Kang Gosol

Intel Initiates EOL for the VCA2: Three Xeons on a PCIe Card

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 May 2020 08:48:00 -0700

One of Intel’s more interesting products over the recent years was its range of Visual Compute Accelerator cards, designed to help cloud streaming and encoding/decoding of HD and UHD video. These cards were built on the QuickSync principle, using Intel’s integrated graphics to accelerate the process, but also using special Xeons with added eDRAM (known as Crystalwell) to help accelerate the process. These cards fit into a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, and used a switch to control them, as well as shuttling data across the PCIe bus. They were launched in 2017, and now Intel is putting them onto the End-Of-Life track for product discontinuance.

These cards were geared towards the cloud video streaming market, and contained three E3-1585L v5 processors inside with Iris Pro P580 graphics. The card as a whole was rated for 235 W, which includes the switch inside, and through a host you could ssh into the CPUs similar to how Intel made Xeon Phi add-in cards. Intel’s SDK pacakages for the card revolved around AVC transcoding at 30 FPS, as well as a Kernel development kit for CAD applications.

We actually saw a third party company at Supercomputing this year who built the cards specifically for HPE’s customer deployments. They were showing off the PCB routing and cooling skills. The card was quite heavy and long, requiring an 8-pin and a 6-pin PCIe connector to provide enough power.

The EOL timeline for the VCA1585LMV starts on May 22^nd, with a final order date of August 1^st. Orders are non-cancelable after September 1^st, and all orders will be shipped by the end of the year. Any orders placed between the final order date and the final shipment date will be filled by any existing inventory. Interestingly enough, Intel also includes this snippet in its product notice that I’ve never seen before:

Intel will provide reasonable commercial efforts in debugging issues during the warranty period for the product after the PDA date has passed. Fixes cannot be committed, but Intel will endeavor to provide reasonable workarounds for the product.

At this point in time Intel has not stated if it plans to launch a new version of the Visual Compute Accelerator – given that VCA2 is now in EOL and no VCA3 is announced, this line of products has likely finished, or will be replaced by future AI/Xe/FPGA efforts.

Source: Intel PCN 117586-00, Intel Product Page, Intel Server Marketing Library

GeiL Unveils 64 GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM Kit, 2 x 32 GB

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 May 2020 08:48:00 -0700

Memory manufacturer Golden Emporer International Limited, or known generally as GeiL, has announced its new memory line with support for Intel 10th Gen and AMD Ryzen 4000 series processors. Casually calling its new 64 GB product simply 'SO-DIMM', it will be available in a 2 x 32 GB DDR4-3200 kit.

With mobile processor architecture improving at a steady rate, memory capacity limits have increased designed to give gamers and content creators more robust memory capabilities. Designed to support Intel's 10th generation and AMD's Ryzen 4000 mobile series, the GeiL SO-DIMM offers users to upgrade its notebooks with 64 GB of memory. Not only DDR4-3200, but the GeiL SO-DIMM series also includes DDR4-2666 and DDR4-2933 variants.

With its black and simplistic design, the DDR4-3200 64 GB (2 x 32) kit has a CAS latencies of 22-22-22-52. GeiL states every kit is tested with its DYNA 4 SLT technology but doesn't state publically what that entails. The DDR4-2666 kit has latencies of 19-19-19-43, while the DDR4-2933 has latencies of 21-21-21-48 (these sub-timings are similar to other vendors). Every 2 x 32 GB kit has an operating voltage of 1.2 V and is also backed by GeiL's limited lifetime warranty.

While the product naming scheming is somewhat unimaginative, the SO-DIMM range of dual-channel 64 GB kits for mobile platforms is GeiL's first 64 GB SO-DIMM kit. Geil hasn't announced when the SO-DIMM 64 kits will be available, nor has it revealed pricing at this time.

Amazon Makes Graviton2 AWS Instances Available

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 May 2020 11:00:00 -0700

Following the Graviton2's first official announcement back in December, as well as the preview period that has been going on for several months now, Amazon has today publicly launched new m6g instanced based on their new in-house Arm platform.

We had a more in-depth look into the Graviton2 in our analysis article back in March, and the Amazon silicon and Arm's Neoverse-N1 cores certainly delivered on its promises, showcasing competitive performance both in single-threaded as well as multi-threaded scenarios. Most importantly, on AWS, the m6g instances delivered better cost efficiency compared to competing Intel and AMD-based instances.

The new m6g instances in Amazon's main global regions, including US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), Europe (Ireland), Europe (Frankfurt), and Asia Pacific (Tokyo) starting today.

AMD Announces Ryzen Pro 4000 for Mobile: 8 Cores, 15 W, 4.1 GHz

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 May 2020 16:01:00 -0700

On the back of AMD’s successful Ryzen Mobile 4000 series launch for consumer laptops, the company today launching its range of commercial processors from the same family. These processors are designed for the standard commercial verticals typically associated with company contracts, education deployments, medical use cases and any environment that requires a level of manageability across its workforce. The new AMD processors have up to eight of the latest Zen 2 cores, up to Vega 7 compute graphics, and are built on the latest TSMC 7nm process node technology.

Microsoft Springs A Surface Refresh: Surface Book 3 And Surface Go 2 Plus Accessories

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 May 2020 11:13:00 -0700

This morning Microsoft is announcing a refresh on a couple more of their Surface products that did not get updated back in October. The Surface Book 3 and Surface Go 2 will be making their way onto the shelves of the Microsoft Store this month, with the updated Surface Go 2 available May 12 along with the new accessories, and the Surface Book 3 coming on May 21.

Surface Go 2

The smallest member of the Surface family is getting some nice updates. Microsoft has shrunk the bezels slightly and were able to fit in a 10.5-inch display in the same size device as the original generation. The new 10.5-inch PixelSense display also gets a slight resolution bump to compensate, coming in at 1920x1280, keeping the 3:2 aspect ratio Surface is known for, and achieving 220 pixels per inch.

Microsoft Surface Go 2
	Surface Go Specifications
CPU	Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y (Amber Lake-Y) 2 core, 4 thread, 1.7 GHz base frequency 6W TDP Optional Core m3-8100Y (Amber Lake-Y) 2 core, 4 thread, 1.1-3.4 GHz, 5W TDP
GPU	Intel HD 615 24 EUs 850 MHz (900 Core m3) boost frequency
Display	10.5-inch PixelSense 1920x1280 3:2 aspect 220 Pixels Per Inch 10-point Multitouch Surface Pen support
Dimensions	245 x 175 x 8.3 mm 9.6 x 6.9 x 0.33 inches
Weight	544 grams (WiFi) / 553 grams (LTE) 1.20 lbs (WiFi) / 1.22 lbs (LTE)
RAM	4 or 8 GB LPDDR3-1866
Storage	64 GB eMMC 128 NVMe SSD optional 256 GB NVMe SSD (Commerical Option)
Wireless	802.11ac with Bluetooth 4.1 Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE Optional
Battery	Up to 10 hours 24W Charger
Cameras	Windows Hello IR camera 5 MP Front Camera with 1080p video 8 MP Rear Camera with 1080p video
Ports	USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 with power delivery Surface Connect MicroSD Headset
Price	Starting at $399 USD

One of the biggest knocks against the first generation was its lackluster performance, and Microsoft is now offering two new processor options. The first generation shipped with an Intel Pentium 4415Y, based on the Kaby Lake-Y platform. On the base model, there is a slight boost, since it will now move to the Amber Lakey-Y based Intel Pentium 4425Y, boosting the frequency from 1.6 GHz to 1.7 GHz. For those that want a bit more speed, Microsoft is also offering a model with the Intel m3-8100Y, also based on Amber Lake, but the key difference being that the Core lineup offers Turbo, and the Pentium lineup does not. The Core m3-8100Y boosts to 3.4 GHz at its default TDP of 5 Watts, and should make a substantial difference for light workloads.

Otherwise the hardware has not changed much. Microsoft has added dual-studio microphones, which pair well with the 5 MP front camera for video conferencing, which has become much more important in today’s climate. They’ve also added a new camera application for the rear 8 MP camera to make it easy to scan documents and whiteboards. One has to assume the app is based on their Office Lens software, which works very well for these tasks. The base unit still features 64 GB of eMMC storage, and you can opt for a 128 GB SSD model as well. It would have been nice to see both of those values doubled for this year, even if it meant the devices cost slightly higher.

The 10.5-inch convertible tablet of course works with the Surface Pen as well, and Microsoft has new colors for the Type Cover accessory for this season, with Platinum, Black, Poppy Red, and Ice Blue options this year.

