Cool gaming gear and components we sighted at Computex 2018
Computex brings us some of the coolest updates in the personal computing space and we spotted several product advancements targetted at gamers and enthusiasts pushing new performance records. Here are all the cool gadgets and components we saw at Computex 2018!
8 x WD Black NVMe SSD in a massive VROC array!
Wouldn't you like this?
If you recall, WD just announced their new M.2 SSDs - WD Black NVMe - using their new in-house controller and outfitted with SanDisk's latest 64-layer 3D TLC NAND chips. Since Computex is all about strutting out the best each company has, WD decided to stick eight of these SSDs together to deliver this mind-numbing performance figure:-
Over 19,000MB/s!
To achieve this, WD utilized a pair of ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 cards in a system where each card could fit four WD Black NVMe M.2 SSD units comfortably for a total of eight M.2 cards in a massive virtual RAID on CPU (VROC) configuration.
Sounds expensive, but you can't deny the performance throughput uplift for huge workloads that are common in the content production side of things.
We spotted two PCIe cards that can each hold up to four M.2 NVMe SSD units.
And all of that was housed in this alien looking system at WD's booth in Computex. #inspiration
WD's My Passport Wireless external SSD is more rugged than you think
Never leave home without this. Better yet, be sure to have one in your backpack at all times.
The upcoming WD My Passport Wireless SSD is like the Swiss army knives of portable storage. Shockproof, reliable, doubles up as an external 6,300mAh battery pack and comes with the usual multiple storage configuration options, this is a valuable tool to anyone embarking on a holiday, an external shoot or even your home as you can wireless connect to it to perform transfers and backups. Other than transferring content over its own Wi-Fi network, you can still connect systems, drives, thumb drives and more direct to the WD My Passport Wireless SSD. It even has an SD card reader integrated to quickly transfer your files over for backup and free up the storage card to continue shooting.
On the top, you'll find a power button, dual USB 3.0 interfaces to power the drive and to interface other devices, as well as a dual-function button to reflect battery status or back up an SD card.
Batttery status indicator.
Yes, the WD My Passport Wireless SSD even has an SD card reader intergrated. Convenient and thoughtful for photographers and other professionals who need to quickly back up the photos they've shot and free up more space to continue shooting.
We were fortunate to meet-up with the product manager at WD for a demo of it in action:-
G-Technology's new G-Drive is rugged, fast and portable
G-Technology, a subsidiary of HGST which is now part of Western Digital, is well known in the creative professional's sphere for their high-speed, quality products that are catered specifically for power users. Unlike their usual G-Drive products, the new G-Drive mobile SSD R-series is IP67 water and dust resistance rated, rated for 3 meters of drop protection and has a 1000lb (450kg) crush-proof rating! Indeed, the "R-series" signifies its rugged and durable build.
The G-Drive mobile SSD R-series is also fitted with an aluminum core to help keep the drive running cool by helping transfer heat off the internal components quickly. This helps the drive maintain peak performance through intensive data reads/writes. Speaking of which, the drive is rated for up to 560MB/s sustained throughput over a USB 3.1 (Gen-2) Type-C interface.
It is Mac-ready, can be formatted for Windows OS usage and carries a 5-year warranty. It is available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB storage options, is sold in USA from US$179 and will soon be available through local authorized resellers from Q3 2018 onwards. We'll update the local prices as soon as we're aware.
There's also the G-Drive mobile PRO SSD that uses a Thunderbolt 3 connection to achieve up to 2,800MB/s peak performance. Boasting the same level of ruggedness, the higher performance throughput lets you edit multi-stream 4K, 8K and VR footage at full frame rate for serious video editing and content management.
Left: G-Drive mobile SSD R-series.
Right: G-Drive mobile PRO SSD.
Galax blings up your storage options
The Galax Gamer RGB SSD. It will use a Phison S11 controller.
