TechPowerUP NEWS

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An alleged picture of an unreleased AMD Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop processor, just hit the wires. "Granite Ridge" is codename for the desktop implementation of the "Zen 5" microarchitecture, it succeeds the current Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" that's powered by "Zen 4." From what we're hearing, the CPU core counts of "Granite Ridge" continue to top out at 16. These chips will be built in the existing AMD Socket AM5 package, and will be compatible with existing AMD 600-series chipset motherboards, although the company is working on a new motherboard chipset to go with the new chips.

The alleged AMD engineering sample pictured below has an OPN 100-000001290-11, which is unreleased. This OPN also showed up on an Einstein@Home online database, where the distributed computing platform read it as having 16 threads, making this possibly an 8-core/16-thread SKU. The "Zen 5" microarchitecture is expected to provide a generational IPC increase over "Zen 4," but more importantly, offer a significant performance increase for AVX-512 workloads due to an updated FPU. AMD is expected to unveil its Ryzen 9000 series "Zen 5" processors at the 2024 Computex.

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The month of April continues with more low-key releases and this week's major release is a somewhat new take on the MMO genre which focuses on players being nice to each other. As for the rest of this week we have a VR Western, a gigantic game, some roads in need of repair, a zone free of infection and turn-based tactics game involving mutant animals.

Sky: Children of the Light / This week's major release / Wednesday 10 April
Sky: Children of the Light is a peaceful, award-winning MMO from the creators of Journey. Explore a beautifully-animated kingdom across seven realms and create enriching memories with other players in this delightful puzzle-adventure game. Steam Link
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Welcome to the wasteland, Vault Dwellers. Bethesda's Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 are bringing post-nuclear adventures to the cloud. These highly acclaimed action role-playing games lead 10 new titles joining GeForce NOW this week. Announced as coming to GeForce NOW at CES, Honkai: Star Rail is targeting a release this quarter. Stay tuned for future updates.

Vault Into the Cloud
Adventurers needed, whether for mapping the irradiated wasteland or shaping the fate of humanity. Embark on a journey through ruins of the post-apocalyptic Commonwealth in Fallout 4. As the sole survivor of Vault 111, navigate a world destroyed by nuclear war, make choices to reshape the wasteland and rebuild society one settlement at a time. With a vast, open world, dynamic crafting systems and a gripping storyline, the game offers an immersive single-player experience that challenges dwellers to emerge as beacons of hope for humanity's remnants.
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BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, is thrilled to introduce the brand-new Intel Arc A750 OC Graphics card. BIOSTAR proudly presents the Arc A750 OC graphics card, a true game-changer for content creators and professional gamers. It is meticulously designed to cater to a wide range of computing needs, seamlessly accommodating content creation and gaming at every level. The Arc A750 OC graphics card harnesses the cutting-edge Intel Arc graphics technology, offering a unique blend of unmatched performance and innovative features that sets it apart in the competitive market.

With its impressive 28 Xe-Cores and a graphics clock speed of 2200 MHz, the BIOSTAR Arc A750 OC is a powerhouse designed to deliver robust gaming and content creation performance. It comes packed with a substantial 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, operating at a lightning-fast speed of 16 Gbps, and utilizes a 256-bit memory interface for efficient data transfer and processing. With a total board power (TBP) of 225 W, this graphics card is engineered to balance power consumption with high-end performance, making it an exciting option for users looking for a powerful yet efficient GPU solution.
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Alphacool expands the product range and introduces the new ES Quick Release BLH1A PushIn Set. This quick release is optimized for use in server and workstation systems. Characterized by precise manufacturing quality and excellent water flow, it seals with a secure click mechanism. Compared to other quick couplings, this new quick coupling hardly affects the water flow in the cooling loop. The maximum flow rate is virtually maintained. Thanks to the convenient operation, complex systems can be connected quickly and easily. To open the quick connector, the outer ring is pulled back. The seal closes immediately and prevents coolant from escaping.
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DFI, the world's leading brand in embedded motherboards and industrial computers, is thrilled to announce two of the world's first Industrial MicroATX motherboards to support Intel Core 12th, 13th, and 14th (Alder Lake-S, Raptor Lake-S and Raptor Lake-S Refresh) Gen Processors. "With support for the latest Intel Core processors and features including dual GPU slots and dual 10GbE ports, RPS310 and ADS310 represent a significant leap forward in innovation for industrial and medical computing, empowering manufacturing and healthcare professionals to achieve new levels of efficiency," said Jarry Chang, General Manager of Products Center at DFI.

