Listings for Intel's Comet Lake-S desktop processors have been found on DirectDial a Canadian PC retailer. Comet Lake-S is the next generation of chips using Intel's 14 nm process and will feature up to 10 cores and 20 threads. The leaked prices reveals a significant fall in per core pricing from Coffee Lake chips however Ryzen 3000 will continue to dominate in pricing if this leak is correct, especially considering the lack of including cooling with the new Intel chips. Below are the leaked prices with direct conversions to USD.

• Core i9-10900 (10 cores / 20 threads, 2.8 GHz to 5.2 GHz): $679 CAD = $486 USD
• Core i7-10700K (8 cores / 16 threads, 3.8 GHz to 5.1 GHz): $585 CAD = $419 USD
• Core i7-10700 (8 cores / 16 threads, 2.9 GHz to 4.8 GHz): $506 CAD = $362 USD

(Update, March 4th: Another NVIDIA graphics card has been discovered in the Geekbench database, this one featuring a total of 124 CUs. This could amount to some 7,936 CUDA cores, should NVIDIA keep the same 64 CUDA cores per CU - though this has changed in the past, as when NVIDIA halved the number of CUDA cores per CU from Pascal to Turing. The 124 CU graphics card is clocked at 1.1 GHz and features 32 GB of HBM2e, delivering a score of 222,377 points in the Geekbench benchmark. We again stress that these can be just engineering samples, with conservative clocks, and that final performance could be even higher).

NVIDIA is expected to launch its next-generation Ampere lineup of GPUs during the GPU Technology Conference (GTC) event happening from March 22nd to March 26th. Just a few weeks before the release of these new GPUs, a Geekbench 5 compute score measuring OpenCL performance of the unknown GPUs, which we assume are a part of the Ampere lineup, has appeared. Thanks to the twitter user "_rogame" (@_rogame) who obtained a Geekbench database entry, we have some information about the CUDA core configuration, memory, and performance of the upcoming cards.

Another day, another speculative execution vulnerability found inside Intel processors. This time we are getting a new vulnerability called "CacheOut", named after the exploitation's ability to leak data stored inside CPU's cache memory. Dubbed CVE-2020-0549: "L1D Eviction Sampling (L1Des) Leakage" in the CVE identifier system, it is rated with a CVSS score of 6.5. Despite Intel patching a lot of similar exploits present on their CPUs, the CacheOut attack still managed to happen.

The CacheOut steals the data from the CPU's L1 cache, and it is doing it selectively. Instead of waiting for the data to become available, the exploit can choose which data it wants to leak. The "benefit" of this exploit is that it can violate almost every hardware-based security domain meaning that the kernel, co-resident VMs, and SGX (Software Guard Extensions) enclaves are in trouble. To mitigate this issue, Intel provided a microcode update to address the shortcomings of the architecture and they recommended possible mitigations to all OS providers, so you will be protected once your OS maker releases a new update. For a full list of processors affected, you can see this list. Additionally, it is worth pointing out that AMD CPUs are not affected by this exploit.

Not content to let AsRock call out all of the enthusiast's attention for today, XFX has (perhaps not so inadvertently) leaked their upcoming interpretation of the AMD RX 5600 XT. Named the THICC II PRO STAGING (that's somewhere between a mouthful and two), it apparently features the same cooling solution as the RX 5500 XT THICC II PRO as well as a similar color scheme - black and bronze. According to XFX, the RX 5600 XT does indeed feature 2304 Stream Processors and 6 GB of 12 Gbps GDDR6 in a 192-bit memory configuration.

The graphics card isn't actually that bad of a looker with its rounded edges and almost full-black industrial design. XFX are quoting a game clock at 1460 MHz, which is higher than what has been leaked as the AMD reference. Video output includes 1x HDMI and 3x DisplayPort. XFX offers a three year limited warranty on the graphics card.

