TechPowerUP NEWS

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Thermaltake, a leading PC DIY brand for premium hardware solutions, is proud to announce that the GR500 Racing Simulator Cockpit and the Triple Racing Monitor Stand are now ready for purchase. Moving beyond the conventional PC gaming setup, racing simulators redefine the gaming environment allowing you to feel like you are driving a racing car on a real racetrack in an indoor entertainment space easily. Create your simulators with the Thermaltake racing ecosystem, or take it one step further and match them with a VR headset like the Meta Quest 3, fully immersing the thrill of fast and furious racing!

GR500 Racing Simulator Cockpit
Thermaltake GR500 Racing Simulator Cockpit is designed for racing enthusiasts to experience authentic feel of racing. It comes with a racing-like bucket design and is made with a fiberglass seat, ensuring a premium seating experience. The adjustable seat allows you to glide forward & back, and recline, providing an ideal driving position for long gaming hours. The GR500 is crafted with a sturdy aluminium profile, steel structure, and anti-tip bracket, guaranteeing stability and safety. To make your racing simulator sleek, the base of the GR500 features RGB Lighting Strips including 20 lighting effects. If you switch to Rhythm Pickup mode, the lighting can even dynamically change with music. Additionally, Thermaltake GR500 has universal hardware compatibility that supports mainstream wheels, gear shifters, and pedals from Logitech, Fanatec, Thrustmaster, and more, allowing you to build an ideal racing simulator with high customization.
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KeysFan celebrates Mother's Day with its seasonal special sale. Get great prices on discount genuine software, so you can gift a software upgrade to the most powerful operating systems and productivity software. Get genuine Office 2021 Professional Plus at just $30.53. The latest Windows 11 Pro can be had at just $14.80. Get a combination of the two at just $42.90. Buy multi-PC packs or check out our other editions of Windows and Office on offer, to save even more!

Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus at $30.53 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus at $21.99 | Buy Office 2016 Professional Plus at $20.08 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac at $87.66 | Buy Office 2019 Home and Business for Mac at $31.89 | Buy Office 2016 Home and Business for Mac at $30.79 | Buy Windows 11 Pro at $14.80 | Buy Windows 11 Home at $14.47 | Buy Windows 10 Pro at $9.08 | Buy Windows 10 Home at $8.97 | Buy Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021 at $13.48 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 2-PC at $55.61 | Buy Office 2021 Professional Plus 5-PC at $124.58 | Buy Office 2021 Home and Business for Mac 2-Macs at $166.52 | Buy Office 2019 Professional Plus 3-PC at $49.78 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 2-PC at $27.78 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 3-PC at $38.78 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 5-PC at $60.23 | Buy Windows 11 Home 2-PC at $28.11 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 2-PC at $15.79 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 5-PC at $37.68 | Buy Windows 10 Home 2-PC at $16.34

Please use the coupon code SKF62 on the following items to avail the prices you see here.
Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $38.49 | Buy Windows 10 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $28.32 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2021 Professional at $42.89 | Buy Windows 11 Pro + Office 2019 Professional at $34.26 | Buy Visio Professional 2021 at $25.27 | Buy Project Professional 2021 at $28.27

Go bananas with our high-volume sale. Save big.
Buy Windows 10 Pro 50-PC at $357.50 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 100-PC at $660 | Buy Windows 11 Pro 50-PC at $440 | Buy Windows 10 Pro 100-PC at $825 | Buy Office 2021 Professional 50-PC at $1,210 | Buy Office 2021 Professional 100-PC at $2,310

Please use the coupon code SKF50 on the following items.
Buy Windows Server 2022 Standard at $28.81 | Buy Windows Server 2022 Datacenter at $29.93 | Buy Windows Server 2019 Standard at $27.51 | Buy Windows Server 2019 Datacenter at $27.68 | Buy Access 2021 at $24.59
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[NextPowerUP]

Gear up, Trailblazers - Honkai: Star Rail lands on GeForce NOW this week, along with an in-game reward for members to celebrate the title's launch in the cloud. Stream it today, along with five new games joining the GeForce NOW library of more than 1,900 titles this week.

