LG Display, the world's leading innovator of display technologies, announced today that it has developed the first-ever Gaming OLED panel with a switchable refresh rate and resolution. The company has begun mass production of the 31.5-inch panel this month, accelerating its push into the high-end gaming display market with new concept products.

This groundbreaking Gaming OLED panel allows users to freely choose between a high refresh rate (FHD 480 Hz) and a high-resolution mode (UHD 240 Hz) depending on the content.

A recent Reuters investigation has uncovered evidence suggesting Chinese universities and research institutes may have circumvented US sanctions on high-performance NVIDIA GPUs by purchasing servers containing the restricted chips. The sanctions tightened on November 17, 2023, prohibit the export of advanced NVIDIA GPUs like the consumer GeForce RTX 4090 to China. Despite these restrictions, Reuters found that at least ten China-based organizations acquired servers equipped with the sanctioned NVIDIA GPUs between November 20, 2023, and February 28, 2024. These servers were purchased from major vendors such as Dell, Gigabyte, and Supermicro, raising concerns about potential sanctions evasion. When contacted by Reuters, the companies provided varying responses.

Dell stated that it had not observed any instances of servers with restricted chips being shipped to China and expressed willingness to terminate relationships with resellers found to be violating export control regulations. Gigabyte, on the other hand, stated that it adheres to Taiwanese laws and international regulations. Notably, the sale and purchase of the sanctioned GPUs are not illegal in China. This raises the possibility that the restricted NVIDIA chips may have already been present in the country before the sanctions took effect on November 17, 2023. The findings highlight the challenges in enforcing export controls on advanced technologies, particularly in the realm of high-performance computing hardware. As tensions between the US and China continue to rise, the potential for further tightening of export restrictions on cutting-edge technologies remains a possibility.

Velocity Micro, the premier builder of award-winning enthusiast desktops, laptops, high performance computing solutions, and professional workstations announces the immediate availability of a line of Linux powered PCs preinstalled with Ubuntu 22.04. Systems are designed for a wide range of customers and use cases such as individual enthusiasts, CAD and content creation professionals, machine learning/AI, and enterprise, to bring the flexibility and security of an open source OS platform into the mainstream. Desktops start at $1,429 with Linux laptops starting at $1,199. Shipments begin immediately.

"We've been preinstalling various flavors of Linux on custom server and workstation builds for years, which has really afforded us the opportunity to get hands-on to learn the OS," said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. "We're excited to bring what we've learned to market and introduce our customers to Ubuntu Linux."

Organizing your hard drive is a process, and it's more than just keeping your device free of clutter. If you use automated cloud storage, it means making sure the correct files are placed in synced folders. If you're concerned about cybersecurity, it means keeping your essential files in encrypted folders, and a disk management tool may make it easier to stay on top of all that and more.

EaseUS Partition Master is a comprehensive disk management tool you can use to partition hard drives, allocate disk space, and organize data effectively. Offering a wide range of partitioning features, it enables users to create, resize, move, extend, merge, split, format, and perform other operations on both HDD and SSD drives, and a lifetime subscription has been marked down 49%.

Get a lifetime subscription to EaseUS Partition Master for $34.99 (reg. $69).

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. Gray Zone Warfare, a highly anticipated new tactical shooter, is coming soon with DLSS 3, and the DLSS 3-enhanced Remnant 2 receives a new DLC expansion this week. Plus, Manor Lords, the #1 most wishlisted title on Steam, launches with support for DLSS 2, the latest Mortal Kombat 1 content has dropped and can be enjoyed at a maxed out 60 FPS with DLSS 2, and Oddsparks: An Automation Adventure arrives with day-one DLSS 2 support. Learn more about each announcement below.

Gray Zone Warfare Coming Soon With Support For DLSS 3 & Reflex
MADFINGER Games' Gray Zone Warfare is an immersive tactical FPS with a maximum focus on realism, and is one of Steam's 20 most wishlisted games. Following a mysterious event that took place on an island in Southeast Asia, the entire area has been put under international quarantine. With almost all the civilian population evacuated by the United Nations, three PMCs are tasked by their enigmatic clients to explore the region, uncover its secrets, and bring back anything of value.

