Q.ANT, the leading startup for photonic computing, today announced the launch of its first commercial product - a photonics-based Native Processing Unit (NPU) built on the company's compute architecture LENA - Light Empowered Native Arithmetics. The product is fully compatible with today's existing computing ecosystem as it comes on the industry-standard PCI-Express. The Q.ANT NPU executes complex, non-linear mathematics natively using light instead of electrons, promising to deliver at least 30 times greater energy efficiency and significant computational speed improvements over traditional CMOS technology. Designed for compute-intensive applications such as AI Inference, machine learning, and physics simulation, the Q.ANT NPU has been proven to solve real-world challenges, including number recognition for deep neural network inference (see the recent press release regarding Cloud Access to NPU).

"With our photonic chip technology now available on the standard PCIe interface, we're bringing the incredible power of photonics directly into real-world applications. For us, this is not just a processor—it's a statement of intent: Sustainability and performance can go hand in hand," said Dr. Michael Förtsch, CEO of Q.ANT. "For the first time, developers can create AI applications and explore the capabilities of photonic computing, particularly for complex, nonlinear calculations. For example, experts calculated that one GPT-4 query today uses 10 times more electricity than a regular internet search request. Our photonic computing chips offer the potential to reduce the energy consumption for that query by a factor of 30."

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.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and IPC solutions, is pleased to introduce the MT-N97 industrial computer. The BIOSTAR MT-N97 industrial computer is a compact, fanless powerhouse designed to meet the high demands of modern industrial applications. Tailor-made for system integrators, AIOT development, automation, edge computing, human-machine interfaces (HMI), and digital signage, the MT-N97 combines robust performance with unwavering stability, providing a reliable foundation for critical operations across various sectors.

Equipped with advanced specs that make it an ideal choice for high-performance, industrial-grade applications, the MT-N97 draws power from an Intel Alder Lake N SOC Processor (Intel N97, 4core, up to 3.6 GHz, TDP 12 W). It combines efficient performance with low power consumption, enhancing reliability and cost-effectiveness for continuous operation. The MT-N97's fanless design ensures quiet, noiseless performance, making it suitable for environments where minimal disruption is critical.

Intel is expanding its Core Ultra 200S lineup with seven new SKUs, a recent leak by @momomo_us shows. The leak gives details on non-K, T, and F versions across the Core Ultra 5 7, and 9 families. The top-end Core Ultra 9 285 will come in 65 W and 35 W versions. These match the 285K's 24-core setup but run at lower speeds. The 285T keeps the 4-core Xe built-in graphics.

The Core Ultra 7 series adds three models: 265 265F, and 265T. All share a 30 MB L3 cache being differentiated by different clock speeds. The T version has much lower base clocks. For the Core Ultra 5 series, the leak shows two models: 225 and 225F. Both have 10 cores running at 3.3/4.9 GHz (P-cores) and 2.7/4.4 GHz (E-cores), with 2 Xe GPU cores and a 65 W TDP. Unlike their higher-end models, this tier doesn't plan to have a T version right now.

ASRock, the global leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, mini PCs, and gaming monitors, announced today that its AM5 series motherboards are fully compatible with the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, maximizing its impressive gaming performance. This allows PC enthusiasts worldwide to be among the first to experience the exceptional capabilities brought by the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the first model released in the 9000X3D processor series. ASRock AM5 motherboards will continue to receive updates to ensure seamless compatibility with upcoming Ryzen 9000 Series X3D processors, delivering outstanding performance for gaming enthusiasts.

Users can download and install the latest AGESA 1.2.0.2a BIOS from the ASRock website or use the BIOS Flashback and Instant Flash features for an easy upgrade. ASRock recommends updating to the latest BIOS version promptly to ensure optimal system compatibility and performance.

RISC-V is an industry standard instruction set architecture (ISA) born in UC Berkeley. RISC-V is the fifth iteration in the lineage of historic RISC processors. The core value of the RISC-V ISA is the freedom of usage it offers. Any organization can leverage the ISA to design the best possible core for their specific needs, with no regional restrictions or licensing costs. It attracts a massive ecosystem of developers and companies building systems using the RISC-V ISA. To support these efforts and grow the ecosystem, the brains behind RISC decided to form RISC-V International—a non-profit foundation that governs the ISA and guides the ecosystem.

