Techreport

Imagination Technologies is putting its MIPS CPU IP business and Ensigma digital signal processing IP up for sale. In a regulatory update published this morning, the company says it will be committing all of its resources to its PowerVR GPU IP going forward. This narrowing of focus takes place as Imagination prepares for battle with Apple over that company's alleged unauthorized use of PowerVR technology in its proprietary graphics processors.Imagination says it "has been unable to make satisfactory progress with Apple to date regarding alternative commercial arrangements for the current licence and royalty agreement." In turn, the company says it has begun a dispute ...Read more...

Intel's Skylake Xeons are among the most anticipated tech that will launch this year. This morning, the company confirmed the naming scheme it'll be using when those processors come to market. Skylake datacenter parts will launch under the "Xeon Processor Scalable" umbrella, and that lineup will comprise chips in "Platinum," "Gold," "Silver," and "Bronze" sub-families. The logic behind this branding will be immediately obvious to anybody who's ever watched the Olympics. ...Read more...

Microsoft has released the newest build of Windows 10 to the Windows Insider Program's Fast Ring: the Preview Build 16184. The meat of this build comes in two communication-focused features, though there are a handful of other minor improvements. ...Read more...

Intel's Optane devices made their entrance into consumer and datacenter markets this spring, but don't think for a second that the company is neglecting its other lineups of memory products. Not only is Intel expanding its production of 3D TLC NAND, it's also releasing two new lines of datacenter solid-state drives: the DC P4500 and DC P4600 series. ...Read more...

TR forumite krazyredboy has finally completed his simulator PC. The "case mod"—if it can even be called that—is his submission to the Cooler Master Case Mod World Series 2017 contest. He's finished up just in time, as submissions for the contest close tonight at 11:59 PM (GMT-11). ...Read more...

We don't use it here at TR, but the CPU-Z benchmark has served me well in my personal life as a figurative hand-to-the-forehead for poorly-performing systems. Starting with the latest CPU-Z release, version 1.79, benchmark results will be quite different from those gathered using previous versions. The change was prompted due to an issue with one of the benchmarking algorithms used by the software.CPU-Z's developers say they saw unexpectedly-excellent results on AMD's Ryzen CPUs that ran counter to the new processors' real-world performance. After a thorough investigation, the team ...Read more...

SSDs have been getting more expensive of late, thanks to media supply shortages as manufacturers shift production to 2D and 3D TLC NAND. Even so, there are still deals to be had from time to time, and we're especially fond of deals on large SSDs for our extensive Steam libraries. ...Read more...

We wrote yesterday about Windows 10 S, the new version of Windows 10 that limits users to installing applications from the Windows Store. As it turns out, Microsoft's published a Windows 10 S FAQ that revealed the new OS will have a couple more relevant restrictions. Users will not be able to select a default web browser other than Microsoft Edge, and they can't change the default search provider away from Bing. Windows 10 S was ostensibly developed for use on PCs used in the education sector, but it's also the default operating system on Microsoft's MacBook-fighting Surface Laptop. ...Read more...

With a new day comes a new drip of information about AMD's upcoming RX Vega graphics card. This time, the source is a Linux driver update from within AMD. The revelations confirm what many have been expecting for some time. The Vega 10 chip will probably have 4096 stream processors packed inside of 64 compute units.Clever Redditor aceCrasher was able ...Read more...

AMD's Radeon R9 295 X2 was the first card to demonstrate that hybrid coolers atop graphics cards can offer the best cooling performance this side of a custom liquid-cooling loop. Along those lines, EVGA just announced the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC2 Gaming Hybrid. This card combines a 120-mm closed-loop liquid cooler with a small axial fan to produce what EVGA says is its coolest and quietest GeForce GTX 1080 Ti yet. ...Read more...

Getting a bigger screen into a device without making the external dimensions any larger is a big trend these days. Smartphones are losing their buttons while screens of all kinds are losing their bezels. Gigabyte's Aero 15 laptops have jumped on that trend, but without making any major cuts. The new machines pack considerable processing power, gaming capabilities, and the ability to connect an entire array of ultra-high-definition monitors. ...Read more...

Apple's financial results for its fiscal 2017 second quarter are out. The company took in $52.9 billion in revenue, up 11% year-on-year. Its $14.1 billion in operating income was flat compared to the same period last year, and its gross margin of 38.9% was down half a percent from this time last year.iPhone sales for the quarter totaled 50.8 million devices, down slightly from 51.2 million compared to a ...Read more...

