ASUS today introduced the BE27AQLB, a 27-inch business-grade monitor designed for ergonomics and eye-comfort for protracted hours of business-usage. The monitor features a frame-less bezel design, with a stand that allows 90° rotation, height, tilt, and swivel adjustments, besides featuring a VESA mount on the stand, not just the main panel. The monitor uses a rheostatic control for its illumination, and boasts of TÜV Rheinland Certification for flicker-free back-lighting. It also features a low-blue light illumination.

The BE27AQLB features an IPS panel, with WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, 178°/178° viewing angles, 5 ms (GTG) response time, 350 cd/m² maximum brightness, and dynamic mega-contrast ratio. Inputs include both a standard and mini-DisplayPort, HDMI 2.0, and dual-link DVI. Other features include 2W stereo speakers, and a 4-port USB 3.0 hub. The monitor features a typical power-draw of less than 18.82 W. Measuring 615 mm x (382~532 mm) x 226 mm, it weighs 7.7 kg. The company didn't reveal pricing.

You probably took a long, hard read at our article covering a single-minded user's experience of his new Vega Frontier Edition. Now, courtesy of PCPer, and charitable soul Ekin at Linus Tech Tips, we have some more performance benchmarks of AMD's latest (non gaming specific) graphics card.

Starting with 2560x1440, let's begin with the good news: in what seems to be the best performance scenario we've seen until now, the Vega Frontier Edition stands extremely close to NVIDIA's GTX 1080 Ti video card in Fallout 4. It trails it for about 10 FPS most of the test, and even surpasses it at some points. These numbers should be taken with a grain of salt regarding the RX Vega consumer cards: performance on those models will probably be higher than the Frontier Edition's results. And for the sake of AMD, they better be, because in all other tests, the Frontier Edition somewhat disappoints. It's beaten by NVIDIA's GTX 1070 in Grand Theft Auto V, mirrors its performance in The Witcher 3, and delivers slightly higher performance than the GTX 1070 on Hitman and Dirt Rally (albeit lower than the GTX 1080.)

Users beware: if you've updated your NVIDIA drivers to the recently released 384.76 version and intend to play Watch Dogs 2, you might have a hard time doing so. Reports have surfaced that the latest NVIDIA drivers, which bring support to the "Rise Up" open-beta of "Lawbreakers" as well as support for "Spiderman: Homecoming - a VR Experience.", break startup on Ubisoft's game.

The issue doesn't appear to be listed on NVIDIA's 384.76 release notes (not even on the PDF), so it seems this issue largely flew under NVIDIA's radar. But if you've had problems with Wash (sorry, Watch) Dogs 2, be sure to check if you have the latest 384.76 drivers installed. That could be the source of the problem. Our own resident W1zzard himself ran into this problem, but no amount of steampunk wand waving was able to fix the issue. However, a fresh install of NVIDIA's previous driver release (382.53) should let you go out to San Francisco again.Source: Ubisoft Forums

You've heard of the Petya ransomware by now. The surge, which hit around 64 countries by June 27th, infected an estimated 12,500 computers in Ukraine alone, hitting several critical infrastructures in the country (just goes to show how vulnerable our connected systems are, really.) The number one hit country was indeed Ukraine, but the wave expanded to the Russian Federation, Poland, and eventually hit the USA (the joys of globalization, uh?) But now, some interesting details on the purported ransomware attack have come to light, which shed some mystery over the entire endeavor. Could it be that Petya (which is actually being referred to as NotPetya/SortaPetya/Petna as well, for your reference, since it mostly masquerades as that well-known ransomware) wasn't really a ransomware attack?

Tt eSports, Thermaltake's gaming peripherals division, has announced their new take on what an RGB, MOBA or MMO-oriented mouse should deliver. The Nemesis Switch Gaming Mouse features, as its distinguishing feature, a patented switch system that allows for the customization of up to 12 switch keys. Eight of those are available straight away on the left-hand side of the mouse, with four additional keys being hidden inside the mouse.

"But what good are they for if they're hidden and thus inaccessible?", you ask? That's a good question. That's where the patented system comes in: you simply push the panel where the eight side keys are held, and like magic, four other keys come from inside the mouse. Due to this lever system, you'll certainly lose time with the mechanism rolling inside the mouse and exposing either set of keys, so maybe you should take care which actions you configure these extra four keys with. The twelve macro-supporting programmable buttons are configured by Thermaltake's Tt eSports Plus+ mobile and PC application. The Tt eSports Plus+ app also stores activity logs, performance statistics, and other information.

NVIDIA today released GeForce 384.76 WHQL drivers. These drivers come game-ready for "Rise Up" open-beta of "Lawbreakers," which includes game-optimization and GeForce Experience optimal settings. The "Rise Up" open-beta is live from June 30 to July 3, the game itself releases on August 8. In addition, the drivers come with optimization for "Spiderman: Homecoming - a VR Experience." Grab the driver from the link below.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 384.76 WHQL

The change-log follows.

