Voicemod, the world leader in augmented voice and interactive audio, today announced the expansion of its strategic B2B relationship with CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gear for gamers and content creators. Voicemod's voice morphing technology is now directly integrated into the CORSAIR iCUE software platform, making it more easily available to CORSAIR's 10 million users to create and shape dynamic social interactions and real-time engagement.

Voicemod builds audio tools that make it easy for anyone to create a unique sonic identity. This collaboration with CORSAIR solidifies Voicemod's B2B expansion strategy and mission to cultivate an ecosystem around the company's interactive audio technology and voice avatars.
Social gaming has dramatically evolved over the last 19 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed movement and made virtual connections more appealing. By utilizing Voicemod's audio technology, gamers can shape and enhance their sonic identity for more engaging conversations with their teammates over the internet, regardless of location. The iCUE integration enables easy configuration of RGB effects and audio, creating richer experiences that drive participation and turn extended gameplay into meaningful and creative social interactions.

Intel 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" desktop processors will be available from November 4, 2021, according to a leaked Intel channel document by Wccftech. It confirms that Intel will only debut unlocked "K" and "KF" SKUs and companion Z690 chipset in November, with the first wave being limited to the Core i9-12900K, i9-12900KF, i7-12700K, i7-12700KF, i5-12600K, and i5-12600KF. Pre-orders of these parts, along with product announcements, are set to go live on October 27. Reviews of these processors will be published on the same day as retail availability, on November 4. There's no word on when the "locked" non-K SKUs and more affordable chipsets, such as the B660, H670, and H610, come out, but older reports suggest an early-2022 launch for those. Given that memory isn't tied with these dates, DDR5 memory modules should be available any day now.

ASRock, the leading global motherboard, graphics card and mini PC manufacturer, today launched new Challenger series products based on AMD Radeon RX 6600 GPUs. Built on the 7 nm manufacturing process, the new ASRock graphics cards offer support for the DirectX 12 Ultimate API, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, HDMI 2.1, PCI Express 4.0, and the Microsoft Windows 11 operating system. With a wealth of exclusive features, the new graphics cards are designed to provide visually stunning, high-refresh rate 1080p gaming experiences to the midrange market.

The new graphics cards are built on the breakthrough AMD RDNA 2 gaming architecture, designed to deliver the optimal balance of performance and power efficiency. Offering 32 MB of high-performance AMD Infinity Cache, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, AMD Smart Access Memory and other advanced features, the new graphics cards are designed to bring next-generation desktop gaming experiences to the midrange market. They also support the AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution open-source spatial upscaling solution, which is designed to increase framerates while delivering high-resolution gaming experiences.

As we await the update of AMD's highly anticipated 6000 series Rembrandt APUs based on Zen 3 cores and RDNA2 graphics, we are in for a surprise with information about the next generation, more than a year away, of Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors based on Zen 4 architecture. Codenamed Raphael-H, it co-exists with the upcoming lineup of Phoenix APUs, which come after the 6000 series Rembrandt APU lineup. This mobile variant of the forthcoming desktop Raphael processors features as many as 16 cores based on Zen 4 architecture. What is so special about the Raphael-H is that it represents a mobile adaptation of desktop processors, and we are not sure how it will be different from the Phoenix APUs. However, we assume that Phoenix is going to feature a more powerful graphics solution.

The confusing thing is the timeline of these processors. First comes the Rembrandt APUs (6000 series) and then both the Raphael-H and Phoenix mobile processors. AMD could disable iGPU on mobile Raphael-H designs. However, that is just a guess. We have to wait to find out more in the upcoming months.

HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced the release of the HyperX Streamer Starter Pack along with increased availability of the HyperX Cloud Alpha gaming headset blackout edition at Best Buy. The Streamer Starter Pack is a convenient bundle that includes the HyperX SoloCastTM USB microphone and Cloud Core gaming headset with DTS Headphone:X 1 Spatial Audio for streamers and influencers looking for quality gear.

"HyperX is always looking for new ways to deliver an amazing user experience. We are proud to present a streaming bundle worthy of the next viral tweet or post from streamers looking for a convenient way to start creating content," said Nate Almond, PC audio business manager, HyperX. "Becoming a streamer has never been easier, and the HyperX SoloCast microphone and Cloud Core gaming headset are a great combination to set up any streamer for success."

