Wednesday, May 15th 2024

Today's Reviews

Cases
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Keyboards
Monitors
Motherboards
Notebooks
PSUs
SSD
Lofree Edge Ultra-Low Profile Wireless Mechanical Keyboard Review

Lofree Edge Ultra-Low Profile Wireless Mechanical Keyboard Review

The Lofree Edge is an ultra-low profile and extremely lightweight keyboard with wireless connectivity and long battery life. It uses premium materials and novel engineering to cut down the height enough to be extremely thin without sacrificing on the mechanical keyboard typing experience.

Intel Announces Thunderbolt Share, a PC-to-PC High-bandwidth Networking Technology

Today, Intel announced Thunderbolt Share, a new software solution enabling PC-to-PC experiences that fundamentally change the way users interact with two PCs. Thunderbolt Share is offered with select PCs and accessories with Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 ports, enabling responsive screen-sharing and fast PC-to-PC file transfers for more flexible and productive workflows.

"We are excited to continue to lead the industry in connectivity solutions with Thunderbolt technology. Thunderbolt Share delivers on our aspiration to bring innovative solutions to the market and deliver new experiences for users to get the most out of their PCs. Now users can seamlessly access one PC from another at Thunderbolt technology speeds. It truly changes how users can be more productive and efficient," said Jason Ziller, Intel vice president and general manager of the Client Connectivity Division.

ASUS Launches TUF Gaming TR120 ARGB Series Case Fans

ASUS today announced TUF Gaming TR120 ARGB case fans, which offer exceptional airflow and polished aesthetics from every point of view. Next-gen refinements boost the cooling power of TUF Gaming TR120 ARGB fans. The redesigned fan blades are extra-wide, and are now housed in a 28 mm frame - up to 12% thicker than the previous generation. Combined, these elements increase airflow by up to 77.4 CFM and static pressure by up to 3.3 mmH2O. When dialing in a tough workload, these 120 mm fans make sure that a build has the steady stream of cooling air that it needs.

TUF Gaming TR120 ARGB case fans are primed to perform, and they're also built for quiet operation. At most, they produce 29 dB(A) of noise. In the heat of battle, users are unlikely to hear them at all. When standard case fans are used as intakes in a panoramic chassis, they are not always displayed to advantage, as users can only see their sides and rear. This means that elements like structural supports, wires, and visible parts of the motor get the front-and-center treatment instead of RGB LED illumination and any front-facing decorations.

GameSir Outs the X4 Aileron Bluetooth Mobile Game Controller

GameSir, a leading provider of innovative, high quality gaming peripherals, is thrilled to unveil its latest masterpiece, the X4 Aileron, a groundbreaking mobile controller that redefines gaming. The cutting-edge telescopic controller has been meticulously designed to accommodate most Android devices and allow mobile gamers to enjoy ultra-responsive Bluetooth connection and low-latency play, anywhere, anytime. The GameSir X4 Aileron is available to purchase now from Amazon US, Amazon UK and the GameSir website, with an RRP of £99.99/$99.99.

With a sleek, compact two-piece design that magnetically joins together, gaming on-the-go has never been this seamless and immersive. The X4A is compatible with most Android devices, whilst also allowing for extra space for phone coolers and wireless chargers, meaning users can enjoy extended sessions without needing to worry about devices overheating or the battery dying.

This $40 Lifetime VPN Deal Is So Good It's Being Discontinued Soon—Don't Miss Out

While some VPN providers want you to pay monthly or yearly fees, FastestVPN offers a lifetime subscription you can use forever with a one-time payment. Actually, their PRO plan with 800+ servers, support for 15 devices, and tons of other features is only available for a limited time, being discontinued later this year. But, you can get it for $39.99 (reg. $600) right now. Your PRO lifetime plan also includes a 1-year password manager from PassHulk. You can use this to securely store complex log-ins, credit card numbers, and bank accounts.

Get a lifetime of FastestVPN PRO on StackSocial for $39.99 (reg. $600). It comes with a free 1-year password manager.

Palit Announces The GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 Ti White Series

Palit Microsystems Ltd, a leading graphics card manufacturer, is thrilled to unveil the White Series for the GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 Ti graphics cards. The White series offers a perfect blend of elegant looks and uncompromised power. The models feature a sleek white color scheme across both the shroud and backplate, easily integrating into any light-colored PC build. The design caters to the growing desire for a clean and sophisticated look for your PC.

The twin 95 mm fans and optimized backplate vents ensure effective thermal performance. Equipped with 0dB technology, the cards minimize the noise during light loads like multimedia applications and browsing. During demanding tasks, fans automatically adjust to optimal cooling and performance. The Palit GeForce RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 Ti White Series cater to both gamers and creators. Gamers will benefit from the exceptional performance boost, allowing them to experience high frame rates and smooth gameplay. Creators will appreciate the powerful processing capabilities for tasks like video editing and high-resolution design work. Additionally, the sleek white aesthetics perfectly complement a modern creative workspace.

Phison Announces Pascari Brand of Enterprise SSDs, Debuts X200 Series Across Key Form-factors

Phison is arguably the most popular brand for SSD controllers in the client segment, but is turning more of attention to the vast enterprise segment. The company had been making first-party enterprise SSDs under its main marquee, but decided that the lineup needed its own brand that enterprise customers could better discern from the controller ASIC main brand. We hence have Pascari and Imagin. Pascari is an entire product family of fully built enterprise SSDs from Phison. The company's existing first-party drives under the main brand will probably migrate to the Pascari catalog. Imagin, on the other hand, is a design service for large cloud and data-center customers, so they could develop bespoke tiered storage solutions at scale.

The Pascari line of enterprise SSDs are designed completely in-house by Phison, feature their latest controllers, firmware, PCB, PMIC, and on-device power-failure protection on select products. The third-party components here are the NAND flash and DRAM chips, which have both been thoroughly evaluated by Phison for the best performance, endurance, and reliability, at their enterprise SSD design facility in Broomfield, Colorado. Phison already had a constellation of industry partners and suppliers to go around with, and the company's drives even power space missions; but the Pascari brand better differentiates the fully-built SSD lineup from the ASIC make. Pascari makes its debut with the X200 series high-performance SSDs for high-access heat data. The drive leverages Phison's latest PCIe Gen 5 controller technology, the most optimized memory components, and availability in all contemporary server storage form-factors.

