Computer Systems News - Page 1

Qualcomm has announced that in collaboration with Microsoft, the new Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows, a compact form-factor PC powered by the flagship Snapdragon X Elite, specifically designed for developers creating or optimizing apps and experiences for the next-generation of AI PCs under the new Copilot+ PC ecosystem.

Inside, the new Snapdragon Dev Kit features Qualcomm's new flagship Snapdragon X Elite processor, running at a TDP of up to 80W. There's also 32GB of LPDDR5X memory (not upgradeable), and 512GB of SSD storage. There are 3 x USB4 ports with Type-C, 2 x USB 3.2 ports with Type-A, a single Ethernet jack, 3.5mm headphone and HDMI.

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Dev Kit is priced at $899.99, but remember that these aren't for everyone... they're for developers who reach out to Qualcomm to get their hands on a Snapdragon Dev Kit.

The M2 Ultra Mac Studio and Mac Pro are among the best Macs you can buy if you need raw horsepower and lots of cores, but we now expect that Apple will ship the M3 family of chips for these computers entirely and move on to the M4. Apple announced the first M4 device earlier this month in the form of the iPad Pro, and while there are no Macs with the chip yet that will change later this year. But in terms of the M4 Ultra and the Macs that will use it, there is no suggestion that they will arrive before 2025.

In fact, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has now reiterated that in the paywalled version of the Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. Gurman says that Apple's current roadmap has the company set to launch the new M4-powered Mac Studio and Mac Pro in the middle fo 2025 which means that we shouldn't expect anything any time soon. Thankfully, the M2 Ultra Mac Studio and Mac Pros are still extremely fast devices.

Gurman also says that he doesn't expect that Apple will announce any new Macs at the WWDC event that will kick off on June 10, allowing the company to instead focus on software. Given the expected focus on big AI features coming to the iPhone that could be the best decision, giving Apple the time needed to show off its new software updates to the fullest. Alongside the iOS 18 update, we also expect Apple to preview new updates for the Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro.

Apple has been beta testing the macOS Sonoma 14.5 update for a few weeks now, giving developers and public beta program testers the chance to put it through its paces. Apple hasn't yet confirmed when it will be released to the public, but the expectation is that it will arrive within the next few weeks. That's now become more likely than ever before after Apple made the first Release Candidate version of the update available for download by developers.

This Release Candidate suggests that Apple is almost ready to make the macOS Sonoma 14.5 update available for download by Mac owners around the globe, although it's possible we will see one or two more Release Dancidates made available depending on whether there are any new issues identified by testers.

Perhaps most notable however is the news that Apple has shared details of what people can expect from the big update when it does finally become available for Mac owners. Apple doesn't often share release notes for beta updates depending on the platform and the features it expects to ship, but this Release Candidate does have a release note available for our perusal.

The new Minisforum S100 is a pocket-sized mini PC (that looks like a portable tape recorder from the 1990s) powered by Intel's N100 Alder Lake-N processor. This 6W quad-core chip lacks capabilities like HyperThreading.

However, 6W for a CPU is not a lot of power at all, and with a boost clock speed of 3.4 GHz, 8GB of LPDDR5-4800 memory, and 256GB of UFS 2.1 storage (with read and write speeds of up to 850 MB/s and 260 MB/s, respectively), it's low enough that the Minisforum S100 doesn't need to be connected to a wall socket to fire up.

How does the Minisforum S100 draw power? You have two options: use the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port (an adapter is included) or the 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port that supports powered Ethernet. The latter solution means the Minisforum S100 can get power and data from a single cable. In addition, the Minisforum S100 comes equipped with Windows 11 and can output up to 4K.

Minisforum is gearing up to launch its new AtomMan X7 Ti Mini-PC, featuring an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" CPU, a built-in 4-inch touchscreen, OCulink connectivity, and so much more.

First off, the AtomMan brand from Minisforum is something new, aimed at the Mini-PC market and offering something different than what we've seen over the years. Inside, the new AtomMan X7 Ti features some high-end components, including Intel's flagship Meteor Lake CPU with the Core Ultra 9 185H.

