Today, Intel introduced a new "200S Boost" factory-approved overclocking profile for the unlocked Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" processors. Namely, the Core Ultra 9 285K, 7 265K/265KF, and 5 245K/245KF SKUs are supported when installed on a compatible Intel Z890 motherboard with one‑DIMM‑per‑channel Intel XMP DDR5 memory. Activating the 200S Boost profile in the BIOS raises the System-on-Chip (fabric) clock from 2.6 GHz to up to 3.2 GHz and the die‑to‑die interconnect from 2.1 GHz to up to 3.2 GHz (within VccSA ≤ 1.20 V) while pushing DDR5 speeds from stock 6,400 MT/s to as much as 8,000 MT/s (VDD2/VDDQ ≤ 1.40 V). Intel has validated the profile on a selection of Z890 boards, including ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF, ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Hero, Gigabyte Z890 Aorus Master, MSI MEG Z890 Ace, and others. For memory kits, Intel validated DDR5 memory kits from ADATA, Corsair, G.SKILL, Team Groupp, and V‑COLOR.

Enabling 200S Boost requires a BIOS update, selecting the "Intel 200S Boost" preset under the overclocking menu, and rebooting; stability should then be verified with benchmarks like Cinebench, and thermals/voltages monitored via Intel XTU or similar tools. Perhaps the most important fact is that using the 200S Boost profile does not void Intel's three‑year limited warranty on boxed Core Ultra 200S CPUs, provided they weren't manually overclocked before profile activation. Intel cautions that actual gains depend on motherboard design, cooling, and memory quality, that two‑DIMM‑per‑channel setups aren't officially supported, and that damage to non‑Intel components remains outside warranty coverage. This is more of a safe heaven for anyone wanting to do manual tuning, but not wanting to break any warranty and thus risk damaging their CPU without a backup plan.

Speed running scientists and challenge hunters, rejoice. After years of crafting, your invitation to Bionic Bay is now available on Steam and PlayStation 5. It began with a chance meeting on Reddit, and now the Bionic Bay story continues with you, our trusted Research Participants. In Bionic Bay you'll master the art of teleportation, control the very fabric of time itself, manipulate gravity and navigate a path filled with dangers. Our team will provide you with the tools you'll need to traverse this intricately crafted pixel art world. But don't let the stunning visuals fool you, this is no slow-moving narrative crawl. The best way to navigate Bionic Bay is with fast movements, precise controls, exceptional timing, puzzle solving intuition and just maybe a little bit of luck.

What you've seen in the Bionic Bay demo is just the beginning. Bionic Bay v1.0 includes 23 painstakingly created levels, with an increasing challenge to simply stay alive through your journey. Importantly, however, the path can be as helpful as it is dangerous, and Research Participants will need to judge the way ahead accordingly. In addition to the main game, we've also developed the Bionic Bay Online mode, with a dedicated build for speed runners and those hungry for a challenge. In this demanding arena, you'll have the opportunity to customize your own scientist, and claim your place on our transient and global leaderboards.

E-WIN is thrilled to announce the launch of its latest innovation, the E-WIN Breathable SoftWeave Fabric Flash XL Rev Edition (FLJ-XL-REV), poised to be the best gaming chair of 2025. This groundbreaking gaming chair redefines comfort, style, and performance for gamers and professionals alike. Inspired by the high-octane world of Formula 1, the FLJ-XL-REV combines advanced technology with a striking design, ensuring users experience both luxury and durability in their gaming setups.

The FLJ-XL-REV introduces cutting-edge features to elevate your seating experience. Equipped with magnetic headrests, magnetic side covers, and magnetic armrests, this chair allows for seamless customization, letting users adjust components effortlessly to suit their preferences. The 4D built-in lumbar support adapts to your spine, providing ergonomic support that promotes healthy posture during long gaming or work sessions. Crafted with breathable SoftWeave fabric, the chair ensures optimal airflow, keeping you cool and comfortable even during the most intense moments.

