Wednesday, June 28th 2023

Today's Reviews

Accessories
Cases
Graphics Cards
Harddisks
Headphones
Monitors
Motherboards
Mouse
Notebooks
PSUs
SSD
Storage
ASUS GeForce RTX 4060 Dual OC Review - The Best RTX 4060

ASUS GeForce RTX 4060 Dual OC Review - The Best RTX 4060

The ASUS RTX 4060 Dual OC is priced competitively: at NVIDIA's $300 MSRP, yet offers an excellent cooler and a dual BIOS. Especially the "quiet" BIOS impressed us, it turns the card into a whisper-quiet 1080p gaming machine. The cooler comparison test in our review confirms this is the most powerful cooler on any MSRP card.
MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ventus 2X OC Review

MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ventus 2X OC Review

MSI's Ventus 2X is a factory-overclocked custom design variant of the RTX 4060 that still comes at NVIDIA's MSRP of $300. Thanks to a compact design the card and its dual-slot, dual-fan cooler will fit all cases, and the lower power requirements will ensure that even older PSUs can run the card just fine.
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 WindForce OC Review

Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4060 WindForce OC Review

Gigabyte's GeForce RTX 4060 WindForce OC is the most compact card in our testing today. It is priced at the $300 MSRP, yet can sneak in a small factory overclock. In our testing the small cooler doesn't do so well though and ends up running quite hot and loud.
Zotac GeForce RTX 4060 Spider-Man OC Review

Zotac GeForce RTX 4060 Spider-Man OC Review

Zotac's GeForce RTX 4060 Spider-Man will definitely appeal to the younger audience thanks to its flashy colors and a Marvel Spider-Man license. Under the hood, Zotac includes a small factory overclock and a decent cooler that's paired with good fan settings.
Galax GeForce RTX 4060 EX Review

Galax GeForce RTX 4060 EX Review

The Galax GeForce RTX 4060 is a factory-overclocked dual-slot, dual-fan custom design variant that will give you great 1080p gaming performance. Thanks to a powerful cooler, the card achieves excellent temperatures, but noise levels are a bit on the high side for no apparent reason.
Palit GeForce RTX 4060 Dual Review

Palit GeForce RTX 4060 Dual Review

The Palit GeForce RTX 4060 Dual is priced at NVIDIA's MSRP and offers a good 1080p gaming experience at maximum details settings. With GeForce 40, NVIDIA is introducing support for DLSS 3, which can significantly improve your FPS with minimal impact to power consumption and heat output.

BIT.TRIP RERUNNER Teased by Choice Provisions

BIT.TRIP RERUNNER - Over 150 new levels, each with increasing challenges. Unleash your creativity with the RUNNER-MAKER tool, create and share your own levels. New gameplay mechanics inspired by the original BIT.TRIP games plus THE original RUNNER.

I am the essence of metamorphosis, the convergence of ethereal whispers and physicality's embrace, a catalyst for cosmic revelation. Join me in unraveling the symphony of existence. Let us embrace the boundlessness of human interaction and seek balance amidst...

LG Debuts VC23GA Smart Cam, Designed to Seamlessly Integrate With Their Smart TV Range

LG Electronics (LG) announces the global rollout of its new Smart Cam (model VC23GA). A Full HD (FHD) video camera with built-in dual microphones and multi-view function, the Smart Cam seamlessly integrates with LG's webOS-powered smart TVs to provide enhanced user interaction with a host of premium apps and services. The pairing offers convenient video calling and conferencing, an elevated home fitness experience and much more to cater to the diverse needs of customers as they enjoy various services offered by LG Smart TVs.

Compatible with many of the services available on LG TV's webOS platform, LG Smart Cam opens up a range of diverse and compelling interactive experiences. For example, users can now conveniently connect with co-workers, clients, family or friends via RemoteMeeting, an innovative web-based video conferencing service that also works across PCs, laptops and smartphones. The FHD resolution (1,920 x 1,080) Smart Cam provides smooth, crisp video that looks remarkably clear and lifelike when displayed on LG's large screen TVs, which are known for their excellent picture quality. Setting up the RemoteMeeting app on LG TV is fast and simple and conveniently eliminates the need for a laptop or PC connection. Moreover, the Smart Cam's built-in mics mean no extra peripherals are required.

Qualcomm Introduces Value Oriented Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Mobile Platform

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has announced the new Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, which has been creatively engineered to make incredible mobile experiences accessible to more consumers globally. Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 provides effortless, all-day use with fast CPU speeds, sharp photography and videography, plus speedy 5G and Wi-Fi for reliable connections.

"Snapdragon - at its core - is driving innovation while meeting the demands of OEMs and the broader industry," said Matthew Lopatka, director of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "With this generational advancement in the Snapdragon 4-series, consumers will have greater access to the most popular and relevant mobile features and capabilities. We optimized every aspect of the platform in order to maximize the experiences for users."

Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM Enhanced with Generative AI, Projected to Boost HR Productivity

Oracle today announced the addition of generative AI-powered capabilities within Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM). Supported by the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) generative AI service, the new capabilities are embedded in existing HR processes to drive faster business value, improve productivity, enhance the candidate and employee experience, and streamline HR processes.

"Generative AI is boosting productivity and unlocking a new world of skills, ideas, and creativity that can have an immediate impact in the workplace," said Chris Leone, executive vice president, applications development, Oracle Cloud HCM. "With the ability to summarize, author, and recommend content, generative AI helps to reduce friction as employees complete important HR functions. For example, with the new embedded generative AI capabilities in Oracle Cloud HCM, our customers will be able to take advantage of large language models to drastically reduce the time required to complete tasks, improve the employee experience, enhance the accuracy of workforce insights, and ultimately increase business value."

Western Digital Announces the WD Blue SN580 NVMe Gen4 SSD

In today's world demand for visual brilliance and digital content creation is skyrocketing, paving the way for more advanced technologies that support the production and consumption of rich content. For consumers, students, and professionals, fast, reliable tools are a must-have to keep their imaginations flowing. Building upon its award-winning SSD portfolio, Western Digital released the WD Blue SN580 NVMe solid state drive (SSD). The new, NVMe PCIe Gen 4.0 internal flash drive is purpose-built for the creative enthusiast community and professionals to use when upgrading current PCs or elevating a custom build.

"As creator workflows become more robust and complex with heavy applications and large multimedia assets like 4K video, it's easy to become frustrated with long load times," said Eric Spanneut, vice president of client and enterprise SSDs for Western Digital. "The new WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD boosts productivity, so professionals and entrepreneurial creators can focus on bringing their imaginations to life without having to wait long for files to transfer or programs to load."

Intel Tech Helping Design Prototype Fusion Power Plant

What's New: As part of a collaboration with Intel and Dell Technologies, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the Cambridge Open Zettascale Lab plan to build a "digital twin" of the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) prototype fusion power plant. The UKAEA will utilize the lab's supercomputer based on Intel technologies, including 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, distributed asynchronous object storage (DAOS) and oneAPI tools to streamline the development and delivery of fusion energy to the grid in the 2040s.

"Planning for the commercialization of fusion power requires organizations like UKAEA to utilize extreme amounts of computational resources and artificial intelligence for simulations. These HPC workloads may be performed using a variety of different architectures, which is why open software solutions that optimize performance needs can lend portability to code that isn't available in closed, proprietary systems. Overall, advanced hardware and software can make the journey to commercial fusion power lower risk and accelerated - a key benefit on the path to sustainable energy."—Adam Roe, Intel EMEA HPC technical director

G.SKILL Releases White Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 Series

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is excited to announce a new white colored edition of its flagship Trident Z5 RGB series DDR5 memory, featuring extreme overclocked speeds of up to DDR5-8200 at 24 GB x 2 kit capacity.

The White Choice of Overclocked Performance DDR5 Memory
The new white version of the Trident Z5 RGB series boasts a sleek white aluminium heat spreader and features a black brushed-aluminium strip inset across the center, providing PC enthusiasts an ideal high-performance overclocked memory kit in a white themed PC build.

