Latest news with #TechPowerUp
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
AMD's quiet move may shock gaming GPU market
AMD's quiet move may shock gaming GPU market originally appeared on TheStreet. PC gamers have had it rough for many years. The crypto boom skyrocketed GPU prices. And when the crypto craze finally died off, then came the AI wave. Parents think Lego is expensive. Yet the strongest gaming cards with Nvidia chips sell for around $3,000. 💵💰💰💵 That is preposterous. A gaming card shouldn't cost as much as a used car. Manufacturers are making cards with just 8GB of VRAM in 2025, just so that they have something to offer for a "reasonable" price. If you are gaming, you aren't buying one of to the only publicly available sales data from one of Germany's largest retailers, the 16 GB version of the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, is outselling the 8 GB version by more than 16 times, reported TechPowerUp. What is AMD doing? The company isn't even trying to compete with Nvidia in the high-end chip segment; it literally does not have top-tier cards. It could be that lagging behind Nvidia was caused by a strong focus on saving its CPU unit and then focusing on fending off ARM. AMD's AI work has some positive effects on gaming performance AMD () has made massive progress on the CPU front, and while it can't ever relax, the company seems to be slowly but surely shifting its priorities to the GPU front. AMD has put a lot of effort into improving its software. In June, it acquired Brium, a hard-to-find team of compiler and AI software engineers with expertise in machine learning, AI inference, and performance optimization. Yes, the focus is on artificial intelligence, but that market is unfortunately more important to the company than gaming. Nevertheless, some performance gains from the AI front should trickle down to the gaming example of that trickle-down effect is AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR). FSR allows graphics cards to upscale frames rendered in lower resolution to a higher one, and this method takes less time than rendering frames in higher resolution the normal way. Because of this, the end result is a higher frame rate in supported games. The company's newest line of Radeon RX 9000 series graphics cards offers FSR 4, which uses an AI-accelerated upscaling algorithm to deliver image quality improvements over FSR 3.1. AMD addresses one of the key problems of chiplet design In 2018, AMD launched the second generation of AMD EPYC processors based on the Zen 2 core architecture. It was the first processor to feature an innovative chiplet-based x86 CPU design. Chiplet-based CPU design means that instead of building a big monolithic core, smaller "chiplets" are made. This creates a modular CPU design and makes it easier to construct more powerful chips by just adding more chiplets. AMD uses this technique in its CNDA 4 architecture for its AMD Instinct GPUs and APUs. Unfortunately, AMD's attempt to introduce a chiplet-based design into the RDNA 3 architecture, on which gaming chips are made, wasn't as successful as it had hoped. RDNA 4 ended up being a monolithic design and stuck with only mid-tier cards. More AI Stocks:Chiplet-based design for AI GPUs is much easier, as they have access to high-bandwidth memory (HBM). However, HBM is expensive, and it would raise the prices of the already overpriced GPUs. Fortunately, AMD seems to be staying committed to using this chiplet-based approach, and it successfully patented locality-based data processing on July 8. It is important to note that this patent works for any kind of processing cores; they can be, for example, CPU, GPU, neural processing core, digital signal processor cores, and so on. Coreteks, a technology analysis, hardware reviews, and gaming trends YouTube channel, provided insight about this patent in its commentary: "This new patent addresses one of the key problems that a chiplets GPU for gaming would face, latency from memory accesses and the associated energy costs from moving data around." "If AMD cracks the GPU chiplets problem, they could leapfrog competitors like Nvidia and release a scalable GPU that could truly disrupt the market." Coreteks believes that AMD's chiplet-based GPU is inevitable and that it could also feature 3D stack memory, assumptions that seem reasonable. Anyone interested in the detailed explanation of the patent may want to watch this video. Patents often get approved but never used, and this is sometimes done to prevent competitors from implementing the idea. This isn't AMD's only chiplet-related patent, and they probably know they have to make chiplets work, or they will never regain their market quiet move may shock gaming GPU market first appeared on TheStreet on Jul 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jul 20, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Arabian Post
