Thread: Anandtech News

At Computex 2019, GIGABYTE revealed various motherboard models design on AMD's X570 chipset. Its flagship, the X570 Aorus Xtreme focuses on high-end performance and is targeted at enthusiasts with a 16-phase power delivery, triple PCIe 4.0 M.2, Wi-Fi 6, and an uprated onboard solution.
The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Xtreme takes a different approach to the rest of its X570 SKU list in that it's focused primarily on offering a comprehensive power delivery for users looking to overclock the latest Ryzen 3000 series processors. Across the majority of the boards we get Aorus themed armor where each of the three PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots heatsinks is embedded into the design. The chipset heatsink onboard the X570 Aorus Xtreme is also one of the only models so far that relies on passive cooling; we know that the X570 chipset will run warmer than the previous X470 chipset due to a higher power draw. On the rear panel cover is an Aorus Falcon design, with multiple areas with RGB LEDs that users can customize with the Aorus RGB Fusion software.

There are three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots with no PCIe 4.0 x1 slots featured on this model. One of the aspects GIGABYTE has focused on other than the impressive 16-phase power delivery is the onboard audio solution. Adding to the implementation of a Realtek ALC1220 HD audio codec is an ESS Sabre 9218 DAC, with WIMA audio capacitors. The board has a dedicated power and reset switch located at the top right of the PCB, and also features a right angled 24-pin 12 V ATX motherboard power input; the CPU uses two 8-pin 12 V CPU power inputs.

It is no secret that motherboard vendors are focusing heavily on its models ahead of the launch of X570. The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus is an example of just that with a high-end feature set and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity as well as Bluetooth 5. The biggest omission is the lack of any high-end wired networking supported; the board itself only has a single gigabit LAN port.
The GIGABYTE X570 Aorus Xtreme will be available at launch, although there are no details at present in regards to pricing or availability.

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

Cryptocurrency mining boom may be over, but there are many applications that can take advantage of GPU compute horsepower besides mining. Sapphire has demonstrated its upcoming GPU compute system featuring 10 graphics cards at Computex.
Based on AMD’s EPYC 3000-series embedded processor, the 10-way GPU compute machine has 10 PCIe 3.0 x8 slots connected to the CPU via five PCIe switches from ASMedia. The system is outfitted with six 2.5-inch bays for storage devices, two 10 GbE LAN ports with SFP+ connectors, six USB ports, two COM connectors, a TPM header, and so on (check the exact specs on the image below). The server can be powered using up to four PSUs (3+1 redundant), but the static demo only had two 1200 W PSUs.

Sapphire demonstrated its 10-way GPU compute system with 10 Radeon RX 470 graphics cards, but it can naturally install almost any boards inside provided that they feature an appropriate cooling system and design.

Sapphire still has not decided when the 10-way GPU compute system is set to be available and how much it is set to cost, so we will not speculate.

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

With Intel’s announcement this week that they will be releasing a new generation of Core X-series high-end desktop (HEDT) processors this fall, the company has also begun working on their plans to phase out the previous generation of HEDT processors. Revealed this week in a product change notification on Intel’s website, the company will soon be winding down production and shipment of their 7^th Gen Core “Skylake-X” processors, with the final chips shipping next spring.
Intel’s Skylake-X processors first launched almost two years ago, as the Core i7/i9 7800X & 7900X series of parts. Intel’s first HEDT design based on their Skylake CPU architecture, the chips came in configurations ranging from a 6 core processor up to a might 18 core processor. However these chips were replaced as Intel’s flagship line of parts in late 2018 with the 9^th Gen Core “Skylake-X Refresh” family of chips, which iterated on the design for improved clockspeeds. As a result, the original 7^th Gen Core Skylake-X chips have already been on their way out, from a consumer product standpoint.
Now Intel will make that phase-out official, starting later this year. As per the PCN, Intel’s clients will need to make final orders for these CPUs by December 27, 2019. Intel, in turn, will ship their last batch of orders by June 5, 2020.
By mid-2020, Intel should already be well in the middle of shipping their future Core X-series family of parts, never mind the soon-to-be-dated 9^th Gen Core parts. So this week’s note to customers is consistent with Intel’s normal production plans; the company generally prefers to only be producing a couple generations of HEDT parts at once.
Related Reading:

• Intel's Basin Falls Skylake-X Refresh: Core i9-9980XE with up to 15% Better Power Efficiency
• Intel Finalizes Skylake-X Processor Specifications: 18-Cores, 4.4 GHz Turbo, 165W on September 25th

Source: Intel



More...

