It looks like NVIDIA will launch its 4th GeForce RTX 30-series product ahead of Holiday 2020, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, with VideoCardz unearthing a leaked NVIDIA performance guidance slide, as well as pictures of custom-design RTX 3060 Ti cards surfacing on social media. The RTX 3060 Ti is reportedly based on the same 8 nm "GA104" silicon as the RTX 3070, but cut down further. It features 38 out of 48 streaming multiprocessors physically present on the "GA104," amounting to 4,864 "Ampere" CUDA cores, 152 tensor cores, and 38 "Ampere" RT cores. The memory configuration is unchanged from the RTX 3070, which means you get 8 GB of 14 Gbps GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface, with 448 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

According to a leaked NVIDIA performance guidance slide for the RTX 3060 Ti, the company claims the card to consistently beat the GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, a $700 high-end SKU from the previous "Turing" generation. The same slide also shows a roughly 40% performance gain over the previous generation RTX 2060 SUPER, which is probably the logical predecessor for this card. In related news, PC Master Race (OfficialPCMR) on its Facebook page posted pictures of boxes of an ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 Ti OC graphics cards, which confirms the existence of this SKU. The picture of the card on the box reveals a design similar to other TUF Gaming RTX 30-series cards launched by ASUS so far. As for price, VideoCardz predicts a $399 MSRP for the SKU, which should nearly double the price-performance for this card over the RTX 2080 SUPER at NVIDIA's performance numbers.

Phanteks today announced its high-performance Glacier G30 STRIX blocks and backplates for the ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080 and 3090 graphic cards. The new Glacier G30 STRIX water block is designed specifically for the ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3080/3090 graphic cards to get the best possible performance. The new G30 STRIX backplate also provides cooling to the back of the PCB while creating a clean aesthetic look.

The G30 STRIX water block uses premium materials such as a nickel-plated copper base, clear Acrylic top, black or chrome aluminium cover plates and industrial quality VITON o-rings to ensure the best reliability and longevity. The 6 mm copper base and large fin area transfer heat with reduced flow resistance for outstanding cooling performance. All critical components such as the GPU chip, VRAM, VRM and PWM controllers are directly cooled by the copper base and aluminium backplate. The water block comes with integrated D-RGB lighting that beautifully complements your build and can sync with Phanteks' D-RGB accessories and compatible third-party products.

ASUS today introduced a new iteration of their Strix Scope keyboard, the Strix Scope RX. The new keyboard is now offering ASUS-developed ROG RX Red Optical Mechanical Switches - ASUS is promising consistent wobble-free keystrokes, superfast 1-millisecond response, and up to a 100-million-keystroke lifespan. ASUS says these are the first switches in the world to feature a hollow-square stem design with embedded RGB LEDs to provide all-round per-key lighting, offering near-zero debounce delay.

ASUS calls attention to the twice-as-wide CTRL key, ensuring easy, infallible access during gaming sessions, and also mentions the Stealth Key (marked by, as they say, "iconic cloaked figure") which allows for immediate hiding of all open apps and sound muting for instant privacy (an interesting feature, wonder what its perfect use case would be...). A Quick Toggle switch allows to change the top keyboard row between Media or Function (Fn) key input. The keyboard also offers a single USB 2.0 passthrough, and features dust and spill resistance. The keyboard's top plate is built out of brushed aluminium. The ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX will be available from Q1 2021 in Benelux with an MSRP of €139.

Scalping bots and overpriced re-sales are the new reality of PC hardware launches. The same swarm that wiped out launch inventories of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards, now hit AMD Ryzen 5000 series "Zen 3" processor inventories across the US, reports HotHardware. Bots scalped out Ryzen 5000 series inventories using sophisticated scalping services such as Bounce Alerts, and scalpers quickly put their freshly acquired inventory to re-sale on eBay at exorbitant prices, with the likes of an $800 Ryzen 9 5950X being re-sold at over 50% premiums.

