Danh mục: Tin tức

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger spoke at the Aspen Security Forum 2023 in July; The topic under the spotlight was that of semiconductors and national security, and the issues that have arisen from the passing of the CHIPS Act. One of Gelsinger’s most eyebrow-raising assertions was that Intel deserves a bigger slice of the $52 billion US CHIPS Act pie than foreign rivals TSMC and Samsung. It was a bold claim, and he put forward a convincing case in what could be a high-stakes / high-reward gambit (h/t to EETimes).

Security, and China export controls particularly, is a thorny topic for successful global semiconductor businesses with their roots in the US. As US sanctions on China tighten it is making business for the likes of Intel (and Nvidia, and Qualcomm, and AMD) more difficult. Last month we reported on US semiconductor industry bosses having negotiations with senior US government economics and national security figures.

At Aspen, Gelsinger put forward the case for Intel to face fewer restrictions from trade regulation and get a larger portion of the US CHIPS Act cash. His multi-pronged argument appeared to be designed to hammer home the following points:

Firstly, China represents 25% to 30% of Intel’s market, and its current $30 billion US expansion plans were partly put in place to address this demand, according to Gelsinger. If trade restrictions tighten and further cut this geographic revenue stream, then it could mean Intel may not want to continue to make a significant investment in US projects, which have been touted to be good for US jobs, the US economy, and even US national security. Overall, the point was that China export controls unfairly target Intel business and that is bad for the US.

Secondly, Gelsinger talked about the current set of trade restrictions already being excessive and badly targeted. “Today, we have over 1,000 companies on the Entity List, many of which have nothing to do with national security, and nothing to do with security concerns in China,” noted the Intel CEO. So, in essence, Gelsinger was arguing for a loosening of the restrictions now in place, to refocus tightly on areas of undeniable national security.

Lastly, and probably most controversially, Gelsinger made his case that Intel should get a bigger slice of the US CHIPS Act’s $52 billion pie. The Intel CEO’s argument was quite clear and reasoned. He said the US should celebrate the fact that TSMC and Samsung were investing in building in the US, but there is a glaring difference in their operations and Intel’s. “All of my essential R&D is done here. Most of their work is done overseas,” Gelsinger underlined. “We should benefit more.”

If you care to watch the video embedded above, you can see Gelsinger underline the necessity for the CHIPS Act, and provide some of the history leading up to its passing. Moreover, you can listen to him make Intel’s key arguments for loosening the current trade restrictions, while being more generous to Intel – and his reasoning.

As well as the interviewer Steve Clemons, an editor at Semafor, you will see Penny Pritzker, the US Commerce Secretary, sitting alongside Pat Gelsinger. Pritzker as a representative of US government, discussed the federal government’s thinking and strategy. For the US to reinvigorate the semiconductor industry, it isn’t all about throwing money at chipmakers. For example, there is the widening chasm in skilled worker requirements compared to actual labor availability.

It seems that AMD’s issued patch for its Zen 1 “Division by zero” bug wasn’t the end-all, be-all the company wanted it to be. While the company was fast in issuing a patch, there’s now the suspicion that they might’ve been just a bit too fast: according to Michael Larabel with Phoronix, AMD Linux Engineer Borislav Petkov published a new patch that fixed an issue with the original solution (also published by him). It’s just another datapoint on the difficulties of hardening against possible attack vectors.

The original bug related to how Zen 1 processed an integer calculation divided by 0 in certain circumstances: according to the findings, there was the possibility that AMD’s CPU kept “stale quotient data” within its registers even after the operation was fully finished, which could give attackers a window to retrieve sensitive information. The original workaround was to perform a final “dummy division 0/1 before returning from the #DE exception handler”. The idea is simple: whatever old data was still stored would be wiped upon the completion of the 0/1 division (whose result is always, well, zero).

The issue with that solution, as Petkov explained, was that by the time that security provision kicked in, the speculative execution attack would have already advanced too far: there would already be some amount of old data on AMD’s divider, which the attackers could get at before the dummy division kicked in. As Petkov explained it, his new solution now forces that same division in a number of scenarios:

“Initially, it was thought that doing an innocuous division in the #DE handler would take care to prevent any leaking of old data from the divider but by the time the fault is raised, the speculation has already advanced too far and such data could already have been used by younger operations.

Therefore, do the innocuous division on every exit to userspace so that userspace doesn’t see any potentially old data from integer divisions in kernel space.

Do the same before VMRUN too, to protect host data from leaking into the guest too.”

It’s already been a busy month for vulnerabilities in the CPU realm, with both AMD and Intel both having been hit with disclosures. From Intel’s more extreme Downfall vulnerability (affecting Skylake through Tiger Lake/Rocket Lake) through AMD’s SQUIP and Inception vulnerabilities (and the now re-fixed “divide by zero” vulnerability, researchers have been hard at work. It still doesn’t compare to the storied history of Meltdown and Spectre days (although these new bugs are also related to speculative execution vulnerabilities. Speculative execution refers to the way modern CPUs try to pre-empt calculation steps before they’ve even become necessary, so that the required data is already available in case it’s called to the execution. Yet while the fixes to some of those vulnerabilities have carried (sometimes severe) performance penalties, it’s at least a good sign that AMD’s 0/1 dummy division doesn’t come with additional overhead.

At the same time, it’s heartening to see that at least in this case, the security patch wasn’t issued in a sort of “set it and forget it” manner – with the sort of merry-go-round work that blue team experts have to carry, there were other ways this could have gone (the deficient patch could’ve been believed to fully work, leaving the door open to further hacking explorations down the road (with whatever impact those might carry).

Your keyboard is your primary connection to your PC, the part you touch the most. Getting a better keyboard can deliver a more immediately-noticeable difference than nearly any other upgrade — including upgrading your CPU. 

To a serious gamer, a keyboard is even more critical. Gamers need keyboards with instant response time and tactile feedback, but they also need it to be comfortable and easy to type on for long gaming and chatting sessions. And an attractive design with per-key RGB that can be customized to accompany your rig doesn’t hurt, either.

Whether you’re ducking, strafing, and sniping your way through a first-person shooter, wearing out your W-key exploring a vast open world, or chatting furiously on Discord and Twitch, your keyboard will be your main sidekick. So you don’t want to make this choice lightly.

Below, you’ll find the best gaming keyboards we’ve tested, in every size, color, and style. These keyboards hit the perfect combo of low-latency responsiveness, convenient, gamer-oriented features, high levels of customization options, and, of course, attractive RGB lighting. 

The Quick List

Best Gaming Keyboards You Can Buy Today

Best Mainstream Gaming Keyboard

The HyperX Alloy Origins’ compact and quality build makes it the best gaming keyboard for mainstream gamers who just want to get down to gaming. It’s comfortable, with a premium look and feel from its keys to its frame and vibrant RGB lighting. If you’re familiar with linear switches, which are quick but offer little feedback, you’ll feel right at home with this keyboard’s red switches. We’ve also tested the clickier version, which uses HyperX’s aqua switches and is also available  at Amazon and HyperX’s store. 

