News Archive

Friday, May 3rd 2024

Today's Reviews

Cases
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Gaming Chairs
Graphics Cards
Harddisks
Memory
Monitors
Mouse
Networking
SSD
Finalmouse UltralightX Review

Finalmouse UltralightX Review

Being made of a carbon fiber composite, the ambidextrous UltralightX is among the lightest wireless mice available at 38 g. The browser-based software for the ULX is just as lightweight. In addition, the ULX is equipped with PixArt's PAW3395 sensor, and delivers true 4000 Hz wireless polling.
Cougar Hotrod Royal Gaming Chair Review

Cougar Hotrod Royal Gaming Chair Review

The Cougar Hotrod Royal is an exciting entry to the market. It features an innovative design and feels incredibly well constructed with great features and finish at a highly competitive $350 price point. For those looking for a racer-style chair with lots of flair and style, look no further.

Intel's Panther Lake CPU Generation on Track for Mid-2025 Release, AI Capabilities to See Significant Boost

Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger, has confirmed that the upcoming 18A process of the Panther Lake CPU generation is on schedule for a mid-2025 release, which aligns with the initial projection. This development marks a significant milestone in the company's ongoing efforts to integrate AI capabilities into its processors. The mid-2025 release date is expected to follow the debut of Intel's Arrow Lake process in late 2024 or early 2025, a release that holds the promise of significant advancements in AI computing. During Intel's Q1 2024 Quarterly Results, Gelsinger expressed confidence in the company's AI capabilities, stating that the Core Ultra platform currently delivers leadership AI performance and that the next-generation platforms, Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake, will launch later this year, tripling AI performance. He also mentioned that the Panther Lake generation, set to release in 2025, will grow AI performance up to an additional 2x.

The Panther Lake generation represents the culmination of three generations of work in a short time and is expected to continue Intel's iterative approach. This transition is marked by a shift from a hybrid architecture, a combination of different types of processors, to a disaggregated die, where different components of the processor are separated, as AI computing becomes increasingly prominent. This strategic move is aimed at optimizing AI performance and flexibility. This marks the third generation of the Intel Core Ultra series, following Ultra 100 (Meteor Lake), Ultra 200 (Arrow Lake), and Lunar Lake (200V). Intel's release strategy mirrors the pattern set by the Hybrid Architecture, with Alder Lake debuting in 2021, followed by Raptor Lake in 2022, and a refreshed Raptor Lake released last year to bridge the gap until LGA 1851 was ready. However, Intel's roadmap has seen adjustments in the past, such as the initial promise of an Arrow Lake release before the end of 2024, which was later retracted. The mid-2025 release of Panther Lake aligns with rumors of Arrow Lake's late 2024 or early 2025 debut, suggesting that the 18A process CPU generation could debut several months after Arrow Lake.

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NVIDIA GeForce NOW Gets Improved Support for Steam Deck and 25 New Games

GeForce NOW brings 24 new games for members this month. Ninja Theory's highly anticipated Senua's Saga: Hellblade II will be coming to the cloud soon - get ready by streaming the first in the series, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, part of the seven new games joining the GeForce NOW library this week. Plus, game across more devices than ever as GeForce NOW adds improved support on Steam Deck this GFN Thursday.

Journey into Viking Hell
Experience exceptional storytelling in Ninja Theory's award-winning game Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, available to stream from the cloud this week. Set in a dark fantasy world inspired by Norse mythology and Celtic culture, the game follows the journey of Senua, a Pict warrior. Her quest is to reach Helheim, the realm of the dead, to rescue her deceased lover's soul from the goddess Hela. Solve intricate puzzles with observation, engage in melee combat and get pulled deep into Senua's mind as she grapples with inner demons. Journey through the hauntingly beautiful landscapes of Helheim with ray tracing and high-dynamic range using an Ultimate or Priority membership for the most immersive and stunning visual fidelity.

