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Monday, March 7th, 2016
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| 11:00a | Thecus Announces Two New Rackmount NAS Servers
Thecus has introduced two new commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) rackmount enterprise-class NAS servers with 12 and 16 bays. They both run the latest version of Thecus's Linux-based OS. The systems are based on the Intel Xeon processors, feature SAS 12 Gbps ports and are 10 Gb Ethernet-ready. The units come with usual virtualization certifications, volume encryption and Intel security technologies. The N12850 and the N16850 NAS rackmount servers from Thecus are powered by the Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3 (Haswell, four cores with Hyper-Threading, 3.40/3.80 GHz, 8 MB cache, 80 W TDP) processor with the Intel C224 PCH and a LSI SAS 12 Gbps HBA card. The OS implements software RAID (support for RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60 and JBOD). The systems come with four DIMM slots for up to 32 GB of DDR3 ECC memory, three spare PCIe 3.0 slots (x8, x4 and x1) for additional controllers and can fit in 12 (N12850) or 16 (N16850) 3.5-inch hot-swappable HDDs with SAS-12G or SATA-6G interface. The N12850 comes in 2U form-factor, whereas the N16850 uses 3U form-factor. Both servers feature 650W redundant power supply units. The servers also have D-Sub outputs for displays we well as USB 2.0/3.0 ports for peripherals.
Both models can be equipped with 10 GbE adapters to connect to enterprise networks and other machines. Like previous-generation NAS systems from Thecus, the N12850 and the N16850 support the company’s HA (high availability) and Daisy Chaining technologies. The HA keeps data on two identical NAS machines and if one fails or needs maintenance, the other will still be available to users. According to Thecus, 'Daisy Chaining' allows connecting up to four D16000 DAS systems using SAS wide port 8088 cables as slaves to one NAS server. This can significantly expand storage capacities (up to 640 TB). Thanks to the usage of Intel Xeon E3 processors featuring AES-NI, the new NAS systems from Thecus support volume AES encryption technology with up to 256-bit keys. Additionally, the servers fully support virtualization and multiple file systems (users can simultaneously use Ext3, EXT4, Btrfs and XFS file systems across multiple RAID volumes).
The N12850 and the N16850 servers support real-time remote replication and system disaster recovery and come bundled with Acronis Server Backup and Intel Security software. Thecus will start to ship its new NAS servers in April. Prices are unknown. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:00p | ASUS Unveils 75W GeForce GTX 950 Graphics Card; Powered Entirely By PCIe Slot
ASUS has quietly introduced its new video card based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 GPU with a 75W power limit. By virtue of a lower power limit, this newer design does not require a 6pin PCIe auxiliary power connection and can be used to upgrade even basic PCs. Surprisingly, despite the lowered TDP, the ASUS GTX950-2G card features typical clock-rates and performance levels one would expect from a GeForce GTX 950. The sub-75W video card market is an important one, as many desktop PCs supplied by well-known brands lack even basic upgrade capabilities. To cut-down their costs and improve cable management inside their systems, PC makers sometimes reduce the number of power connectors to a minimum they need to build their systems. As a consequence, it gets impossible to add a new hard drive to such computers, or install a higher-performance graphics card due to lack of necessary additional power connectors inside the box. When NVIDIA designed its Maxwell architecture years ago, the company put a lot of effort into improving relative energy efficiency of its then forthcoming GPUs and into cutting their absolute power consumption as well. As a result, the first Maxwell-based GPU, GM107, consumed only up to 60W even in its most powerful desktop configurations (i.e., GeForce GTX 750 Ti) and was widely used inside notebooks. The majority of GeForce GTX 750 video cards did not require any additional power connectors and could be used to upgrade any PC because any PCIe x16 slot can provide up to 75W of power. The more advanced GM206 GPU, based on the second-generation Maxwell architecture, has a TDP of up to 120W, which means that video cards based around it have required additional power. As a result, the GeForce GTX 950 and the GeForce GTX 960 video cards are not as OEM PC-friendly because they require one 6-pin PCIe auxiliary power connector. Nonetheless, ASUS has been able develop a GeForce GTX 950 video card that can be installed into almost any PC with sufficient space inside because its power consumption is just 75W.
