While semiconductors are exempt (for now at least) from Trump's tariffs, other components going into our PCs are not. According to Tom's Hardware, which spoke to multiple system integrators, tariffs are about to hike PC costs by at least 20%, with system integrators hurt the most. The tariff package imposes a 54% rate on Chinese goods, 34% on top of earlier tariffs, and significant duties on Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam products. These countries supply essential PC components such as SSDs, RAM, cases, and graphics cards. Wallace Santos, CEO of Maingear, highlighted the immediate effects on production: "Tariffs have a direct impact on our cost structure… which we have to pass down to our customers." He further explained that some suppliers have halted production in China, leading to scarcity and escalating costs. Santos estimates that prices for his PCs will rise "20 to 25% as a result of the tariffs."

Other company leaders express concern over the limited alternatives available. Kelt Reeves, CEO of Falcon Northwest, stated, "Sadly the overwhelming majority of PC component manufacturing is not done in the US and never has been. There's no US alternative supplier for most PC parts." Reeves added that even US-based system integrators are "facing skyrocketing costs" due to the tariffs, which are set to worsen an already challenging market situation caused by ongoing GPU shortages. Jon Bach, CEO of Puget Systems, shared his perspective in a recent blog post, noting that his company might absorb some costs to minimize consumer price increases. However, even before the latest tariff updates, Bach predicted a price rise of "20 to 45 percent by June." Critics of the tariffs warn of broader economic issues. Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, condemned the policy as "massive tax hikes on Americans that will drive inflation, kill jobs on Main Street, and may cause a recession for the US economy." With these tariffs taking effect, the PC industry faces a period of adjustment marked by increased costs and significant supply chain challenges.

Earlier today, industry moles in South Korea have heard whispers about Samsung Electronics planning a new pricing strategy for NAND and DRAM product lines. According to an MK news articles, local sources believe that company leadership will: "raise memory chip prices—by 3-5% from the current level—for major global customers. It is reported that some customers have already begun contract negotiations that reflect the increase conditions." Regional watchdogs posit that the megacorporation is reacting to very current geopolitical tensions (i.e. tariffs). Earlier this week, a main rival—Micron—informed customers about forthcoming memory price increases. Naturally, the North American memory chip giant is not "fully" affected by recent seismic shifts. A "significant growth demand" has caused jacked up charges—effective across DRAM, NAND flash, and HBM portfolios—projected throughout 2025 and 2026.

Returning to South Korean shores and Samsung, one unnamed semiconductor insider opined to MK: "oversupply continued throughout last year, but supply has recently decreased as major companies have begun to reduce production...In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) devices are appearing one after another in China, and demand for semiconductors is gradually increasing due to industrial automation." DRAMeXchange—an appropriately named market research organization—has kept track relevant trends. As disclosed by the MK news piece—as of last month, general-purpose DRAM DDR4 prices: "remained flat for the fourth month in a row." Looking at conditions for DDR5 (used in high-performance PCs and enterprise equipment), prices soared by 12%. DRAMeXchange observed NAND costs rising by 9.6%: "continuing an upward trend for the third consecutive month."

According to a fresh Money Today SK news article, Samsung is expected to launch a next-generation Galaxy Ring model later this year—this tiny wearable device is touted to operate with a "dream battery" design. The South Korean giant's Electro-Mechanics division is reportedly tasked with the challenging development of "all-solid-state" batteries for all manner of ultraportable products. Yesterday's report suggests that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Ring sequel—apparently scheduled for launch within Q4'25—will be driven by the Electro-Mechanics team's pioneering effort. The production of all-solid-state battery units is an expensive endeavor, so industry watchdogs have predicted tough retail conditions for the forthcoming "Galaxy Ring 2" rollout—the original unit was not exactly a "hot property" in terms of sales figures.

Money Today's inside sources reckon that the Electro-Mechanics branch will—eventually—fit all-solid-state battery designs inside new-gen earphones (aka Galaxy Buds) by Q4 2026, and very futuristic smartwatches by the end of 2027. Given cost considerations, larger all-solid-state solutions—potentially for usage in smartphones—are not in the pipeline. Around early February of this year, the development of Samsung's (inevitable) "Galaxy S26" mobile series was linked to alleged 6000+ mAh silicon-carbon battery units. The South Korean's smartphone engineering team is reportedly trying to play catch up with more advanced solutions, as devised by competitors in China. The status of Samsung's proprietary silicon-carbon prototype is the subject of much online debate, but certain insiders believe that employees are still working hard on the perfection of an ideal "battery formula."