For over $100, you can find gaming keyboards with more luxuries, such as media control buttons, a USB pass-through port (for easily plugging in another accessory, like your best gaming mouse), and more advanced software. The Alloy Origins is definitely a no-frills keyboard — but what it does offer, it executes very well. 

If you’re not looking for a full-size keyboard, HyperX does offer smaller (and cheaper) versions of this keyboard. We’ve also tested the HyperX Alloy Origins 65 and the mini HyperX Alloy Origins 60, and HyperX also offers a TKL version — the HyperX Alloy Origins Core. 

Read: HyperX Alloy Origins review

Best Feature-Packed Gaming Keyboard Splurge

The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro is the ultimate, full-size, feature-packed customizable gaming keyboard to outfit your battlestation. It’s got everything you could need or want: 8 dedicated macro keys, a programmable multi-function “Razer Command Dial,” four dedicated media keys and a volume roller, and a plush, padded detachable wrist rest that lights up when you connect it to the keyboard. 

The BlackWidow V4 Pro is a wired keyboard that comes with Razer Green (clicky) or Razer Yellow (linear) mechanical switches. It features an aluminum alloy top plate, doubleshot ABS keycaps, and has bright, per-key RGB as well as underglow with a total of 38 zones when the wrist rest is connected. It’s not our favorite gaming keyboard for typing on (that’s up next), but the typing experience is decent: the Razer Green switches are tactile, clicky, and loud, and the case has two layers of dampening foam. 

The main downside to this keyboard is its size: it will take up a large portion of your desk, especially if you use it with the detachable wrist rest. At $230, it’s also pretty pricey — those extra buttons and dials are only worth it if you actually end up using them. 

Read: Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro Review 

Best Budget Gaming Keyboard

Patriot Memory is better known for its RAM and storage than its peripherals, but the Viper V765 provides a key feel that’s second to none — in an attractive, affordable package. It’s been a while, but the Patriot Viper V765 is still a good budget option with plenty of functionality. It’s one of the rare keyboards to come with Kailh Box White switches, which actuate faster than regular Blue or Green switches thanks to their slightly reduced travel (3.6mm versus 4mm). The keys are the most responsive we’ve tested and make one of the most pleasant click sounds you’ll find anywhere.

If Kailh Box White switches aren’t enough to convince you the Viper V765 is worth buying, it’s got plenty more going for it. This full-sized keyboard has an aluminum surface with tapered edges that give it a futuristic look. The vibrant RGB keys offer dozens of different light combinations — and you don’t even need to install the software to access most of the RGB effects. The keyboard also features media keys, which are more often seen on pricier boards, as well as IP56 water and dust resistance. 

The Viper V765 currently sells for $90,  cheaper than most competitors with similar features. We wish it had taller flip-out feet and a slightly better app, but the V765 is still our favorite budget-friendly gaming keyboard.

Read: Patriot Memory Viper V765 review

Best RGB in a Gaming Keyboard

The Roccat Vulcan II Max is designed to dazzle you: This full-size wired keyboard not only features bright, per-key RGB lighting, which is on maximum display thanks to the keyboard’s flat, shallow keycaps; 24 of its switches also have dual-LEDs. The Vulcan II Max comes with a detachable silicone wrist rest that serves as a conduit for the keyboard’s lighting (it’s beautiful), and features dedicated media keys and a clickable volume knob. 

This is an attractive, unique-looking keyboard even without lighting — it has a slim, lightweight chassis with an aluminum alloy top plate, and flat, chiclet-y keycaps that leave the switches entirely exposed. The keyboard has 24 pre-programmed multi-function “smart” dual-LED keys, which light up to indicate secondary keybinds and can also change colors to display real-time info, such as headset or mouse battery life. The keyboard features Roccat’s Aimo lighting experience, which is an “intelligent” lighting system that interacts with, and reacts to, the user (and adapts over time). It’s definitely a dazzling alternative to the typical spectrum cycling, and it’s even more dazzling when paired with the Vulcan II Max’s translucent wrist rest. 

If you’re looking for a hypnotizing light show, look no further. The Vulcan II Max comes in both black and white colorways, with Roccat’s Titan II optical switches in red (linear) or brown (tactile). If you’re looking to save desk space, there’s also the 65 percent Vulcan II Mini.

Read: Roccat Vulcan II Max Review  

Best Wireless Gaming Keyboard

If you want the same experience as your typical full-sized mechanical gaming keyboard but without wires, the Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro is the best wireless gaming keyboard we’ve tested. While many wireless keyboards are built for traveling, the BlackWidow V3 Pro maintains all the size, bulk, and functionality of a full-sized mechanical keyboard — including a premium tactile volume dial, media keys, an aluminum top plate, and doubleshot ABS plastic keycaps.

Razer doesn’t skimp on the BlackWidow V3 Pro: It’s packed with up to four profiles of onboard memory and vibrant per-key RGB lighting. However, RGB doesn’t stick to profiles — advanced RGB fanatics will have to rely on software for pairing RGB, including custom effects, to profiles.

The BlackWidow V3 Pro connects to your computer via 2.4 GHz dongle (which we had no issues with during testing) or Bluetooth (up to three computers simultaneously). With RGB at max settings and no dimming effects, our test unit averaged about 14 hours of battery life — but you’ll get up to 25 hours with RGB using power saving settings. You’ll want to plug in before the battery hits 3%, as power saving settings kick in at that point and the keyboard starts acting a little wonky. 

If you’re looking for a more portable full-sized wireless gaming keyboard, the Logitech G915 Lightspeed is fantastic and reliable with low-profile switches that some will enjoy for gaming and others will enjoy for travel. But for a full-sized mechanical gaming keyboard experience, the BlackWidow V3 Pro is the premium choice. 

For more cable-free recommendations, visit our Best Wireless Keyboards page. 

Read: Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro review  

Best TKL Gaming Keyboard

SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless gives you back some desk space as well as wireless freedom, thanks to built-in dual wireless (low-latency 2.4GHz and Bluetooth 5.0). The 2022 redesign of the Apex Pro TKL features a simple, elegant chassis with an aluminum alloy top plate, double-shot PBT keycaps, and SteelSeries newest OmniPoint 2.0 linear optical switches.

Optical switches technically have mechanical parts, but they’re not the same as mechanical switches — optical switches are actuated via light, while mechanical switches are actuated via physical force. Although this makes for a less-than-ideal typing experience, it’s good news for gamers: Optical switches are speedier (and less prone to failure) than their mechanical counterparts. The Apex Pro TKL Wireless’ OmniPoint 2.0 switches offer both adjustable actuation (37 levels) and dual-action actuation, which lets you assign two actions to one key (at different actuation levels).

The main downside of the Apex Pro TKL Wireless is its $250 asking price (the keyboard also comes in a wired version, for $180), which makes it one of the priciest gaming keyboards on this list. While the Apex Pro TKL Wireless comes with plenty of premium features and accessories — including a customizable OLED smart screen and a detachable magnetic wrist rest with a soft-touch finish — these might not be enough to justify its expense. If you’d like something a little less customizable (and you don’t mind being tethered), SteelSeries’ Apex 9 TKL has an almost-identical form factor with hot-swappable optical switches — and will only set you back $140. 

