Workstation

Vive X is a group set up by HTC's Vive in order to invest in augmented (AR) or virtual (VR) reality-based products and services. It has announced that it has achieved a return of nearly twice the funding it has awarded since its inception in 2016. It has mostly been conferred on commercial-grade VR/AR companies.

Intel's graphics head Raja Koduri teased new Xe dGPUs being currently tested at the company's Folsom labs. Raja's tweets showed off three GPUs — one of which was referred to as a Big Fabulous Package (BFP) — a prototype cooling system, and the test platform. The BFP is a 4-tile Xe dGPU aimed at HPC workloads.

QNAP's latest TS-x53D series of network-attached storage (NAS) products have 2, 4 or 6 bays and 4 to 8GB of RAM. They are also equipped with a PCIe Gen 2 expansion slot and 2 2.5 gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports. The user can also play videos at up to 4K thanks to its HDMI port.

Acer is introducing the ConceptD 3 in the Ezel convertible mobile workstation form factor featuring 10th gen Comet Lake-H and Quadro T1000 (Ezel Pro) and GTX 1650 Ti GPU options alongside a refreshed ConceptD 3 Notebook with a similar configuration. Also being introduced is a ConceptD 100 small form factor desktop PC powered by 9th gen Intel processors.

Acer is showcasing its CastMaster system as part of its 2020 General Presentation Conference (GPC). This product consists of a receiver and a transmitter in the form of a large globular button. The OEM asserts that this "Plug-and-Play" arrangement will render the set-up and control of a presentation constant across any environment.

The A100 is the first GPU based on NVIDIA's state-of-the-art Ampere architecture. It is available in NVLink and (as of today) PCIe-enabled cards intended for high-performance computing (HPC) use cases. Its maker has also announced details on over 50 new servers based on these new graphics solutions.

There was a time when Flash was the go-to standard for online content building and support. However, other standards such as HTML5 have outstripped it considerably in the ability to deliver AV and interactive apps of all kinds. Therefore, Adobe has announced a definitive EOL date for this once-ubiquitous relic of the internet.

Lenovo is revamping its workstation lineup. The Lenovo ThinkPad P15 and the bigger ThinkPad P17 are at the core of the 2020 ThinkPad P series: The new models are internally completely redesigned, with a stronger cooling system, higher clocked GPUs and a modular design with daughtercards instead of a soldered solution.

Lenovo is not just updating existing ThinkPad laptops this year, it is also adding an entirely new option: The Lenovo ThinkPad P15v is an affordable 15 inch mobile workstation, which is something that Lenovo did not offer before.

While the rest of the ThinkPad P series mobile workstation line receives bigger updates, the slimmest workstation ThinkPad P1 Gen 3 and its multimedia-counterpart ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 are smaller updates. The biggest add-on with this generation: LTE-A and Wi-Fi-6.

Acer Veriton N is the company's newest compact PC for the Indian market. It can be configured with 8th and 9th generation Intel processors, up to 64GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. Prices start at INR 9,999 for the entry-level variant.

Acer's 15.6-inch workstation scores points with powerful hardware, good battery life, extensive upgrade options and a Pantone-certified Full HD display. The device doesn't have a Thunderbolt 3 port on board.

Sony has announced its latest line of BRAVIA monitors directed at professional environments and use-cases. This BZ40H series has many attributes from this OEM's high-end TVs, as well as Ethernet connectivity in order to set up its own WLAN/WWAN. They also feature an Android Pie (9.0)-based OS with various on-board wireless options.

The market for wall-warts that charge devices via USB is now projected to be worth an additional US$9.9 billion by 2028. It is a sector of the overall wall-charger market, which is thought to grow by up to $23 billion over the same period. Even given the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, various regions are thought to be capable of adding hundreds of millions of USD to its value.

LG has introduced a new monitor, known as the "Ergo". This is due to its new kind of "C-Clamp"-enabled stand that confers a full range of motion on the 27-inch panel. It also has USB type C with 60 watt (W) Power Delivery, so as to enable 1-cable operation with this display.

A leaked Intel Russia roadmap presentation offered a glimpse at Intel's enterprise server plans for 2020: 10nm LGA 4677 Sapphire Rapids parts are set to take on AMD's EPYC Genoa with PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support.

A 24-core 48-thread Intel 10nm Ice Lake-SP processor has shown up on the SiSoftware database belong to the Intel Whitley platform. Intel Ice Lake-SP is expected to cater to the workstation/HEDT segment and will have to face some formidable opponents such as AMD EPYC Rome, and the upcoming EPYC Milan and Threadripper 4000 CPUs when they launch later this year.