Silicon Motion Announces Results for the Period Ended March 31, 2024

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO) ("Silicon Motion", the "Company" or "we") today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. For the first quarter of 2024, net sales (GAAP) decreased sequentially to $189.3 million from $202.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Net income (GAAP) decreased to $16.0 million, or $0.48 per diluted American Depositary Share of the Company ("ADS") (GAAP), from net income (GAAP) of $21.1 million, or $0.63 per diluted ADS (GAAP), in the fourth quarter of 2023.

For the first quarter of 2024, net income (non-GAAP) decreased to $21.6 million, or $0.64 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), from net income (non-GAAP) of $31.3 million, or $0.93 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), in the fourth quarter of 2023. All financial numbers are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

AMD Patches Zenbleed Vulnerability with AGESA 1.2.0.Ca Update

AMD classified the Zenbleed vulnerability, CVE-2023-20593, as a medium-level threat about a year ago. AMD has acknowledged that it could potentially allow an attacker to access sensitive information under certain microarchitectural circumstances. Today, MSI has released new BIOS updates featuring AMD's AM4 AGESA 1.2.0.Ca firmware update. This update addresses the Zenbleed vulnerability affecting AMD's Ryzen 4000 series Zen 2 APUs. MSI is proactively rolling out the new BIOS updates across its range of compatible motherboards. The updates are currently available for almost all X570 motherboards, with support for other chipsets and 400 series motherboards expected to follow soon.

The AGESA 1.2.0.Ca firmware update specifically targets the Zenbleed vulnerability in the Zen 2 microarchitecture. Although the vulnerability primarily affects Ryzen 4000 "Renoir" APUs, it also exists in other Zen 2 processors, including the Ryzen 3000 series and certain EPYC and Threadripper CPUs. AMD has already addressed the Zenbleed vulnerability in previous AGESA microcode updates for Ryzen 3000 processors and other platforms, such as EPYC server CPUs and Ryzen mobile CPUs. However, the Ryzen Embedded V2000 CPUs are still awaiting the EmbeddedPi-FP6 1.0.0.9 AGESA firmware update, which is expected to be released by April. While AMD has not explicitly stated whether the security update will impact performance, previous testing of Zenbleed fixes has shown potential performance drops of up to 15% in certain workloads, although gaming performance remained relatively unaffected. Users with AM4 chips based on architectures other than Zen 2, such as Zen+ or Zen 3, do not need to update their BIOS as they are not affected by this specific vulnerability.

AMD to Redesign Ray Tracing Hardware on RDNA 4

AMD's next generation RDNA 4 graphics architecture is expected to feature a completely new ray tracing engine, Kepler L2, a reliable source with GPU leaks, claims. Currently, AMD uses a component called Ray Accelerator, which performs the most compute-intensive portion of the ray intersection and testing pipeline, while AMD's approach to ray tracing on a hardware level still relies greatly on the shader engines. The company had debuted the ray accelerator with RDNA 2, its first architecture to meet DirectX 12 Ultimate specs, and improved the component with RDNA 3, by optimizing certain aspects of its ray testing, to bring about a 50% improvement in ray intersection performance over RDNA 2.

The way Kepler L2 puts it, RDNA 4 will feature a fundamentally transformed ray tracing hardware solution from the ones on RDNA 2 and RDNA 3. This could probably delegate more of the ray tracing workflow onto fixed-function hardware, unburdening the shader engines further. AMD is expected to debut RDNA 4 with its next line of discrete Radeon RX GPUs in the second half of 2024. Given the chatter about a power-packed event by AMD at Computex, with the company expected to unveil "Zen 5" CPU microarchitecture on both server and client processors; we might expect some talk on RDNA 4, too.

This $40 Python E-Learning Bundle Is An Easy Way to Learn Coding

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Learn Python programming with this $39.97 (reg. $196) e-learning bundle with 14 courses and 113 hours of content. That's less than $4 per course. Beginning April 1st Through April 7th.

