Anandtech forum user 'Igor Kavinski' has posted benchmark results for the upcoming Zen 5 launch flagship CPU - the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. Still, on track for a July launch, the forum user has posted several Blender benchmark results covering various demanding 3D modeling tests. Based on what we're seeing, the upcoming Zen 5 CPU looks like a great option for 3D modelers.

The benchmarks include Precision Boost Overdrive and water cooling, with some of the most exciting results coming from the CPU when it's being pushed to its power limit. As an engineering sample, the CPU boost clock speed is listed as 5.62 GHz, lower than the 5.7 GHz outlined by AMD - so what we're seeing could be from a sample with limitations. Even so, it's excellent that temperatures rarely rise above 60 degrees.

As for the 160W sweet spot, the Ryzen 9 9950X outperforms the Ryzen 9 7950X, running at 230W by up to 16%, and the Intel Core i9-14900K, running at 253W, by up to 20%.

MediaTek is plotting along with new server processors based on the Arm architecture, in both CPU and GPU form, using TSMC's newer 3nm process node. The new Arm-based MediaTek AI chips will be launched in the second half of 2025.

In a new report from UDN, we hear that mass production is aiming for the second half of 2025, with orders expected from large cloud service providers (CSPs). MediaTek hasn't responded to the rumors, of course, but industry analysis shows that the AI server market is "rising rapidly," reports UDN, and that high-end AI models require high-performance computing (HPC) chips from major manufacturers like NVIDIA and AMD.

However, HPC consumes far too much power and doesn't require a large amount of AI inference, so in this field, there's no need for HPC chips. The mid-to-low-end AI server market is now growing, generating new demand. The low-power Arm architecture processor has become a "new target" for major CSP manufacturers.

Apple will be enjoying the first waves of TSMC's new 2nm production capacity, with TSMC reportedly kicking off trial production of its new 2nm node this week.

In a new report from Ctee, Apple has the first production capacity out of TSMC in 2025 for its new 2nm process node, with plans to use next-generation 3D advanced packaging platform SoIC (or System on Integrated Chip) on its next-gen M5 chips. SoIC production capacity is scheduled to "increase several times" in 2026, reports Ctee.

Apple is TSMC's largest customer and has taken the lead in booking 2nm advanced process production capacity, with rumors that its next-gen M5 chips and the use of SoIC advanced packaging will hit mass production in 2025. Ctee's supply chain sources said that Apple's upcoming SoIC production is "relatively easy" compared to AI chips.

ASUS has updated its entry-level GeForce RTX 40 Series card design with the new ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4060 V3 8GB. As the naming suggests, this is the third version of the card. As the most efficient GPU in NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace line-up, the redesign sports smaller axial fans in a more compact two-slot build.

The look has also changed compared to the more sci-fi transparent shroud of earlier Dual models that were also 2.5 slots thick. The V3 looks plain and simple, with a slightly curved shape and an all-black finish. The specs and requirements remain unchanged, so performance should be on par with previous Dual designs in a smaller, more compact package. 3072 CUDA Cores, a 2490 MHz OC-mode Boost Clock, and 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit interface.

It's a simple design that befits an entry-level mainstream GPU. It's similar to the recent ASUS Dual Radeon RX 6600 V3 8GB. However, it removes the white text and graphics.

TSMC is reportedly preparing to start production of NVIDIA's next-gen Blackwell AI GPU platform, with strong customer demand, NVIDIA has reportedly increased AI chip investment in TSMC by 25%.

In a new report from UDN, we hear that NVIDIA has amped up Blackwell AI GPU orders by 25% at TSMC. This shows that the insatiable AI demand isn't slowing down. TSMC's performance in the second half of 2024 is going to be bonkers, and 2025 will be even bigger (for both companies).

NVIDIA's next-generation Blackwell AI GPU family will usher in new performance levels, with major manufacturers like Amazon, Dell, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and more to use Blackwell AI GPUs in their new AI servers, and right now the capacity exceeds expectations.

