Today's Reviews
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Keyboards
Motherboards
Mouse
News Archive
Thursday, March 31st 2022
Cooler Master M2000 Platinum 2000 W Review
There are very few desktop PSUs with 2 kW or more maximum power output. The Cooler Master M2000 Platinum is one. While a good performer and very efficient at even full load, it is very expensive, only has 200–240 V input, and isn't ATX v3.0 ready.
MSI Spatium M480 Play 2 TB Review
With the M480 Play, MSI upgrades its SSD offerings to use the latest and greatest 176-layer 3D TLC flash from Micron. What MSI also improved is the heatsink, which is now fully compatible with the Sony PlayStation 5 and looks fantastic, thanks to a great mix of colors and a matte surface structure.
GoodOffer24 End of March Sale: Great Deals on Discount Software—Up to 91% Off
GoodOffer24 signs off March with a great set of deals on discount software. Get Windows 10 Pro for as little as $15.74. Windows 10 Home can be had for just $13.57. The latest and greatest Windows 11 Pro is going for $22.06. All of the top editions of Office are on sale, including Office 2021 Professional Plus, at $50.71, and Office 2019 Professional Plus at $46.54. Better yet, pair them with your preferred edition of Windows 10 to save even more.
Please use the coupon code TP30 on the deals below, to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro at $15.74 | Buy Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC at $12.46 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $27.98 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $13.57 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $22.06 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 at $43.04 | Buy Office 2016 Professional Plus at $27.18 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus at $46.54 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $50.71 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $59.70 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2016 Professional at $40.05 | Buy Windows 10 Home + Office 2016 Professional at $41.25
Please use the coupon code TP30 on the deals below, to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro at $15.74 | Buy Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC at $12.46 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $27.98 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $13.57 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $22.06 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Business 2019 at $43.04 | Buy Office 2016 Professional Plus at $27.18 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus at $46.54 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $50.71 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $59.70 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2016 Professional at $40.05 | Buy Windows 10 Home + Office 2016 Professional at $41.25
E3 2022 Cancelled, Including the Online Event
The Electronic Software Association (ESA,) the body organizing E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), is reportedly sending e-mails informing top marketing reps from the gaming industry that it has cancelled E3 2022. This includes the online/digital event that was meant to succeed last year's event. This is yet another sign that trade-shows cannot be organized in the digital format, and that merely clumping a few participants' online events across a schedule does not amount to a trade-show, a major aspect of which are the human interactions during and beyond each individual event, or the show-floor—something not possible in the digital format.
Update 20:35 UTC: We have an excerpt from the e-mail being sent out to delegates from the ESA:
Update 20:35 UTC: We have an excerpt from the e-mail being sent out to delegates from the ESA:
Dell Brings Back the UltraSharp 30, Updated With Modern Connectivity
One of Dell's most popular LCD monitors was the Dell UltraSharp 30 and the company has now brought it back, but the new U3023E model is quite different from its predecessors. It's still a 16:10 monitor with 2560x1600 resolution, but the overall design has been refreshed and it now features slimmer bezels and a slimmer overall build, a slightly re-designed stand and a lighter colour palette. However, the real changes have taken place under the hood, as this is one of the most fully featured displays ever made when it comes to connectivity. Display inputs consist of an HDMI 1.4 port, a DisplayPort 1.4 and a USB-C port with DP 1.4 Alt Mode as well as USB PD at 90 Watts.
There's also a DP out for daisy chaining to a second display, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) upstreams port and a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 downstreams port with 15 W power delivery. Furthermore there are four USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, of which one supports the Battery Charging 1.2 standard. Finally there's an RJ45 port for Ethernet connectivity when used with a laptop or similar and a 3.5 mm audio output jack. The panel is of IPS type and has a rated brightness of 400 cd/m² and a contrast ratio of 1000:1, as well as a 100 percent sRGB and 95 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut. As this is an office display, the refresh rate is still stuck at 60 Hz and the response time is 8 ms, or 5 ms in fast mode. For those nostalgic enough to splash out on the new UltraSharp 30, you're looking at a fairly steep US$784.99.
There's also a DP out for daisy chaining to a second display, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) upstreams port and a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 downstreams port with 15 W power delivery. Furthermore there are four USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, of which one supports the Battery Charging 1.2 standard. Finally there's an RJ45 port for Ethernet connectivity when used with a laptop or similar and a 3.5 mm audio output jack. The panel is of IPS type and has a rated brightness of 400 cd/m² and a contrast ratio of 1000:1, as well as a 100 percent sRGB and 95 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut. As this is an office display, the refresh rate is still stuck at 60 Hz and the response time is 8 ms, or 5 ms in fast mode. For those nostalgic enough to splash out on the new UltraSharp 30, you're looking at a fairly steep US$784.99.
GPU Hardware Encoders Benchmarked on AMD RDNA2 and NVIDIA Turing Architectures
Encoding video is one of the significant tasks that modern hardware performs. Today, we have some data of AMD and NVIDIA solutions for the problem that shows how good GPU hardware encoders are. Thanks to Chips and Cheese tech media, we have information about AMD's Video Core Next (VCN) encoder found in RDNA2 GPUs and NVIDIA's NVENC (short for NVIDIA Encoder). The site managed to benchmark AMD's Radeon RX 6900 XT and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPUs. The AMD card features VCN 3.0, while the NVIDIA Turing card features a 6th generation NVENC design. Team red is represented by the latest work, while there exists a 7th generation of NVENC. C&C tested this because it means all that the reviewer possesses.
The metric used for video encoding was Netflix's Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion (VMAF) metric composed by the media giant. In addition to hardware acceleration, the site also tested software acceleration done by libx264, a software library used for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression format. The libx264 software acceleration was running on AMD Ryzen 9 3950X. Benchmark runs included streaming, recording, and transcoding in Overwatch and Elder Scrolls Online.
Below, you can find benchmarks of streaming, recording, transcoding, and transcoding speed.
The metric used for video encoding was Netflix's Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion (VMAF) metric composed by the media giant. In addition to hardware acceleration, the site also tested software acceleration done by libx264, a software library used for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression format. The libx264 software acceleration was running on AMD Ryzen 9 3950X. Benchmark runs included streaming, recording, and transcoding in Overwatch and Elder Scrolls Online.
VAIO Launches FE Series in the US Market
The VAIO FE Series is now available exclusively at Walmart.com in the U.S. VAIO, the premier Japanese computer brand known for exceptional quality notebooks equipped with the latest technology, launches laptops starting at an affordable $699. The FE Series offers the high-performance and superior quality consumers have come to expect from the VAIO brand for a fraction of the cost of comparable devices. The VAIO FE Series has an impressive, ultra-sleek design, and is built with state-of-the-art technology including 11th Gen Intel Core Processors, Microsoft Windows 11, and THX Spatial Audio to provide unsurpassed performance and entertainment experiences.
"We are very excited to introduce VAIO to more customers in the United States through the new distribution at Walmart. I hope our ingenious laptops will give exceptional performance and experience to our new customers," said Masaki Yamano, President & CEO of VAIO Corporation. "Bringing the VAIO FE Series to the US market makes premium notebooks more accessible to help meet the demand for high-performance laptops."
"We are very excited to introduce VAIO to more customers in the United States through the new distribution at Walmart. I hope our ingenious laptops will give exceptional performance and experience to our new customers," said Masaki Yamano, President & CEO of VAIO Corporation. "Bringing the VAIO FE Series to the US market makes premium notebooks more accessible to help meet the demand for high-performance laptops."
Alphacool Unveils Eisbaer Pro Aurora and LT Aurora AIO Coolers
Alphacool's Eisbaer Pro Aurora and LT Aurora AIOs are true multi-talents as they cover a wide range of Intel and AMD sockets. Due to high demand, both CPU cooling solutions are now also available as solo coolers and enable efficient water cooling of Ryzen, Threadripper and LGA 1700 within a custom loop. Of course, the digital aRGB lighting also provides a brilliant range of colors for the solo coolers.
New in the Alphacool range is the Core XP³ Acetal CPU water cooler. The cooler housing is made entirely of acetal, which gives it a discreet and noble design. The compact cooler is compatible with the most popular sockets from AMD and Intel while offering the typical high Alphacool quality paired with outstanding performance. Smart and efficient!
New in the Alphacool range is the Core XP³ Acetal CPU water cooler. The cooler housing is made entirely of acetal, which gives it a discreet and noble design. The compact cooler is compatible with the most popular sockets from AMD and Intel while offering the typical high Alphacool quality paired with outstanding performance. Smart and efficient!
SPC Gear Introduces the AXIS USB High-fidelity Microphone
SPC Gear, the gaming label of the European manufacturer SilentiumPC, is launching a brand-new line of Streaming USB microphones named AXIS. The AXIS is a multi-purpose high-fidelity microphone with variable directionality technology. It is enclosed in a durable metal frame and mounted on top of a thick and stable base. Features of the AXIS microphone include a recording volume adjustment knob, a 3.5 mm mini-jack for connecting headphones, a potentiometer for volume control, a touch mute button, and even an adjustable RGB backlight. The most prominent feature is the ability to adjust recording direction, which allows users to choose from four polarity settings: cardioid, bi-directional, stereo and omni-directional. This makes it suitable for various applications, such as streaming, gaming with friends, or even recording podcasts with several people in the same room.
For many people, appearance matters even for microphones. The RGB backlight lets users match the microphone to their specific computer setup. It includes six different modes, with solid colours such as green, cyan, blue, pink, red, yellow, and even a rainbow mode which fluidly transitions through all the colours. The backlighting mode button is located on the bottom of the microphone, and for users who would rather do without backlighting, holding it for 3 seconds will turn it off completely.
For many people, appearance matters even for microphones. The RGB backlight lets users match the microphone to their specific computer setup. It includes six different modes, with solid colours such as green, cyan, blue, pink, red, yellow, and even a rainbow mode which fluidly transitions through all the colours. The backlighting mode button is located on the bottom of the microphone, and for users who would rather do without backlighting, holding it for 3 seconds will turn it off completely.
Intel to Acquire Granulate Cloud Solutions
Intel Corporation today announced an agreement to acquire Granulate Cloud Solutions Ltd, an Israel-based developer of real-time continuous optimization software. The acquisition of Granulate will help cloud and data center customers maximize compute workload performance and reduce infrastructure and cloud costs. Deal terms are not being disclosed.
"Today's cloud and data center customers demand scalable, high-performance software to make the most of their hardware deployments," said Sandra Rivera, executive vice president and general manager of the Datacenter and AI Group at Intel. "Granulate's cutting-edge autonomous optimization software can be applied to production workloads without requiring the customer to make changes to its code, driving optimized hardware and software value for every cloud and data center customer."
"Today's cloud and data center customers demand scalable, high-performance software to make the most of their hardware deployments," said Sandra Rivera, executive vice president and general manager of the Datacenter and AI Group at Intel. "Granulate's cutting-edge autonomous optimization software can be applied to production workloads without requiring the customer to make changes to its code, driving optimized hardware and software value for every cloud and data center customer."
Roccat Announces Burst Pro Air Wireless Gaming Mouse
ROCCAT, Turtle Beach Corporation's award-winning PC peripherals brand, today revealed the new Burst Pro Air as the premium wireless addition to its Burst family of lightweight PC gaming mice. Like its wired Burst Pro counterpart, the Burst Pro Air is designed for PC gamers that prefer the comfort and feel of an ergonomic symmetrical mouse with a lightweight design, and wireless freedom. The wireless Burst Pro Air is lightweight at 81 g and delivers ROCCAT's core performance components like the Owl-Eye Optical 19K DPI sensor and ridiculously fast Titan Optical Switches, while Stellar Wireless technology optimizes and manages wireless signal strength and battery use for optimal performance.
The Burst Pro Air has a rechargeable battery life of up to 100 hours, and PC gamers can enjoy up to five hours of gaming after rapid-charging the mouse for only 10-minutes. The Burst Pro Air's revolutionary transparent Bionic Shell also returns, this time updated with additional LEDs for a more consistent and vibrant RGB lighting experience. The Burst Pro Air is now available for pre-order at www.roccat.com and participating retailers worldwide and launches globally on April 26, 2022.
The Burst Pro Air has a rechargeable battery life of up to 100 hours, and PC gamers can enjoy up to five hours of gaming after rapid-charging the mouse for only 10-minutes. The Burst Pro Air's revolutionary transparent Bionic Shell also returns, this time updated with additional LEDs for a more consistent and vibrant RGB lighting experience. The Burst Pro Air is now available for pre-order at www.roccat.com and participating retailers worldwide and launches globally on April 26, 2022.
SilverStone Intros TP06 PlayStation 5 M.2 NVMe SSD Heatsink and Cover
SilverStone today introduced the TP06, an M.2 NVMe SSD heatsink and cover for the PlayStation 5 system. The heatsink is designed for SSDs in the M.2-2280 form-factor that lack heatsinks, and is shaped to double up as a cover for the M.2 NVMe drive bay of the PlayStation 5. The heatsink is a 67.5 gram chunk of aluminium with a solid surface making contact with the drive, and ridges on the other side that dissipate heat. Besides the heatsink, the package includes a thermal pad, screws tested for compatibility with the PS5, and a screwdriver. The company didn't reveal pricing.
Intel Arc DG2-512 Built on TSMC 6nm, Has More Transistors than GA104 and Navi 22
Some interesting technical specifications of the elusive two GPUs behind the Intel Arc "Alchemist" series surfaced. The larger DG2-512 silicon in particular, which forms the base for the Arc 5 and Arc 7 series, is interesting, in that it is larger in every way than the performance-segment ASICs from both NVIDIA and AMD. The table below compares the physical specs of the DG2-512, with the NVIDIA GA104, and the AMD Navi 22. This segment of GPUs has fairly powerful use-cases, including native 1440p gameplay, or playing at 4K with a performance enhancement—something Intel has, in the form of the XeSS.
The DG2-512 is built on the 6 nm TSMC N6 foundry node, the most advanced node among the three GPUs in this class. It has the highest transistor density of 53.4 mTr/mm², and the largest die-area of 406 mm², and the highest transistor-count of 21.7 billion. The Xe-HPG graphics architecture is designed for full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature support, and the DG2-512 dedicated hardware for ray tracing, as well as AI acceleration. The Arc A770M is the fastest product based on this silicon, however, it is a mobile GPU with aggressive power-management characteristic to the form-factor it serves. Here, the DG2-512 has an FP32 throughput of 13.5 TFLOPs, compared to 13.2 TFLOPs of the Navi 22 on the Radeon RX 6700 XT desktop graphics card, and the 21.7 TFLOPs of the GA104 that's maxed out on the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti desktop graphics card.
The DG2-512 is built on the 6 nm TSMC N6 foundry node, the most advanced node among the three GPUs in this class. It has the highest transistor density of 53.4 mTr/mm², and the largest die-area of 406 mm², and the highest transistor-count of 21.7 billion. The Xe-HPG graphics architecture is designed for full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature support, and the DG2-512 dedicated hardware for ray tracing, as well as AI acceleration. The Arc A770M is the fastest product based on this silicon, however, it is a mobile GPU with aggressive power-management characteristic to the form-factor it serves. Here, the DG2-512 has an FP32 throughput of 13.5 TFLOPs, compared to 13.2 TFLOPs of the Navi 22 on the Radeon RX 6700 XT desktop graphics card, and the 21.7 TFLOPs of the GA104 that's maxed out on the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti desktop graphics card.
Bitspower Launches Digital Leak Detector
Bitspower, one of the world's leading suppliers of water-cooling equipment for performance computers, has launched the Bitspower Digital Leak Detector—an easy to use, handheld device that allows water-cooling enthusiasts to check for leaks quickly and accurately. The Digital Leak Detector features a digital pressure gauge and an integrated, hand-operated air pump to pressurize the system. The device is equipped with a rotatable male 1/4" connecting port, so it can be attached directly to any standard port on a water-cooling system.
Before filling a water-cooled loop with water, users can simply attach the Digital Leak Detector to their system, pressurize the system with an air pump, and keep the system in a closed state. The pressure of the system is displayed on the easy-to-read digital screen, and allows users to see if any air is escaping. If the pressure is kept constant, it demonstrates that the loop has been sealed effectively.
Before filling a water-cooled loop with water, users can simply attach the Digital Leak Detector to their system, pressurize the system with an air pump, and keep the system in a closed state. The pressure of the system is displayed on the easy-to-read digital screen, and allows users to see if any air is escaping. If the pressure is kept constant, it demonstrates that the loop has been sealed effectively.
Dell Launches 34-inch Curved USB-C Monitor
Dell has been on something of a roll when it comes to launching new monitor models this year and its latest addition is an office focused curved 34-inch model with a 3440x1440 resolution. The S3423DWC as the model is called, sports a VA panel with a 300 cd/m² brightness, a 3000:1 contrast ratio and a colour gamut capable of 99 percent of the sRGB colour space. Although it's an office focused display, the good news here is that it has 100 Hz refresh rate and a 4 ms response time, which is quite unusual for its target market. AMD FreeSync is also supported, although there's no mention of the frequency range.
Connectivity-wise the main selling point is its single USB-C port that also has support for DP 1.4 Alt Mode as well as USB PD up to 65 W. Furthermore it has two HDMI 2.0 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-B input and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, of which one can deliver 10 W of power for charging. Thanks to the two USB inputs, the display can function as a KVM and it also supports Picture-by-Picture and Picture-in-Picture when more than one input is being used. Dell also integrated a pair of 5 W speakers, but it seems like audio input is only via HDMI or USB, as the 3.5 mm jack on the rear of the display is apparently only for audio output. The stand is height adjustable, but due to this being an ultra-widescreen display, it can't be rotated. Dell claims that the plastic used contains at least 25 percent recycled materials. The S3423DWC is available in the APAC region now, although the US and European retail price should be around US$/€689 once it launches there.
Connectivity-wise the main selling point is its single USB-C port that also has support for DP 1.4 Alt Mode as well as USB PD up to 65 W. Furthermore it has two HDMI 2.0 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-B input and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, of which one can deliver 10 W of power for charging. Thanks to the two USB inputs, the display can function as a KVM and it also supports Picture-by-Picture and Picture-in-Picture when more than one input is being used. Dell also integrated a pair of 5 W speakers, but it seems like audio input is only via HDMI or USB, as the 3.5 mm jack on the rear of the display is apparently only for audio output. The stand is height adjustable, but due to this being an ultra-widescreen display, it can't be rotated. Dell claims that the plastic used contains at least 25 percent recycled materials. The S3423DWC is available in the APAC region now, although the US and European retail price should be around US$/€689 once it launches there.
Moore Threads Unveils MTT S60 & MTT S2000 Graphics Cards with DirectX Support
Chinese company Moore Threads has unveiled their MTT GPU series just 18 months after the company's establishment in 2020. The MT Unified System Architecture (MUSA) architecture is the first for any Chinese company to be developed fully domestically and includes support for DirectX, OpenCL, OpenGL, Vulkan, and CUDA. The company announced the MTT S60 and MTT S2000 single slot desktop graphics cards for gaming and server applications at a recent event. The MTT S60 is manufactured on a 12 nm node and features 2,048 MUSA cores paired with 8 GB of LPGDDR4X memory offering 6 TFLOPs of performance. The MTT S2000 is also manufactured on a 12 nm node and doubles the number of MUSA cores to 4096 paired with 32 GB of undisclosed video memory allowing it to reach 12 TFLOPs.
Moore Threads joins Intel in supporting AV1 encoding on a consumer GPU with MUSA cards featuring H.264, H.265, and AV1 encoding support in addition to H.264, H.265, AV1, VP8, and VP9 decoding. The company is also developing a physics engine dubbed Alphacore which is said to work with existing tools such as Unity, Unreal Engine, and Houdini to accelerate physics performance by 5 to 10 times. The only gaming performance shown was a simple demonstration of the MTT S60 running League of Legends at 1080p without any frame rate details.
Moore Threads joins Intel in supporting AV1 encoding on a consumer GPU with MUSA cards featuring H.264, H.265, and AV1 encoding support in addition to H.264, H.265, AV1, VP8, and VP9 decoding. The company is also developing a physics engine dubbed Alphacore which is said to work with existing tools such as Unity, Unreal Engine, and Houdini to accelerate physics performance by 5 to 10 times. The only gaming performance shown was a simple demonstration of the MTT S60 running League of Legends at 1080p without any frame rate details.
EK Announces RTX 3090 Ti Water Block Plans
EK, is working on a plethora of new Quantum Vector2 water blocks for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Series graphics cards. RTX 3090 GPUs are one of the most wanted cards on the market and are among the components that can benefit greatly when complemented with water cooling. The card packs 24 GB of GDDR6X RAM, which is massive for both professional and gaming usage. Naturally, when NVIDIA announced an even stronger card carrying the name RTX 3090 Ti, EK was anxious to supply water blocks and unlock the full potential of these behemoths. This would allow unprecedented performance levels and no worries about wasting heat.
SK Hynix Presents HBM3 DRAM at NVIDIA GTC 2022
SK hynix, was the only company that presented its HBM3, a high-end product known as the fastest DRAM in existence with the biggest capacity, at NVIDIA GTC (GPU Technology Conference) 2022, which took place on March 21~24. Known as the world's best-performing DRAM, HBM3 is the fourth generation of the HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) technology. SK hynix's HBM3 uses over 8,000 TSVs per stack (i.e. over 100,000 TSVs in a 12-Hi stack) and can feature up to 12-Hi stack, which is an upgrade from the previous HBM2E's 8-Hi stack. When fully stacked, it can offer up to 24 GB of capacity. With a 16-channel architecture, it runs at 6.4 Gbps, which is double that of HBM2E and which is the fastest in the world, expecting to further accelerate our digital life.
For instance, HBM has become a prerequisite for the Levels 4 and 5 of driving automation when it comes to autonomous vehicles, a topic that has garnered a great deal of attention nowadays. Also, HBM3 is expected to play an even bigger role along with the growth of High Performance Computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) markets fueled by the acceleration of digital transformation.
For instance, HBM has become a prerequisite for the Levels 4 and 5 of driving automation when it comes to autonomous vehicles, a topic that has garnered a great deal of attention nowadays. Also, HBM3 is expected to play an even bigger role along with the growth of High Performance Computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) markets fueled by the acceleration of digital transformation.
Intel XeSS Coming Early-Summer Alongside Arc 5 and Arc 7 Series
XeSS is arguably the most boasted-about new graphics technology by Intel. A performance enhancement that is functionally similar to AMD FSR or NVIDIA DLSS, XeSS will instrumental in making Arc "Alchemist" GPUs offer high performance with minimal loss to image quality, especially given that Intel's first crack at premium gaming GPUs also happens to include real-time ray tracing support, to meet DirectX 12 Ultimate specs.
Intel announced that XeSS won't be debuting with the Arc 3 series mobile GPUs that launched yesterday (March 30), but instead alongside the Arc 5 and Arc 7 series slated for early-Summer (late-May to early-June). At launch, several AAA titles will be optimized for XeSS, including "Ghostwire: Tokyo," "Death Stranding," "Anvil," "Hitman III," "GRID Legends," etc.
Intel announced that XeSS won't be debuting with the Arc 3 series mobile GPUs that launched yesterday (March 30), but instead alongside the Arc 5 and Arc 7 series slated for early-Summer (late-May to early-June). At launch, several AAA titles will be optimized for XeSS, including "Ghostwire: Tokyo," "Death Stranding," "Anvil," "Hitman III," "GRID Legends," etc.
Wednesday, March 30th 2022
Today's Reviews
Graphics Cards
- ASUS TUF Gaming RTX 3090 Ti OC ComputerBase (de)
- MSI RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X Cowcotland (fr)
- Inno3D RTX 3090 Ti X3 OC Cowcotland (fr)
- Palit RTX 3090 Ti GameRock OC Guru3D
- MSI RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X Guru3D
- Palit RTX 3090 Ti GameRock and MSI RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X KitGuru
- ASUS ROG Strix LC RTX 3090 Ti Overclocking.com (fr)
- MSI RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X Tweaktown
- ASUS ROG Strix LC RTX 3090 Ti OC Tweaktown
Harddisks
Headphones
Processors
ThieAudio V16 Divinity In-Ear Monitors Review - Tuning Masterpiece!
ThieAudio has been on a roll off late with appealing IEMs at various price points. Today, we look at its latest and greatest: the V16 Divinity flagship. It employs a whopping 16 Sonion and Knowles balanced armature drivers combined in a complex 5-way crossover per channel and aims to be a technical masterpiece for years to come.
Xtrfy M4 Wireless Gaming Mouse Review
The Xtrfy M4 Wireless is more than just an M4 made wireless. Much like the M42, the M4 Wireless is modular and can be used with a differently shaped back cover. Another novelty is the movable battery to adjust the center of gravity. On the technical side, PixArt's PAW3370 sensor, Kailh GM 8.0 main button switches, 75 hours of battery life, and a 70 g lightweight construction ensure high performance.
Quick Look: Mobile Pixels DUEX Max Monitor
The 14.1" Mobile Pixel DUEX Max is their biggest add-on screen to date. It offers the same features as the DUEX Plus, including USB interfacing, power passthrough to secondary devices, a G-Sensor for easy rotation, and various placement scenarios.
QNAP Introduces the 8-bay TS-873AeU Series Rackmount NAS Powered by Ryzen V
QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking, and storage solution innovator, today unveiled the 2U short-depth rackmount TS-873AeU NAS series, including the TS-873AeU and TS-873AeU-RP, with high-performance and energy-efficient AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 series V1500B 4-core/8-thread, 2.20 GHz processors. The series is available in 8-bay models with single and redundant power supply options. The TS-873AeU series is suitable for tackling resource-demanding applications and tasks, such as virtual machines, intensive multi-user access, or hybrid cloud applications, making it a cost-efficient solution for businesses that depend on virtualization or VDI applications.
The 2U rackmount TS-873AeU series has a short depth design of only 11.7 inches (297.4 mm) for up to 38% reduction in size, making it an excellent choice for smaller racks, wall-mount AV rack cabinets, and network rack cabinets. Space saved by its short depth design can greatly benefit cabling or ventilation. The TS-873AeU series is ideal for flexible deployment and is especially suitable for installation in locations such as offices, audiovisual rooms, and for applications such as security surveillance recording.
The 2U rackmount TS-873AeU series has a short depth design of only 11.7 inches (297.4 mm) for up to 38% reduction in size, making it an excellent choice for smaller racks, wall-mount AV rack cabinets, and network rack cabinets. Space saved by its short depth design can greatly benefit cabling or ventilation. The TS-873AeU series is ideal for flexible deployment and is especially suitable for installation in locations such as offices, audiovisual rooms, and for applications such as security surveillance recording.
Intel Teases Arc Desktop Graphics Card
After today's mobile Arc GPU reveal, Intel has also teased its first desktop Arc graphics card in a YouTube video that gives us a first sneak peek of its first desktop graphics card since the late 1990's. Although it's not clear which card Intel is showing off in the video, as the card simply says Intel ARC Limited Edition on the back, it's clear that Intel has gone with a simpler design than those early concepts the company was showing off a couple of years ago. Based on the animated render, we'd hazard a guess that this is a higher-end model, as it appears to have eight memory ICs, as well as a somewhat elaborate cooling system with four heatpipes.
Two fans can also be seen in the video, although the mounting appears somewhat unusual compared to most graphics cards. The back of the card is covered, but it's not obvious if this is a functional rear cover or just for looks. The card also has three DisplayPort and one HDMI outputs. However, what can't be seen in the video, is any kind of power connectors on the card, although it's unlikely that Intel has managed to make a graphics card that doesn't require an external power-input, at least not based on what is known about Intel's upcoming Arc GPUs. The video ends with a message of the new cards coming in the summer of 2022. Based on the video, it seems like we should expect Intel branded retail cards, albeit in a limited production run and most likely only in select markets. You can watch the video after the break.
Two fans can also be seen in the video, although the mounting appears somewhat unusual compared to most graphics cards. The back of the card is covered, but it's not obvious if this is a functional rear cover or just for looks. The card also has three DisplayPort and one HDMI outputs. However, what can't be seen in the video, is any kind of power connectors on the card, although it's unlikely that Intel has managed to make a graphics card that doesn't require an external power-input, at least not based on what is known about Intel's upcoming Arc GPUs. The video ends with a message of the new cards coming in the summer of 2022. Based on the video, it seems like we should expect Intel branded retail cards, albeit in a limited production run and most likely only in select markets. You can watch the video after the break.
SMART Modular Technologies Announces Next Generation of ME2 Flash
SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. ("SMART"), a division of SGH and a global leader in memory solutions, solid-state drive (SSD) and hybrid storage products announces the next generation of its DuraFlash ME2 family of SATA SSD products, which includes industry-standard M.2 2242, M.2 2280, mSATA, Slim SATA and 2.5" form factors. These SSDs are available in both industrial and commercial temperature grades and have versions that implement SMART's SafeDATA power-loss, data-protection technology for graceful handling of power fluctuations and sudden power loss events.
The new ME2 SSDs incorporate the latest generation 3D NAND-technology and SMART Modular's proprietary NVMSentry firmware to deliver high performance SSD products with endurance up to one drive writes per day (DWPD) for five years using JEDEC JESD219A enterprise endurance workload. The new NAND device offers better cost per bit over previous 64-layer and 96-layer NAND generations without sacrificing performance and reliability. Further optimization of the NVMSentry firmware also yields enhancements in read and write consistency over wide ranges of application workloads. High performance computing, data centers, networking, cloud systems and many other applications that demand high reliability and consistency over long operating lifetime can benefit from the new ME2 SSD products.
The new ME2 SSDs incorporate the latest generation 3D NAND-technology and SMART Modular's proprietary NVMSentry firmware to deliver high performance SSD products with endurance up to one drive writes per day (DWPD) for five years using JEDEC JESD219A enterprise endurance workload. The new NAND device offers better cost per bit over previous 64-layer and 96-layer NAND generations without sacrificing performance and reliability. Further optimization of the NVMSentry firmware also yields enhancements in read and write consistency over wide ranges of application workloads. High performance computing, data centers, networking, cloud systems and many other applications that demand high reliability and consistency over long operating lifetime can benefit from the new ME2 SSD products.
SK Hynix Shows Interest in Buying Arm via Consortium
Rather surprisingly, SK Hynix has said that it's interested in being part of a consortium to purchase Arm, during its annual shareholders meeting. Although several companies have voiced their interest in Arm, such as Qualcomm and even Intel, SK Hynix hasn't even been on the radar until now. However, the interesting part here is the bit about a consortium and Park Jung-ho, vice chairman and CEO of SK Hynix is quoted saying "I don't believe Arm is a company that could be bought by one company," by the Yonhap News Agency.
Although SK Hynix has only recently started working on the idea of purchasing Arm, most likely due to NVIDIA's deal to purchase Arm from SoftBank falling through, it looks like SK Hynix have a very different plan to that of NVIDIA. Park continued "It doesn't have to be buying a majority of its shares to be able to control the company," suggesting that even if SoftBank was to list Arm on the stock market as a standalone company, SK Hynix could try to take control of a majority of its shares. However, the mention of the consortium is something other industry players have proposed and it seems like the most sensible way to move forward, without causing negative effects for the Arm licensees in the long term.
Although SK Hynix has only recently started working on the idea of purchasing Arm, most likely due to NVIDIA's deal to purchase Arm from SoftBank falling through, it looks like SK Hynix have a very different plan to that of NVIDIA. Park continued "It doesn't have to be buying a majority of its shares to be able to control the company," suggesting that even if SoftBank was to list Arm on the stock market as a standalone company, SK Hynix could try to take control of a majority of its shares. However, the mention of the consortium is something other industry players have proposed and it seems like the most sensible way to move forward, without causing negative effects for the Arm licensees in the long term.
Intel Formally Announces Arc A-series Graphics
For decades, Intel has been a champion for PC platform innovation. We have delivered generations of CPUs that provide the computing horsepower for billions of people. We advanced connectivity through features like USB, Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi. And in partnership with the PC ecosystem, we developed the ground-breaking PCI architecture and the Intel Evo platform, pushing the boundary for what mobile products can do. Intel is uniquely positioned to deliver PC platform innovations that meet the ever-increasing computing demands of professionals, consumers, gamers and creators around the world. Now, we take the next big step.
Today, we are officially launching our Intel Arc graphics family for laptops, completing the Intel platform. These are the first discrete GPUs from our Intel Arc A-Series graphics portfolio for laptops, with our desktop and workstation products coming later this year. You can visit our Newsroom for our launch video, product details and technical demos, but I will summarize the highlights of how our Intel Arc platform and A-Series mobile GPU family will deliver hardware, software, services and - ultimately - high-performance graphics experiences.
Today, we are officially launching our Intel Arc graphics family for laptops, completing the Intel platform. These are the first discrete GPUs from our Intel Arc A-Series graphics portfolio for laptops, with our desktop and workstation products coming later this year. You can visit our Newsroom for our launch video, product details and technical demos, but I will summarize the highlights of how our Intel Arc platform and A-Series mobile GPU family will deliver hardware, software, services and - ultimately - high-performance graphics experiences.
Intel Arc "Alchemist" Mobile GPU Lineup Revealed
Intel is preparing to debut the Arc "Alchemist" line of graphics processors with a mobile-first approach, where the company leverages its bulletproof relations with notebook manufacturers to use its discrete mobile GPUs to go with their 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processors. These will be launch in two tranches, with the first round expected as early as today (March 30), according to a VideoCardz report citing a leaked company slide. The series will debut with the Arc 3 series of entry-level discrete GPUs, before moving onto the mid-range Arc 5 and premium Arc 7 series "early summer" (we read that as May-June, 2022).
The entire lineup of Arc "Alchemist" is based on two ASICs, the smaller one is the ACM-G11, or DG2-128; while the larger one is the ACM-G10, or DG2-512. The former comes with 128 execution units (EU), while the larger one has 512 EU. The Arc 3 series, consisting of the A350M and A370M, come with 96 and 128 EU (768 and 1,024 unified shaders), respectively, The mid-range Arc A550M is based on the lowest trim of the DG2-512, with half its EU count disabled (256 EU, or 2,048 shaders). The Arc A730M has three-fourths of the EU count enabled, while the A770M maxes it out.
The entire lineup of Arc "Alchemist" is based on two ASICs, the smaller one is the ACM-G11, or DG2-128; while the larger one is the ACM-G10, or DG2-512. The former comes with 128 execution units (EU), while the larger one has 512 EU. The Arc 3 series, consisting of the A350M and A370M, come with 96 and 128 EU (768 and 1,024 unified shaders), respectively, The mid-range Arc A550M is based on the lowest trim of the DG2-512, with half its EU count disabled (256 EU, or 2,048 shaders). The Arc A730M has three-fourths of the EU count enabled, while the A770M maxes it out.
ERS electronic unveils its third-generation flagship thermal debond machine
ERS electronic, the industry leader in the market of thermal management solutions for semiconductor manufacturing, reveals the details of its third-generation flagship thermal debond machine, ADM330. The machine was introduced to the market in 2007 as the first-of-its-kind. Since then, it has become an industry-favourite and can be found on the production floors of most semiconductor manufacturers and OSATs involved in Advanced Packaging worldwide.
Earlier this month, the company was recognized for its continuous innovation and contribution to heterogeneous integration technologies with a 3D InCites "Equipment Supplier of the Year" award.
ERS is now giving a first look at the next-generation ADM330, which has changed its previously matte metallic appearance to a clean, white surface matching most equipment found in a cleanroom. In addition, the machine is now fully compliant with the GEM300 SEMI standards, thus allowing seamless integration into automated fabs and Industry 4.0 architectures. Warpage adjustment performance has also been improved thanks to a unique thermal chuck design that enables a strong vacuum performance three times better than its predecessor. Lastly, the new ADM330 offers an implemented add-on software feature allowing stand-alone laser marking for improved wafer traceability.
Earlier this month, the company was recognized for its continuous innovation and contribution to heterogeneous integration technologies with a 3D InCites "Equipment Supplier of the Year" award.
ERS is now giving a first look at the next-generation ADM330, which has changed its previously matte metallic appearance to a clean, white surface matching most equipment found in a cleanroom. In addition, the machine is now fully compliant with the GEM300 SEMI standards, thus allowing seamless integration into automated fabs and Industry 4.0 architectures. Warpage adjustment performance has also been improved thanks to a unique thermal chuck design that enables a strong vacuum performance three times better than its predecessor. Lastly, the new ADM330 offers an implemented add-on software feature allowing stand-alone laser marking for improved wafer traceability.
MSI Announces MAG Meta 5 5E Gaming Desktop Powered by AMD
If you are planning to buy a new PC for gaming, MSI MAG META 5 5E is a budget-friendly choice. The MAG META 5 5E is MSI's first full AMD solution gaming desktop. It comes with a Ryzen 7 5800X CPU based on the Zen 3 architecture and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT that ensures gaming performance thanks to AMD Smart Access Memory Technology. Up to 64 GB of DDR4 RAM can be installed so you will be able to handle gaming and productivity tasks. It comes with up to one M.2 SSD, two 2.5" and two 3.5" slots allowing for utilizing mass storage and faster data access.
As for the thermal solution, the MAG META 5 5E can be configured with an air cooler or liquid cooler. It draws air in from the side and allows plenty of air through the rear and top of the case. There's also additional space for installing fans to bring air through the system. The MAG META 5 5E has RGB strips running along with the front panel and has an interchangeable tempered glass side panel. Users can showcase their style and configuration with an unlimited spectrum of color and dynamic RGB lighting through MSI Mystic Light.
As for the thermal solution, the MAG META 5 5E can be configured with an air cooler or liquid cooler. It draws air in from the side and allows plenty of air through the rear and top of the case. There's also additional space for installing fans to bring air through the system. The MAG META 5 5E has RGB strips running along with the front panel and has an interchangeable tempered glass side panel. Users can showcase their style and configuration with an unlimited spectrum of color and dynamic RGB lighting through MSI Mystic Light.
PNY Announces the XLR8 Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Graphics Card
PNY announced today the expansion of NVIDIA GeForce RTX XLR8 Gaming family of GPUs with the latest PNY XLR8 Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics card and PNY XLR8 Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Overclocked graphics card. Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And it's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
The GeForce RTX 3090 Ti overclocked and standard models deliver the ultimate performance craved by gamers, powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, to rip through 4K gaming and AI tasks. Built with 24 GB of super-fast GDDR6X memory, enhanced RT Cores and Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors for an incredible gaming experience. With faster memory and more CUDA cores than the non-Ti GPU, the RTX 3090 Ti is a powerhouse offering more performance without compromise for gamers and content creators to get the most out of their system.
The GeForce RTX 3090 Ti overclocked and standard models deliver the ultimate performance craved by gamers, powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, to rip through 4K gaming and AI tasks. Built with 24 GB of super-fast GDDR6X memory, enhanced RT Cores and Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors for an incredible gaming experience. With faster memory and more CUDA cores than the non-Ti GPU, the RTX 3090 Ti is a powerhouse offering more performance without compromise for gamers and content creators to get the most out of their system.
Kioxia Introduces UFS Ver. 3.1 Embedded Flash Memory Devices for Automotive Applications
Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has started sampling new Automotive Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 3.1 embedded flash memory devices. The new line-up utilizes the company's BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory and is available in capacities from 64 gigabytes (GB) to 512 GB to support the various requirements of evolving automotive applications that elevate driver experiences.
The storage requirement for automotive applications continue to increase as infotainment systems and ADAS in cars become more sophisticated. UFS is well-suited to support the high-performance and density needs of these applications. The new devices support a wide temperature range (-40°C to +105°C), meet AEC-Q100 Grade 2 requirements and offer enhanced reliability capabilities that increasingly complex automotive applications require.
The storage requirement for automotive applications continue to increase as infotainment systems and ADAS in cars become more sophisticated. UFS is well-suited to support the high-performance and density needs of these applications. The new devices support a wide temperature range (-40°C to +105°C), meet AEC-Q100 Grade 2 requirements and offer enhanced reliability capabilities that increasingly complex automotive applications require.
AMD Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" Zen 4 Processors Enter Mass-Production by April-May?
The next-generation AMD Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" desktop processors in the Socket AM5 package are rumored to enter mass-production soon, according to Greymon55 on Twitter, a reliable source with AMD leaks. Silicon fabrication of the chips may already be underway, as the source claims that packaging (placing the dies on the fiberglass substrate or package), will commence by late-April or early-May. "Raphael" is a multi-chip module of "Zen 4" CCDs fabricated on the TSMC N5 (5 nm) node, combined with a cIOD built on a yet-unknown node. A plant in China performs packaging.
It's hard to predict retail availability, but for the Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processors, this development milestone was reached in June 2020, with the first products hitting shelves 4 months later, in November. This was, however, in the thick of the pre-vaccine COVID-19 pandemic. The "Zen 4" CPU cores are expected to introduce an IPC increase, as well as higher clock speeds. Also on offer will be next-gen connectivity, including PCI-Express Gen 5 (including CPU-attached Gen 5 NVMe), and DDR5 memory. These processors will launch alongside Socket AM5 motherboards based on the new AMD 600 series chipsets.
It's hard to predict retail availability, but for the Ryzen 5000 "Vermeer" processors, this development milestone was reached in June 2020, with the first products hitting shelves 4 months later, in November. This was, however, in the thick of the pre-vaccine COVID-19 pandemic. The "Zen 4" CPU cores are expected to introduce an IPC increase, as well as higher clock speeds. Also on offer will be next-gen connectivity, including PCI-Express Gen 5 (including CPU-attached Gen 5 NVMe), and DDR5 memory. These processors will launch alongside Socket AM5 motherboards based on the new AMD 600 series chipsets.
Samsung and Western Digital Collaborate to Develop ZNS SSD/HDD Solutions
Samsung and Western Digital today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that implies that the two companies will join their efforts to create next-generation data placement, processing, and fabrics (D2PF) storage technologies. The MOU states that the two companies will collaborate on creating Zoned Storage devices, including ZNS (Zoned Namespaces) SSDs and SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) HDDs. The ZNS SSD initiative is a challenge of creating entirely new SSDs that work on the ZNS principle instead of traditional block-based drives. Opposite to data in traditional SSDs written in blocks, ZNS SSDs will place data into zones and have software understand where each bit of information is written without excessive read/write action. Another benefit of ZNS is that managing data allows less garbage collection, thus higher efficiency.
Software adoption for ZNS makes it hard, and Samsung's conjoined efforts with Western Digital aim to simplify it. Western Digital notes that "In addition, this collaboration is expected to serve as a starting point to expand zone-based (e.g. ZNS, SMR) device interfaces, as well as future-generation, high-capacity storage devices with enhanced data placement and processing technologies. At a later stage, these initiatives will be expanded to include other emerging D2PF technologies such as computational storage and storage fabrics including NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF)." So, with further development of ZNS, Samsung and Western Digital will collab on more advanced storage options as well.
Software adoption for ZNS makes it hard, and Samsung's conjoined efforts with Western Digital aim to simplify it. Western Digital notes that "In addition, this collaboration is expected to serve as a starting point to expand zone-based (e.g. ZNS, SMR) device interfaces, as well as future-generation, high-capacity storage devices with enhanced data placement and processing technologies. At a later stage, these initiatives will be expanded to include other emerging D2PF technologies such as computational storage and storage fabrics including NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF)." So, with further development of ZNS, Samsung and Western Digital will collab on more advanced storage options as well.
$5 Million Campaign Aims to Make Bitcoin More Energy Efficient
A new, $5 million-backed campaign aims to increase awareness for Bitcoin's elevated energy expenditure - and aims to put pressure on a technological change that reduces its energy consumption and carbon impact. Funded by Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen, the campaign, titled "Change the Code, Not the Climate" aims to increase awareness of technological solutions that could replace Bitcoin's expensive Proof of Work security model. A model that has seen power usage for transactions on the cryptocurrency hit historic highs in 2021, averaging an estimated 204 TWh power consumption for the year - around the same energy consumption as that of 70 million-citizen Thailand.
The campaign particularly calls for a change towards Proof of Stake, a transaction validation method that could reduce Bitcoin's energy consumption footprint by 99%. Of course, actually implementing the changes themselves on the live Bitcoin blockchain wouldn't be so easy as simply flicking a metaphorical code switch: Ethereum's implementation of such a transition has taken years already - and this with a more modern, more flexible blockchain. Considering the success of implementation for smaller, more technical aspects of Bitcoin mining - such as Blockchain rewards - has already led to forks of the cryptocurrency. One can only imagine what would happen following such a fundamental shift in technology, blockchain security - and miner payout.
The campaign particularly calls for a change towards Proof of Stake, a transaction validation method that could reduce Bitcoin's energy consumption footprint by 99%. Of course, actually implementing the changes themselves on the live Bitcoin blockchain wouldn't be so easy as simply flicking a metaphorical code switch: Ethereum's implementation of such a transition has taken years already - and this with a more modern, more flexible blockchain. Considering the success of implementation for smaller, more technical aspects of Bitcoin mining - such as Blockchain rewards - has already led to forks of the cryptocurrency. One can only imagine what would happen following such a fundamental shift in technology, blockchain security - and miner payout.
GIGABYTE Launches its GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Series Graphics Cards
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of premium gaming hardware, today announced the latest and most high-end GeForce RTX 3090 Ti series graphics cards powered by NVIDIA Ampere architecture—AORUS GeForce RTX 3090 Ti XTREME WATERFORCE 24G and GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GAMING OC 24G. Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And It's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
With the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards coming out, the thermal solution of the graphics cards plays an important role due to the requirement of higher wattage which is necessary to unleash the full computing performance of the cards. GIGABYTE provides both WATERFORCE and WINDFORCE thermal solutions, both meet the diverse requirements and needs of the graphics cards for the users. AORUS XTREME WATERFORCE graphics card is designed for users that are looking for the best-of-class performance and quiet experience from a liquid-cooled graphics card. It comes with a pre-installed liquid cooling solution which is designed for optimal and stable operation. GAMING OC graphics card, a classical and popular graphics card from GIGABYTE, focuses on performance and stability making it suitable to many different target groups. Both series cards can conduct deep AI computing and heavy-duty 3D creation.
With the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards coming out, the thermal solution of the graphics cards plays an important role due to the requirement of higher wattage which is necessary to unleash the full computing performance of the cards. GIGABYTE provides both WATERFORCE and WINDFORCE thermal solutions, both meet the diverse requirements and needs of the graphics cards for the users. AORUS XTREME WATERFORCE graphics card is designed for users that are looking for the best-of-class performance and quiet experience from a liquid-cooled graphics card. It comes with a pre-installed liquid cooling solution which is designed for optimal and stable operation. GAMING OC graphics card, a classical and popular graphics card from GIGABYTE, focuses on performance and stability making it suitable to many different target groups. Both series cards can conduct deep AI computing and heavy-duty 3D creation.
Manli Unveils GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Gallardo Graphics Card
Manli Technology Group Limited is proud to announce the Manli GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Gallardo. It's powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture. Building upon RTX, the world's fastest GPU will feature new 2nd generation Ray Tracing Cores, 3rd generation Tensor Cores, and streaming multiprocessors. The RT and Tensor Cores both have double the throughput as before. Clock speed has been boosted to 1875 MHz. There are 10,752 CUDA cores onboard powering the RTXTM 3090 Ti. It also has 24 GB of memory, and GDDR6X memory speeds of up to 21 Gbps.
The triple fan front plate features brushed gray and clean lines. The Manli GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Gallardo also has RGB lights that cycle through seven colors which can switch on or off upon your preference. The aluminium back plate lends structural rigidity to the 3-slot GPU. Seven copper composite heat pipes and segmented heat sink design help to effectively dissipate heat.
The triple fan front plate features brushed gray and clean lines. The Manli GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Gallardo also has RGB lights that cycle through seven colors which can switch on or off upon your preference. The aluminium back plate lends structural rigidity to the 3-slot GPU. Seven copper composite heat pipes and segmented heat sink design help to effectively dissipate heat.
G.Skill Announces DDR5-6000 CL30 64GB (32GB x2) Memory Kit
G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, is delighted to announce the launch of a high-capacity, ultra-low-latency DDR5-6000 CL30 64 GB (32 GB x2) overclocked performance memory kit under the Trident Z5 family, designed for the latest 12th Gen Intel Core desktop processors and Intel Z690 chipset motherboard.
As the leader in developing high performance memory products, G.SKILL launches an all new high-capacity, ultra-low-latency dual-channel memory kit, rated at a blistering DDR5-6000 CL30-40-40-96 in 64 GB (32 GB x2) kit capacity. Using only the best-in-class memory components to achieve high-speeds with 32 GB module capacity, this extreme overclocked memory specification represents the next step in high-capacity DDR5 performance. The screenshot below shows this memory kit validated with the Intel Core i7-12700K processor and ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard.
As the leader in developing high performance memory products, G.SKILL launches an all new high-capacity, ultra-low-latency dual-channel memory kit, rated at a blistering DDR5-6000 CL30-40-40-96 in 64 GB (32 GB x2) kit capacity. Using only the best-in-class memory components to achieve high-speeds with 32 GB module capacity, this extreme overclocked memory specification represents the next step in high-capacity DDR5 performance. The screenshot below shows this memory kit validated with the Intel Core i7-12700K processor and ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard.
Tuesday, March 29th 2022
Today's Reviews
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Motherboards
Notebooks
MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Suprim X Review
The MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is an impressive quad-slot graphics card. In our review, we found that it runs quieter than other RTX 3090 Ti tested today. MSI also included a large factory overclock with their card, which handles 4K60 with ease.
ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 Ti STRIX LC Liquid Cooled Review
With the ASUS STRIX LC, ASUS is betting big on their liquid-cooled thermal solution. The card itself is more compact than other RTX 3090 Ti models because the cooling magic happens in the radiator. A large factory overclock is included, too, and the power limit adjustment range goes up to 525 watts.
EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Ultra Review
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti offers a lot of customization options thanks to its triple BIOS that lets you pick between Normal, OC, and Performance. The massive quad-slot cooler keeps the card at good thermal levels, and the backplate is one of the best we've ever encountered.
Zotac GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Amp Extreme Holo Review
Zotac is pricing their GeForce RTX 3090 Ti AMP Extreme aggressively, matching the NVIDIA Founders Edition. You still get a factory overclock, mesmerizing RGB lighting effects, and a large triple-slot, triple-fan thermal solution with dual BIOS.
FSP Announces Bronze ATX Gaming Power Supplies
FSP has released the latest Bronze efficiency PSUs. Four models include 230 V and worldwide input voltage; the wattages consist of 750 W/850 W. FSP bronze power supply provides various options from low wattages like 300 W to high wattages such as 850 W. Regardless of the power requirements of your devices, FSP can meet all your needs.
As the hardware requirements of computer components and gaming specifications are getting higher and higher, CPU and GPU power consumption is increasing recently, and PSUs need to keep up with the times and supply enough power to the system. FSP750/850-50AAC and FSP750/850-51AAC released by FSP is not only meet the regulation of the Intel PSDG ATX 12V V2.52, but its efficiency reaches 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency level. Single unit +12 V can provide a more stable and pure electricity which can support high-end graphic cards such as NVIDIA RTX 3080. The 12-cm sleeve bearing fan can supply more than 88% high cooling efficiency and maintain a low-noise environment. It is a new PSU option with bronze efficiency PSU for entry-level players.
As the hardware requirements of computer components and gaming specifications are getting higher and higher, CPU and GPU power consumption is increasing recently, and PSUs need to keep up with the times and supply enough power to the system. FSP750/850-50AAC and FSP750/850-51AAC released by FSP is not only meet the regulation of the Intel PSDG ATX 12V V2.52, but its efficiency reaches 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency level. Single unit +12 V can provide a more stable and pure electricity which can support high-end graphic cards such as NVIDIA RTX 3080. The 12-cm sleeve bearing fan can supply more than 88% high cooling efficiency and maintain a low-noise environment. It is a new PSU option with bronze efficiency PSU for entry-level players.
MAINGEAR Launches NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Desktops
MAINGEAR today announced that the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is now available to configure within MAINGEAR's product line of award-winning custom desktop PCs and workstations. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti delivers immensely powerful, TITAN-class performance in everything from content creation and data science to 8k gaming.
As the latest addition to the NVIDIA GeForce 30 Series GPU lineup, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti was designed for the most demanding workloads for various creative industries — 4K/8K video production, 2D and 3D mechanical CAD software, 3D animation and effects, rendering, and data science. Thanks to 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti devours rendering time in applications such as OctaneRender, Maya, and DaVinci Resolve. For hardcore gaming enthusiasts, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti additionally unlocks a whole new frontier of 8K HDR gaming and gaming video capture / streaming.
As the latest addition to the NVIDIA GeForce 30 Series GPU lineup, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti was designed for the most demanding workloads for various creative industries — 4K/8K video production, 2D and 3D mechanical CAD software, 3D animation and effects, rendering, and data science. Thanks to 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti devours rendering time in applications such as OctaneRender, Maya, and DaVinci Resolve. For hardcore gaming enthusiasts, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti additionally unlocks a whole new frontier of 8K HDR gaming and gaming video capture / streaming.
GIGABYTE Announces Data Center Liquid Immersion Cooling
GIGABYTE Technology, today announced participation in KDDI's one-phase immersion cooling proof of concept that demonstrates how alternative cooling solutions in data centers are needed and should be environmentally minded. Through this joint venture it is possible to sustain high-performance, improve the environmental impact, and reduce costs; all while doing so in a self-contained portable container. KDDI approached technology partners, such as GIGABYTE, to explore ways to bridge various disciplines to achieve the goal of an environmentally sustainable data center. GIGABYTE was keen to assist and had been monitoring and developing immersion cooling systems over the last decade.
Staring data centers in the face is one of their great challenges, and that is how to rectify the increasing power density in traditional data centers and deploy edge computing solutions. Companies are increasing reliant on cloud services and consumers expect fast streaming media and real-time results, but all of this adds work in the data center. Even if the power density reaches an acceptable balance with performance and cooling, can it be implemented in data centers with a higher consideration for the environment and operate more efficiently? That is the crux of the matter as more novel solutions must come out or the problem will only be compounded. Using liquid immersion cooling it is possible to achieve a PUE (power usage effectiveness) of 1.2-1.3, which is far better than the PUE of 1.7 found in air-cooled data centers today. PUE is an important metric to use as it determines the energy efficiency of a data center. If a data center is able to reach a PUE of 1.2-1.3 then it can reduce power consumption by 30-50%.
Staring data centers in the face is one of their great challenges, and that is how to rectify the increasing power density in traditional data centers and deploy edge computing solutions. Companies are increasing reliant on cloud services and consumers expect fast streaming media and real-time results, but all of this adds work in the data center. Even if the power density reaches an acceptable balance with performance and cooling, can it be implemented in data centers with a higher consideration for the environment and operate more efficiently? That is the crux of the matter as more novel solutions must come out or the problem will only be compounded. Using liquid immersion cooling it is possible to achieve a PUE (power usage effectiveness) of 1.2-1.3, which is far better than the PUE of 1.7 found in air-cooled data centers today. PUE is an important metric to use as it determines the energy efficiency of a data center. If a data center is able to reach a PUE of 1.2-1.3 then it can reduce power consumption by 30-50%.
ASUS Announces NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Graphics Cards
ASUS today announced the ROG Strix LC GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards, arriving in Standard and OC editions. The GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power.
The ROG Strix LC GeForce RTX 3090 Ti includes a closed-loop liquid cooling system that keeps temperatures and noise levels under control. Featuring a custom-designed cold plate that extends over the GPU die and the onboard GDDR6X memory and 560 mm tubing, consumers will have flexibility installing the radiator in larger cases or builds that also feature an AIO CPU cooler. The 240 mm radiator on the GPU is cooled by a pair of 120 mm ARGB fans designed to improve airflow at high static pressure. A blower-style fan and a low-profile heatsink under the shroud expel the heat produced by the power delivery components, all in a slim 2.6-slot design.
Editor's note: You can find our review for the ASUS ROG Strix LC GeForce RTX 3090 Ti here.
The ROG Strix LC GeForce RTX 3090 Ti includes a closed-loop liquid cooling system that keeps temperatures and noise levels under control. Featuring a custom-designed cold plate that extends over the GPU die and the onboard GDDR6X memory and 560 mm tubing, consumers will have flexibility installing the radiator in larger cases or builds that also feature an AIO CPU cooler. The 240 mm radiator on the GPU is cooled by a pair of 120 mm ARGB fans designed to improve airflow at high static pressure. A blower-style fan and a low-profile heatsink under the shroud expel the heat produced by the power delivery components, all in a slim 2.6-slot design.
Editor's note: You can find our review for the ASUS ROG Strix LC GeForce RTX 3090 Ti here.
Alphacool Announces Cooler & Active Backplate for RTX 3090 Ti FE
The RTX 3090 Ti is certainly one of the most powerful graphics cards on the market. But where to put the resulting waste heat? To be able to utilize the full performance of the graphics card, Alphacool introduces the Eisblock Aurora water cooler for GeForce RTX 3090 TI. Fully illuminated with aRGB LEDs, the full-cover copper cooler with acrylic surface and edge design not only looks great, but also impresses with its exceptional cooling performance.
With the optionally available active backplate, also equipped with a complete aRGB LED illumination, the cooling performance can be further increased significantly. The active backplate is also made of copper and additionally cools VRAMs and the GPU through direct contact on the back. It can be integrated into the circuit in parallel via the optionally available MCX adapter or directly via the G1/4 connectors.
With the optionally available active backplate, also equipped with a complete aRGB LED illumination, the cooling performance can be further increased significantly. The active backplate is also made of copper and additionally cools VRAMs and the GPU through direct contact on the back. It can be integrated into the circuit in parallel via the optionally available MCX adapter or directly via the G1/4 connectors.
ARM-based Server Penetration Rate to Reach 22% by 2025 with Cloud Data Centers Leading the Way, Says TrendForce
According to TrendForce research, corporate demand for digital transformation including artificial intelligence and high-performance computing has accelerated in recent years, which has led to increasing adoption of cloud computing. In order to improve service flexibility, the world's major cloud service providers have gradually introduced ARM-based servers. The penetration rate of ARM architecture in data center servers is expected to reach 22% by 2025.
In the past few years, ARM architecture processors have matured in the fields of mobile terminals and Internet of Things but progress in the server field has been relatively slow. However, companies have diversified cloud workloads in recent years and the market has begun to pay attention to the benefits ARM architecture processing can provide to data centers. TrendForce believes that ARM-based processors have three major advantages. First, they can support diverse and rapidly changing workloads and are more scalability and cost-effective. Second, ARM-based processors provide higher customization for different niche markets with a more flexible ecosystem. Third, physical footprint is relatively small which meets the needs of today's micro data centers.
In the past few years, ARM architecture processors have matured in the fields of mobile terminals and Internet of Things but progress in the server field has been relatively slow. However, companies have diversified cloud workloads in recent years and the market has begun to pay attention to the benefits ARM architecture processing can provide to data centers. TrendForce believes that ARM-based processors have three major advantages. First, they can support diverse and rapidly changing workloads and are more scalability and cost-effective. Second, ARM-based processors provide higher customization for different niche markets with a more flexible ecosystem. Third, physical footprint is relatively small which meets the needs of today's micro data centers.
GALAX RTX 3090 Ti HOF First Graphics Card with Dual 16-pin Connectors (1200W Input Capability)
The GeForce RTX 3090 Ti debuted the new ATX 16-pin power connector for graphics cards, which minimize the cable clutter in your case, while meeting the growing power demands of graphics cards as Moore's Law buckles. During our reviews of the RTX 3090 Ti, we noticed that a handful graphics card PCBs had provision for a second 16-pin connector (implying that the first one with a maximum of 600 W of power delivery is maxed out).
GALAX debuted the first graphics card with two 16-pin connectors, a theoretical power input capability of a whopping 1200 W. At first we thought this is an exercise in absurdity, until we took a close look at our numbers again. Currently, ATX 3.0 PSUs with 16-pin connectors are extremely rare, and so every NVIDIA board partner is required to include an NVIDIA-developed adapter that converts three 8-pin PCIe power connectors to one 16-pin. Three 8-pin connectors only add up to 450 W, whereas in our testing we noticed that some of the cards were peaking well beyond 450 W, despite using this adapter.
GALAX debuted the first graphics card with two 16-pin connectors, a theoretical power input capability of a whopping 1200 W. At first we thought this is an exercise in absurdity, until we took a close look at our numbers again. Currently, ATX 3.0 PSUs with 16-pin connectors are extremely rare, and so every NVIDIA board partner is required to include an NVIDIA-developed adapter that converts three 8-pin PCIe power connectors to one 16-pin. Three 8-pin connectors only add up to 450 W, whereas in our testing we noticed that some of the cards were peaking well beyond 450 W, despite using this adapter.
ZOTAC Gaming Unleashes GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Series
ZOTAC Technology Limited, a global manufacturer of innovation, is proud to announce the advent of the new flagship series of ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 30 line up. ZOTAC GAMING unleashes the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti AMP Extreme Holo bringing together the new ultimate with unparalleled colossal performance. Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT TFLOPs, 40 Shader TFLOPs and 320 Tensor TFLOPs of power. And It's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth, and new cutting edge AI features including NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and NVIDIA Broadcast technologies.
Utilizing the iconic and robust IceStorm 2.0 cooling system, the AMP Extreme Holo is built to deliver the most powerful cooling performance. The triple 100 mm fans with 11 blade d esign guarantee the coolest possible airflow, while a direct pass thru airflow enables stronger heat dissipation for maximum noise and thermal performance. A behemoth aluminium heatsink with 20% increased thickness fully enfolds the 8 copper heatpipes, combined with a vapor chamber to ensure full coverage of the GPU surface area for efficiently transferring heat generated from the cores to the heat sink. Additionally, the 3090 Ti AMP Extreme Holo is the first ZOTAC GAMING graphics card to feature the all-new PCIe Gen5 12+4-pin power connector standard, enabling more power delivery with just a single cable. It is also built for unparalleled stability with the 18+3 power phases spreading the load so not a single power phase is overworked and building up too much heat.
Utilizing the iconic and robust IceStorm 2.0 cooling system, the AMP Extreme Holo is built to deliver the most powerful cooling performance. The triple 100 mm fans with 11 blade d esign guarantee the coolest possible airflow, while a direct pass thru airflow enables stronger heat dissipation for maximum noise and thermal performance. A behemoth aluminium heatsink with 20% increased thickness fully enfolds the 8 copper heatpipes, combined with a vapor chamber to ensure full coverage of the GPU surface area for efficiently transferring heat generated from the cores to the heat sink. Additionally, the 3090 Ti AMP Extreme Holo is the first ZOTAC GAMING graphics card to feature the all-new PCIe Gen5 12+4-pin power connector standard, enabling more power delivery with just a single cable. It is also built for unparalleled stability with the 18+3 power phases spreading the load so not a single power phase is overworked and building up too much heat.
EVGA Launches the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Graphics Cards
The EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is colossally powerful in every way imaginable, giving you a whole new tier of performance at 8K resolution. It's powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, which doubles down on ray tracing and AI performance with enhanced RT Cores, Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors. Combined with the latest cooling solutions including Vapor Chamber heat plate, 3.5 slot cooling and full control with EVGA Precision X1 software, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Series redefines the definition of ultimate performance.
Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Series features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And it's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 Series features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And it's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
1MORE Launches PistonBuds Pro with QuietMax ANC Technology
1MORE, a globally distributed premium consumer audio company, has brought a new addition to their famed PistonBuds series with the introduction of its next affordable in-ear headphone, the PistonBuds Pro. 1MORE has sought to include its proprietary ANC suite with its value-driven PistonBuds Pro, a pair of True Wireless in-ear buds that pack plenty more than just some stellar noise-cancelling properties for just $69.99.
Like previous 1MORE PistonBuds iterations, 1MORE's own Wind Noise Resistance (WNR) Mode - as its namesake implies - helps to draw out the microphonic noise caused by light to moderate winds. The Transparency Mode also allows the world to enter your ears at a tap whenever you choose it to allowing vital information in such as train platform announcements to not go unnoticed. The PistonBuds Pro also offer up to 38dB of hybrid active noise cancellation without reducing the high-definition audio experience. A low-latency Gaming Mode is also included, offering virtually zero audio to video lag. 1MORE's intelligent DNN (Deep Neural Network) algorithm work together with the 4 microphones (2 per earbud) to ensure you're never without a clear voice.
