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 – […]
ThunderScope is an open-source Thunderbolt and PCIe oscilloscope with a 1 GS/s data sampling rate (Crowdfunding)
The ThunderScope is an open-source, Thunderbolt/USB4 and PCIe oscilloscope with a sampling rate of up to 1 GS/s. It is portable, presents an affordable, open-source alternative to expensive bench-top and PC-based scopes, and delivers a higher sampling rate than most USB oscilloscopes. ThunderScope streams sample data to your computer for processing and analysis, unlike traditional oscilloscopes which “are limited by their built-in processing capabilities and cramped user interfaces.” It uses the fastest available interface, Thunderbolt, to stream data, allowing it to use your computer’s full potential. ThunderScope is “the only scope that will get better every time you upgrade your computer.” The Thunderbolt oscilloscope is based on AMD’s Artix 7 XC7A35T-2CSG325C FPGA. It supports up to four channels and a full analog bandwidth of 500 MHz (with the anti-aliasing filter disabled). It doesn’t require an external power source, as it is powered via the Thunderbolt port. It comes in a […]
Khadas Mind 2 portable mini PC gets Intel Core Ultra 5 125H or Ultra 7 155H update, USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 interfaces
Khadas Mind 2 is an update to the Raptor Lake-powered Khadas Mind portable mini PC offered with either an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H or Core Ultra 155H Meteor Lake processor. It ships with up to 64GB LPDDR5, PCIe 4.0 storage, and adds Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 interfaces that were missing from the first model. We reviewed the original Khadas Mind Premium with both Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04, and its dock, and it was indeed a pretty cool, albeit pricey, device with features like a small built-in battery to move the computer from one room to another without turning it off, and the Mind Link interface enabling connecting to the Khadas Dock for extra peripherals, the Mind Graphics for higher-end graphics, and more. Limitations included the lack of USB4 and 2.5GbE ports and the Khadas Link was limited to 64GT/s, but the second generation model addresses most of these […]
ADT-Link UT3G USB4 to PCIe adapter can drive NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards
DFrobot has recently listed the ADT-Link UT3G USB4 to PCIe x16 eGPU adapter featuring a PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 slot with 40 Gbps of bandwidth on their website. The module not only supports USB4, but it’s also compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 standards, meaning it can work with SBCs and mini PCs like the LattePanda Mu, V600 Alder Lake Mini PC, GEEKOM A7, and many others. The converter is based on ASMedia ASM2464PD USB4 /Thunderbolt to PCIe accessory controller and features a 24-pin ATX connector for power and a USB-C (TB3/TB4/USB4) interface, as well as two switches and a jumper to set some additional things. ADT-Link UT3G USB to PCIe Adapter Specifications Chip – ASMedia ASM2464PD USB4 /Thunderbolt to PCIe Accessory controller Type-C interface specifications Compatible with USB4, Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4 Bandwidth – 40Gbps PCIe interface Card slot: PCIe x16 Speed bandwidth: PCIe 4.0 x4 Supported GPU […]
GEEKOM XT12 Pro review – Part 2: Windows 11 Pro tested on an Intel Core i9-12900H mini PC
We’ve already checked out the specifications, and gone through an unboxing and a teardown of the GEEKOM XT12 Pro mini PC in the first part of the review, so we’ll now report our experience with the 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H mini PC with Windows 11 Pro operating system. In this second part of GEEKOM XT12 Pro, we’ll test the features of the Alder Lake mini PC in Windows 11 Pro, run benchmarks, test networking and storage, evaluate cooling performance, and finally provide some numbers for fan noise and power consumption. Software overview and features testing The System->About menu confirms that we have an XT12 Pro mini PC with a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H processor clocked at 2.50 GHz (base frequency) and 32GB RAM that runs Windows 11 Pro operating system version 23H2. The system was tested with Windows 11 OS build 22631.3447. HWiNFO64 program provides more details about […]
Intel Processor U300/U300E penta-core Raptor Lake CPU find its way into mini PCs and network appliances
Some mini PCs and firewall/network appliances are starting to show up with the Intel Processor U300/U300E penta-core CPU on Aliexpress and Amazon. It looks to be a 15W entry-level part for the 13th Gen Raptor Lake processor that may provide a more powerful and slightly more expensive alternative to the popular Alder Lake-N Processor and Core i3-N305 SoCs. The Processor U300 offers one Performance core clocked at 1.10 GHz to 4.30 GHz (Turbo) and four Efficiency cores clocked at up to 3.20 GHz, with the embedded part (U300E) handling slightly lower max frequencies for a wider operating temperature range. As usual, the Performance core supports multi-threading, so the Processor U300 supports six threads. Intel Ark shows it can support up to 96GB DDR5-5200 RAM, embeds a 48EU Intel UHD Graphics capable of driving up to four independent displays, and offers 20 lanes of PCIe Gen4 (vs 9-lane for Alder Lake-N), […]
Review of GEEKOM XT12 Pro (Intel Core i9-12900H) Mini PC – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, and teardown
GEEKOM XT12 Pro is a Windows 11 Pro mini PC powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H 14-core Alder Lake processor clocked up to 5 GHz with support for 8K video output, up to four 4K displays, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and a WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless module. The mini PC supports up to 64GB DDR4 memory, 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD, and 1TB M.2 SATA SSD, and also comes with multiple USB ports (USB4, USB 3.2, and USB 2.0), a 3.5mm stereo audio headset jack, and a Kensington lock slot. GEEKOM has sent us an XT12 Pro mini PC with 32GB RAM and a 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD for review. Today, we’ll go through the GEEKOM XT12 Pro specifications, do an unboxing to check the mini PC’s ports and accessories, perform a teardown to understand the hardware design better, and finally give it a try with Windows 11 […]
5% discount for Intel NUC 11 with Core i7-1165G7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD (Sponsored)
Intel decided to pull the plug on its NUC business in 2023, but that does not mean those are not available for sale anymore, and the Intel NUC 11 (NUC11PAHi7) powered by an Intel Core i7-1165G7 SoC with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD is now offered on Amazon with a 5% discount when using the coupon code A5QFKRCQ. Introduced in 2021, the Intel NUC11PAHi7 supports up to four 4K displays through HDMI, Mini DP, and Thunderbolt interfaces, offers 2.5GbE and WiFi 6 connectivity, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, and even a CIR (Consumer InfraRed) port. Intel NUC11PAHi7 specifications: SoC – Intel Core i7-1165G7 quad-core/octa-thread Tiger Lake UP3 processor @ up to 2.8 GHz / 4.7 GHz (Turbo) with 96EU Iris Xe Graphics; 15W TDP (configurable between 12 and 28W) System Memory – 16GB DDR4-2666 via SO-DIMM sockets expandable up to 64GB RAM Storage 512GB M.2 NVMe (PCIe Gen4) […]