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.

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'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.

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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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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

AMD has reached a significant milestone, capturing a record-high share of the X86 CPU market in the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest report from Mercury Research. This achievement marks a significant step forward for the chipmaker in its long battle against rival Intel's dominance in the crucial computer processor space. The surge was fueled by strong demand for AMD's Ryzen and EPYC processors across consumer and enterprise markets. The Ryzen lineup's compelling price-to-performance ratio has struck a chord with gamers, content creators, and businesses seeking cost-effective computing power without sacrificing capabilities. It secured AMD's 23.9% share, an increase from the previous Q4 of 2023, which has seen a 19.8% market share.

The company has also made major inroads on the data center front with its EPYC server CPUs. AMD's ability to supply capable yet affordable processors has enabled cloud providers and enterprises to scale operations on AMD's platform. Several leading tech giants have embraced EPYC, contributing to AMD's surging server market footprint. Now, it is at 23.6%, a significant increase over the past few years, whereas AMD was just above 10% four years ago in 2020. AMD lost some share to Intel on the mobile PC front due to the Meteor Lake ramp, but it managed to gain a small percentage of the market share of client PCs. As AMD rides the momentum into the second half of 2024, all eyes will be on whether the chipmaker can sustain this trajectory and potentially claim an even larger slice of the x86 CPU pie from Intel in the coming quarters.Below, you can see additional graphs of mobile PC and client PC market share.

Building on the foundation of its award-winning Super X-Fi Headphone Holography, Creative Technology will be unveiling the all-new Super X-Fi Gen 4 audio profile. This latest release boasts significant enhancements in dynamic range, clarity, and spatial awareness. The Super X-Fi Gen 4 isn't just raising the bar; it's redefining the standard for immersive audio experiences. With this latest update, users can enjoy an expanded dynamic range, delivering richer, more detailed audio reproduction. Coupled with improved clarity, users can indulge in crystal-clear sound that captures every subtle nuance, while the refined sense of space offers a more expansive and lifelike soundstage.

Super X-Fi technology elevates the audio experience for users by recreating the immersive soundstage of high-end surround speaker systems within headphones, further personalized by the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for a remarkably natural listening experience. Since its debut at CES 2019, users and critics have been impressed by the realism of personalized audio, which is tailored according to their anthropometric profiles. From immersing in the heart-pounding action of a blockbuster movie to feeling the raw energy of a live concert or delving into the captivating world of gaming, Super X-Fi can bring it all to life with breath-taking detail and precision.

Thermaltake, a leading PC DIY brand for premium hardware solutions, is proud to announce that the GR500 Racing Simulator Cockpit and the Triple Racing Monitor Stand are now ready for purchase. Moving beyond the conventional PC gaming setup, racing simulators redefine the gaming environment allowing you to feel like you are driving a racing car on a real racetrack in an indoor entertainment space easily. Create your simulators with the Thermaltake racing ecosystem, or take it one step further and match them with a VR headset like the Meta Quest 3, fully immersing the thrill of fast and furious racing!

GR500 Racing Simulator Cockpit
Thermaltake GR500 Racing Simulator Cockpit is designed for racing enthusiasts to experience authentic feel of racing. It comes with a racing-like bucket design and is made with a fiberglass seat, ensuring a premium seating experience. The adjustable seat allows you to glide forward & back, and recline, providing an ideal driving position for long gaming hours. The GR500 is crafted with a sturdy aluminium profile, steel structure, and anti-tip bracket, guaranteeing stability and safety. To make your racing simulator sleek, the base of the GR500 features RGB Lighting Strips including 20 lighting effects. If you switch to Rhythm Pickup mode, the lighting can even dynamically change with music. Additionally, Thermaltake GR500 has universal hardware compatibility that supports mainstream wheels, gear shifters, and pedals from Logitech, Fanatec, Thrustmaster, and more, allowing you to build an ideal racing simulator with high customization.

Gear up, Trailblazers - Honkai: Star Rail lands on GeForce NOW this week, along with an in-game reward for members to celebrate the title's launch in the cloud. Stream it today, along with five new games joining the GeForce NOW library of more than 1,900 titles this week.

Five Stars
Take a galactic journey in the cloud with Honkai: Star Rail, a new Cosmic Adventure Strategy role-playing game from HoYoverse, the company behind Genshin Impact. The title seamlessly blends intricate storytelling with immersive gameplay mechanics for an epic journey through the cosmos. Meet a cast of unique characters and explore diverse planets, each with its own mysteries to uncover. Assemble formidable teams, strategically deploying skills and resources to overcome mighty adversaries and unravel the mysteries of the Honkai phenomenon. Encounter new civilizations and face off against threats that endanger the Astral Express, overcome the struggles caused by Stellaron together, powerful artifacts that hold the keys to the universe's fate. Begin the trailblazing journey without needing to wait for downloads or game updates with GeForce NOW. Members who've opted into GeForce NOW's Rewards program will receive an email with a code for a Honkai: Star Rail starter kit, containing 30,000 credits, three Refined Aethers and three Traveler's Guides. All aboard the Astral Express for adventures and thrills!

Leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, has successively released its AI QuickSet software tool based on Microsoft Windows 10/11 and Canonical Ubuntu Linux platforms since the end of last year, which can help users quickly download, install and set up many artificial intelligence (AI) applications. It can also be accelerated by ASRock's custom AMD graphics cards, and has received widespread response from the market. Today ASRock continues its efforts and launch the AI QuickSet software tool that supports ASRock's custom Intel Arc A-Series graphics cards, including Intel Arc A770, A750, A580, A380, and A310 models, allowing users to enjoy the fun brought by generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications at their fingertips!

ASRock AI QuickSet software tool v1.0.3i supports Microsoft Windows 10/11 64-bit operating system, allowing users to easily install Stable Diffusion web UI OpenVINO without delving into complex configuration settings. This Stable Diffusion Web UI artificial intelligence (AI) image generation tool optimized through the Intel OpenVINO tool suite can be used with ASRock's own Intel Arc A series graphics cards (including Intel Arc A770, A750, A580, A380, A310 model)'s powerful computing capabilities provide excellent operational performance. This once again demonstrates ASRock's strong software and hardware R&D capabilities and its spirit of considering users. It also makes ASRock's AI QuickSet software tool once again a premium choice for consumers to quickly experience the fun of generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications!

Sabrent introduced the Rocket 2242 M.2 Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The drive is built in the M.2-2242 form-factor (42 mm long), which should make it suitable for certain kinds of handheld game consoles, such as the Legion Go. The Rocket 2242 comes in just one capacity for now, 1 TB. The drive combines a Phison E27T series DRAMless controller with Kioxia 162-layer 3D TLC NAND flash, and takes advantage of the PCI-Express 4.0 x4 host interface to offer sequential transfer speeds of up to 5000 MB/s. The company put out no other performance or endurance related specs. Sabrent is pricing the Rocket 2242 1 TB at USD $99.99, it is available now, and backed by a 5-year warranty.

Team Group Inc., the global leader in premium storage solutions, continues its commitment to providing consumers with cutting-edge storage solutions that meet today's technological trends. To support the growing demand for electric vehicles as an eco-friendly option, Team Group is proud to announce the launch of the Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive. Specifically designed to support USB dashcams in electric vehicles, this compact USB drive exemplifies the company's innovative approach to addressing emerging lifestyle trends. The Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive provides users with innovative functionality for a stress-free driving experience.

The Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive is designed for storing driving footage in electric vehicles and is specifically compatible with the Tesla Model 3/Y/S/X. Featuring a USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface, it boasts up to 512 GB of storage capacity. Engineered for Sentry Mode and dashcam footage storage, ensuring a stable performance that allows continuous recording even post-formatting. With ample storage, users can confidently activate Sentry Mode. Coupled with dashcam footage, the Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 provides peace of mind by capturing and storing critical moments for up to 10 minutes. The Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive features a sleek nickel-black finish, compact size, and ergonomic design that optimizes aesthetics and space utilization. With its Type-A connector, recording footage and storing multimedia files has never been easier. The stylish design of the zinc alloy body blends seamlessly with the sleek interior of electric vehicles, providing a durable and advanced storage solution.

ASRock today introduced the W790 WS R2.0 motherboard for workstations powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 series processors in the Socket LGA4677 package. Although its model name suggests that it is a revision of the W790 WS, the new W790 WS R2.0 appears to be a lite version of the original, which removes several I/O features. To begin with, the fancy I/O shroud makes way for bare connectors, where you can see several of the connectors stripped away. While the CPU VRM appears unchanged, the VRM heatsinks used on the R2.0 are of a simpler design. The design effort behind both these changes appears to be to make the board friendly to certain kinds of rackmount chassis.

Besides the design changes, the ASRock W790 WS R2.0 loses out on Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, and only has a single 10 GbE interface instead of dual-10 GbE on the original W790 WS. These aside, the W790 WS R2.0 is still a very capable workstation motherboard for the platform it's based on. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and a 6-pin PCIe power; and uses a 22-phase CPU VRM. The board features four PCI-Express 5.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/x16/NC or x16/NC/x8/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8), and one PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical x4). The CPU socket is wired to eight memory slots, supporting quad-channel DDR5 memory, with support for DDR5 RDIMM-3DS, a total memory capacity of 2 TB, and a maximum overclocked memory speed of DDR5-6800.

Earlier this week, we got news of ASUS working on a design revision for its ROG Ally handheld game console to fix the positioning of its microSD card slot that was causing card and card-reader failures due to its location close to a thermal vent. It turns out that this revision is a whole different product, and ASUS is naming it the ROG Ally X. There's more to this console than simply a relocated microSD slot that won't fry your memory cards.

Apparently, ASUS has used the opportunity to give it a larger battery, and a larger M.2-2280 SSD bay, compared to the M.2-2242 slot on the original ROG Ally. This would open up end-users to the widest possible array of SSD choices. As a final bit of product differentiation, the ROG Ally X comes with a new black chassis trim. The larger battery makes the ROG Ally X heavier than the original. Besides these three hardware changes, the new ROG Ally X features the same kit as the original, and is hence expected to offer the same performance, albeit with improved battery life. ASUS is expected to formally launch the ROG Ally X on June 2, 2024.

According to Benchlife.info insiders, NVIDIA is supposedly in the phase of testing designs with various Total Graphics Power (TGP), running from 250 Watts to 600 Watts, for its upcoming GeForce RTX 50 series Blackwell graphics cards. The company is testing designs ranging from 250 W aimed at mainstream users and a more powerful 600 W configuration tailored for enthusiast-level performance. The 250 W cooling system is expected to prioritize compactness and power efficiency, making it an appealing choice for gamers seeking a balance between capability and energy conservation. This design could prove particularly attractive for those building small form-factor rigs or AIBs looking to offer smaller cooler sizes. On the other end of the spectrum, the 600 W cooling solution is the highest TGP of the stack, which is possibly only made for testing purposes. Other SKUs with different power configurations come in between.

We witnessed NVIDIA testing a 900-watt version of the Ada Lovelace AD102 GPU SKU, which never saw the light of day, so we should take this testing phase with a grain of salt. Often, the engineering silicon is the first batch made for the enablement of software and firmware, while the final silicon is much more efficient and more optimized to use less power and align with regular TGP structures. The current highest-end SKU, the GeForce RTX 4090, uses 450-watt TGP. So, take this phase with some reservations as we wait for more information to come out.

NVIDIA has just released its latest WHQL driver update labeled 552.44. In this driver update, the company is introducing a few additional game-ready titles, which are now supposed to run smoothly on the NVIDIA GeForce hardware. This includes the upcoming Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut game, which is supposed to launch on May 16 next week. The act set in the 13th century will be accompanied by many technologies like NVIDIA DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3, and Intel XeSS. NVIDIA Reflex and image quality-enhancing NVIDIA DLAA are also supported, which this driver update ensures. This driver also has an ironed-out bug of the resizable BAR profile in the Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut edition, providing a smooth experience on launch day. Another big release for next week is the Homeworld 3 strategy game, which NVIDIA also includes in this driver release. GeForce Experience (GFE) is also getting an update, which you can check out below in the complete list of updates and GFE-supported games.

Download GeForce Graphics 552.44 WHQL drivers here.

NVIDIA barely started shipping its "Blackwell" line of AI GPUs, and its next-generation architecture is already on the horizon. Codenamed "Rubin," after Vera Rubin, the new architecture will power NVIDIA's future AI GPUs with generational jumps in performance, but more importantly, a design focus on lowering the power draw. This will become especially important as NVIDIA's current architectures already approach the kilowatt range, and cannot scale boundlessly. TF International Securities analyst, Mich-Chi Kuo says that NVIDIA's first AI GPU based on "Rubin," the R100 (not to be confused with an ATI GPU from many moons ago); is expected to enter mass-production in Q4-2025, which means it could be unveiled and demonstrated sooner than that; and select customers could have access to the silicon sooner, for evaluations.

The R100, according to Mich-Chi Kuo, is expected to leverage TSMC's 3 nm EUV FinFET process, specifically the TSMC-N3 node. In comparison, the new "Blackwell" B100 uses the TSMC-N4P. This will be a chiplet GPU, and use a 4x reticle design compared to Blackwell's 3.3x reticle design, and use TSMC's CoWoS-L packaging, just like the B100. The silicon is expected to be among the first users of HBM4 stacked memory, and feature 8 stacks of a yet unknown stack height. The Grace Ruben GR200 CPU+GPU combo could feature a refreshed "Grace" CPU built on the 3 nm node, likely an optical shrink meant to reduce power. A Q4-2025 mass-production roadmap target would mean that customers will start receiving the chips by early 2026.

Corsair today announced the launch of the MP700 PRO SE PCIe 5.0 SSD, capable of achieving sequential read speeds of up to 14,000 MB/sec and sequential write speeds up to 12,000 MB/sec. These impressive throughput figures are nearly twice as fast as what you'll see from the most capable PCIe 4.0 SSDs and up to 25 times faster than common SATA SSDs. The MP700 PRO SE is available in 2 TB and 4 TB capacities.

In addition to its phenomenal sequential read and write performance, the MP700 PRO SE takes advantage of the latest interface, controller, and NAND flash technologies to deliver outstanding random read and write performance - vital when it comes to transferring smaller files and serving as the primary OS drive. Experience faster load times for Windows, applications, and games, while transferring large files becomes a breeze. With native support for Microsoft DirectStorage, the MP700 PRO SE is ready to provide a gaming advantage not only in today's games but in tomorrow's too. The MP700 PRO SE performs at its best alongside the latest platforms such as Intel 14th Gen and AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs and PCIe 5.0 motherboards. However, it also maintains backwards compatibility with PCIe 4.0 motherboards, providing a clear upgrade path and ensuring the drive's longevity for years to come.

The MP700 PRO SE adheres to the industry standard M.2 2280 form factor, ensuring wide compatibility with a range of systems and platforms while maintaining ease of installation. Although the drive requires cooling to achieve optimal performance, the integrated M.2 cooling on most motherboards is more than capable. Additionally, the MP700 PRO SE is available with a stylish active cooler that keeps the drive running smoothly and minimizes throttling.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the Corsair MP700 PRO SE 4 TB is now live]

Drop, a leading community-driven e-commerce brand, and audio pioneer Axel Grell have achieved a new pinnacle in stereo imaging and audio engineering with the Drop + Grell OAE1 Signature Headphones. Leveraging Grell's three decades of audio engineering and product development experience designing some of the industry's most iconic headphones, the driver-forward, open-around-ear OAE1 headphones lean into the structure of the human ear to achieve a more natural and realistic sound field much closer to a speaker listening experience.

The most notable aspect of the Drop + Grell OAE1s is the radical and acute placement of the drivers in front of and away from the ears, enabling the sound field from the transducers to take advantage of the ears natural structure to direct sound into the ear canal. The open-around-ear design minimizes acoustic reflections and controlling sound pressure, with the culmination of both innovations resulting in improved stereo imaging, a natural sound field, and the uncovering of the deepest dimensions of any song. "Our ears are as individual as fingerprints, so when you put a driver right on top of the eardrum like most headphones do, it will sound good for some and bad for others," shares Grell. "By positioning the driver in front of the ear, we're bringing the natural geometry of the ear into the sound forming process, allowing the brain to equalize the sound. Combined with its open-around-ear design, these signature headphones create a rich and pure audio experience."

As computers and tablets got smaller and thinner, their connection ports ironically got less and less convenient. Since they limit our ability to connect other devices and accessories, we usually have to rely on adapters, but this 13-in-1 docking station brings back the days of when things were built-in for $49.99 (reg. $70). The docking station plugs into your iMac, Windows laptop, Microsoft Surface, iPad Pro, or any other device with a USB-C port. Then, you can use any of the following connections, as long as your device supports them:

With all of these connection options, you could connect three additional displays with HDMI and VGA, transfer data with USB-C and an SD card, plug audio accessories in with the 3.5 mm audio connection, and charge devices with USB 3.0 and 2.0. This 13-in-1 docking station is highly reviewed on Amazon, with 4.1 out of 5 stars from more than 2,800 reviews. On StackSocial, it has a solid 5-star rating, with reviewers talking about using it for their iMacs and MacBook Pros, writing "it works great with all the different ports no longer provided on laptops" and "it's nice not having to plug in all of these other dongles but just one that can handle everything".

Plug in with this 13-in-1 docking station on StackSocial for $49.99 (reg. $70) and save 28%.

MSI, a leading innovator in technology solutions, proudly unveils the MS-C903, a versatile embedded system designed to meet the demanding requirements of various industries including transportation, gaming, medical, automation, and robotics. Engineered to excel in challenging conditions, the MS-C903 ensures reliable operation in harsh environments with temperatures ranging from -20 to 70°C. Its wide voltage DC input (12~24 V) with overcurrent protection (OCP) and overvoltage protection (OVP) guarantees stable power supply. Enhanced security features include hardware monitoring with a 256-level watchdog timer and an Infineon TPM Controller (SLB9670VQ2.0/FW7.85). Compliant with IEC 61373 standards, its anti-vibration and shockproof design ensures durability. With multiple mounting options including wall mount, DIN rail, and VESA mount, the MS-C903 offers flexible installation. Additionally, its excellent performance, driven by Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake-UP3 Embedded/Industrial SKU Series and ample I/O interfaces, makes it ideal for diverse applications.

Yesterday, Apple launched its next-generation M4 chip based on Apple Silicon custom design. The processor is a fourth-generation design that brings AI capabilities and improved CPU performance. First debuting in an iPad Pro, the CPU has been benchmarked in Geekbench v6. And results seem to be very promising. The latest M4 chip managed to score 3,767 points in single-core tests and 14,677 points in multi-core tests. Compared to the M3 chip, which scores 3,087 points in single-core and 11,702 in multi-core tests, the M4 chip is about 22% faster in single-core and 25% faster in multi-core synthetic benchmarks.

Of course, these results are not real-world use cases, but they give us a hint of what the Apple Silicon design team has been working on. For real-world results, we have to wait a little longer to see reviews and results from devices such as MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, which should have better cooling and possibly better clocks for the chip.

SK hynix announced today that it has developed the Zoned UFS, or ZUFS 4.0, a mobile NAND solution product for on-device AI applications. SK hynix said that the ZUFS 4.0, optimized for on-device AI from mobile devices such as smartphones, is the industry's best of its kind. The company expects the latest product to help expand its AI memory leadership to the NAND space, extending its success in the high-performance DRAM represented by HBM.

The ZUFS is a differentiated technology that classifies and stores data generated from smartphones in different zones in accordance with characteristics. Unlike a conventional UFS, the latest product groups and stores data with similar purposes and frequencies in separate zones, boosting the speed of a smartphone's operating system and management efficiency of the storage devices.