RPS310
Featuring dual PCIe x16 Gen 4 GPU slots, addresses key challenges for Factory Automation professionals working in Smart manufacturing field, enabling improved visualized data, complex imagery processing and quality monitoring in automated production lines. RPS310 is also perfect for medical professionals to analyze Medical imaging data with unprecedented image quality and efficiency, improving diagnosis accuracy on MRIs and CT Scanners and X-rays.
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At the NAB Show 2024, in Las Vegas, Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) is unveiling an exciting lineup of technologies and new storage solutions designed for today's and tomorrow's complex media and entertainment (M&E) workflows. Western Digital continues to focus on creating what's next with advanced solutions that address a broad range of growing content needs.

The increasing demand for rich and engaging content, with higher resolutions and more frames per second, is generating the need for faster, more flexible high-capacity storage solutions to help streamline workflows and keep up with high-pressure project demands. For every step of the workflow - from capture and transfer to archive - Western Digital is committed to advancing technology to help professionals and creators get work done faster and more efficiently, ultimately saving time and money, so they can focus on their creativity.
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Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to announce their lineup of products to be shown at the 2024 NAB Show, from April 14-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Lexar products deliver the high-speed performance that professional videographers, filmmakers, and creators demand in their cameras while also accelerating workflows.
Lexar's new Rugged Series includes the ARMOR GOLD SD UHS-II V60 Card. This card offers a max read speed of 280 MB/s and a max write speed of 210 MB/s, features an IP68 rating, and supports seamless 6K video capture. The ARMOR SILVER PRO SD UHS-II V60 Card also clocks in at a max read speed of 280 MB/s and delivers a write speed of 160 MB/s. It is also rated IP68 and supports 6K video as well. In the SSD category, the ARMOR 700 Portable SSD leverages USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 to provide max read/write speeds of 2000 MB/s1 and an IP66 rating lets users know that its design protects against both water and dust and is built to withstand up to 3-meter drops and falls.

Lexar is also excited to announce a new line of products dedicated to improving the professional workflow. The Lexar Professional PRO WORKFLOW is a 6-bay dock designed to maximize efficiency in the studio by allowing professionals to customize a solution with the modules they need. It is compatible with a range of WORKFLOW readers for CFexpress Type B and Type A 4.0 cards, SD and microSD UHS-II cards, and portable SSDs. It adopts Thunderbolt 4 and supports speeds up to 40 Gbps. The Lexar Professional PRO WORKFLOW GO is a portable solution that allows users to back up on location without a laptop. This 2-bay dock is battery-powered and supports speeds up to 10 Gbps.
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Intel has decided to discontinue its entire 13th Gen Raptor Lake lineup of overclockable "K-series" CPU SKUs. According to an official product change notice, the company will stop accepting orders for chips like the Core i9-13900KS, Core i9-13900K, Core i9-13900KF, Core i7-13700K, Core i7-13700KF, Core i5-13600K, and Core i5-13600KF after May 24th, 2024. Final shipments to vendors are targeted for June 28th. After those dates, availability of the unlocked Raptor Lake processors will rapidly diminish as the remaining inventory gets sold off, possibly at inflated prices due to shortages. This discontinuation comes just over a year after Raptor Lake's launch in late 2022, which delivered additional performance improvements over the previous Alder Lake generation.

Raptor Lake brought higher clocks, more cache, additional efficiency cores, and enough muscle to compete with AMD's Ryzen 7000 CPUs in many workloads. Interestingly, Intel has not yet discontinued Alder Lake, suggesting those 12th-generation chips may still be available for some time. While the death of the overclockable Raptor Lake K-series CPUs is unfortunate for enthusiasts, there is an upside—it paves the way for Intel's current generation Raptor Lake refresh, 14th generation Core processors, to clear inventory before the next-generation processors arrive. The 15th generation "Arrow Lake" Core Ultra 2 series of processors could be teased at the upcoming Computex event in June.

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Corsair today announced it is entering the DDR5 Workstation market with the introduction of a range of WS DDR5 RDIMM memory kits. Engineered to offer uncompromising performance and reliability, these ECC RDIMM kits redefine the capabilities of the newest workstations, and are compatible with the latest 4th Gen Intel Xeon and AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000 processors.

This new range of memory kits boasts capacities of up to 256 GB, setting a new standard for memory-intensive tasks such as high-resolution media editing, 3D rendering, and AI training. Rigorously tested and carefully screened, these modules surpass JEDEC specifications with tighter timings and higher frequencies, ensuring optimal performance for the most demanding workloads.
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Elgato, a brand of Corsair, today announced a limited-edition hardware line in collaboration with the award-winning publisher, Bethesda Softworks. The drop features four products—including a custom Stream Deck and dynamic mic—celebrating one of gaming's most beloved franchises, Fallout. It's now the second time Elgato and Bethesda have teamed up, following the release of Starfield in September 2023.

