(PR) Microsoft Reveals Cyberattack & Theft of Internal Source Code
We have provided an update on the nation-state attack that was detected by the Microsoft Security Team on January 12, 2024. As [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], on January 19, the security team detected this attack on our corporate email systems and immediately activated our response process. The Microsoft Threat Intelligence investigation identified the threat actor as [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], the Russian state-sponsored actor also known as NOBELIUM. As we said at that time, our investigation was ongoing, and we would provide additional details as appropriate.
In recent weeks, we have seen evidence that Midnight Blizzard is using information initially exfiltrated from our corporate email systems to gain, or attempt to gain, unauthorized access. This has included access to some of the company's source code repositories and internal systems. To date we have found no evidence that Microsoft-hosted customer-facing systems have been compromised. It is apparent that Midnight Blizzard is attempting to use secrets of different types it has found. Some of these secrets were shared between customers and Microsoft in email, and as we discover them in our exfiltrated email, we have been and are reaching out to these customers to assist them in taking mitigating measures. Midnight Blizzard has increased the volume of some aspects of the attack, such as password sprays, by as much as 10-fold in February, compared to the already large volume we saw in January 2024.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
GoDeal24 Women's Day Sale: Get Office and Windows at Special Prices
GoDeal24 honors the enduring spirit of women with the new Women's Day Sale. Get special discounts on the software you need, at the prices you want! Get Genuine Office 2021 Professional Plus at just $25.25, and save big compared to annual 365 subscription payments. Save even more on multi-packs, or combos with your preferred edition of Windows. There are even editions of Office for Macs! Happy International Women's Day!
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Please use the coupon code SGO62 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Please use the coupon code SGO50 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] | [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...][Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Check out great deals on system software you may want.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
NVIDIA RTX 50-series "GB20X" GPU Memory Interface Details Leak Out
Earlier in the week [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] that NVIDIA had distributed next-gen AI GPUs to its most important ecosystem partners and customers—Dell's CEO expressed enthusiasm with his discussion of "Blackwell" B100 and B200 evaluation samples. Team Green's next-gen family of gaming GPUs have received less media attention in early 2024—a [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] pointed to a rumored PCIe 6.0 CEM specification for upcoming RTX 50-series cards, but leaks have become uncommon [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. Top technology tipster, kopite7kimi, has broken the relative silence on Blackwell's gaming configurations—[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] posits a slightly underwhelming scenario: "although I still have fantasies about 512 bit, the memory interface configuration of GB20x is not much different from that of [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]."
Past disclosures have hinted about next-gen NVIDIA gaming GPUs sporting memory interface configurations comparable to the current crop of "Ada Lovelace" models. The latest batch of insider information suggests that Team Green's next flagship GeForce RTX GPU—GB202—will stick with a 384-bit memory bus. The beefiest current-gen GPU [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]—as featured in GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards—is specced with a 384-bit interface. A significant upgrade for GeForce RTX 50xx cards could arrive with a step-up to next-gen GDDR7 memory—kopite7kimi reckons that top GPU designers will stick with [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. JEDEC officially announced its "[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]" a couple of days ago. [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] has kindly assembled the latest batch of insider info into a cross-generation comparison table (see below).[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
(PR) "Outcast - A New Beginning" Director Discusses Open World Mechani
Every choice we made when developing [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] had, at its core, one motivation: freedom. It was important to us not to limit where players could go at any point; instead, we gave them the tools to navigate the detailed open world we've spent the last few years crafting. We're incredibly proud of Outcast's world and want players to share its richness with us. As players set out across Adelpha, we want to reward them for their curiosity and sense of adventure. Whether it's blitzing through an invader base and unlocking a new weapon module, zipping through gliding challenges to earn jetpack upgrades, or simply taking in the sights, we've strived to make every second spent on the planet of Adelpha feel meaningful to players.
