Category: Miscellaneous

Toshiba Corporation has announced three new families of SSDs with PCIe interface using the protocol NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express). All are imed at various applications including high performance portable storage, tablets, computers 2 in 1 and server applications and mass storage. The top SSD models are able to deliver speeds of up to 3250 MB / s. Let us take a look at Toshiba XG3, PX04P, BG1 one by one.

Toshiba XG3 for high performance laptops

It is available in M.2 2280 that supports up to four PCIe 3.1 lanes and bandwidth delivering six times higher than usual SATA 3 format (in this case reaches 2516 MB / s read and 1572 MB / s write speeds). This XG3 family is equipped with QSBC (Quadruple Swing-By Code) technology which is owned by Toshiba and it ensures maximum energy efficiency. You can see their specific technical features in the table shown below.

Toshiba PX04P is for servers and mass storage

This family of SSDs has several technologies specifically designed for servers where the device is one 24 x 7. Therefore Toshiba has layed particular emphasis on energy efficiency without neglecting performance since it assumes that these SSDs will be used in critical environments. That said, it does not disappoint on the performance front, offering up to 3250 MB / s read and 2464 MB / s writing.

Toshiba BG1 is for ultrabooks and tablets

The BG1 is the world’s smallest (16 x 20 mm) solid state drive. In the table below, you can find its technical specifications. As you can see, there are three models: M.2 Type 1620, 2230 and 2280.

So far,Toshiba has not disclosed the prices but we have been told that they will be launched in October this year.

ADATA Technology has announced the latest addition to its range of solid state devices, the Premier SP550 and it has great specifications and offers good performance at low cost. It is a TLC (Triple Level Cell) type SSD and is offered in up to 960 GB capacity.

The ADATA Premier SP550 is the first brand that integrates the SM2256 Silicon Motion controller which uses technology that allows data shaping and LDPC ECC RAID for creating RAID configurations for multiple disks hardware without using an external software or by the RAID controller integrated on the motherboard of the PC. This of course greatly increases the reliability of these SSDs, as well as its stability and durability.

LDPC ECC technology allows correction of errors which helps in increasing the life of the SSD. It will be offered in 120, 240, 480 and 960 GB capacities. Adata has not spilled out any detail on its price tag or release date.

MSI Gaming Z170A M7 is the first company motherboard that makes use of Intel Z170 chipset and Skylake platform. There are two major sinks on it – one to cool the chipset and VRM and second to cool down components around the processor socket.

The MSI Gaming Z170A M7 specifications include features such as three PCI-Express 3.0 that will support 3-way SLI / CrossFireX configurations, two SATA-Express, two sockets M 2 (do not know if linked to the SATA or PCI-Express interface), audio boost technology that is isolated from the rest circuit to prevent interference.

You also get the Gigabit Killer E2400 network card. MSI Gaming Z170A M7 has integrated four sockets that support speeds up to DDR4-2133 MHz standard. In the photos we fail to see clearly the VRM so do not know how it has enhanced overclocking but we do see that it has three dedicated buttons (Power, reset, and a red button for overclocking).

On the back of MSI Gaming Z170A M7, you will find three USB 2.0, three USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Type-C, two HDMI, a DisplayPort, Gigabit RJ-45 connectors and audio 7.1 SP / DIF. At the moment it is not known when this board will be released so it would be stupidity to say anything about its price tag.

Plantronics RIG 500 is a eSports headphone that comes with interchangeable components to get the perfect comfort. Supported by the ESL, the RIG 500 include soundproofing on the handset, while allows air to circulate. Also included is a digital USB adapter that offers Dolby 7.1 surround sound, and support for 24-bit audio.

Plantronics designers have created a headset for all kinds of possible players, eliminating unnecessary weight and complexity.

The Plantronics RIG 500 Series headphones can be configured in two different configurations. First is the vented one where there is greater air flow and better heat dissipation. In the second config, the player is completely isolated from external noises, allowing players to concentrate. There will be several models of it.

* RIG 500 – Stereo headset with microphone system “Flip-to-mute”, which turns off the microphone when rotated – € 59.99.
* RIG 500HD – Headphones with USB 7.1 Dolby surround sound – € 79.99.
* RIG 500E – Edition E-sports with surround sound, two spares for headphones (“vented” and “isolating”), detachable microphone, USB adapter and stereo analog cables – € 129.99.

Odroid XU4 is like Raspberry Pi but on steroids. It is much bigger but still smaller than your conventional motherboards. Odroid XU4 specifications include Samsung Exynos 5422 processor with 8 cores and Big.little architecture incorporating 4 ARM Cortex A15 cores and four ARM Cortex A7 cores. All this is operating at a maximum speed of 2 GHz and integrates an ARM Mali-T628 GPU MP6 GPU that is compatible with OpenGL ES 3.0 / 2.0 / 1.1 and OpenCL 1.1.

However unlike Raspberry Pi, it is not fanless. You can see in the image that it features a big fan to keep it cool. Odroid XU4 features 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM where PoP Stacked integrated in the PCB. It integrates a eMMC 5.0 8-bit connector for external modules eMMC memory which does not incorporate standard integrated storage. However, eMMC supports both modules as microSD cards so you can install the operating system on an external card with no problem.

This device, as have guessed already seeing your specifications, it is an SUV but logically is limited by its hardware. However it is compatible with virtually any Linux distribution. You can install Android 4.4 on it. Odroid XU4 can be used as mini PC as it packs much greater power than the Raspberry Pi. So you can use it as an autonomous torrents server, a VPN server, media player (Android), file server, etc.

Panasonic Toughpad FZ-Y1 has been announced by thru Japanese giant and it is one of the few tablets out there with 4k resolution. Powered by fifth generation Intel Core I-series processor, the Panasonic Toughpad FZ-Y1 specifications include Intel Core i5 5300u processor with dual cores and quad threading support, 8 gigabytes of memory and 256GB solid state drive.

Panasonic Toughpad FZ-Y1’s i5 5300u processor runs at a clock speed of 2.3GHz clock speed and has support for vPro platform. Here is 5300u benchmark. Graphics are handled by the Intel HD Graphics 5500 that has maximum dynamic frequency of 900MHz. So Panasonic Toughpad FZ-Y1 can easily meet even the most demanding tasks easily.

That said, the highlight of Panasonic Toughpad FZ-Y1 is its 20 inch display packing 4k 3840 * 2560 pixel resolution. This gives you whopping 230 PPI on its massive display featuring IPS Alpha tech. This display can operated through touch, as well as through digital stylus.

Rest of its specs include dual band IEEE 802.11 a / ​​b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, three USB 3.0 ports, SDXC memory card slot, HD video (720p) camera, HDMI 2.0, Smart Card Reader, Mini Display Port, and LAN. Components enclosed in a housing have thickness of 12.5 millimeters with weight of only 2.41 kg. Windows 8.1 Pro runs on it.