TechPowerUP NEWS

[NextPowerUP]

Acer Inc. announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2023: consolidated revenues were NT$58.26 billion with 11.1% growth quarter-on-quarter (QoQ); gross profits reached NT$6.26 billion with 10.7% margin; operating income was NT$1.05 billion, up 338.6% QoQ; net income was NT$1.39 billion, up 170.2% QoQ; and earnings per share was NT$0.46 in Q2'23 and NT$0.64 in 1H'23.

The company has weathered the post-pandemic industry stress test. Acer's computer business has bottomed out around May this year, while new graphic cards and connectivity products have reached markets. Acer's computers, displays, and most of the other businesses have all contributed toward revenues and profitability. With 10 public subsidiaries and more to come, Acer is progressively enhancing its corporate resilience.

[Editor's note: NT$1.39 Billion is around US$43.9 million]

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(PR) Aetina Launches New Fanless Edge AI Systems Powered by NVIDIA Jetson Orin
Aetina launches its new fanless edge AI systems powered by NVIDIA Jetson Orin system-on-modules (SoMs), including the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin, Orin NX, and Orin Nano. These embedded box PCs are designed in a compact enclosure with a heat sink for efficient cooling. The heat sink reduces maintenance efforts for system owners after deployment. The new fanless systems have an operating temperature range of -25°C to +55°C, making them suitable for AI-powered application development across different verticals.

NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX and Orin Nano-Based Fanless Systems
AIE-CN31/41, AIE-CO21/31, AIE-PN32/42, and AIE-PO22/32 are Aetina's latest fanless system models built with an NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX or Orin Nano SoM. Featuring necessary M.2 expansion slots and I/O ports in a small-sized form factor, these systems enable easy system integration for space-limited applications. With low power consumption, the fanless system models can efficiently handle most AI inference tasks, making them ideal for AI projects that involve mass device deployment in different locations.
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(PR) Alphacool Launches Mobile and Modular Open-Frame Server Racks
Flexibility with a server rack? With customizable depth, the Alphacool ES 19" Open Frame Server Rack delivers a mobile and modular solution for server systems. Made of sturdy steel, it not only provides secure carrying capacity for server units, it is also effortless to move thanks to the included casters.

Due to the variable depth from 59 cm up to 104 cm (23 - 40.9 inch) of the open frame rack, server units can be installed in a space-saving way. The standard-compliant mounting holes allow easy installation of the individual units. The server rack can be moved effortlessly with the help of the 360° rotating castors.
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(PR) MINISFORUM Launches the UN1265 Mini PC
Experience a computing revolution with the Minisforum UN1265, featuring the Intel Core i7-12650H, a high-performance processor from Intel's 12th generation lineup. With an impressive 10 cores (6P cores + 4E cores) and 16 threads, this processor effortlessly handles demanding workloads, ensuring seamless multitasking experiences for both professionals and enthusiasts alike.

Efficient Cooling for Maximum Performance: The Minisforum UN1265 features a single heat pipe cooling system that rapidly dissipates heat, keeping your PC cool and ready for any challenge. Unceasing Creativity: The Minisforum UN1265, equipped with AV1 decoding and Intel Quick Sync Video technology, enables lightning-fast video conversion. Process multiple videos simultaneously with ease, ensuring smooth synchronization and unleashing your creativity like never before.
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[NextPowerUP]

The month of August keeps delivering when it comes to new game releases and this week's AAA title appears to involve a lot of sand and dust, as well as fallen gods. The rest of the releases to look forward to include everything from wrestling to enjoying the apocalypse, to forest bandits, a musical and being a mechanic in space. Last week we managed to please 58 percent of you, which was a new record, but we don't expect to reach those kinds of numbers this week.

Atlas Fallen / This week's AAA title / Thursday 10 August
Rise from the dust and liberate mankind from the oppression of a corrupted god. Glide the sands of a timeless land, filled with ancient dangers, mysteries and fragments of the past. Hunt legendary monsters, using powerful, shape-shifting weapons and devastating sand-powered abilities in spectacular, super-powered combat. Target and gather the essence of your enemies to shape your own custom playstyle, forging a new era for humanity in a fully cooperative or solo story campaign.
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Gigabyte Quietly Launches Low Profile GeForce RTX 4060 Graphics Card
Low profile graphics cards have always been something of a niche market, but they've found homes in many HTPC builds over the years, especially passively cooled cards. Now Gigabyte has launched a rather odd looking low profile NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 based graphics card that simply goes under the name of GeForce RTX 4060 OC Low Profile 8G. The 182 x 69 x 40 (D x H x W) mm card still manages to pack in three fans and requires an 8-pin power connector to work, which somewhat unfortunately plugs in at the rear of the card, although there wouldn't have been too many other locations to place it. This means that this card might not work in some Mini-ITX builds, due to the card being too long once the power connector is plugged in.

The card width should've given away that we're looking at a dual slot card, which is also pretty obvious from the pictures. Gigabyte provides a full height and a low profile bracket with the card, which not all low profile cards have shipped with in the past, so this is a plus. Connectivity wise, the GeForce RTX 4060 OC Low Profile 8G comes with two DP 1.4a and two HDMI 2.1a ports, making this a card well suited for HTPC usage. Gigabyte has even overclocked the GPU from 2460 MHz to 2475 MHz, which seems quite pointless and is unlikely to bring any huge performance advantages over stock clock speeds.

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(PR) Momento Note Launches NFC Notepad, Hopes to Replace Post-it Notes
Momento Note, a leading innovator in the field of digital communication, is thrilled to announce the launch of its groundbreaking product, the Momento Note. This cutting-edge smart note revolutionizes the way we interact with reminders and tasks, taking a timeless tool into the digital era. The yellow sticky note was invented by Dr. Spencer Silver and Art Fry of the esteemed 3M Company in 1980. However, despite advancements in technology, the iconic Post-it Note remained unchanged—until now.

The Momento Note represents a quantum leap in note-taking technology. Leveraging the power of NFC (Near Field Communication), this innovative device transcends the limitations of traditional paper. With the Momento Note, users can store voice recordings, photos, and videos in their reminders, enhancing their organizational capabilities like never before.
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(PR) V-COLOR Achieves Unprecedented Speed with 96GB (2x48GB) DDR5-7800 CL38 with Manta XPrism Series
V-COLOR Technology Inc, a leading memory manufacturer, is proud to present a new speed reached for DDR5 96 GB (2x 48 GB) kit of 7800 CL38.
Aiming to break barriers and elevate performance, with this new high-speed of overclocked 96 GB (2x 48 GB) capacity kit at DDR5-7800 CL38-48-48-126

Testing the limits of DDR5 memory speed, v-color reached DDR5-7800 CL38-48-48-126 at 96 GB (2x48GB) kit configuration, with the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 APEX and Intel Core i9-13900KF processor. Seamlessly compatible with Intel XMP 3.0, the Manta XPrism RGB DDR5 96 GB (2x 48 GB) ensures a hassle-free and optimized experience. Effortlessly enhance system's performance and achieve the perfect balance between speed and stability.
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(PR) Leading Semiconductor Industry Players Join Forces to Accelerate RISC-V
Semiconductor industry players Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., have come together to jointly invest in a company aimed at advancing the adoption of RISC-V globally by enabling next-generation hardware development.

Formed in Germany, this company will aim to accelerate the commercialization of future products based on the open-source RISC-V architecture. The company will be a single source to enable compatible RISC-V based products, provide reference architectures, and help establish solutions widely used in the industry. Initial application focus will be automotive, but with an eventual expansion to include mobile and IoT.
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(PR) Antec Presents NeoECO Gold M ATX 3.0 PSU Series
Antec Inc., leading provider of high-performance computer components and accessories for casual and High-End Gaming, workplaces, and Do-It-Yourself markets, we are broadening our high-end gaming product line with the new NE Gold M ATX 3.0 power supplies, offering two models in black or white, with 1000 W in white and 850 W, 1000 W and 1300 W in black capabilities.

The new NEG M ATX 3.0 Series power supplies meet the high standards of the ATX 3.0 standard for reliability and power efficiency, which are formally certified for ATX 3.0 compliance, ensuring the utmost level of quality and performance. The included PCIe 5.0 12VHPWR GPU cable enables seamless compatibility with modern graphics cards, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series. With high-quality JP capacitors, reliable stability, and 80 Plus Gold-certified efficiency, users can expect unparalleled performance from their system. The PhaseWave Design ensures steady power output, while the 120 mm FDB Silence Fan offers quiet cooling. They are now commercially available from Amazon US.
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[NextPowerUP]

MSI, today, released a new AMD AGESA PI 1.0.0.7c BIOS update for all MSI's motherboard X670E, X670, B650, A620 product line. For this new BIOS release, MSI focus on and prioritize mainly for higher DDR5 memory module support and also stability bug fixes. The latest update has huge significant increase for supported memory frequency on AMD Ryzen CPUs. Below is a list of models that will be ready at the time of the release while other models will have come support in the following week.

In the screenshots below, demonstrates running a Memory Stress Test, on an AMD Ryzen R7 7700X CPU with a paired of dual-channel DDR5-7200 MHz "EXPO" certified kit on MSI's PRO B650-P WIFI Motherboard will run without any stability issues. Moreover, it also demonstrates running a Memory Stress Test on an AMD Ryzen R9 7900X CPU with MSI's MEG X670E ACE Motherboard can even achieve 8000 MHz (CL36) high frequency. A few more updates specifically on the AGESA 1.0.0.7c added extra for protection for reliability than before and also patched a few potential vulnerabilities and security loopholes.

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(PR) Apple Reports Third Quarter Results, Revenue Down 1% YoY
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2023 third quarter ended July 1, 2023. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $81.8 billion, down 1 percent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.26, up 5 percent year over year.

"We are happy to report that we had an all-time revenue record in Services during the June quarter, driven by over 1 billion paid subscriptions, and we saw continued strength in emerging markets thanks to robust sales of iPhone," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "From education to the environment, we are continuing to advance our values, while championing innovation that enriches the lives of our customers and leaves the world better than we found it."
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(PR) ASUS Announces TUF Gaming LC II 360 ARGB AIO Liquid Cooler
ASUS today announced the TUF Gaming LC II 360 ARGB AIO liquid cooler, armed with a beefy 360 mm radiator and offering dazzling Gen 2 ARGB lighting and compatibility with a wide variety of chassis and CPU sockets.

The TUF Gaming LC II ARGB series delivers the performance and features users need to bring out the best in any mainstream gaming build. Coolant flows through an illuminated coldplate to reinforced sleeved tubing that arrives at a high-capacity radiator chilled by three 120 mm ARGB fans - which have grooved fins for optimal airflow and reduced noise. Meanwhile, Aura Sync ARGB elements illuminating the radiator fans and the TUF Gaming logo on the pump cover ensure unmatched style.

The TUF Gaming LC II 360 ARGB also features a new cooling design where the pump head and motor are separated for less noise and vibration, while a new place-and-twist retention mechanism makes installation a snap by eliminating the need for tools. As a nod to premium durability, each cooler comes with a class-leading six-year ASUS warranty.
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(PR) It's Party Time: Baldur's Gate 3 Available Today on PC
An epic RPG six years in the making and more than twenty years in the waiting, Baldur's Gate 3 is out today on PC via Steam, GOG, and NVIDIA GeForce Now. The game releases at 8am PDT - see the attached map for the release time in your region. Baldur's Gate 3 is a next-generation RPG from the creators of Divinity: Original Sin 2, set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons and providing a level of breadth and depth unprecedented in a modern RPG.