16-06-2025
- Business
- Arabian Post
EdgeCortix's SAKURA‑II Elevates Raspberry Pi 5 with On‑Device Generative AI
EdgeCortix has launched its SAKURA‑II M.2 AI accelerator for the Raspberry Pi 5 and other Arm‑based platforms, enabling high‑performance, energy‑efficient execution of generative AI at the device edge. With 60 TOPS and 30 TFLOPS performance within an 8–10 W power envelope, the SAKURA‑II module supports advanced models including Llama 2, Stable Diffusion, Vision Transformers and VLMs on compact, affordable hardware. Dr Sakyasingha Dasgupta, EdgeCortix founder and CEO, highlighted that the integration 'opens the door for innovators and enterprises around the world to build smarter, faster, and more efficient edge AI‑driven devices'. This remark underscores a clear strategic pivot: migrating AI workloads away from cloud dependence and embedding them directly into low‑power devices. Venture partner Sailesh Chittipeddi echoed this view, emphasising the appeal for IoT and edge application engineers seeking scalability without datacentre overhead. The core of SAKURA‑II is EdgeCortix's DNA architecture, offering high memory bandwidth—up to 68 GB/s—and support for dual-channel LPDDR4x. This combination optimises batch‑1 inferencing for real‑time AI tasks while maintaining minimal latency and maximised compute utilisation. ADVERTISEMENT Market response has been mixed. It's FOSS notes the roughly US $349 price tag for the M.2 module, with no explicit mention of shipping costs, urging buyers to clarify before purchase. A TechPowerUp forum debate revealed cost‑sensitive hobbyists comparing it to a US $130 AI HAT offering about 26 TOPS. One user characterised SAKURA‑II as 'on another completely different ballpark' due to its RAM and bandwidth advantages for advanced applications. For industrial users, particularly those operating in space‑weight‑power‑cost constrained environments such as drones, robotics, smart agriculture or security, SAKURA‑II's offline capabilities are pivotal. By enabling autonomous AI without cloud reliance, organisations can enhance resilience and reduce latency in mission‑critical operations. Academic research on efficient edge deployment reinforces this evolution. A paper from June 10, 2025 demonstrated quantised YOLOv4‑Tiny object detection on Raspberry Pi 5, achieving 28.2 ms inference per image at 13.85 W power consumption. While this study used CPU‑based INT8 quantisation, the performance and consumption metrics set a baseline that illustrates SAKURA‑II's potential leap in efficiency and speed via dedicated silicon acceleration. EdgeCortix's positioning also aligns with wider trends in AI hardware development. Their DNA technology enables dynamic reconfiguration and mixed‑precision processing approximating FP32 accuracy—important for generative AI workloads that balance performance with model fidelity. Partners like SoftBank and Renesas have emphasised the importance of this co‑design approach, blending hardware IP with compiler‑driven software stacks to reduce TCO and accelerate time‑to‑market. Industry analysts see SAKURA‑II and similar accelerators as closing the gap between cloud‑scale AI and embedded edge use cases. By supporting multi‑billion‑parameter models on hand‑held devices, they suggest a future where even small autonomous systems can perform complex tasks like content generation, language parsing and computer vision locally—without connectivity or latency constraints. However, barriers remain. The ~$349 entry price may deter hobbyists and small‑scale developers, contrasted with cheaper model‑specific HAT solutions. Adoption may hinge on use case value—where the benefits of on‑device Generative AI outweigh acquisition and integration costs. Enterprise rollouts will need to consider software support, model compatibility, and real‑world inference benchmarks – details which are pending independent testing. EdgeCortix provides MERA, its compiler and runtime platform, enabling developers to deploy models across heterogeneous Edge AI systems, signalling strong software ecosystem support. This software‑hardware synergy contrasts with many accelerators that must rely on limited driver support or manual optimisation. The extension to Raspberry Pi 5 is significant. As one of the most accessible single‑board computers, Pi 5 offers a global developer base and extensive community support. Pairing it with SAKURA‑II could catalyse novel applications—from mobile robotics and decentralised AI devices to educational platforms that illustrate advanced AI concepts. Going forward, key indicators to watch will include independent benchmark results, broader platform support, and commercial deployments in agriculture, defence, and industrial automation. The ROI calculation will depend on whether the performance and efficiency gains translate into measurable gains—lower energy costs, reduced latency, or enhanced autonomy.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Snapdragon X2 Elite leak teases a monster 18-core chip with 64GB RAM