Today, Lenovo launched its latest mobile workstation offerings meticulously crafted to deliver the exceptional power and performance essential for handling complex workloads. Lenovo's ThinkPad P1 Gen 7, P16v i Gen 2, P16s i Gen 3, and P14s i Gen 5, with their cutting-edge AI technologies, are set to transform the way professionals engage with AI workflows. By collaborating with industry partners, Intel, NVIDIA, and Micron, Lenovo has introduced powerful and performance-packed AI PCs that meet the demands of modern-day AI-intensive tasks. The inclusion of the Intel Core Ultra processors with their integrated neural processing unit (NPU) and NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation GPUs signifies a major advancement in AI technology, boosting overall performance and productivity capabilities.

The latest ThinkPad P series mobile workstations powered by Intel Core Ultra processors and NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation GPUs deliver flexible, high-performance, and energy-efficient AI-ready PCs. The integrated NPU is dedicated to handling light, continuous AI tasks, while the NVIDIA GPU runs more demanding day-to-day AI processing. This combination enables smooth and reliable functioning of AI technologies, serving professionals engaged in diverse tasks ranging from 3D modeling and scene development to AI inferencing and training.

The Flash Pro Plus graphene power bank does a little bit of everything. It has 25,000mAh battery capacity, USB-C and USB-A ports, MagSafe and Apple Watch wireless charging, and enough energy to power your laptop. It was designed by Panasonic, successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo, and for a limited time, it's being sold for 27% off its typical price: $199.99 (reg. $319).

Surprisingly, the Flash Pro Plus can do all of that while only weighing 1.28 pounds. It's certainly not the most compact portable charger out here, but it's an all-in-one solution for commuters and travelers who only want to pack one device. It's not just widely compatible, it's also tremendously capable, being able to do all of the above functions simultaneously with 190 W maximum output: 50 W USB-A, 15 W wireless charging, and 100 W, 60 W, and 20 W USB-C. Charge up to six devices at once and view real-time information on the OLED display.

Stay connected with the Flash Pro Plus graphene power bank for $199.99 (reg. $319) and save $120.

Noctua today introduced its new NH-L12Sx77 low-profile CPU cooler for compact, powerful yet quiet Small Form Factor systems. The NH-L12Sx77 is a slightly taller variant of the award-winning NH-L12S, offering improved cooling performance as well as enhanced motherboard and RAM compatibility. "Our NH-L12S is a popular choice for compact builds in cases like the Fractal Design Terra or Louqe RAW S1, but due to its height of only 70 mm, RAM compatibility and clearance for tall motherboard components are limited. At the same time, many of these cases offer a bit of extra space", explains Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "This is where the new NH-L12Sx77 steps in: It makes use of that extra space in order to provide enhanced compatibility and even better cooling performance, which comes in handy when building powerful gaming or productivity setups."

With 6 instead of 4 heatpipes, the NH-L12Sx77 offers significantly more headroom for higher heat-loads compared to the original NH-L12S. As such, it is ideal for getting the most out of today's high-end CPUs in compact cases where their aggressive turboboost modes are especially challenging to handle. The NH-L12Sx77 not only improves performance but also motherboard and RAM compatibility versus the original NH-L12S: Due to the x77 version's taller construction, clearance for RAM modules as well as motherboard heatsinks and shrouds could be increased significantly, which makes the cooler an easy fit in most configurations.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has begun mass production for its one-terabit (Tb) triple-level cell (TLC) 9th-generation vertical NAND (V-NAND), solidifying its leadership in the NAND flash market.

"We are excited to deliver the industry's first 9th-gen V-NAND, which will bring future applications leaps forward. In order to address the evolving needs for NAND flash solutions, Samsung has pushed the boundaries in cell architecture and operational scheme for our next-generation product," said SungHoi Hur, Head of Flash Product & Technology at Samsung Electronics. "Through our latest V-NAND, Samsung will continue to set the trend for the high-performance, high-density solid state drive (SSD) market that meets the needs for the coming AI generation."