Usually, when picking out a motherboard, I advise people to head for the top-shelf Z270 chipset if they're overclocking or the low-end B250 chipset otherwise. You do give up more than just overclocking with a low-end chipset, though. Besides that, overclocking small-form-factor PCs can be a pretty tricky task anyway. For those reasons, Asus' new ROG Strix H270I Gaming could be a perfect pick for small systems that still need a full set of chipset features. ...Read more...

Testing of AMD's Ryzen 5 CPUs and friends continues apace in the TR labs, but one of the reasons you haven't seen our productivity benchmarks yet is that AMD offered to send over a couple more CPUs for us to put through our testing gauntlet. Say hello to the Ryzen 5 1600 and the Ryzen 5 1400. ...Read more...

Truffles? No thanks. I'm already stuffed.

Corsair's One compact gaming PC is pretty amazing, but not everyone needs something so small or has the coin to afford it. Corsair is expanding its line of Carbide gaming PC enclosures with the Carbide Spec-04, a budget-oriented mid-tower with an asymmetrical front panel designed for plenty of airflow. Motherboards up to ATX size will fit inside, and buyers will be able to ogle the interior through a large window in the side panel. ...Read more...

Microsoft's Surface line of devices is well-regarded by critics and users alike, and it's getting a new member. During its education-focused event today, Microsoft displayed the Surface Laptop to the world, in all its sleek and seamless glory. ...Read more...

At its EDU event this morning, Microsoft introduced a new version of Windows 10 called Windows 10 S, its apparent answer to Google's increasingly-popular Chrome OS. This version of Windows will only be able to run apps from the Windows Store, and it's designed to be easily managed in education environments using a version of Microsoft's Intune device management platform. ...Read more...

VisionTek has announced the addition of the Radeon RX 550 to its lineup of AMD graphics cards. This factory-overclocked card seems aimed at budget-conscious buyers. The GPU aboard it is has a base clock speed of 1100 MHz and a boost clock that can go as far as 1203 MHz. The card sports 2 GB of GDD5 memory connected to a 128-bit memory bus. ...Read more...

A professional-grade monitor doesn't have to be all business. What's the fun of owning a finely-calibrated, high-resolution display if you never load up a round of Civilization every once in a while? LG seems to have this kind of versatility in mind for its upcoming 43UD79-B display, a 42.5" behemoth with professional credentials and a few perks that gamers might enjoy. ...Read more...

AMD reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2017 today. Despite an 18% year-over-year increase in revenue to $984 million, the company still reported an operating loss of $29 million. AMD further recorded a net loss of $73 million for the quarter.The Computing and Graphics division hauled in $593 million of that revenue after the launch of the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 CPU lineups . That figure is up an impressive 29% year-over-year, and the company said it led ...Read more...

Most computers live fairly easy lives. Sure, some of them are punished by overclocking or endure crowded conditions in data centers, but those machines are often cooled by custom water loops or have high-CFM fans constantly blowing fresh air through them. Sparton's Stealth-series PCs are designed to operate for long periods in extreme conditions that most computers and human beings would rather avoid entirely. The LPC-815 and LPC-835 are specced to function in ambient temperatures from -13° F (-25° C) all the way up to 158° F (70° C). They do their work without the benefit of fans or any other moving parts, as well. ...Read more...

In the leadup to the launch of a new graphics chip from one of the two big vendors, rumors swirl like storm clouds above Kansas in the spring. Right now, AMD's upcoming RX Vega is the unreleased chip the rumor-mongers can't stop talking about. Today's dose of Vega rumors pertains to an entry in FutureMark's benchmark database that's believed to have come from a system with an AMD Ryzen 7 1800X and some type of Vega card. The system in question scored 5950 points overall, with a graphics tally of 5721 and a CPU score of 7699. Grab the salt jug for this one. ...Read more...

Have you ever built a custom liquid-cooling system, gerbils? If you have, you know that the stellar performance and sublime silence of such a setup tend to come at a great cost of effort and fuss, particularly when it comes time to clean the machine. Now, EK might have a way to ease some of that hassle with its EK-QDC connectors. ...Read more...

Devices as inexpensive as a $70 Xiaomi's Mi Box can stream 4K video from Netflix when connected to a compatible TV. To date, the only way to replicate such a feat with a PC was to use the integrated graphics on an Intel seventh-generation Core processor. That meant that HTPC users with Kaby Lake CPUs that wanted a bit of gaming performance were left choosing between 4K streaming, the ability to play games, or fiddling with cables. Thankfully, an upcoming Nvidia driver will allow for Netflix 4K streaming on Pascal graphics cards with at least 3 GB of RAM. ...Read more...

