News Posts matching #Support

Return to Keyword Browsing

Turtle Beach Dismantles ROCCAT Brand, Carries on Products and Support

The ROCCAT brand is officially reaching the end of its life today, as Turtle Beach has confirmed that ROCCAT will not be a separate brand anymore but rather integrated under the covers of Turtle Beach. Turtle Beach has noted: "We want to bring a greater level of integration to our family of products across console, PC and simulation. We felt that time and resources would be best spent focusing under a single brand and creating a range of products that matter most to gamers." ROCCAT was acquired by Turtle Beach in 2019 for $14.8 million to strengthen the company's positioning in the PC accessories market. At the time, ROCCAT's lineup of gaming keyboards, mice, headsets, and other peripherals complemented Turtle Beach's console-oriented product mix.

In a FAQ posted on its website, Turtle Beach also added: "While we'll be retiring the ROCCAT brand, many of its iconic product lines like the Vulcan, Kone, Burst and Sense will transition under the Turtle Beach brand. Our commitment to PC products remains as strong as ever and we have several ground-breaking new products to introduce as well as Turtle Beach-branded versions of popular existing ROCCAT products sticking around." For product support, the same teams are handling any customer support, and the company has merged them into a single new website, which handles tech and customer questions at support.turtlebeach.com. For returns, the company also takes care of ROCCAT products. The ROCCAT Swarm software will continue to work, even with Swarm II scheduled for a debut this year in Spring. From now on, all products will be under a single brand but will target the same audience. Turtle Beach will also rebrand the social media channels from ROCCAT to Turtle Beach PC. Refer to the FAQ posted on the official company website for more inquiries.

ASUS AMD 600 Series Motherboards Now Support Next-Gen Ryzen Processors

ASUS today announced BIOS updates enabling support for next-gen AMD Ryzen processors on ASUS AM5 X670, B650 and A620 motherboards, as well as support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processors. These updates are necessary to enable compatibility with these processors. BIOS updates for ASUS AM5 motherboards also add support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processor.

The updates can be accessed on the ASUS BIOS update page for the models listed below.

Microsoft Reportedly Developing AI-Powered Chatbot for Xbox Support

According to the latest report from The Verge, Microsoft is currently testing a new AI-driven chatbot designed to automate support tasks for its Xbox gaming platform. As the report notes, Microsoft is experimenting with an animated AI character that will assist in answering Xbox support inquiries. The Xbox AI chatbot is connected to Microsoft's Xbox network and ecosystem support documentation. It can answer questions and process game refunds from the Microsoft support website, all aiming to provide users with simple and quick assistance on support topics using natural language, drawing information from existing Xbox support pages. Training on Microsoft's enterprise data will help Microsoft reduce the AI model's hallucinations and instruct it to do only as intended.

As a result, the chatbot's responses closely resemble the information Microsoft provides to its customers to automate support tasks. Recently, Microsoft has expanded the test pool for its new Xbox chatbot, suggesting that the "Xbox Support Virtual Agent" may soon handle support inquiries for all Xbox customers. The development of the Xbox chatbot prototype is part of a broader initiative within Microsoft Gaming to introduce AI-powered features and tools for the Xbox platform and developer tools. The company is also reportedly working on providing AI capabilities for game content creation, gameplay, and the Xbox platform and devices. However, Xbox employees have yet to publicly confirm these more extensive AI efforts for Microsoft Gaming, likely due to the company's cautious approach to presenting AI in gaming. Nevertheless, AI will soon become an integral part of gaming consoles.

Xbox Cloud Gaming Adds Beta Support for Mouse & Keyboard

Hey Xbox Insiders! We have a new Xbox Update Preview releasing to the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring today. It's important we note that some updates made to these preview OS builds include background improvements that ensure a quality and stable build for Xbox consoles. We will continue to post these release notes, even when the noticeable changes to the UI are minimal or behind the scenes, so you're aware when updates are coming to your device. Details can be found below!

New Features and Experiences
We have exciting news! Alpha Skip-Ahead users can expect something new coming to their Xbox Update Preview.

