TechPowerUP NEWS

[NextPowerUP]

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced an arsenal of gaming peripherals and gear at CES 2024. ROG strives to transcend the limits of what's currently possible and its latest offerings are designed to empower gamers with the tools to dominate gaming worlds. These offerings include the ROG Keris II Ace ultralight gaming mouse, ROG Falchion RX Low Profile 65% gaming keyboard, ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova gaming headphones, ROG Carnyx USB condenser microphone, and the ROG Archer ErgoAir Gaming Backpack.

ROG Keris II Ace
The ROG Keris II Ace is an ultralight gaming mouse made for competitive gamers and esports athletes. Designed with input and feedback from esports professionals, the Keris II Ace's sleek, minimalist aesthetic offers the perfect balance of functionality and form. Its environmentally friendly, bio-based nylon shell is derived from renewable castor oil, giving it an overall weight of just 54 grams to significantly reduce wrist fatigue during marathon gaming sessions. The optical micro switches used in the Keris II Ace offer consistent actuation and are extremely durable with a 100-million-click lifespan.
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(PR) Republic of Gamers Unveils ROG Strix LC III Series and ROG Ryujin III WB at CES
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the ROG Strix LC III series and ROG Ryujin III WB, two CPU liquid-cooling solutions tailored to diverse user needs, at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The ROG Strix LC III AIO cooler series is designed to be easy to install, and it offers excellent cooling performance and a variety of models suited to different scenarios. Meanwhile, the ROG Ryujin III WB creates a one-of-a-kind gaming PC experience for users pursuing ultimate customization and extreme cooling performance.

Introducing the ROG Strix LC III series
The ROG Strix LC III series of 240 mm and 360 mm coolers features an Asetek-designed cold plate and 7th gen V2 pump armed with a robust motor that delivers premium cooling performance. This cooling innovation iterates on previous designs with new Turbulence-Channel cold plate technology to provide greater thermal performance than is possible with traditional split-flow cold plates.
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(PR) ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces Completely Redesigned Zephyrus G14 and G16
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16, the latest in an illustrious lineup of supremely powerful thin-and-light gaming laptops. These machines feature a new CNC-machined aluminium chassis, a customizable Slash Lighting array, and a brand-new Platinum White colorway, while cutting-edge AI accelerated silicon from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA stand ready to push gamers and creators to new heights of performance. Both the Zephyrus G14 and G16 come equipped with the ROG Nebula Display, stunningly color-accurate OLED panels that are also G-SYNC capable for incredible gaming experiences. Ultra-efficient cooling technology, including tri-fan technology, liquid metal, and vapor chambers on select models enable the Zephyrus G14 and G16 to breathe easily despite their ultra-portable designs.

Brand-new chassis design
The 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16 have been completely redesigned inside and out. Both machines boast all-new and all-aluminium CNC-machined chassis for the perfect mix of weight reduction, structural rigidity, and increased chassis space. This allows for an edge-to-edge keyboard design, as well as the inclusion of larger and louder speakers with superior bass response down to 100 Hz. The speakers are 25% larger than the previous generation, with a 47% volume increase for more immersive audio experiences than ever before. The Zephyrus G14 and G16 also come with larger individual keycaps and a larger touchpad, for superior typing, precision scrolling, and fluid gaming. Both the 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16 ship with three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, providing access to a library of hundreds of great games.
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(PR) ASUS Reveals a Range of New ROG Strix Laptops at CES 2024
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the 2024 Strix family of laptops, including the Strix SCAR 18, the first 18-inch ROG laptop equipped with the mini LED ROG Nebula HDR Display. As the vanguard of gaming laptops, all 2024 Strix machines feature the latest flagship Intel Core i9 processor 14900HX, with the Strix SCAR 16 and SCAR 18 sporting up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU with 175 W max TGP. Paired with a complete suite of the latest intelligent cooling improvements, including Tri-Fan technology and Conductonaut Extreme liquid metal on both the CPU and GPU, the 2024 Strix family of laptops has arrived to dominate the competition.