ASUS has warned that a similar fate awaits the first inventories of the Radeon RX 6800 XT and RX 6800 graphics cards, given that AMD has marketed these next-gen GPUs to offer performance rivaling those of the GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 2080 Ti (in effect RTX 3070), respectively. In the weeks leading up to the Ryzen 5000 market release, AMD issued anti-scalping guidelines to its retail partners, to ensure fair sales of hardware to genuine buyers, and to prevent scalping bots. We now know these guidelines were futile.

ASUS today announced ASUS EKWB GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards that are the product of a strategic collaboration between ASUS and EK and emphasize robust design, DIY convenience and high performance. Consisting of ASUS EKWB GeForce RTX 3070, 3080 and 3090 graphics cards, the series delivers an out-of-the-box solution for custom liquid-loop systems.

The precision of ASUS Auto-Extreme technology and stringent validation during manufacturing guarantees reliability, while the low hydraulic restriction split-flow cooling system maximizes thermal dissipation across critical components and demonstrates the very best of EK design. These high-powered solutions are elegantly combined to have a single-slot footprint, which enables compatibility with a wide range of chassis, including small-form-factor builds.

The processors may be a few days away from availability, but the overclocking records are already trickling out. Darklord posted a CPU-Z validation for a Ryzen 9 5950X 16-core processor overclocked to 5898.63 MHz (or roughly 5.90 GHz), with all 16 cores and 32 threads enabled, and dual-channel memory. It appears to be a straight up multiplier overclock with the multiplier set to 59.0X, and stock base-clock. What's interesting, though, is the core voltage that this feat took—a scorching 1.656 V. Other components include an ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Impact X570 motherboard, dual-channel DDR4-3600 memory, and basic GT 710 graphics. There's no word on cooling, but with this kind of voltage, an extreme method such as LN2 won't surprise us. Find the validation here.

EK, the premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer, releases a new Momentum Monoblock for ROG Maximus XII Hero - an Intel Z490 chipset-based motherboard. The EK-Quantum Momentum ROG Maximus XII Hero monoblock is made available in Plexi and Acetal versions. The Plexi model is featuring addressable D-RGB LEDs compatible with ASUS AURA Sync software that offers full lighting customization for every single diode, at any given time.

This is a complete all-in-one (CPU and motherboard) liquid cooling solution for Intel Socket 1200 Series Processors. The monoblock is covering the entire VRM section of the ROG Maximus XII Hero motherboard. This monoblock boasts the latest generation Velocity cooling engine, used in the EK Quantum Lineup to ensure the best possible CPU cooling without reducing flow to other components. It cools the CPU, as well as the voltage regulation (MOSFET) module. Liquid flows directly over all critical areas, providing the enthusiasts with an excellent solution for high and stable overclocks. Like every EK monoblock, the EK-Quantum Momentum Maximus XII Hero features a high flow design, easily used in systems with weaker water pumps or lower pump speed settings. The Plexi version of this monoblock comes with sophisticated addressable D-RGB lightning, which connects to a standard 3-pin 5 V D-RGB addressable header on the ROG Maximus XII Hero.

Intel today launched its Iris Xe MAX discrete graphics processor for thin-and-light notebooks powered by 11th Gen Core "Tiger Lake" processors. Dell, Acer, and ASUS are launch partners, debuting the chip on their Inspiron 15 7000, Swift 3x, and VivoBook TP470, respectively. The Iris Xe MAX is based on the Xe LP graphics architecture, targeted at compact scale implementations of the Xe SIMD for mainstream consumer graphics. Its most interesting feature is Intel DeepLink, and a powerful media acceleration engine that includes hardware encode acceleration for popular video formats, including HEVC, which should make the Iris Xe MAX a formidable video content production solution on the move.

The Iris Xe MAX is a fully discrete GPU built on Intel's 10 nm SuperFin silicon fabrication process. It features an LPDDR4X dedicated memory interface with 4 GB of memory at 68 GB/s of bandwidth, and uses PCI-Express 4.0 x4 to talk to the processor, but those are just the physical layers. On top of these are what Intel calls Deep Link, an all encompassing hardware abstraction layer that not only enables explicit multi-GPU with the Xe LP iGPU of "Tiger Lake" processors, but also certain implicit multi-GPU functions such as fine-grained division of labor between the dGPU and iGPU to ensure that the right kind of workload is split between the two. Intel referred to this as GameDev Boost, and we detailed it in an older article.

EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is proud to announce its latest collaboration with ASUS, the leading graphics card and motherboard manufacturer. The result is three GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards with a pre-installed full-cover EK water block. A match made in heaven for enthusiasts, demanding content creators, and gamers. This strategic collaboration between ASUS and EK brings new GPUs that emphasize minimalistic, robust design, DIY convenience, and high performance.

The Precision and Reliability of ASUS Engineering
Going the extra mile, the ASUS EKWB GeForce RTX 3090 and 3080 Series are built using Auto-Extreme technology to solder components to the PCB with extreme precision. All cards feature an aluminum backplate to prevent PCB flex and a single-slot mounting bracket made with 304 stainless steel for better corrosion resistance. Water block mounting is handled by ASUS during the manufacturing process, so each graphics card is ready right out-of-the-box to deliver high performance and reliability to customers.

ASUS today announced a new lineup of ROG Strix and TUF Gaming AMD Radeon 6000 Series graphics cards. The new AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series and the underlying RDNA 2 GPU gaming architecture herald a new era of Radeon graphics power. To get the most out of these exciting new GPUs, ASUS engineers have been hard at work developing ROG Strix and TUF Gaming graphics cards that deliver the high performance, low temperatures and quiet operation that enthusiasts expect.

The Radeon RX 6800 XT is one of the most powerful GPUs that AMD has ever built. As ASUS engineers began to sketch out the ROG Strix card, the raw power of the Radeon RX 6800 XT spurred design of a cooling system that could unleash its full potential. During this process, the ASUS team naturally turned to liquid cooling. PC enthusiasts the world over are already familiar with the benefits of all-in-one liquid cooling systems for their CPUs, and many of them have even added similar systems to their graphics cards using aftermarket kits to pursue the outer limits of GPU performance.

As if on cue, AMD add-in board partners have started teasing their upcoming custom-design Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards, which AMD claims are competitive with NVIDIA's fastest. Here's the first picture of the ROG Strix LC Radeon RX 6800 XT by ASUS, featuring a refreshing new board design that uses an AIO liquid cooler too cool the GPU, while other hot components such as the memory and VRM are cooled by heatsinks that are ventilated by a lateral blower. The GPU AIO cooler uses what looks like a 240 mm x 120 mm radiator. Both the cooler shroud and the radiator fans come with RGB embellishments.

Update 14:38 UTC: We also have pictures, courtesy of DonanimHaber, of the TUF Gaming RX 6800 XT OC, and air-cooled ROG Strix RX 6800 XT, which looks a lot like the ROG Strix series cards based on the NVIDIA RTX 30-series.

ASUS today has launched ExpertBook P2451, a lightweight business laptop that's ideal for all-round productivity, with military-grade robustness and corporate-level security. ExpertBook P2451 is powered by a latest-generation Intel Core i7 vPro processor and also features a dual-storage design, 13-hour battery life1, comprehensive I/O connectivity, and the ASUS SensePoint pointing stick. The compact chassis weighs just 3.42 lb and features a thin-bezel NanoEdge FHD display, which allows a larger screen to fit into a smaller chassis. A cleverly designed 180° hinge makes it easy to share content or collaborate with others. ExpertBook P2451 also features a durable aluminium-alloy lid, steel chassis bracing and E-A-R HDD protection.

ExpertBook P2451 provides all of the productivity features that modern businesses require. The latest-generation Intel Core i7 processor delivers fast and responsive performance while also featuring a dual-storage design that can be specified with up to 2 TB HDD and 1 TB PCIe SSD for ample storage and fast data access speeds. The ASUS SensePoint pointing stick allows for more accurate cursor control, and 13-hour battery life helps when working on the go. ExpertBook P2451 also boasts a futureproof design that allows easy internal component upgrades.

