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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This $39.97 e-learning bundle teaches you how to program in Python, and how to use its web frameworks, libraries, and other tools—less than $4 per course. Interested in becoming a self-taught programmer? You might still benefit from some instruction, and these self-paced e-courses assist you with code examples, security considerations, and real-world projects to help you build websites, apps, and games in Python. It contains 14 courses and 113 hours of content that you can access for life for $39.97 (reg. $196).

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

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

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

Over 500 games and applications feature RTX technologies, and barely a week goes by without an incredible new game integrating NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex and advanced ray-traced effects to deliver the definitive PC experience for GeForce RTX players. Following the DLSS-accelerated launch of Manor Lords, this week sees DLSS 3 arrive in EVERSPACE 2 and Gray Zone Warfare. Additionally, MotoGP 24 is launching with DLSS 2, and the NVIDIA RTX Remix modding toolkit has upgraded to DLSS 3.5 with Ray Reconstruction, enabling RTX Remix mods to benefit from its fidelity-enhancing technology. Learn more about each announcement below.

EVERSPACE 2 DLSS 3 & Reflex Upgrade Available Now
ROCKFISH Games' EVERSPACE 2 is a fast-paced single-player spaceship shooter with exploration in space and on planets, tons of loot, RPG elements, plus mining and crafting. Since 2021, GeForce RTX gamers have been able to accelerate their EVERSPACE 2 frame rates in both the Steam and Game Pass versions of the game using DLSS 2. Now, the new EVERSPACE 2 Incursions update has docked, upgrading the game to Unreal Engine 5, introducing improved Lumen Global Illumination lighting, and adding a ton of new gameplay features.

Logitech International today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full Fiscal Year 2024 ended March 31, 2024.

For Q4 Fiscal Year 2024:

• Sales were $1.01 billion, up 5 percent in US dollars and 5 percent in constant currency, compared to Q4 of the prior year.
• GAAP operating income was $130 million, up 235 percent, compared to Q4 of the prior year. Non-GAAP operating income was $159 million, up 93 percent, compared to Q4 of the prior year.
• GAAP earnings per share (EPS) was $1.07, up 312 percent compared to Q4 prior year. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.99, up 98 percent compared to the prior year.
• Cash flow from operations was $239 million, up 10 percent compared to Q4 of the prior year.

For Fiscal Year 2024:

• Sales were $4.30 billion, down 5 percent in US dollars and 6 percent in constant currency, compared to the prior year.
• GAAP operating income was $587 million, up 28 percent compared to the prior year. Non-GAAP operating income was $699 million, up 19 percent compared to the prior year.
• GAAP earnings per share (EPS) was $3.87, up 74 percent compared to the prior year. Non-GAAP EPS was $4.25, up 32 percent compared to the prior year.
• Cash flow from operations was $1.1 billion, up 114 percent compared to the prior year. The year-ending cash balance was more than $1.5 billion. The Company returned $686 million of cash to shareholders through its annual dividend payment and share repurchases.

In fall of 2023, Fashionista Magazine let the world in on the secret that white was going to be the "it" color for Spring 2024. Today, SteelSeries.com the original esports brand that fuses gaming and culture, introduces an all-new white version of the award-winning Arctis Nova Pro series headphones. There are defining moments in every industry and every era. A great example being in 2022 when SteelSeries launched the Arctis Nova Pro series, which was met with critical acclaim, garnering countless awards, and establishing an all-new premium/luxury/high-end category for the gaming headphones market, while simultaneously making it not only okay, but cool to wear a gaming headset as "your everyday pair of headphones."

So, whether it's gaming on the go, listening to Spotify while commuting on the train or bus, watching Netflix on the couch or an airplane, taking a Zoom call and needing to tune out the noise in a shared apartment, workspace, or coffee shop, at the home office with furry kids running around, in the gym or basketball court, playing some Call of Duty MW III or Mario or Animal Crossing at home, or creating and editing "get ready with me" videos for TikTok or Instagram, and so much more... the white Nova Pro Wireless headphones let you do it in style with the "it" color for Spring 2024.

