Latest News - Page 577

NVIDIA is planning its second R&D center in Taiwan, with new reports suggesting that Team Green is looking at the southern city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

The new R&D center will be partly financed by the Taiwanese government and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and its "Big+ Project" subsidies. In a new report from Ctee, we're learning that with AI leading the charge, the Ministry of Economic Affairs' "Leading Enterprise R&D Deepening Plan" (aka Big+) will encourage overseas tech companies to set up forward-looking R&D centers in Taiwan.

NVIDIA was first with the Big+ funding, setting up the first AI innovation R&D center in Neihu, Taipei, then completing its supercomputer (HPC) at the NVIDIA building in Kaohsiung Software Park towards the end of 2023, with the company providing part of the computing power for new applications and the development of AI-powered products and services.

Samsung Electronics teamed with Naver to make its next-gen Mach-1 AI accelerator, but it seems that the two South Korean companies are experiencing "discord" according to reports.

In a new report from Chosun, we're learning that the executive officer of Naver Cloud, who is leading the Mach-1 AI accelerator project, from his own personal social media. Lee Dong-soo, CEO of Naver Cloud, said: "It was Naver who proposed to create Mach-1 first and planned its development, but now I don't even see Naver's name mentioned. I don't know how to understand this".

As for Mach-1, it's a new AI semiconductor that doesn't require HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) which is a big change to AMD and NVIDIA's various AI accelerators and AI GPUs that use the ultra-fast HBM memory standard. Mach-1 is expected to both be cheaper and more energy efficient, which makes it perfect for AI startups that require AI hardware.

Microsoft has announced that DirectSR is now available via the Agility SDK 1.714.0-preview release for game developers working with DirectX 12. Microsoft partnered with AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA to create this new API, allowing developers to integrate all the various upscaling technologies into their games.

This includes AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), Intel XeSS, and NVIDIA DLSS Super Resolution. "These cutting-edge solutions elevate the gaming experience by boosting frame rates while maintaining exceptional visual quality," Microsoft's Joshua Tucker writes in the announcement. "Yet as the number of SR variants continues to grow, developers are in search of a common SR API that will seamlessly scale across the hardware ecosystem."

DirectSR breaks upscaling down to a common set of inputs and outputs so that a "single code path" can then plug straight into DLSS, FSR, and XeSS. With DirectSR, more PC game releases will support all three technologies at launch. It's a standalone solution that doesn't require "vendor-specific SDKs" or additional tools.

Sabrent's new USB Type-C 6-Port Docking Station with M.2 Port (the DS-SDNV) is currently on sale, with the company dropping $10 off its price, with a limited time deal of just $69.99.

The new Sabrent USB Type-C 6-Port Docking Station with M.2 Port (DS-SDNV) is perfect for the Steam Deck, with the useful and stylish docking station providing connectivity to your Valve Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, or other compliant USB-C devices.

It allows connectivity of up to 1000Mbps through your network, faster storage through an internal M.2 SSD slot with 5Gbps transfer speeds, multiple USB ports, and display output to 4K 60Hz in extended, or mirror mode. The Sabrent USB Type-C 6-Port Docking Station with M.2 Port (the DS-SDNV) works with Windows, Linux, and macOS, but also other USB-C devices with DisplayPort Alternative (DP Alt) mode supporting output through HDMI 2.0 (HDCP 1.4).

AMD will be spending over 5 billion yuan ($155 million USD or so) on a second R&D center in Taiwan, with both Tainan and Kaohsiung "actively seeking" AMD's favor to settle down.

In a new report from news outlet UDN, AMD CEO Lisa Su will visit Tainan next week, as well as visiting Nanke and Sharon to look for suitable places for its new R&D center. It's not just AMD that is eyeing off another R&D center in Taiwan, with GPU competitor NVIDIA also building a new R&D center in the country.

Both companies have applied to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' and its "Big+ Project" subsidy, with local governments rubbing their hands together with glee that NVIDIA and AMD are opening up new R&D centers in the country, especially in the southern parts of Taiwan.

A Chinese national who worked for SK hynix is currently on trial for allegedly stealing key semiconductor technology from the South Korean memory giant, giving it to Chinese company Huawei.

In the report, The Korea Times reports that the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police that a woman in her 30s, a Chinese national, was sent to prosecutors last month on the suspicion of violating the Act on Prevention of Divulgence and Protection of Industrial Technology.

The Chinese national who worked for SK hynix was hired all the way back in 2013, working in the department that handled analyzing defects in semiconductor designs. From 2020 to 2022, she was involved with consultations with business-to-business clients in CHina, according to the police agency.

Windows 11 is continually evolving, and that doesn't just mean adding new features (AI, more AI, and, oh yes, yet more AI) but also taking some away.

With every major release, certain features get the chop, and with the 24H2 update now in the final stretch of testing, Sweclokers (via PC Gamer) picked up on what's been ditched in the preview build which is the release candidate for this upgrade.

