Tag Archives: USB 3.1

USB 3.1 has only just started catching on over the last couple of years, but it looks like USB 3.2 is already on the horizon. This week, the USB 3.0 Promoter Group, which consists of industry giants like Microsoft, Intel and Apple, announced some new details for USB 3.2, which …

Today has been something of a minefield for news reporters but fortunately, Seagate isn't trying to fool us with its announcement of the world's highest capacity portable external hard drive, which comes powered by a single USB 3.1 port and houses 8TB of capacity. That is a lot of storage …

With USB 3.1 and Type-C starting to become a bit more common, it is about time we start to see devices really take advantage of it. Today, we are taking a look at the SanDisk Extreme 900, a 480GB portable SSD using the USB Type-C connector, can this drive really …

Kingston has earned a reputation with its HyperX brand over the last few years. Today, we are taking a look at the HyperX Savage 128GB USB drive, which supports first-generation USB 3.1 technology and promises ‘blazing fast' read and write speeds. How does it hold up? Let's find out! Kingston …

Hot on the heels of the KitGuru Editorial Awards, we have just completed counting on the very first KitGuru Reader Awards! We want to thank the army of readers who took the survey – we very much appreciate the time you spent telling us your favourite products. Since we launched …

Gaming laptops have the reputation of being monstrous objects requiring specially constructed bags for carrying them between locations with the battery life span of electronic gnats. With the MSI GS40 6QE Phantom, however, at least size isn't an issue. Weighing in at 1.6kg, this is a notebook you could carry …

Boxx Technologies, a well-known maker of workstations from the U.S., has introduced its new Apexx 1 mini-ITX workstation that can integrate an Intel Xeon microprocessor with up to 18 cores or a factory-overclocked Intel Core i7 chip with up to eight cores. The system comes with a specially-designed cooling solution …

The reversible USB type-C connector is something that the industry has been waiting for since the introduction of the original USB bus in 1997. This year PCs, computer components and mobile devices finally started to incorporate USB-C receptacles, but not all implementations necessarily support all features introduced by the latest …

Asustek Computer has rolled-out the most sophisticated USB 3.1 type-C upgrade kit to date. The Asus USB 3.1 UPD Panel not only boasts with two USB type-C receptacles, but also supports USB type-C power delivery feature, which allows transferring up to 100W of power using one connector. The kit is …

Intel Corp. and Inventec demonstrated external graphics processing solutions featuring Thunderbolt 3 interface at the Intel Developer Forum this week. The devices are based on reference designs and it is unknown when the products could hit the market. Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 interface offers 40Gb/s of bandwidth (about 5GB/s), which is …

While there are many mainboards with USB 3.1 support available today, they feature type-C ports on their back panels and it is uncomfortable to use such connectors. Asrock this week introduced a special adapter that places one USB type-C and one USB type-A ports on the front panel of any …

EVGA has upgraded its micro-ATX mainboard for Intel Corp.’s high-end desktop processors. The new platform features all the advanced capabilities that the EVGA X99 Micro had to offer a year ago, but adds more Serial ATA-6Gb/s ports as well as one USB 3.1 type-C connector. The new motherboard is one of …

Although this year far not all mobile devices will get USB 3.1 type-C ports, next year a lot will change, according to Taiwan-based designers of controllers. Thanks to reversible form-factor, improved performance, higher durability and other benefits of USB 3.1 interface and type-C ports, many laptops and smartphones will adopt …

Retrofitted with a new CPU based on Intel’s latest-and-greatest Broadwell micro-architecture, MSI’s GT72 2QE Dominator Pro G also ships with an additional gaming-centric gem – the use of a 1920×1080 G-Sync panel that runs at 75Hz. As is expected from MSI’s GT72 series of gaming laptops, a considerable portion of …

Asmedia and Intel Corp. have started to reduce prices of their USB 3.1 controllers in a bid to gain market share. Intel Corp.’s “Alpine Ridge” chip offers Thunderbolt 3 in addition to USB 3.1, but Asmedia’s controller is significantly cheaper to make and can be sold a very low price. …