Kanguru Unveils Defender Internal Self-Encrypting Hardware-Based SSDs

Kanguru announces their exceptional new line of hardware-based, internal self-encrypting drives designed to help organizations secure and protect their data. Under the Kanguru Defender Brand name customers know and trust, Kanguru is entering the internal hardware market with these new Defender internal hardware encrypted solid state drives. The self-encrypting SEDs are packed with security features to help organizations secure data on laptops and tablets, creating a secure data environment. The Defender SED's are also compliant with the Trusted Computing Group's Opal standard for secure drive architecture. In addition, Kanguru has partnered with Cigent, known for their innovative data security, device sanitation and ransomware prevention, to integrate additional cutting-edge endpoint protection into the suite of Kanguru Defender SED's.

Kanguru's military grade AES 256-bit hardware encryption is enforced on the entire drive using stand-alone, independent hardware-based encryption security, not just specific files or folders. These internal encrypted drives automatically lock themselves when powered off, making all data stored within, (including the Operating System) completely inaccessible.
Thursday, May 2nd 2024
Meze Audio LIRIC 2nd Generation Closed-Back Headphones Review

Meze Audio LIRIC 2nd Generation Closed-Back Headphones Review

Meze Audio updates its flagship LIRIC closed-back headphones to offer a new take on the warm sound signature it is known for. The LIRIC 2nd Generation now features Macassar ebony wooden ear cups, easily detachable ear pads, an updated driver setup addressing the harsh treble the original LIRIC did, and retains the excellent fit and finish too.

NVIDIA Advertises "Premium AI PC" Mocking the Compute Capability of Regular AI PCs

According to the report from BenchLife, NVIDIA has started the marketing campaign push for "Premium AI PC," squarely aimed at the industry's latest trend pushed by Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm for an "AI PC" system, which features a dedicated NPU for processing smaller models locally. NVIDIA's approach comes from a different point of view: every PC with an RTX GPU is a "Premium AI PC," which holds a lot of truth. Generally, GPUs (regardless of the manufacturer) hold more computing potential than the CPU and NPU combined. With NVIDIA's push to include Tensor cores in its GPUs, the company is preparing for next-generation software from vendors and OS providers that will harness the power of these powerful silicon pieces and embed more functionality in the PC.

At the Computex event in Taiwan, there should be more details about Premium AI PCs and general AI PCs. In its marketing materials, NVIDIA compares AI PCs to its Premium AI PCs, which have enhanced capabilities across various applications like image/video editing and upscaling, productivity, gaming, and developer applications. Another relevant selling point is the user base for these Premium AI PCs, which NVIDIA touts to be 100 million users. Those PCs support over 500 AI applications out of the box, highlighting the importance of proper software support. NVIDIA's systems are usually more powerful, with GeForce RTX GPUs reaching anywhere from 100-1300+ TOPS, compared to 40 TOPS of AI PCs. How other AI PC makers plan to fight in the AI PC era remains to be seen, but there is a high chance that this will be the spotlight of the upcoming Computex show.

These Sony Noise-Canceling Earbuds at $99.99 Are Going Fast

Looking for a new pair of earbuds? You don't have to pay premium prices if you shop open-box models. Simply put, they have imperfect packaging, so they're heavily discounted. These Sony LinkBuds S wireless noise-canceling earbuds are $99.99 (reg. $199.99) for an open-box pair. That's 50% in savings and they come in black and white.

Get AI-based noise reduction that's programmed with more than 500 million samples to actively suppress outside noise and enhance your listening experience. The earbuds also adjust ambient sound settings if you're hoping to be aware of your surroundings. The Sony LinkBuds S pair with two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, so you can connect to your smartphone and laptop and easily work and take calls without having to switch between the two. They also have an auto-play feature that starts your music after putting the earbuds in or ending a call.

Grab your open-box pair of Sony LinkBuds S wireless noise-canceling earbuds for $99.99 (reg. $199.99) while supplies last.

Bose Introduces the SoundLink Max

Today, Bose is turning up the volume on its acclaimed SoundLink Bluetooth speaker line with the introduction of the SoundLink Max Portable Speaker. This all-new portable speaker has lasting power, rugged durability, and delivers incredible sound for its size. Now you can set the vibe with your favorite playlist no matter where you go. The SoundLink Max will be available on May 16th for $399 and can be pre-ordered starting today on Bose.com.

