusted devices or even turns off Thunderbolt port altogether. This feature would make the port be a simple USB or display output. However, the researcher has found a way to alter the firmware setting of Thunderbolt control chip in a way so it allows any device to access the PC. This procedure is done without any trace and OS can not detect that there was a change. From there, the magic happens. Using an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) programmer with a SOP8 clip that connects the pins of the programmer device to the controller, the attacker just runs a script from there. This procedure requires around $400 worth of hardware. Intel already put some protection last year for the Thunderbolt port called Kernel Direct Memory Access Protection, but that feature isn't implemented on PCs manufactured before 2019. And even starting from 2019, not all PC manufacturers implement the feature, so there is a wide group of devices vulnerable to this unfixable attack.

Leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, proudly announces its latest flagship motherboard, the Z490 AQUA to the delight of gamers and power hungry users alike. And to highlight our launch we are limiting the Z490 AQUA to only 999 units making it extremely valuable. Using the latest 16 Phase 90 A Dr.MOS & 2 oz copper PCBs, it delivers up to 95% VRM efficiency. To keep VRM's and 10-core processors cool even during sustained heavy loads or even overclocking, the Z490 AQUA features an advanced water cooling system that decreases heat on the CPU VRMs to reduce VRM temps dramatically.

Decked in a matte black undershell, the Z490 complements what young gamers want in a machine these days, simple, refined edges encased with a metallic armor which highlights the vibrant, techno LED lighting which screams I'm a water cooling aficionado and a PC mod enthusiast. "Be Aqua, Be Cool" highlights ASRock's determination to be the frontrunner in water-cooled gaming motherboard manufacturers and the PCIe 4.0 ready means it's prepped and the hardware is ready with PCI-Express Gen-4 support. By uniquely adding an external base clock generator, PCIe 4.0 components such as extra slots and an M.2 socket we're assured the motherboard is ready to accommodate the next generation of CPUs.

The graphics cards of the near-future could see a gradual phase out of standard-size DisplayPorts in favor of USB 4, starting 2021, according to a CNET report. Within the USB standard, the type-C port could see a significant growth in proliferation, and a possible phase-out of type-A ports, beginning with notebooks. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), had in Q3-2019 announced the USB 4.0 specification, with development of the first implementations of the standard underway.

According to the CNET report, some time in 2021, USB 4.0 type-C ports could include DisplayPort 2.0 wiring, enabling 8K and 16K displays with a single cable. USB 4.0 will also make significant strides in other directions, such as support for 40 Gbps bandwidth (80 Gbps in x2 mode). It also implements tunneling technology carried over from the Thunderbolt specification, allowing you to daisy-chain devices (such as plugging in an external hard drive to a USB 4 monitor).

Intel today launched its 10th generation Core desktop processor family and its companion Intel 400-series chipsets. Based on the 14 nm++ silicon fabrication process and built in the new LGA1200 package, the processors are based on the "Comet Lake" microarchitecture. The core design of "Comet Lake" and its IPC are identical to those of "Skylake," however Intel brought significant enhancements to the processor's clock-speed boosting algorithm, increased core- or thread counts across the board, and introduced new features that could interest enthusiasts and overclockers. The uncore component remains largely unchanged from the previous-generation, with support for DDR4 memory and PCI-Express gen 3.0. Use of these processors requires a new socket LGA1200 motherboard, they won't work on older LGA1151 motherboards. You can install any LGA115x-compatible cooler on LGA1200, provided it meets the thermal requirements of the processor you're using.

At the heart of the 10th generation Core processor family is a new 10-core monolithic processor die, which retains the same basic structure as the previous-generation 8-core "Coffee Lake Refresh" die, and 4-core "Skylake." The cores are arranged in two rows, sandwiched by the processor's uncore and iGPU blocks. A ring-bus interconnect binds the various components. The cache hierarchy is unchanged from previous generations as well, with 32 KB each of L1I and L1D caches; 256 KB of dedicated L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The iGPU is the same Gen 9.5 based UHD 630 graphics. As we mentioned earlier, much of Intel's innovation for the 10th generation is with the processor's microcode (boosting algorithms).

Here are some of the first pictures of ASRock's upcoming socket LGA1200 motherboards based on the Intel Z490 chipset, courtesy VideoCardz. The selection of pics reveal the company's flagship Z490 motherboard to be the Z490 Taichi, with its elaborate CPU VRM solution that pulls power from a pair of 8-pin EPS connectors, a metal shroud covering most of the board, including the heatsinks over the three M.2 slots and the PCH; and an elaborate CPU VRM heatsink assembly. Connectivity options include 2.5 GbE, 802.11ax, and preparation for Thunderbolt. The company is planning two other flagship models, the Z490 Phantom Gaming X and the Z490 Aqua.

The next best motherboard in this photo dump is the Z490 Phantom Gaming Velocita, which appears to have an identical CPU VRM muscle as the Taichi, but just two M.2 slots instead of three. It still gets two wired networking interfaces. The Z490 Phantom Gaming ITX TB3 is the Mini-ITX flagship board by the company, featuring integrated Thunderbolt, an active fan-heatsink cooling the CPU VRM, and a daughterboard putting out some of the board's connectivity.