TechPowerUP NEWS

**NextPowerUP** · 05-06-23, 06:00

ENERMAX came to the Computex 2023 in full force, showcasing a wide range of new products including new PSUs with ATX 3.0 certification, as well as the new LIQTECH and LIQMAXFLO AIO liquid CPU coolers with new pump design.

ENERMAX definitely had a lot to show at the Computex 2023 event and there were some rather unique and innovative new products on display, including the PLATIMAX GEMINI, a PSU that meets both ATX 3.0 and Intel's new ATX12VO (12 V-only) standards. PLATIMAX GEMINI is an 80 Plus Platinum 1200 W power supply, that surpasses efficiency standards of the ATX12VO standard. ENERMAX also had the who new REVOLUTION D.F. X PSU lineup that is ATX 3.0 and PCIe 5 ready with a native 600 W 12VHPWR cable and an extra dual 8-pin to 12VHPWR 600 W cable, and features new patented Dust-Free Rotation (D.F.R) technology, a new feature that promises to significantly reduce the accumulation of dust around the fan blades. It also features an ARGB side panel with 14 built in lighting modes, and an RGB control button. ENERMAX was showcasing the SPLAVE X REVOLUTION D.F. X PSU, a special edition 1200 W PSU designed in cooperation with a well-known overclocker Splave.

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Endorfy Brings Arx 700/500 Cases, Spartan 5 CPU Cooler, and Wireless Keyboards to Computex 2023
Editor's note: Our in-depth review of Endorfy Arx 700 Air is now live.

At Computex 2023, Endorfy has launched the Arx 700 Air and Arx 700 ARGB PC cases, designed with maximum cooling potential and easy component access. The cases accommodate a tall cooling system, up to 8 fans, and any current graphics card, with the Arx 700 Air featuring 5 Stratus 140 PWM fans and the Arx 700 ARGB including 4 illuminated Stratus 140 PWM ARGB fans. The design is minimalist, with a tempered glass side panel that allows internal component visibility. Both cases measure 486×228×472 mm (H×W×L) and support ATX, microATX, and ITX motherboards, with a graphics card clearance of 410 mm, CPU cooler clearance of 179 mm, and power supply clearance of 340 mm. They have 7 expansion slots and internal bays that include 1× 2.5"/3.5" and 6× 2.5". The cases can accommodate up to 8 fans and come with built-in dust filters. The front I/O includes 1× USB-C, 2× USB-A, 1× headphones (minijack 3.5 mm), 1× microphone (minijack 3.5 mm), and power and reset buttons. The Arx 700 Air and Arx 700 ARGB are priced at 109 and 119 EUR, respectively.

The Endorfy Arx 500 Air and Arx 500 ARGB are also shown; however, we don't have exact specifications yet, and we expect them to follow soon. Visually, we see that the 500 series is shorter than the 700 series. The cases are priced at 99 and 109 EUR, respectively.

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Seasonic Shows ATX 3.0 and PCIe Gen5 PSUs, MagFlow Fans, and Goes Industrial at Computex 2023
Seasonic had a lot to show at Computex 2023, including its full range of power supply units from the PRIME, VERTEX, and FOCUS series, that are now fully compliant with ATX 3.0 and PCIe Gen 5 specifications. In addition, Seasonic also had its new MagFlow ARGB fans on display, and a wide range of high efficiency industrial PSUs.

Seasonic's PRIME, VERTEX, and FOCUS series were front and center at the Computex showcase, and those high power PSUs with Gold, Platinum, and Titanium efficiency ratings will be equipped with 12VHPWR connectors, meet the latest graphics card requirements, and feature both modular and recognizable stamped cable design. The star of the show were obviously the PRIME PX-1600, PRIME Fanless TX-700, and the FOCUS SPX-750, which is a compact SFX PSU with modular design.

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Neo Forza Demonstrates DDR5 Memory Running at 8000 MHz and PCIe Gen 5 SSD at Computex 2023
Neo Forza, a Taiwanese brand entity under Goldkey Technology Corporation, had a booth at Computex 2023, where the company showed its next-generation memory and storage products. Starting off, the company presented its DDR5 memory kits running at 8000 MHz speeds, indicating the maturity of DDR5 and that we are way past the initial 4800 MHz speeds at launch. The demonstrated kit was a part of the company's TRINITY lineup, which was displayed in white. For demo purposes, the kit was configured as two 16 GB DIMMs.

Next up, Neo Forza has showcased its next-generation PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD. Running at x4 lanes of the new PCIe 5.0 protocol, the 2 TB SSD was spotted running at 10 GB/s speeds in both read and write tasks set by CrystalDiskMark benchmark. Interestingly, the SSD also boasted a massive heatsink, as shown below.

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Transcend Storage, Memory, and Surveillance Products at Computex 2023
Transcend brought its latest flash storage and PC memory products to Computex 2023. The company, much like Kingston and Micron, appears to be focusing on the high-volume mid-range of the market that it can sell both in the retail channel and to OEMs, without too much invested on niche high-end ones. To begin with, the company showed us its DDR5 UDIMMs and RDIMMs. Nothing flashy—these stick with JEDEC-standard speeds, such as DDR5-5600 (13th Gen native speed), and DDR5-4800.

The company doesn't have PCIe Gen 5 SSDs yet, but we were shown a handful Gen 4 ones meant for the DIY retail channel, including the PCIe SSD 250H (MTE250H), with its sporty heatsink, and extensive testing for PlayStation 5 compatibility; and its alter-ego without the heatsink, the PCIe SSD 250S (MTE250S). These drives come in capacities ranging between 1 TB to 4 TB, with sequential transfer speeds of up to 7.5 GB/s reads, and up to 6.7 GB/s writes. Also shown were a set of smaller NVMe Gen 3 SSDs in the M.2-2230 and M.2-2260 form-factors, the MTE300S and MTE400S, respectively. With capacities of just 256 GB and 512 GB for the MTE300S, and 256 GB thru 1 TB for the MTE400S, these drives are probably meant for hand-held game consoles, or low-cost desktop PCs, where OEMs or SIs buy them in large quantities.

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**NextPowerUP** · 05-06-23, 06:00

Leadtek revealed its GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Hurricane custom graphics card at the tail end of last month. The latest refresh of the company's Hurricane cooling solution looked very space age with its curved central X-formation design. Leadtek has chosen to expand upon this aesthetic with bigger brother NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series cards shown off at Computex this week. The company's WinFast GPU lineup has grown with the additions of RTX 4090 Hurricane 24G, RTX 4080 Hurricane 16G, RTX 4070 Ti Hurricane 12G and RTX 4070 Hurricane 12G models.

All of these units sport metal backplates, but there are some differences in the makeup of attached cooling solutions. The RTX 4090 and 4080 models are cooled by a triple (100 m) fan array and eight heat pipes. The RTX 4070 Ti sports three "large" fans (size not specified) and six heat pipes. The RTX 4070 (non-Ti) makes do with only a pair of "large" fans, but has the same number of heat pipes (six) as its immediate sibling, albeit packed into a much shorter surround.

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AZZA Shows Interesting Case Designs at Computex 2023
AZZA, a company known for creating cases of interesting design, had a new lineup to show at Computex 2023. The star of the show may very well be AZZA's new Sanctum 810, a giant cube case with a cut corner that carries support for up to seven 120 mm fans, creating adequate airflow once configured. There is even room to mount a 360 mm radiator for a custom water cooling build, as shown in the pictures below.

Next, we have AZZA's oddly-shaped Mesa 811 -- a twisted cube case that supports E-ATX motherboards, has glass side panels, and even has perforated aluminium panels. It also fits three 120 mm fans in the front and only has one 120 mm in the back, but there is space to do a custom cooling loop.

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Gamiac Debuts Hot Swappable Keyboards and Mouse at Computex 2023
Gamiac is a brand new gaming peripherals outfit - recently created by Pro Gamersware GmbH. The plucky crew debuted their product range at this year's Computex with the aim of demonstrating gaming devices that offer excellent quality, flexibility and great value for money. The headliners appear to be two mechanical keyboard models - TKL-87G (87 keys) and TKL-68G (68 keys) - both sport 19 RGB modes, Kailh hot-swappable switches and durable PBT keycaps. A variety of casing and keycap color schemes will be available at launch - Gamiac estimates that the TKL-87G and TKL-68G keyboards will be out before the end of 2023.

The young brand also presented their PX-71 super light gaming mouse at Computex - this fancy pointing device features a modular design, so users can configure between solid and honey-comb shells. An interchangeable switch system is installed on the mouse's PCB - providing the option to hot-swap out the primary (M1 + M2) buttons. The PX-71 is a wired gaming mouse with a maximum 16,000 DPI - this likely points to it packing a Pixart PAW 3335 or PMW 3360 optical sensor. Gamiac will provide full specifications, pricing and launch information at a later date.

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AeroCool Showcases APNX Product Range at Computex 2023
AeroCool is presenting their newly introduced Performance Nexus (APNX) products at this year's Computex - including a case, power supply, CPU air cooler and case fans. They have decided to offer this hardware lineup in a wide variety of colors - let us start with the APNX-C1 ATX tower case which can be customized further with all sorts of alternative tone top plates. There are standard black and white options for traditionalists, as well as more adventurous variants in the form of green, pink and red color schemes. The internal layout can accommodate a maximum of 10 case fans - three APNX 120 mm units are pre-installed at the front. AeroCool indicates that the APNX-C1 case will be coming out later this year with an MSRP of $149/€139.

The APNX F1 are F2 are PWM case fans with ARGB lighting systems, offered up in two sizes: 120 mm and 140 mm. AeroCool has increased fan thickness to 30 mm on these Performance Nexus units, which they reckon contributes to greater cooling efficiency (by 50%) over standard 25 mm examples. The chunky casing features sizable anti-vibration rubber pads that ensure that the APNX F1 and F2 operate at super quiet levels. There were many color options on display at the company's booth - so system builders will be have plenty of tonal customizations to experiment with. The F1 has a bi-chromatic plastic design, while the F2 has a textured metal frame - the latter will be supplied with a swappable reverse air flow fan blade. AeroCool is still in the process of finalizing these F-models, so availability and pricing will be announced at a later time.

