takyon writes:Nvidia has announced its latest generation of gaming-oriented GPUs, based on the "Ampere" microarchitecture on a customized Samsung "8nm" process node.The GeForce RTX 3080 ($700) has 10 GB of GDDR6X VRAM and will be released on September 17. TDP is up significantly, at 320 Watts compared to 215 Watts for the RTX 2080. The GeForce RTX 3070 ($500) has 8 GB of GDDR6 and a TDP of 220 Watts. The GeForce RTX 3090 ($1500) is the top card so far with a whopping 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM. The GPU is physically much larger than the other two models and it has a 350 Watt TDP.Nvidia's performance benchmarks should be treated with caution, since the company is often using ray-tracing and/or DLSS upscaling in its comparisons. But the RTX 3070 will outperform the RTX 2080 Ti at less than half the launch price, as it has 35% more CUDA cores at higher clock speeds.Nvidia also announced some new features such as Nvidia Reflex (4m53s video), Broadcast, Omniverse Machinima, and RTX IO. Nvidia Broadcast includes AI-derived tools intended for live streamers. RTX Voice can filter out background noises, greenscreen effects can be applied without the need for a real greenscreen, and an autoframing feature can keep the streamer centered in frame while they are moving. Nvidia RTX IO appears to be Nvidia's response to the next-generation consoles' use of fast SSDs and dedicated data decompression.NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series | Official Launch Event (39m29s video)Previously: Micron Accidentally Confirms GDDR6X Memory, and Nvidia's RTX 3090 GPUOriginal SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Estrogen may lessen severity of COVID-19 symptoms in women, study finds:There is growing evidence that Covid-19 poses greater risks for men than women. Wake Forest School of Medicine has published a review of preclinical data that may indicate a protective effect related to estrogen.
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Single-use N95 respirators can be decontaminated and used again, study finds: Scientists hope new methods can mitigate the chronic shortage of personal protective equipment:
martyb writes:The month of August is winding to a close. Here are a few updates on site activity. If you are interested, please read on after the fold. Otherwise, a new story will be along shortly.Read more of this story at SoylentNews.
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for RandomFactor:One Theory Beyond the Standard Model Could Allow Wormholes that You Could Actually Fly Through
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:Machines rival expert analysis of stored red blood cell quality: New ai strategies automate assessments of stored blood, remove human subjectivity:
[20200831_114056 UTC: Update: Fixed typo "Telsa". Unclear from context if typo in story submission was supposed to be Telstra (major Australian ISP) or Tesla the car, battery, and solar energy provider. Left it for you to choose. ☺ --martyb]An Anonymous Coward writes:Do you remember the scammers who would call you up to say your computer has a virus and only they can help? Well, they're back. This time scammers are telling people their NBN[*] speed needs to be tested so they can drain their bank accounts.
RandomFactor writes:According to research published in the Journal of Clinical Pychopharmacology a double-blind clinical trial has shown that microdoses of LSD are effective at reducing pain.
An Anonymous Coward writes:Remember the days of buying disks to play games on a console? Right. Like, yesterday. Sony is upping its game for digital delivery with the introduction of PS5 Digital Edition which is currently available to be pre-ordered by PSN members in good standing. This sets the PS5 apart from the other consoles from the last generation making it one step closer to having all games delivered by and available only from The Cloud.Interested? Register on-line to get your chance to pre-order. Pricing has not yet been announced.Does this mean rootkits will be distributed from The Cloud instead of by disk in the future?Original SubmissionRead more of this story at SoylentNews.
takyon writes:Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced a number of node scaling details and technological advancements at its 2020 Technology Symposium:TSMC's first "5nm" node (N5) has a lower defect rate than its initial "7nm" node did at the same point in its development cycle (high volume manufacturing, which N5 is now in). This is due in part to increasing use of extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). "5nm" will represent 11% of TSMC's sub-"16nm" wafer production in 2020.TSMC's "3nm" node (N3) will continue to use FinFETs rather than gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, and is scheduled for volume production in mid-late 2022. Performance is expected to improve 10-15% at the same power (compared to N5), or power consumption will be reduced 25-30% for the same performance. Logic area density improvement will be 1.7x, but SRAM density will only increase by 1.2x, leading to a 1.27x overall density increase for chips that are 70% SRAM and 30% logic.Intel's EMIB (Embedded Die Interconnect Bridge) connects "chiplets" together without using a full silicon interposer. TSMC has its own version that it is calling Local Si Interconnect (LSI), and it will be combined with other packaging technologies. TSMC has demonstrated 12-layer stacking of chips using through silicon vias (TSVs), although cooling or doing anything useful with them could be somebody else's job.See also: TSMC Updates on Node Availability Beyond Logic: Analog, HV, Sensors, RF