Like previous 1MORE PistonBuds iterations, 1MORE's own Wind Noise Resistance (WNR) Mode - as its namesake implies - helps to draw out the microphonic noise caused by light to moderate winds. The Transparency Mode also allows the world to enter your ears at a tap whenever you choose it to allowing vital information in such as train platform announcements to not go unnoticed. The PistonBuds Pro also offer up to 38dB of hybrid active noise cancellation without reducing the high-definition audio experience. A low-latency Gaming Mode is also included, offering virtually zero audio to video lag. 1MORE's intelligent DNN (Deep Neural Network) algorithm work together with the 4 microphones (2 per earbud) to ensure you're never without a clear voice.
INNO3D Announces its GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Graphics Cards
INNO3D, a leading manufacturer of pioneering high-end multimedia components and innovations is excited to announce the highly anticipated INNO3D NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards that's equipped with the INNO3D X3 OC and Frostbite cooler. Founded in 1998 with the vision of developing pioneering computer hardware products on a global scale. Fast forward to the present day, INNO3D is now well-established in the gaming community known for our innovative and daring approach to design and technology. We are Brutal by Nature in everything we do and are 201% committed to you for the best gaming experience in the world.
The GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and 3090 are big ferocious GPUs (BFGPUs) with TITAN class performance. Powered by Ampere—NVIDIA's 2nd gen RTX architecture—they double down on ray tracing and AI performance with enhanced Ray Tracing Cores, Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors. Plus, they feature a staggering 24 GB of G6X memory, all to deliver the ultimate experience for gamers and creators.
The GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and 3090 are big ferocious GPUs (BFGPUs) with TITAN class performance. Powered by Ampere—NVIDIA's 2nd gen RTX architecture—they double down on ray tracing and AI performance with enhanced Ray Tracing Cores, Tensor Cores, and new streaming multiprocessors. Plus, they feature a staggering 24 GB of G6X memory, all to deliver the ultimate experience for gamers and creators.
Gainward Announces GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Phantom Series
As the leading brand in enthusiastic graphics market, Gainward proudly presents the new GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Phantom Series. Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And It's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
The Phantom cooler follows the original elegant design philosophy but upgrades the thermal structure. Thanks to the Metal Plate Kit and Patented U-Type Heat Pipe technology, the Phantom cooler offers unbeatable thermal performance as well as low acoustic level under heavy loaded gaming environment. The Gainward GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Phantom Series comes with "Golden Sample," the factory over-clocked version. It effortlessly brings extra high frame rates even for the most demanding PC games and powers the graphics experiences at all resolutions.
The Phantom cooler follows the original elegant design philosophy but upgrades the thermal structure. Thanks to the Metal Plate Kit and Patented U-Type Heat Pipe technology, the Phantom cooler offers unbeatable thermal performance as well as low acoustic level under heavy loaded gaming environment. The Gainward GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Phantom Series comes with "Golden Sample," the factory over-clocked version. It effortlessly brings extra high frame rates even for the most demanding PC games and powers the graphics experiences at all resolutions.
Palit Releases GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GameRock Series
Palit Microsystems Ltd, the leading graphics card manufacturer, today launched the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GameRock Series powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture. Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And it's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
The Palit GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GameRock is built for enthusiast gamers and creators who desire to have the ultimate gaming experience and the most efficient multimedia performance. The model not only features 90% ARGB lighting area, but also presents beastly thermal design with Triple A Die Casting Plate Kits and Patented Double-U Heat Pipes for optimized cooling solution.
The Palit GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GameRock is built for enthusiast gamers and creators who desire to have the ultimate gaming experience and the most efficient multimedia performance. The model not only features 90% ARGB lighting area, but also presents beastly thermal design with Triple A Die Casting Plate Kits and Patented Double-U Heat Pipes for optimized cooling solution.
MSI Announces Custom GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Graphics Cards
As a leading brand in True Gaming hardware, MSI is announcing new graphics cards powered by NVIDIA 's newly-launched GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU. SUPRIM, GAMING TRIO and BLACK TRIO are forming MSI GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics card series, the most powerful cards out of MSI GeForce RTX 30 series lineup. Built with the MSI essentials, all of our newly announced graphics card products have excellent cooling, optimized circuit board designs, and the latest in graphics card components.
Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And It's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
Designed for the most demanding gamers, content creators and data scientists, the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti features a record-breaking 10,752 CUDA cores, and boasts 78 RT-TFLOPs, 40 Shader-TFLOPs and 320 Tensor-TFLOPs of power. And It's packed with 24 GB of the fastest 21 Gbps GDDR6X memory, providing 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth.
be quiet! ARGB Products Receive Full SignalRGB Support
be quiet!, the German manufacturer for premium PC components, is pleased to announce that all products in its portfolio with addressable RGB LEDs are now supported by SignalRGB, developed by the California-based company WhirlwindFX. This software solution has one of the biggest feature sets on the market for ARGB component synchronization. As of version 2.2.19, SignalRGB supports Pure Base 500DX, Silent Loop 2, and all Light Wings fan models with its vibrant lighting effects and synchronization options. The only requirement is that they are connected to a compatible motherboard or external ARGB controller.
SignalRGB is available in a free-to-use basic version, which offers full RGB control and special lighting effects for compatible ARGB devices, including fans, motherboards, memory, keyboards, mice, headsets, monitors, and more. SignalRGB Pro, available as a subscription service, offers additional extras catered specifically to hardware enthusiasts and gamers. Among these are fan control, hardware monitoring, advanced lighting effects, dedicated game integrations, and audio visualizers. The latest version of SignalRGB can be downloaded at signalrgb.com and will support all be quiet! ARGB products connected to a compatible controller without additional software or drivers.
SignalRGB is available in a free-to-use basic version, which offers full RGB control and special lighting effects for compatible ARGB devices, including fans, motherboards, memory, keyboards, mice, headsets, monitors, and more. SignalRGB Pro, available as a subscription service, offers additional extras catered specifically to hardware enthusiasts and gamers. Among these are fan control, hardware monitoring, advanced lighting effects, dedicated game integrations, and audio visualizers. The latest version of SignalRGB can be downloaded at signalrgb.com and will support all be quiet! ARGB products connected to a compatible controller without additional software or drivers.
Team Group Releases ELITE SO-DIMM DDR5 Memory
TEAMGROUP is leading the DDR5 evolution with its leading-edge R&D capabilities. In addition to the overclocking DDR5 gaming memory market, the company has set its sights on the burgeoning laptop market in this era of increasing remote and mobile work. Today TEAMGROUP has released the ELITE SO-DIMM DDR5 Standard Memory, which runs at the all-new ultra-high clock speed of 4,800 MHz and comes in both single and dual-channel kits. The ELITE SO-DIMM DDR5 Standard Memory is the perfect choice for laptop users looking for an impressive performance upgrade without hassle.
TEAMGROUP's ELITE SO-DIMM DDR5 Memory operates at the standard DDR5 memory frequency of 4,800 MHz, which is up to 50% higher than DDR4's maximum of 3,200 MHz. Furthermore, the standard operating voltage of DDR5 is 1.1 V, a reduction from the 1.2 V in DDR4 that can substantially reduce power consumption and extend standby times of laptops. These major improvements in performance and power efficiency greatly enhance the convenience of laptop use on the go. DDR5 also has twice the burst length of DDR4, significantly increasing the amount of data that can be accessed in a single burst. Furthermore, DDR5 is equipped with unique Same-Bank Refresh command, allowing simultaneous data processing in multiple banks. Upgrading your laptop to DDR5 memory will significantly boost operating efficiency and storage performance, fully meeting your multitasking needs.
TEAMGROUP's ELITE SO-DIMM DDR5 Memory operates at the standard DDR5 memory frequency of 4,800 MHz, which is up to 50% higher than DDR4's maximum of 3,200 MHz. Furthermore, the standard operating voltage of DDR5 is 1.1 V, a reduction from the 1.2 V in DDR4 that can substantially reduce power consumption and extend standby times of laptops. These major improvements in performance and power efficiency greatly enhance the convenience of laptop use on the go. DDR5 also has twice the burst length of DDR4, significantly increasing the amount of data that can be accessed in a single burst. Furthermore, DDR5 is equipped with unique Same-Bank Refresh command, allowing simultaneous data processing in multiple banks. Upgrading your laptop to DDR5 memory will significantly boost operating efficiency and storage performance, fully meeting your multitasking needs.
ASUS To Drop Graphics Card Prices by 25% from April 1st in the U.S.
ASUS has announced that it will be dropping the prices for almost the entirety of its NVIDIA RTX 30-series graphics card stack. The news comes on the back of finally descending channel prices for the latest GPUs, alongside the U.S. Trade Office decision last week of excluding integrated circuit boards from the added taxes in the China-US Trade War. As an ASUS representative told Tom's Hardware, users should expect an "up to 25%" price reduction to be applied throughout its RTX 30-series stack (from the RTX 3050 through the RTX 3090 Ti). Interestingly, there was no mention of AMD's graphics cards in the announcement.
After more than a year of inflated pricing, there may be a light in the tunnel - although it's becoming increasingly difficult to discern whether it's the RTX 3000-series family behind the veil or NVIDIA's next-gen solutions. No other AMD or NVIDIA board partner made a comparable announcement, but one would expect them to follow ASUS on the downward pricing trend or risk sitting in larger unsold inventories than they're comfortable with. Of course, this remains a problem for ASUS throughout the world, should the company not extend the price-cut to other regions other than the U.S.
After more than a year of inflated pricing, there may be a light in the tunnel - although it's becoming increasingly difficult to discern whether it's the RTX 3000-series family behind the veil or NVIDIA's next-gen solutions. No other AMD or NVIDIA board partner made a comparable announcement, but one would expect them to follow ASUS on the downward pricing trend or risk sitting in larger unsold inventories than they're comfortable with. Of course, this remains a problem for ASUS throughout the world, should the company not extend the price-cut to other regions other than the U.S.
Introducing The RØDE NTH-100 Professional Over-Ear Headphones
RØDE has announced its highly anticipated debut into the headphone market with the NTH-100 professional over-ear headphones. Combining exceptional sonic performance with revolutionary features for superior comfort, topped off by the iconic style and peerless quality that RØDE is renowned for, the NTH-100s promise an audio experience that inspires creativity.
Every aspect of the NTH-100s has been meticulously crafted to deliver exceptional sonic performance for critical listening, from monitoring to mixing to mastering. They are ideal for all forms of content creation at home, in the studio or in the field, including music production, podcasting and livestreaming, location recording, and video production or editing. The NTH-100s feature custom-matched 40 mm dynamic drivers that have been painstakingly crafted to deliver an extremely accurate frequency response and exceptional clarity. Their design is based around a custom voice coil with a four-layer ultra-high-tension aluminium alloy as its core, which is coupled to an ultra-stiff triple-layer Mylar diaphragm. Together with a rare-earth neodymium magnet, these high-grade components ensure optimal acoustic and electrical performance for extremely low levels of distortion and a highly accurate response across a broad frequency range.
Every aspect of the NTH-100s has been meticulously crafted to deliver exceptional sonic performance for critical listening, from monitoring to mixing to mastering. They are ideal for all forms of content creation at home, in the studio or in the field, including music production, podcasting and livestreaming, location recording, and video production or editing. The NTH-100s feature custom-matched 40 mm dynamic drivers that have been painstakingly crafted to deliver an extremely accurate frequency response and exceptional clarity. Their design is based around a custom voice coil with a four-layer ultra-high-tension aluminium alloy as its core, which is coupled to an ultra-stiff triple-layer Mylar diaphragm. Together with a rare-earth neodymium magnet, these high-grade components ensure optimal acoustic and electrical performance for extremely low levels of distortion and a highly accurate response across a broad frequency range.
Comcast Business Debuts Its Most Powerful WiFi Gateway, Transforms the Future of Business Connectivity
Comcast Business today introduced the Comcast Business Gateway, its next-generation Advanced Gateway and the company's first WiFi-6 certified device capable of delivering true multi-gigabit speeds to provide superior WiFi connectivity to businesses. Comcast Business's most powerful WiFi device to date, the gateway harnesses the innovation behind Comcast's highly-acclaimed xFi Advanced Gateway - which offers the best in-home WiFi experience - and applies it for today's connected workplace to make next-gen speeds a widespread reality.
"Connectivity is the backbone of business, and as the speed of business accelerates, our customers demand a high-performance technology that can be their workhorse - and their racehorse," said Christian Nascimento, vice president, Product Management & Strategy at Comcast Business. "Designed with love from Philadelphia, Comcast Business's latest gateway enhances business performance through faster and more reliable wireless connectivity, supporting and securing businesses, their customers and employees."
"Connectivity is the backbone of business, and as the speed of business accelerates, our customers demand a high-performance technology that can be their workhorse - and their racehorse," said Christian Nascimento, vice president, Product Management & Strategy at Comcast Business. "Designed with love from Philadelphia, Comcast Business's latest gateway enhances business performance through faster and more reliable wireless connectivity, supporting and securing businesses, their customers and employees."
Samsung Sued for Infringement of HEVC Essential Patent
MPEG LA announced today that enforcement actions have been brought in Landgericht Düsseldorf, Germany against Samsung Electronics GmbH ("Samsung") for infringement of patents in MPEG LA's HEVC Patent Portfolio License. The patents are essential to the HEVC (also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2) digital video coding standard used in products that encode and decode video for Internet, television and mobile transmission, reception and use.
According to the complaints, Samsung Electronics GmbH's parent Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. was both Licensor and Licensee to MPEG LA's HEVC Patent Portfolio License from Fall 2014 until terminating in March 2020, but Samsung has continued to offer products including smartphones, tablets and televisions in Germany that use patent protected HEVC methods without license since termination. The enforcement actions seeking injunctions, monetary damages and expenses were prepared by a team of lawyers led by Axel Verhauwen of Krieger Mes & Graf v. der Groeben and Gottfried Schüll of Cohausz & Florack.
According to the complaints, Samsung Electronics GmbH's parent Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. was both Licensor and Licensee to MPEG LA's HEVC Patent Portfolio License from Fall 2014 until terminating in March 2020, but Samsung has continued to offer products including smartphones, tablets and televisions in Germany that use patent protected HEVC methods without license since termination. The enforcement actions seeking injunctions, monetary damages and expenses were prepared by a team of lawyers led by Axel Verhauwen of Krieger Mes & Graf v. der Groeben and Gottfried Schüll of Cohausz & Florack.
WaterCool Announces Heatkiller eBC Active Backplate for EVGA GA102 FTW3 Graphics Cards
With the HEATKILLER V eBC - active backplate for RTX 3080/3090 EVGA FTW3 graphics cards, the German-based manufacturer of high-quality liquid cooling presents its interpretation of an active backplate. The backplate's solid copper design is a unique selling point. The large surface area guarantees an excellent performance especially for the hot spot temperatures in the areas of the graphics card processor, VRAM and the voltage converters. The cooling channels were arranged to provide active cooling for all relevant components.
The connection terminal has been modified to connect the graphics card cooler directly to the backplate. Not only does this look cleaner, but it also allows a parallel inflow, which increases the flow rate while reducing the flow resistance. To achieve the best possible cooling performance, the flow ratio between the active backplate and the graphics card cooler was optimized during development by performing countless tests. The assembly is done in two simple steps. The active backplate and the graphics card cooler are mounted first and then both are connected by the new connection terminal.
The connection terminal has been modified to connect the graphics card cooler directly to the backplate. Not only does this look cleaner, but it also allows a parallel inflow, which increases the flow rate while reducing the flow resistance. To achieve the best possible cooling performance, the flow ratio between the active backplate and the graphics card cooler was optimized during development by performing countless tests. The assembly is done in two simple steps. The active backplate and the graphics card cooler are mounted first and then both are connected by the new connection terminal.
Monday, March 28th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
Headphones
Keyboards
Speakers
SSD
G.SKILL Trident Z5 DDR5-6400 CL32 2x 16 GB Review
G.SKILL is testing waters with the Trident Z5 DDR5-6400, an ultra-low latency kit. With impressive timings of 32-39-39-102, G.SKILL is pulling out all the stops. Tag along as we put the Trident Z5 DDR5-6400 through its paces!
Ghostwire Tokyo: DLSS vs. TSR vs. FSR Comparison Review
Ghostwire Tokyo recently released on PC with support for NVIDIA's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), Unreal Engine's Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) and AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). In this mini-review, we take a look at and compare the image quality and performance offered by these technologies in this game.
DUNU TITAN S In-Ear Monitors Review - Cyberpunk Audio
DUNU is back at it with an impressive set of IEMs that don't break the bank. The TITAN S takes inspiration from a cyberpunk world for its design language, and pairs a neutral-bright tuning with good build quality, excellent cable, functional carry case, and plenty of ear tips to make for a sub-$100 attraction.
Silicon Power Industrial Introduces the MEC3H0S M.2 NVMe Gen4 SSD
As industries compete to capitalize on the abundance of data generated by intelligent, connected devices, implementation of an intelligent data strategy has become even more critical. Edge computing has played an instrumental role to address this demand, but the edge itself has continued to evolve with the ever-growing need for even more demanding, real-time computing. Rugged edge computing enables applications that require real-time, low latency data processing and storage to function reliably in volatile environments that are not friendly to regular systems.
Trends and technologies such as Industry 4.0, AIoT, and 5G are driving the need for improved intelligence at the rugged edge. Businesses and organizations want more computing power at the edge because of the benefits it provides to their operations. NVM Express (NVMe) is an essential enabling technology for rugged edge computing, reducing latency and accelerating data processing to the point where connected devices can operate anywhere to perform machine learning, artificial intelligence, and inference computing. Real-time data access and analytics are turning rugged edge computing into a competitive necessity across all sectors and industries.
Trends and technologies such as Industry 4.0, AIoT, and 5G are driving the need for improved intelligence at the rugged edge. Businesses and organizations want more computing power at the edge because of the benefits it provides to their operations. NVM Express (NVMe) is an essential enabling technology for rugged edge computing, reducing latency and accelerating data processing to the point where connected devices can operate anywhere to perform machine learning, artificial intelligence, and inference computing. Real-time data access and analytics are turning rugged edge computing into a competitive necessity across all sectors and industries.
MSI Releases 600-series Motherboard BIOS Updates to Unleash the i9-12900KS
Intel made great efforts to prove its abilities as a market leader by releasing the latest Intel Core i9-12900KS Processor for Alpha DIY gamers and extreme enthusiasts who seek the best gaming performance. This special edition processor is based on the robust Intel Core i9-12900K architecture, a halo processor with even more performance with increased clock speeds and power limit.
The current MSI 600-series motherboards natively support Intel Core i9-12900KS Processor, but if you want to unleash even more performance, MSI provides the dedicated BIOS for this power-hungry monster. Currently, you can find the dedicated BIOS for selected Z690 motherboards, MSI will release more 600-series motherboards continuously.
The current MSI 600-series motherboards natively support Intel Core i9-12900KS Processor, but if you want to unleash even more performance, MSI provides the dedicated BIOS for this power-hungry monster. Currently, you can find the dedicated BIOS for selected Z690 motherboards, MSI will release more 600-series motherboards continuously.
COLORFUL Launches GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Series Graphics Cards
Colorful Technology Company Limited, a professional manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards, all-in-one gaming and multimedia solutions, and high-performance storage, presents its lineup of GeForce RTX 3090 Ti graphics cards - NVIDIA's latest and fastest gaming graphics cards to date. COLORFUL will initially launch a trio of models under the Vulcan, Neptune, and NB EX Series.
The COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Vulcan features a triple-fan design with a hollow back panel for pass-through airflow. The Vulcan model also sports a display for monitoring and customization. On the other hand, the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Neptune uses liquid cooling technology to deliver extreme cooling for extreme performance. Lastly, the COLORFUL GeForce RTX 3090Ti NB EX is fitted with a black and red themed triple-fan cooler design.
The COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Vulcan features a triple-fan design with a hollow back panel for pass-through airflow. The Vulcan model also sports a display for monitoring and customization. On the other hand, the COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Neptune uses liquid cooling technology to deliver extreme cooling for extreme performance. Lastly, the COLORFUL GeForce RTX 3090Ti NB EX is fitted with a black and red themed triple-fan cooler design.
Pincered by Russian-Ukrainian War and Inflation, DRAM Price Drop Forecast to Continue in 2Q22 by 0-5%, Says TrendForce
According to TrendForce forecasts, average overall DRAM pricing in 2Q22 will drop by approximately 0~5%, due to marginally higher buyer and seller inventories coupled with the demand for products such as PCs, laptops, and smart phones being influenced in the short-term by the Russian-Ukrainian war and high inflation weakening consumer purchasing power. At present, the only remaining source of demand is on the server side, so overall DRAM stocks will remain oversupplied in 2Q22.
In terms of PC DRAM, PC OEMs are adopting a conservative stocking strategy for orders in 2Q22 due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, which may continue affecting orders during peak season in 2H22, and revising 2022 shipment targets downwards. Additionally, the overall supply of bits is still growing, so the PC DRAM price slump in 2Q22 will further expand to 3~8% and may continue to deteriorate.
In terms of PC DRAM, PC OEMs are adopting a conservative stocking strategy for orders in 2Q22 due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, which may continue affecting orders during peak season in 2H22, and revising 2022 shipment targets downwards. Additionally, the overall supply of bits is still growing, so the PC DRAM price slump in 2Q22 will further expand to 3~8% and may continue to deteriorate.
12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900KS Launches as World's Fastest Desktop Processor
Intel today announced full details and availability for the new 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900KS, the world's fastest desktop processor. It delivers up to 5.5 GHz max turbo frequency—in spec with Intel Thermal Velocity Boost and features Intel Adaptive Boost Technology (Intel ABT) to provide the ultimate gaming experience.
"Intel continues to push the envelope for desktop gaming with the new 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900KS processor. Based on Intel's 12th Gen performance hybrid architecture, this processor can hit 5.5 GHz on up to two cores for the first time, giving the most extreme gamers the ability to maximize performance," Marcus Kennedy, general manager of Gaming, Creator & E-sports Segment at Intel.
"Intel continues to push the envelope for desktop gaming with the new 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900KS processor. Based on Intel's 12th Gen performance hybrid architecture, this processor can hit 5.5 GHz on up to two cores for the first time, giving the most extreme gamers the ability to maximize performance," Marcus Kennedy, general manager of Gaming, Creator & E-sports Segment at Intel.
Big Relief for PC Component Shoppers: US Lifts Import Tariffs on Components from China
The US Government reinstated over 350 products to a list of exclusions to American import tariffs that were in place in January 2021. This would exclude "printed circuit boards," which is an oversimplified classification of motherboards and graphics cards, along with a range of other PC components that appear like PCBs. The US-China trade-war had caused a curious situation of pre-built computers (such as notebooks, desktops, and workstations) enjoying lower prices than import of their various components. This has had a direct impact on prices of motherboards and graphics cards. Whatever the geopolitical motive behind the move, it should certainly take the pressure off pricing, which have been affected not just by the tariffs, but also component shortages, and spikes in material prices, as well as logistics costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the situation in Eastern Europe.
AMD's Upcoming Zen 4 Based Genoa CPUs Confirmed to Have 1 MB L2 Cache per Core
As unreliable as Geekbench can be as a comparative benchmark, it's also an excellent source for upcoming hardware leaks and in this case more details about AMD's upcoming Zen 4 based Genoa server and workstation processors has leaked. Someone with access to a 32-core engineering sample thought it was a good idea to run geekbench on it and upload the results. As the engineering sample CPU is locked at 1.2 GHz, the actual benchmark numbers aren't particularly interesting, but the one interesting titbit we get is that AMD has increased the L2 cache to 1 MB per core, or twice as much as its predecessor.
What seems to be missing from this engineering sample is any kind of 3D V-Cache, as it only has a total of 128 MB L3 cache. Despite the gimped clock speed, the Genoa CPU is close to an EPYC 7513 in the single core tests and that CPU has a 2.6 GHz base clock and a 3.65 GHz boost clock, both system running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. It manages to beat it in a couple of the sub-tests, such as Navigation, SQLite, HTML5, gaussian blur and face detection and it's within a few points in things like speech recognition and rigid body physics. This is quite impressive considering the Genoa engineering sample is operating at less than half the clock speed, or possibly even at a third of the clock speed of the EPYC 7513. AMD is said to be launching its Zen 4 based Genoa CPUs later this year and models with up to 96 core and 192 threads, with 12-channel DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 support are expected.
What seems to be missing from this engineering sample is any kind of 3D V-Cache, as it only has a total of 128 MB L3 cache. Despite the gimped clock speed, the Genoa CPU is close to an EPYC 7513 in the single core tests and that CPU has a 2.6 GHz base clock and a 3.65 GHz boost clock, both system running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. It manages to beat it in a couple of the sub-tests, such as Navigation, SQLite, HTML5, gaussian blur and face detection and it's within a few points in things like speech recognition and rigid body physics. This is quite impressive considering the Genoa engineering sample is operating at less than half the clock speed, or possibly even at a third of the clock speed of the EPYC 7513. AMD is said to be launching its Zen 4 based Genoa CPUs later this year and models with up to 96 core and 192 threads, with 12-channel DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 support are expected.
MediaTek Announces First Commercial SoC Support for Dolby Vision IQ
MediaTek has announced it is the first TV SoC vendor to support Dolby Vision IQ with Precision Detail. Precision Detail is a new innovative feature introduced for TVs with Dolby Vision IQ, which will be supported in MediaTek's Pentonic series for 8K and 4K smart TVs. In addition, the Pentonic series will enable TV manufacturers to support features designed for gaming in Dolby Vision along with other advanced capabilities. MediaTek and Dolby collaborated on the implementation of these technologies, which will be available starting in 2H 2022 for TV OEMs to begin adopting.
Joining Dolby's suite of Advanced Imaging technologies available through Dolby Vision IQ, Precision Detail unlocks more from Dolby Vision content by revealing incredible detail in both bright and dark areas. With added texture and depth, images take on a new dimension with astonishing crispness on 8K and 4K smart TVs. In addition to Precision Detail, MediaTek's Intelligent View technology paired with Dolby's latest advancements in imaging technology can process multiple Dolby Vision streams simultaneously. Consumers can now watch different media sources at the same time in Dolby Vision in multiple windows, all in stunning detail.
Joining Dolby's suite of Advanced Imaging technologies available through Dolby Vision IQ, Precision Detail unlocks more from Dolby Vision content by revealing incredible detail in both bright and dark areas. With added texture and depth, images take on a new dimension with astonishing crispness on 8K and 4K smart TVs. In addition to Precision Detail, MediaTek's Intelligent View technology paired with Dolby's latest advancements in imaging technology can process multiple Dolby Vision streams simultaneously. Consumers can now watch different media sources at the same time in Dolby Vision in multiple windows, all in stunning detail.
Biostar Announces TB560-BTC PRO MINING Motherboard
BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, announces the latest TB560-BTC PRO mining motherboard. Designed to support Intel's 10th/11th generation processors in the LGA1200 package, the new TB560-BTC PRO mining motherboard brings outstanding utility to your next mining station.
Capable of supporting upto 12 graphic cards, the TB560-BTC PRO motherboard carries 11 PCIe 3.0 x1 Slots designed to extract the best performance out of modern-day graphic cards used in mining operations. Additionally, it also carries a faster PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot that users can utilize the maximum performance from a single GPU assisted by Intel's 11th Generation Core processors performing at the highest level at relative ease.
Capable of supporting upto 12 graphic cards, the TB560-BTC PRO motherboard carries 11 PCIe 3.0 x1 Slots designed to extract the best performance out of modern-day graphic cards used in mining operations. Additionally, it also carries a faster PCIe 4.0 x16 Slot that users can utilize the maximum performance from a single GPU assisted by Intel's 11th Generation Core processors performing at the highest level at relative ease.
Netflix Acquires Mobile Game Developer Boss Fight Entertainment
Since we launched mobile games to our members around the world just four months ago, we've been expanding our games catalog bit by bit as we build out our in-house creative development team. So today, we're excited to announce that Boss Fight Entertainment is joining Netflix. Boss Fight Entertainment was founded in 2013 by David Rippy (CEO), Bill Jackson (CCO), and Scott Winsett (COO), whose work I've long admired. This studio's extensive experience building hit games across genres will help accelerate our ability to provide Netflix members with great games wherever they want to play them.
"Boss Fight's mission is to bring simple, beautiful, and fun game experiences to our players wherever they want to play," said the founders of Boss Fight Entertainment. "Netflix's commitment to offer ad-free games as part of members' subscriptions enables game developers like us to focus on creating delightful game play without worrying about monetization. We couldn't be more excited to join Netflix at this early stage as we continue doing what we love to do while helping to shape the future of games on Netflix together."
"Boss Fight's mission is to bring simple, beautiful, and fun game experiences to our players wherever they want to play," said the founders of Boss Fight Entertainment. "Netflix's commitment to offer ad-free games as part of members' subscriptions enables game developers like us to focus on creating delightful game play without worrying about monetization. We couldn't be more excited to join Netflix at this early stage as we continue doing what we love to do while helping to shape the future of games on Netflix together."
Samsung Announces M8 Smart Monitor Series
Samsung Electronics today announced its latest Smart Monitor series, the M8, featuring an upgraded, stylish design. The versatile new M8 delivers Samsung's iconic slim design in four new colors — Warm White, Sunset Pink, Daylight Blue and Spring Green — available in 32-inches with UHD resolution and a SlimFit Cam.
First launched in November 2020, Samsung's Smart Monitor series is a family of world's first do-it-all screens designed for modern day users who demand a product that offers both functionality and entertainment at home. Not only being a traditional monitor, but the M8 also allows users to enjoy a variety of OTT services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV via Wi-Fi without having to connect to a PC or TV.
First launched in November 2020, Samsung's Smart Monitor series is a family of world's first do-it-all screens designed for modern day users who demand a product that offers both functionality and entertainment at home. Not only being a traditional monitor, but the M8 also allows users to enjoy a variety of OTT services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV via Wi-Fi without having to connect to a PC or TV.
Friday, March 25th 2022
Today's Reviews
Accessories
CPU Coolers
Headphones
Memory
Monitors
Motherboards
Mouse
Processors
PSUs
Intel Core i5-12600 Review - To E or not to E
The Intel Core i5-12600 doesn't have any E-cores, which makes it a fundamentally different processor than the Core i5-12600K, and thus very different than the naming would suggest. The Core i5-12600 is actually the fastest non-hybrid Alder Lake processor you can buy, but should you?
Sivga Robin (SV021) Closed-Back Over-Ear Headphones Review
Sivga Audio is a relatively new brand out of China that aims to bring good-looking, well-built headphones to a more affordable market segment. Today, we examine the Sivga Robin (SV021) which comes in two wooden ear cup finishes and uses a well-tuned 50 mm dynamic driver for mainstream appeal at a nice price.
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 4 TB SSD Review
The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 4 TB offers tons of capacity for all your games, applications, and files. Thanks to the combination of Phison E18 controller and Micron B47R 176-layer TLC NAND, it's also able to match the WD Black SN850, which is the fastest SSD we ever reviewed.
Intel Core i9-12900KS Starts Selling on Newegg for $799
Intel started selling its new flagship desktop processor, the special edition Core i9-12900KS, on Newegg for USD $799. Based on the highest bins of the "Alder Lake-S" C0 silicon, the chip has the same configuration as the i9-12900K, with 8 P-cores, 8 E-cores, and 30 MB of L3 cache; but higher clock speeds. The chip offers maximum Turbo Boost frequencies of 5.50 GHz on the P-cores, compared to 5.20 GHz for the regular i9-12900K. The Newegg listing mentions the i9-12900KS to have the same power limits as the i9-12900K, with 125 W processor base power (PBP) and 241 W maximum turbo power (MTP), and not the previously reported 150 W PBP with 260 W MTP.
Update 20:50 UTC: And the listing on Newegg has vanished, which probably has to do with Intel's embargo ending only next week. Sales are supposedly starting not before April.
Update 20:50 UTC: And the listing on Newegg has vanished, which probably has to do with Intel's embargo ending only next week. Sales are supposedly starting not before April.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090/4080 to Feature up to 24 GB of GDDR6X Memory and 600 Watt Board Power
After the data center-oriented Hopper architecture launch, NVIDIA is slowly preparing to transition the consumer section to new, gaming-focused designs codenamed Ada Lovelace. For starters, the source claims that NVIDIA is using the upcoming GeForce RTX 3090 Ti GPU as a test run for the next-generation Ada Lovelace AD102 GPU. Thanks to the authorities over at Igor's Lab, we have some additional information about the upcoming lineup. We have a sneak peek of a few features regarding the top-end GeForce RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 GPU SKUs. According to Igor's claims, NVIDIA is testing the PCIe Gen5 power connector and wants to see how it fares with the biggest GA102 SKU - GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.
Additionally, we find that the AD102 GPU is supposed to be pin-compatible with GA102. This means that the number of pins located on GA102 is the same as what we are going to see on AD102. There are 12 places for memory modules on the AD102 reference design board, resulting in up to 24 GB of GDDR6X memory. As much as 24 voltage converters surround the GPU, NVIDIA will likely implement uP9512 SKU. It can drive eight phases, resulting in three voltage converters per phase, ensuring proper power delivery. The total board power (TBP) is likely rated at up to 600 Watts, meaning that the GPU, memory, and power delivery combined output 600 Watts of heat. Igor notes that board partners will bundle 12+4 (12VHPWR) to four 8-pin (PCIe old) converters to enable PSU compatibility.
Additionally, we find that the AD102 GPU is supposed to be pin-compatible with GA102. This means that the number of pins located on GA102 is the same as what we are going to see on AD102. There are 12 places for memory modules on the AD102 reference design board, resulting in up to 24 GB of GDDR6X memory. As much as 24 voltage converters surround the GPU, NVIDIA will likely implement uP9512 SKU. It can drive eight phases, resulting in three voltage converters per phase, ensuring proper power delivery. The total board power (TBP) is likely rated at up to 600 Watts, meaning that the GPU, memory, and power delivery combined output 600 Watts of heat. Igor notes that board partners will bundle 12+4 (12VHPWR) to four 8-pin (PCIe old) converters to enable PSU compatibility.
Amid Rising Volume and Pricing, Top 10 IC Design Companies Post 2021 Revenue Topping US$100 Billion
According to TrendForce research, due to vigorous stocking of various terminal applications causing a shortage of wafers in 2021, the global IC industry was severely undersupplied. This, coupled with spiking chip prices, boosted 2021 revenue of the global top ten IC design companies to US$127.4 billion, or 48% YoY. TrendForce further indicates three major disparities from the 2020 ranking. First, NVIDIA surpassed Broadcom to take the second position. Second, Taiwanese companies Novatek and Realtek rose to sixth and eighth place, respectively. Originally ranked tenth, Dialog was replaced at this position by Himax after Dialog was acquired by IDM giant Renesas.
Qualcomm continues its reign as number one in the world, primarily due to 51% and 63% growth YoY in sales of mobile phone SoC (System on Chip) and IoT chips, respectively. The addition of diversified development in its RF and automotive chip businesses were key to a 51% increase in revenue. NVIDIA implemented an integration of software and hardware, demonstrating its ambitions in creating a "comprehensive computing platform." Driven by annual growth of gaming graphics card and data center revenue at 64% and 59%, respectively, NVIDIA successfully climbed to second place. Broadcom benefited from the stable sales performance of network chips, broadband communication chips, and storage and bridging chips, with revenue growing 18% YoY. AMD's computer and graphics revenue grew by 45% YoY due to strong sales of the Ryzen CPU and Radeon GPU and rising average selling price. Coupled with accelerating demand from cloud companies, the annual revenue of AMD's enterprise, embedded, and semi-customized divisions increased by 113%, driving annual growth of total revenue to 68%.
Qualcomm continues its reign as number one in the world, primarily due to 51% and 63% growth YoY in sales of mobile phone SoC (System on Chip) and IoT chips, respectively. The addition of diversified development in its RF and automotive chip businesses were key to a 51% increase in revenue. NVIDIA implemented an integration of software and hardware, demonstrating its ambitions in creating a "comprehensive computing platform." Driven by annual growth of gaming graphics card and data center revenue at 64% and 59%, respectively, NVIDIA successfully climbed to second place. Broadcom benefited from the stable sales performance of network chips, broadband communication chips, and storage and bridging chips, with revenue growing 18% YoY. AMD's computer and graphics revenue grew by 45% YoY due to strong sales of the Ryzen CPU and Radeon GPU and rising average selling price. Coupled with accelerating demand from cloud companies, the annual revenue of AMD's enterprise, embedded, and semi-customized divisions increased by 113%, driving annual growth of total revenue to 68%.
Memtest86+ 6.00 Update Promised for This Summer
Memtest86+, the spiritual successor of MemTest86, has been somewhat stuck in development hell, but now the developer behind the memory testing software has promised to deliver version 6.00 sometime this summer. Version 5.31b was released in April 2020, some six years after the previous release and still not released as a final build, largely due to the pandemic. Version 6.00 promises a host of new features and the developers are already now asking for people that want to pitch in and help out with the project, since it's an open-source project.
The goal of version 6.00 is to deliver 64-bit support, UEFI and DDR5 with XMP support, as well as support for up to 256 CPU cores. Other features that are said to come include PXE and native USB boot. The goal is to provide a beta build sometime in April, but for those that don't mind compiling their own version of the code, can give it a try now, although the developers are warning that the code is going to be buggy at this point. The base code is said to have been re-written from scratch compared to prior versions and a lot of features are still missing and some features from the older versions are said to have been dropped, at least for the time being.
The goal of version 6.00 is to deliver 64-bit support, UEFI and DDR5 with XMP support, as well as support for up to 256 CPU cores. Other features that are said to come include PXE and native USB boot. The goal is to provide a beta build sometime in April, but for those that don't mind compiling their own version of the code, can give it a try now, although the developers are warning that the code is going to be buggy at this point. The base code is said to have been re-written from scratch compared to prior versions and a lot of features are still missing and some features from the older versions are said to have been dropped, at least for the time being.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is Now Available Worldwide
Today, 2K and Gearbox Software announced that Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, an all-new, fantasy-fueled looter shooter game from the unpredictable mind of Tiny Tina, is now available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via the Epic Games Store. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands features the journey of the Fatemaker through an extraordinary tabletop realm where rules rarely apply. Joined by an all-star celebrity cast, players can create and customize their own multiclass heroes as they loot, shoot, slash, and cast their way through outlandish monsters and treasure-filled dungeons on a quest to stop the tyrannical Dragon Lord. The chaotic fantasy world is brought to life by the utterly unpredictable Tiny Tina, who makes the rules, changes the world on the fly, and guides players on their respective journeys.
"Since we founded Gearbox in 1999, it's always been a dream of ours to create a video game in a fantasy setting. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is the result of everyone on our team pouring their hearts and souls into making a title like that a reality - it's a love letter to anyone with a passion for role playing games or looter shooters," said Randy Pitchford, founder of the Gearbox Entertainment Company. "I hope you join us and our millions of fans around the world in experiencing this impossible culmination of years and years of pent-up creativity and passion that's finally manifested in this wild, all-new, one-of-a-kind video game, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands."
"Since we founded Gearbox in 1999, it's always been a dream of ours to create a video game in a fantasy setting. Tiny Tina's Wonderlands is the result of everyone on our team pouring their hearts and souls into making a title like that a reality - it's a love letter to anyone with a passion for role playing games or looter shooters," said Randy Pitchford, founder of the Gearbox Entertainment Company. "I hope you join us and our millions of fans around the world in experiencing this impossible culmination of years and years of pent-up creativity and passion that's finally manifested in this wild, all-new, one-of-a-kind video game, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands."
TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.45 Released
TechPowerUp today released the latest version of TechPowerUp GPU-Z, the graphics sub-system information and diagnostic utility. Version 2.45 introduces support for a number of new GPUs. On the NVIDIA side, we have the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, RTX 3060 Ti (GA103-based), RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, T1000 8 GB, T400, CMP 170HX, and A16. On the AMD side, we have the Radeon RX 6950 XT, RX 6750 XT, RX 6800S, RX 6700S, RX 6850M XT, RX 6650M XT, W6400, "Barcelo" APU, "Rembrandt APU," and Valve Steam Deck GPU. Preliminary support is also added for Intel Arc "Alchemist" series. Memory size reporting of NVIDIA "Ampere" was improved. Also improved is support for Intel "Alder Lake" iGPUs, support for HBM and DDR4 memory on NVIDIA, and improved "GA106" transistor count.
DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.45
DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.45
Astell&Kern Debuts AK UW100 True Wireless Earbuds Primed for Immersive Hi-fi Grade Sound
Astell&Kern, the global leader in premium high-resolution audio devices presents its debut set of true wireless earbuds, the AK UW100. Faithful to the company's philosophy of delivering sound reproduction that is close to the original as possible, these earphones build on Astell&Kern's audio technology expertise to deliver a class-leading, truly wireless hi-fi-grade sound.
The AK UW100's superior sonic credentials are endorsed by a dedicated high performance 32-bit DAC (Digital-to-Analogue Converter), support for the latest high quality wireless connectivity options aptX Adaptive and Bluetooth 5.2, alongside ultra-detailed Knowles Balanced Armature drivers.
The AK UW100's superior sonic credentials are endorsed by a dedicated high performance 32-bit DAC (Digital-to-Analogue Converter), support for the latest high quality wireless connectivity options aptX Adaptive and Bluetooth 5.2, alongside ultra-detailed Knowles Balanced Armature drivers.
Intel Arc A370M "Alchemist" Put Through AoTS
The Intel Arc A370M was put through the "Ashes of the Singularity" benchmark. In two separate runs, the GPU ended up with a score of 3500 and 3600 points in the "Min_1080p" configuration, with an average framerate of 67 FPS in the normal batch. The notebook test-platform this chip ran on consisted of a Core i7-12700H processor, and 32 GB of memory.
3500 points is a rather vague score for this benchmark, given that GPUs from a wide range of market segments attained the similar scores (albeit on very different CPU and memory configurations). The A370M is expected to be SKU that maxes out the smaller DG2 ASIC that physically features 128 execution units (1,024 unified shaders), and a 64-bit wide GDDR6 memory bus holding 4 GB of memory. This A370M should offer roughly twice the performance as the Iris Xe iGPU with 96 EUs found in quad-core "Tiger Lake" mobile processors.
3500 points is a rather vague score for this benchmark, given that GPUs from a wide range of market segments attained the similar scores (albeit on very different CPU and memory configurations). The A370M is expected to be SKU that maxes out the smaller DG2 ASIC that physically features 128 execution units (1,024 unified shaders), and a 64-bit wide GDDR6 memory bus holding 4 GB of memory. This A370M should offer roughly twice the performance as the Iris Xe iGPU with 96 EUs found in quad-core "Tiger Lake" mobile processors.
EIZO Introduces 23.8-inch USB Type-C Docking Monitor with Sustainability Features
EIZO Corporation (TSE: 6737) today announced the release of the FlexScan EV2490 - a 23.8-inch, frameless IPS monitor with Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) equipped with USB Type-C connectivity for streamlined hot desking and remote office work. The monitor achieves exemplary ergonomics, energy-savings, and sustainability to lessen impact on the environment.
The FlexScan EV2490 is the sister model to the 27-inch FlexScan EV2795 (2560 x 1440 pixels) and 24.1-inch EV2495 (1920 x 1200 pixels), from the FlexScan Premium line of business monitors. The EV2490's 23.8-inch, Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) panel provides an option for users looking for a compact and versatile solution that includes the added value features of EIZO's Premium business monitor lineup.
The FlexScan EV2490 is the sister model to the 27-inch FlexScan EV2795 (2560 x 1440 pixels) and 24.1-inch EV2495 (1920 x 1200 pixels), from the FlexScan Premium line of business monitors. The EV2490's 23.8-inch, Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels) panel provides an option for users looking for a compact and versatile solution that includes the added value features of EIZO's Premium business monitor lineup.
ASRock Announces Full Stack Support for Ryzen 7 5800X3D and New 5000/4000 Series Processors
The global leading motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, announces that with BIOS update, ASRock AMD X570/B550/A520/X470/B450 motherboards will support the latest AMD Ryzen 5000/4000 series processors, including Ryzen 7 5800X3D. ASRock always design ahead to get for new processors and has been working with AMD to validate the latest BIOS AGESA code. The 3D V-Cache technology of AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor offers significant improvements on gaming performance, update to the latest BIOS and get ready to game with new AMD Ryzen processors.
MSI Announces Professional Notebooks Powered by Intel Evo
MSI, a world leader in gaming hardware and innovative business solutions, announces today new Business and Productivity laptops for the Summit, Prestige, and Modern Series with 12th Gen Intel Core Processor. MSI revamps the whole business and productivity product line to maximized anyone who needs productivity
The Intel Evo platform certification was awarded to the Summit and Prestige series for their lightweight design, rapid response, and long-lasting battery life. Discrete graphics, powered by NVIDIA, fuel the Summit and Prestige series to help people express their passion and help business professionals reach their goals. The Summit Flip models also feature a seamless 360° 2-in-1 design utilizing the touch screen capability to swap into a tablet mode. And for the Modern series, popular French illustrator Lorraine Sorlet collaborated on four visual designs revitalizing the series with a more "modern" look. The robust lineup has a Business or Productivity laptop for everyone.
The Intel Evo platform certification was awarded to the Summit and Prestige series for their lightweight design, rapid response, and long-lasting battery life. Discrete graphics, powered by NVIDIA, fuel the Summit and Prestige series to help people express their passion and help business professionals reach their goals. The Summit Flip models also feature a seamless 360° 2-in-1 design utilizing the touch screen capability to swap into a tablet mode. And for the Modern series, popular French illustrator Lorraine Sorlet collaborated on four visual designs revitalizing the series with a more "modern" look. The robust lineup has a Business or Productivity laptop for everyone.
Thursday, March 24th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Headphones
Networking
SteelSeries Prime Mini Review
As the name already suggests, the Prime Mini is a smaller edition of the regular Prime. Much like its bigger brother, the Prime Mini comes with the TrueMove Pro sensor, optical-magnetical main-button switches, and a flexible, detachable cable, yet at a weight of just 63 g.
Neo Forza Faye DDR4-3200 2x 32 GB Review
Neo Forza Faye brings to market a high-capacity kit that features a neutral, RGB-free aesthetic. With a 3200 MT/s memory profile and modest timings of 16-18-18-36, Neo Forza aims to compete in the prosumer sector. Follow along as we dive into this review and see what Neo Forza has to offer!
AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.2 Released
AMD today released the latest version of AMD Software Adrenalin. Version 22.3.2 beta comes with optimization for "Ghostwire: Tokyo," and "Tiny Tina's Wonderlands," with performance gains as high as 21% on the latter. The drivers add a couple of new Vulkan API extensions. The company also fixed a number of issues, including incorrect lighting in "Cyberpunk 2077" when playing on an RX 580, A game crash observed in "Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin," when playing with cards such as the RX 6900 XT; a stuttering issue noticed with "Genshin Impact" with video playback or encoding in the background; a stuttering observed when pulling up Radeon Overlay in the middle of "Grim Dawn" gameplay; and a game-crash observed with "During Hades." Grab it from the link below.
DOWNLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.2
DOWNLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.2
AMD Ryzen 7000 Series "Raphael" Processors to Come with up to 170 Watt TDP for 16-Core SKUs
AMD is slowly preparing to transition its consumer base into a new platform and processor architecture with the launch of Ryzen 7000 series processors codenamed Raphael. Based on the new AM5 LGA socket, these processors will come with up to 16 cores and 32 threads at the top-end configurations. Thanks to the latest round of rumors, we managed to find out just what TDP rating two SKUs will carry. According to a well-known leaker @graymon55, AMD is rating the 12-core SKU with a TDP of 105 Watts. On the other hand, the top-end 16-core 7000 series SKU replacing the current Ryzen 9 5950X will carry a large TDP of 170 Watts.
The 170 Watt TDP configuration will likely require better cooling efforts. AMD will probably advise users to invest in better cooling solutions, such as AIO liquid coolers or giant air coolers.
The 170 Watt TDP configuration will likely require better cooling efforts. AMD will probably advise users to invest in better cooling solutions, such as AIO liquid coolers or giant air coolers.
Imagination Technologies Releases Open Source Drivers for PowerVR Series 1
If you owned an Apocalypse 3d/3dx or Matrox m3D, you would've been one of many gamers that had bought a PowerVR Series 1 based 3D graphics accelerator and was both excited and underwhelmed at the same time. Released originally in 1996 and the PCX1 manufactured a 500 nm and a core clock speed of whopping 60 MHz, it was the only direct competitor of 3dfx's original Voodoo graphics card, which was technically slower at 50 MHz, but delivered a lot better in terms of 3D quality. Here we are in 2022 and Imagination Technologies, the company behind the PCX1 and the die shrunk PCX2 that was launched a year later, is releasing the drivers for both 3D accelerators as open source. Outside of a big nostalgia trip for those that might still have their card knocking around, there's questionable value in these drivers.
The second generation of PowerVR GPU's ended up powering the Sega Dreamcast with the third generation ending up in PC GPUs that were competitive with the NVIDIA GeForce 256, at least until NVIDIA changed from SDR to DDR memory. The most unique part of the PowerVR Series 1 was that the 3D accelerator could use the main 2D display cards memory as a framebuffer over the PCI bus. Sadly most games didn't support the PowerSGL API at the time and weren't able to take full advantage of the hardware when DirectX 3.0 was used. The open source drivers are provided as is and it seems like some libraries are missing for the Tomb Raider port for the PoverVR Series 1 3D accelerators, but beyond that, there should be no limitations.
The second generation of PowerVR GPU's ended up powering the Sega Dreamcast with the third generation ending up in PC GPUs that were competitive with the NVIDIA GeForce 256, at least until NVIDIA changed from SDR to DDR memory. The most unique part of the PowerVR Series 1 was that the 3D accelerator could use the main 2D display cards memory as a framebuffer over the PCI bus. Sadly most games didn't support the PowerSGL API at the time and weren't able to take full advantage of the hardware when DirectX 3.0 was used. The open source drivers are provided as is and it seems like some libraries are missing for the Tomb Raider port for the PoverVR Series 1 3D accelerators, but beyond that, there should be no limitations.
EK Water Blocks Unveils EK-Quantum Momentum² ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme D-RGB
EK, the premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is releasing a new AMD AM4 socket-based monoblock belonging to the Quantum Line of products, the EK-Quantum Momentum² ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme D-RGB—Plexi. This monoblock is engineered specifically for the ROG CROSSHAIR VIII EXTREME motherboard from ASUS. The addressable D-RGB LED in the monoblock is compatible with ASUS Aura Sync RGB control and offers a full lighting customization experience for every single diode at any given time. This Momentum² monoblock is EK-Matrix compatible.
This is a complete all-in-one (CPU and motherboard) liquid cooling solution for AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors and the monoblock is compatible with the AM4 socketed ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme motherboard. This monoblock uses the latest generation of EK Velocity² cooling engine to ensure the best possible CPU cooling while not reducing flow to other components. This water block directly cools the Ryzen CPU, VRM section, and the LAN controller. The LAN controller is cooled by an add-on large heatsink that goes over the I/O section and is linked to the monoblock.
This is a complete all-in-one (CPU and motherboard) liquid cooling solution for AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors and the monoblock is compatible with the AM4 socketed ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme motherboard. This monoblock uses the latest generation of EK Velocity² cooling engine to ensure the best possible CPU cooling while not reducing flow to other components. This water block directly cools the Ryzen CPU, VRM section, and the LAN controller. The LAN controller is cooled by an add-on large heatsink that goes over the I/O section and is linked to the monoblock.
NVIDIA to Bundle Power Adapter with GeForce RTX 3090 Ti
For those looking to invest in a GeForce RTX 3090 Ti card, but being unable to acquire a new power supplies with a 12VHPWR connector, there's good news today, as NVIDIA is said to be bundling a power adapter with the cards. The adapter does have its own requirements though, as it's a three to one type of adapter, which means your power supply still needs to have at least three 8-pin PCIe type power connectors. The adapter is said to be able to deliver 450 Watts of power to the upcoming graphics card, which is in line with the various leaks and rumours about the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti.
It's worth keeping in mind that these types of mechanical adapters won't allow the graphics card to communicate with the PSU, something that will be reserved for ATX 3.0 power supplies it seems. It'll also lead to some extra cable tangle near the graphics card, as the design of the pictured connector doesn't exactly look slick or space saving. Hopefully some power supply manufacturers will come up with a neater solution, until the transition to ATX 3.0 PSUs take place.
It's worth keeping in mind that these types of mechanical adapters won't allow the graphics card to communicate with the PSU, something that will be reserved for ATX 3.0 power supplies it seems. It'll also lead to some extra cable tangle near the graphics card, as the design of the pictured connector doesn't exactly look slick or space saving. Hopefully some power supply manufacturers will come up with a neater solution, until the transition to ATX 3.0 PSUs take place.
ADATA Industrial Launches Industrial-Grade DDR5 RDIMMs
ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, and mobile accessories has today launched new industrial-grade Registered DIMM (R-DIMM) DDR5 memory modules. This completes a full suite of industrial-grade DDR5 including U-DIMM, SO-DIMM and now R-DIMM modules designed for the latest Intel 12th Generation processors, and future DDR5 platforms.
ADATA industrial-grade R-DIMM DDR5 memory modules are suitable for a wide range of applications, including 5G backhaul equipment, AIoT, High-Performance Computing, Server, Data Center, Edge Computing, Networking, Surveillance and more. DDR5 is expected to account for 90% of the global memory market by 2026, and ADATA's DDR5 memory is ready to support the growing demand for reliable, high bandwidth memory.
ADATA industrial-grade R-DIMM DDR5 memory modules are suitable for a wide range of applications, including 5G backhaul equipment, AIoT, High-Performance Computing, Server, Data Center, Edge Computing, Networking, Surveillance and more. DDR5 is expected to account for 90% of the global memory market by 2026, and ADATA's DDR5 memory is ready to support the growing demand for reliable, high bandwidth memory.
Swissbit Launches X-78m2 High-Endurance Industrial SATA SSD
Swissbit has expanded its product range with the launch of the M.2 SATA SSD X-78m2. The new series is designed for especially write-intensive applications, is ideal for audio, video, and data recording, as well as serving as a boot medium, and achieves 2.5 times the endurance of previous generations. At the same time, it meets the most stringent requirements for reliability, temperature stability, and longevity. This makes the SSD suitable for any application that requires high endurance without compromising on data retention or temperature profiles.
Typical target applications include industrial PCs, point-of-sale (PoS) systems, embedded and surveillance systems, as well as mission-critical applications in the transportation, medical, networking, and communications sectors. The X-78m2 series is based on the compact M.2 2242 form factor and is immediately available with storage capacities ranging from 40 GB to 320 GB.
Typical target applications include industrial PCs, point-of-sale (PoS) systems, embedded and surveillance systems, as well as mission-critical applications in the transportation, medical, networking, and communications sectors. The X-78m2 series is based on the compact M.2 2242 form factor and is immediately available with storage capacities ranging from 40 GB to 320 GB.
TSMC Ramps up Shipments to Record Levels, 5/4 nm Production Lines at Capacity
According to DigiTimes, TSMC is working on increased its monthly shipments of finished wafers from 120,000 to 150,000 for its 5 nm nodes, under which 4 nm also falls. This is three times as much as what TSMC was producing just a year ago. The 4 nm node is said to be in full mass production now and the enhanced N4P node should be ready for mass production in the second half of 2022, alongside N3B. This will be followed by the N4X and N3E nodes in 2023. The N3B node is expected to hit 40-50,000 wafers initially, before ramping up from there, assuming everything is on track.
The report also mentions that TSMC is expecting a 20 percent revenue increase from its 28 to 7 nm nodes this year, which shows that even these older nodes are being heavily utilised by its customers. TSMC has what NVIDIA would call a demand problem, as the company simply can't meet demand at the moment, with customers lining up to be able to get a share of any additional production capacity. NVIDIA is said to have paid TSMC at least US$10 billion in advance to secure manufacturing capacity for its upcoming products, both for consumer and enterprise products. TSMC's top three HPC customers are also said to have pre-booked capacity on the upcoming 3 and 2 nm nodes, so it doesn't look like demand is going to ease up anytime soon.
The report also mentions that TSMC is expecting a 20 percent revenue increase from its 28 to 7 nm nodes this year, which shows that even these older nodes are being heavily utilised by its customers. TSMC has what NVIDIA would call a demand problem, as the company simply can't meet demand at the moment, with customers lining up to be able to get a share of any additional production capacity. NVIDIA is said to have paid TSMC at least US$10 billion in advance to secure manufacturing capacity for its upcoming products, both for consumer and enterprise products. TSMC's top three HPC customers are also said to have pre-booked capacity on the upcoming 3 and 2 nm nodes, so it doesn't look like demand is going to ease up anytime soon.
Trust Gaming Launches the Redex Low Latency Wireless Gaming Mouse
Leading value-for-money digital lifestyle accessories brand, Trust Electronics Ltd, is pleased to introduce GXT 908 Redex low latency wireless gaming mouse with durable Kailh mechanical switches. The Trust GXT 908 Redex low latency wireless gaming mouse is available for £34.99 from Amazon. The Trust Redex features a built-in rechargeable battery that provides up to 50 hours of continuous playtime and durable Kailh mechanical switches that last up to 80 million clicks. Thanks to low latency in both wired and wireless modes, gamers' actions are as fast as their reactions. Plus, the LED on/off switch enables them to power down when their gaming sessions end.
According to GfK research, wireless gaming mice now account for half of all gaming mice sales. This is a growing trend, as an increasing number of gamers are using gaming mice for both play and work. The Redex has a built-in rechargeable battery and - due to low latency in both wired and wireless modes - is perfect for long gaming sessions and work days. An adjustable - and highly accurate - optical sensor offers sensitivity up to 10,000 DPI, while 6 programmable buttons enable users to customize their mice to their playstyles. The included software also lets users adjust macro settings and RGB lighting to specific profiles.
According to GfK research, wireless gaming mice now account for half of all gaming mice sales. This is a growing trend, as an increasing number of gamers are using gaming mice for both play and work. The Redex has a built-in rechargeable battery and - due to low latency in both wired and wireless modes - is perfect for long gaming sessions and work days. An adjustable - and highly accurate - optical sensor offers sensitivity up to 10,000 DPI, while 6 programmable buttons enable users to customize their mice to their playstyles. The included software also lets users adjust macro settings and RGB lighting to specific profiles.
TechPowerUp and ORICO Docking Station and Biometric Portable SSD Giveaway: The Winners!
TechPowerUp and ORICO brought our readers from across the globe, a unique chance to win an ORICO TB3-S2 NVMe SSD Docking Station; and an ORICO PSSD 1 TB biometric-encrypted portable SSD. The TB3-S2 is a 9-in-1 connectivity expander that takes advantage of Thunderbolt 3 to put out a plethora of USB, wired LAN, memory card, connectivity, while also serving as a handy dual M.2 NVMe enclosure. The PSSD is a rugged portable SSD for road-warriors, with a fingerprint reader, and an in-built drive encryption mechanism. The results are in! Without further ado, the winners:
- "vzangel" from Mexico (Twitch and Twitter handle), wins an ORICO TB3-S2 9-in-1 docking station
- "simiaelevatum" from the United States (Twitch handle), wins an ORICO PSSD 1 TB portable SSD
ADATA Industrial Firmware for 112-Layer PCIe SSDs is UNH-IOL NVMe 1.4 Certified
ADATA Technology (Taiwan Stock Exchange: 3260.TWO), a global leading brand of industrial-grade memory, including flash storage products and DRAM modules, today announces that its in-house developed firmware for 112-Layer (BiCS5) 3D NAND PCIe solid state drives has become University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) NVMe 1.4 certified. The certification reaffirms ADATA's core competencies in R&D and commitment to offering high performance SSDs. UNH-IOL is an independent test facility that provides interoperability and standards conformance testing for networking, telecommunications, data storage, and consumer technology products.
The IM2P32A8 M.2 2280 and IM2P32A4 M.2 2242 industrial-grade solid state drives will benefit from the newly certified firmware. What's more, both SSDs feature 112-layer 3D TLC Flash memory developed by WD and KIOXIA, supports the PCIe Gen3x4 interface, and provides large capacities of up to 2 TB. With ADATA's firmware, they provide improved performance and interoperability. In addition to processing large volumes of data, the SSDs can also serve as storage devices or a boot disk, which can fulfill the needs of applications such as 5G, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), smart cities, and telemedicine.
The IM2P32A8 M.2 2280 and IM2P32A4 M.2 2242 industrial-grade solid state drives will benefit from the newly certified firmware. What's more, both SSDs feature 112-layer 3D TLC Flash memory developed by WD and KIOXIA, supports the PCIe Gen3x4 interface, and provides large capacities of up to 2 TB. With ADATA's firmware, they provide improved performance and interoperability. In addition to processing large volumes of data, the SSDs can also serve as storage devices or a boot disk, which can fulfill the needs of applications such as 5G, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), smart cities, and telemedicine.
Wednesday, March 23rd 2022
Today's Reviews
Gaming PC
Graphics Cards
Keyboards
Networking
Notebooks
Processors
Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard 2 Compact TKL (65%) Review
The hotly anticipated Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard gets an update, and we check out both the 65% and 96% versions today. This review goes over the smaller of the two variants, available in three colors and multiple layouts, as well as a barebones kit or pre-built edition. There are plenty of updates inside and out to make for a portable keyboard at an excellent price.
Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard 2 Full Size (96%) Review
The Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard has been updated! This review goes over the larger 96% version with a dedicated numpad. It is available in multiple colors and layouts, as well as a barebones kit or pre-built edition. Several new features make it an excellent keyboard at a great price.
Apacer Also Announces SH250 and PH920 High-endurance SSD with SLC-LiteX Technology
Apacer has taken 3D NAND Flash optimization to new heights. Today, it announces the release of SLC-liteX industrial SSDs that can provide an incredible 100,000 P/E cycles. That's 3 to 33 times higher than competing 2D MLC or 3D TLC products can offer. 5G and AIoT manufacturers who are invested in large-scale data collection and analysis, including those demanding higher capacities, higher performance and higher endurance, will quickly see the advantages of this development. According to Allied Market Research, "the global 3D NAND flash memory market size was valued at $12.38 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $78.42 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 20.3% from 2021 to 2030."
The endurance of any NAND Flash product can be measured in P/E cycles. Every time a write or erase action is performed, the Flash cell will suffer irreparable damage. In the industrial world, 3,000 P/E cycles was considered quite a competitive number. But with increasing demands for greater endurance thresholds in applications such as 5G O-RAN and edge computing switches, the market was hungry for more - while still recognizing the paramount importance of cost-effectiveness. Apacer's crack team of firmware experts tackled the problem and were able to tweak the technology to deliver 100,000 P/E cycles. Careful cell distribution management of the 3D TLC structure was necessary in order to correctly adjust the voltage delta and charge sensing. Furthermore, powered by carefully selected industrial grade NAND components, the firmware structure is specifically optimized to enhance NAND flash stability during daily operations, and the error handling algorithm is significantly improved to avoid any unexpected ECC errors.
The endurance of any NAND Flash product can be measured in P/E cycles. Every time a write or erase action is performed, the Flash cell will suffer irreparable damage. In the industrial world, 3,000 P/E cycles was considered quite a competitive number. But with increasing demands for greater endurance thresholds in applications such as 5G O-RAN and edge computing switches, the market was hungry for more - while still recognizing the paramount importance of cost-effectiveness. Apacer's crack team of firmware experts tackled the problem and were able to tweak the technology to deliver 100,000 P/E cycles. Careful cell distribution management of the 3D TLC structure was necessary in order to correctly adjust the voltage delta and charge sensing. Furthermore, powered by carefully selected industrial grade NAND components, the firmware structure is specifically optimized to enhance NAND flash stability during daily operations, and the error handling algorithm is significantly improved to avoid any unexpected ECC errors.
Apacer Announces PV930-M280 Industrial SSD Powered by 112-layer BiCS5 Flash
5G's rapid deployment is spiking demand for large amounts of data storage. Emerging 5G applications such as telemedicine, smart healthcare and smart poles require storage devices that can offer high-speed, low-latency and stable operation during high-quality, high-resolution image data transmission to permit AI image recognition and auxiliary diagnoses. Luckily, Apacer's latest PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD is stepping up to the plate. It adopts the latest BiCS5 112-layer 3D NAND Flash memory technology. This means ultra-high performance and reliability, a stable supply and - crucially - a more competitive cost per unit.