The ASUS GTX950-2G comes with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6.6 Gbps, a dual-slot dual-fan cooling system with an aluminum heatsink, one DVI connector, one HDMI 2.0 port and one DisplayPort output. ASUS did not lower frequency of the GPU and did not alter its configuration, though as we've seen with past attempts to produce lower power SKUs, it's likely that this card has a reduced hard power limit to stay under 75W and may be more likely to power-throttle as a result. The GPU features 768 stream processors, 48 texture units, 32 ROPs as well as a 128-bit GDDR5 memory interface. It can work at 1051 MHz base clock and at up to 1128 MHz in boost mode (when OC mode is enabled). Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this video card is that thanks to the underlying GM206 GPU, it's the first sub-75W card to gain full hardware-accelerated decoding and encoding of H.265 (HEVC) video, and it fully supports HDCP 2.2 content protection over HDMI 2.0. This will likely make the ASUS GTX950-2G a popular choice for HTPCs as a result. Conversely, due to low-power nature of the graphics adapter, the ASUS GTX950-2G may not be the best overclocker. For those, who would like to push a GeForce GTX 950 to the limits, ASUS offers its ECHELON-GTX95-O2G and the GTX950-2GD5 video cards that have power and cooling headroom as well as components with enhanced durability (the ECHELON model).
The ASUS GTX950-2G graphics card is listed at ASUSTeK’s web-site, but is not yet available for sale anywhere. The price of the product will remain a mystery for now, but I do not expect it to be significantly higher than NVIDIA’s MSRP for the GeForce GTX 950 — $159. Meanwhile the card also qualifies for ASUS's ongoing World of Warships promo program, and as a result comes with a code for the game's Diana Cruiser along with 15 days premium credit for a new account. Source: ASUS via PC Perspective. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5:35p | Origin PC Rolls-Out New Chronos SFF PCs with Enhanced Expandability
Boutique system builder Origin PC on Monday officially launched its new Chronos SFF gaming PCs. Initially announced at CES 2016, the new Chronos SFF is the latest design in an increasing trend of SFF PCs developed by boutique builders, who have been able to take advantage of advancements in fields such as liquid cooling and M.2 storage to put complete, high-end systems into cases built around the mini-ITX form factor. As a result the latest Chronos SFF design is compatible with the highest-performing Intel Core i7 or Xeon microprocessors and graphics cards, and also supports enhanced expansion capabilities thanks to all-new custom chassis exclusive to the company. The new Origin Chronos SFF design is based around mini-ITX motherboards for Intel Core processors in LGA1151 packaging or Intel Core/Xeon processors in LGA2011-3 form-factor. The mainboards are powered by the Intel Z170 or the Intel X99 platform controller hubs and Origin PC offers to choose between the GIGABYTE Z170N-Gaming 5, the MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC and the ASRock X99E-ITX/AC/USB 3.1. The manufacturer will start to offer multi-core Intel Xeon processors with its new Chronos SFF PCs (something, which it does not do with its current-gen SFF PCs), which will conceivably make it possible to install even Intel's top-end 18-core Intel Xeon E5-2699 v3 CPU with 45MB cache into the system and transform it into an SFF workstation. Though for those who prefer the overclockable Core i5/Core i7 processors, Origin will continue to provide their $75 factory-overclocking service.
The new Origin Chronos PCs utilize the company’s all-new new chassis that has enough space to fit a full-size (2.5 slot) graphics card (such as the GeForce GTX Titan X or the Radeon R9 390X), the Origin Frostbyte 12 sealed liquid-cooling solution for CPUs, one 3.5” HDD, four 2.5” HDDs/SSDs, and a slim optical disc drive. Previous-generation Chronos PCs featuring SilverStone’s SG08 chassis could only house one 3.5” and two 2.5” storage devices. Keeping in mind that the all three mini-ITX motherboards used by Origin PCs feature M.2 slots for SSDs, the new Chronos systems can house up to six storage devices. In addition, the ASRock X99E-ITX motherboards support one eSATA device. The new chassis measures 11.75”(H) x 4” (W) x 13.75” (D) and supports both horizontal and vertical orientation, while utilizing an SFX form factor PSU to further cut down on space.
Due to constraints of mini-ITX motherboards and currently-available memory modules, the Origin Chronos SFF PCs cannot support more than 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) of DDR4 memory. But that is about the only serious constraint the new systems have. Thanks to the fact that modern mini-ITX platforms integrate pretty much everything one can wish, the Chronos PCs will offer USB 3.1/3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac wireless connectivity and so on.
Just like you would expect from a boutique PC maker, Origin PC offers custom paint, extended warranty and service as well as a bunch of exotic and high-end hardware to install. For example, it is possible to thrown in an HGST Ultrastar He8 8 TB hard drive or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X graphics card, two hardware components that are not easy to get. In addition, Origin PC can install a video capture device and the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB audio solution to the system.
Origin PC does not specify baseline prices of the new Chronos SFF gaming PCs, but like with all bespoke boutique systems, sky is the limit when it comes to configuration and pricing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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