NuPhy Air96 V2 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard Review

NuPhy Air96 V2 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard Review

The NuPhy Air96 V2 Wireless is an excellent low-profile keyboard that delivers a comfortable, satisfying productivity and gaming typing experience.

TT Show Episode 30 - Samsung's new 4K and 8K TVs, Frame Generation on Xbox and PS5, and more!

Kosta Andreadis | TweakTown | Apr 12, 2024 9:11 PM CDT

This week on The TT Show, Jak and Kosta talk about their recent trip to Sydney, where they attended a special launch event for Samsung's impressive TV line-up for 2024. The line-up includes Samsung's new flagship 85-inch 8K display, which features the latest in AI technology, and the company's new OLEDs, which ditch the reflective finish for a more matte Glare-Free look better suited to bright rooms.

TT Show Episode 30 - Samsung's new 4K and 8K TVs, Frame Generation on Xbox and PS5, and more!

It's a lengthy discussion covering everything from TV tech for sports, games, and movies to Samsung's interesting new wall-hanging speaker. In the world of impressive displays, the duo also looks at the new Razer Blade 18 gaming laptop for 2024, which features the world's first 4K+ 200 Hz display for a portable device.

In gaming, AMD's FSR 3.1 update means that Frame Generation is finally coming to the world of consoles - with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S gamers set to get their first taste of the groundbreaking tech with Immortals of Aveum. Also, Kosta talks about how the next-gen Xbox's giant technical leap could come from AI - with Microsoft touting a suite of next-gen 'Gaming AI' technologies coming.

Continue reading: TT Show Episode 30 - Samsung's new 4K and 8K TVs, Frame Generation on Xbox and PS5, and more! (full post)

GIGABYTE unveils XTREME Prestige Limited Edition AORUS Z790 motherboard and RTX 4080 SUPER

Kosta Andreadis | Video Cards & GPUs | Apr 16, 2024 3:36 AM CDT

Earlier this month, we reported on some leaked info on some limited edition GIGABYTE products coming, the Z790 AORUS XTREME X ICE motherboard and the AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XTREME ICE 16G graphics card. Today, GIGABYTE has formally announced the XTREME Prestige Limited Edition series - which is expected to be limited to around 1500 units.

GIGABYTE unveils XTREME Prestige Limited Edition AORUS Z790 motherboard and RTX 4080 SUPER

The motherboard and GPU look like jewelry thanks to the gold accents, "crystallized titanium textures" that look like diamonds, and the white finish. In the announcement, GIGABYTE confirms that it's real gold, 99% pure, with the XTREME Prestige combo all about "embodying luxury and exclusivity."

However, these aren't merely PC components perfect for installing on a billionaire's yacht, as the AORUS GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER XTREME ICE ships with the highest boost clock or out-of-the-box OC frequency of any GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER on the market.

Continue reading: GIGABYTE unveils XTREME Prestige Limited Edition AORUS Z790 motherboard and RTX 4080 SUPER (full post)

PlayStation 5 Pro release window has a major issue no one is talking about

Jak Connor | Gaming | Apr 16, 2024 3:10 AM CDT

The specifications for the PlayStation 5 Pro have leaked and it now seems we have a very good idea of what Sony has been baking behind the scenes and when they plan on releasing it.

PlayStation 5 Pro release window has a major issue no one is talking about

The specs for the PS5 Pro were originally leaked back in March, which reportedly sparked an investigation by Sony into which developer seemingly broke the silence on what is under the PS5 Pro's hood, leading to a further assumption the specifications were legitimate. Now, we have a double confirmation of the specifications as The Verge obtained what appears to be a more detailed developer blueprint for the PS5 Pro, which listed many of the same March specs and even more that weren't previously known. Check out that full specs list below.

One piece of information that surfaced was the release window for the PS5 Pro - the 2024 holiday period. This got me thinking. What game will Sony market with the PS5 Pro to sell it? Or is the company going to entirely rely on the performance hike from the standard PS5 to entice gamers? I proceeded to check what Sony has in the 2024 pipeline in terms of games, specifically system seller-caliber titles such as the God of War franchise from Santa Monica Studios or the Spider-Man games from Insomniac Games.

