The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has released its Aurora exascale supercomputer to researchers across the world, heralding a new era of computing-driven discoveries. With powerful capabilities for simulation, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analysis, Aurora will drive breakthroughs in a range of fields including airplane design, cosmology, drug discovery, and nuclear energy research.

"We're ecstatic to officially deploy Aurora for open scientific research," said Michael Papka, director of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), a DOE Office of science user facility. "Early users have given us a glimpse of Aurora's vast potential. We're eager to see how the broader scientific community will use the system to transform their research."

At CES 2025, we stopped at the booth of cooling specialist Alphacool, which showcases several products aimed at both PC enthusiasts and data center operators. The company's portfolio included fans, reservoirs, distribution plates, and enterprise cooling solutions. The Core Stealth Aurora Fan features a metal frame construction and operates between 400 and 2,600 RPM. While the fan includes ARGB lighting effects, its primary focus is on airflow performance for high-powered systems.

For liquid cooling systems, Alphacool introduced the Core Reservoir, which uses an acrylic body with G1/4" brass connectors. The reservoir comes with an integrated VPP Apex or D5 pump and is designed for space-efficient installations. ARGB lighting is built into the unit, allowing for system illumination.

The 64th edition of the TOP500 reveals that El Capitan has achieved the top spot and is officially the third system to reach exascale computing after Frontier and Aurora. Both systems have since moved down to No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. Additionally, new systems have found their way onto the Top 10.

The new El Capitan system at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, U.S.A., has debuted as the most powerful system on the list with an HPL score of 1.742 EFlop/s. It has 11,039,616 combined CPU and GPU cores and is based on AMD 4th generation EPYC processors with 24 cores at 1.8 GHz and AMD Instinct MI300A accelerators. El Capitan relies on a Cray Slingshot 11 network for data transfer and achieves an energy efficiency of 58.89 GigaFLOPS/watt. This power efficiency rating helped El Capitan achieve No. 18 on the GREEN500 list as well.

Ampere has announced a significant update to its product roadmap, highlighting the upcoming 512-core AmpereOne Aurora processor. This new chip is specifically designed to address the growing demands of cloud-native AI computing.

The newly announced AmpereOne Aurora 512 cores processor integrates AI acceleration and on-chip High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), promising three times the performance per rack compared to current AmpereOne processors. Aurora is designed to handle both AI training and inference workloads, indicating Ampere's commitment to becoming a major player in the AI computing space.

According to ServeTheHome, Intel has decided to discontinue its high-performance computing (HPC) product line, Ponte Vecchio, and shift its focus towards developing its next-generation data center GPU, codenamed Falcon Shores. This decision comes as Intel aims to streamline its operations and concentrate its resources on the most promising and competitive offerings. The Ponte Vecchio GPU, released in January of 2023, was intended to be Intel's flagship product for the HPC market, competing against the likes of NVIDIA's H100 and AMD's Instinct MI series. However, despite its impressive specifications and features, Ponte Vecchio faced significant delays and challenges in its development and production cycle. Intel's decision to abandon Ponte Vecchio is pragmatic, recognizing the intense competition and rapidly evolving landscape of the data center GPU market.

By pivoting its attention to Falcon Shores, Intel aims to deliver a more competitive and cutting-edge solution that can effectively challenge the dominance of its rivals. Falcon Shores, slated for release in 2025, is expected to leverage Intel's latest process node and architectural innovations. Currently, Intel has Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 accelerators for AI. However, the HPC segment is left without a clear leader in the company's product offerings. Intel's Ponte Vecchio is powering Aurora exascale supercomputer, which is the latest submission to the TOP500 supercomputer lists. This is also coming after the Rialto Bridge cancellation, which was supposed to be an HPC-focused card. In the future, the company will focus only on the Falcon Shores accelerator, which will unify HPC and AI needs for high-precision FP64 and lower-precision FP16/INT8.

The 63rd edition of the TOP500 reveals that Frontier has once again claimed the top spot, despite no longer being the only exascale machine on the list. Additionally, a new system has found its way into the Top 10.

The Frontier system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, USA remains the most powerful system on the list with an HPL score of 1.206 EFlop/s. The system has a total of 8,699,904 combined CPU and GPU cores, an HPE Cray EX architecture that combines 3rd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs optimized for HPC and AI with AMD Instinct MI250X accelerators, and it relies on Cray's Slingshot 11 network for data transfer. On top of that, this machine has an impressive power efficiency rating of 52.93 GFlops/Watt - putting Frontier at the No. 13 spot on the GREEN500.

