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Welcome to the Battlestations 2018 thread! If you want to show your fellow Neowinians what your workstation/battlestation looks like, this is the place to do it. When posting, please note the following: If you plan to img-embed your picture, please try to keep it under 100k. Actually, it's best if you just link to it externally. If you are going to quote, there isn't a need to quote an img-embeded picture - Just don't do it. Please just reference the post by page number/page link/etc. The moderators of this forum reserve the right to edit or remove your posts as necessary in order that they will comply with the Community Rules. The Battlestations 2017 thread is not to be used as a means to post images of a pornographic or otherwise provocative nature, so please be mindful of the images that may appear on your battlestation. Please help to keep the thread relevant and safe to browse for everyone. Last year's Battlestations thread is here.

HWiNFO 7.46 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.46 changelog: Fixed monitoring of legacy CPU Usage on Windows 11. Fixed a possible crash during XTU check on AMD Genoa/Bergamo. Fixed reporting of EDC current value on AMD Raphael. Fixed driver compatibility with Windows Kernel-mode Hardware-enforced Stack Protection. Improved Intel Arc GPU support with new drivers. Download page: HWiNFO 7.46 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWiNFO 7.44 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.44 changelog: Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASRock A620 series. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070. Improved monitoring of Corsair Commander CORE, CORE XT, ST. Enhanced temperature monitoring of AMD X670/B650 chipsets. Added monitoring of GPU available memory for NVIDIA and Intel GPUs. Fixed support of Renesas RAA229132 PWM. Enhanced support and monitoring of AMD Van Gogh. Added fan speed monitoring of Valve Steam Deck. Added separate monitoring of static and dynamic PL1/PL2 values. Added DIMM SPD information and temperature monitoring for Intel Sapphire Rapids, Emerald Rapids, Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest. Added support of Fintek F81804U LPC/HW Monitor. Download page: HWiNFO 7.44 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