The original Surface Go was a well-built machine, and the new version starts at the same base price of $399. Prices will go up from there, and Microsoft is continuing to offer the LTE version as well.

Surface Book 3

The Surface Book 2 is still today one of the nicest laptops available, and today’s refresh does not mess with what worked. Microsoft has kept the same design from the Surface Book 2, with both the 13.5-inch and 15-inch models getting new components inside. This may be disappointing to some who crave some new wow factors, but the Surface Book 2 was a fantastic device, and Microsoft has chosen not to mess with success.

Microsoft Surface Book 3
	13.5 No GPU	13.5 GPU	15
CPU	Intel Core i5-1035G7 Quad-Core w/Hyperthreading 1.2-3.7 GHz 6MB Cache 15W TDP	Intel Core i7-1065G7 Quad-Core w/Hyperthreading 1.3-3.9 GHz 8MB Cache 15W TDP
RAM	Up to 32GB LPDDR4X
GPU	Intel Iris Plus G7	Intel Iris Plus G7 + NVIDIA GTX 1650 Max-Q 4GB	Intel Iris Plus G7 + NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti Max-Q 6GB
Storage	fastest SSD we have ever shipped
Display	13.5" PixelSense 3000x2000 3:2 sRGB Touch and Pen enabled		15" PixelSense 3240x2160 3:2 sRGB Touch and Pen enabled
Networking	Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax Bluetooth 5.0
Audio	Stereo Speakers (front facing) Dolby Audio Premium
Battery	Up to 15.5 Hours		Up to 17.5 Hours
Xbox Wireless	No		Yes
Right Side	Surface Connect USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 1 with USB Power Delivery Headset Jack
Left Side	2 x USB 3.0 Type-ASD Card Reader
Dimensions	312 x 232 x 13-23mm 12.3 x 9.14 x 0.51-0.90 inches		343 x 251 x 15-23 mm 13.5 x 9.87 x 0.57-0.90 inches
Weight	1.53 kg 3.38 lbs	1.64 kg 3.62 lbs	1.90 kg 4.2 lbs
Cameras	8.0 MP Rear-facing camera with autofocus 5.0 MP front-facing camera with 1080p video Windows Hello IR camera
Pricing	Starting at $1599 USD

The big changes this year are all under the hood. The Surface Book lineup now features Intel’s Ice Lake processors, with the Core i5-1035G7 as the base option on the smaller 13.5-inch model, and the Core i7-1065G7 as an option on the 13.5, and standard on the 15-inch Surface Book 3. RAM options now allow for up to 32 GB, thanks to Ice Lake’s use of LPDDR4X. Microsoft has paired the new processors with new GPUs as well. The smaller device bumps the GPU from the NVIDIA GTX 1050 in the previous gen to a NVIDIA GTX 1650 Max-Q with 4 GB of GDDR5 for 2020. The larger Surface Book 3 gets a new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q. For those that need Quadro, Microsoft is also offering the Quadro RTX 3000, which is actually a pretty big jump in GPU size compared to the GTX 1660Ti, going from 1536 CUDA cores up to ~~2304~~ Update: NVIDIA has adjusted the specs on the RTX 3000 making it 1920 CUDA Cores on the RTX Quadro 3000. There may be some questions as to why Microsoft opted for a GTX 1660 Ti when the RTX 2060 Max-Q is available, but the RTX model is quite a bit more power hungry in most scenarios.

For 2020, Microsoft has also re-engineered their Surface Connect adapter, and the new Surface Book 3 should no longer drain the battery under high-load scenarios. The new model ships with a 127-Watt charger on the 15-inch model, and a 102-Watt charger on the GPU-equipped 13.5-inch version. The maximum power the original Surface Connect could handle was 100 Watts, so this small amount of extra capacity should do the trick.

Microsoft still is not interested in Thunderbolt 3, but the Surface Book 3 features the same USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port as the previous model, including USB Power Delivery revision 3.0. The new Surface Book 3 will be available May 21 starting at $1599.

Accessories

Surface Headphones 2

Microsoft launched the Surface Headphones back in 2018, and for 2020 they’ve updated them to the Surface Headphones 2. The new models feature the same noise-canceling features, with 13-levels of active noise cancelation, which can be adjusted with on-ear dials. Microsoft has improved the sound quality and battery life for this generation, and the new headphones now feature up to 20 hours of battery life, with a charge time of only two hours. There are also new ear cups which can be rotated 180° for comfort, and the Surface Headphones 2 now come in black, as well as the original platinum, to match the finish on the Surface lineup. The new headphones start at $249, and will be available May 12.

Surface Earbuds

Maybe headphones are not your thing. Microsoft is now offering Surface Earbuds, featuring touch-controls for dialing and changing songs. They can auto-start Spotify by triple-tapping either earbud. They come with a wireless charging case, and offer “all-day” battery life. The Surface Earbuds will be available May 12 for $199.

Surface Dock 2

Microsoft has updated their Surface Dock with faster charging, higher data rates, and enterprise management, which was a feature that was likely very highly requested by Microsoft’s enterprise customers. They will also be offering a new USB-C Travel Hub to connect to multiple devices when you are on the go.

Source: Microsoft

MediaTek Announces Dimensity 1000+ SoC

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 9 May 2020 17:51:00 -0700

Today MediaTek announced a follow-up in its SoC line-up with the new Dimensity 1000+. This seems to be a binned or revisioned variant of the Dimensity 1000 announced last year, although we currently lack details on the exact changes.

MediaTek SoCs
SoC	Dimensity 1000	Helio G90 (Helio G90T)
CPU	4x Cortex A77 @ 2.6GHz 4x Cortex A55 @ 2.0GHz	2x Cortex A76 @ 2.0GHz (2.05GHz) 6x Cortex A55 @ 2.0GHz
GPU	Mali-G77MP9 @ ? MHz	Mali G76 MP4 @ 720MHz (800MHz)
APU / NPU / AI Proc. / Neural IP	"3rd gen APU" 2 "big" + 3 "small" + 1 "tiny" 4.5TOPs total perf	2x APU +1TOPs total perf
Memory	4x 16b LPDDR4x	LPDDR4X @ 2133MHz
ISP/Camera	80MP or 32MP + 16MP	1x 48MP (64MP) or 2x 24+16MP
Encode/ Decode	2160p60 H.264 & HEVC & AV1 (Decode)	2160p30 H.264 & HEVC
Integrated Modem	5G Sub-6 DL = 4600Mbps 200MHz 2CA, 256-QAM, 4x4 MIMO UL = 2500Mbps 200MHz 2CA, 256-QAM, 2x2 MIMO LTE Category 19 DL	Category 12/13 DL = 600Mbps 3x20MHz CA, 256-QAM, 4x4 MIMO UL = 150Mbps 2x20MHz CA,64-QAM
Connectivity	WiFi 6 (802.11ax) + Bluetooth 5.1 + Dual Band GNSS
Mfc. Process	N7	12FFC

The Dimensity 1000+ is powered by 4x Cortex-A77 cores up to 2.6GHz and 4x Cortex A55 cores up to 2 GHz. Although we never saw any kind of Dimensity 1000 powered devices out there in the wild, we did manage to get our hands on an Oppo Reno 3 with a Dimensity 1000L – a lower binned variant of the flagship chip.

Even this lower binned variant performed quite excellently, able to showcase higher performance as well as better power efficiency compared to competing SoCs such as the Snapdragon 765.

The GPU is a Mali G77MP9 – but again since we never saw the full featured D1000 in the wild we don’t know how the D1000+ will perform. The lower-binned D1000L certainly showcased good performance at excellent power consumption.

The SoC includes a 5G modem capable of sub-6GHz frequencies (which covers the vast majority of markets). The chip also currently is the only mobile chip this year that support AV1 hardware decoding, an interesting feature that makes MediaTek’s offerings more future-proof than other chipsets.

Today’s announcement generally seems a bit meagre on details on what the D1000+ provides over the D1000. Vivo’s iQOO is said to be designing a phone powered by the new chipset, which hopefully means we’ll finally see the full potential of the Dimensity 1000 SoC materialise.

AMD Reports Q1 2020 Earnings: CPU Sales Fuel Big Gains

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 8 May 2020 13:45:00 -0700

As the first quarter 2020 earnings period continues, up next is AMD, who has reported their earnings for the first three months of the year. The company, enjoying an accelerating turn-around in its fortunes thanks in big part to its Zen series of CPU architectures and resulting products, has closed the books on one of its best first quarters in years, with the company turning a tidy profit in the process.

