Today, Intel celebrated the opening of Fab 9, its cutting-edge factory in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The milestone is part of Intel's previously announced $3.5 billion investment to equip its New Mexico operations for the manufacturing of advanced semiconductor packaging technologies, including Intel's breakthrough 3D packaging technology, Foveros, which offers flexible options for combining multiple chips that are optimized for power, performance and cost.

"Today, we celebrate the opening of Intel's first high-volume semiconductor operations and the only U.S. factory producing the world's most advanced packaging solutions at scale. This cutting-edge technology sets Intel apart and gives our customers real advantages in performance, form factor and flexibility in design applications, all within a resilient supply chain. Congratulations to the New Mexico team, the entire Intel family, our suppliers, and contractor partners who collaborate and relentlessly push the boundaries of packaging innovation," said Keyvan Esfarjani, Intel executive vice president and chief global operations officer.

erial leaker @yuuki_ans on X/Twitter has released details on Intel's upcoming Barlow Rridge Thunderbolt 5 controller which will be known as the JHL9580 or JHL9540 depending on the SKU. The good news is that Intel has finally moved to PCIe 4.0 for the bus interface, which was expected due to the increased bandwidth on offer by Thunderbolt 5 over Thunderbolt 3 and 4. Barlow Ridge will use a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface to connect to the host and it appears that the earlier leak that suggested native Thunderbolt support in Arrow Lake-S might be incorrect, as there are diagrams showing Barlow Ridge connected to Arrow Lake-S CPUs.

Besides the faster bus, Thunderbolt 5 brings asymmetrical data transmission support which means that for display applications there will be a 120/40 Gbps mode, whereas for data only applications Thunderbolt 5 will deliver a symmetrical 80 Gbps mode. We should point out that this only appears to apply to the JHL9580 SKU, which also supports 40 Gbps USB4 speeds, whereas the JHL9540 for some reason remains a Thunderbolt 4 controller. That said, both of the Barlow Ridge SKUs get support for 20 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, something that was lacking in previous Thunderbolt implementations. There will also be support for DisplayPort 2.1 via DP Alt Mode with full UHBR20 support when used with a DP80 certified cable. Actual data transfers are limited to the 64 Gbps PCIe 4.0 interface to the host system, just like USB4, but this does at least give Thunderbolt 5 extra head room for display data even in symmetrical mode. The Barlow Ridge controllers appear to be connected directly to the Arrow Lake-S CPUs via the PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, much in the same way USB4 host controllers connect to AMD's Ryzen 7000-series CPUS.

Simply NUC, Inc, a leading mini PC solutions company, announced they are taking orders for their brand-new Emerald 2 NUC. As the successor to Emerald, Emerald 2 features Intel's latest 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors and Iris Xe graphics to provide a powerful computing performance. From home office to remote deployments to digital signage, Emerald 2 is designed to be used across many different computing applications.

"We are delighted to launch Emerald 2 as the latest addition to our exceptional lineup of mini PCs," said Jonny Smith, CEO of Simply NUC. "Following the remarkable success of Emerald, we are confident that Emerald 2 will exceed customers' expectations by delivering outstanding computing performance, an immersive visual experience, and versatile connectivity options."

Intel has recently updated its Software Development Emulator (now version 9.33.0)—InstLatX64 noted some intriguing cache designations for Fifth Generation Xeon Scalable Processors. The "Emerald Rapids" family was introduced at last December's "AI Everywhere" event—with sample units released soon after for review. Tom's Hardware was impressed by the Platinum 8592+ CPU's tripled L3 Cache (over the previous generation): "(it) contributed significantly to gains in Artificial Intelligence inference, data center, video encoding, and general compute workloads. While AMD EPYC generally remains the player to beat in the enterprise CPU space, Emerald Rapids marks a significant improvement from Intel's side of that battlefield, especially as it pertains to Artificial Intelligence workloads and multi-core performance in general."