The folks over at Videocardz managed to snag some impressive information on AMD-s upcoming Threadripper lineup - their launch dates. According to the tech publication, a source within AMD provided information regarding previously-set dates for paper and hardware launches that stand at November 5th for the formal announcement of the next generation HEDT CPUs, followed by lifted embargos on reviews and actual product availability come November 19th. Apparently, AMD will only launch the Threadripper 3960X and 3970X come November 5th (remember remember the 5th of November), with a product announcement for the Threadripper 3990X which will only be launched in January 2020.

AMD will also formally unveil their next-gen Threadripper TRX40 platformon November 5th (which won't be compatible with previous-gen Threadrippers). This makes sense - CPUs without a platform to pin them onto doesn't seem like a conscientious business decision. No information was available on clockspeeds and core counts at this time, though the Threadripper 3960X, the base of the new lineup, is expected to sport 24 cores and 48 threads of Zen 2 goodness.

Intel's development of their Core architecture in the post-Ryzen world has been slow, with solutions slowly creeping up in core counts with every new CPU release - but much slowly than rival AMD's efforts. Before Intel can capitalize on a new, more scalable and power-efficient architecture, though, it has to deliver performance and core count increases across its product line to stay as relevant as possible against a much revitalized rival. Enter Comet Lake-S: the desktop parts of Intel's new round of consumer CPUs, which will reportedly see an increase in the maximum core count to a 10-core design. This 10-core design, however, comes with an increase in power consumption (up to 135 W), and the need, once again, for beefier power delivery systems in a new, LGA 1200 package (with 9 more pins that the current LGA 1151).

The move to a new socket and the more stringent power requirements give Intel the opportunity to refresh its chipset offerings once again. If everything stays the same (and there's no reason it should change), new Z470 and Z490 chipsets should be some of the higher tier offerings for builders to pair with their motherboards. The new Comet Lake-S CPUs will still be built in the now extremely refined 14 nm process, and allegedly keep the same 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes as current Coffee Lake Refresh offerings. The new CPU offerings from Intel are expected to roll out in Q1 2020.

EK the premium liquid cooling gear manufacturer is releasing the EK-Leak Tester. A fast and safe way of testing for possible leaks in your liquid cooling loop. While traditional leak testing works, it requires hours before very small leaks are detected and then things can get messy. The EK-Leak Tester does the job way better!

The main body is a solid piece of CNC machined aluminium. One end is fitted with a revolvable male G1/4" connection port so it can be directly screwed onto any standard port in your liquid cooling loop. The gauge is custom made for liquid cooling loop testing purposes, which clearly marks the safe pressure for testing. The other side of the tester is hooked up with a valve that will make sure no air is escaping through the tester unit. The small pump for pressurizing the loop is also included. However, for a maximum safety effect, EK suggests reaching a pressure you want for testing and leaving the tester on for at least 15 minutes. If no pressure drop occurs and the gauge remains on the same spot, you're good to go.

As we draw closer to the launch of NVIDIA-s upcoming, RTX/less GTX 11660 Ti graphics card, which is pegged to offer performance comparable to that of their previous generation GTX 1070, more and more partner cards - with their custom designs ready to go - are popping up. This time it's ZOTAC and its AMP and Twin Fan graphics cards, though there's not much more information.

The pictures offer some, though, as do ZOTAC's previous launch decisions when it comes to their AMPD and Twin Fan graphics cards. Both SKUs for the GTX 1660 Ti offer a dual-fan, single-slot solution, with a single 8-pin connector guaranteeing enough juice for both nominal and overclocked operation. A different PCB design is seemingly used between both cards, as the leaked renders seem to point towards. The AMP series will offer somewhat overclocked values for higher performance, and sports a lighter gray on the shroud, compared to the Twin Fan solution. Expect these to launch alongside NVIDIA's announcement, coming in just a few days.

Intel's Next Unit of Computing (NUC) systems have always offered a great deal of performance in a tiny form factor. Their current lineup which consists of Hades Canyon features Intel's 8th generation of processors and depending on model can also feature an AMD Radeon RX VEGA M graphics processor, that said, the vast majority of units utilize Intel's integrated graphics. The most potent these configuration is Intel's 100W 4c/8t i7-8809G with Radeon RX Vega M GH graphics. It delivers exceptional performance for the size, allowing users to play AAA games at high settings with stable frame rates.

