PCIe 4.0
Western Digital's WD_Black SN850P was the first officially PlayStation 5-licensed SSD to hit the market. Seagate wants a piece of that and has hopped on the PlayStation 5 train with the new Game Drive PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD series, officially licensed for Sony's current-generation gaming console. Unlike Microsoft, which uses a proprietary SSD expansion card for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, Sony opted to employ a standard M.2 slot for storage expansion on the PlayStation 5. The Japanese console maker's decision provides more storage options for gamers since they have many M.2 SSD offerings on the market. The M.2 slot has also paved the way for SSD manufacturers to partner with Sony to release licensed drives, which have been tested and approved...
Western Digital Updates WD Blue Series with SN580 DRAM-less Gen4 NVMe SSD
Western Digital is unveiling its latest addition to the mainstream WD Blue family today - the SN580 NVMe SSD. A DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 x4 drive, it brings in performance...
4 by Ganesh T S on 6/28/2023Silicon Motion SM2268XT DRAM-less NVMe SSD Controller: PCIe 4.0 Speeds on a Budget
The excitement in the client SSD space recently has understandably been on the Gen 5 front. However, cooling requirements have made it difficult for vendors to bring effective M.2...
17 by Ganesh T S on 2/16/2023SK hynix Releases Platinum P41 SSD: Going Even Faster With PCIe 4 and 176L NAND
First introduced back at CES 2022, this morning SK hynix is finally kicking off sales of their new retail consumer SSD, the Platinum P41. The successor to the popular...
8 by Ryan Smith on 5/19/2022Mushkin Redline VORTEX PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Launched: Affordable Flagship
Mushkin's lineup of PCIe 4.0 SSDs has largely remained a Phison affair. The Delta series was based on the Phison E16 and the Gamma on the Phison E18. Recently...
29 by Ganesh T S on 3/18/2022Western Digital Introduces WD_BLACK SN770: A DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD
The initial wave of PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs put emphasis on raw benchmark numbers, with power consumption remaining an afterthought. The targeting of high-end desktop platforms ensured that it...
31 by Ganesh T S on 2/2/2022The ASRock X570S PG Riptide Motherboard Review: A Wave of PCIe 4.0 Support on A Budget
Officially announced at Computex 2021, AMD and its vendors unveiled a new series of AM4 based motherboards for Ryzen 5000 processors. The new X570S chipset is, really, not that...
39 by Gavin Bonshor on 10/22/2021The EVGA Z590 Dark Motherboard Review: For Extreme Enthusiasts
Getting the most out of Intel's Core i9-11900K primarily relies on two main factors: premium cooling for the chip itself, and a solid motherboard acting as the foundation. And...
28 by Gavin Bonshor on 10/15/2021The ASRock Z590 OC Formula Review: An Iconic Brand Revival
Whether overclocking the CPU is your cup of morning tea/coffee/something stronger or not, there are specific motherboards built by professional overclockers and engineers designed to squeeze out as much...
24 by Gavin Bonshor on 9/10/2021Colorful Launches Two White Mini-ITX Motherboards For Intel Rocket Lake
Colorful has unveiled two new motherboards designed for Intel Rocket Lake and Comet Lake processors. The CVN B560I Gaming V20 and CVN B560I Gaming Frozen are based on the...
13 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/16/2021ASUS TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WIFI Motherboard Review: Is $260 Mid-Range or High-End?
Despite the Z590 chipset being the premium option for Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake processors, and the boards starting around $200, not every model is there to decimate the...
23 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/10/2021ASRock Z590 Steel Legend WiFi 6E Review: Z590 On A Budget
Over the past six months we've looked at a varied selection of Z590 motherboards. While most of these have been in the mid-range to premium category, today we are...
16 by Gavin Bonshor on 8/6/2021ASRock Unveils C621A WS Motherboard, Designed for Xeon W-3300 Workstations
On the back of Intel's recent Ice Lake Xeon W-3300 announcement, ASRock has announced one of the first motherboards to support the new processors, the ASRock C621A WS. Some...
9 by Gavin Bonshor on 7/30/2021ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero Review: Everything for Rocket Lake
On our test bench today is one of ASUS ROG's enthusiast models designed for Intel's Rocket Lake processors. The ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero brings plenty of premium controllers...
28 by Gavin Bonshor on 7/9/2021Micron Announces PCIe 4.0 Client SSDs
In Micron's keynote today at (virtual) Computex, the memory manufacturer announced they have started shipping the companies first PCIe 4.0 SSDs, using their latest 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash...
30 by Billy Tallis on 6/1/2021Western Digital Introduces WD Black SN750 SE SSD: Entry-Level PCIe Gen4
Among several announcements today, Western Digital is introducing a new more affordable PCIe Gen4 SSD under their gaming-oriented WD Black brand (styled WD_BLACK). The new WD Black SN750 SE...
14 by Billy Tallis on 5/26/2021The Inland Performance Plus 2TB SSD Review: Phison's E18 NVMe Controller Tested
Phison's E18 is their second-generation PCIe 4.0 SSD controller, and it keeps them in the running for the fastest consumer SSDs. Micro Center's Inland Performance Plus is the cheapest...
118 by Billy Tallis on 5/13/2021The ADATA GAMMIX S50 Lite 2TB SSD Review: Mainstream PCIe Gen4
Today we're taking a look at ADATA's XPG Gammix S50 Lite, a mid-range consumer NVMe SSD based on Silicon Motion's new SM2267 controller. Among other notable features, the Gammix...
93 by Billy Tallis on 4/30/2021Biostar Announces B550T-Silver Mini-ITX Motherboard For AMD's Ryzen 5000 Family
Biostar has unveiled its latest mini-ITX motherboard for the AMD B550 chipset, the B550T-Silver, which is designed for use with AMD's Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 3000 processors. The small-sized...
62 by Gavin Bonshor on 4/16/2021MSI Drops A Bling Bling Motherboard: the MEG Z590 Ace Gold Edition
On the back of Intel's 11th generation Rocket Lake processor release last month, MSI has dropped a new Z590 motherboard which certainly raises an eyebrow towards aesthetics. The new...
35 by Gavin Bonshor on 4/14/2021