Users of Intel's upcoming 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processors will potentially run into compatibility issues with some of the older games that use older versions of popular DRM middleware such as Denuvo, an Intel document targeted at developers, cautions. This is mainly due to the hybrid CPU core nature of "Alder Lake," which could confuse the middleware. Solutions such as Denuvo perform stringent hardware checks to ensure only a valid user in a given environment, with a set of hardware, gets to play the game. Our article on Denuvo performance impact has more details on how the solution works.

"If your existing or upcoming game uses a DRM middleware, you might want to contact the middleware provider and confirm that it supports hybrid architectures in general, and the upcoming Intel ADL platform in particular. Due to the nature of modern DRM algorithms, it might use CPU detection, and should be aware of the upcoming hybrid platforms. Intel is working with leading DRM providers such as Denuvo to make sure their solutions support new platforms," reads the Intel Developer Guide. While this should be no probem for some of the newer (less than 3 years old) games that use Denuvo, which are still under support lifecycle from their developers, some of the older ones may require updates.

If the amount of upcoming Z690 was anything to go by, one could presume that the motherboard makers are backing Intel's upcoming platform to the max, as a leaked list of what should be close to every Z690 that will hit the market, counts a total of 98 boards. The list covers ASRock, ASUS, Biostar, NZXT, Gigabyte and MSI, but not EVGA and some other smaller players.

ASUS is apparently planning no less than 30 different models/SKUs, since some are clearly DDR4/DDR5 SKUs of the same model or SKUs with or without Wi-Fi, but even so, that's a massive launch lineup. Gigabyte isn't far behind with 27, followed by MSI at 24 and ASRock at 14, if we didn't count wrong. There isn't much news in terms of details of each of the boards here though, but it's clear that the high-end SKUs are mostly DDR5, while the mid-range and standard models are mostly using DDR4. The only slight surprise here is that only ASRock has more DDR4 than DDR5 models, with ASUS having exactly half of each, but Gigabyte and MSI are going with a preference for DDR5. ASRock, ASUS and Gigabyte appear to have liquid cooled SKUs, but it's not clear if MSI will offer such a SKU of its Godlike board.

FSP is giving away some really cool gaming PC hardware and Steam Cards as part of its new FSP LightUp Giveaway, in partnership with Palit, ASRock, and V-Color. Open worldwide, up for grabs are a boatload of prizes for a total of 21 winners. The pool of prizes include a Palit GeForce RTX 3060 Dual graphics card, an ASRock B550 PG Velocita motherboard, a V-Color SCC DDR4-4600 16 GB dual-channel memory kit, two FSP Dagger Pro 850 W power supplies, an FSP CMT212G case, two $50 Steam Cards, three $25 Steam Cards, and ten $10 Steam Cards. To participate, simply drop in your hat in the Gleam-powered Giveaway page. You can increase your chances of winning something by sharing the Giveaway across your social media, or following the various social media accounts of FSP, Palit, ASRock, and V-Color. Entries close on November 5, 2021. All the best!

For more details and to participate, visit the FSP LightUp Giveaway page.

Fancy some extra RGB lighting to make your home pop just a little bit more than your PC can provide? Then the Nanoleaf Lines might be what you've been waiting for, as these modular RGB LED strips are wall mountable and customisable to your liking.

They serve as much purpose as RGB lights in your PC, although they could obviously be used for mood lighting, albeit a very expensive set of mood lighting. The Lines feature a built-in controller, but can also be controlled by an app, or via most of the popular home assistants through voice. It's also possible to sync the lighting effects with both music and what's being displayed on your screen. Finally there's Razer Chroma Connect integration.
Each Line has two LED zones that can display individual colours and the starter kit comes with a total of nine Lines, which will set you back US$199.99, with a set of three extra Lines going for US$69.99.

Corsair's upcoming AIO coolers have recently been teased by the company in addition to renders of the devices being leaked by VideoCardz. The new coolers will all feature a circular LCD panel that can display information such as the pump speed or CPU temperature. They will also feature native support for Intel's Alder Lake processors and the LGA1700 socket, with images showing the cooler mounted on an ASUS PRIME Z690 motherboard running Corsair Vengeance DDR5 memory. The radiator comes in dual and triple fan configurations with ARGB lighting however we cannot tell if the included fans are an existing model or a new design. The pump features a single braided cable which presumably provides the USB and fan connections for the motherboard, Corsair is expected to announce further details on the new coolers next week.