Traveling in style
Knowing that players would be spending a lot of time in Cutter Slade's boots, it was important to us that it felt fun to maneuver him through the world. Open-world games often ask players to cross great distances, and it's our job as developers to ensure that you always feel invigorated by navigating the wilds of Adelpha. When designing how Cutter moved through the world, we didn't want to gatekeep fun traversal abilities for later in the game. From early in Outcast - A New Beginning, you can take advantage of Adelpha's teetering precipices and deep valleys with your gliding suit, swooping across the alien landscape.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
SK Hynix To Invest $1 Billion into Advanced Chip Packaging Facilities
Lee Kang-Wook, Vice President of Research and Development at SK Hynix, has discussed the increased importance of advanced chip packaging with [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. In an interview with the media company's business section, Lee referred to a tradition of prioritizing the design and fabrication of chips: "the first 50 years of the semiconductor industry has been about the front-end." He believes that the latter half of production processes will take precedence in the future: "...but the next 50 years is going to be all about the back-end." He outlined a "more than $1 billion" investment into South Korean facilities—his department is hoping to "improve the final steps" of chip manufacturing.
SK Hynix's Head of Packaging Development pioneered a novel method of packaging the third generation of high bandwidth technology (HBM2E)—that innovation secured NVIDIA as a high-profile and long term customer. Demand for Team Green's AI GPUs has boosted the significance of HBM technologies—Micron and Samsung are attempting to play catch up with new designs. South Korea's leading memory supplier is hoping to stay ahead in the next-gen HBM contest—supposedly [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] have been submitted to NVIDIA for approval. SK Hynix's Vice President recently revealed that HBM production volumes for 2024 have sold out—currently company leadership is considering the next steps for market dominance in 2025. The majority of the firm's newly announced $1 billion budget will be spent on the advancement of MR-MUF and TSV technologies, according to their R&D chief.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
(PR) Capcom Releases Dragon's Dogma 2 Character Creation Tool
Prepare for your grand adventure, Arisen! Create your characters for [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] in this free tool, [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]! Customize the looks of your main character, the Arisen, and the looks and inclination of your companion, your Main Pawn. The character data created in this tool can be transferred to the base game of Dragon's Dogma 2. In this tool you can store up to 5 characters of each, the Arisen and your Main Pawn respectively. PC gamers can download the Dragon's Dogma 2 Character Creator & Storage tool via [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...].
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a single player, narrative driven action-RPG that challenges the players to choose their own experience - from the appearance of their Arisen, their vocation, their party, how to approach different situations and more - in a truly immersive fantasy world. You can pre-order the Standard Edition or the Digital Deluxe Edition of Dragon's Dogma 2 via the game's [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. Dragon's Dogma 2 will release worldwide on March 22.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Tiny Corp. CEO Expresses "70% Confidence" in AMD Open-Sourcing Certain
Lately Tiny Corp. CEO—George Hotz—has used his company's social media account to publicly criticize AMD [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] firmware. The creator of [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], a pre-orderable $15,000 AI compute cluster, has not selected "traditional" hardware for his systems—it is possible that AMD's [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] accelerator is quite difficult to acquire, especially for a young startup operation. The decision to utilize gaming-oriented [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] RDNA 3.0 GPUs instead of purpose-built CDNA 3.0 platforms—for local model training and AI inference—is certainly a peculiar one. Hotz and his colleagues have encountered roadblocks in the development of their Tinybox system—recently, public attention was drawn to an "[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]." AMD President/CEO/Chair, Dr. Lisa Su, swiftly stepped in and promised a "good solution." Earlier in the week, Tiny Corp. reported satisfaction with a delivery of fixes—courtesy of Team Red's software engineering department. They also disclosed that they would be discussing matters with AMD directly, regarding the possibility of open-sourcing Radeon GPU MES firmware.
