The 62nd edition of the TOP500 reveals that the Frontier system retains its top spot and is still the only exascale machine on the list. However, five new or upgraded systems have shaken up the Top 10.

Housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, USA, Frontier leads the pack with an HPL score of 1.194 EFlop/s - unchanged from the June 2023 list. Frontier utilizes AMD EPYC 64C 2GHz processors and is based on the latest HPE Cray EX235a architecture. The system has a total of 8,699,904 combined CPU and GPU cores. Additionally, Frontier has an impressive power efficiency rating of 52.59 GFlops/watt and relies on HPE's Slingshot 11 network for data transfer.

Thanks to the TMTPost interview with the Global Vice President and China President of ASML, Shen Bo, the Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer has revealed that around 1,400 of its deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography and metrology machines are currently installed in China. The company is expected to achieve a global output of 600 DUV equipment units by the end of 2025. Shen Bo stated that the company aims to install 500-600 units of DUV machinery in China by late 2025 or early 2026. The growth in ASML's Chinese revenues was notably high, with China contributing 46% of the company's system sales in 3Q 2023, representing an 82% revenue increase from the previous quarter.

China plans to build 25 12-inch wafer fabs in the next five years, covering logic wafers, DRAM, and MEMS production. ASML currently has a substantial presence in China, with 16 offices, 12 warehouses, distribution centers, development centers, training centers, and maintenance centers. The company employs over 1,600 people for its China operations. Despite the export restrictions imposed by the US government, ASML anticipates that the new measures will have little impact on its financial outlook for 2023 as it strives to meet the growing demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment in the global market.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO) ("Silicon Motion", the "Company" or "we") today announced its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. For the third quarter of 2023, net sales (GAAP) increased sequentially to $172.3 million from $140.4 million in the second quarter of 2023. Net income (GAAP) decreased to $10.6 million, or $0.32 per diluted American Depositary Share of the Company ("ADS") (GAAP), from net income (GAAP) of $11.0 million, or $0.33 per diluted ADS (GAAP), in the second quarter of 2023.

For the third quarter of 2023, net income (non-GAAP) increased to $21.1 million, or $0.63 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), from net income (non-GAAP) of $12.6 million, or $0.38 per diluted ADS (non-GAAP), in the second quarter of 2023.

Sanctuary beckons you forth, wanderer. On November 4, at 2:30 pm PDT, a glimpse into the future of Diablo IV will be revealed live to all at BlizzCon. Join associate game director Brent Gibson, production director Tiffany Wat, lead game producer Kalyeigh Calder, game director Joe Shely, and associate director of community Adam Fletcher, who will introduce content releasing during Season of Blood and beyond.

On the first day of BlizzCon, Q&A questions for the Campfire Chat will be gathered in-person from a box in the Diablo hall, along with any from social media. Then, we'll have a Q&A segment at the end of the stream where the team will answer questions collected from the community.

Apparently if you say "day one with Game Pass" three times in front of your mirror nothing actually happens, and you did that for nothing. But we do happen to have a bunch of day one games coming soon (and available today), so let's dive in!

Available Today
Headbangers: Rhythm Royale (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Available on day one with Game Pass: Headbangers puts you and 29 others into the eye of the Pigeon while you battle it out in rhythmic challenges to find out who is the ultimate Master Headbanger. Compete against each other in mind-bending musical minigames, screw over your competitors with powerups, and collect Crumbs to customize your very own Pigeon!

BlizzCon 2023 is almost here! For those tuning in from home, we'll be streaming all BlizzCon Arena content for free. Whether you plan to join in person or virtually, we wanted to share a first look at all the events in store. Visit Blizzard's YouTube channels or Twitch on November 3-4 to catch all the panels and programming below. BlizzCon is for the community, so feel free to share it with yours by co-streaming.

BlizzCon Collection - On Sale Now
Virtual attendees can also pick up the BlizzCon Collection, a new set of digital goodies and in-game items, in the Battle.net Shop now. These bundles are a must-have for any player journeying through World of Warcraft, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, Hearthstone, and Warcraft Rumble. Whether you're a seasoned hero or just starting your adventure, don't miss out. Visit the Battle.net Shop to purchase.

