While most Intel "Gemini Lake" SoC desktop motherboards are based on the cheaper Celeron J4005, a rare few, such as the ASRock J5005-ITX, implement the pricier Pentium Silver J5005 chip. What sets the J5005 apart from the J4005 is its quad-core "Goldmont Plus" CPU, and faster UHD Graphics 605 iGPU with higher clocks; which make the chip around 1.5 times pricier. Designed for machines with internal PSUs, the board draws power from a 24-pin ATX connector. A simple 2-phase VRM powers the 10W TDP SoC, and an aluminium heatsink keeps it cool.

The SoC is flanked by two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to 8 GB of memory. Expansion slots include a PCI-Express x1, and an M.2 E-key slot meant for WLAN cards. Display outputs include HDMI 2.0, D-Sub, and DVI. Four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by headers), gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio, make for the rest of it. The board appears to be targeted at HTPC builders, as the UHD Graphics 605 appears sufficient for 4K UHD entertainment (10-bit HEVC encode/decode hardware acceleration). Given the $160 price of the SoC itself, we expect this board to be priced in the $200-250 range.

AOC has been making waves with the overall quality and value proposition of each new line of monitors they launch - from the premium to the more budget-conscious offerings. Now, they're introducing a whole new line of monitors that leaves their gaming roots behind in favor of more professional-centric features.

The series will cover the 21.5"-27" range, and panel types will vary between TN and IPS panels according to diagonal and pricing. Starting in the 21.5", the AOC 22P1D is equipped with a 21.5 "TN panel with 1080 screen resolution. The 24P1 is a 23.8" monitor which upgrades the panel to an IPS solution, features a 16:9 screen ratio with 1080p resolution, and a three-frameless bezel. There will be another 24" monitor in the form of the X24P1, which keeps all the features and specs of the 24P1, but brings the screen ratio to 16:10. Rounding out the lineup, we've got the 27" 27P1 (which sports an IPS panel with 1080p resolution) and the flagship 27", Q27P1 (which also sports an IPS panel but increases the resolution to QHD (2560 x 1440).

Intel today released two new barebones NUCs based on its latest "Gemini Lake" Pentium Silver and Celeron SoCs, the NUC 7 PJYH, and the NUC 7 CJYH. As their names might suggest, the PJYH is based on Pentium Silver J5005, while the CJYH implements Celeron J4005. The Pentium Silver J5005 packs a "Goldmont Plus" quad-core CPU clocked at 2.80 GHz, 4 MB of cache, and UHD Graphics 605 iGPU, while the Celeron J4005 features a dual-core "Goldmont Plus" CPU clocked up to 2.70 GHz, 4 MB cache, and UHD Graphics 600 iGPU.

As a barebones NUC, you're supposed to add your own memory, populating its two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots (up to 8 GB), and a 2.5-inch SSD or HDD. Networking connectivity includes 802.11ac WLAN, Bluetooth 5.0, and gigabit Ethernet. Display outputs include two HDMI ports. USB connectivity includes two each of USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, from which one of the front USB 3.0 ports (yellow) has high-current (10A). There's also an SD card slot. A 65W power-brick runs the NUC. The two could be priced in the range of $299-$399.

SAPPHIRE Technology is launching today a new series of Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C accessories for both Windows and Mac users. The New lineup features products that extend display connectivity with popular HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, Power Delivery adapters for simultaneous display output and battery charging, and a traveler's 4-in-1 travel dock.

Thunderbolt 3 is a modern connector with staggering bandwidth of up to 40 Gbps. This speed of a single compact port enables users to extend the capabilities of their ultrabook and use additional peripherals, extra displays, Ethernet cards, or storage devices; and deliver power to their device at the same time. Thunderbolt 3 is an interface of USB-C that does it all.

HP today announced immediate availability of some monitors specifically geared for the professional - or at least pixel-conscious - crowd. The EliteDisplay S270n monitor features a 4K, IPS, 27" diagonal, 350 cd/m² brightness, 1300:1 static contrast ratio panel with 14 ms gray to gray response times. Display input duties can be allocated towards 1x DisplayPort 1.2 or 2x HDMI inputs (1.4 and 2.0). Additionally, there's 1x USB Type-C supporting Displayport 1.2 which is able to deliver up to 60 W of power to a connected device.