Big Speaker Sound That Wows
The SoundLink Max leverages decades of Bose research in acoustics to deliver incredible performance for your music that will help get the party started and keep it going. The system leverages a Bose Articulated Array with three transducers across the front of the speaker to deliver a spacious stereo experience that goes beyond the speaker itself. Two custom-designed passive radiators are responsible for providing a level of bass performance that also defies the speaker size. Using technology found in Bose soundbars and proprietary digital signal processing that dramatically minimizes distortion, the speaker reproduces full, natural sound regardless of what you're listening to. The result is a system that allows you to hear every instrument, clear vocals, and the beat of your music, no matter where you're listening or where the speaker is placed.

SilverStone Intros XE360-TR5 AIO CPU Cooler for Ryzen Threadripper 7000-series

SilverStone today introduced the XE360-TR5, an all-in-one liquid CPU cooler for AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000-series processors in the Socket TR5 and SP6 packages. The cooler's design consists of a 1U-friendly waterblock, and a 360 mm radiator that integrates the pump and coolant reservoir, which is connected to the block over Nylon-sleeved tubing. The block features a nickel-plated copper main material, with metal alloy top. The cold-plate makes contact with the entire IHS of an sTR5/SP6 processor, providing cooling to all twelve CCDs and the large central sIOD. The pump integrated with the radiator is made as thin as possible using a 6-pole motor.

The 360 mm x 120 mm radiator is 28 mm-thick, and is made of aluminium, and connects to the water block over a 42 cm-long tubing. Each of the three included 120 mm fans turns at speeds ranging between 600 RPM to 2,800 RPM, pushing up to 87.72 CFM of airflow, at a radiator-friendly 3.09 mm H₂O static pressure, and 46 dBA maximum noise output. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Starfield's Next Big Update Comes May 15 With Improvements Galore

Bethesda had already promised a big update for Starfield, and yesterday, it announced all the goodies to come, including the May 15th launch date. The May Update, as it is called, will bring detailed surface maps, new gameplay difficulty options, new display settings, new features for ship customizations, and more, as well as an extensive list of bug fixes.

According to Bethesda, the Starfield May Update comes with improved surface maps, new gameplay options which allow fine-tuning for those looking for an extra challenge or want to make certain aspects of the game a bit easier, and a new Ship Decoration mode for the interior of ships that now allows players to decorate the ship in the same way as outposts. The update also adds tabs to container menus for easier inventory management, adds an ability to change traits and appearance after entering the Unity, a new Dialogue camera toggle in settings, and new display settings for the Xbox Series X.

Alphacool Launches New Eisblock Aurora 180° Terminal

With the new Alphacool Eisblock Aurora 180° terminal, you can give your Eisblock Aurora GPU cooler a new look and gain additional options for connecting your Eisblock Aurora GPU cooler to your water cooling circuit. The Alphacool Aurora 180° terminal allows flexible connection options for all Eisblock GPU coolers. Perfect for extensive modding projects or for systems with limited space. The elegant design is perfected by a magnetic cover.

Flexible connections
The Alphacool Eisblock Aurora 180° terminal replaces the standard terminal of the Eisblock GPU cooler. It positions the connections above the backplate, significantly reducing the depth of the cooling block. With three possible connection options for each input and output - top, side and rear - the terminal offers maximum flexibility.

SK hynix Presents CXL Memory Solutions Set to Power the AI Era at CXL DevCon 2024

SK hynix participated in the first-ever Compute Express Link Consortium Developers Conference (CXL DevCon) held in Santa Clara, California from April 30-May 1. Organized by a group of more than 240 global semiconductor companies known as the CXL Consortium, CXL DevCon 2024 welcomed a majority of the consortium's members to showcase their latest technologies and research results.