TSMC today announced consolidated revenue of NT$546.73 billion, net income of NT$211.00 billion, and diluted earnings per share of NT$8.14 (US$1.29 per ADR unit) for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023. Year-over-year, third quarter revenue decreased 10.8% while net income and diluted EPS both decreased 24.9%. Compared to second quarter 2023, third quarter results represented a 13.7% increase in revenue and a 16.1% increase in net income. All figures were prepared in accordance with TIFRS on a consolidated basis.

In US dollars, third quarter revenue was $17.28 billion, which decreased 14.6% year-over-year and increased 10.2% from the previous quarter. Gross margin for the quarter was 54.3%, operating margin was 41.7%, and net profit margin was 38.6%. In the third quarter, shipments of 3-nanometer accounted for 6% of total wafer revenue; 5-nanometer accounted for 37%; 7-nanometer accounted for 16%. Advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced technologies, accounted for 59% of total wafer revenue.

A new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that enterprises will invest nearly $16 billion worldwide on GenAI solutions in 2023. This spending, which includes GenAI software as well as related infrastructure hardware and IT/business services, is expected to reach $143 billion in 2027 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 73.3% over the 2023-2027 forecast period. This is more than twice the rate of growth in overall AI spending and almost 13 times greater than the CAGR for worldwide IT spending over the same period.

"Generative AI is more than a fleeting trend or mere hype. It is a transformative technology with far-reaching implications and business impact," says Ritu Jyoti, group vice president, Worldwide Artificial Intelligence and Automation market research and advisory services at IDC. "With ethical and responsible implementation, GenAI is poised to reshape industries, changing the way we work, play, and interact with the world."

The downward spiral for PC shipments continued during the third quarter of 2023 (3Q23) as global volumes declined 7.6% year over year with 68.2 million PCs shipped, according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. Though demand and the global economy remain subdued, PC shipments have increased in each of the last two quarters, slowing the rate of annual decline and indicating that the market has moved past the bottom of the trough.

PC inventory has also become leaner in the past few months and is near healthy levels in most channels. However, downward pressure on pricing persists and will likely remain an issue within the consumer and business sectors. While most of the top 5 vendors experienced double-digit declines during the quarter, Apple's outsized decline was the result of unfavorable year-over-year comparisons as the company recovered from a COVID-related halt in production during 3Q22. Meanwhile, HP's growth was largely due to the normalizing of inventory.

Announcing Steam Next Fest, a multi-day celebration of upcoming games. Save the date for our Next Fest, headed to Steam in October. Explore and play hundreds of game demos, watch developer livestreams, and chat with the teams about their games in progress, coming soon to Steam.

OCTOBER 9 - OCTOBER 16 @ 10:00AM PACIFIC—SEVEN DAYS, HUNDREDS OF DEMOS & HOURS OF DEVELOPER LIVESTREAMS
Explore and play hundreds of demos, choose from dozens of livestreams to watch, and chat with developers about their games. Steam Next Fest will take place from October 9th to 16th, 2023 @10:00AM Pacific. Sign up here to receive a reminder for when Steam Next Fest begins. See you then!

Today, Google announced its next generation of Chromebook devices, called the Chromebook Plus, said to improve upon the legacy set by Chromebooks over a decade ago. Starting at an enticing price point of $399, this new breed of Chromebooks integrates powerful AI capabilities and a range of built-in Google apps. Notably, it features tools like the Google Photos Magic Eraser and web-based Adobe Photoshop, positioning itself as a dynamic tool for productivity and creative exploration. In collaboration with hardware manufacturers such as Acer, ASUS, HP, and Lenovo, Google is launching a lineup of eight Chromebook Plus devices on the launch date, with more possibly coming in the future.

Each model boasts improved hardware configurations over the regular Chromebook, including processors like the Intel Core i3 12th Gen or the AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series, a minimum of 8 GB RAM, and 128 GB storage. Users are also in for a visual treat with a 1080p IPS display, ensuring crisp visuals for entertainment and work. And for the modern remote workforce, video conferencing gets a substantial upgrade. Every Chromebook Plus comes equipped with a 1080p camera and utilizes AI enhancements to elevate video call clarity, with compatibility spanning various platforms, including Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Set to be available from October 8, 2023, in the US and October 9 in Canada and Europe, the Chromebook Plus is positioning itself as the go-to device for many users. On the other hand, the AI features are slated for arrival in 2024, when companies ensure their software is compatible.Below you can see the upcoming models.