More than twenty years after the release of Baldur's Gate 2, it's finally time to return to the Forgotten Realms. Your choices shape this tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival, and the lure of absolute power.
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(PR) Corsair Gaming Reports Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results, Revenue up 14.6% YoY
Corsair Gaming, Inc. ("Corsair" or the "Company"), a leading global provider and innovator of high-performance gear for gamers, streamers, content-creators, and gaming PC builders, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, and reiterated its financial outlook for the full year 2023.

Second Quarter 2023 Select Financial Metrics

• Net revenue was $325.4 million compared to $283.9 million in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of 14.6%. Gaming components and systems segment net revenue was $246.7 million compared to $194.9 million in the second quarter of 2022, while Gamer and creator peripherals segment net revenue was $78.8 million compared to $89.0 million in the second quarter of 2022.
• Net income attributable to common shareholders was $1.1 million, or net income of $0.01 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $59.4 million, or a net loss of $0.62 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2022.
• Adjusted net income was $9.8 million, or net income of $0.09 per diluted share, compared to adjusted net loss of $19.0 million, or a net loss of $0.20 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2022.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $17.8 million, compared to a loss of $11.0 million in the second quarter of 2022.
• Cash and cash equivalents were $184.0 million as of June 30, 2023.

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PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Pictured, Confirmed Based on "Navi 32"
PowerColor inadvertently released the first pictures of its AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Red Devil graphics card. These pictures confirm that the RX 7800 XT is based on a maxed out version of the "Navi 32" GPU, and not the compact "Navi 31" powering the limited edition RX 7900 GRE. The "Navi 32" is a chiplet-based GPU, just like the "Navi 31," albeit smaller. Its 5 nm GCD (graphics compute die) physically features 60 RDNA3 compute units, which work out to 3,840 stream processors, 120 AI accelerators, 60 Ray accelerators, 192 TMUs, and possibly 128 ROPs. This GCD is surrounded by four 6 nm MCDs (memory cache dies), which each has a 16 MB segment of the GPU's 64 MB Infinity Cache memory, and make up its 256-bit GDDR6 memory interface.

The specs sheet put out by PowerColor confirms that the RX 7800 XT maxes out the "Navi 32," enabling all 60 CUs, and the chip's full 256-bit memory interface, to drive 16 GB of memory. The RX 7800 XT uses 18 Gbps memory speed, and hence has 576 GB/s of memory bandwidth at its disposal. The PowerColor RX 7800 XT Red Devil has dual-BIOS, and assuming the "standard/silent" BIOS runs the card at AMD reference clock speeds, we're looking at Game clocks of 2210 MHz, and 2565 MHz boost. The Red Devil draws power from a dual 8-pin PCIe power connector set up (375 W max); the cooler is visibly smaller than the one on the company's RX 7900 series Red Devil cards. A 16+2 phase VRM powers the card. With pictures of the card out, we expect a global product launch within the next 30 days.

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[NextPowerUP]

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, already pushes boundaries of mobile gaming, but today unveiled a substantial update to its Razer Nexus app for both iPhone and Android. Nexus 3.0 brings a variety of innovative new features for Android and a polished and upgraded experience for iPhone users. As the main game launcher for Razer Edge & Kishi V2, and driven by Razer's dedication to high-performance gaming, the Razer Nexus 3.0 update embodies innovation, immersion, and intuitive user experiences. The app update is available to users free of charge.

Redefining Game Discovery: The Razer Nexus app becomes the ultimate game concierge, presenting a meticulously curated selection of games for the Razer community. Optional video previews and carefully considered categories minimize the time between discovery and gameplay. This enriched catalog is now live for Android and iPhone users.
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Blizzard Details Diablo IV Patch 1.1.1 Details Ahead of August 8 Launch
Blizzard has revealed full Diablo VI Patch 1.1.1 details although it won't be available until August 8th. The new patch mostly focuses on class balance changes and other various gameplay updates, but it does also bring some bug fixes as well.

The biggest improvements come to Sorcerers and Barbarians classes, with improved survivability for Sorcerers class and increased Fury generation on Basic Skills and increased power of Unique items for Barbarians. The patch also diversify the use cases for Legendary items and strengthen builds that aren't reaching a high power level. The full patch notes also include detailed adjustments for Rogue, Druid, and Necromancer classes as well. There is also an extensive list of gameplay updates which brings better rewards, but also higher health levels of bosses. There are plenty of other bug fixes and this patch comes to all platforms.
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(PR) NVIDIA GeForce NOW Gets 41 New Games This Month
The Ultimate upgrade is complete - GeForce NOW Ultimate performance is now streaming all throughout North America and Europe, delivering RTX 4080-class power for gamers across these regions. Celebrate this month with 41 new games, on top of the full release of Baldur's Gate 3 and the first Bethesda titles coming to the cloud as the NVIDIA and Microsoft partnership benefits gamers everywhere.

And catch GeForce NOW at QuakeCon - the popular bring-your-own-PC mega-event running Aug. 10-13 - where the in-person and digital GeForce NOW Ultimate challenge will kick off. Plus, game on with gaming peripherals and accessories company SteelSeries, which will be giving away codes for three-day GeForce NOW Ultimate and Priority memberships, along with popular GeForce NOW games and in-game goodies.
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(PR) Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Begins Shipping in August
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 (14", 8) will begin shipping in August, becoming available in select markets around the world starting September. First introduced in March, this is the first 14-inch gaming laptop in the Legion ecosystem. Featuring up to AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPUs, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 (14", 8) laptop can be pushed to its limits through Lenovo's AI Engine+, which harnesses the Lenovo LA1 AI chip to track key components and processes to maximize performance and battery life, growing more intelligent over time as it adapts to user habits.

"The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 (14", 8) embodies yet another set of innovation firsts for Lenovo's gaming offerings. Its new 14-inch form factor and a vibrant OLED panel bring to life the expectations and imaginations of our Legion of fans," said Jun Ouyang, Lenovo's vice president and general manager of the Consumer Business Segment, Intelligent Devices Group. "We are excited for the future of Lenovo Legion's ever-expanding ecosystem of gaming devices and peripherals and can't wait for gamers to get their hands on this new laptop."
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AMD Readying AGESA 1.0.0.7c for AM5 Motherboards
According to a post by @g01d3nm4ng0 on Twitter/X, we now know that AMD is readying yet another AGESA update for AM5 motherboards. The new version is, based on information from our own sources, a minor update to the current version. As such, AMD will be moving from 1.0.0.7b to 1.0.0.7c. @g01d3nm4ng0 didn't reveal any details of the new AGESA apart from the screenshot below, but we asked around and managed to find out what the new AESA addresses.

The update is specifically for those with Samsung DDR5 memory in their AM5 motherboards and it addresses multiple memory related stability issues. We weren't given the full details as to what those are, but there have been some reports about there being issues specifically with Samsung DDR5 memory in some AM5 boards and hopefully this will solve all those problems. We don't have a release time frame for the updated AGESA, but with 1.0.0.7b barely out the door, it might take a few weeks before this one makes it through all the internal testing at the motherboard makers.

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[NextPowerUP]

Ex AMD Director of Technical Marketing Robert Hallock has joined Intel as Senior Director of Technical Marketing after a sabbatical. During his sabbatical, Hallock ran his own company that focused on aftermarket car mods. Hallock had a 12 year tenure at AMD and was the face of many of AMD's more technical videos and also took part in some keynote product instructions when it came to the more technical details of product introductions.

According to a post by Hallock on LinkedIn, his new position will apparently focus on AI for consumer processors, something that ties in with what Intel is about to announce at Intel Innovation 2023. As such, we might be seeing Hallock doing some of the presentations at Intel Innovation 2023 in September. Hallocks post on LinkedIn talks about AI accelerators, again suggesting that he will be mainly involved with the ex Movidius team, but as he mentions client computing, his responsibility might still extend outside of just the AI side of things. Time will tell if he gets a similar role at Intel as he had at AMD, or if he'll just be one of many directors at the company.

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ID-Cooling Intros IS-67-XT Low-profile CPU Coolers
ID-Cooling introduced the IS-67-XT, a low-profile CPU cooler, which gets its name from its Z-height of just 67 mm, with its fan in place. The cooler comes in all-black, and all-white variants. Its design involves a C-type aluminium fin-stack heatsink, with a top-flow ventilation. Six 6 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heatpipes draw heat from a copper base, which is then conveyed to an aluminium fin-stack that's arranged along the plane of the motherboard. This is ventilated by a 15 mm-thick 120 mm fan. ID-Cooling claims a cooling capacity of 150 W, which means you should be able to run most mainstream desktop processors at stock speeds, taking advantage of the lower noise figures than stock cooling solutions.

The included 120 mm fan takes in 4-pin PWM input, turns at speeds ranging between 500 to 2,200 RPM, pushing up to 67.58 CFM of airflow at 1.54 mm H₂O static pressure, and a maximum noise output of 35.2 dBA. The cooler measures 120 mm x 120 mm x 67 mm, weighing 500 g (including fan). Among the CPU socket types supported by the ID-Cooling IS-67-XT are LGA1700, AM5, LGA1200, AM4, and LGA115x. Backed by a 3-year warranty, both color variants of the cooler are priced at USD $44.99 a piece.

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(PR) NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU Used on New Azure Virtual Machine Series Now Available
Microsoft Azure users can now turn to the latest NVIDIA accelerated computing technology to train and deploy their generative AI applications. Available today, the Microsoft Azure ND H100 v5 VMs using NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking—enables scaling generative AI, high performance computing (HPC) and other applications with a click from a browser. Available to customers across the U.S., the new instance arrives as developers and researchers are using large language models (LLMs) and accelerated computing to uncover new consumer and business use cases.

The NVIDIA H100 GPU delivers supercomputing-class performance through architectural innovations, including fourth-generation Tensor Cores, a new Transformer Engine for accelerating LLMs and the latest NVLink technology that lets GPUs talk to each other at 900 GB/s. The inclusion of NVIDIA Quantum-2 CX7 InfiniBand with 3,200 Gbps cross-node bandwidth ensures seamless performance across the GPUs at massive scale, matching the capabilities of top-performing supercomputers globally.
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Activision Officially Announces the Next Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Activision has confirmed previous rumors and leaks by officially announcing its next Call of Duty game as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The next Call of Duty will launch on November 10th. The latest teaser trailer was released by Sledgehammer Games, the developer behind Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Call of Duty: WWII, and while it does not show a lot, it does show some familiar faces from the previous Call of Duty titles.

The announcement confirms previous rumors that showed up back in May, which speculated that the game would be called Modern Warfare 3 and be a proper sequel, with a full campaign, multiplayer, and zombies mode.
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(PR) GIGABYTE Leads MLPerf Training v3.0 Benchmarks with Top-Performing Accelerators in GIGABYTE Servers
GIGABYTE Technology: The latest MLPerf Training v3.0 benchmark results are out, and the GIGABYTE G593-SD0 server has emerged as a leader in this round of testing. Going head-to-head against impressive systems, GIGABYTE's servers secured top positions in various categories, showcasing their prowess in handling real-world machine learning use cases. With an unparalleled focus on performance, efficiency, and reliability, GIGABYTE has once again proven its commitment to driving progress in the field of AI.