NVIDIA RTX Remix enables modders to reimagine classic games with full ray tracing, also known as path tracing, and to update models and textures with modern rendering features that work hand in hand with ray-traced effects to deliver the level of graphical fidelity seen in Portal with RTX, our ray-traced reimagining of Valve's classic game. And with a few additional clicks, support for NVIDIA DLSS and NVIDIA Reflex can be introduced, accelerating performance and making gameplay even more responsive.

Following the launch of the RTX Remix Open Beta in January, we're today introducing new features and optimizations, headlined by the addition of NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 with Ray Reconstruction, an AI model that creates higher quality ray-traced images for intensive ray-traced games and apps. Additionally, we're taking a look at some work in progress RTX Remix mods, and checking in with Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project, to demonstrate the toolkit's capabilities.

ASUS today announced the ASUS Chromebook CZ series of laptops tailored for K12 students, which offer a portable and durable design for enduring value and empower engaged learning - anywhere. Featuring a 180° lay-flat or 360°-flippable design and an 11.6-inch (CZ1104C/F) or 12.2-inch (CZ1204C/F) 16:10 WUXGA display or touchscreen with TÜV-certified eye-care technology, the series not only enhances the visual experience but also prioritizes eye protection. ASUS Chromebook CZ series laptops are built for easy IT maintenance, with a modular design that minimizes downtime. The series boasts an extended battery life for uninterrupted use throughout an entire day of classes, empowering students to extend their learning beyond traditional limits.

A reliable study companion
For K12 students, an everyday-use laptop should be invincible. With lively and active users, scratches and knocks are an almost-inevitable part of their daily routine, so the ASUS Chromebook CZ series features an all-round rubber bumper for extra peace of mind. The laptops also feature a rugged design that's tested to meet or exceed the MIL-STD-810H US military-grade standard, and use tough Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the screen from scratches. Additionally, the spill-resistant keyboard can cope with minor water spills without harm, so minor splashes on the desk or at the dinner table can be easily drained, cleaned, and dried. Finally, the special fingerprint-resistant finish keeps the laptop cleaner for longer.

Corsair today announced the launch of its first 30 mm-thick PC cooling fans, the RS MAX Series. By combining extremely durable Liquid Crystal Polymer material with a larger fan blade bolstered by AirGuide technology, Corsair's expert engineers have created its best performing fan with zero compromises. The RS MAX Series connects with a simple 4-pin PWM header, enabling precise adjustment over fan speeds without the need for a separate controller.

With a 20% increase in thickness over standard fans, the RS MAX Series can spin at a lower speed to generate the same airflow as its thinner counterparts - translating into lower overall fan noise. For enthusiasts who push their systems to the limit, the high static pressure created by the RS MAX's larger fan blade helps power airflow through obstructions and dense radiators, making it an ideal choice for high-performance liquid cooling setups.

Dynabook Americas, Inc., the gold standard for long-lasting, professional-grade laptops, today announced that it has refreshed its value-packed 14-inch Satellite Pro C40 and 15.6-inch Satellite Pro C50 laptops with Intel Core processors (Series 1) and spill-resistant keyboards, and +Care Service Warranty with On-site.

"Our refreshed Satellite Pro C Series laptops underscore Dynabook's commitment to meeting the diverse needs of the public, private and education sectors. With their blend of modern performance, durability, and affordability, these laptops empower organizations of all sizes to thrive in today's dynamic and competitive landscape," said James Robbins, General Manager, Dynabook Americas, Inc.

Sharkoon Technologies is an international supplier of high-quality, high-performance PC components and peripherals and is now launching the Rebel C20 ITX. Even though this PC case is primarily designed for Mini-ITX mainboards as well as SFX and SFX-L PSUs, the Rebel C20 ITX should also be able to accommodate the largest graphics cards and radiators. In addition, the case can be positioned either vertically or horizontally and is available either as a version without fans or as a version with pre-installed addressable RGB fans for cooling.

