Toms Hardware

Google today announced that it designed a custom system on a chip (SoC) to improve the machine learning and artificial intelligence performance of its next smartphones. The new chip, which the company dubbed Tensor, is set to debut in the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro “later this fall” alongside the Android 12 operating system. The company uses the Tensor identifier for many of its ML- and AI-related projects. Its open source machine learning platform is called TensorFlow. The application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) on which Google Cloud relies are called Tensor Processing Units. And now it’s built a custom Tensor…

According to a report from Phoronix, AMD and Valve are working together to design a better CPU performance scaling driver for Linux, targeting the Steam Deck gaming console.  Valve has recently launched its Steam Deck gaming console that houses AMD’s custom Ryzen APU with embedded RDNA 2 GPU and Zen 2 CPU powered by a Linux-based Arch operating system (OS). Given that this system runs a Linux-based OS, Valve has to optimize the software as much as possible to ensure a smooth and consistent gaming experience across various AAA titles. According to the report, Valve has been improving the CPU…

File this one under ‘plenty of salt, please, waitress.’ An unverified Twitter account calling itself ‘3dfxofficial’ is making some very big claims about a return for much-missed GPU manufacturer 3dfx Interactive, last seen being absorbed into Nvidia as fast as the intellectual property lawyers could manage it, on August 5th. 3dfx Interactive is coming back, 20 years later. Prepare for an major announcement regarding our return this Thursday! pic.twitter.com/KXPeY20lQ7July 30, 2021 See moreDespite being aesthetically similar to 3dfx branding of the past, the artwork accompanying the tweet can be traced back to DeviantArt and an artist called vermaden. As much…

While online advertising is a major revenue source that allows your favorite websites, including this one, to make money, sometimes people want to block it for various reasons such as performance or privacy concerns. You could install blocking software on each device you own, but the most efficient way is to create a server using Pi-hole that filters all your web traffic at the local network level. Pi-hole is a Raspberry Pi based network wide ad blocker. We install the software to a Raspberry Pi running Raspberry Pi OS, run a short installation script and then point our machines to…

While online advertising is a major revenue source that allows your favorite websites, including this one, to make money, sometimes people want to block it for various reasons such as performance or privacy concerns. You could install blocking software on each device you own, but the most efficient way is to create a server using Pi-hole that filters all your web traffic at the local network level. Pi-hole is a Raspberry Pi based network wide ad blocker. We install the software to a Raspberry Pi running Raspberry Pi OS, run a short installation script and then point our machines to…

AMD recently announced the company’s Radeon RX 6600 XT to expand its RDNA 2 products to the entry-level market. Although AMD markets the Radeon RX 6600 XT as capable of delivering epic 1080p gaming, the Navi 23 graphics card has yet to prove if it can hang with the best graphics cards. ASRock (via VideoCardz) has taken upon the task to prepare its Radeon RX 6600 XT Challenger ITX graphics card for small form factor and Mini-ITX systems. The Radeon RX 6600 XT Challenger ITX sticks to a dual-slot design, and although we don’t know its exact dimensions, the graphics…

As BSODs go, PAGE FAULT IN NONPAGED AREA is as close as Windows comes to saying “invalid memory reference.” To really understand what’s going on, one needs to understand paged memory, which divides addressable memory space up into a collection of 4K-sized memory pages. The OS can address a very large number of pages, where only some of those pages will actually be resident in RAM.  In most cases, when a program or the OS references a specific memory page, if it’s not resident in RAM, the page manager throws a “page fault” (page not present) status. Ultimately, this means…

You can never have have enough screens, even if some of them are inside of your case. Gigabyte’s new Aorus P1200W power supply features a full-color LCD screen, which can display custom text, pictures, GIFs, and even videos on its LCD screen. Yes, just imagine watching your favorite movies on the side of your PSU! This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a power supply with a screen slapped on it. The ASUS ROG Thor has one, but it only displays power draw, not your favorite films. Of course, the more practical use case for a screen on a PSU…

If you find light text on a dark background easier on your eyes — like many of us do — you’ll want to use your operating system’s dark mode. Fortunately, it’s really easy to enable dark mode in Windows 11, which will influence the look and feel of both your apps and the system taskbar. Some upcoming prebuilt PCs may even come with this color scheme mode enabled by default. But you can’t count on that, so follow the directions below to turn on Windows 11’s dark mode.  How to Enable Dark Mode in Windows 111. Right click on the…

A Bilibili forum user (via La Frite David) has shared an alleged prototype of a high-end Z690 motherboard for Intel’s forthcoming 12th Generation Alder Lake processors. The leak offers a first look of the new LGA1700 socket that’s expected to house at least two generation (Alder Lake and Raptor Lake) of Intel processors. The manufacturer of the mysterious motherboard is unknown, but it’s evident that it’s one of the high-end motherboards, judging by its power delivery subsystem. The prototype reveals 20 power phases so the Z690 motherboard is likely oriented towards overclockers and enthusiasts. Being a prototype, it’s missing several…