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, the global leader in standards development for the microelectronics industry, today announced publication of the JESD79-5C DDR5 SDRAM standard. This important update to the JEDEC DDR5 SDRAM standard includes features designed to improve reliability and security and enhance performance in a wide range of applications from high-performance servers to emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning. JESD79-5C is now available for download from the JEDEC website.

JESD79-5C introduces an innovative solution to improve DRAM data integrity called Per-Row Activation Counting (PRAC). PRAC precisely counts DRAM activations on a wordline granularity. When PRAC-enabled DRAM detects an excessive number of activations, it alerts the system to pause traffic and to designate time for mitigative measures. These interrelated actions underpin PRAC's ability to provide a fundamentally accurate and predictable approach for addressing data integrity challenges through close coordination between the DRAM and the system.

Sharkoon Technologies is an international supplier of high-quality, high-performance PC components and peripherals. Now, with the SKILLER SGH10, Sharkoon presents a headset that is based on the manufacturer's previous classic that was the SKILLER SGH1. The popular gaming headset now appears in the form of a new model that has undergone a careful modernization which retains unique visual features and, at the same time, focuses on the essentials.

Since the SKILLER SGH10, like the previous model, is designed to provide a particularly immersive gaming experience, the manufacturer has optimized the 40-millimeter drivers and, in addition, tuned them for a particularly powerful sound. The detachable, flexible microphone has also been designed with immersion in mind and, thanks to the new pop filter, should ensure even better communication with team colleagues and in meetings.

Intel's next-generation Xe2 "Battlemage" graphics architecture is expected to introduce a significant update to the display engine over the current Xe "Alchemist." The display engine handles the various display I/O of the GPU. For most users with a single display that's running at or under 4K @ 60 Hz, this is irrelevant, however, as your resolution, refresh-rates, color bit-depth, and dynamic-range go up, some of the newer display connector formats become relevant. Intel beat both NVIDIA and AMD to be the first GPU maker to implement DisplayPort 2.1 albeit with a UHBR10 link layer (which is needed for DP 2.1). The DP 2.1 spec prescribes certain optional higher link layer bit-rates, such as UHBR13.5 and UHBR20. AMD was the first to implement UHBR13.5 and UHBR20 with the Radiance display engine in its RDNA 3 GPUs, and we're learning that Intel wants to catch up.

Driver patch notes unearthed by Phoronix find references to Arc "Battlemage" GPUs supporting UHBR13.5. These drivers are believed to have previously supported UHBR20, but support for the higher bit-rate was removed from the current version of drivers. It indicates that Intel is still evaluating the higher bit-rates on its unreleased GPUs, and production-ready versions could implement at least UHBR13.5. DisplayPort 2.1 with UHBR13.5 (13.5 Gbps per lane), over a DP80-ready DisplayPort cable yields a maximum resolution of uncompressed 8K @ 60 Hz with HDR, or 4K @ 240 Hz with HDR. Intel is expected to debut "Battlemage" with its Core Ultra 200-series "Lunar Lake" mobile processors, later this year.

Last month, we covered ASML's plans to leave the Netherlands after a crisis with the Dutch government that prevented skilled immigrants from entering and working inside ASML's facilities. However, it appears that ASML has managed to strike a potential deal with the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his office about the company's plans to stay in the country. In an effort dubbed "Operation Beethoven," the Dutch government aimed to keep the tech giant in the country, with a deal now seemingly in place. AMSL's roadblocks and reasons for potentially leaving the Netherlands were difficulty in obtaining building permits, constraints on the electrical grid, transportation bottlenecks, and a need for supporting infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and housing. The most prominent of them was importing foreign labor in the form of highly skilled engineers and scientists needed to develop next-generation lithography machines.

