GeForce NOW adds support for Hellblade 2, playable on a GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPOD

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | May 23, 2024 9:57 PM CDT

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is now available on PC and Xbox consoles and is part of the Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass subscription service. Built with the latest Unreal Engine technology, it's being praised as one of the most cinematic and visually impressive games ever made. From character detail to realistic-looking environments to the lighting and other effects - it's jaw-dropping stuff.

GeForce NOW adds support for Hellblade 2, playable on a GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPOD

The game is also available to play on NVIDIA's GeForce NOW cloud streaming service, bringing the total number of cloud-supported games on the service to over 1,900. Best of all, GeForce NOW Ultimate members can stream the game at up to 4K 120 frames per second on a GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPOD.

Per NVIDIA's benchmarks for Hellblade II running in 4K with Max Settings and DLSS 3 enabled, the only way to experience the game with this level of performance is with a GeForce RTX 4080 or RTX 4090. This makes a GeForce NOW Ultimate subscription (with a stable connection) one of the best ways to experience the game.

Continue reading: GeForce NOW adds support for Hellblade 2, playable on a GeForce RTX 4080 SuperPOD (full post)

SK hynix HBM3E chip yield hits 80% which has help cut mass production times down by 50%

Anthony Garreffa | Artificial Intelligence | May 23, 2024 9:27 PM CDT

SK hynix has announced that HBM3E yields are close to 80% and that the South Korean memory giant has reduced mass production times of HBM3E in half.

SK hynix HBM3E chip yield hits 80% which has help cut mass production times down by 50%

In a recent interview with the Financial Times this week, SK hynix's Yield Executive Vice President Kwon Jae-soon said: "We have managed to cut the time required for mass production of HBM3E chips by 50%. The chips have almost reached the target yield of 80%".

This is the first time that SK hynix has publicly disclosed yield information for HBM3E memory, with the industry estimating previously that the yield of SK hynix's HBM3E memory was somewhere between 60% and 70%. VP Kwon continued, saying: "our goal this year is to focus on producing 8-layer HBM3E. In the AI era, improving yields becomes even more crucial to stay ahead".

Continue reading: SK hynix HBM3E chip yield hits 80% which has help cut mass production times down by 50% (full post)

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 rumor: 16 next-gen GDDR7 memory modules, 32GB GDDR7 for RTX 5090

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | May 23, 2024 8:40 PM CDT

NVIDIA will be rolling out next-gen GDDR7 memory on its next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs, with the GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card reportedly featuring 16 GDDR7 memory modules in a denser design.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 rumor: 16 next-gen GDDR7 memory modules, 32GB GDDR7 for RTX 5090

It seems NVIDIA is changing up the memory layout for its new GeForce RTX 5090 over the current-gen RTX 5090, with the GB202 "Blackwell" GPU inside, next-gen GDDR7 memory on a huge 512-bit memory bus. If that's true, it would explain why NVIDIA would need to use additional GDDR7 memory modules around the GPU.

NVIDIA's new GeForce RTX 5090 will use GDDR7 memory arranged in a denser configuration, with the layout shifting from 3-4-1-4 to 4-5-2-5 (clockwise), which allows the board to support up to 16 memory modules.

Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 rumor: 16 next-gen GDDR7 memory modules, 32GB GDDR7 for RTX 5090 (full post)

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition PCB reportedly split into three parts

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | May 23, 2024 8:12 PM CDT

NVIDIA's next-generation GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition graphics card is being teased, with a sophisticated PCB design.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition PCB reportedly split into three parts

In a new post on X, leaker "kopite7kimi" said that the RTX 50 FE graphics cards have 3 separate PCBs: the motherboard, I/O rigid board, and a separate PCIe slot component, that the leaker adds "perhaps it should not be considered as the third PCB".

Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition PCB reportedly split into three parts (full post)

NVIDIA celebrates its most profitable and highest sales quarter EVER, stock breaches $1000+

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | May 23, 2024 7:47 PM CDT

NVIDIA has just posted its Q1 2024 earnings, reporting record quarterly earnings of $26 billion, destroying analysts' expectations of $24.59 billion. $26 billion in revenue for Q1 2024 are up 18% from the previous quarter, and up 262% from a year ago.

NVIDIA celebrates its most profitable and highest sales quarter EVER, stock breaches $1000+

NVIDIA profits and revenues skyrocketed in Q1 2024, with record quarterly data center revenues of $22.6 billion, which is up 23% from Q4 2023, and a gigantic 427% year-over-year.

Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, said: "The next industrial revolution has begun - companies and countries are partnering with NVIDIA to shift the trillion-dollar traditional data centers to accelerated computing and build a new type of data center - AI factories - to produce a new commodity: artificial intelligence. AI will bring significant productivity gains to nearly every industry and help companies be more cost- and energy-efficient, while expanding revenue opportunities".

Continue reading: NVIDIA celebrates its most profitable and highest sales quarter EVER, stock breaches $1000+ (full post)

The Mac's terrible System Settings app is getting an overhaul in macOS, report claims

Oliver Haslam | Software & Apps | May 23, 2024 2:45 PM CDT

If Apple sticks to the tried and tested plans of recent years we can expect it to release a slew of new software updates this fall, one of which will surely be the macOS 15 software for the Mac computers. Apple is set to preview the changes at WWDC on June 10, but we might not have to wait that long to get a feel for what's in store.

