TechPowerUP NEWS

[NextPowerUP]

The AI infrastructure of today is mostly fueled by the expansion that relies on GPU-accelerated servers. Google, one of the world's largest hyperscalers, has noted that CPUs are still a leading compute for AI/ML workloads, recorded on their Google Cloud Services cloud internal analysis. During the TechFieldDay event, a speech by Brandon Royal, product manager at Google Cloud, explained the position of CPUs in today's AI game. The AI lifecycle is divided into two parts: training and inference. During training, massive compute capacity is needed, along with enormous memory capacity, to fit ever-expanding AI models into memory. The latest models, like GPT-4 and Gemini, contain billions of parameters and require thousands of GPUs or other accelerators working in parallel to train efficiently.

On the other hand, inference requires less compute intensity but still benefits from acceleration. The pre-trained model is optimized and deployed during inference to make predictions on new data. While less compute is needed than training, latency and throughput are essential for real-time inference. Google found out that, while GPUs are ideal for the training phase, models are often optimized and run inference on CPUs. This means that there are customers who choose CPUs as their medium of AI inference for a wide variety of reasons.https://tpucdn.com/img/me8O4Zdu3jFcg8ry_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/me8O4Zdu3jFcg8ry.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/oY6Nc6wOdL3U5qLZ_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/oY6Nc6wOdL3U5qLZ.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/319880/google-cpus-are-leading-ai-inference-workloads-not-gpus)

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[NextPowerUP]

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[NextPowerUP]

Wielend AIO CPU cooler is a prototype closed-loop liquid CPU cooler that lacks a pump, or any form of active coolant flow between the heat-source (the CPU block), and the sink (the radiator). The cooler works on the principle of thermosiphon, where the temperature differential between the source and sink cause coolant flow. This is essentially how solar water heaters work, as they drive coolant (water) between the heating panels and a storage tank. It's not like the cooler is without any moving parts, the radiator still needs ventilation from fans.

Der8auer tested a prototype Weiland cooler, and compared its cooling performance to that of a typical 240 mm AIO CLC (with a pump), on a machine with an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X processor with a 170 W TDP. During a 20-minute Cinebench R23 multithreaded stress test, the 240 mm AIO held temperatures to around 70 °C, while the Wieland AIO managed 78 °C. The power draw with the regular 240 mm AIO was higher, as the processor probably utilized the lower temperature to hold onto higher boost frequencies.https://tpucdn.com/img/vxTp3V5qvJKfno3x_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/vxTp3V5qvJKfno3x.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/kfChNWnBgE67kmKU_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/kfChNWnBgE67kmKU.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/KMUm7dgn0WSJvPa3_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/KMUm7dgn0WSJvPa3.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/SlxWEGEtlfmunVZi_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/SlxWEGEtlfmunVZi.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/SMU50V7i8haQOiSX_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/SMU50V7i8haQOiSX.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

Just before Christmas, LG unveiled the UltraGear 32GS95UE-B (https://www.techpowerup.com/316944/lg-ultragear-unveils-worlds-first-4k-oled-gaming-monitor-with-dual-hz-feature) OLED gaming monitor with what the company is calling Dual-Hz, which allows for different refresh rates at different resolutions. In this case, 240 Hz at 4K and 480 Hz at 1080p. However, LG only provided basic specs and didn't reveal pricing back then, both of which now have been revealed. The 31.5-inch OLED panel used doesn't really stand out from the crowd with a typical brightness of 275 cd/m², a color depth of 1.07 billion colors (10-bit panel), a contrast ratio of 1.5 million to one a gray to gray response time of 0.03 ms and DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification.

As far as connectivity goes, some of you will be disappointed, as the 32GS95UE-B only sports DisplayPort 1.4 as well as HDMI 2.1. There isn't even a USB Type-C port on this monitor, instead a USB Type-B input and standard USB-A outputs, as well as a headphone output is all you get. LG has also kitted out the 32GS95UE-B with what the company called Pixel Sound speakers, i.e. the speakers are hidden behind the display panel. Both FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync compatibility is included, as well all the usual gaming features you'd expect. LG also includes a stand that supports tilt, height, swivel and pivot adjustments. In the US, the 32GS95UE-B comes with a two-year warranty, a US$1399.99 price tag and a mid-April shipping date.https://tpucdn.com/img/cnkj4g2tCp1FQlPX_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/cnkj4g2tCp1FQlPX.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/8BSnzV3Pzq4LH7s2_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/8BSnzV3Pzq4LH7s2.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/BKR7gzk3AiUDqObC_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/BKR7gzk3AiUDqObC.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/O6xrLkWEi1gqcbpF_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/O6xrLkWEi1gqcbpF.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

Welcome to the month of March, which we kick off with some American play fighting and although this is the biggest release this week, it's not what we'd call a AAA release. We obviously have a range of other games for you as well, ranging from a morally ambiguous RPG to a muddy driving game followed by a physiological horror title, a very Finnish adventure and nine days of preparation.

WWE 2K24 (https://wwe.2k.com/2k24/) / This week's major release / Friday 8 March
WWE 2K24 boasts a star-studded roster featuring WWE Legends like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Undertaker, and Andre the Giant, alongside current WWE Superstars like "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Rhea Ripley, and Roman Reigns, whose larger-than-life entrances and signature moves are heightened by ultra-realistic graphics. WrestleMania is the biggest event in sports entertainment, where Superstars become WWE Legends. Experience a gripping retelling of WrestleMania's greatest moments in 2K Showcase of the Immortals, where you can relive a collection of some of the most unforgettable, career-defining matches. Steam Link (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2315690/WWE_2K24/)https://tpucdn.com/img/6ulwpyaRFACgdrEb_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/6ulwpyaRFACgdrEb.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/c2P6EjPfYnNHfxvO_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/c2P6EjPfYnNHfxvO.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/xc2j6AqX6vr2VWE1_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/xc2j6AqX6vr2VWE1.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/rnDGWTQUHk0kX7RG_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/rnDGWTQUHk0kX7RG.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/319876/this-week-in-gaming-week-10)

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[NextPowerUP]

MSI is apparently preparing to unveil two more GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics cards, the MSI RTX 4070 Ti Super Expert and the MSI RTX 4070 Ti Super Aero. The new MSI Expert series was unveiled at the CES show back in January, and currently, MSI only uses the design on the MSI RTX 4080 Super graphics card. On the other hand, the Aero series has been around for quite some time, but we haven't seen many of those cards, unless you count the Aero ITX version of the GeForce RTX 4060. As Videocardz.com notes (https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-launches-geforce-rtx-4070-ti-super-expert-and-blower-style-aero-gpus), MSI actually has a total of 12 different RTX 4070 Ti Super designs, and that did not stop it from adding two more, despite the fact that the RTX 4070 Ti Super was only announced just over a month ago.