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta)
Xbox Insiders can preview Mouse and Keyboard support while playing via cloud gaming on supported browsers (Edge and Chrome) and the Xbox App on Windows PCs for users enrolled in the PC Gaming Preview. Note: Users on browser will need to enable Preview features on their browser to gain access to the feature. This is done by clicking on your profile picture at xbox.com/play and then select Settings and then enable "Preview features."

"Alpha Protocol" Returns to PC - Exclusively on GOG

Obsidian Entertainment's Alpha Protocol was removed from Valve's Steam store back in 2019, due to an expiration of music rights. The Irvine, California-headquartered developer has worked quietly on a re-release of their third-person sci-fi espionage ARPG (originally launched back in 2010) alongside Sega and GOG. A DRM-free version is now available to purchase on CD Projekt's digital distribution platform—in upgraded form; involved parties have sought to improve performance on modern PCs. An achievements system has been added, along with support for all sorts of present day controller inputs (PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox). A cloud save feature has been implemented as well, but more goodies could be on the way—as teased in Raycevick's featurette (viewable below).

The team at GOG has admitted (to PC Gamer) that it took longer than expected to get Alpha Protocol relaunched—the "very long release" is the product of half a year of work. Zuzanna Rybacka—Communication Specialist at GOG/Projekt—stated that the game's relaunch is part of their initiative of: "going back to our core, to bringing back classics…basically, our point (is) to not let all those games that would go to perish, and make them accessible for younger generations." The store's main message/vibe of "Good Old Games" has been diluted in recent years, due to a platforming of very modern titles—GOG started to pivot back to that core philosophy two years ago, with a "return to its roots." The reappearance of Alpha Protocol is only one example of their fortified campaign to bring back classic games.

Microsoft Will End Windows 10 21H2 Support for Enterprise and Education in June

Today, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 version 21H2 will reach its end-of-support date for Enterprise and Education editions on June 10, 2024. Following this date, organizations that are still running this version of Windows will no longer receive technical support, security patches, or bug fixes from the Redmond giant. If they seek help from Microsoft in troubleshooting their systems, users of Windows 10 21H2 will get advisory to upgrade to the next supported version, with Windows 11 being in the upgrade path pipeline. Alternatively, they can upgrade to the newer Windows 10 version 22H2, which will receive support until October 14, 2025. It's important to note that support for the Home and Pro editions of Windows 10 21H2 has already ended in June 2023.

The end of support applies to all variants of Windows 10 21H2, including Enterprise, Enterprise multi-session, Education, and IoT Enterprise. Businesses and schools still utilizing Windows 10 21H2 should plan their upgrades promptly. However, they may face challenges as Windows 11 has higher system requirements compared to Windows 10, such as requiring a UEFI BIOS, Secure Boot, DirectX 12 compatible graphics, and a TPM 2.0 security chip. While the Enterprise and Education editions have somewhat relaxed specifications, meeting all these criteria may necessitate hardware upgrades for some organizations, in addition to the operating system migration. If not possible, some organizations may go the Linux-based route of installing lightweight operating systems to keep their PC's lifecycle running.

AMD Strix Halo APU "GFX1151" iGPU Driver Support Appears Online

AMD Linux engineers have been working on "GFX1150" and "GFX1151" targets for a while—official references to "Strix 1/Strix Point" and "Strix Point Halo" have appeared several times on official development channels. Phoronix's head honcho—Michael Larabel—monitors these activities with keen interest, his latest finding indicates that Team Red is preparing open-source RadeonSI/RADV driver support for the GFX1151 IP. Their MESA 24.1 update merges in GPU enablement for possible high-end "Strix Point Halo" laptop processors—tech tipsters believe that these chiplet variants could sport up to sixteen Zen 5 CPU cores and forty RDNA 3.5 GPU cores.

AMD's enablement of the "GFX1150/Strix Point" GPU appeared online late last month—these monolithic laptop chips are alleged to sit below "Strix Point Halo" in Team Red's product hierarchy. Insiders suggest that the best configurations could house twelve Zen 5 CPU cores and sixteen RDNA 3.5 GPU cores. Phoronix posited that the "RDNA 3 refresh" graphics solution: "is just rumored for select APUs, while ultimately we'll see where this GFX 11.5.1 IP is found if for some further upgraded APU or something more special. In any event the open-source Linux driver support is coming together." According to official product roadmaps, the initial batch of "Strix Point" mobile chips are expected ship later this year—representing a proper next-gen upgrade over current "Hawk Point" offerings.