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Just when we thought Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite was its boldest move, a fresh leak suggests the company's next chip is gearing up to break records. The newly uncovered Snapdragon X2 Elite variant, reportedly codenamed SC8480XP, boasts a whopping 18-core CPU configuration and up to 64GB of LPDDR5X RAM — the highest we've ever seen in Qualcomm's Windows-on-ARM efforts. The leak, which comes via a test platform uncovered by @KOMACHI_ENSAKA and reported by TechPowerUp, indicates that Qualcomm may be preparing a chip powerful enough to blur the line between ARM laptops and high-end desktops. According to the leak, the X2 chip packs 18 Oryon V3 CPU cores, a 50% jump from the already formidable 12-core Snapdragon X Elite. That means more threads, better multitasking, and higher headroom for compute-heavy apps like video editing and local AI inference. The core architecture itself has evolved. Qualcomm's third-gen Oryon design, derived from the server-class NUVIA Phoenix cores, is expected to deliver up to 30% better single-thread performance, with even bigger gains in multi-core workloads. That puts Qualcomm squarely in the fight with AMD and Intel's most efficient silicon. But the spec sheet doesn't stop at core counts. Testing configs are reportedly running with up to 64GB of LPDDR5 RAM, representing a full 2x increase over current X Elite laptops. Qualcomm is also moving toward a System-in-Package (SiP) approach, directly embedding RAM and storage onto the processor. It's a move that echoes Apple Silicon but goes one step further, minimizing latency by eliminating external buses. There is a catch, though: SiP means that memory (and possibly storage) is integrated into the chip itself, so you won't be upgrading anything. What you buy is what you get. What's interesting here is that the X2 Elite is being tested with full-blown desktop cooling solutions, including a 120mm all-in-one liquid cooler. That's not standard issue for a thin-and-light laptop; it's desktop-tier gear. And it suggests that Qualcomm may be prototyping desktop or high-TDP laptop configurations. This would mark a significant departure from Qualcomm's previous strategy, which focused on ultra-portables and long battery life. It now seems that the company wants to scale ARM performance into new product classes, potentially rivaling Apple's M-series desktops and AMD's Strix Halo APU for creative workloads and local AI inference. It's worth noting that these tests are reportedly being conducted internally, and it's unclear whether such high-TDP devices will ever hit shelves, but the fact that Qualcomm is even testing them speaks volumes. It's also worth noting that Qualcomm might be positioning itself to compete more aggressively in the high-performance laptop segment, with the increased core count and memory support potentially making Arm-based laptops more appealing to power users. Regardless of how impressive the chip sounds, Windows on Arm still has work to do. Compatibility and optimization remain sore spots, even despite Microsoft's recent Copilot+ PC initiative and more OEMs embracing Snapdragon silicon. Qualcomm's hardware might be catching up or even surpassing Apple and Intel on paper, but real-world performance will depend on software doing its part. There's also the matter of timing. Qualcomm is expected to unveil new Snapdragon X-series chips at its Snapdragon Summit 2025, scheduled for September 23-25 in Hawaii. It's unclear whether the 18-core X2 Elite will headline that event, but when Laptop Mag spoke to Qualcomm leaders at Computex in May, all questions about the X2 were met with "come to Snapdragon Summit." If leaks are true, the 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite might just be Qualcomm's most aggressive move yet. With 64GB RAM support, an ultra-dense integrated design, and desktop-class cooling in test environments, the question now is whether the ecosystem — apps, drivers, and thermal envelopes — can keep up with the silicon. If it can? ARM might finally be ready to challenge x86 where it hurts. Qualcomm has another Snapdragon lawsuit in the works: Here's what you need to know. Make AI videos for free with OpenAI's Sora in Microsoft Bing The forces urging you to update to Windows 11 are growing — but are things as dire as they appear?