We had the privilege of talking with Andrea Gallo, Vice President of Technology at RISC-V International. Andrea oversees the technological advancement of RISC-V, collaborating with vendors and institutions to overcome challenges and expand its global presence. Andrea's career in technology spans several influential roles at major companies. Before joining RISC-V International, he worked at Linaro, where he pioneered Arm data center engineering initiatives, later overseeing diverse technological sectors as Vice President of Segment Groups, and ultimately managing crucial business development activities as executive Vice President. During his earlier tenure as a Fellow at ST-Ericsson, he focused on smartphone and application processor technology, and at STMicroelectronics he optimized hardware-software architectures and established international development teams.

iBUYPOWER, a leading system integrator specializing in high-performance custom and pre-built gaming computers, announced today the availability of Intel's latest Intel Core Ultra 200S series processors across its line of gaming PCs. Starting today, those interested in experiencing the latest in AI augmented desktop gaming can now integrate an Intel Core Ultra 200S series processor into an iBUYPOWER system backed by its extensive warranty that offers three-years labor and two-years parts for comprehensive post-purchase support.

The new Intel Core Ultra desktop processors are designed for a great gaming performance with AI at the forefront and industry-leading compute, at significantly lower power for desktop PCs, as iBUYPOWER customers with the new CPU can fully optimize their PC experience by offloading various tasks, auto-framing the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for smooth game streaming, and accelerating creative tasks - all of which is powered by three AI accelerators built into the processor to keep the user's data protected and private. This new generation of desktop processors also comes equipped with 20 CPU PCIe 5.0 lanes, 4 CPU PCIe 4.0 lanes, support for 2 integrated Thunderbolt 4 ports, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. Intel Killer Wi-Fi delivers supercharged wireless performance and enables seamless, immersive online gameplay through application priority auto-detection, bandwidth analysis and management, and smart AP selection and switching.

AMD continues to expand the AM4 platform with new processors, despite having already released 145 AM4 SKUs over the past nine years. According to Videocardz, citing a post from @momomo_us on the X platform, AMD plans to launch two new ones: the Ryzen 5 5600T and 5600XT. The leak was later confirmed on ASUS and MSI websites, with these 6-core CPUs appearing on lists of supported motherboards. The MSI page confirms that (at least) the 5600T is a Vermeer processor without integrated graphics. Additionally, AMD intends to make the Ryzen 3 5300G available to consumers as a boxed retail product; until now, this model has been available exclusively for OEM markets since its launch in 2021.

Going into more detail, these new SKUs have the following specifications: The Ryzen 5 5600XT features a 6-core design, 32 MB L3 cache, 65 W TDP, and a base frequency of 3.8 GHz. The Ryzen 5 5600T also has a 6-core design, 32 MB L3 cache, and 65 W TDP, but with a lower base frequency of 3.5 GHz. The Ryzen 3 5300G comes with a 4-core design, 8 MB L3 cache, 65 W TDP, a base frequency of 4 GHz, and is equipped with 6CU scale core graphics (no information regarding turbo clocks for any of these SKUs yet). As mentioned, the current lineup for the AM4 platform includes 145 SKUs, with the Ryzen 5000 series alone already having 20 models. While AMD's dedication to supporting the AM4 platform is admirable, a simple question arises: who will buy or distinguish these new AM4 SKUs from such a vast offering?

Flex today announced new reference platforms for liquid-cooled servers, rack, and power products that will enable customers to sustainably accelerate data center growth. These innovations build on Flex's ability to address technical challenges associated with power, heat generation, and scale to support artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.

"Flex delivers integrated data center IT and power infrastructure solutions that address the growing power and compute demands in the AI era," said Michael Hartung, president and chief commercial officer, Flex. "We are expanding our unique portfolio of advanced manufacturing capabilities, innovative products, and lifecycle services, enabling customers to deploy IT and power infrastructure at scale and drive AI data center expansion."

ASRock Rack Inc., a leading innovative server company, announced upgrades to its extensive lineup to support AMD EPYC 9005 Series processors. Among these updates is the introduction of the new 6U8M-TURIN2 GPU server. This advanced platform features AMD Instinct MI325X accelerators, specifically optimized for intensive enterprise AI applications, and will be showcased at AMD Advancing AI 2024.

ASRock Rack Introduce GPU Servers Powered by AMD EPYC 9005 series processors
AMD today revealed the 5th Generation AMD EPYC processors, offering a wide range of core counts (up to 192 cores), frequencies (up to 5 GHz), and expansive cache capacities. Select high-frequency processors, such as the AMD EPYC 9575F, are optimized for use as host CPUs in GPU-enabled systems. Additionally, the just launched AMD Instinct MI325X accelerators feature substantial HBM3E memory and 6 TB/s of memory bandwidth, enabling quick access and efficient handling of large datasets and complex computations.