PlayStation VR2 PC Compatibility Teased by Sony

Sony's second generation virtual reality headset—PlayStation VR2—is a very neat bit of kit, but many VR gaming enthusiasts believe that its potential is being wasted to some degree. Presently, VR2 is locked into the Sony PlayStation 5 console ecosystem, yet efforts to break this exclusive cycle started many months ago—modders have been working on PC platform support. The "iVRy VR" project is a notable endeavor—its leader outlined a bumpy development road on Reddit late last year: "PS VR2 can now be used for SteamVR on Windows. I wrote the driver some months ago, but the project has been delayed due to hardware or GPU driver hacks necessary to get the headset driven correctly by the GPU." Things are back on track according to iVRy's latest social media posts: "Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order running on Sony PS VR2, using UEVR and iVRy Driver for SteamVR (Windows). Use your device as a SteamVR VR Headset for your PC." The latest rumblings from Sony indicate that iVRy's crowdfunded efforts could be usurped in 2024.

First-party support on PC platforms has been teased by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)—a freshly published PlayStation Blog article reveals that a conversion team is tinkering away in the background: "PlayStation VR2 launched one year ago, backed by a 40+ game launch window lineup which included all-new experiences like Horizon Call of the Mountain and Pavlov, as well as PS VR2-compatible titles such as Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village... We're pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5. We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates." Company representatives have insisted, in the past, that their second generation VR headset is exclusive to PlayStation 5—The Verge has "reached out to Sony to clarify exactly what "access additional games on PC" means and whether the support will be limited to certain games. We'll update you accordingly."

AMD ROCm 6.0 Adds Support for Radeon PRO W7800 & RX 7900 GRE GPUs

Building on our previously announced support of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT, XTX and Radeon PRO W7900 GPUs with AMD ROCm 5.7 and PyTorch, we are now expanding our client-based ML Development offering, both from the hardware and software side with AMD ROCm 6.0. Firstly, AI researchers and ML engineers can now also develop on Radeon PRO W7800 and on Radeon RX 7900 GRE GPUs. With support for such a broad product portfolio, AMD is helping the AI community to get access to desktop graphics cards at even more price points and at different performance levels.

Furthermore, we are complementing our solution stack with support for ONNX Runtime. ONNX, short for Open Neural Network Exchange, is an intermediary Machine Learning framework used to convert AI models between different ML frameworks. As a result, users can now perform inference on a wider range of source data on local AMD hardware. This also adds INT8 via MIGraphX—AMD's own graph inference engine—to the available data types (including FP32 and FP16). With AMD ROCm 6.0, we are continuing our support for the PyTorch framework bringing mixed precision with FP32/FP16 to Machine Learning training workflows.

Intel Open Image Denoise v2.2 Adds Metal Support & AArch64 Improvements

An Open Image Denoise 2.2 release candidate was released earlier today—as discovered by Phoronix's founder and principal writer; Michael Larabel. Intel's dedicated website has not been updated with any new documentation or changelogs (at the time of writing), but a GitHub release page shows all of the crucial information. Team Blue's open-source oneAPI has been kept up-to-date with the latest technologies—not only limited to Intel's stable of Xe-LP, Xe-HPG and Xe-HPC components—the Phonorix article highlights updated support on competing platforms. The v2.2 preview adds support for Meteor Lake's integrated Arc graphics solution, and additional "denoising quality enhancements and other improvements."

Non-Intel platform improvements include updates for Apple's M-series chipsets, AArch64 processors, and NVIDIA CUDA. OIDn 2.2-rc: "adds Metal device support for Apple Silicon GPUs on recent versions of macOS. OIDn has already been supporting ARM64/AArch64 for Apple Silicon CPUs while now Open Image Denoise has extended that AArch64 support to work on Windows and Linux too. There is better performance in general for Open Image Denoise on CPUs with this forthcoming release." The changelog also highlights a general improvement performance across processors, and a fix that resolves a crash incident: "when releasing a buffer after releasing the device."