Earlier this year, it emerged that certain OEMs had been misrepresenting some of the hard drives they sold in terms of the storage technology they used. One of these companies was Western Digital (WD), who subsequently admitted to doing so with some SKUs of its Red, Black and Blue HDD series. Now, a law firm has filed a suit in order to procure redress for their owners.

Shortly after Intel brought its Comet Lake S desktop CPU lineup into play, AMD slashed prices on the 64-core 128-thread Threadripper 3990X. The premium HEDT part is now available for its lowest price yet.

The Blade 15 Advanced Model in disguise costs a hefty $4299 USD but it will be packed to the brim with a 4K OLED touchscreen, 1 TB PCIe SSD, Core i7-10875H CPU, and a Quadro RTX 5000 Max-Q GPU.

HP has refreshed the ZBook lineup with the new ZBook Firefly 14 and the Firefly 15 G7. HP calls the ZBook Firefly 14 G7 as the world's thinnest and lightest mobile workstation. The new ZBooks now offer Intel Comet Lake vPro CPUs, NVIDIA Quadro P520 graphics, longer battery life, and optional WWAN and UHD displays and aim to take on the Apple MacBook Pro 13.

HP claims that its Device Provisioning Services can streamline and enhance the process of buying new hardware within a business, while also conserving the costs of doing so. It covers many typical stages of the same, from selection to update regulation. This suite has a range of "modules" aimed at facilitating hardware and software management for target clients.

Microsoft has announced that the latest stable upgrade to the Windows 10 OS will have an "enhanced" form of Packet Monitor. This is an extensive diagnostic tool that can detect, log and export packet drops in a network. Therefore, it may help the user address discrepancies in their Ethernet configurations.

Intel has announced that it has acquired Rivet Networks, a company best known for its Killer brand of connectivity modules. The silicon giant asserts that this move will enhance its standing as a proponent of Wi-Fi standardization. It may also simply help the company stay ahead of the competition in terms of this area of specs.

Since these are "vintage" source codes, there should be no concern regarding possible hacks. Emulators for the original Xbox already exist and are said to already be using the leaked codes, but still cannot provide complete compatibility with today's PC systems. As for the impact of the Windows NT 3.5 source code leak, Microsoft chose not to comment knowing full well that snippets from the old OS can still be found lurking within the latest version of Windows NT 10.

We've been hearing that the i9-10900K needs really good water cooling solutions, so the inclusion of suck chips inside Origin PC's latest EON17-X and NS-17 models is quite the bold endeavor. The powerful CPUs can be coupled with a desktop-grade RTX 2080 Super GPU and up to 64 GB of DDR-3200 RAM, if you have some more money to spare.

Dells 2020 Precision lineup is here and it is a big one: Dell is not only upgrading its mobile workstation laptops with the latest processors, it's also fundamentally redesigning many of the models. That includes the thin Dell Precision 5550 – and the brand new Dell Precision 5750, the first ultra-thin-bezel workstation with a 17 inch screen from Dell.

Today (May 19, 2020), Dell has introduced a whole slew of enterprise-level PCs. This may leave IT managers overwhelmed with options for a new or upgraded workplace fleet. However, the OEM also has a new service that wants to take this weight off their shoulders.

The traditional Dell Precision mobile workstation line receives a big refresh this year, as both the Dell Precision 15 7550 and Dell Precision 17 7750 feature completely reworked designs. Different from their slimmer Precision 5000 counterparts, the full-fat workstation still feature plenty of legacy ports.

The new Dell Precision 3550 and 3551 share a design, but not the internals - one of them is based on Comet Lake U CPUs, the other uses Comet Lake H series processors from Intel. Both models are optionally available with a pointing stick, which makes them unique among this year's Dell Precision workstations: Dell has stopped offering this feature on the more expensive Precision 7000 series.

In the shadows of the ThinkPad T series and the ThinkPad X1 Extreme, Lenovo sells the ThinkPad P43s and ThinkPad P53s workstations with more power efficient CPUs. Lenovo is updating this series now with Comet-Lake and the new naming-scheme – accordingly, the new models are named Lenovo ThinkPad P14s and ThinkPad P15s.

Intel has announced the vPro variants of Comet Lake processors across mobile, desktop, and workstation. The new vPro processors offer enhanced Hardware Shield security features, a modern lifecycle management, and will even be available in Project Athena-based designs. The intriguing aspect, however, is the inclusion of K-series unlocked processors that are capable of overclocking, whose exact purpose in a business environment seems unclear at the moment.