A great surface makes a whole lot of difference for PC gaming and work. It's part aesthetics, part utility. Here's what you need to know when shopping around. A mousepad is not just a simple accessory. SteelSeries QcK mousepads have proven, over and over, that they are best in gaming. They're washable and durable, feature a non-slip base, and micro-woven cloth optimized for low and high CPI mouse tracking. With more than 15 million sold, our iconic esports mousepads have enabled gamers around the globe to deliver top tier performance. And now, you can join them. Let's dive into a few reasons why.

Pick the exact style you want
The great thing about our new QcK Performance mousepad series—our latest—is that you can pick the kind of surface you want to adapt to your gameplay style. Do you prefer your mouse to glide super smoothly, or do you want more controlled precision with a little friction? Improved glide, more control, or something in between. This gaming mousepad is truly reflective of your style and preference.

Going back a year, we started hearing about an OpenAI proprietary AI chip project—this (allegedly) highly ambitious endeavor included grand plans for a dedicated fabrication network. TSMC was reportedly in the equation, but indirectly laughed at the AI research organization's ardent requests. Fast-forward to the present day; OpenAI appears to be actively pursuing a proprietary GPU design through traditional means. A Reuters exclusive report points to 2025 being an important year for the company's aforementioned "in-house" AI chip—the publication believes that OpenAI's debut silicon design has reached the finalization stage. Insiders have divulged that the project is only months away from being submitted to TSMC for "taping out." The foundry's advanced 3-nanometer process technology is reported to be on the cards. A Reuters source reckons that the unnamed chip features: "a commonly used systolic array architecture with high-bandwidth memory (HBM)...and extensive networking capabilities."

Broadcom is reportedly assisting with the development of OpenAI's in-house design—we heard about rumored negotiations taking place last summer. Jim Keller's tempting offer—of creating an AI chip for less than $1 trillion—was ignored early last year; OpenAI has instead assembled its own internal team of industry veterans. The October 2024 news cycle posited that former Google TPU engineers were drafted in as team leaders, with a targeted mass production window scheduled for 2026. The latest Reuters news article reiterates this projected timeframe, albeit dependent on the initial tape going "smoothly." OpenAI's chip department has grown to around forty individuals with recent months, according to industry moles—a small number relative to the headcounts at "Google or Amazon's AI chip program."

UK based premium office and gaming chair specialist, Boulies, today announces the arrival of its newest chair, the Master Rex. Following on from the best-selling Master Chair, the new Master Rex features an ergonomic design and is built for use for work, leisure and gaming. Featuring upgrades such as a built-in leg rest for added comfort and an Enhanced Stable Tilt Mechanism for outstanding stability and durability, it ensures a secure and comfortable experience.

The Boulies Master Rex offers unparalleled sitting comfort, whether working hard, gaming or relaxing. Designed with adjustable features and a sleek, modern aesthetic, it provides ergonomic support whilst blending with a home or office seamlessly. With an integrated leg rest, the Master Rex ensures pressure-free reclining for added relaxation. The built-in lumbar support also helps to promote better posture and boost productivity thanks to it being customizable with an up and down adjustment that allows users to fine-tune the lumbar support to precisely align with the spine's natural curvature. Whether requiring a higher or lower level of support, this chair allows users to customize to exact specifications to ensure it is adapted to the individual.

Geometric Future launched its Model 0 Flamingo "folding box" chassis series, half a year after it was showcased at the Computex 2024 Taipei Computer Show. The Model 0 Flamingo is a Mini-ITX chassis with a unique feature: it wraps around your system like a cardboard box. The chassis has a compact format measuring 81 × 206 × 208 mm with a volume of 3.47L. It is built from 1.2 mm thick steel plates coated with anti-static, fire-proof, and mildew-proof fabric in black color with touches of gold-like elements. For cooling, it relies on a giant mesh top circle and numerous ventilation holes. There is no room for additional fans, except it can host a 60 mm height CPU cooler. The chassis comes equipped with a compact custom Guitarra 200 W power supply manufactured by Quanhan that measures 70 × 35 × 170 mm.