The MSI Expert lineup is quite an interesting design, announced back at the CES 2024 show, and uses a triple-slot design with a rather interesting fan placement taken from NVIDIA's Founder's Edition book. It features two fans, one at the front and one at the back of the card, pushing air in opposite directions. MSI has decided to call the new cooling solution the "MSI Flow Frozr". The front also features a mesh metal cover, which does look quite interesting.https://tpucdn.com/img/V7KXTUy4VKmMxf6f_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/V7KXTUy4VKmMxf6f.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/MphEKouKGta9VPxP_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/MphEKouKGta9VPxP.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/nHmR5OnxvKQtNaLk_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/nHmR5OnxvKQtNaLk.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/gW6iYC1ZAn5P8yD6_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/gW6iYC1ZAn5P8yD6.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/319849/msi-preparing-new-rtx-4070-ti-super-expert-and-rtx-4070-ti-super-aero)

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[NextPowerUP]

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking, and storage solution innovator, today officially launched NetBak PC Agent, a license-free full system backup solution for Windows. NetBak PC Agent is a utility that requires Hyper Data Protector, a NAS application which support endpoint devices backup (including VMs, Windows PCs and servers), to be installed on the user's NAS.

Existing NetBak Replicator users are encouraged to switch to NetBak PC Agent to enjoy a modern user interface and block-based backup for full systems, drives, folders, or files. Besides backup format updates, NetBak PC Agent supports new features such as:

Bare-metal restoration: Restore a full PC/server system by creating a USB boot disk.
Synthetic Incremental Backup: Reduce backup/restore time with QNAP's game-changing Synthetic Incremental Backup technology to increase IT efficiency and end-user productivity, helping to maintain data integrity by reducing RTO and RPO.
Backup Explorer: Use the intuitive user interface of Backup Explorer on Hyper Data Protector to find a specific folder or file in various backup versions and restore them to client devices.
Scheduled backup: Once users set backup rules, NetBak PC Agent does the rest.
System backup restoration destination: Both local and remote site supported.

https://tpucdn.com/img/OJMGKHW743Qe5ora_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/OJMGKHW743Qe5ora.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/A3rIyYvkqyoTJG2K_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/A3rIyYvkqyoTJG2K.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/njugdSHvuUTQdYBY_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/njugdSHvuUTQdYBY.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/yZJ2pX1dmkeCZFSe_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/yZJ2pX1dmkeCZFSe.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/319848/qnap-releases-netbak-pc-agent-a-license-free-windows-pc-server-backup-solution)

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[NextPowerUP]

Available now, the Sennheiser brand today launches their latest generation flagship earbuds MOMENTUM True Wireless 4. Packed with over a dozen upgrades and future-facing technologies such as Snapdragon Sound Technology with Qualcomm aptX Lossless Technology, Auracast, and ultra-low-latency mode, the portable powerhouse series brings uncompromised sound to the high-performance audio enthusiast.

"Sound quality will always be a top priority for our customers, and we are seeing increasing demand for the application of it out in the real world," says Frank Foppe, Sennheiser Product Manager, "With higher quality hardware and our widest range of wireless technology support ever, MOMENTUM True Wireless 4 grows with the consumer's needs no matter how dynamic they currently are—or will become in the future."https://tpucdn.com/img/DTT0CR2NA5SEMW1j_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/DTT0CR2NA5SEMW1j.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/8JNG4vSFX6rtij1C_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/8JNG4vSFX6rtij1C.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/uDehYhVfjVVQhkrf_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/uDehYhVfjVVQhkrf.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/qToL8eOMtZxlRzWo_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/qToL8eOMtZxlRzWo.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

EK, the leading name in custom loop liquid cooling, is proudly announcing the launch of the latest water-cooling-focused PC case made in collaboration with InWin, the renowned case manufacturer. The new EK-Quantum InWin 977EK was engineered from scratch with water cooling and ease of use in mind. It's a premium quality PC case that can accommodate two 420 mm radiators, has dedicated mounts for pumps, reservoirs, and combo units, and offers the ultimate user-friendly experience for custom loop liquid cooling enthusiasts.

EK-QUANTUM InWin 977EK
Crafted from a single, robust piece of 4 mm-thick, high-quality brushed aluminium, the outer shell of this PC case proudly embodies the iconic InWin aesthetic. Meticulously bent by skilled artisans using hand-operated techniques, it showcases their dedication to craftsmanship.https://tpucdn.com/img/pZ0iOBxPnMKk9exF_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/pZ0iOBxPnMKk9exF.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/DuCD2Rp0xfXcCyTK_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/DuCD2Rp0xfXcCyTK.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/QahqHDJ6ClMmCjDG_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/QahqHDJ6ClMmCjDG.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/6nszXlp2KTppjMJf_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/6nszXlp2KTppjMJf.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/319846/ek-introduces-new-ek-quantum-inwin-977ek-pc-case)

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[NextPowerUP]

For those of you that have been waiting patiently for the first DisplayPort 2.1 monitors to start arriving, we have good news as Gigabyte has revealed details of its first display equipped with DP 2.1. The monitor in question is the AORUS FO32U2P which also sports a 4K QD-OLED panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate. The 31.5-inch QD-OLED panel does follow the standard feature set with a 10-bit panel, 250 cd/m² brightness, 1.5 million to one contrast ratio, 0.03 ms GTG response time and a DisplayHDR True Black 400 certification. Gigabyte has gone for an anti-reflective coating as well, which might not appeal to everyone.