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**NextPowerUP** · 07-06-23, 06:10

Greenliant will highlight its portfolio of solid state storage products for automotive and transportation applications at the ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Technology Expo in Stuttgart, Germany, June 13-15, at booth 6024. Greenliant's portfolio of high reliability data storage products includes high capacity industrial SSDs (SATA 2.5", NVMe U.2), NANDrive ball grid array SSDs (eMMC, PATA, SATA), and ArmourDrive SSDs (SATA M.2, mSATA, SATA 2.5", NVMe M.2) and memory cards (SD / microSD). Meet with technical experts at booth 6024 to learn how Greenliant SSDs and memory cards can address the requirements of best-in-class ADAS and autonomous driving applications.

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(PR) More Games Get NVIDIA DLSS Support
Each week, we're bringing you news of the latest DLSS and ray tracing integrations in games and apps. Last week at COMPUTEX 2023, we announced that Ash Echoes, Honor of Kings: World, and Legend of Ymir will all launch with DLSS 3, and Party Animals with DLSS 2. And we celebrated the Early Access DLSS 3-enhanced release of Diablo IV, and the launch of System Shock with DLSS 2.

This week, Diablo IV launches for everyone worldwide, Tower of Fantasy has updated to DLSS 3, and Sony announced the July 26th release of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which will include DLSS 3, ray tracing, Reflex, and DLAA. Additionally, DLSS 2 is now available in Alone In The Dark Prologue, WILD HEARTS, and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, enabling GeForce RTX gamers to get the best possible performance and image quality in even more games.

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(PR) Kingston Technology Releases Server Premier 5600MT/s and 5200MT/s DDR5 ECC UDIMMs and ECC SODIMMs
Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced the release of its 32 GB and 16 GB Server Premier DDR5 5600MT/s and 5200MT/s ECC Unbuffered DIMMs and ECC SODIMMs.

Server Premier UDIMM and ECC SODIMMs
For over 35 years Kingston has been the memory brand trusted by leading server manufacturers and the world's largest data centers. Server Premier is Kingston's industry standard server class memory solution sold by specification for use in white-box systems, and is Intel platform validated and qualified by leading motherboard/system manufacturers. Featuring a locked BOM (Bill of Materials) to provide a consistent brand and revision of primary components (including DRAM, PMIC, SPD hub, thermal sensors, and PCB), all Kingston server memory solutions are 100% tested and undergo a rigorous dynamic burn-in process designed to catch early-life failures at the factory.

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(PR) Microsoft Outlines New Xbox Safety Measures for Children
At Xbox, we have the fundamental commitment to provide all players with a safe and secure experience on our platform - and this is especially true for our youngest players. We frequently iterate on our safety measures, in collaboration and with feedback from the community, regulators and partners. We recently entered into a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to update our account creation process and resolve a data retention glitch found in our system. Regrettably, we did not meet customer expectations and are committed to complying with the order to continue improving upon our safety measures. We believe that we can and should do more, and we'll remain steadfast in our commitment to safety, privacy, and security for our community.

Our two decades of safety experience has taught us that all players want, and need, safety and privacy protections. Since 2005, when we launched the first console that could connect players online, we've continued to invest in tools and technologies to protect our community. That work evolved into a multifaceted safety strategy. Our suite of safety, privacy and security measures are designed to respect player privacy and safety, and empower players, as well as parents and caregivers, to have control over their gaming experiences.

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(PR) NVIDIA Triton Inference Server Running A100 Tensor Core GPUs Boosts Bing Advert Delivery
Inference software enables shift to NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs, delivering 7x throughput for the search giant. Jiusheng Chen's team just got accelerated. They're delivering personalized ads to users of Microsoft Bing with 7x throughput at reduced cost, thanks to NVIDIA Triton Inference Server running on NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs. It's an amazing achievement for the principal software engineering manager and his crew.

Tuning a Complex System
Bing's ad service uses hundreds of models that are constantly evolving. Each must respond to a request within as little as 10 milliseconds, about 10x faster than the blink of an eye. The latest speedup got its start with two innovations the team delivered to make AI models run faster: Bang and EL-Attention. Together, they apply sophisticated techniques to do more work in less time with less computer memory. Model training was based on Azure Machine Learning for efficiency.

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TSMC Employees Experiencing Problems in Arizona
TSMC is having a tough time establishing itself in the United States with new manufacturing facilities - the Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company is putting a great deal of effort into finishing its new Arizona foundry, located in the greater Phoenix area. A minor fire incident occurred at one of their construction sites in late April, and North American news outlets last week reported on the company's struggle to recruit enough staff - approximately 4500 positions - for its upcoming Arizona plants. Current and former employees of TSMC in the U.S. have taken to the Glassdoor review website - user feedback has so far awarded the company a 27% approval rating via 91 submissions, thus warning potential candidates to stay away. Apparently American staffers have found it difficult to adjust to TSMC's corporate culture, and the company could face further challenges when transferring staff from Taiwan.

The latest news from Arizona points to problems encountered at the so-called "TSMC Village" - actually two residential locations divided into "A" and "B" categories. Taiwan's Economic Daily released a video report late last month covering crime-related incidents - this information has since been picked up by Western news outlets. Perpetrators have targeted houses and cars within these new build communities - UDN's footage indicates that seven vehicles located in Village A were damaged with a portion of them broken into. A single Village B property was accessed by possible squatters, and an unspecified number of TSMC engineers have been "robbed" throughout May. Several residents were contacted by UDN - interviewees expressed frustrations with the lack of security in the area, and blamed a local management company for not bolstering prevention measures.

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Two Diablo IV Expansions in Development at Blizzard
The Diablo franchise's general manager Rod Fergusson appeared on the Kinda Funny Xcast last week, only a few days before the fourth game's full launch - episode 140's interview segment focused on Blizzard's final preparations and post-game content (seasonal and possible DLC) calendar. Fergusson indicated that his team was very busy and will have more work to do: "As I sit here we're about to launch the main game, we're finishing up season one, we're working on season two, we're working on expansion one, we're kicking off expansion two…we're working on that now and we haven't even launched the game."

Blizzard Entertainment received much criticism for its slow and sparse trickle out of seasonal material for Diablo III, and Fergusson is keen to not repeat similar post-launch patterns with the latest entry in a very long running series (the first game debuted back in January 1997!). Diablo IV has been built with a live-service format in mind - thus allowing for greater and more substantial content to be delivered over seasonal time periods. Blizzard is likely aiming to compete with the likes of Bungie (Destiny 2) in terms of keeping an online game alive for a while - Fergusson outlines a key goal for his team: "We're going to be supporting Diablo 4 for years to come - (with) very rich seasons, much richer than we had in Diablo 3."

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Sony Boss Thinks PlayStation Division is Capable of Taking on Cloud Gaming Challenges
Kenichiro Yoshida, the chief executive at Sony Corporation has recently sat down with the Financial Times for an interview discussing his company's plans for the future. He touched upon his PlayStation division's early experiments in the cloud gaming sector - arch rival Microsoft has already carved out a strong position here with its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Yoshida-san discussed numerous issues (latency is major point of contention) that the Sony gaming arm continues to battle with, but the team will persevere: "I think cloud itself is an amazing business model, but when it comes to games, the technical difficulties are high...so there will be challenges to cloud gaming, but we want to take on those challenges."

Sony has looked at competitors in order to learn lessons in advance - most notably in the area of high and low traffic periods: "The dark time for cloud gaming had been an issue for Microsoft as well as Google (with their now defunct Stadia platform), but it was meaningful that we were able to use those (quieter) hours for AI learning." stated Yoshida. The company has been figuring out ways to get the most out of idle/low activity cloud gaming periods - an AI agent called GT Sophy has been tasked with figuring out ways to beat human opponents during periods of low activity.

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**NextPowerUP** · 07-06-23, 06:10

Today, Intel introduced the Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M as new members of the Intel Arc Pro A-series professional range of graphics processing units (GPUs). The new products are a significant step up in performance in the Intel Arc Pro family and are carefully designed for professional workstations users with up to 12 GB of video memory (VRAM) and support for four displays with high dynamic range (HDR) and Dolby Vision support.

With built-in ray tracing hardware, graphics acceleration and machine learning capabilities, the Intel Arc Pro A60 GPU unites fluid viewports, the latest in visual technologies and rich content creation in a traditional single slot factor.

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(PR) Apple Details Improvements Offered in Upcoming macOS Sonoma
macOS Sonoma brings all‑new capabilities for elevating productivity and creativity with more ways to personalize via widgets and stunning new screen savers, significant updates to Safari and video conferencing, along with an optimized gaming experience - the Mac experience is better than ever. Apple yesterday previewed macOS Sonoma, the latest version of the world's most advanced desktop operating system, bringing a rich set of features that elevate the Mac experience. Stunning screen savers and powerful widgets unlock an entirely new way to personalize. Users can now place widgets right on the desktop, interact with them with just a click, and through the magic of Continuity, access the extensive ecosystem of iPhone widgets on their Mac.

In macOS Sonoma, video conferencing also gets more engaging with great new features to help users present remotely, like Presenter Overlay, which places a presenter on top of the content being shared, and Reactions, which enables fun gesture-triggered video effects in cinematic quality. Significant updates come to Safari, taking the web experience to the next level. Profiles keeps browsing separate between multiple topics or projects, and web apps provide faster access to favorite sites. And gaming gets even better, with the introduction of Game Mode, exciting new titles, and a new game porting toolkit that makes it even easier for developers to bring more games to Mac.

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AMD Radeon RX 7600 GPU Has Better Cache & VRAM Latency Than RX 7900 XTX
Chips and Cheese published their very in-depth review of AMD's Radeon RX 7600 GPU last weekend - a team member (Jiray) took it upon themselves to actually buy the card, since a sample unit was not supplied for evaluation. The site's exploration of this graphics processing unit on an architectural level revealed a couple of positive aspects - which comes as a minor surprise since the Radeon RX 7600 received a generally lukewarm reception upon launch at the end of last month. Thanks to the Radeon RX 7600's Navi 33 XL GPU being a monolithic chip it seems to outpace—in terms of cache and memory latency performance—chiplet-based designs as featured in the vastly more powerful (and expensive) Radeon RX 7900-series cards.

Factoring in the smaller space that the RDNA 3 Navi 33 die occupies - it seems that it gains an advantage over the flagship card. Chips and Cheese reports that AMD's RX 7900 XTX takes up to 58% longer to access and pull data from its pool of Infinity Cache, when contrasted with the recently released sibling. The RX 7600 GPU exhibits 15% lower VRAM latencies compared to the RX 7900 XTX when retrieving data from the onboard GDDR6 VRAM chiplets. The review points to a greater disparity between current high-end and mid-range cards when looking back at equivalent models from the preceding generation: "The difference is especially large with RDNA 3. With RDNA 2, the RX 6900 XT had 151.57 ns of Infinity Cache latency compared to 130 ns on the RX 6600 XT, or a 16.5% latency penalty for the larger GPU." Chips and Cheese reckons that AMD's Navi 31's "chiplet configuration may be causing higher latency."