For the first quarter of 2020, AMD reported $1.79B in revenue, a staggering 40% jump over the same quarter a year ago. Their best first quarter in almost 10 years saw all of AMD’s metrics improve; along with that revenue AMD’s net income jumped by $146M (over 900%) to $162M, coming in just behind a seasonally strong Q4. Meanwhile gross margins are up as well, with AMD hitting 46%, improving on Q4 and leaping 5 points higher than the year-ago quarter.

AMD Q1 2020 Financial Results (GAAP)
	Q1'2020	Q4'2019	Q1'2019
Revenue	$1.79B	$2.13B	$1.27B
Gross Margin	46%	45%	41%
Operating Income	$177M	$348M	$38M
Net Income	$162M	$170M	$16M
Earnings Per Share	$0.14	$0.15	$0.01

As always, the flag bearer for AMD is their Computing and Graphics segment, which encompasses their desktop and notebook CPU sales, as well as their GPU sales. That division booked $1.44B in revenue for the quarter, $607M (73%) more than Q1 2020. Accordingly, the segment’s operating income as up significantly as well, going from just $16M a year ago to $262M this year.

AMD Q1 2020 Computing and Graphics
	Q1'2020	Q4'2019	Q1'2019
Revenue	$1438M	$1662M	$831M
Operating Income	$262M	$360M	$16M

AMD doesn’t provide a detailed breakout of information from this segment, but for this quarter they have provided some information on revenue and average selling prices (ASPs). Overall, client CPU sales were quite strong, with AMD recording record quarterly revenue for notebooks thanks in large part to the recent launch of its Renoir Ryzen 4000 APUs. The strength of the segment lead to higher ASPs on a year-over-year basis, though interestingly CPU ASPs dropped a bit over Q4 due to the higher notebook sales.

However, AMD’s graphics division ended up being a bit of a laggard here. GPU ASPs were down on both a yearly and quarterly basis, even though AMD has released numerous new Navi products in the last year. As always, it should be noted that ASPs don’t factor in production costs/profitability, but I am a bit surprised that AMD’s averages aren’t higher given their more conservative pricing strategy. Meanwhile graphics revenue was down on a quarterly basis, though this isn’t unexpected coming off of Q4; and unfortunately, AMD didn’t provide any year-over-year comparison data.

AMD Q1 2020 Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom
	Q1'2020	Q4'2019	Q1'2019
Revenue	$348M	$465M	$441M
Operating Income	-$26M	$45M	$68M

Meanwhile AMD’s Enterprise, Embedded, and Semi-Custom segment saw a very mixed Q1, with the server CPU + semi-custom reporting group running a loss for the quarter. All told, the segment recorded $348M in revenue, $93M less than Q1’19. As a result the segment dipped into the red, recording an operating loss of $26M.

Breaking down the segment, AMD reported that semi-custom sales have dropped while EPYC processor sales are up, underscoring the unusual nature of the segment. Overall, EPYC sales have improved by “double digit” percentages over the previous quarter, an important development for AMD as it works to rebuild its server market share, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to offset the drop in semi-custom sales. AMD of course continues to be gung-ho on EPYC, while the semi-custom side of the segment should improve once AMD’s console customers start ramping up for their respective tenth-generation console launches.

Looking forward, like other hardware vendors, AMD is attempting the navigate the current coronavirus crisis. The company hasn’t taken any exceptional steps thus far (and is still reporting projections for the full year), but at the same time the pandemic can still potentially impact both supply and demand, and AMD has trimmed their revenue expectations for the second half of the year in response.

As for AMD’s product lineup, the company is still looking forward to releasing new hardware over the rest of the year, furthering its technological lead. Along with the obligatory release of Renoir APUs on the desktop, AMD is reiterating that products based on the Zen 3 CPU and RDNA2 GPU architectures will launch late this year. With that period still several months out – and still at risk of coronavirus-related delays – AMD still isn’t sharing more precise plans than that, but clearly the company is angling to at least start shipping these parts for revenue before the year is out.

Xiaomi Launches Mi Note 10 Lite, Redmi Note 9 & Note 9 Pro Globally

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 7 May 2020 15:24:00 -0700

Today Xiaomi is launching a trio of mid- to low-end devices, and we’re seeing the global launch of the new Mi Note 10 Lite, Redmi Note 9 Pro and the Redmi Note 9.

The new Note 10 Lite is a cut-down version of last year’s Note 10 which was the first phone with an 108MP camera. The Lite variant keeps the design aesthetics but comes with a smaller 64MP still very capable camera.

The new Redmi Note 9 series phones adopt a new design language, offering new SoCs in the forms of the Snapdragon 720 and the Helio G85, all whilst maintaining their characteristic huge battery capacities as well as extremely low prices.

MAINGEAR Pro WS: Pre-Configured Systems for Creatives, Up to 64 cores and 72 TB Storage

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 6 May 2020 09:09:00 -0700

System integrators are there to offer users who don’t want to build their own system a way of getting a machine they can use for work or play. One of the benefits of using a system integrator to build your new system, and ultimately the additional cost of using this service, usually comes down to additional validation, checks, and the promise of a refined system from engineers that can build them in their sleep. One of the biggest markets in recent quarters is the creator market, and demand for workstations to help accelerate creative workflows is supposedly rising – on the back of this, MAINGEAR is launching its new configurable Pro WS range of workstations, complete with optimized builds for popular creative hardware.

4K/8K content creation, either on video, for animation, in modelling/CAD, or other areas such as the scientific verticals of oil/gas or financial markets, are all areas that require computational horsepower. Usually the more you have, the quicker a project can be completed. In a lot of cases if it can be GPU accelerated, having more than just a quick CPU is beneficial. If the hardware can be optimized for the software in question, such as the Adobe suite, CAD, Blender, Keyshot, etc, then all the better. Maingear promotes that it’s new Pro WS systems are recommended by Luxion, the makers of Keyshot.

The new WS designs come with a standard Fractal Design R6 Blackout case but almost everything in it can be configured, with Maingear offering up to an Intel Core i9-10980XE or AMD Threadripper 3990X, up to 256 GB of memory, up to 72 TB of storage, Windows 10, and optional Thunderbolt 3 support. Users can select up to four high-end graphics cards, including Titan RTX/Quadro or Radeon/Radeon Pro, to which Maingear will assist in designing the appropriate cooling around the configuration.

Storage options are likely to include an array of fast NVMe drives, along with high capacity mechanical storage. Networking similarly so, with some designs natively supporting multi-gigabit Ethernet speeds. Users can request customized artworks and logos for the chassis, another key element to system integrator offerings. For designs studios looking to refurbish their workflow with a unified design and company logos, this is an optional extra.

One of the images that Maingear sent us shows the use of Intel’s Optane DC Persistent Memory, and we were slightly confused as those modules require Intel Xeon Scalable hardware in order to operate. In fact, all of the stock images are of an LGA3647 system, which Maingear didn't list in the specifications section of its press release. It appears that in the fine print of the press release that Maingear will offer ECC-enabled processors and Optane-supported processors at some point in the future, however for now only Intel/AMD high-end desktop options are available.

Maingear promises that its systems will be 100% bloatware free, with a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro on each machine. Users will still have to arrange their own licences for the various software packages they are interested in, as Maingear assumes that its customers will already have a workflow in place and need better systems for that workflow.

The MAINGEAR Pro WS systems will start today at retail from $1999, with options to select pre-configured designs for popular software – Keyshot, Adobe, Davinci, 2D/3D, CAD, and data science. All Pro WS systems come with lifetime service from MAINGEAR’s support team.

Source: MAINGEAR

Gallery: MAINGEAR Pro WS: Pre-Configured Systems for Creatives, Up to 64 cores and 72 TB Storage

First ATX12VO Consumer Motherboard: The ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4SR

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 5 May 2020 10:03:00 -0700

A blog post from Intel has showcased the first consumer motherboard with the ATX12VO power standard from ASRock, and we reached out to ASRock for more details. They have now put up a product page for this board, the ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4SR.

Crucial Announces P5 and P2 NVMe SSDs: Going In-House for the High-End

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 4 May 2020 08:13:00 -0700

Micron's consumer brand Crucial has introduced two new NVMe SSD product lines, including their first high-end NVMe SSD which features Micron's in-house SSD controller design. However, Crucial's adoption of NVMe continues to lag behind most brands as both new models are still using PCIe 3 interfaces while the high-end market is migrating to PCIe 4.