Over the past weekend Jukanlosreve declared via social media that Samsung's: "Exynos 2600 (mobile SoC) is definitely back, and it will be used in the Galaxy S26 series. But the chip volume is so limited that it'll likely be similar to the Exynos 990 situation. I'm not sure if SF2 is actually any good." Mid-way through March, the keen observer of semiconductor industry conditions posited that Samsung's Foundry business could abandon a 1.4 nm (SF1.4) process node. SF2 (aka 2 nm GAA) seems to be in a healthier place, according to insiders—thanks to rumored assistance from an external AI-specialist partner. The development of next-generation flagship Exynos smartphone processors are allegedly closely tied with Samsung Foundry's 2 nm GAA manufacturing process.

As alluded to by Jukanlosreve's recent prediction, the statuses of leaked 2 nm-based "Exynos 2600" and "Exynos 2500" chips were often questioned by industry watchdogs in the past. The latter is purportedly destined for rollout in forthcoming affordable "Galaxy Z Flip FE" models, albeit in mature 4 nm form. Vhsss_God—another source of inside track info—has weighed in on the topic of Samsung's next-gen chipset roadmap. Compared to Jukanlosreve's musings, their similarly-timed weekend projection seemed to be quite fanciful: "exclusive leak...Samsung doesn't want to use Exynos or Qualcomm Snapdragon chips anymore. S26 line is targeted to launch with the new Samsung developed chip (2 nm)—formerly referred to as Exynos 2600. (The company) will try its hardest to ditch Snapdragon on the entire Galaxy line next year." Perhaps there is too much of a negative stigma attached to Samsung's long-running chipset nomenclature, but the majority of foundry moles continue to label incoming designs as Exynos processors.

EMTEK has released a new custom GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card in South Korea; fresh retail/e-tail listings have popped up online via the Danawa price comparison engine. Similar circumstances were observed around mid-February for the launch of the brand's GeForce RTX 5080 MIRACLE WHITE D7 16 GB SKU. EMTEK's GB205 "Blackwell" GPU-based offering sports a slightly smaller shroud design; its larger siblings are 2.5-slotters. As noted by VideoCardz, the GeForce RTX 5070 MIRACLE WHITE D7 12 GB model's 329 mm-long triple-fan cooling solution tempers a less potent key component.

EMTEK's brand-new card conforms to NVIDIA's reference specifications, so a relatively slim heatsink seems appropriate for this deployment. A dual BIOS switcher grants access to "Cooling" and "Silent 0-db" modes. Another nearby physical switch can enable/disable the MIRACLE WHITE D7's integrated "Auto ARGB" system. EMTEK's pricier pale-toned offerings—in GeForce RTX 5080 and RTX 5070 Ti guises—feature intriguing USB-C connected Windows 11-controlled lighting schemes. The cheapest price for a RTX 5070 MIRACLE WHITE D7 card is 1,030,000 won (~$700 USD) according to Danawa SK aggregation. EMTEK products are only available in South Korea, therefore attract very little Western press coverage. Interestingly, the company also acts as a regional distributor of various PALIT GeForce and Sapphire Radeon graphics cards.

Hello, Creators. We have seen concerns in the community about the "short break" mentioned in my recent letter of gratitude to players. To be clear, the inZOI team's "short break" was just two days of vacation. We apologize for causing worry with our vague wording. We are aware of the wide range of feedback and improvement requests you have shared. Additional hotfix patches are scheduled for this week, and we are continuing to monitor feedback and develop builds. We are prioritizing fixing various bugs and issues that disrupt gameplay. But to reassure you about our dedication to making inZOI a better game, we would like to share our future update plans and how we will communicate them.

Short-Term Update Plans
As explained in our online showcase, we originally planned content updates for inZOI about once every two months during Early Access. However, given the spirit of Early Access—completing the game together with you—we intend to quickly apply fixes for reported issues through hotfixes during April. These short-term updates are smaller in scale compared to major updates, but we expect that rolling out content faster and incorporating feedback more promptly will have a more positive effect on your gameplay experience. Additionally, whenever we identify critical issues, we plan to keep addressing them through hotfixes. As mentioned, we want to stay true to our words about not taking advantage of the term "Early Access," and show gratitude to those who purchased the game by continuing to release updates and maintain open communication. We will continue to wait for and welcome your feedback.

