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System76 unveils the Galago Pro ultraportable laptop starting at $999 by Paul Hill System76, an OEM that’s focused on open-source computing, has announced the availability of the refreshed Galago Pro ultraportable laptop. The Galago Pro includes the latest 13th Gen Intel H-class CPUs, integrated Intel graphics, and a 144Hz screen. The company is pitching the Galago Pro to developers, students, and professionals who need a powerful computer but are always on the move. System76 believes this laptop will be a “top contender” in the ultraportable laptop market and the price reflects that, starting at $999. “The Galago Pro moving to H class CPU is a pretty big move,” said Benjamin Shpurker, Product Manager. “H class without NVIDIA has been desired for quite a while! So we're thrilled to be able to offer this.” The full specifications of the Galago Pro are as follows: Operating System Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Firmware System76 Open Firmware (coreboot, EDK2, System76 Firmware Apps) System76 Open Source Embedded Controller Firmware Processor 13th Gen Intel® Core i5-13500H: Up to 4.7 GHz - 18MB Cache - 4 P-Cores - 8 E-Cores 13th Gen Intel® Core i7-13700H: Up to 5.0 GHz - 24MB Cache - 6 P-Cores - 8 E-Cores Display 14.1″ 1920×1080 FHD, Matte Finish, 144Hz Graphics Intel® Iris Xe Graphics Memory Up to 64GB dual-channel DDR4 @ 3200MHz Storage 1 × M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe. Up to 4TB total. Expansion 1 × Thunderbolt™ 4, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, SD Card Reader Input Multitouch Clickpad, Backlit Chiclet US QWERTY Keyboard Networking Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 Video Ports HDMI, Thunderbolt 4 Audio Stereo Speakers, 1× Headphone/Microphone Combo Camera 720p HD Webcam Security Kensington® Lock Battery Li-Ion - 53 Wh Charger 90 Watts, AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC-out 19V, 4.74A 90W+ USB Type-C Charging Compatible Dimensions 12.79″ × 8.86″ × 0.72″ (32.49 × 22.50 × 1.82cm) Weight 3.2 lbs (1.45kg) Base weight. Varies on configuration. Model galp7 Some other interesting aspects of the Galago Pro are its glare-resistant display and the inclusion of customizable keyboard LEDs via the System76 Keyboard Configurator app. The company also said it will help you extend the life of your new Galago Pro by providing repair guides, replacement parts, lifetime support, and firmware updates. To design and buy a Galago Pro from System76, just head over to the company’s website and press Design + Buy.

The Intel 8088 processor launched 44 years ago today, and helped to start the PC revolution by John Callaham If you are working on a PC today, there's a good chance that it's using a chip that can trace its roots down to the Intel 8088 processor. That chip launched 44 years ago today, on June 1, 1979. However, its true impact on the PC industry would have to wait for a while longer. First, let's look at the hardware specs of the Intel 8088, via the company's own website. Clock speed - 8 MHz, 4.77 MHz Manufacturing process - 3-micron Number of transistors - 29,000 Addressable Memory - 64 kb Bus Speed - 8 MHz, 4.77 MHz The Intel 8088 is actually a slightly different version of the Intel 8086, which launched a year before in June 1978. Both chips had 16-bit registers. The main difference between the two CPUs is that while the 8086 had a 16-bit data bus, the 8088 only had an 8-bit data bus. This small difference would be the key to the wider use of the 8088 later. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the personal computer industry was just starting. Companies like Apple, Commodore, Tandy, and even video game console maker Atari were releasing their own PC models. IBM, known previously for its huge mainframe computers meant for large corporations, decided to get in on this new market and launch a PC of its own. Inside of designing its first PC completely on its own, as it had with its previous computers, IBM contacted third parties to help make its first PC product. The reasoning was that IBM could quickly put together a PC and put it on the market faster than if it did everything in-house. IBM's site stated: They went to Microsoft for the operating system (QDOS, renamed PC-DOS and later sold by Microsoft as MS-DOS) and to Intel for its 8088 processor. They chose an existing monitor from IBM Japan and a dot-matrix printer by Epson. Only the keyboard and the system unit itself were new designs from IBM. So why did IBM choose the Intel 8088 processor to be in its first PC? There's actually some debate on this subject. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates stated in a 1997 interview with PC Magazine that he and fellow co-founder Paul Allen actually pushed IBM to use a 16-bit processor. However, David Bradley, who helped to put together the first IBM PC for the company, tells a different story in an article he wrote for Byte in 1990. He offered four main reasons for picking a processor like the Intel 8088: 1. The 64K-byte address limit had to be overcome. This requirement meant that we had to use a 16-bit microprocessor. 2. The processor and its peripherals had to be available immediately. There was no time for new LSI chip development, and manufacturing lead times meant that quantities had to be available right away. 3. We couldn't afford a long learning period; we had to use technology we were familiar with. And we needed a rich set of support chips—we wanted a system with a DMA controller, an interrupt controller, timers, and parallel ports. 4. There had to be both an operating system and applications software available for the processor. So why did IBM ultimately pick the 8088 over the 8086? Bradley said that the final choice was due to a familiar reason: it helped make the PC cheaper to produce: We chose the 8088 because of its 8-bit data bus. The smaller bus saved money in the areas of RAM, ROM, and logic for the simple system. The first IBM PC launched on August 12, 1981 with a price of $1,565. It quickly became a sales success and led not only to more IBM PC models, but also PCs made by other companies that were clones of the IBM product. They all used versions of Intel's x86 chip line. Today, the 13th Gen Intel Core processors that the company is currently selling can trace their roots back to that original 8088 model. The company is currently getting ready to launch its next chip architecture, Meteor Lake, and its also in early, early development of a 64-bit only CPU. It tried to get away from that x86 architecture with its server-themed 64-bit chip Itanium, in the 2000s but it failed to make a significant impact. However, even future Intel chips will owe a debt to the Intel 8088 that launched 44 years ago.

Intel releases another unexciting Arc driver, optimized for Diablo IV, Street Fighter 6 by Sayan Sen Intel has released its newest Windows graphics driver for Arc with beta version 31.0.101.4382. The driver comes optimized for Diablo IV and Street Fighter 6, and also claims to boost performance in Total War: Warhammer III in the Mirror of Madness benchmark by less than five percent. The release notes for the new 31.0.101.4382 driver are given below: GAMING HIGHLIGHTS: Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for: Diablo IV* Street Fighter 6* Game performance improvements versus Intel® 31.0.101.4369 software driver for: Total War: Warhammer III* (DX11) – Mirror of Madness Benchmark Up to 4% uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings FIXED ISSUES: Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products: Certain applications using Vulkan* API may experience an application crash. The Last of Us Part 1* (DX12) may experience an application crash during gameplay. Unreal Engine* 5.2 Editor may experience an application crash. Street Fighter 6* (DX12) – Battle Hub Benchmark may exhibit lower than expected performance KNOWN ISSUES: Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products: System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery. GPU hardware acceleration may not be available for media playback and encode with some versions of Adobe Premiere Pro. Topaz Video AI* may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement. Intel® Iris™ Xe MAX Graphics Products: Driver installation may not complete successfully on certain notebook systems with both Intel® Iris™ X e + Iris™ X e MAX devices. A system reboot and re-installation of the graphics driver may be required for successful installation. Intel® Core™ Processor Products: Total War: Warhammer III* (DX11) may experience an application crash when loading battle scenarios. Call of Duty Warzone 2.0* (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources such as fire. Conqueror's Blade* (DX12) may experience an application crash during game launch. A Plague Tale: Requiem* (DX12) may experience application instability during gameplay. INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL KNOWN ISSUES: Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files. With Intel® Arc Control installed, systems may experience slightly higher than expected power consumption during system sleep or hibernate. May observe “could not stop Highlights” notification when stopping Auto-Game Highlights. The Camera on-screen preview may incorrectly persist when switching between Desktop and Overlay modes. The “Connector” type in the Display page may incorrectly show DP* when using an HDMI* display connection. Intel® Arc™ Control Performance Tuning (BETA): Intel® Arc™ Control Performance Tuning is currently in Beta. As such, performance and features may behave unexpectedly. Intel® will continue to refine the Performance Tuning software in future releases. The driver can be downloaded from Intel's official website by visiting this link. Arc release notes seem to be getting boring slowly. Initially, there were typically double-digit percentage gains from game optimizations and even synthetic benchmarks would be getting improvements. However, since the previous release, the new driver performance gains noted haven't been anything much to write home about. This could mean there isn't untapped potential left in Arc anymore.