For those not familiar, Galax not only dabbles in delivering fancy graphics cards, but they pretty much have a full-fledged ecosystem for gamers, including storage. At Computex 2018, they showcased their upcoming Gamer RGB 256GB SSD and as the name suggests, it does have controllable RGB lighting. While its merits are debatable and add to the added cost, for the RGB lighting enthusiast, an RGB SSD would probably complement his/her rig's visual appeal. Galax shared that their Gamer RGB SSD will be bundled with software to control the lighting as it doesn't interface with any existing RGB ecosystem in the market.
You get lighting on the top and all 3 sides of the drive.
For those who've moved on beyond SATA based SSD drives, Galax offers this pretty looking PCIe 3.0 x4 interface based Hall Of Fame SSD PCIe 1TB card utilizing 15nm Toshiba MLC flash chips and a Phision controller:-
MSI Xpander-Aero
Like the ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 card, this is MSI's take of an M.2 stacker storage card - the Xpander-Aero. It sports a large fan and fan shroud, identical to the Aero series of graphics cards and it is where it derives its "Aero" name. The large cooler will be beneficial to keep the operating temperatures of the M.2 units in check and help to maintain high throughput for more demanding use-case scenarios.
The MSI Xpander-Aero has flat temperature sensors to closely monitor each of the four M.2 cards it can house and control throttle the fan speed as required.
Utilizing four of Intel's brand new Optane SSD 905P SSD units on the Xpander Aero in a virtual RAID on CPU (VROC) configuration, MSI was able to achieve pretty amazing benchmarking performance.
For reference, they've performance stats from a standard SSD and HDD wih Intel Optane module too.
Team Group's multi-talented thumb drive
A design award winner at Computex 2018, this is Team Group's Tool USB Flash Drive. The closest modern iteration of a Swiss Army Knife, the Tool USB Flash Drive functions as a key ring, a mini ruler, a bottle opener and even a cutter. It is also water and dustproof and comes applied with a special anti-rust and anti-corrosion coating. This is one versatile flash drive that will be useful beyond its serviceable storage capacity.
Adata XPG Spectrix D41
Adata's XPG Spectrix D41 boasts an attractive RGB light bar at the top for those who want to add a little more spice to their system. It's intended to replace the older Spectrix D40 memory, and it features a new hexagonal heat spreader design. The RGB lighting is compatible with the likes of ASUS' Aura Sync, Gigabyte's RGB Fusion, and other lighting ecosystems from the major motherboard makers, so you'll be able to sync it with the rest of your setup. Finally, the Spectrix D41 is also part of ASUS' new TUF Gaming Alliance, which means it'll look perfectly at home when paired with other TUF products.
Adata will offer the Spectrix D41 in frequencies ranging from 2,666MHz to 5,000MHz. You can also get it in either crimson red or titanium gray to match the rest of your build.
Aorus RGB RAM adds bling and dummy sticks
You can't tell, but there are actually only two real memory DIMMs, while the other two are actually dummy units. Nevertheless, they look impressive and that's the intended effect Aorus wanted to achieve.
Here's how they look when they are not lighted.
Aorus, the elite gaming hardware arm of Gigabyte is also getting into offering a full ecosystem of products with these flashy RAM kits. What's unique is that they also come with spare sticks to fill your spare DIMM slots too and thus enhancing the look of your rig. Here's a video walkthrough from Gigabyte's staff for this DDR4 3200MHz memory kit.
Galax HOF Extreme Limited Edition
Galax has a whole variety of memory options just like it does for SSDs, but the standout at Computex 2018 is the limited edition Hall Of Fame Extreme edition DDR4 memory that's clocked at 5,000MHz! Using hand-sorted Samsung B-die memory chips that are rated to hit these high speeds, Galax says they probably only have a few hundred of these 16GB memory kits. Using a pair of 8GB sticks, it has a rated memory timing of 21-26-26-46 at the default voltage of 1.5V.
