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June 29
- Commodore acquired for a ‘low seven figure’ price — new (acting) CEO comes from the retro community
➀ YouTuber Christian 'Peri Fratic' acquires Commodore Corporation in a seven-figure deal, positioning himself as acting CEO;
➁ The revived Commodore enlists original engineers and executives to develop 'retro futurism' products, while financial backing remains uncertain;
➂ A new hardware project is teased with a countdown, hinting at future innovations under the iconic brand.
- Nvidia’s RTX 50 Super lineup leak hints at increased VRAM of up to 24GB and 415W TGP
➀ NVIDIA's RTX 50 Super series (RTX 5070/5070 Ti/5080 Super) is rumored to feature significant VRAM upgrades (up to 24GB of GDDR7) and increased power consumption (415W TGP);
➁ The RTX 5070 Super may offer 18GB VRAM (+50% vs non-Super) with 6,400 CUDA cores, while the RTX 5080 Super could pack 24GB GDDR7 and 10,752 cores;
➂ Consumers anticipate improved performance for 4K gaming and AI workloads, but pricing remains a concern given NVIDIA's historical market trends.
June 28
- Ex-Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger gives Japan's new leading-edge chipmaker advice, says Rapidus needs unique tech to compete with TSMC
➀ Ex-Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger advises Japan's Rapidus to develop unique differentiating technologies beyond production efficiency to compete with TSMC.
➁ Rapidus plans to integrate wafer fabrication and advanced packaging at the same facility for faster cycles, though full automation will not be available immediately from 2027.
➂ The company aims to begin 2nm test production with GAA transistors and establish a chiplets R&D center, utilizing ASML EUV lithography tools for future HBM and 3D packaging.
- Ryzen 9 9950X3D bundle at Amazon includes a free 360mm AIO liquid cooler, or save $30 at Newegg
➀ AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, a 16-core/32-thread gaming CPU, is now available at $669 with a $50 discount on Amazon or bundled with a free MSI AIO cooler (valued at $109) at Newegg;
➁ Featuring Zen 5 X3D architecture, 5.7GHz boost clock, and integrated Radeon graphics, it earned Tom's Hardware's 'Editor's Choice' award for exceptional performance;
➂ Limited-time deals make this high-end processor more accessible for gamers and power users.
- Asus makes branded burgers with KFC China, meal deal includes free limited-edition keycaps — ‘Fortress of Faith’ collaboration with fast food chain launches with $5.60 combo
➀ Asus partners with KFC China to launch 'Fortress of Faith' collaboration featuring Wagyu beef burgers and limited-edition gaming keycaps;
➀ Meal deals priced at ¥39.90/$5.60 (basic combo) and ¥42.90/$5.99 (with keycap set), featuring innovative durian-cheese fusion flavors;
➂ Follows a trend of tech-food crossovers, including KFC's past KFConsole PC and Pizza Hut's PS5-compatible pizza warmer.
- Even upscalers can't resuscitate a $10 GPU—13-year-old GTX 660 is so slow that FSR can't give it a boost
➀ A 13-year-old NVIDIA GTX 660 GPU fails to benefit from modern upscaling technologies like FSR and XeSS due to its antiquated architecture and lack of FP16 support;
➁ Testing in games like Cyberpunk 2077 showed negligible FPS improvements, with crashes and black screens highlighting hardware limitations;
➂ The experiment underscores the growing gap between legacy GPUs and compute-intensive upscaling methods designed for modern architectures.
- Latest 3D printing tech and combat robotics showcased at the OG 3D printing festival, MRRF 2025
➀ The 13th Midwest RepRap Festival (MRRF 2025) gathered 3D printing enthusiasts in Indiana, featuring open-source innovations like Cody Bean's Printventory STL organizer and intense combat robotics competitions;
➀ Creality showcased its portable Raptor Pro 3D scanner, while young builders demonstrated TPU-armored combat robots;
➂ The event highlighted global community growth with sister festivals planned in Maryland, England, and Japan through 2026.