Endgame's XM2we wireless gaming mouse review by Robbie Khan Our friends over at Pro Gamersware GmbH offered up one of Endgame Gear's recent gaming mice, the XM2we via OverclockersUK. Since I had dabbled with gaming mice a few times over the years from both Zowie and Logitech G, I was quite excited to give this new one a go. I didn't initially see the appeal, gaming mice historically tended to have silly looking aesthetics that didn't seem too ergonomic. But things soon changed and we started to see more brands enter the market and competition heat up. Just look at the mouse review subreddit, or any other gaming peripheral community to see how seriously people take their gaming mice. Every gram matters, and in extreme cases, even cutting holes into the palm grip to reduce some weight. Nowadays you can buy these very mice with factory cutouts, if it's a popular trend, then it will be capitalised! Like I said, serious business. I am more of a casual gamer, but I do appreciate a good quality mouse, even outside of gaming. I've personally owned Logitech's G5 and G9 series of wireless gaming mice, but in recent times, due to a focus on productivity, have settled on an MX Master 3 where the additional buttons and app-centric customisation come into their own. Having said that, I also used gaming mice for productivity too. Whilst the vast majority of gaming mice do not offer the same level of customisation as Logitech's MX range, the super precise nature of the sensors and high polling rate meant I found myself preferring these for photo editing quite often over Logitech's MX. As these mice are all wireless, it's easy enough to have both productivity and gaming mice without adding cable clutter, and since they both charge via USB-C, a single cable can be hidden away and used when needed. Specifications Sensor PixArt PAW3370 Resolution Up to 19000 CPI (steps of 50 CPI for 50 to 10000 CPI, steps of 100 CPI from 10000 to 19000 CPI; pre-defined: 400, 800 (default), 1600, 3200) Acceleration 50 G Lift-Off Distance (LOD) Default 2mm, 1mm enabled via software Max Speed 400 IPS Microcontroller CX52850 (mouse) / CX52650 (dongle) Polling Rate 125, 250, 500 and 1000 Hz (1000Hz by default) Dimensions 122 x 66 x 38 mm (L x W x H) Primary Buttons Kailh GO Optical Switches (80 Million Actuations) Wheel Encoder TTC silver (wide) Middle Button Pre-sorted Kailh GM 2.0 switches (20 million actuations) Side Buttons Pre-sorted Kailh GM 2.0 switches (20 million actuations) Battery 410mAh Materials Plastic (Chassis), PTFE (Glides), Dry Grip Coating (Surface) Skates Hybrid Skate Design (large skates pre-installed) Weight ~63g (black), white +0.5g Connection Type Wireless (2.4 GHz, Dongle: USB 2.0 Type A) and/or wired (PC: USB 2.0 Type A, Mouse: USB-C) Cable Black Flex Cord 3.0 Type-C (180cm, USB 2.0 Type A to USB-C) Colours Black, white Price £79.99 / $79.99 / €79.90 The XM2we is marketed as a budget gaming mouse, even though the specs are quite respectable and in-line with other gaming mice that fall above and below the reasonable price point. There is a higher end model priced £/$/€20 more, the XM2w, which has a slight spec bump, but short of being a competitive gamer, it is unlikely us mortals will notice the differences given how well the standard model performs anyway. For reference, my experience with this mouse has been on an Alienware QD-OLED monitor running at 144Hz G-Sync Ultimate. It is important to note this because the performance of the display will factor into how any mouse input performance is perceived both in and outside of gaming. Construction and feel The plastic feels thin and very light, yet the surface finishing has a premium nature to it. Even though it is un-textured, it feels expensive. This is one area where I think other brands like Logitech could take note. The primary buttons have a levered action to them, but only slight, you apply slightly more pressure to actuate when pressing towards the end of each button versus the area closest to the back. It's very subtle but it is there. The optical switches feel very accurate, and the tactile feedback is welcome. In terms of noise from any of the buttons, I find them no different to other mice, here is a video comparing the button clicks against the MX Master 3: The underside is nicely designed, too, with wide contact patches on the skates. The CPI mode button is located in a convenient location and I am able to switch modes with the same hand simply by lifting the mouse and pressing the button by extending my ring finger. If this button was at the top, then toggling modes would be a two-hand affair. The bottom also has the power switch, and DPI toggle button, and unlike some other gaming mice out there, the DPI for each of the modes (up to 4), can be customised from 50 to 19,000 via the Endgame software. My personal preference lies at 1000 for everything, but it's nice having the option to toggle through at any point. Speaking of which, the software appears basic, but just like the mouse itself, does the job with no extra frills. It doesn't add any system resource impact either when in use. The software also does not need to be running in the background if settings have been changed, so customisations appear to be saved directly to the mouse. The XM2we is ambidextrous, and because of that has a low profile in the palm. I found myself clawing the mouse more than MX Master 3 which is taller with my palm resting on top of it, but the added weight means movement takes more effort, especially in fast action areas of gaming. Nevertheless, I found no issues with the XM2we, and because it is so lightweight, it felt natural to use and the buttons easy to reach. The middle wheel is also gives excellent feedback. The scrolling action is distinct, whereas I have used mice before that have a spongy wheel rotation. The middle click on the XM2we cannot be accidentally activated during scrolling. The 2.4GHz USB wireless receiver is similar in size to Logitech's first generation of Unifying receivers. The photo above shows the XM2we's dongle (right), next to Logitech's latest Unifying receiver (left) for size comparison. Performance I've been getting back into CS:GO, whilst also playing through The Last of Us: Part 1, Resident Evil 4 remake and Cyberpunk 2077's latest path tracing update. Whilst CS:GO is fast-paced anyway, the others can have their moments of action requiring quick movements to evade and/or attack. In the case of Cyberpunk, especially when driving, the quick camera movements to get dramatic angles speeding through Night City were made easier on the XM2we thanks to the superior sensor and low weight of the mouse. I tried both wired and wireless and could not spot any difference, both just as accurate as each other. Even though the battery lasts a week of use, it is nice knowing that should you find yourself in a pinch and the battery dies, you can quickly connect the cable and use it as a wired gaming mouse. The lightweight and pliable braided cable comes with a raised angle plug. This is great as it means the strain relief will not snag against your desk or mouse surface, another nice touch not seen on most other mice in this price range. The LED is multifunctional, pressing the button on the underside changes the sensitivity and the four colours denote what mode you are in. When charging and turning it on, the LED also indicates battery level. I could not find what capacity range the LED colour refers to, sadly. The battery life is also excellent, a whole week of daily use for hours on end is near hat we can expect in 2023. The last Logitech G series I had needed to be topped up every other day, so the XM2we has impressed in this area, and as already mentioned, should you find yourself low on charge, just plug it in and use it in wired mode whilst the battery charges. Conclusion I have read several other reviews online about this mouse, and I agree with much of what they all seem to say. The XM2we is a well-built mouse with a premium material finish that appears as if it will last many years, especially against Logitech's more expensive wireless gaming mice, whilst not being a discomfort or distraction with fancy lighting. Some said that the Endgame software battery level had not been accurate for them and felt half baked. Whilst it is true it offers just basic tweaking of the mouse,I found the software to do exactly what it needs to, without being overwhelming. It's neatly laid out and in my experience, bug free. The inclusion of the little Type-C to USB-A adapter offers up an alternative option on how to connect the wireless receiver dongle. During the full week I've been using this mouse, I have not encountered any bugs or quirks with either the mouse itself or the software. I was not sure if I'd like the mouse initially, the specs seemed good, but the design of it didn't gel with me when I saw the online images, it appeared boring, but that ended up being a positive! Luckily, once in hand it all made sense, and I found myself really appreciating how light it is, where my hand can just forget a mouse is under it and just naturally go about using the PC whether for game or work. My only wish would be that it would be nice to see some extra buttons either on top of the mouse or around the thumb area. These buttons can then be customised in the software and could be mapped to actions in specific games or apps. Either way, consider me a new Endgame Gear mouse fan!