Intel's SDE 9.33.0 update confirms 320 MB of L3 cache for "Emerald Rapids," but the next line down provides a major "Granite Rapids" insight—480 MB of L3 cache, representing a 2.8x leap over the previous generation. Team Blue's 6th Gen (all P-core) Xeon processor series is expected to launch within the latter half of 2024. The American multinational technology company is evidently keen to take on AMD in the enterprise CPU market segment, although Team Red is already well ahead with its current crop of L3 cache designations. EPYC CPUs in Genoa and Genoa-X guises offer maximum totals of 384 MB and 1152 MB (respectively). Intel's recently launched "Emerald Rapids" server chips are observed as being a good match against Team Red EPYC "Bergamo" options.

A leaked Intel documentation we reported on a few days ago covered the Arrow Lake-S platform and some implementation details. However, there was an interesting catch in the file. The leaked document indicates that the upcoming 15th-Generation Arrow Lake desktop CPUs could lack Hyper-Threading (HT) support. The technical memo lists Arrow Lake's expected eight performance cores without any threads enabled via SMT. This aligns with previous rumors of Hyper-Threading removal. Losing Hyper-Threading could significantly impact Arrow Lake's multi-threaded application performance versus its Raptor Lake predecessors. Estimates suggest HT provides a 10-15% speedup across heavily-threaded workloads by enabling logical cores. However, for gaming, disabling HT has negligible impact and can even boost FPS in some titles. So Arrow Lake may still hit Intel's rumored 30% gaming performance targets through architectural improvements alone.

However, a replacement for the traditional HT is likely to come in the form of Rentable Units. This new approach is a response to the adoption of a hybrid core architecture, which has seen an increase in applications leveraging low-power E-cores for enhanced performance and efficiency. Rentable Units are a more efficient pseudo-multi-threaded solution that splits the first thread of incoming instructions into two partitions, assigning them to different cores based on complexity. Rentable Units will use timers and counters to measure P/E core utilization and send parts of the thread to each core for processing. This inherently requires larger cache sizes, where Arrow Lake is rumored to have 3 MB of L2 cache per core. Arrow Lake is also noted to support faster DDR5-6400 memory. But between higher clocks, more E-cores, and various core architecture updates, raw throughput metrics may not change much without Hyper-Threading.

Courtesy of X/Twitter user @yuuki_ans, we now have what should be very detailed information on Intel's next generation consumer desktop platform, assuming the leaked information is real. The leaker not only provided confirmation on the CPU specs of the Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs, which will feature up to an 8+16+1 core configuration. However, it appears that it's not all smooth sailing for Intel to get Arrow Lake-S up and running, as a note points out that the pre-alpha hardware has the performance cores disabled due to a hardware bug that is expected to be fixed in a future hardware revision. We can also see that the official memory support is DDR5-6400 from the block diagram, which is quite a jump from DDR5-5600 which is what the current 14th gen CPUs officially support.

That said, the rest of the documentation shared is very detailed and provides us with a ton of details in terms of the various platform interfaces we can expect. For starters, the Arrow Lake-S CPUs will feature native Thunderbolt 4/USB4 support (once again an odd mistake here stating USB4.0), as well as DisplayPort 2.0 (UHBR20 only) and HDMI 2.1 support. The CPU is said to deliver 24 PCIe lanes, of which 16 are PCIe 5.0 lanes for the GPU and the remaining eight are for NVMe SSDs, with half being PCIe 5.0 and half PCIe 4.0.

Worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2023 totaled $533 billion, a decrease of 11.1% from 2022, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.

"While the cyclicality in the semiconductor industry was present again in 2023, the market suffered a difficult year with memory revenue recording one of its worst declines in history," said Alan Priestley, VP Analyst at Gartner. "The underperforming market also negatively impacted several semiconductor vendors. Only 9 of the top 25 semiconductor vendors posted revenue growth in 2023, with 10 experiencing double-digit declines."

The combined semiconductor revenue of the top 25 semiconductor vendors declined 14.1% in 2023, accounting for 74.4% of the market, down from 77.2% in 2022.