Brilliant detail
This year marks the introduction of the first ROG 18-inch display powered by Mini LED technology. HDR content and games have arrived on the big screen with the arrival of the 2024 Strix SCAR 18, with its Nebula HDR Display boasting over 2000 discrete dimming zones and 1100 nits of peak brightness. On an 18-inch panel, this dimming zone density coupled with the ROG Nebula HDR Engine minimizes blooming and haloing even in challenging scenes, giving the Strix SCAR 18 incredibly vivid HDR performance.
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Intel APO Coming to 12th Gen and 13th Gen Core Processors After All?
Intel is reportedly bringing Application Optimization (APO) to its 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" and 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" processors after all, PC Gamer reports. APO is currently restricted to 14th Gen Core i9 and Core i7 "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors, and the upcoming 14th Gen HX Core i9 and Core i7 mobile processors based on this silicon. An extension of the Dynamic Tuning Technology (DTT), APO is an application-specific scheduler optimization that makes hardware resources of Intel's Hybrid processors "correctly" available to the application. This requires Intel to study the application itself, and validate its optimization on a per-processor model basis (which is Intel's explanation as to why it isn't available across all its Hybrid processors). On optimized games—of which there are currently 7—APO is found to offer frame rate uplifts ranging between 10% to 16%. At this point we don't know exactly which other 12th and 13th Gen processors Intel plans to extend APO to, but it's likely only to the Unlocked K or KF SKUs, as PC Gamer notes.

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(PR) BIOSTAR Outs Ryzen 8000G Series Socket AM5 Motherboard Firmware Updates
BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, announces a new BIOS update for its AMD AM5-based motherboards, specifically tailored to ensure flawless compatibility with the newly released AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors, designed to optimize system performance and reliability, allowing users to fully harness the advanced capabilities of AMD's latest Ryzen processors. Consisting of Ryzen 7 8700G, Ryzen 5 8600G, Ryzen 5 8500G, and the Ryzen 3 8300G, AMD's latest processors bring unrivaled performance at affordable price points. These cutting-edge APUs, grounded in the robust Zen 4 architecture, seamlessly blend high performance with versatility.

Moreover, these processors are equipped with an RDNA 3 GPU, offering superior graphics performance for gaming and content creation. Additionally, Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G feature an innovative XDNA Neural Processing Unit (NPU), a significant advancement that directly boosts artificial intelligence processing capabilities at the hardware level. This integration positions these APUs as a formidable choice for users seeking a blend of performance, AI-enhanced capabilities, and affordability.
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[NextPowerUP]

ASUS today announced the Triple 4K Thunderbolt 4 Dock DC500, an all-in-one docking station designed for creators. It's also the world's smallest 12-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 dock available on the market, and requires just a single USB-C cable to connect to multiple 4K displays, peripherals, and memory card readers to create a complete, highly-efficient creative workstation. DC500 offers Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and two HDMI 2.1 ports, allowing users to create a triple 4K display setup, or if preferred, a single 8K monitor at 60 Hz. Additionally, the Thunderbolt 4 port offers up to 40 Gbps data transfer speeds. It features two UHS II card slots to accommodate SD 4.0 and microSD cards for quick data transfers. For added convenience, DC500 includes a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port and up to 100-watt passthrough to power the connected laptop. To ensure a tidy workspace, DC500 has an adjustable stand with locking knob that allows it to be secured on the back of a monitor or onto the edge of a desk.
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[NextPowerUP]

Besides bringing out new feature updates to its Boreas line of air coolers, GAMDIAS showcased its latest AIO liquid CPU coolers, the Aura GL V2 series, and the Chione P3 series. The Chione P3 series features an innovative pump-block design that features a small ~60 mm fan that generates some airflow around the CPU socket, to help cool the VRM heatsinks, memory modules, and the NVMe SSD closest to it. Right above this fan, suspended on armatures is a round LCD display that displays coolant temperature by default, but can be made to display just about anything, using the Chione Cast app. The Chione P3 comes in two sizes—240 mm (P3-240U), and 360 mm (P3-360U). The P3 series also introduces an updated hydraulic bearing PWM fan, and Teflon-coated coolant tubes.

The Aura GL V2 series are positioned to be a little more affordable than the Chione P3 series, There are several improvements to the V2 over the original Aura series, such as an updated pump with a 12-slot, 10-pole motor, an updated copper cold-plate, an updated coolant channel, cable concealment, and some design touch-ups, such as the ability to rotate the top plate of the pump-block. The Aura GL V2 series comes in 360 mm, 240 mm, and 120 mm sizes; and their sub-variants of black and white.

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[NextPowerUP]

GAMDIAS at the 2024 International CES showed off its updates to the Boreas M2-51 and E2-41 lines of tower-type CPU coolers. The new M2-51D and E2-410D, along with their white variants M2-51DWH and E2-410DWH, come with a digital segment display along the top plate. The aluminium fin-stack is slightly recessed, creating room for a tiny bit of electronics, which are wired down to the base. Besides fan RPM, this display puts out CPU temperature, although we're not sure how it goes about doing this.