Double Your Screen Space With a $153 Portable IPS Monitor

Even though they have the potential to nearly double your on-the-go productivity, portable monitors can get expensive. Those looking for a budget option might be interested in this 13.3-inch 2K IPS display that's only $152.99 (reg. $169.99). With mini HDMI and two USB-C ports, you can connect desktops, laptops, smartphones, or even gaming consoles at home, when traveling, or anywhere in between. Your purchase includes the power and data cables. For sound, connect headphones to the 3.5 mm AUX port or use the built-in speakers.

Use the gadget in copy, expansion, or second screen modes to mirror or extend your device's display. As for the screen itself, enjoy 2560x1600 resolution, a 60 Hz refresh rate, 8 ms response speed, and a 1000:1 contrast ratio. While these aren't the most impressive monitor specs on the market, they're great for someone who wants an affordable display for working, studying, or gaming.

Double your screen space with this 13.3-inch 2K IPS display that's $152.99 (reg. $169.99) on StackSocial.

Intel Readies N250 Series "Twin Lake" Low-power Processors, Succeeds "Alder Lake-N"

Intel is readying the new N250 "Twin Lake" line of low-power processors that succeed the N200 series "Alder Lake-N" series. These are chips built on the latest process node Intel is using for its Core and Xeon processors, but only features E-cores (efficiency codes) from the latest microarchitecture. Chips from the N200 series are popular with low-cost notebooks, thin-clients, embedded systems, kiosks and point-of-sale terminals, NAS, and consumer electronics. "Twin Lake" is codename for the new processor series, these are likely monolithic processor dies that use a client ringbus layout, and one E-core cluster that makes up the compute muscle.

While "Alder Lake-N" is powered by "Gracemont" E-cores, the new "Twin Lake" chips are expected to feature "Skymont" E-core clusters. Intel is expected to debut "Skymont" E-cores with its upcoming Core Ultra 200V series "Lunar Lake-MX" mobile processors. "Skymont" is technically two generations ahead of "Gracemont," as Intel introduced the "Crestmont" cores with its current Core Ultra 100 "Meteor Lake" processor family. Not a lot is known about "Skymont" at this point, except that it's expected to feature IPC increases, and perform close to Intel's P-cores from 3-4 generations ago, such as the "Willow Cove" cores powering the 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" processors, looking at past trends of the "Gracemont" core performing similar to a "Skylake" core with HTT disabled.

Sabrent Intros DS-UICA USB-C Docking Station for Smartphones and Ultraportables

If you have been searching for a quality, do-everything USB-C dock, we have the perfect solution. The Sabrent USB-C Universal Docking Station (DS-UICA) has near-limitless potential with a wide variety of ports and capabilities to enhance your computing experience. Enjoy and get the most out of your laptop, ultrabook, Chromebook, Android phone or tablet, MacBook, Apple iPhone or iPad, and more with this incredibly compact and featureful docking station. Everything is connected through a 10 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 2x1) USB-C upstream host port designed for modern machines. Downstream it has two 10 Gbps USB-C ports, two 5 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen 1x1) USB-A ports, and two 480 Mbps (USB 2.0) USB-A ports. The first four can deliver 5 V/1.5 A; the latter two are great for keyboards and mice.

This dock has it all, including dual video output via two pairs of HDMI 2.0 and DP ports with the optional use of a single USB-C port for display. Simultaneous output up to 4K@60 Hz is possible with DSC. Forget unreliable Wi-Fi. Connect to your network and Internet at up to 1000 Mbps with wired Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE). You can also easily access your content with the built-in dual microSD/SD card reader with UHS-I (104MBps) support. On top of that, there are three 3.5 mm ports for audio out, a microphone, and one for audio in/out. We've included a USB-C to USB-C cable and an external power adapter to power everything with the device charging up to 80 W. The docking station has a cradle for your device of choice with front-facing LEDs for extra clarity.

Ducky Announces 8K Ducky One 3 Pro Nazca Line and Zero 6108 Mechanical Keyboards

DuckyChannel International Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer dedicated to providing top-notch hardware solutions such as mechanical keyboards and professional mice, has unveiled upgraded versions of its One 3 Pro and wireless three-mode Zero series models tailored to different user groups. Building on the strengths of the One 3 series, the One 3 Pro Nazca Line incorporates Ducky's innovative QUACK Mechanics+ along with features such as an 8K reporting rate, triple-shot true PBT keycaps, and a south-facing switch design. It also introduces an upgraded Cherry MX2A switch series, enhancing existing outstanding features and injecting innovative functionalities. The wireless tri-mode Zero 6108, on the other hand, features hot-swappable technology and PBT double-shot keycaps, catering to both the work and entertainment needs of users.

One 3 Pro Series Mechanical Keyboard
The frequency at which the keyboard reports to the computer. A higher polling rate results in lower input lag. Ducky One 3 Pro Nazca Line delivers inputs with an 8,000 Hz polling rate for optimal performance. Faster polling rates mean that keystrokes are detected more quickly, resulting in less lag and fewer missed keystrokes. This can be particularly important in fast-paced typing situations, such as gaming or coding, where even a slight delay or missed keystrokes can be costly.

DUNU Launches DaVinci In-Ear Monitors in Collaboration with Gizaudio

IEM brand DUNU has its latest release up for pre-order as of today. Titled DaVinci, named after Leonardo DaVinci, this is a hybrid set of IEMs using two dynamic drivers and four balanced armature drivers housed inside resin shells with stabilized wood faceplates. It comes with a rich accessory pack, including three types of ear tips (10 sets total), a modular cable featuring 3.5/4.4 mm terminators, and a handsome looking carry/storage case too. The DaVinci is a collaboration effort in conjunction with IEM reviewer Gizaudio and has been tuned with a 5-way crossover to offer, as the brands involved claim, a fast and punchy lower-end response, accurate midrange, and a true high-resolution sound experience. It retails for $300 with first shipments expected from next week, and you can pre-order it now from HiFiGo if interested.

Majority of 4K Gamers Have 16GB or Higher Video Memory: TechPowerUp Poll

A majority of TechPowerUp readers that play at the 4K Ultra HD resolution (3840 x 2160) say that they have graphics cards with 16 GB or higher video memory. In March, we ran a front-page poll asking our readers who play at the top 16:9 resolution how much video memory the graphics hardware in their machines had. Options included 6 GB or less, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB, or more than 16 GB. There was also a control option just to gauge what percentage of the respondents do not play at 4K, which got 39.4% of the vote, and a technical majority, although not a part of our analysis. 32,296 responded to the poll.