Microsoft has reportedly set 16 GB as the minimum system requirement for AI PCs, a TrendForce market research report finds. To say that Microsoft has a pivotal role to play in PC hardware specs is an understatement. This year sees the introduction of the first "AI PCs," or PCs with on-device AI acceleration for several new features native to Windows 11 23H2, mainly Microsoft Copilot. From the looks of it, Copilot is receiving the highest corporate attention from Microsoft, as the company looks to integrate the AI chatbot that automates and generates work, into the mainstream PC. In fact, Microsoft is even pushing for a dedicated Copilot button on PC keyboards along the lines of the key that brings up the Start menu. The company's biggest move with Copilot will be the 2024 introduction of Copilot Pro, an AI assistant integrated with Office and 365, which the company plans to sell on a subscription basis alone.

Besides cloud-based acceleration, Microsoft's various AI features will rely on some basic hardware specs for local acceleration. One of them of course is the NPU, with Intel's AI Boost and AMD's Ryzen AI being introduced with their latest mobile processors. The other requirement will be memory. AI acceleration is a highly memory sensitive operation, and LLMs require a sizable amount of fast frequent-access memory. So Microsoft arrived at 16 GB as the bare minimum amount of memory for not just native acceleration, but also cloud-based Copilot AI features to work. This should see the notebooks of 2024 set 16 GB as their baseline memory specs; and for commercial notebooks to scale up to 32 GB or even 64 GB, depending on organizational requirements. The development bodes particularly well for the DRAM industry.

AEWIN is glad to announce our latest High-Performance Network Appliance powered by Intel latest 5th Gen Xeon Scalable Processors, SCB-1942 Series. It is a series of flagship products powered by dual Intel Emerald Rapids CPUs, having up to 128 CPU cores (64 cores per CPU) for the extreme computing power pursued in the market. SCB-1942 series has multiple SKU with various PCIe slots options for great expandability to fulfill customer's solutions.

The SCB-1942A is a 2U, 2-socket network computing platform having 16x memory socket of DDR5 up to 5600 MHz, and 8x PCIe 5.0 expansion slots for AEWIN wide coverage NIC cards with 1G/10/25/40/100G copper/fiber interfaces or other Accelerators & NVMe SSDs for flexible functionality enhancement. The SCB-1942A provides the flexibility to change the 2x PCIe slots to 1x PCIe x16 slot for standard PCIe form factor which can install off-the-shelf add-on card for additional function required. It can support 400G NIC card installed such as Mellanox PCIe 5.0 NIC. In addition, the SCB-1942 series support 10 SATA which make it also suitable for various kinds of storage applications.

SPARKLE is announcing the low-profile series: SPARKLE Intel Arc A380 GENIE graphics and SPARKLE Intel Arc A310 ECO graphics. Both graphics cards come as low-profile configurations with 1x HDMI and 2x mini-DP video outputs, a free additional short bracket in the box, and are packed with Intel Arc technologies. Advanced technologies include AI-enhanced Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) for higher image quality and performance, DirectX 12 Ultimate support including hardware-accelerated ray tracing, full AV1 hardware encode and decode for the latest multimedia support, and Intel Deep Link Technologies for exclusive platform advantages combining Intel Core processor and Intel Arc graphics.

These cards are ready to fit into any magic lamp and make gaming wishes come alive! Furthermore, SPARKLE has built an exclusive Intel Arc A310 by successfully reducing the TBP (total board power) of the Intel Arc A310 from Intel's default 75 W to 50 W, providing the best balance of features, technologies and experiences in a small but advanced form-factor.

New York-based security firm Trail of Bits has identified a security vulnerability with various GPU models, which include AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple. This vulnerability, named LeftoverLocals, could potentially allow attackers to steal large amounts of data from a GPU's memory. Mainstream client-GPUs form a sizable chunk of the hardware accelerating AI and LLMs, as they cost a fraction of purpose-built data-center GPUs, and are available in the retail market. Unlike CPUs, which have undergone extensive hardening against data leaks, GPUs were primarily designed for graphics acceleration and lack similar data privacy architecture. To our knowledge, none of the client GPUs use virtualization with their graphics memory. Graphics acceleration in general is a very memory sensitive application, and requires SIMD units to have bare-metal access to memory, with as little latency as possible.