Ahead of the rumored late-October debut of Intel's 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processors, motherboard makers started teasing their compatible Socket LGA 1700 products. Older reports suggest that in 2021, Intel will only release unlocked "K" and "KF" SKUs, and motherboard partners will only launch boards based on the top Intel Z690 chipset. The lineup is expected to be joined by more affordable non-K SKUs in Q1-2022, along with lower chipset models such as the B660 and H670.

The MEG Z690 ACE appears to introduce a new design scheme with die-cast metal mesh rear I/O shrouds, and a gold+black trim. The I/O shroud design is interesting as it lets the VRM heatsink underneath breathe better. The silver-white MPG motherboard is possibly the MPG Z690 Force. MSI is probably trying to get this to rival the ROG Strix-A SKU by ASUS. The third teaser, of a brushed gunmetal shroud, is likely the MAG Z690 Tomahawk. Like most other brands, MSI appears to have an extensive lineup of Socket LGA 1700 motherboards with DDR4 memory slots, although boards with DDR4 are restricted to the MAG and entry-level PRO series. The mid-tier MPG and enthusiast-segment MEG series boards only come with DDR5.

Akasa, a leading provider of active cooling and lighting solutions, has announced the three new fan bundles available for purchase. These fan packs are perfect for all applications, from high performance, low noise PC builds (Viper), a premium aesthetic with bright and vivid aRGB lighting (SOHO), or home theatre PC or compact, small form factor builds (Slim Fan). The Viper Fan also comes in a white colourway, which pairs seamlessly with all-white and pastel builds.

The SOHO AR has dazzling and exciting aRGB lights, which surround the rim of the fan. The stylish RGB boasts over 16 million lighting combinations, and contrasts with the sleek fan blades and premium Akasa logo to create a classy, yet bold look to the fan. The sleek fan blade's unique shape and design provides a vastly improved aerodynamic efficiency and optimises the airflow (52.91 CFM) and air pressure (1.75 mm H²O) for the fan.

GoDeal24 is celebrating the launch of the new Windows 11 operating system. Get Genuine Windows 11 Pro at just $19.46, and install Windows 11 directly on your brand-new PC. Windows 11 Home is also available, for $18.60. Get packs of 5 for both editions of Windows 11, and install across multiple devices. Windows 10 Pro is still around, and can be yours for $7.53. Also check out other enterprise editions of Windows. The home-office PC is incomplete without productivity software. There are several editions of Office 2019 and Office 2016 up for sale, including their bundles with your preferred edition of Windows. Start saving!

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DIMM designs by the various DRAM module manufacturers are always something of a personal taste thing and then there's the polarising issue of RGB or not. Well, it looks like Galax has worked on something special for its upcoming Gamer RGB DDR5 modules that is likely to cause mixed reactions, but we have a feeling they'll potentially be popular with younger gamers.

The new modules are expected to come in kits of two, ranging in size from 16 to 64 GB, with the 32 GB kit launching first. These are merely 4800 MHz modules, so there's not too much to get excited about there and no timings have been announced. However, these are the first customisable DIMMs we've ever come across, as the RGB LED strip at the top of the module is compatible with LEGO bricks, although presumably there's no official license involved here. Based on the fact that it's Galaxy China that has shown off these modules, they're unlikely to make an appearance in markets outside of China.

Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of premium gaming hardware, today announced a new AMD Radeon RX 6600 graphics card - the Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 Eagle 8G. The Eagle graphics card is the best choice for those who desire a unique design optimized for power efficiency and durability, and the ability to experience incredible high-framerate 1080p gaming.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 graphics cards are based on the breakthrough AMD RDNA 2 gaming architecture, designed to deliver the optimal balance of performance and power efficiency. Offering 32 MB of high-performance AMD Infinity Cache, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, AMD Smart Access Memory technology and other advanced features, the new graphics cards are designed to bring next-generation desktop gaming experiences to the midrange market. They also support AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, an open-source spatial upscaling solution designed to increase framerates in select titles while delivering high-resolution gaming experiences.