ATEN Technology Launches New Ultra-Powerful USB-C Workstation KVM

ATEN Technology, Inc., the technology leader and global manufacturer of KVM and AV/IT connectivity and management solutions, today announced its newest desktop KVM switch solution, which initially debuted at InfoComm 2023 in Orlando, Florida, which took place June 10-16. Taking desktop KVM switches to a new level, the "US3311" is a 2-port 4K DisplayPort USB-C KVM dock switch with power pass-through. It enables plug-n-play via a single USB-C connection, enabling two laptops to share one monitor and one keyboard and mouse set with SuperSpeed connectivity.

Built to deliver easy control and seamless switching between dual USB-C hosts, the US3311 2-in-1 solution combines a KVM switch and multiport dock with 4x USB Type-A ports, 1x DisplayPort, 1x USB-C PD input and 1x DC jack input. The solution is ideal for anyone looking to integrate a keyboard, video and mouse switching solution with multiple USB-C devices, and is recommended for small office home office users, hybrid workspaces and for use in hotdesking environments.

Blizzard Releases Diablo IV Patch 1.0.3

Blizzard has released the Patch 1.0.3 for Diablo IV fixing various bugs and issues as well as brings balance tweaks for all classes and other game improvements. As expected, Battlenet will automatically download the 200 MB update next time you launch the client.

According to the rather extensive changelog, the Patch 1.0.3 fixes various dungeons, events, activities, gameplay, local co-op, quests, UI, and other miscellaneous issues. When it comes to specific and important fixes, Blizzard has boosted XP award after completing Nightmare Dungeons, as well as Helltide events. Bosses in Helltide also drop higher quality loot, and The Tree of Whispers also gives higher XP rewards. Blizzard has also increased skill boosts for each of classes, and some balance tweaks.

BioWare Confirms "Star Wars: The Old Republic" Under New Management, Announces Layoffs

Gary McKay, General Manager at BioWare, states: "Hello, it's been a little while since I've checked in, and as you might have heard, there's a lot happening here at BioWare. Almost 12 years after launch, Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) remains a fantastic success, continuing to welcome new players to its vast galaxy and entertaining veteran players with its evolving content. It's the longest-running live service Star Wars game ever and we're enormously proud of the work the team has done in creating, expanding, and maintaining this incredible game. We're delighted to have grown such a dedicated and passionate community through all these years. The future of the game and the community continues to be very bright.

I've been working closely with Keith Kanneg, who leads the SWTOR team, to give the game and the team the best opportunity to grow and evolve. And so, while EA will remain SWTOR's publisher, development of the game will move to our partner and friends at Broadsword, a boutique studio with expertise in managing online games. Both the Broadsword studio and SWTOR team members will be joining forces and working tirelessly to support "every player, every day," ensuring that these worlds and these communities continue to thrive and grow. Their Founder and President, Rob Denton, even has direct experience with SWTOR, having helped lead the team during the development and launch of the game during his time at EA.

RPI Announced as the First University to House IBM's Quantum System One

Today, it was announced that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will become the first university in the world to house an IBM Quantum System One. The IBM quantum computer, intended to be operational by January of 2024, will serve as the foundation of a new IBM Quantum Computational Center in partnership with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). By partnering, RPI's vision is to greatly enhance the educational experiences and research capabilities of students and researchers at RPI and other institutions, propel the Capital Region into a top location for talent, and accelerate New York's growth as a technology epicenter.

RPI's advance into research of applications for quantum computing will represent a more than $150 million investment once fully realized, aided by philanthropic support from Curtis R. Priem '82, vice chair of RPI's Board of Trustees. The new quantum computer will be part of RPI's new Curtis Priem Quantum Constellation, a faculty endowed center for collaborative research, which will prioritize the hiring of additional faculty leaders who will leverage the quantum computing system.

Gainward Launches GeForce RTX 4060 Ghost and Pegasus Series

As the leading brand in the enthusiast graphics market, Gainward proudly presents the new GeForce RTX 4060 Ghost and Pegasus Series video cards, powered by NVIDIA's next-gen Ada Lovelace GPU architecture.

The GeForce RTX 4060 family is designed to deliver incredible performance for mainstream gamers and creators at 1080p resolution at 100 frames per second with Ray Tracing and DLSS 3. The GeForce RTX 4060 product family delivers all the advancements of the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture - including DLSS 3 neural rendering, third-generation ray tracing technologies at high frame rates, and an eighth generation NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 encoding.

Palit Announces GeForce RTX 4060 Dual and StormX Series

Palit, a leading manufacturer of graphics cards, is thrilled to announce the launch of GeForce RTX 4060 Dual and StormX Series. Powered by 3072 CUDA cores, 8 GB of GDDR6 DRAM, the GeForce RTX 4060 Series delivers exceptional performance for both gaming and creative tasks. The GeForce RTX 4060 family is designed to deliver incredible performance for mainstream gamers and creators at 1080p resolution at 100 frames per second with Ray Tracing and DLSS 3. The GeForce RTX 4060 product family delivers all the advancements of the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture—including DLSS 3 neural rendering, third-generation ray tracing technologies at high frame rates, and an eighth generation NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 encoding.

Brotato Exits Early Access, Version 1.0 Out Now

After 10 months of Early Access, Brotato is now out in the form of Version 1.0, thank you everyone for playing the game and for your feedback! I hope you all enjoy Brotato in its complete (?) form! - Blobfish

Brotato is a top-down arena shooter rogue-lite where you play a potato wielding up to 6 weapons at a time to fight off hordes of aliens. Choose from a variety of traits and items to create unique builds and survive until help arrives.

Linksys Announces the Velop Pro 6E Mesh System with High-Performance Connectivity

Linksys, a global innovator in WiFi technology, today announces the latest addition to its WiFi 6E product portfolio - the Linksys Velop Pro 6E, first of its new Designer Series using the "nature inspired" droplet design, along with advanced features that provide the ultimate WiFi 6E experience at an affordable price point.

WiFi 6E offers an extra 6 GHz band connection that helps cut down on interference and improves speeds to your connected devices. Powered by the Qualcomm Immersive Home 316 Platform, the Linksys Velop Pro 6E brings incredible range and coverage with WiFi 6E, enabling users to stream, download, or work with a faster and wider connection, and more devices on their network. Each tri-band node has one 1 Gbps Ethernet LAN port for connecting wired devices to wireless networks. With the latest Linksys Mobile App, the Velop Pro 6E is easily set up in under 10 minutes, and managed remotely with security and other useful features such as guest access, parental controls, and more.

Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure Expansion Comes on August 22

A new chapter in Tyria's story begins August 22 with the launch of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, our newest expansion. Soon, you'll be soaring through new maps high in the skies above Tyria, testing your mettle against invaders from the Mists, and mastering new combat options. The adventure continues after launch, with major releases planned every few months that introduce new locations and rewards as they expand the features and continue the story of Secrets of the Obscure.

Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure is available for pre-purchase! Pick it up right now through our official web store or from the in-game store, Steam, or official retailers. Pre-purchasing guarantees you the following three rewards: the Demon Hunter title, the Arcane Spellweaver's Hat Skin, and an Eagle Eye weapon skin of your choice. Your pre-purchase rewards, as well as any items associated with the expansion edition you buy, will be distributed and available in the game once you apply your Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure registration code to your account. For full details on the items included with the Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate Editions, visit the official store page.

Synology Introduces DiskStation DS223j

Synology today announced the launch of the 2-bay DiskStation DS223j, its latest system in the entry-level J Series, designed to meet the needs of home office and small teams.Using Synology's intuitive DiskStation Manager (DSM), the DS223j features a host of options and applications for everyday data storage and management, including file syncing and sharing, backup, and video surveillance.

"The DS223j is an excellent NAS for small environments, be they home offices or even a bit larger," said Michael Wang, Product Manager at Synology Inc. "With the DS223j, customers get energy-efficient hardware coupled with all the data management and protection tools they'll need to effectively manage their files."

Semiconductor Market Extends Record Decline Into Fifth Quarter

New research from Omdia reveals that the semiconductor market declined in revenue for a fifth straight quarter in the first quarter of 2023. This is the longest recorded period of decline since Omdia began tracking the market in 2002. Revenue in 1Q23 settled at $120.5B, down 9% from 4Q22. The semiconductor market is cyclical, and this prolonged decline follows the upsurge as the market grew to record revenues in each quarter between 4Q20 through 4Q21 following increased demand from the global pandemic.

