ASRock has stricken the general public by the development of a motherboard with an extraordinary layout. As a rule, mainboards targeting all-in-one solutions are void of expansion slots for graphics cards, due to lack of space. However, ASRock has designed a space-efficient model with an integrated PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot. Yet, it’s localized parallel to the PCB as against standard items with perpendicular slot orientation.



ASRock Z170M-PIO2 is based on Intel Z170 chipset for Socket LGA1511 platforms. It supports Intel Celeron/Pentium/Core i3/Core i5/Core i7 CPUs. The PCB features a pair of DIMM slots for the installation of DDR4 memory modules with the maximum clock frequency of 3466 MHz (up to 32 GB of capacity). Storage subsystem is introduced by 4 SATA 6 Gb/sec ports as well as a single Ultra M.2 x4 slot.


As far as expansion is concerned, the model accommodates a single PCIe 3.0 x 16 slot and one M.2 2230 slot, occupied by Wi-Fi/Bluetooth adapter. The 7.1-channel …

AMD has proudly announced the release of the world’s first server-grade graphics accelerator. Entitled FirePro S9300 x2, this GPU is called to facilitate in solving complex computing tasks and take graphics to the next level. The card is linked to the power unit by means of two 8-pin connectors, consuming up to 300 W power at most.



The heart of AMD FirePro S9300 x2 is a bundle of two AMD Fiji GPUs (GCN architecture). They feature a pair of 4096 stream processors and run at 850 MHz frequency. Each GPU employs 4 GB of HBM memory that operates at 1000 MHz clock frequency and offers 512 Gb/sec bandwidth.


The integration of two processing aggregates allows the accelerator to achieve some amazing 13.9 TFLOPS of computing power. As a result, the model exceeds in performance its nearest competitors: Nvidia Tesla K80 with 5.6 TFLOPS as well as Nvidia Tesla M60 with 7.4 TFLOPS.


The support for AMD GPUOpen stack is supposed to be the card’s key advantage. This stack enables …

Nowadays HDD segment is represented by various products from various companies. However, with the development and release of ultrabooks, manufacturers directed their production to the hybrid-type drives. This resulted in the predominance of hybrid solutions in the market.



Recently Itel has advanced a motion to digress somehow from the production of hybrid drives and switch to the decrease of traditional HDDs dimensions to 5 mm in casing depth. According to the company's assumptions, such change could moderate the price for drives and provide the necessary volume capacity for ultrabooks.


Some manufacturers have already directed a part of their technological powers to the design of HDDs with 5 mm casings. Nevertheless, there appeared a couple of obstacles on their way: the necessity to stabilize data reading and writing activities, and increase of costs spent on drives' production. This will result in the rise of end price.


IT professionals and analysts forecast the …