GEEKOM A7 mini-PC Review : Premium Phoenix in a Compact 4x4 Package

The introduction of the Intel NUC in the early 2010s kickstarted the ultra-compact form-factor (UCFF) trend for desktop systems. Processors with TDPs ranging from 6 - 15W formed the backbone of this segment in the initial years. The emergence of configurable TDPs for notebook processors has prompted some vendors to introduce UCFF systems with regular 45W TDP processors (albeit, in cTDP-down mode).

GEEKOM, the private label brand of Shenzhen Jiteng Network Technology Co., has emerged


TSMC: Performance and Yields of 2nm on Track, Mass Production To Start In 2025

In addition to revealing its roadmap and plans concerning its current leading-edge process technologies, TSMC also shared progress of its N2 node as part of its Symposiums 2024. The company's first 2nm-class fabrication node, and predominantly featuring gate-all-around transistors, according to TSMC N2 has almost achieved its target performance and yield goals, which places it on track to enter high-volume manufacturing in the second half of 2025.

TSMC states that 'N2


Lexar ARMOR 700 Portable SSD Review: Power-Efficient 2 GBps in an IP66 Package

Lexar has a long history of serving the flash-based consumer storage market in the form of SSDs, memory cards, and USB flash drives. After having started out as a Micron brand, the company was acquired by Longsys which has diversified its product lineup with regular introduction of new products. Recently, the company announced a number of portable SSDs targeting different market segments. The Lexar ARMOR 700 Portable SSD makes its entry as the new flagship in the 20 Gbps PSSD segment.

Despite its flagship positioning and rugged


Apple Silicon|Intel

Arm Unveils 2024 CPU Core Designs, Cortex X925, A725 and A520: Arm v9.2 Redefined For 3nm

As the semiconductor industry continues to evolve, Arm stands at the forefront of innovation for its core and IP architecture, especially in the mobile space, by pushing the boundaries of technology to deliver cutting-edge solutions for end users. For 2024, Arm's year-on-year strategic advancements focus on enhancing last year's Armv9.2 architecture with a new twist. Arm has rebranded and re-strategized its efforts by introducing Client Compute Solutions (CSS), the direct successor to last


Rapidus Adds Chip Packaging Services to Plans for $32 Billion 2nm Fab

To say that the global foundry market is booming right now would be an understatement. Demand for leading-edge process technologies driven by AI and HPC applications is unprecedented, and with Intel joining the contract chipmaking game, this market segment is once again becoming rather competitive as well. Yet, this is exactly the market segment that Rapidus, a foundry startup backed by the Japanese government and several major Japanese companies, is going to enter in 2027, when its first fab comes online, just a few years from


MSI Teases Z790 Project Zero Plus Motherboard With CAMM2 Memory Support

MSI on Thursday published the first image of a new desktop motherboard that supports the innovative DDR5 compression attached memory module (CAMM2). DDR5 CAMM2 modules are designed to improve upon the SO-DIMM form factor used for laptops, alleviating some of the high-speed signaling and capacity limitations of SO-DIMMs while also shaving down on the volume of space required. And while we're eagerly awaiting to see CAMM2 show up in more laptops, its introduction in a PC motherboard comes as a bit

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ASUS NUC14RVHv7 and ASRock Industrial NUC BOX-155H Review: Meteor Lake Brings Accelerated AI to UCFF PCs

Intel's Meteor Lake series of processors has had a drawn-out launch since its details were officially presented in September 2023. The series marks Intel's foray into the consumer market with a tile-based chiplet configuration held together with Foveros packaging. Similar to Tiger Lake, the focus of Meteor Lake has primarily been on the mobile market - ultraportables and notebooks. However, this has not prevented Intel and its partners from introducing it as a follow-up to Raptor Lake-P and Raptor Lake


TSMC's Roadmap at a Glance: N3X, N2P, A16 Coming in 2025/2026

As announced last week by TSMC, later this year the company is set to start high-volume manufacturing on its N3P fabrication process, and this will be the company's most advanced node for a while. Next year things will get a bit more interesting as TSMC will have two process technologies that could actually compete against each other when they enter high-volume manufacturing (HVM) in the second half of 2025.

Advertised PPA Improvements of New Process Technologies
Data announced during conference calls, events

TSMC Offers a Peek at 'Global Gigafab' Process Replication Program

At its European Technology Symposium last week TSMC revealed some of the details about its Global Gigafab Manufacturing program, the company's strategy to replicate its manufacturing processes across its multiple gigafab sites.

The need for large-scale multi-national fabs to have a process in place to replicate their facilities is well-documented at this point. As scaling-up at at the gigafab size means scaling-out instead, chip makers need to be able to quickly get new and updated manufacturing processes ported to other facilities in order to


Apple Silicon|Intel

TSMC to Expand CoWoS Capacity by 60% Yearly Through 2026

Customer demand for AI and HPC processors is driving a much greater use of advanced packaging technologies, particularly TSMC's chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) services. As things stand, TSMC is just barely meeting the current demand for this packaging method – never mind future demand – which is why last year the company announced plans to more than double CoWoS capacity by the end of 2024. But as it turns out, just doubling capacity once won't be enough, and the