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Video Link Source We also have a nice ramble from Buildzoid over at Actually Hardcore Overclocking: Rambling about the RX 6000 heatsink I'm liking the new design, and if Buildzoid is correct in assuming HBM2, I might be willing to wait for AMD's 6000 Navi card. I'm really hoping AMD has finally done some work on AMF to unlock better encoding options for streamers, first-gen Navi still has pretty poor h264 encoding, but stellar h265 encoding, the former being needed for Twitch streaming and the latter being great for recording gameplay at really high quality.

Video Link Source Interesting to see designs going back to the "spire style" of coolers with internal fans. Really curious on the actual real-world noise levels on this and if they keep it under 30 dBA which can be seen as the equivalent of "a low-voice conversation." Also 150 W of cooling potential seems a little optimistic from me, but maybe with case airflow helping it, we will see. This cooler might not be the best match for a RTX 3000 Founder's card though...

ASUS today has seemingly confirmed platform support of AMD's A520 chipset for the upcoming Zen 3-based CPUs. An official ASUS slide showcases the A 520 covering the latest Renoir-based CPUs (Ryzen 4000G, based on Zen 2), alongside upcoming Cezanne (Ryzen 5000G, based on Zen 3), and Vermeer (Ryzen 4000 or 5000 series, based on Zen 3 with actual series nomenclature being up in the air). The good news end there, as the same ASUS slide may have just dropped a bomb on consumer expectations for their current platform support. Initially, the AMD B450 and X470 chipsets weren't going to support Zen 3-based CPU solutions; however, following considerable community backlash, AMD made the decision to offer support for these platforms via a vendor-specific BIOS update. This update might entail curbed support for older AMD Zen architectures, but would at least allow for an upgrade path for users interested in keeping their AM4, current-gen motherboards. ASUS doesn't seem to be offering such Zen 3 support for its X470 and B450 motherboards, though. We will have to see if this is an ASUS-specific decision or if something is indeed afoot in the world of AMD future proofing. Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/271114/a...pport-in-doubt This is great news for my X570 board in my UnRaid Home Server as well as building a new gaming rig on a B550 right now to still support new processors.

Let's spare a moment of thought for B1049, a Falcon 9 first-stage booster that made its debut in September 2018 by launching the Telstar 18V commercial mission. Then, in January 2019, the core launched another commercial mission, sending a passel of Iridium satellites into space. Both were successes. Since then the first stage has lofted three different Starlink missions into low Earth orbit as SpaceX seeks to build out a constellation of satellites to provide broadband Internet from space. The Starlink platform may eventually turn into a very profitable business for SpaceX, although there remains a lot of work to do with regard to ground stations to receive signals, compliances with regulations, and more. But what is unquestionable is that launching Starlink missions has allowed SpaceX to push the boundaries of reuse with its Falcon 9 rocket. Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020...he-sixth-time/

Glad to have you here, don't forget to check out the Discord as well

Great to see you making progress and working through the PLex Gotcha's. I definitely think they need to spend some more time on the "auto" settings on clients or give better controls for selecting quality for the average user. Right now they give you options on android and web apps, but casting apps and smart TV's are stuck basically auto adjusting on the fly which can lead to changing quality for the first 5 minutes of a show/movie until it settles on a good setting.

Yes, audio transcoding is still a single core task. Being at 100% will happen on 1080p or 4k at various numbers of audio channels, it will just be able to transcode longer buffers and keep processing audio. It's normal and doesn't necessarily lock that core fully to harm other tasks on that thread. I can't see a 3+ GHz core having issues with the audio processing unless the source is like 7.2 or Atmos or something and trying to transcode it to 2.1 or just stereo. You could try and see if you can change the audio options on the playback client, but hopefully its not a hardware issue in that newer CPU's have some instructions that somehow speed that portion up.