What's interesting here, is that "More than 16 GB" and 16 GB take the #2 and #3 spots, respectively. So, 35.1% of our survey respondents say they have hardware with 16 GB or greater than 16 GB of video memory. 11% responded that their graphics card has 12 GB of memory; closely followed by 8 GB at 10.1%, and just 4.4% say their graphics cards have 6 GB or less amount of video memory. The biggest takeaway from this poll is the confirmation that 16 GB or more indeed is the video memory size today's gamers think they need to play the latest games at 4K.

AGON by AOC Announces the 24G4XE and 27G4XE Gaming Monitors

AGON by AOC - one of the world's leading gaming monitor and IT accessories brands - unveils the latest additions to its G4 series from their acclaimed AOC GAMING portfolio, the 23.8" (60.5 cm) 24G4XE and 27" (68.6 cm) 27G4XE models. Launched this year, the new G4 series with its striking stealth aircraft-inspired design is already available on the market, featuring the height-adjustable Full HD models 24G4X and 27G4X, as well as the QHD model Q27G4X.

Engineered to cater to the core gamer audience seeking high performance without the premium price, the 24G4XE and 27G4XE represent pared-down alternatives with a no-frills stand design, while maintaining high performance specifications such as a 180 Hz refresh rate and up to 1 ms GtG response times. This makes the new G4 models significantly more accessible, addressing the demand for competitive-level gaming experiences at a more attractive price point.

LG Display Showing New 4K OLEDoS Display for VR at SID Display Week

LG Display, the world's leading innovator of display technologies, announced today the unveiling of a large number of its next-generation OLED and cutting-edge display technologies at SID Display Week 2024 in San Jose, California from May 14-16. LG Display is allowing visitors to experience new OLED technologies under the theme "A Better Future," ranging from OLEDoS for VR to large-sized OLED panels that go beyond the limits of picture quality and automotive display solutions that are optimized for Software Defined Vehicles (SDV).

The company's latest innovations include a new technology, OLEDoS for VR, which is being shown to the public for the first time and features dramatically increased screen brightness and resolution compared with the existing standard. Despite being the size of a coin at 1.3-inch, it achieves an ultra-high brightness of 10,000 nits and an ultra-high resolution of around 4,000 ppi, which is in the 4K class. In addition, its color expression accuracy is realized by meeting more than 97% of the DCI-P3 standard color area of the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI). All these enable more lifelike virtual reality with industry-leading picture quality.

Lenovo Announces its New AI PC ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 Mobile Workstation Powered by AMD Ryzen PRO Processors

Today, Lenovo launched the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 designed for professionals who need top-notch performance in a portable 14-inch chassis. Featuring a stunning 16:10 display, this mobile workstation is powered by AMD Ryzen PRO 8040 HS-Series processors. These processors are ultra-advanced and energy-efficient, making them perfect for use in thin and light mobile workstations. The AMD Ryzen PRO HS- Series processors also come with built-in Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, including an integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for optimized performance in AI workflows.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 is provided with independent software vendor (ISV) certifications and integrated AMD Radeon graphics, making it ideal for running applications like AutoCAD, Revit, and SOLIDWORKS with seamless performance. This mobile workstation is ideal for mobile power users, offering advanced ThinkShield security features and passes comprehensive MIL-SPEC testing for ultimate durability.

Shipments of OLED Monitors Hit 200,000 Units in 1Q24, Annual Forecast to Reach 1.34 Million

TrendForce's latest report reveals a robust start to 2024 for OLED monitors, with shipments reaching approximately 200,000 units in the first quarter—marking a YoY growth of 121%. The momentum is expected to continue into the second quarter, which is set to see quarterly growth of 52% as new models hit the market, bringing the total for the first half to 500,000 units. With brands ramping up investments and panel makers launching new products alongside aggressive promotions, annual shipments are projected to soar to 1.34 million units, achieving an impressive 161% growth rate.

Samsung leads the market share in the first quarter with 36%, driven by strong sales of its 49-inch models which offer a significant cost-performance advantage—being only 20% more expensive than their LCD counterparts. Notably, Samsung's plan to introduce 27-inch and 31.5-inch models in Q2, which are expected to further boost its OLED shipments.

Intel Ponte Vecchio Waves Goodbye, Company Focuses on Falcon Shores for 2025 Release

According to ServeTheHome, Intel has decided to discontinue its high-performance computing (HPC) product line, Ponte Vecchio, and shift its focus towards developing its next-generation data center GPU, codenamed Falcon Shores. This decision comes as Intel aims to streamline its operations and concentrate its resources on the most promising and competitive offerings. The Ponte Vecchio GPU, released in January of 2023, was intended to be Intel's flagship product for the HPC market, competing against the likes of NVIDIA's H100 and AMD's Instinct MI series. However, despite its impressive specifications and features, Ponte Vecchio faced significant delays and challenges in its development and production cycle. Intel's decision to abandon Ponte Vecchio is pragmatic, recognizing the intense competition and rapidly evolving landscape of the data center GPU market.

By pivoting its attention to Falcon Shores, Intel aims to deliver a more competitive and cutting-edge solution that can effectively challenge the dominance of its rivals. Falcon Shores, slated for release in 2025, is expected to leverage Intel's latest process node and architectural innovations. Currently, Intel has Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 accelerators for AI. However, the HPC segment is left without a clear leader in the company's product offerings. Intel's Ponte Vecchio is powering Aurora exascale supercomputer, which is the latest submission to the TOP500 supercomputer lists. This is also coming after the Rialto Bridge cancellation, which was supposed to be an HPC-focused card. In the future, the company will focus only on the Falcon Shores accelerator, which will unify HPC and AI needs for high-precision FP64 and lower-precision FP16/INT8.

AeroCool Intros Viewport Mini, a Pillarless Micro-ATX Case

AeroCool today introduced the Viewport Mini, a pillarless Micro-ATX tower case, which features the latest design trend, of letting go of the front-left corner pillar for the front- and left panels to seamlessly blend, providing a better view of the hardware inside. The case comes in two variants based on color—black and white, both include a trio of 120 mm fans with ARGB lighting, preinstalled along the rear- and side exhausts. The case features a horizontally partitioned layout, with the glasshouse only covering the top compartment with the motherboard tray.