Asus today announced its new ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme motherboard for AMD Ryzen owners. The passively-cooled X570 motherboard arrives to round off ROG’s extensive X570 portfolio and compete with today’s best motherboards.  Doing justice to its name, the ROG Crosshair VIII Extreme is an E-ATX motherboard with a power delivery subsystem that conforms to a 18+2 design. Asus equipped the ROG Crosshair VII Extreme with 90A power stages, microfine alloy chokes and 10K Japanese-made, black, metallic capacitors to supply overclockers with a clean power delivery. Two 8-pin EPS power connectors feed the processor with what it needs. Although the ROG…

SilentMobius, the maker behind the cool, Raspberry Pi High Quality Camera-powered microscope we featured last summer, has updated the project. Kicking things up a notch, the DIY microscope now features a keypad and some more tricks up its sleeve.   According to SilentMobius, the unit was constructed from spare hardware, including extruded metal and custom 3D-printed assets to complete the design. Thanks to a recent 3D printer upgrade, SilentMobius was able to create a few more improvements to the original design. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: SilentMobius)Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: SilentMobius)One of the biggest additions is a…

Rumor has it that Intel may be launching its first 12th Gen “Alder Lake” processors this fall. According to Igor’s Lab, Intel plans on only releasing the K and KF line of CPUs this fall along with Z690 motherboards. If those chips release, we’ll see if they’re among the best CPUs. Since the K and KF line of CPUs are unlocked for overclocking, we should expect to see some higher-end motherboards right at the beginning, especially since the new chipset is expected to support PCIe 5.0.  However, that claim should be taken with a grain of salt, because of the…

Sapphire’s range of Toxic cards are anything but shy, proudly extolling their power via colorful paintjobs and extreme performance. The latest card to the Toxic line-up, the Toxic AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Air Cooled, is designed for 4K gaming and features a boost clock of 2425MHz and a game clock of 2235MHz as well as 16GB of GDDR6. Like other AMD RDNA 2 cards, actual clock speeds while gaming can slightly exceed the boost clock. The RX 6900 XT is the fastest consumer part from AMD right now, sitting in third place in our GPU benchmarks hierarchy, and it’s…

JEDEC has published a new revision of the LPDDR5 standard (JESD209-5B) that covers some performance and power improvements to the original specification as well as LPDDR5X, an extension to LPDDR5 that increases a maximum data transfer rate to 8533 MT/s. LPDDR5 and LPDDR5X will co-exist and complement each other on the market.  LPDDR5 and LPDDR5X are pin-to-pin compatible, greatly simplifying development of system-on-chips (SoCs) and platforms supporting the new type of memory. To enable higher data transfer rates and increase reliability of the upcoming low-power memory subsystems, LPDDR5X introduces pre-emphasis function to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (to enable higher clocks and performance improvements) and reduce the bit…

Sapphire is primarily known for its AMD Radeon graphics cards, but it looks like the company has nothing against some diversification. Earlier we reported about Sapphire’s Nitro LTC cooling system for AMD AM4 processors, but it looks like the manufacturer did not stop there and also quietly launched its Nitro M01 PC chassis. Designed to compete with the best PC cases, the Nitro M01 looks very stylish and is compatible with Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX motherboards.  To a large degree, Sapphire designed its Nitro M01 chassis (via @momomo_us) to promote its brands and offer something very stylish and practical to its loyal customers who use its…

Following the announcement of AMD’s record financial results for Q2 2021, the company’s chief executive officer Lisa Su gave a brief glimpse of the company’s short-term roadmap. AMD intends to introduce products based on its next-generation Zen 4 and RDNA 3 architectures in 2022. For 2021, the company seems to be planning a refresh of the Ryzen 5000 processor family.  “We remain on track to launch next generation products in 2022, including our Zen 4 processors built with industry leading 5 nm process technology and our RDNA 3 GPUs,” said Lisa Su during the earnings call with analysts and investors (via SeekingAlpha). “Our engineering teams…

Halo Infinite was originally supposed to launch alongside the Xbox Series X when the console hit store shelves last November, but following in the footsteps of Cyberpunk 2077 (and what feels like half of every AAA game that comes out these days), it was later delayed to some nebulous time in 2021. But the wait is finally over, kind of, with news that an invite-only multiplayer beta will be kicking off tomorrow and lasting until August 1st. Unfortunately, that invite-only wrinkle means that you, specifically, might not be able to play the game quite yet. But don’t worry, this is…

Taiwanese Environmental Review Committee has approved TSMC’s plan to build a new fab at the company’s site near Baoshan, Hsinchu County, Taiwan. The fab will produce chips using TSMC’s N2 (2 nm) manufacturing process and will be one of the most advanced semiconductor facilities in the world when it goes online several years from now.   “Semiconductor is one of the most crucial industries to Taiwan’s economic growth,” said Lin Chuan-nen, Economics Vice Minister, reports Nikkei. “The government will help TSMC to achieve its environmental targets while continuing to build the advanced technologies.”  TSMC’s first N2-capable fab located in the Hsinchu Science Park is expected to…

If you’ve got a Raspberry Pi you don’t want any more, you could sell it on eBay, or you could send it off to be factory refurbished, thanks to a new scheme set up between the Pi Foundation, Sony Technology and UK-based SBC specialist okdo. You get a voucher for money off okdo products for re-cycling your old Raspberry Pi. (Image credit: Raspberry Pi)The offer only applies to 3b, 3b+ and 4 boards in working order, and your £10 ($14) voucher has to be used within 30 days with a minimum spend of £15 ($21). Boards are returned to the…