So counter-point to your point on average 70 Miles per day, many people might live in apartments or work at places where their might be a few Electric Chargers, but not enough for everyone who needs them and I have co-workers who need to schedule their charging time around their neighbors and only get to charge fully every few days. So I agree that more range isn't required, but instead better charging infrastructure.

Electric vehicles have come a long way in terms of going a long way on a charge. But everyone is still seeking the next big jump in battery technology—a battery with significantly higher energy density would mean more range or lower costs to hit the current range. There is always some room for incremental progress on current lithium-ion battery technology, but there is a lithium holy grail that has remained out of reach for decades: ditching its graphite anode to shrink the cell. A lithium metal battery would simply use solid lithium as the anode instead of requiring a graphite framework for lithium atoms to tuck into as the battery charges. The problem is that the lithium doesn't form an order surface during recharging, so the battery capacity drops drastically—declining to 80 percent within 20 charge cycles in some configurations. Rogue lithium also tends to build up dangerous, branching, needle-like structures that can pierce the separator between the anode and cathode and short-circuit the cell. Source: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020...ery-chemistry/

BIOSTAR, a leading brand of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, today proudly announces the B450NH Mini-ITX motherboard. Designed based on AMD's B450 single chip architecture, the new B450NH motherboard from BIOSTAR is sleek and convenient, coming in a Mini-ITX form factor suitable for builds with smaller footprint that saves desk space as well as being easy to move around. The BIOSTAR B450NH motherboard carries AMD's AM4 socket built to support the latest and greatest AMD Ryzen CPU / APU range, with features like PCIe M.2 32 Gb/s delivering 5 times faster bandwidth under lower latency compared to SATA III 6 Gb/s further enhancing the potential of this amazing motherboard. Suitable for many applications like casual content consumption or gaming, the B450NH motherboard is packed with all the essential tools to be a great platform for many applications with features like the capability to support up to 64Gb of DDR4 RAM on 2DIMMS with 4000 MHz OC capability. Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/270982/b...tx-motherboard Pros: - Supports XT processors - Rear M.2 Slot Cons: - Only USB 3.2 Gen 1 - Only Gigabit LAN - Very small heatsink for >6-core processor (Should run all f Ryzen processors at base clock, but not much above that which would be a huge performance difference on higher end Ryzen processors for most users) Oddities: - Still markets SATA 6G as faster than previous SATA 3G, how is this a selling point anymore...

Yeah, this is what I was thinking but forgot to add as a comment, definitely can help breath a little new life in to some older servers and gaming PC's, like those people still running Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge on PCIe Gen 2.

I'm not as worried about Intel on the driver front as you might be as they have been doing iGPU drivers for a long time along with hybrid driver implementations with Nvidia discrete GPU's in the mobile space alongside iGPU's. Definitely looking forward to more competition though for sure.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has selected the first five projects to receive funding from its Broadband Fund. The fund will provide $72 million CAD to Broadband Communications North and Northwestel for projects in Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. ... The CRTC’s universal service objective for fixed internet access service across Canada is having access to at least 50Mbps download and 10Mbps upload. It notes that in 2019, only 42.6 percent of rural households had access to these speeds. Source: https://mobilesyrup.com/2020/08/12/c...cess-projects/ It's great to see Canada investing in better broadband for more remote users and the general broadband health of the Canada-wide broadband network.

Last month, Google announced a major revamp of Gmail that would see it merge with two of Google's newer communication apps, Google Meet and Google Chat. Both apps are upstarts taking on established competitors in areas Google has neglected for a long time. Meet is Google's Zoom video conferencing competitor, and Google Chat is the company's Slack competitor. Today, Google announced the merger is starting to roll out to GSuite customers. On the desktop interface, the new version of Gmail keeps all of the Gmail commands and features about where you would expect them, it just adds a million other controls to the sides and top of the email app. The sidebar now has sections for people and chat rooms from Google Chat, along with meetings you have scheduled in Google Meet. Gmail's message area gets a split-screen interface that can now do things like show a Google Chat chatroom or a even open a Google Doc right inside Gmail. On mobile, the Gmail app gets a new tab bar at the bottom of the app, letting you switch between Mail, Chat, Rooms, and Meet. Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020...-gsuite-users/ Typically I've followed the masses on the disappointment on Google's constant stream of new products that all do the same thing and the wrong products getting dropped and features being missed. In this case though, with Google committing to integrating them all properly in to one platform, I have a little more hope than usual for the future of the Apps Google is integrating together.