The AeroCool Viewport Mini seats Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX motherboards, with room for graphics cards up to 35.5 cm in length, and CPU coolers up to 16.5 cm in height. The case provides 4 expansion slots (so you can't have a >1 slot thick addon card on the 4th slot). Storage options include a 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive cage that holds up to two drives. The ventilation system includes two 140/120 mm top exhausts, two 120 mm side exhausts, a 120 mm rear exhaust, and two additional 120 mm along the partition dividing the upper- and lower compartments. Front panel connectivity includes USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and 4-pole 3.5 mm headset jacks.The case meaasures 212 mm x 377.5 mm x 437 mm. The company didn't reveal pricing.
Tuesday, May 14th 2024

Today's Reviews

CPU Coolers
Gaming PC
Headphones
Keyboards
Memory
Mouse
Notebooks
PSUs
SSD
Enermax REVOLUTION D.F. X 1200 W Review

Enermax REVOLUTION D.F. X 1200 W Review

The Enermax REVOLUTION D.F. X 1200 W power supply offers plenty of capacity for all workloads, featuring RGB lighting, ATX 3.0 compatibility, and two 12VHPWR cables. Backed by a generous 10-year warranty, it presents a compelling value proposition at a competitive price of $110.

Toshiba Successfully Demonstrates Nearline HDDs with Massive Capacity of Over 30TB

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba) has successfully achieved storage capacities of over 30 TB with two next-generation large capacity recording technologies for hard disk drives (HDDs): Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) and Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording (MAMR). The demonstration drives represent a major milestone in the advance toward commercial products based on each of these emerging recording formats.

HAMR, one of the two technologies that are driving forward next-generation high-capacity data recording, boosts magnetic recording capabilities by locally heating the disk with near-field light. Toshiba achieved 32 TB on 10 disks and adoption of Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) technology. Toshiba plans to start shipping test sample HDDs with HAMR technology in 2025.

Chaos Releases V-Ray 6.1 Benchmark

Chaos releases V-Ray 6 Benchmark, updating the free standalone application to help users quickly evaluate V-Ray rendering speeds and compare the capabilities of leading CPUs and GPUs. V-Ray 6 Benchmark adds new looping capabilities and GPU mode comparison, giving users even more control over their findings.

Since launching in 2017, V-Ray Benchmark has become a standard for new hardware testing, helping countless users and reviewers assess the rendering performance of laptops, workstations, graphics cards and more. By benchmarking against one of the most popular renderers in the world, professionals can quickly gauge how hardware from NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Apple handle common 3D assets like cities, characters and hard-surface models.

The free V-Ray 6 Benchmark app is available now.

Epic Games Fined €1.1 Million in Netherlands Court for Misleading Underage Children

Epic Games, the developer behind the battle royale game Fortnite, has been slapped with a hefty fine of €1.1 million for violating EU consumer laws and pressuring youngsters into making in-game purchases. This decision was made by the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) following an investigation into the company's practices. The ACM found that Epic Games had failed to provide clear information about the nature of its in-game purchases, particularly to children. This lack of transparency led to many young players making unintended purchases, which was a clear violation of EU consumer protection laws. The authority also noted that Epic Games' practices were designed to encourage children to make frequent purchases, which further deepens the issue. Netherlands' ACM claims that these were "dark patterns" which are prohibited in the EU. More specifically, these were "Get it now" or "Buy now" phrases that pushed youngsters into making choices. One fine is for illegal aggressive commercial practice that created fear of missing out (FOMO), which is calculated at €562,500. Another €562,500 is fined on countdown timers, which were used in the Item Shop for items that were still available even after the timer had reached zero. This totals €1.125 million.

In response to the fine, Epic Games has announced its intention to appeal the decision. This fine serves as a significant reminder to game developers of the importance of transparency and consumer protection in the gaming industry. As the popularity of online gaming continues to grow, companies must prioritize the well-being and financial security of their young players. The ACM's decision sends a strong message that such practices will not be tolerated and that companies must take responsibility for their actions. The fine is significant, and it will be interesting to see how Epic Games responds to the decision. In a statement for GameIndustry.biz, Epic Games has noted that "The findings in the ACM's decision contain significant factual errors about how Fortnite and the Item Shop operate. The ACM is mandating changes that would result in a poor experience for players. We will appeal this decision. While our appeal is pending, players in the Netherlands that are under the age of 18 will not be able to see or purchase items that are in the shop for less than 48 hours, beginning May 24, 2024."

AMD Launches the Ryzen 7 8700F ($270) and Ryzen 5 8400F ($170)

AMD formally launched the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F Socket AM5 desktop processors. These are variants based on the Ryzen 8000-series desktop APUs, but with their integrated graphics disabled. The 8700F may lack integrated graphics, but includes the Ryzen AI NPU, with up to 16 AI TOPS performance. The 8400F lacks an NPU. Much like the 8700G, the 8700F packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the current "Zen 4" architecture, but with a 100 MHz lower maximum boost frequency of 5.00 GHz. The TDP is the same, at 65 W, and the retail package includes a Wraith Stealth cooler.

The Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core/12-thread processor, but much like the 8500G, it is based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, which has two "Zen 4" cores that can achieve the maximum 4.70 GHz boost frequency for this chip, and four "Zen 4c" that boost lower. Both kinds of cores feature an identical IPC and ISA, and so AMD Chipset Software uses UEFI CPPC preferred cores software flags to prioritize workload to the "Zen 4" cores. AMD in its launch presentation claims that the 8700F should offer competitive gaming and productivity performance to an Intel Core i5-14400F, and that the 8400F should offer gaming performance in the league of an i5-13400F. The company is pricing the 8700F at $269, or $60 cheaper than the 8700G; while the 8400F is priced at $169, or $10 less than the 8500G.

European Supercomputer Chip SiPearl Rhea Delayed, But Upgraded with More Cores

The rollout of SiPearl's much-anticipated Rhea processor for European supercomputers has been pushed back by a year to 2025, but the delay comes with a silver lining - a significant upgrade in core count and potential performance. Originally slated to arrive in 2024 with 72 cores, the homegrown high-performance chip will now pack 80 cores when it eventually launches. This decisive move by SiPearl and its partners is a strategic choice to ensure the utmost quality and capabilities for the flagship European processor. The additional 12 months will allow the engineering teams to further refine the chip's architecture, carry out extensive testing, and optimize software stacks to take full advantage of Rhea's computing power. Now called the Rhea1, the chip is a crucial component of the European Processor Initiative's mission to develop domestic high-performance computing technologies and reduce reliance on foreign processors. Supercomputer-scale simulations spanning climate science, drug discovery, energy research and more all require astonishing amounts of raw compute grunt.