GIGABYTE, one of the founding members of MLCommons, has been actively contributing to the organization's efforts in designing and planning systems to benchmark fairly. Understanding the importance of replicating real-world scenarios in AI development, GIGABYTE's collaboration with MLCommons has been instrumental in shaping the benchmark tasks to encompass critical use cases such as image recognition, object detection, speech-to-text, natural language processing, and recommendation engines. By actively engaging with end applications, GIGABYTE ensures that its servers are designed to meet the highest standards, delivering supreme performance, and facilitating meaningful comparisons between different ML systems.
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(PR) Epomaker Announes the Shadow-X - a Revolution in Mechanical Keyboards
Discover innovation at its finest with the all-new Epomaker Shadow-X Mechanical Keyboard.

Sleek Design FRL TKL 70% Layout for Optimal Space Utilization
Embodying an unprecedented 70% layout, Epomaker spares no effort in creating the cutting-edge mechanical keyboard in hopes of bringing better typing and visual experience to keyboard enthusiasts. Epomaker Shadow-X is designed with a sleek outlook to not only optimize the desk space but also to retain the full function of a keyboard. Despite its Function-row-less TKL keyboard, a simple shortcut effortlessly activates the function row when needed.

Intuitive LCD screen and Precision Metal Rotary Knob
Keeping up with the modern trend, Shadow-X features an intuitive LCD screen that presents essential things to users at a glance. Moreover, the screen is fully customizable using the Epomaker Driver, allowing users to personalize the screen with favorite pictures or GIFs, elevating the keyboard experience to new heights. Another standout feature is its metal rotary knob, ingeniously set as a connection mode switch. With a seamless rotation, this innovative keyboard effortlessly switches between various devices.
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(PR) MaxLinear Announces Production Availability of Panther III Storage Accelerator OCP Adapter Card
MaxLinear, Inc., a leader in data storage accelerator solutions, today announced the production-release of the OCP 3.0 storage accelerator adapter card for Panther III. The ultra-low latency accelerator is designed to quicken key storage workloads, including database acceleration, storage offload, encryption, compression, and deduplication enablement for maximum data reduction. The Panther III OCP card is ideal for use in modern data centers, including public to edge clouds, enterprise data centers, and telecommunications infrastructure, allowing users to access, process, and transfer data up to 12 times faster than without a storage accelerator. The OCP version of the card is available immediately with a PCIe version available in Q3 2023.

"In an era where the amount of data generated exceeds new storage installations by multiple fold, Panther III helps reduce the massive storage gap while improving TCO per bit stored," said Dylan Patel, Chief Analyst at SemiAnalysis.
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(PR) KIOXIA Introduces New PCIe 5.0 SSDs for Enterprise and Data Center Infrastructures
KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced the addition of the KIOXIA CD8P Series to its lineup of data center-class solid state drives (SSDs). KIOXIA CD8P drives are well-suited to general purpose server and cloud environments that can take advantage of PCIe 5.0 (32 gigatransfers/s x4) performance. These data center applications can generate complex mixed workloads spread across large scale virtualized systems. The new drives are available in capacities up to 30.72 terabytes (TB) and in both Enterprise and Data Center Standard Form Factor (EDSFF) E3.S and 2.5-inch (U.2) form factors.

Optimized for the performance, latency, reduced power and thermal requirements of data center environments where power and cooling efficiency is critical, the KIOXIA CD8P Series provides the predictability and consistency needed for a seamless user experience. According to Jeff Janukowicz, Research Vice President, IDC, "Growth in NVMe SSDs continues with PCIe capacity shipments in servers and storage systems expected to grow at a 40% CAGR between 2022 and 2027. The new CD8P Series SSDs gives these customers the range of performance, capacity, and security choices essential for meeting the storage requirements of next-generation digital enterprise and data center infrastructure."
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(PR) Micron Launches Memory Expansion Module Portfolio to Accelerate CXL 2.0 Adoption
Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), today announced sample availability of the Micron CZ120 memory expansion modules to customers and partners. The Micron CZ120 modules come in 128 GB and 256 GB capacities in the E3.S 2T form factor, which uses PCIe Gen 5 x8 interface. Additionally, the CZ120 modules are capable of running up to 36 GB/s memory read/write bandwidth and augment standard server systems when incremental memory capacity and bandwidth is required. The CZ120 modules use Compute Express Link (CXL) standards and fully support the CXL 2.0 Type 3 standard. By leveraging a unique dual-channel memory architecture and Micron's high-volume production DRAM process, the Micron CZ120 delivers higher module capacity and increased bandwidth. Workloads that benefit from more memory capacity include AI training and inference models, SaaS applications, in-memory databases, high-performance computing and general-purpose compute workloads that run on a hypervisor on premise or in the cloud.

"Micron is advancing the adoption of CXL memory with this CZ120 sampling milestone to key customers," commented Siva Makineni, vice president of the Micron Advanced Memory Systems Group. "We have been developing and testing our CZ120 memory expansion modules utilizing both Intel and AMD platforms capable of supporting the CXL standard. Our product innovation coupled with our collaborative efforts with the CXL ecosystem will enable faster acceptance of this new standard, as we work collectively to meet the ever-growing demands of data centers and their memory-intensive workloads."
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(PR) SEGA Partners with PowerA on a New Line of Sonic the Hedgehog Gaming Accessories
Today, SEGA of America, Inc. and PowerA, a leader in officially licensed gaming accessories, announced a new partnership to create, distribute and sell a line of Sonic the Hedgehog-themed third-party gaming accessories. The initial product-line launches today and includes controllers for Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S, a branded Nintendo Switch Protective Case, as well as a TriFold Game Card Holder for Nintendo Switch cartridges.

"As big fans ourselves, the PowerA team is thrilled to partner with the team at SEGA to bring Sonic the Hedgehog and friends to our controllers and accessories," said Akio Strasser, Senior Global Marketing Director for PowerA. "With more than 30 years of Sonic, and multiple generations of gamers experiencing this franchise, we are so excited to bring these characters to life on our accessories for the first time."
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[NextPowerUP]

ASUS IoT, the leading global AIoT solution provider, today announced Tinker Board 3N series, a versatile, Arm -based single-board computer (SBC) that empowers easy system integration, broad adaptability and superb expandability - elevating it to the perfect choice for the emerging Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) era.

The NUC-sized SBC series is equipped with rich I/O and supports Linux Debian, Yocto, and Android operating systems, presenting an all-new premium option for developers and system integrators' diverse IIoT projects. Its optimized thermal design simplifies deployment of embedded applications, ensuring efficient operation in demanding environments. With its durable and reliable design, Tinker Board 3N offers enhanced computing performance, low power consumption and a wide range of interfaces, so it's primed and ready for smart manufacturing applications powering the IoT revolution.
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PSA: Intel Graphics Drivers Now Collect Telemetry By Default
The latest version of Intel Arc GPU Graphics Software introduced an interesting change that isn't reflected in the Release Notes. The installer of the 101.4578 beta drivers add a "Compute Improvement Program" (CIP) component as part of the "typical" setup option that is enabled by default. Under the "custom" installer option that you have to activate manually, you get to select which components to install. The Compute Improvement Program can be unchecked here, to ensure data collection is disabled. The benignly named CIP is a data collection component that tracks your PC usage and performance in the background (not just that of the GPU), so Intel can use the data to improve its future products. Intel created a dedicated webpage that spells out what CIP is, and what its scope of data collection is; where is says that CIP "does not collect your name, email address, phone number, sensitive personal information, or physical location (except for country)."

Intel CIP is functionally similar to the Telemetry component of the GeForce Software. NVIDIA's Telemetry is installed and enabled by default along with your GeForce graphics drivers, and you cannot opt out from it, as it does not even figure in the "custom" installer options. AMD handles its version of CIP and Telemetry in arguably the most transparent manner. The installer of AMD Software Adrenalin presents the option to prevent its data-collection tool from being enabled at the completion of driver installation, regardless of whether you've chosen the "typical," "driver only," or "custom" install options. There's an entire page of the installer dedicated to this, you see a large checkbox about data-collection that's checked by default, but which you can uncheck, and complete installation.

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Intel to Reveal Meteor Lake Details at Intel Innovation 2023
Intel Innovation is Intel's yearly tech conference and the company has revealed some of what it'll share at the event that kicks off on the 19th of September. One of the sessions at the event is called Intel Client Hardware Roadmap and the Rise of AI and during that event, Intel will be sharing its latest "client hardware platforms" which according to the session blurb will include the upcoming Intel Core Ultra processors which currently goes under the codename of Meteor Lake.

It's unclear how much detail Intell will go into and based on the subject of the session, this should most likely be focused on the desktop platform, but could also cover the mobile parts. According to VideoCardz we should expect Intel to detail the integrated VPU which is said to be based on hardware from Movidius, a company Intel acquired a few years ago and that focused on making machine learning hardware. The VPU should be a low-power accelerator that handles AI inference tasks that will be part of at least some future Intel processors, but for now, we don't really know what Intel's plans are for these types of features in its CPUs, apart from offering something competitive with AMD's Xilinx derived AI Engine.

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AMD Retreating from Enthusiast Graphics Segment with RDNA4?
AMD is rumored to be withdrawing from the enthusiast graphics segment with its next RDNA4 graphics architecture. This means there won't be a successor to its "Navi 31" silicon that competes at the high-end with NVIDIA; but rather one that competes in the performance segment and below. It's possible AMD isn't able to justify the cost of developing high-end GPUs to push enough volumes over the product lifecycle. The company's "Navi 21" GPU benefited from the crypto-currency mining swell, but just like with NVIDIA, the company isn't able to push enough GPUs at the high-end.

With RDNA4, the company will focus on specific segments of the market that sell the most, which would be the x700-series and below. This generation will be essentially similar to the RX 5000 series powered by RDNA1, which did enough to stir things up in NVIDIA's lineup, and trigger the introduction of the RTX 20 SUPER series. The next generation could see RDNA4 square off against NVIDIA's next-generation, and hopefully, Intel's Arc "Battlemage" family.

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Gigabyte Quietly Launches Low Profile GeForce RTX 4060 Graphics Card
Low profile graphics cards have always been something of a niche market, but they've found homes in many HTPC builds over the years, especially passively cooled cards. Now Gigabyte has launched a rather odd looking low profile NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 based graphics card that simply goes under the name of GeForce RTX 4060 OC Low Profile 8G. The 182 x 69 x 40 (D x H x W) mm card still manages to pack in three fans and requires an 8-pin power connector to work, which somewhat unfortunately plugs in at the rear of the card, although there wouldn't have been too many other locations to place it. This means that this card might not work in some Mini-ITX builds, due to the card being too long once the power connector is plugged in.

The card width should've given away that we're looking at a dual slot card, which is also pretty obvious from the pictures. Gigabyte provides a full height and a low profile bracket with the card, which not all low profile cards have shipped with in the past, so this is a plus. Connectivity wise, the GeForce RTX 4060 OC Low Profile 8G comes with two DP 1.4a and two HDMI 2.1a ports, making this a card well suited for HTPC usage. Gigabyte has even overclocked the GPU from 2460 MHz to 2475 MHz, which seems quite pointless and is unlikely to bring any huge performance advantages over stock clock speeds.

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(PR) Momento Note Launches NFC Notepad, Hopes to Replace Post-it Notes
Momento Note, a leading innovator in the field of digital communication, is thrilled to announce the launch of its groundbreaking product, the Momento Note. This cutting-edge smart note revolutionizes the way we interact with reminders and tasks, taking a timeless tool into the digital era. The yellow sticky note was invented by Dr. Spencer Silver and Art Fry of the esteemed 3M Company in 1980. However, despite advancements in technology, the iconic Post-it Note remained unchanged—until now.

