It's official: NVIDIA delivered the world's fastest platform in industry-standard tests for inference on generative AI. In the latest MLPerf benchmarks, NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM—software that speeds and simplifies the complex job of inference on large language models—boosted the performance of NVIDIA Hopper architecture GPUs on the GPT-J LLM nearly 3x over their results just six months ago. The dramatic speedup demonstrates the power of NVIDIA's full-stack platform of chips, systems and software to handle the demanding requirements of running generative AI. Leading companies are using TensorRT-LLM to optimize their models. And NVIDIA NIM—a set of inference microservices that includes inferencing engines like TensorRT-LLM—makes it easier than ever for businesses to deploy NVIDIA's inference platform.

Raising the Bar in Generative AI
TensorRT-LLM running on NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs—the latest, memory-enhanced Hopper GPUs—delivered the fastest performance running inference in MLPerf's biggest test of generative AI to date. The new benchmark uses the largest version of Llama 2, a state-of-the-art large language model packing 70 billion parameters. The model is more than 10x larger than the GPT-J LLM first used in the September benchmarks. The memory-enhanced H200 GPUs, in their MLPerf debut, used TensorRT-LLM to produce up to 31,000 tokens/second, a record on MLPerf's Llama 2 benchmark. The H200 GPU results include up to 14% gains from a custom thermal solution. It's one example of innovations beyond standard air cooling that systems builders are applying to their NVIDIA MGX designs to take the performance of Hopper GPUs to new heights.

After the announcement of the new water cooler series, ARCTIC is now announcing the next product highlights - this time in the area of air cooling. For its 23rd anniversary, the manufacturer is still in a celebratory mood and is also bringing the Freezer 36 onto the market at special prices. With significantly increased performance and simplified assembly, the Freezer 36 not only outperforms its predecessor models but also holds its own against the competition.

Even more efficient ventilation is achieved thanks to the optimized heat sink with side-flow design. Two of ARCTIC's proven P-fans, known for their performance, are used in push-pull-configuration. The innovative click-fastening system enables quick and easy installation and fan replacement. For the upcoming LGA1851 and LGA1700 installation, the Freezer 36 uses a special contact frame that distributes the contact pressure evenly. This minimizes the mechanical stress on the CPU and motherboard and increases cooling performance.

CORSAIR at the 2024 International CES unveiled three new air cooling products; the A115 air CPU cooler, the AF120 MAX fans, and the RX Series Fans. We begin our tour with the AF120 MAX. These 120 mm fans come with a thickness of 30 mm, above the 25 mm industry standard. This 5 mm increase allows for a significantly bigger impeller, which results in a static pressure of 4.14 mm H₂O at its top speed of 2,000 RPM. The company hasn't disclosed its airflow and noise numbers, yet. It is also planning such thick fans in the 140 mm size. The fan is recommended for applications such as liquid cooling radiators, where the high static pressure comes handy. Next up, is the RX Series, a set of mid-range fans that come in RGB and non-RGB variants, and in sizes of 120 mm and 140 mm. The RGB ones support iCUE Link.

The star attraction is the new A115 air CPU cooler. This is a high-end D-type (dual fin-stack) CPU cooler, which uses six 6 mm-thick copper heatpipes that make indirect contact with the CPU through a copper base; 90 nickel-plated fins, a pair of included AF140 Elite PWM 140 mm fans; and an innovative new fan-installation mechanism that puts the two fans on rails, and has them slide into place from the top, with the heatsink installed, so you don't wrestle with clips and get cut. This sliding mechanism also ensures clearance for memory near the first "push" fan. The company's "Hold Fast" retention module is designed for easy installation of the heatsink; among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1700 (and by extension the upcoming LGA1851), AM5, and AM4.

Ever since the creation of A64FX for the Fugaku supercomputer, Fujitsu has been plotting the development of next-generation CPU design for accelerating AI and general-purpose HPC workloads in the data center. Codenamed Monaka, the CPU is the latest creation for TSMC's 2 nm semiconductor manufacturing node. Based on Armv9-A ISA, the CPU will feature up to 150 cores with Scalable Vector Extensions 2 (SVE2), so it can process a wide variety of vector data sets in parallel. Using a 3D chiplet design, the 150 cores will be split into different dies and placed alongside SRAM and I/O controller. The current width of the SVE2 implementation is unknown.