HWiNFO 7.42 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.42 changelog: Added reporting of PMIC Validation and DIMM Certification status for XMP 3.0 rev1.3+. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop. Fixed monitoring of some EC sensors on EVGA Z790 series. Enhanced support of AMD Phoenix. Enhanced sensor monitoring on some MSI H510M, H610M and A620M series. Improved reporting of Intel HDA sound drivers. Added limited monitoring of Intel Arc GPUs without drivers installed (oneAPI, IGCL). Added monitoring of Corsair H100i Elite White and H150i Elite White. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop. Added option for creating report files in UTF-8 format. Added monitoring of Corsair Commander CORE, CORE XT, ST. Added preliminary support of Arrow Lake-S. Updated monitoring with AMD Adrenalin 23.3.2. Download page: HWiNFO 7.42 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWMonitor 1.50 by Razvan Serea HWMonitor is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, fans speed. The program handles the most common sensor chips, like ITE® IT87 series, most Winbond® ICs, and others. In addition, it can read modern CPUs on-die core thermal sensors, as well has hard drives temperature via S.M.A.R.T, and video card GPU temperature. Special hardware monitors such as abit® uGuru and Gigabyte® ODIN™ power supplies serie are supported too. HWMonitor 1.50 changelog: Preliminary support for AMD Storm Peak platform. Improved support of AMD Radeon 6950 XT. Zhaoxin KX-6000G/4 CPU. Intel Xeon Sapphire Rapids platform. Intel N100 and N200 (ADL-N). intel Core i3 N300 and N305 (ADL-N) Intel Core i5 13450HX, 13500HX, Core i7 13650HX, 13700HX (55W) Download: HWMonitor 1.50 | 1.4 MB (Freeware) Download: Portable HWMonitor 1.50 | 1.8 MB View: HWMonitor Homepage Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

Gigabyte launches the AORUS Gen5 10000, its first high-end PCIe Gen 5 SSD by Robbie Khan Gigabyte has launched its latest PCIe Gen 5 SSD, the AORUS Gen5 10000, and Newegg is listing it for pre-order at a whopping $339. The new model boasts some impressive sequential transfer numbers, coming in at 9500MB/s read, and 8500MB/s write. The new drive uses Phison's E26 controller to manage that bandwidth, and comes with the optional heatsink, which I'll admit, does look pretty cool, and since it's passive, is a quieter solution than CFD Gaming's s active cooling for their Gen 5 SSD. The AORUS line of products is squarely aimed at enthusiasts and gamers, but even Gigabyte isn't promoting the new SSD as a gamer's drive, instead opting to word the descriptions very carefully. Gigabyte highlight the transfer speeds especially such as shown on its website. So, whilst the new drive, on paper, could load games much faster, the reality is that the loading time difference even in games that support Microsoft's DirectStorage is minimal at best, and only measurable with a benchmark rather than something any gamer will actually notice. A prime example of this is when we reviewed Sabrent's latest Gen 4 SSD which ships with a DirectStorage-optimised firmware. The Rocket 4-Plus-G was on average only 0.1s faster than a Gen 3 Samsung 970 Evo Plus. How much of a difference adding a Gen 5 drive into the mix makes remains to be seen, but the practical numbers speak for themselves. A note to our readers before anyone rushes out to order one: Outside of DirectStorage, I have yet to see a game using more than 1500MB/s read speed from any SSD, meaning even a Gen 3 SSD loading a game that has only NVMe SSD optimizations and no DirectStorage, will not even saturate the 3500MB/s read bandwidth that a PCIe Gen 3 SSD has to offer. For now, then, it does seem these new Gen 5 SSDs are mostly for bragging rights, unless you routinely need up to 8500/9500MB/s transfer speed. Though on a more positive note, these drives need to come to market so that competition results in lower prices down the line. Our stories may contain affiliate links for products/apps where Neowin is paid an affiliate fee if you complete a purchase via those links.