Soon after Sony announced the latest PS5 updates, TEAMGROUP's gaming brand, T-FORCE, released the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series M.2 PCIe SSD for PS5 storage expansion. The SSD uses the latest PCIe Gen4 x4 interface and offer up to 4 TB in storage capacity. In addition to incredible read/write speeds, the SSD is the first in the industry with a white graphene heat sink, a testimony to TEAMGROUP's dedication to bringing the best for its users. The SSD will be available on major e-commerce platforms at the end of October 2021.

The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series M.2 SSD for PS5 storage expansion uses the latest PCIe Gen4 x4 interface and offers read/write speeds of up to 7,400/7,000 MB/s. According to internal testing by the T-FORCE laboratory, the SSD can achieve a read speed of up to 6,600 MB/s when installed on a PS5 and 100 GB worth of games can be transferred from the console to the SSD in just 80 seconds. During the transmission, loading, and playing of games, the SSD can improve cooling by 16% to help gamers save their brilliant gameplay at ultra-fast speeds and ensure an ultimate gaming experience.

TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products for home, businesses and enterprises, presents its line-up of 8-bay storage servers designed to meet the needs of modern businesses for enterprise virtualization, data-intensive applications, and service continuity. TerraMaster's Rackmount NAS Series is equipped with the latest technologies and advanced securities to deliver efficient performance with excellent data security making it ideal for business and government use.

The TerraMaster 8-Bay Rackmount NAS Series support up to 1000 user accounts with RBAC rights management and Windows ACL. This allows easy user and access rights management. The 8-Bay Rackmount NAS Series supports 2.5" and 3.5" drives and comes fitted with four RJ-45 1 GbE LAN ports. All models also come with one PCIe 3.0 X16 slot and two PCIe 3.0 x8 slots offering expansion flexibility for 10GbE NIC cards or dedicated RAID cards.

VideoCardz has recently published pictures of a rumored AMD BC-160 (Blockchain Compute) mining card designed by XFX China and featuring a Navi 12 GPU. The card supposedly features 8 GB of HBM2 memory along with 2304 Stream Processors however a memory speed of 4 Gbps is also listed which is not currently available casting doubt on the legitimacy of this rumor. We did report on rumors in March that pointed to AMD releasing Navi 10/12 headless cryptocurrency mining cards so this could still be true.

The only existing product featuring the Navi 12 GPU is the Apple-exclusive AMD Radeon Pro 5600M which features 256 more Stream Processors at 2560. The BC-160 card was pictured in a mining cluster where it reached performance levels of 72 Mh/s in Etash with a TGP of 150 W. The card features two 8-pin power connectors and should offer performance around 25% faster than the Navi 10 Radeon RX 5700 XT. We are unsure if this is a real product or how much it might cost so take these rumors with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The CapFrameX GPU benchmarking tool from ComputerBase has recently been updated to fully support Intel's 12th Generation hybrid desktop processors including the flagship Core i9-12900K. The latest beta will now correctly read and display the telemetry from the high-performance (Golden Cove) and high-efficiency (Grace Mont) cores using the processors CPUID and its EAX register. The software can also list information about the integrated Xe-LP graphics if it is enabled in addition to the usual suite of load, voltage, power consumption, and temperature readings from the CPU. The changelog and a link to download the latest 1.6.6 beta can be found below.

Rambus, today announced it is now sampling its 5600 MT/s 2nd-generation RCD chip to the major DDR5 memory module (RDIMM) suppliers. This new level of performance represents a 17% increase in data rate over the first-generation 4800 MT/s Rambus DDR5 RCD. With key innovations, Rambus is able to deliver 5600 MT/s performance at lower latency and power while optimizing timing parameters for improved RDIMM margins.

"Advanced workloads are driving an insatiable demand for greater memory bandwidth," said Shane Rau, research vice president, Computing Semiconductors at IDC. "It's essential that DDR5 ecosystem players like Rambus continue to raise the bar on performance to meet the rapidly rising needs of data center applications."

With Intel's next-gen CPUs are coming soon, MSI is proud to announce that all our liquid cooler lines fully support the new socket type. Anytime CPUs change, sockets change, so we wanted to make upgrading the CPU an easy task with our coolers. To usher in a new generation of CPUs, we've made sure that our liquid coolers either have the socket already included or users can easily obtain one.