Continue reading: PlayStation 5 Pro release window has a major issue no one is talking about (full post)

Acer Predator Z57 Mini LED 57-inch dual 4K ultrawide beast will launch for $1,999

Kosta Andreadis | Displays & Projectors | Apr 16, 2024 2:59 AM CDT

The new Predator Z57 is Acer's largest ultrawide gaming monitor. Its 57-inch MiniLED display delivers the pixel and resolution equivalent of two 4K monitors side-by-side. The 7,680 x 2,160-pixel DUHD resolution with an up to 120 Hz refresh rate will undoubtedly require a beast of a GPU to make the most of it.

Acer Predator Z57 Mini LED 57-inch dual 4K ultrawide beast will launch for $1,999

Although it doesn't feature OLED technology, aka the new hotness, the specs are impressive - as is the price point. Originally, Acer announced a $2,499.99 USD price point for the Predator Z57 at CES 2024 in January. However, it has now adjusted that launch price to $1,999.99 USD, a full $500 cheaper than initially expected. Very cool.

With the full product page for the Acer Predator Z57 now live, a release is expected relatively soon. The specs on this thing are impressive, and with the new price point, it might be worth picking up if you're excited about the idea of a dual 4K display (and you've got the PC hardware to drive it).

Continue reading: Acer Predator Z57 Mini LED 57-inch dual 4K ultrawide beast will launch for $1,999 (full post)

Pimax Crystal Super announced, new flagshig VR headset with 4K 120Hz per eye QLED panels

Premium and high-end Virtual Reality headset maker Pimax was one of the first companies to deliver a 4K VR headset, and later this year, it's set to launch one of the most impressive PCVR headsets to date.

Pimax Crystal Super announced, new flagshig VR headset with 4K 120Hz per eye QLED panels

With a per-eye resolution of 3840 x 3840 (which is more than 4K!) and a wide 150-degree field of view with a whopping 29.5 million pixels across its QLED displays, the Pimax Crystal Super is shaping up to be a beast of a VR headset. It has been designed primarily for PCVR, and its pixel counts are higher than those of the Apple Vision Pro (23 million) and the Meta Quest 3 (9.1 million). It's considerably lighter than the existing Pimax Crystal headset without standalone VR hardware.

Pimax announced the new flagship during its recent Frontiers 2024 event, where it also announced the more affordable Pimax Crystal Light, which removes the XR2 chip to present the popular Pimax Crystal headset in lightweight standalone PCVR form.

Continue reading: Pimax Crystal Super announced, new flagshig VR headset with 4K 120Hz per eye QLED panels (full post)

IMAX teases its next-gen film camera: 30% quieter than existing IMAX film camera, and more

Anthony Garreffa | Cameras, Printers & Scanners | Apr 16, 2024 12:16 AM CDT

IMAX has unveiled its next-generation film camera, designed and built in-house by IMAX with the company saying its next-gen film camera is 30% quieter than existing IMAX film cameras.

IMAX teases its next-gen film camera: 30% quieter than existing IMAX film camera, and more

The next-gen IMAX film camera is also more stable and has even more film exposure, rocks an all-new multi-layer carbon fiber body and structure, and all-new technology and functionality improvements throughout the camera design. IMAX says that there is a new, brighter Optical Viewfinder in its next-gen film camera, designed by Panavision.

The next-gen IMAX film camera is metadata-capable, embedded data via SDI to on-set playback to allow for visible data overlays for both on-set and editorial use. IMAX includes gigabit ethernet (1GbE) and a newer USB-C interface, with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. There are also live on-set dailies from the new digital viewfinder in the glorious 4K resolution.

Continue reading: IMAX teases its next-gen film camera: 30% quieter than existing IMAX film camera, and more (full post)

Intel's next-gen 'Beechnut City' validation platform: ready for Xeon 6 Granite Rapids CPU

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Apr 15, 2024 11:36 PM CDT

Intel's new Beechnut City validation platform is being used to test out next-gen Xeon 6 "Granite Rapids" and "Sierra Forest" processors. Check it out:

Intel's next-gen 'Beechnut City' validation platform: ready for Xeon 6 Granite Rapids CPU

The new Beechnut City validation platform was leaked by "YuuKi_AnS", with a sleek red PCB that brings me back to the motherboards from the 90s. This isn't aimed at the market, so there will be no chance of buying it, as it's been designed for validation and further testing.

We don't have one CPU socket but two LGA-4710 socket CPUs that will support dual Granite Rapids or Sierra Forest Xeon 6 CPUs. The leaker also teased possible SKU names for Intel's next-gen Xeon 6 series: Xeon 6 6900E/P (Platinum), Xeon 6 6700E/P (Gold), and Xeon 6 6500P (Bronze).

