Tech News
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Funky Kit Review - MSI Z790 Project Zero Motherboard
Motherboards that have started to relocate the power connections to the back of the PCB have been a hot topic on the Hardware Asylum Podcast. On the surface they appear to be a logical evolution in the custom PC space but, are also a perfect example of what happens when everyone runs out of ideas.
The MSI Project Zero (and other motherboards like this) have a bright future but, a very limited demographic and while they are being marketed to the DIY crowd, I fully expect these to be the last custom motherboards that we will be buying as consumers. The design will be pushed to the OEM crowd while budget minded DIY builders (98% of pc builders) will stick with the less expensive traditional designs while they are still available.
If you're planning to build a PC with great aesthetics, as well as a clean and neat looking motherboard, then the MSI Z790 Project Zero will do just the job, provided that you have a compatible case. The motherboard comes with plenty of features, and offers decent performance as expected from a Z790 chipset.
While I am of the opinion that these boards solve a problem that doesn't exist, I cannot stress enough that they do look amazing when you see them in person.
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be quiet! Dark Base 701 Computer Case Review @ APH Networks
The Dark Base series from bequiet is a nice combination between offering what people need without breaking the budget. This can be an important distinction when building a PC either as an OEM or DIY'er.
While the style reminds me of what Cooler Master had been doing some 8+ years ago, it still looks great and should be a great addition to your high-performance builds.
The be quiet! Dark Base 701 is a full-featured, high-end mid-tower computer case that delivers on usability and performance.
Also keep in mind that bequiet does offer LED versions of their popular silent wings fans so you can finally keep with the bequet ecosystem and build a rig the way they want you to.
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Gigabyte AORUS CO94DQ 49-Inch QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Review @ ThinkComputers
There comes a time in everyone’s life, and maybe that time is now, when you have to start thinking about going wide screen. dual, triple and quad monitors can often get you the width you need but require so many resources that it can sometimes be a little too messy for the average user.
So, where do you get the best widescreen experience? Seems Gigabyte might have the answer in the form of the AORUS CO94DQ 49 inch QLED Gaming Monitor.
The last time we took a look at a monitor from Gigabyte it was their AORUS FO27Q3, which was very much gaming focused with its 360 Hz refresh rate. Today we are going to be taking a look at another QD-OLED panel from Gigabyte, but this model is more of an all-around monitor that is going to be great for gaming, but also productivity. The AORUS CO49DQ is a 49-inch super-ultrawide display that makes use of a QD-OLED panel with a Dual QHD (5120 x 1440) resolution, 144 Hz refresh rate, 0.03 ms gray-to-gray (GTG) response time, a DisplayHDR True Black 400 rating, built-in KVM, and of course Gigabyte's OLED care to avoid burn-in and keep the panel just like the day you got it. This review is going to be a bit different as I've been using this panel as my daily driver for about a month now. So it is going to be very productivity-focused, but of course I will be gaming on the monitor as well! Let's jump in!
Of course, your mileage may vary but, 49 inches is quite a few samishes.
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Lian Li EDGE EG1000 1000W ATX 3.1 Power Supply @ Guru3D
Power supplies have become rather popular over the last 10 years and seems that every hardware maker has a version available. They are rather cheap to produce with high margins that ultimately make up for the lack in demand.
So, what happens when a hardware maker decides to change things up a bit. Well, that is the basis for the Edge series PSU from Lian Li and something we talked about during our Computex 2024 coverage Podcast.
The Edge series PSU comes with several key components that facilitate a streamlined installation process. Included are flexible cables with individual sleeving and cable combs, ensuring neat and organized cabling. The unique T-shaped design is tailored for vertical installation in dual-chamber PC cases, allowing for better airflow and space optimization.
The PSU is really designed more for the Lain Li dual chamber chassis designs but could be used in just about any computer case if you didn't mind having to double route your cables.
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Cooler Master MasterBox 600 @ TechPowerUp
Cheap cases can be found almost anywhere and while most of them are worth the cost you pay there are some that can suprise you.
The Cooler Master MasterBox 600 aims squarely at the magical $100 market, aiming to offer as much functionality as possible. This includes four fans with a built-in controller, a fine mesh front and full BTF support. The MasterBox 600 checks off all the boxes while also managing to include a few fairly unique aspects.
