HP Inc. announced its new Z by HP high-performance workstation desktop lineup, engineered to change what is possible within complex, data rich workflows. HP is advancing hybrid workforce management with the HP Anyware Remote System Controller, a device that gives IT departments the management capabilities to support high performance devices from anywhere.

The complex workflows in industries spanning media and entertainment, data science, and engineering mean increased time pressure and the need for more compute power to deliver faster results. They also highlight a need to iterate with remote teams and push creative boundaries to deliver more accurate results. The new Z by HP Z4, Z6, Z8, and Z8 Fury desktops, powered by Intel, deliver the scalable balance of CPU and GPU compute needed to fuel new levels of speed, accuracy, and creativity.

Intel today announced the new Intel Xeon W-3400 and Intel Xeon W-2400 desktop workstation processors (code-named Sapphire Rapids), led by the Intel Xeon w9-3495X, Intel's most powerful desktop workstation processor ever designed. Built for professional creators, these new Xeon processors provide massive performance for media and entertainment, engineering and data science professionals. With a breakthrough new compute architecture, faster cores and new embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB) packaging, the Xeon W-3400 and Xeon W-2400 series of processors enable unprecedented scalability for increased performance.

"For more than 20 years, Intel has been committed to delivering the highest quality workstation platforms - combining high-performance compute and rock-solid stability - for professional PC users across the globe. Our new Intel Xeon desktop workstation platform is uniquely designed to unleash the innovation and creativity of professional creators, artists, engineers, designers, data scientists and power users - built to tackle both today's most demanding workloads as well as the professional workloads of the future." -Roger Chandler, Intel vice president and general manager, Creator and Workstation Solutions, Client Computing Group

Leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, proudly announces its new ASRock W790 WS motherboard for workstations for Intel Xeon W-3400/W-2400 series processors (LGA4677). The ASRock W790 WS features up to 2 TB DDR5 ECC RDIMM support, PCI-Express 5.0 expansion slots, USB4/Thunderbolt 4 and Dual 10 Gbps Ethernet. A flagship-class 14-layer PCB and 20+2 phase CPU VRM ensures ultimate performance and superb reliability, even when subjected to the most demanding sustained workloads.

Supports New 4th Generation Xeon Processor
The W790 WS chipset is optimized for new Intel Xeon W-2400 series (LGA4677) processors and is compatible with W-3400 series processors with up to 56 cores also. The ASRock W790 WS provides a quad-channel DDR5 design with 2DPC over 8 DIMM slots, maximizing memory performance, potential memory pool capacity and supports ECC RDIMMs to ensure data reliability.

Ahead of its launch, the SKU table of Intel's Xeon W "Sapphire Rapids" HEDT/Workstation-class processor lineup was leaked to the web. The lineup is horizontally split between the Xeon W-3400 series, and the Xeon W-2400 series. The W-2400 series come in rather modest CPU core-counts ranging between 6-core/12-thread and 24-core/48-thread. These chips are characterized by a 4-channel DDR5 memory interface (8 sub-channels); and a 64-lane PCIe Gen 5 I/O. The W-3400 series, on the other hand, ranges between 12-core/24-thread and 56-core/112-thread, nearly maxing out the core-count of the "Sapphire Rapids" MCM. These chips feature a massive 8-channel (16 sub-channel) DDR5 memory interface, and a 112-lane PCIe Gen 5 I/O. Prices for the lineup start at a surprisingly low $360 for the base W-2400 series SKU; while the top W-2400 series SKU is priced at $2,189. The W-3400 series ranges between $1,189 for the base 12-core/24-thread part, and goes all the way up to $5,889 for the top 56-core part. All models feature ECC memory support.

Powerful coolers for large processors on Intel Socket LGA 4677! With the new Enterprise Solution Jet and Stream CPU coolers, Alphacool presents progressive solutions for CPU cooling in server and workstation systems.