In the 24H2 update, we are waving goodbye to WordPad, and as you may recall, that was previously announced - as were all these revelations (this is just final confirmation that they're being removed from Windows 11, essentially).

Since the release of the RTX 3090/Ti and RTX 4090 graphics cards have seemingly been getting bigger and bigger, with both of the aforementioned GPUs taking up three slots on a motherboard.

The idea behind making graphics cards larger is simply for cooling, as the GPUs become more sophisticated and provide more compute performance, more power is required. And when more power is required more cooling is required to thermal regulation. With the release of the RTX 3090 and RTX 4090 we were seemingly taking on a trajectory of bigger and bigger graphics cards with each new generation. But that might not be the case.

Renowned GPU leaker @Kopite7kimi recently took to Twitter and gave some information regarding NVIDIA's Blackwell gaming GPUs expected to launch sometime later this year. According to the leaker NVIDIA will be moving backwards in terms of size, with the company purportedly opting for a dual-slot, dual-fan solution over a three-slot solution. Notably, NVIDIA hasn't released a dual-slot GPu since the RTX 2080 Ti in 2019.

Activision has solidified itself with another victory in an ongoing legal battle against a creator of Call of Duty cheats, which it then sold on a website.

The company sued EngineOwning back in 2022 and since then has been engaged in a legal battle over the cheats the entity made and then sold on its website. Notably, District Judge Michael Fitzgerald ordered several defendants to pay Activision, including EngineOwning, which was ordered to pay $14,465,600 for creating and distributing Call of Duty cheats. Furthermore, the cheat maker was ordered to give its website to Activision, stop creating cheats, stop selling cheats, and pay nearly $300,000 in attorney fees to Activision.

Notably, Activision has already won $3 million in a two settlements from Ignacio Gayduchenko and Manuel Santiago, who are reportedly involved with EngineOwning. As for the most recent orders, the court filings name the founders of EngineOwning, Valetin Rick, and Leon Risch, along with several others that were also involved in the operation.

Windows 10 is easily Microsoft's most-popular operating system, accounting for more than 70% of all Windows users, but what are the chances that all of those millions of Windows 10 users know the truth about the classic default background for the operating system. I would guess, very little of them do.

The release of Windows 10 came at a time when users were making their way through the trainwreck that was Windows 8, which even pushed many users back to Windows 7 - a renowned operating system. Windows 10 was a breathe of fresh air when it released and that is part of the reason why its still Microsoft's most-popular operating system.

All of these Windows 10 systems had at one stage or another, the classic Windows 10 default background wallpaper that many - and I would guess more than 90% - thought was a simple computer generated image. However, that isn't the case. The Windows 10 default wallpaper is actually a real photograph and the process to capture it was quite lengthy. First the team behind the image arranged a laser projector behind a large Windows 10 logo. The lasers were fired through the windows while volumetric smoke was released.

Lian Li has unveiled its latest PC chassis, an M-ATX collaboration with Daniel Hansen from DAN Cases - the new A3-mATX. Available in black and white, it has mesh panels on the top and both sides for small form factor builds and a minimal and stylish look that befits its European collaboration.

Although compact, Lian Li notes that the A3-mATX supports 4.5-slot GPUs up to 415mm in length, so yes, you could put a GeForce RTX 4090 or RTX 4080 SUPER in this thing. The A3-mATX also supports AIO coolers with radiator sizes of up to 360mm, with the case also supporting up to 10 x 120mm fans.

The Lian Li A3-mATX case's full dimensions are 443 x 194 x 321.5mm, with room for additional storage and an ATX-sized PSU (with support for SFX and SFX-L) - compact but spacious enough for modern PC components. It's available now with an MSRP of $69.99 over at Newegg (Black version here, White version here).

Ever since Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat first hit the arcade scene in the 1990s, owning a decent arcade-quality stick with a six-button layout has been the dream of every fighting game fan. Over the years, several at-home arcade sticks have been released into the market, but to get something high-quality, arcade, and tournament-ready costs a premium.

This week, Turtle Beach Corporation and Performance Designed Products (PDP) announced two new editions for its premium arcade stick line-up: The King of Fighters Pro FS Arcade Fight Sticks and TEKKEN 8 Pro FS Arcade Fight Sticks. Both are launching with an MSRP of $499.99, equivalent to a home console like the PS5 or Xbox Series X.

Licensed by SNK, Bandai Namco Entertainment, and PlayStation, these are compatible with PS5, PS4, and Windows PCs. The fight sticks are all colored, and feature character designs from their respective franchises. They are available now via PDP's official site in limited quantities: 200 units for The King of Fighters Pro FS Arcade Fight Sticks and 300 for the TEKKEN 8 Pro FS Arcade Fight Sticks.