By scaling up to 80 cores based on the latest Arm Neoverse V1, Rhea1 aims to go toe-to-toe with the world's most powerful processors optimized for supercomputing workloads. The SiPearl wants to utilize TSCM's N6 manufacturing process. The CPU will have 256-bit DDR5 memory connections, 104 PCIe 5.0 lanes, and four stacks of HBM2E memory. The roadmap shift also provides more time for the expansive European supercomputing ecosystem to prepare robust software stacks tailored for the upgraded Rhea silicon. Ensuring a smooth deployment with existing models and enabling future breakthroughs are top priorities. While the delay is a setback for SiPearl's launch schedule, the substantial upgrade could pay significant dividends for Europe's ambitions to join the elite ranks of worldwide supercomputer power. All eyes will be on Rhea's delivery in 2025, mainly from Europe's governments, which are funding the project.

AVerMedia Releases Firmware Update For Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1 USB Capture Card

AVerMedia Technologies, a leader in digital audiovisual solutions, today announced a firmware update for its well-received HDMI 2.1 USB Capture Card, Live Gamer ULTRA 2.1. The update gives users three new features - including 5.1 multi-channel audio pass-through and capture - fulfilling some highly wished-for upgrades of the capture card, making it even more powerful.

"We're constantly listening to our customers to ensure that we're bringing nothing but the best to the table," said Michael Kuo, President and CEO of AVerMedia. "Now, with the three added features, creators can take their content creation and gaming experience to greater heights."

Patriot Memory Teams Up With MSI for New Viper Xtreme 5 RGB DDR5 MPOWER Memory Series

Patriot Memory, a renowned name in performance memory and storage solutions, has teamed up with MSI, an innovator in gaming hardware, to unleash the Viper Xtreme 5 RGB DDR5 MPOWER Series - an extreme-speed DDR5 memory kit crafted for gamers, overclockers, and power users. This cutting-edge collaboration between the two brands combines blistering data rates up to 8000MT/s with massive 32 GB (16 GB x2) or 48 GB (24 GB x2) capacities. The Viper Xtreme 5 RGB DDR5 MPOWER series unleashes a torrent of memory bandwidth, turbocharging gaming rigs, content creation workstations, and other high-intensity applications demanding extreme responsiveness and throughput.

Optimized for Maximum Overclocking Potential
Intel XMP 3.0 certified for seamless plug-and-play overclocking on the latest Intel platforms, the Xtreme 5 RGB DDR5 MPOWER kit also integrates with MSI's user-friendly EZ Dashboard utility. This enables granular control over advanced timings and voltages to extract every last drop of performance.

Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.5518 Beta Released

Intel today released the latest version of the Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.5518 beta comes with optimization for "Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut" and "Homeworld 3." The drivers also fix a couple of issues with this release. To begin with, lower than expected performance with "Dragon's Dogma 2" has been fixed on Arc A-series discrete GPUs. A bug that caused "Dead Space" to experience lower than expected performance on Core Ultra processors with Arc Graphics has been fixed. Grab the latest version of Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.5518 Beta

Introducing Xming Formovie's Episode One Best Value Projector with Google TV and Native Netflix-Support

Formovie Technology, a leading player in the world of display technology, has announced the launch of Xming Episode One, its latest 1080p resolution projector with Google TV and Native Netflix support. As an independent brand of Formovie Technology, Xming offers quality LCD projectors with features such as auto keystone correction and autofocus included at an incredible price point.

Episode One seeks to be the top pick for Google TV users. It comes with native Netflix support and is available at an affordable price point of $/€299 at Formovie's website. This projector is unique for its Google TV and Native Netflix features, which make streaming easy and seamless without any additional devices. Its Google TV certification and integrated Google Assistant makes it versatile and convenient for everyday use.
Monday, May 13th 2024

Today's Reviews

Cases
CPU Coolers
Headphones
Keyboards
Memory
Monitors
Mouse
Mousepads
Other
SSD
Homeworld 3 Performance Benchmark Review - 35 GPUs Tested

Homeworld 3 Performance Benchmark Review - 35 GPUs Tested

Homeworld 3 is the latest installment in the epic space RTS series. Thanks to Unreal Engine, you get upgraded visuals and combat in real three-dimensional environments. In our performance review, we're taking a closer look at image quality, VRAM usage, and performance on a wide selection of modern graphics cards.

ASUS ROG Ally X Priced at $799, Battery 40% Larger

We've had our eye on the ASUS ROG Ally X since last week. The Ally X started its life on the rumor mill as a design revision of the ROG Ally that corrects the location of its microSD slot away from a heat vent, before we learned that it's a whole new product positioned above the ROG Ally, which not just fixes the microSD slot, but also comes with a larger battery, and support for M.2-2280 NVMe SSDs to unlock the widest selection of aftermarket SSDs among any handheld console.

Mystery Lupin a source with ASUS leaks, suggests that the ASUS ROG Ally X could be priced at $799, which would be a $100 premium over the top-spec ROG Ally Extreme. For this premium, ASUS is dropping in a battery that's rumored to have a 40% higher capacity than the one the original ROG Ally Extreme comes with; and the sheer convenience of an M.2-2280 drive bay that has a 1 TB SSD. It's also rumored that ASUS may step up the memory size. The other hardware specs are unchanged—the processor is still an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, the display is still that 7-inch 48-120 Hz VRR with 1080p resolution; and with an identical controller layout. ASUS is expected to launch the ROG Ally X on June 2.

ASUS Offers Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Game Bundle for Selected NVIDIA and AMD Graphics Cards

ASUS today announced that it is bundling a Steam code for the role-playing video game Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series and AMD Radeon RX 7000 series graphics cards purchased from May 13 to July 8, 2024. For gamers who have been waiting for their chance to explore Japan and Hawaii's criminal undersides with Kasuga Ichiban and the gang in the latest installment of the beloved Like a Dragon series, now is the chance to leverage new hardware in an adventure so vast that it spans the Pacific.

During this global promotion, any purchase of an ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 or above or any ASUS AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT or above will include a bundled Steam code for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Gamers everywhere can take advantage of this opportunity to upgrade their system and redeem the game code by August 8. For complete promotion details and instructions on how to redeem this code, click here.

ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces ROG Tessen Mobile Controller

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced availability of the ROG Tessen Mobile Controller. The Tessen is the only foldable mobile controller currently available on the market, and it features programmable rear paddles, additional rubber support pads for phone-case compatibility, mechanical switches for the face buttons and D-pad, plus console-grade joysticks to provide gamers with a combination of ultimate portability and superb control. The ROG Tessen's unique construction and features have already been recognized at international level, achieving a top spot in the Gaming/VR/AR category at the prestigious 2024 iF Design Awards, as well as bagging a 2024 Red Dot Award for product design.

