Tag Archives: NVIDIA

China Still Has Access To High-Speed NVIDIA AI Chips!

Military institutions, AI research institutes and universities in China are still able to source and buy NVIDIA AI chips, albeit in small quantities!

 

AMD + NVIDIA Banned From Selling AI Chips To China!

Both AMD and NVIDIA were ordered by the US government to stop selling high-performance AI chips to both China and Russia on 26 August 2022. This ban was introduced to prevent both countries from using those high-performance AI chips for military purposes.

With immediate effect, the US government banned the export of all AI chips that are equal to, or faster than, the NVIDIA A100 (and H100), or the AMD Instinct MI250 chips. NVIDIA then created slower A800 and H800 AI chips for the Chinese market, but even they were also banned in October 2023.

Recommended : AMD, NVIDIA Banned From Selling AI Chips To China!

 

China Still Has Access To High-Speed NVIDIA AI Chips!

Despite the ongoing ban on the sale of high-performance AI chips to China and Russia, it appears that Chinese military-linked research institutes are still able to source and buy NVIDIA AI chips, albeit in small quantities!

According to a Reuters report on 14 January 2024, public tender documents show that dozens of military institutions, AI research institutes and universities in China with links to the military, have purchased and received high-performance NVIDIA AI chips like the A100 and the H100, as well as the slower A800 and H800 AI chips.

  • Harbin Institute of Technology purchased six NVIDIA A100 chips in May 2023, to train a deep-learning model
  • University of Electronic Science and Technology of China purchased on NVIDIA A100 in December 2022, for an unspecified purpose.

Both universities are subject to the US export restrictions, although the sale of those AI chips are not illegal in China.

More than 100 tenders were identified, in which Chinese state entities successfully purchased NVIDIA A100 and H100 chips, and dozens of tenders show successful purchases of the slower A800 chips.

  • Tsinghua University purchased two H100 chips in December 2023, as well as about eighty A100 chips since September 2022.
  • A Ministry of Industry and Information Technology laboratory purchased a H100 chip in December 2023.
  • An unnamed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) entity based in Wuxi sought to purchase three A100 chips in October 2023, and one H100 chip in January 2024
  • Shandong Artificial Intelligence Institute purchased five A100 chips from Shandong Chengxiang Electronic Technology in December 2023
  • Chongqing University purchased an NVIDIA A100 chip in January 2024.

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To be clear – neither NVIDIA or its approved retailers were found to have supplied those chips. NVIDIA said that it complies with all applicable export control laws, and requires its customers to do the same:

If we learn that a customer has made an unlawful resale to third parties, we’ll take immediate and appropriate action.

– NVIDIA spokesperson

Even though Chinese state entities appear to be able to purchase high-performance AI chips, the Reuters report also shows the effectiveness of the American AI chip ban.

The training of large artificial intelligence models require thousands of high-performance AI chips, and China does not seem to be able to procure more than a handful of these critical chips.

That does not mean China is slowing down its AI initiatives. Instead of relying on “gray imports” of AMD or NVIDIA AI chips, Chinese entities are doing their best to switch to local alternatives. In 2023, HUAWEI received orders for some 5,000 of its Ascent 910B chips.

Chinese mega-companies like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent also have their own in-house AI chips like the Kunlunxin Gen 2, Hanguang 800, and Zixiao.

 

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How NVIDIA A800 Bypasses US Chip Ban On China!

Find out how NVIDIA created the new A800 GPU to bypass the US ban on sale of advanced chips to China!

 

NVIDIA Offers A800 GPU To Bypass US Ban On China!

Two months after it was banned by the US government from selling high-performance AI chips to China, NVIDIA introduced a new A800 GPU designed to bypass those restrictions.

The new NVIDIA A800 is based on the same Ampere microarchitecture as the A100, which was used as the performance baseline by the US government.

Despite its numerically larger model number (the lucky number 8 was probably picked to appeal to the Chinese), this is a detuned part, with slightly reduced performance to meet export control limitations.

The NVIDIA A800 GPU, which went into production in Q3, is another alternative product to the NVIDIA A100 GPU for customers in China.

The A800 meets the U.S. government’s clear test for reduced export control and cannot be programmed to exceed it.

NVIDIA is probably hoping that the slightly slower NVIDIA A800 GPU will allow it to continue supplying China with A100-level chips that are used to power supercomputers and high-performance datacenters for artificial intelligence applications.

As I will show you in the next section, except in very high-end applications, there won’t be truly significant performance difference between the A800 and the A100. So NVIDIA customers who want or need the A100 will have no issue opting for the A800 instead.

However, this can only be a stopgap fix, as NVIDIA is stuck selling A100-level chips to China until and unless the US government changes its mind.

Read more : AMD, NVIDIA Banned From Selling AI Chips To China!

 

How Fast Is The NVIDIA A800 GPU?

The US government considers the NVIDIA A100 as the performance baseline for its export control restrictions on China.

Any chip equal or faster to that Ampere-based chip, which was launched on May 14, 2020, is forbidden to be sold or exported to China. But as they say, the devil is in the details.

The US government didn’t specify just how much slower chips must be, to qualify for export to China. So NVIDIA could technically get away by slightly detuning the A100, while offering almost the same performance level.

And that was what NVIDIA did with the A800 – it is basically the A100 with a 33% slower NVLink interconnect speed. NVIDIA also limited the maximum number of GPUs supported in a single server to 8.

That only slightly reduces the performance of A800 servers, compare to A100 servers, while offering the same amount of GPU compute performance. Most users will not notice the difference.

The only significant impediment is on the very high-end – Chinese companies are now restricted to a maximum of eight GPUs per server, instead of up to sixteen.

To show you what I mean, I dug into the A800 specifications, and compared them to the A100 below:

NVIDIA A100 vs A800 : 80GB PCIe Version

Specifications A100
80GB PCIe
A800
80GB PCIe
FP64 9.7 TFLOPS
FP64 Tensor Core 19.5 TFLOPS
FP32 19.5 TFLOPS
Tensor Float 32 156 TFLOPS
BFLOAT 16 Tensor Core 312 TFLOPS
FP16 Tensor Core 312 TFLOPS
INT8 Tensor Core 624 TOPS
GPU Memory 80 GB HBM2
GPU Memory Bandwifth 1,935 GB/s
TDP 300 W
Multi-Instance GPU Up to 7 MIGs @ 10 GB
Interconnect NVLink : 600 GB/s
PCIe Gen4 : 64 GB/s
NVLink : 400 GB/s
PCIe Gen4 : 64 GB/s
Server Options 1-8 GPUs

NVIDIA A100 vs A800 : 80GB SXM Version

Specifications A100
80GB SXM
A800
80GB SXM
FP64 9.7 TFLOPS
FP64 Tensor Core 19.5 TFLOPS
FP32 19.5 TFLOPS
Tensor Float 32 156 TFLOPS
BFLOAT 16 Tensor Core 312 TFLOPS
FP16 Tensor Core 312 TFLOPS
INT8 Tensor Core 624 TOPS
GPU Memory 80 GB HBM2
GPU Memory Bandwifth 2,039 GB/s
TDP 400 W
Multi-Instance GPU Up to 7 MIGs @ 10 GB
Interconnect NVLink : 600 GB/s
PCIe Gen4 : 64 GB/s
NVLink : 400 GB/s
PCIe Gen4 : 64 GB/s
Server Options 4/ 8 / 16 GPUs 4 / 8 GPUs

NVIDIA A100 vs A800 : 40GB PCIe Version

Specifications A100
40GB PCIe
A800
40GB PCIe
FP64 9.7 TFLOPS
FP64 Tensor Core 19.5 TFLOPS
FP32 19.5 TFLOPS
Tensor Float 32 156 TFLOPS
BFLOAT 16 Tensor Core 312 TFLOPS
FP16 Tensor Core 312 TFLOPS
INT8 Tensor Core 624 TOPS
GPU Memory 40 GB HBM2
GPU Memory Bandwifth 1,555 GB/s
TDP 250 W
Multi-Instance GPU Up to 7 MIGs @ 10 GB
Interconnect NVLink : 600 GB/s
PCIe Gen4 : 64 GB/s
NVLink : 400 GB/s
PCIe Gen4 : 64 GB/s
Server Options 1-8 GPUs

 

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How Biren Got Its Own AI Chips Banned At TSMC!

TSMC stopped making artificial intelligence chips for China’s Biren Technology, and it was all Biren’s own fault!

 

TSMC Stops Making Biren AI Chips Over US Sanctions

TSMC – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company – has suspended production of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips for China’s Biren Technology.

TSMC was forced to make this decision after public domain information revealed that the Biren BR100 and BR104 chips outperformed the NVIDIA A100 chip, which was used as the baseline of US sanctions.

While TSMC has not reached a conclusion on whether the top-of-the-line Biren BR100 or the slower BR104 meet or exceed US government threshold on advanced AI chip technology restrictions, it decided to stop production and supply of the Biren chips for now.

For TSMC to continue producing BR100 or BR104 chips, Biren must now prove that their chips do not offer “peak performance and chip-to-chip I/O performance equal to or greater than thresholds that are roughly equivalent to the [NVIDIA] A100“, or get an export licence from the US Department of Commerce.

And believe it or not – it was Biren Technology that created this mess for itself!

 

How Biren Screwed Up Its Own BR100 AI Chips

Biren, which is one of China’s most promising semiconductor design firms, earlier claimed that its AI chips that were being produced by TSMC are not covered by the latest US export restrictions.

However, its own website touts that the BR100 family of chips offers “world-class performance“, and has “improved by more than 3X” compared to mainstream rivals.

On top of that, Biren actually released a press statement on September 9, 2022, declaring that the slower BR104 was proven by the MLPerf to beat the NVIDIA A100!

Releasing such a statement less than 2 weeks after the US government ordered both AMD and NVIDIA to stop exporting their MI250 and A100 and faster AI chips to China is either amazing chutzpah, or a combination of hubris and idiocy.

Either way, the US government took notice, and TSMC came under pressure to comply with American export restrictions. Awesome PR, but stupid move, Biren…

Take a look at the benchmark results that Biren itself released into public domain, showing that the slower BR104 chip was between 27% and 58% faster than the NVIDIA A100.

With such results, the BR104 would certainly fall under the latest US tech export restrictions. No wonder TSMC quickly stopped making and supplying Biren BR100 series chips.

As powerful as the BR100 and BR104 GPGPU chips may be, they are now dead in the water as TSMC will not manufacture them anymore, and Biren Technology has no plausible alternatives for 7nm fabrication.

Read more : US Targets Chinese Military With New Chip Export Ban!

 

Biren BR100 AI Chips That TSMC Stopped Producing

The Biren BR100 and slower BR104 are General Purpose GPU (GPGPU) chips, which are targeted at artificial intelligence applications.

They are both fabricated on the TSMC 7nm process technology, and use chipset and 2.5D Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technologies to achieve high yield, and high performance.

The Biren BR100 family of GPGPU chips supports up to eight independent virtual instances (SVI) – each physically isolated with their own hardware resources, for improved security.

Their chips are designed with a proprietary Blink high-speed GPU interconnect bus offering bandwidth of up to 448 GB/s, with the ability to connect up to 8 cards in a single node, using state-of-the-art PCI Express 5.0.

Biren Technology offers two BR100-based products – the Bili 100P OCP Accelerator Module (OAM), and the Bill 104P PCI Express accelerator card.

 

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US Targets Chinese Military With New Chip Export Ban!

The US government just imposed sweeping chip and chipmaking export restrictions that target Chinese military capabilities!

 

US Targets Chinese Military With New Chip Export Ban!

On Friday, October 7, 2022, the US government announced new regulations on computer chips and chipmaking technologies designed to target Chinese military capabilities.

The stated goal of these new export restrictions is to “block the People’s Liberation Army and China’s domestic surveillance apparatus from gaining access to advanced computing capabilities that require the use of advanced semiconductors.

According to US officials, these rules target not only the sale and export of chips, but also the tools and software that might help the Chinese military in any way, including aiding the development of weapons of mass destruction.

Unlike earlier rules that target specific Chinese companies (like HUAWEI), the new rules have far greater reach, covering everything from chips made by AMD and NVIDIA, to complex and expensive hardware and software used to design and manufacture semiconductor chips.

These rules, some of which go into effect immediately, build on existing restrictions that were earlier applied to top chip toolmaking companies in the US, like KLA Corporation, Lam Research Corporation, and Applied Material Incorporated.

It’s not just advanced chips used for AI computing and national security or military applications that are being targeted.

The new rules are more generic, and forbid US companies from selling technologies to indigenous Chinese companies that will enable the production of:

  • DRAM chips at 18 nm or below,
  • NAND flash chips at 128 layers or above, and
  • logic chips at 14 nm or below.

Even foreign companies operating China are somewhat affected. US companies will need to obtain a license to export more advanced equipment to them.

But in a concession to South Korea, the US government will spare SK Hynix and Samsung from these measures. US companies will be able to continue supplying their production facilities in China.

Many of the rules aim to block foreign companies from selling advanced chips or chipmaking technologies and tools to China. However, the US government will need to “lean” on those countries to introduce similar measures.

Most advanced chips are manufactured in South Korea and Taiwan. If they continue to export to China, they will allow China to bypass US restrictions.

Read more : Biden To Hit China With More Chip Restrictions!

 

Chinese Government Criticised US Chip Export Ban

On Saturday, the Chinese government criticised the new US chip export ban, calling it a violation of International economic and trade rules that will “isolate and backfire” on the US.

Out of the need to maintain its sci-tech hegemony, the U.S. abuses export control measures to maliciously block and suppress Chinese companies.

It will not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, but also affect American companies’ interest.

– Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson

Despite Mao’s assertions that US actions will not stop China’s progress, the new wide-ranging chip and chipmaking export ban will undoubtedly be detrimental to the Chinese semiconductor industry, and set back its attempts at indigenous production by many years.

On the other hand, this export ban will spur China to redouble its efforts to develop its own chipmaking capabilities, and possibly “strike back” by restricting exports of rare earths to US companies.

Read more : Did China Make 7nm Chips In Spite Of US Sanctions?!

 

US Chip Export Rules Affecting Chinese Companies Summarised

Here is a summary of the new restrictions that take effect on Friday (October 7, 2022):

  • Tools that are capable of producing logic chips made using fin field-effect transistors (FinFET) are blocked from sale to China.
  • Tools capable of fabricating NAND flash storage chips with 128-layer technology or greater, and DRAM based on 18-nanometer half-pitch or less technology are blocked from sale to China.
  • Servicing and maintenance of restricted tools are also banned, which would prevent keeping advanced equipment in good enough shape to keep producing quality chips at high volume.
  • US citizens currently servicing or supporting tools on the restricted list must halt their activities by Wednesday, October 12.
  • Export of items that China can use to make its own chip manufacturing tools, such as a photolithography light source and other specialised components are also blocked from sale to China.

The US Commerce Department also enacted these additional measures on Friday:

  • 31 Chinese entities were added to the Unverified List, which consists of companies that the US government believes could divert technology that they purchase to restricted entities.
  • The Commerce Department expanded the scope of controls for the 28 Chinese firms already on the US Entity List, including presumptively denying any licenses because of the risk they will divert technology to the Chinese military.

Then two weeks later, these restrictions will take effect on Friday, October 21, 2022:

  • Using a new foreign direct product rule, the U.S. will block any chips that used in advanced computing and artificial intelligence applications.
  • The foreign direct product rule can block chips made by non-US companies — including Chinese chip designers — if they use American technology or software.
  • TSMC may be forced by this new rule to halt production on advanced AI or supercomputer chips designed by Chinese firms that are fabricated in Taiwan, unless it gets an exemption.
  • A new foreign direct product rule will apply to components and chips destined for supercomputers in China.

 

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EVGA Quits GPU Business Over NVIDIA Disrespect!

EVGA just confirmed that it is quitting the GPU business for good, citing disrespect and unfair behaviour by NVIDIA!

Here is what we know so far…

 

EVGA Won’t Produce Next-Gen NVIDIA Graphics Cards!

EVGA has been a long-time NVIDIA partner for over 20 years, and exclusively produces only graphics cards based on their GPUs.

But on 16 September 2022, the veteran NVIDIA partner confirmed that it was quitting the graphics card business for good in a terse community forum post.

EVGA will continue to sell the current GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards, and support their existing customers.

However, it will no longer produce the next-generation GeForce RTX 40-series (Lovelace) graphics cards.

Hi all,

You may have heard some news regarding the next generation products from EVGA. Please see below for a message on future products and s

  • EVGA will not carry the next generation graphics cards.
  • EVGA will continue to support the existing current generation products.
  • EVGA will continue to provide the current generation products.

EVGA is committed to our customers and will continue to offer sales and support on the current lineup. Also, EVGA would like to say thank you to our great community for the many years of support and enthusiasm for EVGA graphics cards.

EVGA Management

The majority – about 78% – of EVGA’s revenue comes from sales of its NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics cards, which will run out eventually.

But the company does not plan to layoff its employees even after they finish selling their stock of RTX 30-series graphics cards. Instead, it will focus on other products like motherboards and power supplies, although it does not plan to expand into new product lines.

EVGA is not even entertaining the idea of “working with Intel or AMD” to produce graphics cards. It will quit the graphics card business for good.

The California-based company currently employs about 280 people worldwide, and employees currently working on graphics cards will be reassigned to other departments, although it also expects some “attrition” to take place.

 

EVGA Quits GPU Business Over NVIDIA Disrespect!

While EVGA did not officially mention the reasons for its drastic decision, it was apparently over the way NVIDIA disrespected them and behaved unfairly.

EVGA CEO Andrew Han pointed out that the margin on graphics cards is incredibly thin, and they make 300% more profit on power supplies. Yet NVIDIA was a bad partner to them.

  • NVIDIA would not tell EVGA their cost price for GPUs before announcing the price of cards like the RTX 3080, making it difficult for EVGA to figure out how much to charge for their own cards.
  • NVIDIA sends journalists drivers for the new graphics cards before sending them to EVGA
  • NVIDIA keeps EVGA in the dark about how many GPUs it would receive.
  • NVIDIA competes directly with EVGA with their Founders Edition cards. EVGA complained that it had to sell high-end cards like the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 at a loss of “hundreds of dollars” to compete with the Founders Edition cards.
  • NVIDIA blocks partners from selling cards below a price floor for some models, and above a price ceiling for other models.

Han reportedly said that “the decision to stop working with NVIDIA was easy, because working with NVIDIA was so hard”.

This discontent had been simmering for a long time, and NVIDIA leadership was well-aware as far back as April 2022.

When asked for a response to those allegations, NVIDIA spokesperson Bryan Del Rizzo said :

We’ve had a great partnership with EVGA over the years and will continue to support them on our current generation of products. We wish Andrew [Han] and our friends at EVGA all the best.

Even though EVGA has been with NVIDIA since the RIVA TNT2 days in 1999, the GPU giant probably couldn’t care less as they can still count on their other “partners” to fill in the hole.

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

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Biden To Hit China With More Chip Restrictions!

The Biden Administration is planning to hit China with more restrictions on chip supplies, as well as chipmaking technology!

 

Biden To Hit China With More Chip Restrictions!

Sources familiar with the matter just revealed to Channel News Asia that the Biden Administration plans to hit China with more more restrictions on chip supplies, as well as chipmaking technology.

In September 2022, the US Commerce Department intends to publish new regulations for the semiconductor industry, based on :

  • restrictions that earlier applied only to KLA Corporation, Lam Research Corporation, and Applied Material Incorporated.
  • restrictions that were recently enforced on AMD and NVIDIA

The first three US companies received letters from the US Commerce Department, explicitly forbidding them from exporting chipmaking equipment to Chinese factories that produce sub-14 nanometer semiconductors without special export licences.

AMD and NVIDIA, on the other hand, received letters informing them that they were now banned from selling high-performance AI chips to China (as well as Russia) without special export licences.

On top of those restrictions, the US Commerce Department will likely impose additional chip restrictions on China.

The US Chamber of Commerce claims last week that the Commerce Department plans to add more Chinese supercomputing entities to a trade blacklist.

Read more : AMD, NVIDIA Banned From Selling AI Chips To China!

 

Why Biden Is Introducing More Chip Restrictions On China

The US Commerce Department issued those 5 companies the so-called “is informed” letters to quickly impose restrictions without going through the lengthy rule-writing process, but they would only apply to companies that receive them.

That leaves open the possibility for other companies to bypass those restrictions, or offer comparable chips or technologies to the Chinese as an alternative.

For example, NVIDIA is banned from selling their A100 artificial intelligence chips to Chinese companies. However, China can still purchase servers containing NVIDIA A100 chips from Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Super Micro Computer.

Hence, the new regulations serve to codify those restrictions and apply them across the board, preventing those chips and technologies from “leaking” to China.

As a general rule, we look to codify any restrictions that are in is-informed letters with a regulatory change.
– Senior US Commerce Department official

The Biden Administration has also reached out to US allies to lobby them into enacting similar restrictions, to prevent China from obtaining critical chips and technologies through other sources.

This move comes after the US Congress voted to pass the historic CHIPS and Science Act, which not only provides semiconductor companies with billions of dollars of funding, but also blocks them from building advanced chip fabs in China.

Read more : Did China Make 7nm Chips In Spite Of US Sanctions?!

The Biden Administration appears to be more cognisant than the Trump Administration of the risks of permitting China continued access to advanced semiconductors and chipmaking technologies.

The Chinese government has become very belligerent and aggressive in the South China Sea, and cutting access to advanced chips will reduce its ability to build more advanced missiles like the Dong-Feng 21 (DF-21) and the YJ-12.

China is also a source of chips that Russia desperately needs to build its own advanced missiles, so these rules would also prevent that possibility.

By blocking China’s access to advanced chips, the hope is that it will preclude hostilities from breaking out in Asia, and force an earlier and better conclusion of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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AMD, NVIDIA Banned From Selling AI Chips To China!

Both AMD and NVIDIA have just been banned from selling high-performance AI chips to both China and Russia!

Here is what you need to know…

 

AMD, NVIDIA Banned From Selling AI Chips To China + Russia!

On Friday, 26 August 2022, NVIDIA and AMD were both ordered by the US government to stop exporting high-performance AI chips to both China and Russia.

In its regulatory filing to the SEC, NVIDIA stated that the US government introduced this ban to prevent them from being used for military purposes, or by the Chinese or Russian military.

The ban uses the A100 Tensor Core GPU as the baseline for NVIDIA, and the 3rd Gen Instinct MI250 accelerator chip for AMD.

Effective immediately, anything equal to, or faster than, the NVIDIA A100 or the AMD Instinct MI250 can no longer be exported to either China or Russia. That includes the upcoming H100 chip.

On August 26, 2022, the U.S. government, or USG, informed NVIDIA Corporation, or the Company, that the USG has imposed a new license requirement, effective immediately, for any future export to China (including Hong Kong) and Russia of the Company’s A100 and forthcoming H100 integrated circuits.

DGX or any other systems which incorporate A100 or H100 integrated circuits and the A100X are also covered by the new license requirement.

The license requirement also includes any future NVIDIA integrated circuit achieving both peak performance and chip-to-chip I/O performance equal to or greater than thresholds that are roughly equivalent to the A100, as well as any system that includes those circuits. A license is required to export technology to support or develop covered products.

The USG indicated that the new license requirement will address the risk that the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a ‘military end use’ or ‘military end user’ in China and Russia. The Company does not sell products to customers in Russia.

I should point out that the NVIDIA A100 was launched two years ago – on June 22, 2020, while the AMD Instinct MI250 was introduced on November 8, 2021.

So it appears that the US government wants to maintain at least a 1-year advantage in high-performance AI chips.

 

AMD, NVIDIA Set To Lose Billions From AI Chip Sales To China!

Both AMD and NVIDIA stopped selling chips to Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine, so there is no material loss from such a ban on sales to Russia.

However, they both stand to lose billions of dollars worth of sales to China. NVIDIA alone estimates that the ban will affect US$400 million of sales, just in the third fiscal quarter.

Even more worrying was the likelihood that this ban may delay the H100 chip’s launch, and force NVIDIA to move “certain operations” out of China.

The new license requirement may impact the Company’s ability to complete its development of H100 in a timely manner or support existing customers of A100 and may require the Company to transition certain operations out of China.

AMD however claims that the ban will not have a material impact on its business, because shipments of its less powerful MI100 chips are not affected.

At this time, we do not believe that shipments of MI100 integrated circuits are impacted by the new requirements.

We do not currently believe it is a material impact on our business.

Both AMD and NVIDIA will now have to discuss with their customers in China on using alternative (less powerful) chips, or obtaining special licenses from the US government.

 

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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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2021 Acer Predator Orion 7000 Gaming PC First Look!

Acer just unveiled the 2021 Predator Orion 7000 – an upgradeable liquid-cooled gaming PC!

Here is our first look at the 2021 Acer Predator Orion 7000 gaming PC!

 

2021 Acer Predator Orion 7000 : First Look!

Acer just introduced their new 2021 Predator Orion 7000 gaming PC (P07-640) at their 2021 “Made for Humanity” Global Press Conference.

Here is our first look at this awesome-looking liquid-cooled gaming PC!

 

2021 Acer Predator Orion 7000 : Key Features

Here is a quick overview of its key features :

Performance

The 2021 Predator Orion 7000 is powered by the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors, paired with up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card, and up to 64 GB DDR5-4000 RAM!

This makes it one of the most powerful gaming PC in the market today! And it is upgradeable, so you can upgrade to the next best thing that comes along!

Cooling

An AIO CPU liquid cooler, with three Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fans and advanced airflow management keep system components cool, even in the most demanding gaming conditions.

The improved FrostBlade fans’ thin and curved blades are designed to smoothly increase airflow without creating turbulence, while their wear resistant and fully-sealed rifle bearings ensure that they will keep spinning for many years to come.

Design

The 2021 Predator Orion 7000 comes with an EMI-compliant chassis with transparent, tempered glass side panels.

The design showcases two massive 140 mm (5.5-inch) Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fans in the front, and a 120 mm (4.7-inch) Predator FrostBlade 2.0 fan at the back, which can be lit and configured with a dazzling array of ARGB colours.

Accenting the bold lighting and design are an illuminated teal blue Predator logo on the front panel, with an easily-accessible teal prism-refraction power button.

Storage

The rig comes with ample storage bays, with these storage options :

  • 1 x 2.5-inch USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C hot swap drive bay
  • 2 x M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD bay (up to 1 TB each)
  • 2 x 3.5-inch SATA 3 hard disk drives (up to 3 TB each)

Connectivity

The 2021 Predator Orion 7000 also comes with lots of wireless and wired connectivity features built-in :

  • Intel Killer 2.5G LAN port
  • Intel Wi-Fi 6E (AX211) with 2×2 MU-MIMO technology

In the front of the chassis, it offers these easy-to-reach ports :

  • 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C port
  • 2 x audio jacks

At the back of the chassis, you will find these additional ports :

  • 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports
  • 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C port
  • 2 x USB 2.0 ports
  • 3 x audio jacks

 

Please Support My Work!

Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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2021 Acer Predator Triton + Helios Gaming Laptops First Look!

Acer just introduced the 2021 Predator Triton and Predator Helios line of gaming laptops!