News surrounding stability issues with Intel's flagship 13th and 14th Gen CPUs (the Core i9-14900K, Core i9-13900K) has been cropping up for several months. Recently, we got word that Intel was denying RMA requests for issues like blue screens, system crashes, and intermittent errors. Intel blamed the motherboard makers, conducted its own investigation, and outlined workaround fixes; it's been messy.

Alderon Games, an Australian-based developer behind the dinosaur-themed multiplayer survival game Path of Titans, announced "we are swapping all our servers to AMD" because "Intel is selling defective" CPUs - specifically 13th and 14th Gen models.

The post doesn't mince words; it states that its customers have been reporting thousands of crashes on Intel 13th and 14th Gen CPUs (verified by the game's crash reporting tools), and its game servers have been "experiencing constant crashes, taking entire servers down." It also claims that it's only a matter of time before Core i9-14900K and Core i9-13900K CPUs that have yet to fail will fail.

Samsung Foundry has proudly announced that it has secured its first 2nm AI chip order from a Japanese company, taking one of TSMC's long-standing customers away.

In a new press release, the South Korean electronics giant said it secured a Japanese company to fab its new 2nm AI chip, with Taejoong Song, Corporate VP at Samsung Electronics explaining: "This order is pivotal as it validates Samsung's 2nm GAA process technology and Advanced Package technology as an ideal solution for next-generation AI accelerators. We are committed to closely collaborating with our customers ensuring that the high performance and low power characteristics of our products are fully realized".

The Japanese company in question is Preferred Networks, a leading Japanese AI company that is involved the R&D focused on deep learning workloads. Preferred Networks is heading towards vertically integrating "the AI value chain from chips to supercomputers" with the Japanese company providing a medium for businesses to have their own in-house AI clusters.

Unlike other prominent players in the gaming space, Valve is the very definition of a private company. The developer behind Half-Life, DOTA 2, and Counter-Strike also runs Steam, the largest PC gaming platform in the world. Yet, little is known about Valve's overall size and how it operates day to day.

According to a new leak, Valve only has a fraction of the employees of its contemporaries, companies like EA, Epic Games, and Riot Games. Information regarding how many employees work at Valve surfaced recently via redacted documents as part of an antitrust lawsuit against Valve.

Spotted by SteamDB's Pavel Djundik, the information covers Valve's employee headcount and even gross pay across the company's four key divisions - Admin, Games, Steam, and Hardware.

NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" gaming GPUs have had their TDPs leaked by PSU maker Seasonic, with the monster ultra-enthusiast GeForce RTX 5090 expected to have a 500W TDP.

In the leak, Seasonic details the RTX 5090 with a 500W TDP, and the second-highest Blackwell GPU -- the RTX 5080 -- with a 350W TDP. We also have TDP details on the RTX 5070 with 220W, RTX 5060 with 170W TDP, and the RTX 5050 with a 100W TDP. These are preliminary TDP details, nothing final, just leaks... just so you know.

NVIDIA's new ultra-enthusiast GeForce RTX 5090 with a 500W TDP means it has an 11% higher TDP than the current Ada Lovelace flagship, the RTX 4090, with its 450W TDP. We should expect the new GeForce RTX 5090 to boost even higher in overclocked and custom RTX 5090 form, past 500W.

An assassination attempt was just made on US President Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, with the former president grabbing his face after he had been shot (grazed his ear) by an unknown shooter.

Just minutes later, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk said: "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery". The attempted assassination of the former president saw multiple shots heard, with screams from the crowd, and the Secret Service was quick to respond to protect the president.

There was blood on Trump's ear and face after the shot, where the former president rose up from the ground and raised a fist into the air to let everyone know he was okay. The crowd began chanting "USA, USA, USA!" while his Secret Service detail escorted him to the car.

Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs have been the subject of plenty of rumors of late, as release nears - but is the launch all that close? Not according to the latest chatter from the grapevine.

YouTuber Moore's Law is Dead (MLID) has been filling us in with his most recent findings on the performance and release timeframe for Intel's next-gen desktop CPUs, and it isn't good news (well - unless you're AMD).

According to the leaker, Arrow Lake will launch in either November or December, and the latter month was also floated as an on-sale date recently in another rumor (we'll come back to that).

Been wondering how Intel Arc GPUs are faring these days in terms of game compatibility? Well, you're in good company, as Hardware Unboxed on YouTube certainly has, and they've tested every game they own with an Arc A770 graphics card, in fact.

So, how did this experiment (flagged up by VideoCardz) go? The good news is that Intel's Alchemist flagship GPU managed to run the vast majority of PC games in Hardware Unboxed's library (using that latest graphics driver, of course).

This was an extensive test of 250 games, and only 2% of them failed to work at all, while a further 5% weren't playable (due to performance issues or other wonkiness). 93% were found to be playable, which means running with at least 40 frames per second and no glitches or artefacts and the like.

Laser weapons will be used to blast drones out of the sky, according to a newly announced project by South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

The new project was announced on Thursday and describes what DAPA is calling the "Star Wars Project," which includes the deployment of laser weapons to combat North Korea's drones. DAPA describes these laser anti-aircraft weapons as a "new concept future weapon system" that is capable of emitting drones by hitting them with a light source generated from an optical fiber. DAPA states the laser weapon system can precisely strike unmanned aerial vehicles at "close range".

It should be noted that these lasers aren't like what is seen in the Star Wars movies, as they are completely invisible and silent, and there is no ammunition. Furthermore, DAPA is only in the prototype stage but has signed a contract with Hanwha Aerospace Co., to mass produce the new weapons system. Delivery is expected to be fulfilled later this, and according to reports, each blast from one of these laser systems will cost $1.45. At the moment, it remains unclear how many blasts are needed to neutralize a drone.

This week on The TT Show, Jak and Kosta discuss the week in tech, science, and gaming. They start with a new report outlining that almost half of all internet traffic comes from bots - and most are malicious. Also, a friendly PSA to always be on top of your passwords, especially in light of last week's password leak - the biggest in hacking history.

In the hardware world, it's been a busy week of teases, leaks, and rumors as Kosta goes through everything we know about next-gen Radeon and RDNA, from performance to release timing to how it could shake up the GPU market. Then there's Palit teasing a new flagship GPU design for later in the year, which has to be the GeForce RTX 5090.

We've also got some early benchmark results for this month's launch of Zen 5 and AMD's new Ryzen 9000 Series of CPUs. In the world of Microsoft, Jak and Kosta discuss the elusive bloatware-free Windows 11 'Government Edition,' the rocky Copilot+ PC, and a promising new patent from the company.

In a world where new technology is released almost every day, it can be quite hard to get excited about a new product release. However, the Apple Vision Pro was an exception, or at least it appeared to be at first.

Reports indicate the Apple Vision Pro is struggling to gain popularity across the United States, with estimates putting its unit sales below the 100,000 mark. Unfortunately, this kind of lackluster response from the US market may mean the newly released virtual/augmented reality headset may not reach even 500,000 units throughout 2024. However, Apple is preparing to release the new spatial computing headset in other markets, which may help bolster its unit sales.

So, why is the Apple Vision Pro not being purchased? Firstly, what is likely preventing the Vision Pro from gaining traction is its price. Apple released the new headset at $3,499, which automatically made the headset an enthusiast-level device unobtainable for the vast majority of consumers. Additionally, the problems don't stop at the price as some people who have bought the Vision Pro are returning it only a few days later, which is an indicator the headset lacks intrinsic utility or value.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been aboard the ISS for weeks longer than originally planned after Boeing's Starliner capsule began experiencing notable problems as it closed in on the ISS for docking.