Despite its dimensions of just 45.7 x 20.8 x 30.1 centimeters, the Rebel C20 ITX should also be able to accommodate the largest modern graphics cards of the RTX 4090 series as well as radiators of up to 360 millimeters. As the Rebel C20 ITX can be positioned either vertically or horizontally, it can not only serve as gaming PC but can also become a compact PC that fits into any living room or office room at home.

Independent game developer C2 Game Studio has today revealed that its upcoming third-person action-RPG Astor: Blade of the Monolith will launch May 30th on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms. The release date was revealed as part of the ID@Xbox Showcase, featuring some of the most exciting upcoming indie games from around the world. The announcement also comes in the wake of a recent title rebrand. Wield legendary runic weapons and magical abilities in fast-paced combat as you confront the source of evil found on planet Gilese, and enjoy a rich, immersive adventure as you guide a lone hero across the planet in a desperate search for answers.

"We're really excited to finally reveal our release date for Astor: Blade of the Monolith," said Luis Correa, Founder & game director at C2 Game Studio. "Myself and everyone at C2 are immensely proud of the game, and we can't wait for players to get their hands on it when it releases on May 30th."

As a thriving global consumer electronics company, Baseus is devoted to introducing products to revolutionize the industry. This is why Baseus is now excited to launch the Bowie MA10s TWS Earbuds. Last year, Baseus' best-selling product on Amazon was the Bowie MA10, however, the Bowie MA10s is an upgraded and portable model with a smaller body that's more convenient to carry. The new earbuds also have a digital display to know the power status at a glance and have been recommended by Oscar-class composers to ensure a quality sound experience.

-48dB Active Noise Cancelling: The Baseus Bowie MA10s TWS Earbuds feature hybrid -48dB Active Noise Cancelling technology that seamlessly cancels out 95% of outside noise. This ensures undisrupted sound quality for the user at all times.

Thermaltake today announced the ASTRIA 600 ARGB, a dual fin-stack type CPU cooler. The company had shown off the ASTRIA line of coolers earlier this year at the 2024 CES. The ASTRIA 600 leads the pack, being the heaviest model, with the most heat dissipation area from its dual-stack design. Its design involves a nickel-plated copper base, from which six 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes make their way through two aluminium fin-stacks with equal fin-pitch to each other. Both fin-stacks are capped by die-cast metal top-plates with ARGB lighting from 18 LEDs, each. Two 120 mm fans ventilate the fin-stacks.

Each of the two included 120 mm fans features a 40,000-hour rated bearing, and a 9-LED ARGB lighting that projects from the impeller hub. The fan takes in 4-pin PWM for its main function, turns at speeds ranging between 500 and 1,800 RPM, pushing up to 65 CFM of airflow, at 2.56 mm H₂O static pressure, and up to 26.8 dBA noise. Even with both fans in place, Thermaltake says you have clearance for 1.5x-tall memory modules (ones that have lighting or heatsink crowns). The cooler has a cooling capacity of 265 W, making it fit for any of the flagship desktop processors. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1700, upcoming LGA1851, LGA1200/LGA115x, AM5, and AM4. The cooler measures 124 mm x 137 mm x 160 mm (L x W x H). The company didn't reveal pricing.

A few months ago, we covered proof of overclocking an off-the-shelf 2.5-inch SATA III NAND Flash SSD thanks to Gabriel Ferraz, Computer Engineer and TechPowerUp's SSD database maintainer. Now, he is back with another equally interesting project of modifying a Quad-Level Cell (QLC) SATA III SSD into a Single-Level Cell (SLC) SATA III SSD. Using the Crucial BX500 512 GB SSD, he aimed at transforming the QLC drive into a more endurant and higher-performance SLC. Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 powers the drive of choice with a single-core ARC 32-bit CPU clocked at 550 MHz and two channels running at 800 MT/s (400 MHz) without a DRAM cache. This particular SSD uses four NAND Flash dies from Micron with NY240 part numbers. Two dies are controlled per channel. These NAND Flash dies were designed to operate at 1,600 MT/s (800 MHz) but are limited to only 525 MT/s in this drive in the real world.