The other three models HP has announced today sport the Z27, Z32 and Z43 monikers, which directly reference the diagonal size of the monitors. The feature set is practically the same across all three of these models; they offer the same 4K UHD resolution and IPS based panels. 350 cd/m² remains as the peak brightness value, as well as a 1300:1 static contrast ratio, but the response time is improved on the 27" and 42" models to 8 ms gray to gray (the 31-inch model is at 14 ms, just like the EliteDisplay). The HP Z27, Z32 and Z43 all support 1x USB Type-C which supports DisplayPort 1.2 and can send up to 65W of power to the connected device. Display outputs are the same across these monitors (1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x Mini-DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x USB Type-C, but the Z27 and Z32 pats only carry three additional USB 3.0 ports, while the Z43 ups that number to 5x. All monitors are available now, with pricing being set at $549 for the EliteDisplay S270, while the Z27, Z32, and Z43 are priced at $559, $899, and $799 respectively.

Kensington understands that no business wants to be tied to USB 3.0 technology as it is being replaced by faster and better protocols, while at the same time recognizing that it isn't practical for an organization to incur the expense and loss of productivity to replace every legacy device with one that supports USB-C. So we are pleased to announce the release of the SD4700P Universal USB-C and USB 3.0 Docking Station (K38240, SRP $219.99), which gives organizations full support for both USB-C and USB 3.0 devices from laptops using both Windows and macOS.

"At Kensington, we value the trust that consumers and organizations have placed in us since we introduced the first Universal Docking Station. As technologies improve, we are committed to providing our customers with new solutions that leverage the latest enhancements to boost productivity and performance," says Fred Wu, Global Product Manager Kensington. "The Universal USB-C and USB 3.0 Docking Station is a great example of that because it protects an organization's investment in existing technology by supporting USB 3.0, while offering complete access to the latest USB-C technology."

We headed to the GIGABYTE Aorus booth at the 2018 International CES to check out the only motherboard based on AMD's upcoming 400-series chipset visible in the entire show, the Aorus X470 Gaming 7. We snapped a lot of pictures. The first thing that caught our attention is the board's updated styling, which resembles the one GIGABYTE introduced with its Intel Z370-series motherboards. The second thing of course, was two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, confirming that AMD has indeed addressed 300-series chipset's greatest shortcoming - lack of PCIe gen 3.0 general purpose lanes. Since the AM4 SoC puts out 4 gen 3.0 general purpose lanes of its own, which wired to one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot on 300-series motherboards, the new 400-series boards will have at least two of these slots, one wired to the AM4 SoC, and another to the chipset.

The Aorus X470 Gaming 7 could become the company's flagship socket AM4 product based on AMD X470 chipset. It's been designed as such. Built in the ATX form-factor, the board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 4-pin ATX power connectors. A 12-phase VRM supplies power to the AM4 SoC. It's interesting to note that GIGABYTE chose some very high-current chokes for the chip's main voltage domains. The VRM heatsinks, too, are elaborate aluminium fin-stack types, with the two heatsinks spreading heat over a heat pipe. Is this a telltale sign that certain Ryzen 2 parts could have >95W TDP? The CPU socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 when both are populated), and one of the two M.2 slots (we're guessing the top M.2-22110 slot). Both it, and the bottom M.2-2280 slots have included heatsinks. Other expansion slots include an x16 (electrical x4) slot wired to the chipset, and two x1 slots, which are all gen 3.0.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory storage products and technology solutions, announced today the launch of Nucleum, a 7-in-1 Type C USB hub. Nucleum is the ideal hub for newer MacBooks as it provides extra USB-C and USB-A ports as well as HDMI and SD/microSD card slots.

Nucleum, with its multiple ports, is built to handle all of the familiar accessories consumers have such as mice, keyboards and even a second monitor. Users can be more productive as all seven ports can be engaged at the same time. Nucleum users can power up a MacBook while also running an external hard drive and charging an iPhone simultaneously.

Linksys at its exhibition alongside the 2018 CES, showed off its latest gaming-grade Wi-Fi router, the WRT32XB. The router comes in two main "variants," one with co-branding from Alienware, Razer, GIGABYTE, and MSI; while another with exclusive Xbox One co-branding, named WRT32XB. Both variants are based on Rivet Networks Killer WLAN processors, and firmware optimization. The WRT32XB comes with a little more firmware fine-tuning that gives your Xbox One console a slight edge in pings and bandwidth prioritization. The router can sense that an Xbox One is seeking traffic (you're playing on it), and automatically run QoS rules that give it priority. The router comes with 802.11AC (2x2 dual-MIMO), with gigabit Ethernet WAN ports, and USB 3.0 ports for mass-storage sharing. When it comes out this February, it will be priced at the same USD $299.99 price as the WRT32X.