As for the inputs, the DP2.1 ports support the full UHBR20 spec, which is 80 Gbps of total bandwidth over four 20 Gbps DisplayPort lanes, which means Gigabyte hasn't skimped on anything here. Yes, you read that correctly as well, the monitor has two DP 2.1 inputs, one full size and one mini DP input and there's also a USB Type-C input that supports DP-Alt mode, in addition to 65 W USB Power Delivery and USB data, although it's not clear if this port also supports DP 2.1. Furthermore, there are two HDMI 2.1 ports, one upstreams and two downstreams USB 3.2 ports, as well as a headphone and microphone jack. Gigabyte has also equipped the AORUS FO32U2P with a pair of 5 W speakers and a stand that offers tilt, swivel, pivot and height adjustments. The maximum power usage is said to be 78 W, but this shouldn't include the USB PD part. Other features include KVM support, daisy-chaining via a DP output, picture in picture and picture by picture support and various gaming features such as crosshairs, night vision, black equalizer etc. Gigabyte has as yet to announce official pricing on a release date.https://tpucdn.com/img/krajQ4mTAt08PdZN_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/krajQ4mTAt08PdZN.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/Nt3DYHVUw4khIbR2_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/Nt3DYHVUw4khIbR2.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/rStKrQXLvCK2kJIl_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/rStKrQXLvCK2kJIl.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/nFnkAZN250zvBUqb_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/nFnkAZN250zvBUqb.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/lOMQfGbMYHZXA9m6_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/lOMQfGbMYHZXA9m6.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

Elon Musk in his individual capacity has sued Sam Altman, Gregory Brockman, Open AI and its affiliate companies, of breach of founding contract, and a deviation from its founding goal to be a non-profit tasked with the development of AI toward the benefit of humanity. This lawsuit comes in the wake of Open AI's relationship with Microsoft, which Musk says compromises its founding contract. Musk alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair business practices against Open AI, and demands that the company revert to being open-source with all its technology, and function as a non-profit.

Musk also requests an injunction to prevent Open AI and the other defendants from profiting off Open AI technology. In particular, Musk alleges that GPT-4 isn't open-source, claiming that only Open AI and Microsoft know its inner workings, and Microsoft stands to monetize GPT-4 "for a fortune." Microsoft, interestingly, was not named in the lawsuit as a defendant. Elon Musk sat on the original board of Open AI until his departure in 2018, is said to be a key sponsor of AI acceleration hardware used in the pioneering work done by Open AI.https://tpucdn.com/img/HHYODzSwT8w9IXKX_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/HHYODzSwT8w9IXKX.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

Thermaltake, a leading PC DIY brand for premium hardware solutions, is excited to reveal the winner list of 2023 Thermaltake CaseMOD Invitational Season 1. In first place is Wael Kadri from France, in second place is Maulik Patel from India, and in third places are Derek Wilson from Canada and Ponsarud Romvilast from Thailand.

This season, Thermaltake proudly invited 8 famous modders from Canada, China, France, India, Italy, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States of America to the much-anticipated annual CaseMOD Invitational. These modders, with their professional modding skills, exquisite handcrafting, and ingenious creativity, transformed the CTE C750 Air Full Tower Chassis into distinctive and stunning masterpieces. Every mod was spectacular, making it challenging for the audience and the judges to select the winners. Sincerely appreciate all the modders for elevating this event to unprecedented heights.https://tpucdn.com/img/nk5w0w35ABbwpMwp_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/nk5w0w35ABbwpMwp.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/319833/thermaltake-announces-top-3-winners-of-2023-thermaltake-casemod-invitational-season1)

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[NextPowerUP]

T-FORCE, the gaming brand under the leading global memory brand Team Group Inc., has launched the highly expected T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB DDR5 Desktop Memory, which not only upgrades both in appearance and performance but also utilizes the exclusive patented IC grading verification technology to create high-speed performance memory modules. The XTREEM ARGB DDR5 allows gamers to enjoy the thrill of gaming while creating an aurora immersive atmosphere with fluid and gentle lighting effects, satisfying consumers' pursuit of robust performance and ultimate aesthetics.

In terms of design, the T-FORCE XTREEM ARGB DDR5 features innovative dual-piece light pipes that emit soft and delicate light movements resembling aurora charm. It also supports various lighting control software [2], creating an extraordinary RGB visual feast and leading players on an unforgettable aurora journey. The product itself features a 2 mm-thick forged aluminium alloy matte black heat spreader, exhibiting both the hardness and durability of basalt and the delicate texture of a black sand beach, perfectly showcasing the ultimate aesthetics of metal craftsmanship and achieving exquisite and unique computer equipment. The XTREEM ARGB DDR5 uses a 10-layer professional anti-interference optimized PCB board and improves the heat dissipation design of the PMIC power management chip to keep performance stable during high-speed data transmission, allowing gamers to enjoy a powerful and high-frame-rate gaming experience.https://tpucdn.com/img/uQH9oT8REMQ2p6eW_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/uQH9oT8REMQ2p6eW.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/eYZuOBRgcyqMatJp_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/eYZuOBRgcyqMatJp.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/320025/team-group-introduces-the-t-force-xtreem-argb-ddr5-desktop-memory)

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[NextPowerUP]

Samsung, which recently announced (https://www.techpowerup.com/319655/samsung-develops-industry-first-36gb-hbm3e-12h-dram) its 12-high HBM3E memory, is expected to demonstrate them at the upcoming NVIDIA GTC 2024 event. Business Korea reports that the HBM3E stacks will power NVIDIA's "Hopper" H200 AI GPU, a more advanced version of the H100, which features support for HBM3E, and larger amounts of memory. Samsung's 12-high HBM3E stack has 12 layers of DRAM stacked with a Samsung innovation in wiring the stack. Each stack offers density as high as 288 Gbit, or 36 GB, which works out to 216 GB of memory over the 6144-bit HBM3E memory interface of the H200. Neither Samsung nor NVIDIA have put out DRAM speeds for the Samsung 12H HBM3E as configured for the H200.https://tpucdn.com/img/BlOLBoMcLt2t5Llp_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/BlOLBoMcLt2t5Llp.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

AMD's 12-core/24-thread Ryzen 9 7900X3D processor that comes with 3D Vertical Cache technology, is seeing a slew of price-cuts. The SKU appears to be trapped between the 8-core 7800X3D, which remains the fastest desktop processor for gaming; and the 16-core 7950X3D, which is AMD's flagship. A Newegg listing at $408 with a $20 discount coupon see its effective retail price drop to as low as $389, which is just $20 more than the 7800X3D.