All MSI liquid coolers will support Intel's upcoming LGA 1700 socket. For the MEG CORELIQUID S Series, MAG CORELIQUID C Series, and MAG CORELIQUID P Series the socket is already included. If you have the MPG CORELIQUID K Series and MAG CORELIQUID R Series, you can click on the link below to find out how to obtain an LGA 1700 bracket. Please note that a Version 2 of the MPG CORELIQUID K Series and MAG CORELIQUID R Series will be launching in October. The Version 2 models will have the LGA 1700 bracket already included in the box. The Version 2 models will be clearly labeled and differentiated on every retailer to avoid confusion. You DO NOT need to sign up for a free bracket if you buy a Version 2 model.

HTC VIVE today announced VIVE Flow, a compact, lightweight immersive glasses device that transports its wearers wherever they want or need to be - anytime, anywhere. "With VIVE Flow, HTC is taking technology in a new direction, focusing not on what we do, but on how we feel. Maintaining our wellness has come to the forefront in the last few years, with so many millions feeling stressed every day, so it has never been more important to take time out to calm our minds, and VIVE Flow provides the perfect opportunity to escape our four walls and immerse ourselves in our ideal ambience," said Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC. "Meditation, gentle stretches, brain training, streaming our favorite shows or even meeting friends or coworkers in VR with VIVE Sync can all be enhanced by a device light and compact enough to fit in our pocket. VIVE Flow represents the next evolution of technology, as we take a more holistic view of how we can make life better."

"Relaxation means different things to different people," said Nanea Reeves, CEO of leading XR wellness service TRIPP. "It's important to find your own version of zen, whether that means meditating, watching videos, or playing games. The fact that HTC gets it, that we can use VR in these ways that can benefit peoples' emotional and mental well-being is something that I personally am very excited about as is our entire team at TRIPP."

TechPowerUp and Team Group brought you an exciting Giveaway to mark the 2021 Team Group Online Expo, a showcase of the company's very latest memory products spanning PC memory, enthusiast memory, flash storage, and SSDs. Up for grabs were Team Group XTREEM ARGB 2x 8 GB DDR4-3600 CL14 memory kit, a Team Group Cardea C440 1 TB NVMe SSD, and a Team Group Cardea Graphite Z440 1 TB NVMe SSD—three of Team's finest pieces of hardware meant to serve as a Thank You for vising the Expo. Without further ado, the Winners:

• Alex from Australia, wins the Team Group Cardea C440 1 TB SSD
• Viandre from Indonesia, wins the Team Group Cardea Graphene Z440 1 TB SSD
• Istvan from Hungary, wins the Team Group T-Force Xtreem ARGB DDR4-3600 2x 8 GB dual-channel memory kit

A Huge Congrats to you three! TechPowerUp and Team Group will return with more such interesting giveaways.

The Alphacool Eisblock Aurora acrylic GPX water cooler with backplate is now also available for MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT Gaming X graphics cards.

More performance! Voltage converters and V-RAM is now cooled much better and more effectively with liquid cooling. This is due to the components being brought closer to the cooler through the use of thinner, yet more powerful Thermal pads. The reduction of the thickness of the nickel-plated copper block to 5.5mm and the constant optimisation of the water flow within the heat sink promise a significant increase in performance. In addition to performance, design also plays an important role. The addressable digital RGB LEDs are embedded directly in the cooling block and give the cooler its very own visual touch.

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast components for gamers, creators, and PC builders, today announced additional mounts for owners of its range of all-in-one liquid CPU coolers to support the new LGA 1700 CPU socket and Intel Alder Lake processors.

The new CORSAIR Intel LGA 1700 Retrofit Kit supports a wide range of currently shipping and past all-in-one CPU coolers, including the full award-winning ELITE CAPELLIX range, RGB PRO XT range, H100x, and more. Customers can order the kit from CORSAIR for just $2.99/€2.99/£1.99 and receive free shipping anywhere in the United States or Europe. The standoffs easily adapt the existing 115x/1200 bracket to be fully compatible with the new LGA 1700 bracket, ensuring owners are ready-to-go for the next generation of CPU performance.