- $28 hard drive from Amazon turns out to be legit despite the price — questions about the 500GB HDD's longevity remain, though
➀ A $28 UnionSine 500GB external HDD on Amazon performs as advertised but contains a 9-year-old Toshiba drive, raising longevity concerns;
➀ Testing revealed read/write speeds matching advertised specs, but internal components suggest refurbished units;
➂ While cost-effective for short-term use, experts caution against relying on it for critical long-term storage.
- Fortnite cheater fined $175,000 for using cheats to win $6,850 in competitive tournaments — Epic bans player forever
➀ Epic Games won a lawsuit against a Fortnite player who used DMA devices to cheat in 839 tournaments, resulting in a $175,000 fine and a lifetime ban;
➁ The penalty amount was calculated as 25 times the player's $6,850 winnings, based on $200 per copyright violation across 839 matches;
➂ This follows Epic's prior legal actions against cheating, including forcing another player to issue a public apology and return earnings.
- SpaceX launches UK satellite to create semiconductors in low Earth orbit — sub-zero temps and vacuum of space could advance AI data centers and quantum computing
➀ UK startup Space Forge launched its first space manufacturing satellite ForgeStar-1 via SpaceX to pioneer semiconductor fabrication in low-Earth orbit;
➁ The mission aims to test space's natural vacuum and extreme cold for producing advanced chips for AI data centers and quantum computing;
➂ Future plans include recovering manufactured chips with ForgeStar-2 and scaling to 100+ annual satellite launches by 2025.
- Asus's new BTF GPUs can now be used in standard systems courtesy of a detachable 1000W power connector — New 5090 and RTX 5070 Ti models have a dual personality
➀ Asus launches BTF 2.5 graphics cards with detachable 1000W GC-HPWR power connectors, including RTX 5090 and RTX 5070 Ti variants;
➁ The removable power interface breaks ecosystem limitations, allowing GPU usage on standard motherboards;
➂ Features 32GB GDDR7 memory on flagship model and recommends 1000W PSU for optimal performance.
June 25
- WinRAR exploit enables attackers to run malicious code on your PC — critical vulnerability patched in latest beta update
➀ A critical directory traversal vulnerability (CVE-2025-6218) in WinRAR allows attackers to hijack directory paths and execute malicious code via malicious archives;
➁ Impacted versions (WinRAR 7.11 and earlier) pose high confidentiality risks, scoring 7.8/10 on CVSS;
➂ RARLAB has released WinRAR 7.12 Beta 1 with security patches, urging immediate manual updates for Windows users.
- Intel lays off hundreds of engineers in California, including chip design engineers and architects — automotive chip division also gets the axe
➀ Intel initiates massive layoffs in California, cutting chip design engineers and automotive division;
➁ 107 employees at Santa Clara HQ affected with up to 9 weeks compensation;
➂ Restructuring aims to save $1.5 billion, refocusing on core CPU/GPU and data center businesses
- HDMI 2.2 is here with new 'Ultra96' Cables — up to 16K resolution, higher maximum 96 Gbps bandwidth than DisplayPort, backwards compatibility & more
➀ HDMI 2.2 launches with Ultra96 cables offering 96 Gbps bandwidth, enabling 16K@60Hz and uncompressed 8K@60Hz;
➁ Backwards compatible with HDMI 2.1 and introduces Latency Indication Protocol for audio-video synchronization;
➂ AMD's next-gen UDNA GPUs rumored to adopt HDMI 2.2, though full bandwidth may be limited to workstation cards.
- Massive $40 quad-fan JF15K Diamond CPU cooler wields dual-heatsinks for up to 280W TDP cooling capacity — Jiushark's latest spans the entire width of a standard motherboard
➀ Jiushark launches JF15K Diamond, a budget-friendly CPU air cooler with dual-tower heatsinks and four 100mm PWM fans, supporting up to 280W TDP;
➁ The 153mm-height cooler offers wide compatibility for motherboards and memory modules, featuring ARGB lighting in black/white variants;
➂ Priced at 260–280 Yuan ($36–39), it targets the mid-range cooling market with a focus on cost-effective thermal performance.