First the good news—for this vulnerability to be exploited, it requires the attacker to have access to the target device with the vulnerable GPU (i.e. cut through OS-level security). The attack could break down data silos on modern computers and servers, allowing unauthorized access to GPU memory. The potential data breach could include queries, responses generated by LLMs, and the weights driving the response. The researchers tested 11 chips from seven GPU makers and found the vulnerability in GPUs from Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm. While NVIDIA, Intel, and Arm first-party GPUs did not show evidence of the vulnerability, Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD confirmed to wired that their GPUs are affected, and that they're working on a security response. Apple has released fixes for its latest M3 and A17 processors, but older devices with previous generations of Apple silicon remain vulnerable. Qualcomm is providing security updates, and AMD plans to offer mitigations through driver updates in March 2024.

Eurocom, a leading manufacturer of high-performance laptops, has announced the release of two new models: the Raptor X17 and Nightsky RX415 with up to 96 GB of DDR5 memory. Both laptops are powered by the latest 14th generation Intel Core i7 14900HX CPU and now support 96 GB of DDR5 memory (2x 48 GB). The Raptor X17 is equipped with a 17.3-inch 240 Hz display, while the Nightsky RX415 features a 15.6-inch UHD OLED display. These laptops are designed to deliver exceptional performance and speed for gaming, content creation, and other demanding applications.

"While 96 GB of DDR5 memory may be considered overkill for certain use cases, it can deliver tangible benefits for professionals engaged in video editing, rendering, multitasking, virtualization, and other memory-intensive workloads. We are excited to be able to offer this option to our customers in the Nightsky RX415 and Raptor X17 high performance laptops as we continue to push the boundaries of what is possible inside a laptop form factor." Mark Bialic, Eurocom President.

Other World Computing (OWC)—the leading end-to-end ecosystem solution provider of computer hardware, accessories, and software for both consumers and professionals - demonstrated three new cutting-edge Thunderbolt 5 devices at CES and Pepcom - two state-of-the-art multiport docks and a bus-powered portable storage solution - all powered by the latest Thunderbolt technology from Intel. For over a decade, OWC has led the way in creating innovative Thunderbolt solutions and that tradition continues with solutions designed to harness the lightning-fast data transfer rates and high-resolution display support of Thunderbolt 5. The new docking and storage solutions will quickly become the focal point for user's computer setups and workflows.

"We've been at the forefront, embracing new Thunderbolt technologies early on, and take pride in providing the most extensive range of Thunderbolt solutions globally," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO of OWC. "Introducing Thunderbolt 5 to our customers is an exciting venture, enabling us to create even more innovative products."

ECS Industrial Computer Co., Ltd., (ECSIPC) is pleased to announce its participation in ISE 2024 where it will showcase its latest smart retail solutions, IPC motherboards, and two new LIVA mini-PCs that are ready for applications including digital signage, smart vending machines, kiosks, factory automation equipment and AOI. Designed for digital signage and self-service kiosks in the smart retail industry, or in large vehicles fitted with display-board advertising, this unique mini-PC offers up to 4 display outputs that can showcase a variety of rich and vibrant content. The highly flexible solution can display 4 different screens, mirror all screens the same, split one image across 4 displays, or splits of 3-and-1 or 2-and-2, affording maximum flexibility to cover wide areas of retail spaces that can easily plan and push a multitude of content to inform and advertise in attractive, dynamic, high-resolution visuals, all from a single device. The LIVA X3A mini-PC is ready to go right out the box, along with ECSIPC's own content management software to streamline product deployment.