Read: SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Review 

Best Gaming Keyboard for Typing

Most gaming keyboards are designed for gaming, not typing. That doesn’t mean they’re bad for typing — they’re usually still pretty good (better than a non-mechanical keyboard, anyway), but they focus on gaming first and prioritize features like flashy RGB over tactile feel and sound. The Asus ROG Azoth, however, is one of the best keyboards for both gaming and typing that we’ve ever used — and we’re pretty impressed that it comes from a mainstream gaming company and not a boutique keyboard supplier. 

The ROG Azoth is a gasket mount mechanical keyboard with a 75 percent form factor (that’s slightly smaller than a TKL). It’s wireless, with both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity, and it features doubleshot PBT keycaps, a metal top plate, and three layers of sound dampening foam inside its plastic chassis (plastic so as not to interfere with the wireless signal). It comes with Asus NX switches in Red (linear), Brown (tactile), or Blue (clicky), and Asus packages it with a full accessory kit, which includes keycap and switch pullers, extra switches, and a DIY lube station so you can have ultimate control of the keyboard’s sound and feel. 

It’s an excellent keyboard for typing, but it’s also great for gaming — thanks to its reliable, low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection, snappy responsiveness, and incredible battery life (up to 2,000 hours over 2.4GHz, with both lighting and the OLED screen turned off). It also offers decent customization via a 2-inch OLED screen that can be programmed to display everything from a random GIF to current system info.

Read: Asus ROG Azoth Review 

Best Low Profile Gaming Keyboard

If you want the speed and slimness afforded by low-profile mechanical switches, the Logitech G915 Lightspeed is the best gaming keyboard you can buy. This is a premium gaming experience through and through. That means a row of G macro keys for leveraging during battle, dedicated media controls, including an epic volume wheel roller, and even multiple connectivity options. You can go tried-and-true wired, use Logitech’s reliable dongle connection, or store the dongle in the keyboard’s built-in compartment and use Bluetooth. This makes connecting to multiple devices a little easier too. 

The G915 Lightspeed has earned a popular reputation but comes at a price. Despite its $250 MSRP, there’s no wrist rest, USB passthrough or premium keycaps resistant to smudging. As mentioned in our Logitech G915 TKL review, the smaller version of this keyboard is more affordable but foregoes even more luxuries, most noticeably G keys. 

But in addition to being a top-notch gaming peripheral, the G915 Lightspeed (and G915 TKL) offers a surprisingly good typing experience for a low-profile keyboard. We’ve tested it with Logitech’s tactile low-profile switches for days and haven’t felt much extra exhaustion or like we were typing through sand, like we’ve suffered through on other low-profile keyboards. 

Read: Logitech G915 Lightspeed review 

Best Mini Gaming Keyboard

Ultra-compact keyboards aren’t for everyone, but if you have limited desk space or you’re looking for a gaming keyboard that’s travel-friendly, a 60 percent keyboard can be a godsend. You’ll have to give up a lot — number pad, navigation keys, function keys, and even arrow keys — but you’ll barely notice these sacrifices with the right keyboard.

SteelSeries’ Apex Pro Mini Wireless (also comes in a wired version) is the right keyboard. 

The Apex Pro Mini Wireless is a sleek, sturdily-built 60 percent keyboard featuring SteelSeries OmniPoint 2.0 switches, which feature both adjustable actuation and dual actuation (much like the Razer Huntsman Mini Analog). Because it’s so small, the Apex Pro Mini Wireless has a slew of default secondary keybinds, which are printed on the sides of the keycaps and activated using SteelSeries SS function key. These secondary keybinds are so intuitive (and can also be remapped, if you want) that you won’t feel limited by the 60 percent layout. The keyboard is highly customizable: Almost every key can be remapped (first and secondary keybinds), have its actuation point adjusted, and have its RGB set – individually. 

If anything, the Apex Pro Mini Wireless might have too much going for it — maybe you don’t need an ultra-compact keyboard with every single feature shoved into it (especially considering its premium price point). If you don’t need all of these features and you’d like to spend a little less, try the SteelSeries Apex 9 series, which comes has adjustable actuation, hot-swappable switches, and comes in both Mini and TKL layouts.

Read: SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini review 

Quick Shopping Tips

• Mechanical or bust? Most gamers probably aren’t even considering a non-mechanical keyboard — for good reason. Only mechanical keyboard switches offer the tactile feedback, precision, and accuracy most gamers need, and membrane switches feel gummy and unresponsive by comparison. Recently we’ve been seeing more and more optical keyboards, which are technically mechanical, but use light — not physical force — to actuate. Optical switches still feel a little less satisfying to type on, but they actuate faster (nothing is faster than light, after all) and last longer than fully-mechanical switches.
• RGB or not? All RGB lighting is not equal. Per-key RGB lets you program each key’s color individually, while zone lighting limits your customization to just a few areas of the board. You can save a little money by getting a keyboard with a single-color backlight, but you’ll miss out on a spectacular light show. You can also forego lighting altogether, so long as you’re a touch-typist (or gaming in a well-lit area).
• Full-size, tenkeyless, or smaller? Tenkeyless boards drop the numpad, 65 percent boards eliminate navigation keys, and 60 percent boards also cut the arrow keys. Some users, such as MMO players, want every possible key (and more), while others prefer a smaller keyboard to clear up desk space.
• Pick Your Switch The best gaming keyboards use a number of different mechanical switch types that determine the feel and sound of each key press. The type of switch you choose depends on your personal preferences for typing and gaming. For more on the ins and outs of mechanical switches, check out our guide on mechanical switch spec ranges.

☑ Clicky Tactile: Blue, Green, White
☑ Quiet Tactile: Brown, Clear
☑ Linear (quiet and go straight down): Red, Silver

If you don’t want to commit, a hot-swappable keyboard will let you swap out switches easily.

Savings on the Best Gaming Keyboards

Whether you’re shopping for one of the best gaming keyboards we listed above or a different model, you may find some discounts by checking out our list of Corsair coupon codes, Newegg promo codes or Razer coupon codes.

The Raspberry Pi fans at Tom’s Hardware love a Cyberdeck build and the pinnacle of this project has yet to be reached, despite the best efforts of makers like  Brian Corteil. Fellow maker Mike Horne (co-founder of Pi Wars) has decided to make their own Cyberdeck using off the shelf components and an old aluminum case.

Bill of Materials (BoM)

• Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
• 5-Inch HDMI Display (800 x 480 resolution)
• Pimoroni Enviro+ HAT
• Wireless Keyboard and trackpad
• LM2596S DC to DC Buck Converter (with seven segment display)
• 2200mAh LiPo battery
• Aluminum case

We’ve been following Horne’s progress since July and we just had to write about it. The Cyberdeck is currently a work in progress and so things are liable to change. Powering the project is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, yes they do exist, but are hard to get hold of. The Pi Zero 2 W appears to be in an injection molded case (that doesn’t feature on our list of best cases!). On top of the Pi Zero 2 W is a Pimoroni Enviro+ HAT board. This hat provides a power input from the 2200 mAh LiPo battery (via the LM2596S buck converter) to power the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. It also provides a slew of environmental sensors.