Would you pay $20 for four more cores? The choice is not so simple. While the 7900X3D is a 12-core processor, it features a dual-CCD design, with a 6+6 core arrangement between the two CCDs. Just like with the 7950X3D, only one of the two CCDs has the 64 MB 3D Vertical Cache, or 96 MB of L3 cache; while the other is a regular "Zen 4" CCD with 32 MB of on-die L3 cache. AMD's chipset drives use UEFI CPPC preferred-core flagging to guide gaming workloads to the CCD with the 3D V-cache. While we haven't had a chance to test the 7900X3D, this chip is tested by Tom's Hardware (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-9-7900x3d-cpu-review) to still be faster than the Core i9-13900K at gaming.https://tpucdn.com/img/Drxnw2uM6BgLFLSi_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/Drxnw2uM6BgLFLSi.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/dQflMaS50LVoUpRE_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/dQflMaS50LVoUpRE.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

Hello Citizens, the day has finally come—we are ready to announce the release date of Frostpunk 2 (https://frostpunk2.com/)! Watch the latest trailer below. Frostpunk 2 is the sequel to the highly acclaimed, BAFTA-nominated society survival game that blended city building, strategy, and management gameplay. Taking place 30 years after the apocalyptic blizzard, Earth is still overwhelmed by the never-ending frost and harsh, icy climate. You play as the leader of a resource-hungry metropolis where expansion and the search for new sources of power is an unavoidable reality.

Frostpunk 2 is coming to PC and through PC Games Pass on July 25, 2024. Pre-orders available now (https://frostpunk2.com/)! Get the Digital Deluxe Edition with a 10% discount, which is also available for pre-order (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1601580/Frostpunk_2/) starting today and access a seven-day long beta in April that consists of part of the game's sandbox mode, among other things.https://tpucdn.com/img/sxaXU2xF5YG4ZaJG_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/sxaXU2xF5YG4ZaJG.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/rNIYsMOqtT5kNtab_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/rNIYsMOqtT5kNtab.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/xILfFssAmbnb19tB_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/xILfFssAmbnb19tB.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/ZjOaVGvQPa8EJulB_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/ZjOaVGvQPa8EJulB.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

Today, during the latest Xbox Partner Preview broadcast—as a surprise for Xbox gamers everywhere—GSC Game World (https://www.gsc-game.com/) launched the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy (https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/stalker-legends-of-the-zone-trilogy/9n4gffdg41jr) for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S (via backwards compatibility). That's right - it's available today! The Legends of the Zone Trilogy bundle—available on the Microsoft Store for $39.99 USD (https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/stalker-legends-of-the-zone-trilogy/9n4gffdg41jr)—includes all three iconic games that make up the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Trilogy: Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat—or you can pick up each of the games individually for $19.99 USD each. Every element from the original games has been maintained and faithfully ported to console thanks to the hard work of GSC Game World and their partners at Mataboo. This all makes for a great opportunity for Xbox gamers everywhere to get some foundational knowledge of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s universe in the lead-up to the launch of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (https://www.stalker2.com/en), coming day one to Game Pass on September 5, 2024.

But translating these hardcore PC games to an Xbox controller has been no small feat. For a series that is known for blending a variety of genres like horror, first-person shooter, exploration, and immersive sim, it was important for the team to get it right. Speaking with GSC Game World PR Specialist Zakhar Bocharov, we wanted to learn more about what this process was like, bringing these cult-classic, hardcore PC titles to console, and some of the innovative design and UI adjustments the team had to make to bring all three games to Xbox.https://tpucdn.com/img/PFGEVFMr5mvtE2zD_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/PFGEVFMr5mvtE2zD.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/8n2xmCGwhpABlSje_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/8n2xmCGwhpABlSje.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/2spccOok8JFV47BW_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/2spccOok8JFV47BW.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/ujhPQebssOy07HVJ_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/ujhPQebssOy07HVJ.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

The TinyBox AI server system (https://www.techpowerup.com/319811/tiny-corp-builds-ai-platform-with-six-amd-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-gpus) attracted plenty of media attention last week—its creator, George Hotz, decided to build with AMD RDNA 3.0 GPU hardware rather than the expected/traditional choice of CDNA 3.0 (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-instinct-mi300x.c4179). Tiny Corp. is a startup firm dealing in neural network frameworks—they currently "write and maintain tinygrad (https://github.com/tinygrad/tinygrad)." Hotz & Co. are in the process of assembling rack-mounted 12U TinyBox systems for customers—an individual server houses an AMD EPYC 7532 (https://www.techpowerup.com/cpu-specs/epyc-7352.c2253) processor and six XFX Speedster MERC310 Radeon RX 7900 XTX (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/xfx-speedster-merc310-rx-7900-xtx-black.b9926) graphics cards. The Tiny Corp. social media account has engaged in numerous NVIDIA vs. AMD AI hardware debates/tirades—Hotz appears to favor the latter, as evidenced in his latest choice of components. ROCm support on Team Red AI Instinct accelerators is fairly mature at this point in time, but a much newer prospect on gaming-oriented graphics cards.