Intel NUC 13 Pro review: Packing 13th-gen Raptor Lake power inside a tiny body by Steven Parker GeekNUC, which is an Intel Platinum Partner, reached out to us to have a look at the Intel NUC 13 Pro, which is Intel's latest offering of Mini PC, and as is hinted with the name, includes a 13th gen Raptor Lake-P processor with Wi-Fi 6E, and Thunderbolt 4. The full name of this thing is actually Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon Tall, but for our sanity, we'll be referring to it as the NUC 13 Pro. Below are the full specifications of this thing. I have bolded my configuration where relevant. Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon Tall Dimensions 117 x 112 x 54 mm Weight 907g CPU 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1360P 18 MB Cache, up to 5.00 GHz 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1340P (12 MB Cache, up to 4.60 GHz) 12 Cores, 16 threads, 35W TDP Graphics Intel Iris Xe 96EU, 1.50 GHz Memory Dual-channel DDR4-3200 SODIMM 16GB/32GB; expandable up to 64GB Storage 512 GB / 1 TB Operating System Windows 11 Pro Bluetooth Bluetooth® v5.2 Ethernet Intel i225-v 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps RJ45 Ethernet Wireless LAN Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX 211 Kensington Lock Yes Adapter 19V power adapter, 90W, with geo-specific AC cord (IEC C5) I/O Ports 2 x Thunderbolt 4 2 x front USB 3.2 Gen 2 type A ports 1 x rear USB 3.2 Gen 2 type A port 1 x rear USB 2.0 type A port 2 x internal USB 2.0 headers 2 x HDMI 2.1 (4K @ 60Hz) 1 x DC jack 1 x Power button Price $898.99 The Intel NUC 13 is offered in a few different configurations on the GeekNUC store, with our i7-1360P Raptor Lake chip and either a 512GB SSD and 16GB of RAM or 1TB SSD and 32 GB of RAM option, or with the i5-1340P chip with only 512GB SSD and 16GB of RAM to choose from. You can also get it without memory, storage, or an operating system license for $99 less, which affords the option of putting in better components such as different RAM sticks, a better NVMe drive, and your own choice of operating system. Even if you decide to go with your own RAM chips, unfortunately you're stuck with DDR4 with this system, DDR5 support starts with the NUC 13 Pro Extreme series, which also costs double. If you're not familiar with Intel NUC Mini PCs, they come in a "Tall" or "Desk" variant, the main difference is that the "Desk" variant does not allow for an additional 2.5-inch SSD to be added because it misses the 2.5-inch SSD compartment. The packaging definitely has that familiar Intel design look about it due to the color. Once you pull the top off you are greeted with the Mini PC sitting in a laminated cardboard compartment covered with thin plastic that can be peeled off. Upon removing the Mini PC, safety documentation, and an Intel Core i7 sticker and then removing the cardboard compartment "shelf", there are 3 cardboard compartments containing the VESA mounting plate, power supply and other items that are listed below. What’s In The Box 3 x User Manual 1 x VESA Mounting Plate 1 x Intel Nuc 13 i7 Mini PC 1 x Power Supply 1 x AC Cable 6 x Screws Omissions Intel did not feel it necessary to include a v2.1 HDMI cable, so this is something you'll have to purchase yourself, ensuring of course that it supports the modern standard and you don't get one that is only 2.0b compatible. Design The Intel NUC 13 design is a familiar one for Mini PCs and actually 255g heavier than the GEEKOM Mini IT12 we looked at recently, it definitely has a good heft to it and I was initially surprised at the overall packaged weight. Coming in at just under a kilo, it's not heavy, but it certainly isn't light either. The case is entirely black and plastic, and the top cover has a light textured feel to it, so it isn't a glossy fingerprint magnet. It lacks the premium finish I saw on the GEEKOM Mini IT11 and IT12. All four corners are rounded, and it has a balanced feel to it, so it is comfortable to hold and move around. Intel used up to 95% recycled materials with the packaging and the NUC 13 Pro case itself is made up of recycled plastics, so even though it has a plastic "look" to it, we really should be praising the efforts of Intel to be environmentally conscience with the manufacturing of it. The front of the NUC 13 Pro includes two USB 3.2 Gen 2 type A ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack port. Unfortunately, there's no Type C port on the front, which would have been nice, but you can find the two Thunderbolt 4, which use the Type C connector port, around the back. As far as looks go, and as previously mentioned, it's completely black, and it's not a fingerprint magnet thanks to the slightly textured plastic surface on the lid which you can see in the above photo, it also has the "intel nuc" logo stamped in the bottom left corner of the lid. Essentially, it's a plastic shell covering a metal frame. It doesn't feel cheap, and isn't flimsy either, and even when the base is removed it remains sturdy. Accessing the Intel NUC 13 Pro is as easy as unscrewing the bottom plate with the four Philips head screws located in the center of each rubber foot, a small hobby screwdriver is enough for the job, but you may want to use a flat-head screwdriver to prise the plate free, taking care not to damage the ribbon which connects to an SSD port that allows for an optional full sized 2.5-inch SSD to be screwed to the backplate. Helpfully, the backplate screws do not come loose from the rubber feet, so you won't lose them either. As you can see from the above images which can be enlarged when clicked on, there is ample room to manage the SODIMMs and Kingston 512 GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, so you can swap it out for something else if you want. The Intel NUC 13 Pro's motherboard includes an option to add a second NVMe SSD, as long as it is only 42mm long. The backplate only fits back in one way, this is to ensure that the NVMe is always connected to the heat spreader. There's also an option to secure a 2.5-inch SSD with four screws if the four rubbers surrounding the device information sticker are removed, this would be required since there is no "sled" to hold such an SSD in place. Usage On first boot, you are prompted to complete the setup of Windows 11 Pro, meaning you do not have to fork out for a license, which is nice. After the setup is completed, I am happy to report that the NUC 13 Pro is not loaded with any third-party bloatware. It ships with Windows 11 22H2, so updates were relatively minimal. The Intel NUC 13 Pro also supports DisplayPort 1.4a through the Thunderbolt 4 port so I can connect my Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 using a USB 4 to DisplayPort cable and utilize the maximum native resolution for my screen, which is 5120x1440 @ 240Hz. It's physically possible to directly attach four screens to the Intel NUC 13 Pro using the two HDMI and the two Thunderbolt 4 ports if you wanted. Regarding connectivity, there is a USB 2.0, and a 3.2 gen 2 port along with a barrel port for power on the back. Around the front, there are two more USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports and a port for a 3.5mm headphone jack. For audio output, I linked my Edifier 360DB over Bluetooth, and I did not experience any significant audio delays. It took a few reboots for the Intel NUC 13 Pro to recognize and connect my speakers automatically, the first few times I had to disable and re-enable Bluetooth for the speakers to get connected. As you can see from the two images above, you can affix a Kensington lock on one side, and both sides contain a mesh grill for air cooling. You may have noticed there is no card reader present, although USB card readers are relatively inexpensive, it would have been nice to have™. Benchmarks Before I started running benchmarks, I ensured that Windows 11 and drivers were up to date. At the time of testing, the NUC 13 Pro was running Windows 11 Professional 22H2 build 22621.1778 and I also upgraded to the latest Intel driver which is v31.0.101.4369 (May 2023). During one of the many restarts due to updates, I was also prompted to install a BIOS update that was released on May 23 that had the following changelog: This download record contains options for updating the Intel® Aptio* V UEFI Firmware BIOS for Intel® NUC 13 Pro - NUC13AN With that out of the way, and because people like that sort of thing, I ran some benchmarks and compared it to my main PC which I built in 2019 and benchmarked in December 2022. My Main PC consists of the following: Intel Core i9-9900K (stock) Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO WIFI (BIOS revision F12) 64GB DDR4-3200 G.Skill Ripjaws (16-18-18-38) dual channel Samsung 980 1TB NVMe KFA2 RTX 2070 SUPER (Nvidia driver 527.37) Windows 10 22H2 build 19045.2311 For the benchmarks, I used 3DMark, PCMark 10, Geekbench, and Cinebench. 3DMark Time Spy tests gaming capability with DX12 graphics performance. PCMark tests are a mix of CPU and real-world productivity tests, such as using an office suite, web browsing, light photo/video editing, and making conference calls. Cinebench stresses the entire CPU as it is a multi-threaded rendering test. Finally, Geekbench is a synthetic benchmark that is great for a quick look at the potential performance across a wide range of workloads. GEEKOM Mini IT11 Core i7-1195G7 GEEKOM Mini IT12 Core i7-1260P Intel NUC 13 Core i7-1360P Selfbuild Core i9-9990K 3DMark (Time Spy) 1,635 1,740 1,845 9,995 PCMark 10 Extended test 5,159 4,810 5,629 5,218 6,152 5,701 6,619 8,853 Geekbench Single Multicore Compute (OpenCL) 1,583 4,543 15,657 1,739 8,628 17,277 1,823 10,154 18,337 1,300 8,186 99,450 Cinebench Single Multicore 1,532 4,947 1,671 8,162 1,903 11,883 1250 11,711 As you can see, the i7-1360P processor is starting to catch up with the four-year older i9-9900K in terms of compute score, the only thing that lets it down is the weak graphics prowess of the Iris Xe GPU. I also tested the SSD's capability using AS SSD and CrystalDiskMark. AS SSD CrystalDiskMark Despite running all of the above benchmark tests, the NUC 13 Pro did not get hot to the touch, but it did get a little warm, and there were no annoying noises coming from the single fan that cools the unit. For kicks and to blow off a bit of steam, I decided to give Quake Champions a go to see if it would be playable, and after toning down the screen resolution to 3840 x 1080 with everything set to "Low" (which was auto-detected anyway) I can say that it was playable, just about. And here we are talking about a game that first went into closed beta in 2017 using a hybrid game engine made up of id tech and Saber tech. Conclusion One thing that is really clear about the Intel NUC 13 Pro is that it isn't a gaming PC, you will not be able to enjoy graphically intensive games on it, but it absolutely is suited as an office workstation, or perhaps a good solution for a student or office worker without a permanent desk affording the ability to pack this away after every use. This thing isn't taking up much room, you can even screw it to the back of a screen if it has VESA support with the included mount plate. When it comes to Mini PCs, the market is saturated with options like the BEELINK SEI12 with its mobile-class 12th gen Intel i5-1235U being one such example, but that option does not include Thunderbolt 4, dual channel memory, or even a Kensington lock and more. It's the lowest denominator of a Mini PC and when you're spending hundreds of dollars to replace the job of a full-sized PC, you're going to want it to replicate it as much as possible aside from the obvious lack of GPU prowess. The NUC 13 Pro also has the cheaper i5 entry point, and a beefier i7 model in two flavors with double the memory and storage costing $100 more, and there's even a barebones option where you can put in your own choice of memory, NVMe SSD and OS. As I said earlier, the decision ultimately comes down to what you're willing to pay for the options you need. This Mini PC will let you connect up to four displays, whereas cheaper solutions will be limited to two screens. Staring at $649 for the barebones i5-1340P variant, the NUC 13 Pro is not cheap by any means, but it contains the newest of the newest 13th gen Intel processor chipset with PCIe 4.0 connectivity. Aside from not being able to seriously game on it, you are still getting a powerful machine inside a tiny body. But wait, there's more For a while at least, there's a coupon getting you $100 off at GeekNUC when you enter the coupon code NUC13PRO100 which you could apply to the beefier variant, but happily, it applies to all possible variants on their store. If you prefer to shop through the benefits of Amazon for free delivery and returns, you will be able to save a bit of money on our variant; our contact at GeekNUC let me know they are running a promotion through their official Amazon page starting on May 30th that gets you an extra 10% off the price when you enter the QS7QK2KQ coupon upon checkout, bringing it down to $809.10 or $899.10 for the 32 GB/1 TB option or $719.10 for the barebones variant. This promotion ends on July 30th. Our stories may contain affiliate links for products/apps where Neowin is paid an affiliate fee if you complete a purchase via those links.