During the China Chip Storage Future 2023 Storage Industry Trend Summit, Yingren Technology, widely recognized as InnoGrit outside of China, announced the initiation of mass production of its enterprise-level YR S900 PCIe 5.0 SSD controller. Marking a significant breakthrough, the YR S900 stands as China's first domestic PCIe 5.0 SSD controller. Operating on an open-source RISC-V architecture, the YR S900 is engineered to align with U.S. export restrictions, ensuring a seamless design and manufacturing process of the SSD controller. While Yingren Technology remains discreet about the specific process node to produce the YR S900, it's known that the controller embodies a versatile design, with compatibility extending to mainstream NAND from eminent manufacturers, and exhibits an impressive synergy with NAND from Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC).

The YR S900 is a quad-channel controller, offering sequential read and write speeds peaking at 14 GB/s and 12 GB/s, respectively, and is equipped with InnoGrit's third-generation ECC engine to optimize 4K LDPC encoding and decoding. This collaboration with Kioxia's XL-Flash results in a low 4K random read latency of 10us, highlighting its potential to deliver higher data throughput, increased stability, and extended service life. The YR S900 encompasses a comprehensive feature set, including FDP, SR-IOV hardware virtualization, CMB, and a range of data encryption algorithms. While the mass production of the YR S900 underscores a monumental stride in SSD solutions within China, it remains to be seen whether adopting this new Chinese technology will enter markets beyond China.

It has been over four years since the release of the Raspberry Pi 4, and in that time a lot has changed in the maker board and single-board computer landscape. For the Raspberry Pi Foundation there were struggles with worldwide demand and production capacity brought on by the global pandemic starting in 2020, and plenty of new competitors came to the scene to offer ready to order alternatives to the venerable RPi 4. Today however the production woes have been assuaged and a new generation of Raspberry Pi is here; the Raspberry Pi 5.

Raspberry Pi 5 is being announced in advance of availability unlike every prior RPi device launch. Pre-orders are open with many of the listed Approved Resellers on RPi's website starting today but unit shipments aren't expected until near the end of October 2023. As part of this pre-order scheme, RPi Foundation is withholding pre-orders from bulk customers and will be dealing in single-unit sales for individuals until at least the end of the year, as well as running some promotions with The MagPi and HackSpace magazines to give priority access to their subscribers. Genuinely nice to see, considering how hard it was to obtain a Pi 4 for the average Joe over the last couple years. The two announced prices for the RPi 5 are $60 USD for the 4 GB variant, and $80 USD for the 8 GB variant; or about $5 USD more than current reseller pricing on comparable configurations of the Raspberry Pi 4.

The latest Canalys data reveals that PC shipments (desktops, notebooks and workstations) in the US declined just 6% year-on-year to 18.2 million units in Q2 2023, marking a significant improvement compared to earlier quarters this year. Notebook (including mobile workstations) shipments were down 4% to 15.2 million units, bolstered by the return of Chromebook demand in the education sector. Desktops (including desktop workstations) suffered a steeper decline, with shipments falling 12% to 3.0 million units. The US tablet market faced a similarly modest decline, with shipments down 5% to 10.3 million units.

"Despite undergoing another year-on-year decline, the US PC market showed promising signs of improvement in the second quarter," said Ishan Dutt, Principal Analyst at Canalys. "With the buildup of channel inventories now largely cleared, pockets of demand strength are now being reflected in vendors' sell-in shipment performance. A key area that helped drive volumes was the return of demand from education institutions, backed by the latest wave of federal funding, ahead of a licensing cost increase for ChromeOS. This helped propel Chromebook shipments to 4.7 million units, the highest level since peak deployments during the first half of 2021."

EK, the renowned manufacturer of premium PC water cooling equipment, is pleased to unveil its latest accolade: the prestigious EHA Reader Awards 2023 for Best Custom Coolers. EK earned this award thanks to its innovative custom liquid cooling product line, Quantum, which elevates both performance and aesthetics to new heights. These coveted awards owe their existence to the discerning readers of nine influential European technology publications, with a total audience of 20 million.

This dedicated readership of enthusiasts, gamers, early adopters, and influencers has been the driving force behind the nominations and votes that culminated in this honor. Earlier this year, the EK-Quantum Velocity² CPU water block secured the European Hardware Award for Best Custom Cooling, reinforcing EK's commitment to delivering top-tier cooling solutions for PC enthusiasts.