The Momento Note represents a quantum leap in note-taking technology. Leveraging the power of NFC (Near Field Communication), this innovative device transcends the limitations of traditional paper. With the Momento Note, users can store voice recordings, photos, and videos in their reminders, enhancing their organizational capabilities like never before.
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(PR) V-COLOR Achieves Unprecedented Speed with 96GB (2x48GB) DDR5-7800 CL38 with Manta XPrism Series
V-COLOR Technology Inc, a leading memory manufacturer, is proud to present a new speed reached for DDR5 96 GB (2x 48 GB) kit of 7800 CL38.
Aiming to break barriers and elevate performance, with this new high-speed of overclocked 96 GB (2x 48 GB) capacity kit at DDR5-7800 CL38-48-48-126

Testing the limits of DDR5 memory speed, v-color reached DDR5-7800 CL38-48-48-126 at 96 GB (2x48GB) kit configuration, with the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z790 APEX and Intel Core i9-13900KF processor. Seamlessly compatible with Intel XMP 3.0, the Manta XPrism RGB DDR5 96 GB (2x 48 GB) ensures a hassle-free and optimized experience. Effortlessly enhance system's performance and achieve the perfect balance between speed and stability.
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(PR) Leading Semiconductor Industry Players Join Forces to Accelerate RISC-V
Semiconductor industry players Robert Bosch GmbH, Infineon Technologies AG, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., have come together to jointly invest in a company aimed at advancing the adoption of RISC-V globally by enabling next-generation hardware development.

Formed in Germany, this company will aim to accelerate the commercialization of future products based on the open-source RISC-V architecture. The company will be a single source to enable compatible RISC-V based products, provide reference architectures, and help establish solutions widely used in the industry. Initial application focus will be automotive, but with an eventual expansion to include mobile and IoT.
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[NextPowerUP]

The latest patch of "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" released on Wednesday, finally adds real time ray tracing support for AMD Radeon GPUs. Patch version v1.808.0.0 went live on Wednesday, which calls upon AMD Radeon users to have at least the one-off 23.10.23.03 drivers that AMD released specifically for the game. The company latest main-trunk driver remains the Adrenalin 23.7.2 WHQL, so you'll need the off-trunk driver to use ray tracing for now. "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" on PC leverages ray tracing for reflections, shadows, and ambient-occlusion. These toggles in the game's external setup program were grayed out on older AMD drivers.

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(PR) PNY Announces Availability of New NVIDIA Ada Lovelace Architecture-Based Pro-Vis GPUs
PNY Technologies today announced it is now offering the latest NVIDIA RTX Ada Generation GPUs - the NVIDIA RTX 5000, NVIDIA RTX 4500 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 high-performance workstation graphics cards and the NVIDIA L40S GPU for data centers. These new GPUs are now available to order from PNY. Joining the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation and NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation, the NVIDIA RTX 5000, NVIDIA RTX 4500 and NVIDIA RTX 4000 GPUs are based on the powerful and ultra-efficient NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, making them ideal for real-time ray tracing, physically accurate simulation, neural graphics, and generative AI.

These GPUs combine the latest-gen RT Cores, Tensor Cores, and CUDA cores with large GPU memory to offer unprecedented performance for creators and professionals, empowering them to unleash their imagination while maximizing productivity. Turnkey HW + Sync bundles are also available (NVIDIA RTX 5000 + HW Sync, NVIDIA RTX 4500 + HW Sync, NVIDIA RTX 4000 + HW Sync). Expanding the Ada Lovelace architecture family of data center GPUs, which includes the NVIDIA L40 and L4, the new NVIDIA L40S GPU is the most powerful universal GPU for the data center, delivering breakthrough multi-workload acceleration for inference and training, graphics, and video applications.
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(PR) KIOXIA CD8P Series PCIe 5.0 NVMe Data Center SSD Named 'Best of Show' at Flash Memory Summit 2023
KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced that its CD8P Series data center SSD has received a Flash Memory Summit "Best of Show" award in the "Most Innovative Memory Technology" category. These awards recognize the most significant products and companies worldwide within the flash memory and solid-state storage industries.

"We are proud to recognize KIOXIA for their unwavering commitment to advancing flash memory," said Jay Kramer, Chairman of the Awards Program and President of Network Storage Advisors Inc. "KIOXIA was the first vendor to offer drives designed with PCIe 5.0 NVMe 2.0 interface technology. The new KIOXIA CD8P drives continue the company's momentum by delivering the high performance and low latency required by next-generation digital enterprise and data center infrastructures."
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(PR) GIGABYTE Expands GPU Server Portfolio with New Liquid Cooling Server and Server for Generative AI and HPC
Giga Computing, a subsidiary of GIGABYTE and an industry leader in high-performance servers, server motherboards, and workstations, today announced two new GPU servers for the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable CPU and NVIDIA HGX H100 4- and 8-GPU platforms. With optimal performance and cooling efficiency in mind, the GIGABYTE G363-SR0 excels at both by easily supporting processors and GPUs with high TDP requirements. The second server, the GIGABYTE G593-SD2, targets data centers that prefer air-cooled systems. Both offer the highest GPU compute power possible in a single server of their respective sizes.

Additionally, Giga Computing will qualify the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, which is ideal for multi-purpose workloads such as AI, graphics, and video. Also being qualified are new workstation-oriented NVIDIA Ada Generation GPUs: the NVIDIA RTX A5000, NVIDIA RTX A4500, and NVIDIA RTX 4000.
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(PR) MEK HERO Powered by ZOTAC GAMING Unleashes New Gaming PC Additions for Unparalleled Gaming Performance
ZOTAC, a leading manufacturer of innovative gaming hardware solutions, today unveiled three new additions to its MEK HERO Gaming PCs: MEK HERO G3 A7647, A7646I, and A7646. The MEK HERO, powered by ZOTAC GAMING, features the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse themed ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 4070, 4060 Ti, and 4060 graphics cards, AMD's latest Ryzen 5 7600 processors, offering unmatched gaming performance and stunning graphics that bring Gamers closer to their virtual adventures. The MEK HERO is expertly designed, assembled, and hand-tested in the United States. With a strong focus on gaming community engagement, seamless assembly, and top-notch customer service, MEK HERO is crafted to ensure optimal performance, durability, and an unparalleled gaming experience.

The MEK HERO is designed for Gamers who want a PC Gaming system with performance that does not sacrifice cost-efficiency for simplicity. Gamers can enjoy a smooth and responsive experience with the latest ZOTAC GAMING GeForce RTX 40 Series graphic cards and AMD Ryzen 5 processor platforms, whether playing the newest game titles, streaming in high quality, or creating impactful content.
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PSA: Intel Graphics Drivers Now Collect Telemetry (after Opt-In)
The latest version of Intel Arc GPU Graphics Software introduced an interesting change that isn't reflected in the Release Notes. The installer of the 101.4578 beta drivers add a "Compute Improvement Program" (CIP) component as part of the "typical" setup option that is enabled by default. Under the "custom" installer option that you have to activate manually, you get to select which components to install. The Compute Improvement Program can be unchecked here, to ensure data collection is disabled. The benignly named CIP is a data collection component that tracks your PC usage and performance in the background (not just that of the GPU), so Intel can use the data to improve its future products. Intel created a dedicated webpage that spells out what CIP is, and what its scope of data collection is; where is says that CIP "does not collect your name, email address, phone number, sensitive personal information, or physical location (except for country)."

Intel CIP is functionally similar to the Telemetry component of the GeForce Software. NVIDIA's Telemetry is installed and enabled by default along with your GeForce graphics drivers, and you cannot opt out from it, as it does not even figure in the "custom" installer options. AMD handles its version of CIP and Telemetry in arguably the most transparent manner. The installer of AMD Software Adrenalin presents the option to prevent its data-collection tool from being enabled at the completion of driver installation, regardless of whether you've chosen the "typical," "driver only," or "custom" install options. There's an entire page of the installer dedicated to this, you see a large checkbox about data-collection that's checked by default, but which you can uncheck, and complete installation.

Update Aug 8th: Intel tells us that the feature is designed to be opt-in, with very clear messaging during installation. They think it is possible that we previously opted-in on the test system, so the opt-in dialog didn't show a second time. We're investigating and will update this post accordingly.

Update Aug 9th: On re-checking the driver installation on a fresh Windows installation with an Arc graphics card, we found that the Arc GPU Graphics Drivers do indeed show an Opt-In screen and not actually sneak CIP onto unsuspecting users. Please read on.
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(PR) AGON by AOC Introduces 26.5" 1440p 240 Hz OLED Competitive Gaming Monitor
AGON by AOC, the world's leading gaming monitor and IT accessories brand - proudly unveils AGON PRO AG276QZD, the latest addition to the AGON PRO series. This state-of-the-art 26.5" (67.3 cm) gaming monitor features an OLED panel, which delivers a sharp QHD resolution (2560x1440) at a stunning 240 Hz refresh rate and blazingly fast 0.03 ms GtG response time.

The AG276QZD offers a breathtaking infinite contrast ratio thanks to the per-pixel-illumination of the OLED panel, perfect black levels, and wide color gamut (10-bit color depth and 98.5 DCI-P3 coverage), making it an excellent choice for gamers who appreciate both visual excellence and exceptional performance. Thanks to its striking, asymmetrical design touches with a two-tone black/space gray finish, the AG276QZD is not just an eye-catcher but already a winner of the Red Dot Design Award (2022).
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Silicon Motion Shows Power Efficient PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD at Flash Memory Summit 2023
It appears that Silicon Motion is ready to start competing with Phison in the PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD controller market, as the company has shown a new controller at the Flash Memory Summit 2023 which should give Phison a run for its money. The SM2508 as the controller is called is set to be the most power efficient PCIe 5.0 NVMe controller to date, with a power consumption of 3.5 W, which is in line with most PCIe 4.0 SSD controllers. This still means that a decent heatsink will be needed, but not active cooling or massive heatsinks that we've seen on the current crop of PCIe 5.0 drives based on Phison's E26 controller.

Silicon Motion also appears to have the Phison E26 beat, in terms of performance, as the SM2508 promises to deliver sequential read and write speeds of up to 14 GB/s. Random performance is rated at 2.5 million IOPS read and 2.4 million IOPS write. To get the most out of the SM2508 2400 MT/s or faster NAND flash is going to be needed to deliver the claimed performance figures though, but according to Anandtech, the SM2508 is future proofed by supporting NAND flash speeds of up to 3600 MT/s, so we might see faster drives based on the controller once faster NAND appears, such as SK Hynix new 321-layer NAND, which is scheduled for a 2025 introduction. The SM2508 on the other hand is said to be launching at the end of this year or early 2024.

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[NextPowerUP]

Synology today announced the DiskStation DS224+ and DS124, the two newest additions to Synology's range of data solutions for professionals, small teams, and edge deployments. Powered by the versatile Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system, these storage devices offer comprehensive tools to protect and manage important data, access files remotely, and monitor physical properties, all within a compact desktop format.