With the new Alphacool Eisblock Aurora 180° terminal, you can give your Eisblock Aurora GPU cooler a new look and gain additional options for connecting your Eisblock Aurora GPU cooler to your water cooling circuit. The Alphacool Aurora 180° terminal allows flexible connection options for all Eisblock GPU coolers. Perfect for extensive modding projects or for systems with limited space. The elegant design is perfected by a magnetic cover.

Flexible connections
The Alphacool Eisblock Aurora 180° terminal replaces the standard terminal of the Eisblock GPU cooler. It positions the connections above the backplate, significantly reducing the depth of the cooling block. With three possible connection options for each input and output - top, side and rear - the terminal offers maximum flexibility.

The Alphacool Core Flat Reservoir not only looks sleek with its aRGB lighting, but also offers flexibility with a total of 5 connections. The reservoir is made entirely of acrylic. The installation of a D5 or VPP pump is required for operation. Due to its flat design, the Core Flat Reservoir also fits in small cases.

Core Design
A key element of Alphacool's Core Design series are the chrome-plated G1/4" connections made of brass. In the Core Flat Reservoir, the connections are recessed rather than screwed into a thread, bypassing the problem of possible leaks due to cracking from the direct screwing of the connections into the acrylic. The connections are in two parts, fitted with an O-ring and counter each other when mounted in the acrylic. This not only ensures absolute sealing of each connection, but also allows for the clear and functional appearance of the Alphacool Core Design series.

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.

Alienware launches the next evolution of its Aurora desktop. As the gaming community has come to expect from Alienware, we design each new generation of desktop with advancements that enrich the gaming experience. With the launch of the redesigned Alienware Aurora R16, we're taking the Aurora R15's model for success and making it even better, ushering in acoustic and thermal improvements and a new space-saving design, all the while achieving the elite gaming performance gamers expect from Alienware.

Here's what we've been able to accomplish with Aurora R16:

• Optimized airflow: on average 20% quieter system, up to 10% lower CPU and 6% lower GPU temperatures.
• Space-saving: Up to a ~40% decrease in total volume than the R15, while internal volume remains unchanged at 25.2L.
• Versatile aesthetic: universal design that fits into more diverse environments.

All these benefits are attributed to a streamlined design language, titled Legend 3, which arrives in desktop form for the first time on Aurora R16.

What's New: The Aurora supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory is now fully equipped with all 10,624 compute blades, boasting 63,744 Intel Data Center GPU Max Series and 21,248 Intel Xeon CPU Max Series processors. "Aurora is the first deployment of Intel's Max Series GPU, the biggest Xeon Max CPU-based system, and the largest GPU cluster in the world. We're proud to be part of this historic system and excited for the groundbreaking AI, science and engineering Aurora will enable."—Jeff McVeigh, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the Super Compute Group

What Aurora Is: A collaboration of Intel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and the Department of Energy (DOE), the Aurora supercomputer is designed to unlock the potential of the three pillars of high performance computing (HPC): simulations, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) on an extremely large scale. The system incorporates more than 1,024 storage nodes (using DAOS, Intel's distributed asynchronous object storage), providing 220 terabytes (TB) of capacity at 31TBs of total bandwidth, and leverages the HPE Slingshot high-performance fabric. Later this year, Aurora is expected to be the world's first supercomputer to achieve a theoretical peak performance of more than 2 exaflops (an exaflop is 1018 or a billion billion operations per second) when it enters the TOP 500 list.

Alphacool at Computex presented a few new products that highlighted what the company has been working on. First off, we have the Apex Stealth Metal fan among the latest products introduced by the brand, hailed as the world's first computer fan designed with entirely decoupled propellers, bearings, and motors from the chassis. The design minimizes both the vibration and the noise generated by the fan. The fan frame is constructed entirely of metal, showcasing the fresh Apex design. Additionally, it employs a 6-pole motor. The fan is touted as being silent due to its HDB (Hydro Dynamic Bearing) design. The fan blades are also fine-tuned to achieve maximum airflow and pressure, though specific details will still be released. The Apex Stealth Metal fan will be accessible in black, chrome, and white variants. Also in the pipeline is a unique variant called Alphacool ES Stealth Metal Fan Black, specifically designed for "Enterprise Solutions," featuring an integrated ventilation grill. The Apex Metal fan SKUs will be available for around $30 or less.

Even more performance now also for RX 7900XTX Merc 310 GPU! Alphacool expands the assortment with the new and innovative Eisblock Aurora cooler for active water cooling of AMD RX 7900XTX Merc 310 graphics cards.

The enormous waste heat of the new graphics card generation is excellently dissipated with the cooler. Thanks to the particularly filigree fin structure, the cooling surface was increased and a very good water flow was made possible. The jet plate with revised inflow engine also distributes the water perfectly on the cooling fins. The full chrome plating of the copper base not only provides resistant protection against acids, scratches and damage, but also achieves remarkable homogeneity and significant gloss.

