New Intel Arc brings new game support and more massive 'up to 174%' performance boosts

Kosta Andreadis | Video Cards & GPUs | Mar 21, 2024 9:35 AM CDT

With Intel's Arc graphics now covering discrete GPUs like the Arc A750 and recent Arc A580 and integrated graphics in the new Intel Core Ultra series of mobile processors, the diligent team over at Team Blue continues to improve driver support for new games and older titles.

New Intel Arc brings new game support and more massive 'up to 174%' performance boosts

Over the past year, we've seen significant overhauls to DirectX 12 and DirectX 11 performance, with per-game optimizations bringing some game-changing improvements. The latest Intel Game On Graphics Driver release for Arc Graphics is no different, with new game support for Dragon's Dogma 2, Horizon Forbidden West, and Diablo IV's upcoming ray-tracing update; a bunch of older titles are also getting "up to 174% average FPS uplift."

Those massive performance increases are limited to a handful of titles, like Detroit: Become Human (Vulkan) and Granblue Fantasy: Relink (DX11). Still, a 36% performance bump to God of War running on a desktop Arc GPU and a 17% performance bump running on an Intel Core Ultra with built-in Arc are great to see.

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Neuralink unveils first brain implant patient controlling a PC with their thoughts

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Mar 21, 2024 9:20 AM CDT

It was only earlier this year that Elon Musk announced his brain chip company Neuralink had implanted the first brain chip into a human patient.

Neuralink unveils first brain implant patient controlling a PC with their thoughts

Neuralink has since taken to social media platform X to share an update with the first patient, a 29-year-old man named Nolan Arbaugh, who said he was unfortunately paralyzed from the neck down following a tragic diving accident eight years ago. The livestream on the Neuralink X account featured Arbaugh explaining the surgery for the implant was "super easy" and that he had to go through a learning process to differentiate "imagined movement versus attempted movement" in order to control a cursor on a PC.

The video shows Arbaugh using the brain-computer interface (BCI) to move a cursor around on the screen of a laptop, with the patient even saying that he was able to play Civilization IV for up to 8 hours and the only thing stopping him from playing more was the BCI running out of battery requiring a recharge. The livestream shows Arbaugh playing chess and then pausing an on-screen music player. Notably, not everything with the BCI is perfect, as Arbaugh says he has encountered some issues. However, Arbaugh said it "has already changed my life".

Continue reading: Neuralink unveils first brain implant patient controlling a PC with their thoughts (full post)

SpaceX satellites threatened to be shot down for being used by US military

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Mar 21, 2024 8:57 AM CDT

A new report has revealed that SpaceX satellites may become a target of Russia over its purported use by the US military to gather intelligence.

SpaceX satellites threatened to be shot down for being used by US military

The threats from Russia come after Reuters reported earlier this month that SpaceX signed a $1.8 billion deal with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to develop hundreds of spy satellites designed to gather intelligence. This array of spy satellites is reportedly called Starshield, and according to one source who spoke to Reuters, it will be so vast that "no one can hide".

Now, a new report from Reuters reveals that Russia has threatened the US over its encroaching use of commercial satellites to expand its presence in orbit, saying they will "become legitimate target for retaliatory measures, including military ones," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova to reporters. Notably, Germany recently warned in February that Russia is developing nuclear-powered anti-satellite space weapons that are capable of taking out all satellites within its range.

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NASA confirms a special plane is being built to fly on Mars

Jak Connor | Science, Space, Health & Robotics | Mar 21, 2024 8:28 AM CDT

One day NASA may fly a plane above the surface of the Red Planet, as the space agency is currently in the early stages of exploring the idea under its Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.

NASA confirms a special plane is being built to fly on Mars

NASA's NIAC program encourages the proposal of unique ideas that could transform the way NASA carries out its missions and one idea the space agency selected is called MAGGIE, or the Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer. This conceptual technology has received NASA funding, and the above NASA-approved video showcases how Coflow Jet, the company behind the project, would carry out landing MAGGIE on the Red Planet and then deploy the extraterrestrial aircraft.