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(PR) AAEON's UP Squared i12 is the World's Smallest 12th Gen Intel Core-Powered Developer Board
AAEON's UP brand, known for its sophisticated developer board range, have announced the release of the UP Squared i12, the smallest developer board with 12th Generation Intel Core /Celeron Processor 7000 Series Processors. The 85.6 mm x 90 mm form factor is the latest to move into its third generation, and much like recent releases from the brand's UP Xtreme and UP Squared Pro collections, the UP Squared i12 displays a number of distinct upgrades on its predecessor.

With 12th Generation Intel Core processors and onboard LPDDR5 on such a tiny board, the UP Squared i12 targets a number of key markets with its potential to be deployed as a low-cost, space-efficient, and high-performance foundation for developers to work with. AAEON believe the greater bandwidth speed offered by the board's LPDDR5 will be beneficial to projects in the smart retail space, being particularly suited to applications such as frictionless shopping and intelligent vending machines.

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Western Digital Announces WD_Black C50 Expansion Cards for Xbox Series X|S
Western Digital has officially unveiled its WD_BLACK C50 expansion card lineup for Microsoft's current generation Xbox Series X and S consoles, to not much surprise given that one of these products was leaked back in Spring of this year. Best Buy preempted Western Digital's announcement just over two months ago when a listing for the WD_BLACK C50 1 TB model appeared on their store site. Seagate has been the official partner (with Microsoft) for the manufacture and distribution of Xbox Series console storage expansion cards since launch time (November 2020), and has recently adjusted their pricing - possibly in anticipation of Western Digital's cheaper third party alternatives.

Xbox Series console owners have often complained about the system's expensive proprietary storage expansion ecosystem (relative to Sony's PlayStation 5 utilizing industry standard M.2 SSDs), so new competition in this highly controlled market segment is welcome. Two WD_BLACK C50 expansion cards are now available from today - in the shape of 1T B ($149.99) and 500 GB ($79.99) models. Susan Park, vice president, global strategic partnerships at Western Digital has introduced these new offerings: "Xbox consoles have been a much beloved gaming staple in households around the globe for decades. With the introduction of the WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card for Xbox, gamers can continue to enjoy their favorite games with more flexibility so they can focus on accomplishing their next mission or defeating their final boss." Western Digital specifies that these units come with a five-year long warranty, and a further incentive for purchase is an included one-month trial of Game Pass Ultimate.

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(PR) EK-Quantum Velocity² CPU Water Block is a Repeat Award Winner
EK, the renowned manufacturer of premium water-cooling equipment, is delighted to announce that their EK-Quantum Velocity² CPU Water Block has once again been honored with the European Hardware Award for Best Custom Cooling solution. This prestigious accolade was presented during the 2023 European Hardware Awards, where a panel of over 100 esteemed tech journalists assessed the top hardware offerings in the European market. For further details on the nomination process, selection criteria, and other award recipients, please visit the official European Hardware Awards website.

EK's impressive three-year streak of consecutive achievements at the European Hardware Awards is crowned by the EK-Velocity² CPU water block's successive victories, securing the win for the second time. This follows a similar pattern from previous years, where the EK-AIO 360 D-RGB claimed the title of the best CPU Cooler in 2021, with the EK-Velocity² CPU water block winning the Best Custom Cooling solution award in 2022.

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**NextPowerUP** · 07-06-23, 06:10

Marsrhino demonstrated its high-end gaming chair product range at this year's Computex - including Infinite GT, Infinite GT Black, Infinite Air and Infinite S models. These are all constructed at the company's Taiwan factory facility and are offered with five year warranties. Marsrhino has clearly taken influence from premium ergonomic office chair designs - the Infinite lineup shares many industry standard features while maintaining a classy gaming aesthetic - such as fully adjustable lumbar supports via their unique 3D somatosensory system, tilt plus lock functionality, breathable elasticated mesh and foam backings, 4D positional armrests, 2D adjustable headrests, aluminium alloy bases (enamel finish) with a Class-4 gas lift cylinder and large PU super quiet (muted) casters.

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China-only ASUS RTX 4070 Atlas Shark is the RTX 4070 Megalodon with Regular Power Connector
ASUS unveiled the China-exclusive GeForce RTX 4070 Atlas Shark graphics card. If this card looks familiar, it's because the card is practically identical to the RTX 4070 Megalodon concept ASUS showed off at the 2023 Computex. The only difference between the two is that while the Megalodon features the proprietary power slot the company is introducing with its BTF-series motherboards (with their connectors and ports on the reverse side of the PCB); the new RTX 4070 Atlas Shark is a regular graphics card. It has no fancy power slot interfaces, and uses a regular 8-pin PCIe power input where you'd expect one to be. The card comes with a factory overclock of 2520 MHz, compared to 2475 MHz reference. You also get dual-BIOS, with the second BIOS engaging reference speeds and aggressive fan-speed management. ASUS is pricing the RTX 4070 Atlas Shark at RMB ¥3,299 (USD $464).

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(PR) TEAM GROUP Launches New Eco-friendly Net-zero Flash Drive: C175 ECO
June 5th is recognized globally as World Environment Day. To support this year's World Environment Day campaign - Beat Plastic Pollution - and call on the public to take action against plastic pollution, Team Group is proud to announce our latest eco-friendly product - the C175 ECO Net-zero Flash Drive. Team Group has always been committed to researching, developing, and designing sustainable solutions. The C175 ECO Net-zero Flash Drive, therefore, revolves around the circular economy as its core principle and aims to reduce the use of new plastics, giving second life to waste plastics through recycling and reuse as we remain steadfast in our commitment to creating a sustainable future for planet Earth.

The C175 ECO Net-zero Flash Drive is made from 75% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics and is able to effectively reduce 69% of carbon emissions without compromising the durability of plastic materials, making it an effective storage solution with a smaller carbon footprint. Just 100,000 Net-zero Flash Drives is equivalent to saving nearly 203,000 sheets of A4 paper or eliminating the use of 9,200 PET water bottles (600ml), which means buying a C175 ECO Net-zero Flash Drive is the equivalent of saving 2 sheets of A4 paper or 0.1 PET bottles. Owning a C175 ECO Net-zero Flash Drive is a lifestyle choice, a commitment to energy conservation and carbon reduction, and a real step towards protecting our planet Earth. Let's beat plastic pollution together. The C175 ECO Net-zero Flash Drive features an ingenious concealed storage clip that enables users to plug the cap onto the back and prevent cap loss, which can also reduce pollution and safeguard our planet.

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(PR) ASUS Announces ExpertBook B9 OLED
ASUS today announced ExpertBook B9 OLED, an all-new business laptop meticulously crafted from premium magnesium-lithium alloy to push the limits of lightness for ultimate portability and durability—elevating it to the status of world's lightest 14-inch OLED business laptop, weighing a mere 990 g.

With an environmentally-friendly design, brilliant 16:10 OLED display, AI-powered camera and noise cancelation for modern work experiences, the latest Intel Core vPro processor and a multitude of enterprise-grade security features, ExpertBook B9 OLED is the perfect partner for executives and business travelers. It ups both green credentials and professionalism, and sets a new benchmark for elite business laptops. ExpertBook B9 OLED is also backed by the imminent support of ASUS Carbon Partner Services.[ii] This service provides end-to-end delivery, assured quality, flexible and precise-carbon offset options that drive real, positive impact.

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(PR) ASUS Announces Vivobook 16 OLED With AMD Ryzen AI-Enabled H-Series Processors
ASUS today announced the refreshed Vivobook 16 OLED (M1605), a slim-and-light laptop featuring up to an AI-enabled AMD Ryzen 7000 H-Series processor, and expertly engineered for everyday entertainment and productivity. Perfect performance is delivered by up to an AMD Ryzen 7000 H-Series processor with 16 GB RAM and up to a 1 TB SSD. Quiet and efficient cooling is provided by the dual-vented cooling system with two heat pipes and an IceBlade fan. The long-lasting up to 70 Wh battery gives users more freedom, and there's up to WiFi 6E for ultrafast connectivity.

This latest model features a superb OLED NanoEdge Pantone Validated display with 3.2K resolution, a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 0.2 millisecond response time - plus an 16:10 aspect ratio display for an extended view. The NanoEdge OLED displays offer up to a 1.000,000:1 contrast ratio with a screen-to-body ratio of up to 86.5%. It also benefits from TÜV Rheinland low blue-light certification to ensure eye comfort during long viewing sessions. The eye-catching slim and lightweight design is finished in a selection of on-trend colors. The 180° lay-flat hinge allows easy collaboration and sharing, and the comprehensive I/O capabilities include up to a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port with Power Delivery, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB 2.0 port, an HDMI output, and an audio combo jack.

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**NextPowerUP** · 07-06-23, 06:10

In addition to new ATX 3.0 and impressive SFX power supplies, as well as the new cases, fans, and TOUGHRAM memory lineup, Thermaltake also brought its new TH Series AIO coolers to the Computex 2023 show. The TH V2 ARGB Sync and the TH V2 Ultra ARGB Sync are the 2nd generation TH Series AIO liquid coolers that will be available in 120, 240, 280, 360, and 420 models and feature an 120, 240, 280, 360, and 420 models. Both will be paired up with the new CT120 / CT140 ARGB Sync fans spinning at 2000/1800 RPM, a newly designed low-profile radiator, and an extended 460 mm tube length.

As noted, both the TH V2 Series and the TH V2 Ultra Series come with a new 27 mm slim radiator with 20 mm thick copper chamber. The aforementioned CT120 / CT140 ARGB Sync fans promise balanced airflow and air pressure, as well as feature 9 addressable LEDs. They also have an integrated daisy-chain design, allowing up to 3 fans to use a single PWM and 5 V ARGB cable. The 2.1-inch LCD screen on the TH V2 Ultra ARGB Sync AIO Liquid Cooler can either showcase information about the system or show pictures and videos in 480x480 resolution. It can be customized via TT RGB Plus 2.0 software. Both upgraded AIO liquid coolers will be compatible with all recent Intel and AMD platforms. The TH V2 Ultra series AIO will come in 240, 280, 360, and 420 version. It is expected on retail/e-tail shelves in Q3 this year.