Today, Intel launched the new Intel Core Ultra 200S series processor family that will scale AI PC capabilities to desktop platforms and usher in the first enthusiast desktop AI PCs. Led by the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 285K, the latest generation of enthusiast desktop processors includes five unlocked desktop processors equipped with up to 8 next-gen Performance-cores (P-cores), the fastest cores available for desktop PCs, and up to 16 next-gen Efficient-cores (E-cores) that altogether result in up to 14% more performance in multi-threaded workloads than the previous generation. The new family are the first NPU-enabled desktop processors for enthusiasts and come with a built-in Xe GPU with state-of-the-art media support.

"The new Intel Core Ultra 200S series processors deliver on our goals to significantly cut power usage while retaining outstanding gaming performance and delivering leadership compute. The result is a cooler and quieter user experience elevated by new AI gaming and creation capabilities enabled by the NPU, and leadership media performance that leverages our growing graphics portfolio." - Robert Hallock, vice president and general manager of AI and Technical Marketing, Client Computing Group.

Our preview of the Intel Core Ultra 2-series Arrow Lake-S desktop processor family is also live

The title has no typo, and what you are reading is correct. Intel's flagship 128-core 256-threaded CPU Xeon 6980P compute monster processor carries a substantial $17,800 price point. Intel's Xeon 6 "Granite Rapids" family of processors appears to be its most expensive yet, with the flagship SKU now carrying more than a 50% price increase compared to the previous "Emerald Rapids" generation. However, the economics of computing are more nuanced than simple comparisons. While the last generation Emerald Rapids Xeon 8592+ (64 cores, 128 threads) cost about $181 per core, the new Granite Rapids Xeon 6980P comes in at approximately $139 per core, offering faster cores at a lower per-core cost.

The economics of data centers aren't always tied to the cost of a single product. When building total cost of ownership models, factors such as power consumption, compute density, and performance impact the final assessment. Even with the higher price of this flagship Granite Rapids Xeon processor, the economics of data center deployment may work in its favor. Customers get more cores in a single package, increasing density and driving down cost-per-core per system. This also improves operational efficiency, which is crucial considering that operating expenses account for about 10% of data center costs.

AMD continually sets the industry standard with its EPYC Embedded processors, offering exceptional performance, efficiency, connectivity, and innovation for networking, storage, and industrial applications. Today we are extending that leadership with the fourth-generation, AMD EPYC Embedded 8004 Series processors.

The AMD EPYC Embedded 8004 Series processor is designed for compute-intensive embedded systems, delivering exceptional performance for high-demand workloads while maximizing power efficiency in a compact form factor for space- and power-constrained applications. It also integrates a comprehensive suite of embedded features to further enhance system performance and reliability. Engineered to excel in the most demanding embedded environments, the AMD EPYC Embedded 8004 Series is perfectly suited for networking systems, routers, security appliances, enterprise and cloud warm/cold storage, and industrial edge applications, ensuring seamless handling of dynamic workloads.

PC Watch recently got hands-on with Shanghai Zhaoxin's latest desktop processor for some in depth testing and published a less than optimistic review comparing it to both the previous generation KX-U6780A and Intel's equally clocked budget quad-core offering from 2017, the 3.6 GHz Core i3-8100. Though Zhaoxin's latest could muscle its way through some multithreaded tests such as Cinebench R23 due to having twice the core count, the single core performance showed to be nearly half that of the i3 in everything from synthetic tests to gaming.

PC Watch tested with the Dragon Quest X Benchmark, a DX9.0c title, to put the spotlight on single core gaming performance even in older games as well as with Final Fantasy XIV running the latest Golden Legacy benchmark released back in April of this year to show off more modern multithreaded gaming. With AMD's RX 6400 handling graphics at 1080p the KX-7000/8 scored around 60% of the i3-8100 in Dragon Quest X, and in Final Fantasy XIV it scored 90% of the i3. The result in Final Fantasy XIV was considered, "somewhat comfortable" for gameplay but still less than optimal. As a comparison point for a modern budget gaming PC option the Ryzen 5 5600G was also included in testing, where in Final Fantasy XIV it was 30% ahead of the KX-7000/8. PC Watch attempted to put the integrated ZX-C1190 to work in games but found that despite supporting modern APIs and features, the performance was no match for the competition.