Spanish-language tech site El Chapuzas Informatico (ECI) has been a ready source of leaks and rumors lately. This time around, the publication has a picture of the board and box for a KFA2 GeForce GT 1030 EXOC White card, along with some of its specs. As always, these leaks should be consumed with a few grains of salts, though this particular one looks fairly solid.

When we wrote about Acer's Predator Triton 700 gaming laptops earlier today, we were somewhat taken aback by Acer's coyness about what Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series graphics chips were stuffed inside. The $3000 starting price suggests a GeForce GTX 1070 or better, but the press release was no more specific than saying that the laptops use a Pascal chip of some kind. ...Read more...

When we saw Silverstone's first Vital chassis at Computex last year, we commented that most of the Mini-STX enclosures we had seen were pretty similar. Fittingly, Silverstone's next Vital-series chassis is a bit different from its predecessor. The Vital VT02 is once again designed for motherboards in the Mini-STX form factor, but this time, the unit has room for a pair of 2.5" drives. ...Read more...

If you're one of the folks who likes a big mousing surface for low-sensitivity gameplay, you probably also have a tenkeyless keyboard. If not, maybe it's time to consider one. G.Skill is ready to serve with its latest finger-exerciser, the KM560 MX Tenkeyless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. ...Read more...

Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a standout performer. For some, the outrageous performance must be accompanied by ludicrous styling and over-the-top features. The Galax/KFA2 GeForce GTX 1080 Ti HOF was obviously created to cater to that market segment. The card sports a built-in LCD display that shows the frequency of the graphics core and memory or custom text by way of the company's Xtreme Tuner Plus Software. ...Read more...

Despite Ryzen CPUs roaring out of the gate a few weeks back, major PC makers haven't yet announced pre-built systems based around AMD's new chip. At least, not until now. Acer just let the world know that its Acer Aspire GX line of gaming desktops will pack Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 chips starting in May. ...Read more...

Howdy, gerbils! You may be itching to upgrade your decade-old system, but the high prices of desirable CPUs and motherboards is possibly an issue. Fear not, for today there's a bounty of deals on that front. Let's get crackin'.There's a chance you're looking for something we haven't covered. If that's the case, you can help The Tech Report by using the following referral links when you're out shopping: not only do we have a partnership with Newegg ...Read more...

Ever since Asetek received a patent in 2012 for its all-in-one liquid cooler design, it pursued legal action against CoolIt Systems and Cooler Master, who both made similar products. In 2015, Asetek won an injunction against Cooler Master's AIO coolers and settled with CoolIt. The Denmark-based company has now chalked up another legal victory. Asetek announced that it was awarded and received damage compensation from Cooler Master in the amount of $600,000.Following the injunction, Cooler Master stopped selling its infringing liquid coolers in the United States. Cooler Master avoided patent infringement in ...Read more...

Ever since Asetek received a patent in 2012 for its all-in-one liquid cooler design, it pursued legal action against CoolIt Systems and Cooler Master, who both made similar products. In 2015, Asetek won an injunction against Cooler Master's AIO coolers and settled with CoolIt. The Denmark-based company has now chalked up another legal victory. Asetek announced that it was awarded and received damage compensation from Cooler Master in the amount of $600,000.Following the injunction, Cooler Master stopped selling its infringing liquid coolers in the United States. Cooler Master avoided the threat of patent infringement in its subsequent designs by using a ...Read more...

With sales in traditional computer hardware categories seemingly shrinking every quarter, companies are trying harder to get into lucrative segments like specialty gaming hardware. Acer may not be the first name that comes to mind when thinking of performance gaming systems, but it's been growing its Predator gaming brand recently. At its next@Acer event yesterday, the company showed off a couple new families of high-end gaming laptops. ...Read more...

Intel reported healthy earnings and profits for the first quarter of this year as it continues its transition away from being the company that primarily powers PCs. The company took in $14.8 billion in revenue, up 8% year-over-year, and it made $3.6 billion in operating profit, up 40 percent from this time last year.The PC-focused Client Computing Group took in $8 billion of Intel's total revenue pie, up 6% year-on-year. Despite a 4% fall in platform volumes (a measure of processor and chipset sales as a whole), average selling ...Read more...

Acer held its 2017 next@Acer event in New York today, and that means we have the skinny on a whole pile of new products. We'll take a look at some of the other stuff here shortly, but the two most interesting products to us are a couple of gaming monitors: the Predator X27 and Predator Z271UV. Both are 27" LCD monitors that make use of quantum dot tech to improve their contrast and color gamut. ...Read more...

