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Taking an Up-Close Look at the Supermicro GB300 Super AI Station

22 d ago

Asustor unveiled the third-generation Flashstor all-flash NASes at Computex 2026. The lineup includes the Flashstor 12 Pro Gen3 (12 M.2 slots) and the smaller Flashstor 6 Gen3 (6 M.2 slots). Both retain the signature trapezoidal design from the first generation. The key upgrade is the internal SoC: Asustor switches from the Ryzen Embedded V3C14 (Rembrandt/Zen 3) to the newer Ryzen 5 Pro 8640U (Hawk Point/Zen 4), a hex-core chip with higher clock speeds and IPC improvements. This choice of an older Zen 4 chip over newer Zen 5 is noted. The integrated AMD graphics (iGPU) returns, lost in the second generation, enabling on-the-fly video transcoding for PLEX and similar applications. The Hawk Point silicon also includes a 15 TOPS NPU for lightweight AI tasks, though Asustor emphasizes its use is optional. Connectivity gets notable upgrades: USB4 host-to-host networking is now supported, a feature absent in Gen2. The two 40Gbps USB-C ports move to the front, while a 10Gbps USB-A port moves to the rear alongside a fourth USB-A port. The Flashstor 12 Pro retains dual 10GbE ports; the Flashstor 6 has one. The S/PDIF optical out for audiophile use remains, and HDMI output returns. Internally, the M.2 slot configuration is expected to mirror Gen2 (mix of PCIe Gen4 x1, x2 and Gen3 x2, x1) due to the same 20 PCIe Gen4 lanes. A controversial change is the default memory: Gen3 ships with 8GB DDR5-5600 (single SO-DIMM) instead of the 16GB in Gen2, though it can be expanded to 96GB via two slots. Asustor’s Linux-based OS should handle the reduction, but it limits out-of-box application hosting. The Flashstor 6 Gen3 shares the same CPU, USB, and display capabilities but offers fewer M.2 slots and a single 10GbE port. Both models address Gen2 weaknesses with a faster CPU, restored iGPU, and USB host-to-host networking, making them compelling upgrades for high-density all-flash NAS enthusiasts.