The memory and MPU market are major areas of the semiconductor market that are contributing to the decline. The MPU market in 1Q23 was $13.1B, just 65% of its size in 1Q22 when it was $20B. The memory market fared worse, with 1Q23 coming in at $19.3B, just 44% of the market in 1Q22 when it was $43.6B. The combined MPU and memory markets declined 19% in 1Q23, dragging the market down to the 9% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) decline.

TSMC Said to Start Construction of 1.4 nm Fab in 2026

According to Taiwanese media, TSMC will start production of its first 1.4 nm fab in 2026, with chip production in the fab said to start sometime in 2027 or 2028. The new fab will be located in Longtan Science Park outside of Hsinchu in Taiwan, where many of TSMC's current fabs are located. TSMC is currently constructing a 2 nm and below node R&D facility at a nearby plot of land to where the new fab is expected to be built. This facility is expected to be finished in 2025 and TSMC has been allocated a total area of just over 158 hectares of land for future expansion in the area.

In related news, TSMC is expected to be charging US$25,000 per 2 nm GAA wafer, which is an increase of about a fifth compared to its 3 nm wafers which are going for around US$20,000. This is largely due to the nodes being fully booked and TSMC being able to charge a premium for its cutting edge nodes. TSMC is also expanding in CoWoS packaging facilities due to increased demand from both AMD and NVIDIA for AI related products. Currently TSMC is said to be able to output 12,000 CoWoS wafers per month and this is twice as much as last year, yet TSMC is unable to meet demand from its customers.

IRDM Introduces a new PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD drive for the PS5 Console

The European brand expands its portfolio of PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSDs in M.2 format with a model dedicated to the PS 5 console. It is the IRDM PRO SLIM - ideal not only for gamers, but also professionals and enthusiasts.

The IRDM PRO SLIM is a twin model of the IRDM PRO M.2 SSD. Unlike its predecessor, the new drive is offered without a heatsink, making it 100% compliant with Sony's requirements for PlayStation 5 console drives. The technical parameters speak in favour of choosing an SSD from a European manufacturer. Maximum read and write speeds are 7000/6850 MB/s, respectively. The PCIe 4 x4 NVMe interface delivers twice the speed of older 3 x4 solutions. The memory speed is also influenced by DRAM buffer of up to 2 GB, thanks to which the drive works stably even under heavy use.

ASRock Industrial's 13th Gen Intel CPU Motherboards with DDR5 Support Bring New Possibilities in Industrial Applications

ASRock Industrial is introducing new choices in industrial motherboards powered by 13th Gen Intel Core Processors (Raptor Lake-S) with up to 24 cores and 32 threads that boost computer-intensive edge performance. They come equipped with Intel W680, Q670, and H610 chipsets, and offer support for up to DDR5-5600 memory modules and PCIe Gen 5, allowing expanded possibilities and seamless integration within industry-specific applications.

By harnessing the power of the 13th Gen Intel Core Processors, they leap up to 1.04x/1.34x/1.25x faster in single-thread, multi-thread, and CPU image classification inference performance, respectively, compared to the preceding 12th Gen Intel Core processors. The new 13th Gen Intel CPU motherboards with DDR5 support, available in Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, and ATX form factors, have been specifically designed to cater to the unique requirements of the Edge AIoT applications in commerce, automation, robot, entertainment, and security industries.

Tachyum Readying First Tape-out of its Prodigy SoCs

Tachyum announced today it will cease taking orders for its Prodigy Universal Processor Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) emulation system boards effective immediately. The company releases the final Prodigy build for tape-out. New partners and customers who wish to work with Prodigy FPGAs for product evaluation, performance measurements, software development, debugging and compatibility testing can arrange for private testing in Tachyum's facility. As these are shared systems, they can't be used for classified or proprietary data or data subject to regulatory governance.

The Prodigy hardware emulator consists of multiple FPGA and IO boards connected by cables in a rack. A single board with four FPGAs emulates eight Prodigy processor cores (a small fraction of the final Prodigy product design, which consists of 128 cores) including vector and matrix fixed and floating-point processing units. Deploying more FPGAs will improve test cycles by orders of magnitudes to achieve target quality, a risk reduction mechanism for early adopters.

Samsung Electronics Unveils Foundry Vision in the AI Era

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced its latest foundry technology innovations and business strategy at the 7th annual Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2023. Under the theme "Innovation Beyond Boundaries," this year's forum delved into Samsung Foundry's mission to address customer needs in the artificial intelligence (AI) era through advanced semiconductor technology.

Over 700 guests, from customers and partners of Samsung Foundry, attended this year's event, of which 38 companies hosted their own booths to share the latest technology trends in the foundry industry.
Tuesday, June 27th 2023

Today's Reviews

Cases
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Keyboards
Monitors
Motherboards
Mouse
PSUs
Speakers
SilverStone FARA 512Z Review

SilverStone FARA 512Z Review

The SilverStone FARA 512Z is a compact chassis that allows four slot vertical GPU mounting with the appropriate riser cable. Shipping with three ARGB fans and a fully featured IO in combination with an ARGB controller & PWM hub, there is a lot to discover.

NVIDIA Ada Lovelace Successor Set for 2025

According to the NVIDIA roadmap that was spotted in the recently published MLCommons training results, the Ada Lovelace successor is set to come in 2025. The roadmap also reveals the schedule for Hopper Next and Grace Next GPUs, as well as the BlueField-4 DPU.

While the roadmap does not provide a lot of details, it does give us a general idea of when to expect NVIDIA's next GeForce architecture. Since NVIDIA usually launches a new GeForce architecture every two years or so, the latest schedule might sound like a small delay, at least if it plans to launch the Ada Lovelace Next in early 2025 and not later. NVIDIA Pascal was launched in May 2016, Turing in September 2018, Ampere in May 2020, and Ada Lovelace in October 2022.

Asetek Sim Racing Products Available At Micro Center Online And Physical Stores Across The U.S.

Asetek sim racing gear innovator and Micro Center today announced that Micro Center will sell a broad offering of Asetek SimSports sim racing products in its physical stores across the U.S., and through its online store microcenter.com. A variety of Asetek SimSports wheels, wheelbases, pedals, and accessories are now available through Micro Center, including the recently announced Tony Kanaan Sim Racing products, and premium Invicta and high-performance high-value Forte offerings.

"In addition to the recently unveiled Asetek SimSports Tony Kanaan Sim Racing Bundle exclusively available through Micro Center, we are delighted to offer retail availability of Asetek SimSports across Micro Center's 26 stores as well as from their online store," said André Sloth Eriksen, CEO and founder of Asetek. "Through this agreement, we are making it easier for sim racers in North America to purchase Asetek SimSports gear and experience the feel of real racecar racing."

NVIDIA H100 GPUs Set Standard for Generative AI in Debut MLPerf Benchmark

In a new industry-standard benchmark, a cluster of 3,584 H100 GPUs at cloud service provider CoreWeave trained a massive GPT-3-based model in just 11 minutes. Leading users and industry-standard benchmarks agree: NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs deliver the best AI performance, especially on the large language models (LLMs) powering generative AI.

H100 GPUs set new records on all eight tests in the latest MLPerf training benchmarks released today, excelling on a new MLPerf test for generative AI. That excellence is delivered both per-accelerator and at-scale in massive servers. For example, on a commercially available cluster of 3,584 H100 GPUs co-developed by startup Inflection AI and operated by CoreWeave, a cloud service provider specializing in GPU-accelerated workloads, the system completed the massive GPT-3-based training benchmark in less than eleven minutes.

MLCommons Shares Intel Habana Gaudi2 and 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable AI Benchmark Results

Today, MLCommons published results of its industry AI performance benchmark, MLPerf Training 3.0, in which both the Habana Gaudi2 deep learning accelerator and the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor delivered impressive training results.