HWiNFO 7.40 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.40 Build 5000 changelog: Added fan speed monitoring on MSI Raider GE67HX, Titan GT77 and some others. Added monitoring of GPU SOC clock on AMD Navi3x. Improved sensor monitoring on some ASUS and ASRock mainboards. Added fan speed monitoring on SANTECH G69/Clevo X170KM. Added VRM monitoring on GIGABYTE Z690, Z790 and X670, B650 series. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop and RTX 4060 Laptop. Added NVIDIA RTX 3500, 3000, 2000 Ada Laptop. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS H770 and B760 series. Added AMD Radeon RX 7600M, 7600M XT, 7600S, 7700S. Improved support of next-generation AMD Threadripper. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS Pro WS W790-ACE and Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASRock W790 WS. Added Moore Threads MTT S30, S50, S60, S70, S80, S3000 GPUs. Added driver information for monitor. Improved reporting of current memory clock for Intel Alder Lake and later CPUs. Download page: HWiNFO 7.40 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWMonitor 1.49 by Razvan Serea HWMonitor is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, fans speed. The program handles the most common sensor chips, like ITE® IT87 series, most Winbond® ICs, and others. In addition, it can read modern CPUs on-die core thermal sensors, as well has hard drives temperature via S.M.A.R.T, and video card GPU temperature. Special hardware monitors such as abit® uGuru and Gigabyte® ODIN™ power supplies serie are supported too. HWMonitor 1.49 changelog: Intel Core i9 13900KS. AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 7900X3D, Ryzen 7 7800X3D. AMD Ryzen 9 7900, Ryzen 7 7700, Ryzen 5 7600. AMD Radeon 7900XT/XTX. NVIDIA RTX RTX 4070 Ti. DDR5 VDD/VDDQ/VDDP,VOUT 1.8V & 1.0 voltages. Download: HWMonitor 1.49 | 1.4 MB (Freeware) Download: Portable HWMonitor 1.49 | 1.8 MB View: HWMonitor Homepage Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWiNFO 7.36 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.36 changelog: Improved support of AMD Threadripper PRO (Chagall). Improved sensor tooltips. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS ProArt B650-CREATOR. Fixed reporting of Front End Clock on AMD Navi 3x. Improved consistency of sensor polling interval. Added monitoring of aging data on ASUS Z690, Z790 and X670E series. Changed default font in sensors for CJK languages. Added monitoring of MSI MEG Ai1000P and Ai1300P PSUs. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. Added monitoring of System Fan 7/8 on GIGABYTE X670E series. Download page: HWiNFO 7.36 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWiNFO 7.34 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.34 changelog: Extended Shared Memory Interface to expose UTF-8 encoded strings. Fixed Remote Monitoring with localized sensor names. Added monitoring of Fan Intake Temperature on AMD Navi31. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. Added highlighting of changing sensor values. Added support of NZXT Kraken X63 new models. Added support of Intel Emerald Rapids. Enhanced support of AMD Navi3X. Added several NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 and 4080 card models. Fixed reporting of Command Rate on AMD AM5 systems. Added monitoring of additional temperatures on ASUS MAXIMUS Z790 HERO/APEX. Improved sensor tooltip. Added Ukrainian language. Download page: HWiNFO 7.34 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

Core Temp 1.18 by Razvan Serea Core Temp is a useful tool that will help monitor your PCs CPU temperature. What makes Core Temp unique is the way it works. It is capable of displaying a temperature of each individual core of every processor in your system! You can see temperature fluctuations in real time with varying workloads. Core Temp is also motherboard agnostic. Core Temp is easy to use, while also enabling a high level of customization and expandability. Core Temp provides a platform for plug-ins, which allows developers to add new features and extend its functionality. Core Temp 1.18 changelog: New: AMD Zen 4, Zen 3 APU and Zen 2 APU support New: Intel Raptor Lake and Alder Lake support New: TDP, TjMax, multiplier range detection on desktop AMD Zen platforms Fix: Address the kernel-mode driver vulnerability/exploitation issues Fix: Redesign Bclk detection on all AMD platforms starting from the Phenom series Fix: Workaround the Bclk detection issues on Intel Skylake and newer series Fix: Bclk detection on older Intel platforms, utilizing x2Apic configuration Fix: Thread count on Intel hybrid architectures (Raptor/Alder Lake) Fix: Improve support for multiple older AMD and Intel processors Fix: Base multiplier detection on AMD Zen processors Fix: Incorrect temperature on AMD Zen processors (missing -49C offset) Fix: Engineering Sample recognition on newer Intel processors Fix: Multiple minor bugs Change: Windows Vista 64-bit is no longer supported. Download: Core Temp 1.18 (64-bit) | 445.0 KB (Freeware) Download: Core Temp 1.18 (32-bit) | 403.0 KB View: Core Temp Homepage | Core Temp Add-Ons Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWiNFO 7.32 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.32 changelog: Added reporting of Core Performance Order and PBO Scalar for AMD Raphael. Added monitoring of Energy Performance Preference for later AMD APUs. Fixed reporting of CPPC order on systems with gaps in APIC IDs. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS X670 series. Fixed a possible hang during USB enumeration when Xbox 360 is connected. Enhanced sensor monitoring on EVGA Z790 series. Fixed a rare case when Nuvoton NCT6799 sensor might not be found. Added early support of some AMD Zen5 families. Enhanced support of Intel Meteor Lake and Granite Rapids. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASRock X670E series. Enabled VRM monitoring on some ASRock mainboards. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS B650 and Z790 series. Added hovering delay for sensor tooltips. Enhanced sensor monitoring on Intel 13th Gen NUC series. Added monitoring of GPU Thermal Limit for NVIDIA GPUs. Added monitoring of GIGABYTE AORUS P1200W PSU. Updated translations for several languages. Download page: HWiNFO 7.32 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