CXL is a technology that unifies the interfaces of different devices in a system such as semiconductor memory, storage, and logic chips. As it can increase system bandwidth and processing capacity, CXL is receiving attention as a key technology for the AI era in which high performance and capacity are essential. Under the slogan "Memory, The Power of AI," SK hynix showcased a range of CXL products at the conference that are set to strengthen the company's leadership in AI memory technology.

Intel Prepares Core Ultra 9 285K, Core Ultra 7 265K, and Core Ultra 5 245K Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs

Hardware leaker Raichu, known for accurately predicting Intel's moves, has unveiled intriguing details about the company's forthcoming desktop CPU lineup. According to the leaks, Intel is supposed to introduce a big shift in its desktop CPU naming convention with the arrival of the Core Ultra 200 series, codenamed Arrow Lake-S. This next-generation lineup promises to deliver one of the most significant performance leaps for desktop processors in recent years, marking a substantial departure from Intel's current naming strategy—a change that hasn't been witnessed in over a decade. The Core Ultra 200 series is expected to encompass a diverse range of tiers and variants, catering to various user needs. This includes the overclockable K models for enthusiasts, F variants without integrated graphics, and potentially low-power T models for energy-efficient SKUs. According to Raichu's leaks, the unlocked K-Series models are rumored to include the high-end Core Ultra 9 285K, the mid-range Core Ultra 7 265K, and the budget-friendly Core Ultra 5 245K. While the absence of a 290K part has raised eyebrows, these names resemble Intel's mobile CPU naming conventions.

To enjoy the Core Ultra 200 series, users will need to upgrade to new motherboards featuring the 800-series chipsets and the LGA-1851 socket. Unlike the Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake models for mobile devices, details about the desktop version have remained scarce, shrouding the impending launch in an air of mystery. While Raichu's leaks carry significant weight, it's essential to approach such information cautiously. There's a possibility that SKUs like the 290K may still be introduced, as a new KS version, aligning with Intel's traditional naming conventions. The Core Ultra 200 series promises to cater to a wide range of desktop users, from the performance-hungry enthusiasts eyeing the Core Ultra 9 285K to budget-conscious consumers seeking the value proposition of the Core Ultra 5 245K. The Core Ultra 7 265K is expected to strike a balance between performance and affordability, targeting the mid-range segment. As more leaks and official information surface, we will continue to provide updates on this release from Intel.

BenQ Debuts Newly Redesigned 24-inch Photography Monitor

BenQ, a global leader in display technology, unveiled today its newest photo and video monitor, the SW242Q. Joining BenQ's SW series, the 24.1-inch 2K monitor is designed with professional photographers and videographers in mind and features BenQ's exclusive AQCOLOR technology, third generation uniformity technology and Paper Color Sync for accurate color reproduction.

With wide gamut space at 99% Adobe RGB, 98% DCI-P3 and Display P3 along with an aspect ratio of 16:10 at a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600, the SW242Q ensures color precision in every pixel. To achieve screen-wide color accuracy, BenQ's uniformity technology adjusts color and brightness in hundreds of sub-regions to maintain fine-tuning of the screen. The SW242Q's fine-coated panel also reduces reflections of the ambient light for less distractions, while BenQ's proprietary Paper Color Sync software helps photographers accurately and efficiently edit photos to showcase the screen-to-print transition in a preview.

UMC Introduces Industry's First 3D IC Solution for RFSOI, Accelerating Innovations in the 5G Era

United Microelectronics Corporation ("UMC"), a leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced the industry's first 3D IC solution for RFSOI technology. Available on UMC's 55 nm RFSOI platform, the stacked silicon technology reduces die size by more than 45% without any degradation of radio frequency (RF) performance, enabling customers to efficiently integrate more RF components to address the greater bandwidth requirements of 5G.

As mobile device manufacturers pack more frequency bands in newer generations of smartphones, the company's 3D IC solution for RFSOI addresses the challenge of integrating more RF front-end modules (RF-FEM) - critical components in devices to transmit and receive data - in a device by vertically stacking dies to reduce surface area. RFSOI is the foundry process used for RF chips such as low noise amplifiers, switches, and antenna tuners. Utilizing wafer-to-wafer bonding technology, UMC's 3D IC solution for RFSOI resolves the common issue of RF interference between stacked dies. The company has received multiple patents for this process, which is now ready for production.