As we said, the Geometric Future Model 0 unique feature is the ability to be folded without the need for any tools, with magnets included in the material of the case itself keeping it together. Additionally, detachable magnetic feet allow users to orient the case in both vertical and horizontal modes. However, as interesting as it looks, the Model 0 has some drawbacks: it is only compatible with ITX motherboards and does not support PCIe expansion (no graphics card can be added). Currently, there is no information about pricing. However, it should be around $100 if Geometric Future would like to attract SFF/HTPC users.

ENDORFY is unveiling the Crystal Series Mousepads as a new lineup of high-quality, visually stunning mousepads designed to elevate the gaming and workspace setups. These new mousepads not only mark ENDORFY's venture beyond the flagship Cordura series but also bring fresh designs and impeccable quality to the table, setting a new benchmark for affordable style and performance.

Eye-catching designs for every taste
The Crystal Series features an array of vibrant, printed graphic patterns, including the sleek Crystal Black, the elegant Crystal Onyx White, the vibrant Crystal Spectrum, and the soothing Crystal Blue, available in two versatile sizes (L and XL). Whether the user is into minimalist aesthetics or bold visuals, the Crystal Series adds a splash of personality to the desk while ensuring functionality remains paramount.

TSMC is reportedly making decent progress with its advanced 2 nm (N2) node—industry news pieces from earlier this month pointed to the initiation of production lines across three fabrication sites. Taiwan's Economic Daily News has kept close tabs on these trial runs—insiders have indicated that TSMC's Kaohsiung plant is capable of matching the Baoshan location's targeted manufacturing output (5000 wafers per month, 60 percent yield). Reports suggest that the Kaohsiung 2 nm trial production will start up later this month—much earlier than anticipated.

The Taiwanese chip foundry giant is taking on the challenge of meeting "greater than expected" demand for its new generation 2 nm product—TSMC chairman C.C. Wei has previously stated that its latest and greatest is more popular (pre-launch) with customers than older 3 nm lines. Apple is rumored to be first in line—not a big surprise since TSMC has (supposedly) rolled out the VVIP red carpet for them in recent times. The Economic Daily News article also mentions Qualcomm and MediaTek being next in the queue for N2. TSMC's best foundries are expected to initiate mass production by the end of 2025.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the ROG Slash Sling Bag 4.0, ROG Slash Sleeve 4.0, and ROG Backpack 4.0—all of which are new additions to the ROG urban gear range. Boasting bold aesthetics and functional designs, these bags are the ideal lifestyle travel gear for the urban jungle.

Compact commuter
The ROG Slash Sling Bag 4.0 offers a sleek and elegant carrying case for the ROG Ally or other gaming handhelds, complete with soft inner lining and custom cutouts to safely secure the device. Built from tear- and water-resistant materials, the Sling Bag 4.0 is designed to protect gear from inclement weather as well as the bumps and knocks of daily life. A magnetic Fidlock quick-release buckle enables easy access to the main compartment, while 360° snap hooks and adjustable shoulder straps ensure the bag is always perfectly suited to the user's body and preferred carrying position. Custom ROG monograms inside the bag and ROG logo on the exterior fabric accentuate the bag's bold style.

Last week, we got a preview of Microsoft's Azure production-ready NVIDIA "Blackwell" GB200 system, showing that only a third of the rack that goes in the data center is actually holding the compute elements, with the other two-thirds holding the cooling compartment to cool down the immense heat output from tens of GB200 GPUs. Today, Google is showing off a part of its own infrastructure ahead of the Google Cloud App Dev & Infrastructure Summit, taking place on October 30, digitally as an event. Shown below are two racks standing side by side, connecting NVIDIA "Blackwell" GB200 NVL cards with the rest of the Google infrastructure. Unlike Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud uses a different data center design in its facilities.

There is one rack with power distribution units, networking switches, and cooling distribution units, all connected to the compute rack, which houses power supplies, GPUs, and CPU servers. Networking equipment is present, and it connects to Google's "global" data center network, which is Google's own data center fabric. We are not sure what is the fabric connection of choice between these racks; as for optimal performance, NVIDIA recommends InfiniBand (Mellanox acquisition). However, given that Google's infrastructure is set up differently, there may be Ethernet switches present. Interestingly, Google's design of GB200 racks differs from Azure's, as it uses additional rack space to distribute the coolant to its local heat exchangers, i.e., coolers. We are curious to see if Google releases more information on infrastructure, as it has been known as the infrastructure king because of its ability to scale and keep everything organized.