Google and Framework launch a Chromebook with customizable ports and more by Anushe Fawaz Today, Framework announced its partnership with Google to create a new modular Chromebook that brings together the sustainable nature of Framework’s laptops and Google’s ChromeOS. The Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition will be available for pre-order in batches and shipped out towards the end of 2022. Framework or Framework Computer Inc. is an American laptop manufacturing company that specializes in producing sustainable and easily repairable laptops. It is launching the Chromebook Edition by partnering with Google as it claims to resonate with Google’s commitment to “long-lasting speed and transparency" of its products. Here are some notable specs of the Chromebook Edition: Physical specs: 1.3kg (2.87 lbs) with a 15.85mm thickness and 1.55mm thick key-travel keyboard. It is built of milled aluminum housing and has a gear logo on the top. Display: 3:2 display (2256x1504) resolution on a 13.5 inch screen. Software: features the 12th Gen Intel Core™ i5-1240P processor that comes with 4+8 CPU cores and 30W sustained performance. Storage: the laptop comes with an initial 8GB of DDR4 and 256GB NVMe storage, but with Expansion Cards, it can reach a maximum of 250GB and 1TB Storage respectively. Hardware switches to turn off access from the camera and mic by cutting power Titan C security chip for automatic software updates for at least eight years. The laptop comes with ChromeOS which lets users download apps from the Google Play Store, play games on their PCs through Steam on ChromeOS Alpha, use Linux through Crostini, and more. According to Framework, the Chromebook Edition of the Framework Laptop is the company’s “most power-efficient product” that comes with longer battery life through Google and Intel’s optimizing features. The Chromebook Edition includes an Expansion Card system that lets users choose ports they want on their laptops and their placement. Some ports supported by the Chromebook are USB-C, USB-A, DisplayPort, Ethernet, MicroSD, HDMI, among others. Users can also customize their Chromebooks by choosing the screen bezel color that is attachable through magnets. Furthermore, every part of the laptop encompasses a QR code that opens repair guides, manufacturing data, and other documentation upon scanning. Framework stated: “We designed the Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition to maximize longevity and minimize impact on the planet. We reduce resource extraction and e-waste entering the environment by designing products to be repairable and long-lasting, enabling ways to reuse modules, and leveraging recycled materials in our manufacturing process.” The Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition has a starting price of $999 and is up for preorders in the US and Canada with a refundable advance payment of $100. Framework plans to ship the first orders in early December 2022.

HWiNFO 7.30 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.30 changelog: Enhanced sensor monitoring on some MSI X670 and B650 series. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS Pro WS W790E-SAGE. Added NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630. Enhanced sensor monitoring on some ASUS Z790 series. Enhanced sensor monitoring on GIGABYTE X670 and B650 series. Enhanced support of AMD RDNA3 GPUs. Enhanced support of Intel Arc GPUs. Fixed some bugs in sensor settings GUI. Optimized registry writes for HWiNFO Gadget. Improved fan speed monitoring on some ASUS notebooks. Fixed auto-starting HWiNFO when located in folder with non-English characters. Enhanced sensor monitoring on GIGABYTE Z790 and B760 series. Added reporting of GPU Maximum Clock (Limit) and Firmware Version for Intel Arc GPUs. Switched to a new method for calculating BCLK on AMD Zen CPUs. Added precise clock reporting in eCLK1 mode on ASUS X670 series. Added Raptor Lake-S PCH SMBus support. Enhanced sensor monitoring on MSI Z790 and B760 series. Improved NUMA-awareness. Added VRM monitoring on some MSI Z590/Z690/Z790 series. Improved recognition of VR13 and SVI3 PWM controllers. Enhanced sensor monitoring on some ASRock X670 series mainboards. Added reporting of DDR5 DRAM Die revision. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASRock Z790 and B760 series mainboards. Added monitoring of Corsair HX1000i and HX1500i PSUs (2021 models). Download page: HWiNFO 7.30 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

