TechPowerUP NEWS

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ASUS today announced the new Zenfone 11 Ultra during a dedicated online launch event. The company unveiled all the details about this mighty device, the latest iteration in the company's Zenfone flagship series, and showcased how it redefines expectations for powerful smartphones. Zenfone 11 Ultra marks an important switch to a larger form factor that provides more of everything, packing a better camera system, a stronger processor, and a bigger battery into a meticulously-designed chassis.

"With Zenfone 11 Ultra, ASUS provides users with premium design, a flagship camera, AI features, and a longer battery life," said ASUS Co-CEO S.Y. Hsu, speaking at the launch event. "In short, Zenfone 11 Ultra is everything a flagship phone in 2024 should be and it will provide the greatest benefit to the end user." Zenfone 11 Ultra is available in a choice of four refreshing colors, all inspired by different landscapes around the world, and ready to fit the user's style. Of course, ASUS also built the new Zenfone with sustainability in mind—incorporating recycled materials such as the 100% recycled aluminium used for its frame and an increased proportion of recyclable packaging.
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ZOTAC Technology Limited, a global leader in innovative technology solutions, expands its product portfolio with the GPU Server Series. The first series of products in ZOTAC's Enterprise lineup offers organizations affordable and high-performance computing solutions for a wide range of demanding applications, from core-to-edge inferencing and data visualization to model training, HPC modeling, and simulation.

The ZOTAC series of GPU Servers comes in a diverse range of form factors and configurations, featuring both Tower Workstations and Rack Mount Servers, as well as both Intel and AMD processor configurations. With support for up to 10 GPUs, modular design for easier access to internal hardware, a high space-to-performance ratio, and industry-standard features like redundant power supplies and extensive cooling options, ZOTAC's enterprise solutions can ensure optimal performance and durability, even under sustained intense workloads.
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ASRock announces that its 700/600 series motherboards support the newly released Intel Core i9-14900KS processor with a new BIOS version to fully unleash its powerful performance. Consumers only need to update to the latest BIOS version to seamlessly experience enhanced gaming performance and productivity. ASRock will continue to update the BIOS for its 700/600 series motherboards. Consumers can update to the latest BIOS version through the ASRock official website or the Live Update & APP Shop, thus fully enjoying the extreme performance offered by the Intel Core i9-14900KS processor.

To download the latest BIOS, visit the support section in the product page of your motherboard model. Start here.

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Acer Inc. (TWSE: 2353) announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and fiscal 2023 ended December 31. In the fourth quarter, Acer reported consolidated revenues of NT$63.15 billion, gross profits of NT$6.91 billion with 10.9% margin, operating income of NT$1.39 billion with 2.2% margin, and net income [1] of NT$1.02 billion with earning-per-share (EPS) of NT$0.34.

For the full year of 2023, consolidated revenues reached NT$241.31 billion, gross profits of NT$25.82 billion with 10.7% margin, operating income was NT$4.23 billion with 1.8% margin, and net income was NT$4.93 billion with earning-per-share (EPS) of NT$1.64. Acer's computer and display business has returned to the right track of profitability and seasonality while inventory is under control. The company is optimistic about the business opportunities that artificial intelligence brings and considers Generative AI to become a megatrend in 2024 and beyond.
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With the effective reduction of production by suppliers, the price of memory is rebounding, and the semiconductor memory market finally shows signs of recovery. From the perspective of market dynamics and demand changes, NAND Flash, as one of the two major memory products, is experiencing a new round of changes. Since 3Q23, NAND Flash chip prices have been on the rise for several consecutive months. TrendForce believes that, under the precondition of a conservative market demand prospect for 2024, chip price trends will depend on suppliers' production capacity utilization.

There have been frequent developments in the NAND flash memory industry chain, with some manufacturers indicating a willingness to raise prices or increase production capacity utilization. Wallace C. Kou, General Manager of NAND Flash Supplier SIMO, stated that prices for the second quarter of NAND Flash have already been settled down, which will increase by 20%; some suppliers have started to make profits in the first quarter, and most suppliers will earn money after the second quarter.
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AAEON, a leading provider of Computer-on-Modules, has today announced the launch of two new COM Express Type 6 Compact Size solutions, the COM-RAPC6 and COM-ADNC6. Targeting the advanced robotics and edge gateway markets, the COM-RAPC6 is compatible with a variety of embedded CPUs from the 13th Generation Intel Core Processor line on a compact 95 mm x 95 mm form factor. The module gives customers a range of SKUs from the 13th Generation series, from the efficient 15 W Intel Processor U300E to 13th Generation Intel Core i7 Processors, running at 45 W. This grants users up to 14 (6P/8E) cores and 20 threads of processing power alongside technologies for the acceleration of deep learning inference workloads and I/O device virtualization.