Astera Labs, Inc, a global leader in semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for AI and cloud infrastructure, today announced a new portfolio of fabric switches, including the industry's first PCIe 6 switch, built from the ground up for demanding AI workloads in accelerated computing platforms deployed at cloud-scale. The Scorpio Smart Fabric Switch portfolio is optimized for AI dataflows to deliver maximum predictable performance per watt, high reliability, easy cloud-scale deployment, reduced time-to-market, and lower total cost of ownership.

The Scorpio Smart Fabric Switch portfolio features two application-specific product lines with a multi-generational roadmap:

• Scorpio P-Series for GPU-to-CPU/NIC/SSD PCIe 6 connectivity- architected to support mixed traffic head-node connectivity across a diverse ecosystem of PCIe hosts and endpoints.
• Scorpio X-Series for back-end GPU clustering-architected to deliver the highest back-end GPU-to-GPU bandwidth with platform-specific customization.

Researchers at Fraunhofer IAF have made a significant advance in semiconductor materials by successfully fabricating aluminum yttrium nitride (AlYN) using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). AlYN, known for its outstanding properties and compatibility with gallium nitride (GaN), shows great potential for energy-efficient, high-frequency electronics. Previously, AlYN could only be deposited via magnetron sputtering, but this new method opens the door to diverse applications. Dr. Stefano Leone from Fraunhofer IAF highlights AlYN's ability to enhance performance while reducing energy consumption, making it vital for future electronics.

In 2023, the team achieved a 600 nm thick AlYN layer with a record 30% yttrium concentration. They have since developed AlYN/GaN heterostructures with high structural quality and promising electrical properties, particularly for high-frequency applications. These structures demonstrate optimal two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) properties and are highly suitable for high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs).

A CPU-Z screenshot of an alleged Intel Core Ultra 9 285K "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processor engineering sample is doing rounds on social media, thanks to wxnod. CPU-Z identifies the chip with an Intel Core Ultra case badge with the deep shade of blue associated with the Core Ultra 9 brand extension, which hints at this being the top Core Ultra 9 285K processor model, we know it's the "K" or "KF" SKU looking at its processor base power reading of 125 W. The chip is built in the upcoming Intel Socket LGA1851. CPU-Z displays the process node as 7 nm, which corresponds with the Intel 4 foundry node.

Intel is using the same Intel 4 foundry node for "Arrow Lake-S" as the compute tile of its "Meteor Lake" processor. Intel 4 offers power efficiency and performance comparable to 4 nm nodes from TSMC, although it is physically a 7 nm node. Likewise, the Intel 3 node is physically 5 nm. If you recall, the main logic tile of "Lunar Lake" is being built on the TSMC N3P (3 nm) node. This means that Intel is really gunning for performance/Watt with "Lunar Lake," to get as close to the Apple M3 Pro as possible.

South Korean startup Panmnesia has unveiled an interesting solution to address the memory limitations of modern GPUs. The company has developed a low-latency Compute Express Link (CXL) IP that could help expand GPU memory with external add-in card. Current GPU-accelerated applications in AI and HPC are constrained by the set amount of memory built into GPUs. With data sizes growing by 3x yearly, GPU networks must keep getting larger just to fit the application in the local memory, benefiting latency and token generation. Panmnesia's proposed approach to fix this leverages the CXL protocol to expand GPU memory capacity using PCIe-connected DRAM or even SSDs. The company has overcome significant technical hurdles, including the absence of CXL logic fabric in GPUs and the limitations of existing unified virtual memory (UVM) systems.