The average endurance of these dies is 1,500 P/E cycles in NANDs FortisFlash and about 900 P/E cycles in Mediagrade. Transforming the same drive in the pSLC is bumping those numbers to 100,000 and 60,000, respectively. However, getting that to work is the tricky part. To achieve this, you have to download MPtools for the Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 controller from the USBdev.ru website and find the correct die used in the SSD. Then, the software is modified carefully, and a case-sensitive configuration file is modified to allow for SLC mode, which forces the die to run as a SLC NAND Flash die. Finally, firmware folder must be reached and files need to be moved arround in a way seen in the video.

Samsung Electronics today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. The Company posted KRW 71.92 trillion in consolidated revenue on the back of strong sales of flagship Galaxy S24 smartphones and higher prices for memory semiconductors. Operating profit increased to KRW 6.61 trillion as the Memory Business returned to profit by addressing demand for high value-added products. The Mobile eXperience (MX) Business posted higher earnings and the Visual Display and Digital Appliances businesses also recorded increased profitability.

The weakness of the Korean won against major currencies resulted in a positive impact on company-wide operating profit of about KRW 0.3 trillion compared to the previous quarter. The Company's total capital expenditures in the first quarter stood at KRW 11.3 trillion, including KRW 9.7 trillion for the Device Solutions (DS) Division and KRW 1.1 trillion on Samsung Display Corporation (SDC). Spending on memory was focused on facilities and packaging technologies to address demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), DDR5 and other advanced products, while foundry investments were concentrated on establishing infrastructure to meet medium- to long-term demand. Display investments were mainly made in IT OLED products and flexible display technologies.

QNAP Systems, Inc. (QNAP) today released the upgraded Security Center with the new feature "Unusual File Activity Monitoring", which has been designed for QNAP NAS as a tool for system risk assessment and protection center. Security Center proactively scans, monitors and analyzes NAS status, file activity, potential security threats while also offering instant protective measures against attacks. Security Center also integrates virus scanning and malware removal software to ensure the complete protection of the NAS to reduce the risk of data loss.

"QNAP have developed active protection measures for robust security checks and data protection of NAS" said Jimmy Tan, product manager of QNAP, adding "Security Center supports the new feature 'Unusual File Activity Monitoring' which takes a proactive approach to monitor unusual file activities on NAS and provides instant security measures against potential or confirmed security threats to ensure users precious data. We welcome all QNAP users to join the beta test of Unusual File Activity Monitoring feature and provide feedback to help us continually develop and improve our solutions with better user experiences."

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), a premier chip and silicon IP provider making data faster and safer, today announced the availability of its new family of state-of-the-art DDR5 server Power Management ICs (PMICs), including an industry-leading extreme current device for high-performance applications. With this new family of server PMICs, Rambus offers module manufacturers a complete DDR5 RDIMM memory interface chipset supporting a broad range of data center use cases.

"Advanced data center workloads like generative AI require the highest bandwidth and capacity server RDIMMs tailored to meet ever-increasing memory needs of a growing data pipeline," said Sean Fan, chief operating officer at Rambus. "With the addition of this new family of server PMICs, we expand our foundational technology and offer customers a comprehensive memory interface chipset that supports multiple DDR5 server platform generations."

Cooler Master, a leading provider of PC components, gaming peripherals, and tech lifestyle solutions, today announced the launch of their latest update in gaming comfort: the CALIBER X2C and CALIBER R3C chairs, part of the refreshed COOL-IN Series. Designed for gamers who demand style and substance, these chairs promise to keep you cool under pressure while delivering unmatched comfort.

MINISFORUM also listed its new Mini PC - NAB9 on Amazon, featuring an i9-12900HK processor and dual 2.5G Ethernet ports. The 32 GB + 1 TB version is priced at $599, with a first-order coupon of $96, bringing the final price down to $503. MINISFORUM NAB9 utilizes the same mold as the NAB7, but upgrades to the flagship Intel Core i9-12900HK processor, with 14 cores and 20 threads, a 24 MB cache, a base frequency of 3.80 GHz, and a maximum turbo frequency of up to 5.00 GHz. With a TDP of 45 W, it integrates Iris Xe graphics with 96 EUs, significantly enhancing graphic performance.