Intel showed off a Meteor Lake prototype at Computex and it could launch later this summer by John Callaham We have been waiting for a long time for Intel to officially launch its next PC CPU architecture, with the code name Meteor Lake. Today at Computex, Intel showed off a prototype Meteor Lake chip to members of the media. Wccftech reports that Intel showed off the integrated VPU on Meteor Lake, which is supposed to help with AI apps and their features. One of the demos showed that the included VPU made using Advanced Blue processing better than a chip without the VPU, and it also used a fifth of the power consumption. Another Meteor Lake VPU demo used the Stable Diffusion AI text-to-image program. Again using it with the VPU resulted in faster processing of the artwork compared to using it without the VPU. The chip that was used in the Computex demo has 16 cores and 22 threads. However, it has not been confirmed that this will be the case when the first Meteor Lake chips start shipping. That is supposed to happen sometime later this summer, according to Intel, with more info to be released sometime in August or September. That would appear to be on track with Intel's previous release time frames for Meteor Lake, which were targeting the second half of 2023. Intel also talked about the embedded GPU inside the Meteor Lake chip, It will be a version of Intel's Arc graphics chip and is supposed to support features like DX12 Ultimate, ray tracing, and XeSS. However, we don't have any information yet on the performance of this integrated GPU so even if it does support ray tracing, it may not be able to compete with discrete GPUs in that area. Finally, Intel stated that we should learn more about the company's plans to rebrand its future CPUs sometime in early June. Several weeks ago, Intel confirmed it would be making "brand changes" for its future chips, which means we will likely be saying "Goodbye" to the current Core brand.