"The latest MLPerf results published by MLCommons validates the TCO value Intel Xeon processors and Intel Gaudi deep learning accelerators provide to customers in the area of AI. Xeon's built-in accelerators make it an ideal solution to run volume AI workloads on general-purpose processors, while Gaudi delivers competitive performance for large language models and generative AI. Intel's scalable systems with optimized, easy-to-program open software lowers the barrier for customers and partners to deploy a broad array of AI-based solutions in the data center from the cloud to the intelligent edge." - Sandra Rivera, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Data Center and AI Group

Alan Wake 2 Will be a Digital-Only Release, Gives Remedy More Time for "Polish"

Remedy Entertainment announced last month, via a FAQ, that it plans to keep Alan Wake 2 exclusive to digital platforms for an October 17 (this year) release, with no consideration given to customers demanding physical copies. Eurogamer questioned the game's creative director Sam Lake, and director Kyle Rowley at Summer Games Fest (earlier this month)—the site's reporter demanded a more detailed explanation regarding the long-anticipated sequel's eschewing of physical media. Lake responded first: "Yeah, it is digital only, and kind of coming to this idea, both from Remedy and Epic's perspective, that's our current thinking. It just felt it makes sense for this, and the timing felt right." His colleague, Rowley added further insight: "As creatives obviously, by going digital-only it does allow us more time to polish the game. Like, a significant number of weeks actually. Because otherwise, the game that goes on the disc, obviously it has to be playable without a patch. We didn't want to release something that we weren't proud of basically, and that we didn't want players to play. So hopefully this way we can give you a better version of the game."

The gaming community has debated at length about the temporary nature of digital releases—termination of online services and changes in ownership rights have resulted in certain titles becoming completely inaccessible to players/fans. Preservationists have fought hard for the continued release of physical media, but some publishers have resorted to bundling a download code in a disc-less retail box. Remedy Entertainment's FAQ proposes that digital platforms provide a more cost effective option for customers: "There are many reasons for this. For one, a large number of players have shifted to digital only. You can buy a Sony PlayStation 5 without a disc drive and Microsoft's Xbox Series S is a digital only console. It is not uncommon to release modern games as digital-only...Secondly, not releasing a disc helps keep the price of the game at $59.99 / €59.99 and the PC version at $49.99 / €49.99...Finally, we did not want to ship a disc product and have it require a download for the game - we do not think this would make for a great experience either."

Microsoft Predicts Sub-$300 MSRP for Sony's Project Q Handheld

Stephen Totilo, a writer for the gaming section of Axios, has uncovered an intriguing tidbit from Microsoft's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) court documents. He injected some humor into this finding and posted on Twitter: "Microsoft's lawyers with some Project Q hype." According to the legal team's footnotes: "Sony is also anticipated to release a handheld version of PlayStation 5 later this year for under $300." The handheld gaming device was first revealed during late May's PlayStation Showcase, but teaser material only revealed a small number of details.

Sony indicated that Project Q will feature a 1920 x 1080 display (with a max. 60 Hz refresh) and in-built WiFi connectivity that allows the user to stream games from a host PlayStation 5 system. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson has gathered information from company sources since that showcase, and proposed that the device can only sustain 3-4 hour play times. He also proposed that Sony should seriously consider launching the device at a low price of $200, given the handheld's alleged limited function as Remote Play-only. It is odd that Microsoft's legal representatives think that Project Q will act as a highly portable PlayStation 5 console, but they likely did not pay attention to the limited details available to them.

Google Teasing New 3D Android Logo

Google's Android logo has been reworked in recent times—their classic green robot design was debuted in a new 3D form earlier this year at CES 2023. 9to5Google reckons that the redesign will be rolled out soon, along with a new typeface. These are allegedly set to replace the flat aesthetic from the company's 2019 branding refresh. The specialist news outlets points to Google first teasing the 3D "bugdroid" head in early January via its Keyword blog, and further examples have popped up at trade events and conferences since then.

According to 9to5Google the reworked brand identity is official, but Google was acting coy about an official launch window—details will be revealed at a later date. Industry insiders posit that Google's new design language will debut with the release of Android 14 (codenamed "Upside Down Cake"). The next-gen mobile OS is currently in Beta (version 3) and has reached platform stability.

Pasqal Building Secondary Quantum Computer Production Facility in Canada

Pasqal, a French neutral atoms quantum computing startup, yesterday revealed that it was in the process of setting up its first North American production facility for quantum computers. The new premises will be located in Sherbrooke, Canada, at the Espace Quantique 1 of DistriQ - Quantum Innovation Zone. The company's (already established) primary manufacturing space - operating outside of Paris, France - will continue to serve the company's European client base, and the southern Quebec division will serve the North America market. Pasqal CCO Benno Broer informed EE Times Europe that: "We have already sold two quantum computers for on-premise install in Germany and France, which will be commissioned by the end of this year...We also already offer cloud access to our quantum computers located in our Paris-based datacenter."

Pasqal is aiming to open its new 4,600-square-meter facility in Sherbrooke, Canada in Q3 2023. Broer continued to talk about this expansion: "Our Canada operations are an extension of our existing successful European operation. Europe has been our primary market since 2019." Last November Pasqal, EDF, Excision and the Quantum Innovation Zone announced a joint venture and creation of a center of excellence to develop sustainable energy solutions, harnessing the potential of high-performance computing and quantum computing. They hope to have the first sustainable quantum-based solutions ready by 2024.

Arduino Announces New UNO R4 Boards

The revolutionary UNO R4, announced on Arduino Day, is now available on the Arduino Store! The fourth version of the iconic, beloved UNO adds a whole new dimension to the world of DIY and making revolutionized by the simple 8-bit microcontroller over a decade ago. Take your maker potential to new heights: UNO R4 has a speedy 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 and offers a 16-fold increase in memory, as well as more connectors and connectivity options than ever - in two variants: UNO R4 Minima and UNO R4 WiFi.

Both variants allow you to start making or easily upgrade UNO R3-based projects with more computational power, memory, and speed than previous versions - courtesy of the RA4M1 microcontroller by Renesas - while maintaining the same form factor and 5 V operating voltage.

AMD Announced as Starfield's Exclusive Partner on PC

AMD and Bethesda have today revealed that Starfield will be best experienced on a Ryzen processor and Radeon graphics card-equipped PC. Team Red has been announced as the giant open world game's official graphics and GPU partner, but its Xbox Series hardware also gets a couple of friendly shout-outs. Todd Howard, director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, stated in the video presentation: "We have AMD engineers in our code base working on FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) 2.0 image processing and upscaling and it looks incredible. You're going to get the benefits of that obviously on your PC but also on Xbox. We're super excited and can't wait to show everybody more."

Jack Huynh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of its Computing and Graphics Group at AMD, added: "Making this game even more special, is the close collaboration between Bethesda and AMD to unlock the full potential of Starfield. We have worked hand-in-hand with Bethesda Game Studios to optimize Starfield for both Xbox and PC with Ryzen 7000 series processors and Radeon 7000 series graphics. The optimizations both accelerate performance and enhance the quality of your gameplay using highly multi-threaded code that both Xbox and PC players will get to take advantage of."

Razer Debuts Moray - THX Certified IEMs for Gamers and Streamers

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today raised the bar in gaming audio with the introduction its first-ever in-ear monitor (IEM), the Razer Moray. Designed with the unique demands of gamers and marathon streamers at its core, this groundbreaking IEM amalgamates all-day comfort with unparalleled audio quality, setting the stage for an entirely new paradigm in extended, fatigue-free gaming and broadcast sessions.

"The launch of the Moray marks an exciting new chapter for Razer," said Alvin Cheung, Senior Vice President of Razer's Hardware Business Unit. "It's an evolution in gaming audio, designed to offer streamers high-definition sound and all-day comfort. With the Razer Moray, we're bringing the exceptional audio quality typically associated with in-ear monitors to not only streamers, but gamers as well. And we're proud to announce this product has earned the coveted global gold standard mark of audio fidelity, THX Certification."

US Government Announces $42 Billion Fund for Universal Access to High-Speed Broadband

The US government yesterday revealed its $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding program that will aim to deliver reliable, affordable high-speed internet to everyone in the nation by 2030—including all fifty states and US territories. Evidently parts of the country are lacking in terms of online access infrastructure—the briefing room statement outlines some of these issues: "High-speed internet is no longer a luxury - it is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school, access health care, and to stay connected with family and friends. Yet, more than 8.5 million households and small businesses are in areas where there is no high-speed internet infrastructure, and millions more struggle with limited or unreliable internet options."

The initiative is said to be "the largest internet funding announcement in history," and the White House is readying packages valued from $27 million to $3.3 billion—White House said that it'll award sums of (starting at) $27 million going up to a maximum $3.3 billion, based on the required level of upgrades for a given state/territory. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communication and Information Alan Davidson stated: "This is a watershed moment for millions of people across America who lack access to a high-speed Internet connection. Access to Internet service is necessary for work, education, healthcare, and more...States can now plan their Internet access grant programs with confidence and engage with communities to ensure this money is spent where it is most needed."