Furthermore, the NAB9 supports AV1 decoding and video editing acceleration, ensuring users experience faster and smoother operations, whether watching high-definition videos, editing photos, or engaging in design and creative work. With a volume of just 0.9 liters, the NAB9 is 1/40th the size of traditional PCs. Its easy-to-disassemble design allows users to quickly access and replace memory and SSD. The new active SSD cooling design, coupled with side ventilation openings, effectively dissipates heat from the memory and SSD.

The MINISFORUM NAB6 Lite utilizes the same mold as the NAB6, with a CPU that is an Intel Core i5-12500H processor, boasting 12 cores and 16 threads, an 18 MB cache, and a maximum turbo frequency of up to 4.50 GHz. With a TDP of 45 W, it integrates Iris Xe graphics, offering strong graphic performance suitable for everyday office work and multimedia entertainment.

With a volume of only 0.9 liters, the NAB6 Lite is 1/40th the size of a traditional PC. Its body features an easy-to-disassemble design; simply press the cover plate to pop it open, allowing users to conveniently replace memory and SSD. Additionally, it introduces a new active SSD cooling design plus side ventilation openings to address the accumulation of heat in memory and hard drives, enabling more effective cooling for both memory and SSD.

To enhance user experience, Microsoft has rolled out a significant update to the web version of its Microsoft Store, simplifying the process of downloading and installing applications. This move aims to minimize the number of steps required, making it more convenient for users to access their desired apps. Previously, the process of installing apps from the Microsoft Store website involved multiple steps, including navigating through deep-linked dialogues and mini-window popups before the actual download could commence. While this approach was implemented as a security measure to prevent malicious scripts from executing, it was deemed cumbersome by many users. With the introduction of the "undocked version" of the Microsoft Store, the app installation process has been streamlined. Users can now download an app for their Windows system with just two clicks.

The first click initiates the download of the app package, and the second click launches the application itself. Early feedback from testers and developers has been overwhelmingly positive, with reports indicating a 12% increase in app installations and a remarkable 54% surge in the number of applications launched after installation. This update not only improves the user experience but also holds the potential to boost app adoption and engagement on the Microsoft Store platform. While not all apps currently support this new lightweight installation process, with some still directing users to the dedicated Windows app or requiring additional downloads during installation, Microsoft is committed to expanding the availability of this feature across its app catalog. This update underscores Microsoft's ongoing efforts to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of its services.

MONTECH, a PC components and peripherals provider, announces an extreme version of the popular SKY TWO with an airflow-focused E-ATX case - the SKY TWO GX. The case supports up to 11 fans (3 pre-installed AX140 PWM ARGB) and the top clearance is increased to accommodate 66 mm radiator thickness and has 25 mm space for cable management. The SKY TWO features a 51% porosity mesh design on its front, top panel, and side of the PSU chamber. Support has been improved for high-end components, making this an extreme performance case starting at only US $89.

MONTECH has refined the GX edition to achieve enhancements based on insights from the original SKY TWO users. The height at the top has been increased by 10 mm, which allows it to accommodate radiators with a thickness of 66 mm. A 5 mm increase on the backside of the case for cable management, expanding the spacing to 25 mm. The glass panel has been improved with a beautifully designed handle and hinge for easy swivel access. The lower-side mesh panel is also available for quick access to the bottom chamber.

SPARKLE is announcing SPARKLE Intel Arc A770/A750 ROC Series, comes with the very first white card of SPAKRLE, "Luna Edition", and a standard black card. As the new flagship series of SPARKLE, ROC stands for the enormous legendary bird of prey and represents the power and the precision, which is the brand-new BEST choice of the A770 / A750, provides high performance and myriad of productivity without anything getting in the way.

ROC series equipped dual 100 mm double-ball bearing fan with 2.5-slot heatsink design, reduce the length of card effetely and ready to fit into the compact system. Furthermore, 100 mm DBB fans have brought the higher efficiency of cooling, lead to an ultra-silence experience without compromising performance. A blue breathing light of Intel Arc on the side of the card is bringing classic and style to your gaming setup.