The Crucial P5 is the first retail SSD to use a controller designed by Micron. Their in-house SSD controller design efforts date back at least as far as their 2015 acquisition of Tidal Systems, but the first product with a Micron-designed SSD controller only showed up a year ago: the Micron 2200 series client OEM SSD. The Crucial P5 is a clear step up from that, but still uses a PCIe gen3 interface, so it won't be setting any performance records and will face an increasing number of PCIe gen4 competitors as the year goes on. However, it should still deliver solid performance for all but the most demanding prosumer use cases, especially since it looks like Intel won't be offering PCIe gen4 host support this year. The P5 also includes support for all the usual encryption standards, features that are missing from many high-end NVMe SSDs that target the consumer market exclusively and not business customers.

Crucial P5 SSD Specifications
Capacity	250 GB	500GB	1 TB	2 TB
Form Factor	M.2 2280
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x4, NVMe
Controller	Micron in-house design
NAND Flash	Micron 96L 3D TLC*
DRAM	Yes
Sequential Read	3400 MB/s
Sequential Write	1400 MB/s	3000 MB/s
Random Read IOPS	210k		390k	430k
Random Write IOPS	355k	500k
Max Power	7 W
Encryption	TCG Opal 2.0, IEEE 1667, eDrive
Warranty	5 years
Write Endurance	150 TB 0.3 DWPD	300 TB 0.3 DWPD	600 TB 0.3 DWPD	1200 TB 0.3 DWPD

The Crucial P2 is their second entry-level NVMe SSD, but it is not a direct replacement for the QLC-based P1. The P2 is at least initially only available in low capacities of 250GB and 500GB, and cuts costs by using a DRAMless controller with TLC NAND rather than the P1's combination of cheaper QLC NAND but a controller with a DRAM cache. Micron hasn't disclosed what controller is used on the P2, but it seems likely they're sourcing from a third party as with previous Crucial SSDs—and it might not even be the same controller for both capacities. While both capacities have performance specs that fall within the ranges we expect for a four-channel DRAMless NVMe SSD, the 500GB model is actually the slower one by most metrics. This indicates that at least one of either the NAND or the controller is meaningfully different from the 250GB model. The 500GB might be using NAND parts with a higher per-die capacity and thus not have any greater parallelism, or it may be using an entirely different controller (or both). The 500GB model's endurance rating is also the same 150TB as the 250GB model, which puts it in QLC territory (though still better than the 500GB P1's 100TBW rating).

Micron's press release for the P2 mentions that it will be available in capacities up to 1TB, but the spec sheets make no mention of the 1TB model. This may be another situation like the 2TB Crucial P1 that was announced as coming a bit later than the rest of the lineup, but never hit the market.

Crucial P2 SSD Specifications
Capacity	250 GB	500GB
Form Factor	M.2 2280
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x4, NVMe
Controller	undisclosed
NAND Flash	Micron 96L 3D TLC*
DRAM	No
Sequential Read	2100 MB/s	2300 MB/s
Sequential Write	1150 MB/s	940 MB/s
Random Read IOPS	170k	95k
Random Write IOPS	260k	215k
Max Power	2.5 W	3.5 W
Encryption	None
Warranty	5 years
Write Endurance	150 TB 0.3 DWPD	150 TB 0.16 DWPD
MSRP	$54.99 (22¢/GB)	$64.99 (13¢/GB)

Micron has confirmed that both the P2 and P5 are currently using their 96L 3D TLC NAND, but they reserve the right to change that in the future. It's unlikely that the P5 will be switched to QLC NAND, but much like the MX500 SATA drive this model might stick around for years even after a replacement with a faster interface (PCIe 4) is introduced. In that case, it would be reasonable to expect the P5 to be updated with a newer generation of TLC NAND, and performance probably won't change significantly. The P2 product line could easily become a mix of TLC and QLC, which Micron has done with the entry-level BX500 SATA SSDs. If/when the P2 gets 1TB or larger capacity options those would seem likely to use QLC NAND, and the 500GB model could probably also be switched to QLC given that its rated performance is not too different from the 500GB P1. We encourage Micron to be more transparent about their controller and NAND choices and especially any post-launch changes.

The Crucial P5 is not yet listed on online retailers, but Crucial.com has the P2 available for direct purchase and it's starting to show up on some online retailers. Launch prices of $55 and $65 are similar to competitors like the WD Blue SN550, but Western Digital has set a performance standard for entry-level NVMe drives which the Crucial P2 may have trouble beating.

Intel: Tiger Lake Client CPUs Coming Mid-Year

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 3 May 2020 07:06:00 -0700

Along with detailing the nuts and the bolts of their Q1 2020 earnings, as part of Intel’s financial presentation, the company also offered a quick update on their upcoming Tiger Lake client CPUs. In short, the company is now preparing for volume production of the chips, and expects to being shipping them to OEMs mid-year.

Intel first unveiled Tiger Lake back at CES 2020 early this year, where the company briefly detailed the architecture while showing off a device using a prototype chip. Tiger Lake will be based on Intel’s latest Core CPU architecture, and will also be the first CPU from the company to integrate an iGPU based on their new Xe-LP graphics architecture. The chips will be based on a newer version of Intel’s 10nm manufacturing process than what’s used in the current ice Lake chips, which Intel is calling their 10+ process. At the time, Intel was promising that Tiger Lake devices would show up by the holidays, a similar time frame as 2019’s Ice Lake launch.

All told then, Intel’s most recent update is right in-line with their previous promises. With Tiger Lake being another mobile-first launch, OEMs need to receive chips well in advance of when consumer products will reach the store shelves, both to give OEMs the necessary time to finalize their designs, as well as to build up a suitable stockpile of devices for a proper retail launch. So, as it always needs to be said when talking about Intel’s timelines for manufacturing, while Tiger Lake chips will be shipping mid-year, we’re not currently expecting devices any sooner than what Intel has previously discussed.

Finally, if everything goes according to plan or Intel, it looks like the Tiger Lake launch should be a higher volume affair than Ice Lake’s. Cognizant of Ice Lake’s slow ramp-up and launch in 2019, Intel is telling investors that they are holding twice as many Tiger Lake CPUs in reserve as compared to Ice Lake. The company does need to master its updated 10+ process to get there, but with any luck, Intel’s 4+ years of playing with 10nm may finally pay some better dividends as they bring up their latest process.

#ontherun #TigerLake pic.twitter.com/Dhm1TwlcjV
— 𝐷𝑟. 𝐼𝑎𝑛 𝐶𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 (@IanCutress) January 8, 2020

Khronos Announces OpenCL 3.0: Hitting the Reset Button on Compute Frameworks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 2 May 2020 17:18:00 -0700

Today something is happening for which I’m not sure there’s any parallel for in the computing industry – and certainly, there’s never been anything like it in the GPU computing ecosystem. Khronos, the consortium behind standards such as Vulkan, OpenCL, and OpenGL, is revealing OpenCL 3.0, the latest version of their GPU and parallel compute API. And, looking to reset the ecosystem, the group is turning back the clock on OpenCL, essentially reverting the core API back to OpenCL 1.2.

As a result, everything developed as part of OpenCL 2.x over the last 9 years has now become optional: vendors can (and generally will) continue to support those features, but those features are no longer required for compliance with the core specification. Instead of having to support every OpenCL feature – no matter how useful or useless it might be for a given platform – the future of the API is going to be around vendors choosing which optional features they’d like to support on top of the core, OpenCL 1.2-derrived specification. It's a very Vulkan-like design philosophy, but it's a major change in course for the industry's biggest cross-vendor and cross-platform compute framework.

The Intel Z490 Overview: 44+ Motherboards Examined

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 1 May 2020 13:48:00 -0700

After another long wait for a new Intel platform, Comet Lake and the 400 series finally descends. Here we get a new socket, support for up to 10-cores with its flagship Core i9-10900K/KF processors, and a few interesting adjustments on ethernet, Wi-Fi. Scrambling to be the latest and greatest, some motherboard vendors include support for PCIe 4.0 'for a future platform', which some have outright identified as Rocket Lake. We asked every motherboard vendor for specifications and details on their new product lines.

Updated IPhone SE Camera Testing: Replacement Phone Shows Much Improved Results

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 15:06:00 -0700

Last week we published our initial review of Apple’s new iPhone SE. In the piece, I had remarked that the camera was relatively disappointing and suffered from a lack of detail in photos, with the phone’s camera seemingly suffering from optical weaknesses that manifested in partially blurred out shots. This was quite puzzling as the iPhone SE’s camera module should be of the same design as that of the iPhone 8, which produced sharp images.