With the COM-RAPC6 clearly favoring high performance, AAEON's second addition to its COM Express Type 6 product line, the COM-ADNC6, focuses on efficiency. The COM-ADNC6 offers a selection of embedded CPUs from the Intel Atom X Series, Intel Processor N-series, and the Intel Core i3-N305 alongside 16 GB of SODIMM-based LPDDR5 system memory. Given its compatible CPUs are comparable to the Intel Atom Processor E and Intel Celeron Processor J Series CPUs in power consumption, but with far greater performance, the COM-ADNC6 is positioned as a natural successor to the COM-BT.
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Spring on over to Steam between now and March 21st at 10am PT to explore deals by the thousands! Games of all kinds are discounted, and we've added some free fun with our daily sticker drops. Since Steam's Spring Sale also coincides with the 2nd-ish birthday of Steam Deck, we're also using the occasion to surface the 100 most-played games on Deck from the past year, regardless of verified status. With many of the titles in the list also participating in the sale, it's another fun way to explore potential additions to your library by seeing what other players seem to be enjoying most on Steam Deck. The Steam Spring Sale is on now through March 21st. See you there.

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Earlier teardowns of 13-inch Apple M3 MacBook Air models revealed a pleasing storage performance upgrade. Popular American e-commerce watchdog, iFixit, has joined in on the fun—CEO Kyle Wiens has confirmed that the 15-inch M3 MacBook Air 256 GB base model also houses two 128 GB flash storage chips. A provisional repairability score of 5 out of 10 has been awarded—this verdict could change once iFixit staffers finish up in-depth investigations into Apple's latest thirteen and fifteen inch ultraslim notebooks. A revised figure might appear online once the site publishes its full how-to-guides.

iFixit's video teardown demonstrates that not much has changed when comparing the new models to Apple's M2 MacBook Air family of products. Tinkerers will face the usual obstacles, mainly dreaded pentalobe screw designs. The team discovered plastic pull-tabs during the removal of M3 MacBook Air batteries—a pleasing alternative to older (headache inducing) adhesive-fastened methods of securing power cells in place. The iFixit team had to deal with many fiddly screws and brackets during excavation efforts—they noted that Apple's interior design does not include any labelling, and the screws are not numbered. Framework's Laptop 16 was cited as a shining example of doing things correctly.
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San Francisco's annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) returns next week, bringing game devs together to share stories, experiences, and advice on everything from lighting scenes to writing resumes. Electronic Arts speakers will be participating in more than 25 in-person sessions this year, including multiple talks touching on innovative technologies driving the creation of next-gen games at EA.

This year's tech-focused sessions dig into the details of several successes, including Frostbite's non-interruptive expansion to new gaming platforms, SEED's work generating photorealistic facial rigs, and techniques for high-fidelity cloth simulation in Frostbite for EA SPORTS FC 24. There's also a fantastic talk from Respawn's Christopher Pierse and Samy Duc that explores the evolution of matchmaking techniques in Apex Legends, going all the way back to 2019.
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NVIDIA's recent launch of a "new" entry-level gaming GPU has not set pulses racing—their return visit to Ampere City arrived in the form of custom GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB graphics cards. The absence of a reference model sometimes signals a low expectation, but Team Green's partners have pushed ahead with a surprisingly diverse portfolio of options. Early last month, Galax introduced a low-profile white design—the custom GeForce RTX 3050 6 GB card's slot-powered operation presents an ideal solution for super compact low-power footprint builds. ASUS is readying its own dual-fan low-profile models—as evidenced by official product pages. The listings do not reveal release dates or recommended price points for the reference-clocked GeForce RTX 3050 LP BRK 6 GB card, and its OC sibling. ASUS believes that both models offer "big productivity in a small package."

Low-profile card enthusiasts have warmly welcomed new-ish GeForce RTX 4060 GPU-based solutions—courtesy of ASUS and GIGABYTE, but reported $300+ MSRPs have likely put off budget-conscious buyers. A sub-$200 price point is a more palatable prospect, especially for system builders who are not all bothered about cutting-edge gaming performance. A DVI-D connector ensures legacy compatibility, alongside modern port standards: HDMI 2.1 and DP 1.4a. As mentioned before, ASUS has not publicly disclosed its pricing policy for the GeForce RTX 3050 LP BRK 6 GB card (and its OC variant)—the manufacturer's Dual and Dual OC models retail in a range of $170 - $180. Graphics card watchdogs reckon that the LP BRK designs will warrant a small premium over normal-sized products.