ASRock AMD B450 motherboards
The ASRock B450 Gaming K4 is a fairly standard ATX gaming motherboard with ASRock's Polychrome RGB lighting. It features a nine-phase VRM and a single 8-pin CPU connector, in addition to support for up to DDR4-3200 memory via overclocking. The board is also equipped with two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and four PCIe 2.0 x1 slots, paving the way for an AMD Quad CrossFireX configuration.
And even if you choose to go with one of AMD's Raven Ridge APUs, it will support triple-monitor output with its onboard HDMI, D-Sub, and DisplayPort connectors. On the rear I/O, you also get two USB 3.1 (Gen 2) connectors (one Type-A, one Type-C) and four USB 3.1 (Gen 1) ports.
Finally, its storage options comprise a total of six SATA 6Gbps ports and two M.2 sockets (one supports PCIe 3.0 x4 drives, while the other supports both SATA and PCIe devices).
The ASRock B450M Pro4 is a micro-ATX board targeted at small system builders. It features a nine-phase VRM and supports up to DDR4-3200 memory if you're running it with a Summit Ridge or Pinnacle Ridge processor.
It has one PCIe 3.0 x16, one PCIe 2.0 x16, and one PCIe 2.0 x1 slot, so it will also work with an AMD Quad CrossFireX setup. Like the B450 Gaming K4, it supports up to three monitors at once via its onboard HDMI, DVI-D, and D-Sub outputs.
In addition, it comes with a total of four SATA 6Gbps ports and two M.2 sockets (one PCIe 3.0x4, one SATA). You'll also find two USB 3.1 (Gen 2) ports (one Type-A, one Type-C) at the back, on top of four USB 3.1 (Gen 1) connectors.
There's also an ATX version of this board that comes with two PCIe 3.0 x16 and four PCIe 2.0 x1 slots. The larger board also features six SATA 6Gbps connectors and two M.2 sockets that support PCIe 3.0 x4 drives (the second socket also works with SATA devices).
The ASRock B450M-HDV micro-ATX motherboard is a slightly more pared-down version of the B450M Pro4. It features just a seven-phase VRM compared to the latter's nine, and is equipped with a 4-pin EPS connector and two DDR4 memory slots.
Expansion options are more limited as well, with just a PCIe 3.0 x16 and PCIe 2.0 x1 slot and no support for AMD Quad CrossFireX. It still supports a triple-monitor setup however, and you'll find HDMI, DVI-D, and
D-Sub outputs at the rear. That said, USB 3.1 (Gen 2) support is missing, and the rear I/O features just four USB 3.1 (Gen 1) connectors.
For storage expansion, you get just four SATA 6Gbps connectors and just one M.2 socket that supports both PCIe and SATA drives. The audio solution also differs from the previous boards, and the B450M-HDV uses a Realtek ALC887 audio codec instead of the ALC892 on the Gaming K4 and Pro4 boards.
MSI's new motherboards
MSI too was ready for Ryzen 2 with AMD B450 motherboards. The most prominent model in their line-up is the B450 Tomahawk, which is halfway between the mainstream and enthusiast series. Although it has 'only' dual x16 PEG slots (only one of which is PCIe 3.0 capable), a single M.2 slot and six SATA ports, it has a few comfort features such as BIOS Flashback for easy BIOS upgrading that doesn't even require the processor. But its star feature is the new extended heatsink design that overhangs above the VRM components. MSI claims the 26% larger heatsink can help lower VRM temperatures by up to 10 degrees Celsius.
You'll find a good mix of rear I/O ports on the rear of the B450 Tomahawk
We were also lucky to spot an MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard paired with the rare and just announced special edition Intel 8086K processor - the first consumer processor that can Turbo Boost to 5GHz as an official spec:-
Here's a closer look at the commemorative processor and its official celebratory packaging.