According to the NLTimes, ASML now plans to potentially expand in the Brainport Industries Campus (BIC) in Eindhoven, with a creation of 20,000 new jobs in a 2.5 billion Euro investment from the Dutch government. "BIC is an interesting option for us, which we are now exploring together with the municipality of Eindhoven," noted ASML CFO Roger Dassen. Given that ASML needs to double its operations in the following decade to meet soaring demand, the company has many uncertainties. Questions of finding skilled immigrants and building infrastructure to support their needs remain the company's priority. In the Summer, the plan to support ASML's expansion will be voted in the Eidenhoven City Council, which will decide the fate of ASML's stay in the Netherlands. An interesting comment from January from AMSL CEO Peter Wennik is, "Ultimately, we can only grow this company if there are enough qualified people. We prefer to do that here, but if we cannot get those people here, we will get those people in Eastern Europe or in Asia or in the United States. Then we will have to go there." The final decision still awaits.

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has begun sampling the latest generation of its Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 4.0 embedded flash memory devices. Supported in capacities of 256 gigabytes (GB), 512 GB, and 1 terabyte (TB), the new products are well suited for a variety of next-generation mobile applications, including leading-edge smartphones. The enhanced performance of the new UFS products provides optimal utilization of 5G connectivity, resulting in accelerated downloads, minimized latency, and an enhanced user experience. A smaller package size contributes to board space efficiency and design flexibility.

Kioxia was the first to introduce UFS technology, and continues to develop new products. The latest UFS Ver. 4.0 devices integrate the company's innovative BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory and a controller in a JEDEC-standard package. UFS 4.0 incorporates MIPI M-PHY 5.0 and UniPro 2.0 and supports theoretical interface speeds of up to 23.2 gigabits per second (Gbps) per lane or 46.4 Gbps per device. UFS 4.0 is backward compatible with UFS 3.1.

Private Division, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., and Wētā Workshop, known for their work on the world of Middle-earth for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, today revealed Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game, a cosy Hobbit life sim set in the Middle-earth universe of J.R.R. Tolkien. Developed by Wētā Workshop Game Studio, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wētā Workshop, Tales of the Shire will launch in the second half of 2024 on the Nintendo Switch system, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam.

In Tales of the Shire, experience the storybook return to Middle-earth's most inviting region by living life as a Hobbit in the idyllic town of Bywater. Unwind in the breathtaking pastures, visit the townsfolks' local shops, or even enjoy second breakfast. Help bring the community together and achieve official village status by throwing the greatest Bywater Festival the Shire has ever seen!

Display specialist AOC proudly announces a new line of monitors meticulously crafted for the unique needs of creative professionals. With exceptional color accuracy, cutting-edge features, and a sleek, award-winning design, the AOC Graphic Pro U3 Series is set to revolutionize the way photographers, visual artists, designers, editors, broadcasters, producers, and gaming industry professionals work. The Graphic Pro U3 line-up introduces three models: two 27" (68.6 cm) displays, the Q27U3CV with QHD resolution, the U27U3CV with 4K UHD resolution, and the larger 31.5" (80 cm) U32U3CV with 4K UHD resolution.

"At AOC, we understand that creative professionals demand the very best tools to bring their visions to life," says Artem Khomenko, Head of Product Management at AOC. "We are beginning a new chapter in AOC's legacy. Our new Graphic Pro U3 Series is the result of our expertise in display technologies and our commitment to delivering high-quality, high-performance monitors that empower creators to push the boundaries of their craft. With exceptional color accuracy, hardware calibration with Calman Ready, versatile USB-C connectivity, and a sleek design, the new Graphic Pro monitors will deliver the perfect tools for content creators and designers."

DeepCool, a leader in innovative PC cooling solutions, unveils a compact solution for PC enthusiasts seeking portability without compromising performance - the CH160 ITX Case. The CH160 sets a new standard for portable PC cases, offering tremendous airflow in a sleek and stylish design. Its compact form factor showcases its powerful capabilities, by accommodating 140 mm ATX PSUs and 172 mm air coolers with ease. Say goodbye to limited desk space woes as the CH160 supports 3-slot GPUs up to 305 mm in length, directly inserted into the motherboard without a riser cable.