Good news everyone, the price of RAM is expected to fall by Stephen Bennett Recent analysis published today by Trendforce has identified that manufacturers of DRAM have become more willing to compromise on pricing as a result of excess inventory. This has been caused by increased pressure on these manufacturers to maximise output and with the drop in demand, the inventory just isn't moving through at the same speed. Manufacturers have also been more enthusiastically slashing prices and low-priced chips have been available in the spot market, leaving other suppliers no choice but to follow suit. The estimation posted is that the Q3 decline will move from the original figure of 8-13% to a larger cut of 13-18%, which will continue into Q4 with a revised estimate of a 3-8% reduction (from an original estimate of 0-5%). As the best case for consumers, this would be equivalent to a 26% price cut by the end of the year compared to current figures. Previously with DDR3, pricing went to a high point due to aggressive pricing strategies adopted by the manufacturers in Korea, which resulted in a maximum increase of approximately 60% compared to the lowest point. But as memory manufacturers move over to DDR4 production from DDR3 as demand switches, prices will continue to fall in the future. Source: TrendForce

MSI unveils the first PSU that supports Intel's new ATX 3.0 standard by Stephen Bennett In a press release released today, MSI revealed the latest PSU to its line-up, the MEG Ai1300P PCIe 5.0. It claims to be the world's first to support Intel's ATX 3.0 standard as well as including support for PCIe 5.0 connectors, saying that it is “the ultimate future-proof power supply unit”. ATX 3.0 is Intel's newest specification standard for power supply units, which provides greater reliability, and power efficiency. It can also provide any connected graphics card with up to 600 watts of power through the new PCIe 5.0 connector, which includes 12+4 pins instead of the typical 6 or 8. It was created as an answer to the ever-increasing power demands from the latest generations of graphics cards. The key specifications of the latest PSU, the MEG Ai1300P PCIe 5.0, are that it goes up to 1300 watts, while also supporting older PCIe 4.0 connectors which will require an adaptor to work with the unit. MSI expects the upcoming next generation of NVIDIA graphics cards to require the full 600 watts of power that the PSU can provide. MSI haven't listed a release date or even a release window for the MEG Ai1300P yet, and has not confirmed a price at time of writing.

Want to monitor your PC vitals? Here's how you can set up a hardware monitoring display by Anmol Mehrotra In the last couple of years, we have seen PC hardware take enormous leaps, both in terms of performance and efficiency. While this is great for the average consumer, the increase in performance also has a negative impact in terms of the heat generated as well as the power consumption. So, if you are the sort of person who likes to monitor your system's vitals, then we have a tutorial for you. It'll tell you how to add a second display to your PC to monitor temperature, power consumption, and the frequency at which the hardware is running. Do note that this may require modding your hardware, so proceed at your own risk. With that out of the way, let's see what hardware you will need to complete the setup. Off the bat, you will need a screen to display the various data points. For this, we would recommend going with one of the displays made for Raspberry Pi, as they are relatively cheap and come with the basic features that you will need. Do make sure you buy a display that supports output via PC as well. Some displays only support Raspberry Pi and that will not help you as we will be connecting the display directly to the GPU. Unfortunately, there is no good recommendation for displays, as these vary widely based on the region and the manufacturer. You can check the Raspberry Pi website or Amazon to find the best display suited for your needs. As for size, make sure you get one that fits in your case, but I found five to seven inches to be the ideal size. Anything bigger than that is just a waste of space inside your case. Moving on, you will also need a screwdriver and a couple of stand-offs, however, the latter is optional as some displays come with their own set of mounting hardware including stand-offs. If you don't have stand-offs available, you can also use the extra ones that came with your motherboard. Alternatively, you could also mount the display outside the case if you don’t have enough space inside or if you are like me and have a case with tinted side panel. Before mounting, do check the back of the screen as some displays come with a physical on and off switch which will be hard to reach once you mount the display on your case. Once mounted, you will need to run two cables – HDMI input and USB power cable. Since my monitor has a USB pass-through, I connected the display to the monitor to reduce cable clutter. You can, however, connect the cable to a USB port on your motherboard. Next up, connect the HDMI cable from the display to your GPU. Make sure you are connecting the cable to your GPU and not your motherboard (unless you are using onboard graphics instead of a discrete GPU). Once the setup is done, your display should power on. Before setting up monitoring, there are a couple of settings we need to modify on Windows. Firstly, head to Settings > System > Display and set the ‘Display Resolution’ and ‘Display orientation’ according to your preference. While you are in there, ensure you have selected ‘Extend these displays’ from the dropdown in the top right corner. Next, head to Personalization > Taskbar and uncheck ‘Show my taskbar on all displays’ under Taskbar behavior. This will hide the taskbar from the second screen. Once done, you are ready to move on to the next part and configure hardware monitoring. Make sure you download AIDA64 before moving forward, as we will be using it to set up monitoring on the second display. Once you have downloaded AIDA64, open the app and navigate to File > Preferences > Sensor Panel. Now check ‘Show Sensor Panel’ and define the resolution in the Sensor Panel size. You should match the resolution with the resolution of your display and the orientation to the right size panel. You can also define the background color here, but by default it will be set to blue. Once done, hit apply to save the settings and close the dialog box. Now you can right-click on the panel and select sensor panel manager. This will open another window where you can configure all the settings and add various widgets. By default, AIDA64 provides a couple of widgets, but you can either delete them or customize them as per your requirements. To add a new widget, right-click on an empty space on the sensor panel and select ‘New’. This will open another window and here in the item type, you can select what type of widget you want to add. Some options you can use include graph, gauge, and static text. Once selected, you can select the sensor in the general tab. This includes system sensors like CPU utilization, GPU utilization, clock speeds and more. Further down, you will also get options to show the power usage, cooling fans, power output and temperature. If you have selected the sensor item on the top, then you will have various options to define the unit of measurement and the bar graph format. In order to move an existing widget, you will need to right-click on the widget and select move and place it where you want it to show. AIDA64 has decent customization options when it comes to graphs and gauges, so you can personalize it the way you want. One thing to note here is that while AIDA64 has an option to add FPS, it relies on RTSS to show FPS data. So, if you are planning to use FPS on the panel, then make sure to download RTSS and ensure it opens on startup along with AIDA64. Coming to the performance penalty of setting up monitoring on your system, on average, AIDA64 and RTSS combined use 100 MB of RAM and less than 1% of my CPU. To be honest, I have not noticed any issues while running both in the background or letting both of them launch at startup. In the interest of full disclosure, I am running a Ryzen 5900x which is paired with 32 GB of RAM and RTX 3080Ti, so your mileage may vary. That being said, I did try running both on my old laptop with 1060 GPU and 8 GB of RAM and did not see noticeable difference in performance. You can always uninstall both the programs if you see a difference in performance. AIDA64 provides a lot of options to choose from, so you can customize it as per your desire. I have, however, uploaded my design, so you can import it if you want to use it. To import a design, open sensor panel manager and select ‘Import’ in the top right corner of the screen.