I had notified Apple of the results ahead of the publication of the article, and the company communicated back that they had not seen such results before, and that they were not what was expected of the new iPhone SE’s camera abilities.

The company decided to dispatch out a new phone, and to collect my initial unit for analysis. I exchanged units earlier in the week, and was able to retest the new phone’s cameras.

In the new camera samples, we can see a dramatic improvement in sharpness of the pictures, and the new phone exhibits none of the optical issues that were initially described in the article.

Although I wasn’t able to test both units side-by-side, as the old phone had been collected at the same time, here’s some similar scene shots (although they are done on different days with different lighting conditions) between the two phones:

One can immediately note massive improvements in sharpness, with the new phone now performing as good as, or even better, than the iPhone 8.

I’ve completely updated the initial camera evaluation with new samples, and all criticism about the detail retention and optical performance of the iPhone SE naturally don’t apply any more, with the phone now performing excellently in that area.

Read: Updated iPhone SE Quick Camera Evaluation

For transparency’s sake – we’ve kept on the old page with the old samples in the article so that readers can see the differences between the two units.

Post-mortem

Overall, the new update is both good news and bad news. The good news is that the iPhone SE should feature a much better camera than initially reported, and I hope that’s what most users will experience.

The bad news is that we still don’t exactly know what went wrong with the first unit – what I don’t doubt is confirmed is that it suffered from a manufacturing defect in the optical system of the camera.

The problem with confirming such a scenario is that it’s very unlikely that I was extremely unlucky in being the sole person receiving such a sample, as usually one-off faults like these are insanely rare, with the more likely scenario being some sort of systematic failure for a whole batch of units.

As an anecdote, the last time this happened was a few years back, with initial production runs of Huawei’s Mate 8 having camera focus issues, and this was confirmed to be faulty manufacturing of the initial batches rather than just my unit. The issue was partly resolved by software updates, and fully resolved by a recalibration in the manufacturing lines.

For such a QA-issue to happen to Apple is extremely rare, and to their credit, they took it very seriously with a prompt response and device replacement. Only their internal analysis will showcase the root cause of the problem, and unfortunately given the company’s more secretive nature, we might never find out about the results of that investigation.

We’ll be following up with a full-blown camera analysis of the new iPhone SE (and a ton of other phones we have to catch up on!) in the next few weeks.

DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 Spec Released: Defining Alt Mode for USB4

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 17:00:00 -0700

As the tech industry gears up for the launch of the new USB4 standard, a few more parts first need to fall into place. Along with the core specification itself, there is the matter of alternate modes, which add further functionality to USB Type-C host ports by allowing the data pins to be used to carry other types of signals. Keeping pace with the updates to USB4, some of the alt modes are being updated as well, and this process is starting with the granddaddy of them all: DisplayPort Alt Mode.

The very first USB-C alt mode, DisplayPort Alt Mode was introduced in 2014. By remapping the USB-C high speed data pins from USB data to DisplayPort data, it became possible to use a USB-C port as a DisplayPort video output, and in some cases even mix the two to get both USB 3.x signaling and DisplayPort signaling over the same cable. As a result of DisplayPort Alt Mode’s release, the number of devices with video output has exploded, and in laptops especially, this has become the preferred mode for driving video outputs when a laptop doesn’t include a dedicated HDMI port.

Now, as USB4 prepares to enter service, DisplayPort Alt Mode is being updated as well. One of the many big changes in the USB4 spec is that DisplayPort is a first-class citizen, with USB4 able to encapsulate DisplayPort video data like Thunderbolt 3 already does. So in order to keep pace with USB4 – where things are a bit more rigorous and well-defined this time around – VESA has needed to tighten the Alt Mode standard to match, as well as to update the specification to incorporate DisplayPort 2.0 and its UHBR signaling standards. The end product, fittingly enough, will be called DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0.

At a high level, as the USB-C connector itself isn’t changing for USB4, DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 doesn’t need to change much either. All of the physical mechanics regarding pin reassignment and what pins can carry what data are the same, so the crux of the alt mode still involves reassigning two or four of the high speed pairs offered in a USB-C cable/connector. That said, because the USB4 protocol is based on Thunderbolt 3 this time around, how USB4 data is carried is changing, and the behavior of USB4 cables is changing as well – mainly that they’ll be active cables for any appreciable distance – and so DP Alt Mode is being updated to accommodate this.

Besides immediate compatibility with USB4, the big change for DP Alt Mode 2.0 then is the addition of DisplayPort 2.0 functionality, to support the new UHBR 10, 13.5, and 20 signaling standards. With bandwidths of up to 20Gbps per lane, a full, 4 lane DP 2.0 connection can drive up to 80Gbps of bandwidth. And now with DP Alt Mode 2.0, an alt mode connection over a USB-C connection can do the same.

Under the hood, this is accomplished by reconfiguring a 4 lane USB4 connection into a 2 or 4 lane DisplayPort connection, driving DisplayPort signals over high speed lanes that would normally be carrying USB4 signals. USB4 normally relies on a 2-up/2-down configuration to form a single bidirectional connection. DP Alt Mode can either split this with USB, resulting in a reduced bandwidth 1-up/1-down USB 3 connection paired with a 2 lane DP connection, or DP can take over all 4 lanes for a full speed DP connection. Ultimately, this means that a DP Alt Mode 2.0 connection is just as capable DisplayPort 2.0 connection as far as display connectivity and bandwidth are concerned.

DisplayPort 2.0 vs DP Alt Mode 2.0 vs USB4
	DisplayPort 2.0	DP Alt Mode 2.0 (4 Lane Mode)	USB4
Max Cable Bandwidth	80Gbps	80Gbps	80Gbps
Max Downstream Bandwidth	80Gbps (DP)	80Gbps (DP)	40Gbps (USB + DP)
Max Upstream Bandwidth	N/A	N/A	40Gbps (USB)
Physical Layer	Thunderbolt 3	Thunderbolt 3	Thunderbolt 3
DisplayPort	1x DP 2.0 Streams	1x DP 2.0 Streams	1x DP 2.0 Streams
Passive Cable Option	Yes (40Gbps)	Yes (40Gbps)	Yes (40Gbps)
Interface Port	DisplayPort	USB Type-C	USB Type-C

And this isn’t merely a coincidence: both DisplayPort 2.0 and USB4 are based on Thunderbolt 3 signaling, which Intel released to the wider tech industry on a royalty-free basis a couple of years back. So although there are some significant differences at the protocol level (mainly that USB4 carries a whole lot of things other than DP video), the signaling and resulting cable rules are virtually the same for USB4 and DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0.

This also means that DP Alt Mode 2.0 should largely work with USB4-compliant cables, although VESA is being careful to avoid promising compatibility with all cables, as USB4 cables are still under development and eventual certification. Like USB4 then, for extremely short runs passive cables will be possible, while for runs over a foot or so – which is to say, pretty much all real-world monitor setups – an active cable is required.

Compatibility in active cables will in turn come down to the redrivers used in those cables. For USB4 cables to work with DP Alt Mode 2.0 they not only need to be able to redrive DP 2.0 signals, but they’ll need to be able to operate in full unidirectional mode – with all 4 lanes going downstream – as opposed to USB4’s bidirectional mode. The good news is that most USB4 cable redrivers are expected to support this, so the matter should largely be moot, but it again comes down to certification and what cable manufacturers end up doing.

On a final note about connectivity, those redriver requirements will apply to DP Alt Mode 2.0 adapters as well, meaning that active adapters will be required. While DP Alt Mode 1.0 could work with passive adapters given the relatively loose signaling used, the tighter signaling requirements for DP 2.0 mean that even USB to DisplayPort adapters need an active redriver in them.

Overall, the introduction of DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 means that there will be two different ways to pipe DisplayPort video over a USB4 cable, giving system builders and users an unusual degree of flexibility in designing devices and choosing how to wire them up. As previously discussed, USB4 can already carry encapsulated DisplayPort data within a USB4 signal. However with the introduction of DP Alt Mode 2.0, it also becomes possible to skip the middle man, so to speak, by reconfiguring a USB-C port to pass raw DisplayPort video.