Five Stars
Take a galactic journey in the cloud with Honkai: Star Rail, a new Cosmic Adventure Strategy role-playing game from HoYoverse, the company behind Genshin Impact. The title seamlessly blends intricate storytelling with immersive gameplay mechanics for an epic journey through the cosmos. Meet a cast of unique characters and explore diverse planets, each with its own mysteries to uncover. Assemble formidable teams, strategically deploying skills and resources to overcome mighty adversaries and unravel the mysteries of the Honkai phenomenon. Encounter new civilizations and face off against threats that endanger the Astral Express, overcome the struggles caused by Stellaron together, powerful artifacts that hold the keys to the universe's fate. Begin the trailblazing journey without needing to wait for downloads or game updates with GeForce NOW. Members who've opted into GeForce NOW's Rewards program will receive an email with a code for a Honkai: Star Rail starter kit, containing 30,000 credits, three Refined Aethers and three Traveler's Guides. All aboard the Astral Express for adventures and thrills!
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Leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, has successively released its AI QuickSet software tool based on Microsoft Windows 10/11 and Canonical Ubuntu Linux platforms since the end of last year, which can help users quickly download, install and set up many artificial intelligence (AI) applications. It can also be accelerated by ASRock's custom AMD graphics cards, and has received widespread response from the market. Today ASRock continues its efforts and launch the AI QuickSet software tool that supports ASRock's custom Intel Arc A-Series graphics cards, including Intel Arc A770, A750, A580, A380, and A310 models, allowing users to enjoy the fun brought by generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications at their fingertips!

ASRock AI QuickSet software tool v1.0.3i supports Microsoft Windows 10/11 64-bit operating system, allowing users to easily install Stable Diffusion web UI OpenVINO without delving into complex configuration settings. This Stable Diffusion Web UI artificial intelligence (AI) image generation tool optimized through the Intel OpenVINO tool suite can be used with ASRock's own Intel Arc A series graphics cards (including Intel Arc A770, A750, A580, A380, A310 model)'s powerful computing capabilities provide excellent operational performance. This once again demonstrates ASRock's strong software and hardware R&D capabilities and its spirit of considering users. It also makes ASRock's AI QuickSet software tool once again a premium choice for consumers to quickly experience the fun of generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications!

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[NextPowerUP]

Sabrent introduced the Rocket 2242 M.2 Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The drive is built in the M.2-2242 form-factor (42 mm long), which should make it suitable for certain kinds of handheld game consoles, such as the Legion Go. The Rocket 2242 comes in just one capacity for now, 1 TB. The drive combines a Phison E27T series DRAMless controller with Kioxia 162-layer 3D TLC NAND flash, and takes advantage of the PCI-Express 4.0 x4 host interface to offer sequential transfer speeds of up to 5000 MB/s. The company put out no other performance or endurance related specs. Sabrent is pricing the Rocket 2242 1 TB at USD $99.99, it is available now, and backed by a 5-year warranty.

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[NextPowerUP]

Team Group Inc., the global leader in premium storage solutions, continues its commitment to providing consumers with cutting-edge storage solutions that meet today's technological trends. To support the growing demand for electric vehicles as an eco-friendly option, Team Group is proud to announce the launch of the Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive. Specifically designed to support USB dashcams in electric vehicles, this compact USB drive exemplifies the company's innovative approach to addressing emerging lifestyle trends. The Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive provides users with innovative functionality for a stress-free driving experience.

The Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive is designed for storing driving footage in electric vehicles and is specifically compatible with the Tesla Model 3/Y/S/X. Featuring a USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface, it boasts up to 512 GB of storage capacity. Engineered for Sentry Mode and dashcam footage storage, ensuring a stable performance that allows continuous recording even post-formatting. With ample storage, users can confidently activate Sentry Mode. Coupled with dashcam footage, the Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 provides peace of mind by capturing and storing critical moments for up to 10 minutes. The Model T USB 3.2 Gen 1 Flash Drive features a sleek nickel-black finish, compact size, and ergonomic design that optimizes aesthetics and space utilization. With its Type-A connector, recording footage and storing multimedia files has never been easier. The stylish design of the zinc alloy body blends seamlessly with the sleek interior of electric vehicles, providing a durable and advanced storage solution.
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[NextPowerUP]

ASRock today introduced the W790 WS R2.0 motherboard for workstations powered by 4th Gen Intel Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 series processors in the Socket LGA4677 package. Although its model name suggests that it is a revision of the W790 WS, the new W790 WS R2.0 appears to be a lite version of the original, which removes several I/O features. To begin with, the fancy I/O shroud makes way for bare connectors, where you can see several of the connectors stripped away. While the CPU VRM appears unchanged, the VRM heatsinks used on the R2.0 are of a simpler design. The design effort behind both these changes appears to be to make the board friendly to certain kinds of rackmount chassis.