Western Digital begins shipping HDDs with up to 22 TB of storage by Stephen Bennett Today, Western Digital announced that it has begun shipping a range of HDDs that go up to a mind-boggling 22 TB capacity. These new hard drives come in three flavours to suit various applications. These were announced at the What's Next Western Digital Event in May this year. The WD Red Pro is designed for NAS usage, with availability for up to 24-bay NAS systems and includes their NASware 3.0 Technology, a multi-axis shock sensor and error recovery controls to help reduce drive fallout in RAID applications. The WD Purple Pro is for surveillance applications, designed to handle up to 64 single stream HD cameras as well as up to 32 concurrent AI streams, and are rated for up to 550 TB/year and a disk speed of 7200 RPM. Finally, the WD Gold is specifically labelled as enterprise class, for use by IT and data centre channel customers. It includes power loss protection and is listed as compatible with Windows, Windows Server and Linux, with a Cache of 512 MB and speed of 7200 RPM. Furthermore, the listed OptiNAND technology has helped enabled the increased capacity of these drives. All three of these drives are priced at $599.99 and are listed as available within 3-4 weeks.

EVGA launches the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Kingpin, which comes with a 'free' 1600W PSU by Stephen Bennett EVGA has launched its version of the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti card, which comes with their Kingpin branding and an included 1600W PSU. This comes three months after the launch of Nvidia's 3090 Ti and includes a few notable features. This card sits at the top of EVGA's range, and is directly aimed at people who will be overclocking to the maximum performance possible, which can be monitored through the built in, flip up 176x48 OLED display. This can show real-time voltages, temperatures, clocks and more. This can be further customised with up to 9 GIF animations, with 3 of those which can be user created. Another key feature, which is one of the first of its kind, is the included 2x 16-PIN Power Connector. This is digitally controlled via software and also including the 14 layer PCB which has been designed with overclocking in mind. Finally, there is a Asetek 360 closed loop water cooling radiator built in, using three of the latest ARGB fans allowing for full customisation as well as top cooling performance. The card itself will be bundled with the EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 P2 Power Supply which it will need as the requirements call for a minimum of 1000W, and is available directly from EVGA for $2,499 Source: EVGA