Tiny Corporation's unusual leveraging of Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPUs in a data center configuration has already hit a developmental roadblock. Yesterday, the company's social media account expressed driver-related frustrations in a public forum: "If AMD open sources their firmware, I'll fix their LLVM spilling bug and write a fuzzer for HSA. Otherwise, it's not worth putting tons of effort into fixing bugs on a platform you don't own." Hotz's latest complaint was taken onboard by AMD's top brass—Dr. Lisa Su responded with the following message: "Thanks for the collaboration and feedback. We are all in to get you a good solution. Team is on it." Her software engineers—within a few hours—managed to fling out a set of fixes in Tiny Corporation's direction. Hotz appreciated the quick turnaround (https://twitter.com/__tinygrad__/status/1764813473912082630), and proceeded to run a model without encountering major stability issues: "AMD sent me an updated set of firmware blobs to try. They are responsive, and there have been big strides in the driver in the last year. It will be good! This training run is almost 5 hours in (https://t.co/ZhdmfpY2YX), hasn't crashed yet." Tiny Corp. drummed up speculation (https://twitter.com/__tinygrad__/status/1765184937567920297) about AMD open sourcing GPU MES firmware—Hotz disclosed that he will be talking (on the phone) to Team Red leadership.https://tpucdn.com/img/SjVrZbFQf6zYR7aF_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/SjVrZbFQf6zYR7aF.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/ccYJuPCY0mxZpU8i_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/ccYJuPCY0mxZpU8i.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/RQyaGThVpewW6A8X_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/RQyaGThVpewW6A8X.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/BCRUcMANfUvKiB12_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/BCRUcMANfUvKiB12.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

Batter up, friends! We've got the next round of games coming soon to your download and install queue. Whether you want to bend reality in Control, check out Bikini Bottom, or more, we have your bases covered… er… loaded! Let's play ball!!

Available Today
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Load up your Boltgun and unleash the awesome Space Marine arsenal to blast your way through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood in a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, frenetic gameplay and the stylish visuals of '90s retro shooters.https://tpucdn.com/img/sn7OYeWGDnXCS3Kf_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/sn7OYeWGDnXCS3Kf.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/mKehLBkBAhXJ24s8_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/mKehLBkBAhXJ24s8.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/ixYznO4HMhezklvD_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/ixYznO4HMhezklvD.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

The open-source Yuzu Switch Emulator attracted immediate Nintendo attention, around The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's launch window. Last Monday, news reports put many spotlights on freshly-filed legal documentation (https://www.techpowerup.com/319739/nintendo-of-america-sues-yuzu-switch-emulator-development-company)—the Japanese multinational video game firm's North American office took Tropic Haze LLC to court in Rhode Island. The aforementioned limited liability company created and distributed Yuzu and Citra—Switch and 3DS software emulators (respectively). Nintendo's lawsuit claimed that Tropic Haze's Yuzu software illegally circumvents their software encryption, and played a significant role in facilitating piracy "at a colossal scale." A prime example was presented in the case of Tears of the Kingdom—allegedly over one million illicit digital copies were distributed prior to its official retail release. The lawsuit proposed that "defendant (Tropic Haze) is thus secondarily liable for the infringement committed by the users to whom it distributes Yuzu."

According to a new filing (https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.56980/gov.uscourts.rid.56980.10.0.pdf), Tropic Haze has agreed to cease all operations and pay Nintendo $2.4 million in damages. This swift announcement arrived much earlier than expected—Yuzu's developer reportedly "lawyered up" late last week. According to Eurogamer (https://www.eurogamer.net/switch-emulator-yuzu-shuts-down-as-creator-agrees-to-pay-nintendo-24m): "over the weekend, Tropic Haze announced it had retained the legal services of an attorney and would be responding Nintendo's lawsuit within 60 days, but a new filing has now been spotted confirming both parties have reached a settlement—pending the court's final approval." A permanent injunction prevents Tropic Haze from: "offering to the public, providing, marketing, advertising, promoting, selling, testing, hosting, cloning, distributing, or otherwise trafficking in Yuzu or any source code or features of Yuzu." This order seemingly extends to Citra (their 3DS emulator): "other software or devices that circumvent Nintendo's technical protection measures." Tropic Haze has been ordered to surrender its website domains and turn in all held physical circumvention devices. Yuzu creators are required to not establish "new entities or associations to develop similar Nintendo emulation software" in the future. Open-source "Nuzu" and "Suyu" (https://wccftech.com/yuzu-lives-on/) follow-ups/spiritual successors have already popped up online.https://tpucdn.com/img/QsVnNqmwfzfJFbaT_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/QsVnNqmwfzfJFbaT.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/kpIXx9WIUEdrRBo4_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/kpIXx9WIUEdrRBo4.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/vJXrgsksFAIbkujR_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/vJXrgsksFAIbkujR.jpg)

Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/320009/yuzu-switch-emulator-development-shutdown-nintendo-demands-usd-2-4-million-in-damages)

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[NextPowerUP]

Intel's "AI Everywhere (https://www.techpowerup.com/316728/intel-accelerates-ai-everywhere-with-launch-of-powerful-next-gen-products)" hype campaign has generated the most noise in mainstream (https://www.techpowerup.com/319812/intel-sets-100-million-cpu-supply-goal-for-ai-pcs-by-2025) and enterprise segments. Team Blue's Gaudi—a family of deep learning accelerators—does not hit the headlines all that often. Their current generation model, Gaudi 2, is overshadowed by Team Green and Red alternatives—according to Intel's official marketing spiel: "it performs competitively on deep learning training and inference, with up to 2.4x faster performance than NVIDIA A100 (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/a100-pcie-80-gb.c3821)." Habana, an Intel subsidiary, has been working on optimizing Large Language Model (LLM) inference on Gaudi 1 and 2 (https://developer.habana.ai/blog/optimizing-large-language-model-inference-on-gaudi2-with-hugging-face-optimum-habana/) for a while—their co-operation with Hugging Face (https://huggingface.co/models) has produced impressive results, as of late February (https://huggingface.co/blog/textgen-pipe-gaudi). Siddhant Jagtap, an Intel Data Scientist, has demonstrated: "how easy it is to generate text with the Llama 2 family of models (7b, 13b and 70b) using Optimum Habana and a custom pipeline class."