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, announces the new ViewSonic ELITE XG320U gaming monitor at Pepcom. This 32-inch monitor is equipped with the latest features and technologies, including: native 4K Ultra HD resolution, 144 Hz refresh rate, overclockable to 150 Hz, a 1ms response time (MPRT) and HDMI 2.1 to ensure compatibility with PCs and next-generation consoles.

Designed for a true immersive experience, the XG320U also comes with VESA DisplayHDR 600 and Adobe 99% RGB color coverage for amazing color reproduction. Developed with quantum-dot technology, the ViewSonic XG320U monitor ensures that users can maximize the full potential of their gaming platforms. The XG320U is certified with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and PureXP Motion Blur Reduction for fast-paced gaming at the highest visual quality.

Simply NUC, Inc, a leading mini computer integration company, recently announced Cypress, a new Simply NUC branded Long-Life Mini PC. As a follow-on to the Post Oak family, Cypress is intended for embedded and edge applications. Cypress is the first 4x4 Mini PC featuring V2000 Embedded AMD processors and will be sold in the same form, fit, and function for seven years from launch. Simply NUC is currently taking orders on Cypress across their global sites.

"We saw an opportunity to grow our Long-Life Mini product line based on our customers' needs for embedded applications," said Aaron Rowsell, Simply NUC CEO, "By creating Cypress, we're excited to offer the latest powerful long-term solution for a wide range of usages such as digital signage displays, kiosks, and vending machines."

The United States has now become the leading country in cryptocurrency mining operations, following China's mining ban and subsequent exodus of its mining operators to less dangerous waters. According to figures published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, US-based miners reached a 35.4% share in overall bitcoin hashrate in July this year - up 17% compared to April, and only a month after China's move to ban all domestic cryptocurrency mining operations. In the months since, China's Bitcoin hash rate control declined from 44% in May of this year down to 0% as early as July - a far cry from its September 2019 high, which saw the country hold around 75% of the global mining hashrate.

As is usually the case, one country's loss equates to another's "gain", and the same is true for mining operations following the China ban. The US may have become the biggest player in this particular court, but any country with cheap electricity that allows for profits increases is fair game. Countries like Kazakhstan went from 8% to 18% in the same period, claiming the current second spot in overall hashrate, while Russia has now claimed third place after reaching an 11% share - rising from 6.8% three months earlier. It remains to be seen whether these mining operation relocations will see the US face the same migratory phenomenons as China did back when mining wasn't banned: operators spent the dry season on regions like Xinjiang in late autumn, winter and spring, migrating to regions with significant temporary overcapacities in low-cost hydropower, like Sichuan, between May and October during the 'wet season'. The impact of this mining relocation to the US in its power delivery infrastructure (if any) remains to be fully understood.

LG Electronics (LG) continues to push the boundaries of productivity, user-comfort and workspace flexibility in the modern era with its newest LG Ergo series of monitors. Perfect for home or office and anything in between, the LG Ergo Dual (model 27QP88D) and LG Ergo Single (model 32QP880) boast maximum adjustability, easy installation and exceptional IPS picture quality with QHD resolution (2560 x 1440).

First unveiled a year ago, the LG Ergo series is designed to deliver a superior display experience with greater ergonomic comfort. The second generation models offer consumers even more value and versatility with improved height and swivel adjustability, making sharing the screen with others and working while standing easier than ever. Both new models continue to offer the same effortless ability as before to be set close to or far away from the user without having to adjust the mounting point. What's more, the Ergo Dual offers a height-adjustable range of 150 millimeters while the Ergo Single travels 130 millimeters, with both able to rotate 335 degrees.

Over the past few generations of Mini-ITX boards we've seen Asus add more and more stacked layers and its upcoming ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi seems to be taking this to the next level with what appears to be no less than three stacked layers on top of the main PCB. What can be seen from the side-shot of the boards is that there's at least one PCB for audio as well as what appears to be an ARGB and fan header, as well as what should be two layers for M.2 NVMe SSDs with associated heatsinks.

The rest of the pictures of the board have been put through some kind of filter which makes it hard to ascertain any details, although we can spot a USB type-C and USB 3.0 front panel connector. Asus has carried over the VRM heatsink from the Strix Z590-I Gaming WiFi by the looks of things, although it seems like the extra NVMe slot has been implemented on the cost of two SATA ports. We'll have to wait until the official unveiling to find out the full details, which should be sometime next month.