The easiest way would be to have this display plug into one of the USB 2.0 headers, and for an app to read CPU temperature and fan RPM off the super I/O chip; although we'd be surprised if it's taking the difficult route of localized fan control and its own thermal measurements using a thermistor. Both the M2-51D and E2-410D are nearly identical heatsinks, but differ in heatpipe count—5 versus 4, respectively; and so while the M2-51D is rated for thermal loads of up to 240 W, the E2-410D is rated up to 230 W. The display is hidden behind a tinted polycarbonate panel, so it looks flush. Although not on display at CES, GAMDIAS revealed that it's working on a high-end dual fin-stack cooler that uses the vast top-plate area available to sneak in a true-color LCD screen.

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[NextPowerUP]

Alphacool at the 2024 CES debuted its APEX line of premium DIY liquid cooling products; and we've covered the Alphacool APEX 1 CPU water block, CPU+VRM monoblock, and memory cooler in our older article focusing on the company's new liquid cooling products. Here we have the star attraction at Alphacool's CES booth, the new APEX Skeleton full-tower case. This case features an open-cage design, with minimal body paneling to favor ventilation, a high degree of modularity, and all the features you need to build a DIY liquid cooled enthusiast PC powered by the company's APEX and Core liquid cooling hardware. Its struts, motherboard tray, front-, top-, and bottom-panels are made of real carbon fiber, while the frame remains steel. Both its side panels are tinted tempered glass. Alphacool includes a Distroplate reservoir with the case that's perfectly aligned with its design and location of core components; but you pair it with your own D5 pump and fittings.

Next up, is the APEX Stealth line of case fans. These are premium fans with their frames made of metal. The frame is a combination of an outer metal body that takes the familiar square shape, while there's an inner polycarbonate frame that makes up the bore of the frame. This structure makes contact with the motor and fluid-dynamic bearing. The impeller remains polycarbonate, and is webbed toward the end for 100% axial airflow. The inner frame is isolated from the outer metal frame through a series of vibration absorbing standoffs, washers, and O-rings. With these in place, Alphacool claims comparable noise levels the some of the quietest high-end fans in the industry. The outer metal frame comes in several trims, including silver chrome, matte black, gold, and matte white. Available now, the APEX Stealth 120 mm fans are priced around 30€ a piece.

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[NextPowerUP]

The TechPowerUp team visited the EK water blocks booth at the CES 2024 international show. We previously covered the company's latest direct-die all-in-one (AIO) water cooler, but many more products were on display. First in line is EK's Quantum-X NoCase chassis, which contradicts traditional PC enclosures with its open, no outer shell design. This radical departure from convention results in a nearly invisible frame crafted from aluminium for a featherlight weight of approximately 3 pounds. Its design is meticulously engineered to be as airy and lightweight as possible without compromising the support needed for essential hardware and liquid cooling components. The case integrates the advanced Reflection² distro plate, equipped with dual D5 pumps to facilitate separate cooling loops for both the CPU and GPU, ensuring optimal thermal management in a minimalist aesthetic.
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[NextPowerUP]

Alphacool at the 2024 International CES showed us their latest full-copper radiators, distribution plate reservoirs, and CPU water blocks, under its new Core brand that it debuted with the Core 1 series CPU blocks. The Core XT45 radiator series come in popular sizes, and are noticeably heavy since they're based on a heavier metal than aluminium. Besides the use of copper, the Core XT45 also features a denser fin structure, while their steel frames feature a silicone diffuser for RGB lighting.

Next up, are the Core 1 LT series CPU water blocks. These are a "lite" version of the Core 1 series blocks Alphacool announced in 2023; featuring less elaborate tops, but without compromising on quality or cooling performance. While the Core 1 series comes with premium brushed metal or carbon fiber finish tops; the Core 1 LT uses simpler LED-studded acrylic tops, some of which have vinyl panels and other inserts. The block underneath remains nickel-plated copper, with the same cross-slot base and 3D jet-plate. Since the top has close to no role to play in the cooling except structural, the performance is unchanged.
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[NextPowerUP]

During the CES 2024 show, EK unveiled an exciting new addition to their premium all-in-one (AIO) CPU cooler lineup—the EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Direct Die D-RGB. As the name suggests, this new 360 mm AIO water cooler is purpose-built for direct die cooling of delidded Intel LGA1700 CPUs. The EK-Nucleus Direct Die stands out with its custom cold plate and mounting mechanism, which are exclusively engineered for exposed CPU dies. The nickel-plated copper base ensures compatibility with liquid metal TIMs like the included Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut, which comes in the package. EK has worked with der8auer to provide delidding service kits and tools to facilitate easy DIY removal of the integrated heat spreader (IHS).

