Author: Jan Olšan

Intel Nova Lake CPUs will bring big iGPU and media engine upgrades

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Intel’s Arrow Lake desktop CPUs have much more interesting integrated GPUs than the previous Core processors, but they’re derived from the 1st gen Arc graphics, lagging behind the Lunar Lake processors that include the Xe2 architecture like the new Arc “Battlemage” cards. However, it appears the upcoming Nova Lake generation due out next year could mark a significant leap forward in integrated GPU capabilities and be quite compelling. Read more “Intel Nova Lake CPUs will bring big iGPU and media engine upgrades” »

Sloty PCI Express a M.2

PCI Express 7.0 finalized: Up to 256 GB/s for graphics cards

News, Technology | | Jan Olšan

This year’s Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 and AMD Radeon RX 9000 graphics cards are the first gaming GPUs to use PCI Express 5.0 interface. However, the technology has already moved on far ahead. The PCI-SIG consortium has just completed and published the final specification for the new PCI Express 7.0 standard, which is four times faster. It also introduces a technology that replaces electrical signals with optics. Read more “PCI Express 7.0 finalized: Up to 256 GB/s for graphics cards” »

TSMC’s 1.6nm chips will be unprecedentedly expensive

News, Technology | | Jan Olšan

For a long time, Moore’s Law meant new technologies provided more transistors for the same or lower cost, as more could fit onto a chip of the same size. But in the last decade, production costs have been rising, transistors are no longer getting cheaper, and same-sized chips are costing more. And after the 2nm process, things will escalate dramatically – a single wafer will cost nearly ten times more than it did ten years ago. Read more “TSMC’s 1.6nm chips will be unprecedentedly expensive” »

Neat idea for Mini-ITX rigs: Board with PCIe slots on both sides

Motherboards, News | | Jan Olšan

Among other things at Computex, a rather interesting board for compact Mini-ITX systems made an appearance. Recently there is a push for boards with connectors on the backside of the PCB, allowing cables to be hidden from view. Maxsun has however come up with a board that even puts the PCI Express ×16 slot on the back side. Normally, that wouldn’t make much sense, but in Mini-ITX builds, this idea could be very useful. Read more “Neat idea for Mini-ITX rigs: Board with PCIe slots on both sides” »

Faster Intel GPUs coming: Arc B770 in the second half of the year

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

Just before Computex, Intel hinted a more powerful gaming graphics card from the “Battlemage” Arc line may be coming, possibly the B770 model or maybe the B780. The company only presented Arc Pro GPUs for AI applications, still using the smaller die from the Arc B580 card, at the show itself, however. But that doesn’t mean earlier rumors were false. It seems the release of a stronger Battlemage card has been confirmed off record. Read more “Faster Intel GPUs coming: Arc B770 in the second half of the year” »

Intel Nova Lake to keep compatibility with LGA 1700/1851 coolers

Cooling, CPU coolers, News | | Jan Olšan

Intel’s upcoming desktop processor, codenamed Nova Lake, slated for release in the second half of 2026 for a 2nm process node and a new architecture, is also expected to debut a new LGA 1954 socket. This initially raised concerns of the CPUs possibly requiring new coolers. Fortunately, it now appears that compatibility will be preserved, based on the latest leaks surrounding the LGA 1954 platform that have surfaced online. Read more “Intel Nova Lake to keep compatibility with LGA 1700/1851 coolers” »

Affordable 10Gbps Realtek NICs coming to motherboards this year

Motherboards, Networks, News | | Jan Olšan

For a very long time, PCs were stuck at gigabit Ethernet. Only recently did we move toward so-called multigigabit (2.5Gb/s and 5Gb/s) NICs. Now, the era of truly accessible 10Gb/s NICs might be about to start. Realtek is launching a 10Gb/s adapter that could enable the production of affordable cards and even integration onto motherboards – just as its earlier chips helped mainstream the 2.5Gb/s and the 5Gb/s standards. Read more “Affordable 10Gbps Realtek NICs coming to motherboards this year” »