Save tons of money on lots of products during the last day of Amazon Gaming Week by John Callaham Amazon Gaming Week is coming to a close. That means you have just a few more hours to get your hands on some great PC hardware at their lowest, or close to the lowest, prices before the event ends. We have been highlighting a ton of deals during the past week, including big price cuts on AMD and Intel CPUs, along with Razer accessories and Blade laptops, Samsung's 970 and 870 SSDs, its 980 and 990 SSDs, WD_Black SSDs and a bunch of PC monitors. However, on this final day of Amazon Gaming Week, we want to show you some discounts on some other PC gaming hardware that will see those price cuts go away after today is over: LG Ultragear 48-inch OLED gaming monitorCorsair K100 AIR Wireless RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard for $214.99 ($65 off MSRP) Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2TB internal SSD for $129.99 ($25 off MSRP) Corsair XENEON FLEX 45WQHD240 45-Inch OLED WQHD PC gaming monitor for $1,599.99 ($400 off MSRP) Elgato Facecam 1080p webcam for $129.99 ($20 off MSRP) Logitech Brio webcam for $59.99 ($10 off MSRP) Logitech G Farm Sim Vehicle controller for $129.99 ($20 off MSRP) ASUS ROG Rapture Wi-Fi 6E gaming PC router for $529.99 ($170 off MSRP) Transcend 1TB MTE250S Internal SSD for $81.99 ($10 off MSRP) Transcend 2TB MTE250S Internal SSD for $130.00 ($16 off MSRP) Transcend 4TB MTE250S Internal SSD for $391.79 ($78 off MSRP) Crucial RAM 32GB Kit (2x16GB) DDR5 RAM for $120.45 ($12 off MSRP) LG 48-inch Ultragear UHD OLED Gaming Monitor for $852.14 with Amazon Prime ($647 off MSRP) That's obviously just a small sample of the deals you can check out on the Amazon Gaming Week page before it goes away after today. Make sure you also browse through Amazon US, Newegg US, or Amazon UK to find some other great tech deals. Also, check the Deals section of our articles to see if there's anything we've posted in the past few days that could be of interest As an Amazon Associate when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Nvidia gains close to $200B in value, races towards $1 Trillion market cap, thanks to AI by Mehrotra A Nvidia has a seen a massive increase in its stock price following the Wednesday’s first quarterly report for the 2023-24 financial year. The jump in the price comes after the company announced its results and claimed that it can feed the demand for AI chips created by the sudden rise in generative AI technologies. At the time of writing, Nvidia's shares sit at $383, up from $308 last night, giving investors a hefty 22 percent return in a day. The speedy rise in the price of Nvidia's share also gives the chip maker a chance to become the fifth publicly traded US company to join the elite $1 Trillion club. With the boom in the share price, Nvidia has added $185 Billion to its market capital, which is more than Intel's total market capitalization. Unfortunately, while Nvidia has been enjoying the moment, Intel has lost more than 5 percent of the share price during the first half of trading. Nvidia is not the only company that is benefiting from the generative AI wave. Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC also saw gains following Nvidia's positive result. Not only that, Nvidia's good news has done wonders for AMD who saw a massive 13 percent jump in the share price following Nvidia's quarterly financial report last night. However, the jump in Nvidia's price had a negative impact on the short sellers. According to a Bloomberg report (Paywall), the spike in Nvidia's stock price has made a $2.3 Billion hole for those betting against the chip marker. This also bought Nvidia's notional short interest value (the amount of money short sellers have bet on Nvidia's decline) to $9 Billion, making it the "fourth most-shorted stock in the US, behind only Apple Inc., Tesla Inc. and Microsoft Corp. " Currently, analyst believe that this is now Nvidia's game to loose. Geoff Blaber, chief executive of CCS Insight, noted the following: We are obviously seeing a huge spike in AI demand and Nvidia is at the very front line of that. They are without doubt in pole position because they provide a very comprehensive toolchain that no other company is able to currently. Nvidia has seen fluctuations in the past as the company went through various technological trends like the boom in crypto mining and autonomous driving. During the investors call, Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia noted that the company is reaping the benefits of being the first one to invest in the various AI technologies. When generative AI came along, it triggered a killer app for this computing platform that’s been in preparation for some time. With generative AI becoming the primary workload of most of the world’s data centres generating information, it is very clear now that . . . the budget of a data centre will shift very dramatically towards accelerated computing, and you’re seeing that now. It will be interesting to see if Nvidia can sustain this sudden rise in the share price. As things stand, the company may become the first chip maker to join Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon in the Trillion dollar club. Nvidia's market capitalization stands at $985 Billion at the time of writing this article.

Deal: Save lots of money on Intel processors during Amazon's Gaming Week by John Callaham Amazon's special Gaming Week of deep discounts on gaming-related products continues today. This time we wanted to let you know about some new price cuts on several Intel processors, some of which are at their lowest prices ever on Amazon. That includes the 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900KS special edition CPU. It has 16 cores, 24 threads and can be overclocked up to 5.5 GHz. It's currently discounted on Amazon down to just $399.99. That's $113 off its normal $512.99 MSRP. You can also get the 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700KF for a solid discount. It has 12 cores (8 Performance-cores, 4 Efficient-cores) and 20 threads, along with a top speed of 5.0Ghz. It's discounted on Amazon down to only $235.96, which is $42 less than its normal $277.96 price. There are other Intel processors on Amazon with big discounts right now. Here are just a few of them: 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900KS for $399.99 ($113 off MSRP) 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900K for $352.99 ($55.16 off MSRP) 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700KF for $235.96 ($42 off MSRP) 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K for $268.93 ($32.63 off MSRP) 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12600K for $199.99 ($142.51 off MSRP) 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900K for $569.99 ($60 off MSRP) Make sure you also browse through Amazon US, Newegg US, or Amazon UK to find some other great tech deals. Also, please check the Deals section of our articles to see if there's anything we've posted in the past few days that could be of interest. Keep in mind that we will be bringing you even more discounts and deals on PC hardware and accessories during Amazon's Gaming Week over the next few days, so stay tuned. As an Amazon Associate when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Microsoft and Intel collaborate on AI for Windows 11 PCs by Omer Dursun Intel and Microsoft have joined forces to drive the development of artificial intelligence (AI) on Windows 11 PCs. The companies aim to bring new AI-enabled features and capabilities to PC users, revolutionizing how we interact with technology. At Microsoft's Build 2023 conference, Intel showcased the upcoming Meteor Lake PC processors, highlighting their architecture and the powerful AI capabilities they offer. This collaboration sets a significant milestone in the evolution of personal computing and opens up new possibilities for innovation across industries. Intel's latest PC platform introduces a revolutionary "chiplet" SoC design. This design allows for optimizing segment-relevant performance while reducing power consumption. Intel said Meteor Lake's AI accelerators on the CPU and GPU provide improved performance for running AI models efficiently, enabling a wide range of AI applications on PCs. Meteor Lake developers can look forward to: Leveraging developer tools, including ONNX Runtime support enabled through OpenVino-EP and DirectML-EP. More effective machine learning on WinML/DirectML for acceleration of neural VPU and GPU. Microsoft Studio Effects including background blur, eye automatic-framing, voice focus. One of the key features of Meteor Lake is its built-in neural VPU (Vision Processing Unit), a dedicated AI engine integrated directly into the SoC. This neural VPU enables the efficient execution of AI models and empowers the PC with enhanced multimedia capabilities and more effective machine learning. One notable example is the integration of AI capabilities into Adobe Premiere Pro. With Meteor Lake's AI capabilities, features like auto reframe and scene edit detection become accessible, allowing users to automate tasks and enhance their multimedia editing experience. Integrating AI capabilities into PC platforms enhances the user experience and opens up new opportunities for the broader PC industry partner ecosystem. As Intel and Microsoft work together to bring these new AI-enabled features to millions of PC users, they aim to assist their partners in delivering cutting-edge experiences that leverage the power of AI.