At the heart of Panmnesia's solution is a CXL 3.1-compliant root complex with multiple root ports and a host bridge featuring a host-managed device memory (HDM) decoder. This sophisticated system effectively tricks the GPU's memory subsystem into treating PCIe-connected memory as native system memory. Extensive testing has demonstrated impressive results. Panmnesia's CXL solution, CXL-Opt, achieved two-digit nanosecond round-trip latency, significantly outperforming both UVM and earlier CXL prototypes. In GPU kernel execution tests, CXL-Opt showed execution times up to 3.22 times faster than UVM. Older CXL memory extenders recorded around 250 nanoseconds round trip latency, with CXL-Opt potentially achieving less than 80 nanoseconds. As with CXL, the problem is usually that the memory pools add up latency and performance degrades, while these CXL extenders tend to add to the cost model as well. However, the Panmnesia CXL-Opt could find a use case, and we are waiting to see if anyone adopts this in their infrastructure.Below are some benchmarks by Panmnesia, as well as the architecture of the CXL-Opt.

Presenting the release of Fractal Mood, a PC case designed to streamline the gaming station. It is a low-volume case in a space-saving pillar design format, which minimizes the footprint of the PC on the desk. Its outer body features breathable fabric in a clean shape and color palette to harmonize with the home.

For access to the interior, users can pop out the back panel and simply slide off the fabric-covered enclosure for full access to their build. Inside, Mood can house a graphics card up to 325 mm in length, which is easily connected through the included PCIe 4.0 riser cable.

PCI-SIG, the organization responsible for the widely adopted PCI Express (PCIe) standard, today announced the release of the CopprLink Internal and External Cable specifications. The CopprLink Cable specifications provide signaling at 32.0 and 64.0 GT/s and leverage well-established industry standard connector form factors maintained by SNIA.

"The CopprLink Cable specifications integrate PCIe cabling seamlessly with the PCIe electrical base specification, providing longer channel reach and topological flexibility," said Al Yanes, PCI-SIG President and Chairperson. "The CopprLink Cables are intended to evolve with the same connector form factors, scale for future PCIe technology generations and meet the demands of emerging applications. The Electrical Work Group has already begun pathfinding work on CopprLink Cables for PCIe 7.0 technology at 128.0 GT/s, showcasing PCI-SIG's commitment to the CopprLink Cable specifications."

As a part of its Q1 earnings call discussion, one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers, TSMC, has unveiled a strategic move to charge a premium for chips manufactured at its newly established overseas fabrication plants. During an earnings call, TSMC's CEO, C.C. Wei, announced that the company will impose higher pricing for chips produced outside Taiwan to offset the higher operational costs associated with these international locations. This move aims to maintain TSMC's target gross margin of 53% amidst rising expenses such as inflation and elevated electricity costs. This decision comes as TSMC expands its global footprint with new facilities in the United States, Germany, and Japan (JAMS) to meet the increasing demand for semiconductor chips worldwide. The company's new US-based Arizona facility, known as Fab 21, has faced delays due to equipment installation issues and labor negotiations.

Chips produced at this site, utilizing TSMC's advanced N5 and N4 nodes, could cost between 20% to 30% more than those manufactured in Taiwan. TSMC's strategy to manage the cost disparities across different geographic locations involves strategic pricing, securing government support, and leveraging its manufacturing technology leadership. This approach reflects the company's commitment to maintaining its competitive edge while navigating the complexities of global semiconductor manufacturing in today's fragmented market. Introducing a location premium is expected to impact American semiconductor designers, who may need to pass these costs on to specific market segments, particularly those with lower price sensitivity, such as government-related projects. Despite these challenges, TSMC's overseas expansion underscores its adaptive strategies in the face of global economic pressures and industry demands, ensuring its continued position as a leading player in the semiconductor industry.

Dell Technologies is strengthening its collaboration with NVIDIA to help enterprises adopt AI technologies. By expanding the Dell Generative AI Solutions portfolio, including with the new Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, organizations can accelerate integration of their data, AI tools and on-premises infrastructure to maximize their generative AI (GenAI) investments. "Our enterprise customers are looking for an easy way to implement AI solutions—that is exactly what Dell Technologies and NVIDIA are delivering," said Michael Dell, founder and CEO, Dell Technologies. "Through our combined efforts, organizations can seamlessly integrate data with their own use cases and streamline the development of customized GenAI models."