The DS224+ and DS124 deliver intuitive file management and sharing with Synology Drive, a private cloud solution combining cross-platform access with advanced privacy controls. Professionals in all fields can be more productive with the convenience of working from anywhere and the simplicity of centralized data.
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(PR) Intel is Poised to Unleash America's Innovation Boom, Fueled by the CHIPS Act
It's been one year since President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law, launching the most significant industrial policy initiative in a generation. In addition to the much-discussed manufacturing boom the law incentivized, we also stand on the cusp of America's next big innovation boom. Powered by the promises of the CHIPS Act, Intel is doubling down on research and development (R&D) that will fuel new, leading-edge chip manufacturing facilities to power today's advanced technologies and tomorrow's transformative innovations. Intel is also investing in much-needed workforce development programs to ensure American workers have the necessary skills and talent to out-innovate the competition and meet the long-term demand for leading-edge semiconductors. Every day, we see firsthand how Intel's investments are putting America back on the path to manufacturing and technology leadership, while broadening access to opportunities and supporting the next generation of innovators.
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(PR) Suppliers Amp Up Production, HBM Bit Supply Projected to Soar by 105% in 2024
TrendForce highlights in its latest report that memory suppliers are boosting their production capacity in response to escalating orders from NVIDIA and CSPs for their in-house designed chips. These efforts include the expansion of TSV production lines to increase HBM output. Forecasts based on current production plans from suppliers indicate a remarkable 105% annual increase in HBM bit supply by 2024. However, due to the time required for TSV expansion, which encompasses equipment delivery and testing (9 to 12 months), the majority of HBM capacity is expected to materialize by 2Q24.

TrendForce analysis indicates that 2023 to 2024 will be pivotal years for AI development, triggering substantial demand for AI Training chips and thereby boosting HBM utilization. However, as the focus pivots to Inference, the annual growth rate for AI Training chips and HBM is expected to taper off slightly. The imminent boom in HBM production has presented suppliers with a difficult situation: they will need to strike a balance between meeting customer demand to expand market share and avoiding a surplus due to overproduction. Another concern is the potential risk of overbooking, as buyers, anticipating an HBM shortage, might inflate their demand.
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Intel Core i5-14600K and Core i7-14700K Show up in the Wild
Multiple leakers on Twitter/X have posted screenshots or pictures of Intel's upcoming Core i5-14600K CPU and it appears that some earlier rumours about this specific SKU weren't entirely accurate. It was believed that the Core i5-14600K was to get a core bump over the Core i5-13600K, but apparently this isn't the case, if the new leaks hold true. However, it also appears that the CPU will boost higher than expected, as earlier rumours suggested 5.3 GHz max boost clock and now it appears it'll go all the way up to 5.5 GHz, which is still lower than its Core i7 and Core i9 peers. The i5 also lacks Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0, so it won't be possible to squeeze some extra performance out of this chip without overclocking it the good old fashioned way.

@9550pro posted a screenshot of CPU-Z in Chinese showing the Core i5-14600K running in a Gigabyte Z790 Gaming X AX motherboard, but it's unknown what the rest of the system configuration was. However, it does show the CPU having a clock multiplier ranging from 8 to 55, confirming the 5.5 GHz max CPU clock speed. @wxnod posted a picture of an MSI Z690 Edge TI WiFi DDR4 motherboard with a Core i7-14700K paired with 16 GB of DDR4 memory running at 4600 MHz on Gear 1, which in itself is a feat, although it's unknown if this was stable. The CPU was shown as running at 6.3 GHz, which is most likely a manual overclock of the CPU, as the Core i7-14700K isn't expected to be a 6 GHz plus part. We're getting close to the launch of Intel's 14th gen Core processors, so we won't have to wait too long to find out the full specs of these CPUs.

Update 07:17 UTC: Twitter/X bot Benchleaks has found some Geekbench results for the Core i5-14600K which @harukaze5719 made a nice graph of that we've added below. This suggests that Intel has managed to eke out quite a bit of extra performance from these "refreshed" CPUs.

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(PR) Team Group Launches T-Create Expert CFexpress Plus and CFexpress Type-B Memory Cards
Global memory provider, Team Group, has announced two high-end memory cards today under its creator sub-brand T-CREATE for high-resolution works: The T-CREATE EXPERT CFexpress Plus Type B and T-CREATE EXPERT CFexpress Type B Memory Cards. Designed to unleash the top performance of Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera (DSLR), cinema, and high-end SLR cameras, they fulfill the needs of creators that take continuous high-speed shots and can handle the shooting of 4K and 8K RAW high-bitrate videos over long periods, allowing users to capture every key moment.

The T-CREATE EXPERT CFexpress Plus Type B card and the T-CREATE EXPERT CFexpress Type B card both use the CFexpress standard and offer write speeds of up to 1,700 MB/s and read speeds of up to 1,800 MB/s, excellent for file transfers to PCs and viewing all valuable files instantly and smoothly. The T-CREATE EXPERT CFexpress Plus Type B Memory Card adopts pSLC technology, which enables the CFexpress memory cards to have SLC-like read and write speeds in addition to superb durability.
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(PR) Lightelligence Introduces Optical Interconnect for Composable Data Center Architectures
Lightelligence, the global leader in photonic computing and connectivity systems, today announced Photowave, the first optical communications hardware designed for PCIe and Compute Express Link (CXL) connectivity, unleashing next-generation workload efficiency.

Photowave, an Optical Networking (oNET) transceiver leveraging the significant latency and energy efficiency of photonics technology, empowers data center managers to scale resources within or across server racks. The first public demonstration of Photowave will be at Flash Memory Summit today through Thursday, August 10, in Santa Clara, Calif.
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(PR) QNAP Announces the ARM-based AI NAS- TS-AI642 with 6 TOPS NPU
QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, today unveiled the new-generation AI NAS TS-AI642. Adopting an ARM 8-core processor with 6 TOPS NPU, the TS-AI642 is perfect for AI image recognition and smart surveillance applications. Achieving both high performance and power-efficiency with 2.5 GbE connectivity, 10GbE expandability via PCIe and dual 4K HDMI output, the TS-AI642 fulfills the image storage, backup, and video surveillance demands of SMBs.

"According to professional technology media and global technology firms, 2023 is the year of Edge AI. Research shows that companies and organizations are leveraging more efficient and budget-friendly Edge AI solutions due to the market and economic uncertainty." said Jerry Deng, Product Manager of QNAP. "The QNAP TS-AI642 is the first ARM-based AI NAS on the market. Incorporating NPU for boosting AI image recognition performance with a low power design, the TS-AI642 is a cost-optimized entry-level ARM-based AI image storage and Surveillance NAS for SMBs."
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(PR) Designer Series by Linksys Brings Modern Look to Essential WiFi Devices
Linksys, an iconic Home and Small Office connectivity company, is pleased to announce in a statement of direction its new Designer Series. This collection of connectivity products will become available online and in stores over the next several months, through the end of this year. This most recent addition to the Linksys family of products continues in the tradition of high-tech, innovative connectivity devices for the home, providing top-of-the line service and reliability combined with a fresh design that gives a sophisticated, modern edge and a tasteful new look to the traditional home WiFi router.

"The Designer Series came from two-plus years of research, conversations with our customers and design exploration," said Michael Wick, director of product design at Linksys. "We were asked to evolve Velop. The result is a new design language and color family that seamlessly blends in with home and small office décor around the world. Customers and beta users have confirmed we hit the mark."
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NVIDIA Releases GeForce 536.99 WHQL Drivers with Baldur's Gate 3 Optimization
NVIDIA late Tuesday released the latest version of its GeForce Game Ready drivers. Version 536.99 WHQL adds optimization for "Baldur's Gate 3," besides "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," and "Gord." Among the issues fixed with this release include screen-tearing and jitter noticed in cut-scenes of "Control," game stability issues with "Battlefield 2042" when applying GeForce Freestyle filters; general game stability issues when Freestyle filters are used with DLSS 3 enabled; stability issues with "Dead Space," and audio issues for Elgato Wave Link. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 536.99 WHQL
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[NextPowerUP]

SK hynix Inc. showcased today the sample of the 321-layer 4D NAND, making public the progress on its development of the industry's first NAND with more than 300 layers. The company gave a presentation on the progress on the development of its 321-layer 1 Tb TLC 4D NAND Flash and displayed the samples at the Flash Memory Summit (FMS) 2023 taking place Aug. 8-10 in Santa Clara.

SK hynix is the first in the industry to unveil the progress on the development of a NAND with more than 300 layers in detail. The company plans to raise the level of completion of the 321-layer product and start mass production from the first half of 2025. The company said its technological competitiveness accumulated from the success of the world's highest 238-layer NAND, already in mass production, paved the way for a smooth progress for the development of the 321-layer product. "With another breakthrough to address stacking limitations, SK hynix will open the era of NAND with more than 300 layers and lead the market."
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(PR) NVIDIA Announces NVIDIA OVX servers Featuring New NVIDIA L40S GPU for Generative AI and Industrial Digitalization
NVIDIA today announced NVIDIA OVX servers featuring the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, a powerful, universal data center processor designed to accelerate the most compute-intensive, complex applications, including AI training and inference, 3D design and visualization, video processing and industrial digitalization with the NVIDIA Omniverse platform. The new GPU powers accelerated computing workloads for generative AI, which is transforming workflows and services across industries, including text, image and video generation, chatbots, game development, product design and healthcare.

"As generative AI transforms every industry, enterprises are increasingly seeking large-scale compute resources in the data center," said Bob Pette, vice president of professional visualization at NVIDIA. "OVX systems with NVIDIA L40S GPUs accelerate AI, graphics and video processing workloads, and meet the demanding performance requirements of an ever-increasing set of complex and diverse applications."
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(PR) Razer Unveils New Kraken Kitty Headsets
Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today unveils the latest litter of its Kraken Kitty line so gamers, streamers, and cosplayers alike can celebrate International Cat Day in style. Become a fur-midable opponent with the latest release of the iconic, original Kraken Kitty headset, one of Razer's most popular models. The three new Kitty-additions follow the Kraken Kitty V2 Pro announced last year, and include the USB-wired Kraken Kitty V2, the wireless Kraken Kitty V2 BT, and cute clip-on Kitty Ears V2 that are purrfect for everybody - and every budget. The unmistakable Kraken Kitty ears have taken a stretch, now 50% bigger and bolder across all new styles.

"When we first released the Kraken Kitty, it really scratched an itch in the market, as there was nothing like it before." said Alvin Cheung, Senior Vice President of Razer's Hardware Business Unit. "At Razer, we're always on the prowl for ways to bring bolder and better products to gamers. The latest line of Kraken Kitty headsets continues to drive this design philosophy in an iconic form factor."
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[NextPowerUP]

Overwatch 2 is Blizzard's always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game that's set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. To unlock the ultimate graphics experience in each battle, upgrade to a GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics card, desktop PC, or laptop for class-leading performance, and unbeatable responsiveness courtesy of NVIDIA Reflex.

The invasion has begun in Overwatch 2's biggest season to date! Fight back in three co-op Player vs. Enemy Story Missions, play PvP as a new Support hero, and tier up the new Invasion Battle Pass to unlock new skins and cosmetics. And you can get the GeForce Overwatch 2 Invasion Ultimate Bundle with the purchase of select GeForce RTX 40 Series products at participating stores, starting today.
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"Downfall" Intel CPU Vulnerability Can Impact Performance By 50%
Intel has recently revealed a security vulnerability named Downfall (CVE-2022-40982) that impacts multiple generations of Intel processors. The vulnerability is linked to Intel's memory optimization feature, exploiting the Gather instruction, a function that accelerates data fetching from scattered memory locations. It inadvertently exposes internal hardware registers, allowing malicious software access to data held by other programs. The flaw affects Intel mainstream and server processors ranging from the Skylake to Rocket Lake microarchitecture. The entire list of affected CPUs is here. Intel has responded by releasing updated software-level microcode to fix the flaw. However, there's concern over the performance impact of the fix, potentially affecting AVX2 and AVX-512 workloads involving the Gather instruction by up to 50%.