Subsequently, Hotz documented his interactions with Team Red representatives—he expressed 70% confidence in AMD approving open-sourcing certain bits of firmware in a week's time: "Call went pretty well. We are gating the commitment to 6x Radeon RX 7900 XTX on a public release of a roadmap to get the firmware open source. (and obviously the MLPerf training bug being fixed). We aren't open source purists, it doesn't matter to us if the HDCP stuff is open for example. But we need the scheduler and the memory hierarchy management to be open. This is what it takes to push the performance of neural networks. The Groq 500 T/s mixtral demo should be possible on a tinybox, but it requires god tier software and deep integration with the scheduler. We also advised that the build process for amdgpu-dkms should be more open. While the driver itself is open, we haven't found it easy to rebuild and install. Easy REPL cycle is a key driver for community open source. We want the firmware to be easy to rebuild and install also." Prior to this week's co-operations, Tiny Corp. hinted that it could move on from utilizing Radeon RX 7900 XTX, in favor of [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]—if AMD's decision making does not favor them, Hotz & Co. could pivot to builds including [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] cards.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
(PR) Helldivers 2 Warbond System Previewed Ahead of March 14 Launch
Helldivers, get the Cutting Edge advantage on the battlefield! Greetings, fearless heroes of galactic democracy! Steel yourself for the next big push against the disgraceful enemies of freedom with our brand-new Warbond—Cutting Edge! Packed with high-voltage vibes, Cutting Edge gives you the chance to enhance your loadout of liberty with ultra-futuristic armour, guns that spit lightning, super stylish capes and epic emotes.
Super Earth R&D Experiments
Helldivers… we need your help. The brainiacs in Super Earth Research & Development have some cool experimental armour ready to be field-tested. This is where you come in, you're just the right people for the job.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
(PR) Jensen Huang Celebrates Rise of Portable AI Workstations
2024 will be the year generative AI gets personal, the CEOs of NVIDIA and HP said today in a fireside chat, unveiling new laptops that can build, test and run large language models. "This is a renaissance of the personal computer," said NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang at [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], a gathering in Las Vegas of about 1,500 resellers and distributors. "The work of creators, designers and data scientists is going to be revolutionized by these new workstations."
Greater Speed and Security
"AI is the biggest thing to come to the PC in decades," said HP's Enrique Lores, in the runup to the announcement of what his company billed as "the industry's [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]." Compared to running their AI work in the cloud, the new systems will provide increased speed and security while reducing costs and energy, Lores said in a keynote at the event. New HP ZBooks provide a portfolio of mobile AI workstations powered by a full range of [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. Entry-level systems with the NVIDIA RTX 500 Ada Generation Laptop GPU let users run generative AI apps and tools wherever they go. High-end models pack the RTX 5000 to deliver up to 682 TOPS, so they can create and run LLMs locally, using retrieval-augmented generation ([Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]) to connect to their content for results that are both personalized and private.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Samsung Anticipates 2027-2028 Entry into Micro OLED AR/VR Market
Choi Joo-sun, CEO of Samsung Display, spoke to journalists post-conclusion of a March 6 lecture at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). A Chosun Daily Business reporter pulled some quotes regarding Samsung's outlook for new generation micro OLED technologies. Choi and his colleagues are likely taking their time on this development front—Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS) has already mass-produced [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] products. The Japanese technology giant is the main supplier of display panels for Apple's [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]—a recent [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] revealed a possible custom-designed unit. Leaked "Bill of Materials" figures indicate an eye-watering total cost of $456 for a pair of SSS 4K panels—Apple is reportedly [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] regarding the supply of cheaper alternatives.
The Samsung Display boss is monitoring current industry trends, but his team is not rushing out competing solutions: "The market potential of micro OLED, which is used in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), is significant, but I believe the market will begin in earnest around 2027-2028...there are many technical aspects to overcome and cost considerations." Choi believes that Samsung is better off with plenty of preparation time, before an anticipated bloom in the micro OLED market—in his opinion, domination can be achieved with careful investment in research and development (R&D) efforts. He stated: "During the remaining 2 to 3 years, we will deploy manpower to ensure that Samsung Display does not fall behind in the micro OLED market and introduce solutions that are competitive compared to competitors...The [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], an American display company, is also part of this effort."[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
AMD Publishes User Guide for LM Studio - a Local AI Chatbot
AMD has caught up with NVIDIA and Intel in the race to get a locally run AI chatbot up and running on its respective hardware. Team Red's community hub welcomed a new blog entry on Wednesday—[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] a handy "How to run a Large Language Model (LLM) on your AMD Ryzen AI PC or Radeon Graphics Card" step-by-step guide. They recommend that interested parties are best served by downloading the correct version of LM Studio. Their [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]—designed for higher-end Phoenix and Hawk Point chips—compatible Ryzen AI PCs can deploy instances of a GPT based LLM-powered AI chatbot. The LM Studio [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] functions similarly, but is reliant on Radeon RX 7000 graphics card ownership. Supported GPU targets include: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] and [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...].
