According to the latest teardown from TechInsights, China's biggest technology maker, Huawei, has been shipping laptops with technology supposedly sanctioned by the United States. As the teardown shows, TechInisights has discovered that Huawei's Kirin 9006C processor is manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm semiconductor technology. Originally, the United States have imposed sanctions on Huawei back in 2020, when the government cut off Huawei's access from TSMC's advanced facilities and forbade the use of the latest nodes by Huawei's HiSilicon chip design arm. Today's findings show signs of contradiction, as the Qingyun L540 notebook that launched in December 2023 employs a Kirin 9006C chipset manufactured on a TSMC 5 nm node.

TechInsight's findings indicate that Kirin 9006C assembly and packaging occurred around the third quarter of 2020, whereas the 2020 Huawei sanctions started in the second quarter. Of course, the implication of the sanctions likely prohibited any new orders and didn't prevent Huawei from possibly stockpiling millions of chip orders in its warehouse before they took place. The Chinese giant probably made orders beforehand and is using the technology only now, with the Qingyun L540 laptop being one of the first Kirin 9006C appearances. Some online retailers also point out that the laptop complies with the latest security practices required for the government, which means that they have been in the works since the chip began the early stages of design, way before 2020. We don't know the stockpile quantity, but SMIC's domestic efforts seem insufficient to supply the Chinese market alone. The news that Huawei is still using TSMC chips made SMIC's share go for a 2% free fall on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

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(PR) MSI and CAPCOM Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Monster Hunter Limited-Edition Gaming Products Debut
MSI, the globally renowned gaming brand, has collaborated with the esteemed game developer CAPCOM to mark the 20th anniversary of the Monster Hunter game series by introducing a carefully curated line of limited-edition PC products. The unveiling of these highly anticipated products will take place at CES 2024, where MSI will showcase concept prototypes at an exclusive booth. The official debut of these products is scheduled to coincide with the 20th-anniversary celebration of Monster Hunter.

Inspired by one of the series' most iconic monsters, the Rathalos, this collaboration aims to infuse the majestic aura and power of the Rathalos into a captivating range of limited-edition gaming peripherals. This includes gaming laptops, monitors, graphics cards, motherboards, cases, liquid coolers, and controllers. With these products, MSI invites gamers to embark on a journey into the captivating world of Monster Hunter, delivering a unique gaming experience that combines the superior craftsmanship of MSI with the classic gaming elements of CAPCOM.
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Chinese Researchers Want to Make Wafer-Scale RISC-V Processors with up to 1,600 Cores
According to the report from a journal called Fundamental Research, researchers from the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a 256-core multi-chiplet processor called Zhejiang Big Chip, with plans to scale up to 1,600 cores by utilizing an entire wafer. As transistor density gains slow, alternatives like multi-chiplet architectures become crucial for continued performance growth. The Zhejiang chip combines 16 chiplets, each holding 16 RISC-V cores, interconnected via network-on-chip. This design can theoretically expand to 100 chiplets and 1,600 cores on an advanced 2.5D packaging interposer. While multi-chiplet is common today, using the whole wafer for one system would match Cerebras' breakthrough approach. Built on 22 nm process technology, the researchers cite exascale supercomputing as an ideal application for massively parallel multi-chiplet architectures.

Careful software optimization is required to balance workloads across the system hierarchy. Integrating near-memory processing and 3D stacking could further optimize efficiency. The paper explores lithography and packaging limits, proposing hierarchical chiplet systems as a flexible path to future computing scale. While yield and cooling challenges need further work, the 256-core foundation demonstrates the potential of modular designs as an alternative to monolithic integration. China's focus mirrors multiple initiatives from American giants like AMD and Intel for data center CPUs. But national semiconductor ambitions add urgency to prove domestically designed solutions can rival foreign innovation. Although performance details are unclear, the rapid progress shows promise in mastering modular chip integration. Combined with improving domestic nodes like the 7 nm one from SMIC, China could easily create a viable Exascale system in-house.

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MSI Claw Gaming Handheld Leaked, the ROG Ally Competitor
Here's the first picture of the MSI Claw, an upcoming handheld gaming console that's out to eat the lunch of category rivals Valve Steam Deck, and the ASUS ROG Ally. The Claw features a familiar handheld console layout with two thumb-sticks with their orbits that have RGB lighting, a D-pad, four action buttons, and some triggers. It's hard to tell from this angle, but the touchscreen in the middle could be of a 16:10 aspect ratio. We know this is a game console, and not a cloud gaming device like the Logitech G Cloud, looking at the 350 RMB Steam voucher offer in this marketing poster. This device is functionally identical to the ASUS ROG Ally, it's a Windows-based handheld that's backed by storefronts such as Steam and EGS. Precious little more is know about it, but given the teasers we're seeing, MSI should give us the details at the 2024 International CES.

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AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D and 5000GT Chips Start Selling in Europe
The AMD Socket AM4 platform is still alive and kicking, with AMD releasing new processor models in its 7th year. Many of these chips started selling online in Europe. The Ryzen 7 5700X3D is a slightly lower clocked version of the 5800X3D, which for many of those still on AM4 is the final upgrade to their platform. The 5800X3D may be based on the older "Zen 3" microarchitecture, but thanks to its 3D Vertical Cache technology, offers gaming performance comparable to the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake," making even 7-year old AM4 gaming desktops contemporary. To cash in on this exact market, AMD released a more cost-effective option, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D.