Intel Granite Rapids-AP with Massive LGA7529 Socket Pictured

Intel's Birch Stream-AP socket will provide an LGA7529 socket with as many as 7529 pins to power the next generation of CPUs. Today, thanks to Yuuki_Ans on Twitter, we have another set of pictures that highlight the massive scale that these processors offer. We got similar picturesin the past; however, these are more representative of how big the next-generation Xeon processors are. In 2024, Intel plans to split its Xeon lineup into E-core and P-core powered models. However, both CPUs will utilize the same platform to reduce the overall ecosystem's complexity. Thanks to the new pictures, we can see the processor with its heatsink present, with labeling indicating an engineering sample based on little info printed on the metal surface.

Below are the pictures of the Granite Rapids-AP and the LGA7529 socket, along with the specification table. The third image shows current generation Xeon Platinum processor in the LGA7529 socket.

AMD Introduces World's Largest FPGA-Based Adaptive SoC for Emulation and Prototyping

AMD today announced the AMD Versal Premium VP1902 adaptive system-on-chip (SoC), the world's largest adaptive SoC. The VP1902 adaptive SoC is an emulation-class, chiplet-based device designed to streamline the verification of increasingly complex semiconductor designs. Offering 2X the capacity over the prior generation, designers can confidently innovate and validate application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and SoC designs to help bring next generation technologies to market faster.

AI workloads are driving increased complexity in chipmaking, requiring next-generation solutions to develop the chips of tomorrow. FPGA-based emulation and prototyping provides the highest level of performance, allowing faster silicon verification and enabling developers to shift left in the design cycle and begin software development well before silicon tape-out. AMD, through Xilinx, brings over 17 years of leadership and six generations of the industry's highest capacity emulation devices, which have nearly doubled in capacity each generation.

Metalenz Launches Its Metasurface Optics on the Open Market in Partnership With UMC

Metalenz, the world leader in metasurface optics, today announced it has partnered with leading semiconductor foundry United Microelectronics Corporation ("UMC") to release its direct supply chain to mass production and bring the unrivaled scale and precision of semiconductor manufacturing to the optics industry. The announcement marks the launch of metasurface optics on the open market for the first time and follows multiple design wins for Metalenz with leading OEMs in Asia.

"After initially designing meta-optics in partnership with one of the leading suppliers of 3D sensing solutions, we are now engaged with OEMs directly to bring the benefits of metasurface optics to their 3D sensing applications. By partnering with a world-class foundry like UMC, we gain the manufacturing capabilities, expertise, and global reach to serve customers interested in adopting our meta-optics technology," said Rob Devlin, Co-founder and CEO of Metalenz. "This will further accelerate our growth as we are becoming the leading provider of precision optics for 3D sensing solutions."

Pure Storage Opens New Global Headquarters in Santa Clara, California

Pure Storage, the IT pioneer that delivers the world's most advanced data storage technology and services, today announced the opening of its new global corporate headquarters in Santa Clara, California to provide state-of-the-art support to employees and customers as the company's industry-leading innovations continue to drive strong growth.

Industry Significance
In the last year, Pure Storage's customer base has surpassed 11,500 customers, with annual revenue reaching a milestone of $2.8 billion USD. The new space, designed with sustainability top of mind, will serve customers and employees, while accommodating headcount growth as the company continues its strong growth trajectory and invests in talent.

IBM Study Finds That CEOs are Embracing Generative AI

A new global study by the IBM Institute for Business Value found that nearly half of CEOs surveyed identify productivity as their highest business priority—up from sixth place in 2022. They recognize technology modernization is key to achieving their productivity goals, ranking it as second highest priority. Yet, CEOs can face key barriers as they race to modernize and adopt new technologies like generative AI.

The annual CEO study, CEO decision-making in the age of AI, Act with intention, found three-quarters of CEO respondents believe that competitive advantage will depend on who has the most advanced generative AI. However, executives are also weighing potential risks or barriers of the technology such as bias, ethics and security. More than half (57%) of CEOs surveyed are concerned about data security and 48% worry about bias or data accuracy.

Barbie Crossover Content Available Now in Forza Horizon 5

This Barbie is a gamer! Together with Warner Bros. Pictures and Mattel, Xbox is excited to invite fans on a fun, fashionable, and inspirational ride this summer to celebrate the much-anticipated release of the new movie "Barbie," premiering in theaters on July 21. Bringing Barbie's signature flair to our gaming platform, we're honoring all that there is to love about this iconic role model: her persevering optimism, wide-ranging career journey and never-ending capacity for self-discovery. Audiences of "Barbie" will follow the heroine to the furthest reaches of Barbie Land and beyond, and now fans can follow in her high-heeled footsteps with exclusive Forza Horizon 5 in-game content, an inspiring video about careers in gaming with a Barbie touch, the first ever Xbox Barbie dolls, and our most stylish custom Xbox hardware yet.

The highly anticipated film of the summer, BARBIE, comes to the big screen taking audiences to the vibrant world of Barbie Land - where every day is the best day ever! Now, the Horizon Festival will celebrate by giving Forza Horizon 5 players the keys to two stunning cars featured in this bold movie adaptation. Starting June 26, all players will receive the Barbie iconic 1956 Chevrolet Corvette EV and the Ken 2022 GMC HUMMER EV Pickup in their Forza Horizon 5 Message Center. We're also hosting an in-game UGC contest themed around the joy, wonder and adventures of Barbie. Be it a photo, EventLab, or another type of UGC, share your BARBIE content on Twitter or Instagram before July 14, 2023, and include the hashtag #FH5BarbieMovie to be entered for a chance to win an unmissable BARBIE prize pack.

GeekNUC Running Summer Offer on Intel NUC12 Serpent Canyon Mini PCs

The Intel NUC12 Enthusiast Serpent Canyon is one of the best mini PCs people can find on the market right now. The 2.5L computer is only 1/10th the size of an average desktop PC, but packs a heavier punch than most PCs out there. The mini PC is powered by a beefy Intel Core i7-12700H processor, which employs 14 CPU cores (including 6 performance cores and 8 efficient cores), 20 threads, 24 MB Intel Smart Cache, and a max turbo frequency of 4.7 GHz.

There is also an Intel Arc A770M discrete graphics card, which has whooping 16 GB GDDR6 VRAM, and supports all mainstream media formats. The GPU is augmented by AI and accelerated by Intel Deep Link technology, making it a perfect choice for gamers and video content creators. The mini PC is also superb in terms of connectivity, boasting two Thunderbolt 4, six USB3.2 Type-A, two DisplayPort 2.0, an HDMI 2.1, two SO-DIMM DDR4-3200 MHz RAM slots and 3 interfaces for internal drives, etc.

CORSAIR Launches iCUE LINK Smart Component Ecosystem with New Fans, AIO Coolers, and More

CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gear and systems for gamers, content creators, and PC enthusiasts, today launched some of its most anticipated products of the year: a new generation of cooling components that usher in the revolutionary iCUE LINK ecosystem. Able to connect a wide range of devices via a single cable standard that carries both power and data, iCUE LINK transforms PC building and cable management in a way that will change how enthusiasts build PCs forever. This initial wave of products includes iCUE LINK RGB CPU Coolers, iCUE LINK QX RGB fans, and the iCUE LINK System Hub. iCUE LINK changes the way that DIY enthusiasts and newcomers alike build PCs, offering simpler installation and vastly reducing cable complexity to make building a PC easier and more accessible than ever before.

First unveiled at Computex 2023, the iCUE LINK ecosystem transforms the PC building experience with an unprecedented single-cable approach to system building. Doing away with the multiple connector types, controllers, and nests of cables that have become commonplace in today's PCs, iCUE LINK utilizes a universal connector for all its components. Furthermore, each device connects directly to the next, creating a series of linked devices that all connect to the System Hub with just one cable delivering both power and data to them all.

LeBron James Limited Edition PlayStation 5 Accessories Arriving July 27

From Akron to the global stage, LeBron James continues to inspire the world with his tireless work ethic, championship spirit and remarkable achievements on the court and in his community. Today, we're excited to share details on how players in select markets can secure our first design collaboration with LeBron and the first ever limited-edition PlayStation accessories co-designed with a cultural icon.