Thanks to a member of the PC EVA forums we now have access to what appears to be a leaked Intel roadmap showcasing their Ghost Canyon X NUC systems. Set to debut in 2019/2020 Intel will be pushing multiple new CPUs for these systems including a 45W 8c/16t i9-9xxxH, 45W 6c/12t i7-9xxxH, and 45W 4c/8t i5-9xxxH. All three feature UHD graphics by Intel, however, what is most interesting there provisions for a single PCIe X16 slot. Now, in reality, the inclusion of a proper PCIe slot is unlikely, I would speculate due to the size that it is, in fact, an MXM slot which limits options to discrete mobile graphics processors which tend to be far more expensive for consumers. Still, more information is required before making any serious judgments one way or the other at this time.

We might need more than the fingers on our hands to count the number of times upcoming products have been inadvertently been leaked by a reseller, and CORSAIR is the latest to have joined this list when not one, but two separate Reddit users shared details of the upcoming SF750 80 Plus Platinum SFX form factor power supply. For those who came in late, CORSAIR began their venture into the SFX form factor for PSUs with the 80 Plus rated SF600 and SF450, at 600 and 450 W respectively, and with a relatively large 92 mm fan that resulted in an efficient, quieter-than-average small form factor PSU. This was followed up by the SF600 and SF450 80 Plus Platinum rated PSUs, and now we have word of the third entry to this series.

CORSAIR, Silverstone, and a few others have been trying to one-up each other in the PSU power density metric, and the leaked SF750 will definitely be among the leaders there. The leak came up via an error in the publication of user manuals, as confirmed by Jon "Jonnyguru" Gerow himself, and the product appears to follow the trend of the series with a zero RPM mode at low loads, and plenty of cable outputs. Interestingly, there appear to be two 8-pin EPS connectors for those wanting to go with an SFF build with an Intel or AMD HEDT platform as well. The SFF market never really got the boom it was promising, so time will tell whether this will be a positive boost or not.

Via its support pages, AsRock has spilled the beans on at least five of their upcoming motherboards based on Intel's upcoming Z390 chipset in their Live Update & App services. The naming scheme of these motherboards is in-line with previous ASRock lineups, and there shouldn't be any confusion as to their tiering. The motherboards hence confirmed are the Z390 Extreme4, Z390 Pro4, Z390 Taichi, Z390 Taichi Ultimate, and the Z390M Pro4.

According to a report from WCCFTech, Intel is prepping the release of the Z390 chipset and is gearing up to bring their Core i9 branding series to the mainstream desktop platforms. Apparently, Intel's renaming scheme serves as a way to add the required "branding impact" to the fact that the i9 series of processors is finally hitting the mainstream - but don't be deluded. As we've previously covered, Intel's Z390 chipset may well become a rebrand of sorts from the current Z370 chipset, after Intel found insufficient capacity at its 14 nm node (which has to cope with the vast majority of Intel silicon production, following the smattering of delays hitting its 10 nm process). Basically, Intel's Z390 chipset will bring forward features that weren't built on the Z370 chipset at its inception, but have since become part of Intel's lineup (read, for example, its H370 chipset): Intel Wireless-AC 802.11 AC and Bluetooth 5.0; Intel Wireless-AC Adapter; and up to 6 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Ports.

According to WCCFTech, there's only confirmation of an 8-core, 16-thread CPU (Intel Core i9-9900K); a 6-core, 12-thread one (Intel Core i7-9700K) and a six-core, six-thread part (Intel Core i5-9600K ). No confirmation on an i3 part has been had yet, but it's very unlikely Intel has shelved that part of their lineup. A 4-core CPU is simply too important - from a yield perspective, mainly - for Intel to shelve it - and there's still enough demand for these, even with AMD's many-core democratization push.

The folks over at Videocardz have gotten their hands on some renders of Corsair's upcoming RGB Pro memory, which takes RGB lighting up to eleven. Expect an announcement at or around Computex. For now, no specs have been revealed but we're giving you the opportunity to gasp, in awe, at the design of these RGB-tastic sticks.