The Alphacool ES Jet CPU Cooler is equipped with a new complex 4-nozzle technology. For the first time, it distributes water evenly over the cooler base via four nozzles incorporated into the cooler. Thereby, all cores of the high-performance processor are optimally supplied and thus effectively and precisely cooled. The organic water flow ensures a disturbance-free water flow and thus increases the cooling performance. This method makes it possible to optimally dissipate waste heat of up to 800 watts. The chrome-plated cooler base is made of copper and is ideally suited for server and workstation systems with its extremely high thermal conductivity.

Samsung Electronics announced the Galaxy Book3 Ultra is available for pre-order beginning today, February 14, with global availability starting February 22. Samsung's new premium PC offers an unmatched Samsung Galaxy ecosystem experience and high-performance computing, all in a thin, light and sleek design. The Galaxy Book3 Pro and Book3 Pro 360, has been available for global pre-orders on February 1. The latest Galaxy Book Pro series has experienced record-breaking interest from consumers, generating more than doubling pre-orders of last year's Galaxy Book2 Pro series.

"At Samsung, Ultra means big, bold and the best, regardless of category. That's why we're excited to bring the Ultra heritage to our PC lineup, delivering the seamless multi-device connectivity and ultra-high performance that users demand," said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. "The Galaxy Book3 Ultra delivers on the market expectation for an ultra-high performance laptop, particularly for consumers interested in gaming and content creation who require the powerful performance."

Getac has today announced the expansion of its flagship X600 rugged mobile workstation range with the launch of the X600 Server and X600 Pro-PCI. The new models will sit alongside the recently launched X600 and X600 Pro, creating a comprehensive lineup of rugged mobile workstations that are purpose-built to meet the demands of professionals working in challenging industries, such as defence, manufacturing and oil & gas.

X600 Server: The fully rugged mobile server
The all-new Getac X600 Server delivers a powerful commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) rugged mobile server that can be folded to a slim profile for easy transportation.

Today MSI is announcing the support of 48 GB and 24 GB DDR5, non-binary memory across Intel 700 and 600 Series motherboards, including MEG, MPG, MAG, and PRO Series products. Namely, the maximum memory capacity support is increased to 192 GB for 4 DIMMs motherboards and 96 GB for 2 DIMMs motherboards. MSI has committed to providing performance and compatibility to DIY enthusiasts.

It is unnecessary to update motherboard BIOS for supporting 48 GB based memory modules. Just install the new memory module to enjoy a more efficient system with more productivity, especially for those multi-tasking gamers and users.

To date, Intel has been promised almost €6.8 billion in subsidies from the federal German government, but apparently this isn't enough for Intel, as the company is now asking for an additional €3.2 billion, for a total of €10 billion is subsidies for its Magdeburg fab. The total investment in the fab in Magdeburg—which was announced back in March 2022—is said to be around €33 billion. In other words, Intel is asking Germany to pitch in almost a third of the cost for its shiny new fab. According to an Intel spokesperson quoted by the Register, Intel is worried about the current geopolitical situation and that the demand for semiconductors has declined, plus the fact that inflation has made everything much more expensive. Intel's Arizona fabs ended up costing an extra US$5 billion, which is about a third extra compared to the original cost estimate, so it's not hard to see why Intel is asking for more money here.

At the same time, the Vietnamese government jumped the gun and announced that Intel is looking at investing US$3.3 billion in the country, as part of an announcement of investments of a total of US$7.4 billion in Ho Chi Minh, by foreign companies. The additional US$4.1 billion investments apparently hinges on Intel's investment in the country, more specifically in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park. The official stance from Intel is that "Vietnam is an important part of our global manufacturing network, but we have not announced any new investments." It's unclear what the exact plans are, but Intel is said to have met up with government officials in Vietnam, according to Bloomberg. It's likely that it would be some kind of chip packaging facility, much like what Intel and AMD already has in Malaysia and China, among other places.