The ROG Tessen has a travel-friendly design that folds easily to enable users to slip it into any bag or even a pocket. The Tessen securely holds phones in landscape orientation, with the left side of the controller folding down to easily slot the phone to the controller's extended USB-C connector. Once connected, the left side of the controller can be flipped up and the telescopic aluminium bridges adjusted to lock the phone in place. Bundled rubber support pads and an extended USB-C connector allow the Tessen to be easily connected to a phone in a protective case.

SilverStone Intros Air Slimmer 140 Case Fan

SilverStone today introduced the Air Slimmer 140, a slimline 140 mm case fan. The fan comes with a thickness of just 15.5 mm, compared to the 25 mm that's typical of 140 mm fans. This should come in handy if you choose a thicker radiator, or are building an SFF machine. The fan features a copper fluid dynamic bearing, although the company didn't specify endurance numbers. The 9-blade impeller features what SilverStone brands as Shark Force patterns, which improve noise characteristics.

The fan takes in 4-pin PWM input, and supports ultra-low speeds. It turns at speeds ranging between 0 and 1,700 RPM, with a maximum airflow of 82 CFM, at 2 mm H₂O static pressure, and 33 dBA maximum noise. It includes cables for daisy-chaining. There are two key variants of the fan, the base variant comes with a black impeller and lacks any lighting, and then there's the Air Slimmer 140 ARGB, which has a white impeller and 9 LEDs studded in the hub. It takes in 3-pin ARGB input for the lighting. The all-black version is priced at $19.99, and the ARGB version at $24.99.

Dell XPS Roadmap Leak Spills Beans on Several Upcoming Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm Processors

A product roadmap leak at leading PC OEM Dell, disclosed the tentative launch dates of several future generations of processors by Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. The slide was detailing hardware platforms for future revisions of the company's premium XPS notebooks. Given that Dell remains one of the largest PC OEMs, the dates revealed in the leaked slides are highly plausible.

In chronological order, Dell expects Intel's Core Ultra 200V series "Lunar Lake-MX" processor in September 2024, which should mean product unveilings at Computex. It's interesting to note that Intel is only designing "Lunar Lake" for the -MX memory-on-package segment. This chip squares off against Apple's M3, M4, and possibly even the M3 Pro. Intel also has its ambitious "Arrow Lake" architecture planned for the second half of 2024, hence the lack of product overlap—there won't be an "Arrow Lake-MX."

AMD Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F Detailed

AMD is indeed bringing the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F desktop processors to the retail PIB channel. Both these processors are based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" or "Phoenix 2" silicon, but with their iGPU disabled, hence the "F" in the model name. Company slides related to the two were leaked to the web. The processors feature CPU cores based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, and are built in the Socket AM5 package.

The Ryzen 7 8700F features the 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4" CPU that the 8700G, but with lower CPU clock speeds of up to 5.00 GHz boost (compared to up to 5.10 GHz for the 8700G). Although its iGPU is disabled, its NPU isn't. The Ryzen AI NPU offers 16 AI TOPS performance. The processor retains the 65 W TDP of the 8700G. Moving on to the 8400G, and here we see the processor being based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, with 6 CPU cores. Two of these are "Zen 4," and can reach the processor's 4.70 GHz maximum boost frequency; while the other four are "Zen 4c," and operate at lower clock speeds. The chip physically lacks an NPU, and its iGPU is disabled. It still has 65 W TDP to feed its CPU cores. In their retail packages, both processors include a Wraith Stealth cooling solution that's meant for 65 W TDP processors.

ChatGPT Comes to Desktop with OpenAI's Latest GPT-4o Model That Talks With Users

At OpenAI's spring update, a lot of eyes were fixed on the company, which spurred the AI boom with the ChatGPT application. Now being almost a must-have app for consumers and prosumers alike, ChatGPT is a de-facto application for the latest AI innovation, backed by researchers and scientists from OpenAI. Today, OpenAI announced a new model called GPT-4o (Omni), which hopes to bring advanced intelligence, improved overall capabilities, and real-time voice interaction with users. Now, the ChatGPT application wants to become like a personal assistant that actively communicates with users and provides much broader capabilities. OpenAI claims that it can respond to audio inputs as quickly as 232 milliseconds, with an average of 320 milliseconds, similar to human response time in conversations.

However, OpenAI states that it wants ChatGPT's latest GPT-4o model to be available to the free, Plus, and Team paid subscribers, where paid subscribers get 5x higher usage and early access to the model. Interestingly, the GPT-4o model is much improved across a variety of standard benchmarks like MMLU, Math, HumanEval, GPQA, and others, where it now surpasses almost all models except Claude 3 Opus in MGSM. It now understands more than 50 languages and can do real time translation. In addition to the new model, OpenAI announced that they are launching a desktop ChatGPT app, which can act as a personal assistant and see what is happening on the screen, but it is only allowed by user command. This is supposed to bring a much more refined user experience and enable users to use AI as a third person to help understand the screen's content. Initially only available on macOS, we are waiting for OpenAI to launch the Windows ChatGPT application so everyone can also experience the new technology.

TOP500: Frontier Keeps Top Spot, Aurora Officially Becomes the Second Exascale Machine

The 63rd edition of the TOP500 reveals that Frontier has once again claimed the top spot, despite no longer being the only exascale machine on the list. Additionally, a new system has found its way into the Top 10.

The Frontier system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, USA remains the most powerful system on the list with an HPL score of 1.206 EFlop/s. The system has a total of 8,699,904 combined CPU and GPU cores, an HPE Cray EX architecture that combines 3rd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs optimized for HPC and AI with AMD Instinct MI250X accelerators, and it relies on Cray's Slingshot 11 network for data transfer. On top of that, this machine has an impressive power efficiency rating of 52.93 GFlops/Watt - putting Frontier at the No. 13 spot on the GREEN500.

NEO Semiconductor Reveals a Performance Boosting Floating Body Cell Mechanism for 3D X-DRAM during IEEE IMW 2024 in Seoul

NEO Semiconductor, a leading developer of innovative technologies for 3D NAND flash and DRAM memory, today announced a performance boosting Floating Body Cell Mechanism for 3D X-DRAM. Andy Hsu, Founder & CEO presented groundbreaking Technology CAD (TCAD) simulation results for NEO's 3D X-DRAM during the 16th IEEE International Memory Workshop (IMW) 2024 in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Neo Semiconductor reveals a unique performance boosting mechanism called Back-gate Channel-depth Modulation (BCM) for Floating Body Cell that can increase data retention by 40,000X and sensing window by 20X.