- How to add non-Steam games to your Steam Deck with Heroic Games Launcher
➀ The article guides users to install Heroic Games Launcher on Steam Deck, enabling access to Epic, GoG, and Amazon game libraries;
➁ Steps include switching to desktop mode, configuring Proton compatibility layer, and integrating Heroic into Steam's library;
➂ Custom artwork via steamgriddb enhances visual consistency within Steam OS.
- AMD researchers reduce graphics card VRAM capacity of 3D-rendered trees from 38GB to just 52 KB with work graphs and mesh nodes — shifting CPU work to the GPU yields tremendous results
➀ AMD researchers developed a procedural tree generation system using work graphs and mesh nodes, reducing VRAM usage from 34.8 GiB to just 51 KiB (a 666,352x reduction).
➁ The technique shifts geometry processing from CPU to GPU, enabling real-time procedural generation of 3D objects with minimal memory footprint.
➂ Comparable innovations like NVIDIA's neural texture compression are noted, but AMD's approach provides cross-vendor GPU compatibility.
- 27-year-old Easter egg found in the Apple Power Mac G3's ROM— creating a RAM disk with the name 'secret ROM image' unveils a hidden file
➀ A 27-year-old Easter egg hidden in Apple's Power Mac G3 ROM was uncovered, revealing a secret developer team photo when a RAM disk named 'secret ROM image' is created;
➁ Discoverer Doug Brown used reverse engineering tools like Ghidra to trace the trigger mechanism, with collaboration from the retro computing community;
➂ The Easter egg highlights Apple's pre-Steve Jobs era culture, contrasting with later policies banning such hidden features in products like iMac and modern macOS.
June 22
- Nvidia GPU owners may be losing performance because of a simple setting that's disabled by default — enabling Resizable Bar with Profile Inspector can enhance GPU performance by up to 10% in 3DMark
➀ Enabling Resizable Bar (ReBAR) via Nvidia Profile Inspector can boost GPU performance by up to 10% in benchmarks like 3DMark Port Royal;
➁ Despite benefits, ReBAR’s impact varies by game—some see gains, others suffer performance loss, prompting Nvidia to enable it selectively;
➂ Enthusiasts recommend manual testing for unlisted games, as Nvidia’s whitelist may not cover all optimized titles.
- China's first 6nm gaming GPU matches 13-year-old GTX 660 Ti in first Geekbench tests — Lisuan G100 surfaces with 32 CUs, 256MB VRAM, and 300 MHz clock speed
➀ China's Lisuan G100 6nm gaming GPU debuts on Geekbench with performance matching 2012's GTX 660 Ti;
➀ Early benchmark shows 32 CUs, 256MB VRAM and 300MHz clock speed, suggesting entry-level specs hampered by immature drivers;
➂ Lisuan targets mass production by late 2025, but faces challenges in driver optimization and ecosystem development as seen with Intel Arc and Moore Threads.
June 21
- Intel to outsource marketing to Accenture and AI, resulting in more layoffs
➀ Intel plans to outsource its marketing operations to Accenture, leveraging AI for tasks like information processing and personalized communications, resulting in significant layoffs within its marketing division.
➁ The restructuring aims to streamline operations, reduce costs, and focus internal teams on strategic projects, though the company has not clarified how AI will enhance brand strength.
➂ Affected employees will be notified by July 11, with some retained to train Accenture contractors during the transition phase.
- New display hits 1 million FPS — display and high-speed camera could enable 1 Terabit per second communication speeds, beating current network interfaces
➀ X Display Company (XDC) unveiled a 1 million FPS microLED display paired with a high-speed camera for machine-to-machine communication, potentially reaching 1 Tb/s speeds;
➁ The system offers 2-3x higher energy efficiency than 800G optical transceivers and eliminates physical cables, but requires high-speed encoding/decoding and infrastructure redesign;
➂ While promising for hyperscale data centers, challenges remain in practical implementation and industry adoption beyond niche applications.