Enshrouded Devs Showcase First Week Accolades

Greetings, Flameborn! What a week it's been for Enshrouded! We've actually been quite overwhelmed with the amount of support we've seen. The realm of Embervale is lost. In their greed for magical power, your ancestors unleashed a pestilence that consumed the world. Enshrouded is a game of survival, crafting, and Action RPG combat, set within a sprawling voxel-based continent. As you journey across the mountains and deserts of an open world, you are free to choose your path and shape your destiny. Ignite the Ancient power of the Flame, and piece together the fragments of a story that unfolds below the surface...After nearly choking on our celebratory drinks, we got back to work. But before we talk about what's ahead, allow us to share a couple of reviews we liked: IGN 8/10, RPG Site 8/10, and God is a Geek—they're utterly hooked!

Now onto the work part!
We've released 5 hotfixes for the game since Wednesday's release. You can find the specifics here. There are a few issues we are aware of but need more time to fix—our outstanding tasks list is here. We will be taking some much needed rest this weekend, and are coming back ready to kick some bug ass next week. You've helped us make sure Enshrouded is off to a great start. We'll be back next week for the next step of the journey! Thanks, The Keen Team.

Steam Ends Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 Support

As of January 1st, 2024, Steam has officially stopped supporting the Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems. After that date, existing Steam Client installations on these operating systems will no longer receive any updates, including critical security updates. Steam Support will be unable to offer technical assistance to users still on these older operating systems. Steam also cannot guarantee the continued functionality or security of the Steam client and games purchased through Steam on unsupported Windows versions. Users are strongly encouraged to update to a newer Windows 10 or 11 version to ensure Steam and its games continue functioning properly beyond the January 1st cutoff date.

This change is necessary because core Steam features rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome that no longer functions on older Windows. Future Steam versions will also require Windows features and security updates only present in Windows 10 and later. With Microsoft having ended security updates and technical support for Windows 7 in 2020 and Windows 8.1 in 2023, these older operating systems are increasingly vulnerable to new malware exploits when connected to the internet. This malware can negatively impact PC performance, cause Steam and games to crash, or be used to steal Steam account credentials. Updating to a supported Windows version is highly recommended for all Windows 7/8/8.1 users to continue securely running Steam.

Chinese x86 CPU Maker Zhaoxin Adds Support for "Preferred Cores" to Modernize its Processor Ecosystem

Chinese x86 CPU developer Zhaoxin is working on adding support in the Linux kernel for scheduling optimization on its processors featuring "preferred cores." Similar to asymmetric core designs from Intel and AMD, Zhaoxin's chips may have specific higher-performance cores the OS scheduler should target for critical workloads. To enable this, Zhaoxin has proposed Linux patches leveraging existing ACPI functionality to indicate per-core differences in max frequency or capabilities. The CPUfreq driver is updated to reflect this, allowing the scheduler to favor the designated high-performance cores when assigning threads and processes. This ensures tasks can dynamically take advantage of the faster cores to maximize performance. The approach resembles tuned scheduling, aware of core topology and heterogeneity already found in Intel and AMD processors.

Zhaoxin's patches don't specify which existing or upcoming CPUs will expose preferred core hints. The company likely wants the functionality in place for future server-class products where asymmetric designs make sense for efficiency. The new code contribution reflects Zhaoxin's broader upstreaming effort around Linux kernel support for its Yongfeng server CPU family. Robust open-source foundations are crucial for gaining developer mindshare and data center adoption. Adding sophisticated features like preferred core scheduling indicates that Zhaoxin's chips are maturing from essential x86 compatibility to more refined performance optimization. While still trailing Intel and AMD in cores and clocks, closing the software ecosystem and efficiency gap remains key to competitiveness. Ongoing Linux enablement work is laying the groundwork for more capable Zhaoxin silicon.

Microsoft Announces October 2025 Date for Windows 10 End of Support

Microsoft announced that the world's most popular PC operating system, Windows 10, will attain EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. From that date forward, the company will no longer release regular security updates for the OS, or the so-called "patch-Tuesday" updates for Windows 10. This announcement only covers the client Windows 10 editions, and not Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC (long-term servicing channel), or special editions of Windows 10 for large organizations and government agencies. Organizations on the client editions, such as Windows 10 Pro, can avail the ESU (extended security update) program, which will give them access to critical security updates, but no new OS or software features. Microsoft took the opportunity to urge those on Windows 10 to upgrade to the latest Windows 11 operating system. The company plans to launch its next-generation Windows 12 some time in 2024.