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**NextPowerUP** · 09-06-23, 06:12

If you were watching the Summer Game Fest today, you may have seen our short Ngamakanui teaser for Path of Exile 2! If you missed it, you can check it out below. At ExileCon, we (Grinding Gears Games) will reveal everything there is to know about Path of Exile 2 - including its beta launch date! We'll also be showcasing Path of Exile: Mobile and the 3.22 expansion for Path of Exile 1 at this event.

ExileCon takes place on Jul 28, 2023, or the 28th and 29th of July PDT. You can watch online or attend in person. In the meantime, find out more at pathofexile2.com, where you can also sign up for reminders to get all the latest updates.

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(PR) Square Enix Sets Early 2024 Launch for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
You've been wondering when you'll get your next look at FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH. That time is now! We've just released a new trailer for the game, and it offers a first glimpse at the gameplay and story of the highly anticipated new RPG. Not only that, we also revealed a fresh look at the upcoming mobile title FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS, including details of the upcoming closed beta test.

There's a lot to see in the new footage: A fully controllable Red XIII! Yuffie's part of the team! Massive-scale boss fights! Rideable chocobos! An expansive and beautiful world! You'll also get a glimpse at the gripping story, which sees Cloud Strife and his allies confronted by some shocking mysteries, along with some exciting ways for them to team up in combat. We think you'll agree it's a tantalizing taste of what you'll get to experience when the game releases. As for when that will be, we can tell you that FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH will launch in early 2024 digitally and physically for PS5.

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(PR) Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2's Three Player Co-Op Mode Revealed
Today, Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive, in partnership with Games Workshop, are thrilled to showcase the co-op mode for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, the explosive third-person action game that brings another level of spectacle and bombast to Games Workshop's franchise. The teams debuted a new trailer showcasing spectacular action gameplay and breathtaking cinematic footage at this year's Summer Game Fest Live Showcase. Focus and Saber can also confirm highly-anticipated sequel will launch this winter on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Physical versions are open for pre-orders, alongside a prestigious Collector's Edition.

A bombastic action-packed campaign to experience solo or in co-op
As showcased in the Co-Op Campaign Reveal Trailer (below), Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 features a gripping narrative that follows fan-favorite Lieutenant Titus—powerfully portrayed by actor Clive Standen. Embody the superhuman skill and brutality of the Emperor's greatest warriors by unleashing deadly abilities and an arsenal of devastating weaponry, and obliterate the relentless Tyranid hordes, solo or cooperatively with friends or AI in the 3-player co-op mode.

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TSMC Planning Advanced Packaging Capacity Expansion due to Increased Demand for NVIDIA AI Tech
TSMC is quickly reacting to a surge in demand for NVIDIA hardware following an AI industry boom - the Taiwanese semiconductor contract manufacturer is reportedly planning to further expand its advanced packaging capabilities, due to current production lines hitting maximum capacity. News outlets have also cited the growth of 5G technology and Internet of Things (IoT) device markets as contributing factors. DigiTimes Asia reports that clients are snapping up chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) at an increased and unprecedented rate. TSMC has decided to provide NVIDIA - an extremely high profile customer - with an extra 10,000 CoWoS wafers. The article sourced information from a recent company shareholder meeting, where chairman Mark Liu discussed these expansions plans. He outlined improved factory facilities that will result in an additional output of 1,000 to 2,000 wafers per month. TSMC is set to upgrade equipment at its existing facilities in order to meet increasing demand.

Trendforce has also published its evaluation from the same TSMC shareholding meeting: "Due to the generative AI trend initiated by ChatGPT, the demand for advanced packaging orders for TSMC has increased, forcing an increase in advanced packaging capacity. TSMC also pointed out that the demand for TSMC's advanced packaging capacity far exceeds the existing capacity, and it is forced to increase production as quickly as possible. Chairman Mark Liu stated that the current investment in R&D focuses on two legs, namely 3D IC (chip stacking) and advanced packaging...At present, three-quarters of TSMC's R&D expenditure is used for advanced processes, and one quarter for mature and special processes, with advanced packaging falling under mature and special processes."

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(PR) Steam, Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Account Linking Now Possible on GeForce NOW
Get into your favorite games faster by linking GeForce NOW to Steam, Epic Games Store and Ubisoft accounts. And get a peek at more games coming to GeForce NOW later this year by tuning in to Ubisoft Forward on Monday, June 12, when the game publisher will reveal its latest news and announcements. Plus, two new games are available to stream from the cloud this week, as well as the newest season for Tom Clancy's The Division 2 from Ubisoft. GeForce NOW makes gaming convenient and easy for members by enabling them to link their accounts from Steam, Epic and, most recently, Ubisoft, directly to the service. Instead of signing into their accounts for each play session, members can be automatically signed in across their devices after linking them up just once.

Starting today, launching Ubisoft Connect games requires members to link their Ubisoft accounts in the app. Once that's completed, members can effortlessly play hit Ubisoft games, including Rainbow Six Siege, Far Cry 6 and The Division 2. Members also have the benefit of library account syncing, which automatically syncs supported GeForce NOW games from Ubisoft Connect and Steam libraries - helping members find their Ubisoft games instantly. For an even more streamlined experience, upgrade to an Ultimate or Priority membership to skip the waiting lines over free members and get into gaming faster.

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**NextPowerUP** · 09-06-23, 06:12

Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Case, Power, Cooling, Gaming peripherals, and enthusiast Memory solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of Ceres 300 TG ARGB and Ceres 300 TG ARGB Snow, the latest ATX case in the Ceres lineup. These cases feature the perforated panels of the Ceres range, with more than 55% of the Ceres 300's panels perforated to provide optimal cooling. In addition, the Ceres 300 can support up to a 360/280 mm AIO radiator at the front and a 280 mm AIO radiator at the top. On top of that, the cases feature three pre-installed CT140 PC Cooling fans at the front and rear also, to help support the Ceres 300's outstanding cooling potential.

To achieve optimal airflow for cooling the latest graphics cards and CPUs, the Ceres 300 features more than 55% perforated panels to provide a large amount of air intake and exhaust. The Ceres 300 offers a wide variety of cooling installation options. Besides being equipped with two pre-installed CT140 ARGB Sync PC Cooling Fans at the front and one pre-installed CT140 PC Cooling Fan pre-installed at the rear, the Ceres 300 can support up to seven 120 mm or five 140 mm fans in the chassis, up to one 360 mm AIO radiator at the front, and up to one 280 mm radiator at the top. What's more, the LEDs of the pre-installed CT140 ARGB Sync PC Cooling Fans can be controlled by motherboard software from ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, and ASRock, allowing for fully customizable RGB lighting while enjoying the superior cooling performance of the Ceres 300. Through the 4 mm tempered glass panel on the left side, users can fully show off all hardware in all their RGB glory.

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AYA NEO Previews NEXT II Handheld Gaming PC
Competition in the handheld gaming PC space is heating up yet again with AYA NEO releasing more teaser material for its upcoming NEXT II model - an estimated late 2023 launch is touted. This model was first revealed last year, with the company choosing to drip feed information since then. We know that it will sport an 8-inch IPS display and be powered by an AMD Ryzen 7000 series APU, plus an unspecified discrete GPU. The ASUS ROG Ally handheld is similarly equipped with AMD mobile chipsets (albeit in slightly "Z1" and "Z1 Extreme" customized forms), but an integrated GPU takes care of graphics processing. In contrast the AYA NEO NEXT II has been designed to temper an APU and dGPU combination that can pull up to 100 W of power, so this package will offer far less portability when compared to the competition.

AYA NEO appears to be branching out in the creation of larger handheld gaming computers - the NEXT II is the chunkiest example so far - with more sizable options marked for release in the future. Comparisons to Valve's Steam Deck have been made due to AYA NEO's debuting of touchpads for this model - yet this new contender is a different beast thanks to a more traditional control layout and the system's reliance on a power outlet being nearby to sustain lengthy gaming sessions. The "semi-portable" nature of the NEXT II (plus proposed successors) is a curious prospect - will its unparalleled performance potential be enough to attract buyers or will its appeal be limited by being anchored to indoor environments?

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Seagate HAMR 32 TB Capacity Drives Arriving Later This Year, 40+ TB in 2024
Seagate has recently published a preview of its next generation product hard drive lineup that utilize heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology. A company roadmap indicates that the first commercial release of 32 TB capacity HAMR Mach 2 drives is penciled in for a Q3 2023 window, with a short hop to increased storage (40 TB) models predicted for launch in 2024. Seagate is also expected to release 24 TB and 28 TB capacity HDDs - based on the older perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology - at some point in the near future. Technology news outlets anticipate that these two product ranges will co-exist for a while, until Seagate decides to favor its more advanced thermal magnetic storage solution. A lucky data center client has been getting hands-on time with evaluation HAMR hardware, as reported in late April. Seagate has since supplied other enterprise customers with unspecified HAMR HDD models.

Executives at Seagate have been openly discussing their HAMR products - destined to sit in new Corvault server equipment. Gianluca Romano, the company's chief financial officer, mentioned several models during a presentation at the Bank of America 2023 Global Technology conference: "When you go to HAMR, our 32-terabyte (model) is based on 10 disks and 20 heads. So same number of disks and head of the current 20-terabyte PMR...So all the increase is coming through areal density. The following one, 40-terabyte, still (has) the same 10 disks and 20 heads. And also the 50 (TB model), we said at our earnings release, in our lab, we are already running individual disk at 5 terabytes."

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(PR) Bandai Namco Opens "Park Beyond" Beta Playtest to PC Gamers on Steam
Take advantage of the Open Beta and secure the exclusive Golden Omnicar. Park Beyond is park management, where you can build and manage the parks of your dreams. Whether you love to manage your staff, build crazy roller coaster, or decorate your own theme worlds. Park Beyond has something in store for you. PC gamers can download and play the Open Beta on Steam. This test period will be open until June 15 (3 PM). Be creative!

Park Beyond is a theme park simulation game that gives you the freedom to create and manage the Parks of your Dreams! Whether you love to manage finances and visitor experience or just create fun and cozy parks, the game has something in store just for you! In Park Beyond, you are the creative force behind a series of amusement parks, a Visioneer! You're a combination of a creator, a manager, and a designer, wrapped up in one powerful package. Every aspect of developing and maintaining successful theme parks will be under your control.