But why even have multiple modes to begin with, you might ask? The matter comes down to performance as well as hardware costs. From a bandwidth standpoint, USB4 maxes out at 40Gbps of bandwidth in any one direction a bidirectional connection. So the most bandwidth available for DisplayPort video, assuming it saturates the connection, is only half of what DisplayPort 2.0 is capable of. A raw DisplayPort connection via Alt Mode 2.0, on the other hand, doubles that maximum bandwidth to 80Gbps since all lanes can be used to send data to a display. So if nothing else, Alt Mode is needed to drive ultra-high resolution connections over USB-C, such as 8K @ 60Hz with HDR.

DisplayPort Signaling Standards

Standard

Raw Bandwidth
(4 Lanes)

Effective Bandwidth
(4 Lanes)

Target Monitor Resolutions

Alt Mode 1.0
(HBR3)

32.4 Gbps

25.92 Gbps

4K@120Hz
8K@60Hz (w/DSC)

Alt Mode 2.0
(UHBR 20)

80 Gbps

77.37 Gbps

8K@60hz HDR >8K@60Hz SDR
4K@144Hz HDR
2x 5K@60Hz

As for hardware costs, like Thunderbolt before it, using DisplayPort encapsulation with USB4 means that there needs to be USB4 controllers on both ends of the connection, as well as DisplayPort hardware to actually handle the DisplayPort data. Alt Mode, by contrast, allows for slightly simpler displays and sink devices: those only need DisplayPort hardware, and can forgo the USB4 controllers.

Ultimately, as was the case with DisplayPort Alt Mode 1.0, DP Alt Mode 2.0 is all about giving hardware vendors another way to drive video out without having to use a dedicated port. And with the ability to match DisplayPort 2.0 spec-for-spec, as well as combine DP video with USB4 data, Alt Mode 2.0 is certainly setup to do just that and more. And, according to VESA, we should get a chance to see that first-hand next year, with the first DP Alt Mode 2.0 devices expected in 2021.

Two New Razer Blade Steath 13 Notebooks: With Intel 10th Gen Ice Lake & GTX 1650 Ti

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:15:00 -0700

Off the back of the release of two new Blade 15 series (NVIDIA GeForce RTX and Intel 10th Gen models), Razer has also unveiled two new variations of its slightly smaller Blade Stealth 13 models. Splitting them down the middle, one is designed for gamers, while the other is for content creators on the go, with both featuring an Intel Core i7-1065G7 quad-core processor, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4 GB graphics card, and a 512 GB PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 storage drive.

Kicking things off with the main differences between the two new models, the gamer-focused Razer Blade Stealth 13 model comes with a high-spec 13.3-inch FHD 1080p screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate. For those looking for a creator-focused notebook, the new Blade 13 is also available with a 13.3" 4K touch display, with both models variants including factory display calibration with 100% sRGB coverage, and 4.9 mm slim side bezels.

The other minor difference between the two new variants is that the 4K touchscreen does make that model slightly heavier, with a total weight of 1.48 kg, compared to 1.41 kg on the 120 GHz 1080p model. The dimensions of both Razer Blade Stealth 13 models sit at 304.6 x 210 x 15.3 mm (WxDxH).

Razer claims the Blade Stealth 13 features the world's fastest 13.3-inch display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, marketing it as the world's thinnest 13-inch ultrabook with such specifications.

Included within the Temper 6 CNC precision milled anodized aluminium frame is an Intel Core i7-1065G7 quad-core Ice Lake processor which operates with a base core clock speed of 1.3 GHz, boosting up to 3.9 GHz, and sporting a TDP of just 25 W.

Powering the 4K touchscreen and 1080p 120 Hz screens is an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti with 4 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, with an Max-Q efficiency design and a 35 W TDP. For memory there's 16 GB of low-power DDR4-3733 as a 2 x 8 GB dual channel configuration which is soldered in and can't be upgraded. For users that demand high-speed storage, Razer has preinstalled a 512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD as standard. An Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface is installed which includes support for BT 5.1 connectivity as well.

The Razer Blade Stealth 13 models include a keyboard with single-zone full key backlighting powered by Razer's popular Chroma RGB, and a Microsoft Precision glass touchpad. There is a single Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port which uses 4 PCIe lanes, a USB 3.1 G2 Type-C which can provide power via PD, and two USB 3.1 G1 Type-A ports. It includes an HD 720 infrared webcam installed into the top bezel, with a 3.5 mm headphone/microphone combo port, and an integrated array microphone.

Razer Blade Stealth 13 Intel 10th Gen Refresh Specifications
	Razer Blade Stealth 13 (4K Touch)	Razer Blade Stealth 13 (1080p)
CPU	Intel Core i7-1065G7 (1.3 GHz Base, 3.9 GHz Turbo) - 25 W TDP
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4 GB Max-Q - 35 W TDP
Display	13.3 Inch 4K Touchscreen	13.3 Inch 1080p 120 Hz
Memory	16 GB (2 x 8 GB) LPDDR4-3733
Storage	512 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
Networking	Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 /w BT 5.1
Power	100 W USB Type-C Power Adapter
Battery	53.1 Wh
Ports	1 x Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C 1 x USB 3.1 G2 Type-C (Powered) 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x 3.5 mm Headphone/Microphone
Dimensions (WxDxH)	304.6 x 210 x 15.3 mm
Weight	1.48 kg	1.41 kg
Price (USD)	Starts at $2000	Starts at $1800

Expanding upon the two previously announced Razer Blade 15 series models, the two new Stealth 13 models come with a 25W CPU and a 35W GPU.

In general, the new Stealth 13s fall into the second category of premium laptops available today, starting off from 15W Athena compatible Ultrabooks, 25W CPU + 35-50W GPUs such as today's models in up to 13" form-factors, 35W+65W 14" models, and finally the higher-end 45W+80W 15" devices.

Prices for the new Razer Blade Stealth 13 start at $1800 for the 1080p 120 Hz version, with a higher $2000 starting point for the 4K touchscreen model. Both can be purchased and customized at Razer.com, with stock expected to filter into retailers around the world soon.

Gallery: The New Razer Blade Steath 13:

UL Delists MediaTek Powered Devices Due To Benchmark Whitelisting

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:09:00 -0700

Last week we detailed an article covering MediaTek’s seemingly widespread default inclusion of a benchmark whitelist in their chipset BSP (board support package) – a mechanism that enables more aggressive performance tuning of a device’s power management once it detects that a benchmark application is running.

Yesterday, UL, the developers of the PCMark and 3DMark benchmarking suites, have followed up on our investigation and analysed a wider range of devices, and have made the decision to temporarily delist all devices powered by a wide range of MediaTek SoCs, a list of over 50 devices from over 25 different vendors.

We had worked with UL early on in the investigation, with them providing us alternative anonymised versions of the benchmarks which bypass the whitelist detection, thus exposing the cheating behaviour.

The UL news post states:

“Using hidden mechanisms to detect benchmarking apps by name and make app-specific performance optimizations is not an "accepted industry standard." It is, in fact, the very opposite of the accepted standard.

Likewise, benchmark scores based on hidden app-specific optimizations and settings that are enabled by default and not available to the user do not accurately reflect a device's true performance in everyday use.

Simply put, a device must run a benchmark as if it was any other application. Performance gains must come from reacting to the nature of the workloads in the test rather than the name of the app itself.

As it has with similar cases in the past, we hope this delisting will help persuade MediaTek to change its approach and join the rest of the industry in adopting benchmarking best practices.”

The statement is a harsh rebuttal of MediaTek’s public response to our article, again pointing out that the practice is anything but an “industry standard” – especially damning since it’s coming from one of the major benchmark developers in the industry.

As UL stated in their blog post, and what we also pointed out in our original piece, we hope that the negative reactions to the matter will convince MediaTek to abandon such practices and reconsider their view of what the “industry standard” is.

Victory Lap: Team AnandTech Fights COVID, Beats Tom’s Hardware in Folding Race

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 13:03:00 -0700

Just under a month ago, I put out the call: AnandTech's readers were needed once more to defend the honor of the site in the most nerdy of contests: a Folding@Home race.

The distributed computing platform has been around for over a decade now, and it has taken on a new life as the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has shut down a significant part of society. In light of the now global pandemic, the project has turned its eyes to trying to simulate the virus and potential treatment avenues for it, in order to hopefully speed up the development of a cure. A task that has been met with great enthusiasm from the public, as the combined power of the Folding@Home project has recently surpassed 2.4 ExaFLOPS, making it over an order of magnitude more powerful than any supercomputer in the world.