Here's the first picture of an ASRock A520M Pro4 Micro-ATX Socket AM4 motherboard based on AMD's upcoming A520 entry-level chipset that succeeds the A320. The picture reveals a spartan, well laid out motherboard that appears to cover all the segment essentials needed for entry-level builds using AMD's Athlon 3000 processors, or Ryzen 3000 and 4000G processors. Among its segment first features are the inclusion of two M.2 slots, from which one is wired to the AM4 socket, and includes an SSD heatsink. The board also features an M.2 E-key slot so you can add a WLAN card (provision for rear-panel antennae also offered). USB connectivity includes a type-C port on the rear panel. Surprisingly, the only display output is a D-Sub. Perhaps there are variants of this board that come with HDMI or DP. Another striking detail from this VideoCardz-sourced picture is the printed marking near the top M.2 NVMe slot (wired to the processor) which reads "PCIe Gen 3 x4." On AMD B550 based motherboards, ASRock marks this as "PCIe Gen 4 x4." This is a confirmation of the AMD A520 platform being segmented from the B550 with lack of PCI-Express gen 4.0 support. The lack of gen 4.0 ancillaries could slim the bill of materials for motherboard manufacturers, letting them sell motherboards based on the A520 around the $50-$70 mark. This shouldn't be a problem for people with Athlon 3000G, Ryzen 3000G, or even new 4000G, as none of these processors offer PCIe Gen 4. Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/270953/a...firmed#g270953 Looks like A520 is stripping PCIe Gen 4 completely which should lead to some amazingly priced boards. As long as A520 doesn't get segmented strictly to budget boards and we still see high and mATX boards with VRM's that can handle at least a 12-core Ryzen CPU alongside a full Gen 3 x16 GPU and a Gen 3 NVMe M.2 SSD, could be a real help to system builders.

Good point, they don't really have a list of affected products, instead just vaguely call out the entire SnapDragon line of SoC's. At this point, probably safer to assume that you are affected, but the fact that just a video being played can trigger the vulnerability makes it very hard to defend against as just a user. Could the malicious video trigger the vulnerability just by being embedded in a page, or a Discord chat? That would make this pretty darn deadly and near impossible to defend against as a user.

I'm sure Starlink won't be a huge shake-up speeds and data-cap wise, but I'm really interesting to see how Musk plans to build the monthly/annual plans for Starlink to be competitive and how much of a mark-up shake-up that will provide as it won't be limited by any physical limits in the US aside from having power and a view of the sky. Apartment building residents may unfairly not get access to Starlink depending on the physical building layout, but lots of current US residents stuck with no broadband source, or only a single will all of a sudden have access to a new option that might make lots of copper networks obsolete depending on Starlink's ability to work through clouds and storms. I also haven't seen much about if Musk plans to create larger Starlink ground receivers that are powerful enough to pierce through cloud cover and act as nodes for entire communities via typical copper of fibre connections to customers or LTE/5G. I can't see many things stopping Musk from just buying up some couple acre properties, erecting a small cell tower with LTE/5G and a large Starlink receiver and just provide LTE/5G modem/routers to customers who want internet where no copper or fibre infrastructure exists, or legal red-tape and physical pole construction is limited for adding new communication lines.