Kingston Launches New Workflow Bundles to Better Meet Creator Needs

Kingston Digital, Inc., the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced the reintroduction of the Workflow Dock and its accompanying Readers. The Workflow series now features more hub options separate from the dock, offering even more flexibility. This update caters to the diverse needs of content creators by supporting a broader range of content transfers.

The Workflow series is designed to streamline transferring video, photo, and audio from multiple sources simultaneously. This enables creators to streamline their post production process and establish a file offload system tailored to their requirements with ease. These hubs and card readers facilitate simultaneous file transfers to a Mac or PC at USB 3.2 speeds and can function independently as standalone devices when needed.

Kevin O'Buckley to Lead Foundry Services at Intel

Intel Corporation today announced the appointment of Kevin O'Buckley as senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services, the customer service and ecosystem operations division of Intel Foundry. O'Buckley starts today and becomes a member of Intel's executive leadership team reporting to CEO Pat Gelsinger. He succeeds Stuart Pann, who will retire from Intel after 35 years of service at the end of May and remain an adviser to support a seamless transition.

"Kevin brings a unique blend of expertise from across the semiconductor industry, having served as a senior leader and technologist in both foundry and fabless companies," said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. "As we continue building the world's first systems foundry for the AI era, Kevin will play a critical role in helping customers achieve their goals by leveraging Intel Foundry's unique ability to deliver process and packaging technology through a resilient and sustainable supply chain."

KeysFan Unveils Software Special Sale: Get Special Prices on Genuine Software

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Intel-powered Aurora Supercomputer Ranks Fastest for AI

At ISC High Performance 2024, Intel announced in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) that the Aurora supercomputer has broken the exascale barrier at 1.012 exaflops and is the fastest AI system in the world dedicated to AI for open science, achieving 10.6 AI exaflops. Intel will also detail the crucial role of open ecosystems in driving AI-accelerated high performancehigh -performance computing (HPC). "The Aurora supercomputer surpassing exascale will allow it to pave the road to tomorrow's discoveries. From understanding climate patterns to unraveling the mysteries of the universe, supercomputers serve as a compass guiding us toward solving truly difficult scientific challenges that may improve humanity," said Ogi Brkic, Intel vice president and general manager of Data Center AI Solutions.

Designed as an AI-centric system from its inception, Aurora will allow researchers to harness generative AI models to accelerate scientific discovery. Significant progress has been made in Argonne's early AI-driven research. Success stories include mapping the human brain's 80 billion neurons, high-energy particle physics enhanced by deep learning, and drug design and discovery accelerated by machine learning, among others. The Aurora supercomputer is an expansive system with 166 racks, 10,624 compute blades, 21,248 Intel Xeon CPU Max Series processors, and 63,744 Intel Data Center GPU Max Series units, making it one of the world's largest GPU clusters.

Cities: Skylines II Patch 1.1.2f1 Adds DLSS Super Resolution, Bug Fixes, and More

Hi everyone. As patch 1.1.2f1 is rolling out on Steam and Microsoft Store, let's have a look at what it includes and what you can expect next. This patch removes the entitlement from all the Beach Properties assets, so they are now a part of the base game and available to everyone. Saves and custom maps using the assets should work without any extra steps, but as always, don't hesitate to make a bug report on the forum if you have any issues. Additionally, we have improvements to performance, support for Nvidia DLSS Super Resolution, and a long list of bug fixes for both the game and the Editor. You can find the full list below.

With this patch in your hands, we've started working towards the next one. It will take about a month as, along with bug fixes and improvements, this patch will include a large re-work of the Economy to address much of the feedback you have shared with us in the past months. We'll share more details on what has changed when the patch is ready. As modding is an important part of any Colossal Order game, one of our top priorities right now is to resolve the remaining issues with the asset import pipeline, so you can start to import and share your custom assets on Paradox Mods. This is proving more difficult than we hoped, so we don't have an exact timeline at this time at this point, but it will likely take several more months. Thank you for all the bug reports, feedback, and support. We really appreciate it as it helps us understand and improve your experience with Cities: Skylines II.

AMD RDNA 5 a "Clean Sheet" Graphics Architecture, RDNA 4 Merely Corrects a Bug Over RDNA 3

AMD's future RDNA 5 graphics architecture will bear a "clean sheet" design, and may probably not even have the RDNA branding, says WJM47196, a source of AMD leaks on ChipHell. Two generations ahead of the current RDNA 3 architecture powering the Radeon RX 7000 series discrete GPUs, RDNA 5 could see AMD reimagine the GPU and its key components, much in the same way RDNA did over the former "Vega" architecture, bringing in a significant performance/watt jump, which AMD could build upon with its successful RDNA 2 powered Radeon RX 6000 series.

Performance per Watt is the biggest metric on which a generation of GPUs can be assessed, and analysts believe that RDNA 3 missed the mark with generational gains in performance/watt despite the switch to the advanced 5 nm EUV process from the 7 nm DUV. AMD's decision to disaggregate the GPU, with some of its components being built on the older 6 nm node may have also impacted the performance/watt curve. The leaker also makes a sensational claim that "Navi 31" was originally supposed to feature 192 MB of Infinity Cache, which would have meant 32 MB segments of it per memory cache die (MCD). The company instead went with 16 MB per MCD, or just 96 MB per GPU, which only get reduced as AMD segmented the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 GRE by disabling one or two MCDs.

MSI Highlights Optimized AI Platforms to Accelerate Compute-Intensive Applications at ISC 2024

MSI, a leading global server provider, brings its latest server platforms powered by AMD processors and 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, optimized for HPC and AI markets at ISC 2024, booth #F39 in Hamburg, Germany from May 13-15. "As businesses increasingly adopt AI applications to improve customer experiences, the need for greater computing power and denser deployments has spurred significant shifts in IT infrastructure, driving a widespread adoption of liquid cooling," said Danny Hsu, General Manager of Enterprise Platform Solutions. "MSI's AI server platforms empower businesses to achieve efficiency gains while handling more compute-intensive workloads."