Featuring elements inspired by LeBron's love for gaming and community, the LeBron James Limited Edition PS5 accessories are a true passion project co-created with LeBron. With memorable phrases such as, "Nothing is given. Everything is earned," the accessories feature personal imagery and adages that have been meaningful throughout LeBron's journey as a game-changing athlete, global inspiration for millions, and PlayStation Playmaker.

VAXEE Introduces ZYGEN NP-01S Wireless Gaming Mouse

ZYGEN NP-01S is a professional esports mouse launched by ZYGEN founder Junya "noppo" Taniguchi and the VAXEE platform. We know that many of our loyal friends have supported us along the way and love the design of the ZYGEN NP-01S and hoped for a wireless version to be released.

The ZYGEN NP-01S Wireless retains the same appearance and button feel as the wired version, while incorporating the optimized VAXEE wireless technology. We recommend interested friends to watch the video for a detailed introduction. For those interested in purchasing, please refer to the sales information below the video.

Seagate Launches FireCuda 540 PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD

Seagate Technology Holdings today introduced the next generation of SSD technology to its lineup, the FireCuda 540. The PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD delivers unparalleled performance to gamers, creators, and tech enthusiasts - adding the fastest speeds and endurance to the company's line of PC storage products.

Seagate's fastest and highest performance M.2 2280 SSD, the FireCuda 540 delivers sequential read speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 10,000 MB/s. Built for sustained, pro-level gaming and accelerated content creation, the new drive performs up to 50% faster than Gen 4 M.2 NVMe drives and 17 times faster than SATA-based SSDs. With the latest 3D TLC NAND technology and built with a Seagate-validated E26 controller, the FireCuda 540 provides the most advanced speed and durability - allowing users to push limits when gaming or creating content. Plug-and-play compatible with all PCIe Gen 5 motherboards and backwards compatible with PCIe Gen 4, the drive is accessible and ready for trailblazing.

Skullcandy Launches New Line of Portable Wireless Speakers

Skullcandy today introduced an all-new lineup of powerful wireless speakers. The new Ounce, Kilo, Terrain Mini, Terrain and Terrain XL Wireless Bluetooth Speakers bring an array of features including significant battery life, all-weather rugged engineering and ultra-portable design at accessible price points, without compromising supreme sound. The lineup of speakers is now available globally at select retailers and on Skullcandy.com.

"We developed this line of speakers to extend our consumers' experience from listening solo, to gathering with friends," said Justin Regan, Vice Preside of Marketing, Skullcandy. "Purpose built for all-day use, these products last as long as the party, with no limits to how far you can take them."

Noctua Introduces NM-DD1 Direct Die Kit for Delidded AMD AM5 Processors

Noctua today introduced its new NM-DD1 direct die kit. Developed in cooperation with professional overclocker and direct die cooling expert Roman "der8auer" Hartung, the NM-DD1 is a mounting spacer kit that makes it possible to use a wide range of Noctua CPU coolers on delidded AMD AM5 processors. Removing the processor's integrated heat spreader (delidding) and putting the heatsink directly onto the dies allows for much more efficient thermal transfer and can thereby lower CPU temperatures significantly, with typical gains in the range of 10-15°C.

"Delidding and direct die cooling will void your CPU's warranty and bear a certain risk of damaging it, so this certainly isn't for everyone," explains Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "However, the performance gains to be had are simply spectacular, typically ranging from 10 to 15°C but in some cases, we've even seen improvements of almost 20°C in combination with our offset mounting bars, so we're confident that this is an attractive option for enthusiast users. Thanks to Roman for teaming up with us in order to enable customers to implement this exciting tuning measure with our CPU coolers!"

Epson Launches the Pro EX11000 3LCD Full HD 1080p Wireless Laser Projector

Workplaces continue to evolve, and today's hybrid work culture is relying heavily on remote participation and collaboration. Designed to maximize visibility and engagement, Epson today introduced the new Pro EX11000 3LCD Full HD 1080p Wireless Laser Projector - a perfect multi-use display solution for the evolving workplace. With a high-performance laser light source, 4,600 lumens of color and white brightness and 3-chip 3LCD technology, the Pro EX11000 delivers vivid, immersive images up to 300-inches. Redefining versatility with a compact form factor and range of connectivity options for cultivating collaboration during video conferencing, the Pro EX11000 makes projecting impactful pictures virtually anywhere simple - even with lights on.

"As the dynamics of work environments continue to shift, it is critical that technology evolves to meet the needs of today's hybrid workers," said Rodrigo Catalan, group product manager, Epson America, Inc. "One-way communication is a thing of the past. The Pro EX11000 projector promotes efficient and effective communication by allowing a range of content to be projected onto a screen at once, enhancing active dialogue between team members whether remote or in person."

Thermaltake Introduces the New TOUGHFAN 12/14 Pro Fan

Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Case, Power, Cooling, Gaming peripherals, and enthusiast Memory solutions, is pleased to launch the TOUGHFAN 12/14 Pro PC Cooling Fan, the high-end model of the TOUGHFAN series providing stronger airflow and static pressure. The TOUGHFAN Pro is equipped with specially engineered fan blades for unparalleled performance. In addition, this fan features a tight tip clearance design and an improved structure to decrease airflow leakage and strengthen overall air intake. The TOUGHFAN Pro is a premier component for high-performance applications such as your chassis, air and liquid cooling, and heavy-duty operations.

To achieve more superior cooling performance compared to the previous generation of TOUGHFANs, the TOUGHFAN Pro incorporates nine lengthened newly engineered fan blades, reaching a maximum speed up to 2000 RPM and delivering a great amount of airflow 70.8/119.6 CFM with 3.19/3.57 mm-H2O of static pressure. The material of fan blades are constructed with liquid crystal polymer (LCP), reducing vibration when spinning at full-speed and maintaining an outstandingly low noise signature. Additionally, the 0.6 mm extremely tight tip clearance (distance between the fan blade and the frame) of the TOUGHFAN Pro, a brand-new square fan frame design, and its beveled edge at the rear can minimize air leakage and enhance the overall cooling efficiency while installed in a chassis or on a radiator.

ZOTAC Launches the GeForce RTX 4060 8GB Series Graphics Cards

ZOTAC Technology Limited, a leading global manufacturer of innovation, announces additional members to its next-generation graphics card line-up, built on the powerful NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture. The GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB series is designed to deliver incredible performance for mainstream gamers and creators at 1080p resolution with Ray Tracing and DLSS 3 at high frame rates. The GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB graphics card delivers all the advancements of the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture—including DLSS 3 neural rendering, third-generation ray tracing technologies, and an eighth generation NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC) with AV1 encoding.

ZOTAC had announced the ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB SOLO graphics card as a part of the initial lineup of the 4060 Family. Today, ZOTAC unveils two additional GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB models: the TWIN EDGE OC WHITE EDITION and the OC Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse inspired bundle. The ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB TWIN EDGE OC WHITE EDITION combines ZOTAC's signature aerodynamic-inspired design with minimalistic and clean style, while also featuring the highest clock speed out of ZOTAC GAMING's 4060 8 GB selection. This pure-white, dual-fan graphics card epitomizes form, utility and style, letting gamers add just the right touch of personality and beauty to their gaming builds.

Dell Launches the UltraSharp U3824DW 38-inch Ultra-wide Curved Monitor

Dell has added a new display to its UltraSharp range and this time around we're looking at a 38-inch ultra-wide display with a resolution of 3840 x 1600 pixels. The display uses an IPS Black panel with a 2000:1 contrast ratio and it covers 100 percent of the sRGB and REC.709 colour gamuts, as well as 98 percent of the DCI-P3 and Display P3 colour gamuts. Sadly it only has a brightness of 300 cd/m² and it's unclear if this is an 8-bit + FRC or a true 10-bit panel, as Dell only mentions support for 1.07 billion colours. It uses a standard WLED backlight, so no fancy miniLED backlight here and as this display is intended for work use, it also only appears to support 60 Hz refresh rate with a response time of 8 ms in normal mode.