Real-time imaging data plays an important role in 5G healthcare applications. But to be effective, it requires high-resolution images that are extremely clear and focused. According to a recent report, "5G in Healthcare Market" released by MarketsandMarkets, telehealth and robotic surgery both grew in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19, and 5G wearable medical devices also became more prevalent for the same reason. Currently, the 5G healthcare market "is valued at an estimated USD 215 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 3,667 million by 2026, at a CAGR of 76.3% during the forecast period."
Real-time imaging data plays an important role in 5G healthcare applications. But to be effective, it requires high-resolution images that are extremely clear and focused. According to a recent report, "5G in Healthcare Market" released by MarketsandMarkets, telehealth and robotic surgery both grew in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19, and 5G wearable medical devices also became more prevalent for the same reason. Currently, the 5G healthcare market "is valued at an estimated USD 215 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 3,667 million by 2026, at a CAGR of 76.3% during the forecast period."
GIGABYTE Announces the BRIX Extreme, the Most Powerful Mini PC in the World
GIGABYTE Technology, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, today announced the all-new 2022 BRIX Extreme mini-PC series, which adopts the latest 12th Gen Intel Core Mobile Processors with Intel's most scalable client architecture that delivers superior computing performance. Benefiting from a new Intel Core design for leadership performance, these processors boost the performance significantly in the all-new performance hybrid design for superior single-threaded & multi-threaded performance. Enhanced by GIGABYTE's exclusive design, the new 2022 BRIX Extreme design integrates four display outputs, including HDMI 2.1, USB4, 2.5G Ethernet, plus the latest WiFi 6E configuration, creating the most powerful multitasking mini-PC with astounding performance and responsiveness for either gaming or content creation.
The latest 12th Gen Intel Core Mobile Processors highlight 10 nm technology, and when compared to the previous generation, these new processors feature a 10% increase in GPU performance, 24% increase in multi-threaded performance, and do so with higher clock frequencies up to 4.70 GHz. The powerful performance in these new processors sets a milestone for the mobile platform. When it comes to benchmark testing, it is inspiring to see that SYSMark 25 Performance scores improve by 14% compared to 11th Gen processors and by 28% on CrossMark too. No more needing to compromise between productivity, performance, and gaming/video performance.
The latest 12th Gen Intel Core Mobile Processors highlight 10 nm technology, and when compared to the previous generation, these new processors feature a 10% increase in GPU performance, 24% increase in multi-threaded performance, and do so with higher clock frequencies up to 4.70 GHz. The powerful performance in these new processors sets a milestone for the mobile platform. When it comes to benchmark testing, it is inspiring to see that SYSMark 25 Performance scores improve by 14% compared to 11th Gen processors and by 28% on CrossMark too. No more needing to compromise between productivity, performance, and gaming/video performance.
AMD Reveals More FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 Technical Details
AMD has recently shared some more technical information on their recently announced FidelityFX Super Resolution successor ahead of their GDC presentation. The GPUOpen developer website has been updated with new details regarding the various quality modes and implementation strategies available for FSR 2.0. AMD has confirmed that FSR 2.0 will work with graphics cards from AMD and NVIDIA going back to the Pascal GTX 10 series in addition to the Xbox Series X/S.
The technology is similar to NVIDIA DLSS 2.0 in that they both use temporal upscaling however FSR 2.0 does not rely on Machine Learning which makes the technology easier to integrate and allows more devices to be supported. FSR 2.0 will feature four quality options with Quality, Balanced, and Performance in addition to the optional Ultra-Performance mode that developers can choose to add. AMD has also included support for Dynamic Resolution Scaling where the resolution can be automatically scaled to meet a minimum target frame rate.
The technology is similar to NVIDIA DLSS 2.0 in that they both use temporal upscaling however FSR 2.0 does not rely on Machine Learning which makes the technology easier to integrate and allows more devices to be supported. FSR 2.0 will feature four quality options with Quality, Balanced, and Performance in addition to the optional Ultra-Performance mode that developers can choose to add. AMD has also included support for Dynamic Resolution Scaling where the resolution can be automatically scaled to meet a minimum target frame rate.
SMART Modular Technologies Announces New DuraMemory DDR5 VLP RDIMM
SMART Modular Technologies, a global leader in memory solutions, solid-state drives, and hybrid storage products announces its new DDR5 32 GB Very Low Profile Registered Dual In-Line Memory Module (VLP RDIMM). SMART's new DuraMemory DDR5 32 GB VLP RDIMM is the industry's first DDR5 VLP RDIMM form factor. The 32 GB VLP RDIMM addresses applications with space constraints, such as embedded 1U blade compute and storage, enterprise networking, telecom, and industrial single-board computers (SBCs). The space savings also equates to improved heat dissipation and energy savings, reducing business costs.
The DDR5 32 GB VLP RDIMM is the newest addition to SMART's broad portfolio of VLP and ULP (Ultra Low Profile) modules that are suitable for all types of dense computing, storage, networking and telecom applications. For ruggedized and harsh operating conditions, SMART also offers retention clips to secure the socket latches in place, and industrial grade temperature operation of -40°C to +85°C.
The DDR5 32 GB VLP RDIMM is the newest addition to SMART's broad portfolio of VLP and ULP (Ultra Low Profile) modules that are suitable for all types of dense computing, storage, networking and telecom applications. For ruggedized and harsh operating conditions, SMART also offers retention clips to secure the socket latches in place, and industrial grade temperature operation of -40°C to +85°C.
QNAP Launches the TS-233 NAS with in-built NPU
QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking, and storage solution innovator, today launched the 2-bay TS-233 NAS suitable for home/office environments. With a sleek design and quiet fan, the TS-233 provides a cost-effective centralized storage, backup, file sharing, and multimedia solution that features rich NAS applications for greater productivity and boundless entertainment.
The TS-233 features an ARM Cortex A55 quad-core processor with integrated 2 GB memory. It can be used with 3.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs and supports AES-NI encryption acceleration, providing a secure, high-speed backup/restore, file access and sharing experience. With a built-in NPU (Neural network Processing Unit) processor, the TS-233 also boosts QNAP AI Core (the AI-powered engine for image recognition) performance for high-speed face and object recognition.
The TS-233 features an ARM Cortex A55 quad-core processor with integrated 2 GB memory. It can be used with 3.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs and supports AES-NI encryption acceleration, providing a secure, high-speed backup/restore, file access and sharing experience. With a built-in NPU (Neural network Processing Unit) processor, the TS-233 also boosts QNAP AI Core (the AI-powered engine for image recognition) performance for high-speed face and object recognition.
NVIDIA: Gamers Spend $300 More on Ampere GPUs Than Previous Generations
NVIDIA at its Annual Investor Day announced that the company's coffers are in better shape than ever. And while the company has many baskets from which to pull proverbial profits, the company's gaming division remains its biggest source of income. On its presentation, NVIDIA clarified that gamers are spending on average $300 extra per desktop Ampere product compared to previous graphics product generations. That fact, the company says, has resulted in an average increase in product ASP (Average Selling Price) to the tune of 13% per year in the last five years.
Paired with the increase in graphics products' ASP (meaning NVIDIA brings in more money per sold graphics card) is an increase in the number of graphics cards shipped to customers - at a rate of 11% more graphics cards being sold annually. So NVIDIA is not only selling more expensive graphics cards; they're selling more of them as well. The company expects its financial results to keep steadily improving, even as more and more gamers join the fold. According to the company, the last five-year period saw an average of 50 million additional gamers entering the market per year - and there's no expectation of that figure slowing down.
Paired with the increase in graphics products' ASP (meaning NVIDIA brings in more money per sold graphics card) is an increase in the number of graphics cards shipped to customers - at a rate of 11% more graphics cards being sold annually. So NVIDIA is not only selling more expensive graphics cards; they're selling more of them as well. The company expects its financial results to keep steadily improving, even as more and more gamers join the fold. According to the company, the last five-year period saw an average of 50 million additional gamers entering the market per year - and there's no expectation of that figure slowing down.
NVIDIA Could Use Intel's Foundry Service for Chip Manufacturing
Yesterday, NVIDIA announced its next-generation Hopper architecture designed for data center applications and workloads. There is always a question of availability, as the previous period showed everyone that the supply chain is overbooked and semiconductors are in very high demand. During the Q&A press session today, NVIDIA's CEO, Jensen Huang, tried to answer as many questions as possible. However, an exciting topic arose regarding the potential collaboration with Intel. As a part of Intel's IDM 2.0 strategy, the company plans to offer its chip manufacturing capabilities to the third-party companies willing to make efforts and port their designs to Intel's semiconductor nodes. NVIDIA, one of the largest TSMC customers, could be a new Intel customer. Below, we compiled a few quotes that highlight Jensen Huang's opinions, taking the quotes from Tom's Hardware.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen HuangOur strategy is to expand our supply base with diversity and redundancy at every single layer. At the chip layer, at the substrate layer, the system layer, at every single layer. We've diversified the number of nodes, we've diversified the number of foundries, and Intel is an excellent partner of ours[…]. They're interested in us using their foundries, and we're very interested in exploring it. [...] I am encouraged by the work that is done at Intel, I think this is a direction they have to go, and we're interested in looking at their process technology. Our relationship with Intel is quite long; we work with them across a whole lot of different areas, every single PC, every single laptop, every single PC, supercomputer, we collaborate. [...] We have been working closely with Intel, sharing with them our roadmap long before we share it with the public, for years. Intel has known our secrets for years. AMD has known our secrets for years. We are sophisticated and mature enough to realize that we have to collaborate.[...] We share roadmaps, of course, under confidentiality and a very selective channel of communications. The industry has just learned how to work in that way.
Taiwan Rocked by 6.6 Earthquake, Causes no Serious Production Issues
At 01:41 in the morning of the 23rd of March, the southeast coast of Taiwan experienced a magnitude 6.6 earthquake in the ocean outside Hualien County. The quake was felt island wide and some of the factories that operate 24/7 evacuated staff as a precautionary measure. All affected companies claim to have resumed operations later the same day, after checking that no damage was caused by the quake. The southeast of Taiwan kept being hit by minor quakes for the rest of the night and day, with some being felt across the island.
TSMC and UMC both claimed that the quake had a minimal effect on production, although production equipment had gone into self-protect mode, which was largely the reason for no production issues taking place. Powerchip Semiconductor on the other hand had a two to three hour production loss and Vanguard International Semiconductor was reported saying they were checking for defects in their production. AU Optronics and Innolux were also saved by their various safeguards against earthquake damage and both companies were expecting to return to normal production shortly. Other companies are said to have reported issues with their production equipment, but no damage to the actual products they produce.
TSMC and UMC both claimed that the quake had a minimal effect on production, although production equipment had gone into self-protect mode, which was largely the reason for no production issues taking place. Powerchip Semiconductor on the other hand had a two to three hour production loss and Vanguard International Semiconductor was reported saying they were checking for defects in their production. AU Optronics and Innolux were also saved by their various safeguards against earthquake damage and both companies were expecting to return to normal production shortly. Other companies are said to have reported issues with their production equipment, but no damage to the actual products they produce.
eero Introduces Its Fastest Mesh Wifi Systems—eero Pro 6E and eero 6+
eero, an Amazon company, today introduced eero Pro 6E and eero 6+—the newest additions to the eero 6 series of mesh wifi systems. eero Pro 6E, the first Wi-Fi 6E-enabled eero mesh wifi system, supports network speeds up to 2.3 Gbps, provides coverage for over 100 devices simultaneously, and offers access to the newly-authorized 6 GHz band, all of which ensures more devices can get gigabit+ speeds across your home. eero 6+ is the most affordable gigabit-capable eero system, with access to 160 MHz radio channels for fast connectivity for activities like AR, VR, and 8K streaming; plus, it supports over 75 simultaneously-connected devices. For customers looking for Wi-Fi 6 performance at an affordable price, eero 6 is now available at a starting price of $89.
"Since eero's beginning a little over eight years ago, we have had a vision to provide every home around the world with wifi that just works," said Nick Weaver, Co-Founder and CEO of eero. "Wifi has changed a lot since then, and we've worked hard to expand our portfolio and make our easy-to-use, fast, secure, and reliable whole-home wifi systems more accessible and affordable for everyone. With the introduction of eero Pro 6E and eero 6+ alongside our existing eero 6 series devices, we're taking a big step in delivering our highest performing and most affordable wifi systems for everyone."
"Since eero's beginning a little over eight years ago, we have had a vision to provide every home around the world with wifi that just works," said Nick Weaver, Co-Founder and CEO of eero. "Wifi has changed a lot since then, and we've worked hard to expand our portfolio and make our easy-to-use, fast, secure, and reliable whole-home wifi systems more accessible and affordable for everyone. With the introduction of eero Pro 6E and eero 6+ alongside our existing eero 6 series devices, we're taking a big step in delivering our highest performing and most affordable wifi systems for everyone."
Intel Introduces New ATX PSU Specifications
Intel has published the most significant update to industry power supply specifications since the initial ATX 2.0 specs were introduced in 2003. Updated ATX 3.0 specifications unlock the full power and potential of next-generation hardware and upcoming components built for technologies like PCIe Gen 5.0. Intel has also revised its ATX12VO spec to provide the PC industry with an updated blueprint for designing power supply units (PSUs) and motherboards that reduce power draw at idle, helping customers lower electrical demand.
"Power supplies based on ATX 3.0 and ATX12VO 2.0 will ensure anyone looking to get the most stable and cost optimized performance possible with highest power efficiency out of their desktop PCs will be able to do so - both now and in the future, " said Stephen Eastman, Intel platform power specialist.
"Power supplies based on ATX 3.0 and ATX12VO 2.0 will ensure anyone looking to get the most stable and cost optimized performance possible with highest power efficiency out of their desktop PCs will be able to do so - both now and in the future, " said Stephen Eastman, Intel platform power specialist.
Oosto Launches Edge-Based Vision AI Appliance to Revolutionize the TCO Calculus of Video Analytics
Oosto announced today the launch of the Oosto Vision AI Appliance, a revolutionary near-edge device that delivers the power and security of Vision AI in a palm-sized device, allowing organizations to protect people, customers and assets more affordably while reducing IT complexity. The Vision AI Appliance is based on the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX system on module and is equipped with Oosto's state-of-the-art neural network models for video analytics that are optimized to support low-power devices. Significantly, this was achieved without compromising on superior performance, security or recognition accuracy which historically required compute-intensive GPU processing servers.
This announcement is part of Oosto's ongoing commitment to edge computing. In 2021, the company embedded its Vision AI algorithms on Ambarella's CV2x family of edge AI vision SoCs. Moving the workload to the chip level and to near-edge devices enables organizations to perform real-time video analysis. Significant processing power is required to analyze every frame of a video feed and perform a variety of instant computations to determine if the person entering a building is an authorized employee or on a watchlist (e.g., a VIP or security threat).
This announcement is part of Oosto's ongoing commitment to edge computing. In 2021, the company embedded its Vision AI algorithms on Ambarella's CV2x family of edge AI vision SoCs. Moving the workload to the chip level and to near-edge devices enables organizations to perform real-time video analysis. Significant processing power is required to analyze every frame of a video feed and perform a variety of instant computations to determine if the person entering a building is an authorized employee or on a watchlist (e.g., a VIP or security threat).
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Geekbenched, About 9% Faster Than 5800X
Someone with access to an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor sample posted some of the first Geekbench 5 performance numbers for the chip, where it ends up 9% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X, on average. AMD claimed that the 5800X3D is "the world's fastest gaming processor," with the 3D Vertical Cache (3D V-cache) technology offering gaming performance uplifts over the 5800X akin to a new generation, despite being based on the same "Zen 3" microarchitecture, and lower clock speeds. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is shown posting scores of 1633 points 1T and 11250 points nT in one run; and 1637/11198 points in the other; when paired with 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory.
These are 9% faster than a typical 5800X score on this benchmark. AMD's own gaming performance claims see the 5800X3D score a performance uplift above 20% over the 5800X, closing the gap with the Intel Core i9-12900K. The 3D V-cache technology debuted earlier this week with the EPYC "Milan-X" processors, where the additional cache provides huge performance gains for applications with large data-sets. AMD isn't boasting too much about the multi-threaded productivity performance of the 5800X3D because this is ultimately an 8-core/16-thread processor that's bound to lose to the Ryzen 9 5900X/5950X, and the i9-12900K, on account of its lower core-count.
These are 9% faster than a typical 5800X score on this benchmark. AMD's own gaming performance claims see the 5800X3D score a performance uplift above 20% over the 5800X, closing the gap with the Intel Core i9-12900K. The 3D V-cache technology debuted earlier this week with the EPYC "Milan-X" processors, where the additional cache provides huge performance gains for applications with large data-sets. AMD isn't boasting too much about the multi-threaded productivity performance of the 5800X3D because this is ultimately an 8-core/16-thread processor that's bound to lose to the Ryzen 9 5900X/5950X, and the i9-12900K, on account of its lower core-count.
MSI Announces CreatorPro Mobile Workstations Powered by NVIDIA RTX A-series
MSI, a world leader in computer hardware and solutions, has launched a new generation of revamped mobile workstations. In 2022, MSI rebranded its Workstation lineup to the CreatorPro series. The new series not only meets the needs of professional industries, but also makes the overall design more elegant with clean lines, accelerating business and individual studios with a variety of choices.
Driven by the latest NVIDIA RTX professional graphics, and the 12th gen Intel Core processors, the workstations are now capable of delivering up to 45% performance compared to previous models. The CreatorPro Series speeds up the rendering to guarantee greater visual accuracy and computing power. Whether users are working with large-scale complex modeling, processing big data analytics, rendering architectural blueprints or even experiencing high-fidelity VR content that demands stable frame-rates, MSI's mobile workstations ensure peak performance. Certified by ISV and tested at the highest level to pass MIL-spec standards, MSI Workstations allow users to take their productivity and portability to the next level.
Driven by the latest NVIDIA RTX professional graphics, and the 12th gen Intel Core processors, the workstations are now capable of delivering up to 45% performance compared to previous models. The CreatorPro Series speeds up the rendering to guarantee greater visual accuracy and computing power. Whether users are working with large-scale complex modeling, processing big data analytics, rendering architectural blueprints or even experiencing high-fidelity VR content that demands stable frame-rates, MSI's mobile workstations ensure peak performance. Certified by ISV and tested at the highest level to pass MIL-spec standards, MSI Workstations allow users to take their productivity and portability to the next level.
MSI AMD 500, 400, 300-series Motherboards Ready to Support Ryzen 5000/4000 Series
AMD recently announced the latest "Zen 3" and "Zen 2" new processors are coming to the market very soon for DIY users, which includes the ground-breaking AMD 3D V-Cache technology processor, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Moreover, the mainstream Ryzen 7 5700X, Ryzen 5 5600, Ryzen 5 5500, Ryzen 5 4600G, Ryzen 5 4500, and Ryzen 3 4100 are all here for different levels of system builds.
MSI is committed to deliver gamers and creators the best experiences. This is why BIOS update is always great for most users. The latest AMD AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.2.0.6c BIOS was released for some MSI 500- and 400-series motherboards. The purpose of AGESA 1.2.0.6c is not only for better compatibility but also for maximizing AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D performance. For the older 300-series motherboards, we will release the AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.2.0.6c beta BIOS by the end of April. Please refer to the following chart for more information.
MSI is committed to deliver gamers and creators the best experiences. This is why BIOS update is always great for most users. The latest AMD AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.2.0.6c BIOS was released for some MSI 500- and 400-series motherboards. The purpose of AGESA 1.2.0.6c is not only for better compatibility but also for maximizing AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D performance. For the older 300-series motherboards, we will release the AGESA COMBO PI V2 1.2.0.6c beta BIOS by the end of April. Please refer to the following chart for more information.
TerraMaster Introduces T12-423 Compact 12-Bay NAS with Intel "Jasper Lake"
TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products for home, businesses and enterprises, introduces the T12-423 12-bay professional compact NAS. Designed for small-sized and medium-sized businesses, the T12-423 comes equipped with a more powerful and efficient Intel Celeron quad-core processor for high-speed transmission and virtualization applications.
The TerraMaster T12-423 has 12 bays that support 3.5" HDDs and 2.5" SSD/HDDs, up to 240 TB of internal raw storage capacity. It has two M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs for SSD caching. This TNAS comes with 8 GB DDR4 SODIMM memory, upgradeable up to 32 GB (2x 16 GB) with its two SODIMM slots. It is also equipped with two 2.5GbE NICs with Link Aggregation support.
The TerraMaster T12-423 has 12 bays that support 3.5" HDDs and 2.5" SSD/HDDs, up to 240 TB of internal raw storage capacity. It has two M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs for SSD caching. This TNAS comes with 8 GB DDR4 SODIMM memory, upgradeable up to 32 GB (2x 16 GB) with its two SODIMM slots. It is also equipped with two 2.5GbE NICs with Link Aggregation support.
AAEON Announces BOXER-8260AI and BOXER-8261 Powered by NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin
With the announcement of the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin developer kit, AAEON is excited to utilize the many benefits that such a powerful system-on-module (SOM) can bring to its own product lines. With the same form factor and pin compatibility as the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier, but with an improvement from 32 TOPS to 275 TOPS, the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin is set to make it easier than ever to develop faster, more sophisticated AI applications.
AAEON is therefore pleased to announce two upcoming products available in Q4 which will feature the Jetson AGX Orin 32 GB and Jetson AGX Orin 64 GB as their respective processor modules: the BOXER-8260AI and BOXER-8261 AI@Edge Embedded BOX PCs. Both products will feature the NVIDIA JetPack 5.0 SDK to support the full Jetson software stack to help in the development of AI applications in areas such as high-end autonomous machinery. With two NVIDIA deep learning accelerators (NVDLA), along with a 32 GB 256-bit system memory, the BOXER-8260AI will provide the perfect device for vision-based AI applications. Moreover, its expansive I/O options include 12 RJ-45 slots for PoE, along with DB-9 slots for CANbus and six DIO.
AAEON is therefore pleased to announce two upcoming products available in Q4 which will feature the Jetson AGX Orin 32 GB and Jetson AGX Orin 64 GB as their respective processor modules: the BOXER-8260AI and BOXER-8261 AI@Edge Embedded BOX PCs. Both products will feature the NVIDIA JetPack 5.0 SDK to support the full Jetson software stack to help in the development of AI applications in areas such as high-end autonomous machinery. With two NVIDIA deep learning accelerators (NVDLA), along with a 32 GB 256-bit system memory, the BOXER-8260AI will provide the perfect device for vision-based AI applications. Moreover, its expansive I/O options include 12 RJ-45 slots for PoE, along with DB-9 slots for CANbus and six DIO.
Tuesday, March 22nd 2022
Today's Reviews
CPU Coolers
Desktop PC
Memory
Mouse
Notebooks
InWin N515 Case Review
The InWin N515 hopes to draw your attention with its fancy Infinity Mirror and provides a unique mix of proper E-ATX and liquid-cooling support in a somewhat unique case layout. Let's dive right in to see if we end up mesmerized or jaded.
AQIRYS Aludra TKL Keyboard Review
Romania-based AQIRYS aims to make you star-struck with its Aludra TKL mechanical keyboard. Using a unique design language paired with more RGB LEDs than you can easily count, it's a gaming-centric keyboard that offers both software and onboard controls for a highly customizable typing experience.
NVIDIA Releases RTX A5500 Graphics Card and RTX A5500 Laptop GPU
NVIDIA released the RTX A5500 professional graphics card in the PCI-Express AIC form-factor, and the RTX A5500 Laptop GPU. Based on the "Ampere" graphics architecture, the RTX A5500 AIC features NVIDIA's biggest graphics silicon, the "GA102." It features 10,240 CUDA cores, 320 Tensor cores, 80 RT cores, and 24 GB of ECC GDDR6 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface. The card uses some aggressive power management, with the typical board power rated at just 230 W. You also get an NVLink interface, and four DisplayPort 1.4 output connectors. The A5500 is being positioned a notch below the company's flagship pro-vis product, the RTX A6000, which comes with 48 GB of memory.
The RTX A5500 Laptop GPU is targeted at mobile workstations, and is based on the "GA103" silicon, with 7,424 CUDA cores, 232 Tensor cores, 58 RT cores, and 16 GB of ECC GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. NVIDIA has given this product some Max-Q power and thermal optimization, with typical graphics power being rated in the range of 80 W to 160 W. This is NVIDIA's most powerful mobile pro-vis solution, being slotted higher than the RTX A4500. It's worth noting here, that both these products use ECC GDDR6 memory instead of GDDR6X.
The RTX A5500 Laptop GPU is targeted at mobile workstations, and is based on the "GA103" silicon, with 7,424 CUDA cores, 232 Tensor cores, 58 RT cores, and 16 GB of ECC GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. NVIDIA has given this product some Max-Q power and thermal optimization, with typical graphics power being rated in the range of 80 W to 160 W. This is NVIDIA's most powerful mobile pro-vis solution, being slotted higher than the RTX A4500. It's worth noting here, that both these products use ECC GDDR6 memory instead of GDDR6X.
Seagate Announces 20TB Variant of SkyHawk AI Hard Drive
AI-enabled video imaging and analytics systems require support for heavy workloads that process and analyze multiple streams and thousands of hours of video data. Today during the ISC West trade show in Las Vegas, Nev., Seagate Technology Holdings plc, a world leader in mass-data storage infrastructure solutions, launched the new SkyHawk AI 20 TB hard disk drive (HDD). The mass-capacity HDD adds to the company's leading line of video imaging and analytics (VIA) devices.
Purposely designed for network video recorders (NVRs) enabled with AI for edge security applications, Seagate's SkyHawk AI 20 TB HDD intelligently adapts to the scale of the users' AI environment, supporting up to 64 HD video streams and 32 AI streams. With this capability to support scalable AI workloads, SkyHawk AI meets the growing needs of advanced VIA systems to analyze and record video footage while simultaneously supporting GPU analytics.
Purposely designed for network video recorders (NVRs) enabled with AI for edge security applications, Seagate's SkyHawk AI 20 TB HDD intelligently adapts to the scale of the users' AI environment, supporting up to 64 HD video streams and 32 AI streams. With this capability to support scalable AI workloads, SkyHawk AI meets the growing needs of advanced VIA systems to analyze and record video footage while simultaneously supporting GPU analytics.
Kioxia to Expand 3D Flash Memory Production Capacity at Kitakami Plant
Kioxia Corporation, the world leader in memory solutions, today announced it will begin construction of a state-of-the-art new fabrication facility (Fab2) at its Kitakami Plant in Iwate Prefecture, Japan for the possible expansion of production of its proprietary 3D Flash memory BiCS FLASH. Construction of the facility is scheduled to commence in April 2022 and is expected to be completed in 2023.
The new Fab2 facility will utilize AI-based cutting-edge manufacturing to increase production capacity of the entire Kitakami Plant and further enhance product quality, allowing Kioxia to expand its business organically and take advantage of the medium to long term growth of the flash memory market driven by the accelerating adoption of cloud services, 5G, IoT, AI, automated driving and the metaverse.
The new Fab2 facility will utilize AI-based cutting-edge manufacturing to increase production capacity of the entire Kitakami Plant and further enhance product quality, allowing Kioxia to expand its business organically and take advantage of the medium to long term growth of the flash memory market driven by the accelerating adoption of cloud services, 5G, IoT, AI, automated driving and the metaverse.
NVIDIA Releases GeForce 512.15 Game Ready Drivers
NVIDIA has recently released their latest GeForce 512.15 Game Ready drivers adding optimizations for Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Shadow Warrior 3 in addition to bringing DLAA to three new titles and supporting 11 new G-SYNC Compatible Displays. This Game Ready Driver adds day-0 support for Ghostwire: Tokyo featuring ray-traced reflections and NVIDIA DLSS support for up to a 2x performance boost. The drivers also see the introduction of NVIDIA DLAA support for Chorus, Jurassic World Evolution 2, and No Man's Sky which can improve image quality at native resolution.
The list of G-SYNC Compatible Displays has been extended with the addition of 11 new models from Acer, ASUS, AOC, I-O DATA,MSI, Phillips, and ViewSonic. NVIDIA has also added GeForce Experience's Optimal Settings support to six new games including Elden Ring, Expeditions: Rome, Mortal Online 2, Shadow Warrior 3, Sifu, and Total War: Warhammer III. The complete changelog and driver download link can be found below.
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 512.15 WHQL
The list of G-SYNC Compatible Displays has been extended with the addition of 11 new models from Acer, ASUS, AOC, I-O DATA,MSI, Phillips, and ViewSonic. NVIDIA has also added GeForce Experience's Optimal Settings support to six new games including Elden Ring, Expeditions: Rome, Mortal Online 2, Shadow Warrior 3, Sifu, and Total War: Warhammer III. The complete changelog and driver download link can be found below.
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 512.15 WHQL
Microsoft Also Falls Victim to Hacking Group LAPSUS$
The hacking group LAPSUS$ responsible for the recent NVIDIA and Samsung compromises has now allegedly breached Microsoft systems gaining access to the source code for Bing and Cortana. The group temporarily published a screenshot of what looked to be an internal Microsoft developer account with access to folders labeled "Bing_UX", "Bing-Source", and "Cortana" in addition to various other sections. The group had previously posted a message seeking to recruit employees at Microsoft, Apple, and IBM to get remote access to companies systems. Microsoft has confirmed in a statement to Motherboard that they "are aware of the claims and are investigating".
Update Mar 23rd: The hackers have now published a 9 GB torrent file which includes data from over 250 Microsoft projects including 90% of the source code for Bing, and approximately 45% of the source code for Bing Maps and Cortana according to security researchers speaking with BleepingComputer.
Update Mar 23rd: The hackers have now published a 9 GB torrent file which includes data from over 250 Microsoft projects including 90% of the source code for Bing, and approximately 45% of the source code for Bing Maps and Cortana according to security researchers speaking with BleepingComputer.
NVIDIA Announces Omniverse Cloud Utilizing GeForce NOW
NVIDIA today announced Omniverse Cloud, a suite of cloud services that gives artists, creators, designers and developers instant access to the NVIDIA Omniverse platform for 3D design collaboration and simulation from up to billions of devices. Among Omniverse Cloud's services is Nucleus Cloud, a simple "one-click-to-collaborate" sharing tool that enables artists to access and edit large 3D scenes from anywhere, without having to transfer massive datasets. It also includes Omniverse Create, an app for technical designers, artists and creators to interactively build 3D worlds in real time; and View, an app for non-technical users to view Omniverse scenes streaming full simulation and rendering capabilities using the NVIDIA GeForce NOW platform, powered by NVIDIA RTX GPUs in the cloud.
NVIDIA Announces Spectrum Data Center Networking Platform
NVIDIA today announced NVIDIA Spectrum -4, the next generation of its Ethernet platform which enables the extreme networking performance and robust security needed for data center infrastructure at scale. The world's first 400 Gbps end-to-end networking platform, NVIDIA Spectrum-4 provides 4x higher switching throughput than previous generations, with 51.2 terabits per second. It consists of the NVIDIA Spectrum-4 switch family, NVIDIA ConnectX -7 SmartNIC, NVIDIA BlueField -3 DPU and the DOCA data center infrastructure software to supercharge cloud-native applications at scale.
Built for AI, NVIDIA Spectrum-4 arrives as data centers are growing exponentially and demanding extreme performance, advanced security and powerful features to enable high-performance, advanced virtualization and simulation at scale. The Spectrum-4 Ethernet platform includes key features needed for the uncompromising requirements of these technologies.
Built for AI, NVIDIA Spectrum-4 arrives as data centers are growing exponentially and demanding extreme performance, advanced security and powerful features to enable high-performance, advanced virtualization and simulation at scale. The Spectrum-4 Ethernet platform includes key features needed for the uncompromising requirements of these technologies.
Lenovo Introduces ThinkStation P360 Tower & Tiny Workstations
Lenovo today announced the latest addition to its family of entry-level desktop workstations at the NVIDIA GTC conference - the ThinkStation P360 Tower and Tiny. This duo of workstations represent the next step in the value-oriented offerings of Lenovo's workstation portfolio and are ideal for engineers and designers that work with clock-speed-driven 3D applications as well as AI practitioners and data scientists working on smaller-sized projects and datasets.
Built with the latest high-performance 12th Gen Intel processors and support for up to NVIDIA RTX A5000 graphics, the ThinkStation P360 Tower CPU is up to 58% faster than the previous generation and gives users the power of a workstation at the price of a desktop. The P360 Tower chassis also now comes with an industry leading 92% 750 W power supply, as well as four PCIe Gen 4 slots for faster memory and access to storage technologies, along with robust I/O for peripheral support.
Built with the latest high-performance 12th Gen Intel processors and support for up to NVIDIA RTX A5000 graphics, the ThinkStation P360 Tower CPU is up to 58% faster than the previous generation and gives users the power of a workstation at the price of a desktop. The P360 Tower chassis also now comes with an industry leading 92% 750 W power supply, as well as four PCIe Gen 4 slots for faster memory and access to storage technologies, along with robust I/O for peripheral support.
NVIDIA Launches New Omniverse Game Development Tools
Enriching its game developer ecosystem, NVIDIA today announced the launch of new NVIDIA Omniverse features that make it easier for developers to share assets, sort asset libraries, collaborate and deploy AI to animate characters' facial expressions in a new game development pipeline. With the NVIDIA Omniverse real-time design collaboration and simulation platform, game developers can use AI- and NVIDIA RTX -enabled tools, or easily build custom ones, to streamline, accelerate and enhance their development workflows. New features for game developers include updates to Omniverse Audio2Face, Omniverse Nucleus Cloud and Omniverse DeepSearch, as well as the introduction of Unreal Engine 5 Omniverse Connector.
"Omniverse provides a powerful development pipeline that addresses the challenges of doing business in today's world," said Frank DeLise, vice president of Omniverse at NVIDIA. "Its ability to unify artists, art, tools and applications under a single platform can inspire collaboration among even the most dispersed game development organization."
"Omniverse provides a powerful development pipeline that addresses the challenges of doing business in today's world," said Frank DeLise, vice president of Omniverse at NVIDIA. "Its ability to unify artists, art, tools and applications under a single platform can inspire collaboration among even the most dispersed game development organization."
NVIDIA Opens NVLink for Custom Silicon Integration
Enabling a new generation of system-level integration in data centers, NVIDIA today announced NVIDIA NVLink -C2C, an ultra-fast chip-to-chip and die-to-die interconnect that will allow custom dies to coherently interconnect to the company's GPUs, CPUs, DPUs, NICs and SOCs. With advanced packaging, NVIDIA NVLink-C2C interconnect would deliver up to 25x more energy efficiency and be 90x more area-efficient than PCIe Gen 5 on NVIDIA chips and enable coherent interconnect bandwidth of 900 gigabytes per second or higher.
"Chiplets and heterogeneous computing are necessary to counter the slowing of Moore's law," said Ian Buck, vice president of Hyperscale Computing at NVIDIA. "We've used our world-class expertise in high-speed interconnects to build uniform, open technology that will help our GPUs, DPUs, NICs, CPUs and SoCs create a new class of integrated products built via chiplets."
"Chiplets and heterogeneous computing are necessary to counter the slowing of Moore's law," said Ian Buck, vice president of Hyperscale Computing at NVIDIA. "We've used our world-class expertise in high-speed interconnects to build uniform, open technology that will help our GPUs, DPUs, NICs, CPUs and SoCs create a new class of integrated products built via chiplets."
NVIDIA H100 is a Compute Monster with 80 Billion Transistors, New Compute Units and HBM3 Memory
During the GTC 2022 keynote, NVIDIA announced its newest addition to the accelerator cards family. Called NVIDIA H100 accelerator, it is the company's most powerful creation ever. Utilizing 80 billion of TSMC's 4N 4 nm transistors, H100 can output some insane performance, according to NVIDIA. Featuring a new fourth-generation Tensor Core design, it can deliver a six-fold performance increase compared to A100 Tensor Cores and a two-fold MMA (Matrix Multiply Accumulate) improvement. Additionally, new DPX instructions accelerate Dynamic Programming algorithms up to seven times over the previous A100 accelerator. Thanks to the new Hopper architecture, the Streaming Module structure has been optimized for better transfer of large data blocks.
The full GH100 chip implementation features 144 SMs, and 128 FP32 CUDA cores per SM, resulting in 18,432 CUDA cores at maximum configuration. The NVIDIA H100 GPU with SXM5 board form-factor features 132 SMs, totaling 16,896 CUDA cores, while the PCIe 5.0 add-in card has 114 SMs, totaling 14,592 CUDA cores. As much as 80 GB of HBM3 memory surrounds the GPU at 3 TB/s bandwidth. Interestingly, the SXM5 variant features a very large TDP of 700 Watts, while the PCIe card is limited to 350 Watts. This is the result of better cooling solutions offered for the SXM form-factor. As far as performance figures are concerned, the SXM and PCIe versions provide two distinctive figures for each implementation. You can check out the performance estimates in various precision modes below. You can read more about the Hopper architecture and what makes it special in this whitepaper published by NVIDIA.
The full GH100 chip implementation features 144 SMs, and 128 FP32 CUDA cores per SM, resulting in 18,432 CUDA cores at maximum configuration. The NVIDIA H100 GPU with SXM5 board form-factor features 132 SMs, totaling 16,896 CUDA cores, while the PCIe 5.0 add-in card has 114 SMs, totaling 14,592 CUDA cores. As much as 80 GB of HBM3 memory surrounds the GPU at 3 TB/s bandwidth. Interestingly, the SXM5 variant features a very large TDP of 700 Watts, while the PCIe card is limited to 350 Watts. This is the result of better cooling solutions offered for the SXM form-factor. As far as performance figures are concerned, the SXM and PCIe versions provide two distinctive figures for each implementation. You can check out the performance estimates in various precision modes below. You can read more about the Hopper architecture and what makes it special in this whitepaper published by NVIDIA.
Dynabook Unveils Stylish, Feature-Rich Tecra Laptops with 12th Gen Intel Core vPro Processors
Dynabook Americas, Inc., formerly Toshiba PC Company, today announced that it has refreshed its performance-rich 14-inch Tecra A40-K and 15-inch Tecra A50-K laptops to benefit from new hybrid-architecture 12th Gen Intel Core P-Series 28 W processor options and Windows 11 Pro. "With more than 35 years of experience creating powerful, feature rich laptops for businesses, our engineers take the time to truly understand the computing pain points faced by professionals, as well as what they need and want in their laptops," said James Robbins, general manager, Dynabook Americas, Inc. "While productivity and portability remain top priorities, we've paid extra attention to making our Tecra laptops feel premium while maximizing their performance, durability and available features without compromising price competitiveness."
From the corner office to the local café, the 14-inch Tecra A40-K is a performance-rich laptop for today's work-from-anywhere professionals. Measuring just 18.9 mm thin, this laptop delivers a productivity-maximizing workspace with a vibrant 14-inch narrow-bezel display, webcam with privacy shutter, backlit keyboard, and large ClickPad with optional fingerprint reader. Offering next-level productivity with matching speed, and style, the 15-inch Tecra A50-K from Dynabook makes any place a productive workspace. Designed for the modern hybrid workplace, this laptop features a 19.9 mm thin chassis that houses an expansive 15.6-inch thin-bezel display, full-size backlit keyboard with 10-key, large ClickPad with optional fingerprint reader and webcam with privacy shutter.
From the corner office to the local café, the 14-inch Tecra A40-K is a performance-rich laptop for today's work-from-anywhere professionals. Measuring just 18.9 mm thin, this laptop delivers a productivity-maximizing workspace with a vibrant 14-inch narrow-bezel display, webcam with privacy shutter, backlit keyboard, and large ClickPad with optional fingerprint reader. Offering next-level productivity with matching speed, and style, the 15-inch Tecra A50-K from Dynabook makes any place a productive workspace. Designed for the modern hybrid workplace, this laptop features a 19.9 mm thin chassis that houses an expansive 15.6-inch thin-bezel display, full-size backlit keyboard with 10-key, large ClickPad with optional fingerprint reader and webcam with privacy shutter.
NVIDIA Unveils Grace CPU Superchip with 144 Cores and 1 TB/s Bandwidth
NVIDIA has today announced its Grace CPU Superchip, a monstrous design focused on heavy HPC and AI processing workloads. Previously, team green has teased an in-house developed CPU that is supposed to go into servers and create an entirely new segment for the company. Today, we got a more detailed look at the plan with the Grace CPU Superchip. The Superchip package represents a package of two Grace processors, each containing 72 cores. These cores are based on Arm v9 in structure set architecture iteration and two CPUs total for 144 cores in the Superchip module. These cores are surrounded by a now unknown amount of LPDDR5x with ECC memory, running at 1 TB/s total bandwidth.
NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip uses the NVLink-C2C cache coherent interconnect, which delivers 900 GB/s bandwidth, seven times more than the PCIe 5.0 protocol. The company targets two-fold performance per Watt improvement over today's CPUs and wants to bring efficiency and performance together. We have some preliminary benchmark information provided by NVIDIA. In the SPECrate2017_int_base integer benchmark, the Grace CPU Superchip scores over 740 points, which is just the simulation for now. This means that the performance target is not finalized yet, teasing a higher number in the future. The company expects to ship the Grace CPU Superchip in the first half of 2023, with an already supported ecosystem of software, including NVIDIA RTX, HPC, NVIDIA AI, and NVIDIA Omniverse software stacks and platforms.
NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip uses the NVLink-C2C cache coherent interconnect, which delivers 900 GB/s bandwidth, seven times more than the PCIe 5.0 protocol. The company targets two-fold performance per Watt improvement over today's CPUs and wants to bring efficiency and performance together. We have some preliminary benchmark information provided by NVIDIA. In the SPECrate2017_int_base integer benchmark, the Grace CPU Superchip scores over 740 points, which is just the simulation for now. This means that the performance target is not finalized yet, teasing a higher number in the future. The company expects to ship the Grace CPU Superchip in the first half of 2023, with an already supported ecosystem of software, including NVIDIA RTX, HPC, NVIDIA AI, and NVIDIA Omniverse software stacks and platforms.
NVIDIA Announces Hopper Architecture, the Next Generation of Accelerated Computing
GTC—To power the next wave of AI data centers, NVIDIA today announced its next-generation accelerated computing platform with NVIDIA Hopper architecture, delivering an order of magnitude performance leap over its predecessor. Named for Grace Hopper, a pioneering U.S. computer scientist, the new architecture succeeds the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, launched two years ago.
The company also announced its first Hopper-based GPU, the NVIDIA H100, packed with 80 billion transistors. The world's largest and most powerful accelerator, the H100 has groundbreaking features such as a revolutionary Transformer Engine and a highly scalable NVIDIA NVLink interconnect for advancing gigantic AI language models, deep recommender systems, genomics and complex digital twins.
The company also announced its first Hopper-based GPU, the NVIDIA H100, packed with 80 billion transistors. The world's largest and most powerful accelerator, the H100 has groundbreaking features such as a revolutionary Transformer Engine and a highly scalable NVIDIA NVLink interconnect for advancing gigantic AI language models, deep recommender systems, genomics and complex digital twins.
ASML is the Next Bottle Neck in Chip Manufacturing
There have been several announcements of new semiconductor fabs being built all over the world, but those fabs might end up being empty shells, all because of a single company. ASML or Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography if you prefer, is a Dutch company that produces various types of photolithography machines that are used to produce semiconductors. They're the world leader in their field and their machines are used by the likes of Intel and TSMC to do the physical etching of the silicon wafers that semiconductors are produced from. Now a warning from ASML's CEO, Peter Wennink has arrived, stating that the company can't keep up with demand.
The company isn't expecting to fulfil orders for at least the next couple of years, despite expecting to ship more machines this year than last year and more machines next year than this year. As each of these machines are largely custom made for its customers and hand built, due to the low production volumes, it takes a lot of time to construct each of these huge machines. Wennink said that the company "really needs to step up our capacity significantly more than 50 per cent. That will take time."
The company isn't expecting to fulfil orders for at least the next couple of years, despite expecting to ship more machines this year than last year and more machines next year than this year. As each of these machines are largely custom made for its customers and hand built, due to the low production volumes, it takes a lot of time to construct each of these huge machines. Wennink said that the company "really needs to step up our capacity significantly more than 50 per cent. That will take time."
NVIDIA GTC 2022 Keynote Liveblog: NVIDIA Hopper Architecture Unveil
NVIDIA today kicked off the 2022 Graphics Technology Conference, its annual gathering of compute and gaming developers discovering the very next in AI, data-science, HPC, graphics, autonomous machines, edge computing, and networking. At the 2022 show premiering now, NVIDIA is expected to unveil its next-generation "Hopper" architecture, which could make its debut as an AI/HPC product, much like "Ampere." Stay tuned for our live blog!
15:00 UTC: The show gets underway with a thank-you to the sponsors.
AMD Introduces Instinct MI210 Data Center Accelerator for Exascale-class HPC and AI in a PCIe Form-Factor
AMD today announced a new addition to the Instinct MI200 family of accelerators. Officially titled Instinct MI210 accelerator, AMD tries to bring exascale-class technologies to mainstream HPC and AI customers with this model. Based on CDNA2 compute architecture built for heavy HPC and AI workloads, the card features 104 compute units (CUs), totaling 6656 Streaming Processors (SPs). With a peak engine clock of 1700 MHz, the card can output 181 TeraFLOPs of FP16 half-precision peak compute, 22.6 TeraFLOPs peak FP32 single-precision, and 22.6 TFLOPs peak FP62 double-precision compute. For single-precision matrix (FP32) compute, the card can deliver a peak of 45.3 TFLOPs. The INT4/INT8 precision settings provide 181 TOPs, while MI210 can compute the bfloat16 precision format with 181 TeraFLOPs at peak.
The card uses a 4096-bit memory interface connecting 64 GBs of HMB2e to the compute silicon. The total memory bandwidth is 1638.4 GB/s, while memory modules run at a 1.6 GHz frequency. It is important to note that the ECC is supported on the entire chip. AMD provides an Instinct MI210 accelerator as a PCIe solution, based on a PCIe 4.0 standard. The card is rated for a TDP of 300 Watts and is cooled passively. There are three infinity fabric links enabled, and the maximum bandwidth of the infinity fabric link is 100 GB/s. Pricing is unknown; however, availability is March 22nd, which is the immediate launch date.
AMD places this card directly aiming at NVIDIA A100 80 GB accelerator as far as the targeted segment, with emphasis on half-precision and INT4/INT8 heavy applications.
The card uses a 4096-bit memory interface connecting 64 GBs of HMB2e to the compute silicon. The total memory bandwidth is 1638.4 GB/s, while memory modules run at a 1.6 GHz frequency. It is important to note that the ECC is supported on the entire chip. AMD provides an Instinct MI210 accelerator as a PCIe solution, based on a PCIe 4.0 standard. The card is rated for a TDP of 300 Watts and is cooled passively. There are three infinity fabric links enabled, and the maximum bandwidth of the infinity fabric link is 100 GB/s. Pricing is unknown; however, availability is March 22nd, which is the immediate launch date.
AMD places this card directly aiming at NVIDIA A100 80 GB accelerator as far as the targeted segment, with emphasis on half-precision and INT4/INT8 heavy applications.
Keysfan Spring 2022 Sale: Freshen Up Your IT Setup on the Cheap
Let Keysfan Spring-clean your IT setup this year, with great deals on the latest genuine software, including Windows 11 and Office 2021. Combine the top Windows 11 Pro with Office 2021 Professional for just $46.11. On its own, Windows 11 Pro can be had for as little as $17.71, and a 5-PC pack of Office 2021 can be yours for just $77.90. To save big, there are also various editions of Windows 10, going for as low as $7.59, as well as Office 2016 Professional Plus, which can be yours for $23.56 including Windows 10 Pro. Check out other great deals on various editions of Windows and Office, to save even more.
Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $46.11 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $37.91 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 11 pro at $31.76 | Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $40.99 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $30.74 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $23.56
Please use the coupon code SKF50 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.59 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $12.43 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $17.71 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $16.91 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $8.16 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $13.57
Please use the coupon code SKF62 on the following items.
Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $77.90 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $25.70 | Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $22.97 | Buy Project Professional 2019 at $22.15 | Buy Visio Professional 2019 at $19.37 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Student at $31.15
Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $46.11 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $37.91 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 11 pro at $31.76 | Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $40.99 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $30.74 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $23.56
Please use the coupon code SKF50 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.59 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $12.43 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $17.71 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $16.91 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $8.16 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $13.57
Please use the coupon code SKF62 on the following items.
Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $77.90 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $25.70 | Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $22.97 | Buy Project Professional 2019 at $22.15 | Buy Visio Professional 2019 at $19.37 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Student at $31.15
Thermaltake Announces the Versa T26 and T27 TG ARGB Mid Tower Chassis
Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Case, Cooling, Gaming peripherals and enthusiast memory solutions, discloses the Versa T26 and T27 TG ARGB Mid Tower Chassis, and adding new members to the Versa Series. The new models support motherboards up to E-ATX and comes with three 120 mm preinstalled 5 V ARGB front fans which can sync with RGB motherboard software including ASUS Aura Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync and ASRock Polychrome. By pressing the RGB button, users can also play with 27 preset RGB lighting effects easily.
Designed with the same overall layout, both the Versa T26 and T27 TG ARGB Mid Tower Chassis feature a 4 mm tempered glass side panel but with a different front panel design; The front panel of the Versa T26 is mixed with tempered glass and mesh forming a diagonal arrangement, users can enjoy transparent viewing without compromising on cooling performance; For the Versa T27, the front panel is an airflow-optimized panel with perforated T-shaped intake cutouts, which is designed for massive airflow and at the same time representing the TT brand logo.
Designed with the same overall layout, both the Versa T26 and T27 TG ARGB Mid Tower Chassis feature a 4 mm tempered glass side panel but with a different front panel design; The front panel of the Versa T26 is mixed with tempered glass and mesh forming a diagonal arrangement, users can enjoy transparent viewing without compromising on cooling performance; For the Versa T27, the front panel is an airflow-optimized panel with perforated T-shaped intake cutouts, which is designed for massive airflow and at the same time representing the TT brand logo.
Roccat Announces Scout Air and Syn Buds Air Headphones
Best-selling console gaming headset brand Turtle Beach, and ROCCAT - Turtle Beach Corporation's (NASDAQ: HEAR) award-winning PC peripherals brand, today announced the global retail availability of the all-new Scout Air and SYN Buds Air true wireless gaming earbuds. Perfect for gamers on-the-go, the Turtle Beach Scout Air and ROCCAT SYN Buds Air true wireless earbuds are compatible with iOS, Android, and other Bluetooth -enabled devices like Nintendo Switch, Windows PCs, and Mac. For mobile gaming, the Scout Air and SYN Buds Air feature a 60 ms low-latency Game Mode to ensure critical in-battle audio recognition. Dual mics pick up voice chat clearly, and 20 hours of battery life keep the buds powered-up while on the move. The Scout Air and SYN Buds Air are IPX4-rated for sweat and water-resistance for working-out between gaming sessions, and the included multiple ear tip options ensure a comfortable fit.
Customizable touch-enabled controls, easy selection of EQ presets, low-latency Game Mode activation, and battery monitoring are available via Turtle Beach's Audio Hub app for the Scout Air, and via ROCCAT's SYN Buds Air app. Turtle Beach's Scout Air and ROCCAT's SYN Buds Air true wireless earbuds are available today at Turtle Beach and Roccat websites, as well as at participating retailers globally for a $99.99 MSRP.
Customizable touch-enabled controls, easy selection of EQ presets, low-latency Game Mode activation, and battery monitoring are available via Turtle Beach's Audio Hub app for the Scout Air, and via ROCCAT's SYN Buds Air app. Turtle Beach's Scout Air and ROCCAT's SYN Buds Air true wireless earbuds are available today at Turtle Beach and Roccat websites, as well as at participating retailers globally for a $99.99 MSRP.
AGON by AOC's Acclaimed G2 Monitor Models Now in 165 Hz
AGON by AOC - one of the world's leading gaming monitor and IT accessories brands - announces that its highly appraised G2 series is now expanded by new models with faster IPS panels. AGON by AOC launches four different models with or without height-adjustable stands and USB hubs, all offering a new upped refresh rate of 165 Hz: the 24G2SPU, 27G2SPU, 24G2SPAE and the 27G2SPAE.
The AGON by AOC portfolio offers a wide variety of options for different kinds of gamers. Casual gamers are best served with the flat IPS panels or curved VA panels from the G2 series, and the more aggressive 1000R curvature of the G3 series. Monitors such as the 24" (60.5 cm) 24G2U and its 27" (68.6 cm) sibling 27G2U are two of the best-selling gaming monitors on the market thanks to the exceptional value and high performance these models offer to ambitious and adventurous gamers. Both have been critically acclaimed and have received numerous awards such as "Best gaming monitor" by many reviewers worldwide.
The AGON by AOC portfolio offers a wide variety of options for different kinds of gamers. Casual gamers are best served with the flat IPS panels or curved VA panels from the G2 series, and the more aggressive 1000R curvature of the G3 series. Monitors such as the 24" (60.5 cm) 24G2U and its 27" (68.6 cm) sibling 27G2U are two of the best-selling gaming monitors on the market thanks to the exceptional value and high performance these models offer to ambitious and adventurous gamers. Both have been critically acclaimed and have received numerous awards such as "Best gaming monitor" by many reviewers worldwide.
Arctic Announces Pressure-Optimized Server Fans and MX Cleaner
ARCTIC, a leading manufacturer of low-noise PC coolers and components, is excited to announce the launch of three new products: the S4028-6K and S4028-15K 40 mm server fans and MX Cleaner wipes for the easy removal of thermal paste. With the release of its new S4028-6K and S4028-15K server fans, ARCTIC brings its cooling expertise to the server market. ARCTIC's products are well known for their performance, efficiency and long service life, and these fans are no exception.
While the 40 mm fans are ideal for 1U servers and as replacement fans for network and storage devices (routers, switches, NAS, etc.), their compact dimensions also make them suitable for use in Mini PCs, 3D printers and other small devices. Each fan has a particularly wide speed range that can be controlled via either PWM or voltage. With a maximum RPM of 15000 and a low installation depth of 28 mm, the S4028-15K is one of the strongest 12 V 40 mm server fans available. The S4028-6K, with its 6000 max RPM, provides a great balance between cooling performance and moderate noise.
While the 40 mm fans are ideal for 1U servers and as replacement fans for network and storage devices (routers, switches, NAS, etc.), their compact dimensions also make them suitable for use in Mini PCs, 3D printers and other small devices. Each fan has a particularly wide speed range that can be controlled via either PWM or voltage. With a maximum RPM of 15000 and a low installation depth of 28 mm, the S4028-15K is one of the strongest 12 V 40 mm server fans available. The S4028-6K, with its 6000 max RPM, provides a great balance between cooling performance and moderate noise.
KIOXIA Introduces 2nd Generation SSDs for Enterprise and Hyperscale Data Centers Designed with PCIe 5.0 Technology
KIOXIA America, Inc., today announced that it is sampling its 2nd generation PCIe 5.0 SSD for enterprise and data center customers. After being the first vendor to offer a drive using the PCIe 5.0 interface, KIOXIA has now introduced the new CD8 Series data center NVMe SSD family. CD8 SSDs double the bandwidth per lane over PCIe 4.0 SSDs from 16 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) to 32GT/s and are optimized for hyperscale data center and enterprise server-attached workloads.
"Today, PCIe 4.0 SSDs are considered at the forefront in terms of delivering the highest levels of drive performance," commented Greg Wong, founder and principal analyst, Forward Insights. "Next generation PCIe 5.0 SSDs provide twice the level of performance, and will continue to propel the PCIe/NVMe SSD market - which is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 20% out to 2026."
"Today, PCIe 4.0 SSDs are considered at the forefront in terms of delivering the highest levels of drive performance," commented Greg Wong, founder and principal analyst, Forward Insights. "Next generation PCIe 5.0 SSDs provide twice the level of performance, and will continue to propel the PCIe/NVMe SSD market - which is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 20% out to 2026."
Team Group Launches Efficient D700 Industrial Memory Cards for Smart City Applications
With the rapid development of smart cities around the world, urban security monitoring systems can strengthen public safety in urban areas through real-time surveillance, traffic management, facial recognition, and other functions. As a world's leading brand in memory products, TEAMGROUP is launching a highly efficient and durable high-end D700 series industrial memory card as a solution for security surveillance systems, targeting the demands for durable storage and fast write-in speed.
The TEAMGROUP high-end D700 series industrial memory card uses industrial grade MLC NAND Flash for its superior stability, reliability and sequential read/write speeds. The latest industrial memory card can reach read/write speeds of 90/70 MB/s and supports 4K videos and Video Speed Class 30 (V30) standards to ensure clear image and high-speed transmissions, qualities that are integral to surveillance systems. D700 Series can also be applied to powerful smart systems that processes and stores large amounts of data to strengthen surveillance capabilities.
The TEAMGROUP high-end D700 series industrial memory card uses industrial grade MLC NAND Flash for its superior stability, reliability and sequential read/write speeds. The latest industrial memory card can reach read/write speeds of 90/70 MB/s and supports 4K videos and Video Speed Class 30 (V30) standards to ensure clear image and high-speed transmissions, qualities that are integral to surveillance systems. D700 Series can also be applied to powerful smart systems that processes and stores large amounts of data to strengthen surveillance capabilities.
BIOSTAR Announces Support for Latest Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 4000 Desktop Processors
BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, announces product support for the latest AMD Ryzen 5000/ 4000 series processors. With the announcement of AMD's latest Ryzen 5000/ 4000 series processors, the industry is abuzz with the search for viable motherboards that support these latest chips. AMD's latest processors, engineered on their groundbreaking ZEN 2 and ZEN 3 architectures, are built to perform, catering to a wide range of use cases.
BIOSTAR proudly presents the first batch of motherboards ready to support the latest AMD Ryzen 5000/4000 series processors. Addressing the high demand of the mid-range market first, BIOSTAR launches a comprehensive BIOS update for the B550, A520, B450, and A320 motherboards, that makes them compatible with the latest AMD Ryzen 5000/ 4000 series processors.
BIOSTAR proudly presents the first batch of motherboards ready to support the latest AMD Ryzen 5000/4000 series processors. Addressing the high demand of the mid-range market first, BIOSTAR launches a comprehensive BIOS update for the B550, A520, B450, and A320 motherboards, that makes them compatible with the latest AMD Ryzen 5000/ 4000 series processors.
FSP Announces Power Supplies Compliant with Intel PSDG ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0
FSP Group, the leading manufacturer of high-performance power supplies today, announces product compliance with INTEL PSDG ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 for the ultimate performance enhancement.
The retail models of FSP's consumer-based power supply range are getting a major overhaul with the addition of INTEL Power design guide ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 specification compliance, packing more power and stability that is tailor-made for high demand systems. Traditional power supplies need three 8-pin to 16-pin adapters to support the latest PCIe Gen 5.0 graphics cards. FSP looks to address this drawback with their latest iteration of PSUs, unlocking seamless integration with all the latest hardware in the market.
The retail models of FSP's consumer-based power supply range are getting a major overhaul with the addition of INTEL Power design guide ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5.0 specification compliance, packing more power and stability that is tailor-made for high demand systems. Traditional power supplies need three 8-pin to 16-pin adapters to support the latest PCIe Gen 5.0 graphics cards. FSP looks to address this drawback with their latest iteration of PSUs, unlocking seamless integration with all the latest hardware in the market.
First Pictures of NVIDIA "Hopper" H100 Compute Processor Surface
Here's the first picture of an NVIDIA H100 "Hopper" compute processor, which succeeds the two-year old "Ampere" A100. The "Hopper" compute architecture doubles down on the strengths of "Ampere," in having the most advanced AI deep-learning compute machinery, FP64 math capability, and lots more. Built on the TSMC N5 (5 nm) node, the "GH100" processor more than doubles the transistor-count over the A100, which is expected to be around 140 billion.
Unlike the A100, the H100 will come with graphics rendering capability, The GH100 is one of the first NVIDIA chips to feature two different kinds of GPCs. Of the six GPCs has NVIDIA's graphics-relevant SMs, whereas the other GPCs have compute-relevant SMs. The graphics SM will have components such as RT cores, and other raster machinery; while the compute SMs will have specialized tensor cores and FP64 SIMD units. Counting the graphics SM, there are a total of 144 SMs on the silicon. Memory is care of what could be a 6144-bit HBM3 interface. NVIDIA will build various products based on the "GH100," including SXM cards, DGX Stations, SuperPods, and even PCIe add-in cards (AICs). NVIDIA is expected to unveil the H100 later today.
Unlike the A100, the H100 will come with graphics rendering capability, The GH100 is one of the first NVIDIA chips to feature two different kinds of GPCs. Of the six GPCs has NVIDIA's graphics-relevant SMs, whereas the other GPCs have compute-relevant SMs. The graphics SM will have components such as RT cores, and other raster machinery; while the compute SMs will have specialized tensor cores and FP64 SIMD units. Counting the graphics SM, there are a total of 144 SMs on the silicon. Memory is care of what could be a 6144-bit HBM3 interface. NVIDIA will build various products based on the "GH100," including SXM cards, DGX Stations, SuperPods, and even PCIe add-in cards (AICs). NVIDIA is expected to unveil the H100 later today.
Monday, March 21st 2022
Today's Reviews
CPU Coolers
Headphones
Keyboards
Monitors
Mouse
Speakers
Storage
Quick Look: Desklab 4K Touchscreen Portable Monitor
Desklab sells one core product: the Desklab 4K Touchscreen Portable Monitor. This USB-C and mini-HDMI equipped external monitor offers a whooping 4K resolution at 15.6" with an all-glass front and built-in speakers.
SeeAudio X Crinacle Yume Midnight IEMs Review
SeeAudio has paired up with noted IEM reviewer Crinacle to release an improved version of its well-regarded Yume IEMs. The new Yume Midnight gets a bass boost and extended treble on top of a reworked acoustic chamber for enhanced technicalities, as well as updated accessories.
Acer Swift X Laptop with Intel Arc A370M Graphics Available to Preorder
We recently reported on the unnamed discrete Intel Arc Alchemist GPU found in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro. That listing has now been removed but Finnish retailer Proshop has posted two models of the upcoming Acer Swift X laptop featuring Intel Arc A370M graphics cards. The listings include a Core i5-1240P and Core i7-1260P model each featuring 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory and an Intel Arc A370M GPU available to pre-order for 1299 EUR and 1549 EUR respectively.
The Intel Arc A370M is based on the DG2-128EU GPU and is expected to feature 4 GB of VRAM on a 64-bit memory bus. The Intel Arc Alchemist discrete mobile graphics cards will be officially unveiled by Intel on March 30th with claims of a 2x performance improvement from the integrated 96EU Iris-XE GPU found in the Core i7-12700H. The Acer Swift X laptops are listed by Proshop as not being available until May 25th almost 2 months after the official announcement.
The Intel Arc A370M is based on the DG2-128EU GPU and is expected to feature 4 GB of VRAM on a 64-bit memory bus. The Intel Arc Alchemist discrete mobile graphics cards will be officially unveiled by Intel on March 30th with claims of a 2x performance improvement from the integrated 96EU Iris-XE GPU found in the Core i7-12700H. The Acer Swift X laptops are listed by Proshop as not being available until May 25th almost 2 months after the official announcement.
Qualcomm & Square Enix Announce Collaboration On Mixed Reality Gaming
Qualcomm and Square Enix announced a collaboration to explore extended reality (XR) experiences for Square Enix's global network of leading development studios and intellectual property. The Advanced Technology Division (ATD) at Square Enix, will work on the Snapdragon Spaces XR Developer Platform and the two companies will collaborate on new paths to push the boundaries of immersive gaming experiences.
"Square Enix has always been committed to state-of-the-art game technology to push storytelling boundaries, delivering unforgettable experiences for our fans" said Ben Taylor, Technical Director, Square Enix Co., Ltd. "We have been investing in XR and look forward to building on Snapdragon Spaces. In particular, we think the time is right with XR to innovate on games of a classic genre we are especially known for and look forward to sharing them with the world to further our mission to help spread happiness across the globe."
"Square Enix has always been committed to state-of-the-art game technology to push storytelling boundaries, delivering unforgettable experiences for our fans" said Ben Taylor, Technical Director, Square Enix Co., Ltd. "We have been investing in XR and look forward to building on Snapdragon Spaces. In particular, we think the time is right with XR to innovate on games of a classic genre we are especially known for and look forward to sharing them with the world to further our mission to help spread happiness across the globe."