"AI factories are central to creating intelligence on an industrial scale," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO, NVIDIA. "Together, NVIDIA and Dell are helping enterprises create AI factories to turn their proprietary data into powerful insights."

TSMC is experiencing unprecedented demand from AI chip customers—unnamed parties have (fancifully) requested the construction of entirely new fabrication facilities. Taiwan's leading semiconductor contract manufacturer seems to concentrating on "sensible" expansions, mainly in the area of CoWoS packaging output—according to an Economic Daily report, company leadership and local government were negotiating over the construction of four new advanced packaging plants. Insiders propose that plans have been revised—an investment in excess of 500 billion yuan ($16 billion) will enable the founding of six new CoWoS-focused facilities. TSMC is expected to make an official announcement next month—industry moles reckon that construction work will start in April. Two (of the six total) advanced packaging plants could become fully operational before the conclusion of 2024.

Lately, TSMC has initiated an ambitious recruitment drive—targeting around 6000 new workers. A touring entity is tasked with the attraction of "talents with high enthusiasm for semiconductors." The majority of new recruits are likely heading to new or expanded Taiwan-based facilities. The Economic Daily report proposes that Chiayi City's technological hub will play host to TSMC's new CoWoS packaging plants. A DigiTimes Asia news piece (from January) posited that TSMC leadership anticipates CoWoS output reaching 44,000 units by the end of 2024. This predicted tally could grow, thanks to the (rumored) activation of additional factories. CoWoS packaging is considered to be a vital aspect of AI accelerators—insiders believe that TSMC's latest investment will boost production of NVIDIA H100 GPUs. The combined output of six new CoWoS plants will assist greatly in the creation of next-gen B100 chips.

Lee Kang-Wook, Vice President of Research and Development at SK Hynix, has discussed the increased importance of advanced chip packaging with Bloomberg News. In an interview with the media company's business section, Lee referred to a tradition of prioritizing the design and fabrication of chips: "the first 50 years of the semiconductor industry has been about the front-end." He believes that the latter half of production processes will take precedence in the future: "...but the next 50 years is going to be all about the back-end." He outlined a "more than $1 billion" investment into South Korean facilities—his department is hoping to "improve the final steps" of chip manufacturing.

SK Hynix's Head of Packaging Development pioneered a novel method of packaging the third generation of high bandwidth technology (HBM2E)—that innovation secured NVIDIA as a high-profile and long term customer. Demand for Team Green's AI GPUs has boosted the significance of HBM technologies—Micron and Samsung are attempting to play catch up with new designs. South Korea's leading memory supplier is hoping to stay ahead in the next-gen HBM contest—supposedly 12-layer fifth generation samples have been submitted to NVIDIA for approval. SK Hynix's Vice President recently revealed that HBM production volumes for 2024 have sold out—currently company leadership is considering the next steps for market dominance in 2025. The majority of the firm's newly announced $1 billion budget will be spent on the advancement of MR-MUF and TSV technologies, according to their R&D chief.

Marvell Technology, Inc., a leader in data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, is extending its collaboration with TSMC to develop the industry's first technology platform to produce 2 nm semiconductors optimized for accelerated infrastructure.

Behind the Marvell 2 nm platform is the company's industry-leading IP portfolio that covers the full spectrum of infrastructure requirements, including high-speed long-reach SerDes at speeds beyond 200 Gbps, processor subsystems, encryption engines, system-on-chip fabrics, chip-to-chip interconnects, and a variety of high-bandwidth physical layer interfaces for compute, memory, networking and storage architectures. These technologies will serve as the foundation for producing cloud-optimized custom compute accelerators, Ethernet switches, optical and copper interconnect digital signal processors, and other devices for powering AI clusters, cloud data centers and other accelerated infrastructure.