Intel wants feeback for a proposed 64-bit only CPU architecture called x86S by John Callaham Right now, 64-bit apps and operating systems are becoming the norm, rather than the exception, for Windows users. Microsoft stopped offering 32-bit versions of Windows to its PC OEM partners in 2020. However, current CPUs, including ones made by Intel, still support running apps and OSs with 32-bit platforms. Now, Intel is starting to at least think about developing a CPU architecture that just runs 64-bit apps and operating systems. The company quietly posted an update to its webpage with info, and a whitepaper on this 64-bit CPU, which it currently calls x86S. Current Intel CPU Intel points out that right now, current CPUs have to go through older legacy modes. However, they offer "little utility in modern operating systems besides bootstrapping the CPU into the 64-bit mode." 64-bit Intel CPU Intel claims that a 64-bit CPU would help to simplify both the software and hardware designs of such a chip by getting rid of older software development ideas. Here are some of the things a 64-bit chip would eliminate from current systems: Using the simplified segmentation model of 64-bit for segmentation support for 32-bit applications, matching what modern operating systems already use. Removing ring 1 and 2 (which are unused by modern software) and obsolete segmentation features like gates. Removing 16-bit addressing support. Eliminating support for ring 3 I/O port accesses. Eliminating string port I/O, which supported an obsolete CPU-driven I/O model. Limiting local interrupt controller (APIC) use to X2APIC and remove legacy 8259 support. Removing some unused operating system mode bits. Intel also believes virtualization hardware is advanced enough now that if some users still want to access older 16-bit and 32-bit operating systems and apps, they can do so with virtualization products. It should be noted that Intel currently uses x86-64 in its CPUs. This is a 64-bit version of its x86 instruction set that's also known as AMD64, in a cross-licensing deal with rival CPU maker AMD. If Intel moves forward with the new x86S architecture, it might have some impact on the cross-licensing deal, which is probably also a reason why the company is looking for feedback. The whitepaper (in PDF format) goes into a lot more detail about this proposed 64-bit CPU. Intel is releasing it now to get feedback from its many partners and the PC ecosystem. While the company is at least putting some of its ideas to paper, it may be a long, long time before Intel is actually ready to release a true 64-bit CPU to the masses.

New Intel 31.0.101.4369 Windows Arc WHQL driver adds support for LOTR Gollum, and more by John Callaham Intel has released a new Windows graphics driver update (WHQL), version 31.0.101.4369, for its Arc and Xe graphics chip series. It adds support for three upcoming games: The Outlast Trials, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, and the early access release of Starship Troopers: Extermination. You can check out the changelog below: GAMING HIGHLIGHTS: Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc A-series Graphics for: The Outlast Trials The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Starship Troopers: Extermination Early Access Game performance improvements versus Intel 31.0.101.4335 software driver for: The Outlast Trials (DX12) Up to 65% uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings Up to 52% uplift at 1440p with High settings The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (DX12) Up to 4% uplift at 1080p with Epic settings Up to 11% uplift at 1440p with High settings Minecraft Bedrock (DXR) Up to 30% uplift at 1080p with Ray Tracing enabled at 8 RT chunks Up to 34% uplift at 1440p with Ray Tracing enabled at 8 RT chunks Up to 28% uplift at 1440p with Ray Tracing enabled at 24 RT chunks Get a front row pass to gaming deals, contests, betas, and more with Intel Software Gaming Access. FIXED ISSUES: Intel Core Processor Products: Battlefield: 2042(DX12) may exhibit color corruption at the game menu. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (DX12) may experience color corruption in Quick Play Lobby KNOWN ISSUES: Intel Arc Graphics Products: The Last of Us (DX12) may experience an application crash during gameplay. System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery. GPU hardware acceleration may not be available for media playback and encode with some versions of Adobe Premiere Pro. Topaz Video AI may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement. Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics Products: Driver installation may not complete successfully on certain notebook systems with both Intel Iris Xe + Iris Xe MAX devices. A system reboot and re-installation of the graphics driver may be required for successful installation. Intel Core Processor Products: Total War: Warhammer III (DX11) may experience an application crash when loading battle scenarios. Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources such as fire. Conqueror's Blade (DX12) may experience an application crash during game launch. A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12) may experience application instability during gameplay. INTEL ARC CONTROL HIGHLIGHTS: Display Page A new display page is now available in Intel Arc Control that allows users to view connected display information as well as shortcuts to the OS for changing resolution and refresh rate of displays. Variable Refresh Rate status and control is now available within the new Display page. Resizable BAR Status Resizable BAR status reporting within Intel® Arc Control now contains a drop-down menu to view per graphics device Resizable BAR status. Driver Update Beta Opt-In Recently introduced improvements for the driver update feature within Intel Arc Control allows users to opt-in to the beta releases of drivers made available on intel.com. Users can now also view the type of release which is installed as well as release notes for that release within Arc Control. Search Bar A new feature available within Intel Arc Control that allows you to easily and quickly search for and navigate to features within the user interface. Performance Telemetry Support Telemetry within the performance page of Intel Arc Control now has a drop-down selector that allows telemetry for supported graphics products connected to your system to be viewed. Fan Speed Controls Added new fan speed controls within the performance page under performance tuning configuration of Intel Arc Control. Automatic allows the driver to control your fan speed behavior. Fixed fan target enables a static fan speed. Fan curve enables a dynamic fan speed to adjust fan speed with temperature targets. Virtual Camera Filters Lighting adjustments enable auto and manual adjustment of lighting conditions. Background replacement has been improved with the ability to adjust color balance. INTEL ARC CONTROL FIXED ISSUES: Windows UAC Admin is required to install and launch Arc Control. The Live Performance Monitoring page may not apply the desired removal of some performance metric tiles. The Resizable BAR status may show an incorrect value on systems with multiple Intel® Graphics Adapters. INTEL ARC CONTROL KNOWN ISSUES Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files. With Intel Arc Control installed, systems may experience slightly higher than expected power consumption during system sleep or hibernate. May observe “could not stop Highlights” notification when stopping Auto-Game Highlights. The Camera on-screen preview may incorrectly persist when switching between Desktop and Overlay modes. The “Connector” type in the Display page may incorrectly show DP when using an HDMI display connection. Intel Arc Control Performance Tuning (BETA): Intel Arc Control Performance Tuning is currently in Beta. As such, performance and features may behave unexpectedly. Intel will continue to refine the Performance Tuning software in future releases. You can download and learn more about the update on Intel's official site.

Intel may be about to make some major changes to its future CPU branding by John Callaham Intel looks like it will be making some big changes to its CPU brand names in the near future. The company's director of global communications, Bernard Fernandes, made a post on Twitter today, where he made some unspecific comments about upcoming "brand changes" at the processor company. Yes, we are making brand changes as we’re at an inflection point in our client roadmap in preparation for the upcoming launch of our #MeteorLake processors. We will provide more details regarding these exciting changes in the coming weeks! #Intel — Bernard Fernandes (@Bernard_P) May 1, 2023 The Twitter post from Fernandes stated that the change was due to "an inflection point in our client roadmap" because Intel is going to launch its next major CPU architecture, with the code name Meteor Lake. That is supposed to happen sometime in the second half of 2023. Fernandes would not go into any more detail about these brand changes, saying only that we would learn more about them "in the coming weeks". One clue to that change popped up recently in the benchmarks of Oxide Games and Stardock's RTS game Ashes of the Singularity. Anandtech reports that the benchmark result, which has since been deleted, showed a gamer running a previously unknown "Intel Core Ultra 5 1003H" processor. That could be a clue that the current "i" branding that's been around for over 10 years may be on the way out for future Intel CPUs. Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

Intel still says Meteor Lake CPUs are coming out in late 2023, but there might be a catch by John Callaham On Thursday, Intel revealed its latest financial numbers for the first quarter of 2023. As expected, the big slowdown in overall PC shipments for that quarter affected Intel's numbers. Intel recorded a loss of $2.8 billion for the quarter, which was its biggest-ever quarterly decline. However, those numbers still exceeded Intel's previous expectations. Moreover, the company seems to be very optimistic about its future CPU plans, according to its press release: Intel continues to be on track to meet its goal of achieving five nodes in four years, with two of the five nodes nearly complete. Intel 7 is in high-volume manufacturing and CCG's Meteor Lake product on Intel 4 is ramping production wafer starts for an expected launch in the second half of 2023. Intel 3, Intel 20A, and Intel 18A remain on track. While on the surface, hearing that the Meteor Lake CPU design is still coming out this year is good news, PC Gamer notes that it might be released first as a low-power laptop product, rather than a high-end desktop or laptop CPU. In fact, Meteor Lake might not be released as a desktop chip at all. Current rumors claim that the next big 14th Gen Intel Core desktop chip might actually be a minor refresh of the current Raptor Lake-S design. 2024 is when we might see a big desktop CPU architecture launch, with Arrow Lake, which is supposed to use the previously mentioned Intel 20A node. That will be a true next-gen desktop release from the company, if it keeps its current schedule. If you are wondering about performance, Intel could be bringing a new L4 "Adamantine" or "ADM" cache, which could boost booting speeds.