Pimoroni Enviro+ Sensor List

• BME280 temperature, pressure, humidity sensor
• LTR-559 light and proximity sensor
• MICS6814 analog gas sensor
• ADS1015 analog to digital converter (ADC)
• MEMS microphone
• 0.96-inch color LCD
• Connector for particulate matter (PM) sensor
• Pimoroni breakout-compatible pin header (Stemma QT / QwST / Qwiic)

Horne isn’t too happy with the keyboard right now and is awaiting a mini Bluetooth keyboard to reduce the amount of cables squeezed into the case. This keyboard measures around 150 x 80 x 15 mm and also has a handy laser pointer for when we need to get corporate! Horne’s original idea involved a folding Bluetooth keyboard / trackpad combo that was a fraction too wide for the aluminum case.

As Horne mentions, the cabling inside the case is a mess. But it affords us a glimpse into the thinking of the project. We can see the HDMI and USB connection for the HDMI screen. We think that the USB connection provides a touch interface as well as power (we have a similar unit). There is another USB port broken out for the keyboard, and there appears to be a push button (top right of the case) and a switch. The switch must be for turning off the connection between the battery and the LM2596, and the push button for soft powering the Pi on / off. 

The aluminum case appears to be Innox branded and could be the Varicase 1 (which is currently selling for $3!). Horne has shoehorned the parts into a small case and was looking for ways to fix the HDMI display to the top lid. After seeking the knowledge of the Pi community (hot glue, epoxy etc), Horne was forced to break out the drill and mount the screen.

We’re vicariously enjoying Horne’s adventure as they work out the many problems of a build as complex as this. Keep an eye on Horne’s Twitter / X account for updates on this interesting project. 

Apple’s M3-series system-on-chips is expected to get a major performance upgrade compared to predecessors since they are projected to be made on TSMC’s N3 (3 nm-class) fabrication processor and use all-new CPU and GPU microarchitectures. Indeed, the highest-end M3 Ultra will feature 32 CPU cores and an 80-cluster GPU, but the entry-level M3 will retain eight cores, a Bloomberg report suggests.

M3: Up to Eight Cores

Apple’s vanilla M1 and M2 SoCs are used for Mac Mini, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13, and iMac systems, which are quite popular. The company’s upcoming M3 ix expected to retain eight general-purpose cores (four high-performance and four energy-efficient cores) and an integrated GPU with up to 10 clusters. The first systems on their base are expected to hit the market earlier this year. 

Apple’s M3 will reportedly be the first SoCs from the company’s third-generation PC processors and will also be the developers N3 chip designed for desktops and laptops. Apparently, the company decided not to increase core count in this SoC compared to M2, perhaps because it wanted to ensure the lowest possible power consumption or was sure that architectural advantages coupled with higher clocks will ensure a noticeable performance boost, or just wanted to maximize yields and keep costs down.

M3 Pro: Up to 14 Cores

The situation will get substantially better with M3 Pro that is projected to get 14 general-purpose cores (eight performance cores, six efficiency cores) in its top-end configuration, but its range-topping GPU will get 20 clusters, up from 19 clusters in M2 Pro. The M3 Pro in its maximum configuration will be more powerful than M2 Max in general-purpose workloads, but the latter will still have an edge in graphics applications.

Apple’s M3 Pro and M3 Max-based machine will likely hit the market sometimes in 2024.

M3 Max: Up to 16 cores

When it comes to M3 Max SoC, it is rumored to get 16 general purpose cores (12 performance cores and four energy-efficient cores) as well as up to 40 GPU clusters. Getting four additional high-performance cores is a big deal and will certainly bring substantial benefits to demanding software that M3 Max is architected to run. These will likely end up in high end MacBook Pros, the Mac Studio and Mac Pro.

M3 Ultra Up to 32 Cores

Meanwhile, the M3 Ultra system-in-package consisting of two M3 Max chips will therefore get 32 CPU cores and up to 80 GPU clusters. While 32 cores sounds quite massive when we talk about desktops, workstation-grade processors from AMD and Intel already have 56 – 64 cores and it remains to be seen what they are going to offer when Apple’s M3 Ultra-based Mac Studio or Mac Pro systems are available in the second half of 2024. 

While Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman tends to be accurate with his reports about future Apple’s products, he is still an unofficial source and information from him should be taken with a grain of salt.

An urgent pull request was sent out this weekend,to extend the Linux 6.5 kernel’s AMD Zenbleed vulnerability mitigation to Valve’s Steam Deck. It turns out that when the kernel was patched last month, mitigations weren’t implemented for Valve’s custom AMD SoC, sometimes known as Aerith, Phoronix first reported.

AMD’s Zen 2 product stack is pretty complicated, so it is hard to be critical of the Linux dev team. Zen 2 cores debuted with the well-known Ryzen 3000 chips, but the Zen 2 architecture can be also found in some Ryzen 4000 and 5000 processors, as well as Epyc server chips, the Sony PlayStation 5, in the Microsoft Xbox Series X/S consoles, and Valve’s Steam Deck.

It has been three weeks since news of the ‘Zenbleed’ vulnerability broke. The threat to AMD Zen 2 processor users seemed to be relatively severe. Zenbleed was shown to open up simple remote attack vectors, via JavaScript embedded in a webpage, for example. After successfully exploiting the Zenbleed vulnerability, an attacker could potentially learn your encryption keys or web logins.

If you care to head on over and look at the notes of the pull request you will see that a developer notes that “the AMD Custom APU 0405 found on Steam Deck was not listed, although it is clearly affected by the vulnerability.” The dev then goes on to request the Steam Deck’s CPU is added to the Zenbleed list “in order to unconditionally enable the fallback fix until a proper microcode update is available.”

This last point is important to note. AMD hasn’t provided any of its official patches for Zenbleed as yet, except to the EPYC 7002 ‘Rome’ processors. Everyone else will have to wait until November / December this year. The chipmaker said that it is not aware of any Zenbleed exploits outside of the research environment. Some assume that microcode updates will be able to fix the Zenbleed vulnerability with little or fewer performance penalties than a software patch would, but that remains to be seen.

A performance decrease isn’t ideal for a gaming machine, but with access to web browsers from the Steam side and a full desktop on the KDE Plasma desktop side, the Steam Deck is a full-on Linux computer.

It seems like the favorite processor families of PC DIYers have been plagued with newly uncovered bugs recently. In addition to Zenbleed, last week we reported on both (Intel) Downfall and (AMD) Inception.

A Chinese firm called Erying Technology has released its first compact motherboards offering a choice of Intel Raptor Lake Mobile chips pre-installed, VideoCardz reports. It calls this PC DIY product category ‘Mobile on Desktop’, or MoDT. The new choices open to Taobao customers in China are Erying Micro-ATX form factor motherboards with either an Intel Core i5-13420H or i7-13620H pre-installed. Prices of these foundational system components start at 1299 Chinese Yuan ($180).