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Possible AMD Ryzen Zen 5 Prototype CPU Emerges from Online Databases
AMD made its upcoming Ryzen 8000 CPU series official earlier this week during a "Meet the Experts" presentation - a roadmap demonstrates that this next-generation "Zen 5" + "Navi 3.5" mainstream desktop processor lineup is expected to arrive in 2024. Leaked information (from last month) points to "Granite Ridge" being AMD's codename for the upcoming processor product range, with high-end examples maxing out at 16 CPU cores across two CCDs. Benchleaks has recently spotted a pair of curious looking AMD engineering samples - entries have appeared on the einstein@home and LHC@home distributed computing platforms.

The mystery SKU seems to be a prototype CPU model that sports 8 cores and 16 threads - the AMD product number (OPN) for this unit is "00-000001290-11_N" which does not correspond to anything currently on the market. A Family ID of 26 is specified - Benchleaks theorizes that this number assignment is "Zen 5" specific - given that the existing Family 25 (19H) identifier was assigned to Zen 3 and 4. It should be noted that one of AMD's alleged test systems appears to have been running unreleased graphics hardware - a non-specific Radeon unit (with 12 GB of VRAM) is mentioned within einstein@home's information dump, this could be a potential mid-range RX 7000-series card. A Radeon RX 7900 GRE GPU with an unusually low video memory allocation of 16 GB is listed in LHC@home's entry.

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Intel Core Ultra 7 1002H "Meteor Lake-P" Processor with 16 Cores and 22 Threads Surfaces
A few weeks ago, we spotted an Intel Core Ultra 7 1003H Meteor Lake-P processor in the wild, running a PugetBench set of benchmarks. Today, we are in luck as there is another Meteor Lake-P processor running in the wild, spotted by @InstLatX64 on Twitter. Called Intel Core Ultra 7 1002H, the CPU represents a similar SKU to the previously discovered 1003. Also, having 16 cores in total, they are split into two categories: 6 Performance cores, and ten Efficient cores, two of which are on the SoC die, divided from the remaining eight on the compute die. Interestingly, only P-cores feature 2-way hyperthreaded, so 12 threads from P-cores and ten threads from E-cores combine into 22 threads.

What we don't know is the frequency of this chip and the position it plays in the Meteor Lake-P family of processors. The screenshot states a potential base clock of 3000 MHz; however, it could be an early engineering sample chip, so we have to wait for the final design. With 1003H having exactly the same core/thread number, we expect that the newly discovered 1002H has potentially lower clocks and TDP to match.

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**NextPowerUP** · 09-06-23, 06:12

Cooler Master, renowned for its industry-leading PC components, today announced the MA824 Stealth, a cutting-edge air cooler designed to keep your machine cool during the most intense applications. The MA824 Stealth is a testament to our innovative approach to design, boasting a suite of advanced specifications encased in a modern, sleek exterior.

"This high-performance air cooler, featuring our groundbreaking Superconductive Composite Heat Pipe technology, raises the bar in both performance and design," Said Jimmy Sha, CEO Cooler Master." Sleek, efficient, and robust, the Stealth is a statement piece for any setup. We continue to push boundaries for PC enthusiasts, power users, and custom builders worldwide. Welcome to the next level of air cooling with Cooler Master."

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(PR) Drop Introduces Fourth Installment of "Caps for Causes" — MT3 NoveltyCats
CAPS—& CATS—FOR CAUSES - Having raised tens of thousands of dollars in our previous Treecaps, Streamcaps, and Ukrainecaps runs, we're excited to launch the fourth installment in Caps for Causes: MT3 NoveltyCats. This time, we want to honor June's "Adopt a Shelter Cat Month" with a donation to the ASPCA on behalf of our Mech Keys community.

For these feline-focused novelties, we used the original MT3 Susuwatari First-Edition Cat Keycap mold to craft some absolutely adorable caps in Black-on-White, Dasher, Fairlane, and Dusk colorways. (If you're a Studio Ghibli fan, you may recognize the talkative inspiration for this particular cinematic cat.) With just 550 packs made—in brand-new colorways, no less—we're not expecting the NoveltyCats to last long. Get yours now, before the cat's out of the bag for good.

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(PR) Paradox Posts New Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Screenshots, Explains Pre-order Refund Process
Dear Bloodlines fans, it's been quite a while between updates while we've had our heads down working on the game. We remain just as dedicated to delivering a great Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines game as we were when we announced, and are looking forward to showing you more in September this year.

We acknowledge it was a long time ago that many of you pre-ordered Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. As development continues, we will be updating the game's editions and bonus content, and we want to provide the best value to those of you who supported us via digital pre-order after all this time. We are thus offering refunds to anyone who has pre-ordered any edition of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. As part of this process, we are proactively refunding all pre-orders of physical products, including the Collector's Edition. The digital versions of the First Blood Edition, Unsanctioned Edition and Blood Moon Edition remain, but can be refunded if you choose.

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NVIDIA Finds a Clever Way to Boost DLAA Adoption—To Turn it into a DLSS Preset
DLAA, or deep-learning anti-aliasing, is essentially DLSS without the image upscaling. The technology holds the rendering resolution at par with your display's, but uses AI to attempt to add detail to your game, particularly smoothing out edges and other forms in the raster graphics that could require anti-aliasing. The result is image quality that's visibly superior to even native-resolution, and other methods of anti-aliasing, such as TAA and MSAA. Since all this is happening at native resolution, there is zero performance gain, some performance loss, however not one that is comparable to MSAA. It's a wonderful technology, and any game that supports DLSS should naturally expose DLAA in its quality settings to end-users, however this isn't the case. DLAA is seeing sluggish adoption among game developers, and NVIDIA has taken it upon itself to fix this.

NVIDIA is working on updates to DLSS that essentially makes DLAA a quality preset. We know from an article from earlier this week that DLSS performance presets don't just linearly scale render resolution, but affect other algorithm features, such as Reflex. A unique "G" preset was found in an Unreal Engine 5.2 presentation by Epic. It turns out, that this preset is part of the updates NVIDIA is planning for not just DLSS 3, but also DLSS 2, which makes DLAA a quality preset for DLSS. When engaged, it renders the game at 100% display resolution, without upscaling, but applies much of the AI image reconstruction features of DLSS. With this, it is hoped that many more game developers will pick up on DLAA, and integrate it with practically any game that supports DLSS.

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Noctua's Next-Gen NF-A14 Fans Use Liquid Crystal Polymer Impellers
Noctua is preparing a major design update for its NF-A series fans. The company is preparing its next-generation fans with the new Sterrox liquid-crystal polymer material. LCP provides superior structural stability for the blades at high RPM, allowing them to maintain their correct profile, and maximizing their airflow and noise characteristics; in comparison to impellers made from conventional thermoplastics such as LDPE, PBT, PVC, ABS, etc. LCPs also feature very high strength-to-weight ratio, which is what makes another popular kind of LCP, Kevlar, the material of choice for anti-ballistic armors.

For case fans, the impeller has such structural strength to hold its shape, that Noctua has reduced clearance between the impeller and the bore of the frame to under 1 mm, which helps guide all of the fan's airflow axially. Other design innovations to the impeller include channels that accelerate airflow toward the edges of the fan blades, and a stepped inlet structure toward the impeller hub that creates a pressure-differential, and guides the air better toward the impeller blades. The fan hub is metal reinforced, and the motor uses an SSO2 fan bearing. The frame of the fan, has integrated anti-vibration pads. Noctua plans to launch the next-gen 140 mm A-series case fan in Q1-2024.

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(PR) G.SKILL DDR5 Memory Achieves DDR5-11240 & Multiple Overclock Records During Computex 2023
G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand of performance overclock memory and PC components, is excited to announce that multiple overclock records were achieved during the Computex time frame, including the fastest DDR5 frequency record at DDR5-11240, using G.SKILL DDR5 memory and Intel platforms. This year during Computex time frame, the fastest DDR5 frequency world record was set by Seby9123, using the ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Apex motherboard, Intel Core i9-13900KS, and G.SKILL DDR5 memory. For the overclock record submission on hwbot.org, please visit this page.

Thanks to the outstanding overclocking skills of the world's top extreme overclockers and the incredible performance of the top-notch hardware from Intel and performance motherboard vendors, several overclocking records were achieved in the Computex time frame. Refer to the table below for a list of overclock records achieved and hardware usage, including some benchmark categories whose record was broken more than once.

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(PR) MINISFORUM Unveils the EM680 Ultra-Mini Desktop PC
MINISFORUM, a leading manufacturer of Mini PC, has launched its highly anticipated Mercury Series product, the EM680. The MINISFORUM EM680 is an ultra small-Mini PC with a volume of only 1/4 liter (80×80×43 length*width*height/mm) ]and a weight of only 238 g. It can be easily placed anywhere, including on a desktop, in a handbag or even in a jeans pocket, making it incredibly convenient for users who need to take it with them on the go.

The MINISFORUM Mercury EM680 is powered by a robust AMD Ryzen 7 6800U 8-core processor, which breaks the monopoly of low-performance dual-core and quad-core processors in the ultra small-Mini PC market. The enhanced performance allows users to easily handle everyday office tasks and light gaming. In addition, MINISFORUM has incorporated the Cold Wave 2.0 cooling system into the EM680, which features liquid cooling and an active SSD heat sink. This ensures that the ultra small-Mini PC performs at the same level as traditional thin and light business laptops.

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**NextPowerUP** · 09-06-23, 06:12

Western Digital introduced the WD Black SN850P M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSD for PlayStation 5 game consoles, which is an officially-licensed PlayStation 5 accessory. The drive can also used with PCs. It comes with a factory-fitted heatsink, and has been extensively tested for compatibility with the game console. The drive comes in three capacity-based variants—1 TB (WDBBYV0010BNC-WRSN), 2 TB (WDBBYV0020BNC-WRSN), and 4 TB (WDBBYV0040BNC-WRSN. All three models offer sequential read speeds of up to 7.3 GB/s, and while the 1 TB variant offers up to 6.3 GB/s sequential writes, the 2 TB and 4 TB ones are rated for up to 6.6 GB/s sequential writes. Their write endurance is rated at 600 TBW, 1,200 TBW, and 2,400 TBW, respectively. Western Digital is backing these drives with 5-year warranties. The company didn't reveal pricing.

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LG Sneaks Out Two 4K UltraGear Gaming Monitors
LG is something of an expert when it comes to silently launching new monitors and although its latest additions to its UltraGear range of gaming monitors are only minor variants of already existing products, it appears that we're looking at a pair of more affordable models. The 27GR93U-B and 32GR93U-B as the new models are called, measure 27 and 32-inches respectively and both offer 4K resolution and a 144 Hz refresh rate. Comparing the 27GR93U-B to the 27GN950-B, the first really obvious difference is the use of a standard IPS panel instead of a Nano IPS panel and this leads to a slight reduction in the DCI-P3 colour gamut from 98 to 95 percent.

