Last weekend ASUS ROG started to tease a handheld gaming system, called the Ally. On April 1 the company uploaded an expensive looking trailer, that bordered on being a total spoof in the latter half. People were quick to dismiss the announcement as an April Fool's Day prank, but since then the company has continued to post preview material and has even highlighted a Best Buy interest page. The ROG Ally has been confirmed to be an entirely real bit of gaming hardware that runs via Windows 11. AMD has been revealed as collaborating with ASUS on a custom Ryzen APU for the handheld system, which is advertised as the "fastest AMD APU yet" in the reveal trailer. Exact specifications for this chipset have not been listed, so expect those details as part of a future announcement.

ASUS ROG looks to be pitching the Ally as potential alternative to the Steam Deck, but it is too early to speculate about its exact method of operation (always online, local vs. cloud, etc.). Games journalists and gaming communities have also compared the Ally to the AYANEO 2 and GPD WIN 4. ASUS has informed various web influencers that it is promising "competitive pricing" for the upcoming handheld gaming system. The ROG Ally features a Full HD display and a dual fan cooling system tuned to operate quietly via the ROG Intelligent System. A new version of Armoury Crate offers the user access to various games library sources (including Xbox Games Pass) and custom-mapping of control inputs. Extra graphical grunt can be provided by the external and proprietary ROG XG Mobile eGPU platform.
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Japan to Restrict Exports of Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment
The Japanese government, on Friday March 31, announced that it plans to place restrictions on its export of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. This follows similar efforts announced by other nations, including the USA and the Netherlands. In a news conference, the Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Yasutoshi Nishimura stated: "We are fulfilling our responsibility as a technological nation to contribute to international peace and stability." The press release makes no mention of a trade battle between the USA or China, but the implication is that METI is limiting the latter's access to Japan's most advanced chip making equipment.

Nishimura-san continues: "If our exports are not being re-appropriated for military use, we will continue exporting. We believe the impact on companies will be limited." The U.S. government has called on its allies to prevent China's access to semiconductor manufacturing technology in order to slowdown domestic technological and military advancement. Japan and the Netherlands have previously agreed, back in January of this year, to restrict exports to China of equipment that could be used to churn out sub-14 nm chips.
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WD Plans to Muscle in on Xbox Series X|S Storage Expansion Card Scene
It appears that Western Digital is readying its own line of Xbox Series X|S Storage Expansion cards, and undercutting its big rival - Seagate - in a currently exclusive storage solution market. Word spread across several gaming communities over the past weekend about a new listing on Best Buy, now removed as of late April 2, for a 1 TB capacity WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card with an asking price of $179.99. WD has offered official external storage solutions for the current generation of Xbox home games consoles, under its WD_BLACK range, but Microsoft granted exclusive manufacturing rights to Seagate for the proprietary Xbox Series X|S storage expansion card system. According to official site information and documentation, these expansion cards are effective in "delivering additional external memory while maintaining the same peak speed and performance as the console's internal SSD".

The Seagate range could have been a timed exclusive, and based on the now deleted Best Buy listing, Microsoft seems to have handed a license to WD. The 1 TB WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card's pricing was a big talking point, due to it being substantially cheaper than the equivalent capacity Seagate model ($219.99) - a saving of forty dollars, which is an encouraging sign for gamers who have long complained that the Xbox proprietary expansion card offers bad value for money. Seagate's current crop of cards start at $139.99 (512 GB) and go up to $399.99 (2 TB).
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(PR) HyperX Now Shipping Pulsefire Haste 2 Wired and Wireless Gaming Mice
HyperX, the gaming peripherals team at HP Inc. and brand leader in gaming and esports, today announced it is now shipping the Pulsefire Haste 2 Gaming Mouse in both wired and wireless versions. The Pulsefire Haste 2 gaming mouse lineup offers ultra-lightweight designs, HyperX switches and HyperX sensors for better control and performance. For gamers seeking an ultra-lightweight mouse to complement their gaming skills, Pulsefire Haste 2 mice deliver ultimate comfort and command at their fingertips.

The Pulsefire Haste 2 gaming mouse lineup is ultra-lightweight and features a solid shell structure. Both wired and wireless options are equipped with the new HyperX 26K sensor, offering precise tracking and optimal sensitivity for smooth and fast cursor movements up to 26,000 DPI and a tracking speed of 650 IPS. The Pulsefire Haste 2 mouse lineup employs the new and reliable HyperX switches, providing tactile and audible feedback, and a lifespan of up to 100 million clicks.
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First NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Graphics Cards Spotted in Retail
Although it is scheduled to launch next week, the first NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics cards have started to show up in retail, confirming some of the SKUs from various NVIDIA AIC partners. While price rumors officially start with those same retailers, this time around, the price has leaked earlier in the form of NVIDIA's official slide, and it should start at $599. Early listings and placeholder pricing put the GeForce RTX 4070 at rather high $823 or even $915.