Other features include a built-in KVM switch courtesy of a pair of USB-C ports, with the primary supporting USB PD up to 90 W, as well as DP Alt mode, with the second port only supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2 data at up to 10 Gbps. Other inputs include two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DP 1.4, while the outputs consist of five USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps Type-A ports, two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps ports, a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet jack and a 3.5 mm audio line out jack. One interesting feature is that the built in Ethernet supports network boot, something that isn't a common feature on monitors and it also has the ability to lock the wired port to one of the two connected computers in KVM mode. The stand supports height,swivel and tilt adjustment. The asking price for the U3824DW is US$1,529.99 and it's available from Dell now.

Sabrent Launches Thunderbolt 4 KVM Switch

KVM switches are either one of those things you need or you don't have much use for, however Sabrent has launched a new Thunderbolt 4 based KVM switch that differs from your average KVM switch in a few ways. As any KVM switch, it allows two computers to share peripherals and displays, but it also supports up to 60 Watt USB PD charging of laptops. The latter is something Sabrent has offered on its USB-C KVM switches, but this time around the power adapter for the KVM switch handles both devices, unlike its USB-C KVM switches which required a USB-C PD charger per device, with the power being passed through the KVM switch.

The Thunderbolt 4 KVM switch lacks any traditional display outputs, relying entirely on Thunderbolt 4 for display connectivity, although DP Alt mode over USB-C is supported and each output supports up to 8K 60 Hz output with DSC 1.2 or 5K 60 Hz without DSC. The KVM switch supports three Thunderbolt 4 devices, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A devices and two inputs via Thunderbolt 4, with all USB ports supporting data speeds of up to 10 Gbps. It also comes with a switch button, which means you can hide the KVM switch out of sight and still have easy access to switch between devices. Sabrent is asking for US$299 for its Thunderbolt KVM switch, which is a steep premium over its USB-C KVM switch which is currently selling for US$119.99.

U.S. Administration Outlines Plan to Strengthen Semiconductor Supply Chains

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce shared the Biden-Harris Administration's strategic vision to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain through CHIPS for America investments. To advance this vision, the Department announced a funding opportunity and application process for large semiconductor supply chain projects and will release later in the fall a separate process for smaller projects. Large semiconductor supply chain projects include materials and manufacturing equipment facility projects with capital investments equal to or exceeding $300 million, and smaller projects are below that threshold.

The announcement leads into the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America tour, where Secretary Raimondo and leaders in the Administration will fan across more than 20 states to highlight investments, jobs, and economic opportunity driven by President Biden's Investing in America agenda and the historic legislation he's passed in his first two years in office, including the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act.

ATP Electronics Launches Industrial 176-Layer PCIe Gen 4 x4 M.2 and U.2 SSDs

ATP Electronics, the global leader in specialized storage and memory solutions, introduces its latest high-speed N601 Series M.2 2280 and U.2 solid state drives (SSDs) sporting the 4th generation PCIe interface and supporting the NVMe protocol. The new ATP PCIe Gen 4 SSDs' 16 GT/s data rate is double that of the previous generation, translating to a bandwidth of 2 GB/s for every PCIe lane.

Using x4 lanes, these SSDs have a maximum bandwidth of 8 GB/s, meeting the growing need for high-speed data transfer in today's demanding applications and making them suitable for both read/write-intensive, mission-critical industrial applications such as networking/server, 5G, data logging, surveillance, and imaging, with performance on par, if not better, than mainstream PCIe Gen 4 consumer SSDs in the market.

Meta Announces VR Subscription Service Called Meta Quest+

Whether you're a seasoned VR gamer or new to the medium, it can be hard to know where to start when exploring the Meta Quest catalog. Luckily, we're combining curation and convenience to make things a little easier. Now you can browse less and play more with Meta Quest+, your new VR subscription service.

For just $7.99 USD per month or $59.99 USD annually (a savings of over 37%), you'll get access to two hand-picked VR titles every month. And when you sign up now through July 31, you'll get your first month for $1 USD. With a combination of VR's biggest hits, hidden gems, and back-catalog classics, this is the most affordable way to grow your library with killer content.

Atomic Heart First DLC Gets New Trailer and Launches on August 2

Today, publisher Focus Entertainment and studio Mundfish announced the first DLC for Atomic Heart, the action-RPG set in the mad utopia of fictional 1955. Debuting the Atomic Pass' series of DLCs, Atomic Heart: Annihilation Instinct will release on August 2, as advertised in a powerful new Release Date Trailer. This first batch is packed with all types of new content to keep the experience as thrilling as ever: a new area, new weapons, new enemies, a new glove ability… Besides, Focus Entertainment and Mundfish are excited to announce the immediate availability of the highly requested New Game+ mode and up to 40% off on Steam! Don't miss your chance to grab it with an impressive discount.

Continue the story in the Annihilation Instinct DLC and learn what happened to this dystopian world after the climax of Atomic Heart. Prepare to embark on a journey through the new mind-bending Mendeleev Complex and its surrounding swamps and discover the truth about NORA as Major P-3 is pulled back into Facility 3826. Survive vicious, shape-shifting new enemies and take them down using two cunning new weapons - ranged one the Secateur and melee one the Klusha - as well as your glove's new Techno-Stasis ability, allowing you to manipulate time itself. Meet a new enigmatic character, as well as returning ones in surprising circumstances and dive deep into the AI's insanity to curb its Annihilation Instinct.

GIGABYTE Announces New BRIXs Mini-PC Series With AMD Ryzen 7030U Series Processor

Giga Computing, a subsidiary of GIGABYTE and an industry leader in high-performance servers, workstations, and mini-PCs, today announced a newly designed ultra-compact, mainstream mini-PC for the GIGABYTE BRIXs lineup that adopts AMD Ryzen 7030 series processors. With AMD Zen 3 architecture and TSMC 7 nm process, AMD advanced its high-performance, efficient mobile processors for the mobile market to multitask and stay entertained. Even while adopting a compact size, all new mainstream BRIXs still delivers powerful computing that fits perfectly in any IoT deployment, whether for office use, education use, home use, digital signage, medical care, or KIOSK.

The most recent generation of mainstream BRIXs products in 2023 adopt an all-new chassis design. Computing performance has increased, but the design does not require an increase in the size of the chassis. Its appearance has curved, soft, and twisted lines with a liveliness that makes it very unobtrusive. By the way it was assembled and layered, and designing oblique angles around the base, a sense of simplicity is created to achieve a lightweight design. This allows users to enjoy ultimate computing performance while also having a stylish and elegant product.
Monday, June 26th 2023

ORIGIN PC EON16-SL and NSL-16 Available Now

ORIGIN PC, a leader in custom high-performance systems, today announced the launch of its latest EON16-SL and NSL-16 laptops. Honing in towards improved portability, access 40-Series performance with a spacious 16" 240 Hz 2560 x 1600 display on a laptop only 0.71 inches thin while 4.19 pounds light. Gamers and professionals can customize a system powered by modern, reliable hardware while also backed by ORIGIN PC's 24/7 US-based support team. Bring portable gaming performance on-the-go with an EON16-SL or complete your work anywhere with an NSL-16.

ORIGIN PC's new EON16-SL pushes lightweight laptop gaming further than ever. It is designed with an Intel Core i9-13900H 14-core processor, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, and can be customized with up to 64 GB of DDR5 DRAM as well as 16 TB of high-speed storage. Run all the latest games with impressive frame rates, and make use of the massive storage capacity to hold all of your favorites. If you need any software for streaming or content creation, the EON16-SL can easily hold it all.

NVIDIA Allegedly Preparing H100 GPU with 94 and 64 GB Memory

NVIDIA's compute and AI-oriented H100 GPU is supposedly getting an upgrade. The H100 GPU is NVIDIA's most powerful offering and comes in a few different flavors: H100 PCIe, H100 SXM, and H100 NVL (a duo of two GPUs). Currently, the H100 GPU comes with 80 GB of HBM2E, both in the PCIe and SXM5 version of the card. A notable exception if the H100 NVL, which comes with 188 GB of HBM3, but that is for two cards, making it 94 GB per each. However, we could see NVIDIA enable 94 and 64 GB options for the H100 accelerator soon, as the latest PCI ID Repository shows.