We have reviewed a number of MasterBox cases from Cooler Master and most of them are pretty good. Nothing too special but, at the desired price point you really cannot complain too much.
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AMD Ryzen 9600X and 9700X @ LanOC Reviews
I will be the first to admit that AMD seems to be killing it with their latest generation of Ryzen processors. As many of you know I haven't been the biggest fan of AMD hardware for a very long time but, seeing AMD based overclocking friendly systems during Computex was a real eye opener.
This year at Computex AMD announced the next generation of their Ryzen CPU lineup, the 9000 series which is built on the Zen 5 microarchitecture. They announced four different CPUs, The Ryzen 5 9600X with 6 cores, the Ryzen 7 9700X with 8 cores, and then two Ryzen 9 CPUs, the 9900X with 12 cores and the 9950X with 16 cores. AMD was originally launching these at the end of July but they did push things slightly with the 9600X and 9700X hitting stores on the 8th and the 9900X and 9950X hitting stores on the 15th. So today I will be checking out the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X to see what they are all about ahead of that store launch. Let’s dive in!
Seems I might have to get on this AMD train and see what all the fuss is about.
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Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon Case
A case made of carbon? The Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon is the first case from Alphacool on the market that is second to none. This design case offers great flexibility, which is ideal for comprehensive water cooling of PC components.
Made from real carbon tubes and held in place by CNC-milled aluminum corners, the case can be fully dismantled and individually adapted to your own wishes. Completely in the stylish and modern Apex design, it also includes a distro plate specially adapted to this case, including a pre-assembled VPP Apex pump. With the usual chrome-plated brass connections and brilliant digital aRGB lighting, it fits perfectly into the ensemble. The smoked glass side panels complete the iconic look.
The Alphacool Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon case impresses with its outstanding design and offers unparalleled customization options thanks to its fully screw-fastened construction. Equipped with three radiator mounts, this case provides ideal conditions for high-performance cooling systems. An included GPU bracket with cable enables vertical mounting of the graphics card. The mainboard tray including cable box can also be positioned flexibly, giving the user a wide range of creative configuration options for the Skeleton case.
The included Distro Plate with a 750ml reservoir offers connection options for CPU, GPU and radiators. The pre-installed Alphacool Apex pump is powerful enough to support complex water cooling loops. The connections of the Distro Plate are made of chrome-plated brass, as is usual with Alphacool. By embedding the connections in the acrylic, the problem of possible leaks due to cracking is avoided. Fitted with O-rings, the two connector parts lock together during installation and ensure maximum safety.
The Apex product line from Alphacool represents the highest level of perfection. First-class materials and innovative technologies guarantee an exceptional premium product. Consisting of genuine carbon and modular, CNC-milled aluminum connectors, the Apex Pro Skeleton case offers limitless creativity with a unique look. Each Skeleton case is one of a kind, designed to unleash the user's vision and creative ideas.
The Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon and Apex Skeleton Carbon cases (standard version, without distro plate and without vertical GPU mount) are now available in the online store.
Features- Genuine carbon
- Can be completely dismantled
- Optimized for water cooling
- Smoked glass side panels
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Funky Kit Review - Acer MA200 1TB NVMe M.2 2230 PCIe 4.0 SSD
I bet you didn't know that Acer made SSDs??
Well, you would be right.
. Acer buys their accessory components just like everyone else however, they partner with companies to ensure that the SSDs (and other components) meet their quality standards.
As it turns out, you can buy some of them off the open market.
The Acer MA200 M.2 2230 1TB SSD is one of the best options if you want a SSD that fits handheld gaming consoles and small laptops. It's fast, compatible with multiple devices, uses high-quality components and TLC NAND, and you also get a five-year warranty.
I picked up a 2TB desktop drives during CES 2024, and while it is currently untested and chilling in the Ollama AI Test Platform, I can say it is super-fast and works as expected. Full review coming soon.
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NVIDIA AI Foundry Builds Custom Llama 3.1 Generative AI Models for the World’s Enterprises
SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NVIDIA today announced a new NVIDIA AI Foundry service and NVIDIA NIM™ inference microservices to supercharge generative AI for the world’s enterprises with the Llama 3.1 collection of openly available models, also introduced today.