The CPU is designed to support DDR5 memory and PCIe 6.0 connection for attaching storage and other accelerators. To bring cache coherency among application-specific accelerators, CXL 3.0 is present as well. Interestingly, Monaka is planned to arrive in FY2027, which starts in 2026 on January 1st. The CPU will supposedly use air cooling, meaning the design aims for power efficiency. Additionally, it is essential to note that Monaka is not a processor that will power the post-Fugaku supercomputer. The post-Fugaku supercomputer will use post-Monaka design, likely iterating on the design principles that Monaka uses and refining them for the launch of the post-Fugaku supercomputer scheduled for 2030. Below are the slides from Fujitsu's presentation, in Japenese, which highlight the design goals of the CPU.

Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Case, Power, Cooling, Gaming peripherals, and enthusiast Memory solutions, is delighted to release the TOUGHAIR 710 Black CPU Cooler, a CPU air cooler designed for the toned-down black aesthetics. The TOUGHAIR 710 Black is a new edition to the TOUGHAIR series and features a Dual-Tower Dual Fan Design, providing superior cooling performance for the latest Intel and AMD CPUs. Now this new-colored TOUGHAIR 710 Black is worldwide available for purchase!

If you are a non-RGB lover and want to build a low-profile but eye-catching PC, look closer to the TOUGHAIR 710 Black. The TOUGHAIR 710 Black is inspired by the shadows and is composed entirely of black components, increasing a sense of mystery and nobleness. Designed for high-performance CPUs, the TOUGHAIR 710 Black comes with the Dual-Tower Dual Fan Design, doubling everything to achieve exceptional cooling performance. To fit all main-stream CPUs, the TOUGHAIR 710 Black is compatible with various Intel and AMD sockets, including the latest Intel 1700 and AM5.

be quiet!, the German manufacturer for premium PC components, is unveiling two brand-new high-end air coolers at the gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany, from August 23rd to 27th. Dark Rock Pro 5 follows in the footsteps of the extremely successful and award-winning Dark Rock Pro 4, offering immense cooling performance at low noise levels on all popular consumer platforms, while Dark Rock Elite is aimed at users that require the highest performance and airflow, integrating ARGB lighting and a unique front fan rail system for an elite experience.

Raising the bar for air cooling even further
Improving upon the high performance benchmark set by Dark Rock Pro 4 was not easy, but be quiet! managed to raise the bar even further with Dark Rock Pro 5. By leveraging the performance of Silent Wings and adding an integrated speed switch to prioritize cooling or silence have resulted in an air cooler that loves multithreaded tasks, whether it's high-end gaming or a workstation setup. Still want more? With its unprecedented cooling abilities, Dark Rock Elite is the perfect fit for gaming enthusiasts who want to achieve the best possible CPU performance and airflow, while not missing out on great ARGB lighting. Not only does the Elite offer Silent Wings fans and an integrated speed switch, it also uses an innovative rail system for the front fan to guarantee compatibility with most memory modules and motherboards. Dark Rock Pro 5 and Dark Rock Elite will be officially launched late October.

Jonsbo, a Chinese case manufacturer known for unique case designs, has introduced the new Jonsbo C6 and N2 cases to its offerings. The C6 is a compact and versatile Micro-ATX case designed to appeal to many users, including gamers. It offers ample space for up to three 120 mm fans, ensuring efficient air cooling within the case. The front of the C6 can accommodate two 140 mm fans, further enhancing airflow. To promote optimal ventilation, the front, side panels, and lid of the C6 are made of air-permeable mesh. Regarding hardware compatibility, the C6 can house graphics cards with a maximum length of 255 mm and CPU coolers with a height of up to 75 mm. Additionally, it provides the flexibility to install an HDD or two SSDs in the front without a 120 mm fan. The Jonsbo C6 is available in black and white color options, catering to different aesthetic preferences.

Cooler Master, renowned for its industry-leading PC components, today announced the MA824 Stealth, a cutting-edge air cooler designed to keep your machine cool during the most intense applications. The MA824 Stealth is a testament to our innovative approach to design, boasting a suite of advanced specifications encased in a modern, sleek exterior.

"This high-performance air cooler, featuring our groundbreaking Superconductive Composite Heat Pipe technology, raises the bar in both performance and design," Said Jimmy Sha, CEO Cooler Master." Sleek, efficient, and robust, the Stealth is a statement piece for any setup. We continue to push boundaries for PC enthusiasts, power users, and custom builders worldwide. Welcome to the next level of air cooling with Cooler Master."

