Within the framework of Computex 2014 both Kingston and Adata are going to introduce their fresh SSD series of M.2 form-factor. In keeping with the manufacturers’ words, the products – SM2280S2 and SR1020NP — are differentiated by some spectacular performance. At present the companies provide only basic info about the drives, leaving their fans in suspense.



Kingston SM2280S3 is based on Phison PS3108 that supports SATA 6 Gb/sec interface only. It ensures 540 MB/sec and 514 MB/sec speed on sequential Read/Write operations. For sure, it’s not the performance innovative M.2 drives should demonstrate (about 10 Gb/sec), although the model considerably surpasses traditional HDDs in this respect.


This SSD series is represented by three models of 120 GB, 240 GB and 480 GB capacity. All of them employ DDR3 cache-memory with the minimal 256 MB capacity. Besides, the difference in efficiency between other M.2 offers Kingston promises to compensate by a more affordable price.
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Despite the fact that AMD initially scheduled the official release of FX-8300 for 29 December, this CPU can already be found in some Japanese retail stores. Such sudden appearance in free sale allows all potential consumers to get assured in all claimed specifications. Thus, FX-8300 is an eight-core chip of the new generation that is characterized by 95W TDP level. This is a kind of a breakthrough, since its Vishera companions, FX-8350 and FX-8320, consume up to 125W power.



The reduction of power consumption is explained by the decrease of CPU clock frequencies and nominal voltage showings. Hence, the nominal clock frequency recorded with this CPU model makes up 3.3GHz, while in Turbo mode the frequency rises to 3.6GHz. Some resources state that FX-8300 is able to overclock up to 4.2GHz, however, this info is not vindicated so far. This chip is developed specifically for Socket AM3+.


Taking into account such parameters, analysts feel difficulty in predicting the future of …

Gigabyte keeps on expanding the segment of mini-PCs with its proper Brix solutions. This time the lineup has been replenished with two models: Brix GB-BSCEA-3955 & Brix GB-BSCEHA-3955. The two differ from each other by the height of the case. The first new-comer features 119.4x112.6x34.4 mm dimensions, whereas its companion boasts 119.4x112.6x46.8 mm dimensions. The latter allows for the installation of an additional 2.5-inch drive of 7.0 or 9.5 mm height. Both models are targeting Intel Skylake platforms.



The other characteristics of these mini-PCs are identical. They are based on two-core Intel Celeron 3955U CPUs (14 nm) which operate at 2.0 GHz frequency. Processors cooperate closely with Intel HD Graphics 510 that runs at 300-900 MHz clock frequency. The motherboard PCB (110x105 mm) houses a couple of SO-DIMM slots for DDR4-2133 MHz RAM (up to 32 GB).


Both Brix solutions offer one slot for the installation of M.2 2280 drive and a sole M.2 expansion slot which is …