AMD believes that: "AI assistants are quickly becoming essential resources to help increase productivity, efficiency or even brainstorm for ideas." Their blog also puts a spotlight on LM Studio's offline functionality: "Not only does the local AI chatbot on your machine not require an internet connection—but your conversations stay on your local machine." The six-step guide invites curious members to experiment with a handful of large language models—most notably Mistral 7b and LLAMA v2 7b. They thoroughly recommend that you select options with "Q4 K M" (AKA 4-bit quantization). You can learn about spooling up "your very own AI chatbot" [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...].[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
(PR) Quantum Machines Discusses Direct Digital Synthesis for Large-Sca
In developing the [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], a controller fit for the ever-growing quantum processors counting 1,000 qubits and beyond, we had to think deeply about every detail that impairs scalability. Our recently unveiled [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] generates pulses up to 10.5 GHz directly, without analog oscillators or mixers. The choice of technology to reach microwave frequencies is not trivial. We choose cutting-edge direct digital synthesis (DDS) for very specific reasons, and we believe it will enable scalability and performance to an even greater degree. In this blog, we dive deeper into the considerations for going this route and existing alternatives. So stick around, whether you like mixers or hate them, this will be an interesting ride.
Summary of Technologies for Microwave Operation
The control signals for qubit drive and readout often fall in the microwave range, which is outside the range of baseband controllers. Many qubit labs have solved the issue with solutions based on mixing, including single sideband mixers, IQ-mixers, or more complicated schemes such as double super-heterodyne (DSH) conversion. Mixer-based solutions make use of analog local oscillators (LOs) that are multiplied by the signal of a controller or an AWG. IQ-mixers naturally suffer from two main spurs (affectionate name for unwanted signals), the LO leakage and the mixer image, which require non-trivial calibration to be removed. Other schemes, such as double super-heterodyne, offer a zero-calibration solution but use many more components. Additionally, mixing schemes require having an LO source per mixer if different drive frequencies are used. Having a low phase source per mixer is very expensive, and in order to cut prices, will probably include a phase-lock loops (PLL), leading to phase differences between channels, which is detrimental for multi-qubit systems. In other words, while mixers can be useful, we need to be aware of the pros and cons involved.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
(PR) Ubisoft Releases Valiant Hearts: Coming Home & Valiant Hearts: Th
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home and Valiant Hearts: The Collection, which includes [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] and [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], is now available on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC through Ubisoft Connect. Valiant Hearts: The Great War, the first installment of the duology, interweaves the stories of five characters as they experience the horrors of World War I. Karl, who was expelled from France and drafted to the German army; his father-in-law Emile, who has been drafted into the French army; Freddie, an American volunteer in the French Foreign Legion; Anna, a French combat nurse; and Walt, a medic's casualty dog - who also helps players sneak into areas inaccessible to humans.