The package also contains a contact frame and protective foam for safe liquid metal application. At the heart of the cooler is a powerful AIO pump EK co-developed with the OEM manufacturer, meaning it is not an off-the-shelf pump found in other AIOs and is capable of up to 500 L/h flow rate. The reinforced, sleeved rubber tubing is fitted with aluminium covers for durability. Integrated omnilink connectors allow daisy chaining of the three included 120 mm D-RGB fans for cable management. The EK-Nucleus Direct Die offers extensive RGB lighting customization with illuminated circle accents on the removable pump top covers. The diamond-cut brushed aluminium side panels and radiator cowl add to the premium aesthetic. The new AIO will be available for the Intel LGA1700 platform, with hopefully more versions later. The EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Direct Die D-RGB is now available for pre-order at €202.90 MSRP price tag.

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[NextPowerUP]

Every gaming lifestyle brand has a stream-control device in its lineup these days, but none even functionally close to the MasterHub by Cooler Master. This is a modular, highly customizable stream control panel, in which you can swap out modules to alter its layout and functionality. A base plate roughly the size of a 7-inch tablet has various contact points on top; you pick and choose the modules you need, and mount them on top of this dock.

Among the modules available are everything from a 15-key Lebdev pad, to one with a 5-pole fader, to one with rotary knobs, to another with drum rollers, to another with a puck-shaped touchscreen. You can mix and match them as you need, and everything is programmable using the MasterHub app. You can even have multiple modules of the same kind—think two Lebdev pads worth 30 keys; or as many MasterHubs as you want. The base plate aggregates all modules into a single USB-C connection to your PC.

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[NextPowerUP]

The EPOMAKER x LINSOUL booth at the 2024 International CES had a lineup of ThieAudio in-ear monitors. We begin our tour with the Hype 10. The name apparently stands for "hybrid performance." Each of these IEMs comes with two 10 mm composite diaphragm drivers arranged in an isobaric design to make a subwoofer. These offer a broad frequency response range from 10 Hz to 40 kHz with 105 dB/Vrms @ 1 kHz sensitivity. ThieAudio has these priced at $900 a pair. Next up, is the more feature-packed Prestige LTD, with 1DD + 4BA + 4EST Tribrid setup, and an electrostatic driver that provides a broad 10 Hz to 20 Hz frequency response. Each earphone contains 4 Sonion electrostatic drivers, plus 2 Knowles mid-treble balanced armatures, plus 2 Sonion low-mid balanced armatures, and a 10 mm dynamic subwoofer. The maximum frequency response thanks to this setup is as high as 80 kHz. Sensitivity tops out at 98 dB @ 1 kHz. ThieAudio prices these at $1,300.

While ThieAudio focuses on audiophiles, the Kiwi Ears series is for the mass market that just wants better sound. Kiwi Ears Forteza is an entry-level IEM by ThieAudio, with a much simpler 1 High-Mid balanced armature (BA) + 10 mm Mid-range dynamic driver (DD) + 10 mm Bass DD setup; a regular 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response, with 103 dBSPL/mW @ 1 kHz sensitivity; at an attractive price of just $59. Winding things up is the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite, a more premium product positioned above the Forteza; with an 8 BA multi driver setup consisting of Kiwi Ears customized HI x2 + Kiwi Ears Customized MID x4 + Knowles LOW x2, per earphone. Available for pre-order now, the Orchestra Lite is priced at $249. Lastly, we ran into a number of face-plate customizations by Kiwi Ears.

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[NextPowerUP]

We are proud to announce that THE400 Mini—a modern day mini recreation of the pioneering home computer that first appeared in 1979, will be launching worldwide on 28th March 2024. Retro Games Ltd., one of the world's leading producers of re-imagined home computers, is proud to reveal that our modern day mini recreation of a pioneering home computer is now available to pre-order.