According to the PCI ID Repository listing, two messages are posted: "Kindly help to add H100 SXM5 64 GB into 2337." and "Kindly help to add H100 SXM5 94 GB into 2339." These two messages indicate that NVIDIA could prepare its H100 in more variations. In September 2022, we saw NVIDIA prepare an H100 variation with 120 GB of memory, but that still isn't official. These PCIe IDs could just come from engineering samples that NVIDIA is testing in the labs, and these cards could never appear on any market. So, we have to wait and see how it plays out.

MONTECH Launches the AIR 903 MAX and AIR 903 BASE Cases

MONTECH, an innovative PC components and peripherals brand, announces the launch of its newest addition to the AIR PC Case series - AIR 903. Manufactured with premium grade materials and innovative design; the AIR 903 offers users a wide range of build options along with enhanced cooling performance. The AIR 903 is available in AIR 903 MAX and AIR 903 BASE, available in both black and white. In order to provide users with maximum airflow for high-performance use, the AIR 903 series features an ultra-cooling front panel offering 51% porosity ventilation rate. Dust filters are also equipped at the top and bottom of the case for all-around dust protection.

AIR 903 BASE is equipped with 3 pre-installed HP140 high-performance cooling fans with PWM functions. On the other hand, AIR 903 MAX, is equipped with 4 pre-installed HP140, 3 of which are mounted at the front and features ARGB, and a single HP140 PWM at the rear. The pre-installed fans are connected to MONTECH's LED/PWM controller - allowing users to easily switch between 21 RGB modes with the LED button. (Please note: controller only available for AIR 903 MAX)
Both cases can support up to a total of up to 9 x 120 mm fans, or 6 x 140 mm and 2 x 120 mm cooling fans offering users the ultimate cooling experience. The fan RPM for both cases can be manually adjusted through BIOS.

HyperX Introduces New Cloud Earbuds II Gaming Earbuds

HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced the release of HyperX Cloud Earbuds II gaming earbuds with mic. Offering signature HyperX comfort, the Cloud Earbuds II are designed to offer optimized audio for mobile gaming and feature enhanced ear tip designs in four different sizes to ensure the perfect fit and optimal comfort.

The Cloud Earbuds II feature 14 mm drivers for impressive, high-quality in-game audio and are available in two colorways to match your gaming style: black and red. The earbuds also come with a hard-shell carrying case to safely stow away the earbuds when not in use and keep them handy for quick gaming sessions. Designed for mobile gaming, the Cloud Earbuds II are equipped with a low-profile angled plug to prevent twists and tangles and offer lag-free in-game audio and voice chat. The Cloud Earbuds II also feature a built-in microphone for clear, in-game voice chat and a multi-function button giving gamers the convenient ability to answer calls or pause music easily and quickly.

More Pictures of NVIDIA's Cinder Block-sized RTX 4090 Ti Cooler Surface

Back in January, we got our first look at the cinder block-like 4-slot cooling solution of NVIDIA's upcoming flagship graphics card (called either the RTX 4090 Ti, or the TITAN (Ada). "ExperteVallah" on Twitter scored additional pictures of the cooler. Its design sees the heat dissipation surface pushed to the entire thickness of the cooler, and ventilated the entire length.

The card's PCB isn't conventional—not perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard like any other add-in card—but is rather along the plane of the motherboard, with additional breakaway daughter cards interfacing with the sole 12VHPWR power connector, and the PCIe slot. This slender, ruler-shaped PCB spans the entire length of the card, without coming in the way of its heat dissipation surfaces. The length is used for the large AD102 ASIC that's probably maxed out (with all its 144 SM enabled), twelve GDDR6X (possibly faster 23 Gbps), and a mammoth VRM that nearly maxes out the 600 W continuous power delivery design limit of the 12VHPWR.

Patriot Announces VP4300 Lite M.2 PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD

Patriot Memory, a leading manufacturer of high-performance enthusiast memory modules, SSDs, flash storage and gaming peripherals, has announced the upcoming release of their newest Gen 4 x4 SSD, the VP4300 Lite M.2 PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD. With lightning-fast read speeds of up to 7400 MB/s and harnessing Patriot Viper's new cooling technology, the VP4300 Lite is designed to take gaming to new heights. Along with NVMe 2.0 support, a special edition ultra-thin graphene cooling heat spreader built and capacities of up to 4 TB, the VP4300 Lite will deliver a powerful balance of speed, performance and storage that includes everything gamers could need.

The VP4300 Lite will also be fully compatible with the PlayStation 5, offering sequential read speeds of up to 6100 MB/s as the first PC-PS5 compatible SSD from Patriot Viper to bring supreme performance to PC and console gamers alike. "It is our pleasure to introduce the VP4300 Lite as our newest Gen 4 x4 SSD," said Les Henry, VP of N. America and S. America Sales. "The VP4300 Lite represents our push to keep revolutionizing gaming storage solutions, and we're proud to offer an SSD built both for PC and console gamers."

ASUS Announces the BR1402 Series 2-in-1 Notebooks for Education

ASUS today announced BR1402 series, the world's first 2-in-1 ruggedized 14-inch laptops aimed at K-12 education—and designed for the need of modern students and hybrid learning. Available in both traditional clamshell form (BR1402C) and a convertible design that flips 360° to become a versatile multitouch tablet (BR1402F), the all-new BR1402-series laptops are built to military-grade standards and packed with clever protective features to help students through their learning journey.

BR1402 series are also loaded with essentials for the demands of hybrid study, enabling education to flow seamlessly from the classroom into the home and beyond. To empower a full day's study, these laptops include up to 10-hour battery life, full-function USB-C, up to WiFi 6 for speedy connectivity and a modular design to ensure easy maintenance and upgrades.

AMD Radeon RX 7600 Slides Down to $249

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 mainstream graphics card slides a little closer to its ideal price, with an online retailer price-cut sending it down to $249, about $20 less than its MSRP of $269. The cheapest RX 7600 graphics card in the market right now is the MSI RX 7600 MECH 2X Classic, going for $249 on Amazon; followed by the XFX RX 7600 SWFT 210 at $258, and the ASRock RX 7600 Challenger at $259.99.

The sliding prices of the RX 7600 should improve its prospects against the upcoming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which leaked 3DMark benchmarks show to be around 17% faster than the previous-generation RTX 3060 (12 GB) and 30% faster than its 8 GB variant. Our real-world testing puts the RX 7600 about 15% faster than the RTX 3060 (12 GB) at 1080p, which means there could be an interesting square-off between the RTX 4060 and RX 7600. NVIDIA has announced $299 as the baseline price for the RTX 4060, which should put pressure on AMD partners to trim prices of the RX 7600 to below the $250-mark.
Sunday, June 25th 2023

This Week in Gaming (Week 26)

As we enter the last week of June. we're looking at AA title as this week's big release and it involves scantily clad men and women in a ring. The rest of this coming week's releases involve farming on alien planets, feuds with friends, oldtimers, tricky ghosts and a pair of turn-based games.

AEW Fight Forever / This week's AA title / Thursday 29 June
Developed by YUKE's, AEW: Fight Forever combines nostalgic arcade-wrestling with All Elite Wrestling finishers and moves. Featuring a big roster of AEW talent, multiple match types, robust career mode, tons of customization options, more than 40 weapons, and so much more!

ASUS Issues Router Product Security Advisory

If you own one of several recent ASUS router models, then you're being urged by ASUS to upgrade your firmware to the latest release as soon as possible, due to a few serious security flaws. The two most severe being CVE-2022-26376 and CVE-2018-1160, both of which are rated 9.8 on a scale of 10 in terms of severity. However, if you're running the third party Asuswrt-Merlin firmware, you're apparently safe, as the author of the third party firmware has already patched all the known security issues that ASUS has announced patches for.

The affected models are the GT6, GT-AXE16000, GT-AX11000 PRO, GT-AX6000, GT-AX11000, GS-AX5400, GS-AX3000, XT9, XT8, XT8 V2, RT-AX86U PRO, RT-AX86U, RT-AX86S, RT-AX82U, RT-AX58U, RT-AX3000, TUF-AX6000, and TUF-AX5400. That's 18 different models in total, all of which should be built around Broadcom hardware. It's unclear if more models are affected or not, but these are the ones ASUS has issued updates for. The security flaws in question could allow someone to take over an unpatched router and make it a part of a botnet or similar. ASUS has suggested turning off features like DDNS and VPN servers, as well as more obvious things like WAN access, port forwarding, port triggers and DMZ until the firmware has been updated on the affected models.
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