A screaming goat once told me that October is the BEST month. Not just because it's full of pumpkins (yum!) or because all the skeletons in my save file finally fit in (aww!), but because Minecraft Live is back on October 15, and this year it's bigger and blockier than ever! If you've never watched our epic, once-a-year livestream before, then you are in for a treat. Not only do we spend an hour talking about Minecraft (our favorite topic), but we dive into news from Minecraft and Minecraft: Legends; share snippets of what you can expect in the future, and reveal the winner of the hotly anticipated mob vote!

Minecraft Live returns on October 15! Tune in at 1pm EDT for news, sneak peeks, the mob vote, and more! Once the mobs have been revealed, you'll be able to cast your vote via the Minecraft Launcher, Minecraft.net, or the special event server on Minecraft: Bedrock Edition from October 13. You can even challenge yourself to mob-tastic mini-games while you're there!

According to the latest report from Nikkei, HP, the world's second-largest PC manufacturer after Lenovo, is making strategic shifts in its laptop production bases. In a move that reflects broader trends among tech giants, HP is collaborating with various Electronic Manufacturing Service (EMS) providers to move a significant part of its laptop production out of China to other countries such as Thailand, Mexico, and eventually Vietnam. For 2023 alone, the production outside of China is expected to range from a few million units up to 5 million, a noteworthy figure given HP's total global PC shipments of 55.2 million units. Commercial notebooks are slated for production in Mexico, catering to HP's primary market, North America, with consumer laptops made in Thailand. Additionally, a shift to Vietnam is on the horizon for 2024. Thailand's mature PC supplier ecosystem is anticipated to facilitate a smoother transition for HP.

HP's reconfiguration of manufacturing locations aligns with similar initiatives by other tech giants. Dell, for example, is also reducing its reliance on Chinese-made chips and aims to manufacture at least 20% of its laptops in Vietnam this year. Apple has likewise commenced MacBook production in the same country. Several factors are driving these relocations, with rising manufacturing costs in China, including labor recruitment challenges and increased labor costs, being key among them. Geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China also weigh in on these decisions, especially since the U.S. is a crucial market for both HP and Dell. Despite the diversification, HP reaffirms its commitment to continue operations in China, particularly in Chongqing, a significant laptop production hub since 2008.

In response to persistent softening in demand, Samsung has taken a decisive step: a sweeping 50% production cut from September, with the focus mainly on processes under 128 layers. According to TrendForce's research, other suppliers are also expected to follow suit and increase their production cutbacks in the fourth quarter to accelerate inventory reduction. With this maneuver in play, Q4 NAND Flash average prices are projected to either hold firm or witness a mild surge, possibly in the ballpark of 0~5%.

Aligning with TrendForce's early-year forecasts, NAND Flash prices are poised to rally ahead of DRAM. With mounting losses for NAND Flash vendors and sales prices nearing production costs, suppliers are opting to amplify production cuts to help stabilize and potentially increase prices. Notably, NAND Flash Wafer contract prices kickstarted their revival in August. Given expanding production curtailments, there's optimism around the resurgence of customer stockpiling, further amplifying price dynamics in September. Yet, for this positive price trajectory to sail smoothly into 2024, a sustained curtailing in production and a robust rebound in enterprise SSD purchase orders are pivotal.

FSP has declared that it intends to update its entire 2023 PSU product lineup to include the latest "12V-2x6" power connector (part of the ATX 3.0 standard)—harukaze5719 posted about this development earlier today, citing a Quasarzone article. We heard mid-summer about PCI-SIG plowing ahead on an all-new ATX 3.0 connector to replace the 16-pin (12+4) 12VHPWR plug. They hope to introduce some key improvements with their new design, mainly in the areas of ease-of-use and safety.

TPU staffers had hands-on time with FSP's 2023 PSU product line at their Computex 2023 booth, showcased units were equipped with 16-pin 12VHPWR (at the time). Quasarzone's report (covering a recent press conference) has the following FSP power supply families listed with updates to the new "12V-2x6" standard: Hydro G PRO 1200 W ATX 3.0, Hydro PTM X PRO ATX 3.0 and Dagger PRO ATX 3.0.

The Xbox Digital Broadcast will be returning to Tokyo Game Show on September 21 at 6 pm JST / 9 am UTC / 2 am PDT. Tokyo Game Show represents a special time each year where we share news and updates on games that we hope will delight Xbox fans in Japan and across Asia. Players can expect to hear progress updates from Xbox and Bethesda Softworks and see a creatively diverse collection of games from creators predominantly located in Japan and across Asia. We'll also share exciting new games coming to Xbox Game Pass, which continues to grow with great content from teams all around Asia.

