What Did Asus Have for Schools? Mobos, but Also Peripherals

NASes, Peripherals, News, Motherboards | | Ľubomír Samák

Yes, the “main” topic with the most attention was motherboards (and the tech around them), but peripherals under the Asus banner also shone at the HWCooling Techtour ‘26 conference. Mice, keyboards, headphones… and there is more, which, incidentally, students also won for their activity. In this article, to give a better idea, we will map out roughly how it all looked. At the Asus booth, but also outside it. Read more “What Did Asus Have for Schools? Mobos, but Also Peripherals” »

Mission Accomplished: HWCooling Techtour Is a Thing of the Past

News | | Ľubomír Samák

Intel (2024), Nvidia (2025), and AMD (2026). Over the years, we managed to bring representatives of very large companies to Slovak schools, for which we are grateful. That goes for the schools, the university production team, and the self-governing regions as well. We believe we accomplished something useful, but this trilogy has crossed the finish line. In any case, where something “old” ends, a new episode or series begins. Read more “Mission Accomplished: HWCooling Techtour Is a Thing of the Past” »

Rhea2 & Mobius100: Details of Second-Generation EU CPUs

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

We have an update on developments in the European CPU project. We recently reported that deliveries of the first generation of these server CPUs, Rhea1, have begun, after a considerable delay. Now we have more details on the follow-up generation, which SiPearl is currently developing. It could be significantly better and more competitive—provided that it arrives on time this time and is not again delayed by several years. Read more “Rhea2 & Mobius100: Details of Second-Generation EU CPUs” »

Windows 11 To Support APX Instructions in Nova Lake CPUs Early

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

For some time now, Intel has been working on the APX extension, which adds more working registers to x86 CPUs along with other improvements that should make the x86 instruction set more competitive with, say, Arm processors. APX will be introduced in Intel Core Ultra 4000 “Nova Lake” CPUs. We assumed that it would take time for software to utilise it, and that it would initially be of little use. That turns out to not be the case. Read more “Windows 11 To Support APX Instructions in Nova Lake CPUs Early” »

Z990 Boards for Nova Lake Leaked: Gigabyte Preparing 24 Models

Motherboards, News | | Jan Olšan

Intel has a new generation of desktop processors, Core Ultra 4000 Nova Lake, coming around the year’s end. It should be a significant step forward compared to the ill-received Core Ultra 200 generation, but it also brings the new LGA 1954 platform, so it will require new motherboards. A list of some of the models Gigabyte is preparing has now leaked onto the internet, and it looks like board makers are expecting a lot from Nova Lake. Read more “Z990 Boards for Nova Lake Leaked: Gigabyte Preparing 24 Models” »

Interacting with Schools “Remotely” (HWCooling Techtour ‘26)

News | | Ľubomír Samák

Although the HWCooling Techtour ‘26 conference took place in person at only two schools (in Poprad and in Martin), online viewing was arranged for the vast majority. This article is meant to give an idea of how it looked, or rather how the individual schools handled this task and joined in. We will try not only to describe it, but also to illustrate it, with a few photos that we received directly from the schools. Read more “Interacting with Schools “Remotely” (HWCooling Techtour ‘26)” »

Windows 11 Is 20% Faster, Needs Less RAM Now, Microsoft Claims

News, Software | | Jan Olšan

Microsoft’s new 26H2 Windows 11 update brings a number of new features, like improved search and a long-requested Start menu customization and ability to have a vertical taskbar. But his version also brings progress to another criticized area: It improves the performance and responsiveness of the system and works better on computers with a small amount of RAM (of which there will be more and more thanks to the AI craze). Read more “Windows 11 Is 20% Faster, Needs Less RAM Now, Microsoft Claims” »

Intel Tried Their Own Process for Nova Lake, But Had to Capitulate

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Intel has had 1.8nm chips since January, while TSMC’s 2nm technology arrived much later. The official names don’t mean much, though—evidence has emerged that Intel’s 1.8nm process has significantly worse characteristics despite the “better number”. Intel has apparently developed versions of their next-gen processor for both technologies internally, but the in-house process suffered worse transistor density and poor performance. Read more “Intel Tried Their Own Process for Nova Lake, But Had to Capitulate” »