The 5700X3D is an 8-core/16-thread Socket AM4 processor that features 96 MB of L3 cache thanks to the 3D V-cache technology, just like the 5800X3D, but comes with a maximum boost frequency of 4.10 GHz, compared to the 4.50 GHz of the 5800X3D. Store listings do not mention its TDP or base frequency. The 5700X3D is being listed at 271€ including taxes, or about 15-20% cheaper than the 5800X3D. A word of caution when choosing the 5700X3D would be its close to non-existent overclocking headroom, so this probably isn't a chip that you can manually overclock to performance levels of a 5800X3D while saving some 40€ on the side.
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(PR) Team Group Launches the T-FORCE GE PRO NVMe Gen 5 SSD
T-FORCE, the gaming brand under the leading memory and storage provider Team Group Inc., is committed to excellence in product research and development while constantly pushing the boundaries of limits. Today, Team Group is announcing the new Generation of Gen 5 SSD, the T-FORCE GE PRO PCIe 5.0 SSD which uses the PCIe Gen 5 x4 interface and NVMe 2.0 standard. The new multi-core, low-wattage Gen 5 SSD is designed for extreme storage speeds and is perfect for gamers and users who desire the ultimate performance.

The T-FORCE GE PRO PCIe 5.0 SSD is powered by InnoGrit's new 12 nm, multi-core, and energy-efficient IG5666 controller, paired with a high-performance 2,400MT/s NAND flash that supports DRAM and SLC caching with read speeds up to 14,000 MB/s. It features a smart thermal regulation technology that utilizes internal temperature sensors to automatically adjust performance and prevent overheating. It also supports 4K LDPC (low-density parity-check code) technology, which ensures data transfer accuracy. This allows the T-FORCE GE PRO SSD to provide excellent and stable performance, extending the product's lifespan. With Team Group's patented S.M.A.R.T. monitoring software, users can easily keep track of the SSD's health at any time.
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URCDKeys Unveils New Year Sale on Genuine Software
URCDKeys welcomes the New Year with a software sale. Get genuine, globally-valid Windows and Office software, and spend more on your hardware by saving big on genuine software. Get Windows 10 Pro at just $14, and Office 2016 Professional Plus at $26. Save big when you purchase combos of Windows 10 and Office 2016. Developers can check out great offers on genuine Visual Studio and SQL Server licenses.

Please use the coupon code TPUP on the following items to avail the prices you see here.

Buy Windows 10 Pro at $14 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $20 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $13 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $24 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $26.34

Buy Office 2016 Professional Plus at $26 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus at $47 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $86 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Student at $49 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Business for Mac at $78 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2016 Professional Plus at $40 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional Plus at $58

Buy Visual Studio 2022 Enterprise at $95 | Buy SQL Server 2019 Standard 2-core at $87 | Buy SQL Server 2019 Standard 16-core at $158

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(PR) FSP Unveils the Brand New CUT593 Chassis Lineup
FSP Group, the world's leading high-performance ODM, Modified STD power supply and PC component manufacturer today, is excited to unveil the brand new CUT593 premium ultra tower case, designed for gamers and content creators. Available in 3 configurations, the CUT593, CUT593 ARGB, and CUT593 Premium edition, the CUT593 chassis is ideal for high-performance builds that can leverage the smartly engineered features and functionality to its fullest extent. Furthermore, users can pick between two color options of black and white, providing that extra personalization supplementary to its futuristic design.

The CUT593 series cases are meticulously engineered to accommodate a wide range of consumer-grade motherboard form factors, making it a versatile choice for any PC builder. It comes packed with user-centric features aimed at enhancing organization and functionality during the build process. Notable among these features are tool-free cable management for effortless organization and a front panel cover that can be easily swapped to match your aesthetic preferences, allowing for a personalized appearance.
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(PR) KIOXIA Spotlights Next-Gen Memory and SSD Solutions That Empower Application Innovation at CES 2024
Next week at CES 2024, KIOXIA, the inventors of NAND flash, will highlight its extensive portfolio of solid state drives (SSDs) and memory solutions. This diverse lineup - one of the broadest range of flash solutions in the industry - is well-suited to virtually any solution that uses flash and includes new products, form factors and standards designed for upcoming IT requirements.

In today's dynamic technological landscape, where evolving standards push performance boundaries higher and end user expectations continue to climb, KIOXIA stands poised for the future by making the memory to process, manage and store the world's data. "Whether it's designing ultra-thin consumer PCs, enabling the automotive in-vehicle experience or streamlining professional photography - we make flash memory that brings applications to life and enhances user experiences," said Alex Mei, vice president of corporate marketing for KIOXIA America, Inc. "Countless consumer devices and applications rely on KIOXIA technology solutions to enrich lives and make new memories. CES gives us an opportunity to explore new possibilities and showcase the depth and breadth of our solutions."
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