Eiswolf 2 AiO - now also for custom designs of RTX 4080/4090 and RX 7900XT/XTX GPUs! Alphacool presents additional innovative solutions for cooling Nvidia's Geforce RTX 4080 and 4090 and AMD's RX 7900XT/XTX graphics cards.

The enormous waste heat of the new graphics card generation is excellently dissipated with these coolers. The very good water flow and the large cooling surface are due to the particularly filigree fin structure. The jet plate with revised inflow engine also distributes the water perfectly on the cooling fins. The complete chrome plating of the cooler not only provides resistant protection against acids, scratches and damage, but also achieves a beautiful homogeneity and remarkable shine. The Aurora design of the cooler is kept visually calm and simple. This is evident not only in the cooler's design, but also in the wonderfully even lighting achieved via digitally addressable RGB LEDs.

Now even more compatibility for Geforce RTX 40XX GPUs! Alphacool expands the range for active water cooling of Nvidia's Geforce RTX 4080 and 4090 graphics cards with the new and innovative Eisblock Aurora coolers.

Compared to the previous model of the cooler, several optimizations have been made, which perfectly dissipate the enormous waste heat of the new graphics card generation. The modified fin structure enables a very good water flow and increases the cooling surface at the same time. The modification of the jet plate with revised inflow engine furthermore perfects the distribution of the water on the cooling fins. The chrome plating of the copper base over the entire surface not only provides resistant protection against acids, scratches and damage, but also achieves a beautiful homogeneity and special shine.

Even more performance for RTX 4070 Ti GPUs! With the Eisblock Aurora cooler, Alphacool presents a new, innovative solution for active water cooling of Nvidia's Geforce RTX 4070 Ti graphics cards in the reference design.

In order to dissipate the enormous waste heat of this graphics card generation, in the best possible way, numerous optimizations have been carried out on the water cooler compared to the cooler models of the 30XX card generation. The fin structure was adapted and enables an optimal water flow while simultaneously increasing the cooling surface. The modified nozzle plate with improved Inflow Engine ensures the best possible distribution of water on the cooling fins. The fully chrome-plated copper base is resistant to acids, scratches and damage. In addition, the chrome plating provides homogeneity and reflectivity that cannot be achieved by nickel plating.

With Core Storm and Core Hurrican, Alphacool provides further complete water cooling sets that contain all components for setting up a performance-oriented CPU cooling. The sets differ in that Core Storm comes with SoftTubes, while Core Hurrican comes with HardTubes. Due to the included mounting hardware, the bundled CPU coolers are compatible with all common mainstream sockets from AMD and Intel. Even AMD's newest AM5 socket can be water-cooled with the Core Storm or Core Hurrican sets with ease.

The sets are not only aimed at beginners, but also at enthusiasts. The selected components are optimally matched and come from Alphacool's DIY program. By using the Alphacool quick-connect coupling included with the Core Set, the loop can be easily expanded with additional components such as radiators, GPU coolers or sensors without having to drain or rebuild the water loop.

More performance for GeForce RTX 4090! With the Eisblock Aurora coolers, Alphacool presents two new, innovative solutions for active water cooling of NVIDIA's Founders Edition as well as MSI Suprim graphics cards.

In order to dissipate the enormous waste heat of this graphics card generation as effectively as possible, numerous optimizations have been made to the water cooler compared to the previous models. The fin structure has been adapted and allows a very effective water flow while simultaneously increasing the cooling surface. The modified jet plate with improved inflow engine ensures optimum distribution of the water on the cooling fins. The fully chrome-plated copper base is resistant to acids, scratches and damage. Additionally, the chrome plating provides homogeneity and shine that cannot be achieved by nickel plating.

Today, Alienware continues its mission to create premier gaming experiences with a triple-threat of new devices, including: a revamped Aurora R15 Gaming Desktop, a compact and feature-rich Tenkeyless Gaming Keyboard, and our second QD-OLED Gaming Monitor positioned at a lower price point. The new Alienware Aurora R15 desktop sees a significant performance boost, thanks to the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs and an armada of system refinements.

The Aurora R15 now also includes up to a 1350 W power supply (up from 1000 W in the previous generation), designed to support NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. Speaking of the graphics card, we repositioned the graphics slot to enable larger card designs (up to triple wide cards). In addition to offering NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series and 30 Series GPUs, Aurora R15 will also be configurable with AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics which pair nicely with our first QD-OLED AMD FreeSync monitor… more on that below.