The global PC market has been experiencing a demand downtrend after the cooling down of COVID-19 in 2022. The market saw its shipments decline 15% YoY in 2022 and is expected to see another high single-digit decline in 2023, according to Counterpoint Research's data. However, among all the PC sub-sectors, Arm-based laptops are expected to show a comparatively resilient demand throughout the coming quarters thanks to Apple's success with the MacBook series, increasing ecosystem support and vanishing performance gap with x86 offerings.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) launches the ROG Strix SCAR and Strix G lineup of gaming laptops. Brand-new designs come to the Strix SCAR 16, Strix SCAR 18, Strix G16, and Strix G18, with updated internals for the Strix SCAR 17 and Strix G17. When combined with ROG's Nebula and Nebula HDR displays and an updated Intelligent Cooling thermal solution, these powerhouse laptops are prepared to power victories among esports pros and gaming enthusiasts alike.

As ROG's highest-performing laptops, the Strix series is powered by the latest and greatest chips from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA. The Strix SCAR 16 and 18 feature up to an Intel Core i9-13980HX processor with 24 cores and 32 threads, alongside up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU. A MUX Switch with NVIDIA Advanced Optimus intelligently ensures optimal framerates when plugged in, and better battery life when untethered, with no manual intervention needed. The Strix G16 and G18 are powered by up to an Intel Core i9-13980HX CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU and the same MUX Switch with Advanced Optimus.

Intel 11th Gen Core "Rocket Lake" desktop processors in the Socket LGA1200 package, the first Intel desktop processor generation in five years to offer an IPC increase, has been marked EOL (end of life) and is formally discontinued from the company's product stack. This comes in the latest product-change notification (PCN), dated February 6, 2023, and is consistent with a normal product lifecycle for Intel. A product marked EOL and discontinued can no longer be ordered from Intel, although there are still plenty of 11th Gen Core processors in the market, which Intel will fully honor product warranties for; so those on entry-level 11th Gen processors such as the i5-11400 still have a certain amount of upgrade headroom to the 8-core i7-11700/K or the faster i9-11900/K. The PCN covers pretty much the entire 11th Gen Core desktop product stack.

GIGABYTE today introduces the AORUS 17, AORUS 15, and AERO 14 OLED, a suite of new laptops optimized to provide power and mobility. The three new additions now join the flagship AORUS 17X, AORUS 15X, and AERO 16 OLED in GIGABYTE's 2023 laptop lineup, which was unveiled earlier at CES 2023. Boasting the latest cores from both Intel and NVIDIA in a sleek and portable design, the AORUS 17 and AORUS 15 provide strong performance with max total graphics power (TGP) for enthusiasts who want to take their games on the go; while the AERO 14 OLED is tailored for creative minds, combining portability with a perfectly color-accurate display.

Both AORUS 17 and AORUS 15 offer powerful gaming performance fueled by the Intel 13th-gen i7 H series processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPUs with full access to max 140 W TGP with Dynamic Boost technology, all in a slender profile. These portable powerhouses feature the improved WINDFORCE Infinity cooling system that can handle up to 160 W of thermal design power (TDP) to ensure optimal performance even when running at maximum capacity. As for the significantly upgraded display performance, blazing-fast 240 Hz refresh rates at 1440p resolution enable a smooth and vibrant gaming experience. The gaming essence is reflected both in the device's internal power and the external design. The sleek enclosure is further accented with the mysterious spatial design and RGB Light Bar for a sophisticated gaming aesthetic.

Intel became the first of the three discrete GPU makers to release a day-0 graphics driver for "Hogwarts Legacy." The new Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers version 101.4123 beta comes with optimization for the hotly anticipated Harry Potter universe-based RPG, as well as the survival horror "Returnal," so gamers on Intel Arc "Alchemist" discrete GPUs can get gaming the moment the game goes live. The company didn't release any fixes for outstanding issues with this particular release, but identified a bunch of new issues with its driver and the Arc Control app.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.4123 betaUpdate 14:02 UTC: Today's release of NVIDIA GeForce software (version 528.49, lacks "Hogwarts Legacy" optimization.

Update 14:55 UTC: We asked NVIDIA whether a driver update with game-ready support is planned and if there's any estimate when it will come out. The company answered that it had no comment on these questions.