Bethesda Releases First Hotfix for Starfield, Promises DLSS Support and More

First, an enormous thank you to all of you playing Starfield and your support. We are absolutely blown away by the response and all you love about the game. We're also reading all your great feedback on what you'd like to see improved or added to the game. This is a game we'll be supporting for years and years to come, so please keep all the feedback coming! Even if we don't get to your requests immediately, we'd love to do it in the future, like city maps. Our priority initially is making sure any top blocker bugs or stability issues are addressed, and adding quality-of-life features that many are asking for.

This first update is a small hotfix targeted at the few top issues were are seeing. After that, expect a regular interval of updates that have top community requested features including:
  • Brightness and Contrast controls
  • HDR Calibration Menu
  • FOV Slider
  • Nvidia DLSS Support (PC)
  • 32:9 Ultrawide Monitor Support (PC)
  • Eat button for food!

Noctua NH-U12A Mounting Kit Updated with LGA-1851 Socket Support

The latest retail batch of Noctua's NH-U12A single-tower CPU coolers has been photographed sporting updated packaging and containing a new set of mounting brackets. Japan's Akiba PC Watch reported on new stock of Noctua's popular (and well reviewed) NH-U12A cooler sitting on shelves at Tsukumo Computer's flagship store in Akihabara, Tokyo. Their article pinpointed Socket LGA-1851 compatibility listed on the revised retail box, and documented within new installation instruction steps. They noted that: "according to the manual, the mounting bar and spacer for fixing the CPU cooler are shared with the existing LGA-1700 (kit)."

Noctua has not updated its NH-U12A product page or compatibility centre pages with these revisions, but Tom's Hardware did pick up on the NH-D15's overhauled entry: "now listed as having SecuFirm2 mounts compatible with Intel LGA-1851." The Austrian computer hardware manufacturer seems to pride itself on its preparedness well in advance of a forthcoming new CPU range—Akiba PC Watch cheekily observed: "it is currently unknown when CPUs and motherboards compatible with LGA-1851 will be released." Intel's 15th Gen Arrow Lake S is presumably the main candidate lined up to adopt LGA-1851—technical specifications were uncovered back in June time.

Xbox Introduces Enforcement Strike System

We are constantly improving our safety measures and bringing more systems and tools in place that empower players to respectfully interact with one another - because everyone deserves a place to comfortably be themselves online, free from harassment and bullying. One of the most common questions we get from players through feedback, posts, and appeals is how repeated enforcements impact their gameplay, how they escalate, what they escalate to, and how they know when their account is back in good standing. To help address this, we are introducing a new enforcement strike system.

The new system attaches strikes to every enforcement, ranging in severity based on inappropriate activity. Each player will now have a view of their enforcement history including strikes and the overall impact these have on their player record. This revised system gives players a better understanding of enforcement severity and the cumulative effect of multiple enforcements. Enforcement transparency is about giving players clarity into how their behavior impacts their experience. Our content moderation efforts are not changing as a result of the new enforcement strike system.

PlayStation 5 Beta Update Grants 8 TB M.2 SSD & 3D Dolby Atmos Support

With each PlayStation 5 system software release, we've introduced new features designed to enhance the many ways you can access your favorite content, navigate your console, or create new gaming memories with friends. Today, we're thrilled to roll out a new PS5 system software beta that introduces new accessibility features as well as audio options that allow 3D Audio powered by Tempest 3D AudioTech to be enjoyed on compatible Dolby Atmos-enabled HDMI devices such as sound bars, TVs, or home theater systems. The beta also includes more options to quickly find games and console tips, new ways to connect with other players and customize your multiplayer sessions, and support for larger-capacity M.2 SSDs (up to 8 TB).

While beta access will be limited to invited participants in select countries*, we plan to release the update globally later this year. If you're selected to participate in the beta, you'll receive an email invitation today when it's available to download. Some features available during the beta phase may not make it into the final version or may see significant changes. Without further ado, here are some of the highlights from the beta release...