PNY Announced today the addition of the new XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB DDR4 3600 MHz Desktop Memory to the Company's assortment that will deliver the overclocked performance demanded today combined with the brilliance of RGB lighting and unmatched style. Life today demands speed and performance in everything that we do. Whether for work, content creation, learning, or gaming - and we do game - the demand for speed and performance has never been greater and as such, to count on components that deliver this speed and performance is not a luxury but a must. Consider it delivered.

Winning in extreme game titles demands higher framerates allowing for faster on-screen loading letting gamers perform at their best. Faster memory means less bottlenecking for modern CPUs and GPUs that thrive off high speed RAM. The PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB DDR4 3600 MHz Desktop Memory delivers the required Overclocked Performance and supports XMP 2.0 technology to provide a superior gaming experience.

ASUS today announced the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Crosshair VIII Dark Hero, TUF Gaming X570 Pro (WiFi) and ROG Strix B550-XE Gaming WiFi—three gaming motherboards designed for gaming builds featuring the latest-generation AMD Ryzen Zen 3 architecture processors. In addition to the latest X570 and B550 motherboards, all ASUS 500 series motherboards (X570, B550 and A520) are ready for AMD Ryzen Zen 3 architecture processors.

ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero
The AMD X570 platform features extensive PCI Express 4.0 connectivity ripe for the latest graphics cards and SSDs. The chipset's copious bandwidth necessitates a robust cooling solution to deliver sustained performance, and that challenge is typically tackled by neatly pairing a heatsink with an embedded fan that spins up on demand. ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero is the first ASUS X570 board to implement a completely passive cooling design, featuring a sizeable heatsink that extends from the chipset zone to the space between the PCIe slots. The additional surface area helps keep thermals under control even when the motherboard is loaded with a full complement of hardware, laying a compelling foundation for enthusiast PC builds.

ASUS has held its Republic of Gamers (ROG) day, and at the event, there was a special graphics card. Spotted there was a GeForce RTX 3090 GPU in the form of ASUS ROG STRIX GUNDAM edition. With an appeal based on a famous anime series GUNDAM, ASUS has decided to launch a new product line made up of a motherboard and a graphics card. The new ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG STRIX GUNDAM Edition features the same specifications as the regular RTX 3090 edition, just with an increased clock speed of 1890 MHz, three 8-pin power connectors, and a maximum power limit of 480 Watts.

The card features a white triple slot body with three fans cooling the heatsink. When it comes to the availability of this card, it is said to be a limited edition only sold to the Asian market. The price tag will carry a premium over the regular ROG STRIX model, with a cost of 16,999 Yuans (~2530 USD). The standard ROG STRIX model comes at a 1799 USD price tag, meaning that you will pay 730 USD more for this limited edition product. The availability is supposedly going to be even worse than with current cards, meaning that only a few people will get their hands on these if the current situation is any reference.More pictures follow.

ASUS today announced the launch of the ExpertCenter D500SA, a sleek, ultra-compact PC desktop powerhouse that's designed to meet the business needs of professionals, remote workers, and small business owners. The D500SA is equipped with the 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor, with up to 12 GB of DDR4 RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage, providing exceptional and dependable performance for everyday office tasks. The D500SA's business-focused design and small, flexible form factor fits in any workspace while also being eco-friendly with its power consumption capabilities.

The ExpertCenter D500SA is the latest addition to the ASUS Expert Series, including ExpertCenter desktops and ExpertBook laptops, which are designed with modern business needs and priorities in mind. Each Expert Series product provides exceptional performance, proven reliability, management and security features geared toward businesses of all sizes.

Today there is some quite interesting information circulating the web regarding ASUS and its alleged decision. Going a few months back, AMD released a statement regarding the support for its upcoming Ryzen 5000 series CPUs and said that it should enable compatibility with the last-generation X470 and B450 chipset. That, however, has remained a bit of mystery. The update is baked-in with the BIOS, which every manufacturer, like MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, etc. provides independently of AMD. So it is a manufacturer-dependant case, where if one vendor chooses not to provide support for 400 series chipsets, many motherboards will not support new CPU generation.

Update Oct 14th: ASUS has reached out to us and said that "ASUS will provide updated BIOS' for the X470 and B450 chipsets based on AMD's current release schedule of new AGESA code in January 2021. This original report was based on incorrect information." This means that the customer support case contained wrong information, and ASUS is going to support 5000 series Ryzen CPUs on 400 series chipsets. Please note that the information below is incorrect.