Portability meets versatility with the CH160. Equipped with mesh panels for optimal airflow, it ensures your components stay cool even in the tightest spaces. The inclusion of USB 3.0, Type-C, and hybrid audio ports in the I/O panel guarantees seamless connectivity, while three removable dust filters simplify maintenance. The DeepCool CH160 ITX Case is the perfect choice for users who demand performance without sacrificing portability. Whether you're a seasoned PC enthusiast or a casual user, the CH160 offers the perfect blend of style, functionality, and convenience.

The ROCCAT brand is officially reaching the end of its life today, as Turtle Beach has confirmed that ROCCAT will not be a separate brand anymore but rather integrated under the covers of Turtle Beach. Turtle Beach has noted: "We want to bring a greater level of integration to our family of products across console, PC and simulation. We felt that time and resources would be best spent focusing under a single brand and creating a range of products that matter most to gamers." ROCCAT was acquired by Turtle Beach in 2019 for $14.8 million to strengthen the company's positioning in the PC accessories market. At the time, ROCCAT's lineup of gaming keyboards, mice, headsets, and other peripherals complemented Turtle Beach's console-oriented product mix.

In a FAQ posted on its website, Turtle Beach also added: "While we'll be retiring the ROCCAT brand, many of its iconic product lines like the Vulcan, Kone, Burst and Sense will transition under the Turtle Beach brand. Our commitment to PC products remains as strong as ever and we have several ground-breaking new products to introduce as well as Turtle Beach-branded versions of popular existing ROCCAT products sticking around." For product support, the same teams are handling any customer support, and the company has merged them into a single new website, which handles tech and customer questions at support.turtlebeach.com. For returns, the company also takes care of ROCCAT products. The ROCCAT Swarm software will continue to work, even with Swarm II scheduled for a debut this year in Spring. From now on, all products will be under a single brand but will target the same audience. Turtle Beach will also rebrand the social media channels from ROCCAT to Turtle Beach PC. Refer to the FAQ posted on the official company website for more inquiries.

Global PC shipments grew around 3% YoY in Q1 2024 after eight consecutive quarters of declines due to demand slowdown and inventory correction, according to the latest data from Counterpoint Research. The shipment growth in Q1 2024 came on a relatively low base in Q1 2023. The coming quarters of 2024 will see sequential shipment growth, resulting in 3% YoY growth for the full year, largely driven by AI PC momentum, shipment recovery across different sectors, and a fresh replacement cycle.

Lenovo's PC shipments were up 8% in Q1 2024 off an easy comparison from last year. The brand managed to reclaim its 24% share in the market, compared to 23% in Q1 2023. HP and Dell, with market shares of 21% and 16% respectively, remained flattish, waiting for North America to drive shipment growth in the coming quarters. Apple's shipment performance was also resilient, with the 2% growth mainly supported by M3 base models.

iBUYPOWER, a leading manufacturer of high-performance pre-built gaming PCs and the official PC partner for the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Americas, announced today its continuing to team up with Best Buy to debut two new pre-built systems featuring case colors and branding inspired by the popular esports competition. Both systems are now available exclusively at select Best Buy stores and on BestBuy.com.

Both systems are housed in the new iBUYPOWER Scale chassis and are part of the company's eighth generation of computer cases. This new case line is optimized for fast assembly, easy cable management, and high compatibility with a wide variety of PC parts. In addition to ample amounts of clearance to support the latest coolers (up to 360 mm) and graphics cards, VCT Americas fans can play in style as the Scale case features the official colors and branding of the VCT Americas.

Intel over the weekend released the latest version of its Arc GPU Graphics drivers. Version 101.5444 Beta comes with significant performance uplifts for certain DirectX 11 games. Tested at 1080p with an Arc A770 and the highest in-game settings, the driver provides an up to 30% performance increase with "Astroneer," an up to 5% increase with "Days Gone," an up to 15% increase with "Dyson Sphere Program," up to 14% increase with "Lethal Company" and "Mass Effect Legendary Edition," an up to 8% increase with "Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord," an impressive 36% increase with "Need for Speed: Heat," 5% increases for "Unturned" and VR Chat; and 7% increase with "World of Warships."