Logitech G Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Iconic G502 Gaming Mouse

Today, Logitech G, a brand of Logitech and leading innovator of gaming technologies and gear, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the legendary G502 gaming mouse. In its first decade, the G502 became beloved by the gaming community for delivering unrivaled performance, innovative technologies, and unparalleled design breakthroughs for maximum comfort and incredible responsiveness, becoming the world's best-selling gaming mouse, with more than 21 million mice sold since its launch.

"The G502 has been my go-to mouse for years, and it's the perfect balance for me when it comes to getting some extra buttons while not overwhelming me. This mouse is extremely comfortable to use for extended periods of time. The G502 has a sleek and cool-looking design. It has always been an incredible go-to for gamers who want a couple of extra, easy-to-reach buttons and a smooth experience that allows them to game without interruption!" said Meg Kaylee, a popular gaming streamer and producer who has been using a G502 since 2019.

SK hynix CEO Says HBM from 2025 Production Almost Sold Out

SK hynix held a press conference unveiling its vision and strategy for the AI era today at its headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, to share the details of its investment plans for the M15X fab in Cheongju and the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Korea and the advanced packaging facilities in Indiana, U.S.

The event, hosted by theChief Executive Officer Kwak Noh-Jung, three years before the May 2027 completion of the first fab in the Yongin Cluster, was attended by key executives including the Head of AI Infra Justin (Ju-Seon) Kim, Head of DRAM Development Kim Jonghwan, Head of the N-S Committee Ahn Hyun, Head of Manufacturing Technology Kim Yeongsik, Head of Package & Test Choi Woojin, Head of Corporate Strategy & Planning Ryu Byung Hoon, and the Chief Financial Officer Kim Woo Hyun.
Wednesday, May 1st 2024

Today's Reviews

Cases
Desktop PC
Gaming PC
Keyboards
Memory
Notebooks
Processors
PSUs
SSD
ASRock NUC BOX-155H (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H) Review

ASRock NUC BOX-155H (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H) Review

ASRock's NUC BOX-155H brings AI to everyday users. Powered by Intel's Meteor Lake architecture and ASRock's AI Guru software, this Mini-PC is ahead of the curve. It handles daily tasks with ease and dives into advanced features like Face Detection, Object Detection, and Image Inpainting, thanks to its AI Inference capabilities.

Sins of a Solar Empire II to Release on Steam this Summer

The battle for galactic supremacy continues as Stardock and Ironclad Games will bring Sins of a Solar Empire II to Steam this Summer. Sins of a Solar Empire II seamlessly combines real-time strategy and 4X depth, delivering sprawling empires, huge tactical fleet battles, and unforgettable gameplay moments that can only be found in Sins II. Interested players can add the game to their wishlists now.

In Sins of a Solar Empire II, players must guide their faction against the threat of extinction with three distinct races: the Trader Emergency Coalition, the Vasari Empire, or the Advent Unity. Each race has been updated with their own asymmetric playstyle including unique starting conditions, units, abilities, and game-changing Empire Systems.

PCI-SIG Announces CopprLink Cable Specifications for PCIe 5.0 and 6.0 Technology

PCI-SIG, the organization responsible for the widely adopted PCI Express (PCIe) standard, today announced the release of the CopprLink Internal and External Cable specifications. The CopprLink Cable specifications provide signaling at 32.0 and 64.0 GT/s and leverage well-established industry standard connector form factors maintained by SNIA.

"The CopprLink Cable specifications integrate PCIe cabling seamlessly with the PCIe electrical base specification, providing longer channel reach and topological flexibility," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG President and Chairperson. "The CopprLink Cables are intended to evolve with the same connector form factors, scale for future PCIe technology generations and meet the demands of emerging applications. The Electrical Work Group has already begun pathfinding work on CopprLink Cables for PCIe 7.0 technology at 128.0 GT/s, showcasing PCI-SIG's commitment to the CopprLink Cable specifications."