MSI G4201 is a 4U supercomputer designed for exceptional performance in compute-intensive tasks. It features up to eight double-wide PCIe 5.0 x16 slots optimized for high-performance GPU cards, alongside one single-wide PCIe 5.0 x16 expansion slot. Each GPU has a full PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 x16 link directly to the root port complex of a CPU socket without going through a PCIe switch, granting maximum CPU-to-GPU bandwidth. Powered by dual 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors and equipped with 32 DDR5 DIMMs, the G4201 platform delivers outstanding heterogeneous computing capabilities for various GPU-based scientific high-performance computing, Generative AI, and inference applications. Additionally, the system includes twelve 3.5-inch drive bays for enhanced functionality.

NVIDIA Blackwell Platform Pushes the Boundaries of Scientific Computing

Quantum computing. Drug discovery. Fusion energy. Scientific computing and physics-based simulations are poised to make giant steps across domains that benefit humanity as advances in accelerated computing and AI drive the world's next big breakthroughs. NVIDIA unveiled at GTC in March the NVIDIA Blackwell platform, which promises generative AI on trillion-parameter large language models (LLMs) at up to 25x less cost and energy consumption than the NVIDIA Hopper architecture.

Blackwell has powerful implications for AI workloads, and its technology capabilities can also help to deliver discoveries across all types of scientific computing applications, including traditional numerical simulation. By reducing energy costs, accelerated computing and AI drive sustainable computing. Many scientific computing applications already benefit. Weather can be simulated at 200x lower cost and with 300x less energy, while digital twin simulations have 65x lower cost and 58x less energy consumption versus traditional CPU-based systems and others.

QNAP Strengthens Product Security through Collaboration with Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI)

QNAP Systems, Inc. is committed to enhancing the security of its products by engaging in international collaborations. Recently, the company participated in the Pwn2Own Toronto 2023 competition organized by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), resulting in valuable experiences and achievements. QNAP will continue to deepen its cooperation with international cybersecurity organizations to continuously improve product security, ensuring the best protection for users' data.

Pwn2Own is a global cybersecurity competition organized by ZDI aimed at challenging security vulnerabilities in various software and hardware. Participants utilize various techniques, including exploit and zero-day attacks, to breach target systems. This competition not only provides a platform for security experts to showcase their skills but also enables vendors to understand and address security vulnerabilities in their products, benefiting users worldwide.

NVIDIA Grace Hopper Ignites New Era of AI Supercomputing

Driving a fundamental shift in the high-performance computing industry toward AI-powered systems, NVIDIA today announced nine new supercomputers worldwide are using NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips to speed scientific research and discovery. Combined, the systems deliver 200 exaflops, or 200 quintillion calculations per second, of energy-efficient AI processing power.

New Grace Hopper-based supercomputers coming online include EXA1-HE, in France, from CEA and Eviden; Helios at Academic Computer Centre Cyfronet, in Poland, from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE); Alps at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, from HPE; JUPITER at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre, in Germany; DeltaAI at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and Miyabi at Japan's Joint Center for Advanced High Performance Computing - established between the Center for Computational Sciences at the University of Tsukuba and the Information Technology Center at the University of Tokyo.

NVIDIA Accelerates Quantum Computing Centers Worldwide With CUDA-Q Platform

NVIDIA today announced that it will accelerate quantum computing efforts at national supercomputing centers around the world with the open-source NVIDIA CUDA-Q platform. Supercomputing sites in Germany, Japan and Poland will use the platform to power the quantum processing units (QPUs) inside their NVIDIA-accelerated high-performance computing systems.

QPUs are the brains of quantum computers that use the behavior of particles like electrons or photons to calculate differently than traditional processors, with the potential to make certain types of calculations faster. Germany's Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) at Forschungszentrum Jülich is installing a QPU built by IQM Quantum Computers as a complement to its JUPITER supercomputer, supercharged by the NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip. The ABCI-Q supercomputer, located at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan, is designed to advance the nation's quantum computing initiative. Powered by the NVIDIA Hopper architecture, the system will add a QPU from QuEra. Poland's Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC) has recently installed two photonic QPUs, built by ORCA Computing, connected to a new supercomputer partition accelerated by NVIDIA Hopper.

Apple Inches Closer to a Deal with OpenAI to Bring ChatGPT Technology to iPhone

To bring cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities to its flagship product, Apple is said to be finalizing a deal with OpenAI to integrate the ChatGPT technology into the upcoming iOS 18 for iPhones. According to Bloomberg, multiple sources report that after months of negotiations, the two tech giants are putting the finishing touches on a partnership that would be an important moment for consumer AI. However, OpenAI may not be Apple's only AI ally. The company has also reportedly been in talks with Google over licensing the Gemini chatbot, though no known agreement has been reached yet. The rare team-up between the fiercely competitive firms underscores the intense focus on AI integration across the industry.

Apple's strategic moves are a clear indication of its recognition of the transformative potential of advanced AI capabilities for the iPhone experience. The integration of OpenAI's language model could empower Siri to understand and respond to complex voice queries with deep contextual awareness. This could revolutionize the way Apple's customers interact with devices, offering hope for a more intuitive and advanced iPhone experience. Potential Gemini integration opens up another realm of possibilities around Google's image and multimodal AI capabilities. Future iPhones may be able to analyze and describe visual scenes, annotate images, generate custom imagery from natural language prompts, and even synthesize audio using AI vocals - all within a conversational interface. As the AI arms race intensifies, Apple wants to position itself at the forefront through these partnerships.
Apple and OpenAI
Sunday, May 12th 2024

This Week in Gaming (Week 20)

Welcome to the 20th week of 2024 and this week kicks off with a huge AAA space saga that some of you have been eagerly waiting for. However, we have a second AAA title this week, which is a few years old Playstation game that, despite the title, doesn't have anything to do with ghosts. The rest of this week's releases involve aliens, rhythms, world wars and pirates.

Homeworld 3 / This week's first AAA title / Monday 13 May
Tactical, beautiful, and wholly unique, the GOTY-winning sci-fi RTS returns with Homeworld 3. Assume control and battle through fleet combat in dazzling, fully 3D space while the award-winning story unfolds on a galactic scale. Strategic freedom is yours. Hulking space derelicts called megaliths bring 3D terrain into the classic Homeworld battlespace. Use the crumbling remains of an ancient civilization to funnel foes into a brilliant ambush or hide your fleet from powerful enemies. Fortresses teem with menacing turrets and invite your strike craft into dangerous trench runs deep behind enemy lines. But not everything is in your control. Dangerous space phenomena like particle storms and asteroid fields will test even senior commanders. Steam Link
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