Once you buy the Erying motherboard, you will be stuck with your CPU, as it is soldered in place, being a laptop BGA package CPU. Other than that, these motherboards are almost as good as their thoroughbred desktop counterparts for expansion and upgrades.

Reports suggest that the chipset that is used by Erying for these refreshed MoDT components is the B760M. However, Intel’s mobile platforms have fewer PCIe lanes. There could be a little impact on a powerful gaming system based upon these boards, with the primary PCIe Gen 4 slot offering just 8 lanes for a graphics card. Such a limit isn’t thought to have serious implications in 2023, though. It is estimated that a GeForce RTX 4090, for example, will only lose low-single-digit percentage performance due to this restriction.

Beyond that primary PCIe slot limitation, the boards offer a PCIe Gen 4 x4 slot, plus two PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 NVMe slots for your SSDs. To help you get a better overall grasp of what is on offer, check out the specs and feature table below.

It is interesting to note that RPL mobile chips have better iGPUs than their desktop counterparts, which are limited to 32 EUs. However, we think that these MoDT products will be most frequently selected by those wishing to equip a discrete GPU – otherwise you could use one of many extremely compact alternatives.

If the above sounds like the foundation for a compact system that would work for you, these MoDT platforms aren’t prohibitively expensive, assuming you can get your hands on them. You are limited with regard to CPU upgrades, but if you are gaming on a modern system the CPU is rarely the bottleneck.

The Chinese retail listings show the Raptor Lake Core i5 Mobile version is 1299 Chinese Yuan ($180), and the Raptor Lake Core i7 Mobile version of the system board is 1699 Chinese Yuan ($234). Buying these products in the west might be a little tricky, but we shall have to wait and see how widely they get distributed. Previous gen Erying MoDTs are available on AliExpress, for example.

Despite the recent emergence of WiFi 7, WiFi 6E still qualifies as emergent. Many devices don’t yet support WiFi 6E. On a Windows PC, you’ll need an appropriate network-adapter card and Windows 11 to enjoy the 6 GHz band. If you prefer a Mac, you’ll need a device manufactured no earlier than 2023 (and even some 2023-manufactured devices won’t recognize 6 GHz).

But because WiFi 6E is no longer in the earliest stages of its emergence, networking manufacturers now offer downmarket WiFi 6E routers. They may cost a bit more than “affordable” routers that support merely the WiFi 6 protocol (after all, you’re getting not dual band but tri-band), but they’re still relatively inexpensive and low-end.

So if you want to get into WiFi 6E for cheap, you could try the Tenda RX27 Pro which, at press time, was just $110. At this price, it’s not more expensive than the pricier of the “budget” WiFi 6 routers. Its throughput on the 6-GHz band is unimpressive but it delivers low latency there and strong throughput at 5 GHz.

Design of Tenda RX27 Pro

When it comes to signal-boosting power, Tenda was not screwing around with the RX27 Pro. The router features five foldable antennas—complementing the seven high-power FEMS internally.

Aesthetically, the Tenda RX27 Pro is definitely a vibe—but, subjectively speaking, it’s not the vibe. The all-black router has three widely angled points at the front such that they are reminiscent of cold, predatory eyes. It gives the impression of a spaceship full of evil, conquest-hungry extraterrestrials. It looks like it could float—like you might wake up at 3:25am to see it hovering next to the lamp on your nightstand. Observing you. Waiting.

But hey, some people are into that sort of thing.

More objectively speaking, it is disappointing that the Tenda RX27 Pro has only three Ethernet ports. It also lacks a power button and a USB port.

Rounding out the physical features that it does have, the Tenda RX27 Pro has a WAN port, a recessed reset button (keep a paper clip handy), and a WPS button.

Specifications of Tenda RX27 Pro

Setup of Tenda RX27 Pro

In case you feel lost during the setup process, the Tenda RX27 Pro comes with thorough documentation in the form of a generous fold-out Quick Installation Guide. This Guide is welcome considering how rarely good help documentation is included with routers.

Options for setup include web interface via Ethernet or WiFi, or via smartphone app. The latter can be initiated with a QR code, if the user prefers.

The foldout takes the user through setting up the device via each of these methods. It also includes a detailed legend of the ports, buttons, and LED lights of the router. On the reverse side, it includes specific directions for setting up the router as an add-on to an existing network, as well as a troubleshooting FAQ and information for contacting technical support.

Once the process is begun, setting up the Tenda RX27 Pro is fast and painless—as simple as resetting admin credentials for each of the three bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz). Then, you’re in the friendly-looking control panel.

There is mildly mangled English on the setup screens and in the control panel that you are taken to post-setup. It doesn’t hurt anything, but it may raise a question as to quality control in other areas. (The alternative charitable explanation would be that Tenda chose to invest limited expenses into the tech more so than into overseas translations of the UI.)

Features of Tenda RX27 Pro

The Tenda RX27 Pro offers plenty of common-enough features—including security controls and firewalls, port forwarding, remote web management, VPN setup/management, router-configuration backup/restore, guest-network setup, mesh networking, and Alexa integration.

The access controls are relatively generous. The parental controls include URL restrictions, time limits, and blacklist/whitelist support—as well as batch functionality for bulk-handling clients.

The Tenda RX27 Pro also offers WiFi scheduling—letting you automatically set times for the WiFi to disable and re-enable. This feature comes in particularly handy for those with family members who might otherwise “internet forever”—as well as those who prefer to turn off their WiFi at night in a bid to reduce EMF exposure.

Speaking of scheduling, the control panel also allows you to schedule daily maintenance. The people at Tenda were also thoughtful enough to include an option to delay a router reboot if there are any active clients and network traffic exceeds 3 Kbps. (Microsoft could learn a thing or two from Tenda in this regard.)

Further helping with network maintenance, the control panel includes a tool for network diagnostics. The network-diagnosis tool purports to check connections, interference, delay, jitter, negotiation speed, upload/download speed, memory, CPU usage, and DNS—inter alia.

Performance of Tenda RX27 Pro

The Tenda RX27 Pro offers truly excellent 5-GHz performance and decent 2.4-GHz throughput, but throughput on its 6-GHz band was often slower than on 5-GHz. That’s odd, when you consider that the 6-GHz band is what makes WiFi 6E stand out. However, latency numbers were still excellent at 6 GHz, making this a good choice for gaming as the amount of data you transfer is less important than how fast your keystrokes and mouse clicks get to the server. 

Tenda has a built-in diagnostic tool that offers its take on throughput and latency, but as always, we do our own testing. For what it’s worth, the Tenda RX27 claims to offer maximums of 861 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 2402 Mbps on each of the 5 GHz and the 6 GHz bands. The 861 number is noteworthy considering that IEEE considers the theoretical maximum speed on 2.4 GHz to be 600 Mbps. Perhaps Tenda knows something that IEEE does not. 

We conducted our own tests repeatedly throughout the course of two weekdays in a single-family house with a 1,200-Mbps connection, using a laptop with a RealTek 8852CE network adapter as the client and another PC, attached via Ethernet, as the server to receive traffic. 