The drivers also extend performance uplifts to the Arc iGPUs powering Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors. Tested at 1080p with medium or default settings, you can expect an up to 10% increase for "American Truck Simulator," an up to 17% increase for "Dyson Sphere Program," an up to 12% increase with "Fortnite Performance Mode," an up to 11% increase with "Grim Dawn," up to 24% performance increase with "Lethal Company," an impressive 48% increase with "Mass Effect Legendary Edition," and an up to 19% increase with "Need for Speed: Heat." Among the handful issues fixed with this release include an application crash when launching "No Rest for the Wicked" when launching prologue gameplay; a fullscreen display corruption when switching windows using alt+tab in "Asseto Corsa," and a display corruption noticed in "Halo Infinite" with ray traced shadows enabled. On Arc iGPUs, an issue that caused "Diablo IV" to exhibit corruption on the terrain has been fixed.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.5444 Beta

As we enter the last full week of April, we're finally back to a busy release schedule again. This week's AAA title apparently had some last minute bugs squashed just this week, so let's hope the released game delivers on its promise. As for the rest of this week you can look forward to a VR horror shooter, a side scrolling action-adventure medtroidvania game, a Robin Hood wannabe game, a dungeon crawler you can play with friends online, a game about a hermit crab, a JRPG and finally a very sandy action RPG.

Manor Lords / This week's AAA release / Friday 26 April / Early Access
Manor Lords is a strategy game that allows you to experience the life of a medieval lord. Grow your starting village into a bustling city, manage resources and production chains, and expand your lands through conquest. Inspired by the art and architecture of late 14th century Franconia, Manor Lords prioritizes historical accuracy wherever possible, using it to inform gameplay mechanics and visuals alike. Common medieval tropes are avoided in favor of historical accuracy, in order to make the world feel more authentic, colorful, and believable. Steam Link

With 40+ years of experience in computer industry, SPARKLE is launching a series of graphics cards based on the recently launched Intel Arc GPU for edge and provide longevity support up to 5 years.

SPARKLE graphic cards feature high-efficiency AI, visual computing and media processing. GPU cards from SPARKLE are edge-focused form factors with long life and optimizations for embedded use conditions and improves development and operating efficiency based on an open ecosystem by leveraging AI inferencing software, OpenVINO which automatically distributes workloads across CPU and GPU. SPARKLE has prepared and showcased the full series of SPARKLE Intel Arc graphics cards targeted for the edge, based on Intel Arc A750E, A580E, A380E, A310E, A370E and A350E GPUs. These graphics cards come solid longevity support up to 5 years.

Leading gaming accessories maker Turtle Beach Corporation today unveiled a variety of high-quality, performance-driven gaming headsets, keyboards and mice, all available for pre-order today and launching May 19, 2024.

"We're thrilled to debut our new lineup of innovative console and PC gaming accessories launching next month, all under our industry-leading Turtle Beach brand," said Cris Keirn, CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "Starting with our best-selling $99.99 MSRP wireless multiplatform headsets, we're adding to the Stealth 600 series' already robust feature set with our newly redesigned Stealth 600 models. Plus, we're expanding our wireless Stealth headset range with the introduction of our new $79.99 MSRP Stealth 500 models." Keirn continued, "2024 is set to be a momentous year full of amazing gaming accessories from Turtle Beach. Today's announcements are just the beginning of our 2024 lineup as we have even more slated to launch this fall, including a newly redesigned Stealth 700 headset, plus additional Turtle Beach PC gaming peripherals, controllers, and simulation gear."

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Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveils the Razer Kishi Ultra, a groundbreaking addition to the world of mobile gaming. The Kishi Ultra, a USB C gaming controller compatible with Android, iPhone 15 series, and iPad Mini, marks a paradigm shift in mobile gaming by offering gamers console grade control with immersive haptics. Designed with meticulous attention to detail, the Kishi Ultra is a full-size console-class controller featuring high quality ergonomics, haptics, and Razer Chroma RGB to deliver a true console gaming experience without compromise.