Valiant Hearts: Coming Home, previously an exclusive Netflix mobile game developed by Ubisoft Montpellier in partnership with [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], continues a dramatic narrative during World War I, once again focusing on four interconnected stories. James is a member of the historic Harlem Hellfighters looking for his older brother Freddie; the nurse Anna's returns to her work tending the wounded; Ernst is a German diver; and George is a British aviator. And, of course, the good dog Walt returns to help players with puzzles and exploration. Music plays an important role in the game as well, as the Harlem Hellfighters played a key role in introducing jazz music to Europe, and players can listen to the game's jazz soundtrack by Jason Moran on [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...].[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus SKU Lineup Leaks Out
A Qualcomm [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] model was leaked in late February—it is likely that several SKUs have been distributed for evaluation purposes. Geekbench Browser is normally a good source of pre-release information—a benched Lenovo "83ED" laptop [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. That entry outed a "Snapdragon X Elite-X1E78100" processor, sporting twelve cores with maximum frequencies of 3.42 GHz. The latest exposures arrive courtesy of a [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. Qualcomm has [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] its "[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]" range of Nuvia-designed Oryon core CPUs, but insiders have uncovered an additional "X Plus" family—probably a series of less expensive/lower spec alternatives.
The leaked list of SKUs does not include any detailed information—it reconfirms the existence of Qualcomm's top-tier X1E80100 and X1E78100 models and the presence of Adreno iGPUs. Driver information points to Qualcomm's next-gen integrated graphics solutions being readied for modern APIs: DX11, DX12, and OpenGL. The firm's ARM-based mobile PC CPUs are expected to launch within a mid-2024 period, according to the company's [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]—insiders believe that the NPU-enhanced Snapdragon X processors are destined to debut within next-gen "Windows 12" AI-centric notebooks.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Mesa CPU-based Vulkan Driver Gets Ray Tracing Support - Quake II Perfo
Konstantin Seurer, a Mesa developer, has spent the past couple of months working on CPU-based Vulkan ray tracing—naturally, some folks will express scepticism about this project's practicality. Seurer has already set expectations with a brief message: "don't ask about performance." His [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] attracted [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]—the Phoronix founder and principal author was suitably impressed with Seurer's coding wizardry. He: "managed to implement support for VK_KHR_acceleration_structure, VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations, and VK_KHR_ray_query for Lavapipe. This Lavapipe Vulkan ray tracing support is based in part on porting code from the emulated ray tracing worked on for RADV with older Radeon GPUs." A lone screenshot provided evidence of Quake II running at 1 FPS with Vulkan ray tracing enabled—this "atrocious" performance was achieved thanks to a Mesa Lavapipe driver "implementing the Vulkan API for CPU-based execution."
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] an older example of CPU-based rendering techniques: "this is not the first time we heard about ray tracing on the CPU in Quake. In 2008, Intel demonstrated Enemy Territory: Quake Wars running at 720p resolution at 14 to 29 FPS on 16 core and 20-35 FPS at 24 core CPUs (quad-socket). The basic implementation of ray tracing in 2008 is not comparable to complex ray tracing techniques designed for GPUs, thus the performance on modern system is actually much lower. Beyond that, that game was specifically designed for the Intel architecture and used a specific API to achieve that. Sadly, the original ET demo is no longer available, it would be interesting to see how it performs today." CPU-based Vulkan ray tracing is expected to hit public distribution channels with the rollout of Mesa 24.1. Several members of the Phoronix community reckon that [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] processors have the potential to post double-digit in-game frame rates.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
(PR) Blizzard Announces Expanded Currency Support on Battle.net
As part of our effort to make Battle.net more welcoming to more players, we routinely review which currencies we support and what new ones we should add. This can make submitting payments less difficult and may help reduce or eliminate fees you pay to your card issuer for foreign currency transactions. Subscriptions for Argentinian players will be canceled and not automatically renewed to avoid enrolling players into subscriptions that may see a price increase in Argentina after this currency update.