Besides the design changes, the ASRock W790 WS R2.0 loses out on Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, and only has a single 10 GbE interface instead of dual-10 GbE on the original W790 WS. These aside, the W790 WS R2.0 is still a very capable workstation motherboard for the platform it's based on. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and a 6-pin PCIe power; and uses a 22-phase CPU VRM. The board features four PCI-Express 5.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/x16/NC or x16/NC/x8/x8 or x8/x8/x8/x8), and one PCI-Express 4.0 x16 (electrical x4). The CPU socket is wired to eight memory slots, supporting quad-channel DDR5 memory, with support for DDR5 RDIMM-3DS, a total memory capacity of 2 TB, and a maximum overclocked memory speed of DDR5-6800.
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Earlier this week, we got news of ASUS working on a design revision for its ROG Ally handheld game console to fix the positioning of its microSD card slot that was causing card and card-reader failures due to its location close to a thermal vent. It turns out that this revision is a whole different product, and ASUS is naming it the ROG Ally X. There's more to this console than simply a relocated microSD slot that won't fry your memory cards.

Apparently, ASUS has used the opportunity to give it a larger battery, and a larger M.2-2280 SSD bay, compared to the M.2-2242 slot on the original ROG Ally. This would open up end-users to the widest possible array of SSD choices. As a final bit of product differentiation, the ROG Ally X comes with a new black chassis trim. The larger battery makes the ROG Ally X heavier than the original. Besides these three hardware changes, the new ROG Ally X features the same kit as the original, and is hence expected to offer the same performance, albeit with improved battery life. ASUS is expected to formally launch the ROG Ally X on June 2, 2024.

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[NextPowerUP]

According to Benchlife.info insiders, NVIDIA is supposedly in the phase of testing designs with various Total Graphics Power (TGP), running from 250 Watts to 600 Watts, for its upcoming GeForce RTX 50 series Blackwell graphics cards. The company is testing designs ranging from 250 W aimed at mainstream users and a more powerful 600 W configuration tailored for enthusiast-level performance. The 250 W cooling system is expected to prioritize compactness and power efficiency, making it an appealing choice for gamers seeking a balance between capability and energy conservation. This design could prove particularly attractive for those building small form-factor rigs or AIBs looking to offer smaller cooler sizes. On the other end of the spectrum, the 600 W cooling solution is the highest TGP of the stack, which is possibly only made for testing purposes. Other SKUs with different power configurations come in between.

We witnessed NVIDIA testing a 900-watt version of the Ada Lovelace AD102 GPU SKU, which never saw the light of day, so we should take this testing phase with a grain of salt. Often, the engineering silicon is the first batch made for the enablement of software and firmware, while the final silicon is much more efficient and more optimized to use less power and align with regular TGP structures. The current highest-end SKU, the GeForce RTX 4090, uses 450-watt TGP. So, take this phase with some reservations as we wait for more information to come out.

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NVIDIA has just released its latest WHQL driver update labeled 552.44. In this driver update, the company is introducing a few additional game-ready titles, which are now supposed to run smoothly on the NVIDIA GeForce hardware. This includes the upcoming Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut game, which is supposed to launch on May 16 next week. The act set in the 13th century will be accompanied by many technologies like NVIDIA DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3, and Intel XeSS. NVIDIA Reflex and image quality-enhancing NVIDIA DLAA are also supported, which this driver update ensures. This driver also has an ironed-out bug of the resizable BAR profile in the Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut edition, providing a smooth experience on launch day. Another big release for next week is the Homeworld 3 strategy game, which NVIDIA also includes in this driver release. GeForce Experience (GFE) is also getting an update, which you can check out below in the complete list of updates and GFE-supported games.

Download GeForce Graphics 552.44 WHQL drivers here.
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NVIDIA barely started shipping its "Blackwell" line of AI GPUs, and its next-generation architecture is already on the horizon. Codenamed "Rubin," after Vera Rubin, the new architecture will power NVIDIA's future AI GPUs with generational jumps in performance, but more importantly, a design focus on lowering the power draw. This will become especially important as NVIDIA's current architectures already approach the kilowatt range, and cannot scale boundlessly. TF International Securities analyst, Mich-Chi Kuo says that NVIDIA's first AI GPU based on "Rubin," the R100 (not to be confused with an ATI GPU from many moons ago); is expected to enter mass-production in Q4-2025, which means it could be unveiled and demonstrated sooner than that; and select customers could have access to the silicon sooner, for evaluations.

The R100, according to Mich-Chi Kuo, is expected to leverage TSMC's 3 nm EUV FinFET process, specifically the TSMC-N3 node. In comparison, the new "Blackwell" B100 uses the TSMC-N4P. This will be a chiplet GPU, and use a 4x reticle design compared to Blackwell's 3.3x reticle design, and use TSMC's CoWoS-L packaging, just like the B100. The silicon is expected to be among the first users of HBM4 stacked memory, and feature 8 stacks of a yet unknown stack height. The Grace Ruben GR200 CPU+GPU combo could feature a refreshed "Grace" CPU built on the 3 nm node, likely an optical shrink meant to reduce power. A Q4-2025 mass-production roadmap target would mean that customers will start receiving the chips by early 2026.