It's been a while since Corsair pushed the upper end of its Obsidian series high-end PC cases. The Obsidian 900D has held the fort since 2013, but could be getting dated in the wake of newer standards such as tempered glass, RGB lighting, newer connectors, etc. Corsair is careful not to just make a mash of glass and RGB lighting; when designing its upcoming flagship case, the Obsidian 1000D super-tower (model: CC-9011115-WW), which leaked to the web thanks to an eager Amazon listing, in which it's priced at USD $500. The Obsidian 1000D retains the "for grownups only" styling of the series, with a beautiful combination of curved tempered glass, matte black aluminium, and subtlety in the amount of RGB LED lighting elements on use. The feature-set of this full-tower will blow any high-end case out of the water.

The front, sides, and top panels are made of curved tempered glass with aluminium inserts, and enough discrete air inlets for the countless fan mounts inside. The front-panel features four USB 3.1 type-A, and two type-C ports; in addition to audio jacks. Connectors are framed by RGB lighting diffusers. The case is highly modular, and you can either choose between storage-heavy configurations, or cooling-heavy configuration that frees up room for multiple liquid cooling loops. The rear I/O can be configured to be perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard with 8+2 slots, or parallel to its plane, with 5+2 slots. You can install E-ATX and everything smaller, but longer 10-slot form-factors such as HPTX and XL-ATX are a notable exclusion.

Continuing with its trend of leaking AMD slides, Spanish website Informatica Cero has now published some purported company slides leading up to AMD's 2020 strategy. New information concerns the appearance of a new, value-oriented mobile APU in the form of "Dali" - let's hope performance on that is slightly more predictable than the particular style of the artist whose name it follows. Dali therefore joins AMD's "Renoir" APU and "Vermeer" CPUs (both expected in the 7 nm process) for AMD's 2020 roadmap. This is an interesting product, which AMD is likely positioning for tablets and ultraportables.

Another interesting tidbit is AMD's outlook for their Threadripper line of HEDT CPUs. The company is looking towards its 7 nm rendition of these powerhouse chips, codenamed "Castle Peak", to bring them, in a literal way, to that figurative peak. AMD compares Threadripper to a Monster Truck of computing, and is apparently hoping to introduce Castle Peak as early as 2019. AMD then plans to further refine these "process inflection point" products in a new generation to come right after, in 2020 (much like the company has done now with Zen and Zen+).

Ahead of its launch product roadmap of AMD's next-generation performance-thru-enthusiast segment socket AM4 processors, was leaked to the web. It indicates that AMD could launch its next-generation Ryzen 2000-series "Pinnacle Ridge" processors with no more than four SKUs initially. These include the top-dog Ryzen 7 2700X, followed by the Ryzen 7 2700; the Ryzen 5 2600X, and the Ryzen 5 2600. Both Ryzen 7-series SKUs are 8-core/16-thread chips, while both Ryzen 5-series SKUs are 6-core/12-thread. There's also pricing for each of the four. The clock-speeds are also revealed below.

The Ryzen 7 2700X is being launched at a SEP of USD $369, and positioned against Intel Core i7-8700K. This is followed by the Ryzen 7 2700 being priced at $299, and fielded against Intel's multiplier-locked Core i7-8700. The Ryzen 5 2600X is, obviously, positioned against the Core i5-8600K, and priced at $249; while the Ryzen 5 2600 is priced at an attractive $199, and looks to disrupt several of Intel's Core i5 6-core SKUs around its price-point. Unlike many of Intel's SKUs, all AMD Ryzen chips feature unlocked multiplier, SMT, and a cooling solution. That's right, even the top-dog 2700X and 2600X include coolers, as opposed to their predecessors. The 2700X includes AMD's new Wraith Prism, while the 2600X and the other two SKUs include a Wraith Spire.

An artificial intelligence (AI) will deliberately tamper with your online gameplay as you scramble for more in-game items to win. The same AI will manipulate your state of mind at every step of your game to guide you towards more micro-transactions. Nothing in-game is truly fixed-rate. The game maps out your home, and cross-references it with your online footprint, to have a socio-economic picture of you, so the best possible revenue model, and anti buyer's remorse strategy can be implemented on you. These, and more, are part of the dystopian nightmare that takes flight if a new AI-powered online game revenue model is implemented in MMO games of the near future.