LG Electronics (LG) is excited to announce that its newest LG gram laptop featuring the Intel Core Ultra processor (Series 2) will be showcased at the Intel Core Ultra Global Launch Event from September 3-8. Renowned for its powerful performance and ultra-lightweight design, the LG gram series now integrates advanced AI capabilities powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processor. The LG gram 16 Pro, the first model to feature these new Intel processors, will be unveiled before its release at the end of 2024.

As the first on-device AI laptop from the LG gram series, it offers up to an impressive 48 neural processing unit (NPU) tera operations per second (TOPS), setting a new standard for AI PCs and providing the exceptional performance required for Copilot experiences. Powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra processor, the LG gram 16 Pro is now more efficient thanks to advanced AI functionalities such as productivity assistants, text and image creation and collaboration tools. What's more, its extended battery life helps users handle tasks without worry.

Intel today launched its most efficient family of x86 processors ever, the Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors. They deliver exceptional performance, breakthrough x86 power efficiency, a massive leap in graphics performance, no-compromise application compatibility, enhanced security and unmatched AI compute. The technology will power the industry's most complete and capable AI PCs with more than 80 consumer designs from more than 20 of the world's top manufacturing partners, including Acer, ASUS, Dell Technologies, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI and Samsung. Pre-orders begin today with systems available globally on-shelf and online at over 30 global retailers starting Sept. 24. All designs featuring Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors and running the latest version of Windows are eligible to receive Copilot+ PC features as a free update starting in November.

"Intel's newest Core Ultra processors set the industry standard for mobile AI and graphics performance, and smash misconceptions about x86 efficiency. Only Intel has the scale through our partnerships with ISVs and OEMs, and the broader technology ecosystem, to provide consumers with a no-compromise AI PC experience."
--Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 9000X3D series of processors with 3D V-Cache have been reportedly scheduled to arrive in January 2025 and should make a debut at the CES event, a few months later than initially expected. While disappointing for eager enthusiasts, the delay could signify that AMD is taking extra precautions to ensure a smooth launch and deliver a product that meets the high-performance standards set by its previous 3D V-Cache offerings. Delaying the new product launch could also be a strategic move by AMD to avoid potential supply chain issues or to align the launch with other product announcements.

We previously reported that the series will maintain the same cache size configurations as the last generation with 3D V-Cache, and it will just be an upgrade to up the performance of the new Zen 5 design. The launch of the 9000X3D series follows a smaller six-month gap from the regular Ryzen 9000 series, where the previous Ryzen 7000X3D and 5000X3D followed seven and seventeen months after the launch of their regular SKUs, respectively.

Tachyum today announced the final build of its Prodigy FPGA emulation system in advance of chip production and general availability next year. As part of the announcement, the company is also ending its purchase program for prototype systems that was previously offered to commercial and federal customers.

These last hardware FPGA prototype units will ensure Tachyum hits its extreme-reliability test targets of more than 10 quadrillion cycles prior to tape-out and before the first Prodigy chips hit the market. Tachyum's software emulation system - and access to it - is expanding with additional availability of open-source software ported ahead of Prodigy's upstreaming.

Today SiFive, Inc., the gold standard for RISC-V computing, announced its new SiFive Performance P870-D datacenter processor to meet customer requirements for highly parallelizable infrastructure workloads including video streaming, storage, and web appliances. When used in combination with products from the SiFive Intelligence product family, datacenter architects can also build an extremely high-performance, energy efficient compute subsystem for AI-powered applications.

Building on the success of the P870, the P870-D supports the open AMBA CHI protocol so customers have more flexibility to scale the number of clusters. This scalability allows customers to boost performance while minimizing power consumption. By harnessing a standard CHI bus, the P870-D enables SiFive's customers to scale up to 256 cores while harnessing industry-standard protocols, including Compute Express Link (CXL) and CHI chip to chip (C2C), to enable coherent high core count heterogeneous SoCs and chiplet configurations.

Akeana, the company committed to driving dramatic change in semiconductor IP innovation and performance, has announced its official company launch approximately three years after its foundation, having raised over $100 million in capital, with support from A-list investors including Kleiner Perkins, Mayfield, and Fidelity. Today's launch marks the formal availability of the company's expansive line of IP solutions that are uniquely customizable for any workload or application.