Jagtap reckons that folks will be able to: "run the models with just a few lines of code" on Gaudi 2 accelerators—additionally, Intel's hardware is capable of accepting single and multiple prompts. The custom pipeline class: "has been designed to offer great flexibility and ease of use. Moreover, it provides a high level of abstraction and performs end-to-end text-generation which involves pre-processing and post-processing." His article/blog (https://huggingface.co/blog/textgen-pipe-gaudi) outlines various prerequisites and methods of getting Llama 2 text generation up and running on Gaudi 2. Jagtap concluded that Habana/Intel has: "presented a custom text-generation pipeline on Intel Gaudi 2 AI accelerator that accepts single or multiple prompts as input. This pipeline offers great flexibility in terms of model size as well as parameters affecting text-generation quality. Furthermore, it is also very easy to use and to plug into your scripts, and is compatible with LangChain." Hugging Face reckons (https://huggingface.co/blog/habana-gaudi-2-benchmark) that Gaudi 2 delivers roughly twice the throughput speed of NVIDIA A100 80 GB in both training and inference scenarios. Intel has teased third generation Gaudi (https://www.techpowerup.com/316728/intel-accelerates-ai-everywhere-with-launch-of-powerful-next-gen-products) accelerators—industry watchdogs believe that next-gen solutions are designed to compete with Team Green H100 (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/h100-pcie-80-gb.c3899) AI GPUs.https://tpucdn.com/img/ogVULlIQyHgR0D3g_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/ogVULlIQyHgR0D3g.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/rjTtZZ8vakd2UvqK_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/rjTtZZ8vakd2UvqK.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/i1b6ASEkUdPRF5F7_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/i1b6ASEkUdPRF5F7.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is coming to PC! We at Nixxes are thrilled to collaborate with the talented team at Sucker Punch Productions who created this critically acclaimed open-world action adventure. We are excited to bring Jin's story to a new audience and to bring a Sucker Punch title to PC for the first time. The PC version of Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut includes the full game, the Iki Island expansion, and the cooperative online multiplayer Legends mode. For the past year, the team at Nixxes has been working hard to bring the Sucker Punch in-house engine technology to PC and implement PC features such as unlocked frame rates, a variety of graphics settings and presets, and customizable mouse and keyboard controls.

With ultrawide monitor support, you can take in the expansive terrain and ancient landmarks with a cinematic field of view. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut on PC is fully optimized for 21:9 and 32:9 resolutions and even supports 48:9 resolutions for triple monitor setups. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut on PC features the latest performance-enhancing technologies. NVIDIA DLSS 3 and AMD FSR 3 are available with both upscaling and frame generation options. Intel XeSS upscaling is also supported and if your hardware has headroom to spare, you can use NVIDIA DLAA or FSR 3 Native AA to further boost image quality.https://tpucdn.com/img/4e2RWTZ2oFAqiDPk_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/4e2RWTZ2oFAqiDPk.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/DaHGGu1N5Gl4hDcn_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/DaHGGu1N5Gl4hDcn.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/XZfQLVFmTmit38tu_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/XZfQLVFmTmit38tu.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/9o5QeA8cteEbS6nI_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/9o5QeA8cteEbS6nI.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

Regional Chinese governments are attempting to prop up local AI startup companies with an intriguing "voucher" support system. A Financial Times article outlines "computing" support packages valued between "$140,000 to $280,000" for fledgling organizations involved in LLM training. Widespread shortages of AI chips and rising data center operation costs are cited as the main factors driving a rollout of strategic subsidizations. The big three—Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance—are reportedly less willing to rent out their AI-crunching servers, due to internal operations demanding lengthy compute sessions. China's largest technology companies are believed to hording the vast majority of NVIDIA AI hardware, while smaller competitors are believed to fighting over table scraps. US trade restrictions have further escalated supply issues, with lower-performance/China-specific models being rejected—AMD's Instinct MI309 AI accelerator (https://www.techpowerup.com/319966/amd-stalls-on-instinct-mi309-china-ai-chip-launch-amid-us-export-hurdles) being the latest example.

The "computer voucher" initiative could be the first part of a wider scheme—reports suggest that regional governing bodies (including Shanghai) are devising another subsidy tier for domestic AI chips (https://www.techpowerup.com/318844/huawei-reportedly-prioritizing-ascend-ai-gpu-production). Charlie Chai, an 86Research analyst, reckons that the initial support package is only a short-term solution. He shared this observation with FT: "the voucher is helpful to address the cost barrier, but it will not help with the scarcity of the resources." The Chinese government is reportedly looking into the creation of an alternative state-run system, that will become less reliant on a "Big Tech" data center model. A proposed "East Data West Computing" project could produce a more energy-efficient cluster of AI data centers, combined with a centralized management system.https://tpucdn.com/img/s7sbYo9Pc0kIQSPj_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/s7sbYo9Pc0kIQSPj.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/VYwcHii8qmo26C3Z_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/VYwcHii8qmo26C3Z.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/eIzVswAIyZZkdMHE_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/eIzVswAIyZZkdMHE.jpg)

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[NextPowerUP]

With the 2018 launch of RTX technologies (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/rtx/) and the first consumer GPU built for AI—GeForce RTX—NVIDIA accelerated the shift to AI computing. Since then, AI on RTX PCs (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ai-on-rtx/) and workstations has grown into a thriving ecosystem with more than 100 million users and 500 AI applications. Generative AI is now ushering in a new wave of capabilities from PC to cloud. And NVIDIA's rich history and expertise in AI (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/about-nvidia/i-am-ai/) is helping ensure all users have the performance to handle a wide range of AI features.