Samsung begins initial production of 3 nm chips with improved performance and power use by Paul Hill Samsung has announced that it has begun producing 3-nanometre chips that deliver improved performance while using less power. The company said its chips will initially target low-power computing with plans to expand into mobile processors. Samsung is using Gate-All-Around transistor architecture to deliver these chips. The first generation 3 nm chips will deliver reduced power consumption by up to 45%, performance is improved by 23%, and the area used is reduced by 16% compared to 5 nm chips. Samsung also has an eye on the future and said that second-gen 3 nm chips will reduce power consumption by 50%, improve performance by 30%, and reduce area use by 35%. Commenting on the news, Dr Siyoung Choi, President and Head of Foundry Business at Samsung Electronics, said: “Samsung has grown rapidly as we continue to demonstrate leadership in applying next-generation technologies to manufacturing, such as foundry industry’s first High-K Metal Gate, FinFET, as well as EUV. We seek to continue this leadership with the world’s first 3nm process with the MBCFET. We will continue active innovation in competitive technology development and build processes that help expedite achieving maturity of technology.” Samsung did not reveal when consumers should expect 3 nm chips in its flagship smartphones but the company hosts Unpacked events several times a year so as soon as the technology is ready, it won’t take long to get it shipping in devices.

HWiNFO 7.26 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.26 changelog: Improved support of Intel Arc GPUs. Added several new GPU models. Fixed a potential race condition between sensors and summary screen. Enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS CROSSHAIR X670E and STRIX X670E series. Fixed a possible crash when scanning some ASMedia SATA controllers/drivers. Reduced minimum sensor polling period to 20 ms. Added monitoring of Thermal Limit percentage for AMD Zen. Fixed missing CPU Utility and GPU D3D Usage on some non-English Windows systems. Enhanced sensor monitoring on MSI H610M series. Added NVIDIA RTX A500, A1000, A2000 8GB, A3000 12GB, A4500, A5500 Laptop. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, GeForce MX570 A. Improved support of AMD Genoa, Bergamo, MI300 (A/C). Added preliminary support of AMD Turin, Strix Point, Granite Ridge. Improved support of Intel Sapphire Rapids. Fixed monitoring of VRM temperature on some ASUS Z690 mainboards without EC. Improved reporting of memory clock on AMD Cezanne and later APUs. Download page: HWiNFO 7.26 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWiNFO 7.24 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.24 changelog: Improved support of next-generation AMD CPUs and APUs. Improved monitoring of NZXT Kraken coolers when started before CAM. Improved support of dual-socket AMD EPYC systems. Added Glenfly Tech GF ARISE GPU. Improved support of Alder Lake-PS (IoT). Improved support of Intel Arc GPUs. Added support of Nuvoton NCT7491. Added monitoring of PL1 and PL2 limits on Intel GPUs. Added more Intel Arc graphics models. Added AMD Radeon RX 6400. Added AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, 6750 XT, 6950 XT. Download page: HWiNFO 7.24 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

HWiNFO 7.22 Build 4730 by Razvan Serea HWiNFO (Hardware Information) is a professional hardware information and diagnostic tool supporting latest components, industry technologies and standards. It's targeted to recognize and extract the most possible amount of information about computer's hardware which makes it suitable for users searching for driver updates, computer manufactures, system integrators and technical exteperts too. Retrieved information is presented in a logical and easily understandable form and can be exported into various types of reports. System health monitoring and basic benchmarking available too. HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 v7.22 changelog: Improved support of AMD Ryzen 6000 series. Added monitoring of next-generation AMD chipset temperature. Added option to disable validation of window positions. Enhanced sensor monitoring on Intel NUC12 series. Added NVIDIA GH100, GH202, AD102, AD103, AD104, AD106, AD107, GB100, GB102. Added reporting of ASIC Quality for AMD Vega and Navi discrete GPUs. Added fan speed monitoring on ASUS FA506 series. Improved support of next-generation AMD CPUs/APUs and GPUs. Added monitoring of video decoder and encoder usage on AMD Navi GPUs. Fixed monitoring of some EVGA EC sensors. Fixed Intel Arc graphics badge. Added option to disable snapping of sensor windows. Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. Fixed MHTML report. Updated HTML and MHTML reports to use UTF-8 encoding. Added reporting of ASIC Manufacturer for NVIDIA GPUs. Updated several languages. Download page: HWiNFO 7.22 ~8.0 MB (Free for Non-Commercial use) View: HWiNFO Website | HWiNFO Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware

GM, frens! Please share the experience you've had with your cold crypto wallet. The poll is anonymous, multiple-choice. I've tried them all [literally], plus some other less known brands not mentioned in the poll. And I must say I absolutely love my SafePal S1 [in fact, I have five of them and I'll probably order more in the future]. Why SafePal S1? It's basically a stand-alone mini-computer designed to do just one thing - sign your TXs. It's the only one of the bunch that's truly always offline. Fully air-gapped. No Bluetooth. No USB connection required [aside from firmware updates]. It offers a superior security in my opinion due to a number of unique features. It can self-destruct if it senses that it's being hacked. I could go on, but I'm really curious about your feedback on the subject