Neo Forza today unveiled the Trinity DDR5-7200 32 GB (2x 16 GB) dual-channel memory kit. Based on SK hynix A-dies, the modules pack an Intel XMP 3.0 profile that runs the kit at its advertised speed of DDR5-7200. It also includes an AMD EXPO profile, although this enables a slightly lower speed of DDR5-6400. The DDR5-7200 XMP 3.0 profile ticks at timings of 36-46-46-82; while the DDR5-6400 EXPO profile offers 40-40-40-77. Both these profiles run the modules at 1.4 V. Neo Forza claims that the module comes with good overclocking headroom, and they've achieved DDR5-8000 on an Intel Core i9-13900K machine with minimal effort. The company didn't reveal pricing or availability information.

Earlier this week, we learned about the existence of the Intel Core i5-13490F, a China-exclusive processor SKU that's designed to strike "just the right" price-performance against AMD's Ryzen 5 7600 series, and possibly even the Ryzen 7 7700. It turns out that the i5-13490F isn't the only such SKU, there's also the Core i7-13790F. Positioned between the i7-13700 and i9-13900, the i7-13790F is a unique piece of silicon. It has the same 8P+8E core-configuration as the i7-13700 and i7-13700K, and even the same 5.20 GHz maximum P-core turbo frequency as the i7-13700, but comes with a little extra shared L3 cache of 33 MB.

Each of the 8 "Raptor Cove" P-cores on the i7-13790F has 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache, and each of the two available E-core clusters has 4 MB of L2 cache that's shared among the four "Gracemont" E-cores in the cluster. The L3 cache that's shared among the 8 P-cores and 2 E-core clusters, has been bumped up to 33 MB from 30 MB on the other 13th Gen Core i7 desktop SKUs. This is still short of the 36 MB physically present on the "Raptor Lake-S" silicon. There are a couple of gotchas, though. Firstly, this is still a "locked" (non-K) SKU having minimal overclocking capabilities, with a 65 W base power and possibly the same 219 W maximum turbo power as the i7-13700; and secondly, as an "F" SKU, it lacks integrated graphics. The i5-13490F and i7-13790F appear to be targeting the SI and retail channels, and come in an exclusive black paperboard box. The i7-13790F is priced at RMB ¥2,999 including taxes, or about $440.

Minisforum unveiled the new Intel 12th Mini PC NUCG5 with dual 40 Gbps thunderbolt 4 ports today. Equipped with the powerful Intel Core i5-1240P chip, NUCG5 is even more powerful, capable, and affordable for the edge, business, or home. The Intel Core i5-1240P is a mid-range Alder Lake-P family SoC with 12 cores/16 threads. It has 12 MB of L3 cache and operates at 1700 MHz by default, but it can boost up to 4.4 GHz, depending on the workload. It also integrates the 80 EU Intel Iris Xe Graphics that can run up to 1.30 GHz.

Measuring 109.5 mm long, 110.5 mm wide and 61.6 mm high, NUCG5 is even smaller than the Minisforum UM series lineup such as Minisforum UM560. The dual Thunderbolt 4 ports design makes it stand out among other members.

Intel's upcoming Meteor Lake processor family is supposedly looking good with the new performance/efficiency targets. According to the @OneRaichu Twitter account, we have a potential performance estimate for the upcoming SKUs. As the latest information notes, Intel's 14th-generation Meteor Lake will feature around a 50% increase in efficiency compared to the 13th-generation Raptor Lake designs. This means that the processor can use half the power at the same performance target at Raptor Lake, increasing efficiency. Of course, the design also offers some performance improvements besides efficiency that are significant and are yet to be shown. The new Redwood Cove P-cores will be combined with the new Crestmont E-cores for maximum performance inside U/P/H configurations with 15-45 Watt power envelopes.

For integrated graphics, the source notes that Meteor Lake offers twice the performance of iGPU found on Raptor Lake designs. Supposedly, Meteor Lake will feature 128 EUs running 2.0+GHz compared to 96 EUs found inside Raptor Lake. The iGPU architecture will switch from Intel Iris to Xe-LPG 'Xe-MTL' family on the 14th gen models, confirming a giant leap in performance that iGPU is supposed to experience. Using the tile-based design, Intel combines the Intel 4 process for the CPU tile and the TSMC 5 nm process for the GPU tile. Intel handles final packaging for additional tuning, and you can see the separation below.