Powered by a highly efficient Rockchip octa-core featuring a 4x Arm Cortex-A76 and 4x Arm Cortex-A55 processors in this Arm-based CPU, the highly efficient, fanless design ensures a sustainable solution that accommodates many use-cases. In addition, 8 GB of fast LPDDR5 and 64 GB of internal storage is preinstalled, while dual GbE, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 provide a variety of internet connectivity built-in, which can be further expanded with optional PoE and 4G LTE to meet specific deployment requirements.

ASUS IoT, the global AIoT solution provider, today announced the launch of industry-leading ultra-compact edge computers and embedded boards with the all-new Intel Core Ultra processors. This lineup comprises the C7146ES-IM-AA, C5143ES-IM-AA single-board computer (SBC), EBS-S500W edge computer and PE2200U ultra-compact fanless embedded computer - offering AI-ready CPU, GPU and NPU enhancements, coupled with remarkable power efficiency. These solutions cater to a wide range of applications such as smart retail, traffic analysis, medical imaging, utility management and edge AI, exemplifying ASUS IoT's commitment to enabling next-generation AI capabilities at the edge.

"ASUS IoT is proud to present our leading solutions to the market, enabling easy deployment of next-generation AI capabilities at the edge," said KuoWei Chao, General Manager of ASUS IoT Business Group. "By collaborating with Intel, ASUS IoT solutions can provide faster AI results, support more media streams per device and ensure long-term value through product longevity."

ASUS today announced the full 2024 ExpertCenter series lineup at CES 2024. These desktops feature chassis updates for a sleeker look and a small-form-factor (SFF) design that's about 10% more compact than its predecessor, so they're ideal for small workspaces. The redesigned tool-free release mechanism makes it easier than ever to reconfigure or update components. Plus, the chassis are sustainably built and stringently tested to ensure military-grade toughness and durability.

Powered by the latest Intel Core i9 14th Gen CPUs and up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory, ExpertCenter desktops offer exceptional performance to cater to any organization, ranging from small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to Fortune 500 companies. Each model includes an exclusive suite of ASUS software to ensure enterprise-grade security and manageability to protect vital business data and information.

During the CES 2024 show, EK unveiled an exciting new addition to their premium all-in-one (AIO) CPU cooler lineup—the EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Direct Die D-RGB. As the name suggests, this new 360 mm AIO water cooler is purpose-built for direct die cooling of delidded Intel LGA1700 CPUs. The EK-Nucleus Direct Die stands out with its custom cold plate and mounting mechanism, which are exclusively engineered for exposed CPU dies. The nickel-plated copper base ensures compatibility with liquid metal TIMs like the included Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, which comes in the package. EK has worked with der8auer to provide delidding service kits and tools to facilitate easy DIY removal of the integrated heat spreader (IHS).

The package also contains a contact frame and protective foam for safe liquid metal application. At the heart of the cooler is a powerful AIO pump EK co-developed with the OEM manufacturer, meaning it is not an off-the-shelf pump found in other AIOs and is capable of up to 500 L/h flow rate. The reinforced, sleeved rubber tubing is fitted with aluminium covers for durability. Integrated omnilink connectors allow daisy chaining of the three included 120 mm D-RGB fans for cable management. The EK-Nucleus Direct Die offers extensive RGB lighting customization with illuminated circle accents on the removable pump top covers. The diamond-cut brushed aluminium side panels and radiator cowl add to the premium aesthetic. The new AIO will be available for the Intel LGA1700 platform, with hopefully more versions later. The EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Direct Die D-RGB is now available for pre-order at €202.90 MSRP price tag.

Alienware is entering new arenas at CES 2024 with the debut of notebooks, peripherals and monitors that were inspired by our community and developed to appeal to all gamers. Whether you play to compete, play to get immersed in the game or play to socialize, Alienware can outfit your gaming needs. From the beginning, Alienware has offered high-performance hardware and software to the most demanding gamers. And here's what I can tell you: our focus on the enthusiast gamer hasn't changed. At the same time, the gaming landscape has evolved and is becoming more diverse than ever.