The paper's slide-deck and signed papers (with corrections) were leaked to the web by an unknown source, with bits of information (names, brands) redacted. It has too much information to be dismissed off hand for being a prank. It proposes leveraging AI to gather and build a socio-economic profile of a player to implement the best revenue-generation strategy. It also proposes using an AI to consistently "alter" the player's gameplay, such that the player's actions don't have the desired result leading toward beating the game, but towards an "unfair" consequence that motivates more in-game spending. The presentation spans a little over 50 slides, and is rich in text that requires little further explanation.The rest of the presentation follows.

Intel revealed specifications of its upcoming "Kaby Lake + AMD Vega" multi-chip module, the Core i7-8809G, on its website. A number of these specs were already sniffed out by Futuremark SystemInfo, but the website sheds light on a key feature - dual integrated graphics. The specs sheet confirms that the chip combines a 4-core/8-thread "Kaby Lake" CPU die with an AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH graphics die. The CPU is clocked at 3.10 GHz, and SystemInfo (from the older story) confirmed that its Turbo Boost frequency is up to 3.90 GHz. The L3 cache amount is maxed out a 8 MB. The reference memory clock is set at dual-channel DDR4-2400. What's more, the CPU component features an unlocked base-clock multiplier.

Things get interesting with the way Intel describes its integrated graphics solution. It mentions both the star-attraction, the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, and the Intel HD Graphics 630 located on the "Kaby Lake" CPU die. This indicates that Intel could deploy a mixed multi-GPU solution that's transparent to software, balancing graphics loads between the HD 630 and RX Vega M GH, depending on the load and thermal conditions. Speaking of which, Intel has rated the TDP of the MCM at 100W, with a rider stating "target package TDP," since there's no scientifically-correct way of measuring TDP on a multi-chip module. Intel could build performance-segment NUCs with this chip, in addition to selling them to mini-PC manufacturers.

A user by the name of 'Son of Sparda' posted a huge leak about Hideaki Itsuno's upcoming Devil May Cry 5 game for Capcom. The thread was created on the ResetEra forums yesterday and contains a lot of intriguing details and potential spoilers about the game. As Devil May Cry fans might know, this marks the fifth installment in the popular hack and slash franchise. Internally, the developers have bauztized the project as "Devil May Cry V". It appears that Capcom will drop the standard numeric system in favor of Roman numerals. We witnessed a similar trend with the Metal Gear Solid series when the fifth game was released as Metal Gear Solid V instead of Metal Gear Solid 5 like the previous four installments.

It's been a while since the last Steam sale, which took place during Summer. You may have a backlog with a size as big as the depths of Mariana's Trench, but Steam knows you won't lose out on an opportunity to increase that backlog. The company's plans and surprise announcements for these annual sales, however, have been cut short by some leaks.

Namely, it was originally leaked (and since removed) by Reddit by user DarkMio that the dates for the aforementioned Steam sales are as follows: the Steam Halloween Sale is running from Thursday 26th October to Wednesday 1st November; the Steam Black Friday Sale runs through Wednesday 22nd November to Tuesday 28th; and the Steam Winter Sale will run from Thursday 21st December to Thursday 4th January 2018. These dates have, in the meantime, been independently confirmed by EuroGamer. A bummer for Steam, but this unfortunate event for the company should allow us poor consumers to better plan out our 3D entertainment budgets accordingly.

NVIDIA's GeForce 10 series, codenamed Pascal, has been in the market since May of 2016. NVIDIA released both the GTX 1080 and the GTX 1070 using TSMC's new manufacturing 16nm FinFet technology. When they debuted, the GTX 1070 became a popular choice among gamers initially because it was the more budget friendly option between the two. Earlier this year, NVIDIA released the GTX 1080 Ti primarily aimed at the higher-end enthusiast crowd.