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V Rising is emerging from the shadows to take its greatest form to date! Join millions of Vampires on the journey to become the supreme predator of Vardoran, carving your name into the history of a world that has forgotten your kind. Journey through the shadows of the lands of man and monster, staking your claim and raising your towering castle. Drink blood, gather knowledge, and prove that you are worthy of the claim of the greatest Vampire to ever live by overcoming one final challenge…

Coming May 8th, 2024 to Steam, take to the skies on leathery wings and face down the Vampire king! Write the future of Vardoran in blood and live your legend this Spring! More information on the upcoming launch is right around the corner, so keep an eye on us to be the first to hear about the latest, greatest chapter of V Rising! V Early Access is available now on Steam!
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DeepCool, a leader in innovative cooling solutions, proudly presents the ASSASSIN 4S, its next evolution in an already proven award winning air cooler that redefines elegance, performance, and ease of installation in the PC building market. The ASSASSIN 4S is a testament to sophistication, blending substantial thermal dissipation and silent operation with a sleek aesthetic. Boasting a simple yet refined design, the ASSASSIN 4S features seven heat pipes intricately routed through dual, black-coated fin towers, complemented by an improved 140 mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) fan. This design not only enhances cooling performance but also ensures unobstructed RAM clearance, catering to the demands of modern high-powered processors.
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NVIDIA on Monday, at the 2024 GTC conference, unveiled the "Blackwell" B200 and GB200 AI GPUs. These are designed to offer an incredible 5X the AI inferencing performance gain over the current-gen "Hopper" H100, and come with four times the on-package memory. The B200 "Blackwell" is the largest chip physically possible using existing foundry tech, according to its makers. The chip is an astonishing 208 billion transistors, and is made up of two chiplets, which by themselves are the largest possible chips.

Each chiplet is built on the TSMC N4P foundry node, which is the most advanced 4 nm-class node by the Taiwanese foundry. Each chiplet has 104 billion transistors. The two chiplets have a high degree of connectivity with each other, thanks to a 10 TB/s custom interconnect. This is enough bandwidth and latency for the two to maintain cache coherency (i.e. address each other's memory as if they're their own). Each of the two "Blackwell" chiplets has a 4096-bit memory bus, and is wired to 96 GB of HBM3E spread across four 24 GB stacks; which totals to 192 GB for the B200 package. The GPU has a staggering 8 TB/s of memory bandwidth on tap. The B200 package features a 1.8 TB/s NVLink interface for host connectivity, and connectivity to another B200 chip.
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Akasa today introduced the Gecko Pro LX SSD cooler (model: A-M2HS04-BK), designed for drives in the M.2-2280 form-factor. The cooler is a fan-heatsink featuring an extruded aluminium monoblock heatsink that's ventilated by a 20 mm fan. The heatsink makes contact with the business end of the drive over a thermal pad that can adjust for Z-height differences between the various components. There is a second thermal pad included that's meant to be installed on the reverse side of the drive, making contact with the "taco shell" retention module.

The 20 mm fan of the Akasa Gecko Pro LX turns at speeds of up to 12,000 RPM, pushing 0.7 CFM of airflow at 4.00 mm H₂O static pressure, and a maximum noise of 26 dBA. Akasa rates the durability of this fan at 60,000 hours. The fan features a standard 4-pin PWM connector, so you can adjust its speed between 3,600 RPM to its top 12,000 RPM. Measuring 70 mm x 25 mm x 21.9 mm (LxWxH), the cooler weighs about 53 g. Akasa didn't reveal pricing, but mentioned that the drive will be backed by a 2-year warranty.

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Those seeking a powerful, yet affordable, VPN should consider Windscribe. It offers servers in 69 countries, unlimited simultaneous connections, a multitude of features like ad blocking and split tunneling, and it's currently on sale for $29.97 for a one-year subscription, $69.97 for two years, or $79.97 for three years. With more than 110 positive user reviews, Windscribe is one of StackSocial's highest-rated VPN deals.

Windscribe is both a Mac, Windows, and Linux desktop app and browser extension for iOS and Android devices. Don't forget you can connect an unlimited number at once. Along with offering an AES-256 cipher encrypted connection and unblocking global content, Windscribe might block tracking attempts and annoying ads. You can also choose which apps use or bypass the VPN with split tunneling, block IPs and domains on all of your devices with R.O.B.E.R.T., utilize secure hotspot capabilities, and create a proxy server on your network for other devices.

Grab your VPN with these limited-time, lowest-on-web prices:
Windscribe VPN Pro Plan 1-year subscription, $29.97 (regularly $69) | Windscribe VPN Pro Plan 2-year subscription, $69.97 (reg. $138) | Windscribe VPN Pro Plan 3-year subscription, $79.97 (reg. $207)
Check out how Windscribe Pro unlocks entire new online worlds in the following video presentation!Read full story

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