Overall, the project’s coronavirus research has come not a moment too soon, as many of us find ourselves essentially confined to our homes. And, after more than a month of this, we’re all starting to go more than a little mad. So mad, in fact, that AnandTech and Tom’s Hardware agreed to race each other over a four week period to see who could contribute the most to the Folding@Home project.

Those four weeks are finally up, and I am proud to report that Team AnandTech has emerged victorious, defeating our loyal opposition by over a billion points. It was, perhaps, never too close of a race, but I also know that the Tom’s Hardware readership (and its leadership) is never one to underestimated. So while Team AnandTech can take this moment to enjoy a victory lap in defeating its favorite punching bag for the third time in a row, it was a hard-fought race on both sides, and ultimately it all went to a good cause.

Folding@Home Race Results
Team	Points
Team AnandTech	5,513,255,966
Tom's Hardware	4,419,576,007

As always, I’d like to thank the AnandTech readers who chipped in to help with this race, as well as the Team AnandTech members who supplied their own computing power, as well as contributing to the stats tracking and other functions needed to host a proper race. To say that AnandTech couldn’t have done it without all of you is an understatement, and this is ultimately your victory.

Meanwhile, although we’re still not out of our home quite yet, hopefully the combined 9.9 billion points worth of work completed by Team AnandTech and Tom’s Hardware gets us one step closer to developing effective treatments for COVID, and getting everything at least a little bit back to normal.

Carousel Image Courtesy of: CDC/Alissa Eckert, MS

OnePlus Announces OnePlus 8 & OnePlus 8 Pro: Step-Up 2020 Flagships

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 11:51:00 -0700

As the world is in quarantine, smartphone companies aren’t standing still and are still moving forward with their new product launches. We’ve seen almost every other company on the market release their 2020 flagships – but one important vendor has been missing from the line-up: OnePlus. Today, the company is finally revealing its newest OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro phones, offering improvements and technology advancements at the highest levels.

Particularly the new OnePlus 8 Pro seems to be the company’s most prestigious flagship device ever, including a new QHD+ 120Hz display, a new generation 1/1.7” camera sensor from Sony along with interesting ultra-wide angle and telephoto modules, the company’s first time adoption of wireless charging – all new features on top of the existing ones that made the OnePlus 7 Pro a great phone in 2019.

Tyan Updates Transport HX Barebones To Support AMD EPYC 7F32 CPU

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 10:13:00 -0700

Alongside today's launch of AMD's new EPYC 7F32, 7F52, and 7F72 processors, stalwart server motherboard and chassis vendor Tyan has officially announced their support for the new chips. Complimenting AMD's announcements, Tyan is adding support for the chips to select models of their Transport HX barebones servers, which are designed for high-performance computing and server data-driven workflows.

On the back of a new range of EPYC 7002 processors focused on higher core frequency, Tyan has added support to three models. This includes the Tyan Transport HX TN83-B8251, the TS75A-B8252, and the TS75-B8252. Each model follows a 2U2S design for rack mounting and is offered in barebones form with dual SP3 sockets.

The Tyan Transport HX TN83-B8251 officially supports the new AMD EPYC 7F32, AMD's 8 core, 180 W TDP chip with base clock of 3.7 GHz and a maximum turbo of 3.9 GHz. The TN83-B8251 comes barebones style inside a TN83 chassis, offering sixteen memory slots with support for DDR4 ECC RDIMM/LRDIMM, as well as 3DS RDIMM/LRDIMM memory with speeds of up to DDR4-3200, for up to 4 TB of capacity. On the Tyan S8251GM2NE-2T motherboard is an Intel X550-AT2 dual 10 G Ethernet controller, with a dedicated Realtek IPMI Ethernet port, and an Aspeed AST2500 BMC.

Tyan TN83-B8251 2U 4-GPU HPC Server

Storage-wise, there is support for up to ten SATA drives via two Slim SAS ports and eight NVMe ports with four SFF-8654 Slim SAS connectors. For graphics cards, there are four full-length PCIe 4.0 x8 slots, with two HH/HL PCIe 4.0 x16 slots which are available with included riser cards.

Also launched is the Transport TS75A-B8252 and TS75-B252, which both come with a TS75A 2U rackmount chassis and have ten PCIe 4.0 slots. Some of the main features include an Intel X550-AT2 dual 10 G Ethernet controller, an Aspeed AST2500 BMC with Redfish support, which uses a Realtek IPMI Ethernet port. Also included on the S8252GM2NE-2T motherboard is ten PCIe 4.0 slots with three full-length, one PCIe 4.0 x16 OCP 3.0 slot, with the rest accessible via pre-installed riser cards. Both include thirty-two memory slots with support for up to 8 TB of DDR4-3200 ECC memory, with support for RDIMM, LRDIMM, and 3DS modules.

Tyan Transport HX TS75A-B8252 Rackmount 2U2S Barebones

The only difference between the two B8252 models is through the level of storage support offered. The TS75A-B8252 has twenty-six 2.5" SATA bays, with twenty-four SATA drives coming from four SFF-8654 connectors, and two regular SATA powered by a Marvel 9235 SATA controller. There are also two NVMe PCIe 3.0 M.2 slots. The TS75-B8252 has twelve 3.5" SATA bays, with four NVMe U.2 ports which can be used in the bays as well.

Each model offers its own benefits for the server, data center, and high-frequency trading systems. The new AMD EPYC 7002 7F32, 7F52, and 7F52 feature higher core frequencies, with higher boost frequency capabilities, with the 7F52 offering the highest core-to-cache ratio of any x86 processor on the market.

At present, Tyan hasn't announced when each of the three new models will be available to purchase, or how much they might retail for.

China Develops High Capacity QLC 3D NAND: YMTC at 1.33 Tb

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 08:54:00 -0700

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) has announced that it's developed its new 128-layer 1.33 Tb QLC 3D NAND memory chip, the X2-6070. The new chip is based on its Xtacking architecture which enables it to run with super high I/O while maximising the density of its memory arrays. YMTC has also unveiled its plan for a 128-layer 512 Gb TLC chip, the X2-9060, designed to meet more diverse application requirements.

We first reported on the China-based company YMTC entering its 3D NAND memory chips into production back in 2018, when it unveiled its Xtacking Architecture at the Flash Memory Summit. While it didn't disclose technical details of its announcement, it did state the Xtacking architecture has the capability to run the I/O with speeds of up to 3 Gbps. Fast forward to 2019, and it announced that it planned to start volume production of its 64-layer 3D NAND which we also reported on.

Using its Xtacking architecture at the forefront of production, both the new X2-6070 and X2-9060 feature its updated 2.0 variant which YMTC claims to bring more benefits to flash memory. Both the X2-6070 and X2-9060 are claimed to deliver up to 1.6 Gb/s of I/O performance and operate with a Vccg voltage of 1.2 V. YTMC has stated that the X2-6070 QLC based chip will be first used in consumer-grade SSDs, with the aim to then deliver its capabilities into Enterprise focused drives.

YMTC X2-6070 128-Layer QLC 3D NAND memory chip

The QLC based X2-6070 has 128-layers and more than 366 billion effective charge-trap memory cells. Each memory cell has 4-bit of data, which equates to 1.33 Tb of storage capacity. Everything is proportionate to cost, and it seems like YMTC, which is newer than most to 3D NAND stacking, could again improve its Xtacking architecture in the future.

We expect that YMTC, who is part of the Tsinghua Unigroup in China, is using the XMC fab in Wuhan China to produce its wafers for its 3D NAND. Tsinghua acquired XMC back in 2016, and while we haven't had it confirmed, it is likely to be producing its wafers at the XMC fab, which is one of China's largest semiconductor fabrication plants which also uses the Xtacking architecture.

YMTC hasn't released official specifications or data sheets about the X2-6070 QLC and X2-9060 MLC memory chips, nor has it stated when it is likely to be integrated with its controller partners (or which controllers support it).

HP Updates Pavilion x360 14 Series, A 10th Gen Ice Lake Convertible

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 08:00:00 -0700

In what has become a busy month for HP, the company has continued to update its array of laptops and other portable PCs with new Intel processors. The latest HP laptops to get the refresh treatment are the Pavilion x360 14" convertibles, which are being retooled to use Intel's 10th generation Ice Lake processors. Launching today, the two new HP Pavilion x360 14 series models are aimed at increasing productivity on the move with a couple of interesting features, including optional support for 4G LTE offering better connectivity on the go. Based on an improved lightweight design, the new HP Pavilion x360 14 is one of its thinnest yet, with a depth of just 18 mm and weight of 3.55 lb.

