(PR) Akasa Expands Its Enterprise Cooling Lineup with New High-Perform
Akasa, a leading provider of thermal solutions, continues to strengthen its presence in the enterprise and datacenter market with an expanded range of server CPU coolers designed for the growing demands of workstation, AI and edge compute, dense rackmount systems and industrial applications. The latest additions include models supporting AMD SP6 / sTR5, Intel LGA1851 / LGA1700 sockets or Intel LGA3647 sockets, ranging from high capacity 4U tower solutions, compact 2U active coolers to low-profile 1U passive coolers.
New Models for AMD Platforms
Collectively, the AK-CC340X series expands Akasa's current server cooler range of Intel LGA4677 socket coolers to include three new models supporting AMD SP6 sockets (for AMD EPYC processors) and sTR5 sockets (for AMD Ryzen Threadripper (Pro) 9000 / 7000 series CPUs). All three coolers are equipped with secure spring-loaded screw mounting and pre-applied thermal compound for quick and easy installation.[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...]
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Laptop SODIMM-to-DIMM Adapters Gain Traction as DRAM Costs Rise
As regular desktop memory prices have skyrocketed over the past year, more gamers are turning to repurposing laptop SODIMM memory using SODIMM-to-DIMM adapters. This allows them to use the more affordable memory in their builds. According to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], these adapters are relatively inexpensive. When paired with SODIMM memory, which has experienced a smaller price increase—an average of 136% compared to 245% for desktop DIMMs—gamers find that buying laptop memory makes more sense. They can achieve similar memory performance at a much lower cost and finally perform a system upgrade or build a new PC.
These adapters serve more as a workaround than an ideal solution, mainly designed for repurposing spare laptop memory rather than achieving peak performance. Users must be prepared for significantly reduced memory clock speeds and looser timings, as mobile SODIMMs inherently lack the performance capabilities of desktop modules. Additionally, the adapter's signal path often requires further down clocking to maintain system stability.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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(PR) HighPoint Launches Rocket 7634D Industry's First Independent PCIe
HighPoint Technologies, Inc., a global leader in advanced PCIe storage and connectivity solutions, today announced the Rocket 7634D, the industry's first independent PCIe Gen 5 External CDFP Adapter. Engineered to serve as the cornerstone of next-generation external PCIe fabrics, the Rocket 7634D robust external CDFP-CopprLink connectivity compact low-profile form factor, and proven PCIe Gen 5 switching technology deliver the bandwidth, reliability, and interoperability demands of disaggregated computing, AI driven applications and performance hungry HPC and professional media workflows.
Built in full compliance with the PCI-SIG CopprLink specification, the Rocket 7634D functions as a professional-grade Host Interface Card (HIC); enabling direct, non-blocking connections between servers or workstations and external GPUs, accelerator and I/O cards, or NVMe storage enclosures—without the compromises of tunneling or legacy interconnects.[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...]
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NVIDIA Tested Intel's 18A Node but Did Not Commit to Intel Foundry
According to a report from [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], NVIDIA has explored using Intel Foundry's 18A node but has not proceeded to mass production. Reuters states, "NVIDIA recently tested out whether it would manufacture its chips using Intel's production process known as 18A but stopped moving forward, two people familiar with the matter said. NVIDIA did not answer a request for comment." This is not necessarily a negative sign for Intel Foundry, as many customers have previously approached Intel to try out the 18A node. It is common for chip designers to evaluate what TSMC's competitors offer before committing to additional foundry capacity.
For the 18A node, the general impression is that it primarily serves Intel's internal products. Future versions, like 18A-P and 18A-PT, aim to attract external customers and are expected to be long-term Intel Foundry products. Intel's 14A node is becoming a critical product for Intel Foundry, with active development targeting a 2027 release. As Intel collaborates with customers on the node design, potential foundry partners are assessing whether the upcoming technology meets their needs. Early [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] indicates strong satisfaction with the development progress, with those familiar with the node describing it as genuinely competitive.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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(PR) MSI Launches All-New DigiME with Voicemod Integration
MSI proudly announces a major overhaul of its virtual livestreaming platform, DigiME. The new version features a fully optimized UI/UX and workflow, along with the official integration of Voicemod, the world's leading real-time voice transformation technology. Users can now instantly switch between multiple voice styles, creating personalized avatars and vocal identities for more immersive and creative interactive experiences.