Notably, MAGGIE takes off vertically, just like a helicopter, and if you are wondering why that its designed that way there is one answer, Martian atmosphere density. Mars' atmosphere is extremely thin with a density of about 1% of Earth's, which means to generate enough lift for flight it must have many rotor blades spinning a speed much faster than a typical airplane on Earth. Just like taking off, MAGGIE is designed to also land vertically.

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FSR 3 and Frame Generation could hit Xbox Series X this year and debut in Indiana Jones

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Mar 21, 2024 7:59 AM CDT

AMD just announced FSR 3.1, which brings a couple of significant updates to the company's upscaling and frame generation tech for PC - image quality improvements when upscaling and decoupling frame generation so it can run with other upscaling technologies like DLSS or as-is.

FSR 3 and Frame Generation could hit Xbox Series X this year and debut in Indiana Jones

AMD has also included support for the Vulkan API and Xbox in the update - specifically, "Xbox Game Development Kit (GDK) support." Although FSR 3 upscaling and frame generation have been available on PC for a while, they have yet to make their console debut.

The new FSR 3.1 update only hints at the update arriving "later this year," but mentioning Vulkan and Xbox in the same sentence does suggest that we might see its support in Xbox's big first-party holiday release - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from Machine Games and Bethesda. Hear me out.

Continue reading: FSR 3 and Frame Generation could hit Xbox Series X this year and debut in Indiana Jones (full post)

AMD FSR 3.1 announced, improves upscaling image quality and lets frame gen work with DLSS

Kosta Andreadis | Gaming | Mar 21, 2024 7:28 AM CDT

AMD's FSR 3 with Frame Generation, the company's answer to NVIDIA DLSS 3, launched in September 2023. It is supported by just two games-Forspoken and Immortals of Aveum. A slow start, FSR 3 was also not quite as impressive as it should have been. Visual fidelity was a step down from DLSS 3, and features like support for VRR displays and tech like AMD's own FreeSync were missing.

AMD FSR 3.1 announced, improves upscaling image quality and lets frame gen work with DLSS

All that changed in December 2023 with AMD releasing the full source code and an updated, more impressive version of FSR 3 launching with Ubisoft's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. With AMD improving frame issues and adding VRR support, 2024 saw an influx of games supporting FSR 3 (most recently with Starfield and The Last of Us Part I), bringing the total number of games with FSR 3 support to 40.

It's still far from where DLSS 3 is, but it's picking up pace - and FSR 3.1 was announced at GDC 2024. FSR 3.1 brings two significant updates: an improvement to upscaling image quality and the ability for FSR's frame generation technology to work with "other upscaling solutions" like NVIDIA's DLSS or Intel's XeSS.

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ENERMAX's premium 1200W PlatiGemini PSU is the first to support both Intel ATX 3.1 and ATX12VO

Kosta Andreadis | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Mar 21, 2024 7:02 AM CDT

After turning a few heads at CES 2024, ENERMAX is ready to launch its latest high-performance premium power supply, the new ENERMAX PlatiGemini 1200W PSU. It's the world's first 80 PLUS Platinum-rated power supply that supports both Intel ATX 3.1 and ATX12VO standards.

ENERMAX's premium 1200W PlatiGemini PSU is the first to support both Intel ATX 3.1 and ATX12VO

Designed for system integrators and professionals, 12VO is a step forward for power requirements. A 10-pin energy-saving motherboard connection delivers 12 volts to system components, eliminating the need for voltage conversion while improving energy efficiency. Naturally, ENERMAX is looking forward with an eye to the present, so the ENERMAX PlatiGemini 1200W PSU still supports the traditional 24-pin connection found on most motherboards.