Users at home and in the office are already taking advantage of AI on RTX with productivity- and entertainment-enhancing software. Gamers feel the benefits of AI on GeForce RTX GPUs (https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/40-series/) with higher frame rates at stunning resolutions in their favorite titles. Creators can focus on creativity, instead of watching spinning wheels or repeating mundane tasks. And developers can streamline workflows using generative AI for prototyping and to automate debugging. The field of AI is moving fast. As research advances, AI will tackle more complex tasks. And the demanding performance needs will be handled by RTX.https://tpucdn.com/img/Yhhq5oaMH2zUD4ZO_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/Yhhq5oaMH2zUD4ZO.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/320002/demystifying-ai-and-the-hardware-software-and-tools-that-power-it)

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[NextPowerUP]

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced it has once again closed out a successful year maintaining the No. 1 spot QoQ. This consistent performance has resulted in securing a 23.8% market share in the channel SSD market for 2023.

Data gathered by TRENDFOCUS confirmed Kingston as the number one client SSD vendor in the channel for unit market share, with 27.4 million client SSDs shipped in 2023. Q4 alone saw Kingston's client SSD market share at 21.3% and 5.7 million units shipped. Continued effort in the development of high quality client drives like NV2, two options of Kingston FURY Renegade SSD, and KC3000 provide PCIe 4.0 NVMe solution for all, from the novice upgrader to power user who requires more from their system. Additionally in 2023, Kingston expanded its varied product lineup with XS1000 external and DC600M enterprise class SSDs.https://tpucdn.com/img/Go9GzdZKyLzEW2UJ_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/Go9GzdZKyLzEW2UJ.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

YEYIAN GAMING, a global leader in the design and manufacturing of innovative pre-built gaming PCs, peripherals, and computer components, today introduces the new PHOENIX ATX mid-tower gaming PC case and five PHOENIX housed prebuilt gaming desktop PCs. The PHOENIX ATX mid-tower gaming PC case is designed to accommodate the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4000 SUPER series graphics cards across the INTEL 14th gen Intel Core desktop processors and AMD Ryzen 7 desktop processors platform, ensuring optimal thermal management and gaming performance.

The YEYIAN GAMING PHOENIX ATX mid-tower gaming PC case boasts ample interior space and a user-friendly chassis design. With support for up to 9 x 120 mm cooling fans and 1 x 360/240 mm (top/front) AIO radiators, the PHOENIX is meticulously designed for air and liquid cooling setups, catering to all high-performance gaming needs. Offered in two variants with tempered glass or meshed metal side panels, the PHOENIX strikes the perfect balance between air/liquid cooling, RGB illumination, cable management, and intelligent connectivity. Available across five YEYIAN GAMING pre-built PCs, each configuration features varying CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage options, ensuring a tailored gaming experience to meet diverse preferences and needs.https://tpucdn.com/img/o8Blh3apN353Q9zi_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/o8Blh3apN353Q9zi.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/rlxd0bRwqi71HHmw_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/rlxd0bRwqi71HHmw.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/vfBgkFwb6dz6Cnx7_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/vfBgkFwb6dz6Cnx7.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

Samsung Electronics continues to redefine the boundaries of immersive gaming with the Odyssey Neo G9 (https://bit.ly/3E7XalW) (G95NC), which has garnered widespread acclaim and numerous awards for its unparalleled performance (https://bit.ly/3P4KrWz) and innovation. The Odyssey Neo G9 set a new standard with its 57-inch Dual UHD display, combining unmatched visual clarity with cutting-edge technology to deliver an immersive gaming experience as well as boosts in productivity. This state-of-the-art monitor is the equivalent of having two 32-inch monitors in one unit, with a 1000R curved screen for maximum immersion.

With Quantum Matrix Technology, coupled with a lightning-fast 240 Hz refresh rate and 1 ms response time, the Odyssey Neo G9 also offers vibrant visuals, precise control and seamless action in every frame. The Odyssey Neo G9 has received high marks from media, such as Newsweek and Techaeris, with the latter recognizing it as the "world's first dual UHD monitor that delivers in spades." In fact, the Odyssey Neo G9 earned a spot in Techaeris' 'Best of 2023' category, underscoring the Odyssey Neo G9's impressive performance and features that make the monitor a standout choice for gamers.https://tpucdn.com/img/i39i1Lrl4DK6WfTQ_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/i39i1Lrl4DK6WfTQ.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/RzbI0LGYipmUhTOg_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/RzbI0LGYipmUhTOg.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/WR5GTs1FrJjcGhkB_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/WR5GTs1FrJjcGhkB.jpg)
Read full story (https://www.techpowerup.com/319999/samsung-elevates-your-gaming-experience-with-the-award-winning-odyssey-neo-g9)

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[NextPowerUP]

Remedy Entertainment has revealed that patch 1.0.16.1—for Alan Wake 2—will optimize graphics card performance on older architectures. Digital Foundry's Video Producer, Alex Battaglia, previewed these improvements (https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2024-upcoming-alan-wake-2-patch-drastically-improves-gtx-10-series-performance) earlier in the week—he noted that Remedy's Northlight Engine-powered 2023 visual masterpiece was: "one of the most demanding for older hardware. Owing to its use of DX12 Ultimate mesh shaders, the game could run on older hardware but often delivered an unplayable experience, especially on Nvidia's GTX 10-series GPUs built on the Pascal architecture." That generation's lack of mesh shader support is observed as its main "undoing in Alan Wake 2," where a substantial portion of visual delivery is reliant on said technologies. Battaglia observed that: "the game does function on GPUs that don't support mesh shaders, but poor performance and visual errors are the problem: the GTX 1060 at 1080p on FSR 2 quality mode, married up with PS5's performance mode quality presets delivers a game typically running under 60 FPS, more usually hitting circa 15 FPS. Game frame-rate is so low, even game speed and audio playback are compromised."