With NVIDIA AI Foundry, enterprises and nations can now create custom “supermodels” for their domain-specific industry use cases using Llama 3.1 and NVIDIA software, computing and expertise. Enterprises can train these supermodels with proprietary data as well as synthetic data generated from Llama 3.1 405B and the NVIDIA Nemotron™ Reward model.
- Enterprises and Nations Can Now Build ‘Supermodels’ With NVIDIA AI Foundry Using Their Own Data Paired With Llama 3.1 405B and NVIDIA Nemotron Models
- NVIDIA AI Foundry Offers Comprehensive Generative AI Model Service Spanning Curation, Synthetic Data Generation, Fine-Tuning, Retrieval, Guardrails and Evaluation to Deploy Custom Llama 3.1 NVIDIA NIM Microservices With New NVIDIA NeMo Retriever Microservices for Accurate Responses
- Accenture First to Use New Service to Build Custom Llama 3.1 Models for Clients; Aramco, AT&T, Uber and Other Industry Leaders Among First to Access New Llama NVIDIA NIM Microservices
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NVIDIA AI Foundry is powered by the NVIDIA DGX™ Cloud AI platform, which is co-engineered with the world’s leading public clouds, to give enterprises significant compute resources that easily scale as AI demands change.
The new offerings come at a time when enterprises, as well as nations developing sovereign AI strategies, want to build custom large language models with domain-specific knowledge for generative AI applications that reflect their unique business or culture.
“Meta’s openly available Llama 3.1 models mark a pivotal moment for the adoption of generative AI within the world’s enterprises,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Llama 3.1 opens the floodgates for every enterprise and industry to build state-of-the-art generative AI applications. NVIDIA AI Foundry has integrated Llama 3.1 throughout and is ready to help enterprises build and deploy custom Llama supermodels.”
“The new Llama 3.1 models are a super-important step for open source AI,” said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta. “With NVIDIA AI Foundry, companies can easily create and customize the state-of-the-art AI services people want and deploy them with NVIDIA NIM. I’m excited to get this in people’s hands.”
To supercharge enterprise deployments of Llama 3.1 models for production AI, NVIDIA NIM inference microservices for Llama 3.1 models are now available for download from ai.nvidia.com. NIM microservices are the fastest way to deploy Llama 3.1 models in production and power up to 2.5x higher throughput than running inference without NIM.
Enterprises can pair Llama 3.1 NIM microservices with new NVIDIA NeMo Retriever NIM microservices to create state-of-the-art retrieval pipelines for AI copilots, assistants and digital human avatars.
Accenture Pioneers Custom Llama Supermodels for Enterprises With AI Foundry
Global professional services firm Accenture is first to adopt NVIDIA AI Foundry to build custom Llama 3.1 models using the Accenture AI Refinery™ framework, both for its own use as well as for clients seeking to deploy generative AI applications that reflect their culture, languages and industries.“The world’s leading enterprises see how generative AI is transforming every industry and are eager to deploy applications powered by custom models,” said Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture. “Accenture has been working with NVIDIA NIM inference microservices for our internal AI applications, and now, using NVIDIA AI Foundry, we can help clients quickly create and deploy custom Llama 3.1 models to power transformative AI applications for their own business priorities.”
NVIDIA AI Foundry provides an end-to-end service for quickly building custom supermodels. It combines NVIDIA software, infrastructure and expertise with open community models, technology and support from the NVIDIA AI ecosystem.
With NVIDIA AI Foundry, enterprises can create custom models using Llama 3.1 models and the NVIDIA NeMo platform — including the NVIDIA Nemotron-4 340B Reward model, ranked first on the Hugging Face RewardBench.
Once custom models are created, enterprises can create NVIDIA NIM inference microservices to run them in production using their preferred MLOps and AIOps platforms on their preferred cloud platforms and NVIDIA-Certified Systems™ from global server manufacturers.
NVIDIA AI Enterprise experts and global system integrator partners work with AI Foundry customers to accelerate the entire process, from development to deployment.