Intel appears to have every intention of addressing the performance gaming segment with its Xe graphics architecture. According to information leaked to the web by VideoCardz, Xe-HPG (high performance gaming?) represents a product vertical dedicated to the gaming segment. Among the other verticals are Xe-HPC (high performance compute). The Xe-HPG graphics architecture is being developed for a 2021 market launch. It will feature all the client-segment staples, including a conventional PCI-Express interface, and GDDR6 memory instead of HBM. Intel may also eye DirectX 12 Ultimate logo compliance. Intel's Xe discrete GPU and scalar processor development is already de-coupled with Intel's foundry business development, and so the company could contract external foundries to manufacture these chips. As for specs, it is learned that each Xe-HP "tile" (a silicon die sub-unit that adds up in MCMs for higher tiers of Xe scalar processors), features 512 execution units (EUs). Compare this to the Xe-LP iGPU solution found in the upcoming "Tiger Lake" processor, which has 96. Intel has been able to design scalar processors with up to four tiles, adding up to 2,048 EUs. It remains to be seen if each tile on the scalar processors also include the raster hardware needed for the silicon to function as a GPU. The number of tiles on Xe-HPG are not known, but it reportedly features GDDR6 memory, and so the tile could be a variation of the Xe-HP. Intel SVP and technology head Raja Koduri is expected to detail the near-future of Intel architectures at a virtual event later today, and Xe-HPG is expected to come up. Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/270935/x...for-from-intel

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking and storage solution innovator, today launched the QXG-2G1T-I225 PCIe network card. Providing single-port 2.5GBASE-T connectivity that supports 2.5G, 1G, 100 Mbps and 10 Mbps network speeds, the QXG-2G1T-I225 is a PCIe 2.0 x1 card that can be installed in a QNAP NAS or a Windows /Linux PC. Existing CAT 5e cables can be used with the QXG-2G1T-I225 to provide an immediate upgrade to 2.5 GbE networking. The QXG-2G1T-I225 also supports Windows Server 2019 and provides efficient server management with support for Intel Teaming (Link aggregation), PXE, Intel AMT, Wake on LAN, and VLAN. "The QXG-2G1T-I225 represents QNAP's commitment to providing affordable 2.5 GbE solutions. By using existing CAT 5e cables, users can immediately benefit from 2.5 GbE by pairing their QXG-2G1T-I225 with a 2.5 GbE switch and NAS." said Stanley Huang, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "2.5 GbE provides immediate benefits to both home and business users across a wide range of applications - including gaming, multimedia, virtualization, backup, and general everyday usage. QNAP's 2.5 GbE solutions represent the easiest and most wallet-friendly way to adopt high-speed networking." Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/270937/q...for-nas-and-pc

Well I can only assume that Intel put so much effort in to trying to get 7nm working with their more technical team members and left the newer talent on refining 14nm so now we have 14nm that keeps carrying over the same hardware vulnerabilities and performance issues, 10nm didn't get much love as Intel was pushing hard to fast-track 7nm to catch up so 10nm only really got optimized for mobile or some server, and 7nm is still for lack of a better term, a bust... This is the take of someone who has no inside information of Intel or how they operate their teams, but as someone who works in electrical device manufacturing where you can have 3 different generations of a technology under research/proto-typing/development at a given time and normally the more experience members get put on the newer generations in research or prototyping while the juniors continue to support and fix bugs in the already developed generations.

Yep, even here, because it's all mostly overhead lines, with poles that were built too short to handle extra communication lines added, you have lots of red tape about adding new fibre lines on the poles alongside the phone lines since they are different companies and fibre is supposed to be separated from copper lines by at least 6 inches. Then lots of the subdivisions built within the last 2 decades that have cable internet were all sub-terrain cabling with no provisions for fibre or the hardware necessary at each location, so you have these sub-divisions of 100+ homes that are all twice the value of the the average home in the area that are "stuck" with cable on a yearly contract while low income homes right outside their gate can get gigabit fibre on no contract.

Their argument is probably that people are paying for these plans that have data caps, even though their plans without caps are way more expensive and no one wants to pay for because of the cost.