Take a look at these brand new gaming laptops and find out what they offer!

 

2021 Predator Triton + Helios Gaming Laptops Are Here!

On 30 September 2021, Acer unveiled the 2021 Predator Triton and Predator Helios line of gaming laptops!

These newly-refreshed gaming laptops now offer a new level of gaming performance, with even better displays!

Let’s start with their official launch briefing video…

 

2021 Predator Triton 500 SE

The 2021 Predator Triton 500 SE (Special Edition) is a discreetly-designed gaming laptop that look like professional business laptops, but will blast the competition out of the water in any game!

The new Predator Triton 500 SE is incredibly powerful, pairing an 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 processor with the NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3080 GPU, with up to 32 GB of fast DDR4 memory.

Its 16-inch IPS display offers a large work space with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. No one would possibly guess that this large, high-resolution display is also fantastic for gaming, especially when it supports a 165 Hz refresh rate!

To ensure that it stays cool, even under the most strenuous work or gaming conditions, the Predator Triton 500 SE employs the Acer Vortex Flow cooling design, which features :

  • a triple-fan cooling system
  • 5th Generation AeroBlade™ 3D fans
  • five dedicated heat pipes
  • strategically-placed intake and exhaust vents

Best of all – it offers up to 12-hours of battery life, in a 19.9 mm thin all-metal chassis that weighs only 2.4 kg! This lets you use the Predator Triton 500 SE for a full day of work or game on-the-go!

Why waste money on two separate laptops – one for work, one for play, when you can use the Predator Triton 500 SE for both? That’s why I’m especially excited about the 2021 Predator Triton 500 SE.

Acer is offering two models, priced at RM12,999 and RM8,999 respectively, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!

Specifications Predator Triton 500 SE
Model PT516-51s-91KS PT516-51s-70NF
Display 16-inch IPS Display
2560 x 1600 pixels, 165 Hz refresh rate
Processor Intel Core i9-11900H Intel Core i7-11800H
GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 8GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 6GB
Memory 32 GB DDR4-3200 16 GB DDR4-3200
Storage 1 TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD
with 1 extra SSD slot
Connectivity Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E3100G
Ports 2 x USB Type C ports with one port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports
– one port supports power-off USB charging
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x 3.5 mm audio jack
Card Reader SD Card Reader
Audio DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam 720p HD webcam
Dimensions 358.5 mm wide
262.4 mm deep
19.9 mm thick
Weight 2.4 kg
Price RM12,999
~ US$3,110
~ £2,306
~ A$4,294
~ S$4,221
RM8,999
~ US$2,153
~ £1,596
~ A$2,972
~ S$2,922

 

2021 Predator Helios 500

For those who want the ultimate desktop-like gaming performance in a laptop, the 2021 Predator Helios 500 is the answer.

The top-of-the-line model pairs up to 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11980HK processor, with an NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3080 GPU with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, together with up to 64 GB of RAM and up to 2 TB of fast SSD storage!

The Intel® Core™ i9 model comes with a magnificent 17.3-inch Mini LED display, with 4K resolution and support for full-array local dimming!

The Intel® Core™ i7 model, on the other hand, comes with a super-fast Full HD display with a 360 Hz refresh rate and a 3 ms response time.

The 2021 Predator Helios 500 is kept cool by Predator PowerGem – a custom metal-alloy polymer on the CPU, as well as Acer Vortex Flow technology with two 5th Generation AeroBlade™ 3D fans.

The RGB-lit keys can also be further customised by the discerning gamer, who can swap them for Acer Racing or MagForce keys (featuring MagTek mechanical switches).

If you really want the best gaming laptop money can buy, definitely look at the Predator Helios 500.

Acer is offering two models priced at RM19,999 and RM13,999 respectively, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!

Specifications Predator Helios 500
Model PH517-52-90NY PH517-52-78L6
Display 17.3-inch Mini-LED IPS
3840 x 2160 pixels
120 Hz refresh rate
100% DCI-P3
HDR1000
17.3-inch IPS
1920 x 1080 pixels
360 Hz refresh rate
100% sRGB
Processor Intel Core i9-11980HK Intel Core i7-11800H
GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 16GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 8GB
Memory 64 GB DDR4-3200 32 GB DDR4-3200
Storage 2 x 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD
Connectivity Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E3100G
Ports 2 x USB Type C ports with one port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports
– one port supports power-off USB charging
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x mini DP 1.4 port
1 x 3.5 mm headphone jack
1 x 3.5 mm microphone jack
Card Reader SD Card Reader
Audio DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam 720p HD webcam
Dimensions 400.0 mm wide
319.2 mm deep
35.3 mm thick
Weight 3.9 kg
Price RM19,999
~ US$4,785
~ £3,552
~ A$6,614
~ S$6,494
RM13,999
~ US$3,349
~ £2,486
~ A$4,630
~ S$4,546

 

2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 (17.3-inch)

Those on a tighter budget but still want a large gaming laptop, should consider the 2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 (17.3-inch).

Now refreshed with the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11800H processor and up to the NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3070 GPU, it comes with two excellent 17.3-inch display options :

  • a 2560 x 1440 display with a 165 Hz refresh rate, and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, or
  • a 1920 x 1080 display with a 360 Hz refresh rate, and 100% sRGB colour gamut

It comes with 16GB of RAM, which can be expanded to 32GB, and up to 1TB of fast SSD storage, which can be expanded with another SSD and even a HDD!

To ensure it stays cool even in the most demanding gaming session, it features dual AeroBlade™ 3D fans, which can be monitored and controlled by the PredatorSense app.

The 17.3-inch Predator Helios 300 is definitely a great option for those who are looking for a good gaming laptop with a large display at an affordable price point.

Acer is offering two models priced at RM8,999 and RM7,999 respectively, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!

Specifications Predator Helios 300 (17-inch)
Model PH317-55-7695 PH317-55-76CR
Display 17.3-inch IPS
2560 x 1440 pixels
165 Hz refresh rate
100% DCI-P3
17.3-inch IPS
1920 x 1080 pixels
360 Hz refresh rate
100% sRGB
Processor Intel Core i7-11800H
GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Memory 16 GB DDR4-3200
Storage 1TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD 512GB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD
Storage
Expansion
1 extra SSD slot + 1 extra HDD slot
Connectivity Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E2600
Ports 1 x USB Type C port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port supporting power-off USB charging
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x mini-DP 1.4 port
1 x 3.5 mm audio jack
Card Reader None
Audio DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam 720p HD webcam
Dimensions 398.0 mm wide
375.3 mm deep
26.55 mm thick
Weight 2.9 kg
Price RM8,999
~ US$2,153
~ £1,596
~ A$2,972
~ S$2,922
RM7,999
~ US$1,913
~ £1,418
~ A$2,463
~ S$2,599

 

2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 (15.6-inch)

The smaller 2021 Acer Predator Helios 300 offers great gaming performance in a compact, portable laptop for gaming on-the-go.

Now refreshed with the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 or Core i7 and up to the NVIDIA® GeForce™ RTX 3070 GPU, it comes with two excellent 15.6-inch display options :

  • a 2560 x 1440 display with a 165 Hz refresh rate, and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, or
  • a 1920 x 1080 display with a 360 Hz refresh rate, and 100% sRGB colour gamut

It comes with up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of fast SSD storage, which can be expanded with another SSD and even a HDD!

To ensure it stays cool even in the most demanding gaming session, it features dual AeroBlade™ 3D fans, which can be monitored and controlled by the PredatorSense app.

The 15.6-inch Predator Helios 300 is an affordable option for those who are looking for great gaming performance in a more portable form factor for on-the-go gaming.

Acer is offering three models priced at RM9,999, RM7,699 and RM6,299, with a 2 year on-site warranty with protection against accidental damage and theft!

Specifications Predator Helios 300 (15.6-inch)
Model PT315-54-9763 PT315-54-77YR PH315-54-78G9
Display 15.6-inch IPS Display
2560 x 1440 pixels
100% DCI-P3165 Hz refresh rate
15.6-inch IPS Display
1920 x 1080 pixels
100% sRGB
360 Hz refresh rate
Processor Intel Core i9-11900H Intel Core i7-11800H
GPU NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Memory 32 GB DDR4-3200 16 GB DDR4-3200 8GB DDR4-3200
Storage 1 TB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD 512 GB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD
Storage
Expansion
1 extra SSD slot + 1 extra HDD slot
Connectivity Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth 5.1
Killer Ethernet E2600
Ports 1 x USB Type C port supporting
– USB 3.2 Gen 2
– DisplayPort over USB-C
– Thunderbolt 4
– USB charging
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port supporting power-off USB charging
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
1 x HDMI 2.1 port with HDCP
1 x mini-DP 1.4 port1 x 3.5 mm audio jack
Card Reader None
Audio DTS X : Ultra
Supports Windows Spatial Sound
Webcam 720p HD webcam
Dimensions 363.0 mm wide
255.0 mm deep
22.9 mm thick
Weight 2.3 kg
Price RM9,999
~ US$2,392
~ £1,774
~ A$3,306
~ S$3,249
RM7,699
~ US$1,842
~ £1,366
~ A$2,546
~ S$2,502
RM6,299
~ US$1,507
~ £1,117
~ A$2,083
~ S$2,047

 

2021 Predator Gaming Laptop Deals!

Acer is offering several deals for the 2021 Predator gaming laptops :

  • Now until 6 October 2021 : Any purchase of the new Predator Helios 300 will be entitled to free gifts worth more than RM1,000 including Predator Gaming Utility Backpack, Predator Galea 350 Headset and limited edition merchandise.
  • Now until 6 October 2021 : Any purchase of the Core i9 variant of Predator Helios 300 (PH315-54-9763) will receive an additional Predator Gaming Chair worth RM1,299 for FREE!
  • From 30 October until 6 November 2021 : Any purchase of Predator Triton 500 SE / Predator Helios 500 will be entitled to free gifts worth more than RM2,000 including Predator Gaming Chair, Predator Gaming Utility Backpack, Predator Galea 350 Headset.

Here are some online purchase options :

 

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Support my work through a bank transfer /  PayPal / credit card!

Name : Adrian Wong
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.

He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.

 

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2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 Laptops : A Quick Preview!

HUAWEI just launched their 2021 edition of the MateBook D 15 laptops in two variants!

Here is a quick preview of both variants of the 2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 laptops!

 

2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 Laptops : A Quick Intro!

First, let’s start with this official HUAWEI promotional video that showcases the key features of the new 2021 MateBook laptops!

It consists of not just the two MateBook D 15 variants, but also the MateBook D 14, the MateBook 14 and the MateBook X Pro!

 

2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 Laptops : Two Variants

In their 2021 refresh, HUAWEI is offering the MateBook D 15 in two variants – the 11th Gen Edition, and the 10th Gen Edition.

As you can pretty much surmise, they are basically the same laptop, just powered by either the 11th Gen Core i5 processor, or the older 10th Gen Core i5 processor.

To make it easier for you to compare them, we created this table comparing their key specifications :

Specifications HUAWEI MateBook D15
11th Gen Edition 10th Gen Edition
Display 15.6-inch FullView Display
– 1920 x 1080 pixels, 141 ppi
– 250 nits max. brightness
– 87% screen-to-body-ratio
– 45% NTSC colour gamut
– 800:1 contrast ratio
OS Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Processor Intel Core i5-1135G7 Intel Core i5-10210U
Memory 8 GB / 16 GB DDR4 8 GB DDR4
Graphics Intel Iris Xe Graphics NVIDIA GeForce MX250
Intel UHD Graphics
Storage 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6, 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi 5, 2×2 MIMO
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.1 Bluetooth 5.0
Fingerprint Sensor Yes, integrated into Power button
Ports 1 x USB Type C
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A
2 x USB 2.0 Type A
1 x HDMI 1.4b
1 x 3.5 mm audio port
Webcam 720p recessed camera
Speakers 2 x 2 watt speaker
Battery 42 Whr
Power Adaptor 65 W USB-C power adaptor
Dimensions 357.8 mm wide
229.9 mm deep
16.9 mm thick
Weight 1.56 kg

 

2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 Laptops : Key Features

Let’s take a look at their key features…

15.6-inch FullView Display

The 2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 comes with a large 15.6-inch FullView Display, with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

This is not a particularly bright display, with a maximum brightness of just 250 nits; and it only has a colour gamut of 45% NTSC.

But it is large, with narrow bezels that give it an 87% screen-to-body ratio – hence the name, FullView Display.

Performance

HUAWEI offers two variants, with different CPU + GPU options :

  • 11th Gen Edition : Intel Core i5-1135G7 with Intel Xe Graphics
  • 10th Gen Edition : Intel Core i5-10210U with NVIDIA GeForce MX250

They both come with fast DDR4 memory, and a fast PCIe NVMe SSD with 512 GB of storage.

Battery + Charging

All that is powered by a decent 42 Whr battery, paired with a compact 65 watt USB Type C fast charger.

The charger can be used to charge other USB Type C devices, and supports HUAWEI SuperCharge for certain HUAWEI smartphones.

Connectivity

The 11th Gen Edition supports faster Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, while the 10th Gen Edition supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.

Ports

On the left side, you will find a single USB Type C port, with a USB 3.2 Gen1 Type A port and a HDMI 1.4b port.

In case you are wondering, the HDMI 1.4b port can handle up to 4K displays, but only at up to 24 fps. To display at 4K @ 50 fps / 60 fps, you need HDMI 2.0.

On the right side, you will find a 3.5 mm audio port, as well as two USB 2.0 Type A ports.

We have to wonder though – why stick with super-old USB 2.0, instead of the much faster USB 3.0 ports?

Keyboard + Touchpad

The 2021 MateBook D 15 comes with a full-sized, ten-keyless keyboard, and a large touchpad.