Formed by the same team that designed Marvell's ThunderX2 server chips, Akeana offers a variety of IP solutions, including microcontrollers, Android clusters, AI vector cores and subsystems, and compute clusters for networking and data centers. Akeana moves the industry beyond the status quo of legacy vendors and architectures, like Arm, with equitable licensing options and processors that fill and exceed current performance gaps.

Intel has officially started shipping the "0x129" microcode update for its 13th and 14th generation "Raptor Lake" and "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors. This critical update is currently being pushed to all OEM/ODM partners to address the stability issues that Intel's processors have been facing. According to Intel, this microcode update fixes "incorrect voltage requests to the processor that are causing elevated operating voltage." Intel's analysis shows that the root cause of stability problems is caused by too high voltage during operation of the processor. These increases to voltage cause degradation that increases the minimum voltage required for stable operation. Intel calls this "Vmin"—it's a theoretical construct, not an actual voltage, think "speed for an airplane required to fly". The latest 0x129 microcode patch will limit the processor's voltage to no higher than 1.55 V, which should avoid further degradation. Overclocking is still supported, enthusiasts will have to disable the eTVB setting in their BIOS to push the processor beyond the 1.55 V threshold. The company's internal testing shows that the new default settings with limited voltages with standard run-to-run variations show minimal performance impact, with only a single game (Hitman 3: Dartmoor) showing degradation. For a full statement from Intel, see the quote below.

In a statement for Tom's Hardware, Intel has announced a two-year warranty extension for its 13th and 14th Generation Core processors. This decision comes in response to widespread reports of crashes and instability affecting a broad range of models, from high-end flagship chips to mid-range offerings. The extension effectively increases the standard warranty period from three to five years for most boxed processors, with even the limited-edition models seeing an increase from one to three years. This move aims to reassure customers and mitigate concerns about potential long-term damage to affected chips. Intel has identified excessive voltage as the root cause of the problem, which has led to unexpected system crashes and blue screens of death (BSODs), particularly during gaming and other demanding tasks.

The company plans to release a microcode update by mid-August to prevent further degradation in unaffected processors. However, this update will not resolve issues in chips that have already experienced problems, and users with malfunctioning processors will need to seek replacements. The tech giant has faced criticism for its delayed response to the issue, which has plagued users for months. In its statement, Intel also addressed concerns about Via Oxidation, clarifying that while this separate issue was discovered in 2022, it is not the cause of the current instability problems. The company claims to have implemented fixes and enhanced screening procedures for Via Oxidation by early 2023, with affected chips reportedly removed from the supply chain by early 2024.

Cixin Technology, a Chinese tech firm, has introduced the Cixin P1 (CP8180), the region's first AI-centric consumer processor. This new chip aims to disrupt domestic markets by capitalizing on the growing AI PC trend, featuring up to 45 TOPS. According to IT Home, Cixin needed 15 months of research and development, 4 months for production, and 3 months of testing for their first CPU.

The Cixin P1 utilizes ARM-based architecture, similar to Qualcomm's successful Snapdragon X Elite CPUs. Built on a 6 nm process, the chip boasts a 12-core ARM CPU configuration, with eight performance cores and four efficiency cores, with a maximum frequency of 3.2 GHz.

MSI is excited to introduce the MS-C907, a robust and versatile embedded Box IPC designed to meet the demanding requirements of various industries. Beyond its suitability for the chemical industry, the MS-C907 is ideal for applications in factory automation, transportation, digital signage and retail.

Meeting the Needs of Multiple Industries
The MS-C907 offers robust performance, extensive connectivity, and durable design, making it an ideal solution for a wide range of industrial applications. Whether it's automating factory processes, powering digital signage, or managing smart building systems, the MS-C907 provides the reliability and efficiency needed for continuous operation.

CTL, a global cloud-computing solution leader for education and enterprise, announced today the introduction of the new CTL Chromebook PX141E Series. This series equips educators, staff, and students with the powerful performance and connectivity they need for all-day productivity. Easy ChromeOS device manageability combined with CTL's lifecycle services reduces the burden on IT departments.

"We are excited to refresh our product line with the next-generation 14" Chromebook. As the new powerhouse performer in our Chromebook lineup, we know our education and enterprise customers will appreciate the upgraded power, Wi-Fi, memory, and storage to support all day teaching and learning, while new conveniences such as the webcam privacy shutter and additional USB-A port enhance useability," said Erik Stromquist, CEO of CTL.