As virtual avatars and AI applications become mainstream, voice is now a key element of digital identity. By partnering with Voicemod, MSI DigiME empowers users to not only "look" like themselves in the virtual world but also bring more diversity and creativity to livestreams, online content, and interactive experiences. Whether it's game streaming, video creation, socializing, or virtual meetings, the all-new DigiME offers endless possibilities.[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...]
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Intel Envisions 16 Compute Dies and 24 HBM5 Modules in a Single Packag
Intel Foundry has published a short video demonstration of its advanced packaging technologies, demoing silicon scaling beyond reticle limits of 830 mm². According to the video, Intel's Foveros 3D and EMIB-T interconnect can scale silicon to 12x reticle size, packaging up to 16 compute dies paired with 24 HBM5 memory modules in a single package. All of this will leverage Intel's 18A—including 18A-P and 18A-PT—and 14A nodes that the company is preparing for mass production and external customers.
The approach involves a sophisticated layering technique where base dies, manufactured using the 18A-PT process, incorporate backside power delivery to enhance logic density and reliability. These base dies house SRAM structures similar to Intel's "Clearwater Forest" architecture. They serve as foundations for compute tiles built on the advanced 14A/14A-E nodes, which feature second-generation RibbonFET transistors and PowerDirect technology. Foveros Direct 3D enables vertical stacking through ultra-fine pitch hybrid bonding, while EMIB-T incorporates through-silicon vias to facilitate higher bandwidth connections between chiplets. This combination achieves scalability beyond reticle limits and will support all HBM standard, including HBM4, HBM5, and future versions.[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...]
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Intel's Fab 52 is Bigger Than TSMC Arizona, Produces More Than 40,000
Intel Foundry has massive capacity in the United States, with its size surpassing that of TSMC's Arizona campus in terms of production capacity and building space. A CNBC crew visited Intel's Fab 52 in Arizona to explore its operations, uncovering some intriguing details about wafer capacity and future production plans. According to their report, Intel's Fab 52 produces approximately 10,000 wafers per week, totaling over 40,000 wafers per month. These wafers are manufactured using the 18A node, Intel's most advanced design, featuring innovations such as a backside power delivery network and gate-all-around transistors, among others.
Compared to TSMC's facility in Arizona, Intel's manufacturing capacity and node designs are superior. TSMC currently produces about 20,000 wafers per month at the older N5 and N4 nodes, which are 5 nm class, in the Fab 21 Phase 1 stage. Although TSMC plans to expand Fab 21 to increase wafer capacity and introduce more advanced nodes, these advancements will primarily remain in Taiwan, keeping U.S.-based TSMC production a few generations behind. Intel, on the other hand, has a limited number of external partners using its nodes, with the 18A node being primarily for Intel's own products, including the upcoming "Panther Lake" processor, and some future generations.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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Cyberpunk 2 Creative Director Denies Elevator Loading Theories, Defend
The creative director for Cyberpunk 2 has officially debunked the theory that elevator scenes in the original Cyberpunk game are there to hide loading scenes. In a [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], Igor Sarzynski commented that "elevators in Cyberpunk are not 'cleverly concealed loading screens,'" pointing out the inconsistencies in the logic that you would need secret loading screens in an elevator to go up to a small room, but can "traverse the whole city and enter a huge complex interior with no loading screens." He attributes this seamless loading to CDPR's in-house REDengine, which he calls "a miracle."
Despite this, the director defends the [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], saying that "we wanna make games, not engines," likely referring to the fact that developing and maintaining a game engine involves a lot of time and resources that could be better spent working on the game itself. So far, it has been revealed that both Cyberpunk 2 and [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], despite the chorus of complaints about the performance issues in UE5 games.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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Call of Duty Coming to Nintendo Switch 2 "In a Few Months"
Microsoft has long been on a tirade against exclusive games, previously promising that the Call of Duty franchise, among others, would soon be available on multiple platforms on day one, although that has yet to come to fruition. However, according to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], editor at Windows Central and notable industry insider, the first Call of Duty Switch port is "nearly done and launching in a few months." This suggests a 2026 launch for the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Call of Duty, although it's still unclear what form the game will take.
The Switch 2's relatively underpowered hardware and limited storage have spawned questions about what sort of quality and gameplay can be expected from a CoD game on Switch 2, and there is no mention of the Switch 2 in any of the Call of Duty Black Ops 7 marketing, leading to speculation that the version that makes it to the Nintendo gaming handheld won't quite be a full-fledged version of the game. It's not entirely impossible that the Switch 2 CoD port could be something akin to Black Ops 7, though, since studios like [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] in quite an impressive state. A 2026 launch lines up with [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...].[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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Arch Linux Drops Support for NVIDIA Pascal and Older GPUs
Linux can be a solid option for anyone looking for an operating system that supports older hardware, but bleeding-edge distributions like Arch Linux often drop support for older hardware sooner than other distributions. This is exactly what happened recently, as the development team behind [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] the default NVIDIA GPU driver to version 590. This change means that Arch Linux will no longer support NVIDIA GPUs from the Pascal generation and older—this means GeForce GTX 1000 GPUs and older. Somewhat comically, this happened shortly after [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] to AMD GPUs dating back to 2012.
Arch Linux has also migrated the default NVIDIA GPU drivers to the nvidia-open, nvidia-dkms, nvidia-open-dkms packages. Previously, the GTX 900 series GPUs were the oldest NVIDIA graphics cards supported by the Linux distro, although there are ways to work around the new support limitations. Users with older NVIDIA GPUs can manually uninstall the official nvidia, nvidia-lts, and nvidia-dkms packages and replace them with the nvidia-580xx-dkms drivers from the community-driven AUR (Arch User Repository).[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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Why Rockstar Never Gave Us "GTA: Tokyo"
Grand Theft Auto VI is just around the corner, barring any [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], as the latest US-based installment in the game series, but a [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] with Rockstar's former technical director, Obbe Vermeij, revealed that the series may have gone in a completely different direction. According to the former executive, Rockstar was seriously considering making GTA: Tokyo during his time at the game studio. That means the would-be game would have been published sometime between 1995 and 2009, although the former director seems to be convinced that an international version of the game franchise is less and less likely now that the franchise has grown so large.
GTA: Tokyo was supposedly in talks to be developed by an unspecified studio in Japan, which would have combined Rockstar code with its own story and game assets. Tokyo was seemingly the only one that came close to fruition, but Rockstar was also considering GTA games in Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, and Istanbul. Vermeij commented that the only reason Tokyo and other international versions of the franchise were not pursued is that "when you've got billions of dollars riding on it, it's too easy to go let's do what we know again." He also says that the ubiquity and familiarity of American cities and culture were driving factors for abandoning the international versions. He goes so far as to say that it's more likely that future GTA games will revisit previous cities before leaving America, thanks to the risk aversion that comes from such a valuable game series.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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System Integrators Start Offering No-RAM PCs Amid Rising Memory Costs
Paradox Customs, a boutique system builder based in Arizona, now offers customers the option to purchase prebuilt gaming PCs without memory installed. The company updated its online configurator and announced this change on its [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]. This option allows buyers to reduce immediate system costs or use memory kits they already own, helping them avoid additional expenses as memory shortages have driven prices up significantly. This change comes amid a severe shortage in the DRAM market, where DDR5 prices have risen sharply since early 2024, and certain high-performance modules are experiencing shipment delays of several weeks. For example, gamers are now expected to pay around [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], which constitutes a significant portion of the total system cost.
The unusual choice now departs from the normal model in which system integrators select and validate every component to guarantee compatibility and simplify after-sales support. Purchasing memory modules in bulk have typically provided builders with stable margins and purchasing leverage that smooth short-term market swings. However, as the shortage is pricing out system integrators from accessing cheaper RAM, companies are looking to place the responsibility for sourcing RAM on the end use. Now system integrators like Paradox creates a product that sits between a fully supported turnkey machine and a do-it-yourself kit. This approach reduces the company's exposure to volatile inventory but also blurs the boundary between custom-builds and finished systems.
Update December 23, 22:20 UTC: MAINGEAR has [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] the "bring your own RAM" party, shipping systems without pre-installed RAM kits.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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AMD Prepares EXPO v1.2 for Better Memory OC Profiles
AMD's Extended Profiles for Overclocking (EXPO) technology is receiving an update with version 1.2. According to the latest HWiNFO v8.35-5890 Beta, this tool has added support for AMD EXPO 1.2, even though AMD has not officially released this version yet. Currently, AMD employs EXPO 1.0 with its Ryzen processors to provide optimal overclocked memory profiles for each configuration. This approach enhances overall system performance and gives the Infinity Fabric, which interconnects the CCDs and IODs, perfect balance of latency and speed.
What will come with EXPO 1.2 remains a mystery. Recently, as part of the "Granite Ridge" Ryzen 9000 X3D series, AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor was seen [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], which is unusually high for its class in this late-cycle "Zen 5" SKU. AMD could bring some late-stage "Zen 5" memory profile optimizations that we haven't seen so far, just in time for the late cycle X3D SKUs.
Update 22:15 UTC: According to AMD insider and author of HYDRA, CTR, DRAM calculator for AMD Ryzen [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], the EXPO 1.2 will finally include support for CUDIMMs. These are DDR5 modules with integrated clock driver circuits, which improve signal integrity at higher frequencies, allowing the DDR5 modules to reach frequencies beyond JEDEC-provided range. We still have no idea how AMD plans to implement this. The slide below is just for illustrative purposes and is AMD's earlier mention of EXPO. It does not reflect the latest 1.2 version.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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AMD "Zen 6" SKUs with 3D V-Cache Could Pack Up to 288 MB of Cache
AMD's upcoming "Zen 6" client processors are expected to continue the trend of offering optional SKUs with 3D V-Cache, similar to their predecessors. However, these new processors might feature significantly larger cache capacities compared to the current "Zen 5" SKUs in the "Granite Ridge" family. According to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...], the single-CCD version will include 144 MB of 3D V-Cache, while the dual-CCD configuration will have 288 MB of cache. This suggests that AMD will maintain its familiar CPU design with a client I/O die and two separate CCDs, each benefiting from increased cache capacity.
This approach is quite similar to Intel's upcoming "Nova Lake" processors, which are also set to receive a substantial boost in cache capacity through the big Last Level Cache (bLLC). Rumors suggest that these will offer [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] with a single compute die and 288 MB for those with two compute dies. Intel already employs bLLC in its "Clearwater Forest" server processors as a passive interposer, integrating local cache beneath active tiles. Including this technology in standard gaming chips could significantly enhance performance, positioning them as strong competitors against the upcoming "Zen 6" processor family.[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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(PR) Samsung Unveils New Odyssey Gaming Monitor Lineup, Featuring Worl
Samsung Electronics today unveiled its most advanced Odyssey gaming monitor lineup yet, introducing five new models that push the boundaries of resolution, refresh rates and immersive visual performance. Led by Samsung's first 6K 3D Odyssey G9, the 2026 lineup debuts world-first display technologies for gamers and creators, including the next-generation Odyssey G6 and three new Odyssey G8 models.
"With this year's Odyssey lineup, we're introducing display experiences that simply weren't possible even a year ago," said Hun Lee, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display (VD) Business at Samsung Electronics. "From the industry's first 6K glasses-free 3D monitor to breakthrough 1,040 Hz speed, we designed these monitors to meet the ambitions of today's gamers and deliver a level of immersion that fundamentally changes how content looks and functions on screen."[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]
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