That's why we're eager to introduce products designed for wider audiences, from students who play dorm room sessions with friends, to working professionals who wind down the evening with a relaxing indie title, and pro athletes who game for a living. While these products reach new audiences, their DNA remains distinctly Alien, meaning they deliver the latest innovations in technology, performance and design. Meet Alienware's latest product portfolio:

• Three new gaming notebooks debut - the redesigned Alienware m16 R2, the ultra-premium x16 R2, and our performance juggernaut, the m18 R2.
• We've doubled our QD-OLED family by adding the Alienware AW3225QF and AW2725DF - two first of their kind QD-OLED monitors.
• Built in collaboration with 100+ esports athletes, our new Alienware Pro Wireless Keyboard and Pro Wireless Mouse mark our breakthrough into the pro gaming peripherals space.

Thermaltake has unveiled and launched its newest ASTRIA Series air coolers at CES 2024 show, including ASTRIA 200, ASTRIA 400, and ASTRIA 600 ARGB coolers. The entire ASTRIA ARGB series is equipped with the new CT120 ARGB fans. According to Thermaltake, the CT102 ARGB fan can provide an airflow of 65 CFM with 2.56 mm-H2O static pressure at a maximum noise level of 26.8 dBA. The ASTRIA ARGB Series is based on the standard tower design, where the ASTRIA 200 ARGB and ASTRIA 400 ARGB stick to a single-tower, single-fan design, while the ASTRIA 600 ARGB uses a dual-tower, dual-fan design. The ASTRIA 200 ARGB uses four 6 mm U-shaped heatpipes, while ASTRIA 400 ARGB and ASTRIA 600 ARGB feature six of the same heatpipes.

The entire lineup support the latest Intel and AMD sockets, and can support up to 210 W, 230 W, and 265 W TDP CPUs, respectively. What makes the ASTRIA ARGB cooler lineup special is th fact that you can adjust the fan position to align it with the height of memory, providing some additional flexibility with installation. The ASTRIA ARGB cooler lineup also features the new Meteor Shower lighting effects, thanks to 18 LEDs located on the top cover and sync them with 9 LEDs on the CT120 ARBG fans.

At the CES 2024 international show, Taiwanese company ENERMAX unveiled new all-in-one (AIO) CPU liquid coolers targeting both mainstream and high-end markets. First in line is the AQUAFLO LCD, which features a removable 5-inch 800x480 resolution magnetic LCD display, allowing monitoring of temperatures, fan speeds, and pump RPM, with the ability to stick on cases or use it as a desktop display. Supporting up to 400 Watt TDPs, the dual-chamber pump design provides flow rates up to 450 liters per hour. The 240 mm and 360 mm radiators use flat 20 mm-thick cooling tubes and ENERMAX Shunt Channel cooling technology for efficient heat transfer. This enables handling the latest overclocked gaming CPUs.

For professional workstations and servers, the LIQTECH XTR 280 and 360 models offer full coverage and 500 Watt+ TDP capacity for the latest AMD Threadripper Pro and Intel Xeon CPUs using larger CPU sockets. An integrated 2.4-inch digital OLED screen directly on the block reports real-time core temperature readings and warnings. A ceramic bearing pump design also pushes 450 liters per hour for cooling under heavy rendering or data center workloads. The LIQTECH XTR ensures professionals can rely on enhanced durability for mission-critical hardware. The new AIO coolers will be available in Q2 2024 through major retailers.

Intel released the latest version of its Arc GPU Graphics drivers. Version 101.5122 WHQL comes with support for the 14th Gen Core HX and Desktop 65 W series processors with their Intel UHD 770/730 series integrated graphics based on the Xe-LP architecture. The drivers also add optimization for "Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown." The company hasn't fixed any issues with this particular driver release, but identified a handful new issues to fix with future releases. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.5122 WHQL

ASUS today announced the 2024 version of the premium Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304), now powered by up to the latest AI-powered Intel Core Ultra 7 processor. Zenbook S 13 OLED is the world's slimmest 13.3-inch OLED laptop, and it's also the most eco-friendly Zenbook ever. It takes the brand's signature qualities of ultraportable design, sustainability and on-the-go performance to a new level, proving conclusively that less can be more.