Kuroutoshikou—a Japanese PC hardware brand—has introduced a special Blade and Soul NEO collaboration Radeon RX 7600 8 GB model. The company's press release goes into great detail about their retail packaging being "decorated with the beautiful characters and gorgeous stages of Blade," but the card itself is not adorned with any fancy illustrations or markings. In fact, the bare black design seems to be borrowed almost directly from PowerColor's Fighter stable (minus two stickers). As pointed out by VideoCardz, Kuroutoshikou already offers a "normal edition" Radeon RX 7600 SKU—minus NCSoft-related material. An exclusive in-game bonus seems to be the main draw here—as disclosed in the company's marketing spiel: "if you purchase this product and apply on the special page, you will receive a campaign code for the limited costume 'Gentleness' that can be used in Blade and Soul NEO."

Kuroutoshikou will deliver their "RD-RX7600-8G/Blade & Soul NEO Collaboration" edition to market on April 4, which could place it in a similar release timeframe with natural successors—AMD and board partners are expected to launch Radeon RX 9060 Series graphics cards in the second quarter of 2025. Surprisingly, the lower end of RDNA 3 keeps generating news articles—PowerColor seems to be working on a "V2" Fighter Radeon RX 7600 SKU, while plenty of China market-exclusive Radeon RX 7650 GRE cards have appeared within the past month or two. A possible surplus of Navi 33 GPUs could explain the sudden "reemergence" of previous-gen hardware. Going back to Kuroutoshikou; their current graphics card portfolio seems to consist of slightly rebranded PowerColor designs for the AMD side of things, while NVIDIA GeForce offerings are rebadged GALAX IPs.

A new resident is moving into the cloud—KRAFTON's inZOI joins the 2,000+ games in the GeForce NOW cloud gaming library. Plus, members can get ready for an exclusive sneak peek as the Sunderfolk First Look Demo comes to the cloud. The demo is exclusively available for players on GeForce NOW until April 7, including Performance and Ultimate members as well as free users. And explore the world of Atomfall—part of 12 games joining the cloud this week.

Cloud of Possibilities
In inZOI—a groundbreaking life simulation game by Krafton that pushes the genre's boundaries—take on the role of an intern at AR COMPANY, managing virtual beings called "Zois" in a simulated city. The game features over 400 mental elements influencing Zois' behaviors. Experience the game's dynamic weather system, open-world environments inspired by real locations and cinematic cut scenes for key life events—and even create in-game objects. inZOI lets players craft unique stories and live out their dreams in a meticulously designed virtual world. Dive into the world of Zois without the need for high-end hardware. Members can manage their virtual homes, customize characters and explore the game's dynamic environments from various devices, streaming its detailed graphics and complex simulations with ease.

Last week, South Korean semiconductor industry moles let slip about the development of an "Exynos 2600" mobile chipset at Samsung Electronics. This speculative flagship processor was linked to the manufacturer's (inevitable) launch of Galaxy S26 smartphone models in early 2026. Despite rumors of the firm's Foundry service making decent progress with their preparation of a cutting-edge 2 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) node, certain critics reckon that Samsung will be forced into signing another (less than ideal) chip supply deal with Qualcomm. According to The Bell SK's latest news report, Samsung's LSI Division is working with plenty of determination—an alleged main goal being the next wave of top-end Galaxy smartphones deployed next year with in-house tech onboard.

Inside sources propose that Samsung's Exynos 2600 SoC needs to be "finished by the middle of the third quarter of this year," thus ensuring the release of in-house chip-powered Galaxy S26 devices. It is not clear whether this forecast refers to a finalized design or the start of mass production. The latest whispers regarding another proprietary next-gen mobile processor—Exynos 2500—paint a murky picture. Past leaks indicated possible avenues heading towards forthcoming Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Fold 7 smartphone models. The latest reports have linked this design to a mature 4 nm process and eventual fitting inside affordable "Galaxy Z Flip FE" Enterprise Edition SKUs. The Bell contacted one of its trusted sources—the unnamed informant observed that everything is in flux: "Exynos 2500 production plan is constantly changing...I thought it was certain, but I heard that the possibility has recently decreased slightly." Reportedly, Samsung employees have their plates full with plenty of simultaneous projects in 2025.