China's homegrown Loongson 3A6000 CPU shows promise but still needs to catch up AMD and Intel's latest offerings in real-world performance. According to benchmarks by Chinese tech reviewer Geekerwan, the 3A6000 has instructions per clock (IPC) on par with AMD's Zen 4 architecture and Intel's Raptor Lake. Using the SPEC CPU 2017 processor benchmark, Geekerwan has clocked all the CPUs at 2.5 GHs to compare the raw benchmark results to Zen 4 and Intel's Raptor Lake (Raptor Cove) processors. As a result, the Loongson 3A6000 seemingly matches the latest designs by AMD and Intel in integer results, with integer IPC measured at 4.8, while Zen 4 and Raptor Cove have 5.0 and 4.9, respectively. The floating point performance is still lagging behind a lot, though. This demonstrates that Loongson's CPU design can catching up to global leaders, but still needs further development, especially for floating point arithmetic.

However, the 3A6000 is held back by low clock speeds and limited core counts. With a maximum boost speed of just 2.5 GHz across four CPU cores, the 3A6000 cannot compete with flagship chips like AMD's 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X running at 5.7 GHz. While the 3A6000's IPC is impressive, its raw computing power is a fraction of that of leading x86 CPUs. Loongson must improve manufacturing process technology to increase clock speeds, core counts, and cache size. The 3A6000's strengths highlight Loongson's ambitions: an in-house LoongArch ISA design fabricated on 12 nm achieves competitive IPC to state-of-the-art x86 chips built on more advanced TSMC 5 nm and Intel 7 nm nodes. This shows the potential behind Loongson's engineering. Reports suggest that next-generation Loongson 3A7000 CPUs will use SMIC 7 nm, allowing higher clocks and more cores to better harness the architecture's potential. So, we expect the next generation to set a bar for China's homegrown CPU performance.

During CES 2024, Blacklyte, a new Canadian brand of gaming chairs, accessories, and desks, has unveiled an inaugural Athena gaming chair granting the user complete mastery over each meticulous stitch. The Athena chair features an exclusive pattern of intertwined threads inspired by fashion-forward footwear. With plushier and more breathable Skinsense fabric, the chair allows one to keep cool throughout the day. It also provides exceptional durability and smooth gliding on a reinforced base. The intricate details of the stitching patterns, high-end fabric, and sturdy construction position this as a premium, fashionable gaming chair built for comfort during extended periods of use. It also features adjustable arm rests and adjustable positions of tilting. The Athena chair comes with an MSRP of $499.99

Next, the new company has also displayed its Atlas gaming desk, which optimizes space utilization while providing flexibility and convenience. Its design includes an earphone hook and wire wrangler tray to neatly organize accessories without infringing on the desktop area. The desk also features electric height adjustment from 600 mm to 1250 mm for quick transitions between sitting and standing. Powered by a single concealed column through the leg, the built-in electrical socket can charge a few devices simultaneously. Advertised with its ability to "carry the world" of your electronics on its shoulders, Atlas is a sustainable desk built for adaptability and tidy cable management. The Atlas desk should be available soon with an unknown price tag.

Artificial intelligence has been a hot topic this year, and everything is now an AI processor, from CPUs to GPUs, NPUs, and many others. However, it was only a matter of time before we saw an integration of AI processing elements into the networking chips. Today, Broadcom announced its new Ethernet switching silicon called Trident 5-X12. The Trident 5-X12 delivers 16 Tb/s of bandwidth, double that of the previous Trident generation while adding support for fast 800G ports for connection to Tomahawk 5 spine switch chips. The 5-X12 is software-upgradable and optimized for dense 1RU top-of-rack designs, enabling configurations with up to 48x200G downstream server ports and 8x800G upstream fabric ports. The 800G support is added using 100G-PAM4 SerDes, which enables up to 4 m DAC and linear optics.

However, this is not only a switch chip on its own. Broadcom has added AI processing elements in an inference engine called NetGNT (Networking General-purpose Neural-network Traffic-analyzer). It can detect common traffic patterns and optimize data movement across the chip. Specifically, the company has listed an example of the system doing AI/ML workloads. In that case, NetGNT performs intelligent traffic analysis to avoid network congestion in these workloads. For example, it can detect the so-called "incast" patterns in real-time, where many flows converge simultaneously on the same port. By recognizing the start of incast early, NetGNT can invoke hardware-based congestion control techniques to prevent performance degradation without added latency.