With a world-beating super-slim 1 cm profile and a super-light 1 kg chassis, the sophisticated Zenbook S 13 OLED delivers no-compromise performance, connectivity and battery life, making it the epitome of ultraportable design, and finished in brand-new Basalt Gray or classic Ponder Blue. It's also designed with the environment and carbon neutrality firmly in mind, using recycled metals and plastics in its construction, FSC Mix-certified packaging, an elegant new eco-friendly plasma ceramic aluminium for the Basalt Gray model, and halogen-free electronics, to make this the most eco-friendly Zenbook model we've ever produced. The Zenbook series excels at delivering unrivaled on-the-go performance, and Zenbook S 13 OLED is no exception, harnessing the power of up to the AI-ready Intel Core Ultra 7 processor with 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD. There's a full set of I/O ports for on-the-go connections, and a long-lasting 63 Wh battery. The 2024 Zenbook S 13 OLED additionally features a dedicated Windows Copilot key for instant access to the new AI-powered Windows 11 assistant. For immersive true-to-life visuals, Zenbook S 13 OLED has a gorgeous 16:10 3K ASUS Lumina OLED display that's Dolby Vision certified, with Pantone Validated color rendering and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, ensuring incredible detail and the deepest black levels.

EK, the leading liquid cooling gear manufacturer, is announcing the availability of two high-performance liquid cooling solutions for the Intel "Sierra Forest" processor family. EK-Pro CPU WB 7529 and 7529 Rack water blocks are specially designed to cool the Sierra Forest CPUs, a codename for Intel's first-generation E-core Xeon server processors based on the LGA 7529 socket. These CPUs are expected to launch in the first half of 2024 and feature up to 288 cores per socket for 576 cores per server. Naturally, with such a high core count, liquid cooling presents a sensible solution to heat management.

The Sierra Forest architecture design aims to achieve ultra-high core counts for greater compute density that would benefit cloud and HPC server applications. However, with greater compute density comes greater requirements for cooling. Even with the E-cores that use less power per core, their staggering density in the CPU will indeed present unique challenges for traditional air cooling.

ADATA has showcased a rather interesting XPG HYBRID COOLER at CES 2024 which actually integrates an AIO solution into the size of your standard air cooler, packing pump, loop, and a radiator into a single unit. The new cooler promises to be smaller and lighter than a standard AIO cooler but more efficient than an air cooler.

The new HYBRID COOLER is a patented dual-fan CPU cooler that can cool CPUs with TDP of up to 280 W. It will support both standard as well as Intel Xeon and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO sockets, and uses two high-performance 120 mm VENTO PRO PWM fans by Nidec. The entire unit is slightly taller than a 120 mm fan and looks pretty neat, but unfortunately, it is still just a concept and ADATA did not have it running inside a system. Hopefully, we'll see it officially launched soon and to see how well it compares to standard AIOs and standard air coolers.

While the ASUS ROG NUC was certainly the star of the show at CES 2024, ASUS is clearly serious about getting behind NUC design that it acquired from Intel since it had a few standard NUC designs, including NUC 14 Pro and NUC 14 Pro+. Both are equipped with Intel's 14th Gen CPUs and use a more familiar NUC chassis design in low-profile and taller option that has an internal expansion tray for storage options.

The NUC 14 Pro is based on a standard 4x4 NUC form-factor with low-profile or 14 mm taller option that has a storage expansion tray. It will be limited to Intel Core Ultra 7 CPUs, but still supports up to 96 GB of DDR5 RAM and has two M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 slots (one 2.5-inch SATA SSD support in taller chassis), Intel WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 and 2.5 Gb Ethernet. It comes with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two HDMI 2.1 outputs, and a couple of USB ports, including 10 Gbps ones. The NUC 14 Pro+ is quite similar but can be equipped with up to Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU. ASUS actually went for a slightly different design with a whole new 5x4 NUC anodized aluminium chassis, mostly to give it a premium look but also give that Core Ultra 9 CPU a bit more room to breathe.