Asus released BIOS updates for its 200-series motherboards to add support for Intel Optane memory technology.
Optane is Intel’s brand name for products using the 3D XPoint technology it co-developed with Micron. Its goal is to establish a new “storage-class memory” category that offers better performance and endurance than NAND while also being denser and cheaper than DRAM. Intel said on its website that Optane can increase “everyday task responsiveness” and hard drive access speeds by 2x and 14x, respectively, and provide a 28% boost to overall system performance. All you need is an Intel 7th Generation (Kaby Lake) processor, 200-series motherboard, and Optane Memory product.
The BIOS updates released today will enable Optane support on Asus’ 200-series motherboards, so if you’re rocking one of the company’s B250, Q270, H270, or Z270 boards, now’s your chance to get ready for Intel’s new memory tech. You won’t have many options to start–so far the company has announced only two Optane Memory products for the consumer market.
You can find a full list of Asus motherboards with available BIOS updates–and instructions for how to install them–on the company’s website.