Phoronix tested the Downfall mitigations and reported varying performance decreases on different processors. For instance, two Xeon Platinum 8380 processors were around 6% slower in certain tests, while the Core i7-1165G7 faced performance degradation ranging from 11% to 39% in specific benchmarks. While these reductions were less than Intel's forecasted 50% overhead, they remain significant, especially in High-Performance Computing (HPC) workloads. The ramifications of Downfall are not restricted to specialized tasks like AI or HPC but may extend to more common applications such as video encoding. Though the microcode update is not mandatory and Intel provides an opt-out mechanism, users are left with a challenging decision between security and performance. Executing a Downfall attack might seem complex, but the final choice between implementing the mitigation or retaining performance will likely vary depending on individual needs and risk assessments.

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GoDeal24 Unveils MS Office Super Sale, with Discounts Up to 62% Off
GoDeal24 unveils the 2023 Summer MS Office Super Sale. Get the world's most powerful productivity suite, Office 2021 Professional Plus, at just $24.25, with multi-PC packs lowering the price even further—down to as low as $13.05 per PC as part of a 5-PC pack. Supercharge your Summer desktop PC build with genuine software from GoDeal24, with Windows 11 Pro priced at just $10.25. Save even more when you pair your preferred edition of Windows with that of Office.

Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $24.25 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $65.25 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 2-PC at $39.25 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $28.99 | Buy Office 2019 Professional PLus at $22.25 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Business for Mac at $26.69 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.25 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $12.25 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $7.15 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $12.01 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $10.25 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 2-PC at $20.25 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $9.98

Please use the coupon code SGO62 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2021 Professional Plus at $29.70 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional Plus at $25.68 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2021 Professional Plus at $32.99 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2019 Professional Plus at $28.69

Please use the coupon code SGO50 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $30.23 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $33.82 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Standard at $26.13 | Buy Windows Server 2019 Standard at $16.06 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Datacenter at $30.75 | Buy Windows 10 Enterprise 2021 LTSC at $12.81
Check out great deals on system utilities.Read full story

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(PR) TerraMaster Launches F2-212 F4-212 and U4-212 Private Cloud NAS
TerraMaster, a professional brand that focuses on providing innovative storage products for homes and businesses, recently released new design NAS series F2-212, F4-212 and U4-212, support TRAID, BTRFS file system, Snapshot and TFSS providing stronger data backup and better home multimedia experience, which perfectly meet the requirement of personal and home users. Among the 3 models, the sample of F2-212 for review will be firstly available soon in August.

More Modern Exterior Design
The 212 NAS series adopts brand-new design elements and color matching, and has a more fashionable and modern appearance design, better heat dissipation, lower noise, and more convenient installation and use.
Read full story

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NVIDIA 537.09 Hotfix Addresses Ratchet & Clank DirectStorage Performance Fluctuations
NVIDIA today released the GeForce 537.09 Hotfix driver to address an urgent issue with "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart." This is the first AAA PC title to introduce DirectStorage acceleration, and apparently there are some performance fluctuations seen due to the way enabling DirectStorage and certain other in-game settings interact with each other. This driver release fixes them. As a Hotfix driver, no other issues or optimizations are added with this release, and unless you play "Ratchet & Clank," you'd rather stay on the latest GeForce Software 536.99 WHQL drivers. If however you do play the game, grab the Hotfix driver from the link below to smoothen out issues with DirectStorage.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 537.09 Hotfix

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(PR) Westone Audio Launch AM PRO X Series of In-Ear Monitors
The AM PRO X series of universal in-ear monitors have been designed for stage artists to get the very most from their performance. Available in three driver configurations, Westone Audio use advanced balanced-armature technology designed in-house, along with their StageSense filter system to provide artists with a carefully balanced mix of audio and feedback from the audience and fellow performers on stage. For close to four decades, Westone Audio has been at the forefront of in-ear audio innovation. Having developed balanced-armature drivers for their custom earpieces, Westone created the first custom stage monitors which were used in collaboration with some of the biggest artists at the time such as Rush and Def Leppard.

The entire range will be available to buy on 15th August 2023 from WestoneAudio.com (US), and WestoneAudio.eu (EU) as well as selected retailers worldwide including hifiheadphones.co.uk, gear4music.co.uk with the following pricing:

• AM PRO X 10 - $249.99 / £249.99 / €279.99
• AM PRO X 20 - $399.99 / £379.99 / €429.99
• AM PRO X 30 - $479.99 / £449.99 / €514.99

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(PR) Overwatch 2: Invasion is Here With New Adventures, and More
Overwatch 2: Invasion is here, and packed with a new hero, a new seasonal Battle Pass, and a new core PvP game mode. We're also bringing new Invasion Story Missions, a limited-time Co-op Event, and new ways to practice and celebrate your achievements with your favorite heroes. Let's check out everything that you can expect in the new update!

Illari is the newest Support Hero to join the ranks in Overwatch 2. What sets Illari apart from other Support heroes is that she has a very damage-focused kit, so that you can heal your team while dominating the opposition. Her Solar Rifle fires a beam of sunlight that can do powerful burst damage at long-range, or use it to heal allies around you. She also can support her team with a deployable Healing Pylon granting bursts of health to allies around it. Her Outburst ability will knock enemies back and propel herself out of danger. When you need to turn up the heat, use Captive Sun and fire a massive ball of solar energy. Opponents hit by this ultimate ability will be Sun Struck, making them vulnerable to lethal explosions if they take too much damage. Unlock Illari immediately when you get the Premium Battle Pass, or wait to unlock her on tier 45 for free. You can also unlock Illari—and all the heroes in Overwatch—with the new Overwatch 2 Complete Hero Collection, now available in the In-Game Shop.
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[NextPowerUP]

Experience Quake II, enhanced in partnership with Nightdive Studios to bring the ground-breaking shooter to modern hardware with new content, online multiplayer, visual upgrades and more! Play the enhanced Quake II today on Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

As humanity's last hope, it's up to you to stop the wicked Strogg's warpath before it twists mankind into mechanical horrors. The odds are stacked against you on a hostile alien planet teeming with enemy forces, but so long as you have ammo and a pulse, it's not over! Battle hordes of cybernetic creatures in blistering FPS combat, strafing through Quake II's campaign with an iconic arsenal of bullets, rockets and shells. Enjoy Quake II's legendary gameplay, preserved and complete with the original soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, now enhanced with widescreen support, restored content previously left on the cutting room floor, visual and performance upgrades to make every muzzle flash and gib-plosion pop on-screen and even new levels.
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(PR) NVIDIA GeForce NOW Gets 21 New Games, KovaaK's Challenge Goes Live
Rise and shine, it's time to quake up - the GeForce NOW Ultimate KovaaK's challenge kicks off at the QuakeCon gaming festival today, giving gamers everywhere the chance to play to their ultimate potential with ultra-high 240 frames per second streaming. On top of bragging rights, top scorers can win some sweet prizes - including a 240 Hz gaming monitor.

Bethesda's award-winning titles Doom Eternal, Quake, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Wolfenstein: Youngblood heat up the cloud this week, leading 21 new games joining the GeForce NOW library. Plus, Baldur's Gate 3 has been a hit with members. Make sure to upgrade to Ultimate and Priority memberships today to skip the waiting lines over free members and get into gaming faster.
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(PR) SK hynix Starts Mass Production of Industry's First 24GB LPDDR5X DRAM
SK hynix Inc. (or "the company", www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has begun supplying the industry's first 24-gigabyte (GB) Low Power Double Data Rate 5X (LPDDR5X) mobile DRAM package to its customers, following the mass production of LPDDR5X in November 2022. SK hynix, in January, developed LPDDR5T, which is an upgraded product of LPDDR5X prior to the development of the 8th generation LPDDR6, and is currently processing customer validation.

"The company integrated the High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process in the 24 GB LPDDR5X package, enabling the product to deliver outstanding power efficiency and performance," said SK hynix. "The addition of the 24 GB package to our mobile DRAM product portfolio has given us a more flexibility in accommodating customers' needs."
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AMD Reveals Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Ryzen 7 7800X3D Starfield Limited Edition
As a part of its promotional deal with Bethesda for the upcoming Starfield game, AMD has announced a limited edition release of both its Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card and its Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU. The latter is in all fairness a bit dull as far as limited editions go, as the only thing really limited is the packaging the CPU comes in. Despite being a limited production run of only 500 units, AMD didn't bother adding any extra marking on the CPU itself, making it less of a collectors edition than it could've been.

On the other hand, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX Starfield Special Edition gets a custom white shroud with a lot of little quirky bits of text on the card and an overall different feel to it compared to AMD's reference design cards. Again, we're looking at a limited run of 500 cards here too and it's not clear if these will be numbered or not. Neither product will be available to buy though, so the only way to get your hands on one or the other, is to enter one of multiple giveaways that either AMD or its partners will host in the near future. There's a video after the break with more details.
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(PR) SK hynix LPDDR5T Verified as World's Fastest Mobile DRAM
SK hynix's LPDDR5T (Low Power Double Data Rate 5 Turbo) has completed performance verification for application with MediaTek's next-generation mobile APs. Developed in January 2023, the LPDDR5T is the world's fastest mobile DRAM, achieving operating speeds of 9.6 gigabits per second (Gbps). SK hynix provided samples of its LPDDR5T to MediaTek, a leading global fabless semiconductor, in February 2023 for testing.

The performance tests were carried out using the next-generation MediaTek Dimensity flagship chipset, which is part of their Dimensity Platform series of mobile APs. Set to launch within this year, MediaTek's next-generation flagship mobile chipset will utilize 9.6 Gbps memory—the fastest operating speed for mobile devices. The global semiconductor industry had previously projected that operating speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps would only be achievable with future iterations such as the LPDDR6, which is scheduled to be released after 2026. SK hynix has expedited this timeline with the LPDDR5T.
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(PR) Corsair Launches the K70 MAX with Corsair MGX Hall Effect Switches, HS80 MAX Headset
CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gear for gamers and content creators, announced the launch of new peripherals that empower you to craft a customized gaming experience like no other.

This launch includes a game-changing new keyboard: The K70 MAX Magnetic-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. The first keyboard with adjustable CORSAIR MGX magnetic-mechanical switches, the K70 MAX offers an unprecedented level of configurability in every keystroke. Whether for blistering speed or impeccable typing accuracy, the K70 MAX is the ideal device for those who seek maximum keyboard performance.
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(PR) Supermicro Announces High Volume Production of E3.S All-Flash Storage Portfolio with CXL Memory Expansion
Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for Cloud, AI/ML, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is delivering a high-throughput, low latency E3.S storage solutions supporting the industry's first PCIe Gen 5 drives and CXL modules to meet the demands of large AI Training and HPC clusters, where massive amounts of unstructured data must be delivered to the GPUs and CPUs to achieve faster results.