Intel launches 31.0.101.4335 beta driver for Arc optimizes Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and more by Sayan Sen Intel has released a new Beta Windows graphics driver update, version 31.0.101.4335, for its Arc and Xe discrete graphics cards, as well as 11th Gen Tiger Lake and newer integrated graphics. It improves performances for big games that may be on your radar. They include Star Wars Jedi Survivor, The Swordsmen X: Survival, and Redfall. You can find the full changelog below: GAMING HIGHLIGHTS: Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for: Star Wars Jedi Survivor* The Swordsmen X: Survival* Redfall* KNOWN ISSUES: Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products: System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery. GPU hardware acceleration may not be available for media playback and encode with some versions of Adobe Premiere Pro. Topaz Video AI* may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement. Intel® Iris™ Xe MAX Graphics Products: Driver installation may not complete successfully on certain notebook systems with both Intel® Iris™ X e + Iris™ X e MAX devices. A system reboot and re-installation of the graphics driver may be required for successful installation. Intel® Core™ Processor Products: Total War: Warhammer III* (DX11) may experience an application crash when loading battle scenarios. Call of Duty Warzone 2.0* (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources such as fire. Conqueror's Blade* (DX12) may experience an application crash during game launch. A Plague Tale: Requiem* (DX12) may experience application instability during gameplay. Battlefield: 2042*(DX12) may exhibit color corruption at the game menu. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may experience color corruption in QuickPlay Lobby INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL KNOWN ISSUES: Windows UAC Admin is required to install and launch Arc Control. The Live Performance Monitoring page may not apply the desired removal of some performance metric tiles. The Resizable Bar status may show an incorrect value on systems with multiple Intel® Graphics Adapters. Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files. With Intel® Arc Control installed, systems may experience slightly higher than expected power consumption during system sleep or hibernate. Intel® Arc™ Control Performance Tuning (BETA): Intel® Arc™ Control Performance Tuning is currently in Beta. As such, performance and features may behave unexpectedly. Intel® will continue to refine the Performance Tuning software in future releases. You can download the Arc 31.0.101.4335 beta driver by heading over to Intel's official website via this link.

Intel 31.0.101.4314 Windows Arc WHQL driver brings support for Resident Evil 4 Remake, more by Ishtiaqe Hanif Intel has released a new Windows graphics driver update (WHQL), version 31.0.101.4255, for its Arc and Xe graphics series. It improves performances for big games that may be on your radar. They include Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Counter Strike Global Offensive on Intel Arc Graphics for Laptops. You can find the full changelog below: GAMING HIGHLIGHTS: Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for: Resident Evil 4 Remake* Elden Ring RT Update* Performance optimizations on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy* D5 Render* Blender* in Material Preview viewport mode Counter Strike Global Offensive* on Intel® Arc™ Graphics for Laptops FIXED ISSUES: Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products: Conqueror’s Blade* (DX11) may exhibit corruption in benchmark mode. Portal with RTX* (Vulkan) may experience application crash when loading to gameplay. Intel® Core™ Processor Products: Overwatch 2*(DX12) may see lag or freeze while launching the game. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2*(DX12) may experience application crash during gameplay KNOWN ISSUES: Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020* (DX11) may experience application crash during gameplay. Diablo 4 (Beta)* may exhibit corruption on character during gameplay with ‘Highlight Character When Obscured’ setting enabled. Sea of Thieves* (DX11) may exhibit color corruption on water edges. System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery. GPU hardware acceleration may not be available for media playback and encode with some versions of Adobe Premiere Pro. Blender may exhibit corruption while using Nishita Sky texture node. Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve* may exhibit color corruption with Optical Flow. Intel® Iris™ Xe MAX Graphics Products: Driver installation may not complete successfully on certain notebook systems with both Intel® Iris™ X e + Iris™ X e MAX devices. A system reboot and re-installation of the graphics driver may be required for successful installation. Intel® Core™ Processor Products: Total War: Warhammer III* (DX11) may experience an application crash when loading battle scenarios. • Call of Duty Warzone 2.0* (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources such as fire. Conqueror's Blade* (DX12) may experience an application crash during game launch. A Plague Tale: Requiem* (DX12) may experience application instability during gameplay. Battlefield: 2042*(DX12) may exhibit color corruption at the game menu. INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL FIXED ISSUES: Using Arc Control Studio capture with AVC codec selected may incorrectly use the HEVC codec. Modifying performance sliders may fail to apply back to their default values. A workaround is to use the "Reset to Defaults" button. INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL KNOWN ISSUES: Windows UAC Admin is required to install and launch Arc Control. The Live Performance Monitoring page may not apply the desired removal of some performance metric tiles. The Resizable Bar status may show an incorrect value on systems with multiple Intel® Graphics Adapters. Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files. Intel® Arc™ Control Performance Tuning (BETA): Intel® Arc™ Control Performance Tuning is currently in Beta. As such, performance and features may behave Unexpectedly. Intel® will continue to refine the Performance Tuning software in future releases. You can get the download from the official Intel website. This download installs Intel Graphics Driver 31.0.101.4255 for Intel Arc and Xe Graphics. You can download and learn more about the update on Intel's official site.

Intel working on new Meteor Lake L4 cache for faster next-gen Windows, Linux, Chrome booting by Sayan Sen Intel's Meteor Lake processors, which are the 14th Gen Core CPUs, are expected to arrive by the end of the year, or early next year. A rumor had suggested that Intel and Microsoft were aligning the launch of desktop Meteor Lake-S (MTL-S) CPUs right around Windows 12. However, there hasn't been much evidence of MTL-S at all in terms of leaks, which means we likely aren't getting next gen Windows at least until the middle of next year. So although it means we are still a year away, Intel's new patent has revealed details of a new Level 4 (L4) cache dubbed "Adamantine" or "ADM" (via Phoronix), which is being designed to achieve "Slimmer And Faster Boot". Intel says they are seeing 300-350ms of additional reduction in boot times on ChromeOS, though there is no stat related to Windows 11 or Windows 12 at the moment. This explains the "Faster" bit. As for the "Slimmer" bit, the use of L4 cache as SRAM is also enabling Intel to design the firmware with a lighter footprint. Here are some of the points the patent notes regarding faster booting: [0088] Embodiments use design requirements described in FIGS. 3 and 4, which make larger and faster memory available at reset and modify firmware flows to use that pre-initialized memory rather define FSP flow to ensure secure SoC boot without being dependent over DRAM resources. [0089] Additionally, embodiments make use of a multi-threaded environment at the pre-boot stage to achieve faster system boot where security enforcement can be run over parallel threads along with another independent IO initialization. [0137] Improve significant boot performance--Able to reduce additional .about.300-350 ms of booting time on latest CHROME platform. [0138] Help to design lightweight firmware using an L4 cache as SRAM, which conducts minimum and only key functional blocks with FSP (e.g., SoC Silicon initialization blob) and bootloader methodology to boot to OS. The patent is available on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website (via VideoCardz). If you recall, Intel had done a similar thing with its 5th Gen Broadwell which packed 128MB of eDRAM. However, Broadwell utilized it for graphics (GT) while the new Adamantine (L4) cache is made for processors.