"With the Razer Kishi Ultra, we're not just elevating mobile gaming; we're transforming it," says Nick Bourne, Head of Razer's Mobile, Console & Streaming Division. "We've taken the essence of console gaming and distilled it into a form factor that works with more devices than ever before, ensuring that the ultimate gaming experience is always within reach."

ASUS today announced BIOS updates enabling support for next-gen AMD Ryzen processors on ASUS AM5 X670, B650 and A620 motherboards, as well as support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processors. These updates are necessary to enable compatibility with these processors. BIOS updates for ASUS AM5 motherboards also add support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processor.

The updates can be accessed on the ASUS BIOS update page for the models listed below.

It's time to get a little wicked. Members can now stream No Rest for the Wicked from the cloud. It leads six new games joining the GeForce NOW library of more than 1,500 games.

Holy Moly
No Rest for the Wicked is the highly anticipated action role-playing game from Moon Studios, developer of the Ori series, and publisher Private Division. Amid a plague-ridden world, step into the boots of a Cerim, a holy warrior on a desperate mission. The Great Pestilence has ravaged the land of Sacra, and a new king reigns. As a colonialist inquisition unfolds, engage in visceral combat, battle plague-infested creatures and uncover the secrets of the continent. Make the character you want with the game's flexible soft-class system, explore a rich storyline, and prepare for intense boss battles as you build up the town of Sacrament.

As a part of its Q1 earnings call discussion, one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers, TSMC, has unveiled a strategic move to charge a premium for chips manufactured at its newly established overseas fabrication plants. During an earnings call, TSMC's CEO, C.C. Wei, announced that the company will impose higher pricing for chips produced outside Taiwan to offset the higher operational costs associated with these international locations. This move aims to maintain TSMC's target gross margin of 53% amidst rising expenses such as inflation and elevated electricity costs. This decision comes as TSMC expands its global footprint with new facilities in the United States, Germany, and Japan (JAMS) to meet the increasing demand for semiconductor chips worldwide. The company's new US-based Arizona facility, known as Fab 21, has faced delays due to equipment installation issues and labor negotiations.

Chips produced at this site, utilizing TSMC's advanced N5 and N4 nodes, could cost between 20% to 30% more than those manufactured in Taiwan. TSMC's strategy to manage the cost disparities across different geographic locations involves strategic pricing, securing government support, and leveraging its manufacturing technology leadership. This approach reflects the company's commitment to maintaining its competitive edge while navigating the complexities of global semiconductor manufacturing in today's fragmented market. Introducing a location premium is expected to impact American semiconductor designers, who may need to pass these costs on to specific market segments, particularly those with lower price sensitivity, such as government-related projects. Despite these challenges, TSMC's overseas expansion underscores its adaptive strategies in the face of global economic pressures and industry demands, ensuring its continued position as a leading player in the semiconductor industry.

TechPowerUp today released the latest version of the popular GPU-Z graphics sub-system information, monitoring, and diagnostic utility. Version 2.59.0 adds support for new GPUs, but also fixes a few important issues with the application. To begin with, support is added for the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada and RTX 1000 Ada Laptop GPUs. An application launch error on Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems reading "unsigned driver cannot load" has been fixed.

The other issues resolved mainly concern the way PCI resizable BAR status is detected. On external GPUs, resizable BAR status was appearing as "enabled." This has been fixed. eGPUs lack resizable BAR support due to the limitations of USB interconnect. On notebooks with NVIDIA Optimus GPUs that support resizable BAR, the status was being reported as "disabled" when the discrete GPU is sleeping, which has been fixed. Lastly, instances where resizable BAR support is reporting as "Yes" instead of "enabled" or "disabled" has been fixed. Grab TechPowerUp GPU-Z from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.59.0

Enthusiasts on the ChipHell forum scored an alleged image of AMD's upcoming "Strix Halo" mobile processor, and set out to create some highly plausible schematic slides. These are speculative. While "Strix Point" is the mobile processor that succeeds the current "Hawk Point" and "Phoenix" processors; "Strix Halo" is in a category of its own—to offer gaming experiences comparable to discrete GPUs in the ultraportable form-factor where powerful discrete GPUs are generally not possible. "Strix Halo" also goes head on against Apple's M3 Max and M3 Pro processors powering the latest crop of MacBook Pros. It has the same advantages as a single-chip solution, as the M3 Max.