The Mac's terrible System Settings app is getting an overhaul in macOS, report claims

According to a new report by AppleInsider, Apple is planning a number of changes for the big release including one that will be welcome news to many. The System Settings app has been lambasted by many since it replaced the familiar System Preferences, and now the report says that Apple intends to make some changes this year.

One of the changes coming to System Settings is the removal of the Apple ID section with a new Apple Account section taking its place. There are also going to be changes throughout the System Settings app to accommodate new Apple Account settings and features, we're told, with new animations or redesigned interface elements arriving. AppleInsider also believes that the Apple Account rebrand will see the arrival of a new feature called Printable Account Recovery Summary, or PARS. It's not yet clear what that feature will be but it's likely designed to give users easier access to important account information.

Continue reading: The Mac's terrible System Settings app is getting an overhaul in macOS, report claims (full post)

Apple's foldable MacBook might not be as big as we first thought, display analyst says

Oliver Haslam | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | May 23, 2024 2:30 PM CDT

Apple has long been rumored to be working on its first foldable device, but it won't be a phone or a tablet as other companies have brought to the market. Instead, it'll be a foldable laptop. We'd been told to expect that Apple would sell the laptop with a large 20.25-inch foldable display but now a new report suggests that Apple will instead shrink that display to 18.76 inches.

Apple's foldable MacBook might not be as big as we first thought, display analyst says

A recent report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was working on testing both sizes of display which could have suggested that both would reach the market. However, in a paywalled X post that was picked up by 9to5Mac, display analyst Ross Young says that Apple has ditched the 20.25-inch display plans in favor of one that's smaller at 18.76 inches.

Young has a strong track record of detailing Apple's plans based on information gleaned from within the display supply chain and he believes that Apple has now settled on the smaller 18.76 display or, more likely, a rounded figure of 18.8 inches.

Continue reading: Apple's foldable MacBook might not be as big as we first thought, display analyst says (full post)

AMD all but confirms RDNA 4 is a pair of mid-range GPUs, Navi 48 and 44

Darren Allan | Video Cards & GPUs | May 23, 2024 2:15 PM CDT

The Navi 48 and 44 GPUs have been confirmed by AMD - kind of - to be the only chips that'll make up Team Red's next-gen range of graphics cards with its RDNA 4 architecture.

AMD all but confirms RDNA 4 is a pair of mid-range GPUs, Navi 48 and 44

VideoCardz noticed that Kepler flagged up on X (formerly Twitter) that in an update for its ROCm software, AMD specifically mentions Navi 44 and Navi 48 as gfx1200 and gfx1201 respectively.

There are no other chips in the update, so that all but confirms that Team Red is keeping things down to just Navi 44 and 48, as all rumors have pointed to for some time now.

Continue reading: AMD all but confirms RDNA 4 is a pair of mid-range GPUs, Navi 48 and 44 (full post)

Apple's first foldable could be a 19-inch laptop, and it might arrive sooner than you think

Oliver Haslam | Laptops | May 23, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Apple is yet to enter the world of the foldable phone and there is little to suggest that it intends to change that any time soon. But Apple is indeed reportedly working on a foldable device of some sort and that's believed to be an all-screen laptop. We've seen reports of a potential 20-inch foldable device before, and now a new report by the usually well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that Apple is also testing a foldable laptop with an 18.8-inch display.

Apple's first foldable could be a 19-inch laptop, and it might arrive sooner than you think

Ming-Chi Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple is still working on a 20.25-inch option with LG Display being the exclusive panel supplier. But the smaller model is also being considered with the two different foldable panels corresponding to the design of 14- to 15-inch and 13- to 14-inch laptops. What's more, he believes that Apple is aiming to have the displays ready for assembly towards the end of 2025 or early 2026 which means these laptops could go on sale in just a couple of years.

In a lengthy Medium post detailing Apple's plans, Kuo said that Apple is working to put the M4 family of chips into the new laptop. Apple is expected to launch new M4 machines later this year, but the bulk of the lineup - including new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Airs - won't go M4 until 2025. That would then leave Apple's M5 ready for a 2026 debut.

Continue reading: Apple's first foldable could be a 19-inch laptop, and it might arrive sooner than you think (full post)

Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone brings easier contactless payments to Canadian businesses

Oliver Haslam | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | May 23, 2024 1:45 PM CDT

Following its launch in Japan just a few days ago, Apple has today launched its Tap to Pay on iPhone feature in Canada for the very first time. The feature offers small businesses a new, easy way to accept contactless payments via bank cards, mobile wallets, and Apple Pay using nothing more than their iPhones.

Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone brings easier contactless payments to Canadian businesses

The feature is already available in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Taiwan, the U.K., and Ukraine and the expansion will surely continue. Apple's press release says that businesses will be able to accept Tap to Pay on iPhone using apps from Adyen, Moneris, Stripe, and Square at launch while Aurus, Chase, Fiserv, and Helcim will all come online in the coming months.

Accepting Tap to Pay on iPhone payments is easy for businesses so long as they have an iPhone XS or newer that has also been updated to the latest version of iOS that it supports. Payments are handled securely using similar technology to that which powers Appl Pay, but other payment methods like contactless cards are also supported.

Continue reading: Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone brings easier contactless payments to Canadian businesses (full post)