Microsoft, Intel release security update for MMIO vulnerability on Windows 10, Server 2016 by Sayan Sen Back in June of 2022, Intel and Microsoft issued a warning about security vulnerabilities related to the CPU's memory-mapped I/O (MMIO), which are called "MMIO Stale Data Vulnerabilities" collectively. A threat actor, upon successful exploitation of a vulnerable system, can read privileged information on such a machine. Last month, updated mitigations were released for several versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11. A few days back, Microsoft and Intel have now updated the files for Windows 10 version 1507 (which is the original release) as well as for Windows Server 2016. Microsoft on its support document described the vulnerability: Summary Intel has released “Intel Processors MMIO Stale Data Advisory”. This security advisory states that potential security vulnerabilities exist in Memory Mapped I/O (MMIO) for some Intel processors which might allow information disclosure. Improvements Intel Platform Update (IPU) 2022.1 that is dated June 2022 contains fixes for security vulnerabilities including Memory-Mapped I/O (MMIO) Side-Channel Attack. The updates can be manually downloaded from Microsoft Update Catalog website at the links below: KB5019179 - Windows 10 version 1507 - Microsoft Update Catalog KB5019182 - Windows Server 2016 - Microsoft Update Catalog In case you are wondering, these will download the necessary updated DLL files on your system. For Windows 10 1507 (x86), the file name and versions are mcupdate_GenuineIntel.dll and 10.0.10240.19807. Meanwhile for x64, the file name and versions are Likewise, for Windows Server 2016, the file name and versions are mcupdate_GenuineIntel.dll and 10.0.14393.5793 for x86, and for x64, they are mcupdate_GenuineIntel.dll and 10.0.14393.5793.

Intel shuts down its Bitcoin-themed Blockscale chips less than a year after launch by John Callaham In April 2022, Intel first announced plans to launch the Blockscale ASIC chips reportedly dubbed "Bonanza Mine". These products were made specifically for the blockchain and Bitcoin mining market. Now, Intel has put an "end-of-life" label for these Blockscale 1000-series, with no plans to launch future versions of these chips. Tom's Hardware got a statement from an Intel spokesperson who stated: As we prioritize our investments in IDM 2.0, we have end-of-lifed the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC while we continue to support our Blockscale customers. When it was first announced a year ago, Intel said the Blockscale ASIC would "play a major role in helping bitcoin mining companies achieve both sustainability and hash rate scaling objectives in the years ahead." The chip had a Dedicated Secure Hash Algorithm-256 (SHA-256) ASIC processor, along with support for "up to 580 GH/s hash rate operating". It could use up to 256 integrated circuits per chain. Shipments of the Blockscale ASIC were scheduled to happen in the third quarter of 2022. Intel has not revealed the sales or unit shipment numbers for those chips, but we can assume they did not meet expectations. Intel would not comment to Tom's Hardware if it had any more Bitcoin-themed ASIC products planned, stating only. "We continue to monitor market opportunities." Intel launched its own Custom Compute Group to help develop the Blockscale chips, but there's no word about the fate of that division or its team members. The Custom Compute Group was part of Intel's overall AXG graphics chip division. That group recently saw the departure of its leader, Raja Koduri.

Intel Arc & Iris Xe driver 31.0.101.4311 Beta brings FPS uplifts and support for new games by Taras Buria Intel has released a new beta driver for users with Arc A-series and Iris Xe graphics cards. Version 31.0.101.4311 Beta delivers support for Boundary, Minecraft Legends, Total War: Warhammer III—Mirror of Madness, and Dead Island 2. Besides, the release significantly improves performance in several titles, such as Dead Space Remake, F1 22, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, Dirt 5, and Deathloop. In addition to new games support and FPS uplifts, the driver fixes several issues in other games. Here is the changelog. What is new in Intel Game On Driver 31.0.101.4311 Beta? Support on the Intel Arc A graphics card series for: Boundary Minecraft Legends Total War: Warhammer III – Mirror of Madness Dead Island 2 Performance improvements: Dead Space Remake (DX12) Up to 55% uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings on Arc A750 Up to 63% uplift at 1440p with High settings on Arc A750 F1 22 (DX12) Up to 6% uplift at 1440p with High settings on Arc A770 Up to 7% uplift at 1440p with High settings on Arc A750 Up to 17% uplift at 1080p with Ultra High Ray Tracing settings on Arc A750 Dying Light 2 Stay Human (DX12) Up to 6% uplift at 1080p with High Ray Tracing settings preset on Arc A770 Up to 7% uplift at 1440p with High Ray Tracing settings preset on Arc A770 Dirt 5 (DX12) Up to 8% uplift at 1080p with Ultra High Ray Tracing settings on Arc A750 Up to 4% uplift at 1440p with Ultra High Ray Tracing settings on Arc A750 Deathloop (DX12) Up to 4% uplift at 1080p with Very High and Ray Tracing Performance settings on Arc A750 Up to 6% uplift at 1440p with Very High and Ray Tracing Performance settings on Arc A750 Fixed issues: Microsoft Flight Simulator (DX11) may experience application crash during gameplay. Sea of Thieves (DX11) may exhibit color corruption on water edges. Bright Memory Infinite Ray Tracing Benchmark (DX12) may experience lower than expected performance. Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve may exhibit color corruption with Optical Flow Known issues: Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products: System may hang while waking up from sleep. May need to power cycle the system for recovery. GPU hardware acceleration may not be available for media playback and encode with some versions of Adobe Premiere Pro. Topaz Video AI* may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement. Intel® Iris™ Xe MAX Graphics Products: Driver installation may not complete successfully on certain notebook systems with both Intel® Iris™ Xe + Iris™ MAX devices. A system reboot and re-installation of the graphics driver may be required for successful installation. Intel® Core™ Processor Products: Total War: Warhammer III (DX11) may experience an application crash when loading battle scenarios. Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 (DX12) may exhibit corruption on certain light sources such as fire. Conqueror's Blade (DX12) may experience an application crash during game launch. A Plague Tale: Requiem (DX12) may experience application instability during gameplay. Battlefield: 2042 (DX12) may exhibit color corruption at the game menu. Crime boss (DX12) may experience texture flickering when XESS is enabled. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may experience color corruption in QuickPlay Lobby INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL Windows UAC Admin is required to install and launch Arc Control. The Live Performance Monitoring page may not apply the desired removal of some performance metric tiles. The Resizable Bar status may show an incorrect value on systems with multiple Intel® Graphics Adapters. Using Arc Control Studio capture with certain games may incorrectly generate multiple video files. With Intel® Arc Control installed, systems may experience slightly higher than expected power consumption during system sleep or hibernate. You can install the latest Game On Beta Driver from Intel if your computer has one of the following processors or graphics cards from Intel: Intel Arc A-series GPU Intel Iris Xe dGPU (DG1) 13th Gen Intel Core 12th Gen Intel Core 11th Gen Intel Core Intel Game On Beta Driver 31.0.101.4311 is available for download from the official website or direct link. Full release notes are available here.