Gyrfalcon Technology Inc, an emerging AI chip maker in Silicon Valley, CA, launches its Laceli AI Compute Stick after Intel Movidius announced its deep learning Neural Compute Stick in July of last year. With the company's first ultra-low power, high performance AI processor Lightspeeur 2801S, the Laceli AI Compute Stick runs a 2.8 TOPS performance within 0.3 Watt of power, which is 90 times more efficient than the Movidius USB Stick (0.1 TOPS within 1 Watt of power.)

Lightspeeur is based on Gyrfalcon Technology Inc's APiM architecture, which uses memory as the AI processing unit. This eliminates the huge data movement that results in high power consumption. The architecture features true, on-chip parallelism, in situ computing, and eliminates memory bottlenecks. It has roughly 28,000 parallel computing cores and does not require external memory for AI inference.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of highperformance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, and mobile accessories today launchedthe UV230 and UV330 USB Flash drives, adding to its extensive range of portable storage devices. The UV230 works in USB 2.0 and is offered in up to 64GB, while the UV330 operates in much faster USB 3.1 and ships in up to 128GB. The two share a capless design where the connector extends and retracts using a quick-slide mechanism. ADATA remains committed to its USB Flash drive global leadership role and will continue releasing new models as market needs evolve.

From USB 2.0 to USB 3.1 5Gbps, ADATA recognizes demand for diverse USB Flash drives remains strong. Consumers want functionality, style, and ease of use as well as affordability. Hence ADATA delivers: from the entry-level UV230 to the vastly speedier UV330, and their many contemporaries in the ADATA catalog. From 16GB UV230s to 128GB UV330, just these two classic models cover much ground and offer a wealth of options for users that need to quickly save and move data.

ZOTAC International, a global manufacturer of innovation, today introduced an amazing addition to its product line, the ZOTAC AMP BOX Series. The all-new External Thunderbolt 3 box solutions possess the Power To Transform any Thunderbolt 3 capable systems into a powerful Game / VR Ready System or supplement it with an ultra-fast expansive storage with NVMe PCIe x4 SSD.

ZOTAC offers two models, AMP BOX and AMP BOX Mini. Both external boxes can accommodate dual slot graphics card and support up to an enthusiast-grade GeForce GTX 1080 Ti on the AMP and GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card on the Mini respectively, enabling users to complement any Thunderbolt 3 compatible ZBOX Mini PC, Notebook, or Desktop with the power to game beyond the limit.

Continuously dedicated to satisfying the needs of our consumers in every respect, Team Group today announced the elegant and rounded C173/C175 Pearl USB drive. With black and white two colors to choose from, they look like mysterious, luxury black pearl and pure, flawless white pearl born from the deep ocean. The streamlined unibody of the Pearl USB drive is designed for easy grab and use, and able to offer users a well-rounded and comfortable hand held feeling.

Being in a mobile digital era, having an easy carry USB drive with solid build quality is a necessary tool whether you are at work or in school. The overall seamless design of Team Group C173/C175 Pearl USB drive is ingenuity and unique. It does not scratch hands or get dirty easily. The well-proportioned, rounded appearance and the ingenious, exquisite design make it look simple, sleek and yet elegant. Moreover, after thoughtfully considering the usage convenience, the C713/175 Pearl USB drive added a hidden latch to the design so consumers can plug cap to the back to avoid cap loss problem. Besides the convenience, the elegant and aesthetic overall design can also be maintained.

EVGA's premium micro-ATX motherboard based on Intel Z370 chipset, the Z370 Micro, started selling at USD $179.99. The board was announced alongside the rest of the company's Z370 lineup, earlier this October. Designed for enthusiast-grade micro-ATX builds, the EVGA Z370 micro features a standard 240 mm x 240 mm PCB, but with cutouts for the angled 24-pin ATX and 6-pin PCIe power inputs. Besides the two, it draws power from an 8-pin EPS and 4-pin ATX power connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with a 10-phase VRM. The CPU socket features 150% higher gold content in the pins. The LGA1151 socket is wired to two reinforced DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel memory, and two reinforced PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC or x8/x8), with SLI support. An x4 slot makes for the rest of the expansion.

Storage connectivity includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots (from which one is occupied with the WLAN card), and six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Eight USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports make for the USB connectivity. Network connectivity includes an Intel-made WLAN card with 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.1. The lone 1 GbE interface is driven by an Intel i219-V controller. A Realtek ALC1220 CODEC drives the 8-channel HD audio. Overclocker-friendly features include dual-BIOS with manual switching, POST debug 7-seg display, angled case-fan headers, onboard POST speaker, and power/reset buttons.