It took a minute, but AMD's FSR 3 Frame Generation is now available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles, with support added to EA and Ascendant Studios's first-person action game Immortals of Aveum. It's the first console game to support FSR 3 frame generation, a technology that inserts generated frames between natively rendered frames to boost performance.

The goal is to make a game feel like it's playing at 100+ FPS without impacting image quality or smoothness or adding tonnes of unwanted input lag. As part of their weekly podcast, the tech gurus at Digital Foundry have provided their initial impressions of FSR 3 on console - and they're mostly positive.

First up, performance. With an Xbox Series X playing a visually intensive sequence in the game with FSR 3 frame generation enabled and disabled, we see a performance increase from around 40-60 FPS to 80-100 FPS - a performance boost of 72% on average.

EA's annual racer, F1 24, is available today. The latest installment improves its realistic visuals and depiction of high-speed Formula 1 racing with multiple real-time ray-tracing effects. The F1 series has featured ray-traced reflections and ray-traced shadows for a few years now, but this year's addition of Ray-Traced Dynamic Diffuse Global Illumination takes the game's lighting to a whole new level.

This more physically accurate and realistic version of global illumination produces a more lifelike image as light from natural and other sources reflects and bounces around from object to object. It's hardware intensive, doubly so when paired with RT reflections and shadows, so F1 24 supports DLSS 3 Super Resolution and Frame Generation to boost performance.

Partnering with NVIDIA, the official GeForce announcement for the game's release highlights the performance you can expect across a range of GeForce RTX 40 Series cards with DLSS 3 enabled and what you should expect with DLSS turned off. The results show that for F1 24 in 4K, with max settings and ray-tracing effects enabled, you'll need a GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER to hit an average frame rate of 61.1 FPS.

Intel has penciled in its annual Innovation event for September 24 this year, hosted in San Jose, California as usual. We should expect a huge focus on the next-gen Core Ultra CPUs, Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, Xeon 6, and Gaudi 3 news.

Intel's upcoming Innovation event will run between September 24-25, where we should see the official launch of Intel's next-gen Core Ultra 200 series "Arrow Lake" desktop CPUs, with an update on what's coming to mobile with Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake CPUs. We should expect a hard launch of Intel's new high-end Xeon "Granite Rapids-AP" processors, as well as an update on Intel's Gaudi 3 AI accelerators during the event.

The upcoming Lunar Lake CPUs from Intel will be the big focus of the show, as they'll be the first true AI PC processors after the launch of the Core Ultra 100 series "Meteor Lake" CPUs. We've got Computex 2024 before Intel Innovation, so expect some reveals and teases during the show, with more news during Intel Innovation in September.

CD Projekt gives new updates on its new Witcher project.

Now that Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty is shipped out, CD Projekt is now full steam ahead on Polaris, their next big multi-game release. The Polish devs are working a new series of games set in the continuation of The Witcher universe, and the first game, Polaris, will kickstart an evolved saga for the landmark fantasy franchise.

While CD Projekt isn't yet ready to talk specifics, the company did confirm it most of its developers are attached to Polaris. The studio currently has 64% of its total workforce on Polaris, or 407 people, and CD Projekt is confident the game will enter principal development sometime in the latter half of 2024. This means the game will be in full production while CD Projekt also works on other games in parallel--titles like the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, Orion, and its new IP, Hadar.

If you're fed up with Microsoft trying to persuade you to upgrade from Windows 10 to its newest operating system, well, we've got some bad news - it seems more nagging is underway.

In fact, this appears to be a fresh drive to try to stoke Windows 11 adoption, which as you may have noticed is flagging of late (and it was never going all that well at any point, certainly not compared to how Windows 10 took off back in the day).

It includes something that just popped up on our Windows 10 PC, namely a 'campaign' icon that appeared on our taskbar, invoking a full-screen message (see above) telling us our PC isn't eligible for a Windows 11 upgrade. (Because we haven't sorted the TPM out - not wanting to upgrade this device yet, anyway).

NVIDIA and MediaTek are expected to announce their new custom Arm-based "AI PC" processor at Computex 2024 next week.

In a new report from CTEE and picked up by Wccftech, the big cooperation between NVIDIA and MediaTek will be announced. Until now, it has been rumors and whispers... but the big announcement is going to happen at Computex 2024, which is perfect.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang flew into Taiwan this week, where he's meeting the whose-who of the tech industry: TSMC, MediaTek, GIGABYTE, Pegatron, and other manufacturers that aren't as well known in the industry but are invaluable including Wistron and Wiwing.

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 will release day one on Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft today announced.

It's official: Black Ops 6 is launching day one into Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft revealed the news ahead of its big Xbox showcase on June 9 at 1pm EST and confirmed multiple reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters in the process.

"We're excited to confirm that Game Pass members will be able to jump into Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6 on day one with Game Pass," Microsoft wrote on the Xbox Wire.

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