Last but not least, MSI has expanded its range of Arctic-themed motherboard options to cater to a wider budget range. It will also be easier to flaunt it with the increasing number of casings with transparent side panel options:-
ASUS CG32 console gaming monitor
It's not often you see a monitor designed for console gamers, but that's exactly what the ASUS CG32 is. The 31.5-inch VA panel boasts a 4K resolution to support the latest Xbox and PlayStation games. In addition, it features HDR10 support and complies with VESA's DisplayHDR 600 standard, so you can expect fairly stellar picture quality. That's helped along by its 10-bit color depth and 95 per cent coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut, which is more than most PC monitors can lay claim to.
The CG32 also supports AMD's FreeSync technology, which helps eliminate tearing and stuttering and keeps your gameplay appearing fluid.
But the most console-oriented aspect of the monitor is probably its design. For starters, it comes with a remote that lets you adjust brightness, change inputs, and perform other OSD functions from your couch. There are two hexagonal pads on its base for you to place your controllers, and you can charge them using two of the four USB 3.0 ports (the other two are downstream ports for connecting peripherals and external storage devices).
Here's another look at it:-
World's first Mini-LED professional monitor - ASUS ProArt PA32UX
The ASUS ProArt PA32UX is the world's first professional monitor to sport mini-LED backlighting technology. With smaller LEDs it's obvious that the monitor has far more dimming zones available for more precise color control, better screen uniformity and little to no color shifts even when using the monitor for long durations. ASUS also claims a peak luminance of 1,400 candela/m2 and deeper blacks (0.003 candela/m2 or less)
World's first portable 4K OLED display - ASUS ProArt PQ22U
ASUS has portable display options for some time now, but none as extreme as a massive 21.6-inch screen with 4K resolution and using OLED display technology. This certainly makes it the most sophisticated portable monitor ever made. What it all means is extremely high contrast ratio with 99% DCI-P3 color space coverage, and very fast response time of just 0.1ms. Connectivity-wise, the monitor has dual USB Type-C ports and a micro-HDMI port.
Display innovation aside, this monitor is also a design innovation award winner with its PU leather smart cover that not only protects the screen when transported but also doubles up as a stand, quite like how it behaves on the smaller portable screens and ASUS tablet covers of the past. The monitor also comes with a proper stand for desktop usage scenario. No word yet on availability at the time of publishing.
Freedom
Ahoy, matey! Freedom is a beastly rig built into a buccaneer's intrepid vessel. Created by Ice Freeze, it features an ASUS ROG Maximus X Formula motherboard, a hexa-core Intel Core i7-8700K processor, and an ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming graphics card. The chassis is built from scratch, and if you look closely, you can see the Apacer Panther RGB memory peeking out from the hull.
InWin Winbot
Who said PC cases always have to be rectangular? This build by Australian computer store PC Case Gear looks like a pod from the future. The InWin Winbot chassis houses an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1900X processor, an ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme motherboard, and two ASUS ROG Poseidon GeForce GTX 1080 Tis in SLI. A custom liquid-cooling loop from EK Water Blocks keeps everything cool.
InWin Z-Tower
The winding and twisting InWin Z-Tower is yet another example of an unconventional case from the company. This rig comprises an Intel Core i9-7920X processor, ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme motherboard, and ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Gaming graphics card. It's powered by ASUS' new ROG Thor 1200W Platinum power supply, and the CPU is cooled by a custom EKWB water loop.
Zotac Immersion Gaming System
Over at Zotac's booth in collaboration with a specialist case maker, we spotted this small fully immersed system which takes liquid-cooling to the next level. Everything is housed in a custom acrylic case, and the system features an Intel Core i5-8600K and Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 Plus OC graphics card.
Zotac's VR GO 2.0 backpack gaming system
Improving upon their first generation VR backpack gaming system, the VR GO 2.0 sports better ergonomics, fresher design, smaller enclosure, incorporates RGB lighting ascents, better performance with an 8th generation Intel Core i7-8700T processor and GeForce GTX 1070 graphics, and more compact battery packs.