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
Gigabyte's GPU Thermal Paste Keeps Leaking
Several instances of Gigabyte graphics cards leaking thermal interface gel during operation have raised concerns over the quality control of its new graphics cards. Although Gigabyte claims the problem is merely cosmetic, the fact that these problems have arisen so soon after the cards launched isn't giving new owners much confidence in the design. All graphics cards use some form of thermal interface material (TIM) to sandwich between the big metal heatsink and individual chips and components on the card's PCB, including the GPU itself and memory modules. Traditionally that's been in the form of heat paste, but more exotic solutions are used today, including thermal pads, liquid metal, and in this instance, a "server grade" thermal gel. Where traditional concerns with TIM involved it drying out, this newer gel design appears to have a potential issue with its viscosity going in the other direction entirely. At the very least, something is causing it to slip out of its intended placement. There have now been three confirmed reports of Gigabyte RTX 50-series graphics cards leaking thermal gel from between the heatsink and various chips on the cards. It puddles around the chips, but as of yet hasn't caused any problems beyond merely looking unsavory, leading to Gigabyte's hand-waving comments about it being merely an aesthetic issue, as per TechPowerUp. But it also claims the issue only affects early production batches, suggesting that there is something about the design that has changed since then, fixing whatever the problem is. Gigabyte gel slipping out on a GPU. Credit: TechPowerUp Forum In each case of leaking gel, the cards were mounted vertically in the case, perhaps oriented in such a way that gravity contributed to the force driving out the gel in a certain direction. But Gigabyte doesn't warn about this in the official documentation for the cards, nor when these cards were first sold. That raises questions about what changed from early batches of the card, and if the change was made knowingly, why wasn't it communicated? Owners of the affected cards are understandably upset and concerned. Even if the issue is only cosmetic for now, surely leaking gel isn't as thermally effective, or will become less so over time. This raises concerns over long-term reliability, which shouldn't be something a new GPU owner has to worry about. Especially if they paid the inflated prices of Nvidia's new high-end cards, which in some cases can cost over $3,000. Gigabyte has issued a statement saying that it takes "your concerns seriously," but has made it clear that for now it won't be doing any kind of recall of potentially affected products. If you have a Gigabyte RTX 50-series graphics card, it might be worth avoiding vertical mounting. At least until this issue is cleared up or understood more.
Digital Trends
06-05-2025
- Digital Trends
I loved these speakers so much, I burned myself trying to fix them
Table of Contents Table of Contents Love of the ridiculous A glimmer of hope Maybe I can fix high-grade electronics myself… So long and thanks for all the riffs Sigh. Today's a legitimately sad day. I've had to say goodbye to my Harman Kardon GLA-55 2.0 PC speakers. I've had them for over 15 years of faithful service, but despite trying to have them repaired and my own botched attempts at fixing them, I've had to accept that their time has come and they've joined the paint tins for the next trip to the dump (for recycling). I have a new pair on the way, and they won't sound as good, nor look as iconic, but they will work properly, which is arguably more important. It's still a sad day though, and worth eulogizing. While technology tends to come and go, we all have that one gadget, peripheral, or component which has a special place in our hearts and for me, my ridiculous Harman Kardon speakers were one of them. Recommended Videos I literally just wrote a piece for PCWorld about why these speakers were so great, too. A fitting send off, but an ironic one. Let's give them one more. Love of the ridiculous The GLA-55s are a unique set of speakers that were gifted to me in the early 2010s by my then boss who had no need for them in his even-more-impressive audiophile setup. They're huge and heavy and completely ridiculous. They didn't ever fit into my setup or look right next to my more modern, and less-crystally monitors and other hardware. But they sounded great and were a brilliant conversation starter. Out of all the strange gadgets, gizmos, and components I've had over the last 20 years of writing about PCs and other hardware, my Harman Kardon speakers always drew the most interest from visiting friends and family. They were as much a work of art as capable PC speakers with strong bass and clear highs. TechPowerUp even called them the coolest speakers ever in its coverage of them way back