MSI revealed its X570 chipset plans with a number of new boards split into three different market segments. The MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WIFI represents its top tier gaming focused model, and comes equipped with two PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, and includes Wi-Fi 6 in addition to a single GbE LAN port.
The MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WIFI motherboard includes a black carbon inspired design with a uniformed chipset and M.2 heatshield combination. Both the PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots include their own individual M.2 heatshield and the Frozr chipset heatsink which includes a fan which means the X570 chipset is actively cooled.

On the specifications front, the MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WIFI marks a shift from the company offering two versions of the same model: one with Wi-Fi and one without - this board is only going to be available with Wi-Fi. MSI is using Intel's new AX200 802.11ax Wi-Fi adapter with speeds capable of up to 2.4 Gbps. This is in addition to what is likely an Intel controlled 1 GbE LAN port on the rear. On the front side of the board is two full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which allow users to use two way AMD CrossFire multi-graphics configurations, and two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots.
Gallery: MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WIFI Motherboard Gallery


In addition to the two PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, MSI has also included six SATA ports; four with right-angled connectors, and two straight-angled located directly below the chipset heatsink. The MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WIFI also has four RAM slots in the top right-hand side of the board, whereas the rear panel includes three USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A, and two USB 2.0 ports. Also on the rear panel is an HDMI video output for users looking to install a Ryzen based APU, a PS/2 combo port and a BIOS flashback button.

It is expected that the MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WIFI will be available prior to the launch of AMD's Ryzen 3000 series of Matisse based processors.

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

In US military terminolgy, the MOAB is the Mother of All Bombs – the world’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb. Now, ZADAK is building its own MOAB (of sorts), in the form of a premium compact water-cooled PC that they are calling the MOAB.
A division of Apacer, ZADAK received a worldwide recognition last year after it released 32 GB dual-rank memory modules for ASUS Z390-based desktops. However ZADAK doesn't just do memory; the group actually has their fingers in a couple other businesses as well, particularly enthusiast-class PCs sold in Asia. So at this year's Computex, ZADAK demonstrated its previously-announced MOAB, a compact desktop that the company calls "the world’s first portable water-cooled PC".

ZADAK’s MOAB and MOAB II can be based on almost any Mini-ITX motherboard and CPU (because of movable CPU water block), so its specifications are pretty flexible here. On the flip side, however, when it comes to GPUs the PC’s liquid-cooling system is only compatible with NVIDIA’s reference design video cards.

Apart from its compact form-factor, the key selling feature of the MOAB is its open design, which makes it easy to see the hardware up-close and simplifies cooling. Following the latest trends, the PC has addressable RGB LEDs on its CPU water block, memory modules, chipset (depending on the actual motherboard used), front panel, etc. MOAB also has a LED screen displaying the cooling system's water temperature on the front.

Since MOAB can be extensively configured, the prices of complete systems vary greatly. At present, ZADAK’s MOAB is only available in Asia, but the company is looking forward to bring it to other markets in the near future.