We used iPerf to test throughput and ping to test latency. Four sets of tests were conducted for each band. iPerf’s results, on every router we have tested, are typically in the 150 to 350 Mbps range so we’re not surprised when we don’t come close to the theoretical maximum bandwidth.

Near uncongested: Testing laptop approximately 7 feet away from the router, no substantial traffic being carried across other devices

Far uncongested: Testing laptop approximately 25 feet away from the router, no substantial traffic being carried across other devices

Near congested: Testing laptop approximately 7 feet away from the router; videos streaming on four devices throughout the house

Far congested: Testing laptop approximately 25 feet away from the router; videos streaming on four devices throughout the house

Here are the results we recorded from our testing:

For a router that’s less than $150, the Tenda RX270 Pro has really good speeds on the 5-GHz band. In fact, its near-location 5-GHz throughput beat all competitors except the MSI RadiX AXE6600 and, with network congestion, it even topped MSI’s router (which costs $150 more). Latency numbers were also really strong with pings in the 4 to 5 ms range.

The 2.4-GHz band’s numbers are overall quite decent (although we would have liked to have seen better throughput on the congested-traffic tests there). Latency, under congested conditions, was so-so but acceptable.

The bigger headline than any of these items, however, involves the inferior throughputs on the 6-GHz band compared to those on the 5-GHz band. It’s surprising to see that , for example, the RX27 Pro had 100 Mbps higher speed at near / uncongested 5-GHz than at near / uncongested 6 GHz. You’d expect 6-GHz to have more throughput as it did on other routers. However, the good news – particularly for gamers – is that latency was really, really low at 6-GHz, besting most of its competitors.

At the same time, the 3% packet loss in our far-congested tests on the 5-GHz band is concerning. We are left to wonder if occasional modest packet loss is an issue potentially common to some low-end WiFi 6E routers; we also experienced 3% packet loss during our near-uncongested testing on the 6-GHz band of the TP-Link Archer AXE75.

It is also worth noting—though we cannot account for it—that our near-congested testing on the 2.4 GHz band underperformed performance during our far-congested testing. During the former, despite mostly ultra-low ping rates, we experienced substantial swings in ping rate to as high as 161 ms.

Bottom Line

If you’re going to buy a WiFi 6E router to go with WiFi 6E-compatible devices, you probably want to be able to get some significant performance benefits from the 6-GHz band. In this regard, the Tenda RX27 Pro is somewhat of a disappointment, offering worse throughput on 6 GHz than on 5 GHz. However, its latency numbers – most important for gaming – are much better at 6 GHz.

The Tenda RX27 Pro performed relatively strongly on the 5 GHz band (discounting the 3% packet loss in one set of our tests). The 2.4 GHz results weren’t bad either. And average ping rates were low across the board.

Tenda’s router does cut some corners. It comes without a USB port, a power button, or even a fourth LAN port. And a number of other routers seem to offer more security features.

However, for $110, the Tenda RX27 Pro offers great value considering that many Wi-Fi 6 routers are in the same price range or are more expensive. If you’re looking for strong Wi-Fi 6E performance, consider the MSI RadiX AXE6600 or the Netgear Nighthawk RAXE300, both of which cost more than $150 more. However, if you want to save money and think of it as a Wi-Fi 6 router with a 6-GHz bonus band, the RX27 Pro is a really solid choice.

The best SSDs aren’t necessarily the most energy-efficient medium for storage. According to the workloads and drive capacities, a new study from storage provider Scality shows that hard drives can offer between 19% to 94% better power density per drive than SSD.

Unlike SSDs, hard drives have many moving parts, such as mechanical platters or actuator arms. Therefore, the common misperception around SSDs is that they consume less power than hard drives because there aren’t any moving mechanisms. That may not be accurate, according to Scality’s latest tests. The company’s benchmark results reveal that hard drives have a power density advantage over high-density QLC SSDs. Scality used the Micron 6500 ION 30.72TB QLC SSD and the Seagate Exos X22 22TB 7,200 RPM hard drive for comparison. As a quick note, Scality is evaluating power consumption and not performance.

If we look at the TR/watt power-density metric, the hard drive posted 19% read-intensive numbers and 94% write-intensive numbers. At idle, the hard drive consumed 14% more power than the SSD. However, the hard drive had 37% and 68% lower power consumption during active read and write operations. Scality observed similar figures in intensive workloads. For instance, the hard drive consumed 40% and 63% less power in read-intensive and write-intensive workloads, respectively. Scality admitted that the results may change as drive capacities continue to increase in the future.

Scality utilized two different models for testing. The read-intensive workload had 10% idle, 80% reading, and 10% writing. On the contrary, the write-intensive workload consisted of 10% idling, 10% reading, and 80% writing. Each drive was in the mentioned power state for the percentage indicated.

Scality noted that “power consumption does not rise to a main criterion on which to base the SSD vs. HDD decision today.” It all depends on the workload. For example, SSDs are still the best performance option for read-intensive and latency-sensitive workloads. Meanwhile, hard drives remain the preferred medium for unstructured data workloads.

You can find the AOC C27G2Z 27-inch gaming display for one of its best prices yet. This monitor has been going for around $199 lately but today it’s discounted to $179. This is a notable deal given both its price history and specifications that set it apart from other displays in its class.

We reviewed the AOC C27G2Z and appreciated its value which makes today’s discount that much more beneficial. This gaming monitor is AMD FreeSync Premium certified which gives it a little bit of a leg up over other monitors with specs like a minimum FHD resolution and high refresh rate. In this case, the AOC C27G2Z can reach up to 240Hz. It also features low latency as well as support for low framerate compensation (LFC). 

The AOC C27G2Z features a 27-inch curved VA panel with a curvature of 1500R. It has an FHD resolution which measures up to 1920 x 1080px. The refresh rate is notoriously high, reaching up to 240Hz and is accompanies by an MPRT of .5ms.

Users have a couple of input options to take advantage of including one DisplayPort input and two HDMI ports. A 3.5mm jack is included for external audio peripherals. The purchase is supported by a limited 3-year manufacturer’s warranty from AOC alongside Amazon’s 30-day return policy.

Visit the AOC C27G2Z 27-inch curved gaming monitor product page at Amazon for more details and purchase options.

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, summer is still in full swing. If you’re still planning a summer bash or two before fall hits, you might want to take a look at this awesome pellet smoker hopper level monitor created by maker and developer Joe Pecsi. Using our favorite microcontroller, the Raspberry Pi Pico, he’s able to monitor his pellet smoker’s hopper level and keep track of it with a mobile app. 

The concept is simple but also a super effective way to monitor the pellet level in your smoker without having to get up and check. It relies on an ultrasonic sensor to measure the pellet level which is then automatically reported through a web-based app. This can be checked from any device with a browser like a PC or a smartphone.

Not only does the Pico accept input from the ultrasonic sensor, it also hosts a web server. The web app data is shared using MQTT over WiFi. This is what enables you to check the hopper level remotely. The mobile app has a few settings, as well, that you can use to make adjustments including an option to calibrate the sensor.