LG AI Research, yes, that LG, which develops consumer electronics, has launched EXAONE Deep, a high-performance reasoning AI that demonstrates exceptional capabilities in mathematical logic, scientific concepts, and programming challenges despite its relatively small parameter count. The flagship 32B model achieves performance metrics rivaling substantially larger models like GPT-4o and DeepSeek R1. In contrast, the 7.8B and 2.4B variants establish new benchmarks in the lightweight and on-device AI categories. The EXAONE Deep 32B model registered a 94.5 score on the CSAT 2025 Mathematics section and 90.0 on the AIME 2024, outperforming competing models while requiring only 5% of the computational resources of larger alternatives like DeepSeek-R1 (671B).

In scientific reasoning, it achieved a 66.1 score on the GPQA Diamond test, which evaluates PhD-level problem-solving capabilities across physics, chemistry, and biology. The model's 83.0 score on MMLU establishes it as the highest-performing domestically developed model in South Korea, showing LG's approach to creating efficient, high-performance AI systems. Particularly notable is the performance of the smaller variants: the 7.8B model scored 94.8 in MATH-500 and 59.6 in AIME 2025, while the 2.4B model achieved 92.3 in MATH-500 and 47.9 in AIME 2024. These results position EXAONE Deep's smaller models at the top of their respective categories across all major benchmarks, suggesting significant potential for deployment in resource-constrained environments. With sizes of up to 32 billion parameters, it will excel in single-GPU deployments. Interestingly, these models can run on a range of discrete GPUs, laptop GPUs, and some edge systems that don't have massive computational power.

According to The Korea Economic Daily, an unlikely alliance—involving Samsung Electronics and Palantir Technologies—was formed at the end of last year. Late last week, insiders posited that the South Korean megacorporation's Foundry business was going through troubled times. It is not clear whether the assistance provided by Palantir's AI-infused suite has produced pleasing results chez Samsung's flagship production hubs, but insiders reckon that utilization of the software started just before Christmas. Local media outlets view this unusual pairing as a "gamble"—reportedly, the new-ish initiative has targeted an improved "semiconductor yield (ratio of good products in total production), quality, and productivity."

The Samsung Foundry appears to be going "all-in" with its 2 nm GAA node process; industry moles picked up on signals transmitted by an alleged special "task force (TF)." This elite team is reportedly entrusted with a challenging two-pronged goal; get 2 nm GAA over the finish line by late 2025, alongside the (connected) finalization of a much-rumored "Exynos 2600" mobile chipset. The Korea Economic Daily news article mentions the expansion of a "Samsung DS Division AI Center" back in December (2025), but falls short of labelling this department as the aforementioned "special task force." Despite a previous reluctance to share sensitive data with external companies, the latest report suggests a significant change in strategy. Further details were disclosed: "(Samsung's) collaboration with Palantir is handled by the DS Division AI Center...The AI Center is an organization that merged the DS Division Innovation Center and SAIT (formerly Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology) AI Center, and is developing DS Division-specific technologies using AI, advancing development software, building AI platforms, and controlling and advancing facilities and infrastructure." Around late February, industry inside trackers predicted continued "smooth" progress with the 2 nm GAA node. Samsung Foundry's fully upgraded "S2" mass production line is expected to come online by Q4 2025.

Late last month, industry insiders posited that pleasing progress was being made with Samsung's cutting-edge 2 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) node process. The rumored abandonment of an older 3 nm GAA-based project—in late 2024—has likely sent the South Korean foundry team into overdrive. A speculated Exynos 2500 flagship mobile processor was previously linked to said 3 nm node, but industry watchdogs believe that company engineers are experimenting with a 2 nm GAA manufacturing process. According to the latest insider report—from FN News SK—Samsung Foundry (SF) has assembled a special "task force (TF)." Allegedly, this elite team will be dedicated to getting a newer "Exynos 2600 chip" over the finish line—suggesting an abandonment of the older "2500" design, or a simple renaming.