Gigabyte factory photo tour: Mobo and graphics cards production

Graphics, Interview, Motherboards | | Jan Olšan

Last week, we reported from the Computex trade show, visiting the booths of various companies. But we’ve got another photo report from Taiwan. We also managed to get into a Gigabyte factory, where the company produces motherboards and graphics cards, and we’re bringing you a gallery of photos from there. Contrary to popular belief, not all hardware manufacturing takes place in China – many components are made in Taiwan. Read more “Gigabyte factory photo tour: Mobo and graphics cards production” »

Asus at Computex: BTF boards and GPUs, anime, and ProArt design

CPU coolers, Graphics, Motherboards, PC cases | | Jan Olšan

We have a colleague attending Taiwan’s Computex trade show, one of the highlights of the PC and hardware calendar, where manufacturers showcase their biggest innovations. We visited Asus, and we picked out a some interesting highlights the company is presenting. Asus, too, showcased motherboards with hidden connectors, along with one improvement that addresses the issue of GPU power cables. There was also a hub for wireless fan control. Read more “Asus at Computex: BTF boards and GPUs, anime, and ProArt design” »

Gigabyte at Computex: Nvidia processor, Stealth, and special GPUs

Graphics, Notebooks, PC cases, Processors | | Jan Olšan

At Computex 2025, we visited Gigabyte – one of the top manufacturers of graphics cards, motherboards, and other gear, including laptops. This year, the company focused strongly on laptops, but it also showcased other highlights, like a PC that is the closest thing to a fully Nvidia-powered computer today, with the GB10 processor. There was also a notable CXL memory expansion for systems that have filled all their RAM slots. Read more “Gigabyte at Computex: Nvidia processor, Stealth, and special GPUs” »

MSI at Computex: Graphics cards, Project Zero, and a Panoramic PCs

CPU coolers, Graphics, PC cases, Motherboards | | Jan Olšan

We are at the Computex trade fair taking place in Taiwan. Here we visited the MSI booth, where we checked out concept PCs assembled from the company’s components, cases, a display (though of a somewhat different kind than you might expect), and graphics cards. You may have already heard that MSI is planning a new generation of the iconic Twin FROZR coolers, but another classic cooler design from even earlier times also makes a return. Read more “MSI at Computex: Graphics cards, Project Zero, and a Panoramic PCs” »

Threadripper 9000 Is Here: Up to 96 Cores with Fullspeed AVX-512

Processors, News | | Jan Olšan

Not only did AMD unveil the Radeon RX 9060 XT at Computex, the company also launched new processors for the so-called HEDT (high-end desktop) and workstation segments – the Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series. These chips build upon the Threadripper 7000 platform but upgrade to the Zen 5 CPU architecture, which is especially important in this category as Zen 5 offers full 512-bit SIMD units, so AVX-512 code can deliver up to 2× the performance. Read more “Threadripper 9000 Is Here: Up to 96 Cores with Fullspeed AVX-512” »

GeForce RTX 5060 graphics cards and Nvidia’s demo at Computex

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

We’ve already covered some of Nvidia’s announcements coming out of Computex 2025 this week, which is always the biggest computer industry event of the year along with CES. Now we’ll take a closer look, as we have a colleague on-site (Computex traditionally takes place in Taiwan) visiting the booths of some exhibiting companies with a camera and questions ready. Let’s now take a look at the demo Nvidia presented today. Read more “GeForce RTX 5060 graphics cards and Nvidia’s demo at Computex” »

Nvidia rumored to unveil its own ARM CPUs for PCs at Computex

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Both Nvidia and MediaTek will be presenting their innovations at Computex. It’s possible that lots of reports about a joint processor – or even a processor developed solely by Nvidia – being unveiled at this event are speculative, simply betting on the likelihoods, but there seems to be a solid foundation behind the rumors too. Growing number of signs point to PC manufacturers already working on hardware based on these processors. Read more “Nvidia rumored to unveil its own ARM CPUs for PCs at Computex” »

Intel slashes prices of select Arrow Lake CPUs by 25%

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Although Intel still dominates the CPU market share compared to AMD, this is mostly due to the conservative OEM desktop and laptop markets. In the retail CPU segment – especially relevant for gamers – Intel has been taking a beating. Retail sales of the new Arrow Lake / Core Ultra 200 processors appear to be underwhelming, which likely led to an unusual move: Intel has now issued a significant price cut on Arrow Lake chips. Read more “Intel slashes prices of select Arrow Lake CPUs by 25%” »

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