Supermicro's Petascale systems are a new class of storage servers supporting the latest industry standard E3.S (7.5 mm) Gen 5 NVMe drives from leading storage vendors for up to 256 TB of high throughput, low latency storage in 1U or up to a half petabyte in 2U. Inside, Supermicro's innovative symmetrical architecture reduced latency by ensuring the shortest signal paths for data and maximized airflow over critical components, allowing them to run at optimal speeds. With these new systems, a standard rack can now hold over 20 Petabytes of capacity for high throughput NVMe-oF (NVMe over Fabrics) configurations, ensuring that GPUs remain saturated with data. Systems are available with either the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors or 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors.
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(PR) Turtle Beach's Innovative & Hyper-Portable Atom Controller Is Coming to iPhones
Best-selling gaming headset and leading gaming accessory maker Turtle Beach Corporation today announced their acclaimed, hyper-portable Turtle Beach Atom Mobile Game Controller is coming to iPhone users next month. The Atom Controller is a compact and portable mobile gaming controller with a unique two-piece design. The Atom's two ergonomic grip modules fit every Apple iPhone 14, 13, 12, and 11 model, and adjustable spring-loaded clamps ensure there's no need to remove phone cases. When gaming with an iPhone placed in the middle, the two Atom Controller modules communicate with each other wirelessly using Turtle Beach's proprietary 2.4 GHz wireless link.

Low-latency Bluetooth connects lag-free to iPhones when cloud gaming on Apple Arcade, Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now, Steam Link, and more. When it's time to stow-and-go, the two Atom modules magnetically combine to effortlessly fit its included carrying case, and into a pocket. With the earlier launch of the Atom Controller for Android, Game Tyrant called it, "A game changing device that makes mobile gaming so much more enjoyable," while Android Police praised it as, "An excellent device," and gave it a 9/10 review score.
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[NextPowerUP]

Action RPG "Atlas Fallen" joins a long line of RPGs this Summer for you to grind into—Baldur's Gate 3, Diablo 4, and Starfield. We've been testing the game for our GPU performance article, and found something interesting—the game isn't optimized for Intel Hybrid processors, such as the Core i9-13900K "Raptor Lake" in our bench. The game scales across all CPU cores—which is normally a good thing—until we realize that not only does it saturate all of the 8 P-cores, but also the 16 E-cores. It ends up with under 80 FPS in busy gameplay at 1080p with a GeForce RTX 4090. Performance is "restored" only when the E-cores are disabled.

Normally, when a game saturates all of the E-cores, we don't interpret it as the game being "aware" of E-cores, but rather "unaware" of them. An ideal Hybrid-aware game should saturate the P-cores for its main workload, and use the E-cores for errands such as processing the audio stack (DSPs from the game), network stack (the game's unique multiplayer network component), physics, in-flight decompression of assets from the disk, etc., which show up in Task Manager as intermittent, irregular load. "Atlas Fallen" appears to be using the E-cores for its main worker threads, and this is found imposing a performance penalty as we found out by disabling the E-cores. This performance penalty is because the E-cores run slower than P-cores, at lower clock speeds, have much lower IPC, and are cache-starved. Frame data being processed by the P-cores end up having to wait for those from the E-cores, which causes the overall framerate to come down.
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AMD "Strix Point" Company's First Hybrid Processor, 4P+8E ES Surfaces
Beating previous reports that AMD is increasing the CPU core count of its mobile monolithic processors from the present 8-core/16-thread to 12-core/24-thread; we are learning that the next-gen processor from the company, codenamed "Strix Point," will in fact be the company's first hybrid processor. The chip is expected to feature two kinds of CPU cores, with "Zen 5" being the microarchitecture behind the performance cores, and "Zen 5c" behind the efficiency cores. An engineering sample featuring 4 P-cores, and 8 E-cores, surfaced on the web, thanks to Performancedatabases. A HWiNFO screenshot reveals the engineering sample's core-configuration of 4x P-cores and 8x E-cores, with identical L1 cache sizes. Things get a little fuzzy with the L2 cache size detection, and L3 cache.

We know from the current "Zen 4c" core design that it is essentially a compacted version of "Zen 4" designed for higher-density chiplets that have 16 cores; and that it has both the same ISA and IPC as "Zen 4," with the only difference being that "Zen 4c" is designed with lower amounts of shared L3 caches at their disposal, are generally configured with lower clock speeds, and have higher energy efficiency than "Zen 4." "Zen 4c" cores also 35% smaller in die-area than "Zen 4." The company could develop "Zen 5c" CPU cores with similar design goals.
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Gets a New Trailer, Big Reveal on August 17
Activision and Sledgehammer Games revealed a bit more details about the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, including the new Makarov Reveal trailer, and an announcement that most of content collected in Modern Warfare II will be transferable to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III when it launches on November 10. Activision is also promising a big reveal scheduled for August 10.

Activision released a big post titled "carry forward" about what content will be transferable. In short, the list includes weapons and cosmetic content, including Bundles, Operators, and other rewards and unlocks from the game. The Wartracks from Modern Warfare 2 are not on the list. The latest teaser trailer confirms the return of Vladimir Makarov as the villain of the game.
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(PR) Alphacool Intros Core Push-and-Secure Mounting Kits
Installation with a simple click? The Core Push Mounting Kit from Alphacool simplifies the installation of a Core Distro Plate. The Push Mounting Kit allows easy and secure mounting of a Core Distro Plate on a radiator or in a PC case. The metal pins are screwed to the Distro Plate and the matching sockets are attached to the radiator or PC case. In the next, tool-free mounting step, the Distro Plate is pushed onto the pins. Thus, the mounting system offers a very solid and stable mount of the Distro Plate and at the same time eases the disassembly for maintenance or expansion projects considerably. The Core Push Mounting Kit is now available in 17 mm, 25 mm and 50 mm versions in the Alphacool Online Shop.
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(PR) V-COLOR Showcases Overclocked DDR5-6800 R-DIMM Ranging from 16GB to 64GB 8-channel Kits
V-COLOR Technology Inc, a leading memory manufacturer is proud to present the revolutionary DDR5 OC R-DIMM Workstation Memory in configurations 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB. Designed for use with the latest unlocked Intel Xeon W-2400X and W-3400X series processors on respective Intel W790 chipset-based motherboards supporting quad-channel and octo-channel memory

Extreme Overclocking: Experience unrivaled power with OC R-DIMM Workstation Memory. Engineered for extreme overclocking capabilities, this memory module dares to push the limits and achieve unparalleled speeds. With v-color technology, effortlessly unlock the full potential of workstations and conquer even the most demanding tasks. Intel XMP 3.0 Certified: Seamlessly compatible with Intel XMP 3.0, OC R-DIMM Workstation Memory ensures a hassle-free and optimized experience. Effortlessly enhance system's performance and achieve the perfect balance between speed and stability.
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[NextPowerUP]

The next-generation GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards will be powered by the Blackwell graphics architecture, named after American mathematician David Blackwell. kopite7kimi, a reliable source with NVIDIA leaks revealed what the lineup of GPUs behind the series could look like. It reportedly will be led by the GB202, followed by the GB203, and then the GB205 and GB206, followed by the GB207 at the entry level. What's surprising here, is the lack of a "GB204" succeeding the AD104, GA104, TU104, and a long line of successful performance-segment GPUs by NVIDIA.

The GeForce Blackwell ASIC series begins with "GB" (GeForce Blackwell) followed by a 200-series number. The last time NVIDIA used a 200-series ASIC number for GeForce GPUs was with "Maxwell," as the GPUs ended up being built on a more advanced node, and with a few more advanced features, than what the architecture was originally conceived for. For "Blackwell," the GB202 logically succeeds the AD102, GA102, TU102, and a long line of "big chips" that have powered the company's flagship client graphics cards. The GB103 succeeds AD103, as a high SIMD count GPU with a narrower memory bus than the GB202, powering the #2 and #3 SKUs in the series. There is curiously the lack of a "GB104."
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This Week in Gaming (Week 33)
As we enter the middle of August, the month keeps delivering when it comes to new game releases and this coming week we have multiple AA titles to look forward to. There are a lot of things to look forward to, including submarines, spaceships, controlling chaos, chainsaws, oval balls and much more. Please keep voting in the poll, as it gives us an indication of what kind of games you like, as we ignore the negativity in the poll anyhow.

Everspace 2 / This week's AA title / Tuesday 15 August
Everspace 2 puts you in the pilot seat in this fast-paced single-player space shooter, where vicious encounters and brutal challenges stand between you and that next epic loot drop. Explore the war-torn star systems of the Demilitarized Zone of Cluster 34—each massive handcrafted area is packed with secrets, puzzles, and perils to encounter. Experience a thrilling sci-fi story following Adam, a clone pilot seeking his place in the universe. The events of his past tangle with clashing factions as the DMZ approaches a boiling point. Escape colonial capture, navigate the intrigues of local warlords, evade energy-maddened cultists, and fend off war-hungry aliens.
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GoDeal24 Unveils MS Office Super Sale, with Discounts Up to 62% Off
GoDeal24 unveils the 2023 Summer MS Office Super Sale. Get the world's most powerful productivity suite, Office 2021 Professional Plus, at just $24.25, with multi-PC packs lowering the price even further—down to as low as $13.05 per PC as part of a 5-PC pack. Supercharge your Summer desktop PC build with genuine software from GoDeal24, with Windows 11 Pro priced at just $10.25. Save even more when you pair your preferred edition of Windows with that of Office.

Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $24.25 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $65.25 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 2-PC at $39.25 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $28.99 | Buy Office 2019 Professional PLus at $22.25 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Business for Mac at $26.69 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $7.25 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $12.25 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $7.15 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $12.01 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $10.25 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 2-PC at $20.25 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $9.98

Please use the coupon code SGO62 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2021 Professional Plus at $29.70 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional Plus at $25.68 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2021 Professional Plus at $32.99 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2019 Professional Plus at $28.69

Please use the coupon code SGO50 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $30.23 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $33.82 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Standard at $26.13 | Buy Windows Server 2019 Standard at $16.06 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Datacenter at $30.75 | Buy Windows 10 Enterprise 2021 LTSC at $12.81
Check out great deals on system utilities.Read full story

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"Downfall" Intel CPU Vulnerability Can Impact Performance By 50%
Intel has recently revealed a security vulnerability named Downfall (CVE-2022-40982) that impacts multiple generations of Intel processors. The vulnerability is linked to Intel's memory optimization feature, exploiting the Gather instruction, a function that accelerates data fetching from scattered memory locations. It inadvertently exposes internal hardware registers, allowing malicious software access to data held by other programs. The flaw affects Intel mainstream and server processors ranging from the Skylake to Rocket Lake microarchitecture. The entire list of affected CPUs is here. Intel has responded by releasing updated software-level microcode to fix the flaw. However, there's concern over the performance impact of the fix, potentially affecting AVX2 and AVX-512 workloads involving the Gather instruction by up to 50%.

Phoronix tested the Downfall mitigations and reported varying performance decreases on different processors. For instance, two Xeon Platinum 8380 processors were around 6% slower in certain tests, while the Core i7-1165G7 faced performance degradation ranging from 11% to 39% in specific benchmarks. While these reductions were less than Intel's forecasted 50% overhead, they remain significant, especially in High-Performance Computing (HPC) workloads. The ramifications of Downfall are not restricted to specialized tasks like AI or HPC but may extend to more common applications such as video encoding. Though the microcode update is not mandatory and Intel provides an opt-out mechanism, users are left with a challenging decision between security and performance. Executing a Downfall attack might seem complex, but the final choice between implementing the mitigation or retaining performance will likely vary depending on individual needs and risk assessments.

More...

(PR) TerraMaster Launches F2-212 F4-212 and U4-212 Private Cloud NAS
TerraMaster, a professional brand that focuses on providing innovative storage products for homes and businesses, recently released new design NAS series F2-212, F4-212 and U4-212, support TRAID, BTRFS file system, Snapshot and TFSS providing stronger data backup and better home multimedia experience, which perfectly meet the requirement of personal and home users. Among the 3 models, the sample of F2-212 for review will be firstly available soon in August.