The new models are only certified for FreeSync Premium, rather than FreeSync Premium Pro, but that appears to be the only obvious reduction in gaming features, as G-Sync compatible support, VRR, Black Stabilizer, Dynamic Action Sync, Crosshairs and the FPS counter are all present and accounted for. Both displays have two HDMI 2.1 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 and one upstreams and two downstreams USB 3.0 ports, as well as a 4-pole 3.5 mm jack for a headset. On the plus side, these new models have slightly lower power consumption, with a typical power consumption of about 50 W for the 27-inch model and 65 W for the 32-inch model. The stand still supports tilt, height and pivot adjustment. No official pricing was announced, but we found the 27-inch model listed in Hong Kong for the equivalent of around US$560, which is around US$200 less than what the 27GN950-B retails for.

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**NextPowerUP** · 11-06-23, 06:20

Rulers! We are thrilled to announce that Age of Wonders 4 Dragon Dawn Content Pack will be available in almost two weeks—on June 20th 2023! Like its name implies, the Age of Wonders 4: Dragon Dawn Content Pack is all about dragons. Players can build their fiery empires, lead reptilian armies, harness draconic magic, and set fire to their enemies as a Dragon Ruler. The pack will also launch alongside the free Wyvern Update, including an array of updates, quality of life upgrades, and balance changes identified by the Age of Wonders community.

Dragon Dawn enhances the gameplay with a distinct leader type, a physical appearance for factions, more Tomes of Magic, and even a fresh realm option. Dragon Dawn will launch on June 20, 2023 for a suggested retail price of $9.99/£8.49/€9.99. Players who purchased the Premium Edition of Age of Wonders 4 or the Expansion Pass will receive Dragon Dawn at launch. Read more about Dragon Lords in a dedicated Dev Journal.

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Chinese Games Market Hit $45.5 Billion in Revenue for 2022
A set of reports published by Niko Partners has calculated that the games market in China generated $45.5 billion in revenue last year. Native games companies (including Tencent and NetEase) accounted for 47% of worldwide mobile games revenue, along with a 39% revenue share of international PC games sales. Domestic figures show that 66% of China's gaming revenue comes from mobile, 31% from PC and 3% from console titles. The company's analysts posit that China persists as the largest global games market, with upward trends pushing growth to a predicted $57 billion of revenue by the year 2027. The gaming population is expected to expand to around 730 million participants by then.

Lisa Hanson, CEO and founder of Niko Partners included her own observations of the region's dominance: "Chinese game companies are growing internationally, and they are making bold investments at higher rates than ever. PC games revenue generated overseas by Chinese owned companies rose by 22% in 2022 and is expected to grow by a 13.8% CAGR through 2027 - which is higher than the domestic growth rate by a significant margin... China's market can be tough for domestic and foreign companies, but the country remains the number one market globally for games revenue and the number of gamers, and cannot be ignored.

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GDDR6 VRAM Prices Falling According to Spot Market Analysis - 8 GB Selling for $27
The price of GDDR6 memory has continued to fall sharply - over recent financial quarters - due to an apparent decrease in demand for graphics cards. Supply shortages are also a thing of the past—industry experts think that manufacturers have been having an easier time acquiring components since late 2021, but that also means that the likes of NVIDIA and AMD have been paying less for VRAM packages. Graphics card enthusiasts will be questioning why these savings have not been passed on swiftly to the customer, as technology news outlets (this week) have been picking up on interesting data—it demonstrates that spot prices of GDDR6 have decreased to less than a quarter of their value from a year and a half ago. 3DCenter.org has presented a case example of 8 GB GDDR6 now costing $27 via the spot market (through DRAMeXchange's tracking system), although manufacturers will be paying less than that due to direct contract agreements with their favored memory chip maker/supplier.

A 3DCenter.org staffer had difficulty sourcing the price of 16 Gb GDDR6 VRAM ICs on the spot market, so it is tricky to paint a comparative picture of how much more expensive it is to equip a "budget friendly" graphics card with a larger allocation of video memory, when the bill-of-materials (BoM) and limits presented by narrow bus widths are taken into account. NVIDIA is releasing a GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB variant in July, but the latest batch of low to mid-range models (GeForce RTX 4060-series and Radeon RX 7600) are still 8 GB affairs. Tom's Hardware points to GPU makers sticking with traditional specification hierarchy for the most part going forward: "(models) with double the VRAM (two 16 Gb chips per channel on both sides of the PCB) are usually reserved for the more lucrative professional GPU market."

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(PR) NetherRealm Studios Previews Mortal Kombat 1 Fighting Systems
Hello! My name is Tyler Lansdown, Community Manager at NetherRealm Studios. Now that you've seen the gameplay trailer at Summer Game Fest (if you haven't… GO DO THAT NOW! I'll wait.), let's dive deep and find out more about the fighting systems in Mortal Kombat 1.

In this exciting new iteration of the Mortal Kombat Universe, we wanted to give our players a new level of player expression… enter Kameo Fighters. In Mortal Kombat 1, Kameos are a unique roster of partner characters that assist your main roster fighter during matches. Kameos give you an advantage in every fight, providing an arsenal of additional Special Moves, and aiding their teammate with Throws and Breakers. Kameos are also one half of the bone-krushing Fatal Blows and feature their own Fatality.

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(PR) Sabrent Introduces its Quad NVMe SSD to PCIe 4.0 x16 Card
The Sabrent Quad NVMe SSD to PCIe 4.0 x16 Card (EC-P4BF) is the perfect complement for a desktop that requires additional high-performance storage. Add one, two, three, or four NVMe SSDs with a single, physical x16 PCIe slot adapter. A bifurcation setting in the BIOS is required. Only M.2 M key SSDs are supported, but older and newer generation SSDs in the 2230/2242/2260/2280 form factors will work at up to PCIe 4.0 speeds. The adapter is also backward compatible with PCIe 3.0/2.0 slots. Drives can be accessed individually or placed into a RAID via Intel VROC, AMD Ryzen NVMe RAID, UEFI RAID, or software-based RAID through Windows Storage Spaces when respective criteria are met.

High-performance drives and systems may require high-end cooling, and this adapter has you covered. It's constructed out of aluminium material for physical stability and improved heat dissipation. It also includes thermal padding for all four SSDs to keep things cool and in place. Active cooling for high-performance environments is optional with a switchable fan. The adapter is plug-and-play with driverless operation. Rear-mounted LEDs quickly show the drive status for a quick visual update. The host must support PCIe bifurcation (lane splitting) to access more than one drive, so be sure to check your motherboard's manual ahead of time.

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**NextPowerUP** · 11-06-23, 06:20

Today, Focus and DON'T NOD shared a captivating Gameplay Reveal Trailer for Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, the poignant action-RPG where you hunt and battle supernatural horrors to alter a tragic fate. Coming end of this year to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, get ready for the game's thrilling action-RPG experience with new screenshots and the trailer which premiered during the Summer Game Fest.

Battle hand in hand, combining both lovers' skills
Play as Antea Duarte and Red mac Raith, lovers and Banishers—ghost-hunters who vowed to protect the living from the threat of lingering ghosts and specters. After Antea has tragically become one of the spirits she loathes, take on a desperate search for a way to liberate her from her new plight. In the haunted wilds of North America, enter the lives of New Eden's communities to unburden a world plagued with supernatural creatures and ancient secrets. Use your wits or combine Antea's spiritual powers and Red's powerful arsenal to defeat and banish the souls that torment the living.

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TSMC Boss Responds to Reports of Brutal Corporate Culture
Mark Liu, the executive Chairman of TSMC, has responded to recent reports released by the North American media about supposedly challenging workplace conditions. Current and former employees of the company's U.S operation have taken anonymously to Glassdoor to complain about "brutal" treatment on behalf of TSMC leadership—resulting in a 27% overall approval rating, which sits unfavorably next to the scores of nearby competitors—for example Intel gets 85%, albeit from far more user submissions. Liu has made comments to a Taiwanese news outlet (Focus Taiwan) where he suggests that: "those who are unwilling to take shifts should not enter the industry, since this field isn't just about lucrative wages but rather a passion for (semiconductors)."

TSMC is trying to meet staffing targets for its Phoenix, Arizona operation, but early feedback and difficult residential living could stifle this recruitment drive. Liu thinks that his North American division will offer potential employees a workplace culture that is unlike the one set for crew back in Taiwan. He told the local reporter that American TSMC team members will have an easier time, relative to how things are run at the company's native facilities. He also states that leadership is open to discussions with NA workers, as long as company values are followed (to a tee).

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Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC Pricing Revealed on GOG
Fans of CD Projekt Red's action role-playing Cyberpunk 2077 are looking forward to the release of extra content—the Polish gaming company has not set a firm launch date for its upcoming Phantom Liberty DLC campaign, but their own digital distribution platform - GOG.com - has aready spilled a few beans this week. Keen-eyed gamers noticed that a German language listing for the expansion had appeared (likely by mistake—it no longer exists) on GOG with a "BALD" tag—meaning that the DLC is due "soon." This information was captured in screenshots and quickly uploaded to the Cyberpunk subreddit.

Industry insiders are expecting CD Projekt Red to make a Phantom Liberty-related announcement at this year's (currently ongoing) Summer Game Fest, but media attention has already focused on the apparent pricing set for this piece of DLC. According to the screenshots Phantom Liberty will be available for a €29.99 pre-order price in Western Europe territories, which suggests a possible charge of around $30-35 for North American customers. Comparisons to The Witcher 3's post-release experience will inevitably crop up, and gamers will be questioning whether this expansion will offer good value for money—CD Projekt Red has indicated that this is their most expensive DLC undertaking in terms of development costs, but that has no bearing on how much content will exist within the final retail release. Recent company earnings calls have demonstrated that sales of their existing titles are slowing down, so CDP leadership will be looking forward to new product hitting the market soon-ish.

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AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7905WX and 7900WX CPUs Leaked
Hardware tipster momomo_us has once again discovered unannounced AMD gear - today's tweet points to a pair of Ryzen Threadripper 7000 CPU families. Team Red's "Storm Peak" processors received some attention at the tail end of May, thanks to CPUID releasing version 2.06 of CPU-Z which contained newly updated "preliminary support" for the Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series. Industry experts anticipate that this Zen 4-based product range will shake up the workstation and HEDT markets upon arrival - with predictions of a Q3 2023 launch window. According to the leaked listings posted by momomo_us on social media—future workstation PCs will be catered for with AMD's PRO "79x5WX" family, and HEDT systems will be best served by non-PRO "79x0X" variants.

