Author: Jan Olšan

Nova Lake to feature new 2L-ILM socket to prevent CPU bending

CPU coolers, Motherboards, News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Since Alder Lake (12th‑gen Core), Intel has been using a rectangular desktop CPU socket—first LGA 1700, now LGA 1851, and at the turn of the year the LGA 1954 platform for Nova Lake is expected. These sockets, however, have been associated with complaints about CPU bending caused by the mounting mechanism and cooler pressure. With Nova Lake, Intel is preparing a solution, though it may not be available on all motherboards. Read more “Nova Lake to feature new 2L-ILM socket to prevent CPU bending” »

Further price hikes of memory and SSDs, up to 75% in spring

Memory, News, SSDs | | Jan Olšan

The second quarter has begun, and it has nasty things in store—another round of price increases for RAM and SSDs. In February we discussed a TrendForce forecast, noting that the price surge so far was likely the biggest jump in history. That itself was based just on the increases in Q4 2025 and Q1 2026. But as if those weren’t enough, another drastic price spike is coming now between April and June, making the situation even worse. Read more “Further price hikes of memory and SSDs, up to 75% in spring” »

Arrow Lake Refresh CPU pricing considerably higher than announced

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Last year’s Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 and AMD Radeon RX 9000 GPU launches were widely criticised for “fake MSRP.” That refers to situations where companies announce an attractive price that creates a good first impression and earns praise in reviews, only for the cards to immediately become more expensive or never actually appear at the advertised price. It now looks like something similar may be happening with Intel’s new processors. Read more “Arrow Lake Refresh CPU pricing considerably higher than announced” »

Nvidia App solves the problem of long shader compilation in games

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

Yesterday we reported on an update to the Nvidia App utility for GeForce graphics cards, which brought owners of the latest‑generation GPUs the ability to use 6× frame generation and a dynamic mode in DLSS 4.5. But that’s not the only new feature the company has prepared. This version of Nvidia App includes another improvement that can free you from the annoying waiting for shader compilation, which often takes several minutes. Read more “Nvidia App solves the problem of long shader compilation in games” »

Zdroj MSI MPG Ai1600TS PCIE5

MSI PSUs feature GPU Safeguard+ against 12V-2×6 cable melting

Graphics, News, PSUs | | Jan Olšan

Unreliable 12V‑2×6/12VHPWR GPU power connectors have been causing trouble for years—especially on Nvidia hardware. Unfortunately, the problem remains unresolved because the company insists on pushing the connector, meaning the risk of overheating and melting cables can only be mitigated or worked around. MSI is now introducing its own attempt at such a workaround, adding a protection and early warning feature to its power supplies. Read more “MSI PSUs feature GPU Safeguard+ against 12V-2×6 cable melting” »

Intel and AMD to increase CPU prices by 10–15 %

Processors, News | | Jan Olšan

Although memory and SSD prices are currently very high, the it wasn’t nearly as bad in the CPU market—Intel just released the new “Plus” refresh CPUs at surprisingly low pricing, and AMD responded with discounts. Unfortunately, rising manufacturing costs driven by demand for AI hardware will likely hit this segment as well. Both Intel and AMD are reportedly preparing CPU price increases, which will make PCs even more expensive. Read more “Intel and AMD to increase CPU prices by 10–15 %” »

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition

Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition is here: 16‑cores and 2× 3D V‑Cache

Processors, News | | Jan Olšan

Ever since the first 3D V‑Cache processors in 2022, the possibility of a desktop CPU with 16 cores and 3D V‑Cache mounted on both CPU chiplets has been on the table. AMD never made it reality despite many asking for it, until now. Hints such a CPU was coming started pouring in last year though. It didn’t arrive with the gaming 9850X3D model in January, but this week, AMD is finally making this long-awaited CPU real. Read more “Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition is here: 16‑cores and 2× 3D V‑Cache” »

Core Ultra 270K Plus beats existing high-end. No KF version, though

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Intel is launching new CPUs for the LGA 1954 socket, refreshed “Plus” models of the Core Ultra 200S “Arrow Lake” lineup. These focus on offering great bang for buck, adding more cores. As a result, Intel abandoned the pricier Core Ultra 9 flagship and gave full core count to the lower-tier Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. In the end, it will even be faster than the previous Core Ultra 9 285K—in practice, ironically running at higher clock speeds. Read more “Core Ultra 270K Plus beats existing high-end. No KF version, though” »

FSR 4.1 released with higher quality and faster Ultra Performance

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

We have recently covered a leak of driver files that revealed the incoming launch of AMD’s improved AI upscaling, FSR 4.1. Because the library itself was leaked, FSR 4.1 had already been tested in practice. Now this technology is officially arriving for all users (or at least those with sufficiently new GPUs) with version 2026.3.1 drivers, which the company released alongside the launch of the Crimson Desert game. Read more “FSR 4.1 released with higher quality and faster Ultra Performance” »

RAM errors causing PC crashes are far more common than assumed

Memory, News, Software | | Jan Olšan

When your web browser or a game crashes, you are likely to consider it a bug in that software. In reality, however, you may have faulty or unstable system memory without even knowing it. Unlike HDDs or SSDs, data in RAM is not protected against corruption. And it appears that unstable memory can silently cause computer trouble far more often than we think, potentially even putting your valuable data at risk. Read more “RAM errors causing PC crashes are far more common than assumed” »

Arrow Lake Refresh Intel desktop CPUs launched: SKUs and pricing

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Intel has officially released the so-called Arrow Lake Refresh CPUs for the LGA 1851 desktop socket. This platform won’t receive a new generation like laptops did in the 1.8 nm Core Ultra 300 Panther Lake CPUs. Instead, new models of the 3 nm Arrow Lake generationare coming. And although they do not have a new architecture, they should be very interesting when it comes to the bang-for-buck ratio. Read more “Arrow Lake Refresh Intel desktop CPUs launched: SKUs and pricing” »

Dynamic frame generation in DLSS 4.5 to launch in three weeks

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

In January, Nvidia announced DLSS 4.5—a new version of AI upscaling for games with a new AI model and improved frame generation. This can insert up to five artificial frames between two real frames rendered by the game (meaning a sixfold increase of displayed frames). However, the more interesting part may be the addition of a dynamic mode that allows the number of generated frames to be switched on the fly. Read more “Dynamic frame generation in DLSS 4.5 to launch in three weeks” »

Intel to unveil new Core Ultra 200 desktop processors next week

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Originally, Intel was expected to launch the Core Ultra 200 (Arrow Lake) desktop CPU refresh right at the beginning of the year in January. That did not happen, but Intel is still preparing these new models for its lineup, and they should reach stores very soon. The dates when customers can expect them have now leaked. Earlier reports indicated March or April, but Intel will apparently manage to launch them within the first quarter after all. Read more “Intel to unveil new Core Ultra 200 desktop processors next week” »

AMD FSR 4.1 incoming with improved image quality, leak suggests

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

In December, AMD unveiled the Redstone technology package, which builds on the AI-based FSR4 upscaling introduced with the Radeon RX 9000 series. Redstone added AI-based frame generation, Neural Radiance Caching, and Ray Regeneration. The upscaling component itself, however, was not updated to a new version. It seems that’s changing now with the FSR 4.1 update, which will apparently arrive in one of the upcoming driver releases. Read more “AMD FSR 4.1 incoming with improved image quality, leak suggests” »

Unified Core: Breakthrough Change Is Coming To Intel CPUs

Processors, News | | Jan Olšan

Since 2021 Intel has been using a hybrid CPU architecture with big and little cores (starting with 12th-gen Core CPUs, though it had already been tried a year and a half earlier in the Lakefield SoC). However, the little “E-Cores” derived from former Atom SoC are quite unpopular among some. Now, a radical change is emerging on the horizon—instead of maintaining two completely different core architectures, Intel is moving to a single one. Read more “Unified Core: Breakthrough Change Is Coming To Intel CPUs” »

1 2 3 … 35