The first RTX 4070 spotted came from MSI, and according to retail listings and ECC filings, it appears that MSI will have a couple of Ventus, Gaming, and Suprim series RTX 4070 graphics cards. According to the list from Videocardz, Gainward will offer RTX 4070 Ghost, in standard and OC version. Gigabyte is so far confirmed with RTX 4070 Eagle OC. Palit will have GamingPro and JetStream versions, and PNY will have two RTX 4070 graphics cards. Of course, more will show up as we draw closer to the launch date. First reviews for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 are expected on April 12th.

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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has an Average Gaming Power Draw of 186 W
The latest leaked slide for GeForce RTX 4070 confirms most of the specifications, as well as reveals some previously unknown details, including the 186 W average power draw. While the specification list does not mention the number of CUDA cores, it does confirm it will be based on AD104 GPU with 36 MB of L2 cache, and come with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with 504 GB/s of maximum memory bandwidth, which points to 192-bit memory interface and 21 Gbps clocked memory.

The slide posted by Videocardz also compares the upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 with the previous generation RTX 3070 Ti and the RTX 3070, showing a significant increase in shader number, RT cores, and Tensor cores, not to mention we are talking about 3rd gen RT cores and 4th Gen Tensor cores on the RTX 4070. It will also support DLSS 3, and have AV1 and H.264 NV encoders.
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(PR) Antec Unveils Full-Tower Performance 1 FT Flagship Case with Temperature-Control Display and High Cooling Performance
[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of Antec Performance 1 FT Case is now live]

With outstanding cooling performance and lots of useful features, Antec Inc. presents the latest flagship of full towers, the new Performance 1 FT. Featuring an airflow-enhanced front panel design, magnetic front filter, and four pre-installed PWM fans, this new chassis provides efficient airflow and great cooling performance. The case is now commercially available from MSRP US$159.99.

The new Antec flagship supports the latest RTX 40 Series GPUs. Considering the increasing demands for CPU and GPU cooling, Antec designed the Performance 1 FT to enhance the air intake, improve the cable routing, and enable an easy installation with various options. The new temperature display function allows to keep control of the components. The display screen located on the case top allows users to check the temperature of the GPU and CPU at a glance. It addresses the need for temperature monitoring without purchasing expensive cooling kits.
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AMD Shows More Ryzen 7 7800X3D Gaming Benchmarks
AMD has revealed more Ryzen 7 7800X3D gaming benchmarks ahead of the official launch scheduled for April 6th. AMD has previously shared some results comparing this 8-core/16-thread Ryzen 7000X3D series SKU with Intel's Core i9-13900K or the predecessor, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, showing up to 24 and 30 percent performance increase.

Now, a new slide has been leaked online, which is a part of AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D review guide, comparing it once again with the Intel Core i9-13900K, but going head to head in several more games. At 1080p resolution and high settings, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is anywhere from 2 to 31 percent faster, but there are several games where the Core i9-13900K is also faster, such as CS:GO.
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AMD and JEDEC Create DDR5 MRDIMMs with 17,600 MT/s Speeds
AMD and JEDEC are collaborating to create a new industry standard for DDR5 memory called MRDIMMs (multi-ranked buffered DIMMs). The constant need for bandwidth in server systems provides trouble that can not easily be solved. Adding more memory is difficult, as motherboards can only get so big. Incorporating on-package memory solutions like HBM is expensive and can only scale to a specific memory capacity. However, engineers of JEDEC, with the help of AMD, have come to make a new standard that will try and solve this challenge using the new MRDIMM technology. The concept of MRDIMM is, on paper, straightforward. It combines two DDR5 DIMMs on a single module to effectively double the bandwidth. Specifically, if you take two DDR5 DIMMs running at 4,400 MT/s and connect them to create a single DIMM, you get 8,800 MT/s speeds on a single module. To efficiently use it, a special data mux or buffer will effectively take two Double Data Rate (DDR) DIMMs and convert them into Quad Data Rate (QDR) DIMMs.

The design also allows simultaneous access to both ranks of memory, thanks to the added mux. First-generation MRDIMMs can produce speeds of up to 8,800 MT/s, while the second and third generations modules can go to 12,800 MT/s and 17,600 MT/s, respectively. We expect third-generation MRDIMMs after 2030, so the project is still far away. Additionally, Intel has a similar solution called Multiplexer Combined Ranks DIMM (MCRDIMM) which uses a similar approach. However, Intel's technology is expected to see the light of the day as early as 2024/2025 and beyond the generation of servers, with Granite Rapids likely representing a contender for this technology. SK Hynix already makes MCRDIMMs, and you can see the demonstration of the approach below.

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