Pecsi was kind enough to share a complete breakdown of the hardware used in his hopper monitor setup. He’s relying on a Raspberry Pi Pico W for its wireless support and an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor. In addition to these boards, he also created a PCB from scratch just to make the setup a little more professional. Plans are in the works to create 3D printed housing for the unit as well as a battery pack.

The software used in the project has also been made open source. You can find the various repositories used in its creation over at GitHub. It includes the Python scripts used to operate the Pico and everything you need to check out how the mobile app works. According to Pecsi, he’s using Flutter to operate the web app.

If you’d like to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, you can find the original thread over at Reddit. Be sure to follow Pecsi for future projects as well as any updates on this one.

We have already reported that AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card uses the company’s Navi 31 GPU in a smaller package. This compact package could cram AMD’s top-of-the-range graphics processor into laptops, hardware leaker Golden Pig Upgrade asserts. Meanwhile, the ultra-high-end mobile graphics solution could offer more stream processors than the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, one of the best graphics cards. Yet, a grain of salt is recommended since this is a leak.

AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 GRE has 5120 stream processors and a 256-bit memory interface enabled by four active memory controller die (full Navi 31 uses six MCDs and a 384-bit interface). Meanwhile, the compact version of the Navi 31 GPU with a 256-bit memory bus could be used to build an ultimate graphics solution for gaming laptops, as the unit certainly packs quite a punch.

The leaker asserts that the alleged Radeon RX 7900M XT could feature more active stream processors but admits that they do not know the exact number. Furthermore, the leaker claims that the unit is delayed for some reason. 

AMD’s Radeon RX 7000M family of laptop GPUs currently includes four models based on the Navi 33 graphics processor, the smallest GPU in the RDNA 3 lineup. It is reasonable to expect AMD to use its Navi 32 silicon with up to 3840 stream processors for mid-range and high-end mobile GPUs as it is going to offer tangible performance advantages over AMD’s Radeon RX 6800M and 6850M XT products featuring Navi 22 GPU with 2560 stream processors enabled. Cramming a top-of-the-range graphics processor into laptops is something that AMD has not done in years. Still, since gaming laptops and compact desktops are gaining popularity, the company cannot ignore this market segment. That said, the company might use a cut-down Navi 31 to address advanced gaming machines.

 Meanwhile, a big question is whether AMD’s multi-chiplet Navi 31 graphics processor is a good fit for mobile PCs. On the one hand, an underclocked undervolted Big Navi GPU with some of its 6144 stream processors disabled could be very energy efficient. On the other hand, a multi-chiplet design is, by definition, less energy efficient than a monolithic design in most cases. 

For now, we have no idea about the combination of stream processor count, frequency range, and power envelope that AMD is looking at to hit its notebook performance targets. Furthermore, since the information comes from an unofficial source, we have to take it with a grain of salt and keep in mind that even if AMD has plans to address a certain market segment, plans sometimes change.

The modern world of consumer tech wouldn’t exist as we know it if not for the near-ubiquitous connectivity that Wi-Fi internet provides. It serves as the wireless link bridging our mobile devices and smart home appliances, enabling our streaming entertainment and connecting us to the global internet. 

In his new book, Beyond Everywhere: How Wi-Fi Became the World’s Most Beloved Technology, Greg Ennis, who co-authored the proposal that became the technical basis for WiFi technology before founding the Wi-Fi Alliance and serving as its VP of Technology for a quarter century, guides readers on the fascinating (and sometimes frustrating) genesis of this now everyday technology. In the excerpt below, Ennis recounts the harrowing final days of pitching and presentations before ultimately convincing the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standards committee to adopt their candidate protocol as well as examine the outside influence that Bob Metcalf — inventor of both Ethernet, the standard, and 3Com, the tech company — had on Wi-Fi’s eventual emergence.

Post Hill Press

Excerpted from Beyond Everywhere: How Wi-Fi Became the World’s Most Beloved Technology (c) 2023 by Greg Ennis. Published by Post Hill Press. Used with permission.

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With our DFWMAC foundation now chosen, the work for the IEEE committee calmed down into a deliberate process for approving the actual text language for the standard. There were still some big gaps that needed to be filled in—most important being an encryption scheme—but the committee settled into a routine of developing draft versions of the MAC sections of the ultimate standard document. At the January 1994 meeting in San Jose, I was selected to be Technical Editor of the entire (MAC+PHY) standard along with Bob O’Hara, and the two of us would continue to serve as editors through the first publication of the final standard in 1997. 

The first draft of the MAC sections was basically our DFWMAC specification reformatted into the IEEE template. The development of the text was a well-established process within IEEE standards committees: as Bob and I would complete a draft, the members of the committee would submit comments, and at the subsequent meeting, there would be debates and decisions on improvements to the text. There were changes made to the packet formats, and detailed algorithmic language was developed for the operations of the protocol, but by and large, the conceptual framework of DFWMAC was left intact. In fact, nearly thirty years after DFWMAC was first proposed, its core ideas continue to form the foundation for Wi-Fi.

 While this text-finalization process was going on, the technology refused to stand still. Advances in both radio communications theory and circuit design meant that higher speeds might be possible beyond the 2-megabit maximum in the draft standard. Many companies within the industry were starting to look at higher speeds even before the original standard was finally formally adopted in 1997. Achieving a speed greater than 10 megabits — comparable to standard Ethernet — had become the wireless LAN industry’s Holy Grail. The challenge was to do this while staying within the FCC’s requirements — something that would require both science and art. 

Faster is always better, of course, but what was driving the push for 10 megabits? What wireless applications were really going to require 10-megabit speeds? The dominant applications for wireless LANs in the 1990s were the so-called “verticals” — for example, Symbol’s installations that involved handheld barcode scanners for inventory management. Such specialized wireless networks were installed by vertically integrated system providers offering a complete service package, including hardware, software, applications, training, and support, hence the “vertical” nomenclature. While 10-megabit speeds would be nice for these vertical applications, it probably wasn’t necessary, and if the cost were to go up, such speeds wouldn’t be justifiable. So instead, it would be the so-called “horizontal” market — wireless connectivity for general purpose computers — that drove this need for speed. In particular, the predominantly Ethernet-based office automation market, with PCs connected to shared printers and file servers, was seen as requiring faster speeds than the IEEE standard’s 2 megabits.

Bob Metcalfe is famous in the computer industry for three things: Ethernet, Metcalfe’s Law, and 3Com. He co-invented Ethernet; that’s simple enough and would be grounds for his fame all by itself. Metcalfe’s Law— which, of course, is not actually a law of physics but nonetheless seems to have real explanatory power— states that the value of a communication technology is proportional to the square of the number of connected devices. This intuitively plausible “law” explains the viral snowball effect that can result from the growing popularity of a network technology. But it would be Metcalfe’s 3Com that enters into our Wi-Fi story at this moment. 