Today, Remedy's Alan Wake social media account announced the release (https://twitter.com/alanwake/status/1765362212749615396) of the game's latest update: "We've been optimizing the PC version of Alan Wake 2, and as a result the minimum PC system requirements have been lowered. Please check the updated image (below)! These changes take effect with update 1.0.16.1, out on PC now." Certain owners of Team Green Pascal-era hardware, as well as Team Red RDNA 1.0/Navi 10 preservationists will be pleased to find out that Alan Wake 2's minimum specification tier now accommodates NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-1070.c2840) and AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-rx-5600-xt.c3474) graphics cards. Digital Foundry's preview piece did mention incremental improvements for Vega-based GPUs, albeit with optimizations introduced with earlier Alan Wake 2 patches.https://tpucdn.com/img/E3cYyAAMJT13dOLf_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/E3cYyAAMJT13dOLf.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/axR9Y1BdC3rucV0J_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/axR9Y1BdC3rucV0J.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/Qr240SOlNxKA2RCu_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/Qr240SOlNxKA2RCu.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/Np4NCYM077KjIPzY_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/Np4NCYM077KjIPzY.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

We're thrilled to announce that Toys for Bob is spinning off as an independent game development studio (https://www.toysforbob.com/blog/2024/WereGoingIndie)! Over the years, we've inspired love, joy, and laughter for the inner child in all gamers. We pioneered new IP and hardware technologies in Skylanders. We raised the bar for best-in-class remasters in Spyro Reignited Trilogy. We've taken Crash Bandicoot to innovative, critically acclaimed new heights.

With the same enthusiasm and passion, we believe that now is the time to take the studio and our future games to the next level. This opportunity allows us to return to our roots of being a small and nimble studio. To make this news even more exciting, we're exploring a possible partnership between our new studio and Microsoft. And while we're in the early days of developing our next new game and a ways away from making any announcements, our team is excited to develop new stories, new characters, and new gameplay experiences.https://tpucdn.com/img/r00r7bUDUMsEAbbg_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/r00r7bUDUMsEAbbg.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/sTBhWe6tmi9k6GUb_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/sTBhWe6tmi9k6GUb.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/6OPMVg5R7NPFeq2t_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/6OPMVg5R7NPFeq2t.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

ZOTAC debuted a massive flagship (https://www.techpowerup.com/310170/zotac-releases-geforce-rtx-4090-pgf-oc-gpu-a-chinese-market-exclusive-model) GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB custom design graphics card last summer—the Prime Gamer Force (PGF) OC edition model was released as a China exclusive product. ZOTAC's PGF shroud design remains the largest on the market—381 mm (L) x 154 mm (W) x 74 mm (D)—even with downgraded silicon beneath the surface. NVIDIA's China-specific (https://www.techpowerup.com/317182/nvidias-china-only-geforce-rtx-4090d-launched-with-fewer-shaders-than-regular-rtx-4090) GeForce RTX 4090D GPU was introduced last December, as a sanction conformant substitute for the full-fat version (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-4090.c3889)—naturally, ZOTAC has prepared a revised PGF model. This week, Expreview has published an in-depth review (https://www.expreview.com/92517.html) of the GeForce RTX 4090 D PGF OC (https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/zotac-rtx-4090-d-pgf.b11481) edition graphics card. They found that ZOTAC's cooling system—three 11 cm fans and a vapor chamber—offered: "high-frequency stability...comparable to that of water-cooled (solutions)."

The Chinese publication reviewed the GALAX RTX 4090 D Metal Master (https://www.techpowerup.com/317844/galax-geforce-rtx-4090d-tested-5-slower-than-standard-rtx-4090) model in January—at the time, software restrictions prevented the implementation of significant overclocks. It was theorized that future updates or community workarounds could bypass limitations, but the latest review—of ZOTAC's "super luxurious" PGF edition—indicates that this GeForce RTX 4090 D GPU's OC potential is still constricted. VideoCardz has pulled out essential details from the Expreview article: "(The PGF) has high maximum TGP (530 W) and a powerful 28-phase power PCB design. Despite the technological headroom, the card struggles to offer much of the overclocking potential. The team from Expreview only managed to squeeze 3.7% more performance from this card. That's despite 24.7% more power theoretically available." An underwhelming overclocking aspect is counterbalanced by the premium-tier card's impressive performance stability—the review also praised ZOTAC's quiet cooling solution and usage of high-end "heat dissipation materials."https://tpucdn.com/img/NGAK0p0zVXjywz5Q_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/NGAK0p0zVXjywz5Q.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/6LRyJF4VHlNCknO6_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/6LRyJF4VHlNCknO6.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/MQI8NelYGmd3k1oh_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/MQI8NelYGmd3k1oh.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/2H0cvOp8Pu0FRdgS_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/2H0cvOp8Pu0FRdgS.jpg)
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[NextPowerUP]

Straight from the vault, we're thrilled to unveil the all-new Xbox Wireless Controller - Fallout (https://xboxdesignlab.xbox.com/controllers/xbox-wireless-controller-fallout?ocid=FalloutXDL_int_omc_xbo_buy), ready for you exclusively at Xbox Design Lab! Get ready to dive into the immersive world of one of gaming's most beloved franchises. This Fallout-themed controller is a heartfelt tribute to the iconic character from the series we all adore, Vault Boy, showcasing each of his unique S.P.E.C.I.A.L. traits. Secure your spot in the wasteland and get your hands on this epic addition to your gaming arsenal today!

This controller is designed with a collage of some of the most iconic Vault Boy perk icons from throughout the franchise's history. The white background with the grey etchings of the character allows the design to incorporate all these memorable moments, while still leaving space for you to add all of the colors you love! The blue and yellow colored Vault Boy and Vault-Tec decal surrounding the Xbox button fully tie in the aesthetic that visually represents the post-apocalyptic games. And if you look close enough, you can also find some hidden Easter eggs in the collage that you don't want to miss!https://tpucdn.com/img/52hOsxRJApczyARN_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/52hOsxRJApczyARN.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/95KauHklDd56eaU9_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/95KauHklDd56eaU9.jpg) https://tpucdn.com/img/OcTu5wd9jvmiqda6_thm.jpg (https://www.techpowerup.com/img/OcTu5wd9jvmiqda6.jpg)
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