Pop-Up Camera

Like the MateBook X Pro we reviewed, the 2021 MateBook D 15 comes with a pop-up camera, hidden under a special camera key on the keyboard.

It pops up when you press on it, and pressing it again hides it. This is a great security measure because the camera is physically blocked until you actually need to use it – no hacker will be able to surreptitiously use it to take your photos or videos!

There is only one problem with such a design – it takes photos and videos at an unflattering upward angle. You will also always appear to look upwards on video conferences, and videos that you record.

HUAWEI Share Multi-Screen Collaboration

The 2021 MateBook D 15 supports HUAWEI Share for multi-screen collaboration.

It basically lets you connect your smartphone, and use it directly on the MateBook D 15!

You can control the apps and files on your phone directly on the laptop, even drag and drop files!

The only downside? It is limited to HUAWEI and HONOR smartphones with NFC.

HUAWEI MeeTime

The 2021 MateBook D 15 also supports HUAWEI MeeTime, which is their version of Apple FaceTime – a free, proprietary video call service.

It offers some advantages over its competitors – FaceTime, WhatsApp, etc. but can only be used by HUAWEI devices.

Recommended : MeeTime : Free Voice + Video Calls On HUAWEI Devices!

 

2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 Laptops : Price + Deals!

The 2021 HUAWEI MateBook D 15 comes in the Mystic Silver colour, with these official launch prices :

  • 11th Gen Edition : RM 3,899 (about US$947 / £678 / A$1,218 / S$1,258)
  • 10th Gen Edition : RM 3,299 (about US$802 / £574 / A$1,030 / S$1,064)

The first 1,500 customers to pre-order the 10th Gen or 11th Gen Edition from 20 to 23 April 2021, will receive free gifts worth RM 800 :

  • HUAWEI Backpack Swift
  • City Travel Gift Package
  • Microsoft Office 365 (1 Year Subscription)

 

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2021 Acer Nitro 5 : Ryzen 9 + RTX 3080 FTW!

Acer just introduced the 2021 Nitro 5 gaming laptop, powered by Ryzen 9 and GeForce RTX 3080!

Here is what you need to know about this new super-fast Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop!

 

2021 Acer Nitro 5 : Ryzen 9 + RTX 3080 FTW!

The 2021 Acer Nitro 5 just got a MASSIVE upgrade! You can now opt for the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX mobile processor, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics!

It even comes with two DDR4-3200 slots with up to 32 GB memory, and two M.2 slots of PCIe NVMe SSDs! On top of that, it comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Killer Ethernet E2600 connectivity built-in.

The 2021 Nitro 5 boasts a 15.6-inch IPS display with a 165 Hz refresh rate with a QHD resolution, or a stupendously fast 360 Hz refresh rate with a FHD resolution. Both options offer a 3 ms response time for minimal ghosting.

To ensure the 2021 Nitro 5 can withstand even the most intense gaming sessions, it features a revamped thermal system with dual fans and four exhaust fans. On top of that, Acer CoolBoost and NitroSense lets you monitor fan speed, and increase it when you need that extra performance.

It also comes with a multitude of ports – a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port with power off charging capability, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The 2021 Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop sure looks fantastic, doesn’t it?

 

2021 Acer Nitro 5 : Specification Comparison!

Acer is introducing six variants, in three phases, and here are their key specifications :

 

2021 Acer Nitro 5 : Pre-Order Deals!

As part of their Zero to Nitro campaign, Acer Malaysia is offering these pre-order deals for the 2021 Nitro 5!

27 to 29 April 2021

Get RM 200 TNG e-Wallet top-up, a Predator Hybrid Backpack, a Predator Galea 350 gaming headset and a Predator Mousepad worth RM 967 when you purchase :

  • Acer Nitro 5 with AMD Ryzen R7 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 [8GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, 15.6” 144Hz FHD] @ RM 4,899

You can pre-order it at the Shopee Official Store and Acer e-store!

10 to 12 May 2021

Get RM 200 TNG e-Wallet top-up, a Predator Utility Backpack, a Predator Galea 350 gaming headset and a Predator Mousepad worth RM 967 when you purchase :

  • Acer Nitro 5 with AMD Ryzen R7 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 [16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, 15.6” 144Hz FHD] @ RM 5,799
  • Acer Nitro 5 with AMD Ryzen R7 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 [16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, 15.6” 165Hz QHD] @ RM 6,399
  • Acer Nitro 5 with AMD Ryzen R7 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 [16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, 15.6” 165Hz QHD] @ RM 8,999

You can pre-order them at the Shopee Official Store, Acer Certified Store – NBP and Acer e-store!

 

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Scammer vs Scalper : Five RTX 30 Series Cards Gone!

A scammer just cheated a scalper out of FIVE GeForce RTX 30 series cards in a COD deal!

Find out how he got cheated in a Cash-On-Delivery exchange, and learn from his mistake!

 

Scammer vs Scalper : Five RTX 30 Series Cards Gone!

Scalpers have been taking advantage of the graphics card shortage, and massive increase in GPU mining, to make a killing on every graphics card they lay their hands on.

But the high prices and massive profits associated with graphics cards have also attracted scammers, who prowl online marketplaces looking for their greedy marks…

One scalper today shared how he was cheated of five NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards. What was even more shocking – he got scammed in a Cash On Delivery deal!

What Did The Scalper Lose?

The scalper lost five GIGABYTE graphics cards :

  • RTX 3070 AORUS Master (S/N : 210841066018)
  • RTX 3070 AORUS Master (S/N : lost)
  • RTX 3070 Gaming OC (S/N : 210841068841)
  • RTX 3070 Gaming OC : (S/N 210341039296)
  • RTX 3060 Gaming OC : (S/N 210441056468)

How Much Did The Scalper Lose?

We have no idea how much the deal was supposed to be, but he was quoting freaking high prices of :

  • RM4,699 (~US$1,135) for ASUS ROG Strix RTX 3060
  • RM5,500 (~US$1,329) for ASUS RTX 3060 Ti TUF Gaming

As you can tell, that is something like 2.5X more than what the cards really cost.

Based on that, we guesstimate that the entire deal was probably “worth” RM 34,000 (~US$8,200) to the scalper.

How Did The Scammer Fool The Scalper?

Here’s the interesting part – how the scammer fooled the scalper in a Cash On Delivery (COD) deal.

The scalper is not very clear about certain aspects, but from what we can gather with some investigations of our own…

  1. The scammer arranged to meet the scalper in a shopping centre, probably to gain his trust.
  2. He made an Instant Transfer, which failed. He probably set the transaction limit low.
  3. He blamed the bank transfer transaction limit, and said he would ask his wife (???) to change the limit.
  4. He then offered to transfer the money via a CIMB IBG GIRO transfer.
  5. The scammer likely initiated a Scheduled Transaction (which can be cancelled), and showed the scalper the online transaction receipt.
  6. By giving the scalper only a glance at the transaction receipt, or covering up the scheduled part of the receipt, he conveys the impression he had already transferred the money.
  7. To his credit, the scalper checked his own bank account and saw that the money was not deposited.
  8. The scammer then called the bank in front of the scalper, who confirmed that a GIRO transfer cannot be cancelled.
  9. The scammer sent the scalper a picture of his identity card and bank transaction receipt (probably through WhatsApp), to seal the deal.
  10. Once he walked away with the five graphics cards, the scammer quickly deleted the picture of his identity card and the bank transaction receipt, and cancelled the scheduled transaction.

So that was how the scalper went from potentially making a killing on his five GeForce graphics cards, to getting slaughtered by a scammer in a Cash On Delivery deal!

The scalper wondered if there was “Black Magic” involved. The truth is – the scammer used his greed to stop him from just walking away with his cards.

What Do We Know About The Scammer?

The scalper provided these details about the scammer who cheated him of his five graphics cards :

  • Surname : Ng
  • Race : Chinese
  • Identifying Features : Scar below right eye, tattoo on back of neck
  • Identity Card Number (partial) : 800831
  • State of Origin : Johor
  • Mobile Number : 013-277-6995
  • Vehicle Type : Honda HRV (Charcoal colour)
  • Vehicle Number Plate : 3553 or 5335

We have to point out that we cannot vouch for the authenticity of the scalper’s claims, or the details he shared.

 

Scammer vs Scalper : The Original Post

This was what the scalper posted on the issue :

*Scammer Alert *

Chinese Guy , Have Scar below right eye , tattoo behind neck
Beware of this person phone number 013-277-6995 Surname NG
IC No 800831, ic from Johor, Driving Honda HRV Charcoal Colour car plate could be (3553 or 5335) security doesn’t allow to take the file , too blur , i can only remember that, This person contacted me at Carousell ,mainly fishing graphic card seller in Carousell, couldn’t speak english , starting he will text in malay , He is scamming a lot of Graphic Card , Im a seller , i met him and COD at Cheras Connaught Avenue and Eko Cheras, his tactic is he will make instant transfer first , then failed, then he say he will ask his wife to change the limit , and then he will transfer you CIMB IBG GIRO transfer, and cancel it (after you leave) , i did check my bank account , money is not in, after that just in front of you he call the bank , the bank said once GIRO transfer has been made it cannot be cancel , he will ask u to snap his car plate no , but later give more excuse say that his wife drove away the car, but he came alone, im not sure is there any Black Magic ,he will keep on mentioned about his Wife he will send you the receipt and ic , he was nervous too , after he send me his ic , his uc image face was totally covered , after sending u the receipt he will quickly leave within a sec but he will delete the IC and Receipt , after the next sec you leave , so u are not able to trace him. mainly talking about mining have few farm in Seremban, and how do police trace using a thermal gun, evolving from using old bitcoin mine machine to graphic card, want to get 60 pieces, as a victim , i know that this is very stupid but I hope that no one will be the next victim after me.
5 pieces of graphic card has been scammed
rtx 3070 aorus master SN210841066018
RTX 3070 AORUS MASTER SERIES NUMBER LOST
RTX 3070 GAMING OC SN210841068841
RTX 3070 GAMING OC SN210341039296
RTX 3060 GAMING OC SN210441056468

 

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NVIDIA Reflex Guide : How To Reduce System Latency!

NVIDIA Reflex is being integrated into games, reducing system latency for GeForce graphics cards.

Find out what NVIDIA Reflex is all about, and how to use it to reduce system latency in supported games!

 

NVIDIA Reflex : What Is It?

NVIDIA describes Reflex as “a revolutionary suite of GPU, G-SYNC display and software technologies” that measure and reduce system latency.

System latency is basically the click-to-display latency – the delay between a key press or a mouse click to the actual action appearing on the display.

It is important for competitive e-sports gamers, because high system latency can impact their performance :

  • Delayed responsiveness : When you move your mouse, but your aim on the screen lags.
  • Delayed shots : When you shoot, the shot and weapon recoil lags.
  • Delayed enemy positions : peeker’s advantage is impacted by system latency

 

NVIDIA Reflex : How Does It Reduce System Latency?

A careful reading will reveal that the key to this technology is the NVIDIA Reflex SDK – a new set of APIs for game developers.

The NVIDIA Reflex Latency Analyzer, which is being integrated into the new 360 Hz G-SYNC Esports monitors, is only eye-candy, and not necessary for Reflex Low Latency Mode to work.

Once integrated into a game, the Reflex Low Latency Mode adjusts the game engine work to complete “just in time” for rendering. This eliminates the GPU render queue, and reduces CPU back pressure.

Like NVIDIA Ultra Low Latency (NULL) mode, Reflex prevents the CPU from processing faster than the GPU, eliminating extra frames from being queued up for rendering, which would normally increase render latency.

The difference really is this – by integrating with the game, the NVIDIA graphics driver can control the amount of back pressure the CPU receives from the render queue and other later stages of the pipeline.

This makes NVIDIA Reflex superior to NULL, but only with games that integrate the SDK.

 

NVIDIA Reflex : How Much System Latency Does It Reduce?

This NVIDIA chart shows the amount of system latency that Reflex shaves off in the first four games to support it.

The biggest improvement was seen with Destiny 2 and Fornite – system latency was down by about ⅓.

System latency was down by 22% in Apex Legends, and 18% in Valorant.

 

NVIDIA Reflex : Requirements

Reflex is only supported by NVIDIA GeForce GTX 900 series graphics cards onwards, using the GeForce Game Ready 457.09 driver or newer.

It is currently supported on these games :

  • Apex Legends
  • Destiny 2
  • Call of Duty : Warzone, Black Ops Cold War
  • CRSED : F.O.A.D.
  • Enlisted
  • Fortnite
  • Mordhau
  • Overwatch
  • Rainbow Six Siege
  • Valorant
  • Warface

 

NVIDIA Reflex : Automatic, With Max Performance Option

There is really nothing much to set for NVIDIA Reflex. Games that support it will enable it by default, if it detects the presence of a compatible NVIDIA graphics card.

The latest GeForce Experience also comes with an automatic performance tuning option, that will turn on low latency options for supported games.

NVIDIA Ultra Low Latency mode is still there, to support games that do not support Reflex.

It is recommended that you enable NULL by selecting the Ultra option. Reflex Low Latency mode will automatically take priority over NULL in games that support it.

There is, however, a “hack” of sorts for those who want to squeeze every last microsecond of latency out of the pipeline.

The NVIDIA Control Panel has a Power Management Mode option that defaults to Adaptive, allowing the GPU to clock down and save power when the load isn’t high.

You can set this to Prefer Maximum Performance, to override the power saving feature. This forces the GPU to always run at the higher clocks, reducing latency in CPU-bound instances at the expense of higher power consumption.

 

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Rainbow Six Siege : NVIDIA Reflex Patch Cuts Latency!