Samsung's recent launch of Galaxy S25 series smartphones was reportedly viewed as a disappointing compromise—with all models being powered by Qualcomm's "first-of-its-kind customized Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform," instead of in-house devised chipsets. According to industry moles, one of the SF task force's main goals is a boosting of 2 nm GAA production yields up to "economically viable" levels (roughly 60-70%)—apparently last month's best result was ~30%. Mass production of prototype chipsets is tipped to start by May. Samsung's reported target of "stabilizing their Exynos 2600" SoC design will ensure that "Galaxy S26 series" devices will not become reliant on Qualcomm internals. Additionally, FN News proposes a bigger picture scenario: "the stabilization of 2 nm (SF2/GAA) products, is expected to speed up the acquisition of customers for Samsung Electronics' foundry division, which is thirsty for leading-edge process customers." A forthcoming rival next-gen mobile chip—Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2—is supposedly in the pipeline. The smartphone industry inside track reckons that Qualcomm has signed up with TSMC; with a 2 nm manufacturing process in mind.

Greetings, Creators! inZOI delivers high-quality graphics and realistic city-level simulations, which require higher system specifications to run smoothly. While the minimum and recommended system requirements are already listed on our Steam page, we wanted to provide a more detailed and comprehensible breakdown of these specifications and how they might impact your gameplay experience. As such, we've categorized the system requirements into four tiers and provided the optimal game settings for each tier.

What are optimal settings?
Optimal settings ensure you experience the game on your current PC in the best possible way. Since inZOI was developed using Unreal Engine 5, adjusting the game's settings can lead to significantly different experiences, even on systems with identical specifications. Let's explore how different factors impact gameplay and which settings you'll need experience inZOI in the best way possible.

Samsung Electronics is taking a close look at its chip design and foundry operations. This action could lead to organizational restructuring, including executive reassignments and workforce reallocation. The initiative aims to strengthen Samsung's competitive position against industry leaders such as TSMC. In January, the company's executives initiated an in-depth evaluation of the System LSI division, which handles chip design. After that, the company plans to extend the review to its foundry business. Significant restructuring may occur within the System LSI division, one proposal involves transferring the Exynos system-on-chip (SoC) business to the Mobile Experience (MX) division to better align with Samsung's smartphone strategy.

Samsung is also evaluating the potential pause of investments in its Pyeongtaek (South Korea) and Taylor (US) manufacturing facilities for its foundry business. At the same time, the company is developing strategies to improve yield rates in its advanced manufacturing processes. Moreover, Samsung is also considering changes within its image sensor business, potentially shifting focus from high-resolution sensors toward products for autonomous vehicles and robotics applications. This action represents the first major internal assessment since Samsung established its management analysis department in November 2024. The primary objective is to revitalize underperforming business divisions.

Samsung's foundry operation has experienced many setbacks over the past six months, according to a steady feed of insider reports. Last November, industry moles leaked details of an apparent abandonment of the company's 3 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process. Significant yield problems prompted an alleged shift into 2 nm territories, with a next-gen flagship Exynos mobile processor linked to this cutting-edge node. According to a mid-week Chosun Daily article, Samsung and its main rival—TSMC—are in a race to establish decent yields of 2 nm wafers, ahead of predicted "late 2025" mass production kick-offs. The publication's inside track points to the Taiwanese foundry making the most progress (with an estimated 60%), but watchdogs warn that it is too early to bet against the South Korean competitor.

Despite murmurs of current 20 - 30% yields, the Samsung's Hwaseong facility is touted to make "smooth" progress over the coming months. Chosun's sources believe that Samsung engineers struggled to get 3 nm GAA "up to snuff," spending around three years on development endeavors (in vain). In comparison, the making of 2 nm GAA is reported to be less bumpy. A fully upgraded "S3" foundry line is expected to come online by the fourth quarter of this year. An unnamed insider commented on rumors of better than anticipated forward motion chez Samsung Electronics: "there are positive aspects to this as it has shown technological improvements, such as the recent increase in the yield of its 4 nm process by up to 80%." Recent-ish reports suggest that foundry teams have dealt with budget cuts, as well as mounting pressure from company leadership to hit deadlines.

According to South Korea's Money Today, SK hynix is currently engaged in the development of yet another variation of LPDDR5. The mega supplier of DRAM and flash memory chips has publicly disclosed its LPDDR5 Turbo (T) design—going back to late 2023; this iteration was advertised as the "world's fastest mobile memory standard." The first public demonstration of LPDDR5T (10533) was performed at last February's IEEE Solid State Circuit Conference. Currently, the familiar LPDDR5X standard is prevalent throughout commercial channels. Insiders believe that a proposed new "LPDDR5M" design will be released as a lower power alternative to LPDDR5X.