Intel Nova Lake CPUs Without “BFC” Reportedly Weak in Games

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Two years after the Core Ultra 200 “Arrow Lake” processors, Intel is finally close to launching new generation of CPUs for desktop computers, which are mostly used for gaming thee days. Gaming performance specifically was a weak point of Arrow Lake and that is is one of the things expected to be fixed by the upcoming Core Ultra 4000 “Nova Lake” processors. However, the improvements may not be as good as expected, according to leaks. Read more “Intel Nova Lake CPUs Without “BFC” Reportedly Weak in Games” »

GlobalFoundries Will Have a 7nm Process After All. In the EU

News, Technology | | Jan Olšan

Chip foundry GlobalFoundries, successor company to AMD’s fabs, withdrew from the race for advanced manufacturing processes in 2018 by opting to not put its in-house 7nm EUV process into production. A pity, since this was just a few years before the later chip demand boom. The company may nevertheless offer a more modern process after all. It is now promising a new manufacturing technology that is meant to enable “7nm-class” chips. Read more “GlobalFoundries Will Have a 7nm Process After All. In the EU” »

End of GeForce RTX 5090: Retailers Ending Sales, Nvidia too

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

According to recent leaks, Nvidia is discontinuing the GeForce RTX 5090 and redirecting the GB202 chips to the production of AI accelerators for workstations and servers. At first, it was hard to believe. It would be the first time the company itself had canceled the most powerful and most expensive GPU model for gaming PCs—and what’s more, two years before the new generation. However, more and more signs appear to confirm this. Read more “End of GeForce RTX 5090: Retailers Ending Sales, Nvidia too” »

DLSS 5 v Hogwarts Legacy

Nvidia Speeds Up DLSS 5 and Frame Gen. The Cost Is Quality

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

Long awaited laptops with Nvidia’s RTX Spark N1X processors are finally coming the market. One of their main propositions is a GPU derived from the GeForce RTX 5000 graphics architecture, although games will have to contend with the poorer compatibility of the Arm platform. Nvidia has therefore aligned various gaming news with the launch of the RTX Spark, including updates to DLSS technologies that also benefit regular GeForce cards. Read more “Nvidia Speeds Up DLSS 5 and Frame Gen. The Cost Is Quality” »

New Radeon GPUs Likely Won’t Arrive Until Second Half of 2027

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

We recently reported the new generations of GPUs from Nvidia (GeForce RTX 6000 / Rubin) and AMD (RDNA 5) will not arrive until 2028. There was supposed to be one exception, however—AMD could reportedly release one of the new-generation cards in 2027. The information at the time did not say when exactly in that year this might happen. Now we have clarification, and it seems it will not be anytime soon either—as might have been expected. Read more “New Radeon GPUs Likely Won’t Arrive Until Second Half of 2027” »

AMD Processors, the Main Topic of HWCooling Techtour ’26

News, Processors | | Ľubomír Samák

HWCooling Techtour ’26 was built around Ryzen 9000 series CPUs. Among other things, these were also available at the booth, and the schools learned various details that could be described as “already available.” By that we mean various pieces of information that students and teachers had only learned secondhand, for example on the internet. Now, however, a representative of AMD came, gave a talk, showed… Read more “AMD Processors, the Main Topic of HWCooling Techtour ’26” »

Nationwide HWCooling Techtour ’26 Broadcast in Pictures

News | | Ľubomír Samák

Everything went successfully. The third edition of HWCooling Techtour took place in Martin, and how did it look? That is what this article is about, and over time more will follow to give the best possible picture of the event, which aims to bring modern PC hardware into Slovak schools. Talks by representatives of AMD, Asus, DeepCool, or Axagon? Yes. Liquid nitrogen and cable manufacturing? That too. Read more “Nationwide HWCooling Techtour ’26 Broadcast in Pictures” »

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