Xbox Debuting New Voice Reporting Feature

Players come to Xbox to build friendships, be competitive, and to experience incredible games - and they expect to be treated fairly, for interactions to be free of hate or harassment. Our investments in safety have helped players feel safer across text, video, and image - and our new voice reporting experience is the latest addition to our robust suite of family and online safety features.

Starting this week, we are releasing a new platform-wide voice reporting feature to Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead Xbox Insiders, that gives players the option to capture and report inappropriate in-game voice chats. More specifically, this feature equips Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One players with the ability to capture a 60-second video clip of an in-game voice incident that they believe violates our Community Standards and submit it as evidence to our Xbox Safety Team for review. This feature is purpose-built to support the broadest arena of in-game interactions between players and works across thousands of games that offer in-game multiplayer voice chat, including Xbox 360 backward-compatible titles.

Sabrent Introduces its Quad NVMe SSD to PCIe 4.0 x16 Card

The Sabrent Quad NVMe SSD to PCIe 4.0 x16 Card (EC-P4BF) is the perfect complement for a desktop that requires additional high-performance storage. Add one, two, three, or four NVMe SSDs with a single, physical x16 PCIe slot adapter. A bifurcation setting in the BIOS is required. Only M.2 M key SSDs are supported, but older and newer generation SSDs in the 2230/2242/2260/2280 form factors will work at up to PCIe 4.0 speeds. The adapter is also backward compatible with PCIe 3.0/2.0 slots. Drives can be accessed individually or placed into a RAID via Intel VROC, AMD Ryzen NVMe RAID, UEFI RAID, or software-based RAID through Windows Storage Spaces when respective criteria are met.

High-performance drives and systems may require high-end cooling, and this adapter has you covered. It's constructed out of aluminium material for physical stability and improved heat dissipation. It also includes thermal padding for all four SSDs to keep things cool and in place. Active cooling for high-performance environments is optional with a switchable fan. The adapter is plug-and-play with driverless operation. Rear-mounted LEDs quickly show the drive status for a quick visual update. The host must support PCIe bifurcation (lane splitting) to access more than one drive, so be sure to check your motherboard's manual ahead of time.

Steam On Linux Restores Hardware Acceleration by Default for NVIDIA GPUs

A previous attempt to enable NVIDIA GPU video hardware acceleration by default within Steam running on Linux platforms was thwarted by numerous bugs and faults - adopters of the mid-May Steam Client Beta update reported their experiences of various crashes encountered in Valve's user interface. The embattled software engineering team has since investigated this matter and released a new update (yesterday).

The June 6th Steam Client Beta patch notes list a number of general improvements along with Linux-specific adjustments: "a crash when Steam windows were closed with hardware (HW) acceleration enabled on NVIDIA GPUs" and the re-enabling of "HW acceleration by default for NVIDIA GPUs." Early reports indicate that Linux gamers are having a smoother time after installing yesterday's update.

Windows 11 Quietly Updated with Support for RAR Archive File Format

Microsoft has been hyping up a new implementation of AI assistance into its flagship operating system - Windows 11 - this week, but a keen-eyed journalist has noticed an interesting tidbit placed in plain sight amongst all of the artificial intelligence bluster. Those who have legitimately purchased the WinRAR archiver extractor tool within the past few days should look away now. Within the announcement of a Windows 11 Co-Pilot, under the section named "Reducing toil and unlocking the fun and joy of development on Windows with new features and improvements," Panos Panay (the chief product officer) mentions an unexpected addition: "We have added native support for additional archive formats, including tar, 7-zip, rar, gz and many others using the libarchive open-source project. You now can get improved performance of archive functionality during compression on Windows."

It is slightly amusing that it has taken Microsoft's engineers almost three decades to add native support for RAR files in their OS product environment - it should be noted that Windows 10 is not getting this exclusive treatment, after all the company's product managers are encouraging folks to get onto 11 to enjoy all of the latest fun features. It is perhaps not great news for the developer of this archive file format - RARLAB proclaims on their site: "With over 500 million users worldwide, WinRAR is the world's most popular compression tool! There is no better way to compress files for efficient and secure file transfer. Providing fast email transmission and well-organized data storage options, WinRAR also offers solutions for users working in all industries and sectors." Windows users have often joked about getting the most out of time-limited shareware versions of the WinRAR suite, but not many have actually purchased it - will the small update to Windows 11 impact RARLAB's sales figures in the immediate future?