Rainbow Six Siege now has a new NVIDIA Reflex patch which reduces system latency for GeForce gamers!

Find out what NVIDIA Reflex is all about, and how it reduces system latency on Rainbow Six Siege!

 

NVIDIA Reflex : How Can It Help In Rainbow Six Siege?

Like NVIDIA Ultra Low Latency (NULL) mode, Reflex prevents the CPU from processing faster than the GPU, eliminating extra frames from being queued up for rendering, which would normally increase render latency.

The difference really is this – by integrating Reflex into Rainbow Six Siege, the GeForce graphics driver can control the amount of back pressure the CPU receives from the render queue and other later stages of the pipeline.

Once Rainbow Six Siege has been patched, the Reflex Low Latency Mode adjusts the game engine work to complete “just in time” for rendering. This eliminates the GPU render queue, and reduces CPU back pressure.

Recommended : How Does NVIDIA Reflex Reduce System Latency?

 

NVIDIA Reflex In Rainbow Six Siege : How Much Improvement?

According to NVIDIA, the Reflex patch can reduce system latency for GeForce gamers by as much as 30% in the Vulkan version of Rainbow Six Siege.

This slow-motion video from NVIDIA demonstrates the low latency benefits of playing Rainbow Six Siege with NVIDIA Reflex enabled.

It also shows that while it works on regular 60 Hz displays, the effect is most pronounced with higher refresh rates.

Obviously, most people will not be gaming on 360 Hz displays, as this video demonstrates, but you should see significant reductions in input lag with 120 Hz or 144 Hz refresh rates.

 

How To Get NVIDIA Reflex On Rainbow Six Siege?

  1. Update Rainbow Six Siege with the latest patch.
  2. Install GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89 (or newer), which also adds Resizable BAR support.
  3. Load Rainbow Six Siege on Vulkan.
  4. Go to Display Options.
  5. Turn on NVIDIA Reflex.

 

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NVIDIA Resizable BAR : What You Need To Know!

NVIDIA finally released Resizable BAR support, and it is currently limited to RTX 30 series graphics cards only.

Here is what you need to know about Resizable BAR, and how to get your FREE performance boost!

 

NVIDIA Resizable BAR : What Is It?

Resizable BAR is an optional PCI Express feature, that can deliver a small but free boost in performance for the graphics card.

CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. This of it as an “data dump” for stuff like textures, shaders and geometry.

Since this “data dump” is limited to 256 MB, the CPU can only send texture, shader and geometry data as and when the GPU requires them.

This introduces some latency – delay from when the GPU requires the data, and the CPU send them.

Turning on Resizable BAR or Smart Access Memory greatly expands the size of that data dump, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.

Instead of transferring data when requested by the GPU, the CPU processes and stores the data directly in the graphics memory.

Graphics assets can be transferred to graphics memory in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.

Do note that Resizable BAR will not increase memory bandwidth.

What it does is let the CPU directly access the entire GPU frame buffer memory, instead of using the usual 256 MB “dump”. That reduces latency because the graphics assets are now accessible by the GPU at all times.

 

NVIDIA Resizable BAR : Delayed From February 2021!

AMD was first out the door with Resizable BAR in November 2020, launching it as Smart Access Memory.

It gave their Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card a free performance boost of up to 16% in some games, but no effect in other games.

You can check out the performance difference in our article, RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory Performance Comparison!

On 12 January 2021, NVIDIA announced that they will be able to introduce Resizable BAR support in GeForce drivers from Late February 2021 onwards.

They finally released Resizable Bar support on 30 March 2021, through GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89.

It will be limited to their GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards and laptops, but will work with both Intel and AMD CPUs.

However, it’s not as simple as just installing GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89.

The newly announced GeForce RTX 3060 will ship with support for Resizable BAR. However, older GeForce RTX 30 series cards will need to have their VBIOS updated from March 2021 onwards.

The motherboard must also be updated with Resizable BAR support. According to Intel, this will be limited to 11th Gen platforms, and select 10th Gen platforms.

So ironically, Resizable BAR will first work on GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards paired with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and AMD 500-series motherboards!

 

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2021 Lenovo YOGA Laptop Models Revealed!

Lenovo just introduced four 2021 YOGA laptop models – Yoga 6 AMD, Yoga Slim 9i, Yoga 9i and Yoga Slim 7i Carbon.

Confused? Hear from Lenovo themselves, and we will give you a quick run down of all four models!

 

2021 Lenovo YOGA Laptop Models Revealed!

The Yoga is Lenovo’s top-of-the-line consumer sub-brand, and is designed to offer refined craftsmanship and stunning design, for “consumers with sophisticated taste”.

Lenovo Yoga 6 AMD

The 2021 Lenovo Yoga 6 AMD is their first-generation consumer convertible laptop, that uses a hybrid design of metal and soft-touch materials wrapped in blue fabric.

This 13.3-inch, 2-in-1 convertible laptop features an AMD Ryzen 4000 series mobile processor with optional AMD Radeon graphics, with up to 16 GB of DDR4 memory an 1 TB of SSD storage.

It comes with a Full HD touch screen display, with narrow bezels and a backlit keyboard. It also comes with front facing stereo speakers that support Dolby Atmos.

Weighing only 1.32 kg, the Yoga 6 AMD offers up to 18 hours of battery life with a 60 Whr battery.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i

The 2021 Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i offers an exquisite Shadow Black genuine leather cover bonded to an aluminium chassis for a better feel and greater durability.

Built around the 11th Gen Intel Core processors, with Intel Xe Graphics, this 14-inch laptop is just 13.9 mm thick, and weighs just 1.29 kg.

Lenovo also offers a more powerful 15-inch option, powered by the 10th Gen Intel Core i9 HK-series mobile processor, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti with Max-Q Design graphics.

Both models offer up to 16 GB of LPDDR4X memory and up to 2 TB of PCIe SSD storage, with three USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports.

Lenovo Yoga 9i

The 2021 Lenovo Yoga 9i offers an exquisite Shadow Black genuine leather cover bonded to an aluminium chassis, as well as an all-metal Mica option.

They both come with an edge-to-edge Glass Palm Rest with an encased Smart Sensor Touchpad with haptic feedback.

Built around the 11th Gen Intel Core processors, with Intel Xe Graphics, this 14-inch convertible laptop features thermal venting holes under the keyboard to lower its temperature by two degrees Celsius compared to the previous generation.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon is an ultra-light 13.3-inch laptop, with a 16:10 display and a thickness of just 14.25 mm and a weight of just 966 grams.

This is an Intel Evo-certified laptop, with a stunning Moon White finish, and a chassis made from carbon fibre with an anti-fingerprint finish.

 

2021 Lenovo YOGA Models : Price + Availability

All four 2021 Lenovo Yoga laptop models are available for purchase, with immediate effect, at these starting prices :

  • 13.3-inch Lenovo Yoga 6 AMD : RM 3,799 (about $937 / £671) onwards
  • 14-inch Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i : RM 6,629 (about $1,634 / £1,171) onwards
  • 14-inch Lenovo Yoga 9i : RM 4,929 (about $1,215 / £871) onwards
  • 13.3-inch Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon : RM 4,399 (about $1,084 / £777) onwards

Here are some direct purchase options :

Malaysia

Singapore

United States

United Kingdom

Australia

 

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2021 HP OMEN 15 (Valkyrie) Gaming Laptop Preview!

HP just unveiled their 2021 OMEN 15 gaming laptop, codenamed Valkyrie – powered by both AMD and NVIDIA!

 

2021 HP OMEN 15 (Valkyrie) Gaming Laptop

Codenamed Valkyrie, the 2021 HP OMEN 15 gaming laptop is a 15.6-inch laptop built with serious gaming in mind, with a sleek and modern minimalistic design!

15.6-inch IPS Display

The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with a large 15.6-inch IPS display, with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

You can opt for a 144 Hz refresh rate, as well as a premium 144 Hz display with 300 nits brightness and 72% NTSC colour gamut.

Gaming Performance

The 2021 HP OMEN 15 is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor, and paired with up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics!

It is kept cool by the OMEN Tempest Cooling Technology, with 3-sided venting and 5-way airflow, to ensure maximum performance even during prolonged gaming sessions!

Memory + Storage

The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with up to 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory, in dual-channel mode for maximum performance.

You can equip it with up to a 1 TB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD, or up to two 256 GB SSDs in RAID 0 mode for super-fast transfers.

Connectivity

The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with Gigabit LAN wired connectivity built in, and offers either Intel Wi-Fi 6 or Realtek Wi-Fi 5 wireless connectivity.

Audio

You do not have to rely on headphones for maximum gaming enjoyment. The new OMEN 15 comes with Bang & Olufsen speakers and support for DTS:X Ultra!

Gaming Keyboard

The 2021 HP OMEN 15 comes with an island-style backlit keyboard with integrated numeric keypad.

You have the option of simple dragon red backlighting, or RGB backlighting with 4 independent zones.

 

2021 HP OMEN 15 (Valkyrie) : Specifications + Options

The 2021 HP OMEN 15 gaming laptop comes with these specifications and configuration options :

Specifications 2021 HP OMEN 15
Display 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
Display Options 144 Hz, 300 nits, 72% NTSC
144 Hz, 250 nits, 45% NTSC
60 Hz, 250 nits, 45% NTSC
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Professional
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
CPU Options AMD Ryzen 9 5900H
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
AMD Ryzen 5 5600H
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
AMD Ryzen 5 4600H
Memory Options Up to 16 GB DDR4-3200
GPU Options NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti
Storage Options Up to 1 TB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD
Up to 2 x 256 GB PCIe NVMe TLC SSDs
Card Reader SD card reader
Audio Bang & Olfusen dual speakers
DTS:X Ultra support
Networking Gigabit LAN
Wireless Options Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.0
Realtek Wi-Fi 5 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports 1 x USB 3.0 Type C with DisplayPort 1.4
1 x USB 3.0 Type A with Sleep + Charge
2 x USB 3.0 Type A
1 x RJ45 LAN port
1 x headphone / mic combo port
1 x Mini DisplayPort
1 x HDMI 2.0a
Camera HD camera with dual-array digital mic
IR thermal sensor
Keyboard Options 1-zone dragon red backlit keyboard
4-zone RGB backlit keyboard
Touchpad HP Imagepad Touchpad
Battery Options 6-cell Li-Po, 70.9 Wh
3-cell Li-Po, 52.5 Wh
Charger 150 / 200 watt charger
Dimensions 357.96 mm wide
239.7 mm deep
22.5 mm thick
Weight 2.37 kg

 

2021 HP OMEN 15 : Price + Availability

The new HP OMEN 15 gaming laptop has a starting price of RM 3,899 (about US$965 / £684 / A$1,220 / S$1,272).

It comes with 2-years of Accidental Protection Damage warranty, and is available from the HP Online Store in Malaysia right now.

Here are purchase options in other countries :

 

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2021 HP OMEN 25L Gaming Desktop Revealed!

HP just revealed the 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop, powered by AMD and NVIDIA! Here are the details…

 

2021 HP OMEN 25L Gaming Desktop Revealed!

The 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop packages the latest AMD Ryzen processors and NVIDIA GeForce graphics in a slim, minimalistic design that will fit right into any modern home.

On top of using branded gaming components, it is also designed to be easily upgradable, and software-customisable via the OMEN Command Center.

Performance

The 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop is built around the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 9 or Ryzen 7 processor, paired with up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti graphics card.

All that is kept cool by Cooler Master cooling solutions – you can opt for a 92 mm round air cooler, or a 120 mm liquid cooled radiator.

It also features redesigned elevating 15 mm legs, and a new raised graphics slot, to improve system air intake.

Memory + Storage

HP offers up to 32 GB (64 GB in some countries) of Intel XMP-certified HyperX DDR4 memory, with and without RGB lighting.

You can equip it with up to a 2 TB WD Black PCIe TLC SSD, with up to two additional 2 TB hard disk drives for maximum storage capacity.

Connectivity

The HP OMEN 25L comes with both Gigabit LAN wired connectivity, as well as WiFi-6 wireless connectivity through its built-in AX 2×2 card.

DTS Headphone: X Technology

The HP OMEN 25L supports DTS Headphone: X technology, which gives you spatially-accurate 3D sound through any headphones or earbuds.

Micro-ATX Upgradability

The galvanised steel chassis is designed to offer easy tool-less access, and easy cable management. It also lets you easily upgrade the OMEN 25L with aftermarket parts.

 

2021 HP OMEN 25L : Specifications + Configuration Options

The 2021 HP OMEN 25L gaming desktop comes with these configuration options :

Specifications HP OMEN 25L
Colour Shadow Black
Design Options Glass Side Cover (optional dust filter)
Metal Side Cover (optional dust filter)
OS Options Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
FreeDOS 3.0
CPU Options AMD Ryzen 9 3900
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Chipset AMD B450
RAM Options Up to 32 GB HyperX DDR4 RGB
Lighting
Up to 32 GB HyperX DDR4
GPU Options NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER
Storage Options Up to 2 TB WD Black PCIe SSD
Up to 2 x 2 TB 7200 RPM HDD
Audio DTS Headphone:X support
Networking AX WiFi-6 and Bluetooth 5.1 combo
Gigabit LAN Ethernet
Top I/O Ports 2 x USB 3.0 Type A
1 x audio combo jack
Rear I/O Ports 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A
2 x USB 3.0 Type A
3 x audio ports
1 x RJ45 LAN port
Power Supply 500 Watt ATX power supply
Security Kensington Security Lock Slot
Dimensions 165.1 mm wide
394.5 mm deep
433.1 mm tall
Weight 11.5 kg

 

2021 HP OMEN 25L : Price + Availability

The new HP OMEN 25L desktop has a starting price of RM 6,899 (about US$1,707 / £1,205 / A$2,154 / S$2,252).