More than 500 AI Models Run Optimized on Intel Core Ultra Processors

Today, Intel announced it surpassed 500 AI models running optimized on new Intel Core Ultra processors - the industry's premier AI PC processor available in the market today, featuring new AI experiences, immersive graphics and optimal battery life. This significant milestone is a result of Intel's investment in client AI, the AI PC transformation, framework optimizations and AI tools including OpenVINO toolkit. The 500 models, which can be deployed across the central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU) and neural processing unit (NPU), are available across popular industry sources, including OpenVINO Model Zoo, Hugging Face, ONNX Model Zoo and PyTorch. The models draw from categories of local AI inferencing, including large language, diffusion, super resolution, object detection, image classification/segmentation, computer vision and others.

"Intel has a rich history of working with the ecosystem to bring AI applications to client devices, and today we celebrate another strong chapter in the heritage of client AI by surpassing 500 pre-trained AI models running optimized on Intel Core Ultra processors. This unmatched selection reflects our commitment to building not only the PC industry's most robust toolchain for AI developers, but a rock-solid foundation AI software users can implicitly trust."
-Robert Hallock, Intel vice president and general manager of AI and technical marketing in the Client Computing Group

Targus' New USB4 Triple Video Docking Station with 100 W Power Harnesses USB4 and Thunderbolt

Targus, the number one third-party docking station and laptop bag brand in the US1 and a leader in laptop cases and mobile computing accessories, today announced the availability of its new USB4 Triple Video Docking Station with 100 W Power (DOCK460). With full USB4 (and Thunderbolt) speeds in a triple video enterprise-grade dock, this Alternate Mode dock packs all of the ports and power necessary to support and power a wide variety of laptop brands and various platforms.

"Our new DOCK460 is an outstanding docking solution for enterprise users who want more power, speed, and performance than previously available, while offering ultra-compatibility with a wide variety of laptop brands and platforms," explains David Dorantes, Director, Product Marketing, Targus. "With this powerful dock, users can enjoy a native triple-video workstation that stays charged and ready with 100 W power delivery, plus the addition of a USB4 connection and 2.5G Ethernet."

AMD Celebrates its 55th Birthday

AMD is now a 55-year-old company. The chipmaker was founded on May Day, 1969, and traversed practically every era of digital computing to reach where it is today—a company that makes contemporary processors for PCs, servers, and consumer electronics; GPUs for gaming graphics, professional visualization, and the all important AI HPC processors that are driving the latest era of computing. As of this writing, AMD has a market capitalization of over $237 billion, presence in all market regions, and supplies hardware and services to nearly every Fortune 500 company, including every IT giant. Happy birthday, AMD!

We Tested NVIDIA's new ChatRTX: Your Own GPU-accelerated AI Assistant with Photo Recognition, Speech Input, Updated Models

NVIDIA today unveiled ChatRTX, the AI assistant that runs locally on your machine, and which is accelerated by your GeForce RTX GPU. NVIDIA had originally launched this as "Chat with RTX" back in February 2024, back then this was regarded more as a public tech demo. We reviewed the application in our feature article. The ChatRTX rebranding is probably aimed at making the name sound more like ChatGPT, which is what the application aims to be—except it runs completely on your machine, and is exhaustively customizable. The most obvious advantage of a locally-run AI assistant is privacy—you are interacting with an assistant that processes your prompt locally, and accelerated by your GPU; the second is that you're not held back by performance bottlenecks by cloud-based assistants.