Metcalfe invented Ethernet while working at PARC, the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. PARC played a key role in developing many of the most important technologies of today, including window-based graphic computer interfaces and laser printing, in addition to Ethernet. But Xerox is famous for “Fumbling the Future,” also the title of a 1999 book documenting how “Xerox invented, then ignored, the first personal computer,” since the innovations developed at PARC generally ended up being commercialized not by Xerox but by Apple and others. Not surprisingly, Metcalfe decided he needed a different company to take his Ethernet invention to the market, and in 1979, he formed 3Com with some partners.

This was the same year I joined Sytek, which had been founded just a couple of months prior. Like 3Com, Sytek focused on LAN products, although based on broadband cable television technology in contrast to 3Com’s Ethernet. But whereas Sytek concentrated on hardware, 3Com decided to also develop their own software supporting new LAN-based office applications for shared PC access to data files and printers. With these software products in combination with their Ethernet technology, 3Com became a dominant player in the booming office automation market during the nineties that followed the introduction of personal computers. Bob Metcalfe was famously skeptical about wireless LANs. In the August 16, 1993, issue of InfoWorld, he wrote up his opinion in a piece entitled “Wireless computing will flop — permanently”:

This isn’t to say there won’t be any wireless computing. Wireless mobile computers will eventually be as common as today’s pipeless mobile bathrooms. Porta-potties are found on planes and boats, on construction sites, at rock concerts, and other places where it is very inconvenient to run pipes. But bathrooms are still predominantly plumbed. For more or less the same reasons, computers will stay wired.

Was his comparison of wireless to porta-potties just sour grapes? After all, this is coming from the inventor of Ethernet, the very archetype of a wired network. In any event, we were fortunate that Metcalfe was no longer involved with 3Com management in 1996 — because 3Com now enters our story as a major catalyst for the development of Wi-Fi. 

3Com’s strategy for wireless LANs was naturally a subject of great interest, as whatever direction they decided to take was going to be a significant factor in the market. As the premier Ethernet company with a customer base that was accustomed to 10-megabit speeds, it was clear that they wouldn’t take any steps unless the wireless speeds increased beyond the 2 megabits of the draft IEEE standard. But might they decide to stay out of wireless completely, like Bob Metcalfe counselled, to focus on their strong market position with wired Ethernet? And if they did decide to join the wireless world, would they develop their own technology to accomplish this? Or would they partner with an existing wireless developer? The task of navigating 3Com through this twisted path would fall to a disarmingly boyish business development whiz named Jeff Abramowitz, who approached me one afternoon quite unexpectedly. 

Jeff tapped me on the shoulder at an IEEE meeting. “Hey, Greg, can I talk with you for a sec?” he whispered, and we both snuck quietly out of the meeting room. “Just wondering if you have any time available to take on a new project.” He didn’t even give me a chance to respond before continuing with a smile: “10 megabits. Wireless Ethernet.” The idea of working with the foremost Ethernet company on a high-speed version of 802.11 obviously enticed me, and I quickly said, “Let’s get together next week.”

He told me that they had already made some progress towards an internally developed implementation, but that in his opinion, it was more promising for them to partner with one of the major active players. 3Com wanted to procure a complete system of  wireless LAN products that they could offer to their customer base, comprising access points and plug-in adapters (“client devices”) for both laptops and desktops. There would need to be a Request for Proposal developed, which would, of course, include both technical and business requirements, and Jeff looked to me to help formulate the technical requirements. The potential partners included Symbol, Lucent, Aironet, InTalk, and Harris Semiconductor, among others, and our first task was to develop this RFP to send out to these companies. 

Symbol should need no introduction, having been my client and having played a major role in the development of the DFWMAC protocol that was selected as the foundation for the 802.11 standard. Lucent may sound like a new player, but in fact, this is simply our NCR Dutch colleagues from Utrecht — including Wim, Cees, Vic, and Bruce — under a new corporate name, NCR having been first bought by AT&T and then spun off into Lucent. Aironet is similarly an old friend under a new name — back at the start of our story, we saw that the very first wireless LAN product approved by the FCC was from a Canadian company called Telesystems, which eventually was merged into Telxon, with Aironet then being the result of a 1994 spinoff focusing on the wireless LAN business. And in another sign of the small-world nature of the wireless LAN industry at this time, my DFWMAC co-author, Phil Belanger, had moved from Xircom to Aironet in early 1996. 

The two companies here who are truly new to our story are InTalk and Harris. InTalk was a small startup founded in 1996 in Cambridge, England (and then subsequently acquired by Nokia), whose engineers were significant contributors to the development of the final text within the 802.11 standard. Harris Corporation was a major defense contractor headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, who leveraged their radio system design experience into an early wireless LAN chip development project. Since they were focused on being a chip supplier rather than an equipment manufacturer, we didn’t expect them to submit their own proposal, but it was likely that other responders would incorporate their chips, so we certainly viewed them as an important player. 

Over the first couple of months in 1997, Jeff and I worked up a Request for Proposal for 3Com to send out, along with a 3Com engineer named David Fisher, and by March we were able to provide the final version to various candidate partners. Given 3Com’s position in the general LAN market, the level of interest was high, and we indeed got a good set of proposals back from the companies we expected, including Symbol, Lucent, InTalk, and Aironet. These companies, along with Harris, quickly became our focus, and we began a process of intense engagement with all of them over the next several months, building relationships in the process that a year later would ultimately lead to the formation of the Wi-Fi Alliance. 

Bob Metcalfe’s wireless skepticism had been soundly rejected by the very company he founded, with 3Com instead adopting the mantle of wireless evangelism. And Wireless Ethernet, soon to be christened Wi-Fi, was destined to outshine its wired LAN ancestor.

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On the heels of its decision to withdraw from the desktop and laptop PC business announced on July 11, Intel issued five product discontinuance notices regarding about a dozen NUC systems in just one month. While tens of Intel’s own NUCs will be available for a while, several NUC models have now gone to end-of-life (EOL) status.

Most recently, Intel discontinued its NUC 12 Enthusiast kits and barebones systems with its Core i7-12700H processor and Arc A770M graphics. Intel also EOLed its NUC P14E Laptop Element notebook chassis meant to be integrated with NUC 11 Compute Element, and select NUC X15 Laptop Kits. The last product discontinuance shipment date for these items is September 8, 2023, so expect them to go extinct from retail by the end of the year or by early 2024.

In addition, Intel also issued product discontinuance notices for its NUC 11 v5 Compute Element and NUC 11 v7 Compute Element boards. The company will ship the final units of these SKUs on September 29, 2023.

Intel currently offers three categories of client NUC systems: consumer-focused compact PCs, business and enterprise-oriented machines with remote management capabilities, and high-end systems for gamers and professionals. While Intel’s NUCs have been competitive against other PC brands, supporting a wide variety of desktops and laptops is challenging for Intel, whose main focus is lucrative chip manufacturing. As a result, the company decided to discontinue its PC business and pass the baton to its partners, such as Asus.

While Intel EOLed dozens of NUC offerings in just a few weeks, many NUC SKUs will remain available for quite a while. Furthermore, due to agreements with customers, the company will likely keep supplying its specialized versions of NUCs for some time.