Minisforum's new AtomMan X7 Ti Mini-PC is the first product to feature an Intel Meteor Lake CPU and the new Dynamic Screen, a 4-inch touchscreen that shows system monitoring information like real-time temperature monitoring, CPU, GPU, SSD usage, and more.

'Compact without compromise' is how Corsair describes its new CORSAIR ONE i500 PC, a stylish new off-the-shelf desktop rig sporting 'real wood panels.' With full liquid cooling and GeForce RTX 4090 level graphics, it can be customized with up to 192GB of DDR5 memory and 24TB of storage to make it an absolute monster.

We've reported on the CORSAIR ONE i500 PC a couple of times in the past week, covering a teaser and a premature retail listing for the new PC. Today, the official announcement from Corsair offers full specs and details on the rig - confirming that both the RTX 4090 GPU and the Intel Core i9-14900K processor in this beast are liquid-cooled to shrink the overall size down by up to 30% compared to standard desktop chassis.

The overall look is modern and sleek, with Corsair positioning the rig as something for content creators, AI professionals, and gamers. We're talking about a premium PC here with the Core i9-14900K, GeForce RTX 4090, 2TB M.2 SSD, and 64GB 6000 MT/s DDR5 CORSAIR ONE i500 configuration currently listed for $4,699.99 USD.

An independent agency of the US government has auctioned off an iconic supercomputer that is capable of 5.34 petaflops.

The US General Services Administration, an independent agency of the US government tasked with supporting and helping the basic functioning aspects of federal agencies, has officially auctioned off its Cheyenne Supercomputer. The 5.34-petaflops system located at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was the 20th most powerful supercomputer in the world in 2016, and as of November 2023, it's ranked 160th.

Despite its seemingly low ranking the Cheyenne Supercomputer is still a powerful beast of a computer with capabilities such as carrying out 5.34 quadrillion calculations per second. The supercomputer was typically used to carry out weather predictions and predicting natural disasters.

Corsair is about to unveil its new One i500 Mini Gaming PC, but Newegg accidentally listed the new PC showing off the new design and specs. Check it out:

Corsair's new SFF system features a Dark and Light Wood design that looks beautiful, being quite the departure to the company's usual styling. Inside, Corsair has beefed up the hardware considerably, with an Intel Core i9-14900K processor that is liquid-cooled, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics card.

There's also 2TB of SSD (Gen4, I'm presuming) and 32GB of DDR5 memory, with the Corsair logo on the front that will light up, with LED strips on each side of the case. Corsair uses an Intel B760M motherboard, and an in-house Corsair 1000W SFX-L 80+ Gold PSU, with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 support.

Corsair has officially teased its new One i500 compact gaming PC, which will be revealed on May 5 sporting "next-gen components". The official tease was posted on X by Corsair; check it out:

The company will be showing off a brand-new design with a tease of a sleeker chassis with beautiful LED lighting on the sides and bottom, but it's the next-gen component that I want to see. Hopefully we'll get some next-gen AMD Zen 5-based CPU goodness, alongside what I'm sure will be an interesting choice in GPU... Radeon, or GeForce?

We've extensively discussed AMD's Fluid Motion Frames technology at TweakTown. It presents a driver-based version of frame generation, meaning it can be enabled in countless games without needing game developers to integrate it per game.

It's a different approach to NVIDIA's DLSS 3 Frame Generation, requiring bespoke AI hardware only found in the GeForce RTX 40 Series and game integration. It's also a different approach to AMD's FSR 3 Frame Generation, which improved considerably in 2024, as AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) doesn't have access to a game's temporal data.

Like other forms of frame generation AFMF, its technology generates frames between those rendered natively by hardware. Thanks to latency reduction measures, it delivers a 2X boost to perceived performance while maintaining fluid movement. The good news? AFMF is now supported by ASUS's powerful ROG Ally PC gaming handheld.