Insiders reckon that the unannounced LPDDR5M standard operates at lower voltages (reportedly 0.98 V), when compared to current offerings (X: 1.05 V). Given the nature of its acronym—Low Power Double Data Rate—this memory type was first devised with efficient operations in mind; ideal for mobile applications. An industry mole proposes that internal company discussions have highlighted a key percentage difference: "at maximum speed, LPDDR5M is ~8% more power efficient than LPDDR5X." The recent Money Today SK news article mentions that older LPDDR4 standards are classed as "legacy products" by company leadership. In contrast, LPDDR5 variants are (allegedly) categorized as "high value-added products." The rumored addition of LPDDR5M is viewed—by regional memory industry watchdogs—as a fortification (and diversification) of SK hynix's strategy; that already encompasses LPDDR5X and LPDDR5T. Tipsters posit that LPDDR5M memory is destined to feature inside next-gen smartphone devices with on-board AI capabilities.

Almost five years ago, SK hynix announced a planned $9 billion acquisition of Intel's NAND flash memory and storage business. The semiconductor giant's takeover process has been a gradual affair; the first phase was complete by the end of 2021, with Asian governing bodies—just before Christmas—giving clearance to absorb Chinese facilities. Within this time frame, the South Korean giant pulled in Team Blue's SSD NAND design and R&D departments—thus establishing the "Solidigm" entity. According to a new Businesskorea report, SK hynix is about to pay off a final installment; allegedly $2.235 billion.

Industry insiders believe that SK hynix's takeover of Intel NAND and storage properties will be completed by next month. This (rumored) March time fortification will place SK hynix in direct competition with a nearby rival: Samsung. Businesskorea believes that recent expansions signal a "competitive edge"—targeting increased demand for enterprise SSD products. Google and Meta are reportedly engaged in widespread upgrading of data center facilities. The local publication reckons that: "SK Hynix plans to capitalize on this trend by strengthening its position in the market and leveraging AI to drive innovation and growth." The aforementioned absorption of Intel intellectual property (IP) plus R&D resources is viewed as a crucial move in reinforcing an already solid foundation.

Inside sources—familiar with goings-ons at leading DRAM manufacturing firms—have predicted the end of DDR3 and DDR4 production lines. According to a DigiTimes Asia report (citing Nikkei), industry observers have noticed that the DRAM market is undergoing a so-called "shift." They believe that pricing trends are decreasing due to weak demand. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron are named as major players; allegedly involved in devising new strategies—in reaction to fluid market circumstances. The DigiTimes insider network proposes that the big three: "may phase out DDR3 and DDR4 by 2025...by the end of 2025...anticipating a future focused on advanced memory technologies." Older standards are falling out of favor, with DDR5 and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) on the ascent. Industry watchdogs reckon that possible DDR3 and DDR4 supply shortages could occur "post-summer 2025."

Taiwan's Nanya Technology has predicted that the overall DRAM market will "bottom out" within the first half of 2025. An eventual recovery is envisioned by the second quarter; AI-related demands could help drive up demand by a large margin. Additionally, Nanya points to improved inventory management and global economic stimulus. Taiwanese DRAM production houses are expected to pick up some slack, but an unnamed "key component distributor" anticipates serious after-effects. An anonymous source believes that the: "anticipated halt in production could lead to significant supply constraints, challenging market dynamics and impacting pricing strategies." Nanya Technology and Winbond Electronics produce specialized DRAM-types; therefore are not touted to be great gap fillers. The latter is reportedly reacting to weak demand for "mature" DDR products—DigiTimes commented on this development: "Winbond Electronics is advancing its manufacturing by transitioning to a 16 nm process in the latter half of 2025. This upgrade from the current 20 nm process, primarily used for 4 Gb DDR3 and DDR4, will enable Winbond to produce 8 Gb DDR memory."

As reported almost a year ago, EMTEK graphics cards do not make regular appearances via Western reportage. The South Korean manufacturer has prepared its debut NVIDIA "Blackwell" GeForce RTX 50-series desktop product; as spotted by VideoCardz. The brand new EMTEK GeForce RTX 5080 MIRACLE WHITE D7 16 GB model has appeared online via Danawa's online price comparison engine. The lowest price comes in at 2,656,000 KRW (~$1841 USD), so there is clear evidence of major price hiking activities going on in South Korea. One store is offering EMTEK's cutting-edge white custom model for a cool 4,000,000 KRW (~$2773 USD).