Qualcomm Launches $100M Snapdragon Metaverse Fund
Qualcomm today announced the launch of the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, established to invest up to $100 million in developers and companies building unique, immersive XR experiences, as well as associated core augmented reality (AR) and related artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The fund plans to deploy capital through a combination of venture investments in leading XR companies by Qualcomm Ventures and a grant program by Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. for developer ecosystem funding in XR experiences such as gaming, health and wellness, media, entertainment, education, and enterprise.
"We deliver the groundbreaking platform technology and experiences that will enable both the consumer and the enterprise to build and engage in the metaverse and allow the physical and digital worlds to be connected. Qualcomm is the ticket to the metaverse," said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. "Through the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, we look forward to empowering developers and companies of all sizes as they push boundaries of what's possible as we enter into this new generation of spatial computing."
"We deliver the groundbreaking platform technology and experiences that will enable both the consumer and the enterprise to build and engage in the metaverse and allow the physical and digital worlds to be connected. Qualcomm is the ticket to the metaverse," said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. "Through the Snapdragon Metaverse Fund, we look forward to empowering developers and companies of all sizes as they push boundaries of what's possible as we enter into this new generation of spatial computing."
SilentiumPC Announces Four New Spartan 5 Series CPU Coolers
SilentiumPC, the European manufacturer of CPU coolers, power supplies, and PC cases, announces the newest version of its Spartan line of CPU coolers. This includes the Spartan 5 standard, the Spartan 5 MAX, and the Spartan 5 ARGB and MAX ARGB. This new lineup of CPU cooling systems was developed in cooperation with Synergy Cooling, and directly competes with more expensive mid-range coolers. The streamlined heatsink design and base, which consists of heatpipes in direct contact with the processor, is able to effectively cool even the latest processors, while maintaining low noise levels and an affordable price.
The Spartan 5 family uses a specially designed, heatsink-integrated version of the award-winning 120 mm Fluctus fan, ensuring both quiet operation and psychoacoustic optimization throughout the entire setup. It was designed primarily for system integrators and users looking for efficient and inexpensive cooling. Thanks to its uniform structure, it is not only extremely easy to install, but also much more resistant to mechanical damage that may occur during transport.
The Spartan 5 family uses a specially designed, heatsink-integrated version of the award-winning 120 mm Fluctus fan, ensuring both quiet operation and psychoacoustic optimization throughout the entire setup. It was designed primarily for system integrators and users looking for efficient and inexpensive cooling. Thanks to its uniform structure, it is not only extremely easy to install, but also much more resistant to mechanical damage that may occur during transport.
CD PROJEKT RED Prepares a new Witcher Game with Unreal Engine 5
CD PROJEKT RED today revealed that the next installment in The Witcher series of video games is currently in development with Unreal Engine 5, kicking off a new saga for the franchise and a new technology partnership with Epic Games.
Today's announcement marks the first official confirmation of a new game in The Witcher series since the release of CD PROJEKT RED's previous single-player, AAA RPG in the franchise—The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt—which won a total of 250 Game of the Year awards and was later expanded upon with the Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine add-ons.
Today's announcement marks the first official confirmation of a new game in The Witcher series since the release of CD PROJEKT RED's previous single-player, AAA RPG in the franchise—The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt—which won a total of 250 Game of the Year awards and was later expanded upon with the Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine add-ons.
IonQ Aria, Newest Quantum Computer, Coming to Microsoft's Azure Quantum Platform
IonQ, a leader in quantum computing, today announced that it had signed an agreement with Microsoft to bring IonQ Aria to the Azure Quantum platform. The partnership will add IonQ Aria, the company's latest quantum system, to the cloud platform which already features IonQ's prior generation of systems among the lineup of available hardware. IonQ Aria is IonQ's most advanced commercially available quantum computer. Featuring 20 Algorithmic Qubits (#AQ), it is also the industry's most powerful quantum computer based on standard application-oriented industry benchmarks. Through this partnership, anyone with an internet connection will be able to harness IonQ Aria's abilities, furthering the democratization of quantum computing.
"We're excited to bring IonQ Aria's leading capabilities to more customers through Microsoft Azure and our Expanded Beta program," said IonQ President and CEO Peter Chapman. "We believe the future of quantum computing relies on getting the power of today's systems into the hands of as many people as possible, and building on our existing partnership with Microsoft is an important step along that path."
"We're excited to bring IonQ Aria's leading capabilities to more customers through Microsoft Azure and our Expanded Beta program," said IonQ President and CEO Peter Chapman. "We believe the future of quantum computing relies on getting the power of today's systems into the hands of as many people as possible, and building on our existing partnership with Microsoft is an important step along that path."
Genesis Announces Thor 303 RGB and TKL Keyboards
The Genesis Thor 303 RGB is the successor of the popular Thor 300 model. Available in two versions, Full and TKL, it provides users with the ability to exchange switches as well as RGB PRISMO illumination. The keys are finished with a special technique, so this unit will serve gamers for years to come.
The Genesis Thor 303 features a simple, aesthetic design. The model is based on a durable, aluminium frame, which includes exchangeable Outemu Blue switches. They are characterized by high durability of up to 50 million clicks. The switches' reaction time is 8 milliseconds, while the actuation force is equal to 55 g.
The Thor 303 RGB keys are topped with special caps, which thanks to the employed Double Injection technology withstand abrasion even after years of work. The unit also incudes the N-key rollover and hot swap functions, so that users can change the keys in the keyboard by themselves. The manufacturer has also included the RGB LED illumination with PRISMO effect - users can select from among 25 lighting modes. They can choose a proper mode in the included software, which can also be used to create macros and save user profiles. The Thor 303 RGB is also equipped with 11 multimedia keys.
The Genesis Thor 303 features a simple, aesthetic design. The model is based on a durable, aluminium frame, which includes exchangeable Outemu Blue switches. They are characterized by high durability of up to 50 million clicks. The switches' reaction time is 8 milliseconds, while the actuation force is equal to 55 g.
The Thor 303 RGB keys are topped with special caps, which thanks to the employed Double Injection technology withstand abrasion even after years of work. The unit also incudes the N-key rollover and hot swap functions, so that users can change the keys in the keyboard by themselves. The manufacturer has also included the RGB LED illumination with PRISMO effect - users can select from among 25 lighting modes. They can choose a proper mode in the included software, which can also be used to create macros and save user profiles. The Thor 303 RGB is also equipped with 11 multimedia keys.
TYAN Drives Innovation in the Data Center with 3rd Gen AMD EPYC Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache Technology
TYAN, an industry-leading server platform design manufacturer and a MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation subsidiary, today announced availability of high-performance server platforms supporting new 3rd Gen AMD EPYC Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology for the modern data center. "The modern data center requires a powerful foundation to balance compute, storage, memory and IO that can efficiently manage growing volumes in the digital transformation trend," said Danny Hsu, Vice President of MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation's Server Infrastructure Business Unit. "TYAN's industry-leading server platforms powered by 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology give our customers better energy efficiency and increased performance for a current and future of highly complex workloads."
"3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology continue to drive a new standard for the modern data center with breakthrough performance for technical computing workloads due to 768 MB of L3 cache, enabling faster time-to-results on targeted workloads. Fully socket compatible with our 3rd Gen AMD EPYC platforms, customers can adopt these processors to transform their data center operations to achieve faster product development along with exceptional energy savings," said Ram Peddibhotla, corporate vice president, EPYC product management, AMD.
"3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology continue to drive a new standard for the modern data center with breakthrough performance for technical computing workloads due to 768 MB of L3 cache, enabling faster time-to-results on targeted workloads. Fully socket compatible with our 3rd Gen AMD EPYC platforms, customers can adopt these processors to transform their data center operations to achieve faster product development along with exceptional energy savings," said Ram Peddibhotla, corporate vice president, EPYC product management, AMD.
Supermicro's SuperBlade, Twin and Ultra Server Families Powered by 3rd Gen AMD EPYC Processors with 3D V-Cache Technology
Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a global leader in high-performance computing, storage, networking solutions, and green computing technology, announces breakthrough performance with the 3rd Gen AMD EPYC Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache Technology in Supermicro advanced servers. The high density, performance-optimized, and environmentally friendly SuperBlade and multi-node optimized TwinPro and the dual-processor optimized Ultra systems will show significant performance improvement when using the new AMD EPYC 7003 Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache for technical computing applications.
"Supermicro servers, leveraging new AMD CPUs, will deliver the increased performance gains our manufacturing customers are looking for to run higher-resolution simulations to design better and more optimized products using the latest CAE applications," said Vik Malyala, President, EMEA, senior vice president, WW FAE, solutions and business. "Our high-performance server platforms will solve more complex problems for engineers and researchers with the new 3rd Gen AMD EPYC Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache."
"Supermicro servers, leveraging new AMD CPUs, will deliver the increased performance gains our manufacturing customers are looking for to run higher-resolution simulations to design better and more optimized products using the latest CAE applications," said Vik Malyala, President, EMEA, senior vice president, WW FAE, solutions and business. "Our high-performance server platforms will solve more complex problems for engineers and researchers with the new 3rd Gen AMD EPYC Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache."
AMD Announces 3rd Gen EPYC 7003 Processors with 3D Vertical Cache Technology, $4,000 to $8,000
AMD announced the general availability of the world's first data center CPU using 3D die stacking, the 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology, formerly codenamed "Milan-X." Built on the "Zen 3" core architecture, these processors expand the 3rd Gen EPYC CPU family and can deliver up to 66 percent performance uplift across a variety of targeted technical computing workloads versus comparable, non-stacked 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors.
These new processors feature the industry's largest L3 cache delivering the same socket, software compatibility and modern security features as 3rd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs while providing outstanding performance for technical computing workloads such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), electronic design automation (EDA) and structural analysis. These workloads are critical design tools for companies that must model the complexities of the physical world to create simulations that test and validate engineering designs for some of the world's most innovate products.
These new processors feature the industry's largest L3 cache delivering the same socket, software compatibility and modern security features as 3rd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs while providing outstanding performance for technical computing workloads such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), finite element analysis (FEA), electronic design automation (EDA) and structural analysis. These workloads are critical design tools for companies that must model the complexities of the physical world to create simulations that test and validate engineering designs for some of the world's most innovate products.
Supermicro Breakthrough Universal GPU System - Supports All Major CPU, GPU, and Fabric Architectures
Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI), a global leader in enterprise computing, storage, networking solutions, and green computing technology, has announced a revolutionary technology that simplifies large scale GPU deployments and is a future proof design that supports yet to be announced technologies. The Universal GPU server provides the ultimate flexibility in a resource-saving server.
The Universal GPU system architecture combines the latest technologies supporting multiple GPU form factors, CPU choices, storage, and networking options optimized together to deliver uniquely-configured and highly scalable systems. Systems can be optimized for each customer's specific Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and High-Performance Computing (HPC) applications. Organizations worldwide are demanding new options for their next generation of computing environments, which have the thermal headroom for the next generation of CPUs and GPUs.
The Universal GPU system architecture combines the latest technologies supporting multiple GPU form factors, CPU choices, storage, and networking options optimized together to deliver uniquely-configured and highly scalable systems. Systems can be optimized for each customer's specific Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and High-Performance Computing (HPC) applications. Organizations worldwide are demanding new options for their next generation of computing environments, which have the thermal headroom for the next generation of CPUs and GPUs.
Scythe Releases Mugen 5 Rev C Tower-type CPU Cooler
Scythe release s today an another revision of Mugen 5, the Mugen 5 Rev.C. Based on the classic Mugen 5 heatsink design with its most iconic metal caps top cover, the Mugen 5 Rev.C is upgraded with a new Kaze Flex II 120 mm PWM fan. The new fan increases the airflow by speeding up to 1500 RPM and the rubber frame design improves noise reduction. For many Intel 12 th Gen CPU users, the concern about the additional purchase of the LGA 1700 mounting kit can now rest assured. The Scythe H.P.M.S. IV mounting System now offers full Intel LGA1700 support.
The Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.C CPU cooler is now available in the US, Japan, Taiwan markets. For European Market, the Mugen 5 Rev.C will be available in April 2022 due to a shipping delay.
The Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.C CPU cooler is now available in the US, Japan, Taiwan markets. For European Market, the Mugen 5 Rev.C will be available in April 2022 due to a shipping delay.
Several Older Asus Routers at Risk of Being Infected by Cyclops Blink Worm
If you own an Asus 802.11ac/WiFi 5 router, you might want to make sure your firmware is up-to-date, as several models are at risk of being infected by a Russian botnet malware. The group behind the worm, which goes under the name of Cyclops Blink, is Sandworm APT, the same group that created the VPNFilter botnet a few years ago. Cyclops Blink was detected by Trend Micro and although it seems it doesn't cause any direct harm to the network behind the router it infects at this point in time, it is a persistent malware and is believed to be a first of its kind. Unlike most malware that attack routers, the Cyclops Blink worm can save itself to the flash memory in the router, so even a factory reset won't wipe it off.
That said, a firmware flash will remove it and according to a security bulletin from Asus, the company advises all of its customers to install the latest firmware. On top of this, Asus also recommends to turn off remote management, if enabled and to change the admin login credentials and make sure to use a complex password. However, the company doesn't have an update that is guaranteed to prevent the malware from infecting their products, since at this point in time, it's unclear how the Cyclops Blink worm infects routers. Prior to the Asus routers listed below getting attacked, the malware was mainly going after WatchGuard Firebox devices, which are generally only used by businesses. Based on the information provided by Trend Micro, it looks like Asus is unlikely to be the only brand of routers that will be targeted by the malware, so even if you don't own an Asus router, it would be a good idea to make sure your firmware is up to date. Another option would be to install a third party firmware, although the Merlin firmwares for Asus are also likely to be affected, based on comments by the authour of the firmware over on the Small Net Builder forums.
That said, a firmware flash will remove it and according to a security bulletin from Asus, the company advises all of its customers to install the latest firmware. On top of this, Asus also recommends to turn off remote management, if enabled and to change the admin login credentials and make sure to use a complex password. However, the company doesn't have an update that is guaranteed to prevent the malware from infecting their products, since at this point in time, it's unclear how the Cyclops Blink worm infects routers. Prior to the Asus routers listed below getting attacked, the malware was mainly going after WatchGuard Firebox devices, which are generally only used by businesses. Based on the information provided by Trend Micro, it looks like Asus is unlikely to be the only brand of routers that will be targeted by the malware, so even if you don't own an Asus router, it would be a good idea to make sure your firmware is up to date. Another option would be to install a third party firmware, although the Merlin firmwares for Asus are also likely to be affected, based on comments by the authour of the firmware over on the Small Net Builder forums.
Sunday, March 20th 2022
Apple Mac Studio Taken Apart, Reveals Giant M1 Ultra SoC
Max Tech performed the first detailed teardown of the Apple Mac Studio, the most powerful Mac since Apple dumped Intel for processors in favor of its own silicon based around high-performance Arm chips built from the ground-up for its own software ecosystem. The M1 Ultra SoC powering the Mac Studio is its most striking piece of technology, with Apple attaching some very tall performance claims not just for its CPU compute performance, but also graphics rendering performance.
The M1 Ultra SoC is physically huge, with roughly similar package size to an AMD EPYC processor in the SP3 package. An integrated heatspreader (IHS) covers almost the entire topside of the package. Things get interesting under the hood. The M1 Ultra is a multi-chip module of two M1 Max dies connected on package using Apple UltraFusion, a coherent fabric interconnect that allows the various components of the two M1 Max dies to access memory controlled by the other die. Speaking of memory, The M1 Ultra features up to 128 GB of LPDDR5 memory that's on-package, This memory is used for the CPU, GPU, as well as the neural processor, and has a combined memory bandwidth of 800 GB/s. The M1 Ultra features up to 20 CPU cores, up to 32 Neural cores, and up to 64 GPU cores (8,192 programmable shaders).
The M1 Ultra SoC is physically huge, with roughly similar package size to an AMD EPYC processor in the SP3 package. An integrated heatspreader (IHS) covers almost the entire topside of the package. Things get interesting under the hood. The M1 Ultra is a multi-chip module of two M1 Max dies connected on package using Apple UltraFusion, a coherent fabric interconnect that allows the various components of the two M1 Max dies to access memory controlled by the other die. Speaking of memory, The M1 Ultra features up to 128 GB of LPDDR5 memory that's on-package, This memory is used for the CPU, GPU, as well as the neural processor, and has a combined memory bandwidth of 800 GB/s. The M1 Ultra features up to 20 CPU cores, up to 32 Neural cores, and up to 64 GPU cores (8,192 programmable shaders).
Genesis Announces the Zircon X Gaming Mouse
Genesis Zircon X is a flagship device for the most demanding players. The ultra-light, illuminated mouse offers wired and wireless communication with low latency, a 19,000 DPI sensor, as well as switches with durability up to 80 milion clicks. The manufacturer launched 1000 numbered models of the birthday edition. The Genesis Zircon X gaming mouse is the crowning of the 10 years of the brand. This is why the company launched 1000 models with unique certificates with a limited serial number. The model is distinguished by top parameters. The 72 g unit has both wired and wireless (2.4 GHz) communication with low latency. Without using the "tail" the mouse can work up to 80 hours, offering the same, identical performance for both methods.
The Genesis Zircon X is armed with a PixArt PMW3370 sensor with 19,000 DPI, which reports the location each millisecond. According to the manufacturer the mouse handles acceleration up to 50G and is able to track movement with a speed of 400 inches per second. The sensor sensitivity, just as in the case of LOD, can be modified and lowered down to 50 DPI. With the use of the software provided by the manufacturer users can, among other options, program each of six buttons and record macros.
The Genesis Zircon X is armed with a PixArt PMW3370 sensor with 19,000 DPI, which reports the location each millisecond. According to the manufacturer the mouse handles acceleration up to 50G and is able to track movement with a speed of 400 inches per second. The sensor sensitivity, just as in the case of LOD, can be modified and lowered down to 50 DPI. With the use of the software provided by the manufacturer users can, among other options, program each of six buttons and record macros.
Friday, March 18th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
Headphones
Keyboards
Motherboards
Processors
SSD
be quiet! Pure Power 11 FM 1000 W Review
The be quiet! Pure Power 11 FM 1000 W costs less than the Corsair RM1000x and EVGA 1000 G5, which makes it a good price/performance pick. This is the best platform I have seen from HEC, but is it good enough to meet the competition eye-to-eye?
Aruba Instant On AP22 Wireless Router Review
The Aruba Instant On AP22 is a WiFi 6 compatible entry-level wireless router with decent speeds and lots of capabilities thanks to its cloud management software. This router is suitable for inexperienced users who need a capable wireless router for their home or small business environment.
Google Uses Artificial Intelligence to Develop Faster and Smaller Hardware Accelerators
Designing Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning hardware accelerators takes effort from hardware engineers in conjunction with scientists working in the AI/ML area itself. A few years ago, we started seeing AI incorporated into parts of electronic design automation (EDA) software tools, helping chip designers speed up the process of creating hardware. What we were "used to" seeing AI do are just a couple of things like placement and routing. And having that automated is a huge deal. However, it looks like the power of AI for chip design is not going to stop there. Researchers at Google and UC Berkeley have made a research project that helps AI design and develop AI-tailored accelerators smaller and faster than anything humans made.
In the published paper, researchers present PRIME - a framework that created AI processors based on a database of blueprints. The PRIME framework feeds off an offline database containing accelerator designs and their corresponding performance metrics (e.g., latency, power, etc.) to design next-generation hardware accelerators. According to Google, PRIME can do so without further hardware simulation and has processors ready for use. As per the paper, PRIME improves performance upon state-of-the-art simulation-driven methods by as much as 1.2x-1.5x. It also reduces the required total simulation time by 93% and 99%, respectively. The framework is also capable of architecting accelerators for unseen applications.
In the published paper, researchers present PRIME - a framework that created AI processors based on a database of blueprints. The PRIME framework feeds off an offline database containing accelerator designs and their corresponding performance metrics (e.g., latency, power, etc.) to design next-generation hardware accelerators. According to Google, PRIME can do so without further hardware simulation and has processors ready for use. As per the paper, PRIME improves performance upon state-of-the-art simulation-driven methods by as much as 1.2x-1.5x. It also reduces the required total simulation time by 93% and 99%, respectively. The framework is also capable of architecting accelerators for unseen applications.
New Monolith M1000ANC Headphones From Monoprice Immerse Listeners in an Expansive Soundstage Powered by Dirac Virtuo
Monoprice, the best kept secret in consumer electronics, today announced the Monolith M1000ANC premium wireless headphones. With a stylish modern design, premium build and sound quality, a bevy of high-end features and up to 60 hours playtime per charge, these headphones hit all the right notes for a low price of $129.99.
"Our Monolith headphones have an excellent reputation for superb performance at unbeatable prices. These headphones are no exception," said Hobie Sechrest, Monolith Business Unit Manager, Monoprice. "As with all Monolith products, the M1000ANC headphones were engineered for excellent sound quality. Not only did we achieve that, but we also further expanded their capabilities by teaming up with Dirac to deliver an immersive and high-quality soundscape."
"Our Monolith headphones have an excellent reputation for superb performance at unbeatable prices. These headphones are no exception," said Hobie Sechrest, Monolith Business Unit Manager, Monoprice. "As with all Monolith products, the M1000ANC headphones were engineered for excellent sound quality. Not only did we achieve that, but we also further expanded their capabilities by teaming up with Dirac to deliver an immersive and high-quality soundscape."
Failed $38,000 GPU Heist in Russia Leads to Arrests
Following the international sanctions levied at the Russian state as a result of its invasion of Ukraine, AMD, Intel and NVIDIA announced they'd be pulling all of their products from the country. That decision has led to quickly dwindling stocks of high-performance computing products, including graphics cards - and as we've learned form the recent graphics card supply issues, prices go up as availability decreases. This, in turn, led some workers of Russian company "Wildberries" to attempt to exfiltrate 20 RTX 3070 Ti graphics cards from the warehouse they were being stored in. Due to skyrocketing prices in Russia, each of these cards was reportedly evaluated at around 200K roubles (~$1931). That unit price made the entire haul worth an estimated $38,620.
While stealing the graphics cards went without a hitch, actually flipping them for profit proved out to be fatal for the criminals. As they attempted to sell their loot at a pawnshop, the shop owner contacted the authorities - no doubt finding it suspicious for so many new (and rare) tech bits to be on the groups' hands. It's reported that the criminals were ultimately arrested, and the graphics cards confiscated and returned to their rightful owners. As access to significant western technology becomes more and more limited in sanctioned Russia, it's likely we'll be seeing further reports such as this.
While stealing the graphics cards went without a hitch, actually flipping them for profit proved out to be fatal for the criminals. As they attempted to sell their loot at a pawnshop, the shop owner contacted the authorities - no doubt finding it suspicious for so many new (and rare) tech bits to be on the groups' hands. It's reported that the criminals were ultimately arrested, and the graphics cards confiscated and returned to their rightful owners. As access to significant western technology becomes more and more limited in sanctioned Russia, it's likely we'll be seeing further reports such as this.
Dell Launches Pair of New 32-inch Gaming Monitors
Dell has launched a pair of very similar looking 32-inch gaming monitors, but looks can be deceiving as they say. The two models are the G3223Q and G3223D, with the G3223Q sporting a 4K 144 Hz Fast IPS panel, with the G3223D also using a Fast IPS panel, but dropping the resolution to 2560 x 1440 while upping the refresh rate to 165 Hz. The G3223D is only rated for HDR 400, while the G3223Q gets HDR 600 support, although both appear to be edge-lit panels. Other common features include a 1 ms response time (grey-to-grey), a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a 95 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut.
Both monitors support AMD FreeSync, but the G3223D is also NVIDIA G-Sync certified. As far as connectivity goes, the G3223D offers a pair of HDMI 2.0 ports, a DP 1.4 port, a USB-C port with DP-Alt mode and 15 W power delivery, as well as two downstreams USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The G3223Q on the other hand has a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports, one DP 1.4 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-B port, as well as two downstreams USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a headphone jack. Both displays come with stands that support height, swivel and tilt adjustment. Dell is asking for US$719.99 for the G3223D, which is available from today in most markets and US$1,099.99 for the G3223Q which will be available at the end of this month in most markets.
Both monitors support AMD FreeSync, but the G3223D is also NVIDIA G-Sync certified. As far as connectivity goes, the G3223D offers a pair of HDMI 2.0 ports, a DP 1.4 port, a USB-C port with DP-Alt mode and 15 W power delivery, as well as two downstreams USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) ports and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The G3223Q on the other hand has a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports, one DP 1.4 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-B port, as well as two downstreams USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and a headphone jack. Both displays come with stands that support height, swivel and tilt adjustment. Dell is asking for US$719.99 for the G3223D, which is available from today in most markets and US$1,099.99 for the G3223Q which will be available at the end of this month in most markets.
Razer Reports Full Year 2021 Earnings
Razer ("Razer" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group", Hong Kong Stock Code: 1337), the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, announces its full year results for the financial year ended 31 December 2021 ("FY2021").
"As we navigate the uncertainties and challenges attributable to geopolitical tensions, macro environment as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we expect the lingering industry-wide supply chain shocks to continue to have an ongoing impact on our business, with freight and logistics to remain a challenge through 2022. On the demand front, we saw a deceleration in the growth momentum for our products and services since the second half of 2021 compared to exceptional growth in the prior year, we expect this trend to continue through 2022 as a result of the high base effect seen in 2021," said Min-Liang Tan, Co-Founder and CEO of Razer.
"As we navigate the uncertainties and challenges attributable to geopolitical tensions, macro environment as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we expect the lingering industry-wide supply chain shocks to continue to have an ongoing impact on our business, with freight and logistics to remain a challenge through 2022. On the demand front, we saw a deceleration in the growth momentum for our products and services since the second half of 2021 compared to exceptional growth in the prior year, we expect this trend to continue through 2022 as a result of the high base effect seen in 2021," said Min-Liang Tan, Co-Founder and CEO of Razer.
Thursday, March 17th 2022
Today's Reviews
Headphones
Motherboards
SSD
AQIRYS T.G.A. Mouse Review
In lieu of a wireless S2 from Zowie, AQIRYS takes this quest upon itself with the T.G.A. At a weight of 76 g and equipped with PixArt's PAW3370 sensor as well as Kailh GM 8.0 switches for the main buttons, the T.G.A. delivers up to 50 hours of battery life. Furthermore, extensive hardware and software customization is also possible.
AMD Radeon Super Resolution RSR Quality & Performance Review
Today, AMD released their Radeon Super Resolution Technology. RSR is the magic bullet to achieve higher framerates in ALL games; it works on the driver-level, so no special game is support needed, it just works, even on older titles. We've tested it in several games, and the image quality is very impressive, much better than expected.
SilverStone Intros Shark Force 160 ARGB Fan
SilverStone today introduced the Shark Force 160 ARGB case fan. As its name suggests, this is a 160 mm diameter fan, but it also offers a maximum air-flow of 160 CFM. The fan is designed such that the impeller's diameter is 160 mm, but the frame itself can be mounted in 140 mm vents, provided there's enough clearance around them for a larger frame than what 140 mm fans typically come with.
The Shark Force 160 ARGB features a fluid-dynamic bearing, and turns at speeds of up to 1,600 RPM, pushing up to 160 CFM of airflow, at up to 2.21 mm H₂O static-pressure, and up to 38.1 dBA noise output. It takes in a 4-pin PWM connector for its main function, and 3-pin ARGB for its lighting, which consists of ARGB LEDs studded in the hub. The fan measures 160 mm x 160 mm x 25 mm, weighing 220 g. The company didn't reveal pricing.
The Shark Force 160 ARGB features a fluid-dynamic bearing, and turns at speeds of up to 1,600 RPM, pushing up to 160 CFM of airflow, at up to 2.21 mm H₂O static-pressure, and up to 38.1 dBA noise output. It takes in a 4-pin PWM connector for its main function, and 3-pin ARGB for its lighting, which consists of ARGB LEDs studded in the hub. The fan measures 160 mm x 160 mm x 25 mm, weighing 220 g. The company didn't reveal pricing.
Intel Arc GPU Found Inside Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro is now Selling for $1350
Intel's Arc discrete lineup of graphics card are set to hit the notebook/laptop segment first, and today's discovery is no different. BHPhotoVideo, one of the largest US tech retailers, has posted a listing of Samsung's Galaxy Book2 Pro laptop, spotting Intel's Arc discrete graphics solution. According to the listing, this model was spotting an undisclosed Intel Arc Graphics, 2.1 GHz 12-core CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5-6400 memory, 512 GB of NVMe PCIe Gen4 storage, 15.6-inch 1080p AMOLED display, WiFi-6E, and came in just 1.13 KG body weight. All of this is packed at 1349.99 USD, which is an early sign of the structure of laptop prices carrying Intel's Arc GPUs.
BHPhotoVideo has now taken down the website listing; however, we still have evidence thanks to the leaker, which you can see below. For more information regarding the exact SKU and more Arc Alchemist data, we have to wait for the March 30th launch.
BHPhotoVideo has now taken down the website listing; however, we still have evidence thanks to the leaker, which you can see below. For more information regarding the exact SKU and more Arc Alchemist data, we have to wait for the March 30th launch.
Apple's Graphics Performance Claims Proven Exaggerated by Mac Studio Reviews
Apple made some bold claims at the launch of its new Mac Studio computers when it came to the performance of the new systems and it looks like Apple was exaggerating those claims by quite some margin when it comes to the graphics performance. The first reviews of the new Mac Studio went live today and thanks to those reviews, despite the limited benchmarks that were performed on the new systems from Apple, that as so often Apple's performance metrics are still relying on the reality distortion field. Most of the publications that got their hands on the new systems focused on CPU benchmarks and there's no doubt the Ultra version of the M1 processor is a beast when used for things like video rendering and complex image manipulation, where it's butting heads with an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X.
However, Apple's 64-core GPU isn't quite what the company claimed. In the presentation footnotes Apple provided details on the "highest-end discrete GPU" that they compared to, which was an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090. If we were to be kind to Apple, we would say that the company was slightly off target here, but it's actually not even remotely close. Tom's Guide tested the M1 Ultra SoC in Sid Meier's Civilization 6 and got a whopping 38.85 FPS at 1440p, which is beaten soundly by a Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 4 with a GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU that scored 64.9 FPS at 4K. Likewise, The Verge decided to test the claims and had a system with an actual GeForce RTX 3090 in it and ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the PC managed 142 FPS at 1080p, with the M1 Ultra coming in quite far behind at 108 FPS. Moving up to 1440p the 3090 came in at 114 FPS, with the M1 still trailing behind, if not quite as badly at 96 FPS.
However, Apple's 64-core GPU isn't quite what the company claimed. In the presentation footnotes Apple provided details on the "highest-end discrete GPU" that they compared to, which was an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090. If we were to be kind to Apple, we would say that the company was slightly off target here, but it's actually not even remotely close. Tom's Guide tested the M1 Ultra SoC in Sid Meier's Civilization 6 and got a whopping 38.85 FPS at 1440p, which is beaten soundly by a Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 4 with a GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU that scored 64.9 FPS at 4K. Likewise, The Verge decided to test the claims and had a system with an actual GeForce RTX 3090 in it and ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the PC managed 142 FPS at 1080p, with the M1 Ultra coming in quite far behind at 108 FPS. Moving up to 1440p the 3090 came in at 114 FPS, with the M1 still trailing behind, if not quite as badly at 96 FPS.
ARCTIC Introduces New Alpine 17 Coolers
ARCTIC, a leading manufacturer of low-noise PC coolers and components, introduces today the Alpine 17 and Alpine 17 CO, a pair of compact air coolers designed exclusively for the Intel LGA1700 socket. With the release of its newest Alpine coolers, ARCTIC presents an affordable option for users looking to cool their Alder Lake processors. The successors to the Alpine 12 series retain its classic radial heatsink design but are specifically built for the LGA1700 socket.
The cooler's Y-shaped fin ensures optimal heat distribution in the heatsink, while heat dissipation is significantly enhanced by the Alpine 17's large surface area and high airflow rate. With a low installation height of only 68.2 mm, the Alpine 17 and Alpine 17 CO are ideal choices for most all-in-one systems as well as small cases (Mini-ITX, µATX etc.).
The cooler's Y-shaped fin ensures optimal heat distribution in the heatsink, while heat dissipation is significantly enhanced by the Alpine 17's large surface area and high airflow rate. With a low installation height of only 68.2 mm, the Alpine 17 and Alpine 17 CO are ideal choices for most all-in-one systems as well as small cases (Mini-ITX, µATX etc.).
AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.1 Released
AMD today released the latest version of AMD Software Adrenalin. Version 22.3.1 sees the company drop "Radeon" from the name, and introduce several new features, including Radeon Super Resolution (RSR), Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS) for desktop applications, an updated AMD Link that now lets up to four players and an updated AMD Software interface that includes improved Toast Notifications, an updated AMD Link version that allows up to four players from different platforms to remotely join in and play multiplayer.
Among the issues fixed are DWM transparency effects missing for some users in Windows 10; incorrect preset selections after a driver update in AMD Software Tuning page; longer than expected game load times in Forza Horizon 5 with medium or high ray tracing enabled; and inconsistent performance when Radeon Chill is enabled for SteamVR. Grab the drivers from the link below.
DOWNDLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.1
Among the issues fixed are DWM transparency effects missing for some users in Windows 10; incorrect preset selections after a driver update in AMD Software Tuning page; longer than expected game load times in Forza Horizon 5 with medium or high ray tracing enabled; and inconsistent performance when Radeon Chill is enabled for SteamVR. Grab the drivers from the link below.
DOWNDLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.1
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 (FSR 2.0) Unveiled
AMD today unveiled FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 (FSR 2.0), the second major update to the company's ambitious gaming performance enhancement that seeks to improve performance with minimal loss of image quality, by lowering game render resolution, and applying a high-quality upscaling algorithm. The star-attraction with FSR 2.0 is its new upscaling algorithm that leverages temporal data. Data from past generated frames is used to predict and add details to the current frame. This improves image quality across all presets of FSR, and at all resolutions. In some cases, the "Performance" preset of FSR 2.0 may end up looking on par with the "Quality" preset of FSR 1.0. AMD's temporal upscaling algorithm doesn't need any machine-learning hardware on the GPU.
AMD is working to integrate FSR 2.0 with several contemporary game engines, and titles that are both already released or in development. It seems like an upcoming patch of "Deathloop" will add FSR 2.0 support, since the company exclusively used the game in its image-quality comparison previews. AMD will deliver a more elaborate presentation, with an under-the-hood look at how FSR 2.0 works, in its GDC 2022 presentation slated for March 23, 2022. The company is looking to release FSR 2.0 to gamers within Q2-2022 (between April to June).
AMD is working to integrate FSR 2.0 with several contemporary game engines, and titles that are both already released or in development. It seems like an upcoming patch of "Deathloop" will add FSR 2.0 support, since the company exclusively used the game in its image-quality comparison previews. AMD will deliver a more elaborate presentation, with an under-the-hood look at how FSR 2.0 works, in its GDC 2022 presentation slated for March 23, 2022. The company is looking to release FSR 2.0 to gamers within Q2-2022 (between April to June).
AMD Releases Radeon Image Sharpening for Office, Media, and Web Applications
Besides Radeon Super Resolution, AMD announced Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS) for desktop applications (non-gaming applications). When enabled in AMD Software (or through the Overlay), RIS attempts to improve quality though image sharpening, of whatever is on screen. This would benefit media playback, office, and web-browsing, and not just for accelerated video playback. This should prove particularly useful when trying to view low-resolution assets on a web-page, or a video live-stream, or pretty much anything you feel could so with some image quality improvement. RIS requires Windows 10 or Windows 11, and a Radeon RX 5000 series (or later) graphics card. AMD is releasing RIS for desktop applications with the AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.1 suite, which you can grab today.
AMD Unveils Radeon Super Resolution, Brings Performance Improvements to Thousands of Games
AMD today introduced Radeon Super Resolution (RSR), a new performance enhancement feature that's designed to improve frame-rates of thousands of games, whether or not they feature support for it. Put simply, RSR is a high-quality upscaling algorithm derived from FidelityFX Super Resolution 1.0, which is located on the driver-side, rather than game-side. In games that support FSR, the 3D scene rendered at a lower resolution is put through the FSR upscaler algorithm before post-processing and HUD are applied to its result. RSR doesn't require game-level integration, because it requires the game to simply run at a lower resolution than the display's native resolution; so it could act like a high-quality image upscaling algorithm.
This means that thousands of games can benefit from RSR, as the feature is agnostic to what it's upscaling. There are a couple of wrinkles, though. First, you'll need a Radeon RX 5000 or RX 6000 series GPU, based on the RDNA or RDNA2 graphics architectures. The older "Vega" or "Polaris" architectures don't support it. "Vega" is still a current architecture, given that Ryzen 5000 series processors with Radeon Graphics, use a "Vega" based iGPU. The feature should, however, work with the RDNA2-based iGPU of the Ryzen 6000 "Rembrandt" processor. The second big catch is that since RSR comes later down the rendering pipeline than even HUD application, you may notice low-quality HUDs in some games—especially RTS or RPGs with large cluttered HUDs and inventory icons. RSR is being released through the AMD Software 22.3.1 update today.
We explored RSR in greater technical detail, and tested its performance and image quality for you in our Radeon Super Resolution article.
This means that thousands of games can benefit from RSR, as the feature is agnostic to what it's upscaling. There are a couple of wrinkles, though. First, you'll need a Radeon RX 5000 or RX 6000 series GPU, based on the RDNA or RDNA2 graphics architectures. The older "Vega" or "Polaris" architectures don't support it. "Vega" is still a current architecture, given that Ryzen 5000 series processors with Radeon Graphics, use a "Vega" based iGPU. The feature should, however, work with the RDNA2-based iGPU of the Ryzen 6000 "Rembrandt" processor. The second big catch is that since RSR comes later down the rendering pipeline than even HUD application, you may notice low-quality HUDs in some games—especially RTS or RPGs with large cluttered HUDs and inventory icons. RSR is being released through the AMD Software 22.3.1 update today.
We explored RSR in greater technical detail, and tested its performance and image quality for you in our Radeon Super Resolution article.
AMD Re-brands Radeon Software to Simply "AMD Software"
AMD with its Version 22.3.1 driver release, announced the re-branding of AMD Radeon Software to simply AMD Software. Over the years, Radeon Software grew into something beyond simply GPU drivers and software strictly related to the GPU and display—it is now an all-encompassing suite of software relevant to gamers and creators, helping them organize and optimize their software, share their gameplay among multiple devices locally or over the Internet; and record or stream their experiences, all using software AMD provides to go with its hardware. Going forward, the nomenclature of AMD Software will be practically identical to that of AMD Radeon Software, just without the "Radeon" part. Today (17th March), the company is releasing AMD Software Adrenalin 22.3.1 to introduce several new features and updates. Although not part of the 22.3.1 release, we predict that AMD Software in the future could integrate components beyond graphics and gaming; including platform drivers, overclocking tools, processor-related components, and more.
Intel List Peculiar Arc GPU Based Product on its Customer Centric ARK Site
According to Igor's Lab, Intel has listed a new product on its non-public ARK site that lists what appears to be a motherboard product with an Intel Arc GPU. The product listing is very peculiar, as it's listed as a graphics card, but the "family name" is DG2MB. It's also said to have a clock speed of 4 GHz, 16 MB of cache and a TDP of 200 W. None of this seems to add up in any sensible way and additional information provided by Igor, doesn't improve things, as the chip is using an FC-BGA16E packaging with a pin-count of 2660.
For those not familiar with Intel ARK, it's Intel's product specification website and there's a public version, as well as a version that only select Intel customers have access to and it's from the latter this information has been sourced. As to what this product could be, is anyone's guess at this point, but the MB in the model name suggests it might be some kind of embedded motherboard with an Intel CPU and GPU, possibly for some kind of NUC product.
For those not familiar with Intel ARK, it's Intel's product specification website and there's a public version, as well as a version that only select Intel customers have access to and it's from the latter this information has been sourced. As to what this product could be, is anyone's guess at this point, but the MB in the model name suggests it might be some kind of embedded motherboard with an Intel CPU and GPU, possibly for some kind of NUC product.
Epson Delivers Immersive Entertainment that Captivates Audiences with New Home Cinema LS11000 4K PRO-UHD Laser Projector
As movies, streaming, and gaming continue to advance, consumers are craving a more immersive 4K HDR viewing experience. Delivering more immersive entertainment to DIY home theater customers, today Epson introduces its most advanced DIY home theater and gaming projector - Epson Home Cinema LS11000 4K PRO-UHD 1 Laser Projector. Transforming virtually any room into the ultimate 4K HDR experience, the Home Cinema LS11000 is driven by Epson's most advanced video processing technology to date. Equipped with an all-new Laser Array Light Source and new Precision Shift Glass Plate technology, the Home Cinema LS11000 displays a full 8.29-million-pixel image on-screen for an exceptionally sharp and clear picture with incredible brightness and color accuracy.
"A 65-inch flat panel isn't cutting it when it comes to achieving total immersion in today's stunning movie and gaming experiences," said Rodrigo Catalan, group product manager, projectors, Epson. "If you're looking for a 4K HDR home theater and gaming experience that will exceed your expectations, the Epson Home Cinema LS11000 is one of the best Home Cinema projectors Epson has ever made." The Home Cinema LS11000 combines a dynamic contrast ratio exceeding 1,200,000:1 with an impressive 2,500 lumens of color and white brightness along with precise image detail to faithfully display movies, TV shows and gaming sessions - even in rooms with some ambient light. The Home Cinema LS11000 works alongside the latest generation of PCs and gaming consoles and allows gaming up to 4K HDR at 120 frames per second and input lag times below 20 milliseconds.
"A 65-inch flat panel isn't cutting it when it comes to achieving total immersion in today's stunning movie and gaming experiences," said Rodrigo Catalan, group product manager, projectors, Epson. "If you're looking for a 4K HDR home theater and gaming experience that will exceed your expectations, the Epson Home Cinema LS11000 is one of the best Home Cinema projectors Epson has ever made." The Home Cinema LS11000 combines a dynamic contrast ratio exceeding 1,200,000:1 with an impressive 2,500 lumens of color and white brightness along with precise image detail to faithfully display movies, TV shows and gaming sessions - even in rooms with some ambient light. The Home Cinema LS11000 works alongside the latest generation of PCs and gaming consoles and allows gaming up to 4K HDR at 120 frames per second and input lag times below 20 milliseconds.
SteelSeries Announces Pink PrismCaps and Headset Plates
Looking for that missing element to complement your gaming room? Or do you want your keyboard and headset to stand out? Check out these new Limited Edition items. Part of the mission at SteelSeries isn't just to empower you with awesome gear to play and win at any game; style and personal expression absolutely matter. That's why we are extremely excited to announce a Limited Edition run of these brand new goodies.
If you haven't checked out our keyboard PrismCaps before, they're an awesome way to style your setup that also enhance durability. While we've had the black and white versions available, today we are introducing a limited run of new pink keyboard PrismCaps. These universal PrismCaps use an extremely durable PBT material, meaning your keys will feel good, look clear, and function well even after extended, heavy use.
If you haven't checked out our keyboard PrismCaps before, they're an awesome way to style your setup that also enhance durability. While we've had the black and white versions available, today we are introducing a limited run of new pink keyboard PrismCaps. These universal PrismCaps use an extremely durable PBT material, meaning your keys will feel good, look clear, and function well even after extended, heavy use.
AMD's Robert Hallock Confirms Lack of Manual CPU Overclocking for Ryzen 7 5800X3D
In a livestream talking about AMD's mobile CPUs with HotHardware, Robert Hallock shone some light on the rumours about the Ryzen 7 5800X3D lacking manual overclocking. As per earlier rumours, something TechPowerUp! confirmed with our own sources, AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X3D lacks support for manual CPU overclocking and AMD asked its motherboard partners to remove these features in the UEFI. According to the livestream, these CPUs are said to be hard locked, so there's no workaround when it comes to adjusting the CPU multiplier or Voltage, but at least AMD has a good reason for it.
It turns out that the 3D V-Cache is Voltage limited to a maximum of 1.3 to 1.35 Volts, which means that the regular boost Voltage of individual Ryzen CPU cores, which can hit 1.45 to 1.5 Volts, would be too high for the 3D V-Cache to handle. As such, AMD implemented the restrictions for this CPU. However, the Infinity Fabric and memory bus can still be manually overclocked. The lower Voltage boost also helps explain why the Ryzen 7 5800X3D has lower boost clocks, as it's possible that the higher Voltages are needed to hit the higher frequencies.
It turns out that the 3D V-Cache is Voltage limited to a maximum of 1.3 to 1.35 Volts, which means that the regular boost Voltage of individual Ryzen CPU cores, which can hit 1.45 to 1.5 Volts, would be too high for the 3D V-Cache to handle. As such, AMD implemented the restrictions for this CPU. However, the Infinity Fabric and memory bus can still be manually overclocked. The lower Voltage boost also helps explain why the Ryzen 7 5800X3D has lower boost clocks, as it's possible that the higher Voltages are needed to hit the higher frequencies.
NexStem Announces the General Availability of Its Award-winning BCI Headsets
NexStem, a MedTech and robotics startup that creates non-invasive robotic solutions controlled exclusively by a user's thoughts, today announced the finalization of its latest round of funding and the general availability of its NexStem Headsets and Wisdom-SDK (software development kit). This pioneer in the development of advanced end-to-end Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) devices and applications, has cracked the code on improving the quality of the electroencephalography (EEG) signals harnessed by BCIs - a critical next step in inserting the human into the metaverse.
Spurred on by growing interest in NexStem's innovative offering, this cash injection by investors BITS Spark Angels, InfoEdge Ltd., Maninder Gulati, and a host of angel investors will be used to fund the company's growth and provides validation of this nascent field and technologies. NexStem will use this funding to facilitate the general availability of its award-winning headsets to the U.S., European, and APAC markets and to expand the company's reach, build out its supply chain, and fund future research and development of its headsets and Wisdom-SDK software.
Spurred on by growing interest in NexStem's innovative offering, this cash injection by investors BITS Spark Angels, InfoEdge Ltd., Maninder Gulati, and a host of angel investors will be used to fund the company's growth and provides validation of this nascent field and technologies. NexStem will use this funding to facilitate the general availability of its award-winning headsets to the U.S., European, and APAC markets and to expand the company's reach, build out its supply chain, and fund future research and development of its headsets and Wisdom-SDK software.
Wednesday, March 16th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
- AMD Pro W6400 i2Hard (ru)
Keyboards
Motherboards
MSI MEG CORELIQUID S280 AIO Cooler Review
MSI looks to improve its share of the all-in-one liquid cooler market with the MEG CORELIQUID S280. The built-in IPS display on the pump and active cooling for the VRM result in this halo product delivering not only unique features, but also solid performance.
Meze Audio Liric Headphones Review - Portable Luxury!
The Meze Audio Liric is a premium set of portable closed-back headphones developed in partnership with Rinaro Isodynamics. It uses a hybrid array, dual voice coil planar magnet drivers paired with many other novel engineering systems to make for a luxurious and comfortable listening experience on the go.
SiFive Leadership in RISC-V Powers $2.5B+ Company Valuation
SiFive, Inc., the founder and leader of RISC-V computing, today announced it has raised $175 million in a Series F financing round, valuing the company at over $2.5 billion. The Series F round was led by Coatue Management, a global technology investment firm that invests in companies at all stages - from venture to growth through public markets. SiFive is substantially accelerating the development of the company's RISC-V products, future roadmap, and ecosystem to achieve the unlimited potential that RISC-V has for SiFive's customers and partners.
Founded six years ago by the inventors of RISC-V, SiFive introduced the world to the open standard ISA and transformed the future of compute. Today, RISC-V is firmly established as one of the major global compute platforms, with adoption all around the world, as evidenced by recent industry announcements including the Intel $1B innovation fund, featuring a goal of catalyzing the RISC-V ecosystem. SiFive has design wins with more than 100 customers including several of the world's largest hyperscale companies and 8 of the top 10 semiconductor companies, in applications ranging from automotive, AR/VR, client computing, data center, and intelligent edge.
Founded six years ago by the inventors of RISC-V, SiFive introduced the world to the open standard ISA and transformed the future of compute. Today, RISC-V is firmly established as one of the major global compute platforms, with adoption all around the world, as evidenced by recent industry announcements including the Intel $1B innovation fund, featuring a goal of catalyzing the RISC-V ecosystem. SiFive has design wins with more than 100 customers including several of the world's largest hyperscale companies and 8 of the top 10 semiconductor companies, in applications ranging from automotive, AR/VR, client computing, data center, and intelligent edge.
Kingston Technology Tops List of Supplier Channel SSD Shipments in 2021
Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced it closed out a prosperous 2021 in the number one spot for SSD Unit market share in the channel. SSD demand through Q4 2021 remained high due to continued growth in the client, enterprise and OEM sectors. In October, Kingston also broadened its portfolio by launching two new high performance client M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSDs, KC3000 and Kingston FURY Renegade.
Market share data from analyst research company TRENDFOCUS showed Kingston as the number one client SSD vendor in the channel with 22.2% for unit market share and 22.3 million client SSDs shipped for all of 2021 in the channel. In Q4 alone, Kingston's client SSD market share grew to a substantial 26.8% in the channel which displays a healthy annual unit growth despite ongoing component shortages. According to TRENDFOCUS, total client SSD units increased 12.4% YoY in 2021. Notebook PC units increased 12% YoY while desktop PCs inched up 1% over the same period, reflecting the rapid adoption of solid-state drives by clients largely due to performance, size and reduced power consumption. Kingston maintains a competitive advantage by working closely with its suppliers, partners, and customers to remain flexible and adapt to ever-changing needs and market conditions.
Market share data from analyst research company TRENDFOCUS showed Kingston as the number one client SSD vendor in the channel with 22.2% for unit market share and 22.3 million client SSDs shipped for all of 2021 in the channel. In Q4 alone, Kingston's client SSD market share grew to a substantial 26.8% in the channel which displays a healthy annual unit growth despite ongoing component shortages. According to TRENDFOCUS, total client SSD units increased 12.4% YoY in 2021. Notebook PC units increased 12% YoY while desktop PCs inched up 1% over the same period, reflecting the rapid adoption of solid-state drives by clients largely due to performance, size and reduced power consumption. Kingston maintains a competitive advantage by working closely with its suppliers, partners, and customers to remain flexible and adapt to ever-changing needs and market conditions.
EK Water Blocks Announces Flexible Leak Tester
EK, the premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is releasing a new leak tester purposed for PC liquid cooling. EK-Loop Leak Tester Flex is a fast and safe way to test for possible leaks in your custom water cooling loop. While traditional leak testing works, it is slow and requires actual liquid leaks in order to diagnose the issue. Using air as a test for leaks, does the job way faster, less messy, and ultimately just better.
Traditional leak testing requires the user to fill up the entire loop with coolant, wrap joints with paper towels, and wait for hours constantly checking if any of the paper towels are wet. With air testing with the help of a leak tester, the user doesn't have to fill the loop, allowing much easier disassembly in case of a component leaking, way fewer risks for the PC hardware, and to top it off, less hassle and time spent for the user.
Traditional leak testing requires the user to fill up the entire loop with coolant, wrap joints with paper towels, and wait for hours constantly checking if any of the paper towels are wet. With air testing with the help of a leak tester, the user doesn't have to fill the loop, allowing much easier disassembly in case of a component leaking, way fewer risks for the PC hardware, and to top it off, less hassle and time spent for the user.
Lexar Adds a Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader to Its Workflow Solutions
Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to announce the new Lexar Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader. This reader is perfect for professional photographers and videographers who want to speed up their workflow with high-speed file transfer on the go. The Lexar Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader works with SD and microSD UHS-II cards and offers creatives fast transfer speeds up to 312 MB/s read. It also features a USB-C connector which is reversible for convenient plug-and-play functionality making it perfect for USB-C computers.
Designed with a USB 3.2 Gen1 interface, the Lexar Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader is also backwards compatible with USB 3.1 and 2.0 ports to make your creative process more versatile. It is also built with a LED activity light, so you know when the transferring of your content is completed. The compact design of the Lexar Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader also makes it easier for photographers and videographers to slip it in their pocket and go.
Designed with a USB 3.2 Gen1 interface, the Lexar Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader is also backwards compatible with USB 3.1 and 2.0 ports to make your creative process more versatile. It is also built with a LED activity light, so you know when the transferring of your content is completed. The compact design of the Lexar Professional USB-C Dual-Slot Reader also makes it easier for photographers and videographers to slip it in their pocket and go.
Samsung Foundry Looks to Legacy Nodes for Expansion
While there's a lot of talk about cutting edge nodes, Samsung Foundries are looking at alternative options to find new business and are said to be eyeing legacy nodes for future expansions. At the same time, Samsung is looking at setting up its own chip testing and packaging factory, to be able to better serve customers who are looking for a full-service partner. It's not clear which legacy nodes Samsung are eyeing, but the story by Business Korea states that at least some of it will focus on CMOS imaging sensors, since there is apparently a shortage of those too.
Samsung is said to have plans for no less than 300 new customers by 2026 for its foundry business, across all nodes. However, this doesn't mean Samsung will stop developing new, cutting edge nodes, as Samsung is still planning to kick off volume production on its 3 nm node in the first half of this year, with 2 nm said to start volume production in 2025. After its dealings with Nvidia and Qualcomm that haven't been what you'd call successful, the question is who will be willing to partner with Samsung Foundry on its cutting edge nodes in the future.
Samsung is said to have plans for no less than 300 new customers by 2026 for its foundry business, across all nodes. However, this doesn't mean Samsung will stop developing new, cutting edge nodes, as Samsung is still planning to kick off volume production on its 3 nm node in the first half of this year, with 2 nm said to start volume production in 2025. After its dealings with Nvidia and Qualcomm that haven't been what you'd call successful, the question is who will be willing to partner with Samsung Foundry on its cutting edge nodes in the future.
AMD Set to Announce FSR 2.0 Featuring Temporal Upscaling on March 17th
AMD is preparing to announce their FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) successor tomorrow, on March 17th before a showcase of the technology at GDC 2022 as we previously reported on according to leaked slides obtained by VideoCardz. AMD FSR 2.0 will use temporal data and optimized anti-aliasing to improve image quality in all presents and resolutions compared to its predecessor making it a worthy component against NVIDIA DLSS 2.0. The slides also confirm that FSR 2.0 doesn't require dedicated machine learning hardware acceleration and will be compatible with a "wide range of products and platforms, both AMD and competitors".
The technology has been implemented in Deathloop where FSR 2.0 "Performance" mode with ray tracing increased frame rates from 53 FPS to 101 FPS compared to 4K native resolution with ray tracing. The slides do not reveal if AMD will make the source code for FSR 2.0 open-source as they have done for FSR and Intel is planning to do with XeSS. AMD is also expected to release Radeon Super Resolution which is an FSR driver implementation available for all games on March 17th.
The technology has been implemented in Deathloop where FSR 2.0 "Performance" mode with ray tracing increased frame rates from 53 FPS to 101 FPS compared to 4K native resolution with ray tracing. The slides do not reveal if AMD will make the source code for FSR 2.0 open-source as they have done for FSR and Intel is planning to do with XeSS. AMD is also expected to release Radeon Super Resolution which is an FSR driver implementation available for all games on March 17th.
AAEON Announces FWS-2277 Desktop Network Appliance
AEON, an industry leader in network white box solutions, announces the FWS-2277 compact desktop network appliance. Not much larger than typical consumer grade network switches, the FWS-2277 delivers the performance and functionality to bring network functions to Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) deployments, including Unified Threat Management (UTM), VPN, and Next Generation Firewall (NGFW).
With many offices and businesses incorporating Work from Home and Small Office network deployments, many service providers are in search of a compact solution that can power modern network functions while remaining unobtrusive and within their clients' budgets. The FWS-2277 solves this by delivering exactly the features needed to power SOHO networks, in a compact platform that avoids the trend of carcinization most routers and appliances seem to follow these days.
With many offices and businesses incorporating Work from Home and Small Office network deployments, many service providers are in search of a compact solution that can power modern network functions while remaining unobtrusive and within their clients' budgets. The FWS-2277 solves this by delivering exactly the features needed to power SOHO networks, in a compact platform that avoids the trend of carcinization most routers and appliances seem to follow these days.
Acer Reports FY2021 Financial Results with Profitability Returning to Over NT$10 Billion
Acer Inc. (2353.TW) announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2021 and fiscal 2021 ended December 31. For the fourth quarter, Acer reported consolidated revenues of NT$86.53 billion; gross profits of NT$9.92 billion with 11.5% margin; operating income of NT$3.91 billion, with 4.5% margin; net income of NT$2.24 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.75.
For the full year of 2021, Acer reported consolidated revenues of NT$319.01 billion, gross profits of NT$37.19 billion with 11.7% margin, operating income of NT$14.16 billion with 58.5% in year-on-year (YoY) growth and a record high 4.4% margin. The net income of NT$10.90 billion and EPS of NT$3.63 were both the highest in 11 years.
For the full year of 2021, Acer reported consolidated revenues of NT$319.01 billion, gross profits of NT$37.19 billion with 11.7% margin, operating income of NT$14.16 billion with 58.5% in year-on-year (YoY) growth and a record high 4.4% margin. The net income of NT$10.90 billion and EPS of NT$3.63 were both the highest in 11 years.
ASUS Announces BIOS Support for Ryzen 5000/4000 Processors
ASUS today announced BIOS support and updates for a variety of motherboards supporting the new AMD Ryzen 5000 and 4000 series CPUs. Matching the new Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which has a dedicated 96 MB L3 cache, AMD has released AGESA version 1.2.0.6b to improve system performance. Many ASUS 500, 400, A320 and X370 series motherboards already have BIOS updates with this new AGESA version. Other compatible models will receive corresponding BIOS updates by March 25th.
All CPUs in this series are recognized by ASUS mainboards of the 400 and 500 series via existing BIOS updates - also with AGESA version 1.2.0.6b. The updates can be downloaded from the ASUS support website. Previous generation ASUS motherboards will receive support for these new CPUs according to the table below:
All CPUs in this series are recognized by ASUS mainboards of the 400 and 500 series via existing BIOS updates - also with AGESA version 1.2.0.6b. The updates can be downloaded from the ASUS support website. Previous generation ASUS motherboards will receive support for these new CPUs according to the table below:
TEAMGROUP Announces new T-FORCE SIREN Series CPU/SSD All-In-One Liquid Cooler
Leading memory provider TEAMGROUP not only brings complete storage solutions to consumers worldwide but also strives to provide the best cooling options. In response to greater demands in the next generation of PC hardware for faster and more efficient cooling, its gaming sub-brand T-FORCE has announced the world's first ARGB All-In-One liquid cooling system that dissipates heat from two main heat sources, the CPU and SSD, at the same time.
The dual-cooling system of the T-FORCE SIREN Series All-in-One ARGB Liquid Cooler supports a wide range of Intel and AMD sockets, including the latest LGA1700 and AM5 sockets, and its meticulously-designed water blocks are made for mainstream M.2 2280 SSDs, making the cooler perfect for a large variety of gaming PC setups. The T-FORCE SIREN Series All-in-One liquid cooling system allows gamers to solve both CPU and SSD heating issues with an easy installation and helps provide stable operation when both components are under heavy loads, contributing to longer hardware lifespans. Its ARGB dual water block design can also display a wide array of dazzling lights, giving players the freedom to create their own unique, eye-catching PC rig.
The dual-cooling system of the T-FORCE SIREN Series All-in-One ARGB Liquid Cooler supports a wide range of Intel and AMD sockets, including the latest LGA1700 and AM5 sockets, and its meticulously-designed water blocks are made for mainstream M.2 2280 SSDs, making the cooler perfect for a large variety of gaming PC setups. The T-FORCE SIREN Series All-in-One liquid cooling system allows gamers to solve both CPU and SSD heating issues with an easy installation and helps provide stable operation when both components are under heavy loads, contributing to longer hardware lifespans. Its ARGB dual water block design can also display a wide array of dazzling lights, giving players the freedom to create their own unique, eye-catching PC rig.
GIGABYTE AMD Motherboards Natively Support the Latest Ryzen Desktop Processors
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, today announced X570, B550, A520, X470, B450, and A320 motherboards can support the newly launched Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 4000 series processors without updating BIOS. Users can customize their system according to personal budget, performance request, and accustomed configuration to enjoy the full advantages of GIGABYTE motherboards.
The new launched AMD processors include Ryzen 7 5700X, Ryzen 5 5600, Ryzen 5 4600G and Ryzen 5 5500, Ryzen 5 4500, Ryzen 3 4100, bring users more comprehensive options with various performance and pricing segment. To fully support and unleash all advantages of the new processors, GIGABYTE X570, B550, A520, X470, B450, and A320 motherboards are shipped to market with the latest BIOS. Users can either get the optimal performance by X series motherboards with Ryzen 7 5700X processors, or build a price-competitive platform of A series motherboards with Ryzen 3 4100 processors.
The new launched AMD processors include Ryzen 7 5700X, Ryzen 5 5600, Ryzen 5 4600G and Ryzen 5 5500, Ryzen 5 4500, Ryzen 3 4100, bring users more comprehensive options with various performance and pricing segment. To fully support and unleash all advantages of the new processors, GIGABYTE X570, B550, A520, X470, B450, and A320 motherboards are shipped to market with the latest BIOS. Users can either get the optimal performance by X series motherboards with Ryzen 7 5700X processors, or build a price-competitive platform of A series motherboards with Ryzen 3 4100 processors.
Tuesday, March 15th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
Gaming PC
Headphones
Monitors
Motherboards
Networking
Processors
ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 Review
ASRock once again brings the popular Phantom Gaming line to the ITX sector. Including Thunderbolt 4, WiFi 6E, DDR5, PCIe Gen5, and a powerful VRM solution, the ASRock Z690 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB4 is rich in features, and hopefully a worthy successor. Join me as we take a closer look at the ASRock Z690 ITX offering.
HYTE Y60 Review
The HYTE Y60 is the company's second chassis. Just like their first, the Revolt 3, the Y60 seems to be a refreshing new statement in both design and functionality with its three glass panels and 45° angles. With a focus on liquid cooling and showing off your GPU, the Y60 can easily become the centerpiece of your gaming desktop.
1MORE launches the "Mini but Mighty" ComfoBuds Mini
1MORE, a globally distributed premium consumer audio company, officially announced the launch of their latest True Wireless earbuds that do away with the bulky nature seen on many True Wireless buds by offering a compact set of wireless earbuds that weigh no more than 3.7 g each and are sized smaller than a glass marble at 17x13mm. The superior comfort levels offered by its small form factor earbuds also translates over to the pocket-friendly charging case that is slimming as it is feather-light. All of this combined ensures both an ergonomic and joyous wearing experience for fatigue-free day & night listening. Something the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini offer in spades with their 24-hours of total battery life. The ComfoBuds Mini are available from Amazon.com and the 1MORE website for $99.99 and Amazon UK for £92.99. To celebrate the launch, 1MORE are also offering $15/£15 off for first 30 days following the launch using the discount code "ComfoMini15".
In a world where bigger usually means better with the advent of more large display smartphones and other smart connected devices packet with endless features never used, these Mini buds from 1MORE offer something long-awaited by those people who prefer something smaller in size and don't require all the bells & whistles offered by much more expensive True Wireless buds. However, as luck would have it, the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini are not just here to look cute and, pretty as they are equipped with everything needed from a pair of wireless earbuds including multiple listening modes such as Active Noise Cancellation up to 40dB, four microphones containing a deep learning algorithm, Qi Wireless Charging, personalised sound from Sonarworks SoundID, and IPX5 water resistance for that extra peace of mind amongst a whole plethora of other features to boot.
In a world where bigger usually means better with the advent of more large display smartphones and other smart connected devices packet with endless features never used, these Mini buds from 1MORE offer something long-awaited by those people who prefer something smaller in size and don't require all the bells & whistles offered by much more expensive True Wireless buds. However, as luck would have it, the 1MORE ComfoBuds Mini are not just here to look cute and, pretty as they are equipped with everything needed from a pair of wireless earbuds including multiple listening modes such as Active Noise Cancellation up to 40dB, four microphones containing a deep learning algorithm, Qi Wireless Charging, personalised sound from Sonarworks SoundID, and IPX5 water resistance for that extra peace of mind amongst a whole plethora of other features to boot.
NZXT Announces the Function Keyboard, Lift Mouse, and Customization Service
NZXT, a leader in PC gaming hardware and services, today announces a new step into the peripheral market with the Function modular mechanical keyboard and the Lift lightweight ambidextrous mouse. NZXT will also be adding a deeper customization service to NZXT BLD allowing users to ensure their system and set-up can fit their unique style.