Gamdias introduced its first ever AIO CPU cooler at this year's Computex along with a surprising range of air coolers and interesting case fans. The CHIONE P3 LCD Liquid Cooler series is available in 360 mm and 240 mm radiator sizes, with its center piece being a customizable IPS LCD display sitting atop the high-performance (S-tier) motor pump. Enthusiasts can monitor system performance statistics and personalize the screen with any image or animated GIF of their choosing. The CHIONE P3's radiator features fine-tuned AEOLUS M3 ARGB PWM fans for unparalleled airflow. The pump head also houses a stunning ARGB lighting ring that runs a pre-selected set of lighting modes. The CHIONE P3 sports an upgraded mounting kit for easy installation on modern AMD (AM5 & TR4) and Intel (LGA 1700) CPU platforms alike.

The CHIONE M4 LCD Liquid Cooler series is available in 420 mm, 360 mm and 240 mm radiator sizes - providing CPU cooling solutions for a wide range of enclosure sizes. The centre-piece integrated display provides real-time monitoring of your CPU temperature, fan RPM, and pump RPM. The CHIONE M4 is fitted with an exclusive in-line PWM pump and patented cooling system - this provides powerful yet silent operation and high-performance compact cooling. Gamdias advertises states that this "next-generation radiator delivers optimal performance that provides the same performance as a 38 mm thickness radiator with its 32 mm design. The CHIONE M4 is also compatible with the latest LGA 1700 and AM5 sockets, thanks to its upgraded mounting kit, making installation a breeze."

AeroCool is presenting their newly introduced Performance Nexus (APNX) products at this year's Computex - including a case, power supply, CPU air cooler and case fans. They have decided to offer this hardware lineup in a wide variety of colors - let us start with the APNX-C1 ATX tower case which can be customized further with all sorts of alternative tone top plates. There are standard black and white options for traditionalists, as well as more adventurous variants in the form of green, pink and red color schemes. The internal layout can accommodate a maximum of 10 case fans - three APNX 120 mm units are pre-installed at the front. AeroCool indicates that the APNX-C1 case will be coming out later this year with an MSRP of $149/€139.

The APNX F1 are F2 are PWM case fans with ARGB lighting systems, offered up in two sizes: 120 mm and 140 mm. AeroCool has increased fan thickness to 30 mm on these Performance Nexus units, which they reckon contributes to greater cooling efficiency (by 50%) over standard 25 mm examples. The chunky casing features sizable anti-vibration rubber pads that ensure that the APNX F1 and F2 operate at super quiet levels. There were many color options on display at the company's booth - so system builders will be have plenty of tonal customizations to experiment with. The F1 has a bi-chromatic plastic design, while the F2 has a textured metal frame - the latter will be supplied with a swappable reverse air flow fan blade. AeroCool is still in the process of finalizing these F-models, so availability and pricing will be announced at a later time.

Noctua has, as of this month, refreshed its product roadmap for the rest of 2023, and even provides a couple of scant details about far-off hardware scheduled for launch in early 2024 and beyond. The Austrian computer cooling hardware specialist is probably updating their release forecast in preparation for Computex 2023 - set to start at the end of the month - where brand new goodies could be debuted to industry-types and public attendees.

Noctua's 8-way fan hub seems to be delayed - the previous version of the roadmap had it down for a Q1 2023 launch, but the update now indicates a second quarter window. A bunch of next-gen AMD Threadripper coolers are marked down for an estimated third-quarter release, and Noctua has a slim 60 mm fan
as well as a 24 V 40 mm fan lined up for the final quarter. All-black versions of existing NH-D12L, NH-D9L and NH-L9x65 CPU coolers are due by the end of this year - a number of coolers are already available in the company's "chromax.black" finish - for those who do not enjoy the signature beige and brown aesthetic. A single next-generation 140 mm fan is teased for a Q1 2024 launch, with a chromax.black version coming later in the year. Finally, a re-designed NH-D15 CPU cooler gets a loose 2024 window.

During the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2022, Intel gave us a more significant look at its upcoming Ponte Vecchio HPC accelerator and how it operates. So far, Intel convinced us that the company created Ponte Vecchio out of 47 tiles glued together in one package. However, the ISSCC presentation shows that the accelerator is structured rather interestingly. There are 63 tiles in total, where 16 are reserved for compute, eight are used for RAMBO cache, two are Foveros base tiles, two represent Xe-Link tiles, eight are HBM2E tiles, and EMIB connection takes up 11 tiles. This totals for about 47 tiles. However, an additional 16 thermal tiles used in Ponte Vecchio regulate the massive TDP output of this accelerator.

