ORICO sent me a COM2-T3 SSD enclosure capable of 40 Gbps speeds for review along with the company’s 1TB O7000 NVMe SSD rated at up to 7000MB/s read speed which converts to about 56 Gbps and should be plenty enough to test 40 Gbps SSD enclosure. Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 are not always equivalent But before going into the review itself, here’s some background information. When I test the USB-A and USB-C ports in mini PC reviews, I rely on an ORICO M234C3-U4 NVMe SSD enclosure with an Apacer SSD. That enclosure was falsely advertised as a “USB4″ enclosure but still works at 40Gbps with an Intel JH7440 Thunderbolt 3 chip that works with 40 Gbps USB Type-C ports and a JMS583 “USB 3.1 Gen 2 to PCIe NVMe Gen3” bridge for USB 3.0 ports up to 10 Gbps. I always assumed a 40Gbps USB-C peripheral would always work with […]
ASUSTOR Flashstor Gen2 NAS features AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14, 10GbE networking, up to 12x NVMe SSD sockets
ASUSTOR Flashstor 6 Gen2 and Flashtor 6 Pro Gen2 are NAS systems based on AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 quad-core processor with up to two 10GbE RJ45 ports and taking up to 6 or 12 M.2 NVMe SSDs respectively. The Flashstor Gen2 models are updated to the ASUSTOR Flashtor NAS launched last year with similar specifications including 10GbE and up to 12 M.2 SSDs, but based on a relatively low-end Intel Celeron N5105 quad-core Jasper Lake processor. The new Gen2 NAS family features a more powerful AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 SoC, support for up to 64GB RAM with ECC, and USB4 ports. The downside is that it lacks video output, so it can’t be used for 4K/8K video consumption like its predecessor. Flashstor Gen2 NAS specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded V3C14 quad-core/8-thread processor @ 2.3/3.8GHz; TDP: 15W System Memory Flashstor 6 Gen2 (FS6806X) – 8 GB DDR5-4800 Flashstor 12 Pro […]
Raspberry Pi SSD Kit and Class A2 microSD cards review with Raspberry Pi 5
Selecting a microSD card, and to a lesser extent an SSD, for your Raspberry Pi may feel like walking through a landmine field with fake microSD cards that may perform poorly and severely impact the performance and/or reliability of your Raspberry Pi, and you’ll find plenty of articles helping you select a good microSD card for your Raspberry Pi. That’s probably why Raspberry Pi Holdings decided to launch its own Raspberry Pi-branded class A2 microSD cards and NVMe SSDs, so users can be sure they got a certified storage device that should perform as advertised as long as they purchase those from some authorized resellers. The company sent me 32GB and 64GB Raspberry Pi microSD cards and a 256GB Raspberry Pi SSD kit for testing, so I’ll test those in this review and compare them against other SSDs and microSD cards I’m currently using. Since we’ve not covered the new […]
GEEKOM GT1 Mega AI mini PC Review – Part 1: Specifications, unboxing, teardown, and first boot
GEEKOM GT1 Mega is an AI mini PC based on the latest Intel Core Ultra 5/7/9 Meteor Lake processor. We received a review sample from the company with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H SoC, 32GB DDR5 memory, and a 2TB NVMe SSD as well as an Intel BE200 WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 module. As usual, we’ll do a three-part review starting with an article with the specifications, an unboxing, and a teardown followed by a thorough review with the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro operating system, and finally with the latest Ubuntu 24.04.1 OS. GEEKOM GT1 Mega specifications GEEKOM provides the following specifications for the GT1 Mega mini PC and motherboard: Meteor Lake SoC (one or the other) Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 16-core (6P+8E+2LPE) processor @ 2.5 / 3.8 / 5.1 GHz (Turbo) with 24MB cache, 8x Xe-cores Intel Arc graphics @ 2.35 GHz, Intel AI Boost NPU; […]
NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX development kit comes with up to 16GB RAM, 128GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 5
Waveshare’s Jetson Orin NX Development Kit is an AI edge computing platform tailored for robotics and AI-driven applications built around the NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX module 8GB/16GB delivering up to 70 TOPS and 100 TOPS of AI performance, respectively. It features the JETSON-ORIN-IO-BASE base board, which provides essential interfaces like an M.2 socket, DisplayPort (DP) video output, and USB ports, making it easy for users to connect multiple sensors and peripherals for high-performance AI tasks. The kit includes a 128GB NVMe SSD for high-speed storage and comes pre-installed with the AW-CB375NF wireless network card, which supports dual-band Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. The Jetson Orin NX module operates within a configurable power range of 10W to 25W, delivering up to 5x the performance of the Jetson Xavier NX module. This development kit is suitable for large-scale AI projects requiring multiple concurrent inference pipelines and high-speed data processing. Previously, we covered […]
Thunderbolt 5 devices are starting to show up with OWC portable SSD and Kensington docking station
Thunderbolt 5 was first unveiled last year with promises of 120 Gbps bandwidth and support for multiple 8K monitors. The good news is that the first Thunderbolt 5-compliant devices are now coming to market. There’s not too much to choose from for now, but we need to start somewhere, and the OWC Envoy Ultra portable SSD ($299.99 and up) and the Kensington SD5000T5 EQ Thunderbolt™ 5 Triple 4K Docking Station with 140W PD ($399.99) – also found on Amazon – are some of the first Thunderbolt 5 devices to make it to market. OWC Enjoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 portable SSD Key features: Speed over 6000MB/sm or up to twice faster than Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 Capacity – 2TB or 4TB Compatibility – Macs, PCs, iPad Pros, Chromebooks, and Surface devices with a Thunderbolt 3 to 5 port, or USB4 port Rugged design – Waterproof, dustproof, and crushproof Power Supply – […]
Low-cost Raspberry Pi 5 HAT+ combines M.2 socket for NVMe SSD and PoE power input
With a cost of only about $25, Waveshare has recently introduced the PoE M.2 HAT+ for the Raspberry Pi 5, which is much cheaper than the similar N-Fuse PoE HAT that we’ve written about previously. As the name implies, this new Waveshare board supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) and features an M.2 slot to add NVMe SSD storage to the latest Raspberry Pi SBC. This new Waveshare HAT complies with the 802.3af/at standards and can deliver up to 25.5W of power to the Pi 5, enabling both power and network connectivity over a single Ethernet cable. Additionally, it features onboard 5V & 12V header outputs for powering additional devices like cooling fans, and there are also two LEDs for status. A fast storage device and the ability to power the device with ethernet makes this device suitable for applications such as network-attached storage, media centers, and edge computing applications. Waveshare […]
ECS ADLN-IE1S – A 3.5-inch Alder Lake-N industrial motherboard with solid capacitors and 15µ gold contact
ECS Industrial Computer has recently launched the ECS ADLN-IE1S 3.5-inch industrial motherboard built around the Intel Alder Lake-N SoC family. Other than that, the motherboard supports DDR5 memory, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, and triple display capabilities via a dual HDMI port, and an LVDS port. It also features multiple expansion slots for SSDs and WiFi modules including various I/O options including USB 3.2, serial ports, GPIO, and more. The motherboard is designed for industrial applications, so it has a wide operating temperature range making it suitable for applications including automation, control systems, digital signage, and kiosks. Previously we have written about motherboards designed for industrial applications like the DFI RPS310, the ASRock NUC Ultra 100 motherboards, the Kontron K3931-N mITX, and many others. The main difference is that this new ESC ADLN-IE1S motherboard comes in a 3.5-inch form factor whereas the other comes in a MINI-ITX or MICRO-ATX form factor. ECS ADLN-IE1S […]