Promise Technology Inc., a leading storage solutions provider for creative and IT applications, today announced the addition of a Thunderbolt 3 dock to its comprehensive lineup of solutions for rich media workflows. Through the new dock, users can add two 4K displays, charge devices, daisy-chain Thunderbolt 3 hard drives, connect USB devices, transfer SD card content, and more -- over a single connection. The new TD-300 brings it all together to expand the capabilities of Thunderbolt 3-enabled macOS and Windows 10 platforms. The TD-300 is also an ideal choice for small office/home office users.

An ideal complement to Promise's industry-leading Pegasus3 series of desktop RAID storage solutions, the TD-300 provides several connectivity options that set it apart from the competition, including five USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader and HDMI 2.0. It also features two Thunderbolt 3 ports, Gigabit Ethernet and an audio in/out port. Creative professionals working with Windows workstations, iMac and MacBook Pro can now simply connect the TD-300's Thunderbolt 3 port to any Thunderbolt 3-enabled PC or Mac. There are no drivers to download or install, and no additional utility software is needed.

Riotoro today introduced the CR500 ATX mid-tower chassis. The case is characterized by a slightly protruding and perforated front-panel for better air intake, with a full-coverage tempered glass making up the side panel. The case features a contemporary horizontal partition layout. The top compartment houses an ATX/micro-ATX/mini-ITX motherboard with room for graphics cards as long as 40 cm, and CPU coolers as tall as 18 cm.

The bottom compartment of the CR500, accessible from the right side panel, houses two 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive bays, two additional 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive mounts, and the PSU compartment. The cooling system includes three 120 mm or two 140 mm top exhausts, two 140 mm/120 mm front intakes, a 120 mm bottom intake, and a 120 mm rear exhaust. Front panel connectivity includes two each of USB 3.0 and USB 2.0/1.1 ports, and HDA jacks. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Elitegroup Computer System (ECS), the global leading motherboard, Mini-PC, Notebooks and mobile device manufacturer, is proud to announce the new LIVA Q, pocket-sized mini-pc featuring Intel Apollo Lake SOC processors, along with 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC storage and HDMI 2.0; this little monster is capable of handling 4K content playback with ease.

The new LIVA Q pocket-sized mini-pc allows you to stay connected with dual network options, a standard RJ45 LAN connector for more stabilized connection and 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.1 for wireless connections. There's also a MicroSD card slot that support up to 128GB memory cards for those who seeks more storage and x2 USB slots for peripherals.

Compulab launched its most compact mini PC, the fitlet2. Designed to be more of an IoT hub than a low-power desktop, the fitlet2 measures 112 mm x 84 mm (LxD), with the lower-power models being just 25 mm in height, while the higher-powered models, with slightly faster processors, being 34 mm tall thanks to the aluminium top panel that doubles up as heatsink for the SoC underneath.

The fitlet2 is powered by either Intel Atom x5-E3930 (6W TDP), x7-E3950 (12W TDP), or Celeron J3455 (10W TDP). There's one DDR4 SO-DIMM slot, letting you add up to 16 GB of memory, and an M.2-2260 slot with PCIe x2 and SATA wiring. Connectivity options include 802.11ac + BT 4.1 WLAN, up to two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, two each of USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and mini-DP display outputs. Compulab is also developing a new generation of MintBox (fitlets with pre-loaded Linux Mint), based on the fitlet2.

HP posted the datasheet of its upcoming 2-in-1 notebook PC, the ENVY x360 15-bq101na, which could be the world's first implementation of AMD's upcoming 14 nm "Raven Ridge" APU. The silicon combines a quad-core "Zen" CPU with an integrated graphics core based on the "Vega" GPU architecture. The datasheet speaks of an "AMD Ryzen 5 2500U" processor powering the machine.

The Ryzen 5 2500U is being described as featuring a quad-core CPU clocked at 2.00 GHz with 3.60 GHz boost frequency, and 6 MB of cache. This could very well be total-cache, since that's how AMD likes OEMs to advertise cache on its chips, which works out to 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 4 MB of shared L3 cache. The graphics core features the branding "AMD Radeon Vega M," confirming that this chip is indeed a derivation of "Raven Ridge."

Antec Inc., a leading provider of high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself market, presents the latest addition to their renowned Performance One Case series: The P110 Luce. The case is now commercially available from 119€ (suggested retail price including VAT).