Adding to their Clutch gaming mice line-up, MSI has just released two new models. The Clutch GM60 and GM70 both feature RGB functionality and interchangeable thumb rests, which should make these appealing to both right-handed and left-handed people. There are two differentiating factors between these two models. The first is the PMW 3360 sensor: the GM60 allows sensitivity to be set anywhere between 1-10,800, while the GM70 increases that margin to 1-18,000 DPI resolution. Both do this in 100 DPI steps, with an adjustable 1,000-3,000 Hz polling rate. The second stands with the connection type: while the GM60 supports a corded connection only, the GM 70 supports both corded and wireless connections. The change between wired and wireless increases response time from 0.33 ms corded to 1 ms wireless. I'm not a professional gamer, but that doesn't seem like much to me.

The rest of the specs are pretty much equal between both rodents: 2 m braided cables, Omron Gaming switches, aluminum frame, a pouch, as well as the ubiquitous LED lighting controlled by MSI's Mystic Light software. The GM70 weighs in at 129 g, while the GM 60 is a slightly less meaty 115 g. The company said the Clutch GM70 and Clutch GM60 gaming mice are expected to be in stores worldwide starting July 2017.Source: Tom's Hardware

Club 3D is proud to announce the next generation of SenseVision video splitters today with the introduction of two brand new splitters, CSV-1474 (USB-A to HDMI 2.0 Dual Monitor 4K 60Hz) and CSV-1477 (USB-A to DP 1.2 Dual Monitor 4K 60Hz) with this press release.

Former generation video splitters or USB graphic adapters based on USB 3.0 or 3.1 suffered from a limitation of 30 Hz if you were aiming at using the highest resolutions like 3840 x 2160 (4K). The latest developments from DisplayLink make it possible now that with CSV-1474 and CSV-1477 the resolutions can be taken to a new level. Not only one time 4K60Hz is possible, both splitters offer Dual Monitor functionality and each of the outputs can offer 4K 60Hz. The only requirement is to have a free USB Type A 3.1 Gen 1 socket in your device. The two new SenseVision products are powered by DisplayLink 6950 SoC. Our new future-proof products will be ready for shipment on June 30th. Wide availability of the products in the market we expect in the first week of July.

We have included the full AMD presentation deck at the end, so be sure to load the entire story.

Following the global excitement generated by the launch of its new EPYC family of server processors, AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today added another tier to its enterprise CPU portfolio with the introduction of AMD Ryzen PRO desktop processors. Designed to meet the demands of today's compute-intensive workplace, Ryzen PRO desktop processors will bring reliability, security, and performance to enterprise desktops worldwide.

"Today marks another important step in our journey to bring innovation and excitement back to the PC industry: the launch of our Ryzen PRO desktop CPUs that will bring disruptive levels of performance to the premium commercial market," said Jim Anderson, senior vice president and general manager, Computing and Graphics Group, AMD. "Offering a significant leap in generational performance, leadership multi-threaded performance, and the first-ever 8-core,16-thread CPU for commercial-grade PCs, Ryzen PRO provides a portfolio of technology choices that meet the evolving needs of businesses today and tomorrow." Ryzen PRO Lineup Delivering breakthrough responsiveness for the most demanding enterprise-class applications and multi-tasking workflows, the 'Zen' core in every Ryzen PRO processor provides up to 52 percent improvement in compute capability over the previous generation, and the Ryzen 7 PRO 1700 offers up to 62 percent more multi-threaded performance than select competing solutions.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, and mobile accessories today launched the HD710 Pro durable external hard drive alongside an addition to the best-selling HD650 range. The HD710 Pro improves on its HD710 predecessor by exceeding IP68 dust and waterproofing plus military-grade shock resistance. It enhances the safeguarding of stored data against accidents, damage, and the rigors of active lifestyles, and is available in four colors. The HD710 Pro offers up to 4TB capacity. The refreshed HD650 arrives in a stylish light blue over black color scheme, also providing 4TB capacity - a new milestone for unpowered USB external hard drives. Together, these two new USB 3.1 models bolster the ADATA external hard drive portfolio, giving consumers more choice.

Summer is getting known more by the amount of game sales than by days spending creating a sunny side up on your skin. After GOG's Summer Sale and Steam's Summer Sale (which is still going strong until July 5th, to the woe of many households), Microsoft has just announced the "Ultimate Game Sale", which is striving to be the game sale to end all others.

Microsoft's sale isn't restricted to a single marketplace, encompassing all platforms where Microsoft does gaming business: Windows Store, Xbox Store, and Windows store. This sale also encompasses hardware, so if you're looking for some, this might be your chance. You'll have to wait for June 30th to get a look at the deals (the sale starts on June 30th and goes on through until July 10th), but you should temper expectations. Microsoft says games on this sale will be available for up to 50% off, which while welcome, isn't that much of a steep discount as it is. If that makes you twitch your face in discontent, you might want to take a selfie, so you can participate on Microsoft's "Ultimate Game Face Sweepstakes".

It would seem Intel's X299 platform is already having some teething issues, with user "der8auer" of overclocking fame claiming the platform is essentially a complete "VRM disaster." In the video in which these claims are made, he levies the blame to both Intel and the motherboard manufacturers "50/50." For Intel's part, he blames them for the short product launch which was pulled in from August to June, giving the motherboard manufacturers in der8auer's words "almost zero time for developing proper products."