Here's the first picture of the ASUS ROG Maximus XII Extreme Gundam, a new Socket LGA1200 motherboard based on the Intel Z490 chipset, courtesy of VideoCardz. Based on the original Maximus XII Extreme, the Extreme Gundam is a step-up, and comes with a custom-design full-coverage water block, and styling resembling that of a Gundam mecha. Vast bits of silver covering the acrylic top of the FC block, fuse with bright bits of blue, red, and yellow. Supplied by EK Water Blocks, the full-coverage water block cools the processor, CPU VRM, and the Z490 PCH. It's also possible that the M.2 heatsinks on the board shed some of their heat onto the block. The board is otherwise identical to the original Maximus XII Extreme. We're also getting to learn that ASUS has a whole lineup of products planned, based on the Gundam theme.

ASUS today announced the launch of the ExpertCenter D700SA Small Form Factor, a sleek powerhouse desktop that's designed to deliver performance with a cutting-edge 10th Gen Intel Core processor, with up to 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage. The D700SA also supports professional- grade graphics cards for those requiring advanced performance for demanding visual tasks. This business-focused design not only fits in any workspace but also ensures that work professionals have the efficient power, built in security, and the durability needed when getting the job done.

ExpertCenter D700 is a business focused design that streamlines your workspace by saving space, while also receiving consistent performance at a minimal noise level. This compact and flexible desktop features powerful performance that's powered by 10th Gen Intel Core processor, with up to 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and up to three displays can be used simultaneously without adding an extra graphics card. It's also ready to connect with its full array of I/O ports to a wide range of business peripherals, and even has seven front-mounted USB ports — including the latest USB Type-C (USB-C ) ports for quick and easy access. Flexible serial and parallel ports on chassis leave more PCI slots available for additional upgrades. A smart-card reader and a SD card reader for an easy transaction, data transfer, or other business-related tasks.

As we explained in our older article about the new ASUS ROG Crosshair XII Dark Hero, AMD's Ryzen 5000 series Socket AM4 processors based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture are unlikely to be accompanied by a new chipset, presenting motherboard makers with the opportunity to refresh their AMD 500-series chipset product stacks with new products. ASUS has a new premium product based on the AMD X570, in the form of the ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero. The company also unveiled a premium product based on the AMD B550 chipset—the ROG Strix B550-XE Gaming. While the Dark Hero is an incremental upgrade over the original Crosshair VIII Hero while retaining the PCB design, this particular board appears to be largely based on the ROG Strix B550-E Gaming.

ASUS has traditionally used the "XE" brand extension for ROG Strix series motherboard refreshes to denote improved CPU VRM, and this appears to be the case with the B550-XE Gaming, too. The board features a meatier 16-phase CPU VRM, with a more elaborate VRM cooling solution that uses larger heatsinks, which are interconnected by a flat heat-pipe, and unless we're mistaken, a 40 mm fan underneath the rear I/O shroud. The rest of the board's feature-set appears to be identical to that of the B550-E Gaming.

AMD is expected to announce its 5th Gen Ryzen Socket AM4 processors based on the "Zen 3" microarchitecture later today, and it's rumored that these chips will not be accompanied by a new chipset. Motherboard vendors aren't missing the opportunity to refresh their product-stacks with new boards based on existing AMD X570 and B550 chipsets. ASUS has a new premium Socket AM4 product in the works, the ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero. We know this board is based on the X570 from its unchanged generation number "VIII," for this chipset.