This year's broadcast will be available on Tokyo Game Show's official YouTube channel, as well as on select Xbox social channels in Japanese, English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, French, German and Castilian Spanish. It will also be broadcast with Japanese Sign Language (JSL), Australian Sign Language (AusLan), and audio descriptions in both Japanese and English. A full list of where you can watch the broadcast will be available the week of the show.

KLEVV, an emerging memory brand introduced by Essencore today, is excited to unveil its latest M.2 Solid State Drive, the CRAS C910 Lite, packed with advanced specs for unparalleled performance. As a new addition to KLEVV's M.2 SSD lineup, the all-new CRAS C910 Lite utilizes PCI Express Gen 4 x4 interface supported by NVMe 1.4, ensuring lightning-fast data transfer rates excellent for competitive gaming and content creation.

Available in multiple storage capacities, including 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB, the CRAS C910 Lite features strictly-selected 3D NAND Flash components, enabling impressive sequential read/write speeds of up to 5000/4200 MB/s and 4K Random Read/Write IOPS of up to 680,000/880,000.
A feather-light weight of a mere 7gram thanks to its revolutionary ultra-thin, single-sided SSD architecture based on the M.2 2280, the CRAS C910 Lite redefines compact performance, making it a perfect fit for a wide array of devices from nimble mini-PCs to sleek laptops.

Players who pre-order the Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition will get Playable Character Shang Tsung and have 5-day early access to the game beginning Sept. 14, 2023. Mortal Kombat 1 Premium Edition will be playable on September 14th at 10am PDT / 12pm CDT / 1pm EDT. Discover a reborn Mortal Kombat Universe created by the Fire God Liu Kang. Mortal Kombat 1 ushers in a new era of the iconic franchise with a new fighting system, game modes, and fatalities!

Mortal Kombat 1 is a brand-new title in the acclaimed Mortal Kombat videogame franchise that has sold more than 80 million units since its debut over 30 years ago. Developed by award-winning NetherRealm Studios, the upcoming game will introduce a reborn Mortal Kombat Universe that has been created by the Fire God Liu Kang, featuring reimagined versions of iconic characters as they've never been seen before. Mortal Kombat 1 is scheduled to release on Sept. 19, 2023, for PlayStation 5 (PS5 ), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

In the dynamic world of gaming, for Razer, few events stand as monumental as RazerCon. With each passing year, I'm proud to say that this global showcase of gaming excellence has evolved, highlighting not only Razer's latest innovations, but the many pushed boundaries, advances, and changes within the industry. More importantly, it is a celebration of the community and the very people that drive it.

The Evolution of RazerCon: From 2020 to 2022
I've been a key contributor to RazerCon for multiple years, and since its inception in 2020 to its latest edition in 2023, it's we've worked hard to ensure it's an important event for the Razer community. We started RazerCon as a way to connect with fans during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's become an event that encapsulates the heart and soul of gaming culture at Razer, all the while maintaining its roots of being a community celebration. Since RazerCon 2020 and every RazerCon after, gamers, developers, tech and lifestyle enthusiasts alike tune in for the latest news and innovations from Razer.

Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGO), a global technology leader that designs, develops and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, today affirmed its expectation that its acquisition of VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) will close on October 30, 2023, and provided an update on its progress with various regulatory agencies.

On August 21, 2023, Broadcom received final transaction approval from the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority. This follows legal merger clearance in the European Union, as well as in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, South Africa, and Taiwan, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions. In the U.S., the Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger waiting periods have expired, and there is no legal impediment to closing under U.S. merger regulations.

International Data Corporation (IDC) today published its second forecast for the worldwide quantum computing market, projecting customer spend for quantum computing to grow from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $7.6 billion in 2027. This represents a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1%. The forecast includes base quantum computing as a service as well as enabling and adjacent quantum computing as a service.

The new forecast is considerably lower than IDC's previous quantum computing forecast, which was published in 2021. In the interim, customer spend for quantum computing has been negatively impacted by several factors, including: slower than expected advances in quantum hardware development, which have delayed potential return on investment; the emergence of other technologies such as generative AI, which are expected to offer greater near-term value for end users; and an array of macroeconomic factors, such as higher interest and inflation rates and the prospect of an economic recession.