More Modern Exterior Design
The 212 NAS series adopts brand-new design elements and color matching, and has a more fashionable and modern appearance design, better heat dissipation, lower noise, and more convenient installation and use.
Read full story

More...

NVIDIA 537.09 Hotfix Addresses Ratchet & Clank DirectStorage Performance Fluctuations
NVIDIA today released the GeForce 537.09 Hotfix driver to address an urgent issue with "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart." This is the first AAA PC title to introduce DirectStorage acceleration, and apparently there are some performance fluctuations seen due to the way enabling DirectStorage and certain other in-game settings interact with each other. This driver release fixes them. As a Hotfix driver, no other issues or optimizations are added with this release, and unless you play "Ratchet & Clank," you'd rather stay on the latest GeForce Software 536.99 WHQL drivers. If however you do play the game, grab the Hotfix driver from the link below to smoothen out issues with DirectStorage.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 537.09 Hotfix

More...

(PR) Westone Audio Launch AM PRO X Series of In-Ear Monitors
The AM PRO X series of universal in-ear monitors have been designed for stage artists to get the very most from their performance. Available in three driver configurations, Westone Audio use advanced balanced-armature technology designed in-house, along with their StageSense filter system to provide artists with a carefully balanced mix of audio and feedback from the audience and fellow performers on stage. For close to four decades, Westone Audio has been at the forefront of in-ear audio innovation. Having developed balanced-armature drivers for their custom earpieces, Westone created the first custom stage monitors which were used in collaboration with some of the biggest artists at the time such as Rush and Def Leppard.

The entire range will be available to buy on 15th August 2023 from WestoneAudio.com (US), and WestoneAudio.eu (EU) as well as selected retailers worldwide including hifiheadphones.co.uk, gear4music.co.uk with the following pricing:

• AM PRO X 10 - $249.99 / £249.99 / €279.99
• AM PRO X 20 - $399.99 / £379.99 / €429.99
• AM PRO X 30 - $479.99 / £449.99 / €514.99

Read full story

More...

(PR) Overwatch 2: Invasion is Here With New Adventures, and More
Overwatch 2: Invasion is here, and packed with a new hero, a new seasonal Battle Pass, and a new core PvP game mode. We're also bringing new Invasion Story Missions, a limited-time Co-op Event, and new ways to practice and celebrate your achievements with your favorite heroes. Let's check out everything that you can expect in the new update!

Illari is the newest Support Hero to join the ranks in Overwatch 2. What sets Illari apart from other Support heroes is that she has a very damage-focused kit, so that you can heal your team while dominating the opposition. Her Solar Rifle fires a beam of sunlight that can do powerful burst damage at long-range, or use it to heal allies around you. She also can support her team with a deployable Healing Pylon granting bursts of health to allies around it. Her Outburst ability will knock enemies back and propel herself out of danger. When you need to turn up the heat, use Captive Sun and fire a massive ball of solar energy. Opponents hit by this ultimate ability will be Sun Struck, making them vulnerable to lethal explosions if they take too much damage. Unlock Illari immediately when you get the Premium Battle Pass, or wait to unlock her on tier 45 for free. You can also unlock Illari—and all the heroes in Overwatch—with the new Overwatch 2 Complete Hero Collection, now available in the In-Game Shop.
Read full story

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[NextPowerUP]

Rise and shine, it's time to quake up - the GeForce NOW Ultimate KovaaK's challenge kicks off at the QuakeCon gaming festival today, giving gamers everywhere the chance to play to their ultimate potential with ultra-high 240 frames per second streaming. On top of bragging rights, top scorers can win some sweet prizes - including a 240 Hz gaming monitor.

Bethesda's award-winning titles Doom Eternal, Quake, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Wolfenstein: Youngblood heat up the cloud this week, leading 21 new games joining the GeForce NOW library. Plus, Baldur's Gate 3 has been a hit with members. Make sure to upgrade to Ultimate and Priority memberships today to skip the waiting lines over free members and get into gaming faster.
Read full story

More...

(PR) SK hynix Starts Mass Production of Industry's First 24GB LPDDR5X DRAM
SK hynix Inc. (or "the company", www.skhynix.com) announced today that it has begun supplying the industry's first 24-gigabyte (GB) Low Power Double Data Rate 5X (LPDDR5X) mobile DRAM package to its customers, following the mass production of LPDDR5X in November 2022. SK hynix, in January, developed LPDDR5T, which is an upgraded product of LPDDR5X prior to the development of the 8th generation LPDDR6, and is currently processing customer validation.

"The company integrated the High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process in the 24 GB LPDDR5X package, enabling the product to deliver outstanding power efficiency and performance," said SK hynix. "The addition of the 24 GB package to our mobile DRAM product portfolio has given us a more flexibility in accommodating customers' needs."
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AMD Reveals Radeon RX 7900 XTX and Ryzen 7 7800X3D Starfield Limited Edition
As a part of its promotional deal with Bethesda for the upcoming Starfield game, AMD has announced a limited edition release of both its Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card and its Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU. The latter is in all fairness a bit dull as far as limited editions go, as the only thing really limited is the packaging the CPU comes in. Despite being a limited production run of only 500 units, AMD didn't bother adding any extra marking on the CPU itself, making it less of a collectors edition than it could've been.

On the other hand, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX Starfield Special Edition gets a custom white shroud with a lot of little quirky bits of text on the card and an overall different feel to it compared to AMD's reference design cards. Again, we're looking at a limited run of 500 cards here too and it's not clear if these will be numbered or not. Neither product will be available to buy though, so the only way to get your hands on one or the other, is to enter one of multiple giveaways that either AMD or its partners will host in the near future. There's a video after the break with more details.
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(PR) SK hynix LPDDR5T Verified as World's Fastest Mobile DRAM
SK hynix's LPDDR5T (Low Power Double Data Rate 5 Turbo) has completed performance verification for application with MediaTek's next-generation mobile APs. Developed in January 2023, the LPDDR5T is the world's fastest mobile DRAM, achieving operating speeds of 9.6 gigabits per second (Gbps). SK hynix provided samples of its LPDDR5T to MediaTek, a leading global fabless semiconductor, in February 2023 for testing.

The performance tests were carried out using the next-generation MediaTek Dimensity flagship chipset, which is part of their Dimensity Platform series of mobile APs. Set to launch within this year, MediaTek's next-generation flagship mobile chipset will utilize 9.6 Gbps memory—the fastest operating speed for mobile devices. The global semiconductor industry had previously projected that operating speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps would only be achievable with future iterations such as the LPDDR6, which is scheduled to be released after 2026. SK hynix has expedited this timeline with the LPDDR5T.
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(PR) Corsair Launches the K70 MAX with Corsair MGX Hall Effect Switches, HS80 MAX Headset
CORSAIR, a world leader in high-performance gear for gamers and content creators, announced the launch of new peripherals that empower you to craft a customized gaming experience like no other.

This launch includes a game-changing new keyboard: The K70 MAX Magnetic-Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. The first keyboard with adjustable CORSAIR MGX magnetic-mechanical switches, the K70 MAX offers an unprecedented level of configurability in every keystroke. Whether for blistering speed or impeccable typing accuracy, the K70 MAX is the ideal device for those who seek maximum keyboard performance.
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(PR) Supermicro Announces High Volume Production of E3.S All-Flash Storage Portfolio with CXL Memory Expansion
Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for Cloud, AI/ML, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is delivering a high-throughput, low latency E3.S storage solutions supporting the industry's first PCIe Gen 5 drives and CXL modules to meet the demands of large AI Training and HPC clusters, where massive amounts of unstructured data must be delivered to the GPUs and CPUs to achieve faster results.

Supermicro's Petascale systems are a new class of storage servers supporting the latest industry standard E3.S (7.5 mm) Gen 5 NVMe drives from leading storage vendors for up to 256 TB of high throughput, low latency storage in 1U or up to a half petabyte in 2U. Inside, Supermicro's innovative symmetrical architecture reduced latency by ensuring the shortest signal paths for data and maximized airflow over critical components, allowing them to run at optimal speeds. With these new systems, a standard rack can now hold over 20 Petabytes of capacity for high throughput NVMe-oF (NVMe over Fabrics) configurations, ensuring that GPUs remain saturated with data. Systems are available with either the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors or 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors.
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(PR) Turtle Beach's Innovative & Hyper-Portable Atom Controller Is Coming to iPhones
Best-selling gaming headset and leading gaming accessory maker Turtle Beach Corporation today announced their acclaimed, hyper-portable Turtle Beach Atom Mobile Game Controller is coming to iPhone users next month. The Atom Controller is a compact and portable mobile gaming controller with a unique two-piece design. The Atom's two ergonomic grip modules fit every Apple iPhone 14, 13, 12, and 11 model, and adjustable spring-loaded clamps ensure there's no need to remove phone cases. When gaming with an iPhone placed in the middle, the two Atom Controller modules communicate with each other wirelessly using Turtle Beach's proprietary 2.4 GHz wireless link.

Low-latency Bluetooth connects lag-free to iPhones when cloud gaming on Apple Arcade, Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now, Steam Link, and more. When it's time to stow-and-go, the two Atom modules magnetically combine to effortlessly fit its included carrying case, and into a pocket. With the earlier launch of the Atom Controller for Android, Game Tyrant called it, "A game changing device that makes mobile gaming so much more enjoyable," while Android Police praised it as, "An excellent device," and gave it a 9/10 review score.
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AMD "Strix Point" Company's First Hybrid Processor, 4P+8E ES Surfaces
Beating previous reports that AMD is increasing the CPU core count of its mobile monolithic processors from the present 8-core/16-thread to 12-core/24-thread; we are learning that the next-gen processor from the company, codenamed "Strix Point," will in fact be the company's first hybrid processor. The chip is expected to feature two kinds of CPU cores, with "Zen 5" being the microarchitecture behind the performance cores, and "Zen 5c" behind the efficiency cores. An engineering sample featuring 4 P-cores, and 8 E-cores, surfaced on the web, thanks to Performancedatabases. A HWiNFO screenshot reveals the engineering sample's core-configuration of 4x P-cores and 8x E-cores, with identical L1 cache sizes. Things get a little fuzzy with the L2 cache size detection, and L3 cache.

We know from the current "Zen 4c" core design that it is essentially a compacted version of "Zen 4" designed for higher-density chiplets that have 16 cores; and that it has both the same ISA and IPC as "Zen 4," with the only difference being that "Zen 4c" is designed with lower amounts of shared L3 caches at their disposal, are generally configured with lower clock speeds, and have higher energy efficiency than "Zen 4." "Zen 4c" cores also 35% smaller in die-area than "Zen 4." The company could develop "Zen 5c" CPU cores with similar design goals.
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[NextPowerUP]

Activision and Sledgehammer Games revealed a bit more details about the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, including the new Makarov Reveal trailer, and an announcement that most of content collected in Modern Warfare II will be transferable to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III when it launches on November 10. Activision is also promising a big reveal scheduled for August 10.

Activision released a big post titled "carry forward" about what content will be transferable. In short, the list includes weapons and cosmetic content, including Bundles, Operators, and other rewards and unlocks from the game. The Wartracks from Modern Warfare 2 are not on the list. The latest teaser trailer confirms the return of Vladimir Makarov as the villain of the game.
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