NASA and Boeing have launched an investigation into the malfunctions of the Starliner capsule, identifying multiple helium leaks and now thruster problems. According to a recent news conference, Wilmore took over manual control of the Starliner capsule as it approached the ISS, as the handling quality of the spacecraft became degraded due to its thrusters temporarily becoming disabled.

More specifically, five out of 28 reaction control system thrusters were automatically disabled by Starliner's flight software as it detected the thrusters reached extreme temperatures. At the time, four thrusters came back online, but some didn't reach nominal operating levels. However, mid-last month, they were tested again, and thrust levels were close to normal. So, what happens now?

Since Nintendo entered the console market, it has released new generations of home consoles faster and faster. That was until the release of the Nintendo Switch.

A new report from VideoGamesChronicle (VGC) pointed out how many days the Nintendo Switch has been on the market, which stacks up to 2,687 days as the Switch was released on March 3, 2017 - seven years ago. Notably, the Famicom, or the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) as known to markets outside of Japan, was on the market 2,686 days before it was replaced with the SNES.

More interestingly, the successor to the Nintendo Switch, presumably called the Nintendo Switch 2, likely won't be released until at least March next year, increasing the total number of days to 2,920 - if it isn't released before March 1, 2025. As for why the Nintendo Switch has stayed on the market for so long, Nintendo doesn't necessarily need to replace the Switch as it's one of the company's most successful console launches to date.

NASA and the European Space Agency have selected a new picture of the month, and this time around, it's an image snapped by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the world's most powerful space telescope.

The ESA explains via a blog post on its website that Webb has honed its extremely sensitive instruments in on an astronomical object called RX J1131-1231. This object is known as a quasar and is located approximately 6 billion light years away from Earth within the constellation Crater. The ESA writes it's one of the best "lensed" quasars discovered to date as the galaxy located in the foreground of the image smears the image of the background quasar, creating a bright arc and four objects.

What is causing this distortion? Astronomers call this effect gravitational lensing, which was first predicted by Einstein. Gravitational lensing, in a nutshell, is very similar to how a magnifying glass works. In space, objects that have mass bend space and time through gravity. This distortion through gravity creates a magnifying effect that enables astronomers to see further into space than they would without gravitational lensing.

Artificial intelligence-powered tools such as ChatGPT are only getting more sophisticated and impressive, but what happens when they get too good is that it's impossible to distinguish between humans and machines.

Unfortunately, that has already been achieved, or at least when it comes to AI voice generators. LiveScience spotted Microsoft quietly explaining it created an AI text-to-voice generator that was so powerful the company deemed it too unsafe to release to the public as the model was able to "generate accurate, natural speech in the exact voice of the original speaker". As you can probably imagine, having a tool available to the public would undoubtedly result in an increase in fraud, impersonations, etc.

Microsoft's dangerous AI model is called VALL-E 2, and in a pre-print paper posted on June 17 researchers explain the model marks a milestone in text-to-speech synthesis and it has achieved "human parity for the first time." What this means is Microsoft's internal benchmarks found VALL-E 2 was able to replicate human speech or even exceed it in some cases.

It's 1987. Predator and Lethal Weapon are on the big screen, while a brand new cartoon called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits TV screens across America. And if you wanted to play a new video game, your best bet was to take a pocket full of quarters and head down to the local arcade - where you'd find one of the year's hottest games, Double Dragon.

The original Double Dragon introduced many to the concept of the beat 'em up, where up to two players took on the roles of martial artists Billy and Jimmy Lee to bring the pain to street thugs and other baddies. Double Dragon ushered in a golden age for the beat 'em up genre; it spawned sequels, popular console versions for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and even a film adaptation in 1994.

Several new entries have been made, including recent ones for mobile and modern consoles like the Switch. However, Double Dragon Revive is different because it's a complete 3D remake of the 1987 original - one that is set to arrive 38 years after its original debut.