It comes with 3-years of on-site warranty, and is available from the HP Online Store in Malaysia right now.

Here are purchase options in other countries :

 

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Cybercafe Converts RTX 3080 PCs Into Cryptomining Rigs!

Take a look at why this cybercafe converted their GeForce RTX 3080 gaming PCs into cryptomining rigs!

 

Cybercafe Converts RTX 3080 PCs Into Cryptomining Rigs!

The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the cybercafe industry, with many closing down and selling their gaming PCs and accessories.

However, this Vietnamese cybercafe did something different – they began converting their GeForce RTX 3080 gaming PCs into cryptomining rigs!

The Star Gaming cybercafe in Ho Chi Minh City showed how they were transforming their business due to the COVID-19 pandemic, converting their gaming PCs into cryptomining rigs.

Instead of hosting gamers, the cybercafe is now hosting a slew of new cryptomining rigs.

It is possible that they are also building completely new cryptomining rigs. In this picture, you can see that each rig holds at least eight GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards.

 

How Much Money Can Each RTX 3080 Cryptomining Rig Make?

Just how much money can this cybercafe make from their RTX 3080 cryptomining rig?

Officially, GeForce RTX 3080 cards start at $699, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about $1,199 each.

So eight of them would cost approximately $9,592. Let’s call it a flat $10,000 for the whole 8-card rig, plus power supply.

The average commercial electricity rate in Vietnam is VND 2,666 per kWh (about US$0.12 per kWh). So electricity should cost about $225 per month. Let’s make that $300 per month (+33%) to account for cooling costs.

As of 21 February 2021, each GeForce RTX 3080 has a hash rate of 86.5 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.18100503 ETH worth US$361 every month.

So each 8-card rig should generate a net profit of US$61 per month or US$732 per year. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a pretty decent ROI of 7.3% per annum.

It would certainly be much better than operating a cybercafe with little to no customers due to lockdown / biosecurity measures.

In fact, their costs would be very much lower if they are converting their existing RTX 3080 gaming PCs into mining rigs, with significantly higher ROI.

This is, arguably, a better solution for cybercafes to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic, than to give up and sell out.

 

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Dell G5 15 5500 Review : Affordable RTX Gaming @ 144 Hz!

The Dell G5 15 5500 is a 15.6-inch gaming powerhouse that offers affordable RTX gaming, with on-site warranty!

Find out why we gave it our Reviewer’s Choice Award, and why this could be the gaming laptop you have been waiting for!

 

Dell G5 15 Series : What Is It?

The G-Series is Dell’s range of affordable gaming laptops, with the G5 15 as the mid-range option with a 15.6-inch display.

The Dell G5 series laptops come with more powerful processor and graphics options with beefier cooling, than the entry-level G3 series.

 

Dell G5 15 5500 : Specifications

First, let’s take a look at the specifications of our review sample, which is the top-of-the-line model.

Dell offers cheaper configurations with a Core i5 processor, and GeForce GTX 1650 Ti or GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics.

Dell G5 15 5500
Display 15.6-inch TN display
– 1920 x 1080 pixels (141 ppi)
– 144 Hz refresh rate, 19 ms response time
– 300 nits max brightness
– 72% NTSC colour gamut
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Processor Intel Core i7-10750H
– 6 core, 12 thread, 45 W TDP
– 2.6 GHz base, 5.0 GHz boost
Chipset Intel HM470
Memory 2 x 8 GB DDR4-2933
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB)
Storage 512 GB SK hynix BC511 PCIe SSD
Camera 0.92 MP webcam (720p video)
Audio Realtek ALC3254 with Nahimic 3D Audio
2 x 2 W speakers
Dual-array microphone
Connectivity LAN : Killer E2500 Gigabit
Wi-Fi : Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
Bluetooth : BT 5.0
Ports 1 x RJ-45 LAN port
1 x Thunderbolt 3 port
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 port
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x HDMI 2.0 port
1 x mini DisplayPort 1.4b
1 x audio port
Card Reader SD Card Reader
Security Wedge-shaped lock slot
Capacitive fingerprint reader
Keyboard 4-zone RGB Keyboard with G Key
– 18.7 mm x 18.05 mm key pitch
Touchpad 105 mm x 65 mm touchpad
Battery 4-cell polymer (68 Wh)
Charging 240 W charger
– 19.5 VDC @ 12.31 A
Dimensions 364.46 mm wide
254.0 mm deep
31.13 mm thick
Weight 2.65 kg

 

Dell G5 15 5500 : Price + Availability

The Dell G5 15 5500 is available in the Interstellar Dark Cover colour, with a starting price of RM 4,499 (about US$1,083 / £847 / A$1,486 / S$1,482).

Here are some online purchase options :

 

Dell G5 15 5500 : Box Contents

The Dell G5 15 5500 comes in a no-frills brown cardboard box. Inside, all you will find are these items :

  • Dell G5 15 5500 laptop
  • 240 watt charger + cable
  • Dell G5 Quick User Guide
  • Safety and Regulatory Information

 

Dell G5 15 5500 : Hands-On Experience!

The Dell G5 15 5500 is designed to offer RTX gaming, at an affordable price point. So the first thing you will notice its thick plastic chassis and heft.

This is no thin and light laptop, not at 31 mm thick and a weight of 2.65 kg… and that’s not even counting the large and heavy 240 watt charger!

Performance

Our review model was powered by the Intel Core i7-10750H, a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a clock speed that goes up to 5 GHz.

It’s paired with 16 GB of DDR4 memory, and the the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory. More than powerful enough to handle any game you throw at it.

144 Hz Display

The Dell G5 15 5500 comes with a 15.6-inch TN display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and a 144 Hz refresh rate.

Thankfully, it’s paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics, which should have no problem driving the high refresh rate for most games.

Storage

The Dell G5 15 5500 is spacious enough to support both a M.2 socket (for a PCIe SSD), as well as a 2.5-inch drive bay (for a hard disk drive).

Our review sample came with the 512 GB PCIe M.2 SSD from SK hynix. Dell also offers a 512 GB Intel Optane storage option in some countries.

This is more than enough storage for a gaming laptop, but if you need more, there is a 1 TB SSD option, as well as a 2 TB hard disk drive option.

Next Page > Dell G5 15 5500 : A Closer Look!

 

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Dell G5 15 5500 : A Closer Look!

Available Ports

One advantage of not going thin and light is the additional ports. On the left side, you will find these ports (from left to right) :

  • its barrel power port,
  • a Mini DisplayPort 1.4b port,
  • a HDMI 2.0 port,
  • a USB 3.2 Gen 1 PowerShare port,
  • an RJ45 LAN port, and
  • a Thunderbolt 3 (USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C) port.

On the right side, you will find the following (from left to right) :

  • an SD card reader, which supports SD, SDHX and SDXC cards,
  • a 3.5 mm earphone + microphone jack,
  • two USB 2.0 Type A ports, and
  • a wedge-shaped security lock slot

Keyboard + Touchpad

Thanks to its larger form factor, Dell could fit a full keyboard with a numeric keypad, and a horizontal key pitch of 18.7 mm.

The keyboard is backlit in blue by default, with WASD key highlights. But it can be programmed to support any RGB combination, in up to 4 zones.

It has a pretty small touchpad – just 105 x 65 mm, and it’s offset to the left, which makes it a little awkward to use, unless you are left-handed.

But this isn’t a big problem. This is a gaming laptop, and you will definitely be using a mouse.

RGB Lighting

Complementing the RGB keyboard lighting is an RGB LED light strip along the front edge. This is arguably the Dell team’s only concession towards pointless gaming bling.

Some gamers will argue that it will give a more immersive gaming feel. Whatever rocks your boat, my friend.

Fingerprint Sensor

Dell offers an optional fingerprint sensor integrated directly into the power button, right above the keyboard. There is no IR camera option for face recognition.

We highly recommend adding this feature, as it allows for convenient logging in and greater security especially in public – there’s no need to type in your password.

Webcam + Microphones

The Dell G5 15 5500 comes with a basic webcam, capable of recording 720p video. As well as two microphones – one on each side of the webcam.

This is hardly the ideal setup for video streaming, but it is perfectly adequate for gamers who just need to use it for video chats.

Note that it doesn’t come with a privacy cover, only a status light to let you know when the webcam is activated.

Speakers

The Dell G5 15 5500 comes with two side-firing speakers with a 2 watt output.

Powered by the Realtek ALC3254 with an integrated amplifier, they are loud and offer pretty decent sound quality.

Killer Connectivity

Our premium model comes with a Killer E2500 Gigabit LAN connectivity. Otherwise, you will receive Realtek Gigabit LAN, which isn’t bad at all.

Wireless connectivity is provided through Killer 1650i, which offers Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) connectivity on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, as well as Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.

The basic models though come with Qualcomm DW 1820, which offers Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) connectivity on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, as well as Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity.

 

Dell G5 15 5500 : Surface Temperatures

An important criteria that many potential buyers forget to check for in a gaming laptop is “how hot does it get?

What’s the use of buying a powerful gaming laptop if it literally burns your hands while you game?

Take a look at the surface temperatures of the Dell G5 15 5500, with an ambient temperature of 29.8°C.

As you can see, the G5 15 5500 can get pretty toasty, with the temperature of the keyboard reaching a peak of just under 52°C.

On the underside, it peached a peak of 54.3°C in the middle. It is definitely not advisable to game with it on your lap!

We highly recommend you pair the Dell G5 15 5500 with a good laptop cooler, or play in an air-conditioned room. That will greatly reduce its contact temperature, and allow for hours of comfortable gaming.

Next Page > Dell G5 15 5500 : Performance, Verdict + Award

 

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Dell G5 15 5500 : Performance

Our Dell G5 15 5500 is the top-of-the-line model, powered by the 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10750H.

This is high-powered 45 watt processor with 6 cores and 12 threads, and a 2.6 GHz clock speed that ramps up to 5 GHz during intensive tasks.

The processor has Intel UHD Graphics built-in, but switches to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory) for gaming and more strenuous graphics work.

Our review sample came with 16 GB of DDR4-2933 memory, and a 512 GB SK hynix PCIe SSD. Keeping all that powered is a large 68 Whr lithium-ion battery.

Work Performance : PCMark 10

The Intel Core i7-10750H is about 13% faster than the Intel Core i7-10510U, which is a 25 watt processor, with 4-cores and 8-threads.

It is, frankly, overkill for basic work applications, but will be very helpful in tackling compute-intensive tasks, like rendering videos.

Gaming Performance : 3DMark Time Spy

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 offers 6X more graphics performance than entry-level graphics like the GeForce MX250.

It is roughly between the performance of the desktop Radeon RX 5500 XT, and the desktop GeForce RTX 2060.

That means it will not only easily handle games at the display’s native 1080p resolution, it can deliver higher frame rates to take advantage of the higher Hz refresh rates it supports.

Gaming Performance : 3DMark Time Spy Extreme

We also ran a Time Spy Extreme test for those who are thinking of hooking up this laptop to an external display.

Performing between the desktop Radeon RX 5500 XT, and the desktop GeForce RTX 2060, it can handle 1440p gaming, but at roughly half the frame rate.

Gaming Performance : Strange Brigade @ 1080p

Strange Brigade is a third-person shooter game released in August 2018. We tested it at 1080p using the Vulkan API at Ultra High settings.

As you can see, the Dell G5 15 5500 has no problem exceeding 144 fps at times, with an average frame rate of 101 fps.

Gaming Performance : The Division 2 @ 1080p

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is a newer third-person shooter game released in March 2019, with much higher graphics requirements.

Even at the Extreme graphics settings, Dell G5 15 5500 was able to deliver an average frame rate of 59 fps.

It was head-to-head with the desktop Radeon RX 5500 XT, and just 6% slower than the desktop GeForce RTX 2060.

Battery Life : Modern Office + Gaming

We locked the display’s brightness at 50%, and ran PCMark 10’s Modern Office and Gaming tests until it powered off.

The Dell G5 15 5500 lasted about 5.5 hours running Modern Office applications, but only about 77 minutes while gaming.

You can only game on-the-go for a short time. Realistically, it should be plugged in when you game.

Battery : Recharging Speed

Dell quotes a 4 hour recharging time using the massive 240 watt charger, when the laptop is completely powered off.

We are glad to report that its real-world recharging speed is much, MUCH faster. To test it in a real world setting, we started charging at 10% with the display brightness set to 50% :

  • 25% : 21.5 minutes
  • 33% : 26.5 minutes
  • 40% : 35 minutes
  • 50% : 46 minutes
  • 60% : 57.5 minutes
  • 75% : 75 minutes
  • 90% : 91.5 minutes
  • 100% : 148 minutes

It charges really fast to about 90%, taking only just over 1.5 hours. However, the last 10% took much longer – an addition 56.5 minutes!

This gives it a battery life : recharging time ratio of 2.3:1 for office work. As a rule of thumb, you will need to recharge its battery about 26.5 minutes for every hour of battery life.

 

Dell G5 15 5500 : Verdict + Award

The Dell G5 15 5500 does a good job of focusing on what’s important for gamers, wasting little on pointless aesthetic bling.

Its powerful 45-watt Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics will have no problem driving its Full HD display beyond 60 Hz, no matter what game you play.

It also comes with fast networking capabilities – Killer E2500 offering Gigabit LAN, and Killer AX1650i offering Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.

And we love its large number of ports – three USB Type A ports, one USB Type C port, as well as an SD card reader and both HDMI and miniDP ports.

Powering all that is a large 68 Wh battery, but here’s a reality check – you can’t really game on-the-go for more than an hour or so. All that performance comes at a price – battery life.

Realistically, the Dell G5 15 5500 should be plugged into a wall socket whenever you game.