NVIDIA Nemotron Powers Advanced Model Customization
Enterprises that need additional training data for creating a domain-specific model can use Llama 3.1 405B and Nemotron-4 340B together to generate synthetic data to boost model accuracy when creating custom Llama supermodels.Customers that have their own training data can customize Llama 3.1 models with NVIDIA NeMo for domain-adaptive pretraining, or DAPT, to further increase model accuracy.
NVIDIA and Meta have also teamed to provide a distillation recipe for Llama 3.1 that developers can use to build smaller custom Llama 3.1 models for generative AI applications. This enables enterprises to run Llama-powered AI applications on a broader range of accelerated infrastructure, such as AI workstations and laptops.
Industry-Leading Enterprises Supercharge AI With NVIDIA and Llama
Companies across healthcare, energy, financial services, retail, transportation and telecommunications are already working with NVIDIA NIM microservices for Llama. Among the first to access the new NIM microservices for Llama 3.1 are Aramco, AT&T and Uber.Trained on over 16,000 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and optimized for NVIDIA accelerated computing and software — in the data center, in the cloud and locally on workstations with NVIDIA RTX™ GPUs or PCs with GeForce RTX GPUs — the Llama 3.1 collection of multilingual LLMs is a collection of generative AI models in 8B-, 70B- and 405B-parameter sizes.
New NeMo Retriever RAG Microservices Boost Accuracy and Performance
Using new NVIDIA NeMo Retriever NIM inference microservices for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), organizations can enhance response accuracy when deploying customized Llama supermodels and Llama NIM microservices in production.Combined with NVIDIA NIM inference microservices for Llama 3.1 405B, NeMo Retriever NIM microservices deliver the highest open and commercial text Q&A retrieval accuracy for RAG pipelines.
Enterprise Ecosystem Ready to Power Llama 3.1 and NeMo Retriever NIM Deployments
Hundreds of NVIDIA NIM partners providing enterprise, data and infrastructure platforms can now integrate the new microservices in their AI solutions to supercharge generative AI for the NVIDIA community of more than 5 million developers and 19,000 startups.Production support for Llama 3.1 NIM and NeMo Retriever NIM microservices is available through NVIDIA AI Enterprise. Members of the NVIDIA Developer Program will soon be able to access NIM microservices for free for research, development and testing on their preferred infrastructure.
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COLORFUL Announces the Launch of the CVN Z790D5 ARK FROZEN Motherboard
Shenzhen, China, July 25th, 2024 - Colorful Technology Company Limited, a leading brand in gaming PC components, gaming laptops, and HiFi audio products, is proud to announce the CVN Z790D5 ARK FROZEN motherboard for the 14th Gen, 13th Gen, and 12th Gen Intel Core processors. The motherboard supports DDR5 memory and comes with four PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots for high-speed NVMe SSDs.
The design of the CVN Z790D5 ARK FROZEN is inspired by the powerful CVN-class battleships. The motherboard features a titanium gray color from the heat sinks to the PCB finish. The motherboard features a 14+1+1 digital power phase design with 90A high-spec DrMOS VRMs with tantalum polymer capacitor to support high-end Intel Core i9 processors with ease.
The CVN Z790D5 ARK FROZEN motherboard comes with a 2.5 GbE ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.3. The motherboard has single PCIe 5.0 X16 slot that’s backward compatible with PCIe 4.0 devices such as the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards. There’s also a bottom PCIe 4.0x4 slot for add-in devices such as RAID controllers, capture cards, and others.
4X PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD Slots
Enjoy high-capacity, high-speed storage configurations with four PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots available for PCIe Gen4 M.2 solid-state drives.
Alloy Reinforced Memory Slots
CVN 790D5 ARK FROZEN features alloy reinforced memory slots for aesthetics and durability. Furthermore, the 8-layer PCB and thickened gold-plated contact ensure stable and fast data transmission allowing the motherboard to support higher memory overclocks of up to DDR5-7800MHz. The motherboard supports 48GB memory modules, supporting a total memory capacity of 192GB.
Extensive Connectivity with 30W PD Fast Charging
The CVN 790D5 ARK FROZEN motherboard sports plenty of connectivity options on its rear I/O including 4x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.2 Gen1, three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, and 1x USB 3.2 Gen2x2 type-C port. The front panel I/O header features USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C that supports 30W PD fast charging.