The "Strix Halo" silicon is a chiplet-based processor, although very different from "Fire Range". The "Fire Range" processor is essentially a BGA version of the desktop "Granite Ridge" processor—it's the same combination of one or two "Zen 5" CCDs that talk to a client I/O die, and is meant for performance-thru-enthusiast segment notebooks. "Strix Halo," on the other hand, use the same one or two "Zen 5" CCDs, but with a large SoC die featuring an oversized iGPU, and 256-bit LPDDR5X memory controllers not found on the cIOD. This is key to what AMD is trying to achieve—CPU and graphics performance in the league of the M3 Pro and M3 Max at comparable PCB and power footprints.

The biggest benefit of the GeForce RTX 4060 "Ada" being based on the tiny AD107 silicon, and needing just four memory chips, is its tiny PCB footprint. This allows low-profile RTX 4060 graphics cards, as board partners found out. The GALAX RTX 4060 low-profile graphics card just made its debut in the Japan—a huge market for SFF and low-profile desktop PC hardware. The card is 18.2 cm long, and is exactly 6.9 cm tall, or what constitutes half-height. The card is 2 slots thick, and uses an aluminium fin-stack cooling solution that uses a trio of 40 mm fans.

Despite its limited PCB real-estate, the low-profile GALAX RTX 4060 wires out four display connectors—two each of DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1a. The card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector at the tail-end of the card (so you might need a little extra clearance there). The most striking aesthetic aspect of the card is its all-white PCB, which combined with the white cooler shroud and fans, contrast the fin-stack heatsink. Out of the box, the card comes with its full-height bracket, which can be replaced with the included low-profile bracket. GALAX isn't the only brand with low-profile RTX 4060 cards, there are also such cards from ASUS and GIGABYTE.

Acer today expanded its line of Chromebook Plus laptops with the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-4H/T), providing users with a performance-minded, compact and durable model that enables them to do more with the AI-powered capabilities of ChromeOS. "The new Acer Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-4H/T) delivers the sought-after combination of a portable design, 14-inch Full HD display and performance-minded technology that lets users get the most out of exciting capabilities offered with Chromebook Plus," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, Acer Inc. "Students, businesses, families, and individuals need to be more productive, connected and empowered than ever, and can achieve this using Acer Chromebook Plus devices."

The new Acer Chromebook Plus 514 is the latest addition to Acer's lineup of Chromebook Plus laptops that offer enhanced Chromebook performance and experiences, emphasizing better hardware designs with upgraded displays and cameras paired with powerful productivity, creativity, and multimedia capabilities. Like all Acer Chromebook Plus laptops, users have the power to do more with the new Chromebook Plus 514 (CB514-4H/T). Powered by an Intel Core i3-N305 processor and an ample 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 provides 2x the speed, memory, and storage, giving responsive performance and efficient multitasking, whether running built-in AI-powered apps like Google Docs and Photos, watching favorite shows in full HD on a 1080p display, or movie-making with LumaFusion. Plus, the processor ensures all-day enjoyment with up to 11 hours of usage on the fast-charging battery.

SK hynix Inc. announced today that it has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with TSMC for collaboration to produce next-generation HBM and enhance logic and HBM integration through advanced packaging technology. The company plans to proceed with the development of HBM4, or the sixth generation of the HBM family, slated to be mass-produced from 2026, through this initiative.

SK hynix said the collaboration between the global leader in the AI memory space and TSMC, a top global logic foundry, will lead to more innovations in HBM technology. The collaboration is also expected to enable breakthroughs in memory performance through trilateral collaboration between product design, foundry, and memory provider. The two companies will first focus on improving the performance of the base die that is mounted at the very bottom of the HBM package. HBM is made by stacking a core DRAM die on top of a base die that features TSV technology, and vertically connecting a fixed number of layers in the DRAM stack to the core die with TSV into an HBM package. The base die located at the bottom is connected to the GPU, which controls the HBM.