When Intel unveiled its revolutionary Optane memory/storage technology, it revealed that the non-volatile memory would be supported by several motherboard vendors and PC manufacturers. Now, two motherboard vendors have officially announced support for Intel's latest hardware innovation.
Asus announced on its Edge Up blog that a number of models of its motherboards would be ready for Optane memory. Similarly, Gigabyte said in a press release that a series of its motherboards already have Intel Optane ready technology onboard.
Intel has declared that Optane Memory can be a replacement for both memory and storage. Optane does not lose its contents when powered off and is faster. It can also write data more frequently than flash storage while being cheaper than RAM modules.
Henry Kao, vice president of Gigabyte's Motherboard Business Unit, said that Intel Optane Memory is a game-changer for the industry and that Optane is the way of the future. Gigabyte's 200 series motherboards have been Intel Optane Memory capable since their launch.
Users can enable Optane support by simply updating the BIOS on their 200 series motherboards with a 7th Gen Intel Core processor installed. They can download the BIOS updates to enable the non-volatile memory technology for the Gigabyte 200 Series on the Gigabyte and Aorus product pages.
For its part, Asus said that 35 different models with B250, H270, Q270, and Z270 chipsets only need a BIOS update to enable Optane compatibility. The company said that it was working with Intel to ensure that the memory/storage technology would work with Optane capable Asus and ROG motherboards.
Asus announced that a broad range of models would be supported and their only requirement is a UEFI BIOS update. Links to the BIOS downloads and instructions for the update procedure as well as more information on Asus' Optane ready motherboards can be found on the vendor's Optane-ready microsite.