The Antec P110 Luce lets you shed a light on your installed hardware: The frame measures 489 mm x 230 mm x 518 mm (L x W x H) and features a tempered glass panel on the side. The mid-tower is made of 1mm+0.8 mm steel & ABS and the front panel is made of 0.8 mm anodized aluminium. The P110 Luce accommodates ATX-, Micro-ATX and ITX-mainboards and offers space for up to six 3.5" HDDs (convertible for four 2.5" SSDs) and two 2.5" SDDs as well as ten expansion slots (eight horizontal and two vertical slots). Users can install VGA cards with a length of up to 390 mm. The card holder features an extra bracket which makes it easy to adjust the actual position of the VGA and to achieve better compatibility. This also supports the weight of heavy VGA cards.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today unveiled the TS-453BT3, a 4-bay NAS that combines high-speed Thunderbolt 3 connectivity with a pre-installed QM2 PCIe card, providing dual M.2 SATA SSD slots and 10GbE connectivity. Along with its sleek OLED display and 4K HDMI output, the TS-453BT3 provides SMBs, workgroups and media professionals with a feature-rich and high-performance storage solution.

The TS-453BT3 is powered by an Intel Celeron J3455 quad-core 1.50 GHz processor (burst up to 2.30 GHz) with dual-channel 8 GB DDR3L RAM. The pre-installed QM2 card provides SSD caching and 10 GbE connectivity, helping to provide up to 683 MB/s read speeds. The TS-453BT3 also includes a free RM-IR004 remote control that can be coupled with the QButton app to provide one-touch functionality for everyday operations.

GIGABYTE today rolled out the Aorus GTX 1080 Gaming Box, an external graphics solution built on the same platform as the company's GTX 1070 Gaming Box, but taking advantage of its new GeForce GTX 1080 Mini graphics card, which is the world's most compact card based on this chip. The enclosure powers the card with an 80 Plus Gold-certified 450W PSU. It connects to the host machine using 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3, and puts out downstream connectivity that includes four 5 Gbps USB 3.0 ports, from which one is a quick-charge port.

Under the hood, the GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card ticks at reference clocks out of the box, but has a software-enabled "OC Mode" which spools them up to 1632/1771 MHz (core/boost). The memory is clocked at 10 GHz (GDDR5X-effective). Display outputs include three DisplayPort 1.4 and one each of HDMI 2.0 and dual-link DVI-D. The enclosure is studded with RGB multi-color LEDs, which you control using the included GIGABYTE RGB Fusion software. The enclosure is expected to be priced around USD $750.

Thermaltake today rolled out the Versa H18 Window Micro case. Characterized by a wide body and a front bezel dominated by mesh, this micro-ATX case is made of SECC steel and ABS plastic, with a prominent clear-acrylic side-panel window. Front panel connectivity includes one USB 3.0 type-A port, two USB 2.0/1.1 ports, and HDA jacks. Cooling features include support for either three 120 mm or two 140 mm fans along the front; one 140 mm or 120 mm fan on the top, and a 120 mm rear exhaust. Although you can mount three 120 mm fans, there's only enough space to mount a 240 mm x 120 mm or 280 mm x 140 mm radiator along the front panel.

Under the hood, the Versa H18 Window Micro features a horizontal dual-compartment layout, with the bottom compartment housing the PSU and two 3.5-inch drive bays. There are two other 2.5-inch drive mounts along the motherboard tray. The top compartment can hold micro-ATX and mini-ITX motherboards, with clearance for graphics cards up to 350 mm in length, and CPU coolers up to 155 mm in height. Measuring 390 mm x 205 mm x 380 mm (HxWxD), the case weighs about 4.5 kg. The case is expected to be priced around $50.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced a new configuration option for the Razer Blade Pro, now with a Full HD display and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. This new build - at a lower price point than the Razer Blade Pro with a GeForce GTX 1080 - is targeted toward gamers and creative professionals that need a slim, powerful desktop replacement.

Equipped with a 7th gen Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor, the latest Razer Blade Pro is a performance-focused system with stunning 17.3-inch Full HD, 120Hz screen. The 1920 x 1080 matte panel offers users a beautiful display that is ideal for pushing out high framerates, and providing amazing color with wide viewing angles.

HP has announced the first Omen X laptop for the consumer market, and this is one laptop that HP hopes is enough to rule them all. Omen is HP's high-performance gaming brand, and the Omen X brings with it true desktop replaceability pedigree to justify that target audience. Most important: the Omen X laptop allows for overclocking, due to a cleverly designed vapor-chamber and high-powered fans cooling methodology. It allows users to overclock their unlocked i7 processor, alongside the DDR4 memory and GTX 1080 graphics card - and a translucent window lets you take a peek under the hood. A single removable panel offers access to the RAM, storage and other user-replaceable parts. A mechanical keyboard with programmable macros ensures perfect responsiveness and customizability, sporting per-key RGB lighting.