It is also a chunky and heavy laptop, no thanks to its large battery and the much higher cooling requirements for its powerful components.

But if all you want is an affordable gaming laptop that offers powerful gaming performance and a 144 Hz display, it’s hard to beat what Dell G5 15 5500 offers.

And here is what Dell offers over other gaming laptop brands – 2 years of premium on-site service!

Whatever happens to your G5 15 5500, just call Dell Support and they will either remotely solve the problem or send a technician to wherever you are to fix it.

That’s why we have no qualms awarding it our Reviewer’s Choice Award!

 

Dell G5 15 5500 : Where To Buy?

The Dell G5 15 5500 is available in the Interstellar Dark Cover colour, with a starting price of RM 4,499 (about US$1,083 / £847 / A$1,486 / S$1,482).

Here are some online purchase options :

 

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ZOTAC RTX 3070 Cryptomining : Why The Outrage?

Don’t be outraged about the ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3070 cryptomining rig.

The truth is they are just being honest about who their biggest clients really are.

 

Why Gamers Are Outraged By ZOTAC RTX 3070 Mining Rig?

It’s no secret that graphics card brands LOVE cryptominers who are buying up their cards by the pallets.

ZOTAC probably wanted to send them some love when they tweeted this picture of a cryptomining rig built using eight ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 3070 White graphics cards.

What they probably should not have done was to use the #PcGaming #Gaming #Gamers #PcMasterRace hashtags, because really… what does cryptomining have to do with the PC?

Gamers have very little love for cryptominers, who are at least partly to blame for the shortage and high prices of graphics cards.

The ZOTAC tweet naturally triggered their outrage, because it was actual proof that ZOTAC would love to sell even more of their limited supply of graphics cards to cryptominers.

But the truth is – ZOTAC was finally being honest about who their biggest clients really were. Not gamers, for sure!

After all, which gamer will ever buy EIGHT ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3070 graphics cards?

 

Why ZOTAC Loves Cryptominers Buying Their RTX 3070 Cards

Let’s be frank – cryptominers are far more willing to pay top dollar for graphics cards, than gamers.

Thanks to high cryptocurrency prices, they can still make a ton of money even if they pay insane prices for these graphics cards.

And they don’t just buy one card for their gaming pleasure. They buy these cards by the dozens and hundreds! And why not?

This mining rig, which uses 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, generates a net profit in excess of US$128,000 per year!

Read more : 78-Card GeForce RTX 3080 Mining Rig Powered Up!

The profitability of cryptomining has gone up so much that Chinese cryptominers have resorted to buying up hundreds of GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptops instead!

This Chinese mining farm is being built using 900 GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptops, and have the potential to generate over US$2.3 million in profit every year!

Read more : This RTX Laptop Mining Farm Could Make $3.5 Million / Year!

So, don’t be so mad at ZOTAC. At least they had the guts to admit their preference for cryptominers.

The other brands are the same. They just don’t have the guts to admit it, for fear of losing support from their fans.

The secret to having your cake, and eating it too? Keep quiet about cryptomining, and promote fanboyism to keep the hoi polloi loyal to the brand.

It’s all about the money, guys…

 

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This RTX Laptop Mining Farm Could Make $3.5 Million / Year!

Take a look at this crypto-mining farm that could make $3.5 million a year using just 900 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptops!

 

Hundreds Of RTX Laptops Used In Crypto Mining Farms!

Not only gamers are affected by the limited supply of graphics cards in the market. So are cryptominers!

Chinese cryptominers now have to resort to buying up whatever GeForce RTX gaming laptops they can find, literally hundreds of them!

Instead of ASIC miners or GPU mining rigs, they are now powering their cryptomining operations with RTX gaming laptops!

We earlier highlighted the new trend of using RTX gaming laptops to mine cryptocurrency. It looks as this is more extensive that we first thought.

A Weibo blogger called 神鱼BTCer just shared even more pictures of RTX laptop-based mining operations, big and small.

Many appear to be pretty ghetto, placing the laptops in a kind of “tent mode” for better cooling, wherever there’s space – on tables, chairs or the floor.

But he also showed a seriously big crypto-mining farm being built using these GeForce RTX 30-series gaming laptops.

He even shared a short clip (part of the video we posted above), showing the cryptocurrency mining farm partially operational, with more being set-up.

There are 10 laptops per shelf, with each shelving unit capable of accommodating 60 laptops.

While not particularly large, this cryptocurrency mining farm has at least 15 visible shelving units, so that’s a total of 900 RTX gaming laptops when it’s fully operational.

Currently, it’s only partially complete, with about 200 or so laptops running, with many boxes of laptops left to open and setup.

 

How Much Money Can This RTX Laptop Mining Farm Make?

We had earlier shared about how a Bilibili content creator used an RTX 3060 laptop to mine 0.00053009 ETH while she sipped her coffee at Starbucks for 2 hours.

Based on her experience, we can guesstimate that the average GeForce RTX 3060 laptop will be able to produce :

  • 0.000265045 ETH per hour
  • 0.00636108 ETH per day
  • 0.1908324 ETH per month (30 days)
  • 2.3217942 ETH per year

Chinese electricity costs about RMB 0.545 (US$0.084) per kWh. Assuming each laptop uses about 250 watts of power (including whatever external fans they may be using), that works out to about RMB 1,200 or US$186 per year.

As of 11 February 2021, Ethereum is priced at US$1740. So here’s roughly how much this cryptocurrency mining farm would make, at that price :

  • 100 laptops : $385,392 per year
  • 200 laptops : $770,784 per year
  • 300 laptops : $1,156,177 per year
  • 400 laptops : $1,541,569 per year
  • 500 laptops : $1,926,961 per year
  • 600 laptops : $2,312,353 per year
  • 700 laptops : $2,697,745 per year
  • 800 laptops : $3,083,138 per year
  • 900 laptops : $3,468,530 per year

So there you have it – this small cryptocurrency mining operation can potentially make almost US$ 3.5 million in a single year.

But what’s the ROI, you say?

The Chinese OEM, Hasee, offers a GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptop with a starting price of just RMB 6,499 (approximately RM4,089 / US$1,005 / £732 / A$1,309 / S$1,340).

And the video shows that this mining operation is using the same, or similar, Hasee RTX gaming laptops.

Let’s say they paid a 20% scalper’s premium, and purchased all 900 Hasee RTX 3060 laptops for a cool US$1,085,400.

Let’s further round that up to US$1.1 million for miscellaneous costs – shelving units, lights, fans, etc. including US$500 per month for rental.

Based on those assumptions, their net profit for the 900-laptop mining farm would be US$2,368,530 per year, at current prices.

That’s an incredibly high ROI of 17.9% per month, which is 67% higher ROI than the 78-card GeForce RTX 3080 mining rig!

After recovering the cost of the entire mining farm ($1.1 million) in just over 3 months, everything else they make after that is pure profit (after deducting rental and electricity costs), unless they are stealing the electricity!

With such great ROI, you can count on cryptocurrency miners to buy up ALL the GeForce RTX 30 series laptops they can get their hands on!

 

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GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop Mining : Over 30% ROI?!

Here is the new craze in cryptocurrency mining – GeForce RTX 3060 laptop mining rigs!

Take a look at new laptop mining rigs in China, and find out how much they can make!

 

GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop Mining : The New Craze!

Supplies of desktop graphics cards are low, and prices are sky-high, and here’s more bad news – miners are coming for the laptops too!

A Weibo blogger called 神鱼BTCer just shared photos of different GeForce RTX 30 series laptop mining rigs!

BTCer claims they are all “home-based”, but we have no idea whether they are his, or from different cryptocurrency mining operations.

But in a response to a question, he said that the best way to keep them cool is by putting them in a sort of “tent mode”.

This picture shows four stacks of GeForce RTX 3060 laptops made by Chinese OEM Hasee, powered on (you can see the green light).

Hasee offers a GeForce RTX 3060 gaming laptop that has a starting price of just RMB 6,499 (approximately RM4,089 / US$1,005 / £732 / A$1,309 / S$1,340).

These twenty Hasee GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops would cost just over US$20,000.

This seems like a waste of power – leaving their displays turned on. But leaving the display up would definitely improve cooling.

 

How Much Money Can RTX 3060 Laptop Mining Rigs Make?

A Bilibili content creator Fish Pond f2pool demonstrated how fast someone with a GeForce RTX 3060 laptop can “mine” cryptocurrency.

She plugged in her GeForce RTX 3060 laptop into a power socket at Starbucks, and mined 0.00053009 ETH over 2 hours while she sipped her coffee.

On 5 February 2021, Ethereum closed at US$1,680.497, so she mined enough during her coffee break to make US$0.89 or RMB 5.76.

Not quite enough to pay for her coffee (about RMB 28), but at least the electricity is FREE!

Based on her experience, we can guesstimate that the average GeForce RTX 3060 laptop will be able to produce :

  • 0.000265045 ETH per hour
  • 0.00636108 ETH per day
  • 0.1908324 ETH per month (30 days)
  • 2.3217942 ETH per year

So that mining rig with 20 Hasee laptops you saw up there could make, at current prices, about :

  • $8.908 per hour
  • $213.80 per day
  • $6,413.87 per month (30 days)
  • $78,035 per year

Chinese electricity costs about RMB 0.545 (US$0.084) per kWh.

Assuming each laptop uses about 250 watts of power (including whatever external fans he may have), that works out to about US$3,679.20 per year.

So his net profit for the 20-laptop mining rig would be US$74,356 per year, at current prices.

That’s an incredible ROI of 30.8% per month, which means he will recover the cost of the entire rig ($20,100) in just under 3.5 months!

This is actually 2.9X higher ROI than the 78-card GeForce RTX 3080 mining rig!

With such great ROI, you can count on cryptocurrency miners to buy up hoards of GeForce RTX 30 series laptops!

 

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78-Card GeForce RTX 3080 Mining Rig Powered Up!

The mega crypto-mining rig, built using 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, has powered up!

Check it out, and find out why crypto-miners are buying graphics cards by the pallets!

 

78-Card GeForce RTX 3080 Mining Rig Almost Operational!

You may have seen Simon Byrne’s crypto-mining rig, that uses 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards arranged in an array of 13 x 6 cards.

That 78-card RTX 3080 mining rig, which he calls Bertha 2, is almost operational. And he’s keeping it cool with 120 fans, with RGB, of course! It is said – RGB makes thing go faster? 😉

In this picture, you can see most of the GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards powered up. When fully operational, it should deliver 6.5 gigahashes per second!

In case you are wondering what Berta – his first-generation mining rig – looks like, here is a photo he shared :

He created Bertha 1 using 130 Zotac GeForce RTX 1080 Ti graphics cards, in January 2018 – 3 years ago!

 

How Much Money Can This RTX 3080 Crypto Mining Rig Make?

Just how much money can Simon make from this crypto-mining rig?

Officially, RTX 3080 cards start at $699, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about $1,199 each.

So the cards in this rig alone would cost approximately $93,522. Let’s call it a flat $100,000 for the whole rig, plus power supplies.

The average commercial electricity rate in Las Vegas (where he’s based) is 8.43 cents per kWh. So electricity should cost about $1444 per month. Let’s make that $2166 per month (+50%) to account for cooling costs.

Each GeForce RTX 3080 has a hash rate of 83.57 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.22236870 ETH worth US$165 every month.

So the total rig of 78 cards should generate 17.3447586 ETH worth $12,840 per month. Deducting electricity costs, that’s a net profit of $10,674 per month or $128,088 per year!

That’s an incredible ROI of 10.7% per month, which means he recovers the cost of the entire rig in just under 9.5 months.

No wonder crypto miners are buying up graphics cards by the pallets… at the expense of PC gamers all around the world!

Simon assured gamers that he doesn’t buy his cards from the regular retail supply chain. However, the large-scale purchase of graphics cards for crypto-mining is a major cause of graphics card shortage across the world.

 

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12-Card GeForce RTX 3090 Gigahash Mining Rig!

Take a look at this crypto-mining rig that uses just a dozen GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards to generate over a gigahash per second!

Find out how much he stands to make from this mining rig!

 

12-Card GeForce RTX 3090 Gigahash Mining Rig!

It seems easy for crypto-miners to get hold of the GeForce RTX 3090 graphics card in bulk.

A crypto-miner is building a compact mining rig that uses just a dozen GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards to generate over a gigahash per second!

Guntis Vitolins, who recently lost 500 graphics cards in a fire, is using a dozen INNO3D GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards, powered by four EVGA SuperNOVA G3 1000 watt power supplies.

 

How Much Money Can This RTX 3090 Crypto Mining Rig Make?

Just how much money can Guntis make from this crypto-mining rig?

Officially, RTX 3090 cards start at US$1,499, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about US$2,450 each. The EVGA SuperNOVA G3 1000 PSU each cost US$309.

So the twelve cards would cost approximately US$29,400, while the four EVGA PSUs would cost US$1,236. Let’s call it a flat US$31,000 for the whole rig.

The average commercial electricity rate in Ireland (where he’s based) is about €0.2413 per kWh. So electricity should cost about €800 or US$965 per month. Let’s make that US$1450 per month (+50%) to account for cooling costs.

Each GeForce RTX 3090 has a hash rate of 104.48 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.23401064 ETH worth US$312.53 every month.

So the total rig of 12 cards should generate 2.80812768 ETH worth US$3,750 per month. Deducting electricity costs, that’s a net profit of $2,300 per month or $27,600 per year!

That’s a high ROI of 7.4% per month, which means he recovers the cost of the entire rig in about 13.5 months.

This is about 31% lower ROI than the 78-card mining rig that uses the much cheaper GeForce RTX 3080, which pays for itself in just 9.5 months!