The NZXT Function modular mechanical keyboard is a low-profile keyboard with an aluminium body designed to allow users to tailor their experiences to fit their personal preferences. It includes customizable features that the custom keyboard community looks for, like hot-swappable switches, detachable USB C cable, and standard bottom rows. This allows users to finely tune their board to their exact color, sound, and feel.
The NZXT Function modular mechanical keyboard is a low-profile keyboard with an aluminium body designed to allow users to tailor their experiences to fit their personal preferences. It includes customizable features that the custom keyboard community looks for, like hot-swappable switches, detachable USB C cable, and standard bottom rows. This allows users to finely tune their board to their exact color, sound, and feel.
EK Announces EK-Quantum Vector² Water Cooling Product Series for EVGA XC3 RTX 3080 & 3090
EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is introducing a whole series of Vector² liquid cooling products for EVGA's XC3 graphic cards. We made sure that powerful EVGA GeForce RTX 3080, 3080 Ti, and 3090 XC3 cards get their Vector² water block with passive backplate, new synergistic active backplate, and other aesthetic pieces to customize your water-cooled 30-series EVGA GPU to your own desires. The EK-Quantum Vector² EVGA XC3 RTX 3080/90 D-RGB is a complete liquid cooling solution that includes a new Vector² water block, black-anodized aluminum backplate, and mounting mechanism. Minimalistic straight lines dominate the new look of the next-gen water blocks.
The 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine combines the jet plate with a 3D machined Plexi insert to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. This new cooling engine is still based on an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings and still achieve top performance. We went to great lengths to achieve a symmetrical flow domain by utilizing an internal bridge to secondary components. This was done to ensure the cooling of secondary components without sacrificing flow distribution over the GPU core.
The 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine combines the jet plate with a 3D machined Plexi insert to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. This new cooling engine is still based on an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings and still achieve top performance. We went to great lengths to achieve a symmetrical flow domain by utilizing an internal bridge to secondary components. This was done to ensure the cooling of secondary components without sacrificing flow distribution over the GPU core.
Muskin Announces Redline Vortex Series M.2 NVMe Solid State Drives
Mushkin Enhanced MFG - An industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance and high-reliability computer products, today launched its new Redline VORTEX Series of high-performance NVMe solid-state drives. Featuring a carbon nano heat dissipating label, the Redline Vortex delivers colossal throughput of up to 7415 MB/s sequential read and up to 6,800 MB/s sequential write. In combination with Dynamic SLC Caching and DRAM Cache Buffer, the Redline Vortex gives you a performance boost needed for content creators, gaming, and professionals alike.
The Redline VORTEX series, powered by Innogrit's IG5236 series (Rainier) controller, features the next evolution of the PCI-Express Gen4 interface offering an impressive range of performance, security, and reliability. Delivering up to 10 times the sequential read and sequential write speeds of some SATA SSDs and up to 50 times the speed of some traditional HDDs.
The Redline VORTEX series, powered by Innogrit's IG5236 series (Rainier) controller, features the next evolution of the PCI-Express Gen4 interface offering an impressive range of performance, security, and reliability. Delivering up to 10 times the sequential read and sequential write speeds of some SATA SSDs and up to 50 times the speed of some traditional HDDs.
Intel Starts Shipping Core i9-12900KS to Early Customers
Intel's ambitious new flagship desktop processor, the Core i9-12900KS, started shipping to early customers before retail embargo. By this we don't mean enthusiasts with privileged ties to the company, but retailers. PC enthusiast DAGINATSUKO was able to purchase one online for roughly USD $790, before the store they purchased from took down the listing.
Pictures of the retail i9-12900KS reveal a darker-themed box than that of the i9-12900K, with "Special Edition" written on the front-face. The chip features an S-Spec code "SRLDD." We also learn a few interesting tidbits about the i9-12900KS from this source. Apparently, its processor base power (PBP) is set at 150 W, and its maximum turbo power (MTP) at 260 W. The standard i9-12900K comes with 125 W PBP and 241 W MTP. The increased power limits support a more aggressive boosting algorithm, with the maximum Turbo Boost clocks on the P-cores set at 5.50 GHz, compared to 5.20 GHz on the i9-12900K. The P-core base frequency is increased by 200 MHz, too, now at 3.40 GHz.
Pictures of the retail i9-12900KS reveal a darker-themed box than that of the i9-12900K, with "Special Edition" written on the front-face. The chip features an S-Spec code "SRLDD." We also learn a few interesting tidbits about the i9-12900KS from this source. Apparently, its processor base power (PBP) is set at 150 W, and its maximum turbo power (MTP) at 260 W. The standard i9-12900K comes with 125 W PBP and 241 W MTP. The increased power limits support a more aggressive boosting algorithm, with the maximum Turbo Boost clocks on the P-cores set at 5.50 GHz, compared to 5.20 GHz on the i9-12900K. The P-core base frequency is increased by 200 MHz, too, now at 3.40 GHz.
Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs for Laptops Scheduled for March 30th Launch
"Join us on March 30th at 8 A.M. Pacific Time to see Intel Arc graphics take center stage and get a first look at our new discrete graphics for laptops." - is the statement that Intel posted on its website regarding the launch of its upcoming Arc Alchemist GPUs for laptops. While we await the final reveal of the desktop Arc Alchemist graphics cards, it looks like team blue will give us a very first look at Arc discrete graphics cards for laptops. Regarding the performance numbers, Intel's Lisa Pearce, Vice President and General Manager for the Visual Compute Group, posted a quick performance claim stating that the Intel Arc A370M mobile GPU will feature two-fold performance improvement over integrated GPU designs found in Intel Core i7-12700H processor.
Lisa PearceWhat performance can we expect from the first product to make it to market, the Intel Arc A370M?
The first Intel Arc discrete graphics products to enter the mobile market will enable up to a 2X improvement in graphics performance vs. integrated graphics alone while maintaining similar form factors.
2x performance claim based on average FPS at 1080p Medium with Metro Exodus (DX12) as of March 3, 2022 as the beginning of the disclosure. Intel Arc system: Intel Core i7-12700H processor 14C/20T, 32 GB 4800Mhz system memory, Intel Arc A370M graphics, Windows 11 Pro v10.0.22000, Preproduction driver as of March 2022, total system TDP 40 W. Intel Core system: Intel Core i71280P 14C/20T, 32 GB 4800 MHz system memory, Iris Xe integrated graphics, Windows 11 Pro 21H2 22000.493, Driver version 30.0.101.1029, total system TDP 28 W.
HYTE Launches Y60 Mid-Tower PC Case - A New Angle on Design
[Editor's note: We have posted our HYTE Y60 review here.]
HYTE, the new PC components, peripherals, and lifestyle brand of iBUYPOWER, today launched the new Y60 mid-tower PC case. Taking a new angle on design, the Y60 boasts a style unlike any other case available on the market.
The uniquely constructed Y60 ATX case features a three-part, bezel-less, tempered glass front and side panel that provides an unobstructed internal view from a left, right, or center orientation. When the glass panels are removed, chamfered molding on the ceiling and floor of the case draw the eye inward, creating a modern aesthetic and allowing the system to be displayed in an open-air format. Users will have the option to choose from three colorways, white and black, black and black, and red and black, to best fit the aesthetic of their setup.
HYTE, the new PC components, peripherals, and lifestyle brand of iBUYPOWER, today launched the new Y60 mid-tower PC case. Taking a new angle on design, the Y60 boasts a style unlike any other case available on the market.
The uniquely constructed Y60 ATX case features a three-part, bezel-less, tempered glass front and side panel that provides an unobstructed internal view from a left, right, or center orientation. When the glass panels are removed, chamfered molding on the ceiling and floor of the case draw the eye inward, creating a modern aesthetic and allowing the system to be displayed in an open-air format. Users will have the option to choose from three colorways, white and black, black and black, and red and black, to best fit the aesthetic of their setup.
ViewSonic Opens A New Era of Gaming with the Innovative VX1755 Portable Gaming Monitor
ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, reveals the new VX1755 monitor - a trailblazing portable gaming screen. Built to maximize mobility without losing any gaming opportunity, this slim, compact monitor enhances mobile, PC, and console gaming even on the move. It is the ideal companion for gamers to expand their gaming experience or achieve a two-screen desk setup.
"This is an increasingly mobile world where people require more portable devices to connect, work, and play. ViewSonic's range of portable monitors are designed to elevate every aspect of a person's life, and we will continue to develop innovative solutions to accommodate the changing lifestyles of our customers," said Oscar Lin, General Manager of the Monitor Business at ViewSonic. "We are excited to launch our first portable gaming monitor which gives gamers more ways to play wherever they are."
"This is an increasingly mobile world where people require more portable devices to connect, work, and play. ViewSonic's range of portable monitors are designed to elevate every aspect of a person's life, and we will continue to develop innovative solutions to accommodate the changing lifestyles of our customers," said Oscar Lin, General Manager of the Monitor Business at ViewSonic. "We are excited to launch our first portable gaming monitor which gives gamers more ways to play wherever they are."
PCI-SIG Approves Teledyne LeCroy PCI Express 5.0 Compliance Solution
Teledyne LeCroy, the worldwide leader in serial data test solutions is pleased to announce that the Peripheral Component Interconnect Special Interest Group (PCI-SIG), responsible for the definition of serial expansion buses and related components required to drive fast, efficient transfers between processors and peripheral devices, has approved Teledyne LeCroy as a solution vendor for official PCI Express (PCIe ) 5.0 link and transaction layer compliance testing at the PCI-SIG compliance workshops.
Compliance testing allows design and test engineers to ensure product interoperability as well as adherence to the PCIe standard, enabling technology adoption among integrators. The Summit Z58 Protocol Exerciser/Analyzer which was previously approved for PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 compliance testing has now also been approved for official PCIe 5.0 compliance and certification testing, making it the only piece of test equipment currently certified for link and transaction layer testing of all three PCIe generations. Passing the PCI-SIG's compliance tests are also a necessary step for equipment to be included in the PCI-SIG's Integrators List.
Compliance testing allows design and test engineers to ensure product interoperability as well as adherence to the PCIe standard, enabling technology adoption among integrators. The Summit Z58 Protocol Exerciser/Analyzer which was previously approved for PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 compliance testing has now also been approved for official PCIe 5.0 compliance and certification testing, making it the only piece of test equipment currently certified for link and transaction layer testing of all three PCIe generations. Passing the PCI-SIG's compliance tests are also a necessary step for equipment to be included in the PCI-SIG's Integrators List.
Complete ThinkPad Laptop Portfolio Inspires Productivity and Business Flexibility
Today Lenovo announced the latest additions to the ThinkPad portfolio: the X13 and X13 Yoga Gen 3, plus refreshed third generation ThinkPad L series laptops designed to empower a hybrid workforce with enhanced collaboration and connectivity features. Following the unveiling of the latest ThinkPad X1 and all-new Z series at CES, and more recently the innovative ThinkPad X13s and updated workhorse T series, refreshing ThinkPad X series and L series completes one of the most comprehensive business laptop portfolios available. Devised to offer customers the best choice, ThinkPad is built leveraging the core tenets of design, innovation and quality. Focused on enhancing the fundamental features that power hybrid working, the latest laptops deliver enhancements including Dolby Voice, FHD cameras, Wi-Fi 6E1, 5G sub6 and 4G LTE wireless WAN, and battery options on select models for the best choice between lightweight mobility and the flexibility of extended battery life.
With more distributed workforces, security remains the number one concern amongst IT decision makers. ThinkShield hardware and software protection that integrates a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) with Windows 11 Secured core PCs enhances security from every angle. Complementary security features embedded in Intel Hardware Shield available exclusively on Intel vPro platform-based devices or AMD Ryzen PRO 6000 Series processors with AMD PRO Security demonstrate the ThinkPad "secure by design" philosophy. Furthermore, ThinkPad is integrating the optional fingerprint reader into the power button for added convenience.
With more distributed workforces, security remains the number one concern amongst IT decision makers. ThinkShield hardware and software protection that integrates a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) with Windows 11 Secured core PCs enhances security from every angle. Complementary security features embedded in Intel Hardware Shield available exclusively on Intel vPro platform-based devices or AMD Ryzen PRO 6000 Series processors with AMD PRO Security demonstrate the ThinkPad "secure by design" philosophy. Furthermore, ThinkPad is integrating the optional fingerprint reader into the power button for added convenience.
Arm Considering Making 15 Percent of its Workforce Redundant
After its US$40 billion deal to sell Arm to NVIDIA fell through, it looks like SoftBank is getting ready to tighten the belt over at Arm, to make the company more attractive in time for the planned stock market re-introduction. Arm is said to be looking at making up to 15 percent of its workforce redundant, which is quite a lot of people when you consider that Arm employs some 6,500 people globally. As such, as many as 1,000 people, mainly in the UK and US, are likely to be getting a redundancy notice in the coming months.
At this point in time, it's unclear which divisions at Arm will be the most affected. The official statement from Arm so far, doesn't give any hints. "Like any business, Arm is continually reviewing its business plan to ensure the company has the right balance between opportunities and cost discipline. Unfortunately, this process includes proposed redundancies across Arm's global workforce." With Intel's planned expansion in Europe, there will hopefully be a chance for some of Arm's soon to be former employees to find a job at the competitor.
At this point in time, it's unclear which divisions at Arm will be the most affected. The official statement from Arm so far, doesn't give any hints. "Like any business, Arm is continually reviewing its business plan to ensure the company has the right balance between opportunities and cost discipline. Unfortunately, this process includes proposed redundancies across Arm's global workforce." With Intel's planned expansion in Europe, there will hopefully be a chance for some of Arm's soon to be former employees to find a job at the competitor.
Intel to Invest Over €33 Billion for Semiconductor R&D and Manufacturing in EU
Intel today announced the first phase of its plans to invest as much as 80 billion euros in the European Union over the next decade along the entire semiconductor value chain - from research and development (R&D) to manufacturing to state-of-the art packaging technologies. Today's announcement includes plans to invest an initial 17 billion euros into a leading-edge semiconductor fab mega-site in Germany, to create a new R&D and design hub in France, and to invest in R&D, manufacturing and foundry services in Ireland, Italy, Poland and Spain. With this landmark investment, Intel plans to bring its most advanced technology to Europe, creating a next-generation European chip ecosystem and addressing the need for a more balanced and resilient supply chain.
Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, said: "Our planned investments are a major step both for Intel and for Europe. The EU Chips Act will empower private companies and governments to work together to drastically advance Europe's position in the semiconductor sector. This broad initiative will boost Europe's R&D innovation and bring leading-edge manufacturing to the region for the benefit of our customers and partners around the world. We are committed to playing an essential role in shaping Europe's digital future for decades to come."
Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, said: "Our planned investments are a major step both for Intel and for Europe. The EU Chips Act will empower private companies and governments to work together to drastically advance Europe's position in the semiconductor sector. This broad initiative will boost Europe's R&D innovation and bring leading-edge manufacturing to the region for the benefit of our customers and partners around the world. We are committed to playing an essential role in shaping Europe's digital future for decades to come."
AMD Spring 2022 Ryzen Desktop Processor Update Includes Six New Models Besides 5800X3D
In addition to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which AMD claims to be the world's fastest gaming processor, AMD gave its desktop processor product-stack a major update, with as many as six other processor models spanning a wide range of price-points that help the company better compete with the bulk of the 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processor lineup. The new lineup sees the introduction of the Ryzen 7 5700X (not to be confused with the Ryzen 7 5700G). The 5700X is based on the same "Vermeer" multi-chip module (MCM) as the Ryzen 7 5800X, unlike the 5700G, which is a desktop APU based on the "Cezanne" monolithic silicon. Both "Vermeer" and "Cezanne" are based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture.
The Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core/16-thread processor clocked at 3.40 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost, compared to the 3.80 GHz base and 4.80 GHz boost frequency of the 5800X. Another key difference is its 65 W TDP, compared to 105 W of the 5800X, which could differentiate its boosting behavior and overclocking headroom compared to the 5800X. AMD is pricing the 5700X at USD $299 (MSRP), making it a competitor to the Intel Core i5-12600KF. Interestingly, the retail PIB (processor-in-box) package of the 5700X does not include a stock cooler despite its 65 W TDP. A 95 W-capable Wraith Spire wouldn't have hurt.
The Ryzen 7 5700X is an 8-core/16-thread processor clocked at 3.40 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost, compared to the 3.80 GHz base and 4.80 GHz boost frequency of the 5800X. Another key difference is its 65 W TDP, compared to 105 W of the 5800X, which could differentiate its boosting behavior and overclocking headroom compared to the 5800X. AMD is pricing the 5700X at USD $299 (MSRP), making it a competitor to the Intel Core i5-12600KF. Interestingly, the retail PIB (processor-in-box) package of the 5700X does not include a stock cooler despite its 65 W TDP. A 95 W-capable Wraith Spire wouldn't have hurt.
AMD Brings Official Ryzen 5000 Support to 300-series Chipset Motherboards Circa 2016
AMD announced that it is bringing official Ryzen 5000 "Zen 3" desktop processor support to the oldest of Socket AM4 motherboards out there, which are based on AMD 300-series chipset models—the X370, B350, and A320. The company is working with motherboard and pre-built gaming desktop OEMs to push UEFI firmware updates with support. In addition to Ryzen 5000, this would also add Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 4000 "Zen 2" support across the board. Motherboard firmware updates that add Ryzen 5000 support will encapsulate AGESA V2 PI 1.2.0.7 microcode, so look for this AGESA version in the change-log of the firmware update. AMD expects that motherboard and pre-built vendors will start pushing these updates from May 2022.
AMD Announces Ryzen 7 5800X3D, World's Fastest Gaming Processor
AMD today announced its Spring 2022 update for the company's Ryzen desktop processors, with as many as seven new processor models in the retail channel. The lineup is led by the Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-core/16-thread processor, which AMD claims is the "world's fastest gaming processor." This processor introduces the 3D Vertical Cache (3DV Cache) to the consumer space.
64 MB of fast SRAM is stacked on top of the region of the CCD (8-core chiplet) that has 32 MB of on-die L3 cache, with structural silicon leveling the region over the CPU cores with it. This SRAM is tied directly with the bi-directional ring-bus that interconnects the CPU cores, L3 cache, and IFOP (Infinity Fabric Over Package) interconnect. The result is 96 MB of seamless L3 cache, with each of the 8 "Zen 3" CPU cores having equal access to all of it.
64 MB of fast SRAM is stacked on top of the region of the CCD (8-core chiplet) that has 32 MB of on-die L3 cache, with structural silicon leveling the region over the CPU cores with it. This SRAM is tied directly with the bi-directional ring-bus that interconnects the CPU cores, L3 cache, and IFOP (Infinity Fabric Over Package) interconnect. The result is 96 MB of seamless L3 cache, with each of the 8 "Zen 3" CPU cores having equal access to all of it.
Biostar Showcases the Racing Z690GTA-V8 Casemod
BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, unveils the V8 overdrive case mod designed in collaboration with famous Taiwanese case-modder Mark's Fabrications. BIOSTAR has been actively evolving their brand presence to appease the younger generation throughout the past few years, changing their business strategy with creativity to be more involved and attentive towards the needs and requests of a younger consumer.
Custom PC cases have been a subject of awe and inspiration for many years. Jaw Dropping and unique, custom case mods inspire thousands of users to personalize their PC cases in many creative ways unlocking a whole new world for personalized computing.
BIOSTAR proudly showcases the V8 overdrive case mod, designed exclusively to embody the design elements of BIOSTAR's latest RACING Z690GTA motherboard. With the launch of the new RACING Z690GTA motherboard last December, BIOSTAR invited famous Taiwanese case modder Mark's Fabrications to design a case-mod that showcases the best of BIOSTAR's Z690GTA motherboard and to inspire BIOSTAR's loyal consumers to be creative with their own personal setups.
Custom PC cases have been a subject of awe and inspiration for many years. Jaw Dropping and unique, custom case mods inspire thousands of users to personalize their PC cases in many creative ways unlocking a whole new world for personalized computing.
BIOSTAR proudly showcases the V8 overdrive case mod, designed exclusively to embody the design elements of BIOSTAR's latest RACING Z690GTA motherboard. With the launch of the new RACING Z690GTA motherboard last December, BIOSTAR invited famous Taiwanese case modder Mark's Fabrications to design a case-mod that showcases the best of BIOSTAR's Z690GTA motherboard and to inspire BIOSTAR's loyal consumers to be creative with their own personal setups.
Monday, March 14th 2022
Today's Reviews
Accessories
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Motherboards
Quick Look: Lamptron HM070 Lift
The Lamptron HM070 Lift takes the same core display of the HX070 and embeds it into an external housing out of which it may be raised by pressing a button on the wireless remote. That is as unique as it sounds and clearly caters to those who want something that really stands apart from the usual visual bling.
CCA CA24 In-Ear Monitors Review - 24 Drivers in Total!
CCA joins the TechPowerUp review database with the CA24, a 12 balanced armature set that is an engineering spectacle to behold through its resin shells. It uses a 5-way electronic crossover, deliberately tuned V-shaped signature, and ergonomically shaped shells for comfort.
Microsoft DirectStorage API Available, but Without GPU-accelerated Decompression
Microsoft officially launched the DirectStorage API on the Windows PC platform, on Monday. The API enables direct data interactions between the GPU, graphics memory, and a storage device, so games have a more direct path to stream game assets to the graphics hardware. The API is compatible both with Windows 10 and Windows 11, although Microsoft is recommending the latter, for "in-built storage optimizations." Also, unlike previously reported, you don't necessarily need an NVMe-based storage device, such as an M.2 SSD with PCIe/NVMe interface. Even a SATA SSD with AHCI protocol will do. Microsoft is, however, recommending the use of an NVMe SSD for the best performance.
There is, however, a wrinkle. Microsoft isn't launching a killer feature of the DirectStorage API yet, which is GPU-accelerated asset decompression. This feature allowed GPUs to use compute shaders to decompress game assets that are stored in compressed asset libraries on the disk. Most games store their local assets this way, to conserve their disk footprint. Without this feature, unless there's special game code from the developer's end to utilize GPGPU for asset decompression; compressed game assets still have to rope in the CPU, and lengthen the pipeline. Microsoft stated that enabling GPU-accelerated decompression is "next on their roadmap."
There is, however, a wrinkle. Microsoft isn't launching a killer feature of the DirectStorage API yet, which is GPU-accelerated asset decompression. This feature allowed GPUs to use compute shaders to decompress game assets that are stored in compressed asset libraries on the disk. Most games store their local assets this way, to conserve their disk footprint. Without this feature, unless there's special game code from the developer's end to utilize GPGPU for asset decompression; compressed game assets still have to rope in the CPU, and lengthen the pipeline. Microsoft stated that enabling GPU-accelerated decompression is "next on their roadmap."
TechPowerUp and ORICO Announce Docking Station and Encrypted SSD Giveaway
TechPowerUp and mobility computing hardware major ORICO announce a chance for you to bag one of two pieces of handy ORICO hardware in our latest Giveaway. We are giving away an ORICO PSSD fingerprint-encryption 1 TB portable SSD, and a TB3-S2 9-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dual M.2 bay docking station. Announced recently by the company, the TB3-S2 and PSSD boost your mobile productivity, especially if you're carrying around a thin-and-light commercial notebook that has minimal wired connectivity.
The PSSD takes advantage of USB 3.2 Gen 2, offering transfer speeds of 520 MB/s, along with native drive encryption with a biometric fingerprint sensor on drive. The drive comes partitioned with a primary partition that has the biometric security software that can be made to auto-run; which then decrypts the user-area upon successful authentication, either by password or fingerprint. The TB3-S2 is a force-multiplier for thin-and-light notebooks. It packs two M.2 PCIe/NVMe slots, letting you increase storage; along with a plethora of downstream display, USB, wired Ethernet, and audio connectivity. The Giveaway is open Worldwide (wherever legal), with entries open till March 21, 2022. To participate, head down to our Givelab page, where you can not only participate, but also increase your chances of winning, by sharing the giveaway across your social media.
For more information and to participate, visit this page.
The PSSD takes advantage of USB 3.2 Gen 2, offering transfer speeds of 520 MB/s, along with native drive encryption with a biometric fingerprint sensor on drive. The drive comes partitioned with a primary partition that has the biometric security software that can be made to auto-run; which then decrypts the user-area upon successful authentication, either by password or fingerprint. The TB3-S2 is a force-multiplier for thin-and-light notebooks. It packs two M.2 PCIe/NVMe slots, letting you increase storage; along with a plethora of downstream display, USB, wired Ethernet, and audio connectivity. The Giveaway is open Worldwide (wherever legal), with entries open till March 21, 2022. To participate, head down to our Givelab page, where you can not only participate, but also increase your chances of winning, by sharing the giveaway across your social media.
For more information and to participate, visit this page.
Colorado's Maybell Quantum Exits Stealth; Breakthrough Quantum Hardware to be Made in USA
This morning, Maybell Quantum unveiled the Icebox, a cryogenic platform to power the next generation of quantum computers. Maybell's Icebox solves several pressing challenges for scaling quantum. Quantum computing is a reinvention of computing. It will perform calculations in seconds that would require billions of years for today's most powerful supercomputers, with profound implications for everything from logistics and agriculture to medicine and climate change. But achieving reliable quantum computation requires qubits - quantum computers' fundamental building block - be in a state where they can be finely manipulated and communicated with through minute signals. Maybell's approach to these challenges has attracted contracts from DARPA, NSIC/DIU, and leading research universities, and is now available to the quantum computing industry.
"Controlling quantum devices at room-temperature is like playing a sonata in a hurricane," explains Corban Tillemann-Dick, Maybell's CEO. "Cooling devices to a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, nature's 'speed limit for cold,' calms this chaos to near 'quantum silence' so quantum operations are controllable." Traditional quantum cryogenic systems, however, are tangles of tubes and wires that cover hundreds of square feet and often require months to set up and PhDs to operate. Moreover, to increase capacity, these systems typically become even larger and more complex.
"Controlling quantum devices at room-temperature is like playing a sonata in a hurricane," explains Corban Tillemann-Dick, Maybell's CEO. "Cooling devices to a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, nature's 'speed limit for cold,' calms this chaos to near 'quantum silence' so quantum operations are controllable." Traditional quantum cryogenic systems, however, are tangles of tubes and wires that cover hundreds of square feet and often require months to set up and PhDs to operate. Moreover, to increase capacity, these systems typically become even larger and more complex.
MediaTek is Getting Ready to Spin off its Airoha Subsidiary
You'd be forgiven if you're not familiar with Airoha, as although the company has been around since 2001, it's been a company that has mostly been flying under the radar. Back in 2007, Mediatek became a majority shareholder by buying out Benq's stake in Airoha and a decade later, MediaTek merged some of its business units into Airoha, which is the opposite way to how it normally goes. MediaTek is getting ready to list Airoha on the Taiwanese stock market and this comes with several benefits to the company. Airoha's main product line is Bluetooth chips, but it also makes various solutions for GPS/GNSS, WiFi, DVB-S and xPON internet gateways and routers. Sony is one of its major customers, after the company switched from Qualcomm to MediaTek/Airoha a few years ago. Other customers are said to be Beats by Apple, JBL by Harman (which in turn is owned by Samsung), Skullcandy and Xiaomio.
The company is said to first be listed on Taiwan's Emerging Stock Market for at least six months—a requirement by Taiwanese law—before the company will be making a full IPO. The company is said to be valued at US$3.3 billion, so despite being a mostly unheard of company, we're not talking about some little startup here. MediaTek is expecting Airoha to see a revenue growth of around 30 percent in 2022, from 2021 revenues of around US$562 million. As these things go, it would appear that the main reason for listing Airoha isn't directly to make money, but rather to try and appeal to current and future employees. This is because of the peculiar bonus structure in most companies in Taiwan, where all employees are given a share of the profits, largely regardless of their personal and departments performance. With Airoha going public, its employees will no longer have to share their bonuses with MediaTek employees, which could in theory lead to better bonuses for their employees.
The company is said to first be listed on Taiwan's Emerging Stock Market for at least six months—a requirement by Taiwanese law—before the company will be making a full IPO. The company is said to be valued at US$3.3 billion, so despite being a mostly unheard of company, we're not talking about some little startup here. MediaTek is expecting Airoha to see a revenue growth of around 30 percent in 2022, from 2021 revenues of around US$562 million. As these things go, it would appear that the main reason for listing Airoha isn't directly to make money, but rather to try and appeal to current and future employees. This is because of the peculiar bonus structure in most companies in Taiwan, where all employees are given a share of the profits, largely regardless of their personal and departments performance. With Airoha going public, its employees will no longer have to share their bonuses with MediaTek employees, which could in theory lead to better bonuses for their employees.
Top 10 Foundries Post Record 4Q21 Performance for 10th Consecutive Quarter at US$29.55B, Says TrendForce
The output value of the world's top 10 foundries in 4Q21 reached US$29.55 billion, or 8.3% growth QoQ, according to TrendForce's research. This is due to the interaction of two major factors. One is limited growth in overall production capacity. At present, the shortage of certain components for TVs and laptops has eased but there are other peripheral materials derived from mature process such as PMIC, Wi-Fi, and MCU that are still in short supply, precipitating continued fully loaded foundry capacity. Second is rising average selling price (ASP). In the fourth quarter, more expensive wafers were produced in succession led by TSMC and foundries continued to adjust their product mix to increase ASP. In terms of changes in this quarter's top 10 ranking, Nexchip overtook incumbent DB Hitek to clinch 10th place.
TrendForce believes that the output value of the world's top ten foundries will maintain a growth trend in 1Q22 but appreciation in ASP will still be the primary driver of said growth. However, since there are fewer first quarter working days in the Greater China Area due to the Lunar New Year holiday and this is the time when some foundries schedule an annual maintenance period, 1Q22 growth rate will be down slightly compared to 4Q21.
TrendForce believes that the output value of the world's top ten foundries will maintain a growth trend in 1Q22 but appreciation in ASP will still be the primary driver of said growth. However, since there are fewer first quarter working days in the Greater China Area due to the Lunar New Year holiday and this is the time when some foundries schedule an annual maintenance period, 1Q22 growth rate will be down slightly compared to 4Q21.
Intel to Finally Break Cover on European Chip Manufacturing Efforts Tomorrow
After months of rumors and speculations, it looks like we are finally going to receive official information from Intel regarding the exact country the company plans to do semiconductor R&D and manufacturing in within Europe. Today, the company published its media alert post, showing that we are finally going to receive exact information tomorrow. As we have previously reported, the current round of suggestions led to Intel building a fab inside Germany; however, it still remains to be confirmed. Once the information is out, we are going to report on it and finally see where team blue is headed next. You can find the announcement below.
As part of its IDM 2.0 strategy, Intel is committed to investing in research and development (R&D) capabilities and manufacturing capacity to meet the surging demand for advanced semiconductors and to build a more resilient, globally balanced supply chain.
Join a webcast with CEO Pat Gelsinger where he will share details of Intel's latest plans for in semiconductor R&D and manufacturing in Europe.
When: 6 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. CET), Tuesday, March 15
Where: Watch live on the Intel Newsroom.
Event Replay: A video replay will be available on the Intel Newsroom following the webcast.
TSMC's Largest Customer Accounts for 26 Percent of Revenues
You're not going to get an award for guessing who TSMC's biggest customer is, but based on details in TSMC's latest earnings report, its biggest customer stands for no less than 26 percent of TSMC's total revenue. That's up a whole percentage in 2021 over 2020 and as you most likely have already guessed, that company should be Apple. TSMC doesn't, for obvious reasons, reveal who their customers are, but it's no secret that Apple is spending a lot of money with the company. TSMC had a consolidated revenue of NT$1.587 trillion (US$55.73 billion) in 2021, or up 18.53 percent from 2020. The second largest source of revenue for TSMC might surprise some, at least based on the kind of information that the usual analysts tend to claim in their reports.
Although second place in terms of revenue only accounts for another 10 percent of TSMC's total revenue, we're still looking at some serious money here. However, as both Qualcomm and NVIDIA departed for Samsung in 2021, second place is said to be taken by AMD, which might not have been everyone's first guess. Unsurprisingly, 64 percent of TSMC's revenue is coming from companies in the USA, with Taiwan being the second largest source of revenue at 12.8 percent. As far as the PRC is concerned, revenue is said to be down by 29.6 percent and only makes up 10.3 percent of TSMC's revenues for 2021. This is largely due to the US sanctions against Huawei, according to the Taipei Times. The 7 nm node is still the big money maker for TSMC, which pulled in over NT$440 billion, followed by the 5 nm node at over NT$262 billion. However, the 5 nm node revenue grew by 188 percent in 2021, while the 7 nm node only had a revenue growth of 11.5 percent.
Although second place in terms of revenue only accounts for another 10 percent of TSMC's total revenue, we're still looking at some serious money here. However, as both Qualcomm and NVIDIA departed for Samsung in 2021, second place is said to be taken by AMD, which might not have been everyone's first guess. Unsurprisingly, 64 percent of TSMC's revenue is coming from companies in the USA, with Taiwan being the second largest source of revenue at 12.8 percent. As far as the PRC is concerned, revenue is said to be down by 29.6 percent and only makes up 10.3 percent of TSMC's revenues for 2021. This is largely due to the US sanctions against Huawei, according to the Taipei Times. The 7 nm node is still the big money maker for TSMC, which pulled in over NT$440 billion, followed by the 5 nm node at over NT$262 billion. However, the 5 nm node revenue grew by 188 percent in 2021, while the 7 nm node only had a revenue growth of 11.5 percent.
OnLogic Raspberry Pi-Powered Industrial Computer Now Available
In celebration of Pi Day, OnLogic, a global industrial computing manufacturer and solution provider known for their reliable, orange industrial PCs, has announced that their new Factor 201 Raspberry Pi-powered device is available for pre-order. In addition, they've released more details about the next model in the Factor 200 Series, the Factor 202. Both devices are powered by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4, which was developed specifically for industrial products.
"We're delighted that OnLogic has chosen to develop the Factor 201 around Raspberry Pi. Using Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with their custom-designed carrier boards and industrial enclosure has allowed OnLogic to offer their customers flexible and reliable solutions, and we see Raspberry Pi hardware being increasingly widely adopted in industry with products like this one," said Gordon Hollingworth, Chief Product Officer at Raspberry Pi Ltd.
"We're delighted that OnLogic has chosen to develop the Factor 201 around Raspberry Pi. Using Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with their custom-designed carrier boards and industrial enclosure has allowed OnLogic to offer their customers flexible and reliable solutions, and we see Raspberry Pi hardware being increasingly widely adopted in industry with products like this one," said Gordon Hollingworth, Chief Product Officer at Raspberry Pi Ltd.
GoDeal24 Spring Sale: Get Crazy Discounts of Up to 62 Percent Off on Genuine Software
Spring-clean your personal IT setup with a little help from GoDeal24. Get the latest genuine editions of Windows 11 and Office 2021, and supercharge your PCs with the latest features, performance, and security. Get Genuine Windows 11 Pro at just $15.52. The mighty Office 2021 Professional Plus can be had at just $45.65, with Windows 11 Pro included! There are several other editions of Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows Server, and other interesting productivity software you might want.
Buy Windows 11 Pro at $15.52 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.42 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $11.42 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $12.44 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $30.98 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $74.03 | Buy Office 2016 Professional Plus at $18.68 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus at $25.85
Please use the coupon code SGO62 on the following items at check-out to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $37.65 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $45.65 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $40.11 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $31.74 | Buy Windows 10 Home + Office 2019 Professional at $32.52 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2016 Professional at $34.39 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2016 Professional at $24.74 | Buy Windows 10 Home + Office 2016 Professional at $25.90 | Buy Project Professional 2019 at $22.15 | Buy Visio Professional 2019 at $19.37 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $25.70 | Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $22.97 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Student at $31.15 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $68.66
Please use the coupon code SGO50 on the following items.
Buy Windows 10 Home at $8.16 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 5-PC at $41.91 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Standard at $26.13 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Datacenter at $30.75
Check out our other great deals on system software.
Buy Windows 11 Pro at $15.52 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.42 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $11.42 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $12.44 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $30.98 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $74.03 | Buy Office 2016 Professional Plus at $18.68 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus at $25.85
Please use the coupon code SGO62 on the following items at check-out to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $37.65 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $45.65 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $40.11 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $31.74 | Buy Windows 10 Home + Office 2019 Professional at $32.52 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2016 Professional at $34.39 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2016 Professional at $24.74 | Buy Windows 10 Home + Office 2016 Professional at $25.90 | Buy Project Professional 2019 at $22.15 | Buy Visio Professional 2019 at $19.37 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $25.70 | Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $22.97 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Student at $31.15 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $68.66
Please use the coupon code SGO50 on the following items.
Buy Windows 10 Home at $8.16 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 5-PC at $41.91 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Standard at $26.13 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Datacenter at $30.75
Akasa Announces Newton A50 Fanless NUC Case for ASUS PN50/PN51 Motherboards
Akasa, have released the latest model of their small form factor fanless cases, introducing the Newton A50! The newest Newton is ultra-compact, with dimensions of just 169 x 115.5 x 68.5 mm (1.3L). The case supports ASUS PN50 and PN51 motherboards, which are equipped with the latest Ryzen 4000 mobile processors and 5000 mobile processors (respectively) for the best performance in its size category.
The small but mighty design makes the case perfect for small areas, or minimalist desktop setups. The sleek, futuristic panels combined with this ultra-compact shape means the case can be used in a wide range of ways; either a discreet addition to a desk, for smaller desktop setups, or hidden away for a clean, truly silent aesthetic. To fully take advantage of the silence, the use of SSDs is essential for the noiseless experience - the cases have enough space for one M.2 SSD and one 2.5" SSD/HDD.
The small but mighty design makes the case perfect for small areas, or minimalist desktop setups. The sleek, futuristic panels combined with this ultra-compact shape means the case can be used in a wide range of ways; either a discreet addition to a desk, for smaller desktop setups, or hidden away for a clean, truly silent aesthetic. To fully take advantage of the silence, the use of SSDs is essential for the noiseless experience - the cases have enough space for one M.2 SSD and one 2.5" SSD/HDD.
Thousands of Mislabeled XFX Graphic Cards Worth $3.15M Seized by Chinese Customs Authorities
The Chinese division of XFX may be in hot water with Chinese customs authorities, after a shipment of 5,840 graphics cards was intercepted in the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. An initial inspection of the shipment revealed mislabeling of at least three of its graphic cards, with the card's original model and specifications apparently hidden by stickers that declared other, supposedly lower-value models. A subsequent inspection concluded that all graphics cards in the shipment had been mislabeled this way. According to MyDrivers, this purposeful mislabeling of imported goods is a relatively regular occurrence.
The Chinese customs services from Meilin and Huanggang reported the event, declaring that the total value of the mislabeled shipment was accounted at around ¥20 million ($3.15 million). The Chinese customs authorities didn't name XFX as the driving force of the attempted unlawful import, but the company's Chinese branch website has been down following the incident, and the company's web presence over at Alibaba-run, online retailer Tmall has been shuttered as well. At least some of the mislabeled cards were XFX Speedster Qick 319 Radeon RX 6700 XT GPUs.
The Chinese customs services from Meilin and Huanggang reported the event, declaring that the total value of the mislabeled shipment was accounted at around ¥20 million ($3.15 million). The Chinese customs authorities didn't name XFX as the driving force of the attempted unlawful import, but the company's Chinese branch website has been down following the incident, and the company's web presence over at Alibaba-run, online retailer Tmall has been shuttered as well. At least some of the mislabeled cards were XFX Speedster Qick 319 Radeon RX 6700 XT GPUs.
AMD Potentially Preparing to Announce FSR 2.0 at GDC 2022
AMD is scheduled to hold an event discussing "Next-Generation Image Upscaling for Games" at the Game Developers Conference on March 23. The event only includes a brief description that "AMD will present some of the results of their research in the domain of next-generation image upscaling technology" but the developer of CapFrameX has recently claimed to see footage from FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 2.0 so AMD may be preparing to announce the technology imminently.
The developer claims that FSR 2.0 switches to a temporal upscaling approach with optimized anti-aliasing that doesn't require AI acceleration unlike DLSS & XeSS meaning that it can work with GPUs from multiple vendors. The technology can also allegedly improve image quality beyond native resolution but we will need to wait for the official announcement and reviews before reaching any conclusions.
The developer claims that FSR 2.0 switches to a temporal upscaling approach with optimized anti-aliasing that doesn't require AI acceleration unlike DLSS & XeSS meaning that it can work with GPUs from multiple vendors. The technology can also allegedly improve image quality beyond native resolution but we will need to wait for the official announcement and reviews before reaching any conclusions.
Sunday, March 13th 2022
Foxconn Suspends Shenzhen Plant Amid Fresh COVID-19 Outbreak in China
Foxconn, which is a key supplier of Apple products, announced on Monday, that it is suspending production in its Shenzhen plants to comply with a new COVID-19 lockdown in the region. The company is attempting to minimize the impact of this on the supply-chain, by increasing manufacturing output of its plants in other regions, it said in a statement. China is witnessing its highest surge in COVID-19 cases since 2020, and the fresh outbreak is expected to affect manufacturing across the country, as factories comply with cubs set in place by health officials. Besides Foxconn, two other suppliers of Apple, namely Unimicron and Sunflex, have announced a suspension of manufacturing operations in the Shenzhen area.
SilverStone Intros GM Series Redundant Power Supplies
SilverStone introduced the GM series of redundant PSUs in the PS/2 mini-redundant form-factor. These are functionally similar to the Twins PRO series from FSP. Much like the Twins PRO, the SilverStone GM-series features two detachable and hot-swappable sub-units. The series includes two models based on capacity, the GM 600 Silver, and the GM 800 Silver, with capacities of 600 W and 800 W, respectively.
Both models offer Cybenetics Silver-rated efficiency. Each sub-unit features a single +12 V rail design, and relies on a pair of 40 mm server-grade fans to keep cool. Each of these fans has a maximum noise output of 51 dBA. You get most common electrical protections, against over/under-voltage, overload, overheat, and short-circuit. The main body, which docks the sub-units, puts out fixed cabling. The GM 600 Silver is expected to be priced at USD $599.99, and the GM 800 Silver at $699.99, when the two start shipping late-March in Asia, and April for the rest of the world.
Both models offer Cybenetics Silver-rated efficiency. Each sub-unit features a single +12 V rail design, and relies on a pair of 40 mm server-grade fans to keep cool. Each of these fans has a maximum noise output of 51 dBA. You get most common electrical protections, against over/under-voltage, overload, overheat, and short-circuit. The main body, which docks the sub-units, puts out fixed cabling. The GM 600 Silver is expected to be priced at USD $599.99, and the GM 800 Silver at $699.99, when the two start shipping late-March in Asia, and April for the rest of the world.
EK Launches Vector² Products for MSI Gaming Trio and Suprim X Graphics Cards
EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is introducing a whole series of Vector² liquid cooling products for MSI Trio and Suprim RTX graphics cards. RTX 3080, 3080 Ti, and 3090 Trio and Suprim cards get their Vector² water block with passive backplate, new synergistic active backplate, and other aesthetic pieces to customize your water-cooled 30-series MSI GPU to your own desires.
The EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB is a complete liquid cooling solution including a new Vector² water block, black-anodized aluminium backplate, and mounting mechanism. The new look of the next-gen water blocks is dominated by minimalistic straight lines. The 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine combines the jet plate with a 3D machined Plexi insert to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. This new cooling engine is still based on an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings, and still achieve top performance. Great care was taken to achieve a symmetrical flow domain by utilizing an internal bridge to secondary components. This was done to ensure the cooling of secondary components without sacrificing flow distribution over the GPU core.
The EK-Quantum Vector² Trio RTX 3080/3090 D-RGB is a complete liquid cooling solution including a new Vector² water block, black-anodized aluminium backplate, and mounting mechanism. The new look of the next-gen water blocks is dominated by minimalistic straight lines. The 3rd-generation Vector cooling engine combines the jet plate with a 3D machined Plexi insert to improve flow distribution and thermal performance. This new cooling engine is still based on an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings, and still achieve top performance. Great care was taken to achieve a symmetrical flow domain by utilizing an internal bridge to secondary components. This was done to ensure the cooling of secondary components without sacrificing flow distribution over the GPU core.
Sabrent Announces Thunderbolt 3 NVMe SSD Docking Station
Sabrent has just released its new DS-SKRT-D16TB Thunderbolt 3 16 TB NVMe SSD Docking Station, which turns your PC into a full-fledged workstation with a considerable amount of power and connectivity for content creators and power users. nside, there's a 16 TB SSD from Sabrent that pushes out up to 1.5 GB/sec (1500 MB/sec) and with its huge amount of connectivity, it's almost like a better-than-NUC-style, well, NUC. You've got 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports with up to 40 Gbps of bandwidth, 2x USB 3.2 Type-A ports, and 1x USB 3.2 Type-C port which both are capable of up to 10 Gbps.
There's also a USB 3.0 Type-A port that's good for up to 5 Gbps, and a BC12 5 V@2.4 A charger for your smartphone, tablet, and other devices. Sabrent includes DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity, which is good for up to 8K30 and 5K30 (as well as 4K60 and other lower resolutions). There's HDR, HDCP 2.2, and VESA Adaptive-Sync (FreeSync).
There's also a USB 3.0 Type-A port that's good for up to 5 Gbps, and a BC12 5 V@2.4 A charger for your smartphone, tablet, and other devices. Sabrent includes DisplayPort 1.4 connectivity, which is good for up to 8K30 and 5K30 (as well as 4K60 and other lower resolutions). There's HDR, HDCP 2.2, and VESA Adaptive-Sync (FreeSync).
Saturday, March 12th 2022
TP-Link Said to be Sharing all Router Traffic with Third Party
These days, routers are quite complex devices that are doing much more than just routing data and are often the main security device on a home network. As such, we've seen a surge in third party services such as Asus' AIProtection that runs software from Trend Micro and Netgear Armor in cooperation with Bitdefender. Chinese TP-Link is likewise offering similar services, some in partnership with Trend Micro and some with Avira. It now appears that TP-Link's HomeCare service—that the company is offering in partnership with Avira—is sending data to Avira even when disabled in the UI, based on a thread over at Reddit.
The standard Avira features are meant to offer protection against malicious content, network intrusions and even against infected devices on the network that are said to be quarantined from other devices on the network. It also incorporates some basic parental control features, such as automatic content filtering and time controls. However, in this case, the issue isn't the functionality itself, but the fact that there apparently is no way to turn off the HomeCare feature, since even when seemingly disabled in the UI of the affected routers, it sends data to Avira. It seems to be a fairly large amount of data being sent as well, with the initial poster claiming over 80,000 requests in a 24 hour period. According to a review of a TP-Link product over on XDA-Developers from May last year, TP-Link said that they were working on a firmware update that would allow the Avira service to be turned off permanently.
The standard Avira features are meant to offer protection against malicious content, network intrusions and even against infected devices on the network that are said to be quarantined from other devices on the network. It also incorporates some basic parental control features, such as automatic content filtering and time controls. However, in this case, the issue isn't the functionality itself, but the fact that there apparently is no way to turn off the HomeCare feature, since even when seemingly disabled in the UI of the affected routers, it sends data to Avira. It seems to be a fairly large amount of data being sent as well, with the initial poster claiming over 80,000 requests in a 24 hour period. According to a review of a TP-Link product over on XDA-Developers from May last year, TP-Link said that they were working on a firmware update that would allow the Avira service to be turned off permanently.
Friday, March 11th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Keyboards
Motherboards
Notebooks
WD Black SN770 1 TB Review - What Magic is This?
The competitively priced Western Digital WD Black SN770 achieves impressive performance results that match the more expensive Samsung 980 Pro, WD Black SN850, and Kingston KC3000. It seems WD has found a solution to overcome the limitations of DRAM-less designs—very impressive.
Seasonic Focus SPX Series 750 W SFX PSU Review
The Seasonic Focus SPX-750 offers good overall performance, but is struggling to compete with the Corsair SF750 Platinum in most areas. Its fan-speed profile and over-temperature protection also require further tuning.
8-inch Substrate Mass Production in 2H22, 3rd Gen Power Semiconductor CAGR to Reach 48% by 2025, Says TrendForce
At present, the materials with the most development potential are Wide Band Gap (WBG) semiconductors with high power and high frequency characteristics, including silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), which are mainly used in electric vehicles (EV) and the fast charging battery market. TrendForce research estimates, the output value of third generation power semiconductors will grow from US$980 million in 2021 to US$4.71 billion in 2025, with a CAGR of 48%.
SiC is suitable for high-power applications, such as energy storage, wind power, solar energy, EVs, new energy vehicles (NEV) and other industries that utilize highly demanding battery systems. Among these industries, EVs have attracted a great deal of attention from the market. However, most of the power semiconductors used in EVs currently on the market are Si base materials, such as Si IGBT and Si MOSFET. However, as EV battery power systems gradually develop to voltage levels greater than 800 V, compared with Si, SiC will produce better performance in high-voltage systems. SiC is expected to gradually replace part of the Si base design, greatly improve vehicle performance, and optimize vehicle architecture. The SiC power semiconductor market is estimated to reach US$3.39 billion by 2025.
SiC is suitable for high-power applications, such as energy storage, wind power, solar energy, EVs, new energy vehicles (NEV) and other industries that utilize highly demanding battery systems. Among these industries, EVs have attracted a great deal of attention from the market. However, most of the power semiconductors used in EVs currently on the market are Si base materials, such as Si IGBT and Si MOSFET. However, as EV battery power systems gradually develop to voltage levels greater than 800 V, compared with Si, SiC will produce better performance in high-voltage systems. SiC is expected to gradually replace part of the Si base design, greatly improve vehicle performance, and optimize vehicle architecture. The SiC power semiconductor market is estimated to reach US$3.39 billion by 2025.
PC Building Simulator 2 Announced As An Epic Games Exclusive
Today we're excited to share something we've been making in the background for quite a while - PC Building Simulator 2. Working alongside the development team at Spiral House, and with nearly every major hardware vendor in the PC scene, announcing a sequel means a chance to step up and push the limits on virtual PC creation to new heights (and of course, add better RGB).
Sam 'Caliburn' Hills, Senior Community Manager of PC Building Simulator, explained "It's a chance for us to do a lot of the things we couldn't do before on a technical level. We're aiming to simultaneously add more depth to the simulation, increase options for customization, improve the ability to tinker, and to make a better-looking game... It's hard work but right now everyone on the team is really hyped."
Sam 'Caliburn' Hills, Senior Community Manager of PC Building Simulator, explained "It's a chance for us to do a lot of the things we couldn't do before on a technical level. We're aiming to simultaneously add more depth to the simulation, increase options for customization, improve the ability to tinker, and to make a better-looking game... It's hard work but right now everyone on the team is really hyped."
NVIDIA Reportedly Preparing GeForce NOW RTX 3080 Tier One Month Subscriptions
NVIDIA appears to be preparing to launch a one month subscription option for their highest RTX 3080 tier of GeForce NOW. The RTX 3080 tier is currently only available as a 6 month subscription for 99.99 USD ($16.67/month) but according to marketing material obtained by VideoCardz the release of a monthly option should be imminent. The slide didn't contain any pricing information for the subscription but it would likely be a higher cost possibly 20 USD a month. The RTX 3080 tier offers a higher maximum resolution of 1440p (4K when used with NVIDIA Shield TV) and frame rate of 120 FPS for game sessions up to 8 hours long.
Update Mar 11th: NVIDIA has now officially launched GeForce NOW RTX 3080 Tier monthly subscriptions for $19.99/month.
Update Mar 11th: NVIDIA has now officially launched GeForce NOW RTX 3080 Tier monthly subscriptions for $19.99/month.
EK & XFX Announce XFX Speedster ZERO Radeon RX 6900XT RGB EKWB
EK, has partnered up with XFX to bring you a factory water-cooled Radeon RX 6900 XT GPU. The XFX Speedster ZERO Radeon RX 6900XT RGB EKWB is one of the fastest AMD Radeon-based graphics cards on the market. This new Speedster series GPU is equipped with a 14-phase VRM power delivery system, consisting of DrMOS and high polymer capacitors. To make sure these lightning-fast graphics processors manage to hit their maximum clocks, a unique EK water block is pre-installed which also brings a prolonged lifespan due to the superior thermals that the liquid cooling provides. This also makes sure that no precious gaming time is spent on the water block mounting, and there are no questions regarding the warranty.
A powerful 14+2 Phase Power Design allows more stable performance by better distributing power across more power phases in the VRM which results in more overclocking and boosting headroom. Couple that with the incredibly cool components due to the full cover EK water block and you get a recipe for high performance, stability, and a long lifespan.
A powerful 14+2 Phase Power Design allows more stable performance by better distributing power across more power phases in the VRM which results in more overclocking and boosting headroom. Couple that with the incredibly cool components due to the full cover EK water block and you get a recipe for high performance, stability, and a long lifespan.
Goodram Industrial Introduces 32 GB 3200 MHz DDR4 SODIMM Module
The Polish brand of commercial and industrial memory products is expanding the offer of industrial DDR4 memory modules with another model.
DDR4 SODIMM with the part number GR4S32G320D8I is a memory with a capacity of 32 GB and a speed of 3200 MHz, which allows it to be successfully used in embedded systems with a high demand for computing power. Such requirements are reported, among others, by cloud solutions, virtualization, and AI. The compact form factor of SODIMM modules allows to use an exceptionally large RAM capacity (up to 2x 32 GB) in systems based on the smallest motherboards from the ITX family (nano, pico, and micro - ITX). The DDR4 GR4S32G320D8I is intended to operate in a wide temperature range. This means the memories are designed to work in applications exposed to variable environmental conditions between -40°C and +85°C. The manufacturer also offers a version of the module for the range from 0 to +85°C.
DDR4 SODIMM with the part number GR4S32G320D8I is a memory with a capacity of 32 GB and a speed of 3200 MHz, which allows it to be successfully used in embedded systems with a high demand for computing power. Such requirements are reported, among others, by cloud solutions, virtualization, and AI. The compact form factor of SODIMM modules allows to use an exceptionally large RAM capacity (up to 2x 32 GB) in systems based on the smallest motherboards from the ITX family (nano, pico, and micro - ITX). The DDR4 GR4S32G320D8I is intended to operate in a wide temperature range. This means the memories are designed to work in applications exposed to variable environmental conditions between -40°C and +85°C. The manufacturer also offers a version of the module for the range from 0 to +85°C.
Sonnet Announces 40Gbps Thunderbolt Dock with Internal NVMe Storage
Sonnet Technologies today announced the Echo Dual NVMe Thunderbolt Dock, the latest offering in the company's popular Echo family of Thunderbolt docking stations and hubs. The new Echo dock features two 40 Gbps Thunderbolt ports, two internal M.2 NVMe SSD slots, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type-C ports, and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports. The Sonnet dock is compatible with all Thunderbolt 4 computers; all M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac computers; all Thunderbolt 3 Mac and Windows computers; and iPad Pro tablets with a Thunderbolt port.
A Thunderbolt docking station provides users a central place to connect computer peripherals — such as storage and input devices, a monitor, etc. — instead of directly to a computer that may have fewer ports than necessary, or inconvenient port placement. An SSD-based Thunderbolt 3 external storage device provides users the fastest possible data transfers from a peripheral device. Sonnet's Echo Dual NVMe Thunderbolt Dock combines the benefits of a docking station and Thunderbolt-connected SSD storage, enabling users to connect to their peripheral devices and high-performance storage through a single Thunderbolt cable.
A Thunderbolt docking station provides users a central place to connect computer peripherals — such as storage and input devices, a monitor, etc. — instead of directly to a computer that may have fewer ports than necessary, or inconvenient port placement. An SSD-based Thunderbolt 3 external storage device provides users the fastest possible data transfers from a peripheral device. Sonnet's Echo Dual NVMe Thunderbolt Dock combines the benefits of a docking station and Thunderbolt-connected SSD storage, enabling users to connect to their peripheral devices and high-performance storage through a single Thunderbolt cable.
Steam Deck Gets Windows Drivers
If you're one of the lucky few that managed to pre-order a Steam Deck and have had it delivered, you might be interested in knowing that Steam has now released its promised Windows drives. For now, Windows 10 is supported, but Valve is promising support for Windows 11, as soon as the company has incorporated fTPM into the device UEFI. Dual-boot isn't supported at this point in time, but this is something that Valve is also working on and is promising to deliver in SteamOS 3. In addition to the Windows drivers, Valve also added instructions on how to do a system recovery to get SteamOS back on the device, if Windows isn't for you on the Steam Deck.
The driver release includes drivers for the GPU, WiFi and Bluetooth, but audio drivers are missing for now. Valve suggests that those wanting to use Windows on their Steam Deck either use Bluetooth for audio, or rely on USB-C until the company has finished the drivers. This means that no sound will come out of the speaker or 3.5 mm audio jack for the time being. Valve will not offer any kind of Windows support, so it's up to you to get it installed and working on the Steam Deck.
The driver release includes drivers for the GPU, WiFi and Bluetooth, but audio drivers are missing for now. Valve suggests that those wanting to use Windows on their Steam Deck either use Bluetooth for audio, or rely on USB-C until the company has finished the drivers. This means that no sound will come out of the speaker or 3.5 mm audio jack for the time being. Valve will not offer any kind of Windows support, so it's up to you to get it installed and working on the Steam Deck.
AMD Readies Even More Ryzen 5000 Series Desktop SKUs for April
Earlier this week, we learned about AMD making several additions to its Ryzen 5000 Socket AM4 desktop processor lineup, to better compete against the bulk of the 12th Gen Intel Core "Alder Lake" processors. It turns out that there are three more additions to the lineup that we missed, because they're slated for a slightly later availability from the other chips (later by weeks).
The first of these three is the Ryzen 7 5700 (non-X). This chip is uniquely different from the Ryzen 7 5700X and the Ryzen 7 5600G. It is an 8-core/16-thread processor that's based on the 7 nm "Cezanne" silicon, with its iGPU disabled. This means you still get eight "Zen 3" CPU cores, but no iGPU, just 16 MB of L3 cache, and the PCI-Express interface of the chip is limited Gen 3. The Ryzen 3 5100 is the spiritual successor to the very interesting Ryzen 3 3100. It is a 4-core/8-thread processor based on the same "Cezanne" silicon with "Zen 3" cores, but with only 8 MB of L3 cache, and the iGPU remaining disabled. The third chip on the anvil is the Ryzen 7 4700, an interesting 8-core/16-thread offering based on the older "Renoir" silicon with "Zen 2" CPU cores.
The first of these three is the Ryzen 7 5700 (non-X). This chip is uniquely different from the Ryzen 7 5700X and the Ryzen 7 5600G. It is an 8-core/16-thread processor that's based on the 7 nm "Cezanne" silicon, with its iGPU disabled. This means you still get eight "Zen 3" CPU cores, but no iGPU, just 16 MB of L3 cache, and the PCI-Express interface of the chip is limited Gen 3. The Ryzen 3 5100 is the spiritual successor to the very interesting Ryzen 3 3100. It is a 4-core/8-thread processor based on the same "Cezanne" silicon with "Zen 3" cores, but with only 8 MB of L3 cache, and the iGPU remaining disabled. The third chip on the anvil is the Ryzen 7 4700, an interesting 8-core/16-thread offering based on the older "Renoir" silicon with "Zen 2" CPU cores.
Creative Outlier Pro: Shut the World Out
Creative Technology today announced the launch of Creative Outlier Pro, the latest and best addition to the well-received Outlier True Wireless series. Featuring an array of nifty new features, the newly-designed earbuds are set to take the True Wireless game up a notch with Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) plus Ambient Mode, and an impressive battery life of up to 60 hours for a truly better listening experience. Coupled with a total of six microphones, customizable touch controls, IPX5-certified water resistance, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and wireless charging, Creative Outlier Pro stands out as the ideal true wireless earbuds that have it all packed into a portable and pocket-friendly form factor.
Creative Outlier Pro offers users an impeccable listening experience with Hybrid ANC, which is typically found only on high-end headphones. This ANC technology is 'hybrid' in that it combines both the feedforward and feedback ANC systems on each earbud to effectively block out unwanted background noises. So, users can stay in the zone while on an important conference call or listening to their favorite tunes without distractions. On the flip side, users can also switch over to Ambient Mode to let just the right amount of ambient sound in, which comes in handy when users want to be aware of the environment, for example while walking near a traffic junction. The controls are seamless and can be easily accessible with simple taps on the earbuds to toggle between ANC Mode and Ambient Mode, or users can also control it via the Creative app.
Creative Outlier Pro offers users an impeccable listening experience with Hybrid ANC, which is typically found only on high-end headphones. This ANC technology is 'hybrid' in that it combines both the feedforward and feedback ANC systems on each earbud to effectively block out unwanted background noises. So, users can stay in the zone while on an important conference call or listening to their favorite tunes without distractions. On the flip side, users can also switch over to Ambient Mode to let just the right amount of ambient sound in, which comes in handy when users want to be aware of the environment, for example while walking near a traffic junction. The controls are seamless and can be easily accessible with simple taps on the earbuds to toggle between ANC Mode and Ambient Mode, or users can also control it via the Creative app.
Thursday, March 10th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
CPU Coolers
Headphones
Memory
Speakers
Zotac GeForce RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC Review
The Zotac RTX 3050 Twin Edge OC is one the most affordable GeForce RTX 3050 cards available. It comes with a compact but capable cooler that runs very quietly and still achieves good temperatures. What's also included is a small factory overclock and the fan-stop capability.
Quick Look: INNOCN OLED Portable Monitor 15K1F
The INNOCN OLED Portable Monitor 15K1F is a 15.6-inch Full HD OLED monitor offering HDMI and USB-C connectivity and a protective cover that also serves as a stand. Its sleek frame and low weight make it impressively portable, although you might get thrown off by its $420 price tag.
Nextorage Announces NEM-PA Series M.2 NVMe Gen4 SSDs
Nextorage Corporation will launch a PCIe Gen 4.0 x4 ("PCIe 4.0") M.2 2280 NVMe SSD "NEM-PA series" for the USA market from March. The products are initially sold on Amazon. Nextorage was established on October 1, 2019, as a company specializing in the memory storage solutions business led by engineers and staff who built on 20 years of history in memory storage at Sony.
The NEM-PA series is an M.2 2280 SSD equipped with a PCIe 4.0 / NVMe 1.4 controller and a 3D TLC NAND, and comes with a heatsink for heat dissipation. The drive achieves sequential read up to 7,300 MB/s, sequential write up to 6,900 MB/s, and random read/write up to 1,000 K IOPS (in a PC environment). The NEM-PA series delivers both high-speed loading and smooth gaming experience.
The NEM-PA series is an M.2 2280 SSD equipped with a PCIe 4.0 / NVMe 1.4 controller and a 3D TLC NAND, and comes with a heatsink for heat dissipation. The drive achieves sequential read up to 7,300 MB/s, sequential write up to 6,900 MB/s, and random read/write up to 1,000 K IOPS (in a PC environment). The NEM-PA series delivers both high-speed loading and smooth gaming experience.
QNAP Releases Quad-port SATA 6 Gbps Expansion Card
QNAP Systems, Inc. today launched the new QXP-1600eS-A1164 quad-port external SATA expansion card. Designed for QNAP TL series SATA JBOD, the QXP-1600eS-A1164 is compatible with QNAP NAS, Windows /Ubuntu PCs and servers with a PCIe port. Each SATA lane directly connects to a single SATA drive to deliver excellent transfer performance.
"The new QXP-1600eS-A1164 SATA expansion card doesn't need any drivers and provides a more convenient solution than its previous generation. It can be used with a QNAP TL SATA JBOD for expanding the capacity of NAS or PCs to provide future-proof scalability." said Candice Chiang, Product Manager of QNAP. The QXP-1600eS-A1164 can be used with QNAP SATA JBOD (supported from QTS 4.5.4 or QuTS hero h4.5.4), including setting RAID parameters and creating a storage pool using the Storage and Snapshots app. When the QXP-1600eS-A1164 is installed in a Windows or Ubuntu device, the QNAP JBOD Manager desktop utility can be used to quickly obtain and view information about the JBOD status, health, fan speed, and check for firmware updates.