Prior leaks allege that the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7905WX "workstation" range will be compatible with AMD's SP5 socket. This high end platform should support 8-channel DDR5 memory, and be capable of running up to 128 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and 8 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, although it lacks CPU and memory overclocking functions. In contrast the Ryzen Threadripper 7900X HEDT range is expected to offer full overclocking support for CPU and memory—but tipsters reckon its appeal could be limited by the platform's SP6 socket being restricted to 4-channel DDR5 memory configurations and a maximum 64 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes—as seen on AMD's EPYC 8004 "Siena" family.

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Vortex Shows off New Prebuilt Keyboards and Premium Keyboard Kits at Computex 2023
It's been a while since we last reviewed a Vortexgear keyboard so I wasn't surprised to see a brand new keyboard line from the brand. While the TKL Multix keyboards in its various colorways were new to me, they weren't new launches necessarily. Instead, Vortex used its presence at Computex to show off the new PC66 QMK, which is also available as a barebones kit. This uses a thick ABS plastic chassis and a gasket mount structure to put out a vintage aesthetic-inspired 65% keyboard that uses external batteries for wireless connectivity as well. We also saw the M0110 that comes as a wired open-source firmware keyboard or triple-mode wireless keyboard and uses either an HHKB-style layout or a more traditional 60% layout with a 6.25u space bar. There was also the Vortex x KBtalKing (a Chinese keyboard community) collab keyboard called the One 4 which is a full-size wireless keyboard up for pre-order now.

Intriguing also were new keyboard kits from Vortex that shifted away from plastic in favor of thick CNC-machined aluminium. The M0110A is an 1800 form factor keyboard kit that uses the smaller M0110 as the base for the feature set whereas the Model M and Model F77/F62 go more daring with the designs that are reminiscent of other popular keyboards on the market. I especially liked the Model M SSK with its curved top frame that makes for a visually different keyboard from the norm and Vortex says these kits will follow the pre-order/group buy purchase scheme soon, if not already by the time this news post is up.

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**NextPowerUP** · 11-06-23, 06:20

The iKKO OH10 holds a soft spot in my heart because it was the first set of IEMs I ever reviewed here on TechPowerUp. I dare say it's also the set that made iKKO famous and was among the most popular offerings from the brand until it was discontinued last year. Those who wanted to see what was going to replace it would be happy to know iKKO has new OH10S IEMs out now which continues the use of a hybrid driver configuration courtesy a 10 mm titanium-coated dynamic driver and one Knowles 33518 balanced armature driver per side as part of an advanced crossover circuit. The face plates use photochromic glass that allow a look at the electronics underneath which makes for a color shift from black to dark blue depending on the incident light. It uses similar copper alloy shells as before and comes with a nice set of accessories. The new iKKO OH10S sells for $219.99 from authorized retailers such as HiFiGo for those interested.

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(PR) Cyan Worlds Defends Presence of "AI Assisted Content" in Firmament
As many of you have seen or noticed, our credits in Firmament mention "AI Assisted Content". This has been present in the credits for Firmament since release day, and we have never hidden this information: "The contents listed as "AI Assisted" in the credits are "Journals, logs, checklists, newspapers, stories, songs, poems, letters, loosely scattered papers; all backer portraits; all founders portraits; the "sunset" paintings; the art-nouveau wallpaper in the Swan dormitory hallways; propaganda banners; coastal spill decal kit; all voiced mentor, announcer, founder, and other speeches; backer-exclusive content."

"AI Assisted" does not mean wholly AI-generated. Unfortunately, there have been articles published recently which have implied (especially in their headlines) that Cyan generated much of Firmament using AI tools. This is categorically false and misleading, and we are disappointed and frustrated to see this happening. Some folks may be concerned about our usage of AI, so in the interest of clarification: The voice performances in Firmament were voiced 100% of the time by a talented member of our development team who elected not to be credited by name. Their voice was simply modulated for the final product with one of these tools (and with their full permission and control). This same member of the development team has elected not to be credited in prior games of ours as well, for privacy concerns, and not anything to do with tools usage in our games.

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Leopold at Computex 2023: Updated Wired and Wireless Keyboards
Korean keyboard brand Leopold had a strong showing at Computex this year with a refreshed lineup of its keyboards for everyone to try. Leopold tends to sell different keyboards in different countries so it's hard to say which ones are brand new for the show, and thus I figured we briefly summarize the brand's offerings. The main takeaway I had is Leopold has decided to go with Cherry MX for all its mechanical keyboards and there will be fewer Topre keyboards going forward. The keyboards will also offer wireless connectivity wherever possible. Some keyboards also stray away from Leopold's classic black and white colors in favor of bolder, multi-tone themes. There are simply too many keyboards to individually list here, especially the absence of clarity on which ones will be sold where, so please take a look at the photos below, including past the break, and reach out to Leopold directly to express your interest if any caught your eye.

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(PR) Croteam Debuts The Talos Principle 2's Gameplay in Devolver Direct Trailer
Hi everyone! We are still overwhelmed by the reception of The Talos Principle 2 reveal last month, but this doesn't mean we've been sitting still. We know our community is always interested to see more, so we are happy to show you another trailer we've been cooking behind the scenes.

This time, we are focusing on the gameplay and the puzzles themselves. Let us know what you think about some of the new puzzle mechanics we are showing today, and share your best guess about what others we may have kept hidden for future unveiling. Much love from Croteam!

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**NextPowerUP** · 11-06-23, 06:20

Mistel Keyboards had a large booth at Computex this year showcasing products from the brand in addition to those from Vortexgear and Leopold. We'll cover the other two separately but this post caters to the Taiwanese peripheral brand Mistel. When I had last seen them in 2020, the man behind Mistel had told me of his plans to have ultra low profile mechanical keyboards as well as setting up Mistel's own factory to produce and sell keycaps. In 2023, both of these plans have come to fruition. The Mistel Air One uses Cherry's ULP mechanical switches we saw before on the CORSAIR K100 AIR in a 65% form factor. It is just 13 mm thick, weighs under 300 g, and yet manages to have sound dampening foam inside. The keyboard uses a machined aluminium chassis, supports both Windows and macOS, and comes with a carry bag too. Mistel plans to have a wireless version down the line but the wired Air One should be available for purchase soon.

Mistel also opened QKA Keeb—a sister brand dedicated to its in-house designed and manufactured keycaps. These range from simple black-on-white keycaps all the way to themed colorful sets, some of which were presented at the trade show. Also shown off were new split keyboards in the form of the MD600 V3—an update to the MD600 we reviewed in 2018—as well as a new curved key column version called MD600 Alpha. Both of these are 60% form factor keyboards that come with wireless connectivity and RGB support too. The MD600 Alpha can also be seen as a split Alice layout keyboard too once put together.

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Logitech Retiring Blue Microphones Brand, Gaming Line Absorbing Yeti + Snowball Mics & ASTRO Audio Gear
Logitech has announced the merging of its microphone and audio equipment brands - their G Gaming Twitter account posted about this decision yesterday, and directed customers to a question and answer session on the official subreddit: "Where do you get support? How will ASTRO, Blue and LFC integrate into Logitech G? Will there be new ASTRO products? Get your questions answered with our official FAQ." A brand manager has since confirmed (via a fan query) that the Blue brand is getting nixxed: "We will be keeping the Yeti brand and moving it under Logitech G. The Blue name will be used to describe our technologies." Logitech spent a cool $177 million when it acquired Blue Microphones back in mid-2018, so it is odd that the company has chosen to drop a very recognizable and popular brand name in the worlds of podcasting, streaming and audio recording.

News outlets have discovered that Blue has been removed from the brands section of Logitech's website, and the Bluemic.com domain now directs back to the parent company's main online presence(s). The Logitech G sub-page has been updated with listings of Yeti, Snowball and other microphone models. A brand manager also outlined ASTRO's future: "(it will) continue to live on as a premium console audio product series underneath the Logitech G brand. Stay tuned for more information regarding ASTRO including a launch that we think our community will be very excited about...We're (also) very excited about ASTRO as a product series under Logitech G."

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(PR) Gearbox Reveals Remnant 2 Co-Op Mode & July 25 Release Date
We're incredibly excited to finally announce that Remnant 2 will be available on July 25th, 2023 for the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S! Remnant 2 pits players against overwhelming odds alone or cooperatively with two friends as they scour dynamically built worlds with branching quest lines, unique loot, and terrifying enemies. Fans who digitally purchase the Remnant 2 Ultimate Edition will also receive early access to Remnant 2 on July 21st, 2023 three days before its official launch date. In addition, if players pre-order any digital edition, they will also get early access to the Gunslinger Archetype Class.

Unimaginable Worlds. Unrelenting Odds
Remnant II is the sequel to the best-selling game Remnant: From the Ashes that pits survivors of humanity against new deadly creatures and god-like bosses across terrifying worlds. Play solo or co-op with two other friends to explore the depths of the unknown to stop an evil from destroying reality itself. To succeed, players will need to rely on their own skills and those of their team to overcome the toughest challenges and to stave off humanity's extinction.

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Framework Preps its Laptop 16 Model for 240 W USB-C PD Charging
Framework has been going in-depth with the hyping up of its latest "Laptop 16" model - the modular hardware specialist has issued a new blog post this week that focuses on a "brand new custom high-efficiency 180 W USB-C power adapter," co-developed with Chicony. This unit is touted as a significant upgrade over the existing 60 W model that is bundled with their Laptop 13 system - Nirav Patel, Framework's CEO and co-founder explains: "The (180 W) adapter body is just 116.6 x 58.2 x 27 mm, and the enclosure is made of 30% post-consumer-recycled plastic. That's exactly the thickness and depth and twice the length of our 60 W power adapter, while outputting 3x higher wattage. Pretty incredible! Our PFC plus asymmetrical half-bridge flyback architecture uses ON Semi NCP1622 and JoulWatt JW1556 controllers along with latest generation GaN switching parts from both GaN Systems and Navitas, peaking at an amazing 93% efficiency."