Gallery: ZADAK Demonstrates MOAB: ‘World’s First Portable Water-Cooled PC’

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

Advanced displays clearly drive sales of higher-end GPUs, so NVIDIA has multiple initiatives to make high-end gaming monitors available. One of such initiatives is the BFGD (big format gaming display) project and it is designed to bring ultra-large gaming LCDs to the market. BFGD is currently supported by several suppliers of displays, but at present only HP’s Omen X 64.5-incher is available. This is going to change later this year as ASUS is prepping to launch its own BFGD.
The ASUS ROG Swift PG65UQ uses a 64.5-inch 8-bit 4K Ultra-HD AMVA panel featuring 750-1000 nits brightness (typical/HDR), a 3200:1-4000:1 contrast ratio (minimum/typical), 178° viewing angles, a 120 - 144 Hz refresh rate (normal/overclocked), and a 4 ms GtG response time with overdrive enabled. Since the monitor belongs to the G-Sync HDR range, it has a 384-zone full direct-array backlight enhanced with quantum dots to guarantee high contrast as well as precise reproduction of 95% of the DCI-P3 color space.

While the ROG Swift PG65UQ uses the same panel as HP’s Omen X Emperium, the monitor is configured differently. Unlike HP, ASUS decided not to equip its 64.5-inch gaming display with a high-end sound bar as well as an integrated NVIDIA Shield STB. Meanwhile, the display still has a USB hub and an IR receiver.
The decision not to offer a soundbar and the STB is pretty logical as hardcore gamers (especially among the ROG clientele) tend to use gaming speakers of their choice. Besides, without the soundbar and the STB the monitor costs less and potentially enables ASUS to sell it at a lower price point than HP.

So far, ASUS has not announced a firm launch date as well as MSRP for the ROG Swift PG65UQ, but NVIDIA is already demonstrating the monitor, so the unit appears to be more or less ready.

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

In the recent years SSD controllers and NAND flash memory have become so fast that the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface used by M.2 SSDs has become a bottleneck for sequential performance. As a result, a faster interface is needed to boost the performance of these drives. Coming to the PC market later this year, PCIe 4.0 will increase bandwidth available to M.2 SSDs to around 8 GB/s (each direction) and will enable drive vendors to offer faster SSDs.
To build M.2 SSDs supporting a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, new controllers are (obviously) needed, and right now the only company that has them ready is Phison. In fact, the company is readying two such controllers: the PS5016-E16 for high-end drives, as well as the PS5019-E19 for mainstream drives. The E16 has eight 800 MT/s NAND channels for ultimate parallelism and sequential read performance of up to 5 GB/s (write speeds depend on the actual chips/SSD capacity, in the best case scenario it is said to reach up to 4.4 GB/s), whereas the E19 has four NAND channels to minimize the die size and cost.

While the PS5019-E19 is formally positioned below the top-of-the-range controllers, it supports all of the features the E16 does (including Phison’s latest implementation of LDPC-based ECC and so on). Phison is also testing it with the latest 3D NAND flash memory devices featuring a 1200 MT/s interface, so if the company qualifies it for such chips, the actual SSDs powered by the E19 will offer performance that will be significantly higher when compared to today’s high-end SSDs at a lower price.
It is noteworthy that in a bid to speed up the commercial launch of its PS5016-E16 and the PS5019-E19 controllers, Phison took its E12 and E13 controllers and swapped out the PCIe 3.0 PHY for a PCIe 4.0 PHY, so these controllers are not completely new from a NAND management perspective. The upside for the company and its customers, however, was that it will allow the company to roll out its PCIe 4.0-enabled controllers ahead of the competition, while also simplifying the development of the controller's firmware.

At Computex, a variety of partners, including Corsair, GIGABYTE, Essencore/Klevv, Patriot, Galax, and a number of others are demonstrating their M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 drives featuring the Phison PS5016-E16 controller. The SSD suppliers use 3D NAND devices from different makers, so the E16 has been qualified to work with a variety of components, which further strengthens its competitive positions.
The PS5019-E19 will be launched a little later than the flagship E16 controller, but everything points out that it will be made available to SSD makers in 2019 with products to follow shortly.

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

ASUS has unveiled a number of X570 motherboard at Computex 19 with a range of boards in different price brackets. Also announced is the ROG Strix X570-E Gaming and the ROG Strix X570-F which feature similar aesthetics, but differ slighting in terms of features.

ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming - apologies for the blurry picture, we'll update it when we visit ASUS later this week

Starting with the higher spec model of the pairing, the ASUS ROG Strix X570-E includes the gaming-focused Realtek RTL8125G 2.5 GbE LAN with a second port controlled by an Intel I211-AT Gigabit controller, with the wireless capabilities coming from the new Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax adapter. The board boasts three full-length PCIe 4.0 slots which operate at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x4, with the final four being from the chipset. The Strix themed chipset heatsink has two M.2 heatsinks emanating from the top and bottom side for the boards dual PCIe 4.0 M.2, with a cooling fan integrated which is designed to keep the X570 chipset cool. The ROG Strix X570-E also has eight SATA ports and four DDR4 memory slots.

ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming rear panel

Also featured are seven USB 3.1 G2 Type-A, one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C, and four USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports on the rear panel. A SupremeFX S1220 HD audio codec adds five color-coded 3.5 mm jacks, and an S/PDIF optical out. A pair of video outputs consisting of an HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 output is present and for use with the Ryzen APUs.

ASUS ROG Strix X570-F Gaming

On the PCB of the ASUS ROG Strix X570-F Gaming is three full-length PCIe 4.0 ports which are configured to run at x16, x8/x8, and x8/x8/x4. Also featured is two PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots with a pair of M.2 heatsinks which is likely to be needed to run the latest PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs. The board also includes eight SATA ports and four DDR4 memory slots.

ASUS ROG Strix X570-F Gaming rear panel

The ASUS ROG Strix X570-F drops the Wi-Fi capability and just uses a single Intel I1211-AT Gigabit powered LAN port. While both models share the same SupremeFX S1220 HD audio codec, the Strix X570-F has less USB 3.1 G2, with just three USB 3.1 Type-A, and one USB 3.1 G2 Type-C on the rear panel. This also includes four USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports.
Both the ASUS ROG Strix X570-E and Strix X570-F Gaming motherboards are expected to be available prior to the launch of AMD's Ryzen 3000 series processors on 7/7. Pricing information is currently unknown, but it is likely to be announced closer to the launch of the chipset.

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

Silicon Motion has introduced its first single-chip controller for portable USB SSDs. The SM3282 promises to enable makers of portable drives to offer up to 400 MB/s sequential read speeds in a cost-efficient manner previously unachievable by external SSDs.
Silicon Motion’s SM3282 chip packs a USB 3.0 (aka USB 3.2 Gen 1) controller alongside an SSD controller featuring 2 NAND channels with 4 CE (Chip Enables) per channel, integrated 3.3V/2.5V/1.8V/1.2V voltage regulators, and other necessary things. The chip comes in a 68-pin QFN package and supports the latest types of 3D NAND memory (including 3D TLC and 3D QLC memory featuring up to 96 layers) from all leading suppliers of flash. It also supports both USB Type-A as well as USB Type-C connectors.

Previously, makers of external SSDs had to use a USB-to-PCIe bridge alongside an SSD controller to build their products, which greatly increased BOM costs as well as the final price. The SM3282 packs all the necessary functionality into a single chip and thus reduces BOM cost of external SSDs.
As far as performance is concerned, the SM3282 can enable external SSDs featuring up to 400 MB/s sequential read and write speeds. Meanwhile, producers of actual SSDs tend to use different types of memory with different interface speeds, so performance of actual devices will vary.

This week Silicon Motion is demonstrating prototype external SSDs based on the SM3282 at Computex. Expect commercial drives powered by the controller to be available in the coming quarters at a variety of price bands.
Gallery: Silicon Motion Launches SM3282: A Single-Chip Controller for USB SSDs

Want to keep up to date with all of our Computex 2019 Coverage?
	Laptops		Hardware		Chips
Follow AnandTech's breaking news here!

More...

One of the salient points of the next generation Ryzen 3000 CPUs coming next month was the support around PCIe 4.0. As the successor to PCIe 3.0, offering double the bandwidth and a range of other optimizations, the combination of the new technology paired with existing and new AM4 motherboards was always going to generate a bit of an issue with support. AMD, through a Reddit post, and confirmed by our sources at AMD’s partners, has clarified the issue.

More...