From what we can tell, the ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero is based on an identical PCB design to the original Crosshair VIII Hero/WiFi. The changes appear to be cosmetic, with all of the board's heatsink design and color schemes aligning with the company's latest ROG generation (eg: the Maximus XII Hero). Another interesting spot by our readers is that the board lacks a chipset fan, and makes do with passive cooling for the X570. Dark, diagonal ridges replace the smooth brushed metal with chrome-like accents of the original. It remains to be seen if the new wave of AM4 motherboards come with out-of-the-box support for Ryzen 5000 series, since the data-sheet for the Dark Hero only mentions 2nd- and 3rd-Gen Ryzen chips. In any case, the board supports USB BIOS Flashback, and all AMD 500-series chipset motherboards are expected to receive Ryzen 5000 support through BIOS updates.Update 12:32 UTC: ASUS mentions the two key areas of development for the Dark Hero are a completely fanless chipset cooling solution, and the use of 90 A DrMOS in the CPU VRM (compared to 60 A on the original).

Simply NUC, Inc, a leading mini computer integration company, today is announcing a new product line of mini PCs which will be based on the ASUS PN50, an ultracompact computer featuring 4000 Series AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors with Radeon Graphics. Aspen is in production and Simply NUC is now taking orders. "We are pleased to extend our AMD offering as we enter a new relationship with ASUS," said Aaron Rowsell, Simply NUC CEO. "Our Aspen product line has a rich set of features packed into a tiny form factor that will appeal to a broad offering of home and business usages."

Four new SKUs are being added to the Simply NUC mini PC product portfolio. High performing SKUs, ASPN50r8 and ASPN50r7 sport AMD Ryzen R7-4800U and R7-47000U processors with Radeon Vega 8 and Vega 7 graphics. And Simply NUC is also offering ASPN50r5 and ASPN50r3 SKUs enabling more affordable price points.

ASUS today introduced the ROG Strix XG32VC gaming monitor. This 31.5-inch curved gaming monitor features an 1800R curvature, and offers WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) native resolution, using a VA panel. Adding to its gaming chops are 1 ms (MPRT) response time, 170 Hz refresh rate, DisplayHDR 400 compliance, ELMB Sync, and support for both AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and NVIDIA G-SYNC (compatible). The panel offers 10 bpc color (1.07 billion colors), 178°/178° viewing angles, 400 cd/m² maximum brightness, and 3000:1 static contrast ratio. Display inputs include DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 2.0, and USB-C.

Besides these, the ASUS ROG Strix XG32VC offers GamePlus, a collection of features that include an OSD crosshair, timers, FPS counter, and manual multi-display alignment; and GameVisual, a collection of display settings presets optimized for the various game genres. You also get TUV Rhineland-certified low blue-light output and flicker-free brightness adjustments. A unique feature with the XG32VC is an integrated KVM, which lets you share the display and input devices between two physically separate PCs. Just plug your input devices to the monitor's downstream USB ports, the upstream USB and display inputs to the two different PCs, the KVM handles the rest. The company didn't reveal pricing.

AMD's Socket AM4 platform accommodates PC builders of all stripes. Those who need the latest connectivity and features can choose an X570 or B550 motherboard to enable the next-gen PCI Express 4.0 interconnect for the graphics cards and storage devices. Not every PC builder needs to be on the cutting edge, though, and the attainable B450 platform is tailor-made for systems where value is the most important consideration. We're boosting the bang-for-the-buck of this platform with a refreshed family of ASUS B450 motherboards.

Going with one of our refreshed B450 boards for the foundation of your build gives you more flexibility in how you allocate resources in your next Ryzen system. You might be able to choose a faster processor, a boosted graphics card, a bigger, future-proof power supply, or quieter, more robust CPU cooling. The latest Ryzen 3000-series processors will be right at home in our buffed-up B450 boards, and you can still install first- and second-generation Ryzen CPUs in these boards if need be.

(UPDATE 28SEPT 16H31 GMT: Updated the MSI section with changes in the RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio store page).

Compounding the limited availability with the crash to desktop issues users have been experiencing with NVIDIA's recent RTX 3080/3090 graphics cards have led to rivers of digital ink being run on NVIDIA's latest RTX-30 series. After we've reported on NVIDIA's PG132 "Base Design" and manufacturer-specific capacitor choices and circuitry, we've now seen many of NVIDIA's AIC partners actually respond to this issue, clarifying their choices in this specific part of RTX 30-series board design, as well as the steps they've taken (if any) so as to help solve the issues (which are thus confirmed as being somewhat related to these capacitor choices, even if they are not the root cause.)