XIGMATEK today released the Poseidon RGB (model: EN42272), an ATX mid-tower case that combines two tempered glass panels with a lavish use of RGB LED elements. The front and left-side panels of this case are tinted tempered glass panels. The front panel is accented by a vertical RGB LED strip running along the right side. XIGMATEK is including four 120 mm RGB LED fans with the case, three of these come pre-installed along the front intakes, and one as the case's sole rear exhaust. The fans and embedded LED strip feature 3-pin addressable-RGB inputs. An included 4-channel RGB LED controller drives the four, which features a tiny RF remote control that lets you cycle between presets and toggle individual lighting. The same controller doubles up as a 4-channel PWM fan-controller, which takes inputs from the remote. There is a significantly cheaper variant of this case (model: EN42265), which lacks the fans and combi-controller.



The XIGMATEK Poseidon features a conventional horizontally-partitioned case layout, with the upper compartment holding the motherboard tray that suopports ATX (and smaller) form-factors, while the bottom compartment holds a double of drive bays and the PSU bay. The case can take add-on cards up to 36 cm in length, CPU coolers up to 16.5 cm in height, and PSUs up to 17 cm in length. Storage areas include four 2.5-inch mounts, and two 3.5-inch/2.5-inch trays. Besides the three 120 mm intakes and one 120 mm rear exhaust, the case features two 120 mm top exhausts with a detachable dust filter. The case measures 400 mm x 205 mm x 450 mm (LxWxH). Front panel connectivity includes two each of USB 3.x type-A, and USB 2.0/1.1 ports, and HDA jacks. The company didn't reveal pricing.

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(PR) ASRock Announces Two New Premium Phantom Gaming Z390 Motherboards
The high-end Intel Z390 chipset is entering the next phase of its life cycle. So, just as everyone begins to feel bored with old motherboard designs from last year, ASRock has decided to give gamers and enthusiasts a welcome surprise by introducing the Z390 Phantom Gaming 7 and Z390 Phantom Gaming X, to join the just launched Z390 Steel Legend. ASRock is bringing new life to the Z390 motherboard market with this complete mainstream to high-end product lineup.



Aesthetics are one of the many big improvements in the new Z390 Phantom Gaming 7 and Z390 Phantom Gaming X. Not only is there the cool RGB lighting already built into the motherboard, plus RGB LED headers, but the beautifully designed pre-installed I/O shield reserves more space for fitting tolerances and allows IO shield positional adjustment while installing, thus fitting the chassis perfectly. Unlike most so-called pre-mounted I/O shields that are only decorated with fancy color schemes, ASRock's design can truly improve the whole PC building experience.
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Intel Tried to Bribe Dutch University to Suppress Knowledge of MDS Vulnerability
Cybersecurity researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, also known as VU Amsterdam, allege that Intel tried to bribe them to suppress knowledge of the latest processor security vulnerability RIDL (rogue in-flight data load), which the company made public on May 14. Dutch publication Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant reports that Intel offered to pay the researchers a USD $40,000 "reward" to allegedly get them to downplay the severity of the vulnerability, and backed their offer with an additional $80,000. The team politely refused both offers.



Intel's security vulnerability bounty program is shrouded in CYA agreements designed to minimize Intel's losses from the discovery of a new vulnerability. Under its terms, once a discoverer accepts the bounty reward, they enter into a NDA (non-disclosure agreement) with Intel, to not disclose their findings or communicate in the regard with any other person or entity than with certain authorized people at Intel. With public knowledge withheld, Intel can work on mitigation and patches against the vulnerability. Intel argues that information of vulnerabilities becoming public before it's had a chance to address them would give the bad guys time to design and spread malware that exploits the vulnerability. This is an argument the people at VU weren't willing to buy, and thus Intel is forced to disclose RIDL even as microcode updates, software updates, and patched hardware are only beginning to come out.


Update: (17/05): An Intel spokesperson commented on this story.
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AMD Ryzen "Picasso" APU Clock Speeds Revealed
AMD is giving finishing touches to its Ryzen 3000 "Picasso" family of APUs, and Thai PC enthusiast TUM_APISAK has details on their CPU clock speeds. The Ryzen 3 3200G comes with 3.60 GHz nominal clock-speed and 4.00 GHz maximum Precision Boost frequency; while the Ryzen 5(?) 3400G ships with 3.70 GHz clock speeds along with 4.20 GHz max Precision Boost. The "Picasso" silicon is an optical shrink of the 14 nm "Raven Ridge" silicon to the 12 nm FinFET process at GlobalFoundries, the same one on which AMD builds "Pinnacle Ridge" and "Polaris 30."