ChatRTX is a major update over the Chat with RTX tech-demo from February. To begin with, the application has several stability refinements from Chat with RTX, which felt a little rough on the edges. NVIDIA has significantly updated the LLMs included with the application, including Mistral 7B INT4, and Llama 2 7B INT4. Support is also added for additional LLMs, including Gemma, a local LLM trained by Google, based on the same technology used to make Google's flagship Gemini model. ChatRTX now also supports ChatGLM3, for both English and Chinese prompts. Perhaps the biggest upgrade ChatRTX is its ability to recognize images on your machine, as it incorporates CLIP (contrastive language-image pre-training) from OpenAI. CLIP is an LLM that recognizes what it's seeing in image collections. Using this feature, you can interact with your image library without the need for metadata. ChatRTX doesn't just take text input—you can speak to it. It now accepts natural voice input, as it integrates the Whisper speech-to-text NLI model.
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Micron First to Ship Critical Memory for AI Data Centers

Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today announced it is leading the industry by validating and shipping its high-capacity monolithic 32Gb DRAM die-based 128 GB DDR5 RDIMM memory in speeds up to 5,600 MT/s on all leading server platforms. Powered by Micron's industry-leading 1β (1-beta) technology, the 128 GB DDR5 RDIMM memory delivers more than 45% improved bit density, up to 22% improved energy efficiency and up to 16% lower latency over competitive 3DS through-silicon via (TSV) products.

Micron's collaboration with industry leaders and customers has yielded broad adoption of these new high-performance, large-capacity modules across high-volume server CPUs. These high-speed memory modules were engineered to meet the performance needs of a wide range of mission-critical applications in data centers, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), high-performance computing (HPC), in-memory databases (IMDBs) and efficient processing for multithreaded, multicore count general compute workloads. Micron's 128 GB DDR5 RDIMM memory will be supported by a robust ecosystem including AMD, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Intel, Supermicro, along with many others.

Philips Gaming Brand, EVNIA, Debuts 49-inch QD OLED Curved Gaming Monitor in North America

TPV USA, the brand license partner for Philips monitors is launching its flagship model to the EVNIA Gaming lineup with Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 49" QD OLED Curved Gaming Monitor, setting a new standard for gaming monitors with its innovative technology and immersive features. Dedicated to bringing the joy of gaming to all players, from casual enthusiasts to hardcore pros, the Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 redefines what it means to game.

"The Philips Evnia 49M2C8900 brings a new level of immersion and innovation to gaming, providing a captivating experience for gamers of all levels. With its exceptional design and advanced technology, this monitor is a standout addition to our product lineup," says James Melendez, CEO and President at TPV USA (Philips).

AMD Reports First Quarter 2024 Financial Results

AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) today announced revenue for the first quarter of 2024 of $5.5 billion, gross margin of 47%, operating income of $36 million, net income of $123 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.07. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 52%, operating income was $1.1 billion, net income was $1.0 billion and diluted earnings per share was $0.62.

"We delivered strong first quarter results with our Data Center and Client segments each growing more than 80% year-over-year driven by the ramp of MI300 AI accelerator shipments and the adoption of our Ryzen and EPYC processors," said AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. "This is an incredibly exciting time for the industry as widespread deployment of AI is driving demand for significantly more compute across a broad range of markets. We are executing very well as we ramp our data center business and enable AI capabilities across our product portfolio."

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D Now at a Mouth-watering $329

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D, the 12-core/24-thread Socket AM5 processor with 3D V-cache, is selling at a new low price of just $329. A retailer-specific discount by AntOnline puts the processor at a price lower than the launch price of the Ryzen 7 7700X, and Core i5-14600K. While we haven't had a chance to test this chip, testing by Tom's Hardware puts its gaming performance higher than the Core i9-13900K, with a multithreaded productivity performance in a similar range. The 7900X3D probably suffers from bad sales due to the popularity of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which remains the fastest gaming processor, and the 7950X3D, which is AMD's flagship processor.

That's not all, prices of even some of the recently launched processors for the older Socket AM4 platform are on a slope, which could attract sales from those that want to upgrade. The Ryzen 7 5700X3D is a slightly slower version of the 5800X3D—the fastest gaming processor for AM4, with a gaming performance rivaling the Core i9-12900K. This new chip can be had at just $229 on Amazon US. The Ryzen 7 5800X was once a solid gaming processor when AMD dominated Intel's 10th- and 11th Gen, it's now going for just $179.
May 3rd, 2024 19:53 EDT change timezone

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