when. But after so many years of use they had started to show their age. Scratches in the crystal-like plastic, dents in the soft-surface tweeter from errant kid fingers, and finally, a hole in the rubber surrounding the main drivers. While manoeuvring them for some shots for the aforementioned article I wrote about their longevity, I brushed my finger against the rubber and it just disintegrated into a sticky, powdery mess. At the lightest of touches I had inadvertently destroyed the airtight chamber around the driver which helped deliver such thumping good sound. In an instant of carelessness I'd ruined this speaker. But apparently this wasn't my first time. Looking closer at the other speaker revealed similar stress points on the rubber and in actuality, it had already started to come away from the plastic surround too. Neither speaker was in great shape and some quick Googling suggested that at best, I shouldn't be using them until they were fixed. If they could be fixed at all. A glimmer of hope My first contact with Harman Kardon was a dead end. These speakers had been end of life for years, so no, they couldn't fix them or provide any repair aid. They did have a third-party company they used for repairs in the UK, though. They might be able to do it, I was told. But no. The parts to replace this very specific speaker surround no longer existed, so there was no way they could do it either. Perhaps a third party alternative? I looked, but the drivers on these speakers were a very specific 3.1-inches in diameter. I couldn't find anything close to the right size… Until I did. It turns out that a Dutch speaker repair shop had a few foam replacement driver surrounds for my very specific Harman Kardon GLA-55 speakers. What luck! I ordered a pair to be shipped over in due haste and eagerly awaited their arrival two weeks later. In the meantime I contacted the original repair shop, but balked at the potential bill. It was $150 (equivalent) to even look at the speakers to see if they could or could not repair them. The estimates for the actual repair were several hundred more, plus shipping. While these speakers might have been worth $1,000 when new, but I could get a comparable set of speakers for the same price of a repair. But I'm an industrious chap. Before I confine these speakers to the trash heap I should take one more shot at it. Maybe I can fix high-grade electronics myself… I've been taking apart graphics cards, laptops, and other complicated PC hardware for years. Surely with due care I could have a good go at fixing these myself. So I set to work. I peeled off the underside rubber feet, I removed the screws. I took apart the base housing, and undid the screws on the circuit board and… solder. Unleaded solder at that, so my hobbyist soldering iron couldn't quite get it hot enough to melt it effectively. I didn't have a solder wick. I burned myself twice in my inexperience. Two hours into this mess of melted skin and stubbornly solid solder, I considered my options. I was on the cusp of diving down an (admittedly autistically driven) rabbit hole. There was still a chance I could fix this, but I was about to order a new soldering iron and some other kit to make this one repair easier, that I wasn't confident of performing effectively. I touched the rubber on the speaker surround again, as if to confirm how bad it was, and it melted away in my hand in a sticky mess that would have made fitting the foam even after an effective teardown difficult. This wasn't going to work, was it? I could spend hours of my time and tens or hundreds more of my dollars to fix these old, busted, dented, beautiful speakers. Or I could go and write an article about it and earn enough to pay for their replacements. So, here we are. So long and thanks for all the riffs Reluctantly, I spent the next 20 minutes tidying up the mess I'd made. The blobs of solder on the table, the seemingly-liquifying bits of speaker rubber on the floor, put the tools into the toolbox, my blistered finger under the tap. I thought about screwing the speakers back together so they could at least take their funeral march to the dump in full form. Like preparing them for an open casket. But they're speakers, not a person or pet. I stuck them next to the pile of other junk outside and ordered some perfectly fine Edifier R1280DBs. They're not super exciting, don't look weird and wonderful, and probably won't sound as good as the Harman Kardon's did back in their heyday. But there is Bluetooth support, and they'll fit better on my desk, and won't have a weird popping sound when I'm instead using my wireless headphones. I will miss the GLA-55s though. They weren't just a great piece of hardware, but an iconic part of my PC gaming and working setup for over a decade. It honestly feels a bit weird typing away like this without them flanking my monitors. Something is amiss. I suspect it'll feel that way for quite some time.