Today, Logitech G introduced the Aurora Collection, a new collection featuring the G735 Wireless Gaming Headset, G715 Wireless Gaming Keyboard, G713 Gaming Keyboard, G705 Wireless Gaming Mouse and eight custom accessories. The new collection was designed to be gender inclusive, not gender exclusive, addressing the needs and wants of women gamers while also appealing to all gamers who are looking for a playful design and curated experience. The Aurora Collection has a distinctive aesthetic and design language while also allowing for personalization through custom accessories and color options. It also includes Logitech G's advanced gaming grade technologies like LIGHTSPEED high-performance wireless technology and Blue VO!CE microphone technology. The result is a collection of gear that invites all gamers to come as they are, while delivering the advanced feature set all gamers expect.

"Much of the gaming industry has been stuck in a one-size-fits-all mentality. But that hasn't reflected the wide range of consumers who are focused on self-expression and playing games for fun, and it certainly didn't fit Logitech's commitment to delivering solutions for all gamers. When we looked at our own gaming products, we realized we could be doing more," said Ujesh Desai, Vice President and General Manager of Logitech G. "With the Aurora Collection we've created a gender-inclusive collection centered around comfort, approachability and playfulness that supports our long-term commitment to enabling everyone to experience the joy of play."

Due to high customer demand, Alphacool is expanding its Special White Edition and now also offers the Rise Aurora fans in white. The fans perfectly match the white NexXxos radiators and the connectors of the Eizapfen White Edition in terms of color. The digital aRGBs create a unique illumination to complete the visual appearance.

Alphacool's Rise Aurora doesn't just score points for its design, though. Like the model in black, the fan is offered in 120 mm or 140 mm. Due to the high airflow (120 mm 154.1 m³/h | 140 mm 154.1 m³/h) paired with a high static pressure (120 mm 3.17 mm/H₂O | 140 mm 2.20 mm/H₂O), the fan is perfect for mounting on radiators of a water cooling system or for ventilating a case.

Intel has allowed the media to get a closer look at the next generation of silicon that will power millions of systems in years to come during its private Vision event. PC Watch, a Japanese tech media, managed to get some shots of the upcoming Meteor Lake, Sapphire Rapids, and Ponte Vecchio processors. Starting with Meteor Lake, Intel has displayed two packages for this processor family. The first one is the ultra-compact, high-density UP9 package used for highly compact mobile systems, and it is made out of silicon with minimal packaging to save space. The second one is a traditional design with more oversized packaging, designed for typical laptop/notebook configurations.

Alphacool expands the portfolio of the Enterprise Solutions series for graphics card water coolers and presents today the new ES RTX A5000 GPU cooler. The PNY NVIDIA RTX A5000 GPU can now be actively water-cooled with Alphacool's ES RTX full-cover copper cooler.

The water cooler is made of copper and acetal and comes with an aluminium backplate. It is specially designed for use in tight server cases. In order to save space in width and height, the connections have been moved to the rear of the block, which also enables easier tubing within the server rack. Despite its compact design, this acetal water cooler has the same performance features as the coolers in the Eisblock Aurora acrylic series. Smart and efficient.

Team Liquid and longtime partner Alienware are launching The Pro Lab, a groundbreaking global training program. This initiative aims to quantify and analyze core cognitive skills that define a successful esports athlete, transforming the professional training experience and establishing new industry-wide practices. Until now, professional esports training has been informed by disparate game-specific data and rudimentary KPIs. Team Liquid and Alienware saw this as an opportunity to develop an approach rooted in quantifiable game-agnostic data, focusing on cognitive skills synonymous with peak competitive performance such as anticipatory skills, divided attention, emotional regulation, automaticity and more. The Pro Lab is a first-of-its-kind training space backed by esports science, fundamentally changing not only the way these athletes train but how they grow and evolve along with the industry.

Team Liquid and Alienware intend to eventually release findings in an effort to democratize the data and insights, encouraging industry-wide adoption of new best practices. The partners also plan to make the Pro Lab available to select students and academic institutions for additional research to continue enhancing training protocols. "Team Liquid has always been committed to putting its players first," says Steve Arhancet, Co-CEO and Co-Owner of Team Liquid. "The Pro Lab, in partnership with Alienware, is the next stage in that evolution. Our main focus will be working smarter to provide our players with the resources to learn about themselves, their habits, their strengths, and areas of improvement so we can continue to grow and compete at the highest levels."

At Intel's 2022 Investor Meeting, Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger and Intel's business leaders outlined key elements of the company's strategy and path for long-term growth. Intel's long-term plans will capitalize on transformative growth during an era of unprecedented demand for semiconductors. Among the presentations, Intel announced product roadmaps across its major business units and key execution milestones, including: Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics, Intel Foundry Services, Software and Advanced Technology, Network and Edge, Technology Development, More: For more from Intel's Investor Meeting 2022, including the presentations and news, please visit the Intel Newsroom and Intel.com's Investor Meeting site.