MFC Season 2 2nd place mod
Thermaltake's Modding Fighting Championship (MFC) Season 2 required modders to use Tt Certified liquid cooling components and the Toughpower DPS G RGB 850W Gold power supply. More importantly, they had to modify the Core P90 Tempered Glass Edition mid-tower chassis, a three-chamber case with 5mm-thick tempered glass panels and a hexagonal prism outline.
This fighter jet is based off that very case, even though it looks nothing like it. RGB fans sit where the jet engines look like they should be, and you can see RGB memory sticks shining through the cockpit.
MFC Season 2 winner
This Punisher-inspired mod is the winner of MFC Season 2. The work of Philippines' Jesse Palacio, the Core P90 has evolved into a turret of sorts, with veritable cannons at its sides. You can still see the base structure of the Core P90 below the clear top panel, and the open nature of the case shows off the liquid cooling setup quite nicely.
Shuttle's 1-liter PC packs an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
You read that right. Shuttle's XPC Slim DH02U packs a punch with its palm-sized 1-liter PC (just look at us manhandling it) that fits a GeForce GTX 1050 GPU via an MXM module. Designed for digital signage applications, it can just as well serve as a simple desktop system too. Power supply isn't built-in and it gets its juice from the supplied 120-watt external power brick. Inside, it takes in two M.2 SSD units and an additional 2.5-inch storage drive.
ASUS ZenBook Pro 15
The ASUS ZenBook Pro 15 UX580 is a 15.6-inch notebook designed for creative professionals. The 5.5-inch Windows Precision Touchpad on this notebook doubles as a second FHD IPS display, and you can use it to display controls for YouTube videos and Groove Music (Spotify support is coming soon). There’s also integration with programs like PowerPoint, and ASUS says it will make the SDK public so third-party developers can add support for it.
The display is also one of the most impressive aspects of the notebook. The 15.6-inch panel supports up to a 4K resolution and 100 per cent coverage of the Adobe RGB color gamut, so it’s a good fit for photographers and video editors. Furthermore, it boasts a Delta-E value of less than 2 for more accurate colors.
Project Precog
We've been hearing a lot about dual-screen PCs from the likes of Intel and Lenovo. At Computex 2018, ASUS also had its own concept PC to show off. Project Precog retains the form factor of a traditional clamshell laptop, but the 360-degree hinge lets you switch from clamshell to tent or tablet mode. In laptop mode, the bottom screen simply doubles as a keyboard.
You can even lay it completely flat and play games on both screens. Furthermore, it looks like Precog may be able to function as a desktop replacement of sorts as well, and ASUS showed it set up in portrait mode with a wireless keyboard in front of it.
The PC's name derives from its AI smarts, and Precog can supposedly adapt to how you use your PC. For example, it can learn your schedule, which will allow it to anticipate your meetings and conserve battery appropriately.
Ducky Shine 7
The Ducky Shine 7 has been upgraded with a zinc alloy frame for a more robust and premium feel. It also sports a reversible USB-C connector, which will make plugging in the cable far easier. This Year of the Dog limited edition model is a homage to the Chinese Zodiac, featuring dye-sublimated PBT keycaps that mimic the look of a tattoo. In comparison, the regular models use doubleshot PBT keycaps instead.
The keyboard utilizes Cherry MX RGB switches, and this year's Shine 7 adds new lighting effects, including a Pulse pattern modeled after a heart rate graph.
Varmilo V Motion
The Varmilo V Motion features a brushed metal finish and front-printed legends, but it's standout feature is probably its motion-controlled lighting features. As its name suggests, you can move your hand around and even gesture with your fingers to change the keyboard lighting, which is a pretty neat trick.
The keyboard detects your gestures using an optical sensor at the top left-hand corner, and it seems feasible to think that it might also let you do things like disable the Windows key in a dedicated Game Mode.