The new currencies we're rolling out include: United Arab Emirates dirham (AED), Colombian peso (COP), Costa Rican colon (CRC), Indonesian rupiah (IDR), Israeli new shekel (ILS), Malaysian ringgit (MYR), Peruvian sol (PEN), Qatari riyal (QAR), Serbian dinar (RSD), Saudi riyal (SAR), Singapore dollar (SGD), Thai baht (THB), and Uruguayan peso (UYU). We've put together a brief FAQ to provide you with more information on the coming changes.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
Intel Reportedly Close to Receiving $3.5 Billion Investment for US Mil
The US government is reported to be preparing a very healthy $3.5 billion investment in Intel Corporation—a mid-week published [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] proposes that the White House has authored a new "fast-moving spending bill." Congressional aides believe that Team Blue—upon official approval/signing off of funds—will be tasked with the production of advanced semiconductors for military and intelligence programs. Bloomberg posits that the resources will be sourced from a "[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]" project, seemingly linking to a wider tranche of funds within the US government's CHIPS and Science Act. The agreement/contract is expected to run over a period of three years. According to Bloomberg: "the Senate is expected to pass the legislation by a Saturday (March 9) deadline."
Reports from last November suggested that Intel leadership and US government representatives had engaged in negotiations regarding funds for military and intelligence chip applications—the construction costs for new manufacturing facilities were estimated to be in the $3 billion to $4 billion range. A Commerce Department statement was submitted to Bloomberg, but they only commented on an overall $10 billion budget: "We are still reviewing the effect of the appropriations text on the program...(we look) forward to continuing to work with Congress on implementing the Chips and Science Act in a manner the promotes our economic and national security." TSMC, Micron and Samsung are expected to receive "multi-billion-dollar awards" in the near future—these multinational corporations will assist in a bolstering of North American chip manufacturing capabilities.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
MSI Claw A1M Lands at Retail in USA
MSI's official North American online store has started to sell their brand-new Claw A1M handheld portable gaming PC—earlier in the week media outlets spotted a [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], perhaps foreshadowing a widespread US launch on March 8 (today). MSI appears to be staggering the Claw's rollout across the global markets—late last month, German customers were [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] thanks to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] listing the basic model (Handheld CLAW A1M-036), with units declared as being "in stock." US customers are similarly limited to the entry level "052US" SKU—the region's MSI store official launch day price sits at $699.00. This model sports an [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] "Meteor Lake" processor, and 512 GB of internal storage.
Newegg has relisted the three MSI Claw A1M variants, albeit with a revised release date of March 15—interested parties can pre-order the Core Ultra 7 + 1 TB SSD version for $799, or MSI's middle-of-the-pack Core Ultra 7 + 512 GB model for $749. Newegg's product page for the basic Core Ultra 5 + 512 GB SSD configuration bears the same $699 price tag as seen on MSI's official store listing. We are not entirely sure whether Western embargoes have been lifted to coincide with today's North American launch—a trickle out of English language evaluations could occur next week. Chinese review outlets have been [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] since mid-February.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
ZALMAN Outs P30 Air Micro-ATX Tower Case
ZALMAN today introduced the P30 Air line of Micro-ATX mini-tower cases with a design focus on high airflow. The case comes in two color variants—black and white. Its design is characterized by panel perforations along not just the entire front-panel, but also the sides of the bottom half. The left side-panel only covers the upper compartment, the bottom compartment opens from the right side-panel that covers both compartments. ZALMAN included three ARGB-illuminated fans with this case, the front mesh intake has two pre-installed 140 mm spinners, while the rear exhaust is handled by a 140 mm fan. This presence of 140 mm rear exhaust also means that the motherboard tray has a high amount of clearance for tall graphics cards and CPU coolers.
A star attraction with the ZALMAN P30 Air is its motherboard tray, which has strategically located cutouts for motherboards with reverse-facing connectors, such as the ASUS BTF series, and MSI Project Zero series. The motherboard tray has room for graphics cards up to 39.2 cm in length, and CPU coolers up to 181 mm in height. The bottom compartment has a single 3.5-inch drive tray, with an additional 2.5-inch mount on top. There are two additional 2.5-inch mounts along the motherboard tray. Besides the two 140 mm front intakes and 120 mm rear exhaust, the case features three 120 mm top exhausts, along which you can mount a 360 mm radiator. Due to its design, a radiator cannot be mounted along the front panel. Measuring 235 mm x 452 mm x 420 mm (WxDxH), the case dry weighs 7.6 kg. The company didn't reveal pricing.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