For those looking to relive the gameplay experiences of the 1970s and 1980s, included with THE400 Mini is our THECXSTICK, an enhanced, updated recreation of the iconic CX40 Atari joystick for that added touch of nostalgia. This new controller comes with an additional seven seamlessly integrated function buttons and USB, making it compatible with a wide range of platforms.
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[NextPowerUP]

AMD is readying its Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) technology for public release later this month (January 24 to be exact). Aaron Steinman, a Senior Radeon Manager, believes that arch rival NVIDIA will need to take some drastic steps once AFMF arrives due to its more open nature. He stated in a short interaction with PC Gamer: "I would be curious to know if NVIDIA feels now they have to match what we've done in making some of these solutions driver-based." His software engineering buddies have already released the Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) technology, which functions via in-driver operation.

Unlike Team Red's heavily marketed FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) system, AFMF and RSR are not reliant on official support from games developers. The driver-based solutions will be packaged within an upcoming version of AMD's HYPR-RX feature set. Steinman continued with his statement: "I think what we're gonna start seeing, DLSS is only available on certain solutions, so either NVIDIA is going to have to benefit from our solution because we did make it open-source and cross-vendor, or they're probably going to need to do something similar." The publication points out that Team Green has something in the same ballpark—NVIDIA Image Scaling—but its nowhere near as advanced as their headlining "AI-infused" DLSS tech. Steinman conceded to PC Gamer that his main opponent will inevitably pull ahead in the future: "I mean, the competition will never end, right? We'll have new technologies, they (NVIDIA) will have new technologies."

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[NextPowerUP]

Samsung Electronics showcased its AI-strengthened Galaxy ecosystem at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 in Las Vegas from January 9-12. The dedicated Mobile Experience Zone at Samsung's booth pulled attendees in for one last glimpse at the company's top innovations where visitors could experience the latest Galaxy products, including the Galaxy Book4 Series, and view how they are strengthened by partnerships with industry leaders. Samsung Newsroom visited the site and summarized the main highlights of the event. Read on to learn how the company is driving the hyper-connected mobile experience of the future.

New, Exciting AI Capabilities With the Galaxy Book4 Series
The new Galaxy Book4 Series was spotlighted near the entrance of the zone. Attendees could experience the strong AI performance and the incredibly responsive touchscreen display of the Galaxy Book4, released on January 4 in Korea. The Galaxy Book4 series is equipped with the new Intel Core Ultra Processor, offering expanded connectivity and a high-performance AI experience. The zone featured up-close demonstrations of the laptop's increased processing power, made possible by a newly-added Neural Processing Unit (NPU).
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[NextPowerUP]

NVIDIA's presence at CES 2024 has focused mainly on the introduction of new GeForce RTX 40-series SUPER graphics cards—TPU spent some quality time over at Team Green's Las Vegas Convention Center booth where a plethora of the latest Ada Lovelace gaming products were on display. To coincide with this event, interested punters on social media or in-person can enter a competition—NVIDIA is giving away two Founders Edition GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics cards (valued at $999 per unit) with something extra courtesy of the technology company's esteemed CEO.

The competition page states: "We have two Founders Edition GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics cards signed by NVIDIA's founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, that we're giving away, one for our social channels and one for CES attendees. The first chance to win is by following our GeForce social channels on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and by looking for key prompts and instructions (please check the complete set of rules for the giveaway here)."
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[NextPowerUP]

Alienware is entering new arenas at CES 2024 with the debut of notebooks, peripherals and monitors that were inspired by our community and developed to appeal to all gamers. Whether you play to compete, play to get immersed in the game or play to socialize, Alienware can outfit your gaming needs. From the beginning, Alienware has offered high-performance hardware and software to the most demanding gamers. And here's what I can tell you: our focus on the enthusiast gamer hasn't changed. At the same time, the gaming landscape has evolved and is becoming more diverse than ever.

That's why we're eager to introduce products designed for wider audiences, from students who play dorm room sessions with friends, to working professionals who wind down the evening with a relaxing indie title, and pro athletes who game for a living. While these products reach new audiences, their DNA remains distinctly Alien, meaning they deliver the latest innovations in technology, performance and design. Meet Alienware's latest product portfolio:

• Three new gaming notebooks debut - the redesigned Alienware m16 R2, the ultra-premium x16 R2, and our performance juggernaut, the m18 R2.
• We've doubled our QD-OLED family by adding the Alienware AW3225QF and AW2725DF - two first of their kind QD-OLED monitors.
• Built in collaboration with 100+ esports athletes, our new Alienware Pro Wireless Keyboard and Pro Wireless Mouse mark our breakthrough into the pro gaming peripherals space.

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