The new HP Pavilion x360 14 will be available in two configurations – a mid-range config and a low-end config – both sharing the same compact and lightweight frame, but with differing specifications. Both feature a 14" diagonal IPS touch screen panel which can be flipped 360 degrees to be used as a traditional laptop, or as a tablet with its edge-to-edge glass. Integrated into both models is a set of premium Bang & Olufsen speakers with the onus on entertainment, with HP claiming up to 13-hours of battery life based on FHD video playback.

The HP Pavilion x360 14 in warm gold

As for the individual configurations, starting with the mid-range config, we have the HP Pavilion x360 14M-DW0023DX. This model is based on an Intel i5-1035G1 quad-core processor and comes with Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 wireless interface, 8 GB of DDR4-3200 memory in single-channel mode, and a 256 GB PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSD. It uses Intel's integrated UHD graphics to power a FHD 1080p IPS panel, which offers a brightness of up to 250 nits, and benefits from a luminous gold aluminium anodized frame; for those who demand elegance.

Meanwhile the lower-spec model, the HP Pavilion x360 14M-DW0013DX, includes an Intel i3-1005G1 dual-core Ice Lake processor, with 8 GB of DDR4-3200 memory (also in running in single-channel mode), and a slightly lower capacity 128 GB SATA based M.2 drive. This model also has a lower resolution 1366 x 768 screen, which has a brightness of 220 nits and a vertical brush patterned finish. For wireless connectivity it uses an Intel AC 9461 802.11ac wireless interface which also has support for BT 5.0 devices.

The HP Pavilion x360 14 series in natural silver

Since both configurations use the same body, they have the same 32% screen to body ratio, with a weight of just 3.55 lb and a thickness of 18 mm. There is also an HP Wide Vision HD webcam with a dual array digital microphone integrated, an HP Imagepad with multi-touch gesture support, and both models include a 3-cell 43 Wh Li-ion polymer battery. As for I/O, both models include a single USB 3.2 G2 10 Gbps Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4 support, two USB 3.1 G2 Type-A ports, a headphone/microphone combo port, and a single HDMI 2.0 video output.

HP x360 Pavilion 14 Intel 10th Gen Refresh Specifications
	14M-dw0023dx	14M-dw0013dx
CPU	Intel i5-1035G1	Intel i3-1005G1
GPU	Intel UHD Graphics (iGPU)	Intel UHD Graphics (iGPU)
Display	14" 1080p IPS Touchscreen	14" 768p
Memory	8 GB DDR4-3200 (1 x 8 GB)	8 GB DDR4-3200 (1 x 8 GB)
Storage	256 GB PCIe NVMe SSD	128 GB SATA M.2 SSD
Networking	Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6	Intel AC9461 Wi-Fi 5
Power	45 W AC Adaptor
Battery	43 Wh Li-on
Ports	1 x SD Card Reader 1 x USB 3.2 G2 Type-C (DisplayPort 1.4) 2 x USB 3.1 G1 Type-A 1 x 3.5 mm Phono/Mic 1 x HDMI 2.0
Dimensions (WxDxH)	12.76 x 8.70 x 0.71 Inches
Weight	3.55 lb
Price (USD)	$749	$499

On top of the two models that's been launched, HP notes that the Pavilion x360 14 series will support up to 1 TB of SSD based storage, and be available with optional 4G LTE support. HP hasn't unveiled specifics as of yet, but we expect models to be available from HP featuring this soon.

Prices start at $499 for the Intel Core i3 Ice Lake model in a natural silver finish, with the higher-spec Core i5 model launching at $749 in warm gold. Both models are available now at Best Buy, and come next month HP will also be offering models in Forest Teal, with prices there starting at $550.

HP ENVY Laptop Refresh Adds OLED And RTX For 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 10:39:00 -0700

While HP’s Spectre lineup is what HP would probably consider their top-tier brand, the ENVY series has quietly become a very potent competitor, with premium-grade materials, and even discrete graphics, while still coming in sometimes hundreds of dollars less than the Spectre models. For 2020, HP is ramping up the ENVY lineup, refreshing all of the models, but the company has put special focus on the 15.6-inch ENVY 15 for this year.

ENVY 15

The creator market has become one of the new battlegrounds in the PC space, and for 2020 HP is clearly focusing the ENVY 15 on that market. The new ENVY 15 is the powerhouse in the ENVY lineup, with Intel’s H-Series processors coupled with NVIDIA graphics. Offering up to a Core i9 with 8 cores and sixteen threads, coupled with NVIDIA GPUs up to the RTX 2060 Max-Q gives the new ENVY 15 some serious performance for creative workflows like Lightroom, or video rendering. The ENVY 15 is also a member of the NVIDIA Studio program, meaning it offers the Studio drivers. You can pick up the ENVY 15 with up to 32 GB of RAM and 2 TB of PCIe storage in RAID if needed.

One of the standout features on the new ENVY 15 is the 15.6-inch UHD OLED display, offering 100% P3 gamut coverage, and factory calibrated for a Delta E < 2. The OLED display is certified for VESA DisplayHDR 400 TrueBlack, thanks to the incredible contrast OLED provides, and the display is rated for up to 600 nits of brightness as well.

Packing this much performance into a thin and light chassis is always going to push the cooling to the limits, and HP has outfitted it with a new vapor chamber cooling which they say offers 33% more processing power than traditional heatpipe designs, and HP offers DynamicPower to allocate TDP between the CPU and GPU to balance workloads.

Creators also require connectivity, and HP provides two Thunderbolt 3 ports, as well as two USB 3 ports, HDMI, and a multi-format media reader. Wi-Fi 6 is available as well, and HP has a new QuickDrop app which allows you to directly transfer files from your iOS or Android smartphone directly to the laptop via Wi-Fi. HP rates the ENVY 15 at up to 16.5 hours of battery life, so despite the performance under the hood, the 4.74 lb laptop should be able to last all day on a charge when needed.

The new ENVY 15 will be available in June starting at $1349.99.

ENVY 13

HP’s ENVY 13 is one of the company’s gems, offering a thin and light Ultrabook built with premium materials for a very good price. For 2020 the refresh moves to Ice Lake processors up to the Core i7-1065G7, and optional NVIDIA MX330 graphics. The laptop offers an 88% screen-to-body ratio, optional UHD display, and up to 19.5 hours of battery life. It will be available in May starting at $999.

ENVY x360 13

The convertible version of the ENVY 13 offers the same 88% screen-to-body ratio, but moves to AMD’s new 4000 series APU, with up to 17.5 hours of battery life. It will be available early May starting at $699.99.

ENVY x360 15

The larger convertible offers a choice of 10th gen Intel Core coupled with NVIDIA MX330 graphics, or the AMD Ryzen 4000 APU. Buyers can also opt for the OLED UHD display, and this model is rated for up to 18.5 hours of battery life. Unlike the non-convertible ENVY 15, this model will be the 15-Watt range of CPUs. It will be available early Mat starting at $699.99.

ADATA's New 32 GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM, Ideal for Ryzen Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 06:36:00 -0700

ADATA, one of the leading manufacturers of DRAM and NAND products, has just unveiled its latest memory modules. The new ADATA DDR4-3200 32 GB parts are available in both UDIMM and SO-DIMM format with an operating voltage of just 1.2 V. This is just the ticket for adopters of the new Ryzen 4000 Mobile platform looking to run high-capacity memory without compromising on throughput performance.

Back at Computex 2019, ADATA showed off its DDR4-2666 SODIMMs for the desktop market. Fast forward to now and it looks to push performance even higher with its new 32 GB DDR4-3200 modules.

Touching more on the design, we know the ADATA DDR4-2666 modules we saw at Computex were using Micron 16 Gb ICs to build its 32 GB UDIMMs. It is unlikely that ADATA has changed this, but we can't confirm this at present. The lower operating voltage over conventional DDR3 at 1.5 V according to ADATA equates to around 20% less power being drawn, which in turn generates less heat.

Potential use cases for DDR4-3200 32 GB memory is in platforms such as AMD's Threadripper 3000 with a total capacity of 256 GB over eight memory slots. This is more interesting when it comes to mobile platforms such as Ryzen 4000 which has seemingly raised the bar for computational performance in consumer notebooks. Being able to equip a chip with DDR4-3200 helps performance, even if the laptop has a discrete GPU.

In terms of pricing, the new ADATA DDR4-3200 32 GB modules are set to retail with an MSRP of $160. These will filter into retail channels such as Amazon, but they will also be available to purchase from ADATA directly.

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