"The new QXP-1600eS-A1164 SATA expansion card doesn't need any drivers and provides a more convenient solution than its previous generation. It can be used with a QNAP TL SATA JBOD for expanding the capacity of NAS or PCs to provide future-proof scalability." said Candice Chiang, Product Manager of QNAP. The QXP-1600eS-A1164 can be used with QNAP SATA JBOD (supported from QTS 4.5.4 or QuTS hero h4.5.4), including setting RAID parameters and creating a storage pool using the Storage and Snapshots app. When the QXP-1600eS-A1164 is installed in a Windows or Ubuntu device, the QNAP JBOD Manager desktop utility can be used to quickly obtain and view information about the JBOD status, health, fan speed, and check for firmware updates.
Canada is the Next Nation That is Getting Ready to Invest in the Semiconductor Industry
The Canadian government is getting ready to invest C$240 million (about US$187 million) into what the country calls the Semiconductor Challenge Callout. C$90 million of that will go towards the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC), which is as the name implies, a facility that engineers and manufactures a range of photonics products, mostly on the prototyping level. The remaining C$150 million is up for grabs through the Strategic Innovation Fund, which is a government fund set up to help Canadian companies grow.
François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry is quoted as saying "By investing in Canada's semiconductor industry, we are making a firm commitment to businesses looking to invest in Canada. Whether it's high-value or large-scale manufacturing, we want to see Canada be home to the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.". Exactly which companies will be asking for a share of the money is currently up in the air, but according to The Register, the Canadian government is looking for a wide range of potential semiconductor related businesses. Some examples are 2.5D and 3D chip packaging, MEMS sensor manufacturing and so on. None of this is compared to what the US, EU, Taiwan, Korea and the PRC are currently working on, but it could very well end up being supplemental to much of what's going on in the US semiconductor market right now.
François-Philippe Champagne, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry is quoted as saying "By investing in Canada's semiconductor industry, we are making a firm commitment to businesses looking to invest in Canada. Whether it's high-value or large-scale manufacturing, we want to see Canada be home to the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.". Exactly which companies will be asking for a share of the money is currently up in the air, but according to The Register, the Canadian government is looking for a wide range of potential semiconductor related businesses. Some examples are 2.5D and 3D chip packaging, MEMS sensor manufacturing and so on. None of this is compared to what the US, EU, Taiwan, Korea and the PRC are currently working on, but it could very well end up being supplemental to much of what's going on in the US semiconductor market right now.
EK Water Blocks Announces Quantum Momentum² ROG Maximus Z690 Hero Monoblock
The Quantum Momentum² ROG Maximus Z690 Hero This is a complete all-in-one (CPU and motherboard) liquid cooling solution for Intel 12th generation Alter Lake processors and the monoblock is compatible with the LGA 1700 socketed ROG Maximus Z690 Hero motherboard. This monoblock uses the latest generation of EK Velocity² cooling engine to ensure the best possible CPU cooling while not reducing flow to other components. This water block directly cools the Intel Alder Lake CPU, VRM section, and the LAN controller.
Liquid flows directly over all critical areas, providing the enthusiasts with a great solution for high and stable overclocks. Like with every EK monoblock, the EK-Quantum Momentum² ROG Maximus Z690 Hero features a high flow design and it can be easily used with the system using weaker water pumps or lower pump speed settings as well. The Quantum Momentum² monoblock also comes with sophisticated D-RGB (addressable) lightning with a total of 8 LEDs. They connect to a standard 3-pin 5 V D-RGB addressable header, named Aura Gen2 header on this ROG motherboard.
Liquid flows directly over all critical areas, providing the enthusiasts with a great solution for high and stable overclocks. Like with every EK monoblock, the EK-Quantum Momentum² ROG Maximus Z690 Hero features a high flow design and it can be easily used with the system using weaker water pumps or lower pump speed settings as well. The Quantum Momentum² monoblock also comes with sophisticated D-RGB (addressable) lightning with a total of 8 LEDs. They connect to a standard 3-pin 5 V D-RGB addressable header, named Aura Gen2 header on this ROG motherboard.
Razer's New Streaming Hardware Lets Streamers Unleash Their Full Creativity
Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, has expanded its range of streaming products with the new Razer Seiren BT microphone, Razer Audio Mixer and Razer Key Light Chroma. These new streaming peripherals bring more creativity and flexibility to content creators and mobile streamers, with professional quality wireless audio, live on-stream audio mixing, and infinitely flexible, adaptive lighting for more engaging, creative stream set-ups.
While the Audio Mixer and Key Light Chroma are aimed at desktop streamers, the wireless Seiren BT microphone is specially designed for smartphone streamers for IRL (In Real Life) mobile streaming. With its small form factor and superior audio pick-up, the Seiren BT elevates mobile streams with rich, clear voice audio, bringing a new dimension of freedom to IRL streaming.
While the Audio Mixer and Key Light Chroma are aimed at desktop streamers, the wireless Seiren BT microphone is specially designed for smartphone streamers for IRL (In Real Life) mobile streaming. With its small form factor and superior audio pick-up, the Seiren BT elevates mobile streams with rich, clear voice audio, bringing a new dimension of freedom to IRL streaming.
Silicon Power Announces the UD80 NVMe SSD
Silicon Power (SP) releases its newest PCIe 3.0 SSD, the UD80, featuring storage capacities up to 2 TB with 3D NAND flash technology. The UD80 strikes a perfect harmony between cost and performance to breathe new life into your system without burning a hole in your pocket. Designed for creators that need more than just a jolt of inspiration, the UD80 provides exceptional value and a performance boost with a PCIe Gen 3 x4 interface - a boost that leaves SATA III SSDs behind in the dust.
The UD80 utilizes the speed capabilities of PCIe 3.0 with the efficiency of NVMe and Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology. Let your creative juices flow with rapid read and write speeds up to 3,400 MB/s and 3,000 MB/s, respectively. At the same time, experience seamless productivity via the higher performance and lower latency that's achieved by NVMe 1.4 and HMB technology.
The UD80 utilizes the speed capabilities of PCIe 3.0 with the efficiency of NVMe and Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology. Let your creative juices flow with rapid read and write speeds up to 3,400 MB/s and 3,000 MB/s, respectively. At the same time, experience seamless productivity via the higher performance and lower latency that's achieved by NVMe 1.4 and HMB technology.
OWC Announces Innovative Storage and Connectivity Solutions for new iPad Air
OWC, the premier zero-emissions Mac and PC technology company, and a respected provider of Memory, External Drives, SSDs, Mac & PC Docking Solutions, Network Attached Storage, and Performance Upgrade Kits, announces innovative storage and connectivity products for new iPad Air with M1 and Mac Studio.
The new Mac Studio offers endless power possibilities. OWC is ready to support these machines' workflow capabilities ranging from external portable data storage to expansive storage. Whether you're working from home, tracking in the studio, or on-set editing, OWC has you covered for your high-performance storage needs.
The new Mac Studio offers endless power possibilities. OWC is ready to support these machines' workflow capabilities ranging from external portable data storage to expansive storage. Whether you're working from home, tracking in the studio, or on-set editing, OWC has you covered for your high-performance storage needs.
Wednesday, March 9th 2022
Today's Files
Today's Reviews
Cases
Motherboards
Networking
Notebooks
Glorious Model O- Wireless Gaming Mouse Review
Aside from being much smaller, the ambidextrous Model O- Wireless isn't much different from its bigger brother, the Model O Wireless: BAMF sensor, Kailh GM 8.0 switches for the main buttons, up to 71 hours of battery life, and pure PTFE feet, all wrapped into a 65 g lightweight package.
ASUS ROG Strix Flare II Animate Keyboard Review
ASUS has upated its popular ROG Strix Flare keyboard with two new versions. The Strix Flare II Animate features first-party pre-lubed ROG switches and stabilizers, PBT doubleshot keycaps, a sound dampening foam sheet, hot-swappable switches, 8 kHz polling, extensive onboard controls, and a fascinating Anime Matrix display you absolutely need to see!
MSI Recalls MAG CoreLiquid 360R And 240R Coolers Hit by a Blockage Flaw
MSI has instituted a recall of its MAG CoreLiquid 360R And 240R liquid CPU coolers due to a manufacturing defect. Apparently, these coolers are prone to sediment build-up in the coolant channel, causing blockages, and severe loss in cooling performance. When idling, CPU temperatures can reach as high as 62 °C, and the machine can trigger T-junction-Max thermal failsafes if subjected to load.
"Our preliminary investigation has identified that a small portion of the liquid coolers produce sediment that can cause a blockage. This, however, will not cause any damage to your system since the processors are equipped with a protection mechanism against overheating," MSI said in a statement. The company set up an online forms to file for free replacements of the cooler, such as this page meant for Canada.
"Our preliminary investigation has identified that a small portion of the liquid coolers produce sediment that can cause a blockage. This, however, will not cause any damage to your system since the processors are equipped with a protection mechanism against overheating," MSI said in a statement. The company set up an online forms to file for free replacements of the cooler, such as this page meant for Canada.
MSI & Ubisoft Jointly Present Next-gen Synchronized Voice Commands On Assassins Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok
In 2022, the world's leading PC gaming hardware brand MSI joins forces again with the international publisher of interactive entertainment and services Ubisoft to draw gamers deeper into another best-selling video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok with a world's innovative in-game voice control.
The brightly-coloured danger-filled world of ASSASSIN'S CREED VALHALLA DAWN OF RAGNARÖK is brought to life in full 4K resolution using the latest RTX Graphics technology via MSI products. Ray Tracing, DLSS, Quantum Dot and MSI Night Vision technologies will enable gamers to get through the Norse myth with enhanced gameplay immersion, stability and, outstanding gaming performance using MSI products. Not only with our stunning monitor but you can bring up to our extraordinary Z690 motherboard and S series Liquid Cooling. Our high-performance motherboards are loaded with advanced features and the latest technology to overwhelm any challenge at hand. Besides, our S series Liquid Cooling offers you a silent world so you can immerse yourself in the game.
The brightly-coloured danger-filled world of ASSASSIN'S CREED VALHALLA DAWN OF RAGNARÖK is brought to life in full 4K resolution using the latest RTX Graphics technology via MSI products. Ray Tracing, DLSS, Quantum Dot and MSI Night Vision technologies will enable gamers to get through the Norse myth with enhanced gameplay immersion, stability and, outstanding gaming performance using MSI products. Not only with our stunning monitor but you can bring up to our extraordinary Z690 motherboard and S series Liquid Cooling. Our high-performance motherboards are loaded with advanced features and the latest technology to overwhelm any challenge at hand. Besides, our S series Liquid Cooling offers you a silent world so you can immerse yourself in the game.
MSI Announces Two New MPG Artymis Gaming Monitors
MSI, the world's leading manufacturer for true gaming hardware, is proudly expanding the hardware possibilities for all gamers. We proudly introduce the latest MSI ARTYMIS 1000R series line-up for gamers who prefer an immersive curved experience. Both monitors are equipped with 27" WQHD 1000R curved panels with refresh rate options of either 240 Hz or165Hz. Also providing a whole new visual experience with the highest standard for gaming display color - QD Premium Color.
Through extensive market research, we have observed an increase of awareness for color on gaming displays instead of just response time and refresh rate. QD Premium Color technology satisfies that gap with great color accuracy of Delta E ≤ 2, pre-calibrated before leaving production. MSI also provides a true color calibration function, allowing users to save color profiles of your choice.
Through extensive market research, we have observed an increase of awareness for color on gaming displays instead of just response time and refresh rate. QD Premium Color technology satisfies that gap with great color accuracy of Delta E ≤ 2, pre-calibrated before leaving production. MSI also provides a true color calibration function, allowing users to save color profiles of your choice.
Apple's Brand New Mac Studio With the M1 Ultra CPU Gets First Benchmark Figures
Less than 24 hours after Apple's launch event, the first Geekbench numbers for the new Apple M1 Ultra CPU are out and the numbers are interesting to say the least. For starters, the system the Geekbench numbers are from, is the top of the range 20 Core SKU with 128 GB of RAM. This helps us get some additional insight into Apple's new CPUs. As Apple didn't provide much in technical terms yesterday, nor on its website, we now know that the clock speed of the M1 Ultra is the same 3.2 GHz as the regular M1. It also appears that the CPU cache remains the same, even though Geekbench is only listing the cache of the efficiency cores for some reason.
Although Geekbench isn't a reliable cross-platform benchmark, we do at least get an idea of how the new SoC from Apple performs. The single core performance is more or less on par with the Apple M1 Max, but loses out quite easily to Intel's Alder Lake processors. However, once we move to the multi-threaded test, the M1 Ultra really shows what it's capable of. Surprisingly the performance scaling is almost linear with the double of performance CPU cores compared to the M1 Max, which suggests that Apple's multi-chip module design is extremely capable. The interesting thing will be to see how well this design scales for GPU intensive applications. Stepping outside of the Apple ecosystem, the M1 Ultra ends up somewhere around an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X in terms of multi-core performance. Scaling over some of the detailed tests aren't somewhere between 80-90 percent depending on the particular test compared to the M1 Max, if we compare to the faster results on Geekbench, which is still quite impressive considering we're looking at two M1 Max CPUs that are technically glued together.
Although Geekbench isn't a reliable cross-platform benchmark, we do at least get an idea of how the new SoC from Apple performs. The single core performance is more or less on par with the Apple M1 Max, but loses out quite easily to Intel's Alder Lake processors. However, once we move to the multi-threaded test, the M1 Ultra really shows what it's capable of. Surprisingly the performance scaling is almost linear with the double of performance CPU cores compared to the M1 Max, which suggests that Apple's multi-chip module design is extremely capable. The interesting thing will be to see how well this design scales for GPU intensive applications. Stepping outside of the Apple ecosystem, the M1 Ultra ends up somewhere around an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X in terms of multi-core performance. Scaling over some of the detailed tests aren't somewhere between 80-90 percent depending on the particular test compared to the M1 Max, if we compare to the faster results on Geekbench, which is still quite impressive considering we're looking at two M1 Max CPUs that are technically glued together.
Intel Schedules Vision 2022 Event for May 10-11th, Potential Arc Alchemist Launch Date?
In-person events are slowly getting back together, and Intel is one of the first to grab tech media's attention with the Intel Vision 2022 conference announcement. Schedule for two days in a row, May 10th and May 11th, Intel's 2022 Vision conference looks like a teaser for some exciting news. The company is expected to present some business insights, hold keynotes, breakout sessions, technology showcases, demos, and exhibitions from sponsors and partners. It requires registration, which is a paid fee of $899 until April 11th, and $1499 after that for in-person seats; however, it is free for digital visitors.
Earlier today, we reported about Intel's plans to release Arc Alchemist discrete graphics card lineup sometime between May and June, so this could be one of the days the company selects for official product launch. We are still not sure about that, so please take those thoughts with a grain of salt. Be sure to tune in and see what Intel plans to do in the future.
Earlier today, we reported about Intel's plans to release Arc Alchemist discrete graphics card lineup sometime between May and June, so this could be one of the days the company selects for official product launch. We are still not sure about that, so please take those thoughts with a grain of salt. Be sure to tune in and see what Intel plans to do in the future.
Turtle Beach & ROCCAT Reveal the All-new Scout Air and SYN Buds Air True Wireless Earbuds - Perfect for Mobile Gaming
Best-selling console gaming headset brand Turtle Beach, and ROCCAT - Turtle Beach Corporation's (NASDAQ: HEAR) award-winning PC peripherals brand, today unveiled the all-new Scout Air and SYN Buds Air true wireless gaming earbuds. Designed for console and PC gamers on-the-go and for fans of each brand, the Turtle Beach Scout Air and ROCCAT SYN Buds Air true wireless earbuds are compatible with iOS, Android, and other Bluetooth -enabled devices like Nintendo Switch, Windows PCs, and Mac. For mobile gaming, the Scout Air and SYN Buds Air feature Game Mode for 60 ms, low-latency feedback to ensure critical in-battle audio recognition. They also offer 20 hours of total battery and are IPX4-rated for sweat and water-resistance, so listening to music or podcasts while working-out between gaming sessions will not pose a problem. Dual mics deliver top clarity, and the included multiple ear tip options provide a comfortable fit for long gaming sessions. Features including customizable touch-enabled controls, easy selection of EQ presets, activating low-latency Game Mode, and battery monitoring are available via Turtle Beach's Audio Hub app for the Scout Air, and via ROCCAT's SYN Buds Air app.
"The mobile gaming market grew to nearly $100 billion in 2021, and we're continuing to expand our portfolio of mobile gaming products so gamers on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch can capitalize on the game-winning advantage of using Turtle Beach and ROCCAT gear," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "In this exploding category, the Scout Air and SYN Buds Air true wireless earbuds offer top audio quality, clarity, and comfort at a level that hits on the exacting demands console and PC gamers desire when they're on the go."
"The mobile gaming market grew to nearly $100 billion in 2021, and we're continuing to expand our portfolio of mobile gaming products so gamers on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch can capitalize on the game-winning advantage of using Turtle Beach and ROCCAT gear," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "In this exploding category, the Scout Air and SYN Buds Air true wireless earbuds offer top audio quality, clarity, and comfort at a level that hits on the exacting demands console and PC gamers desire when they're on the go."
Apple M1 Ultra Chip Uses Multi-Chip Module Design to Create a Massive Software Agnostic Processor
Apple yesterday announced its M1 Ultra processor. It is designed to be one of the most powerful solutions ever envisioned for desktop users, and it leverages some of the already existing technologies. Essentially, the M1 Ultra chip combines two monolithic dies containing M1 Max designs. They are stitched together to create one massive chip behaving in a rather exciting way. To pair the two M1 Max dies together, Apple has designed a package called UltraFusion, which is a die-to-die interposer with more than 10,000 signals. It provides 2.5 TB/s low latency inter-processor bandwidth and enables seamless sharing of information across two dies.
What is more interesting is that this approach, called multi-chip module (MCM) design philosophy, allows the software to view these two dies as a single, unified processor. Memory is shared across a vast pool of processor cache and system memory in a single package. This approach is software agnostic and allows hardware to function efficiently with loads of bandwidth. Apple notes that no additional developer optimization is required for the new processor, and the already-existing stack of applications for M1 Max works out-of-the-box. Talking about numbers, the M1 Ultra chip has a potential main memory bandwidth of 800 GB/s, with up to 128 GB of unified system memory. We are yet to see how this design behaves as the first Mac Studio units start shipping, so we have to wait for more tests to check these claims out.
What is more interesting is that this approach, called multi-chip module (MCM) design philosophy, allows the software to view these two dies as a single, unified processor. Memory is shared across a vast pool of processor cache and system memory in a single package. This approach is software agnostic and allows hardware to function efficiently with loads of bandwidth. Apple notes that no additional developer optimization is required for the new processor, and the already-existing stack of applications for M1 Max works out-of-the-box. Talking about numbers, the M1 Ultra chip has a potential main memory bandwidth of 800 GB/s, with up to 128 GB of unified system memory. We are yet to see how this design behaves as the first Mac Studio units start shipping, so we have to wait for more tests to check these claims out.
MSI Ready with WS WRX80 Motherboard for Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000
MSI Is ready with the monstrous WS WRX80 motherboard for AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO workstation processors. Slotted in the company's MSI PRO lineup, the board is based on the AMD WRX80 chipset, features the sWRX8 CPU socket, and comes with out of the box support for Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000WX processors based on the "Zen 3" architecture, as well as previous-generation Threadripper 3000WX "Zen 2" processors. Built in the E-ATX form-factor, the board draws power from a 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, as well as two 6-pin PCIe power. It uses an expensive 14-layer PCB, and the CPU VRM solution is made up of 11 phases, using 105 A power-stages.
The sWRX8 socket is flanked by eight DDR4, each with a dedicated 1DPC path to the processor's 8-channel memory interface. There are seven PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, all wired to the processor and running at full x16 bandwidth. There could be as many as four M.2 NVMe slots with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring, with an included M.2 to PCIe card with four additional M.2 slots. Other storage options include two U.2 ports, and eight SATA 6 Gbps. Networking options include 10 GbE, 2.5 GbE, and Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.2. There's also an ASpeed AST2600 BMC IPMI remote-management chip with its dedicated 1 GbE management port. USB connectivity includes 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports. We'll know more about this board as Threadripper PRO 5000WX nears retail availability. Right now it's exclusive to the Lenovo ThinkCenter P620 pre-built workstation.
The sWRX8 socket is flanked by eight DDR4, each with a dedicated 1DPC path to the processor's 8-channel memory interface. There are seven PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, all wired to the processor and running at full x16 bandwidth. There could be as many as four M.2 NVMe slots with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring, with an included M.2 to PCIe card with four additional M.2 slots. Other storage options include two U.2 ports, and eight SATA 6 Gbps. Networking options include 10 GbE, 2.5 GbE, and Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.2. There's also an ASpeed AST2600 BMC IPMI remote-management chip with its dedicated 1 GbE management port. USB connectivity includes 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 ports. We'll know more about this board as Threadripper PRO 5000WX nears retail availability. Right now it's exclusive to the Lenovo ThinkCenter P620 pre-built workstation.
AMD Asks Motherboard Makers to Remove Overclocking Options for Ryzen 7 5800X3D
TechPowerUp has verified a rumour posted over on VideoCardz that is quite puzzling, as AMD has asked motherboard makers to remove support for overclocking in the UEFI/BIOS for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. When we asked for a reason as to why this was the case, we were told that AMD was keeping that information to themselves for the time being. The details provided by AMD are short and to the point "5800X3D 8C16T 100-xxxxxxxxx 105 W AGESA: PI 1206b 1/28 Please hide Vermeer-X CPU OC BIOS SETUP options".
The information suggests that this happened back at the end of January, although it's no surprise that this information took some time to leak, as it's not the kind of information that would normally make its way outside of the motherboard manufacturers. AGESA 1.2.0.6 B is also the most current release for a wide range of motherboards, even though it doesn't seem to be offered as a final release from all of the board makers just yet. It's unclear why AMD has done this, but it suggests that there might be some issues related to the 3D V-Cache and overclocking.
The information suggests that this happened back at the end of January, although it's no surprise that this information took some time to leak, as it's not the kind of information that would normally make its way outside of the motherboard manufacturers. AGESA 1.2.0.6 B is also the most current release for a wide range of motherboards, even though it doesn't seem to be offered as a final release from all of the board makers just yet. It's unclear why AMD has done this, but it suggests that there might be some issues related to the 3D V-Cache and overclocking.
Elden Ring PC Stuttering Issues Fixed - But Only on Valve's Steam Deck
Elden Ring launched in late February to rave critic and consumer reviews. The game is an excellent showcase of From Software's gaming design ethos, but ultimately proves that the company's rendering engine still requires work after years of installments due to widely-reported stuttering issues - irrespective of hardware configuration. A fix for Elden Ring's stuttering issues has surfaced on late Monday - courtesy of Valve and its Proton wrapper, and only applicable to the Steam Deck. In a way, this turns Steam Deck into the smoothest device to play Elden Ring on.
The issue with Elden Ring's stuttering has been linked to the games' continuous shader loading. Apparently, Elden Ring allows users to enter its vast open-world without pre-compiling the required shaders (something that we've seen other games do through usually lengthy boot-up processes) for the specific hardware. This forces the game to constantly compile shaders as they're required (due to world loading, animation loading, among other triggers), which is responsible for the stuttering issues gamers on PC have been encountering.
The issue with Elden Ring's stuttering has been linked to the games' continuous shader loading. Apparently, Elden Ring allows users to enter its vast open-world without pre-compiling the required shaders (something that we've seen other games do through usually lengthy boot-up processes) for the specific hardware. This forces the game to constantly compile shaders as they're required (due to world loading, animation loading, among other triggers), which is responsible for the stuttering issues gamers on PC have been encountering.
SGS certifies exceptional performance of Samsung QD-Display
As an industry leader in the premium display market, Samsung Display today announced that its QD (Quantum Dot)-Display, a display suited for a variety of consumer needs, received two additional certifications for Pro Gaming Verified and Eye Care Display. Awarded by SGS, the world-leading certification company, QD-Display received high marks for its outstanding image quality and viewing experience for games and high-definition content, while simultaneously reducing eye stress and fatigue. Previously, the QD-Display received three certifications for its True Color Tones, Pure RGB Luminance and Ultrawide Viewing Angle.
Through the SGS evaluation, the QD-Display received the highest rating level, Platinum, in Pro Gaming Verified in reflectance, refresh rate, viewing angle, Halo (light leakage) and color. QD-Display offers a fast 0.1 ms response speed (Gray to Gray). Additionally, through the certification processes, the QD-Display was proven to achieve a 0.01 ms response speed (Black to White), and a refresh rate of 175 Hz for monitors and 144 Hz for TVs. Unlike conventional LCD displays, QD-Displays do not have a delay time due to the movement of liquid crystals, since each pixel can be individually adjusted to provide the sharpest image quality possible. Therefore, the QD-Display offers faster screen transitions and clearer picture quality, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in high-resolution games.
Through the SGS evaluation, the QD-Display received the highest rating level, Platinum, in Pro Gaming Verified in reflectance, refresh rate, viewing angle, Halo (light leakage) and color. QD-Display offers a fast 0.1 ms response speed (Gray to Gray). Additionally, through the certification processes, the QD-Display was proven to achieve a 0.01 ms response speed (Black to White), and a refresh rate of 175 Hz for monitors and 144 Hz for TVs. Unlike conventional LCD displays, QD-Displays do not have a delay time due to the movement of liquid crystals, since each pixel can be individually adjusted to provide the sharpest image quality possible. Therefore, the QD-Display offers faster screen transitions and clearer picture quality, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in high-resolution games.
Intel Plans May-June 2022 Launches of Arc "Alchemist" Desktop Graphics Cards
Intel is reportedly targeting early-Summer (May-June) for the launch of its ambitious attempt at AAA gaming graphics cards for desktops, the Arc "Alchemist" series, based on the Xe-HPG graphics architecture, according to a report by Igor's Lab. Product launches are expected anywhere between May 2 and June 1, so one could expect some market availability within Summer. The Arc "Alchemist" series is designed to be sold through a handful board partners Intel already has strong industry relations with. The Arc "Alchemist" lineup will initially target four market segments, including the performance segment, meant for maxed out AAA gaming, with XeSS possibly even enabling 4K Ultra HD gameplay. Intel's entry to the gaming graphics space is expected to introduce an element of competitive pressure against both NVIDIA and AMD, as the company has the financial muscle to keep investing in this market if it tastes success with "Alchemist."
Scythe Announces Fuma 2 Rev. B CPU Cooler
Scythe releases today a revised version of the premium High-End CPU Cooler Fuma 2. Based on the classic Fuma 2 asymmetrical heatsink design, the award-winning twin tower cooler is now upgraded with two new Kaze Flex II fans. The new fans increase the airflow by speeding up to 1500 RPM and the rubber frame design guarantees grand noise reduction. For many Intel 12th Gen CPU users, the concern about the additional purchase of the LGA 1700 mounting kit can now rest assured. The Scythe H.P.M.S. IV mounting System now offers full Intel LGA 1700 support. The Scythe Fuma 2 Rev.B CPU cooler is now available in the US, Japan, Taiwan markets.
Tuesday, March 8th 2022
Today's Reviews
Accessories
CPU Coolers
Headphones
Keyboards
Memory
Monitors
Motherboards
Speakers
Sharkoon Skiller SGH50 Review
The Sharkoon Skiller SGH50 is a reasonably priced analog gaming headset. It is particularly interesting because of its high sensitivity, making it easily driveable by a wide selection of sound cards, including the most basic integrated ones. It offers good overall sound quality and a downright fantastic detachable microphone.
Tronsmart Bang Review - An Affordable Outdoor Banger
The Tronsmart Bang is a Bluetooth party speaker. With its rugged construction, IPX6 water resistance, and 60 watts of raw power, it is well equipped to handle your outdoor activities, and the reasonable $138 price tag only makes it more attractive.
SmartAVLink Launches Next-Gen USB Type C Active Optical Cable
SmartAVLink, a world-leading active optical cables (AOC) manufacturer, today announced the release of their next-generation USB type C Active Optical Cable available in a maximum length of 10 meters (33 feet).
With no external power needed, its built-in active circuitry is powered by both ends of the cable, eliminating external power supply costs. With power delivery of up to 60 watts, the next-gen AOC supports various voltage profiles up to 20 Volts at 3 Amps and is thus able to charge a wide range of devices. With a strong zinc alloy metal shell, the attractive gold-plated contacts maintain a long-lasting, reliable electrical connection. The next-gen cable is conveniently backwards compatible with previous USB standards and also works with Thunderbolt devices (With DP Alt Mode) and is available in 3-, 5-, 7.5-, and 10-meter (33 feet) lengths, with support available for extra customization.
With no external power needed, its built-in active circuitry is powered by both ends of the cable, eliminating external power supply costs. With power delivery of up to 60 watts, the next-gen AOC supports various voltage profiles up to 20 Volts at 3 Amps and is thus able to charge a wide range of devices. With a strong zinc alloy metal shell, the attractive gold-plated contacts maintain a long-lasting, reliable electrical connection. The next-gen cable is conveniently backwards compatible with previous USB standards and also works with Thunderbolt devices (With DP Alt Mode) and is available in 3-, 5-, 7.5-, and 10-meter (33 feet) lengths, with support available for extra customization.
Deathloop Wins Game of the Year From NAVGTR
NAVGTR CORP. - The National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers, a 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization of 1,200 media voters and 13,200 subscribers, has announced winners for its 21st annual awards program honoring video game design and programming. Leading all winning games is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (7), followed by Psychonauts 2 with 5 awards. Deathloop, Metroid Dread, and Resident Evil 4 VR each won 3 awards. Far Cry 6, Halo Infinite, It Takes Two, Life is Strange: True Colors, Little Nightmares II, Resident Evil Village, Returnal, Tales of Arise, and The Medium each won 2 awards. Additional winners include Age of Empires IV, Forza Horizon 5, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Artful Escape.
Deathloop earned highest honors as Game of the Year. It Takes Two, Returnal, The Medium, and Deathloop were the only original intellectual properties to win multiple awards. Sébastien Mitton won the most awards (3) as an individual. Voters were polled and asked to identify the most interesting races. The writing awards were deemed the most interesting races. Psychonauts 2 won the award for Writing in a Comedy over The Artful Escape, The Good Life, It Takes Two, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Life is Strange: True Colors won the award for Writing in a Drama over Before Your Eyes, Far Cry 6, Little Nightmares II, and Twelve Minutes.
Deathloop earned highest honors as Game of the Year. It Takes Two, Returnal, The Medium, and Deathloop were the only original intellectual properties to win multiple awards. Sébastien Mitton won the most awards (3) as an individual. Voters were polled and asked to identify the most interesting races. The writing awards were deemed the most interesting races. Psychonauts 2 won the award for Writing in a Comedy over The Artful Escape, The Good Life, It Takes Two, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Life is Strange: True Colors won the award for Writing in a Drama over Before Your Eyes, Far Cry 6, Little Nightmares II, and Twelve Minutes.
Toshiba Unveils Pro Series N300 and X300 Hard Drives
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) announced the release of two new products today. The N300 Pro and X300 Pro HDDs are excellent solutions for business owners and creative professionals, respectively, seeking a hard disk drive built for high performance and reliability. Both HDDs boast capacities of up to 18 TB with workloads up to 300 TB/year and a come with a limited 5-year warranty.
"As the working environment continues to evolve, professionals need reliable and performance-driven storage solutions that can keep up with their project needs and work flows," stated Kyle Yamamoto, Vice President of TAEC's HDD Business Unit. "Toshiba's new N300 Pro is an ideal NAS HDD for the mid to large sized business with high intensity workloads, while the X300 Pro is geared to support the demands of professionals seeking a high performance and reliable HDD for content creation or extreme gaming."
"As the working environment continues to evolve, professionals need reliable and performance-driven storage solutions that can keep up with their project needs and work flows," stated Kyle Yamamoto, Vice President of TAEC's HDD Business Unit. "Toshiba's new N300 Pro is an ideal NAS HDD for the mid to large sized business with high intensity workloads, while the X300 Pro is geared to support the demands of professionals seeking a high performance and reliable HDD for content creation or extreme gaming."
Acer Reports February Consolidated Revenues of NT$22.91 Billion
Acer Inc. (TWSE: 2353) announced today its consolidated revenues for February 2022 at NT$22.91 billion, the highest in eight years for the same period. The February revenues grew by 12.7% year-on-year (YoY), and year-to-February revenues of NT$48.06 billion grew by 9.7% YoY. Acer's public subsidiaries have all announced their monthly revenues, with year-to-February revenues growing by 30.6% YoY in total. Acer's strategy to establish multiple business engines continues to gain momentum, while the year-to-February revenues of businesses other than PCs and displays grew 22.7% YoY, faster than the overall corporate growth.
AMD Announces Radeon Pro W6600X GPU for Mac Pro
AMD today announced availability of the new AMD Radeon PRO W6600X GPU for Mac Pro, developed to help professional users push the limits of what is possible. Built on the award-winning AMD RDNA 2 architecture, AMD Infinity Cache and other advanced technologies, the new GPU delivers stunning visuals and exceptional performance to power a variety of today's popular professional applications and workloads.
AMD Radeon PRO W6000X Series GPUs provide several graphics options for Mac Pro, which is engineered for extreme performance, expandability and configurability. The new AMD Radeon PRO W6600X GPU delivers an outstanding combination of image quality and exceptional performance, helping enable Mac Pro users to achieve amazing levels of productivity and creativity. Users can also select from several other powerful AMD GPUs to power an extensive range of professional workloads, including the previously announced AMD Radeon PRO W6900X, AMD Radeon PRO W6800X and AMD Radeon PRO W6800X Duo GPUs.
AMD Radeon PRO W6000X Series GPUs provide several graphics options for Mac Pro, which is engineered for extreme performance, expandability and configurability. The new AMD Radeon PRO W6600X GPU delivers an outstanding combination of image quality and exceptional performance, helping enable Mac Pro users to achieve amazing levels of productivity and creativity. Users can also select from several other powerful AMD GPUs to power an extensive range of professional workloads, including the previously announced AMD Radeon PRO W6900X, AMD Radeon PRO W6800X and AMD Radeon PRO W6800X Duo GPUs.
Lenovo Launches P620 Workstation Featuring AMD Ryzen Threadripper 5000 Pro
Lenovo today announced the next-generation of its ThinkStation P620 desktop workstation. The workstation continues to be the only tier 1 professional workstation available on the market powered by the latest AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO processor. Building on its original unprecedented levels of power and performance in a single-socket platform, the latest ThinkStation P620 boasts the next-generation of AMD's Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000WX-Series processor, offering up to 25% performance improvement over the previous generation. Additionally, the tower workstation is also available with a new 24 core CPU option, allowing for greater expansion and configurability amongst professional users.
As today's workflows continue to grow increasingly complex, coupled with the need to support hybrid working environments, users demand flexibility and extreme performance in a workstation platform. Creators, architects, engineers and designers need to be able to get more done in less time so that shots can render faster and 3D visualizations and simulations can run seamlessly in real-time.
As today's workflows continue to grow increasingly complex, coupled with the need to support hybrid working environments, users demand flexibility and extreme performance in a workstation platform. Creators, architects, engineers and designers need to be able to get more done in less time so that shots can render faster and 3D visualizations and simulations can run seamlessly in real-time.
Lexar Announces 2000x 256GB SDXC UHS-II V90 Card GOLD Series
Lexar, a leading brand of flash memory solution, is proud to announce the Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC /SDXC USH-II Memory Card GOLD Series in the 256 GB capacity option. With speeds up to 300 MB/s read, the Lexar Professional 2000x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series is design for DSLR and cinema-quality video cameras. The cards can leverage the UHS-II technology that allows you to handle sequential burst mode of RAW footage effortlessly, and provide users with super-fast file transfers for expedited post-production.
The new Lexar Professional 2000x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series 256 GB fully meets the growing demand for larger storage capacity, which helps users save time and dramatically accelerates workflow from start to finish. The Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC /SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series provides the performance you need to capture and store valuable data in a variety of elements which is water-proof, temperature-proof, shockproof, vibration-proof, and X-ray-proof. For added versatility, the cards are also backwards compatible with UHS-I devices, performing up to the maximum thresholds of UHS-I speed capabilities
The new Lexar Professional 2000x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series 256 GB fully meets the growing demand for larger storage capacity, which helps users save time and dramatically accelerates workflow from start to finish. The Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC /SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series provides the performance you need to capture and store valuable data in a variety of elements which is water-proof, temperature-proof, shockproof, vibration-proof, and X-ray-proof. For added versatility, the cards are also backwards compatible with UHS-I devices, performing up to the maximum thresholds of UHS-I speed capabilities
Apple Introduces New iPad Air Featuring M1 Processor
Apple today introduced the new iPad Air with the Apple-designed M1 chip, delivering a massive leap in performance. Available in a new array of colors, iPad Air also features the new Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage for a more natural video conferencing experience, a USB-C port with up to 2x faster transfer speeds, and blazing-fast 5G on cellular models — starting at the same affordable price. Advanced cameras and compatibility with the latest accessories enable users, including content creators, gamers, and students, to push the boundaries of creativity, productivity, and self expression. The new iPad Air is available to order beginning Friday, March 11, and will be in stores beginning Friday, March 18.
"Whether it's a college student taking elaborate notes, a content creator working on their latest project, or a gamer playing graphics-intensive titles, users love iPad Air for its amazing performance and versatility in such a portable design," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With the breakthrough M1 chip, Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, and ultra-fast 5G, iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable, and simply more fun than ever."
"Whether it's a college student taking elaborate notes, a content creator working on their latest project, or a gamer playing graphics-intensive titles, users love iPad Air for its amazing performance and versatility in such a portable design," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With the breakthrough M1 chip, Ultra Wide front camera with Center Stage, and ultra-fast 5G, iPad Air is now more powerful, more capable, and simply more fun than ever."
Apple Unveils All-New Mac Studio & Studio Display
Apple today introduced Mac Studio and Studio Display, an entirely new Mac desktop and display designed to give users everything they need to build the studio of their dreams. A breakthrough in personal computing, Mac Studio is powered by M1 Max and the new M1 Ultra, the world's most powerful chip for a personal computer. It is the first computer to deliver an unprecedented level of performance, an extensive array of connectivity and completely new capabilities, in an unbelievably compact design that sits within arm's reach on the desk.
With Mac Studio, users can do things that are not possible on any other desktop, such as rendering massive 3D environments and playing back 18 streams of ProRes video. Studio Display, the perfect complement to Mac Studio, also pairs beautifully with any Mac. It features an expansive 27-inch 5K Retina display, a 12MP Ultra Wide camera with Centre Stage, and a high-fidelity six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio. Together, Mac Studio and Studio Display transform any workspace into a creative powerhouse. They join Apple's strongest, most powerful Mac line-up ever, and are available to order today, arriving to customers beginning Friday, 18 March.
With Mac Studio, users can do things that are not possible on any other desktop, such as rendering massive 3D environments and playing back 18 streams of ProRes video. Studio Display, the perfect complement to Mac Studio, also pairs beautifully with any Mac. It features an expansive 27-inch 5K Retina display, a 12MP Ultra Wide camera with Centre Stage, and a high-fidelity six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio. Together, Mac Studio and Studio Display transform any workspace into a creative powerhouse. They join Apple's strongest, most powerful Mac line-up ever, and are available to order today, arriving to customers beginning Friday, 18 March.
Apple Unveils M1 Ultra, the World's Most Powerful Chip For a Personal Computer
Apple today announced M1 Ultra, the next giant leap for Apple silicon and the Mac. Featuring UltraFusion — Apple's innovative packaging architecture that interconnects the die of two M1 Max chips to create a system on a chip (SoC) with unprecedented levels of performance and capabilities — M1 Ultra delivers breathtaking computing power to the new Mac Studio while maintaining industry-leading performance per watt.
The new SoC consists of 114 billion transistors, the most ever in a personal computer chip. M1 Ultra can be configured with up to 128 GB of high-bandwidth, low-latency unified memory that can be accessed by the 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU and 32-core Neural Engine, providing astonishing performance for developers compiling code, artists working in huge 3D environments that were previously impossible to render, and video professionals who can transcode video to ProRes up to 5.6x faster than with a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner.
The new SoC consists of 114 billion transistors, the most ever in a personal computer chip. M1 Ultra can be configured with up to 128 GB of high-bandwidth, low-latency unified memory that can be accessed by the 20-core CPU, 64-core GPU and 32-core Neural Engine, providing astonishing performance for developers compiling code, artists working in huge 3D environments that were previously impossible to render, and video professionals who can transcode video to ProRes up to 5.6x faster than with a 28-core Mac Pro with Afterburner.
Basemark Launches World's First Cross-Platform Raytracing Benchmark - GPUScore Relic of Life
Basemark launched today GPUScore, an all-new GPU (graphics processing unit) performance benchmarking suite for a wide device range from smartphones to high-end gaming PCs. GPUScore supports all modern graphics APIs, such as Vulkan, Metal and DirectX, and operating systems such as Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS.
GPUScore will consist of three different testing suites. Today, the first one of these was launched, named Relic of Life. It is available immediately. Basemark will introduce the two other GPUScore testing suites during the following months. Relic of Life is ideal for benchmarking high-end gaming PCs' discrete graphics cards' GPUs. It requires hardware accelerated ray tracing, supports Vulkan and DirectX, and is available for both Windows and Linux. GPUScore: Relic of Life is an ideal benchmark for comparing Vulkan and DirectX accelerated ray tracing performance.
GPUScore will consist of three different testing suites. Today, the first one of these was launched, named Relic of Life. It is available immediately. Basemark will introduce the two other GPUScore testing suites during the following months. Relic of Life is ideal for benchmarking high-end gaming PCs' discrete graphics cards' GPUs. It requires hardware accelerated ray tracing, supports Vulkan and DirectX, and is available for both Windows and Linux. GPUScore: Relic of Life is an ideal benchmark for comparing Vulkan and DirectX accelerated ray tracing performance.
ASRock Industrial Announces New Range of Industrial Motherboards with 12th Gen Intel Core Processors
ASRock Industrial launches a new range of industrial motherboards powered by 12th Gen Intel Core Processors (Alder Lake-S) with up to 16 cores and 24 threads, supporting the new Intel 600 Series W680, Q670, and H610 chipsets. Featuring high computing power with performance hybrid architecture and enhanced AI capabilities, rich IOs and expansions for up to quad displays 4K@60 Hz, USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20 Gbit/s), triple Intel 2.5 GbE LANs with real-time TSN, multi M.2 Key M, ECC memory, plus TPM 2.0, and wide voltage support. The new series covers comprehensive form factors, including industrial Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, and ATX motherboards for diverse applications, such as factory automation, kiosks, digital signage, smart cities, medical, and Edge AIoT applications.
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Priced at $450, Mid-April Launch Pricing of Other New Chips Surface
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the company's ambitious new 8-core/16-thread Socket AM4 processor that claims to match the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake" in gaming performance, will launch at an MSRP of USD $449, according to prices of several upcoming AMD Ryzen processors leaked to the web. The 5800X3D is clocked lower than the 5800X, with 3.40 GHz base and 4.50 GHz boost frequencies, but the large 96 MB L3 cache from the 3D Vertical Cache memory, overcomes this.
The Ryzen 7 5700X is an interesting new 8-core/16-thread part. It's based on the "Vermeer" MCM just like the 5800X, and unlike the 5700G that's based on the "Cezanne" monolithic silicon. The 5700X is clocked at 3.40 GHz base, with 4.60 GHz boost, compared to the 3.80 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost frequency of the 5800X. The Ryzen 7 5700X is launching at $299 MSRP, which implies that the company is cutting the MSRP of the Ryzen 5 5600X that originally occupied this price-point.
Update Mar 9th: Correction: the Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core/12-thread part.
The Ryzen 7 5700X is an interesting new 8-core/16-thread part. It's based on the "Vermeer" MCM just like the 5800X, and unlike the 5700G that's based on the "Cezanne" monolithic silicon. The 5700X is clocked at 3.40 GHz base, with 4.60 GHz boost, compared to the 3.80 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost frequency of the 5800X. The Ryzen 7 5700X is launching at $299 MSRP, which implies that the company is cutting the MSRP of the Ryzen 5 5600X that originally occupied this price-point.
Genesis Launches the Oxid 850 RGB Notebook Cooling Pad
Modern laptops often require help when it comes to dealing with overt heat. More often than not this is because of not so efficient cooling systems. This is where cooling pads come in, for example the newly launched Genesis Oxid 850 RGB model. The Genesis Oxid 850 RGB is a cooling pad for laptops with screens with a maximum diameter of 17.3". Efficient cooling for the heat coming out of the laptop is maintained thanks to five fans. The main, 140 mm one works with a speed of up to 2500 RPM. The remaining four 60 mm fans rotate with 1100 RPM. This configuration allows for air flow with a volume of approximately 120 cubic meters per hour.
The fans in the Genesis Oxid 850 RGB pad are covered with a sheet of perforated aluminium, and the rest of the casing is made from durable ABS material. The aim of the structure is to support the laptop and efficiently distribute heat. Additionally, the user can configure the pad with six inclination settings in order to adapt the screen and work space to their needs.
The fans in the Genesis Oxid 850 RGB pad are covered with a sheet of perforated aluminium, and the rest of the casing is made from durable ABS material. The aim of the structure is to support the laptop and efficiently distribute heat. Additionally, the user can configure the pad with six inclination settings in order to adapt the screen and work space to their needs.
Corsair Launches Step-by-Step Online PC Builder
CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast components for gamers, creators, and PC builders, today announced a powerful new tool to help gamers design their next PC or upgrade, tailor-made for their needs: CORSAIR PC Builder. Combining a vast PC part compatibility database with expert hardware insights and building tips, CORSAIR PC Builder is an invaluable resource when researching and configuring a new PC build.
CORSAIR PC Builder curates your components checklist to your PC gaming needs, drawing on a database covering the full specs from thousands of currently sold PC components. Users need only to specify their chosen Intel or AMD processor, graphics card, and motherboard, and CORSAIR PC Builder will offer a comprehensive parts list of award-winning CORSAIR components, all guaranteed for compatibility with your desired system. PC Builder also ensures that all the parts fit inside your chosen case, whether it be a CORSAIR case or third-party. The result is a carefully curated shopping cart, filled with exactly what you need to build the optimal PC to run your favorite games.
CORSAIR PC Builder curates your components checklist to your PC gaming needs, drawing on a database covering the full specs from thousands of currently sold PC components. Users need only to specify their chosen Intel or AMD processor, graphics card, and motherboard, and CORSAIR PC Builder will offer a comprehensive parts list of award-winning CORSAIR components, all guaranteed for compatibility with your desired system. PC Builder also ensures that all the parts fit inside your chosen case, whether it be a CORSAIR case or third-party. The result is a carefully curated shopping cart, filled with exactly what you need to build the optimal PC to run your favorite games.
AMD Announces Zen 3 Threadripper 5000, but only for Professionals
AMD today launched its first Ryzen Threadripper processors based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, with the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000WX series. Designed to be drop-in compatible with workstations and motherboards based on the AMD WRX80 chipset, these processors come in core-counts of up to 64-core/128-thread, with an enormous I/O offering that includes 8-channel DDR4 memory with ECC support, and a 128-lane PCI-Express 4.0 root complex. The biggest change over the previous generation Threadripper PRO 3000WX series has to be the use of "Zen 3" CCDs, each with 8 CPU cores, sharing a common 32 MB of L3 cache. AMD isn't using the "Zen 3" chiplets with 3DV Cache.
The full AMD PRO management feature-set from Ryzen PRO is available on these processors, including PRO Security, PRO Management, and a special support channel that includes planned parts and software availability. What's more, AMD has been working with ISVs of most professional content-creation software since the past generation of Ryzen Threadripper PRO, to optimize their software for the processors (high core-counts, NUMA topology, etc.). The benefits of these are shared with all generations of Threadrippers. Although all parts in the Threadripper PRO 5000WX series are rated for a TDP of 280 W, AMD claims to have worked on power-management, offering up to 67 percent lower power per core, compared to the competition (2P Xeon Scalable Platinum 8280).
The full AMD PRO management feature-set from Ryzen PRO is available on these processors, including PRO Security, PRO Management, and a special support channel that includes planned parts and software availability. What's more, AMD has been working with ISVs of most professional content-creation software since the past generation of Ryzen Threadripper PRO, to optimize their software for the processors (high core-counts, NUMA topology, etc.). The benefits of these are shared with all generations of Threadrippers. Although all parts in the Threadripper PRO 5000WX series are rated for a TDP of 280 W, AMD claims to have worked on power-management, offering up to 67 percent lower power per core, compared to the competition (2P Xeon Scalable Platinum 8280).
Tronsmart Launches Bang Outdoor Speaker With TuneConn Technology, Setting Off A New Wave Of Party Speakers
Tronsmart has gained a cutting-edge patented technology again to challenge the outdoor party speaker field. Since Tronsmart introduced its SoundPulse technology, a range of Tronsmart speakers like Force has received very positive feedback from customers worldwide. As a well-known technology brand, Tronsmart continues to specialize in the latest technology to meet customer needs and produce competitive products. Besides, Tronsmart has gained another cutting-edge patented wireless transmission technology - TuneConn which integrates Dual DSP Audio Processing, giving you all-around processing ranging from EQ to enhanced bass & treble, dynamic equalizer, dynamic EQ, various DRC processing, and digital amplifier so as to deliver higher resolution & rich-detailed audio streaming with lower distortion. Tronsmart's exclusive TuneConn technology ensures excellent synchronization between different Bluetooth speakers, allowing more than 100 speakers to be connected and play music to the same beat.
Party has always been a lifestyle that people are passionate about. People wonder if there are any portable speakers that could pair with multiple Bluetooth speakers so that they can party in various situations. As demand increases, Tronsmart is dedicated to innovating on the former products and putting forward brand-new speakers to offer an audio feast with stunning stereo sound.
Party has always been a lifestyle that people are passionate about. People wonder if there are any portable speakers that could pair with multiple Bluetooth speakers so that they can party in various situations. As demand increases, Tronsmart is dedicated to innovating on the former products and putting forward brand-new speakers to offer an audio feast with stunning stereo sound.
AMD Said to be Releasing no Less Than Four New Ryzen 5000-Series Chips in March
According to yet another leak, it would appear that AMD is planning to release no less than four new CPUs in its Ryzen 5000-series this month, with the obvious headline product being the already announced Ryzen 7 5800X3D. However, details of a further three CPUs have turned up on Twitter and it looks like AMD is planning to go head to head with Intel, if the rumoured price brackets are indeed correct. The expected three new CPUs are the Ryzen 7 5700X, Ryzen 5 5600 and Ryzen 5 5500.
The Ryzen 7 5700X is as expected an eight core, 16 thread CPU that is said to be cheaper than an Intel Core i5-12600KF, which means an MSRP around the US$250-270 mark. The six core, twelve thread Ryzen 5 5600 on the other hand, is said to be cheaper than the Core i5-12400, so it should get a sub US$200 MSRP. Finally the six core, six thread Ryzen 5 5500, is said to land at the same price point as the Core i3-12100, pointing at a US$130 MSRP. Unfortunately, no indication of pricing for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D was given, but based on the fact that AMD seems to be dropping the pricing of its current Ryzen 5000-series of processors in the US market, it'll hopefully get a competitive price point.
The Ryzen 7 5700X is as expected an eight core, 16 thread CPU that is said to be cheaper than an Intel Core i5-12600KF, which means an MSRP around the US$250-270 mark. The six core, twelve thread Ryzen 5 5600 on the other hand, is said to be cheaper than the Core i5-12400, so it should get a sub US$200 MSRP. Finally the six core, six thread Ryzen 5 5500, is said to land at the same price point as the Core i3-12100, pointing at a US$130 MSRP. Unfortunately, no indication of pricing for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D was given, but based on the fact that AMD seems to be dropping the pricing of its current Ryzen 5000-series of processors in the US market, it'll hopefully get a competitive price point.
Rumor: AMD RDNA2 6X50 Series Refresh With 18 Gbps VRAM Expected Around April 20th
The rumor mill is attempting to nail down the specific launch date of AMD's purported RDNA 2 series refresh. According to renowned leaker Enthusiastic Citizen over at Chiphell forums, AMD is now planning to launch updated versions of its RDNA2 graphics cards around April 20th or April 21st. It seems that AMD is updating three different SKUs based on the RDNA2 silicon, perhaps in order to increase their market attractiveness (and competitiveness) against both NVIDIA's lineup and Intel's upcoming Arc Alchemist series, which is expected to launch in the next several weeks as well.
The new cards, which are expected to carry updated model names, are currently expected to be the RX 6950XT (a response to NVIDIA's oft-delayed RTX 3090 Ti graphics card), the RX 6750XT (likely meant to compete against Intel's upcoming Arc Alchemist A700 series, and the RX 6650XT. The only available details purport to the RX 6950XT, which is expected to not only carry upgraded 18 Gbps GDDR6 VRAM, but also an increased power limit of 350 W (above the 300 W from the reference RX 6900XT. The other two GPU updates should follow suit along the memory frequency and power consumption increases.
The new cards, which are expected to carry updated model names, are currently expected to be the RX 6950XT (a response to NVIDIA's oft-delayed RTX 3090 Ti graphics card), the RX 6750XT (likely meant to compete against Intel's upcoming Arc Alchemist A700 series, and the RX 6650XT. The only available details purport to the RX 6950XT, which is expected to not only carry upgraded 18 Gbps GDDR6 VRAM, but also an increased power limit of 350 W (above the 300 W from the reference RX 6900XT. The other two GPU updates should follow suit along the memory frequency and power consumption increases.
Introducing Intel Agilex M-Series FPGAs
With the exponential growth of data in the world today, coupled with the shift from centralized clusters of compute and data storage to a more distributed architecture that processes data everywhere—in the cloud, at the edge, and at all points in between—Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are taking on an increasingly important role in modern applications from the data center to the network to the edge. The flexibility, power efficiency, massively parallel architecture, and huge input/output (I/O) bandwidth make FPGAs attractive for accelerating a wide range of tasks from high-performance computing (HPC) to storage and networking. Many of these applications put enormous demands on memory, including capacity, bandwidth, latency and power efficiency.
To handle these high-demand applications, Intel today introduced product details for the Intel Agilex M-Series FPGAs, built on Intel 7 process technology, the industry's highest memory bandwidth FPGAs with in-package HBM DRAM. The Intel Agilex M-Series incorporates several new functional innovations and features that provide the industry with the high-speed networking, computing and memory acceleration required to meet ever-more ambitious performance and capability goals for networks, cloud and embedded edge applications.
To handle these high-demand applications, Intel today introduced product details for the Intel Agilex M-Series FPGAs, built on Intel 7 process technology, the industry's highest memory bandwidth FPGAs with in-package HBM DRAM. The Intel Agilex M-Series incorporates several new functional innovations and features that provide the industry with the high-speed networking, computing and memory acceleration required to meet ever-more ambitious performance and capability goals for networks, cloud and embedded edge applications.
Microchip Introduces Industry's Highest-Performance 16-Channel PCIe Gen 5 Enterprise NVMe SSD Controller
As data processing requirements continue to evolve, cloud-scale infrastructure requires solutions that maximize bandwidth, minimize latency and are optimized for efficient resource utilization. Microchip Technology Inc. today announced the newest member of the Flashtec controller family, the NVMe 4016 SSD controller. As the industry's highest-performing PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD controller, the Flashtec NVMe 4016 controller addresses the market demand for high-reliability, high-performance Solid-State Drives (SSDs) delivering greater than 14 GB per second throughput and over 3 million IOPS. With advanced Credit Management technology, this next-generation controller offers the stringent Quality of Service (QoS) required by today's cloud-focused data center applications.
"Microchip is proud to announce the next generation of our Flashtec NVMe controller product line. Its market-leading performance, coupled with our proven and flexible architecture, means the NVMe 4016 can provide our cloud and OEM customers with a cutting-edge platform for their PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD solutions," said Pete Hazen, vice president of Microchip's data center solutions business unit.
"Microchip is proud to announce the next generation of our Flashtec NVMe controller product line. Its market-leading performance, coupled with our proven and flexible architecture, means the NVMe 4016 can provide our cloud and OEM customers with a cutting-edge platform for their PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD solutions," said Pete Hazen, vice president of Microchip's data center solutions business unit.
Kioxia Announces the PM7, 2nd Generation 24G SAS SSD
Kioxia Corporation today announced that its KIOXIA PM7 Series of enterprise SAS SSDs are now available for customer evaluation. Targeted at enterprise applications and use cases - including high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, caching layer, and financial trading and analysis - the new drives bring improved performance, reliability and security to enterprise servers and storage. With an emphasis on security, the PM7 Series is FIPS 140-2 certified and currently under test for FIPS 140-3 certification.
Designed for modern IT infrastructures, 24G SAS (SAS-4) doubles effective bandwidth over 12 Gb/s SAS (SAS-3). Featuring Kioxia's 5th generation BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory, the PM7 Series delivers sequential read performance of up 4.2 Gigabytes (GB) per second (GB/s) and 720K random read IOPS, achieving approximately 20% performance improvement over the previous generation KIOXIA PM6 Series. The new Kioxia drives are available in capacities up to 30.72 terabytes (TB), making them the industry's highest capacity 2.5-inch SAS SSD.
Designed for modern IT infrastructures, 24G SAS (SAS-4) doubles effective bandwidth over 12 Gb/s SAS (SAS-3). Featuring Kioxia's 5th generation BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory, the PM7 Series delivers sequential read performance of up 4.2 Gigabytes (GB) per second (GB/s) and 720K random read IOPS, achieving approximately 20% performance improvement over the previous generation KIOXIA PM6 Series. The new Kioxia drives are available in capacities up to 30.72 terabytes (TB), making them the industry's highest capacity 2.5-inch SAS SSD.
Monday, March 7th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cooling
CPU Coolers
Gaming PC
Graphics Cards
Keyboards
Mouse
NAS
Processors
Aqirys Aquilla Case Review
The Aqirys Aquilla aims to woo the potential buyer with an impressive list of features while keeping an affordable price point. With its four 140 mm fans, solid material mix, and remote-controlled fan/ARGB controller, there is a lot to like about the case on paper, which had us excited to take a closer look!
7Hz Eternal In-Ear Monitors Review - Shiny Darkness!
7Hz is back at it with a new release hot on the footsteps of the immortal Timeless. Aptly named Eternal, 7Hz is using a single large dynamic driver paired with unique aesthetics to celebrate its 10th anniversay as it aims to offer a dynamic parallel for those who don't get along with the planar drivers in the Timeless.
Chinese OEM Creates 6GB RTX 3060 Laptop GPU-based Desktop Graphics Cards for Miners
A Chinese PC components OEM started making desktop graphics cards with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU. Why, you ask? NVIDIA did not feel the need to enable LHR (lite hash-rate) limiters for its Laptop GPUs. This genius contraption also benefits from the lower TDP and aggressive power management of the mobile GPU. What's more, the OEM combined the GPU with 6 GB of memory as per its specification, not having to do 12 GB.
Pairing this with a fairly basic-looking cooling solution, the card is able to sell for as low as $540 a piece when bought in bulk quantities. Based on the same "GA106" silicon as its desktop counterpart, the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU has more CUDA cores—3,840 vs. 3,584, albeit with lower memory amount (which doesn't matter for mining), and tighter clock-speeds. The increased CUDA core count, along with lack of LHR, make this an interesting contraption.
Pairing this with a fairly basic-looking cooling solution, the card is able to sell for as low as $540 a piece when bought in bulk quantities. Based on the same "GA106" silicon as its desktop counterpart, the RTX 3060 Laptop GPU has more CUDA cores—3,840 vs. 3,584, albeit with lower memory amount (which doesn't matter for mining), and tighter clock-speeds. The increased CUDA core count, along with lack of LHR, make this an interesting contraption.
AMD Isolates Windows 11 and Windows 10 Performance Stuttering Issues to fTPM
Does it take ages for the taskbar calendar and notification center to load on your Windows 11 PC powered by an AMD Ryzen processor? Notice random stutters in performance? Chances are, the lag is caused not due to user-interface bugs by Microsoft, but hardware. AMD discovered that certain Ryzen-powered Windows 11 and Windows 10 PCs experience intermittent performance stutters when running with fTPM (firmware TPM) enabled.
The performance stutter is caused due to background memory transactions between Windows and the fTPM, to authenticate an action, as the fTPM serves the function of a hardware root of trust. Since the fTPM is part of the UEFI firmware that resides on the SPI flash EEPROM chip, the performance stutter is caused due to fTPM-related memory transactions with this chip.
The performance stutter is caused due to background memory transactions between Windows and the fTPM, to authenticate an action, as the fTPM serves the function of a hardware root of trust. Since the fTPM is part of the UEFI firmware that resides on the SPI flash EEPROM chip, the performance stutter is caused due to fTPM-related memory transactions with this chip.
TrendForce: DDR3 Consumer DRAM Prices Expected to Rise by 0-5% in 2Q22 Due to Rapidly Shrinking Supply
Intel and AMD will be releasing new CPUs that support DDR5 DRAM solutions for PCs and servers this year. In response, the DRAM industry led by South Korean suppliers is developing solutions to complement the arrival of the new CPUs. In the midst of the gradual shift to DDR5, DRAM suppliers will also scale back the supply of DDR3 solutions, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. With Korean suppliers accelerating their withdrawal from DDR3 production, Taiwanese suppliers yet to kick off mass production using newly installed capacities, and Chinese suppliers falling short of their expected yield rate, the global supply of DDR3 solutions will undergo an impending decline. With respect to the demand side, however, not only has the supply of networking chips been ramping up, but material shortage issues are also gradually easing. As such, buyers are now procuring DDR3 solutions ahead of time, resulting in a tight supply and demand situation in the DDR3 market. TrendForce therefore expects DDR3 DRAM prices to recover from a bearish first quarter and undergo a 0-5% QoQ increase in 2Q22.
Storage Specialist Excelero Joins NVIDIA
Excelero, a Tel Aviv-based provider of high-performance software-defined storage, is now a part of NVIDIA. The company's team of engineers—including its seasoned co-founders with decades of experience in HPC, storage and networking—bring deep expertise in the block storage that large businesses use in storage-area networks.
Now their mission is to help expand support for block storage in our enterprise software stack such as clusters for high performance computing. Block storage also has an important role to play inside the DOCA software framework that runs on our DPUs.
Now their mission is to help expand support for block storage in our enterprise software stack such as clusters for high performance computing. Block storage also has an important role to play inside the DOCA software framework that runs on our DPUs.
Ansys Collaborates with GlobalFoundries to Deliver Next-Gen Silicon Photonics Solutions to Advance New Era of Datacenters
Ansys announced it is collaborating with GF to deliver innovative, unique, and feature-rich solutions to solve some of the biggest challenges facing data centers today. With data being generated at a record pace, causing a surge of power consumption in data centers globally, there is an ever-increasing need for innovative solutions to accelerate data transmission while optimizing energy efficiency. To meet such rising demands, GF is focused on developing groundbreaking semiconductor solutions that leverage the potential of photons—instead of electrons—to transfer and move data, maintaining GF's position as a leader in the rapidly growing optical networking space.
GF Fotonix is GF's next generation, widely disruptive, monolithic platform. GF Fotonix is the first in the industry to combine its differentiated 300 mm photonics and RF-CMOS features on a silicon wafer, delivering best-in-class performance at scale. "Our engagement with Ansys is another example of how GF is partnering with the ecosystem leaders to deliver innovative, time to market solutions for our customers," said Mike Cadigan, senior vice president for Customer Design Enablement, GF. "By coupling GF Fotonix with Ansys' industry-leading simulation solutions, we are reaching new levels in photonic chip design. With support for Verilog-A simulation and process-enabled custom design, designers have greater modeling capabilities to meet their performance, power, and density requirements."
GF Fotonix is GF's next generation, widely disruptive, monolithic platform. GF Fotonix is the first in the industry to combine its differentiated 300 mm photonics and RF-CMOS features on a silicon wafer, delivering best-in-class performance at scale. "Our engagement with Ansys is another example of how GF is partnering with the ecosystem leaders to deliver innovative, time to market solutions for our customers," said Mike Cadigan, senior vice president for Customer Design Enablement, GF. "By coupling GF Fotonix with Ansys' industry-leading simulation solutions, we are reaching new levels in photonic chip design. With support for Verilog-A simulation and process-enabled custom design, designers have greater modeling capabilities to meet their performance, power, and density requirements."