Besides the shrink to 12 nm, "Picasso" features upgraded "Zen+" CPU cores that have improved Precision Boost algorithm and faster on-die caches, which contribute to a roughly 3% increase in IPC on "Pinnacle Ridge," but significantly improved multi-threaded performance compared to 1st generation Ryzen. Clock speeds of both the CPU cores and the integrated "Vega" iGPU are expected to increase. Both the 3200G and 3400G see a 100 MHz increase in nominal clock-speed, and 300 MHz increase in boost clocks, over the chips they succeed, the 2200G and 2400G, respectively. The iGPU is rumored to receive a similar 100-200 MHz increase in engine clock.

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(PR) EVGA Releases Free Nahimic 3D Software for NU Audio Sound Card
In January 2019, EVGA launched the NU Audio Card. The NU Audio Card was designed to produce the most immersive audio and lifelike gaming experienced on a PC. This was achieved, in part, by partnering with Audio Note (UK), Ltd. - a world-renowned audio company dedicated to using only the highest quality components and materials in its products, even if it means creating the components in-house. The result is an audio card that features specs often used in higher-end audiophile equipment but at an affordable price for PC enthusiasts. This partnership produced an audio card that has been praised by many reviewers for its Lifelike Audio quality and its dedication to audio fidelity.



Today, EVGA releases a free software update that further enhances and upgrades the capabilities of the EVGA NU Audio Card for owners using Windows 10. The NU Audio Card is now enhanced by Nahimic with 3D Audio for Gamers, along with many other features.
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(PR) Ballistix DRAM Crushes World DDR4 Overclocking Record at 5726MT/s
Ballistix, Micron's gaming memory brand, is now the official overclocking world record holder. Overclockers used the Ballistix Elite 3600MT/s to set a new overclocking record for the fastest DDR4 memory frequency at a blistering 5726 MT/s. That's 79 percent faster than the max JEDEC DDR4 speed of 3200 MT/s and 115 percent faster than the 2666 MT/s considered mainstream today.



How's that for a speed run? Yes, this record is a big, big, (big, big) deal to us here at Ballistix. But we care just as much about how we earned the top mark. We're proud that we were able to use the same CAS latency - CL24 - used by most of the previous record holders. In addition, we set the record using the same production module of the Ballistix Elite 3600 available to gamers today.
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(PR) NVIDIA Announces Financial Results for First Quarter Fiscal 2020
NVIDIA today reported revenue for the first quarter ended April 28, 2019, of $2.22 billion compared with $3.21 billion a year earlier and $2.21 billion in the previous quarter. GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $0.64, compared with $1.98 a year ago and $0.92 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.88 compared with $2.05 a year earlier and $0.80 in the previous quarter.



"NVIDIA is back on an upward trajectory," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "We've returned to growth in gaming, with nearly 100 new GeForce Max-Q laptops shipping. And NVIDIA RTX has gained broad industry support, making ray tracing the standard for next-generation gaming.
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(PR) Microsoft Partners with Sony on Gaming and AI
Sony Corporation (Sony) and Microsoft Corp. (Microsoft) announced on Thursday that the two companies will partner on new innovations to enhance customer experiences in their direct-to-consumer entertainment platforms and AI solutions.



Under the memorandum of understanding signed by the parties, the two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services. In addition, the two companies will explore the use of current Microsoft Azure datacenter-based solutions for Sony's game and content-streaming services. By working together, the companies aim to deliver more enhanced entertainment experiences for their worldwide customers. These efforts will also include building better development platforms for the content creator community.
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KLEVV Announces RGB-king CRAS C700 RGB NVMe M.2 SSD
Klevv today announced the launch of the CRAS C700 RGB NVMe M.2 SSD, which dials RGB goodness up to at least 12. The new SSD makes use of the PCIe 3.0 4x interface through the NVMe 1.3 protocol, enabling up to read 1500MB/s read and 1300MB/s write speeds. Klevv have made this SSD available in 120 GB, 240 GB and 480 GB capacities. There's SLC caching on-board, which means performance will certainly be slower in more data-heavy operations, in the event that the SLC cache overflows. The RGB goodness is distributed through 8 individually-addressable LEDs behind a gem-like diffuser, which provides an even glow that's programmable through most motherboard RGB control software.



Klevv also announced that the CRAS C700 RGB NVMe M.2 SSD makes use of 10-layer PCB for "better data integrity", as well as a 27% reduction in operating temperatures for the SD due to KLEVV's heatsink design. An unannounced feature for the RGB power in these SSDs is the ability to illuminate even Game of Thrones' Season 8, Episode 3 from inside your PC case.

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Epic Announces the "EPIC Mega Sale", with $10 Off on Every Game Above $14.99
EPIC today announced their first ever EPIC Mega Sale, which brings a pretty linear discount across the games catalogue the online store has available for purchase. The company announced it is slashing at least $10/£10/€10 from every game priced above $14.99/£13.99/€15.99. This includes preorders on their own page, which means you can pre-purchase one of those soon to be released Quantic Dream games on the cheap (Heavy Rain and Beyond: two Souls can be yours for €9.99 right now, for instance), and Close to the Sun for €19.99. So if you are looking for some Epic Games Store exclusives (such as Metro Exodus for €34.99), go on and run.

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