Continue reading: Intel's next-gen 'Beechnut City' validation platform: ready for Xeon 6 Granite Rapids CPU (full post)

US government to give Samsung up to $6.4 billion for Texas, USA fabs, R&D center

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 15, 2024 11:00 PM CDT

The US government is awarding Samsung up to $6.4 billion in grants to expand its chip production facilities in Texas, USA, to boost US-based semiconductor chipmaking.

US government to give Samsung up to $6.4 billion for Texas, USA fabs, R&D center

The new $6.4 billion in funding is being fed through the 2002 CHIPS and Science Act, which will assist in the first two chip production facilities, an advanced packaging facility, and a research and development center planned by Samsung. These new facilities will be located in Taylor, Texas, USA.

These new funds will also help Samsung expand its semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas while boosting chip output for aerospace, defense, and auto industries while bolstering national security, administration officials told reporters and reported by Reuters.

Continue reading: US government to give Samsung up to $6.4 billion for Texas, USA fabs, R&D center (full post)

Samsung co-CEO visits Taiwan in 'low-key manner' to promote HBM, meets with TSMC

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 15, 2024 10:15 PM CDT

Samsung Electronics co-CEO Qing Guixian reportedly visited Taiwan recently in a "low-key manner," according to a new report from UDN.

Samsung co-CEO visits Taiwan in 'low-key manner' to promote HBM, meets with TSMC

It was reported that his first priority was to promise Samsung's HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), which is used in AI GPUs; the faster and more, the better. Samsung has been focusing on pushing high-end DRAM technologies, including HBM (HBM3, HBM3E, and next-gen HBM4) and DDR5, where it needs help from Taiwanese ODM manufacturers, expanding outsourcing of mature and niche products.

Samsung met with both TSMC and Quanta Group subsidiary Werder, reports UDN. According to the sources, the Samsung co-CEO had 'two major tasks during this trip': promoting Samsung's HBM and possible AI cooperation with Taiwanese manufacturers.

Continue reading: Samsung co-CEO visits Taiwan in 'low-key manner' to promote HBM, meets with TSMC (full post)

Overwatch 2 Season 10 'Venture Forth' launches tomorrow, check out the trailer here

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 15, 2024 9:34 PM CDT

Overwatch 2 Season 10 is nearly here, and developer Blizzard has unleashed a new trailer for the season, which it has dubbed "Venture Forth." So go forth, pun intended, and check out the trailer below.

Overwatch 2 Season 10 'Venture Forth' launches tomorrow, check out the trailer here

The upcoming Overwatch 2 Season 10 will deliver multiple changes and new things, including a new DPS hero called "Venture" which will be unlocked immediately once Season 10 is live. A new limited-time mode called "Clash Trial" is included, where teams must battle over 5 capture points, with each captured objecting adding to a point to the prevailing team's scores.

You can win in one of two ways: by controlling all five objectives at once or by scoring five points in total before the other team. Clash will be available as a limited-time trial until April 29. There will be new Mythic Hero Skins, and the introduction of Mythic Prisms which can be earned in the Premium Battle Pass and used in the Mythic Shop to purchase the current featured Mythic Prisms when you complete the Premium Battle Pass.

Continue reading: Overwatch 2 Season 10 'Venture Forth' launches tomorrow, check out the trailer here (full post)

Spectra Cube tape storage solution for cloud providers: mind-boggling 75,000TB storage library

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Apr 15, 2024 9:07 PM CDT

Spectra Logic has just announced their behemoth Spectra Cube, a modern tape storage library with a frankly insane 75PB of data capacity. 75 petabytes = 75,000 terabytes, or 75,000TB. Mammoth.

Spectra Cube tape storage solution for cloud providers: mind-boggling 75,000TB storage library

The new Spectra Cube will have virtually zero downtime, allowing users to install new tape cartridge drives without powering the Cube off. Spectra Cube also supports Amazon S3 and Amazon S3 Glacier API access, which will be perfect for "storage services by managed service providers and cloud service providers".

The new Spectra Cube uses Spectra's own TeraPack tape cartridges that support LTO-6 through LTO-9, with a maximum storage capacity of up to 30PB (30,000TB) uncompressed. However, when compressed, storage capacity skyrockets to 75PB (75,000TB) with the library also supporting 16 partitions, which will be handy for shared or "multi-tenant" environments.

Continue reading: Spectra Cube tape storage solution for cloud providers: mind-boggling 75,000TB storage library (full post)