We have reported about the soon-to-be launched GTX 1070 Ti before, and we also saw a render of the Gigabyte offering yesterday. Adding to the fervor today, benchmark results for the GTX 1070 Ti emerged for 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme and Time Spy on the web. Although rumored to not overclock well, the GTX 1070 Ti paints a pretty picture for those looking to upgrade their gaming rigs. According to these early leaks, the GTX 1070 Ti bests AMD's Radeon RX Vega 56 in the Time Spy benchmark in both Turbo and Balanced modes for the latter, while trading blows in Fire Strike Extreme in balanced mode and losing to it in Turbo mode. Keep in mind, these are early leaks and more are sure to come as we inch closer to its release.

Intel recently concluded an event intended for local distributors in China, a key presentation slide of which was snapped and posted online. The slide confirms the company's product-stack for the mainstream desktop platform, and its augmentation with the first wave of 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" SKUs. The slide also confirms that Intel will be replacing current Core i7 4-core/8-thread SKUs with Core i7 6-core/12-thread ones; Core i5 4-core/4-thread SKUs with 6-core/6-thread ones, and Core i3 2-core/4-thread SKUs with 4-core/4-thread ones, marking the biggest fundamental update to the product stack since the Core MSDT family started out a decade ago, with the Core "Lynnfield" and "Clarkdale" processors.

The slide further describes per-core performance increases ranging between 11-29 percent owing to higher clock-speeds and a slightly newer micro-architecture, and 51-65 percent increases in multi-threaded performance owing to the increasing core-counts across the board. While these SKUs are expected to logically replace the various Core "Kaby Lake" SKUs from their current price-points, there could be a tiny price increase, across the board, which Intel could justify using the higher core-counts.

It appears that Intel's response to AMD's Ryzen desktop processors will be quite a departure from the norm for the blue company. That Ryzen CPUs with their price points are a disruptive piece of silicon is a well-known fact by now. However much we knew that, though, it appears that Intel really is giving a bold (some might say necessary) response to Ryzen's threat to their immutable (for so many years) CPU lineup.

There has already been a leak for the i3-8350K and i3-8100 CPUs for Coffee Lake; this second one comes more as a confirmation of what image was already forming in our minds. And it seems that Intel really is relegating their four-core, four-thread processors to the i3 tier, thus dropping its entire lineup by a rung. Some questions remain regarding Intel's i5 lineup: likely, entry-level processors of this tier ship with four cores and HyperThreading enabled. It's expected that some i5 models will carry six physical cores (absent of HyperThreading), though. This means Intel's clean segmentation, which started with Nehalem almost a decade ago (on the 45 nm process; do you remember that?) has been brought to an end. It also means my puny i5 will now be relegated to i3 territory, but that's... Life.

The team at Sweclockers have already received their Threadripper review kit. We know this because there was a short-lived video uploaded by the team, unboxing and perusing the contents of one of AMD's delicious Threadripper review kits. Videocardz, however, managed to snag some screenshots of the act, and that content is what we are bringing to you now. Also, kudos for that Dinklebot shirt - that wizzard might have come from the moon, but ours certainly hasn't.

TweakTown has put forth an article wherein they claim to have received info from industry insiders regarding the upcoming Vega 56's performance. Remember that Vega 56 is the slightly cut-down version of the flagship Vega 64, counting with 56 next-generation compute units (NGCUs) instead of Vega 64's, well, 64. This means that while the Vega 64 has the full complement of 4,096 Stream processors, 256 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 2048-bit wide 8 GB HBM2 memory pool offering 484 GB/s of bandwidth, Vega 56 makes do with 3,548 Stream processors,192 TMUs, 64 ROPs, the same 8 GB of HBM2 memory and a slightly lower memory bandwidth at 410 GB/s.

The Vega 56 has been announced to retail for about $399, or $499 with one of AMD's new (famous or infamous, depends on your mileage) Radeon Packs. The RX Vega 56 card was running on a system configured with an Intel Core i7-7700K @ 4.2GHz, 16 GB of DDR4-3000 MHz RAM, and Windows 10 at 2560 x 1440 resolution.