ASUS today announced Vivobook 13 Slate OLED (T3304), the new generation of this fun-filled 13.3-inch detachable 2-in-1 laptop that makes it make it easier to enjoy everything, everywhere. With its vivacious styling and versatile design, Vivobook 13 Slate OLED is a brilliant all-rounder. Its combination of a brilliant 13.3-inch OLED Dolby Vision Pantone Validated touchscreen and a quad-speaker Dolby Atmos sound system makes it the perfect choice for on-the-go entertainment.

Creativity is a cinch with the handy ASUS Pen 2.0, an MPP 2.0-compliant stylus with 4096 pressure levels, four swappable tips, and convenient one-click Bluetooth functions via a shortcut button. A speedy new eight-core Intel Core processor is faster and delivers better battery life than its predecessor, and is backed by a 512 GB PCIe SSD and up to 8 GB of fast LPDDR5 memory. The magnetically-attached keyboard, large touchpad, and a cover stand make it endlessly adaptable to any situation, and users can enjoy easy connectivity via the dual USB-C ports, audio jack and microSD card reader.

Intel released a curiously-named Core i5-13490F desktop processor SKU in the Chinese market, in what is a sign that the company is optimizing its lineup to better square off against AMD's Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 "Zen 4" processors at highly competitive pricing. The i5-13490F is positioned in between the i5-13400F and the i5-13500. It has the same 6P+4E core-configuration as the i5-13400F, and not the 6P+8E configuration of the i5-13500; but comes with a larger shared L3 cache of 24 MB, compared to 20 MB on the i5-13400F. The P-cores still only get 1.25 MB of L2 cache a piece, and the E-core clusters each only get 2 MB of shared L2 cache. As an "F" SKU, it lacks integrated graphics. The clock-speeds see the P-cores at a maximum boost frequency of 4.70 GHz (compared to 4.60 GHz of the i5-13400F). A quick CPU-Z Bench run put the processor's performance at roughly 6% higher single-threaded score than the i5-13400F, and a roughly 4.5% higher multi-threaded score.

Intel in an interview with Hardwareluxx shed more light on its second generation Xe graphics architecture, codenamed "Battlemage." There will be two key variants of "Battlemage,"—Xe2-LPG and Xe2-HPG. The Xe2-LPG (low-power graphics) architecture is a slimmed-down derivative of "Battlemage" that's optimized for low-power. It is meant for iGPUs (integrated graphics), particularly upcoming "disaggregated" Intel Core processors in which the iGPU exists on Graphics Tiles (chiplets). The iGPU powering the upcoming Core "Meteor Lake" processor is rumored to meet the full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature-set (something Xe-LP doesn't), and so it's likely that Xe2-LPG is getting its first outing with that processor. The Xe2-HPG (high performance graphics) architecture is designed squarely for discrete GPUs—either desktop graphics cards, or mobile discrete GPUs hardwired into laptops.

In the interview, Intel talked about how its first-generation Xe graphics IP had at least four separate product verticals based on the scalability of the product, and the specific application (Xe-LP for iGPUs and tiny dGPUs, Xe-HPG for client- and pro-vis discrete GPUs, Xe-HPC for scalar compute processors, and Xe-HP for data-center graphics). The company eventually axed Xe-HP as it felt the Xe-HPG and Xe-HPC architectures adequately addressed this segment. With AXG (accelerated compute group) being split up between the CCG (client computing group) and DCG (data-center group); Xe2-LPG and Xe2-HPG will be developed primarily under CCG, with a client and pro-visualization focus; while Xe-HPC will be developed as a scalar-compute architecture by DCG, which effectively leaves the Intel Arc Graphics team with just two verticals—to deliver a feature-rich iGPU for its next-generation Core processors, and a performance discrete GPU lineup so it can eat away market-share from NVIDIA and AMD—hopefully with better time-to-market.