What is interesting is that Intel gave away details of the RAMBO cache. This novel SRAM technology uses four banks of 3.75 MB groups total of 15 MB per tile. They are connected to the fabric at 1.3 TB/s connection per chip. In contrast, compute tiles are connected at 2.6 TB/s speeds to the chip fabric. With eight RAMBO cache tiles, we get an additional 120 MB SRAM present. The base tile is a 646 mm² die manufactured in Intel 7 semiconductor process and contains 17 layers. It includes a memory controller, the Fully Integrated Voltage Regulators (FIVR), power management, 16-lane PCIe 5.0 connection, and CXL interface. The entire area of Ponte Vecchio is rather impressive, as 47 active tiles take up 2,330 mm², whereas when we include thermal dies, the total area jumps to 3,100 mm². And, of course, the entire package is much larger at 4,844 mm², connected to the system with 4,468 pins.

[Editor's note: We have posted a review of Fractal Design Torrent Black RGB TG Light Tint Case here.]

The Torrent is a brand new high-performance PC case devoted entirely to providing premium airflow straight out of the box. The attention to detail is reflected in everything from the choice of components to the streamlined design inside and out, and the result is a case that goes further than any previous Fractal case in the pursuit of ultimate airflow.

When it comes to technical innovations, the main standouts include a brand-new component layout, the open front grille and two 180 x 38 mm Dynamic PWM or Prisma RGB fans custom-made to achieve maximum air cooling while maintaining controlled noise levels. The Torrent ships with another three 140 mm fans (Dynamic or Prisma for RGB) pre-installed for a total of five. (Fun fact: if you're a really big fan of airflow, you can get an additional pair of 180 mm Dynamic/Prisma fans separately and replace the 140 mms for a total of four massive 180 mm fans.)

When NVIDIA's Ampere GPUs first stormed onto the scene, the GeForce RTX 3090 created an entirely new category of performance for the highest-resolution, highest-refresh-rate graphics and most demanding GPU compute tasks on the market. Now, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti brings much of the power of that revolutionary graphics card to a wider audience. The RTX 3080 Ti's massive complement of CUDA, RT, and Tensor cores teams up with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory to create a potent package that's tailored for gamers first. And in the hotly contested midrange of the market, the RTX 3070 Ti brings more CUDA, RT, and Tensor cores to bear for mainstream systems.

ASUS has taken advantage of these new, more powerful GPUs to create custom designs that serve up high clock speeds, low temperatures, and whisper-quiet noise levels. The ROG Strix LC GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is our first Ampere card to use a hybrid liquid-cooled design for incredible performance potential, while ROG Strix and TUF Gaming versions of both the RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti deliver distinctly different takes on air cooling.

As a leading brand in True Gaming hardware, MSI is announcing new graphics cards powered by NVIDIA's newly-launched GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti GPUs. Three designs are available for both GPUs - SUPRIM, GAMING TRIO, and VENTUS 3X - and collectively they form the MSI GeForce RTX 30 Ti graphics card family. Built with the MSI essentials, all of our newly announced graphics card products have excellent cooling, optimized circuit board designs, and the latest in graphics card componentry.

Powered by the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti deliver an incredible leap in performance and fidelity with acclaimed features such as raytracing, NVIDIA DLSS performance-boosting AI, NVIDIA Reflex latency-reduction, NVIDIA Broadcast streaming features and additional memory that allows it to speed through the most popular creator applications as well.

ID Cooling has announced their latest Mega Coolers, a new moniker and lineup that announces the coolers' compatibility with the latest, greatest, highest performance, and most power-hungry CPUs. The coolers are designed to accompany CPUs with TDPs up to 280 W. ID Cooling said these new mega coolers in the SE-207-series, which are basically tower coolers in design, will be hitting market just in time to address AMD's new-generation enthusiast grade Ryzen 5000-series 'Vermeer' and Intel's upcoming 11th Generation Core 'Rocket Lake' processors.

There are two separate coolers in the family; the SE-207-XT Black is aimed at AMD's Ryzen processors as well as Intel CPUs in LGA1200/115x/20xx form-factors; if you need some more cooling oomph, however, the SE-207-TRX Black is aimed at AMD's Ryzen Threadripper processor in TR4 packaging. Both coolers offer the same 280 W TDP dissipation capabilities, and are built in a twin-tower design with twin fans (700 RPM ~ 1800 RPM, up to 76.16 CFM air pressure, up to 35.2 dBA). In the case of the Threadripper-loving SE-207-TRX, a copper baseplate with direct-touch heatpipe technology removes heat from your CPU and passes it through the large, black, dual fin-stack arrays which are then cooled by two 120 mm fans. The E-207-XT Black, on the other hand, makes do with a solid copper baseplate absent of that same direct touch technology.