In the course of our testing of the reference-design AMD Radeon RX 7600 graphics card, we noticed a flaw in the physical design that could impede certain kinds of 6+2 pin PCIe power cables, causing improper power connector contact, posing a potential fire hazard, theoretically. The flaw centers on the design of the card's backplate. The cutout near the power connector is designed such that certain kinds of 6+2 pin PCIe power connectors don't properly insert. Most if not all power supply units (PSUs) have their 150 W, 8-pin PCIe power connectors designed to be 6+2 pin, where you can split two of their pins away, turning them into 6-pin PCIe. While some PSU brands use a passive hook-type tail-end bridge that ensures the 2-pin portion inserts along with the 6-pin portion, some brands use more elaborate stubs that hold the two portions together. The AMD RX 7600 reference backplate design impedes these kinds of connectors.

We reached out to AMD with our findings before the May 24 review NDA, and the company got back to us with a statement:
We are very pleased with the volume of Radeon RX 7600 cards available globally from our AIB partners. We expect RX 7600 reference design cards to be available over the coming weeks with a design that accommodates all power supply cables.

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KeysFan Software Flash Sale: Get Genuine Windows and Office at Discount Pricing
KeysFan Software Flash Sale rolls on, give your next-generation PC the power of Windows 11, the most feature-packed operating system, with Genuine Windows 11 Pro priced at just $10.25. Windows 11 Home can be had at $9.99. Supercharge your domestic productivity with Office 2021 Professional Plus at $25.25, or better yet, combine it with Windows 11 Pro at $31.99. Check out great prices on combos of your preferred edition of Windows and Office to save even more.

Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $25.25 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 2-PC at $40.25 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 3-PC at $57.25 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $68.25 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus at $23.25 | Buy Office 2016 Professional Plus at $19.85 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $37.99 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Business for Mac at $33.99 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $10.25 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 2-PC at $20.25 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.25 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $12.25 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $9.99 | Buy Windows 11 Home 2-PC at $19.45 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $7.18 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $12.21 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $28.99 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $26.99 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $31.99 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $29.99

Please use the coupon code SKF50 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 at $12.81 | Buy Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 at $9.14 | Buy Windows Server 2019 Standard at $16.06 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $33.82 | Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $30.23
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(PR) Helldivers 2 Drops on PC and PlayStation 5 Later This Year
Get ready to spread peace and liberty with extreme prejudice - Katherine Baskin, Social Media and Community Manager at Arrowhead Game Studios states: "Hello, future Helldivers! I'm so excited to tell the world about Helldivers 2- our new cooperative shooter that packs in frantic, third-person action against massive enemy mobs. Arrowhead has been quietly, but furiously working on a sequel to our much-loved title Helldivers. Our vision for the next installment always needed to be bigger, better and more hellish! What you see in our first trailer will, we hope, excite you and blow your minds! Along with the trailer, we wanted to give you some details of what you can expect, so let's get you prepped for the fight."

Fight for Super Earth
Freedom. Peace. Managed Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. These are under attack from deadly alien civilizations, conspiring to destroy the Super Earth and its values. You'll step into the boots of an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty, and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest, and most explosive tools in the galaxy. Team up with up to four friends and wreak havoc on the alien scourge that threatens the safety of your home, Super Earth.

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Windows XP Activation Algorithm Defeated with Offline Tool
Technology news outlets have today jumped on the emergence of a curious Windows XP-related activation tool - although the blog section of tinyapps.org low-key published details of this development back in late April. The tinyapps organization describes itself as "an aging catalog of tiny, well-made software primarily for Windows." Vintage operating system enthusiasts will be pleased to discover that the community-developed "xp_activate32.exe" tool is capable of "safely" activating Windows XP installs - with no need for nefarious software cracks or convoluted workarounds.

It is a bit difficult to fathom that there is continued demand for new XP activations - given the lack of robust/modern security features within a very old operating system (debuted in 2001). Official online authentication no longer exists - Microsoft shutdown all necessary servers nine years ago. According to The Register it was still possible - as recently as 2020 - to activate copies of Windows XP via a smartphone-based utility. The aforementioned (18 KB sized) "xp_activate32" executable is derived from Microsoft's phone app code. Legacy device hobbyists and workers tasked with maintaining ancient systems should express their thanks to retroreviewyt - who released the handy tool nine months ago.

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(PR) THQ Nordic Showcases Alone in the Dark, Prologue Demo Available Now
In the upcoming Alone in the Dark, players can choose between two protagonists to experience the haunting story: Emily Hartwood and Edward Carnby. To bring these two iconic characters to life, the developers partnered up with famous actors Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy) and David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow), who will lend their voices, their appearance, and their formidable acting skills to the protagonists. Depending on who you play, you will get a different take on the same story. You can see both of them in action in the new spotlight video, showcasing a ton of gameplay.

We hope you are not trembling with fear now, because we have more shocking news to share: Alone in the Dark is launching on October 25th, 2023 on PC, Xbox Series S/X, and PlayStation 5, and will be available at an SRP of €59.99 / $59.99 / £49.99. The digital pre-order kicks off today.
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Leaked Email Suggests AMD Instinct MI450 Accelerators to Feature XSwitch Interconnect Fabric
AMD is reported to be forming plans for its Instinct MI400 Accelerator series, according to a leaked internal email. This information was shared by a hardware tipster (HXL/@9550Pro) on Twitter, but their post has been deleted as some point today. Wccftech was quick enough to note down the details, and their report suggests that AMD is already making plans for an APU range that is set to succeed the unreleased Instinct MI300 lineup (expected later in 2023). Instinct MI400 accelerators are touted to drive next generation data center and cloud platforms.

The leaked email email contained information about three upcoming products: Weisshorn, MI450 and XSwitch. Kepler's recent tweet posits that Weisshorn is AMD's in-house moniker for Zen 6 "Morpheus" architecture-based Venice CPUs - these are alleged to form part of an upcoming EPYC lineup (slated for 2025 or 2026). Hardware experts reckon that AMD will introduce a new interconnect fabric with the MI400 series - "XSwitch" is speculated to be the company's main technological answer to NVIDIA's NVLINK.

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(PR) ASRock to Show New Gaming Monitors and More at Computex 2023
ASRock, a global leader in motherboards, graphics cards, monitors, and small form factor PCs, is excited to announce its participation in the upcoming COMPUTEX Taipei 2023 after years of anticipation. ASRock will showcase a range of breathtaking innovative products and highly anticipated technology demonstrations. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the ASRock latest products and solutions firsthand; also, get the immersive gaming experience at ASRock booth.

Unveiling the Next-Gen ASRock Monitors
ASRock is set to showcase an exciting lineup of monitors at COMPUTEX 2023, featuring six existing products along with new gaming and business models. The spotlight will be on the PG558KF and PG32UMF, two high-end monitors.
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