AMD EPYC 8004 Data Center "Siena" CPUs Certified for General SATA and PCI Support

Keen-eyed hardware tipster momomo_us this week spotted that an upcoming AMD data center "Siena Dense" CPU has received verification, in the general sense, for SATA and PCI support - courtesy of the Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO). The information dump was uploaded to SATA-IO's online database on April 6 of this year - under the heading: "AMD EPYC 8004 Series Processors." As covered by TPU mid-way through this month the family of enterprise-grade processors, bearing codename Siena, is expected to be an entry-level alternative to the EPYC Genoa-X range, set for launch later in 2023.

The EPYC Siena series is reported to arrive with a new socket type - SP6 (LGA 4844) - which is said to be similar in size to the older Socket SP3. The upcoming large "Genoa-X" and "Bergamo" processors will sit in the already existing Socket SP5 (LGA 6096) - 2022's EPYC Genoa lineup makes use of it already. AMD has not made its SP6 socket official to the public, but industry figures have been informed that it can run up to 64 "Zen 4" cores. This new standard has been designed with more power efficient tasks in mind - targeting intelligent edge and telecommunication sectors. The smaller SP6 socket will play host to CPUs optimized for as low as 70 W operation, with hungrier variants accommodated up to 225 W. This single platform solution is said to offer 6-channel memory, 96 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes, 48 lanes for CXL V1.1+, and 8 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes.

AMD Releases Second Official Statement Regarding Ryzen 7000X3D Issues

AMD has today released another statement to the press, following on from controversy surrounding faulty Ryzen 7000X3D series processors - unlucky users are reporting hardware burnouts resulting from voltage-assisted overclocking. TPU has provided coverage of this matter this week, and made light of AMD's first statement yesterday. AMD ensures customers that it has fully informed ODM partners (motherboard manufacturers) about up-to-date and correct voltages for the Ryzen processor family - yet user feedback (via online hardware discussions) suggests that standard Ryzen 7000 models are also being affected by the burnout issue - this side topic has not been addressed by AMD (at the time of writing). This second statement repeats the previous one's recommendation that affected users should absolutely make contact with AMD Support personnel:
AMD Statement"We have root caused the issue and have already distributed a new AGESA that puts measures in place on certain power rails on AM5 motherboards to prevent the CPU from operating beyond its specification limits, including a cap on SOC voltage at 1.3 V. None of these changes affect the ability of our Ryzen 7000 Series processors to overclock memory using EXPO or XMP kits or boost performance using PBO technology. We expect all of our ODM partners to release new BIOS for their AM5 boards over the next few days. We recommend all users to check their motherboard manufacturers website and update their BIOS to ensure their system has the most up to date software for their processor.

Anyone whose CPU may have been impacted by this issue should contact AMD customer support. Our customer service team is aware of the situation and prioritizing these cases."

Returnal and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Get NVIDIA DLSS 3 Support

Each week we're bringing you the latest news on games launching with NVIDIA DLSS and advanced ray tracing. Last week, the list of supported DLSS games and apps surpassed 290, and this week we're adding even more games! Today, Returnal upgrades its DLSS integration to DLSS 3, giving GeForce RTX 40 Series players even higher frame rates in the fast-paced shooter, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum shows off its DLSS and ray tracing tech in a new trailer, and another 3 games add support for DLSS 2. Read on to learn more.

The Returnal: DLSS 3 upgrade launches today. Returnal, Sony and Housemarque's critically acclaimed third-person roguelike shooter, launched on PC in February, featuring out of the box support for DLSS 2 and ray tracing. After crash-landing on a shape-shifting world, players must guide astronaut Selene through the barren landscape of an ancient civilization for her escape. Isolated and alone, she finds herself fighting tooth and nail for survival. Again and again, she's defeated - forced to restart her journey every time she dies.
Return to Keyword Browsing
May 1st, 2024 06:27 EDT change timezone

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts