AMD Ryzen 7000, the first PCIe 5.0 SSDs and more
AMD Ryzen 7000: a closer look at the next-gen CPUs
The Ryzen 7000 family will joinIntel’s 12th Gen desktop CPUsin offering PCIe 5.0 support, but there’s just one problem: there aren’t really any PCIe 5.0 peripherals to buy. However, first blood on the SSD side goes to Apacer, who announced two upcoming M.2 drives (including one under their Zadak gaming label). Both the Apacer AS2280F5 and the Zadak TWSG5 claim the same 13,000MB/s sequential read speed and 12,000MB/s sequential write speed, more than double what the currentbest SSDscan handle over PCIe 4.0; the main different seems to be the TWSG5’s sextra heatsink option, a much thinner graphene strip.
Sadly, that’s about it for details: Apacer didn’t reveal any capacities, release dates or prices. I’m guessing they won’t be cheap, as PCIe 4.0 SSDs still tend to be much pricier than PCIe 3.0 models, though those speeds sound pretty fearsome indeed. 13,000MB/s is about 23 times faster than a good SATA SDD! Mad stuff.
Like the Xeneon 32QHD165 monitor, Corsair’s other recent attempt to diversify its hardware output, the Voyager a1600 ain’t cheap. No UK pricing yet but with two versions set to sell for $2700 and $3000, it will need to offer more than just a pretty specs list. Which, speaking of, also includes an AMD Radeon RX 6800M graphics processor and either an AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS or Ryzen 9 6900HS. Both all-AMD configs will also unlock various “AMD Advantage” features, likeSmart Access Memory.
Behold the ROG Swift 500Hz, which was introduced during Nvidia’s keynote as the “lowest latency, highest refresh rate G-Sync esports display ever.” Which is hard to argue with, partly because nobody’s ever had the gall to create a 500Hz monitor before. It’s actually quite modest in some regards – the resolution is 1920x1080, it’s only 24in diagonally, and it uses a TN panel – but it’s all in service of pure speed. It’s unlikely you’d get 500Hz out of a contemporary IPS panel, for one thing.
Still… I dunno, readers. To me it sounds like the lowered latency might be a more tangible benefit than that refresh rate, even for the kind of hyper-paced competitive FPS play that the ROG Swift 500Hz is designed for. Don’t believe naysayers who claim there’s no visible difference between 60Hz and 144Hz, but anything above 240Hz or so provides such drastically diminished returns that it’s hard to imagine 500Hz being worth the money. Not that any pricing was confirmed, mind.
“This FANtastic design makes what was once considered impossible become reality,” according to the marketing copy. So maybe I’m just being obtuse, and putting fans on RAM sticks is actually a moment of Wright Brothersian brilliance? But it’s unclear if this DDR5’s overclocking advantage will have quite as many applications as heavier-than-air-flight. We’ll find out for sure in July, when the Evo V DDR5 RGB goes on sale.