Graphics Card Prices at Record Lows, Sweetspot-segment Finally Affordable
There is a significant cooling down of graphics card prices across the board, according to an exhaustive set of retail pricing data compiled by 3DCenter.org, for the European market. We see entry-level cards like the Radeon RX 6500 XT get closest to their MSRP, with prices as low as 235€, and the GeForce RTX 3050 as low as 349€. The RX 6600 XT sees its price as low as 519€, and the popular RTX 3060 around the same price, starting at 529€. The performance segment sees the 768€ RX 6700 XT square off against the 869€ RTX 3070. The high-end sees the RTX 3080 10 GB as low as 1,179€, compared to the RX 6800 XT, as low as 1099€. 3DCenter observes a downward trend for these graphics cards across the board.
Yamaha Launches TW-E5B TWS Earbuds With 8.5 Hours of Battery Life
One of the big downsides of the now commonplace TWS Bluetooth earbuds in the market is battery life and Yamaha's latest addition, the TW-E5B are set to improve things. The new earbuds claim to offer up to 8.5 hours of listening time, with a further 2.5 charges, or 21.5 hours of battery life provided by the charging case. However, unlike many competing products, Yamaha doesn't support ANC, so if you're looking for a noise cancelling pair of earbuds, these aren't for you.
On the other hand, Yamaha has developed some features of its own, such as Yamaha True Sound that's said to deliver more realism, detail and clarity to the audio played. There's also a feature that Yamaha calls Listening Care that claims to reduce the risk of hearing loss by lowering the volume of certain frequencies that can cause hearing damage. Other features include support for Qualcomm's cVc (Clear Voice Capture) technology, as well as aptX Adaptive. There's also a specific gaming mode and support for Siri or Google Assistant. The speakers are a fairly typical set of 7 mm dynamic drivers that are housed in an IPX5 certified water and sweat resistant housing. Rather unusually, Yamaha has gone for tactile push buttons for controls, one on the left earbud for playback control and answering calls and two on the right earbud for volume control and track skipping. Yamaha provides four sets of ear pieces and a USB-C charging cable with the TW-E5B, as well as a dedicated app. So far only UK pricing appears to have been revealed, which is £129.99 or roughly US$170 when they arrive in retail at some point in April.
On the other hand, Yamaha has developed some features of its own, such as Yamaha True Sound that's said to deliver more realism, detail and clarity to the audio played. There's also a feature that Yamaha calls Listening Care that claims to reduce the risk of hearing loss by lowering the volume of certain frequencies that can cause hearing damage. Other features include support for Qualcomm's cVc (Clear Voice Capture) technology, as well as aptX Adaptive. There's also a specific gaming mode and support for Siri or Google Assistant. The speakers are a fairly typical set of 7 mm dynamic drivers that are housed in an IPX5 certified water and sweat resistant housing. Rather unusually, Yamaha has gone for tactile push buttons for controls, one on the left earbud for playback control and answering calls and two on the right earbud for volume control and track skipping. Yamaha provides four sets of ear pieces and a USB-C charging cable with the TW-E5B, as well as a dedicated app. So far only UK pricing appears to have been revealed, which is £129.99 or roughly US$170 when they arrive in retail at some point in April.
Keysfan Celebrates Women's Day Sale: Great Deals on Genuine Software
Keysfan celebrates the International Women's Day with great deals on discounted genuine software. Save big on your next system upgrade or notebook purchase, by choosing from our wide selection of genuine software, such as Office 2021 Professional, with Windows 11 Pro at just $46.11. Windows 11 Pro is the most powerful operating system for power-users; get it for just $17.71 with a TechPowerUp-exclusive discount code. Free yourself from annual 365 subscription payments by choosing the Office 2021 Professional Plus at just $77.90 for a 5-PC pack. Check out other useful pieces of software you may need, such as Project and Visio; and supercharge your personal-device's productivity.
Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $46.11 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $36.91 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $31.76 | Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $40.99 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $30.74 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $23.56
Please use the coupon code SKF50 at check-out to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.59 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $12.43 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $17.71 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $16.91 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $8.16 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $13.57
Please use the coupon code SKF62 on the following items.
Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $77.90 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $68.66 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $25.70| Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $22.97 | Buy Project Professional 2019 at $22.15 | Buy Visio Professional 2019 at $19.37 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Student at $31.15
Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $46.11 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $36.91 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 11 Pro at $31.76 | Buy Office 2021 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $40.99 | Buy Office 2019 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $30.74 | Buy Office 2016 Professional + Windows 10 Pro at $23.56
Please use the coupon code SKF50 at check-out to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.59 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $12.43 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $17.71 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $16.91 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $8.16 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $13.57
Please use the coupon code SKF62 on the following items.
Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $77.90 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $68.66 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $25.70| Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $22.97 | Buy Project Professional 2019 at $22.15 | Buy Visio Professional 2019 at $19.37 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Student at $31.15
Samsung Allegedly Hacked by Same Group Responsible for NVIDIA Leaks
Samsung has reportedly been hacked by the LAPSUS$ hacker group who were responsible for the recent NVIDIA hack and source code releases. The group has previously stolen approximately 1 TB of data from NVIDIA servers and are currently demanding that NVIDIA release open-source GPU drivers and a bypass for the LHR GPU hash rate limiter. The stolen Samsung data is reportedly 190 GB in size containing the source code for Trusted Applets, bootloader, and account authentication in addition to biometric unlock algorithms and confidential source code from Qualcomm. This breach could have serious security ramifications for both Samsung & Qualcomm is these claims are substantiated.
CD Projekt Halts All Digital & Physical Game Sales in Russia & Belarus
In light of the Russian military invasion in our neighboring country of Ukraine, until further notice the CD PROJEKT Group has made the decision to halt all sales of our games to Russia and Belarus. Today, we begin working with our partners to suspend digital sales and cease physical stock deliveries of CD PROJEKT Group products, as well as all games distributed on the GOG platform, to the territories of Russia and Belarus.
The entire CD PROJEKT Group stands firm with the people of Ukraine. While we are not a political entity capable of directly influencing state matters, and don't aspire to be one, we do believe that commercial entities, when united, have the power to inspire global change in the hearts and minds of ordinary people. We know that players in Russia and Belarus, individuals who have nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine, will be impacted by this decision, but with this action we wish to further galvanize the global community to speak about what is going on in the heart of Europe.
To our brothers and sisters fighting for their home country — stay strong!
The entire CD PROJEKT Group stands firm with the people of Ukraine. While we are not a political entity capable of directly influencing state matters, and don't aspire to be one, we do believe that commercial entities, when united, have the power to inspire global change in the hearts and minds of ordinary people. We know that players in Russia and Belarus, individuals who have nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine, will be impacted by this decision, but with this action we wish to further galvanize the global community to speak about what is going on in the heart of Europe.
To our brothers and sisters fighting for their home country — stay strong!
QNAP Launches TS-x64eU Short Depth Rackmount 2.5 GbE NAS
QNAP, today introduced the new short depth rackmount NAS - the TS-x64eU. There are three models available: the 4-bay TS-464eU, the 8-bay TS-864eU and the 8-bay with redundant power TS-864eU-RP. All the TS-x64eU models are powered by an Intel Celeron N5095/5105 quad-core processor with dual 2.5 GbE ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps ports and 4K HDMI output for multimedia and virtual machine display. The TS-x64eU series provides a complete backup/recovery solution (local, offsite and cloud) and a cloud storage gateway alongside expandable storage capacity and feature-rich apps.
The TS-x64eU is powered by an Intel Celeron N5095/5105 quad-core processor (burst up to 2.9 GHz), with Intel AES-NI encryption engine and 4 GB DDR4 memory (upgradable to 16 GB dual channel). With two 2.5 GbE ports, the TS-x64eU can achieve speeds of up to 5 Gbps with Port Trunking. The TS-464eU has two M.2 PCIe NVMe slots for installing NVMe SSD for caching and Qtier auto-tiering technology or Edge TPU for optimized AI performance. The TS-864eU and TS-864eU-RP have a PCIe Gen3 x2 slot for installing a QM2 card or 2.5 GbE / 5 GbE / 10 GbE network card for expanding application potential.
The TS-x64eU is powered by an Intel Celeron N5095/5105 quad-core processor (burst up to 2.9 GHz), with Intel AES-NI encryption engine and 4 GB DDR4 memory (upgradable to 16 GB dual channel). With two 2.5 GbE ports, the TS-x64eU can achieve speeds of up to 5 Gbps with Port Trunking. The TS-464eU has two M.2 PCIe NVMe slots for installing NVMe SSD for caching and Qtier auto-tiering technology or Edge TPU for optimized AI performance. The TS-864eU and TS-864eU-RP have a PCIe Gen3 x2 slot for installing a QM2 card or 2.5 GbE / 5 GbE / 10 GbE network card for expanding application potential.
Game-Changing Material Lets Lithium-ion Batteries Keep Almost Full Charge-Capacity for up to 5 years
A game-changing new material promises to keep your "battery health" meter stuck at a 100% for up to 5 years. Lihium-ion rechargeable batteries that power most of today's digital civilization, come with two limitations—one that they can only be recharged a finite number of times; and two, that their capacity reduces over time. On some smartphones, such as the iPhone, this is reported to end-users as "battery health."
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) discovered a new material called [wait for it] bis-imino-acenaphthenequinone-paraphenylene (BP) co-polymer. This serves as a binder material on the anode (positive electrode). A binder is a substance used to coat an electrode to prevent the material of the electrode from falling apart or getting destroyed by the electrolyte. Li-ion cells use graphite anodes that are delicate, and were being coated by poly-vinylidene fluoride (PVDF), but this material had a durability of 500 recharge cycles at full (rated) capacity, and yielding only 65% of capacity the battery is "capable" of (with bare electrodes). Beyond 500 cycles, the PVDF binder wears, taking the electrode with it, which the capacity. JAIST's research has found its material to be capable of sustaining 1,700 recharge cycles while maintaining the battery's recharge capacity at 95 percent. For a smartphone that gets recharged once a day, that's nearly 5 years of full "battery health." The JAIST paper can be accessed here.
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) discovered a new material called [wait for it] bis-imino-acenaphthenequinone-paraphenylene (BP) co-polymer. This serves as a binder material on the anode (positive electrode). A binder is a substance used to coat an electrode to prevent the material of the electrode from falling apart or getting destroyed by the electrolyte. Li-ion cells use graphite anodes that are delicate, and were being coated by poly-vinylidene fluoride (PVDF), but this material had a durability of 500 recharge cycles at full (rated) capacity, and yielding only 65% of capacity the battery is "capable" of (with bare electrodes). Beyond 500 cycles, the PVDF binder wears, taking the electrode with it, which the capacity. JAIST's research has found its material to be capable of sustaining 1,700 recharge cycles while maintaining the battery's recharge capacity at 95 percent. For a smartphone that gets recharged once a day, that's nearly 5 years of full "battery health." The JAIST paper can be accessed here.
Malware On the Prowl Using Stolen NVIDIA Code Signing Certificates
Stolen code-signing certificates of NVIDIA scored from the recent cyber-attack, are being used to develop a new breed of malware that can appear "trustworthy" to Windows PCs. The code-signing certificates leaked to the web as part of the hacker group expired in 2014 and 2018, but Windows PCs are still able to see them as being used for signing drivers. One such malware that hit anti-virus provider VirusTotal, is a variant of the Quasar RAT (remote-access trojan), signed with NVIDIA certificates. A RAT works in the background, granting remote-access to your machine to an attacking group with read-write access, who can then do anything from stealing data or holding it to ransom by encrypting it.
AAEON Announces FWS-2280 Wireless AP
AAEON, experts in white box solution and network appliance manufacturing, have once again partnered with flexiWAN, a leading provider of open-source SASE and SD-WAN software. Part of this partnership has prompted the certification of the FWS-2280, allowing customers access to a wider range of deployment options.
Powered by the latest Intel Atom x6000E Processor (formerly Elkhart Lake), the FWS-2280 was designed to give the option of fast, accurate connections across SD-WAN and SASE networks, while also powering an entry-level firewall, making it an excellent companion for SMEs hoping to protect their networks. This solid base also allows the FWS-2280 to run applications such as uCPE; SD-WAN, VPN, SMB, UTM, and Firewall.
Powered by the latest Intel Atom x6000E Processor (formerly Elkhart Lake), the FWS-2280 was designed to give the option of fast, accurate connections across SD-WAN and SASE networks, while also powering an entry-level firewall, making it an excellent companion for SMEs hoping to protect their networks. This solid base also allows the FWS-2280 to run applications such as uCPE; SD-WAN, VPN, SMB, UTM, and Firewall.
Sunday, March 6th 2022
MSI Launches the MAG Trident S 5M Desktop PC
MSI released a new gaming desktop, the MAG Trident S 5M, a machine dedicated to cloud gaming and mobile gaming. It is different from traditional gaming desktops and focuses more on helping gamers enjoy games in the living room. Gamers only need to activate the Android system emulator (MSI APP Player) and the 30-day free XBOX GAME PASS ULTIMATE through the Game Stadium software exclusively developed by MSI to control mobile games on the sofa with only one joystick. You can easily access cloud games and other entertainment software.
The exclusive MSI APP Player allows players to emulate the Android system in the Windows system. Gamers can experience mobile games on a larger screen with better performance. They can also use the Multi-Instance Manager function to open different games in different windows. Certain games can also enable joystick mode, allowing players to use the same joystick to play. In STEAM, you can play games through the built-in Big Screen Mode. In Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, there is the same operation mode to let you use the joystick directly so that it can be perfectly applied to various game software.
The exclusive MSI APP Player allows players to emulate the Android system in the Windows system. Gamers can experience mobile games on a larger screen with better performance. They can also use the Multi-Instance Manager function to open different games in different windows. Certain games can also enable joystick mode, allowing players to use the same joystick to play. In STEAM, you can play games through the built-in Big Screen Mode. In Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, there is the same operation mode to let you use the joystick directly so that it can be perfectly applied to various game software.
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Coming Out by March-End, 16GB RTX 3070 Ti Canned?
NVIDIA is finally coming around to launching its top-of-the-line GeForce RTX 3090 Ti "Ampere" graphics card on March 29, 2022, according to a source on the ChipHell community, cited by Wccftech. The same source also mentions that NVIDIA has dropped the idea of releasing a 16 GB variant of the performance-segment GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, which means the company is possibly wrapping up the its RTX 30-series "Ampere" product-stack updates going into Spring-Summer, so it could prepare for its next-generation RTX 40-series based on the "Ada Lovelace" graphics architecture, with mid-year announcements followed by product launches in the second half of 2022.
ONDA Releases First DDR4+DDR5 Socket LGA1700 Motherboard—But it's Single-Channel
Chinese motherboard maker ONDA released the first Intel Socket LGA1700 motherboard that features both DDR4 and DDR5 memory support—something we learned quite early on that Intel either isn't allowing or is "discouraging" motherboard vendors to do. The ONDA H610M+ is based on the entry-level Intel H610 chipset, and is an otherwise basic-looking motherboard. The memory sub-system is interesting.
While the board supports both DDR5 and DDR4, there's only one of each slots, so you're limited to single-channel, and like every motherboard from the past that supported multiple memory types; you can't use the DDR5 and DDR4 slots at the same time. The board runs DDR4 at a maximum frequency of DDR4-3200, and the DDR5 slot at DDR5-4800 (max). That's not all, the board is quite possibly the only H610 chipset-based motherboard with a Gen 5 PCI-Express x16 slot (every other H610 board we've come across has Gen 4, to keep costs low). PCIe Gen 5 is allowed for the H610 platform. Another interesting bit is the M.2 E-key slot, so you can drop in a WLAN module. It's likely that this board will only be available in the Chinese market.
While the board supports both DDR5 and DDR4, there's only one of each slots, so you're limited to single-channel, and like every motherboard from the past that supported multiple memory types; you can't use the DDR5 and DDR4 slots at the same time. The board runs DDR4 at a maximum frequency of DDR4-3200, and the DDR5 slot at DDR5-4800 (max). That's not all, the board is quite possibly the only H610 chipset-based motherboard with a Gen 5 PCI-Express x16 slot (every other H610 board we've come across has Gen 4, to keep costs low). PCIe Gen 5 is allowed for the H610 platform. Another interesting bit is the M.2 E-key slot, so you can drop in a WLAN module. It's likely that this board will only be available in the Chinese market.
Bitspower Launches Summit M Pro CPU Water-Block
Bitspower, one of the world's leading suppliers of water-cooling equipment for performance computers, has unveiled its most powerful and high-performance water block for Intel and AMD CPUs: the Summit M Pro. The Summit M Pro is a highly efficient water-cooling solution that's compatible with the latest CPUs from the two major manufacturers, including Intel's 12th-gen Alder Lake processors.
The water block brings major upgrades in performance due to its expanded cooling liquid capacity, along with increasing the heat dissipation effect on the CPU's core. These features help to substantially boost heat transfer, ensuring optimal cooling for some of the most powerful processors on the market today.
To further improve heat dissipation, the water block features a base plate made from highly conductive copper, while its water injection system has been optimised to allow for high flows of coolant.
The water block brings major upgrades in performance due to its expanded cooling liquid capacity, along with increasing the heat dissipation effect on the CPU's core. These features help to substantially boost heat transfer, ensuring optimal cooling for some of the most powerful processors on the market today.
To further improve heat dissipation, the water block features a base plate made from highly conductive copper, while its water injection system has been optimised to allow for high flows of coolant.
Saturday, March 5th 2022
AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000WX-Series Spec Leak
AMD's Threadripper Pro WX or workstation processors are set to finally join the 5000-series of AMD CPU's if the latest leaks are to be believed. It would seem that AMD is planning no less than five new SKUs, or one more than the current 3000-series of workstation chips. The new entry is a 24 core, 48 thread chip, which was lacking from the current range. As such, the entire series will consist of 12, 16, 24, 32 and 64 core options, all with twice as many threads. All chips have a common 4.5 GHz peak turbo clock, but the base clocks vary by quite a bit, depending on the core count.
The 12 core 5945WX has a base clock of 4.1 GHz, with the 16 core 5955WX coming in at 4 GHz, the 24 core 5965WX then drops to 3.8 GHz, followed by the 32 core 5975WX at 3.6 GHz. Finally the 64 core 5995WX is said to only muster a base clock of 2.7 GHz. All five CPUs have a TDP rating of 280 Watts. The new Threadripper chips are expected to work in current boards that sport a WRX80 socket. As such, PCIe lanes and memory support is expected to remain the same as for the 3000-series.
The 12 core 5945WX has a base clock of 4.1 GHz, with the 16 core 5955WX coming in at 4 GHz, the 24 core 5965WX then drops to 3.8 GHz, followed by the 32 core 5975WX at 3.6 GHz. Finally the 64 core 5995WX is said to only muster a base clock of 2.7 GHz. All five CPUs have a TDP rating of 280 Watts. The new Threadripper chips are expected to work in current boards that sport a WRX80 socket. As such, PCIe lanes and memory support is expected to remain the same as for the 3000-series.
Friday, March 4th 2022
Today's Reviews
Keyboards
Monitors
Motherboards
Networking
Gryphon AX WiFi 6 Router Review
Gryphon joins the WiFi 6 world with the new Gryphon AX router available as a standalone unit or 2-pack mesh WiFi system. It is supported by an updated mobile app that prioritizes content monitoring and filtering for parents and guardians in general, but does not compromise on WiFi performance, either.
Silicon Power XS70 1 TB SSD Review - Fast and Great Value
Priced at $130 for 1 TB, the Silicon Power XS70 is one of the most affordable PCIe 4.0 SSDs. It still offers outstanding performance because of the Phison E18 controller and Micron 176-layer TLC NAND combination. An excellent heatsink is preinstalled, too. The drive never reaches its thermal throttle point.
AQIRYS T.G.A. Wired Gaming Mouse Review
With the T.G.A. Wired, AQIRYS presents another Zowie S2-inspired release. The T.G.A. Wired comes with PixArt's PMW3389 sensor, a 67 g lightweight construction, and pure PTFE feet, along with back and main button covers in various colors to further customize its appearance to one's liking.
AsRock Teases NFT Motherboard - The Z690 PG Riptide NFT Edition
Remember that initial Phantom Gaming Evo NFT push from AsRock? It seems that the company was testing the waters amongst its user base - and the industry at large. The company is now seemingly doubling down on NFTs, but in a creative way. The company's latest "Unity Makes Strength: Z690 PG Riptide NFT Edition" campaign is bringing community-based design as input towards the final production look of its upcoming Z690 PG Riptide NFT Edition motherboard. The final design will then be minted into an NFT.
The company will be accepting submissions for motherboard designs around the motherboard, with users being called to paint it (the canvas is subdivided into 4,309 pixels) at their leisure. Then, AsRock will be taking five random designs among the submissions, and compare them on a per-pixel basis. The dominant color will then be averaged among the designs, and will become the final pixel. The designs can be submitted via AsRock's site from March 7th through March 26th, with participants receiving a sweepstakes code upon submission. Every entrant will be eligible to win the NFT associated with the motherboard's final design, but additional prizes will be offered on day one, 10, and 20 of the campaign. The winner is likely to hold a pretty valuable NFT by the end of it all; ASRock sold the initial allocation of 30 Phantom Gaming Evo NFTs on January 28 th for 0.1 ETH (~$250 at the time) each. With the Z690 PG Riptide NFT Edition being a one-off, however, it's likely it'll fetch for much higher in secondary markets.
The company will be accepting submissions for motherboard designs around the motherboard, with users being called to paint it (the canvas is subdivided into 4,309 pixels) at their leisure. Then, AsRock will be taking five random designs among the submissions, and compare them on a per-pixel basis. The dominant color will then be averaged among the designs, and will become the final pixel. The designs can be submitted via AsRock's site from March 7th through March 26th, with participants receiving a sweepstakes code upon submission. Every entrant will be eligible to win the NFT associated with the motherboard's final design, but additional prizes will be offered on day one, 10, and 20 of the campaign. The winner is likely to hold a pretty valuable NFT by the end of it all; ASRock sold the initial allocation of 30 Phantom Gaming Evo NFTs on January 28 th for 0.1 ETH (~$250 at the time) each. With the Z690 PG Riptide NFT Edition being a one-off, however, it's likely it'll fetch for much higher in secondary markets.
TSMC Said to be Close to Completing N3E Node
TSMC is working on multiple N3 nodes, with at least N3, N3B and N3E currently being in development. N3 is scheduled for production in 2023, with the N3E node originally being scheduled for 2024, but it now looks like it will be ready ahead of schedule. The N3E node was meant to be an enhanced version of the N3 node, but it now seems to be more of an alternative node, based on fewer EUV layers, supposedly down from 25 to 21 layers, which would make it easier to manufacture. According to details via Morgan Stanley, the N3E node is said to be around eight percent less dense than the original N3 node, but still around 60 percent denser than the N5 node. For comparison, the N3 node was said to have 70 percent denser logic than the N5 node.
The report suggests that the N3E node might be finished by the end of this month, which means production could end up being pulled in by a whole quarter, from Q3'23 to Q2'23. The N3E node is said to "feature improved manufacturing process window with better performance, power and yield", so we might see the N3E node being used for future products by just about anyone that is looking at making high-performance silicon. The N3E node is also said to have higher yields than the N3B node, with N3B said to be an improved version of N3 for certain customers. Not much else is known about the N3B node at the moment.
The report suggests that the N3E node might be finished by the end of this month, which means production could end up being pulled in by a whole quarter, from Q3'23 to Q2'23. The N3E node is said to "feature improved manufacturing process window with better performance, power and yield", so we might see the N3E node being used for future products by just about anyone that is looking at making high-performance silicon. The N3E node is also said to have higher yields than the N3B node, with N3B said to be an improved version of N3 for certain customers. Not much else is known about the N3B node at the moment.
Antec Announces the DF800 FLUX Case
Antec Inc., a leading provider of high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself market, presents the latest mid tower of their award-winning Gaming Series: the DF800 FLUX. The chassis features new visual effects with a geometrical front panel design which mirrors light effects through its special surface design. The full-view tempered glass side panel lets the user show off the build, while the interior of the chassis allows for thought-out ventilation thanks to huge air intakes as well as plenty of space for watercooling and case fans. The case is now commercially available from 93€ (suggested retail price including VAT).
The new DF800 FLUX measures 479 x 220 x 488 mm (DxWxH) and is compatible with ATX, micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards. In terms of fan support, the case accommodates three 120 mm / three 140 mm in the front, three 120 mm fans / two 140 mm fans on top as well as one 120 mm fan in the rear and two fans on the PSU shroud. The DF800 FLUX features a number of pre-installed fans: three 120 mm ARGB fans in the front, one 120 mm reverse fan on the PSU shroud and one 120 mm fan in the rear of the case.
The new DF800 FLUX measures 479 x 220 x 488 mm (DxWxH) and is compatible with ATX, micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards. In terms of fan support, the case accommodates three 120 mm / three 140 mm in the front, three 120 mm fans / two 140 mm fans on top as well as one 120 mm fan in the rear and two fans on the PSU shroud. The DF800 FLUX features a number of pre-installed fans: three 120 mm ARGB fans in the front, one 120 mm reverse fan on the PSU shroud and one 120 mm fan in the rear of the case.
Silicon Power Announces Next-Gen DDR5 UDIMMs
Silicon Power (SP) releases its newest UDIMM memory module with the latest, groundbreaking DDR5 technology. Read on to learn why it's time to ditch your DDR4 module and make the upgrade. Taking speed, capacity, and reliability even further, the cutting-edge technology of this DDR5 module gives that next-level edge for your system's performance. With aggressive speeds of 4800 MHz, it's 1.5x faster than standard 3200 MHz DDR4 to provide multi-core CPUs with extreme responsiveness and the power to multi-task seamlessly.
Even with all of its extra power, this DDR5 module improves upon its predecessor with on-module voltage regulation. A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) reduces the burden on the motherboard control and results in a lower voltage of 1.1 V versus 1.2 V for DDR4 for even less power consumption.
Even with all of its extra power, this DDR5 module improves upon its predecessor with on-module voltage regulation. A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) reduces the burden on the motherboard control and results in a lower voltage of 1.1 V versus 1.2 V for DDR4 for even less power consumption.
AMD and Intel Stop Processor Shipments to Russia and Belarus
Unless you have been living under a rock, chances are you are following the news about the Russia-Ukraine war disputes. Not to get too political, we are here to report about your favorite rivals—AMD and Intel—officially stopping the delivery of processors to Russia and Belarus. Firstly, an AMD representative told PCWorld that "Based on sanctions placed on Russia by the United States and other nations, at this time AMD is suspending its sales and distribution of our products into Russia and Belarus. It is all AMD products and products we power (PCs, etc) in Russia and Belarus." Additionally, Intel posted an official quote, which you can find below.
IntelIntel condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and we have suspended all shipments to customers in both Russia and Belarus. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this war, including the people of Ukraine and the surrounding countries and all those around the world with family, friends and loved ones in the region.
"We are working to support all of our employees through this difficult situation, especially those with close ties to this region. We have launched an employee donation and matching campaign through the Intel Foundation that has already raised over $1.2 million for relief efforts, and we are proud of the work our teams in surrounding areas including Poland, Germany and Romania are doing to aid refugees. We will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and the global community in calling for an immediate end to this war and a swift return to peace.
ASUS Intros ROG Swift PG329Q-W Monitor
ASUS today introduced the ROG Swift PG329Q-W gaming monitor. Essentially a white-body variant of the ROG Swift PG329Q, its design sees matte-white take up must of the back body panel with matte-aluminium accents—a diagonal strip and another one around the pivot. The stand has the same 2-tone finish. At the front, you see matte-white only take up the bottom bezel. The screen is still framed in a thin black bezel.
The ROG Swift PG329Q-W is a 32-inch planar monitor with a Fast IPS display panel. It offers WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, 175 Hz refresh-rate, 1 ms (GTG) response time, and technologies such as ELMB Sync, NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible, and DisplayHDR 600. You also get ASUS innovations such as Shadow Boost, Game Visual (game genre-optimized display presets), Game Plus (OSD crosshair, timer, and FPS counter. Display inputs include one DisplayPort 1.2a, and two HDMI 2.0 ports. The company didn't reveal pricing.
The ROG Swift PG329Q-W is a 32-inch planar monitor with a Fast IPS display panel. It offers WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, 175 Hz refresh-rate, 1 ms (GTG) response time, and technologies such as ELMB Sync, NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible, and DisplayHDR 600. You also get ASUS innovations such as Shadow Boost, Game Visual (game genre-optimized display presets), Game Plus (OSD crosshair, timer, and FPS counter. Display inputs include one DisplayPort 1.2a, and two HDMI 2.0 ports. The company didn't reveal pricing.
Tanzanite Silicon Solutions Demonstrates Industry's First CXL Based Memory Expansion and Memory Pooling Products
Tanzanite Silicon Solutions Inc., the leader in the development of Compute Express Link (CXL) based products, is unveiling its architectural vision and product roadmap with an SoC mapped to FPGA Proof-Of-Concept vehicle demonstrating Memory Expansion and Memory Pooling, with multi-host CXL based connectivity. Explosive demand for memory and compute to meet the needs of emerging applications such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), blockchain technology, and the metaverse is outpacing monolithic systems. A disaggregated data center design with composable components for CPU, memory, storage, GPU, and XPU is needed to provide flexible and dynamic pooling of resources to meet the varying demands of heterogenous workloads in an optimal and efficient manner.
Tanzanite's visionary TanzanoidTZ architecture and purpose-built design of a "Smart Logic Interface Connector" (SLICTZ) SoC enables independent scaling and sharing of memory and compute in a pool with low latency within and across server racks. The Tanzanite solution provides a highly scalable architecture for exa-scale level memory capacity and compute acceleration, supporting multiple industry standard form-factors, ranging from E1.S, E3.S, memory expansion board, and memory appliance.
Tanzanite's visionary TanzanoidTZ architecture and purpose-built design of a "Smart Logic Interface Connector" (SLICTZ) SoC enables independent scaling and sharing of memory and compute in a pool with low latency within and across server racks. The Tanzanite solution provides a highly scalable architecture for exa-scale level memory capacity and compute acceleration, supporting multiple industry standard form-factors, ranging from E1.S, E3.S, memory expansion board, and memory appliance.
Thursday, March 3rd 2022
Today's Reviews
Graphics Cards
Motherboards
NVIDIA RTX A2000 Review - World’s Fastest ITX Card: Low-Profile and Slot-Powered
NVIDIA's RTX A2000 is the fastest graphics card that fits into a low-profile form factor. It's fast enough for 1080p Full HD Gaming at maximum details and achieves that with 75 W slot power only, which makes it even more energy-efficient than AMD's 6 and 7 nanometer RDNA2 graphics cards.
AQIRYS Pulsar LS White 750 W Review
The AQIRYS Pulsar LS White 750 W has a nice exterior, matching white, fixed cables, and a cool model name. However, is that enough to make it stand out of the crowd in the 750 W 80 PLUS Bronze category where it has to face units like the Corsair CX750M, XPG Pylon 750, and Thermaltake Smart BM2 of similar capacity?
Intel Announces 12th Gen Core Processors with vPro
Intel today launched its 12th Gen Core Processors with vPro. Released across the company's mobile and desktop product lines, these processors are targeted at pre-built commercial desktops and commercial notebooks that companies typically issue their employees, which come with a host of security and remote-management features suitable to a large corporate environment. With this generation, Intel is bringing vPro to even more market segments, including ultraportables designed under the Intel Evo banner; a new breed of enterprise-grade Chromebooks for businesses built entirely on the Chrome OS platform and cloud-based apps; and for the first time, an SMB version of vPro called vPro Essentials, which will make it to entry-level Core i5 processors with vPro.
Security, Productivity, and Future-readiness form the three areas in which Intel innovated for 12th Gen Core processors with vPro. The company added new capabilities for Threat Detection Technology, which can detect ransomware and supply-chain attacks, and can work with various endpoint security software. Intel Hardware Shield technology prevents attacks from "below" the software (below ring-0, or at the firmware, microcode, or hardware levels). This is achieved through hardware-accelerated virtualization and encryption of the entire software environment. Hardware-based protections extend to vPro Enterprise for Chrome.
Security, Productivity, and Future-readiness form the three areas in which Intel innovated for 12th Gen Core processors with vPro. The company added new capabilities for Threat Detection Technology, which can detect ransomware and supply-chain attacks, and can work with various endpoint security software. Intel Hardware Shield technology prevents attacks from "below" the software (below ring-0, or at the firmware, microcode, or hardware levels). This is achieved through hardware-accelerated virtualization and encryption of the entire software environment. Hardware-based protections extend to vPro Enterprise for Chrome.
Netflix Announces Plans To Acquire Finnish Mobile Game Developer Next Games
Netflix, today announced that it has entered into a combination agreement to acquire Next Games. Under the terms of the agreement, Netflix will commence a tender offer process to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Next Games. Pursuant to the offer, Next Games shareholders would receive EUR 2.10 in cash per share of Next Games, for a total value of approximately EUR 65 million. The Board of Directors of Next Games has unanimously decided to recommend that the shareholders accept the tender offer.
"Next Games has a seasoned management team, strong track record with mobile games based on entertainment franchises, and solid operational capabilities," said Michael Verdu, Vice President of Games, Netflix. "We are excited for Next Games to join Netflix as a core studio in a strategic region and key talent market, expanding our internal game studio capabilities. While we're just getting started in games, I am confident that together with Next Games we will be able to build a portfolio of world class games that will delight our members around the world."
"Next Games has a seasoned management team, strong track record with mobile games based on entertainment franchises, and solid operational capabilities," said Michael Verdu, Vice President of Games, Netflix. "We are excited for Next Games to join Netflix as a core studio in a strategic region and key talent market, expanding our internal game studio capabilities. While we're just getting started in games, I am confident that together with Next Games we will be able to build a portfolio of world class games that will delight our members around the world."
ASRock Releases NUC 1200 BOX Series Mini PCs & Motherboards
Today, ASRock Industrial launched NUC 1200 BOX Series Mini PCs and NUC 1200 Motherboard Series, the next-level Powerhouse taking evolutionary leaps with 12th Gen Intel Core Processors (Alder Lake-P). The new performance hybrid architecture offers fantastic performance and responsiveness with Intel Iris Xe's enhanced graphics/media/display, 4K quad displays, 2.5 GbE dual LAN, Wi-Fi 6E, and rich IOs connectivity for gaming, multi-tasking, home-office productivity boost, content creator demand, business, and AI BOX applications.
NUC 1200 BOX Series Mini PCs- NUC BOX-1260P/ NUC BOX-1240P/ NUC BOX-1220P powered by the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i7/i5/i3 Processors (Alder Lake-P) pushes for evolutionary leaps in a compact casing- 110.0 x 117.5 x 47.85 mm (WxDxH). The performance hybrid architecture is a novel combination of Performance-cores (P-cores) maximizing single-thread performance and Efficient-cores (E-cores) built for multitasking to deliver upgraded performance and responsiveness with intelligent Intel Thread Director. Featuring Intel Iris Xe Graphics, up to 96 EUs combined with AI enablement and dual DDR4 3200 MHz memory up to 64 GB, the NUC 1200 BOX Series also provides accelerated AI inference and highly scalable graphics/ media/ display engine all in one go.
NUC 1200 BOX Series Mini PCs- NUC BOX-1260P/ NUC BOX-1240P/ NUC BOX-1220P powered by the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i7/i5/i3 Processors (Alder Lake-P) pushes for evolutionary leaps in a compact casing- 110.0 x 117.5 x 47.85 mm (WxDxH). The performance hybrid architecture is a novel combination of Performance-cores (P-cores) maximizing single-thread performance and Efficient-cores (E-cores) built for multitasking to deliver upgraded performance and responsiveness with intelligent Intel Thread Director. Featuring Intel Iris Xe Graphics, up to 96 EUs combined with AI enablement and dual DDR4 3200 MHz memory up to 64 GB, the NUC 1200 BOX Series also provides accelerated AI inference and highly scalable graphics/ media/ display engine all in one go.
Silicon Power Also Releases Marvel Xtreme M80 Performance Flash Drive
In addition to the Marvel M02, Silicon Power today released the Marvel Xtreme M80 performance-segment USB flash drive. Built in the conventional 2-piece form-factor, the Xtreme M80 measures 68.5 mm x 17.8 mm x 8.2 mm (LxWxH), weighing about 8.5 g. It comes in 250 GB, 500 GB, and 1 TB capacities. The drive features a USB 3.1 Gen 2 type-A (10 Gbps) interface, and offers sequential transfer rates of up to 600 MB/s reads, and up to 500 MB/s writes, and takes advantage of UASP. Its plastic body features a brushed alumiunium-looking finish, with a chrome element toward the end. The company didn't release pricing.
Silicon Power Announces the Marvel M02 USB Flash Drive
Take your data anywhere with the new Marvel M02 USB flash drive from Silicon Power (SP). The Marvel M02 Type-A USB flash drive is equipped with a USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface, which allows for speedy data transfers up to 5 Gbps. On top of that, with up to 128 GB of storage capacity, you'll have more than enough space to take what you need with you.
On the inside, the Marvel M02 is always ready with True Plug & Play technology, which eliminates the need for external power. On the outside, its aluminium casing is lightweight and durable, while a detachable cap protects the USB connector when not in use.
On the inside, the Marvel M02 is always ready with True Plug & Play technology, which eliminates the need for external power. On the outside, its aluminium casing is lightweight and durable, while a detachable cap protects the USB connector when not in use.
Razer Adds Analog Switch Support to Huntsman Mini 60% Keyboard
Razer has been quietly updating its peripheral lineup, including its Huntsman series of keyboards that used to be exclusively mechanical and using Razer-branded linear, tactile, or clicky switches. Then came optical switch versions that theoretically promise zero debounce and smoother travel owing to no mechanical components for the stem to physically move into, and this time it was either a linear Razer switch or a clicky one. It would be no surprise then that the natural progression of this was via analog switch versions of its popular keyboards. The full-size Huntsman V2 Analog was the first of these to launch a few months ago, with the use of "Razer Analog Optical Switches" to complete the set. These analog switches rely on optical sensors to detect the travel of the stem downward, akin to what the likes of Wooting have been doing for a while now, and aim to finally be the one peripheral to address the strengths of keyboards and game controllers collectively.
Perhaps the 100% form factor was too large for consumers, especially given analog switches have rarely found an established use case outside of gaming even today, so a smaller keyboard size may be what you are looking for. Razer certainly thinks as much, as today it introduced the Huntsman Mini Analog—a 60% form factor keyboard now employing the same Razer analog switches. With customization over the analog actuation in Razer Synapse between 1.5 and 3.6 mm, and plenty of games already good to go on Windows, the Huntsman Mini Analog might be also a dedicated game/macro pad in the making. It costs $149.99 in the US, which is a $20-30 hike over the equivalent Huntsman Mini keyboards with optical switches, and is a reasonable price increase with said context. Hit the link in the source to learn more, and perhaps purchase one if this is to your liking.
Perhaps the 100% form factor was too large for consumers, especially given analog switches have rarely found an established use case outside of gaming even today, so a smaller keyboard size may be what you are looking for. Razer certainly thinks as much, as today it introduced the Huntsman Mini Analog—a 60% form factor keyboard now employing the same Razer analog switches. With customization over the analog actuation in Razer Synapse between 1.5 and 3.6 mm, and plenty of games already good to go on Windows, the Huntsman Mini Analog might be also a dedicated game/macro pad in the making. It costs $149.99 in the US, which is a $20-30 hike over the equivalent Huntsman Mini keyboards with optical switches, and is a reasonable price increase with said context. Hit the link in the source to learn more, and perhaps purchase one if this is to your liking.
Raijintek Introduces OPHION ELITE SFF Chassis
Raijintek, a Taiwanese maker of computer cases, coolers, and power supplies, added another entry to its family of small form-factor issues. Today, the company presents the OPHION ELITE, which is a Mini-ITX enclosure designed to fit a wide selection of hardware. It enables users to store compelling hardware with adequate cooling and have peace of mind usage. OPHION ELITE supports Mini-ITX motherboards, a maximum of 7 fans, including two 120/140 fans on the side (240 mm radiator), one 120 fan at the bottom (preinstalled), two 120/140 fans at the front, one 120/140 fan at the rear, and one 80 fan on the top. It boasts full-size VGA cards (320 mm/3 slots), compatibility, and regular ATX / EPS PSUs support. There is room for three 3.5-inch HDD drives or five 2.5-inch HDD/SSD drives. For more information, check out the company website.
Here is the product video showcased on the Raijintek YouTube channel.
AMD Radeon 680M (Ryzen 6000 "Rembrandt" iGPU) Proves its Mettle with Cyberpunk 2077
The Radeon 680M integrated graphics powering the AMD Ryzen 6000-series mobile processors is proving to be an entry-level discrete-GPU killer. TechEpiphany posted a video presentation showing the iGPU's real-world gameplay performance with the AAA title "Cyberpunk 2077" at Full HD (1080p), with a little help from FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). TechEpiphany used an ASUS TUF GAMING F17 notebook powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H "Rembrandt" processor that has the full Radeon 680M iGPU unlocked, with all its 12 RDNA2 compute units (768 stream processors), 12 Ray Accelerators, 16 ROPs, and 48 TMUs, enabled. The notebook also features a GeForce RTX 3050 Laptop GPU, but for this testing, it was disabled.
The first part of the video shows the game running at 1080p and Medium-High settings, with FSR set at Ultra Quality. Here, the iGPU is managing 30-40 FPS. Real-time ray tracing is disabled. In the second part, they enabled ray tracing and FidelityFX Super Resolution, but this is where the iGPU runs out of steam. Frame-rates drop to unplayable levels, but there still aren't any noticeable visual artifacts or rendering errors typically associated with iGPUs made to render games above their pay-grade. It's still impressive to see that AMD following through on its promise of bringing 1080p gaming across a broader range of titles. The TechEpiphany video presentation can be watched in the source link below.
The first part of the video shows the game running at 1080p and Medium-High settings, with FSR set at Ultra Quality. Here, the iGPU is managing 30-40 FPS. Real-time ray tracing is disabled. In the second part, they enabled ray tracing and FidelityFX Super Resolution, but this is where the iGPU runs out of steam. Frame-rates drop to unplayable levels, but there still aren't any noticeable visual artifacts or rendering errors typically associated with iGPUs made to render games above their pay-grade. It's still impressive to see that AMD following through on its promise of bringing 1080p gaming across a broader range of titles. The TechEpiphany video presentation can be watched in the source link below.
Dynabook Unveils Three New Portégé Laptops with12th Gen Core Processors and vPro, Thunderbolt Dock
Dynabook Americas, Inc., formerly Toshiba PC Company, today announced the all-new Portégé X40L-K, a hyperlight 14-inch modern laptop that takes premium, high-performance computing to new extremes. The Portégé X40L-K is among the first wave of new laptops from Dynabook to benefit from the enhanced performance, efficiency and security offered by hybrid architecture 12th Gen Intel Core P-Series 28 W processors, LPDDR5 memory and Windows 11 Pro.
"The all-new Intel Evo based Portégé X40L-K is truly a masterpiece every way you look at it and serves as an impressive demonstration of Dynabook's nearly four decades of experience in engineering premium laptops for mobile professionals," said James Robbins, General Manager, Dynabook Americas, Inc. "It's compact, powerful, durable, uniquely stylish, and secure. While all impressive, none of these qualities sum up the magic of this laptop. You must hold it to truly appreciate the incredible engineering and craftsmanship that went into making it the lightest and highest-performing 14-inch laptop in our history."
"The all-new Intel Evo based Portégé X40L-K is truly a masterpiece every way you look at it and serves as an impressive demonstration of Dynabook's nearly four decades of experience in engineering premium laptops for mobile professionals," said James Robbins, General Manager, Dynabook Americas, Inc. "It's compact, powerful, durable, uniquely stylish, and secure. While all impressive, none of these qualities sum up the magic of this laptop. You must hold it to truly appreciate the incredible engineering and craftsmanship that went into making it the lightest and highest-performing 14-inch laptop in our history."
Thermaltake Announces ARGENT H5 RGB Wireless Gaming Headset
Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Case, Cooling, Gaming peripherals and enthusiast memory solutions, is pleased to announce the release of high-quality wireless headsets to the TT Gaming family - ARGENT H5 RGB Wireless Gaming Headset, offering fabulous sound performance without bothersome wires.
The ARGENT H5 RGB Wireless Gaming Headset can be connected via 2.4 GHz wireless or a 3.5 mm cable; it's charged via a USB connection, which allows the gaming headset to run up to 10 hours of battery life with RGB lighting, and 19 hours without switching on RGB lighting. The wireless gaming headset provides more flexibility so users can enjoy playing games, listening to music or watching movies at a longer distance as the wireless range is up to 10 meters.
The ARGENT H5 RGB Wireless Gaming Headset can be connected via 2.4 GHz wireless or a 3.5 mm cable; it's charged via a USB connection, which allows the gaming headset to run up to 10 hours of battery life with RGB lighting, and 19 hours without switching on RGB lighting. The wireless gaming headset provides more flexibility so users can enjoy playing games, listening to music or watching movies at a longer distance as the wireless range is up to 10 meters.
Italy Creating €4 Billion Chipmaking Fund, Trying to Attract Intel
With Intel still not having announced where in Europe they'll set up shop next, but with Magdeburg, Germany being the hot ticket, Italy is now trying to figure out how they can win over some chip makers, least not Intel. The country is working on a €4 billion chip fund of its own to entice chip makers to set up shop in the nation. However, it seems like the fund is going to spread out over time, as it'll run until 2030, the same time frame as the EU's €15 billion chip fund is going to run. Italy will apparently divide the money in chunks of €500 million per year from 2023 to 2030.
Italy was apparently considering giving it all to Intel, according to Reuters, plus another €4 billion in other incentives, over a 10 year period. If that is still the case, isn't clear, especially as the nation is said to be in talks with STMicroelectronics, MEMC Electronic Materials, Tower Semi (now Intel) and others. Reuters claims that negotiations with Intel are very tough, as the company has a lot of demands. The Italian government is also said to be promoting "research and development of microprocessor technology and investments in new industrial applications of innovative technologies".
Italy was apparently considering giving it all to Intel, according to Reuters, plus another €4 billion in other incentives, over a 10 year period. If that is still the case, isn't clear, especially as the nation is said to be in talks with STMicroelectronics, MEMC Electronic Materials, Tower Semi (now Intel) and others. Reuters claims that negotiations with Intel are very tough, as the company has a lot of demands. The Italian government is also said to be promoting "research and development of microprocessor technology and investments in new industrial applications of innovative technologies".
BizLink Announces the World's First VESA Certified DP80 Enhanced mDP Cable
BizLink, a global leader in interconnect solutions, is proud to announce the release of its DP80 Enhanced mDP cable in the market, which is the world's first VESA certified DP80 cable. The new DP80 Enhanced mDP cable features high transmission capacities with the new data rates of UHBR10 (10 Gbps), UHBR13.5 (13.5 Gbps), and UHBR20 (20 Gbps). BizLink has worked with VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) on developing the next generation of Enhanced full-size DP/mDP cables and connectors since 2019 to break the bandwidth limit of the legacy DP/mDP cables and connectors.
With the latest DP technology, the DP80 Enhanced mDP cable supports the new data rates of UHBR10, UHBR13.5, and UHBR20. The cable has a maximum data throughput of up to 80 Gbps, which is designed for the connections of the most advanced visual display applications and systems. It supports a wider bandwidth in video streaming for higher resolution and quality of videos and is backward compatible with existing DisplayPort devices. The new DP80 standard creates an exciting advantage for a superior connection over the now-aged cables. As a premier supplier of high-speed interconnect solutions for client peripherals, BizLink also offers leading-edge DP80 Enhanced mDP connectors, Enhanced full-size DP cables and connectors, and other latest DP connectivity applications.
With the latest DP technology, the DP80 Enhanced mDP cable supports the new data rates of UHBR10, UHBR13.5, and UHBR20. The cable has a maximum data throughput of up to 80 Gbps, which is designed for the connections of the most advanced visual display applications and systems. It supports a wider bandwidth in video streaming for higher resolution and quality of videos and is backward compatible with existing DisplayPort devices. The new DP80 standard creates an exciting advantage for a superior connection over the now-aged cables. As a premier supplier of high-speed interconnect solutions for client peripherals, BizLink also offers leading-edge DP80 Enhanced mDP connectors, Enhanced full-size DP cables and connectors, and other latest DP connectivity applications.
Epic Games Acquires Bandcamp Music Marketplace & Community
Today, we are thrilled to announce that Bandcamp will become part of Epic Games. Bandcamp is an online music store and community where fans can discover, connect with, and directly support the independent musicians they love. Fair and open platforms are critical to the future of the creator economy. Epic and Bandcamp share a mission of building the most artist friendly platform that enables creators to keep the majority of their hard-earned money. Bandcamp will play an important role in Epic's vision to build out a creator marketplace ecosystem for content, technology, games, art, music and more.
"Bandcamp's mission is to help spread the healing power of music by building a community where artists thrive through the direct support of their fans," said Ethan Diamond, CEO and co-founder of Bandcamp. "In Epic, we've found a partner who believes as deeply as we do that the future of music, and art itself, depends on the creation of equitable and inclusive communities like the one our fans and artists have helped to build. We're excited to work alongside the Epic team to accelerate the realization of our mission and pursue our shared goal of empowering more creators in a fair and open way."
"Bandcamp's mission is to help spread the healing power of music by building a community where artists thrive through the direct support of their fans," said Ethan Diamond, CEO and co-founder of Bandcamp. "In Epic, we've found a partner who believes as deeply as we do that the future of music, and art itself, depends on the creation of equitable and inclusive communities like the one our fans and artists have helped to build. We're excited to work alongside the Epic team to accelerate the realization of our mission and pursue our shared goal of empowering more creators in a fair and open way."
AAEON Announces Up Squared 6000 Edge Computing Kit
UP! Bridge the Gap, a brand belonging to a leading manufacturer of AI Edge hardware solutions, AAEON, has unveiled the UP Squared 6000 Edge Computing Kit - a compact, industrial turnkey solution featuring an innovative software package to ease and simplify the development process for system integrators, independent software vendors (ISVs), and IoT developers.
Based on the latest Intel Atom x6000E series processors (formerly Elkhart Lake), the UP Squared 6000 Edge Computing Kit delivers upgraded single-thread, multi-thread, and graphical performances to accelerate computer vision and deep learning applications and enables the features of the Intel Programmable Services Engine (Intel PSE).
Based on the latest Intel Atom x6000E series processors (formerly Elkhart Lake), the UP Squared 6000 Edge Computing Kit delivers upgraded single-thread, multi-thread, and graphical performances to accelerate computer vision and deep learning applications and enables the features of the Intel Programmable Services Engine (Intel PSE).
ASUS Announces Pro Q670 Business Motherboard with Intel Q670 Chipset
ASUS today announced the Pro Q670M-C-CSM business motherboard with support for 12th Gen Intel Core processors and DDR5 memory. The Pro Q670M-C-CSM joins the ASUS B660 and H610 models launched in January to deliver a full lineup for customers ranging from small-to-medium businesses to enterprise. These models are designed to deliver enhanced security, reliability, manageability, and serviceability that every company needs to build their IT systems. The board is equipped with anti-sulfur resistors, anti-moisture coating, and a stainless-steel rear I/O port to prevent internal corrosion and adhesion in order to prolong the board's life in humid environments.
Intel ATX 3.0 16-pin Power Connector for PCIe Gen5 is Smart, Has Four Power-Delivery Variants
Intel is reforming the ATX specification in a big way with ATX 3.0, and power supplies shipping with new 16-pin power connectors for the next generation PCI-Express Gen 5 graphics cards. The 16-pin 12VHPWR (12-Volt High Power). The need for a new connector standard is arising from the growing power demand from graphics cards, as contemporary high-end GPUs crossing the 375 W barrier (two 8-pin PCIe inputs), and some of today's high-end cards even shipping with typical board power values of 450 W at stock frequencies. Custom-design cards based on these GPUs create cable-spaghetti in your case, as they come with three or more 8-pin connectors. To solve these problems and more, Intel innovated the 12VHPWR.
The 12VHPWR connector has 12 electrical pins and 4 side-band pins, for a total of 16 pins. The side-band pins enable low-fi communication between the power-supply and the graphics card, and two of these pins, labeled "SENSE0" and "SENSE1," let the graphics card know what kind of connector is plugged in, so it can accordingly adjust its power-management. There are four variants of the 16-pin connector based on the electrical capability offered by the PSU. These include 600 W, 450 W, 300 W, and 150 W. The arrangement of the two SENSE pins is how the graphics card tells the four apart.
The 12VHPWR connector has 12 electrical pins and 4 side-band pins, for a total of 16 pins. The side-band pins enable low-fi communication between the power-supply and the graphics card, and two of these pins, labeled "SENSE0" and "SENSE1," let the graphics card know what kind of connector is plugged in, so it can accordingly adjust its power-management. There are four variants of the 16-pin connector based on the electrical capability offered by the PSU. These include 600 W, 450 W, 300 W, and 150 W. The arrangement of the two SENSE pins is how the graphics card tells the four apart.
Intel is Now Fusing Off AVX-512 support in Alder Lake CPUs
If you have already bought a 12th gen Intel Alder Lake CPU, you could be sitting on a collectors item, as according to Tom's Hardware, Intel is now fusing off AVX-512 support in production. It's possible this could be in preparation for the arrival of the Core "W" series of CPUs that might be replacing the Xeon-W series of processors for Intel. It should be noted that this isn't a rumour, as Tom's Hardware has had an official statement on the matter from Intel.
The statement reads, "Although AVX-512 was not fuse-disabled on certain early Alder Lake desktop products, Intel plans to fuse off AVX-512 on Alder Lake products going forward." As to exactly when this will go into full effect isn't clear, but according to Tom's Hardware, they've already had reports of batches of non-K Alder Lake CPUs that are lacking AVX-512 support. In all fairness to Intel, the company never claimed that its Alder Lake CPUs would support AVX-512 and the support has never been guaranteed to be flawless on the chips that have shipped with it enabled. Intel has also disabled AVX-512 via a microcode update that shipped to motherboard makers in January, but at least some motherboard makers have added a toggle to allow people to re-enable AVX-512 support. It's unlikely that this will affect many potential customers, since AVX-512 instructions aren't widely used in consumer facing software.
The statement reads, "Although AVX-512 was not fuse-disabled on certain early Alder Lake desktop products, Intel plans to fuse off AVX-512 on Alder Lake products going forward." As to exactly when this will go into full effect isn't clear, but according to Tom's Hardware, they've already had reports of batches of non-K Alder Lake CPUs that are lacking AVX-512 support. In all fairness to Intel, the company never claimed that its Alder Lake CPUs would support AVX-512 and the support has never been guaranteed to be flawless on the chips that have shipped with it enabled. Intel has also disabled AVX-512 via a microcode update that shipped to motherboard makers in January, but at least some motherboard makers have added a toggle to allow people to re-enable AVX-512 support. It's unlikely that this will affect many potential customers, since AVX-512 instructions aren't widely used in consumer facing software.
AZZA Launches BLIZZARD SP 240 and 360 All-In-One CPU Liquid Cooler
AZZA, a leading brand of computer cases and accessories, announces the BLIZZARD SP 240 and BLIZZARD SP 360, a new line-up of CPU All-In-One liquid coolers. Focused on delivering high-performance with style, the BLIZZARD SP features a low-profile 3200rpm pump with rotatable diamond-cut ARGB infinity mirror-covered housing. The 240 mm and 360 mm radiators include a square fin pattern that improves heat dissipation and are paired with AZZA's Hurricane SP Digital 120 mm PWM ARGB fans.
The BLIZZARD SP CPU liquid cooler's pump is a non-PWM set at a constant speed of 3200rpm. The combination of speed and build quality results in excellent heat transfer at low noise level of 25 dBA. The pump is linked to the radiator by a pair of 400 mm long leak-free Teflon tubes wrapped in Rayon mesh that are durable and high temperature resistant. As for the aluminium allow radiator, either in 240 mm or 360 mm format, the fin pattern moves from the traditional wave shape to a square shape which greatly increases the contact area with the water channels of the radiator and improves heat transfer and dissipation.
The BLIZZARD SP CPU liquid cooler's pump is a non-PWM set at a constant speed of 3200rpm. The combination of speed and build quality results in excellent heat transfer at low noise level of 25 dBA. The pump is linked to the radiator by a pair of 400 mm long leak-free Teflon tubes wrapped in Rayon mesh that are durable and high temperature resistant. As for the aluminium allow radiator, either in 240 mm or 360 mm format, the fin pattern moves from the traditional wave shape to a square shape which greatly increases the contact area with the water channels of the radiator and improves heat transfer and dissipation.
90-minute Power Outage in Taiwan Threatens Chip Manufacturing
A major power-outage affected regions of Taiwan with semiconductor manufacturing bases, earlier this morning (March 3, 2022). A malfunction with a power-station caused a sudden drop in power-generation, triggering power-grid failures, and resulting in blackouts lasting around 90 minutes. This may not seem like much, but for a semiconductor manufacturing facility with limited power back-up and time-critical and power-critical processes, 90 minutes is an eternity.
Taiwan News reports that a Taipower plant in Kaohsiung suffered a malfunction with steam leaks in the turbine room, triggering an emergency shutdown. This caused a 10.5 MW drop in supply. Such sudden supply-demand changes can cause AC frequency to fall out of the safe range, and transmission equipment in switch-yards are designed to automatically trip (to protect end-user equipment). A cascading power outage was seen in Wenshan District, Neihu District, Da'an District, and Xinyi District. In New Taipei City, Yonghe District, Banqiao District, and New Taipei Industrial Park. Various semiconductor-manufacturing companies are yet to report how this power-loss affected them.
Update 07:02 UTC: In the wake of this power-outage, major semiconductor companies put out their initial assessments of how this affected them.
Taiwan News reports that a Taipower plant in Kaohsiung suffered a malfunction with steam leaks in the turbine room, triggering an emergency shutdown. This caused a 10.5 MW drop in supply. Such sudden supply-demand changes can cause AC frequency to fall out of the safe range, and transmission equipment in switch-yards are designed to automatically trip (to protect end-user equipment). A cascading power outage was seen in Wenshan District, Neihu District, Da'an District, and Xinyi District. In New Taipei City, Yonghe District, Banqiao District, and New Taipei Industrial Park. Various semiconductor-manufacturing companies are yet to report how this power-loss affected them.
Wednesday, March 2nd 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
Desktop PC
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Motherboards
Mouse
Quick Look: Dekoni Audio Elite Sheepskin Ear Pads for Meze 99
Dekoni Audio has made a name for itself with a variety of replacement ear pads for headphones, many of which offer enhanced comfort and different tuning characteristics over first-party options. Today, we examine its Elite Sheepskin offering for the Meze 99 series of headphones and compare it to the stock pads for the Meze 99 Neo.
Epomaker Lite Review - 60% Shallow Gasket Mount Keyboard
Epomaker joins the gasket-mount keyboard train with the new Epomaker Lite. This is a well-priced 60% keyboard that comes in both ANSI and ISO layouts, and has more customization options than ever before. You may pick from different cases, keycaps, switches, and connectivity options.
Cooler Master HAF 500 Case Review
The Cooler Master HAF 500 is the latest edition of the long-running "High Air Flow" family of enclosures. With plenty of modernization on paper, it will be interesting to see if Cooler Master has managed to bring the case into the modern area while retaining all the DNA that differentiates these cases from the competition.
Samsung's LPDDR5X DRAM Validated for Use with Qualcomm Technologies' Snapdragon Mobile Platforms
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has validated Samsung's 14-nanometer (nm) based 16-gigabit (Gb) Low Power Double Data Rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM for use on Qualcomm Technologies' Snapdragon mobile platforms.
Since developing the industry's first 14 nm-based LPDDR5X DRAM last November, Samsung has worked closely with Qualcomm Technologies to optimize its 7.5 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) LPDDR5X for use with Snapdragon mobile platforms. Delivering about 1.2 times faster speed than the 6.4 Gbps LPDDR5 deployed in today's premium smartphones, Samsung's LPDDR5X is expected to boost the performance of ultra-high-resolution video recording as well as AI features such as voice recognition, image recognition and natural language processing in next-generation smartphones. Furthermore, by adopting advanced circuit designs as well as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), LPDDR5X power consumption can be reduced by approximately 20%.
Since developing the industry's first 14 nm-based LPDDR5X DRAM last November, Samsung has worked closely with Qualcomm Technologies to optimize its 7.5 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) LPDDR5X for use with Snapdragon mobile platforms. Delivering about 1.2 times faster speed than the 6.4 Gbps LPDDR5 deployed in today's premium smartphones, Samsung's LPDDR5X is expected to boost the performance of ultra-high-resolution video recording as well as AI features such as voice recognition, image recognition and natural language processing in next-generation smartphones. Furthermore, by adopting advanced circuit designs as well as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), LPDDR5X power consumption can be reduced by approximately 20%.
NVIDIA GeForce "Ada Lovelace" Memory Bus-width Info Leaked
The deluge of NVIDIA leaks continue following the major cyber-attack on the company, with hackers getting away with sensitive information about current and upcoming products. The latest in this series covers the memory bus widths of the next-generation RTX 40-series GPUs based on the "Ada Lovelace" graphics architecture. There is early-information covering the streaming multiprocessor (SM) counts of each GPU, and their large on-die caches.
The top-of-the-line AD102 silicon allegedly has a 384-bit wide memory bus, similar to its predecessor. The next-best AD103 silicon has a 256-bit wide memory bus. Things get very interesting with the AD104, which has a 192-bit wide memory bus. The AD104 is a revelation here, because it succeeds a long line of NVIDIA GPUs with 256-bit memory buses (eg: GA104, TU104, GP104, GM204, etc). This confirms the theory that much like AMD, NVIDIA is narrowing the memory bus widths in the lower segments to cut board costs, and compensate for the narrower bus-width with large on-die caches, high memory data-rates, and other memory-management optimizations.
The top-of-the-line AD102 silicon allegedly has a 384-bit wide memory bus, similar to its predecessor. The next-best AD103 silicon has a 256-bit wide memory bus. Things get very interesting with the AD104, which has a 192-bit wide memory bus. The AD104 is a revelation here, because it succeeds a long line of NVIDIA GPUs with 256-bit memory buses (eg: GA104, TU104, GP104, GM204, etc). This confirms the theory that much like AMD, NVIDIA is narrowing the memory bus widths in the lower segments to cut board costs, and compensate for the narrower bus-width with large on-die caches, high memory data-rates, and other memory-management optimizations.
Marvell Introduces Industry's First 800G Multimode Electro-Optics Platform for Cloud Data Centers
Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) today announced the industry's first 800 Gbps or 8x 100 Gbps multimode platform solution, that enables data center infrastructure to achieve dramatically higher speeds for short-reach optical modules and Active Optical Cable (AOC) applications. As artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications continue to drive greater bandwidth requirements, cloud-optimized solutions are needed that can bring lower power, latency and cost to short-range data center interconnections. The new 800G platform, which includes Marvell's PAM4 DSP with a multimode transimpedance amplifier (TIA) and Driver, enables faster data center speeds scaling to 800 Gbps, using conventional cost-effective vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) technology while accelerating time-to-market with plug-and-play deployment.
Today's data centers are packed with equipment utilizing optical modules or AOCs connected by multimode optical fiber optimized for communication over short distances within data centers. This 100G per lane multimode fiber provides cost-effective, low-power, short-reach connectivity. To support multi-gigabit transmissions, multimode architectures often use VCSEL transmitters, which offer the cost benefits of reliability, power efficiency and easy deployment.
Today's data centers are packed with equipment utilizing optical modules or AOCs connected by multimode optical fiber optimized for communication over short distances within data centers. This 100G per lane multimode fiber provides cost-effective, low-power, short-reach connectivity. To support multi-gigabit transmissions, multimode architectures often use VCSEL transmitters, which offer the cost benefits of reliability, power efficiency and easy deployment.
Intel wants 700-Series Chipset Motherboards without DDR4
Although Intel's upcoming 13th generation of desktop CPUs that goes under the code name of Raptor Lake, are expected to retain support for DDR4 memory, it has come to our attention that Intel will make a big push towards DDR5 when the platform launches later this year. Intel is apparently already asking motherboard makers to avoid using DDR4 in combination with the upcoming 700-series chipsets and the only reason for this would be to speed up the transition to DDR5. According to various leaks and rumors we should expect to see support for DDR5 at 5600 MHz for Raptor Lake, which is at least a step in the right direction.
What this doesn't mean, is that Intel has removed support for DDR4 in the CPUs, as it's still very much present and is expected to work fine in 600-series chipset motherboards. As such, there shouldn't be any issues upgrading to a new CPU, at least not after a quick UEFI update. From our understanding, it's partially related to the fact that DDR4 and DDR5 motherboards have quite different UEFI code when it comes to the memory support and in turn it means that the board makers are going to end up spending a lot more time getting their boards working, as is already the case with the 600-series chipsets. We can sort of understand Intel's sentiment here, but we're also expecting to see some motherboards based on the 700-series chipsets with DDR4 support, least not from the likes of ASRock that has always liked to create non-conforming motherboards. However, this also looks like it's the end for DDR4 support from Intel, which wasn't entirely unexpected.
What this doesn't mean, is that Intel has removed support for DDR4 in the CPUs, as it's still very much present and is expected to work fine in 600-series chipset motherboards. As such, there shouldn't be any issues upgrading to a new CPU, at least not after a quick UEFI update. From our understanding, it's partially related to the fact that DDR4 and DDR5 motherboards have quite different UEFI code when it comes to the memory support and in turn it means that the board makers are going to end up spending a lot more time getting their boards working, as is already the case with the 600-series chipsets. We can sort of understand Intel's sentiment here, but we're also expecting to see some motherboards based on the 700-series chipsets with DDR4 support, least not from the likes of ASRock that has always liked to create non-conforming motherboards. However, this also looks like it's the end for DDR4 support from Intel, which wasn't entirely unexpected.
Intel, AMD, Arm, and Others, Collaborate on UCIe (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express)
Intel, along with Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. (ASE), AMD, Arm, Google Cloud, Meta, Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., have announced the establishment of an industry consortium to promote an open die-to-die interconnect standard called Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe). Building on its work on the open Advanced Interface Bus (AIB), Intel developed the UCIe standard and donated it to the group of founding members as an open specification that defines the interconnect between chiplets within a package, enabling an open chiplet ecosystem and ubiquitous interconnect at the package level.
"Integrating multiple chiplets in a package to deliver product innovation across market segments is the future of the semiconductor industry and a pillar of Intel's IDM 2.0 strategy," said Sandra Rivera, executive vice president and general manager of the Datacenter and Artificial Intelligence Group at Intel. "Critical to this future is an open chiplet ecosystem with key industry partners working together under the UCIe Consortium toward a common goal of transforming the way the industry delivers new products and continues to deliver on the promise of Moore's Law."
"Integrating multiple chiplets in a package to deliver product innovation across market segments is the future of the semiconductor industry and a pillar of Intel's IDM 2.0 strategy," said Sandra Rivera, executive vice president and general manager of the Datacenter and Artificial Intelligence Group at Intel. "Critical to this future is an open chiplet ecosystem with key industry partners working together under the UCIe Consortium toward a common goal of transforming the way the industry delivers new products and continues to deliver on the promise of Moore's Law."
MSI Intros MAG H670 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 Motherboard
Intel debuted its Socket LGA1700 motherboard lineup with Z690, and later B660 and H610 chipset options, but the H670 seemed elusive. Motherboard vendors are slowly launching their H670-based offerings, and MSI joined the party with the MAG H670 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4. The board is very similar in design to the company's MAG B660 Tomahawk-series motherboards, but with a little more I/O, and a broader chipset bus. The key feature that sets the H670 apart from the B660 is the 8-lane DMI 4.0 chipset bus, compared to 4-lane DMI 4.0 on the B660.
Another key difference between the H670 Tomahawk and B660 Tomahawk is that the PCI-Express x16 slot is Gen 5 capable on the H670 board, but this is due to MSI's design choices. On paper, B660 platforms can have Gen 5 PEG slots. Yet another key differentiator between the H670 and B660 chipsets, is that the H670 puts out 12 PCIe Gen 4 downstream lanes, and MSI leveraged this to put out two chipset-attached M.2 NVMe slots with Gen 4 x4 wiring. Connectivity includes a 2.5 GbE wired networking interface driven by an Intel i225-V controller, an Intel AX200 WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2 module; and 8-channel HD audio driven by the 12-year old Realtek ALC897 CODEC. The company didn't reveal pricing.
Another key difference between the H670 Tomahawk and B660 Tomahawk is that the PCI-Express x16 slot is Gen 5 capable on the H670 board, but this is due to MSI's design choices. On paper, B660 platforms can have Gen 5 PEG slots. Yet another key differentiator between the H670 and B660 chipsets, is that the H670 puts out 12 PCIe Gen 4 downstream lanes, and MSI leveraged this to put out two chipset-attached M.2 NVMe slots with Gen 4 x4 wiring. Connectivity includes a 2.5 GbE wired networking interface driven by an Intel i225-V controller, an Intel AX200 WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2 module; and 8-channel HD audio driven by the 12-year old Realtek ALC897 CODEC. The company didn't reveal pricing.
NVIDIA Increases Caches for Ada Lovelace, to Catch Up with AMD
The next-generation "Ada Lovelace" graphics architecture powering NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 40-series graphics cards, could see a significant increase in on-die cache memory, according to leaked source-code related to drivers or firmware, seen by XinoAssassin on Twitter. The source-code leak emanates from the recent large-scale cyber-attack on NVIDIA. When comparing source files related to Ampere and Ada architectures, XinoAssassin noticed lines that reference large cache slices.
From this, it was analyzed that the top-of-the-line AD102 silicon will have 96 MB of last-level cache on the silicon; the AD103 and AD104 chips have 64 MB; the AD106 has 48 MB, and the smallest AD107 has 32 MB. Compare this to the 6 MB on the GA102, puny 4 MB on the GA103 and GA104; 3 MB on the GA106, and 2 MB on the GA107. NVIDIA is known to make innovations in generational memory bandwidth increase and memory management, with each new architecture. The company could tap into even faster versions of GDDR6X memory it co-developed with Micron (GDDR6 with PAM4 signaling).
From this, it was analyzed that the top-of-the-line AD102 silicon will have 96 MB of last-level cache on the silicon; the AD103 and AD104 chips have 64 MB; the AD106 has 48 MB, and the smallest AD107 has 32 MB. Compare this to the 6 MB on the GA102, puny 4 MB on the GA103 and GA104; 3 MB on the GA106, and 2 MB on the GA107. NVIDIA is known to make innovations in generational memory bandwidth increase and memory management, with each new architecture. The company could tap into even faster versions of GDDR6X memory it co-developed with Micron (GDDR6 with PAM4 signaling).
AxiomTek Launches DSP511 Signage Player Powered by Intel "Tiger Lake" Processors
Axiomtek—a world-renowned leader relentlessly devoted in the research, development and manufacture of series of innovative and reliable industrial computer products of high efficiency - is pleased to introduce the DSP511, a 4K Ultra HD digital signage player with four HDMI 2.0 ports and a 2.5G Ethernet port, which enhance multiple view and real-time displays. The outstanding signage player is powered by the 11th generation Intel Core i5/i3 (codename: Tiger Lake-UP3) which makes it much more versatile in smart retail applications such as interactive advertisement or AI precision marketing.
In addition to the standard GbE LAN port, it adds a 2.5G LAN port to support faster internet transmission to upload videos and advertisements in higher resolutions for real-time display. It has four HDMI 2.0 ports for multiple displays and the resolution can reach 4K 60 Hz. The DSP511 utilizes the Intel Tiger Lake-UP3 processor; with Iris Xe Graphics, the computing performance is boosted. While the computing capability is powerful enough, even for Artificial Intelligence (AI) processing, the digital signage player doesn't need a discrete graphics card. Measuring 260 x 160 x 26 mm, the DSP511 is perfectly suited for menu board and video wall solutions in airports, shopping malls, and other commercial premises that require reliable 24/7 operation.
In addition to the standard GbE LAN port, it adds a 2.5G LAN port to support faster internet transmission to upload videos and advertisements in higher resolutions for real-time display. It has four HDMI 2.0 ports for multiple displays and the resolution can reach 4K 60 Hz. The DSP511 utilizes the Intel Tiger Lake-UP3 processor; with Iris Xe Graphics, the computing performance is boosted. While the computing capability is powerful enough, even for Artificial Intelligence (AI) processing, the digital signage player doesn't need a discrete graphics card. Measuring 260 x 160 x 26 mm, the DSP511 is perfectly suited for menu board and video wall solutions in airports, shopping malls, and other commercial premises that require reliable 24/7 operation.
Western Digital Launches 20 TB NAS HDD with 64 GB iNAND
Although 20 TB hard drives aren't a new thing by now, Western Digital's latest drive for NAS appliances are doing things a bit differently by incorporating WD's OptiNAND technology. The WD Red Pro family is Western Digital's higher-end family of NAS drives and have a generally good reputation in the market. The drive is made up out of nine ePMR (energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording) platters, each coming in at 2.2 TB. As with the previously launched drives in the Red Pro family, we're looking at a 7,200 rpm drive with a SATA 6 Gbps interface. The internal transfer rate is said to reach up to 268 MB/s which makes it the second fastest drive in the series, just behind the 18 TB version.
What makes the 20 TB SKU unique in the Red Pro series though is the inclusion of 64 GB of WD's own iNAND flash. Western Digital's iNAND could be considered a DRAM-less SSD in a single chip package and in this case, it's used as a large chunk of cache for the hard drive. One other benefit of the OptiNAND technology according to WD is that up to 100 MB of data in the 512 MB DRAM write cache that the drive also has, can be flushed to the iNAND in case of an unexpected power cut to the drive. This could help save important data that is in transit during a worst case scenario and seems like a great addition to a hard drive that's targeting NAS applications. The WD Red Pro 20 TB is on sale now for US$499.99.
What makes the 20 TB SKU unique in the Red Pro series though is the inclusion of 64 GB of WD's own iNAND flash. Western Digital's iNAND could be considered a DRAM-less SSD in a single chip package and in this case, it's used as a large chunk of cache for the hard drive. One other benefit of the OptiNAND technology according to WD is that up to 100 MB of data in the 512 MB DRAM write cache that the drive also has, can be flushed to the iNAND in case of an unexpected power cut to the drive. This could help save important data that is in transit during a worst case scenario and seems like a great addition to a hard drive that's targeting NAS applications. The WD Red Pro 20 TB is on sale now for US$499.99.
MediaTek Launches Dimensity 8000 5G Chip Series for Premium 5G Smartphones
MediaTek today launched the Dimensity 8100 and Dimensity 8000 system-on-chips (SoCs) to bring flagship level technology - connectivity, displays, gaming, multimedia and imaging features - to premium 5G smartphones. Both chips borrow the advanced technology from MediaTek's powerful flagship Dimensity 9000 platform and package it into the new Dimensity 8000 series which is built on the ultra-efficient TSMC 5 nm production process with an octa-core CPU. The Dimensity 8100 integrates four premium Arm Cortex-A78 cores with speeds reaching 2.85 GHz, and the Dimensity 8000 has four Cortex-A78 cores operating at up to 2.75 GHz.
"You could say the MediaTek Dimensity 8000 series is the little brother to our flagship Dimensity 9000 chip. Meaning it brings flagship grade features and next level energy efficiency to the premium smartphone market," said CH Chen, Deputy General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Communications Business Unit. Both chips combine an Arm Mali-G610 MC6 GPU with MediaTek's HyperEngine 5.0 gaming technologies for exceptional power-efficiency that extends play time, and best-in-class frame rates - 170fps for the Dimensity 8100 and 140fps for the Dimensity 8000. Quad-channel LPDDR5 memory and UFS 3.1 storage ensure ultra-fast data streams.
"You could say the MediaTek Dimensity 8000 series is the little brother to our flagship Dimensity 9000 chip. Meaning it brings flagship grade features and next level energy efficiency to the premium smartphone market," said CH Chen, Deputy General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Communications Business Unit. Both chips combine an Arm Mali-G610 MC6 GPU with MediaTek's HyperEngine 5.0 gaming technologies for exceptional power-efficiency that extends play time, and best-in-class frame rates - 170fps for the Dimensity 8100 and 140fps for the Dimensity 8000. Quad-channel LPDDR5 memory and UFS 3.1 storage ensure ultra-fast data streams.
Qualcomm Extends Connectivity Leadership with World's First and Fastest Wi-Fi 7 Commercial Solution
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., today announced the world's most advanced Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity system in the industry: FastConnect 7800. This advanced client connectivity solution marries the power of high-speed, ultra-low latency Wi-Fi with the latest Wi-Fi 7 specification and deploys an array of Bluetooth audio advancements that raise the bar on consumer expectations for sound quality. FastConnect 7800 leads the industry with the introduction of High Band Simultaneous (HBS) Multi-Link technology - the premium capability for Wi-Fi 7 networks that unlocks the vast potential of multiple 5 GHz and 6 GHz connections to deliver the highest throughput and lowest sustained latency, while reserving high-traffic 2.4 GHz spectrum for Bluetooth and lower-bandwidth Wi-Fi.
"With FastConnect 7800, Qualcomm Technologies reasserts its leadership by defining the future of wireless connectivity. Introducing the first Wi-Fi 7 solution to the industry might be enough for some, but with the introduction of HBS Multi-Link we take performance to the next level, shattering expectations for speed and latency," said Dino Bekis, vice president and general manager, Mobile Compute and Connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Coupled with up to 50% lower power consumption and Intelligent Dual Bluetooth with advanced Snapdragon Sound capabilities, FastConnect 7800 is simply the best client connectivity offering in the industry."
"With FastConnect 7800, Qualcomm Technologies reasserts its leadership by defining the future of wireless connectivity. Introducing the first Wi-Fi 7 solution to the industry might be enough for some, but with the introduction of HBS Multi-Link we take performance to the next level, shattering expectations for speed and latency," said Dino Bekis, vice president and general manager, Mobile Compute and Connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Coupled with up to 50% lower power consumption and Intelligent Dual Bluetooth with advanced Snapdragon Sound capabilities, FastConnect 7800 is simply the best client connectivity offering in the industry."
Microsoft Flight Simulator Arrives on Xbox Cloud Gaming
Microsoft Flight Simulator has recently been added to Xbox Cloud Gaming meaning that the title can now be enjoyed on more devices including Xbox One, iOS/Android devices, and low-powered computers. Xbox Cloud Gaming (formerly Project xCloud) is a game streaming service from Microsoft that allows players with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to stream a selection of 100+ Xbox games on supported devices. The addition of Microsoft Flight Simulator to the program will allow previous generation Xbox One consoles to play the game provided a suitably fast internet connection is available.
Amazon Launches Luna Cloud Gaming Service
Amazon today announced its Luna cloud gaming service is now available for all customers in the mainland United States with an expanded library of games and new features. The new Prime Gaming Channel brings Amazon Prime customers a unique offer to try a rotating selection of free games on Luna, and all players can now access even more games by subscribing to the new Retro Channel and Jackbox Games Channel. New Luna features include Live Broadcasting to Twitch and the Luna Phone Controller, which is available in the Luna Controller app for iPhone and Android phones.
Amazon Luna is a cloud gaming service that lets you play games on devices you already own, including Fire TV, Fire tablets, Windows PCs, Chromebook, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android phones. Luna offers a variety of channels to choose from, bringing great content from multiple genres so there is always something interesting to play for all types of gamers. Luna is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), making it easy to stream games without lengthy downloads or updates, expensive hardware, or complicated configurations.
Amazon Luna is a cloud gaming service that lets you play games on devices you already own, including Fire TV, Fire tablets, Windows PCs, Chromebook, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android phones. Luna offers a variety of channels to choose from, bringing great content from multiple genres so there is always something interesting to play for all types of gamers. Luna is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), making it easy to stream games without lengthy downloads or updates, expensive hardware, or complicated configurations.
Nintendo Switch Pro Reportedly Surfaces in NVIDIA Leak
The recently leaked NVIDIA DLSS source code appears to contain several references to an upcoming Nintendo Switch product with files such as "nvndlss.cpp", "nvn_dlss.cpp", and "nvn_dlss_backend.h" listed which reputable leaker @kopite7kimi believes belongs to an upcoming Nintendo Switch model with a new SoC. The files are all found within a folder titled NVN2 which is likely referring to the successor of the NVN graphics API written by NVIDIA for the original Nintendo Switch.
These files allegedly contain references to an 8 nm T239 chip that looks extremely likely to be designated for the Nintendo Switch Pro based on Ampere with ray tracing support and DLSS 2.2 according to @NWPlayer123. This supports previous rumors that pointed to a Nintendo Switch Pro featuring a new NVIDIA processor with DLSS 2.0 support.
These files allegedly contain references to an 8 nm T239 chip that looks extremely likely to be designated for the Nintendo Switch Pro based on Ampere with ray tracing support and DLSS 2.2 according to @NWPlayer123. This supports previous rumors that pointed to a Nintendo Switch Pro featuring a new NVIDIA processor with DLSS 2.0 support.
Micron Delivers Vertically-Integrated 176-Layer NAND Data Center SSD
Micron, today announced it is sampling the world's first vertically-integrated 176-layer NAND solid-state drive (SSD) for the data center. The Micron 7450 SSD with NVMe delivers quality-of-service (QoS) latency at or below 2 milliseconds (ms), a wide capacity range and the broadest set of form factors available to meet the needs of the most demanding data center workloads.
This new data center SSD includes Micron's industry-leading NAND, which contains 176 layers of storage cells and proven CMOS-under-the-array technology, to deliver an ultraefficient design. Integrated with Micron's own DRAM, internally developed SoC and associated firmware, this vertically integrated SSD enables the company to rapidly respond to customer needs in the market and support strengthened device security.
This new data center SSD includes Micron's industry-leading NAND, which contains 176 layers of storage cells and proven CMOS-under-the-array technology, to deliver an ultraefficient design. Integrated with Micron's own DRAM, internally developed SoC and associated firmware, this vertically integrated SSD enables the company to rapidly respond to customer needs in the market and support strengthened device security.
Tuesday, March 1st 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
Headphones
Mouse
PSUs
XPG Lancer RGB DDR5-6000 2x 16 GB Review
XPG takes DDR5 one step further with its Lancer RGB kit rated for 6000 MT/s CL40. Using a stylish, modern design, XPG is blurring the lines between performance and enthusiast-grade memory. Follow along as we thoroughly test the X.M.P profile and overclock this memory kit!
64 Audio U18t In-Ear Monitors Review - The Tzar of IEMs!
64 Audio is near-synonymous with world-class IEMs routinely used by the who's who of music. The company has several patents to its name. Today, we examine its $3000 flagship-class U18t using 18 balanced armature drivers and incorporating its innovative Apex module and tia driver technologies.
CPUID CPU-Z Hits Version 2.00
CPUID today released version 2.00 of CPU-Z, the hit CPU, motherboard, and main memory information and benchmarking utility. Version 2.00 doesn't change the user-interface in any way, and the utility retains design continuity over the previous version 1.99. What's new, are the processors supported. These include the Core i9-12900KS "Alder Lake," the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, an entire selection of 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake-U," and "Alder Lake-P" mobile processors; the latest generations of mobile Pentium Gold and Celeron processors; and preliminary support for Ryzen 6000 "Rembrandt" series mobile processors. The memory SPD information detection has been improved; and a AMD CCX/CCD topology related bug has been fixed.
DOWNLOAD: CPUID CPU-Z 2.00
NVIDIA Data-breach: Hackers Demand GeForce Drivers be Made Open-Source
The latest episode in the saga of the cyberattacks on NVIDIA servers that unleashed the motherlode of confidential information, the group behind the hack made its second set of demands. The first one was for a ransom to prevent public-disclosure, which NVIDIA possibly didn't meet. The second one is a demand for making GeForce proprietary drivers open-source on all platforms. Failing this, the group plans to release its next chunk of the leak public.
This, the group claims, includes sensitive files related to the company's silicon design, including Verilog (.v) files, and VG files. They also claim to be in possession of files related to upcoming hardware, including the elusive RTX 3090 Ti, and upcoming revisions of existing silicon. The group sets until 4th March (Friday) to meet its demand.
This, the group claims, includes sensitive files related to the company's silicon design, including Verilog (.v) files, and VG files. They also claim to be in possession of files related to upcoming hardware, including the elusive RTX 3090 Ti, and upcoming revisions of existing silicon. The group sets until 4th March (Friday) to meet its demand.
NVIDIA "Ada Lovelace" Streaming Multiprocessor Counts Surface
Possible streaming multiprocessor (SM) counts of the various NVIDIA "Ada Lovelace" client-graphics GPUs surfaced, allegedly pieced together from code seen in the recent NVIDIA cyberattack data-leak. According to this, the top-dog "AD102" silicon has 144 SM, the next-best "AD103" has 84. The third-largest "AD104" silicon has 60. The performance-segment "AD106" has 36, and the mainstream "AD107" has 24. Assuming the number of CUDA cores per SM in the "Ada Lovelace" graphics architecture is unchanged from that of "Ampere," we're looking at 18,432 CUDA cores for the "AD102," an impressive 10,752 for the "AD103," 7,680 cores for the "AD104," 4,608 for the "AD106," and 3,072 for the "AD107."
AMD Threadripper PRO 5000 and EPYC "Milan-X" Join Ryzen 5800X3D for March Availability
It will be an unexpectedly busy March for AMD, with the company launching three distinct products across its processor lines. The first one, which we reported earlier this morning, speaks of a late-March availability of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-core/16-thread Socket AM4 processor, which AMD claims offers gaming performance on par with the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake." It turns out, there are two more surprises.
Apparently the company is ready with Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000 series workstation processors. Designed for Socket sWRX8 motherboards based on the only chipset option available—the AMD WRX80, these are the first Threadripper products based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, and feature 8-channel DDR4 memory, and up to 128 PCI-Express Gen4 lanes for workstation connectivity. Unfortunately, you can't buy one of these in the retail channel, as AMD is making them OEM-only. The first pre-built workstations will arrive as early as next week (March 8). At this point we still don't know if these chips use the newer "Zen 3" CCD with 3D Vertical Cache, or the conventional "Zen 3" CCD with 32 MB planar L3 cache.
Apparently the company is ready with Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000 series workstation processors. Designed for Socket sWRX8 motherboards based on the only chipset option available—the AMD WRX80, these are the first Threadripper products based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, and feature 8-channel DDR4 memory, and up to 128 PCI-Express Gen4 lanes for workstation connectivity. Unfortunately, you can't buy one of these in the retail channel, as AMD is making them OEM-only. The first pre-built workstations will arrive as early as next week (March 8). At this point we still don't know if these chips use the newer "Zen 3" CCD with 3D Vertical Cache, or the conventional "Zen 3" CCD with 32 MB planar L3 cache.
Lexar Launches New Professional SDXC Memory Card
Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to announce the new Lexar Professional 1800x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series. It is the perfect memory solution for professional photographers and videographers who want to dramatically accelerate their workflow from start to finish. With speeds up to 270 MB/s read, the Lexar Professional 1800x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series is designed for your DSLR or mirrorless cameras to speed up your workflow - saving you time and getting you back behind the camera to create more content.
It is built with the latest UHS-II technology with write speeds up to 180 MB/s that allows you to handle photos in burst mode with ease. And, with V60 and UHS Speed Class 3 (U3)2, seamlessly capture stunning Full-HD and 4K video with large capacity options up to 256 GB. The Lexar Professional 1800x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series provides the performance you need to capture and store valuable data in a variety of elements. The 1800x is water-proof, temperature-proof, shockproof, vibration-proof, and X-ray-proof. For added versatility, the cards are also backwards compatible with UHS-I devices, performing up to the maximum thresholds of UHS-I speed capabilities.
It is built with the latest UHS-II technology with write speeds up to 180 MB/s that allows you to handle photos in burst mode with ease. And, with V60 and UHS Speed Class 3 (U3)2, seamlessly capture stunning Full-HD and 4K video with large capacity options up to 256 GB. The Lexar Professional 1800x SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series provides the performance you need to capture and store valuable data in a variety of elements. The 1800x is water-proof, temperature-proof, shockproof, vibration-proof, and X-ray-proof. For added versatility, the cards are also backwards compatible with UHS-I devices, performing up to the maximum thresholds of UHS-I speed capabilities.
TSMC R&D SVP Expects Chip Shortage to Persist Until 2024-2025
In an interview with IEEE Spectrum Dr. Y.J. Mii, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at TSMC, said that he believes that we're not going to see an end to the chip shortage until the next generation of fabs that are currently under construction, or will commence soon, come online in two to three years. Interestingly, Mii is apparently not putting the blame squarely at the pandemic as so many others have for the components shortage, but rather points towards the fact that chips are being used in just about every kind of product these days. This has in turn led to much higher demands for semiconductors, without the infrastructure to manufacture enough of them being in place.
He also believes the industry as a whole missed the fact that the demand for a wide range of semiconductors was growing as quickly as it has been over the past few years. On the upside, it seems like the semiconductor manufacturers have understood what's going on and they're investing heavily in making sure that they can meet demand, both in the near term and longer term. Interestingly, he also mentions how hard it is, even for a company like TSMC, to progress their nodes today. He's quoted saying "Before, we could achieve the next-generation node by fine-tuning the process, but now for every generation we must find new ways in terms of transistor architecture, materials, processes, and tools. In the past, it's pretty much been a major optical shrink, but that's no longer a simple trick." It looks like the semiconductor manufacturers are going to have to come up with some new, innovative ways to be able to keep making better and faster semiconductors in the not too distant future.
He also believes the industry as a whole missed the fact that the demand for a wide range of semiconductors was growing as quickly as it has been over the past few years. On the upside, it seems like the semiconductor manufacturers have understood what's going on and they're investing heavily in making sure that they can meet demand, both in the near term and longer term. Interestingly, he also mentions how hard it is, even for a company like TSMC, to progress their nodes today. He's quoted saying "Before, we could achieve the next-generation node by fine-tuning the process, but now for every generation we must find new ways in terms of transistor architecture, materials, processes, and tools. In the past, it's pretty much been a major optical shrink, but that's no longer a simple trick." It looks like the semiconductor manufacturers are going to have to come up with some new, innovative ways to be able to keep making better and faster semiconductors in the not too distant future.
Samsung Foundry Looking to Win Over Customers From TSMC
Based on details posted by the Commercial Times in Taiwan, it would appear that Samsung Foundry is working on ways to win over customers from TSMC. The backstory is that fabless chip makers have had to change foundries over time, due to the fact that from a foundry side, it's expensive to be on the cutting edge and many foundries have stepped out of the race. This has left the fabless chip makers with fewer options and with TSMC as the de facto industry leader today. That said, as we've seen, NVIDIA and Qualcomm picked Samsung Foundry for some of their latest chips, but based on industry rumours, the yields aren't great.
Samsung Foundry has been trying to win over customers by offering attractive pricing compared to TSMC, but far from everyone has been interested. Some companies, like Apple, have tried to work with Samsung, but abandoned them in the end in favour of TSMC. Samsung is said to be courting both AMD and NVIDIA, as well as others, although only time will tell if we'll see any future product from either company being manufactured by Samsung Foundry. The fact that there are investigations into the yields at Samsung Foundry should be a concern for any future customer and isn't a good sign of where the company is heading.
Samsung Foundry has been trying to win over customers by offering attractive pricing compared to TSMC, but far from everyone has been interested. Some companies, like Apple, have tried to work with Samsung, but abandoned them in the end in favour of TSMC. Samsung is said to be courting both AMD and NVIDIA, as well as others, although only time will tell if we'll see any future product from either company being manufactured by Samsung Foundry. The fact that there are investigations into the yields at Samsung Foundry should be a concern for any future customer and isn't a good sign of where the company is heading.
Turtle Beach Announces Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX and Stealth 600 Gen 2 Wireless Headsets
Leading gaming accessories provider Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) today unveiled the Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX and Stealth 600 Gen 2 USB as the newest entries to the brand's best-selling Stealth 600 series wireless gaming headsets. Using the latest latency-free, lossless wireless connectivity technology, the Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX provides multiplatform capability to connect to even more gaming systems, like Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One or PS5 and PS4, plus Nintendo Switch or PC. The Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX also takes battery life to new heights with a whopping 48+ hours per charge. The Stealth 600 Gen 2 USB delivers an immersive wireless gaming audio experience with 24+ hours of battery life. These upgrades complement the headset's ability to deliver the powerful 3D spatial surround sound and unmatched comfort that's made the Stealth 600 headsets best-selling products since their debut.
"We've redesigned our ultra-popular Stealth 600 Gen 2 wireless headsets so gamers can connect to more devices and play longer while keeping the powerful sound, crystal-clear chat, and plush comfort that has made these a best-seller," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "We're always listening to feedback from our fans and the community, and today gamers are playing more games than ever before, and on multiple systems. With our new Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX, gamers can easily switch between different platforms and use proprietary Turtle Beach features like our Superhuman Hearing sound setting to stay alive longer and win more games."
"We've redesigned our ultra-popular Stealth 600 Gen 2 wireless headsets so gamers can connect to more devices and play longer while keeping the powerful sound, crystal-clear chat, and plush comfort that has made these a best-seller," said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "We're always listening to feedback from our fans and the community, and today gamers are playing more games than ever before, and on multiple systems. With our new Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX, gamers can easily switch between different platforms and use proprietary Turtle Beach features like our Superhuman Hearing sound setting to stay alive longer and win more games."
Kingston Releases FURY Impact DDR5 SODIMMs in the Retail Channel
Kingston FURY, the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, announces the release of Kingston FURY Impact DDR5 SODIMMs. Perfect for the gamer or PC enthusiast who want the latest cutting-edge performance from their laptop or small form factor machine.
Kingston FURY Impact DDR5 is fifty percent faster than DDR4 to provide a boost in gaming, rendering, and multitasking, while its low power consumption and increased efficiency keeps your system cool at 1.1 V. Available in Intel XMP 3.0 Certified SODIMM kit capacities up to 64 GB, Kingston FURY Impact DDR5 packs all the enhanced features of DDR5 into a slim, compact form factor. With innovative Plug N Play overclocking technology and on-die ECC, it automatically supports DDR5-4800 at lower latencies than standard DDR5-4800. Thus, improving system performance without having to enable a profile and maintains data integrity while hitting extreme speeds.
Kingston FURY Impact DDR5 is fifty percent faster than DDR4 to provide a boost in gaming, rendering, and multitasking, while its low power consumption and increased efficiency keeps your system cool at 1.1 V. Available in Intel XMP 3.0 Certified SODIMM kit capacities up to 64 GB, Kingston FURY Impact DDR5 packs all the enhanced features of DDR5 into a slim, compact form factor. With innovative Plug N Play overclocking technology and on-die ECC, it automatically supports DDR5-4800 at lower latencies than standard DDR5-4800. Thus, improving system performance without having to enable a profile and maintains data integrity while hitting extreme speeds.
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Ships Out, Could be Available by March-end
With motherboard vendors posting UEFI firmware updates to support it, we were wondering where the actually processor is. It turns out, that the new AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D started shipping from factories. Greymon55, a reliable source with hardware leaks, states that 5800X3D is shipped, and the first retail batch of these processors could reach markets by the end of the month (the end of March, 2022).
The 5800X3D is the first client processor to feature a 3D stacked-die design. AMD is introducing the new 3D Vertical Cache, a 64 MB addition to the processor's 32 MB on-die cache, which works contiguously as a 96 MB L3 cache that each of the processor's eight "Zen 3" cores can access. Apparently "Zen 3" with 3D Vertical Cache has major performance gains, with AMD claiming gaming performance parity with the Core i9-12900K.
The 5800X3D is the first client processor to feature a 3D stacked-die design. AMD is introducing the new 3D Vertical Cache, a 64 MB addition to the processor's 32 MB on-die cache, which works contiguously as a 96 MB L3 cache that each of the processor's eight "Zen 3" cores can access. Apparently "Zen 3" with 3D Vertical Cache has major performance gains, with AMD claiming gaming performance parity with the Core i9-12900K.
NVIDIA Confirms System Hacks, Doesn't Anticipate Any Business Disruption
Last week, NVIDIA systems were compromised by the attack of a hacking group called LAPSUS$. It has been a few days since the attack happened, and we managed to see source code of various software leaks through third-party anonymous tipsters and next-generation GPU codenames making an appearance. Today, NVIDIA issues a statement for the German PC enthusiast website Hardwareluxx, and we manage to see it below fully. The key takeaway from this quote is that NVIDIA believes that the compromised files will not impact the company's business in any meaningful manner, and operations continue as usual for NVIDIA's customers. The company's security team is analyzing the situation, and you can check out the complete statement below.
NVIDIA StatementOn February 23, 2022, NVIDIA became aware of a cybersecurity incident which impacted IT resources. Shortly after discovering the incident, we further hardened our network, engaged cybersecurity incident response experts, and notified law enforcement.
We have no evidence of ransomware being deployed on the NVIDIA environment or that this is related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, we are aware that the threat actor took employee credentials and some NVIDIA proprietary information from our systems and has begun leaking it online. Our team is working to analyze that information. We do not anticipate any disruption to our business or our ability to serve our customers as a result of the incident.
Security is a continuous process that we take very seriously at NVIDIA - and we invest in the protection and quality of our code and products daily.
NVIDIA DLSS Source Code Leaked
The mother of all cyberattacks hit NVIDIA over the weekend, putting out critical driver source-code, the ability to disable LHR for mining, and even insights into future NVIDIA hardware, such as the Blackwell architecture. An anonymous tipster sent us this screenshot showing a list of files they claim are the source-code of DLSS.
The list, which looks credible enough, includes C++ files, headers, and assets that make up DLSS. There is also a super-convenient "Programming Guide" document to help developers make sense of the code and build correctly. Our tipsters who sent this screenshot are examining the code to see the inner workings of DLSS, and whether there's any secret sauce. Do note that this is DLSS version 2.2, so a reasonably recent version including the latest DLSS 2.2 changes. This code leak could hold the key for the open-source Linux driver community to bring DLSS to the platform, or even AMD and Intel learning from its design. Stealing Intellectual Property is a big deal of course and NVIDIA's lawyers will probably be busy picking apart every new innovation from their competitors, but ultimately it'll be hard to prove in a court of law.
The list, which looks credible enough, includes C++ files, headers, and assets that make up DLSS. There is also a super-convenient "Programming Guide" document to help developers make sense of the code and build correctly. Our tipsters who sent this screenshot are examining the code to see the inner workings of DLSS, and whether there's any secret sauce. Do note that this is DLSS version 2.2, so a reasonably recent version including the latest DLSS 2.2 changes. This code leak could hold the key for the open-source Linux driver community to bring DLSS to the platform, or even AMD and Intel learning from its design. Stealing Intellectual Property is a big deal of course and NVIDIA's lawyers will probably be busy picking apart every new innovation from their competitors, but ultimately it'll be hard to prove in a court of law.
Cooler Master Outs PCI-Express 4.0 x16 300 mm Riser Cable
Cooler Master today rolled out its PCI-Express 4.0 x16 riser cable (model: MCA-U000C-KPCI40-300). To be purchased separately for use with cases that have vertical expansion slots that let you show off your graphics cards, the Cooler Master riser cable measures 300 mm in length. Its designed is characterized by one of the four strands of wiring featuring an outer insulation in the company's favorite shade of purple. The cable supports PCI-Express 4.0 x16, and all older generations or narrower lane-configurations of PCIe. The riser uses 30AWG tinned copper wires, and 96 ground-signal wires to dampen EMI; and gold-plated PCIe contact points on both the female and male sides. Cooler Master is backing this with 1-year warranty. The company didn't reveal pricing, but general availability is expected on 3rd March, 2022.
Intel Ending the Xeon-W Series in Favor of Core "W" SKUs?
A leaked chipset block-diagram for the upcoming Intel W680 chipset platform sheds light on a possible major change in the way Intel sells workstation-grade processors. The Socket LGA1700-based W680 motherboards will support 12th Gen Core processors for Workstation, and the company makes no mention of the Xeon-W series. Tech enthusiast Wild Cracks points to a possibility we agree with—that Intel is upcycling the Xeon-W series to premium workstation-grade processors, possibly derived from the enterprise-segment silicon, such as the upcoming "Sapphire Rapids," and away from being just a client "Alder Lake" processor with ECC memory support enabled when paired with a W680 chipset motherboard.
If this theory holds true, then the Xeon W (2-channel memory platform) could make way for the "W" brand extension for 12th Gen Core processors. At this point we don't know how the "W" is used, whether it's something along the lines of "Core W9-12900" or "Core i9-12900W." The former sounds more plausible, as "12900W" could have a negative connotation with regards to its power. In terms of connectivity, the W680 offers much of what the top Z690 does, except x8/x8 multi-GPU support. The diagram doesn't give out any information about CPU overclocking support, although memory overclocking support is very likely.
If this theory holds true, then the Xeon W (2-channel memory platform) could make way for the "W" brand extension for 12th Gen Core processors. At this point we don't know how the "W" is used, whether it's something along the lines of "Core W9-12900" or "Core i9-12900W." The former sounds more plausible, as "12900W" could have a negative connotation with regards to its power. In terms of connectivity, the W680 offers much of what the top Z690 does, except x8/x8 multi-GPU support. The diagram doesn't give out any information about CPU overclocking support, although memory overclocking support is very likely.
Graphics Card Street Prices Drop By a Tenth in February 2022
Prices of graphics cards on eBay (where you're most likely to find them), dropped by 10% on average, according to prices tracked and aggregated by Tom's hardware. This still means overpriced high-end graphics cards, but price adjustments in the mid-range and performance-segment bring some respite to gamers. In the high-end, you'll now find the GeForce RTX 3090 go down from roughly $2,609 to $2,341. The RTX 3080 Ti, which almost as fast at gaming, can be had for $1,721, compared to $1,874 earlier. The popular RTX 3080 (10 GB original) sees its price slip from $1,613 to $1,440.
Prices of AMD Radeon RX 6000 series RDNA2 graphics cards are relatively lower, even though they perform in the same league. The RX 6900 XT can be had for as low as $1,421, which is lower than even the RTX 3080 (significantly slower). The RTX 6800 XT is a revelation here, with February prices seeing it average $1,176. This card more than trades blows with the RTX 3080. Over in the performance segment, we see The RTX 3060 (12 GB) average $850 compared to $930 earlier; while the RX 6600 XT does $570 compared to $610 earlier (similar performance). It must be noted here that there are far fewer Radeon RX 6000 series cards than GeForce RTX 30-series, in circulation. With the chip-supply crisis showing no signs of going away in 2022, MSRP will continue to elude gamers.
Prices of AMD Radeon RX 6000 series RDNA2 graphics cards are relatively lower, even though they perform in the same league. The RX 6900 XT can be had for as low as $1,421, which is lower than even the RTX 3080 (significantly slower). The RTX 6800 XT is a revelation here, with February prices seeing it average $1,176. This card more than trades blows with the RTX 3080. Over in the performance segment, we see The RTX 3060 (12 GB) average $850 compared to $930 earlier; while the RX 6600 XT does $570 compared to $610 earlier (similar performance). It must be noted here that there are far fewer Radeon RX 6000 series cards than GeForce RTX 30-series, in circulation. With the chip-supply crisis showing no signs of going away in 2022, MSRP will continue to elude gamers.
TechPowerUp x 1MORE Comfobuds 2 Giveaway: The Winners!
TechPowerUp and 1MORE brought our readers from around the world a chance to win a pair of 1MORE Comfobuds 2 true-wireless headphones. Designed for comfort and convenience without compromising on audio quality, the Comfobuds 2 can give you up to 24 hours of listening when taking around with their case, and 6 hours on a full charge. These are designed for the latest audio codecs across both Android and iPhone, leveraging the latest Bluetooth 5 technology. Without further ado, the winners, all ten of them!
- "Frogger" from Canada
- Mark from France
- "Tigger" from the UK
- Mert from Turkey
- Roberto from Brazil
- Andrew from the US
- Javier from Spain
- Adrian from Romania
- "King Mustard" from the UK
- Daniel from the US
Jonsbo Unveils HX4170D Series Top-Flow CPU Coolers
Jonsbo today unveiled the HX4170D, a low-profile, top-flow CPU cooler with a Z-height (including fan) of 45.3 mm. Four 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes pass through an indirect-copper base, conveying heat through an aluminium fin-stack that's ventilated by a compact 12.5 mm-thick 92 mm fan. The fan spins between 600 to 3,300 RPM, pushing up to 38.85 CFM of air-flow, at up to 28.4 dBA noise level. The fan features a hydraulic bearing.
There are two variants of the HX4170D. The standard White variant has an all-white heatsink, and its fan features addressable-RGB illumination. The All-Black variant has an opaque fan impeller, and lacks illumination. The cooler measures 95 mm x 95 mm x 45.3 mm (WxDxH), weighing 290 g. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA115x, and AM4. The company didn't reveal pricing.
There are two variants of the HX4170D. The standard White variant has an all-white heatsink, and its fan features addressable-RGB illumination. The All-Black variant has an opaque fan impeller, and lacks illumination. The cooler measures 95 mm x 95 mm x 45.3 mm (WxDxH), weighing 290 g. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA115x, and AM4. The company didn't reveal pricing.
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-core Processor Price Drops to $600
Pricing of AMD's Ryzen 9 5950X 16-core/32-thread "Zen 3" processor dropped to a surprising all-time-low of $600 on Newegg, down from its original $800, a 25% drop in price. This puts the 5950X more or less on par with the pricing of the Intel Core i9-12900K (±$20 variance). The 12-core/24-thread 5900X is going for $450, which is still significantly higher than the $380 that the Core i7-12700K commands.
The 5950X continues to lead the i9-12900K in various heavily multi-threaded productivity tasks, although it has lost the gaming performance edge to the new Intel chip. AMD is attempting to remedy this with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor that the company claims offers gaming performance parity, but will fall behind in multi-threaded productivity on account of fewer cores. If you're planning to pick a 5950X from Newegg for a build-from-scratch, don't forget to check out combo deals with motherboards, where you get to save a further $30-odd.
The 5950X continues to lead the i9-12900K in various heavily multi-threaded productivity tasks, although it has lost the gaming performance edge to the new Intel chip. AMD is attempting to remedy this with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D processor that the company claims offers gaming performance parity, but will fall behind in multi-threaded productivity on account of fewer cores. If you're planning to pick a 5950X from Newegg for a build-from-scratch, don't forget to check out combo deals with motherboards, where you get to save a further $30-odd.
NVIDIA to Split Graphics and Compute Architecture Naming, "Blackwell" Architecture Spotted
The recent NVIDIA data-leak springs up information on various upcoming graphics parts. Besides "Ada Lovelace," "Hopper," we come across a new codename, "Blackwell." It turns out that NVIDIA is splitting the the graphics and compute architecture naming with the next generation, not unlike what AMD did, with its RDNA and CDNA series. The current "Ampere" architecture is being used both for compute and graphics, with the streaming multiprocessor for the two being slightly different—the compute "Ampere" has more FP64 and Tensor components, while the graphics "Ampere" does away with these in favor of RT cores and graphics-relevant components.
The graphics architecture to succeed GeForce "Ampere" will be GeForce "Ada Lovelace." GPUs in this series are identified in the leaked code as "AD102," "AD103," "AD104," "AD106," "AD107," and "AD10B," succeeding a similar numbering for parts with the "A" (GeForce Ampere) series. The compute architecture succeeding "Ampere" will be codenamed "Hopper." with parts in the series being codenamed "GH100" and "GH202." Another compute or datacenter architecture is "Blackwell," with parts being codenamed "GB100" and "GB102." From all accounts, NVIDIA is planning to launch the GeForce 40-series "Ada" graphics card lineup in the second half of 2022. The company is in need of a similar refresh for its compute product lineup, and could debut "Hopper" either toward the end of 2022 or next year. "Blackwell" could follow "Hopper."
The graphics architecture to succeed GeForce "Ampere" will be GeForce "Ada Lovelace." GPUs in this series are identified in the leaked code as "AD102," "AD103," "AD104," "AD106," "AD107," and "AD10B," succeeding a similar numbering for parts with the "A" (GeForce Ampere) series. The compute architecture succeeding "Ampere" will be codenamed "Hopper." with parts in the series being codenamed "GH100" and "GH202." Another compute or datacenter architecture is "Blackwell," with parts being codenamed "GB100" and "GB102." From all accounts, NVIDIA is planning to launch the GeForce 40-series "Ada" graphics card lineup in the second half of 2022. The company is in need of a similar refresh for its compute product lineup, and could debut "Hopper" either toward the end of 2022 or next year. "Blackwell" could follow "Hopper."
LG Debuts First 2022 Cinebeam Laser Projectors
LG Electronics USA announced the debut of its 2022 LG CineBeam 4K laser projector (models HU715Q and HU710P), the company's most advanced projectors to date. The new LG HU715Q Ultra Short Throw (UST) features sophisticated technologies including auto brightness and the ability to create a 100-inch image when placed only 21.7 centimeters from the wall, delivering stellar picture quality in a flexible, space-conscious design. The LG HU710P, a notable upgrade to its predecessor, delivers brighter images and deeper blacks courtesy of a wheel-less hybrid laser. The HU710P (SRP $2,499) and HU715Q (SRP $2,999) are available now.
The new CineBeam projectors are excellent choices for consumers looking to create their very own private cinemas with immersive, large-scale images that can be projected directly onto the wall or a dedicated screen. Compact and easy to set up, both models are suitable for most indoor spaces and also look great in backyards after the sun has set. Perfect for film buffs looking to add something special to their décor, the LG HU715Q has been thoughtfully designed with a premium fabric cover courtesy of Danish textile company, Kvadrat to harmonize with home furnishings and interiors.
The new CineBeam projectors are excellent choices for consumers looking to create their very own private cinemas with immersive, large-scale images that can be projected directly onto the wall or a dedicated screen. Compact and easy to set up, both models are suitable for most indoor spaces and also look great in backyards after the sun has set. Perfect for film buffs looking to add something special to their décor, the LG HU715Q has been thoughtfully designed with a premium fabric cover courtesy of Danish textile company, Kvadrat to harmonize with home furnishings and interiors.
TEAMGROUP Takes a Leading Step into NFT Market with First Release of Limited Edition Cards
Having been developing its brand in the consumer market and creating high-quality gaming products for many years, TEAMGROUP continues to heavily invest in R&D and design, and is now utilizing its strong product development capabilities and foresight to invest in the NFT (non-fungible token) market. With the expansion of NFT applications, TEAMGROUP is launching innovative limited edition digital card content, providing consumers around the world the joy of card collecting, and bringing an all-new type of value to its digital content. TEAMGROUP invites everyone to join together for creative, next-gen thinking in the Metaverse, leading gamers to a new era of collectibles in consumer electronics.
According to statistics provided by blockchain analysis company, Chainalysis, up until December 15th, 2021, US$40.9 billion has been invested in the smart contracts of developing global NFT. TEAMGROUP announced today that it is entering the NFT market through the world's largest NFT trading platform, OpenSea, with the release of its first limited edition TEAMGROUP NFT card. The design team has meticulously crafted its digital content to be highly collectible and to give players an exciting collecting experience. The product is not only unique in the virtual world but also an important asset in the future Metaverse. From digital art creation to venturing into the creative blockchain market, TEAMGROUP forges brand new paths, showing its determination and strength in technological innovation.
According to statistics provided by blockchain analysis company, Chainalysis, up until December 15th, 2021, US$40.9 billion has been invested in the smart contracts of developing global NFT. TEAMGROUP announced today that it is entering the NFT market through the world's largest NFT trading platform, OpenSea, with the release of its first limited edition TEAMGROUP NFT card. The design team has meticulously crafted its digital content to be highly collectible and to give players an exciting collecting experience. The product is not only unique in the virtual world but also an important asset in the future Metaverse. From digital art creation to venturing into the creative blockchain market, TEAMGROUP forges brand new paths, showing its determination and strength in technological innovation.
Lenovo Announces New ThinkPad & ThinkVision Products
Today at MWC, Lenovo announced the latest additions to its ThinkPad and ThinkVision portfolios. The latest ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 5, powered by up to the latest Intel vPro with 12th Gen Intel Core i9 H-series processors running Windows 11 Pro and available with the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX Laptop GPUs, up to 64 GB DDR5 memory and optional dual Solid-State Drives (SSD) supporting up to a massive 8 TB, takes performance to a whole new level for the most demanding tasks. X1 Extreme Gen 5 also now includes Dolby Voice with AI noise cancellation and an optional WQXGA 16 5Hz refresh rate display with low blue light for meticulous content creators.
Lenovo is also introducing several updates to its ThinkPad T series portfolio to address the productivity and collaboration needs of a widely diversified workforce. The broad move to 16:10 aspect ratio displays with low blue light technology with FHD camera options combined with Dolby Audio speaker system and Dolby Voice enhance the collaboration experience, boosted by more stable connectivity thanks to Wi-Fi 6E2 and enhanced WWAN choices.
Lenovo is also introducing several updates to its ThinkPad T series portfolio to address the productivity and collaboration needs of a widely diversified workforce. The broad move to 16:10 aspect ratio displays with low blue light technology with FHD camera options combined with Dolby Audio speaker system and Dolby Voice enhance the collaboration experience, boosted by more stable connectivity thanks to Wi-Fi 6E2 and enhanced WWAN choices.
Lenovo Announces Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Powered ThinkPad X13s Laptop
Today Lenovo is thrilled to announce an all-new ThinkPad X13s developed in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and Microsoft, as the world's first laptop powered by the premium Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 compute platform, running up to Windows 11 Pro. The ultra-slim, ultra-light fan-less design delivers the next level of silent always-on, always-connected PC experiences in addition to incredible multi-day battery life rated up to 28 hours, AI accelerated experiences, enhanced 5G connectivity options including mmWave, and application support through the Microsoft App Assure program for seamless productivity, security, and collaboration.
Built with 90% certified recycled magnesium in the top and bottom covers, 97% PCC plastic in the battery Printed Circuit Board (PCB) cover and battery frame, and with recyclable carton and bumpers in the packaging, ThinkPad X13s is designed to consume less energy. Manufactured using Lenovo's low temperature solder method that can reduce carbon emissions by up to 35%5, ThinkPad X13s also includes low power 13.3-inch 16:10 display configurations, with touch or Eyesafe low blue light options. The reduced need for AC power can help reduce energy consumption.
Built with 90% certified recycled magnesium in the top and bottom covers, 97% PCC plastic in the battery Printed Circuit Board (PCB) cover and battery frame, and with recyclable carton and bumpers in the packaging, ThinkPad X13s is designed to consume less energy. Manufactured using Lenovo's low temperature solder method that can reduce carbon emissions by up to 35%5, ThinkPad X13s also includes low power 13.3-inch 16:10 display configurations, with touch or Eyesafe low blue light options. The reduced need for AC power can help reduce energy consumption.
Lenovo Announces ThinkBook 14s Yoga Gen 2 & ThinkBook 13s Gen 4 i Laptops
Lenovo announced today the latest ThinkBook 14s Yoga Gen 2 and ThinkBook 13s Gen 4 i laptops. Continuing the modern design philosophy that has become synonymous with ThinkBook, the new models feature dual tone color highlights and exude class with an anodized aluminium exterior and four-side narrow bezels. Equipped with smart innovative technologies and high-performance features, they offer elevated user experiences in productivity, collaboration, and security.
The combination of 12th Gen Intel Core processors, up to Windows 11 Pro, fast SSD storage, Intel Thunderbolt 4, and Intel Wi-Fi 6E connectivity aim to offer unparalleled efficiencies to help users handle the most demanding workloads locally or in the cloud. Intuitive experiences in collaborative work are further enhanced by features such as Smart Appearance, AI Meeting Manager, and intelligent noise cancellation, all designed to simplify meetings and make them more enjoyable. Help protect data and identity with Smart Power On, a touch fingerprint reader integrated into the power button, that adds a layer of security and convenience and is managed by the standard hardware discrete Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (dTPM).
The combination of 12th Gen Intel Core processors, up to Windows 11 Pro, fast SSD storage, Intel Thunderbolt 4, and Intel Wi-Fi 6E connectivity aim to offer unparalleled efficiencies to help users handle the most demanding workloads locally or in the cloud. Intuitive experiences in collaborative work are further enhanced by features such as Smart Appearance, AI Meeting Manager, and intelligent noise cancellation, all designed to simplify meetings and make them more enjoyable. Help protect data and identity with Smart Power On, a touch fingerprint reader integrated into the power button, that adds a layer of security and convenience and is managed by the standard hardware discrete Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (dTPM).
Lenovo Announces Legion M600s Qi Wireless Gaming Mouse
The Lenovo Legion M600s Qi Wireless Gaming Mouse delivers amazing performance, precision, and better ergonomics. Crafted with a short, low arch and slim waist with mirrored-textured side-grips, the Lenovo Legion M600s Qi Wireless Gaming Mouse provides lasting ambidextrous comfort to both claw-grip and fingertip gamers.
With a light weight of just 75 g, mouse delivers a near-frictionless tactical gliding experience with 100 percent Teflon (PTFE) feet making faster, larger swipes possible so no gameplay action is wasted. Speaking of nothing wasted, a piece of the Lenovo Legion M600s Qi Wireless Gaming Mouse securing its battery is built with post-consumer recycled plastic known for its excellent heat resistance. Mouse also features ingenious sensor technologies such as 19,000 DPI via Pixart 3370, 80-million-click rated optical micro-switches and up to six programmable buttons.
With a light weight of just 75 g, mouse delivers a near-frictionless tactical gliding experience with 100 percent Teflon (PTFE) feet making faster, larger swipes possible so no gameplay action is wasted. Speaking of nothing wasted, a piece of the Lenovo Legion M600s Qi Wireless Gaming Mouse securing its battery is built with post-consumer recycled plastic known for its excellent heat resistance. Mouse also features ingenious sensor technologies such as 19,000 DPI via Pixart 3370, 80-million-click rated optical micro-switches and up to six programmable buttons.
Lenovo Announces IdeaPad Gaming 3 & Gaming 3i Laptops
Today Lenovo introduced its new IdeaPad Gaming 3i and IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptop series in two screen sizes, 15-inch and 16-inch, that are ideal for younger, new gamers entering this world of gaming who want to impress with the right gaming firepower. This re-energized lineup sports a stylish makeover inside and out with improved thermal components for quieter gameplay, fresh chassis colors and high-performance detailing, not to mention a beefed-up WQHD+ panel option.
The new IdeaPad gaming laptops are portable enough to tote virtually anywhere like to class or friends' dorm rooms for marathon gameplay sessions, yet more powerful than an ultrabook for playing top titles and tackling schoolwork (or a side hustle) without breaking the bank. A quick peek under this machine's hood reveals powerful processing and graphics for budding gaming prowess and top-notch streaming.
The new IdeaPad gaming laptops are portable enough to tote virtually anywhere like to class or friends' dorm rooms for marathon gameplay sessions, yet more powerful than an ultrabook for playing top titles and tackling schoolwork (or a side hustle) without breaking the bank. A quick peek under this machine's hood reveals powerful processing and graphics for budding gaming prowess and top-notch streaming.
QNAP Introduces Quad-Core TS-x64U Rackmount NAS with Dual-port 2.5 GbE
QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking, and storage solution innovator, today launched the TS-x64U NAS (including 4 and 12-bay models). Supporting PCIe Gen 3 expandability, 2.5 GbE connectivity and 4K HDMI output, the TS-x64U enables not only installing a QM2 card for M.2 SSD caching or Edge TPU for AI image recognition, but also convenient virtual machine display and smooth multimedia streaming.
The TS-x64U is powered by an Intel Celeron N5105/ N5095 quad-core 4-thread processor (burst up to 2.9 GHz) with Intel AES-NI encryption engine and 4 GB DDR4 memory (upgradable to 16 GB dual channel). The TS-x64U has a PCIe Gen 3 slot allowing installing a 10GbE network card, a QM2 card for NVMe SSD caching or Qtier, or a Coral M.2 Accelerator for AI image recognition. The TS-x64U has two 2.5 GbE ports, two USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports that provide faster data transfer and backup. The TS-x64U's storage capacity can be expanded by connecting TL and TR storage expansion enclosures.
The TS-x64U is powered by an Intel Celeron N5105/ N5095 quad-core 4-thread processor (burst up to 2.9 GHz) with Intel AES-NI encryption engine and 4 GB DDR4 memory (upgradable to 16 GB dual channel). The TS-x64U has a PCIe Gen 3 slot allowing installing a 10GbE network card, a QM2 card for NVMe SSD caching or Qtier, or a Coral M.2 Accelerator for AI image recognition. The TS-x64U has two 2.5 GbE ports, two USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports that provide faster data transfer and backup. The TS-x64U's storage capacity can be expanded by connecting TL and TR storage expansion enclosures.
VESA Readies DisplayPort Ultra-High Bit Rate Device & Cable Certification
The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA ) today announced its certification program for video source, display and cable products supporting DisplayPort UHBR (Ultra-high Bit Rate), the higher data link rates supported by the DisplayPort standard version 2.0. Through the DisplayPort UHBR Certification Program, device and cable manufacturers can send new products to DisplayPort authorized test centers (ATCs) for testing and certification. The higher bandwidths enabled by UHBR support a variety of use cases such as uncompressed 8K 60 Hz HDR, 4K 240 Hz HDR, two 4K 120 Hz HDR or four 4K 60 Hz HDR displays through a single cable.
Today, VESA also announced the introduction of VESA certified DP40 and DP80 UHBR cables, which guarantee display connectivity and operation at the highest performance levels introduced with DisplayPort 2.0. VESA certified DP40 cables must support up to the UHBR10 link rate (10 Gigabits per second or Gbps) defined by DisplayPort 2.0, and support the full four-lane operation, providing a maximum throughput of 40 Gbps. VESA certified DP80 cables must support up to the UHBR20 link rate (20 Gbps) defined by DisplayPort 2.0, with four lanes, providing a maximum throughput of 80 Gbps. VESA certified DP80 cables will also support the UHBR13.5 link rate (13.5 Gbps), which is also defined by DisplayPort 2.0.
Today, VESA also announced the introduction of VESA certified DP40 and DP80 UHBR cables, which guarantee display connectivity and operation at the highest performance levels introduced with DisplayPort 2.0. VESA certified DP40 cables must support up to the UHBR10 link rate (10 Gigabits per second or Gbps) defined by DisplayPort 2.0, and support the full four-lane operation, providing a maximum throughput of 40 Gbps. VESA certified DP80 cables must support up to the UHBR20 link rate (20 Gbps) defined by DisplayPort 2.0, with four lanes, providing a maximum throughput of 80 Gbps. VESA certified DP80 cables will also support the UHBR13.5 link rate (13.5 Gbps), which is also defined by DisplayPort 2.0.
Monday, February 28th 2022
Today's Reviews
Cases
Graphics Cards
Headphones
Monitors
Sound Cards
Glorious Model D- Wireless Gaming Mouse Review
After the Model D Wireless, Glorious presents the smaller Model D- Wireless. Aside from the smaller size, the Model- D Wireless still comes with their BAMF sensor, Kailh GM 8.0 switches for the main buttons, up to 71 hours of battery life, and pure PTFE feet, all wrapped up in a 67 g package.
Zalman Reserator5 Z36 Black AIO Cooler Review
The Zalman Reserator5 Z36 is a cost-efficient all-in-one liquid cooler that will shake up the market. Instead of going with fancy LCDs, unnecessary software, or excessive features, Zalman delivered a solid no-frills performer that won't set your wallet on fire.
CHERRY MX Low-Profile Mechanical Switches Get Extended Lifetime
CHERRY, the market leader and expert for mechanical switches for keyboards, extends the lifetime of the MX Low Profile RGB from 50 to more than 100 million actuations without loss of input quality. This extension already applies to all switches in the low-profile format that have been shipped since mid-2021. Therefore, new and existing customers benefit from a doubled guaranteed lifetime of the MX Low Profile RGB. Thanks to this unrivaled durability, CHERRY MX now solidifies its position as the industry leader in the field of low-profile mechanical switches. Extensive internal and external testing validates the new durability claims. The more than 100 million actuations are achieved by optimizing the world-exclusive and technically superior Gold Crosspoint contact system and the unique selection of materials, guaranteeing the switch's permanently consistent quality over many decades.
Introduced in 2018, the entirely newly developed CHERRY MX Low Profile RGB switch now positions itself between the MX Standard and the MX Ultra Low Profile in terms of dimensions. Thanks to an overall height of only 11.9 millimeters, modern slim, mechanical keyboard designs for desktop applications can be implemented without compromising switching characteristics and feel. The MX Low Profile RGB is around 35 percent thinner than the standard version but still offers the inimitable typing feel with which the conventional MX switches have already established themselves as the gold standard on the market.
Introduced in 2018, the entirely newly developed CHERRY MX Low Profile RGB switch now positions itself between the MX Standard and the MX Ultra Low Profile in terms of dimensions. Thanks to an overall height of only 11.9 millimeters, modern slim, mechanical keyboard designs for desktop applications can be implemented without compromising switching characteristics and feel. The MX Low Profile RGB is around 35 percent thinner than the standard version but still offers the inimitable typing feel with which the conventional MX switches have already established themselves as the gold standard on the market.
Hackers Threaten to Release NVIDIA GPU Drivers Code, Firmware, and Hash Rate Limiter Bypass
A few days ago, we found out that NVIDIA corporation has been hacked and that attackers managed to steal around 1 TB of sensitive data from the company. This includes various kinds of files like GPU driver and GPU firmware source codes and something a bit more interesting. The LAPSUS$ hacking group responsible for the attack is now threatening to "help mining and gaming community" by releasing a bypass solution for the Lite Hash Rate (LHR) GPU hash rate limiter. As the group notes, the full LHR V2 workaround for anything between GA102-GA104 is on sale and is ready for further spreading.
Additionally, the hacking group is making blackmailing claims that the company should remove the LHR from its software or share details of the "hw folder," presumably a hardware folder with various confidential schematics and hardware information. NVIDIA did not respond to these claims and had no official statement regarding the situation other than acknowledging that they are investigating an incident.
Update 01:01 UTC: The hackers have released part of their files to the public. It's a 18.8 GB RAR file, which uncompresses to over 400,000 (!) files occupying 75 GB, it's mostly source code.
Additionally, the hacking group is making blackmailing claims that the company should remove the LHR from its software or share details of the "hw folder," presumably a hardware folder with various confidential schematics and hardware information. NVIDIA did not respond to these claims and had no official statement regarding the situation other than acknowledging that they are investigating an incident.
Jun 10th, 2024 03:06 EDT
change timezone
Latest GPU Drivers
New Forum Posts
- Upgrading advice on the new AMD Processors coming out.... (21)
- What do you mostly use your desktop PC for? (Pick your top 3!) (12)
- Now and Into the Future! [3080 + 5800X3D @ 4.65 + 3900 14-15-15 CR1] (6)
- No display signal in new build (3)
- 9900X3D - Will AMD solve the split CCD issue (170)
- Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3i (15IMH05) not entering C-states at all? (3)
- Need help reaching Package C8 on Intel N100 (30)
- PRIME Z370-P - graphic card compatability. (3)
- Last game you purchased? (336)
- Should I upgrade? (4)
Popular Reviews
- Pulsar Xlite V3 Review
- Intel Lunar Lake Technical Deep Dive - So many Revolutions in One Chip
- Upcoming Hardware Launches 2024 (Updated May 2024)
- NZXT H6 Flow RGB Review
- AQIRYS HYDRA 360 AIO Review
- AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Review - The Best Gaming CPU
- Thermal Grizzly KryoSheet Review - Tested on RX 7900 XTX with 475 W
- Ghost of Tsushima Performance Benchmark Review - 35 GPUs Tested
- Kioxia Exceria Plus G3 2 TB Review
- Corsair iCUE XC7 RGB Elite LCD CPU Water Block Review
Controversial News Posts
- AMD RDNA 5 a "Clean Sheet" Graphics Architecture, RDNA 4 Merely Corrects a Bug Over RDNA 3 (144)
- AMD Hits Highest-Ever x86 CPU Market Share in Q1 2024 Across Desktop and Server (140)
- NVIDIA RTX 5090 "Blackwell" Founders Edition to Implement the "RTX 4090 Ti" Cinderblock Design (118)
- AMD Zen 5 Storms into Gaming Desktops with Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" Processors (99)
- Biden Administration to Revive Trump-Era Tariffs on China-made GPUs and Motherboards (95)
- ASRock Innovates First AMD Radeon RX 7000 Graphics Card with 12V-2x6 Power Connector (94)
- AMD Ryzen 9000 Zen 5 Single Thread Performance at 5.80 GHz Found 19% Over Zen 4 (91)
- AMD Ryzen 9000 Zen 5 "Granite Ridge" Desktop Processors Launch Late-July (82)