In the video, der8auer elaborates to basically claim a completely lack of consistency among the quality of VRMs and their heatsinks in various manufacturers. In his first test, he takes a CPU that is known to do 5.0 GHz and on a Gigabyte Aorus branded mainboard found himself unable to even hit 4.6 GHz with dangerously high VRM temperatures. He goes on to blame the heatsinks on the VRMs, going so far to call the Gigabyte solution more of a "heat insulation" device than a cooler, as a simple small fan over the bare VRM array did many magnitudes better than a simple standard install with the stock VRM cooler attached. After an MSI-branded board did similar, it became clear this was not an isolated issue.

A lucky customer has already gotten his hands on one of these coveted, sky-powered AMD graphics cards, and is currently in the process of setting up his system. Given the absence of review samples from AMD to any outlet - a short Vega Frontier Edition supply ensured so - there isn't any other real way to get impressions on this graphics card. As such, we'll be borrowing Disqus' user #define posts as a way to cover live pics and performance measurements of this card. Expect this post to be updated as new developments arise.

After some glamour shots of the card were taken (which really are justified by its unique color scheme), #define mentioned the card's build quality. After having installed the driver package (which, as we've covered today, includes both a developer and gaming path inside the drivers, granting increased performance in both workloads depending on the enabled driver profile, he is now about to conduct some testing on SPECViewperf and 3DMark, with both gaming and non gaming profiles.

Intel today announced the SSD 545s line of mainstream SATA solid-state drives. Built in the 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gbps interface, the drives combine new 64-layer 3D TLC NAND flash memory by IMFlash Technology, with a Silicon Motion SMI SM2259 controller, and a custom firmware by Intel. For now, the drive is only available in one capacity, 512 GB. It offers sequential transfer speeds of up to 550 MB/s, with up to 500 MB/s sequential writes; 4K random read performance of up to 75,000 IOPS, 4K random write performance of up to 85,000 IOPS, and endurance of at least 144 TBW. Besides common SSD features such as NCQ and TRIM, the drive offers native 256-bit AES encryption. Available now, and backed by a 3-year warranty, the SSD 545s 512 GB is priced at USD $179.99.

It's here. The Radeon Vega that's not for gamers, that is. After what seems like a year of waiting forward to AMD's next generation GPU architecture, so it has finally appeared. As we all knew was going to be the case, Vega's first foray in the market is geared at the more profitable professional sector of the market. The good news for professionals: the pricing is lower than previously reported. Instead of the expected $1,199 and $1,799 for an air cooled or water-cooled version of the card respectively, AMD is commanding a much less demanding price tag of $999 for the air cooled version (available now) and $1,499 for the water-cooled one (to be available in Q3.)

One thing that deserves to be placed before the break is a software feature of the new Vega Frontier Edition graphics cards: AMD has changed their driver scheme into a single-package installer (available in the source), with both the professional-geared drivers, and the gaming ones as well. This means that after all that Raja Koduri told us to wait for AMD's consumer, gaming-oriented RX Vega graphics cards, these will probably work just as well for gaming as for professional workloads.

Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO:6502) and Toshiba Memory Corporation ("TMC") today filed a petition with the Tokyo District Court against Western Digital Corporation, a U.S. company, and its subsidiary Western Digital Technologies, Inc. (collectively, "WD") (NASDAQ: WDC), seeking a provisional disposition order for an injunction against acts of unfair competition, and also brought suit for a permanent injunction, damages and payment of 120 billion yen, alleging violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, among other things.

The lawsuit states, as detailed in Toshiba's June 2, 2017 press release, "Update on Status of Third-party Investment in the Memory Business," that WD has continually interfered with the bid process related to the sale of TMC.

Citing joint venture agreements between Toshiba and SanDisk LLC (including its affiliates, "SanDisk"), the lawsuit also says that WD has exaggerated its consent right - in both public statements and private communications to bidders and others involved in the sale process - in order to interfere with the sale of TMC which does not hold the ownership interests in joint venture companies co-owned with SanDisk. The complaint goes on to state that proceeding with the sales process for TMC does not violate any consent rights held by WD; WD's claims are false, designed only to interfere with the sale process, and have damaged Toshiba and TMC.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) today announced the latest generation of its BiCS FLASH three-dimensional (3D) flash memory. The newest BiCS FLASH device features 4-bit-per-cell, quadruple-level cell (QLC) technology and is the first 3D flash memory device to do so. Toshiba's QLC technology enables larger (768 gigabit) die capacity than the company's third-generation 512Gb 3-bit-per-cell, triple-level cell (TLC), and pushes the boundaries of flash memory technology.

Toshiba's new QLC BiCS FLASH device features a 64-layer stacked cell structure and achieves the world's largest die capacity (768Gb/96GB). QLC flash memory also enables a 1.5-terabyte (TB) device with a 16-die stacked architecture in a single package - featuring the industry's largest capacity. This is a fifty percent increase in capacity per package when compared to Toshiba's earlier announcement of a 1TB device with a 16-die stacked architecture in a single package - which also offered the largest capacity in the industry at the time.