The PlatiGemini is compatible with PCIe 5.1 and Intel ATX 3.1 standards, so it also arrives with a 600W 12V-12x6 cable. The power supply can handle power surges up to 235% (aka Power Excursion) and features 100% industrial-grade Japanese capacitors. We'd love to see this PSU paired with the GeForce RTX 5090 when it launches later this year (fingers crossed).

Continue reading: ENERMAX's premium 1200W PlatiGemini PSU is the first to support both Intel ATX 3.1 and ATX12VO (full post)

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1 is here with new game support and several fixes

Kosta Andreadis | Video Cards & GPUs | Mar 21, 2024 6:28 AM CDT

AMD has released AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1 for Radeon GPU owners, and the latest driver update from Team Red is a big one - not only in terms of new game support but also in the number of 'Fixed Issues.'

AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1 is here with new game support and several fixes

First, the Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1 adds day-one support to the two biggest PC game releases of the week (and month), with Capcom's Dragon's Dogma 2 and Sony's Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition getting some Radeon love. Outpost: Infinity Siege, the third game listed in the release notes, is more of an unknown. It's described as an "FPS, Base Building, Tower Defense" game, launching next week on Steam.

Onto the fixed issues, high-end Radeon RX 7900 Series GPU owners playing the smash-hit Helldivers 2 will be pleased to know that Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1 resolves and improves driver timeout issues and crashes when playing the game. Another win for all Radeon owners is AMD fixing micro stutter issues with AMD Fluid Motion Frames, improving the driver-based Frame Generation solution that's part of HYPR-RX.

Continue reading: AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1 is here with new game support and several fixes (full post)

Intel's next-gen Arrow Lake-H, extreme laptop CPU pictured: CPU, GPU, SoC, I/O Tile teased

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Mar 21, 2024 12:05 AM CDT

Intel's next-gen Arrow Lake-H processor has just been teased, with leaker Moore's Law is Dead showing off the chip featuring its CPU Tile, GPU Tile, SoC Tile, and I/O Tile -- and even some dummy Tiles thrown into the mix -- which you can see below:

Intel's next-gen Arrow Lake-H, extreme laptop CPU pictured: CPU, GPU, SoC, I/O Tile teased

The chip above is reported of the Intel Arrow Lake-H processor, which will be a laptop chip that should pack 24 cores (and no HT according to recent leaks). Intel will have Xe-LPG integrated graphics, the same integrated GPU found inside of the new Meteor Lake chips. There's no upgrade in GPU here, a pity because Xe2-LPG would've been good to see.

MLID shows the die with a dedicated SoC and I/O die, with two dummy dies on the Arrow Lake chip. The Compute die will feature the same core types as Meteor Lake, which are Lion Cove and Skymont CPU architectures.

Continue reading: Intel's next-gen Arrow Lake-H, extreme laptop CPU pictured: CPU, GPU, SoC, I/O Tile teased (full post)

Intel has 'A LOT' riding on next-gen Arrow Lake APUs, could be delayed into 2025

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Mar 20, 2024 11:37 PM CDT

Intel just launched its new Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors inside laptops and portables, as well as an entire family of 14th-gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs, but looking forward, Team Blue's big upgrade comes from its next-gen Arrow Lake CPU architecture.

Intel has 'A LOT' riding on next-gen Arrow Lake APUs, could be delayed into 2025

In a new video from leaker Moore's Law is Dead, one of Tom's sources said: "We were just told by Intel that they're hoping to ship Arrow Lake QS samples in October, and it usually takes another 1-3 months to launch a product after QS begins. So, if there are no new delays, it's certainly possible that ARL will launch in Q4 of this year".

The source continued: "However, the only reason I still think that it is possible for ARL to launch in Q4, is that I know that there is A LOT riding on this product for Intel. If this was any other project at any other company, I would be telling you that December is already looking unlikely if QS is in October...".

Continue reading: Intel has 'A LOT' riding on next-gen Arrow Lake APUs, could be delayed into 2025 (full post)