Asustek Computer is working on an add-in-card that will add Thunderbolt 3 support to its mainboards. The platform will be based on Intel Corp.’s “Alpine Ridge” controller and will significantly expand input/output capabilities of modern personal computers. The add-in-board from Asus featuring Intel “Alpine Ridge” chip will come with one …

MSI's mid-range Z97 motherboard is the first to market with on-board USB 3.1 in the connection's Type-C form. With the port providing transfer rates of up to 10Gbps and support for new reversible USB Type-C devices, can MSI's Z97A Gaming 6 prove itself as a good option for users wanting …

We had a chance to take a look at ASRock's USB 3.1 implementation with the company's excellent X99E-ITX/ac motherboard and a custom USB 3.1 RAID testing card. How does ASRock's 10Gbps USB 3.1 solution fare? USB 3.1 has been a huge talking point for the past few months. We have …

At present, only MicroStar International offers platforms for AMD processors with USB 3.1 type-A connectors. By contrast, virtually all leading makers of motherboards now sell mainboards for current-generation Intel processors with the new bus. Apparently, Advanced Micro Devices wants to change that. In a bid to catch up with Intel …

Intel Corp. is working on its next-generation low-cost microprocessors for desktop and laptop computers. Code-named “Apollo Lake”, the new central processing units will be based on a new micro-architecture and will feature an all-new graphics processing unit. Intel’s upcoming “Apollo Lake” processors will be powered by the company’s next-generation micro-architecture …

Although virtually all leading makers of mainboards demonstrated their new products with USB type-C receptacles at Computex, it does not seem that makers of various peripherals are ready to embrace the new connector just yet. In fact, Patriot was one of a few companies at the trade-show displaying USB-C products. …

Gigabyte Technology has announced that some of its upcoming mainboards for Intel Corp.’s code-named “Skylake” processors will support the Thunderbolt 3 technology as well as USB 3.1 type-C ports. Gigabyte is one of the largest makers of mainboards in the world and its support of the new standard is hard …

Intel Corp.’s Thunderbolt interconnection introduced in 2011 has been the champion in terms of performance and usability, but its limited adoption by PC makers, high price and other peculiarities have made it an outsider in the market. This week Intel introduced its third-gen Thunderbolt, which uses industry-standard USB type-C receptacle …

Want to have a high-performance external storage device with USB 3.1 interface, but consider commercially available products too expensive? Sharkoon, a leading maker of PC peripherals, may have a solution! Sharkoon has introduced a special DIY [do it yourself] kit for an external storage device with USB 3.1 interface. The …

Sharkoon, a well-known maker of personal computer peripherals, has introduced a new host controller card that adds two type-A USB 3.1 ports to existing PCs. The card is compatible with all mainboards in use today and will reach retail market shortly. Unfortunately, the card is not exactly perfect. Sharkoon’s USB …

Super Talent Technology, a well-known producer of various NAND flash-based storage devices, has unveiled one of the world’s first external solid-state drives with USB 3.1 interface. The new product combines portable sizes, high storage capacities and very high performance. The Super Talent USB 3.1 portable RAIDDrive consists of two M.2 …

Chief executive officer of Asustek Computer has revealed that Intel Corp.’s code-named “Skylake” microprocessors as well as Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 10 operating system will both debut in the third quarter of the year. He also disclosed that his company’s products with new chips inside will use the next-generation operating system …

All leading makers of mainboards recently introduced motherboards that support 10Gb/s USB 3.1, but only a few of these platforms actually feature the new reversible USB type-C connectors. Notebook manufacturers appear to be even more conservative and except Apple’s new MacBook, no laptop uses the new interconnection tech. Nonetheless, this …

Although Apple’s new MacBook looks extremely promising thanks to its ultra-thin design and high quality display, its sales will not be high, according to a media report. The demand for PCs remains rather low and there are slowdowns in mass production of retina-class display for the laptop. Apple will not …

Asrock, one of the world’s largest makers of mainboards, this week announced an ultimate mini-ITX mainboard that can not only enable small form-factor desktops with performance on par with full-size workstations, but also leading-edge functionality not found on many high-end PCs nowadays. The Asrock X99E-ITX/ac is the industry’s first mainboard …