EMTEK's GeForce RTX 5080 MIRACLE WHITE D7 16 GB graphics card conforms to Team Green's reference specifications; making the higher than expected entry fee even more painful to bear. We hope that prices level-off to reasonable lines in the near future. This snow-white custom design seemingly carries a couple of premium features; namely translucent ARGB-lit fans in a triple-formation. This integrated "dynamic lighting" system can be controlled through Windows 11 (via a USB-C connection), rather than proprietary software. VideoCardz reports that the South Korean graphics producer is not known to release its own RGB control suite. A cutaway render shows a very robust cooling solution that houses eight 6 mm heat pipes. Unfortunately, the PCB's shape is not as radical as the one found in an Ada Lovelace-based sibling. Judging from the internal promo shots, EMTEK has missed another opportunity to bung in a white board design, and attach similarly pale parts. Many NVIDIA AIBs should spend more time copying GALAX, Yeston, and PowerColor's (AMD-powered) homework—the latter's Spectral White Editions usually nail the almost all-white aesthetic.

Cross the bounds of time and join in my excitement as we take you back to the beginning of the Lies of P storyline. I am sure you'll agree that the long journey to bring you this news was well worth it! The first gameplay trailer for Lies of P: Overture was unveiled at the State of Play, filled with incredible revelations. This prequel is a DLC expansion to the original game.

This was a historic debut for us, and it was especially gratifying to share the cinematic moment with fans, veterans of Soulslike games and newcomers alike. As you might have guessed from the title, Lies of P: Overture takes you back in time to uncover the hidden stories of Krat. Do you remember the moment when you, as Geppetto's most ambitious masterwork, woke up in the middle of the great Puppet Frenzy, a massacre that devastated the entire city around you? Now, you will venture back in time to experience the harrowing journey that birthed that fateful moment. Through Lies of P: Overture, we aimed to fully refine, forge and complete the story as we originally envisioned it.

XFX and ASRock have registered various Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 SKUs in South Korea—earlier today, harukaze5719 discovered these "public secrets." The National Radio Agency received two filings from Hightech Systematic Limited (aka XFX); the graphics card manufacturer is seeking certification for five models. A single filing from ASRock Incorporation contains one product, a Radeon RX 9070 (non-XT) Challenger 16 GB card—TechPowerUp spent a little bit of hands-on time with this particular model at CES 2025.

XFX showcased two unnamed custom Radeon 9070 graphics card designs at last month's CES event, but yesterday's leak revealed a slew of incoming MERCURY, QUICKSILVER and SWIFT SKUs. The latest South Korean filings corroborate a couple of the accidental Canadian retail listings. The unannounced QUICKSILVER Magnetic Air model has attracted the most interest—promotional imagery is not available at the time of writing, but VideoCardz reckons that XFX could borrow elements from last year's hot-swappable Radeon RX 7900 XTX and RX 7800 XT Series design. TPU's W1zzard praised XFX's Magnetic Air system, in his evaluation of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX MERCURY model. An "amazing removable fan implementation" was pinpointed as a major highlight. The unusual usage of Honeywell PTM7950 thermal paste—a phase change material (PCM)—was another novel plus point.

Yesterday's news cycle pointed to Samsung's alleged development of 7000 mAh capacity batteries for the next-gen "Galaxy S26" smartphone series. Additionally, reports suggest that the South Korean megacorporation's Electronics division is experimenting with silicon-carbon battery technology. Industry watchdogs reckon that Chinese manufacturers are market leaders in terms of silicon-carbon battery tech breakthrough, with Apple and Samsung trailing far behind. PandaFlashPro took issue with the latest reports, and dismissed the notion of a so-called "Galaxy S26 Ultra" model featuring a 7000 mAh capacity battery. According to their network of insider sources, Samsung engineers are struggling with their planned improvements.