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Corsair today announced the launch of the MP700 PRO SE PCIe 5.0 SSD, capable of achieving sequential read speeds of up to 14,000 MB/sec and sequential write speeds up to 12,000 MB/sec. These impressive throughput figures are nearly twice as fast as what you'll see from the most capable PCIe 4.0 SSDs and up to 25 times faster than common SATA SSDs. The MP700 PRO SE is available in 2 TB and 4 TB capacities.

In addition to its phenomenal sequential read and write performance, the MP700 PRO SE takes advantage of the latest interface, controller, and NAND flash technologies to deliver outstanding random read and write performance - vital when it comes to transferring smaller files and serving as the primary OS drive. Experience faster load times for Windows, applications, and games, while transferring large files becomes a breeze. With native support for Microsoft DirectStorage, the MP700 PRO SE is ready to provide a gaming advantage not only in today's games but in tomorrow's too. The MP700 PRO SE performs at its best alongside the latest platforms such as Intel 14th Gen and AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs and PCIe 5.0 motherboards. However, it also maintains backwards compatibility with PCIe 4.0 motherboards, providing a clear upgrade path and ensuring the drive's longevity for years to come.

The MP700 PRO SE adheres to the industry standard M.2 2280 form factor, ensuring wide compatibility with a range of systems and platforms while maintaining ease of installation. Although the drive requires cooling to achieve optimal performance, the integrated M.2 cooling on most motherboards is more than capable. Additionally, the MP700 PRO SE is available with a stylish active cooler that keeps the drive running smoothly and minimizes throttling.

[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the Corsair MP700 PRO SE 4 TB is now live]
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Drop, a leading community-driven e-commerce brand, and audio pioneer Axel Grell have achieved a new pinnacle in stereo imaging and audio engineering with the Drop + Grell OAE1 Signature Headphones. Leveraging Grell's three decades of audio engineering and product development experience designing some of the industry's most iconic headphones, the driver-forward, open-around-ear OAE1 headphones lean into the structure of the human ear to achieve a more natural and realistic sound field much closer to a speaker listening experience.

The most notable aspect of the Drop + Grell OAE1s is the radical and acute placement of the drivers in front of and away from the ears, enabling the sound field from the transducers to take advantage of the ears natural structure to direct sound into the ear canal. The open-around-ear design minimizes acoustic reflections and controlling sound pressure, with the culmination of both innovations resulting in improved stereo imaging, a natural sound field, and the uncovering of the deepest dimensions of any song. "Our ears are as individual as fingerprints, so when you put a driver right on top of the eardrum like most headphones do, it will sound good for some and bad for others," shares Grell. "By positioning the driver in front of the ear, we're bringing the natural geometry of the ear into the sound forming process, allowing the brain to equalize the sound. Combined with its open-around-ear design, these signature headphones create a rich and pure audio experience."

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MSI, a leading innovator in technology solutions, proudly unveils the MS-C903, a versatile embedded system designed to meet the demanding requirements of various industries including transportation, gaming, medical, automation, and robotics. Engineered to excel in challenging conditions, the MS-C903 ensures reliable operation in harsh environments with temperatures ranging from -20 to 70°C. Its wide voltage DC input (12~24 V) with overcurrent protection (OCP) and overvoltage protection (OVP) guarantees stable power supply. Enhanced security features include hardware monitoring with a 256-level watchdog timer and an Infineon TPM Controller (SLB9670VQ2.0/FW7.85). Compliant with IEC 61373 standards, its anti-vibration and shockproof design ensures durability. With multiple mounting options including wall mount, DIN rail, and VESA mount, the MS-C903 offers flexible installation. Additionally, its excellent performance, driven by Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake-UP3 Embedded/Industrial SKU Series and ample I/O interfaces, makes it ideal for diverse applications.
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LG Display, the world's leading innovator of display technologies, announced today the unveiling of a large number of its next-generation OLED and cutting-edge display technologies at SID Display Week 2024 in San Jose, California from May 14-16. LG Display is allowing visitors to experience new OLED technologies under the theme "A Better Future," ranging from OLEDoS for VR to large-sized OLED panels that go beyond the limits of picture quality and automotive display solutions that are optimized for Software Defined Vehicles (SDV).

The company's latest innovations include a new technology, OLEDoS for VR, which is being shown to the public for the first time and features dramatically increased screen brightness and resolution compared with the existing standard. Despite being the size of a coin at 1.3-inch, it achieves an ultra-high brightness of 10,000 nits and an ultra-high resolution of around 4,000 ppi, which is in the 4K class. In addition, its color expression accuracy is realized by meeting more than 97% of the DCI-P3 standard color area of the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI). All these enable more lifelike virtual reality with industry-leading picture quality.
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