After all the reports of component shortages over the past few months, it now seems that the power related problems in China are having an effect on demand of passive components, such as MLCCs (Multilayer Ceramic Capacitor), various types of resistors and inductors among others. As such, manufacturers of said components in Taiwan are cautious about demand for the rest of this quarter, with even big players like Yageo - they're the third largest manufacturer in the world of passive components - being conservative, if somewhat positive about shipments this quarter, according to Digitimes.

As many of the Taiwanese makers of passive components have factories in China, the power cuts in several provinces are adversely affecting these companies. In the case of Yageo, they claim to be able to maintain their production at its largest facility in China, due to it not being located in one of the so far not affected provinces. Some of its competitors aren't as lucky and have already seen losses in production and aren't expecting things to improve. Besides the power outages, there are still issues with the logistics and shipping, which is further causing problems.

Acer launched a lineup of green PCs with its Vero series, including the Acer Aspire Vero laptop for consumers and the Acer TravelMate Vero laptop for commercial use. From PCs to peripherals, Vero devices share certain green guidelines, such as utilizing post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic and shipping in recyclable packaging. As sustainability concerns not only how a product is made but what becomes of it, Acer's Vero devices have also been designed to be easy to disassemble, simplifying the process of repairs or upgrades and ultimately increasing the devices' lifespans.

More than just a stylish computer, the Acer Aspire Vero (AV15-51) is a tangible manifestation of Acer's commitment to more sustainable operations. Its chassis is composed of 30% PCR plastic, cutting CO2 emissions by 21% for the production of that part. The keycaps also contain 50% PCR plastic, and the Aspire Vero's award-winning 100% recyclable packaging can be repurposed as a DIY laptop stand. From there, a thoughtful design helps to eliminate needless waste by making it easy to disassemble, repair, upgrade and recycle the computer or its components. Running the newly-released Windows 11 operating system, it's incredibly easy to use, too.

Acer today debuted four new Chromebooks that meet a range of customer needs, ranging from home and business users to hybrid workers and students. Equipped with the latest processors and sought-after features such as reliable Wi-Fi 6, video conferencing technology and durable designs, the new Acer Chromebooks keep customers connected, productive and entertained.

"Acer's expansive line of Chromebooks means that we're well-equipped to meet any sort of customer need—from display size, processors, durability, connectivity and more," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. "Whether a customer needs a device for work, school or entertainment, we've got a Chromebook with exactly the features they're looking for."

Remember that rumour from last week about TSMC potentially building a fab in Japan and partnering up with Sony? Well, the deal is on and the fab is set to start construction in 2022, with production expected to start sometime in 2024. However, as mentioned, the fab isn't going to be using any cutting edge technology when it comes to the process node, since it's intended for imaging sensors and EV components.

The new fab is said to focus on 28 and 22 nm nodes, according to Tim Culpan, who writes for Bloomberg and who has been reporting on TSMC for at least the last decade. This is backed up by the Nikkei that reports that the US$7 billion fab will make chips in the 20-nm range, without going into further details beyond mentioning these nodes are over a decade old. That said, there are still plenty of products made on older nodes than that, as not everything has to be built on a cutting edge node and many components wouldn't benefit from a smaller node. Regardless, this fab won't help with the current shortage of components, but will hopefully lead to better availability of certain components in the future.

EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is now offering an enterprise-grade GPU water block for NVIDIA GeForce RTX A6000 graphics cards and A100 GPUs. These new blocks incorporate a CNC-machined nickel-plated copper base with a laser-cut stainless steel top for a robust metal cooling solution. EK-Pro GPU WB RTX A6000 - Nickel + Inox water block is purpose-designed for the RTX A6000 graphics cards. This water block directly cools the GPU, VRAM, and the VRM (voltage regulation module) as cooling liquid is channeled directly over these critical areas.

An Open Split-Flow cooling engine design is used, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, which means that it can be used with weaker water pumps, or pumps running on low-speed settings and still achieve top performance. The jet plate and fin structure geometry have been optimized to provide even flow distribution with minimal losses and optimal performances even when used in reversed water flow scenarios.