It is a bit curious that Razer names its pointing devices after snakes, noted predator of mice and other rodents. If you think about it, it's stranger still that the naming convention also applies to wireless mice lacking the cord emulating a serpent tail. In any case, Razer says its Lancehead wireless gaming mouse uses the company's proprietary Adaptive Frequency Technology (AFT) to deliver a smooth, lag-free connection between the mouse and the included wireless dongle. The styling of the Lancehead's ambidextrous nine-button body appears to have been inspired by the rear diffusers on McLaren's line of sports and racing cars. ...Read more...

PC hardware and computing

Rumors have circulated that Intel's next round of Xeons will shed their rather nondescript "E3" and "E5" model prefixes in favor of names based on luxurious precious metals. A document on Intel's website has confirmed that at least some upcoming chips will be branded as Xeon Gold and Xeon Platinum. ...Read more...

We've heard rumors from pretty reliable sources, but Noctua just gave us our first official confirmation that Intel's next high-end desktop platform will use the LGA 2066 socket. In a press release about heatsink support for the new socket, Noctua says that most of its current coolers support "the new LGA 2066 socket of Intel's 'Basin Falls' X299 platform for Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X CPUs out of the box," and that it will provide updated mounting hardware for older heatsinks at no additional charge. ...Read more...

Just a week after the last release, AMD has another software update for Radeon users. The new version is predictably called Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.4.4, as it's the fourth release this April. This update offers game-specific support for Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War III, which launches today. There's also the usual package of patched-up problems....Read more...

A few weeks ago, AMD offered Ryzen CPU owners a new power plan option for Windows 10 that tweaked a few settings to better fit the processors' power-saving characteristics. General feedback on the plan seems to have been positive, as AMD has now officially packaged it with its latest chipset drivers.When AMD first released Ryzen, it recommended that users set Windows to the High Performance power plan in order squeeze every last drop of performance they could out of their processors. Early reviews bore this recommendation out, as specific games didn't perform quite as well ...Read more...

We're only just scratching the surface these days of how connected devices and machine learning can affect our lives. Some answers are subtle, some less so. I wouldn't have pegged "fashion guide" as the next step for machine learning, but Amazon says otherwise. Amazon just unveiled its new Echo Look "style assistant."...Read more...

EK Waterblock seems to be bent on producing a slab of machined metal for every high-end motherboard on the planet. That's not necessarily bad, though. The waterblock that the company is showing off today is the EK-FB ASUS M9A Monoblock and it'll fit the ROG Maximus IX Apex mobo. That overclocking-friendly board has a souped-up power-delivery subsystem that might benefit from being under water. ...Read more...

A vocal minority has up in arms about Windows 10's data collection ever since its release. The company's been making an effort towards being clearer about its data collection practices. Microsoft rolled out its second major update to Windows 10 a couple of weeks ago. Today, it's offering some insight into how it uses telemetry data to help find bugs and smooth out software update rollouts.

AMD posted up a video to its Youtube channel starring Robert Duffy, id Software's CTO. In the video, Duffy lavishes praise on AMD's Ryzen processors and speaks at length about how id's software performs on them—great, as we already knew—and also briefly about what's coming next from the company....Read more...

FSP is mainly known for making power supplies for PCs, consumer electronics, and medical and industrial equipment. Someone in the company has apparently decided the time has come to start adding heatsinks to other spots in PCs. The FSP Group's Windale 4 and Windale 6 pair of CPU coolers is the company's first foray into the PC cooling market. The company seems to be placing the Windale units as alternatives to some of the most popular cooler offerings.We'll start with the big gun—in this case, the Windale 6 and its arsenal of six 6-mm direct-contact heatpipes. The copper tubes connect to a large array of black-anodized aluminum fins. A single 120-mm fan with blue LED illumination and a rubber-isolated mount whispers sweet nothings to the ...Read more...

So you've got your keyboard, your mouse, your headset, and every component in your PC all bedecked in RGB LEDs. What's the next step? Well, your mousepad, obviously. The latest product of Steelseries' R&D efforts is the Qck Prism, a dual-surface mousepad with twelve-zone RGB LED illumination. ...Read more...

AMD didn't bother with crafting reference cooler designs for its respun Radeon RX 500-series graphics cards, but that's not stopping Biostar from slapping the RX 480 cooler onto 500-series silicon. The motherboard and graphics card manufacturer has five different models based on AMD's Radeon RX 580, RX 570, and RX 550. ...Read more...