Samsung Electronics today unveiled the Galaxy Book3 series, its latest flagship PC lineup featuring the Galaxy Book3 Ultra, Book3 Pro 360 and Book3 Pro. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra—Samsung's new premium PC—features ultra-high-performance computing, the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 features a 2-in-1 convertible form factor with S Pen functionality, and the Galaxy Book3 Pro features thin and light, mobility-first clamshell design. The Galaxy Book3 series is designed for those who need seamless multi-device connectivity and premium hardware to supercharge their productivity and creativity.

"Today, we're seeing an increasing number of people using multiple devices to perform efficiently. These new workflows are made possible thanks to our open and extensive Galaxy ecosystem," said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. "The latest Galaxy Book3 series further enriches our connected offerings. It is tailor-made for Galaxy enthusiasts looking for ultra-high computing performance and seamless connected Galaxy experiences to maximize their productivity and creativity."

Back in January, Intel officially increased the price of its 12th Gen Core processors by 10 percent, a move that was thought to help push the 13th Gen Core processors in retail. Here we are, barely a month later and Intel is now said to be cutting the price on said 12th Gen Core processors by as much as 20 percent. The report comes from DigiTimes in Taiwan and should as such be taken with a pinch of salt, but apparently the higher-end SKUs are expected to see the biggest price cuts.

Twitter user @harukaze5719 has put together a cheat sheet that gives us an easy overview on what we might be able to expect, if the 20 percent price cut is done across the board. This should make Intel's 12th Gen Core processors quite attractive price wise, as all models would end up selling for much less than they did before the 10 percent price increase. This would give Intel some extra leverage over AMD, which might be forced to lower its prices in turn, to be able to stay competitive.

Intel didn't exactly report stellar results for the past year and now news out of the US are reporting that the management team is in for big pay cuts, due to missing the earnings targets. Unfortunately the pay cuts aren't limited to management level employees only, as everyone "level 7" and above are affected. Level 7 appears to be some groups of mid-level employees, such as staff engineers. Intel is said to have 14 different employee levels, where fresh graduates start at level 3 and the CEO is level 14. Pat Gelsinger is expected to see a 25 percent cut to his base salary, with the leadership team seeing a 15 percent cut in their base salary.

However, VP's are only seeing a 10 percent pay cut and those below VP—to level 6—will see a five percent pay cut. This is said to go into effect on the first of March and it might seem like those employees at lower hiring tiers are getting away without a pay cut, but it's not quite that simple. Everyone else will see a pay freeze and incentives will be cut for all employees at Intel. This includes suspended quarterly profit sharing bonuses, no employee recognition program and the retirement plan contribution matching cut in half to 2.5 percent. The only perk left will be the annual bonus. Considering the current state of the world, the upside of all of this, is that Intel is at least not laying off any employees as of right now, at least not officially. That said, we might see some employees jumping ship to Intel's competitors, if they can offer a more attractive package. We should point out that the average salary at Intel is around US$134,000, so it's unlikely that most of its employees will suffer due to the reduction in pay.

Intel cut the baseline prices of its Arc A750 performance-segment graphics card. The card now starts at USD $249, down from its launch price of $289 for the first-party reference-design card. Among the handful custom-design board partners for the A750 are Acer, Gunnir, and ASRock. The A750 targets maxed-out AAA gaming at 1080p, although the card is capable of higher resolutions with the Intel XeSS performance enhancement.

Based on the 6 nm ACM-G10 silicon, the A750 is endowed with 3,584 unified shaders across 28 Xe Cores or 448 EUs, 224 TMUs, 112 ROPs, and 8 GB of 16 Gbps GDDR6 memory across the chip's full 256-bit wide memory interface (512 GB/s memory bandwidth). The card has a typical board power of 225 W, draws it from a combination of 8-pin and 6-pin PCIe power connectors; and has modern display outputs that include HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 2.1. The Arc "Alchemist" family of GPUs meets the full DirectX 12 Ultimate feature-set, including real-time ray tracing. They also have regular driver updates with day-zero optimization for big game releases.Many Thanks to TumbleGeorge for the tip.