For Bethesda fans, the partnership is a chance to bring home an original Vault-Tec collectible, coinciding with the Fallout TV series debut on Prime Video. It marks a milestone for Elgato too, as the first time they've developed a custom dynamic mic (Wave DX), audio interface (Wave XLR), or boom arm (Wave Mic Arm LP). In addition to hardware, Elgato revealed a suite of digital assets, including a Pip-Boy-inspired voice modifier—offering creators new ways to express themselves online.
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GAMDIAS Technology announced the launch of the powerful HELIOS P1A 80 Plus Gold power supply units that provide efficient power consistently. The HELIOS P1A Series PSUs are available in 650 W, 750 W and 850 W. Importantly, the 850 W unit comes with fully modular edition to fulfill demands. Every power supply unit delivers 90% efficiency and is equipped with a hydraulic bearing smart fan that can adjust the fan speed automatically.

The HELIOS P1A Series power supply units are certified with 80 Plus Gold that guarantees stable power output at up to 90% efficiency and reduces energy consumption. The DC to DC structure with full bridge LLC resonance assist and 12 V synchronous rectification helps improve performance, stability and safety in operation. The power features automatic fan speed optimization, which allows the fan speed to be adjusted according to the detection of temperature and load. Furthermore, the 120 mm hydraulic bearing fan ensures stable operation and longer lifespan.
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Meta has announced the next generation of its Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) chip, which is designed to train and infer AI models at scale. The newest MTIA chip is a second-generation design of Meta's custom silicon for AI, and it is being built on TSMC's 5 nm technology. Running at the frequency of 1.35 GHz, the new chip is getting a boost to 90 Watts of TDP per package compared to just 25 Watts for the first-generation design. Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms (BLAS) processing is where the chip shines, and it includes matrix multiplication and vector/SIMD processing. At GEMM matrix processing, each chip can process 708 TeraFLOPS at INT8 (presumably meant FP8 in the spec) with sparsity, 354 TeraFLOPS without, 354 TeraFLOPS at FP16/BF16 with sparsity, and 177 TeraFLOPS without.

Classical vector and processing is a bit slower at 11.06 TeraFLOPS at INT8 (FP8), 5.53 TeraFLOPS at FP16/BF16, and 2.76 TFLOPS single-precision FP32. The MTIA chip is specifically designed to run AI training and inference on Meta's PyTorch AI framework, with an open-source Triton backend that produces compiler code for optimal performance. Meta uses this for all its Llama models, and with Llama3 just around the corner, it could be trained on these chips. To package it into a system, Meta puts two of these chips onto a board and pairs them with 128 GB of LPDDR5 memory. The board is connected via PCIe Gen 5 to a system where 12 boards are stacked densely. This process is repeated six times in a single rack for 72 boards and 144 chips in a single rack for a total of 101.95 PetaFLOPS, assuming linear scaling at INT8 (FP8) precision. Of course, linear scaling is not quite possible in scale-out systems, which could bring it down to under 100 PetaFLOPS per rack.
Below, you can see images of the chip floorplan, specifications compared to the prior version, as well as the system.Read full story

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MSI is announcing today the latest series of fan products, the cableless fan MPG EZ120 ARGB, which features a magnetic design and reduces the effort and complexity of PC assembly. The use of MSI exclusive JAF 7-pin header, which has integrated ARGB and system fan headers, benefits the exertion of cable management. There are 33 LEDs well-arranged on the fan blade and frame; it is the best choice to decorate a panoramic-style chassis.

The MPG EZ120 ARGB takes convenience to the next level. With its Magnetic Connector Blocks, connecting your fans is easier than ever. These blocks deliver power and signal and enhance the connection between the fans. Each fan frame is also embedded with magnets, making the assembly process a breeze.
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V-COLOR Technology Inc. unveiled its latest breakthrough in memory technology, the Manta XFinity series, now boasting speeds of up to DDR5-8600 with XMP profile. This series is already gaining recognition in the overclocking community by securing the 3rd spot on the Memory Frequency ranking in HWBOT, and is ready to create even larger impacts with its enhanced overclocking capabilities. Tested on the new ASRock Phantom Gaming Z790I Lightning Wi-Fi, and PHANTOM GAMING B760I Lightning Wi-Fi with Intel Core 14th Gen CPUs, this advancement ensures unmatched performance and reliability for enthusiasts and professionals alike.
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