Intel to make Arm-based chips at its foundry locations by John Callaham Intel and Arm may seem like rival companies, but today the two chip businesses announced a new collaboration. Intel's press release stated that its Foundry Services division will help Arm-based chip designers to build their processors using the Intel 18A process at its factories: The press release stated: Arm customers designing their next-generation mobile SoCs will benefit from leading-edge Intel 18A process technology, which delivers new breakthrough transistor technologies for improved power and performance, and from IFS’s robust manufacturing footprint that includes U.S.- and EU-based capacity. Intel added that the first chips with this new partnership will concentrate on mobile SoC designs, which means that the next smartphone you make buy could have an Arm-based design built in an Intel foundry. The agreement could eventually expand to include Intel making Arm-based chips for automotive products, data centers, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and more. Right now, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), makes the majority of chips used in smartphones. If Intel succeeds in taking some of TSMC's market share away, that could be a huge new source of revenue for the company. It could also allow for some easing in supply chains if those chips could be made in the US and Europe.

Firefox 112 is out with reduced GPU usage on Intel CPUs, improved password fields, more by Taras Buria Firefox 112 is now available for download in the Release channel. Mozilla has started rolling out the latest feature update for its browser, bringing reduced GPU usage on PCs with Intel processors, slightly improved password fields, the ability to restore closed sessions with the Ctrl + Shift + T shortcut, and more. What is new in Firefox 112? Here is the official changelog from Mozilla: Right-clicking on password fields now shows an option to reveal the password. Ubuntu Linux users can now import their browser data from the Chromium Snap package. Currently, this will only work if Firefox is not also installed as a Snap package, but work is underway to address this! Do you use the tab list panel in the tab bar? If so, you can now close tabs by middle-clicking items in that list. You've always been able to un-close a tab by using (Cmd/Ctrl)-Shift-T. Now, that same shortcut will restore the previous session if there are no more closed tabs from the same session to re-open. For all ETP Strict users, we extended the list of known tracking parameters that are removed from URLs to further protect our users from cross-site tracking. Enables overlay of software-decoded video on Intel GPUs in Windows. Improves video down scaling quality and reduces GPU usage. Various security fixes. The deprecated U2F Javascript API is now disabled by default. The U2F protocol remains usable through the WebAuthn API. The U2F API can be re-enabled using the security.webauth.u2f preference. Clear button, newly added to the date picker panel, allows users to quickly clear the input with type date or datetime-local and provides a familiar experience across browsers. You can also find what is new for developers in Firefox 112 in the official documentation. A similar page with updated policies and specific fixes is available for enterprise customers. Firefox will update itself automatically upon the next restart. Alternatively, you can force-install the latest version by navigating to the Menu > Help > About Firefox section or download the official installer from Mozilla's website.

Intel graphics driver 31.0.101.2121 (WHQL) for 6th-10th gen Intel CPUs released by Steven Parker Intel has released its latest WHQL driver version 31.0.101.2121 for 6th-10th Gen Intel Core Processor Graphics, and related Intel Atom, Pentium, and Celeron processors on supported versions of Windows 10 and 11. This is a legacy driver and does not add anything new, since last year Intel has only provided security updates for 6th-10th gen Intel CPUs as well as fixing a number of undisclosed issues. You can check out the full changelog below: version 31.0.101.2121 changelog: Known Issues Vertical collage mode not functional using the Intel Graphics Command Center. May observe two combined displays visible as not combined displays in the Intel Graphics Command Center According to a post on Reddit, this driver also appears to have trouble installing on Skylake (6th gen) Intel CPUs with Gen9 GPUs, which include Iris and Iris Pro graphics. You can download the driver by heading over to Intel's official website at this link. The driver is compatible with Intel 6th-10th Gen processor graphics. Source: Release Notes (PDF) via Intel

Intel will reportedly launch its second-gen GPU in 2024, and the third-gen GPU in 2026 by John Callaham After years of waiting and delays, Intel finally launched its first dedicated GPU in its Arc family in 2022. Intel has since released other Arc GPUs, but they haven't exactly been huge sales hits for the processor company. Just a couple of weeks ago, Intel saw the head of its GPU division, Raja Koduri, depart the company to form a new AI startup. However, if a new report is accurate, Intel will continue to make new GPUs for at least the next few years. The China-based site Commercial Times claims, via unnamed sources, that Intel's second generation GPU will have the code name Battlemage, and it will start production in the first half of 2024, for a public launch in the second half of that year. The Battlemage GPU will use Intel's Xe2 architecture, according to the story, and it will be made by TSMC using its 4nm process. No other details about this GPU were revealed. However, the story did say that Intel is also developing a third-gen GPU, with the code name Celestial, based on the Xe3 chip design. It will also be made by TSMU, using a 3nm process, and it will reportedly start production in the first half of 2026, for a second half 2026 launch. Hopefully the Intel GPU team can take some lessons from its first-gen Arc chip family and put them into their second and third-gen GPUs to make them more competitive with AMD and NVIDIA.

Microsoft Teams video meetings now have a green screen feature but it's just for Intel PCs by John Callaham Microsoft Teams users who want to have a better looking virtual background for their online video meetings can now try out a newly added feature. Microsoft has added a green screen option for video meetings in its public preview channel. The company's blog post states: Green screen improves the sharpness and definition of the virtual background effect around your face, head, ears, and hair. It also allows you to show a prop or other object in your hand to be more visible to other meeting participants. The new effect does require that a person already has a solid color screen or wall behind them, and that it is flat with no stains. You are also supposed to have a background effect in your Teams video before you turn on the green screen. Finally, this will only work with Teams for Windows and macOS platforms that use Intel-based processors. So if you have a Windows PC with an AMD or ARM chip, or a Mac PC with one of Apple's in-house chips you are out of luck. If you are on the Microsoft Teams public preview channel, here's how to enable the feature: After you join a meeting, click the “More” icon in the meeting toolbar, go to “Video effects.” When the “Video effects” panel page is open, go to “Green Screen Settings” in Backgrounds section and click the link to turn on the Green screen toggle button under “Teams settings -> Devices -> Green screen.” Click the backdrop icon and move your mouse cursor into the Preview box to manually pick backdrop color. For example, avoid picking a color that matches your clothing or props you intend to show on camera. Return to your meeting. There are a few limitations with the green screen feature. It automatically disables Teams' background blur feature and Together Mode. Also, any objects that are transparent or translucent in the video won't look good with the green screen mode, and if the object is too thin it won't be detectable at all.

Man caught smuggling 239 Intel Core CPUs that were taped to his body in China by John Callaham Smuggling technology products is nothing new, of course. However, a recent case may be one of the dumbest attempts at smuggling devices we have ever heard of. The Chinese site Kuai Technology (via PC Gamer) reports that a man was caught in China trying to sneak in a ton of Intel Core processors that were taped and covered on his body. The report states that on March 16, at China's Gongbei Port, customs workers saw a man in its Passenger Inspection Hall. He was wearing loose black clothes, and apparently, his appearance was "abnormal" and he looked "bloated". Naturally, the customs inspectors stopped him, and he was quickly discovered to have taped 239 Intel Core CPUs around his waist, abdomen, and thighs.' At least some of the CPUs that were found on this ill-advised method of smuggling were 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13400F models. This budget-themed 10-core chip still normally costs around $200 or so, so if all of the CPUs were around that price point, this guy was trying to sneak in over $47,000 worth of processors on his body. There's no word on what this dumb criminal's fate will be with law enforcement authorities. However, the lesson to be learned here (aside from not smuggling Intel chips into Gongbei Port, of course) is that strapping CPUs around your body is going to make you stick out like, well, a guy who has strapped CPUs around his body. Just don't do it. Source: Kuai Technology via PC Gamer Our stories may contain affiliate links for products/apps where Neowin is paid an affiliate fee if you complete a purchase via those links.