The Framework Laptop 16 has some hidden potential according to Patel - he reveals that this flagship model is now future-proofed with support for 240 W power adapters: "We needed to solve for the tricky task of creating an adapter small and portable enough to be a great fit for the Framework Laptop 16 in an integrated graphics configuration while also outputting enough power to handle the Graphics Module with a discrete GPU. 180 W covers the majority of use cases while still being extremely compact. If you have a Graphics Module installed, set your OS to maximum performance mode, and run a sustained heavy load, it is possible to draw from the battery while plugged in. If that doesn't sound like a good tradeoff to you, the Framework Laptop 16 supports 240 W USB PD 3.1 power adapters too, so you can configure your DIY Edition without a power adapter and bring your own 240 W one instead."

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Immortals of Aveum Gets New Gameplay Trailer
Electronic Arts and Ascendant Studios have released a new gameplay trailer for its upcoming fantasy first-person magic shooter, Immortals of Aveum. Based on Unreal Engine 5.1, this single-player FPS will put the player into role of Jak, an Immortal capable of using all three colors of magic. The game is set into original universe and the latest trailer shows what is said to be one of the epic battles in the game, and it surely looks impressive.

Immortals of Aveum could be the first Unreal Engine 5.1 game to be released as it is scheduled to launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S on July 20th. Previously, EA has released rather high PC system requirements, which included either a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB graphics card to run the game at 1440p at 60 FPS, and that is with medium to high game settings.

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**NextPowerUP** · 13-06-23, 06:30

Join us for the PCI-SIG Developers Conference in Santa Clara, CA and see demos of the latest Rambus PCI Express (PCIe ) 6.0 IP solutions, including 64 Gigatransfers per second (GT/s) PCIe 6.0 PHY and Controller IP. With leading PPA, these 64 GT/s products achieve high performance, low power and area-efficient footprint for compute-intensive workloads including data center, AI/ML and HPC applications.

The Rambus PCIe 6.0 Interface Subsystem comprising PHY and Controller has been fully optimized to meet the needs of advanced heterogenous computing architectures. The PCIe Controller features an Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE) engine dedicated to protecting the PCIe links and the valuable data transferred over them. The PCIe 6.0 PHY features state-of-the-art SI/PI performance to provide best-in-class design margin for first-time-right implementations.

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(PR) Toxic Crusaders Demo Out Now on Steam, Retroware Explains Gameplay Color Coordination
The hottest heroes of 1991 return for a radical, radioactive romp for a new era, featuring awesome action, crushing combos and more toxic waste than you'll know what to do with! Developer and publisher Retroware has teamed up with Troma Entertainment to bring the Toxic Crusaders back, for an all-new, all-action beat 'em up for one to four players! Grab your mop, tutu and attitude, and get ready to clean up the mean streets of Tromaville, one radioactive goon at a time! The demo version is now available for download on Steam!

From Generic Default to…COLORS EVERYWHERE!
When we began development, we didn't even think about giving each character a unique color for their attacks. At the start, every character just had a generic, dull-looking impact effect that was shared with enemy sprites! But then we realized how much cooler everyone would look if we splashed some color into their punches, kicks, and every other attack! Thus…

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(PR) Xbox Officially Reveals Starfield Limited Edition Wireless Controller and Headset
Embark on a journey into the stars with the Starfield Limited Edition wireless controller and headset, essential navigation pieces in every voyager's collection. The crisp, clean designs are inspired by real world spacecraft, and are custom built to transport you right into the cockpit of a true space explorer. The Xbox Wireless Controller - Starfield Limited Edition features transparent triggers with visible bronze rumble motors underneath, full side and back grips designed to resemble spaceship panels, and a sleek Constellation-inspired color mark around the Xbox button. With up to 40 hours of battery life, you'll have more than enough fuel for your voyage into the deepest reaches of space.

Experience superb audio and chat quality with the Xbox Wireless Headset - Starfield Limited Edition. Secure your space fit with the Constellation red-and-white striped headband, communicate with your crew using the transparent mic boom, and feel fully immersed with audio tones custom made for your adventure. Enjoy ultra-soft large earcups that make for a comfortable experience with convenient on-ear controls for all your exploration needs.

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Intel Simplifies Packaging for Core i9-13900K & i9-13900KS CPUs
Intel has informed customers that it is adjusting the retail packaging for two 13th Generation Raptor Lake processors—the Core i9-13900K and Core i9-13900KS are popular choices for extreme gamers who demand the best from their CPUs, but did the presence of a premium protective shell also attract certain buyers who enjoy displaying silicon-related mantelpieces? Team Blue will be introducing a more sober looking boxed solution for the aforementioned SKUs - effective in universal and Chinese markets. Intel reasons that it wants to save on the volumetric storage of processors during the shipment process—the smaller box designs will result in a unit increase per pallet. By their estimation this redesign could quadruple the number of boxes in each shipping package - from the previous 324 to a new goal of around 1620.

The Core i9-13900K and Core i9-13900KS were shipped (until recently) in "Tier 4" boxes, but Intel's new cost and space saving drive has the two processors destined to sit in their "Tier 2" retail package which appears to be a standard folding paperboard carton (as seen containing Core i7 and lower end SKUs). The announcement included a set of preview renders, but actual boxed dimensions were not shared in the Product Change Notification (PCN) document. The new packaging regime looks smaller when compared to the older combination of a "premium silver tinted plastic wafer package" plus box sleeve. Team Blue will ultimately shave off a few bucks for themselves in the process, but there is no indication that these savings will be passed onto the end user. Tom's Hardware reckons that a late adjustment to retail packaging could foreshadow the arrival of a successor CPU range—Raptor Lake Refresh is speculated to form the next desktop lineup, since the future of Meteor Lake-S is alleged to be in a precarious state.

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Zephyr GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Card Has a Pink PCB
Zephyr has produced an NVIDIA GeForce custom graphics card that sports a very unique pink printed circuit board—bright and pastel colors have featured on cooling solutions in the past, but this new-ish product presents the first example of a PCB with a tinge of blush. Renowned hardware tipster harukaze5719 broke from his normal delivery of very cold and macho tech on social media, and shared his discovery of Zephyr's GeForce RTX 3060 Ti compact ITX card.

International buyers will be disappointed to learn that the pink Ampere card is a China market exclusive, with the company only offering a limited number of products on JD.com. VideoCardz notes that the card's specifications are not at all special, despite its interesting compact form factor and brightly toned cooling solution design. It is a non-overclocked model based on the older RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6 GPU variant with a standard 1750 MHz boost clock, 8 GB VRAM configuration, and a single 8-pin power connector.

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(PR) Final Fantasy XVI Special Battle Demo Available Now
Final Fantasy XVI fans, great news: while Final Fantasy XVI launches in just under two weeks, you'll be able to commence your journey to Valisthea tomorrow as the game's demo launches today (June 12). The demo will give PlayStation 5 players a taste of the game's vibrant world and fast-paced action combat with two lengthy sections showcasing what you can expect from FFXVI. The first is the game's opening prologue, approximately a two and half hour slice of gameplay giving players insight into Clive Rosfield's past and the events that set him on his present day journey. Save data from this portion can be carried over to the main game when it launches next week.

Completing the prologue then unlocks a special battle demo, approximately a two-hour, action-heavy segment. This features an infiltration of a fort at night, with Clive supported on his mission by his faithful wolf Torgal and Cidolfus Telamon. You'll encounter various enemies and epic bosses. While you won't be able to save your progress in this segment of the demo, it will let you test out the fuller range of combat options by way of numerous unlocked abilities and accessories. This can be replayed as many times as you'd like, giving players a head start on experiencing Clive's full-fledged action battles. Need a primer? Get an idea of what to expect here.

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Top US Crypto & Blockchain Investment Firm Heading to Britain
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a leading American venture capital firm is in the process of setting up its first international office (outside of its California base of operations) in the United Kingdom. One of their mission statements reads: "(we) invest in seed to venture to late-stage technology companies, across bio + healthcare, consumer, crypto, enterprise, fintech, games, and companies building toward American dynamism." News sites have reported on Facebook and Twitter being notable "safe" prospects for a16z's team in the past. The company is hedging its bets on the UK government's fairly lax approach to crypto and blockchain regulation, following crackdowns on the cryptocurrency industry in the US. News outlets point to a notable case where the North American financial watchdog/regulator is suing the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, due to activities "placing investors' assets at significant risk." The new Andreessen Horowitz London office is marked for a late 2023 opening—Chris Dixon the head of crypto investing at a16z has written about his firm's decision to embrace a new market location: "While there is still work to be done, we believe that the UK is on the right path to becoming a leader in crypto regulation...The UK also has deep pools of talent, world-leading academic institutions, and a strong entrepreneurial culture."

He has also declared that the UK Prime Minister - Rishi Sunak - is very pleased about a16z setting up shop in the City of London (financial district). The UK leader's statement reads: "As we cement the UK's place as a science and tech superpower, we must embrace new innovations like Web3, powered by blockchain technology, which will enable start-ups to flourish here and grow the economy. That success is founded on having the right regulation and guardrails in place to protect consumers and foster innovation. While there's still work to do, I'm determined to unlock opportunities for this technology and turn the UK into the world's Web3 centre. That's why I am thrilled world-leading investor, Andreessen Horowitz, has decided to open their first international office in the UK - which is testament to our world-class universities and talent and our strong competitive business environment."

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ENERMAX Brings New PSUs and AIO Liquid Coolers to Computex 2023

Leadtek Showcases NVIDIA GeForce WinFast RTX 40-series Hurricane Model

(PR) Greenliant Displays Rugged and Reliable Solid State Storage at AD

(PR) Intel Announces Intel Arc Pro A60 and Pro A60M GPUs

Marsrhino Showcases Infinite Gaming Chair Range at Computex 2023

Thermaltake Shows Upgraded TH Series AIO Coolers at Computex 2023

(PR) Path of Exile 2 Teased at Summer Game Fest 2023

(PR) Thermaltake Ceres 300 TG ARGB Mid Tower Chassis Now Available

(PR) Cooler Master Unveils MasterAir MA824 Stealth Dual-Tower CPU Cool

Western Digital Intros WD Black SN850P NVMe Gen 4 SSD for PlayStation

(PR) Age of Wonders 4: Dragon Dawn Expansion Arriving June 20

(PR) Focus Entertainment Reveals Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden Gamepla

iKKO Launches New OH10S as Update to Popular OH10 IEMs

Mistel at Computex 2023: Ultra Low Profile Mechanical Keyboards and Ne

(PR) Rambus to Demo 64G PCIe 6.0 PHY and Controller IP at PCI-SIG Deve

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