A few batches of GeForce RTX 4070 graphics cards are based on the 5 nm "AD103" silicon, a significantly larger chip than the "AD104" that powers the original RTX 4070. A reader has reached out to us with a curiously named MSI RTX 4070 Ventus 3X E 12 GB OC graphics card, saying that TechPowerUp GPU-Z wasn't able to detect it correctly. When we took a closer look at their GPU-Z submission data, we found that the card was based on the larger "AD103" silicon, looking at its device ID. Interestingly, current NVIDIA drivers, such as the 552.22 WHQL used here, are able to seamlessly present the card to the user as an RTX 4070. We dug through older versions of GeForce drivers, and found that the oldest driver to support this card is 551.86, which NVIDIA released in early-March 2024.

The original GeForce RTX 4070 was created by NVIDIA by enabling 46 out of 60 streaming multiprocessors (SM), or a little over 76% of the available shaders. To create an RTX 4070 out of an "AD103," NVIDIA would have to enable 46 out of 80, or just 57% of the available shaders, and just 36 MB out of the 64 MB available on-die L2 cache. The company would also have to narrow the memory bus down to 192-bit from the available 256-bit, to drive the 12 GB of memory. The PCB footprint, pin-map, and package size of both the "AD103" and "AD104" are similar, so board partners are able to seamlessly integrate the chip with their existing AD104-based RTX 4070 board designs. End-users would probably not even notice the change until they fire up diagnostic utilities and find them surprised.

MSI, a leading brand in gaming, content creation, and business and productivity laptops, is proud to announce that its gaming handheld, Claw, has achieved a significant boost in gaming performance, with an increase of up to 150% through new BIOS and GPU drivers. Moreover, the updated BIOS and GPU drivers enable the Claw to smoothly play the top 100 popular games on the Steam platform, providing an excellent mobile gaming experience.

The new E1T41IMS.106 BIOS (referred to as 106) and 31.0.101.5445 GPU driver (referred to as 5445) for the MSI Claw have significantly enhanced gaming performance according to internal tests. For instance, the performance of the well-known open-world horror game "7 Days to Die" increased by up to 150%. Other popular games such as "Monster Hunter World" and "Cyberpunk 2077" also saw performance improvements of over 50% with the new BIOS and GPU drivers, providing a smoother gaming experience.

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on NVIDIA directing users of Intel's 13th Generation Raptor Lake and 14th Generation Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs to consult Intel for any issues with system stability. Motherboard makers, by default, often run the CPU outside of Intel's recommended specifications, overvolting the CPU through modifying voltage curves, automatic overclocks, and removing power limits.

Today, we learned that Igor's Lab has obtained a statement from Intel that the company prepared for motherboard OEMs regarding the issues multiple users report. Intel CPUs come pre-programmed with a stock voltage curve. When motherboard makers remove power limits and automatically adjust voltage curves and frequency targets, the CPU can be pushed outside its safe operating range, possibly causing system instability. Intel has set up a dedicated website for users to report their issues and offer support. Manufacturers like GIGABYTE have already issued new BIOS updates for users to achieve maximum stability, which incidentally has recent user reports of still being outside Intel spec, setting PL2 to 188 W, loadlines to 1.7/1.7 and current limit to 249 A. While MSI provided a blog post tutorial for stability. ASUS has published updated BIOS for its motherboards to reflect on this Intel baseline spec as well. Surprisingly, not all the revised BIOS values match up with the Intel Baseline Profile spec for these various new BIOS updates from different vendors. You can read the statement from Intel in the quote below.

As we go from April to May, we have something of a void of new game releases, with the biggest release being a game that puts you in charge of a factory. As for the rest of this coming week's releases, you can look forward to doing some farming, working as a detective, cosplaying as an alien, working in a lab and finishing the week in office with a party royale.

Foundry / This week's major release / Thursday 2 May / Early Access
Foundry is a first-person (first-robot?) factory builder with complete creative freedom set in a procedurally generated and infinite voxel world. Land on an unexplored planet and design a giant automated robot production facility under the watchful direction of your AI friend, Carl. Steam Link