AMD has taken wraps off the Radeon Pro VII workstation GPU aimed at industrial applications such as broadcasting, 8K video editing, and computer-aided engineering. The Radeon Pro VII is based on the same 7nm Vega 20 GPU as the Radeon VII and is being positioned as a cost-effective alternative for the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000, with two such Radeon Pro VII cards being comparable to the Quadro GV100 at a price of US$1,899.

Asus' new mobile workstation from the new ProArt series is designed for professional users and content creators, but is hardly a bargain at almost 4000 Euros. Is it a good investment, or should you get a device from the competition?

A new report from a Taiwanese media outlet claims that some major PC- and PC component-makers are planning to withdraw from the annual Computex event this year. They may cite the current public health crisis as their reason for doing so, despite the fact the show has been postponed for this very reason.

The popular PC/Mac accessory-maker Cable Matters now sells a dock that combines USB type C and Thunderbolt 3 speeds. Therefore, it can drive dual 4K monitors at up to 40 gigabits per second (Gb/s). It also has 3 type A ports to accommodate peripherals or storage media.

The new EVO15-S and NT-15 from Origin PC are essentially the same semi-customizable system that can be equipped with a Core i7-10875H CPU, up to 64 GB of RAM and up to 4 TB of NVMe SSD storage. Users can choose among display + GPU options like FHD IPS 144 Hz & RTX 2070 / FHD IPS 240 Hz & RTX 2080 Super / UHD OLED 60 Hz & RTX 2070 / UHD OLED 60 Hz & 2080 RTX Super

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has released specifications for its new DisplayPort (DP) Alt Mode version 2.0 standard. This video output modality allows USB type C ports to drive even 16K/60Hz displays, as it can leverage USB 4's 4 lanes to transmit nearly 80 gigabits of data per second.

A trademark entry for an NVIDIA deep learning workstation called the DGX A100 has surfaced. The DGX A100 could feature anywhere from eight to 16 of the upcoming GA100 Ampere GPUs with 8,192 CUDA cores. NVIDIA is expected to talk more about Ampere during its rescheduled GTC 2020 keynote on May 14.

Successors to the Precision 7540 and Precision 7740 are on their way, and a leaked advert has confirmed that Dell has given them a complete redesign. Predictably called the Precision 7550 and Precision 7750, the two laptops are expected to arrive later this month, but there may be some surprises in store, including no PointStick and possible DGFF incompatibilities with older models.

It looks like Lenovo is planning to refresh its ThinkPad workstations with Comet Lake-H processors. Paired with a Quadro RTX 3000 GPU, the Core i9-10885H powered device is likely either a successor to the ThinkPad P53 or ThinkPad P73.

The simple swap in graphics has resulted in half the starting the price. If you want a professional laptop without the professional GPU, then the 15.6-inch Asus StudioBook 15 H500 or 17.3-inch H700 can serve as an alternative to the Razer Blade Studio or MSI Prestige.

Intel has revealed that it has made US$19.8 billion in revenue for the first 3 months of 2020 (or 1Q2020). This represents a 23% increase year-on-year (YoY). The vast majority of its "key business" divisions (PC-centric and data-center groups included) also saw gains compared to 1Q2019.

There is good news for those considering an upgrade from their existing rigs with a Noctua cooler and that are based on an Intel 300-series chipset to one with certain newer 400-series options instead: they may be able to switch the former from one to another. Some of this brand's products are even compatible with Comet Lake-S processors out of the box.

The official Dell slides leaked on reddit confirm the slimmer and smaller chassis on the Precision 5750, as the mobile workstation will be fitted with 92% display/body ratio IGZO screens. Specs include Comet Lake-H or Xeon CPUs with up to 64 GB of DDR4-2933 RAM, up to 4 TB dual NVMe storage, Quadro RTX 3000 GPUs and 4x Thunderbolt 3 connectors. The XPS 17 9700 should get similar specs except it will not get the Xeon and Quadro options.

A user over on the Chiphell overclocked a dual socket engineering sample setup of the AMD EPYC Rome 7742, topping the Corona benchmark and leaving Intel's Xeon Platinum 8280L in the dust.

Microsoft’s next major update to Windows 10 will land in May. The new update brings some useful features to users including Cloud reset as well as the much anticipated DirectX 12 Ultimate with improved raytracing support.

A new study of consumer attitudes in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in findings that 53% of its participants (US households with broadband internet services) were prepared to agree with a statement to the effect that their regard for technology had improved compared to that prior to the public health crisis.