Typically, flagship Galaxy S phones have utilized 5000 mAh lithium-polymer batteries. PandaFlashPro envisions an underwhelming next-gen upgrade in this department: "I'll delete my X/Twitter account if Samsung gives the 'Galaxy S26 Ultra' a 7000 mAh or even a 6000 mAh battery I bet...based on my five sources, the internal Samsung Test Lab only seem to have a maximum capacity of 5500mAh; not more." The self-proclaimed science and tech enthusiast did not clarify whether the new generation of Galaxy S models will utilize silicon-carbon tech. Industry whispers allege that Samsung is perfecting its "battery formula," thus ensuring that it meets internal standards and expectations.

A South Korea-based hardware enthusiast—Harukaze5719—has discovered a curious listing of ZOTAC's GeForce RTX 5090 SOLID OC model on a Chinese auction site (asking price: ~$4175 USD). This finding was shared with their audience, via a social media post—a screenshot was accompanied by harukaze5719's short and succinct message: "OMG..." Officially, NVIDIA and its board partners cater to the Chinese hardware market with a restricted variant of the flagship "Blackwell" GPU—GeForce RTX 5090D. Despite under-the-hood nerfing, this region-exclusive model still offers enviable performance (when pushed).

The "full fat" GeForce RTX 5090 GPU appears to be an even hotter commodity—with demand (at launch) exceeding far exceeding supply. ZOTAC's South Korean branch warned potential customers about difficult conditions almost two weeks ahead of Blackwell's market debut on January 30. Harukaze5719 has likely expressed semi-personal frustration over apparent South Korea market-destined ZOTAC stock turning up for sale in China. So-called "Chinese GPU shopping tourists" could have made the journey to a South Korean PC hardware store, with their sole objective being the acquisition of GeForce RTX 5090 graphics cards. Tom's Hardware has gathered various related tidbits from Japanese and Taiwanese news sources—where local TV coverage explored the events of last week's launch event.

At the end of January, Samsung Electronics released their financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year 2024. Smartphone tech watchdogs paid close to attention to the South Korean giant's accompanying earnings call. The recently released Galaxy S25 smartphone family is, exclusively, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipsets—insiders believe that Samsung opted out of utilizing proprietary chip designs (for this generation) due to missed production goals. Late last year, inside sources pointed to the foundry's allegedly problematic 3 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process node. Follow-up reports suggest that Samsung engineers have moved onto developing a 2 nm manufacturing process, possibly linked to a re-designed Exynos 2500 flagship mobile processor.

Brian Ma, a technology industry analyst, extracted relevant information from Samsung's recent earnings meeting—several press outlets have picked up on his brief social media post. The IDC employee stated: "Samsung System LSI just mentioned in its earnings call that it's optimizing Exynos 2500 and 'aiming' to secure design wins for mobile models scheduled for release in 2H" The rumor mill has proposed that new "Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Fold 7" smartphone models are currently in the development pipeline—coincidental timing indicates that the two devices could launch later in 2025, potentially with next-gen flagship Exynos SoCs onboard. Tipsters reckon that the Exynos 2500 is configured with a 10-core cluster, and its integrated graphics solution will be an AMD RDNA 3.5-enabled Xclipse 950 model.

Reports from last November suggested that Samsung Electronics had semi-abandoned its second-generation 3 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) process, due to missed production goals. Disappointing production yields—as low as 20%—have been floated by industry insiders, they believed (at the time) that the South Korean's foundry teams had simply moved onto developing a next-gen 2 nm manufacturing process. A freshly published news article, courtesy of Business Korea, provides further evidence of a shift to 2 nanometer processes—Samsung's S3 plant in Hwaseong is reportedly in the process of being upgraded (from 3 nm GAA). Insiders believe that new equipment will be installed across the existing production line, requiring a small-scale investment of funds.

The Pyeongtaek 2 (P2) plant is supposedly being prepared for a 1.4 nm test line—targeting a manufacturing capacity of 2000 to 3000 wafers per month. Inside track information suggests that trials will begin within the year. Business Korea's report suggests that Samsung has halved its foundry facility investment budget for 2025—around 5 trillion won, instead of last year's 10 trillion won. The article puts a spotlight on alleged "sluggish customer orders"—the primary factor behind Samsung's decision to slash its chip-making budget by 50%. Competition is fierce at this point in time—TSMC leads the way with its cutting-edge technologies. Taiwan's premier foundry has attracted many high-profile clients away from rival manufacturers. In contrast, industry watchdogs believe that Samsung's struggles have caused "big tech" customers to seek alternate channels.