No wonder crypto miners are buying up graphics cards by the pallets… at the expense of PC gamers all around the world!

 

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MSI GeForce RTX 30 Gaming Laptops : Price + Specifications!

MSI just released details of their upcoming GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops, that are now available for pre-order!

Take a look at the specifications and price list of the MSI GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops!

 

GeForce RTX 30 Gaming Laptops : Ampere Goes Mobile!

At CES 2021, NVIDIA announced the coming availability of Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops!

Starting 26 January 2021, NVIDIA partner brands like MSI will begin shipping RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 gaming laptops, followed by RTX 3060 gaming laptops from 2 February 2021 onwards.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series mobile GPUs are built on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, giving them 2nd Gen Ray Tracing cores and 3rd Gen Tensor Cores.

  • New Streaming Multiprocessors : Delivering 2X the FP32 performance of NVIDIA Turing, and 30 Shader-TFLOPS of processing power
  • 2nd Gen RT Cores : Delivering 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, plus concurrent ray tracing and compute, with 58 RT-TFLOPS of processing power.
  • 3rd Gen Tensor Cores : Up to 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, with 238 Tensor-TFLOPS of processing power.

  • NVIDIA RTX IO : Enables rapid GPU-based loading and game asset decompression, accelerating I/O performance by up to 100X. When used in conjunction with Microsoft DirectStorage API, it offloads the work to the RTX GPU, improving frame rates and enabling near-instantaneous game loading.
  • GDDR6X Memory : Delivers close to 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth, improving gaming performance.
  • Custom Samsung 8N Process Technology : Delivers higher transistor density and greater efficiency.
  • HDMI 2.1 : Delivers single-cable connection to 8K HDR TVs and monitors for ultra-high resolution gaming.
  • AV1 Decode : First discrete GPUs to support hardware decoding of the new AV1 codec, allowing for up to 8K HDR videos at 50% less bandwidth.

 

MSI GS66 Stealth GeForce RTX 30 Gaming Laptops

MSI is introducing two GS66 Stealth gaming laptops :

  • a premium model powered by the Core i9-10980HK processor with GeForce RTX 3080 graphics, and
  • a more affordable model powered by Core i7-10870H processor with GeForce RTX 3070 graphics.

Specifications GS66 Stealth
RTX 3080
GS66 Stealth
RTX 3070
Display Size 15.6-inch
Display Resolution 3840 x 2160 1920 x 1080
Refresh Rate 60 Hz 300 Hz
Colour Gamut 100% Adobe RGB Almost 100% sRGB
CPU Intel Core i9-10980HK Intel Core i7-10870H
Memory 2 x 32 GB DDR4-3200 2 x 16 GB DDR4-3200
GPU GeForce RTX 3080 GeForce RTX 3070
Storage 2 TB PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe SSD
Wireless Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (2×2)
Bluetooth 5.2
Keyboard SteelSeries Keyboard with per-key RGB
Price RM 17,999
~US$4,449
~£3,235
~A$5,756
S$5,699
RM 10,999
~US$2,719
~£1,977
~A$3,518
S$3,499

 

MSI GE76 | GE66 Raider GeForce RTX 30 Gaming Laptops

The MSI GE76 Raider is a 17.3-inch gaming laptop, powered by the Intel Core i7-10870H processor, paired with the GeForce RTX 3070.

The smaller MSI GE66 Raider has a 15.6-inch display, and is powered by the Intel Core i7-10870H processor, paired with the faster GeForce RTX 3080.

Specifications GE76
Raider
GE66
Raider
Display Size 17.3-inch 15.6-inch
Display Resolution 1920 x 1080
Refresh Rate 240 Hz 300 Hz
Colour Gamut Close to 100% sRGB
CPU Intel Core i7-10870H
Memory 2 x 8 GB DDR4-3200 2 x 16 GB DDR4-3200
GPU GeForce RTX 3070 GeForce RTX 3080
Storage 2 TB PCIe SSD 1 TB PCIe SSD
Wireless Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (2×2)
Bluetooth 5.2
Keyboard SteelSeries Keyboard with per-key RGB
Price RM 9,999
~US$2,472
~£1,798
~A$3,196
~S$3,279
RM 14,999
~US$3,708
~£2,698
~A$4,794
~S$4,918

 

MSI GF65 Thin GeForce RTX 30 Gaming Laptop

The MSI GF65 Thin is a thin-and-light 15.6-inch gaming laptop, powered by the Intel Core i7-10750H processor, paired with the GeForce RTX 3060.

Specifications GF65 Thin
Display Size 15.6-inch
Display Resolution 1920 x 1080
Refresh Rate 144 Hz
CPU Intel Core i7-10750H
Memory 2 x 8 GB DDR4-3200
GPU GeForce RTX 3060
Storage 512 GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Wireless Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (2×2)
Bluetooth 5.1
Keyboard Red backlit keyboard
Price RM 5,129
~US$1,268
~£923
~A$1,638
~S$1,681

 

MSI GeForce RTX 30 Gaming Laptops : Where To Buy?

Here are some direct purchase / pre-order links for the MSI GeForce RTX 30 gaming laptops :

Malaysia

Singapore

United States

Australia

 

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GeForce RTX 3080 Mining Rig Inside A BMW i8 Hybrid!

Take a look at this mining rig with SIX GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, in the trunk of a BMW i8 hybrid sports car!

 

GeForce RTX 3080 Mining Rig Inside A BMW i8 Hybrid!

Simon Byrne is at it again – trolling gamers with his GeForce RTX 3080 mining rigs!

This time, he created a mining rig with six GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, right in the trunk of a BMW i8 hybrid sports car.

The only practical use for the trunk of an i8 is to home a 6 x RTX 3080 mining rig.

*no gamers were harmed in the making of this photo.

 

BMW i8 RTX 3080 Mining Rig : Trolling Gamers

As impressive as it looks, this really isn’t a practical mining operation. He probably created it just to troll gamers who are finding it hard to get decently-priced graphics cards.

World’s Most Expensive Mining Case

The BMW i8 has a starting MSRP of US$147,500 in Nevada. That would make it the world’s most expensive mining case.

Power Consumption

The six GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards alone would consume 2 kilowatts of power at full power, with the entire mining rig using some 2.5 kW of power.

We can only see a single EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 T2 PSU, so he’s either underclocking the cards, or there is another PSU out-of-sight.

The BMW i8 has a 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery, with a usable capacity of 8.7 kWh. That’s only enough to run the mining rig for 4-5 hours.

BMW i8 battery pack

Thermal Output

Of course, you can plug in the i8 or keep its engine running, but the mining rig still generates a tremendous amount of heat.

Even in a cold environment (it’s about 5°C in Nevada in January), the BMW i8’s rear hatch must be kept open to avoid the cards from overheating.

Invitation To Smash & Grab!

And that’s just inviting theft or a hold-up. Especially when these GeForce RTX 3080 cards command premium prices all over the world!

This is definitely an impressive showcase, but Simon is no doubt making the bulk of his cryptocurrency using serious rigs like this 78-card mining rig we showed earlier.

Recommended : 78-Card RTX 3080 Mining Rig Almost Operational!

 

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NVIDIA To Introduce Resizable BAR In February 2021!

NVIDIA just announced that they will introduce Resizable BAR support at the end of February 2021!

Find out what Resizable BAR is all about, and why it matters!

 

Resizable BAR : What Is It?

Resizable BAR is an optional PCI Express feature, that can deliver a small but free boost in performance for the graphics card.

CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. The CPU can only transfer data like textures, shaders and geometry to the GPU through that small 256 MB “window”.

Turning on Resizable BAR expands that small access window, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.

Those graphics assets can thus be sent in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.

 

NVIDIA To Introduce Resizable BAR In February 2021!

AMD was first out the door with Resizable BAR in November 2020, launching it as Smart Access Memory.

It gave their Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card a free performance boost of up to 16% in some games, but no effect in other games.

You can check out the performance difference in our article, RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory Performance Comparison!

On 12 January 2021, NVIDIA announced that they will be able to introduce Resizable BAR support in GeForce drivers from Late February 2021 onwards.

It will be limited to their GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards and laptops, but will work with both Intel and AMD CPUs.

The newly announced GeForce RTX 3060 will ship with support for Resizable BAR. However, older GeForce RTX 30 series cards will need to have their VBIOS updated from March 2021 onwards.

The motherboard must also be updated with Resizable BAR support. According to Intel, this will be limited to 11th Gen platforms, and select 10th Gen platforms.

So ironically, Resizable BAR will first work on GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards paired with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and AMD 500-series motherboards!

 

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GeForce RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops Are Coming!

At CES 2021, NVIDIA announced the coming availability of Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops!

Take a look at what’s coming very soon, and how much faster they will be!

 

GeForce RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops : Ampere Goes Mobile!

Just 4 months after launching Ampere for desktop gaming, NVIDIA is bringing it to laptops.

At CES 2021, they announced the coming availability of Ampere-based GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops!

Starting 26 January 2021, NVIDIA partner brands will begin shipping RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 gaming laptops, followed by RTX 3060 gaming laptops from 2 February 2021 onwards.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series mobile GPUs are built on the NVIDIA Ampere architecture, giving them 2nd Gen Ray Tracing cores and 3rd Gen Tensor Cores.

  • New Streaming Multiprocessors : Delivering 2X the FP32 performance of NVIDIA Turing, and 30 Shader-TFLOPS of processing power
  • 2nd Gen RT Cores : Delivering 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, plus concurrent ray tracing and compute, with 58 RT-TFLOPS of processing power.
  • 3rd Gen Tensor Cores : Up to 2X the performance of NVIDIA Turing, with 238 Tensor-TFLOPS of processing power.

  • NVIDIA RTX IO : Enables rapid GPU-based loading and game asset decompression, accelerating I/O performance by up to 100X. When used in conjunction with Microsoft DirectStorage API, it offloads the work to the RTX GPU, improving frame rates and enabling near-instantaneous game loading.
  • GDDR6X Memory : Delivers close to 1 TB/s of memory bandwidth, improving gaming performance.
  • Custom Samsung 8N Process Technology : Delivers higher transistor density and greater efficiency.
  • HDMI 2.1 : Delivers single-cable connection to 8K HDR TVs and monitors for ultra-high resolution gaming.
  • AV1 Decode : First discrete GPUs to support hardware decoding of the new AV1 codec, allowing for up to 8K HDR videos at 50% less bandwidth.

NVIDIA is also introducing a 3rd Gen Max-Q Design to optimise the GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops for optimal power and performance.

They will also come with WhisperMode 2.0 – which was reengineered to dynamically manage the GPU, CPU, game settings and fan speeds to reduce fan acoustics while maintaining gaming performance.

Finally, NVIDIA will introduce Resizable BAR support in these RTX 30 gaming laptops via a driver update later.

 

GeForce RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops : Performance

So how much faster are the RTX 30 series gaming laptops?

Based on this comparison that NVIDIA shared, an RTX 3080 laptop will offer 45-55% better performance than an RTX 2080 laptop

 

GeForce RTX 30 Series Gaming Laptops : What’s Coming?

Here is a quick summary of the GeForce RTX 30 series gaming laptops that will hit the market from 26 January 2021 onwards.

  • Razer Blade 15 Advanced : RTX 3080, 3rd Gen Max-Q, 1440p 240Hz display
  • Alienware m15 R4 + m17 R4 : RTX 3080, 360Hz display

  • ASUS TUF Gaming Dash F15 : RTX 3070, 3rd Gen Max-Q, 240Hz display
  • ASUS Zephyrus G15 : RTX 3070, 1440p 90Hz display

  • GIGABYTE Aero 15 : RTX 30 series GPU, 3rd Gen Max-Q
  • MSI GS66 : RTX 30 series GPU, 3rd Gen Max-Q
  • Lenovo Legion 7 : RTX 3080
  • Lenovo Legion Slim 7 : RTX 3060, 1080p 90Hz display

 

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Crypto Mining Rig With 78 GeForce RTX 3080 Cards!

Take a look at this crypto-mining rig powered by 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards, and find out why crypto miners are buying graphics cards by the pallets!

 

Crypto Mining Rig With 78 GeForce RTX 3080 Cards!

Can’t find an affordable GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card? That’s because crypto-mining is one of the reasons why there is a shortage of graphics cards worldwide.

Here is a crypto-mining rig being built by Simon Byrne, using the 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards arranged in an array of 13 x 6 cards.

With a power consumption of 300 watts per card, that’s crypto-mining rig would require at least 23.4 kilowatts of power to run, and a lot of air-conditioning to keep them cool!

Update : This GeForce RTX 3080 mining rig is almost operational!

 

How Much Money Can This RTX 3080 Crypto Mining Rig Make?

Just how much money can Simon make from this crypto-mining rig?

Officially, RTX 3080 cards start at $699, but due to the shortage of cards, they are now selling for about $1,199 each.

So the cards in this rig alone would cost approximately $93,522. Let’s call it a flat $100,000 for the whole rig, plus power supplies.

The average commercial electricity rate in Las Vegas (where he’s based) is 8.43 cents per kWh. So electricity should cost about $1444 per month. Let’s make that $2166 per month (+50%) to account for cooling costs.

Each GeForce RTX 3080 has a hash rate of 83.57 MH/s using the Ethash (Phoenix) algorithm, which should generate approximately 0.22236870 ETH worth US$165 every month.

So the total rig of 78 cards should generate 17.3447586 ETH worth $12,840 per month. Deducting electricity costs, that’s a net profit of $10,674 per month or $128,088 per year!

That’s an incredible ROI of 10.7% per month, which means he recovers the cost of the entire rig in just under 9.5 months.

No wonder crypto miners are buying up graphics cards by the pallets… at the expense of PC gamers all around the world!

 

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