- Nvidia reportedly books entire server plant capacity through 2026 to build Blackwell and Rubin AI servers, pushing out other potential customers
➀ NVIDIA secures entire Wistron server plant capacity in Taiwan through 2026 for Blackwell/Rubin AI servers, pushing out competitors;
➁ Wistron expands production with a second plant in Zhubei, doubling capacity to meet surging demand;
➂ Strategic move ensures NVIDIA's supply chain dominance while limiting rivals' access to AI server manufacturing resources.
- Windows updates might finally be getting better — Microsoft to remove legacy drivers from Windows Update to boost security
➀ Microsoft announces a new policy to regularly remove legacy drivers from Windows Update to enhance security and compatibility;
➁ The cleanup targets outdated drivers with newer replacements and allows partners to provide feedback, but older devices may lose support;
➂ Critics express concerns about potential forced upgrades and reduced functionality for legacy hardware.
June 20
- AMD teases custom chip roadmap following next-gen Xbox partnership announcement with Microsoft — company says it will create a full roadmap of gaming-optimized chips powered by Ryzen and Radeon
➀ AMD announced an expanded roadmap for gaming-optimized Ryzen/Radeon chips targeting consoles, handhelds, and cloud gaming platforms;
➁ The initiative follows a new partnership with Microsoft for next-gen Xbox consoles and handheld PCs, with plans to bridge compatibility across platforms;
➂ Future APUs may integrate AI upscaling and enhanced backward compatibility, potentially reshaping gaming hardware ecosystems.
- AMD leaks new entry-level Ryzen 5 9600X3D CPU — new gaming-optimized 3D V-Cache chip expected before the end of the year
① AMD confirms the upcoming Ryzen 5 9600X3D, a budget-friendly gaming CPU with 3D V-Cache, expanding its X3D lineup.
② Expected specs: 6 cores, 12 threads, 5.2 GHz boost, and 96MB L3 cache via stacked 3D V-Cache technology.
③ Planned release between late Q3 and early Q4 2025, prioritizing system integrators before DIY market availability.
- Windows 11 24H2 updates are still failing on Western Digital's SN770, despite the fact that a fix came out 8 months ago — here's what to do if you're stuck
➀ Microsoft blocks WD Black SN770 SSDs from receiving Windows 11 24H2 update due to HMB compatibility issues;
➁ Despite WD releasing firmware fixes in October 2024, Microsoft's update system fails to integrate the solution;
➂ Users must manually update firmware via SanDisk Dashboard software to resolve the conflict.
- ASRock preps Radeon RX AI Pro R9700 Creator for AI and workstation users — blower card packs massive 32GB of GDDR6 memory, adopts 16-pin connector
➀ ASRock launched Radeon RX AI Pro R9700 Creator with AMD's Navi 48 GPU for AI and workstation applications;
➁ Features 32GB GDDR6 memory, dual-slot blower cooling and 12V-2x6 power connector;
➂ Requires 800W PSU, supports 8K output via DisplayPort 1.2a with July 2025 availability
- Huawei's brute force AI tactic seems to be working — CloudMatrix 384 claimed to outperform Nvidia processors running DeepSeek R1
➀ A Huawei CloudMatrix 384 cluster with 384 Ascend 910C chips outperforms Nvidia H800 in running DeepSeek's R1 LLM, achieving 300 PFLOPS BF16 compute power;
➁ The solution consumes 4x more energy (559 kW vs. Nvidia's 145 kW) with 2.3x lower efficiency, but benefits from China's abundant electricity resources;
➂ Despite Nvidia's technological lead, Huawei's brute-force approach using optical interconnects and domestic NPUs offers Chinese clients a viable alternative under export restrictions.
June 19
- Apple explores using generative AI to design its chips — executive says 'it can be a huge productivity boost'
➀ Apple's Senior VP Johny Srouji announced the use of generative AI in chip design via EDA tools, aiming to accelerate development cycles;
➀ Apple's shift to in-house Silicon (M-series) transformed consumer computing, relying on industry collaborations with EDA leaders Cadence and Synopsys;
➂ Global tech firms like NVIDIA invest in AI infrastructure, highlighting AI's pivotal role in industrial innovation.