Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

With our Pirate Captain still showing no signs of life (maybe once Easter is done?), I’m bringing you some other news to skip:

Orange Pi Neo gaming handheld released: Ryzen 7 7840U version costs $499
https://videocardz.com/newz/orange-pi-neo-gaming-handheld-released-ryzen-7-7840u-version-costs-499
>> Comes with the Majaro Linux distro, 16Gb LPDDR5 and 512GB of storage.

Qualcomm, Intel, & Google Join Hands To Come For NVIDIA, Plans On Dethroning CUDA Through oneAPI
https://wccftech.com/qualcomm-intel-google-join-hands-to-come-nvidia-plans-on-dethroning-cuda-oneapi/
>> They surely have more resources that AMD. Will they succeed?

Potential Intel Battlemage “Xe2-HPG” 20 & 24 Core GPU Spotted With 12 GB VRAM
https://wccftech.com/intel-battlemage-xe2-hpg-20-24-xe-core-gpu-spotted-12-gb-vram-rumor/
Intel's next-generation Battlemage "Xe2-HPG" GPUs have potentially been spotted within the SiSoftware Sandra database.

Samsung Officially Lists Next-Gen GDDR7 Memory For Next-Gen GPUs: 28 Gbps & 32 Gbps For Now
https://wccftech.com/samsung-lists-next-gen-gddr7-memory-next-gen-gpus-28-gbps-32-gbps-for-now/

NVIDIA Rumored To Limit Supply of GeForce RTX 40 “Ada” GPUs To Make Room For RTX 50 “Blackwell” Gaming Lineup
https://wccftech.com/nvidia-limit-supply-geforce-rtx-40-ada-gpus-make-room-rtx-50-blackwell-gaming-lineup/
NVIDIA has reportedly informed its partners that the supply of its existing GeForce RTX 40 "Ada" family will be reduced significantly moving forward as the company preps for RTX 50 "Blackwell" launch in the gaming segment.
The rumor comes from Quasarzone who talked to South Korean industry experts who highlighted that NVIDIA is informing its partners about limited shipments for its GeForce RTX 40 "Ada' GPUs as the launch of RTX 50 "Blackwell" GPUs approaches for 2H 2024.

AMD Prepping Ryzen 5000XT CPU Refresh For AM4 Budget Platforms, Faster Clocks On Zen 3
https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-5000xt-cpu-refresh-am4-budget-platforms-faster-clocks-zen-3/
AMD is planning to refresh its Ryzen 5000XT CPUs based on the huge popularity of the AM4 platform with faster Zen 3 chips.
The XT series by AMD is usually seen as a generational refresh & could be seen as a "final departure" by the company made for a particular platform. The last time we saw "XT" SKUs was in the Ryzen 3000 series, launched in 2019, to compete with Intel's Comet Lake processors, which were gobbling up AMD's market share at that time. The CPUs were presented beside the recent AMD presentation held during the AI PC summit in Bejing, China.

AMD 5th Gen EPYC Turin “Zen 5 & Zen 5C” CPU Lineup Leaks Out: Up To 160 Cores, 320 MB Cache & 500W TDP
https://wccftech.com/amd-5th-gen-epyc-turin-zen-5-zen-5c-cpu-lineup-leak-up-to-160-cores-320-mb-cache-500w-tdp/
AMD's 5th Gen EPYC Turin CPU lineup featuring Zen 5 & Zen 5C cores with up to 160 cores has been leaked out by Yuuki_AnS.

AMD 24.3.1 Drivers Unlock RX 7900 GRE Memory OC Limits, Additional Performance Boost Tested
https://www.techpowerup.com/320715/amd-24-3-1-drivers-unlock-rx-7900-gre-memory-oc-limits-additional-performance-boost-tested
Without making much noise, AMD lifted the memory overclocking limits of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card with its latest Adrenalin 24.3.1 WHQL drivers, TechPowerUp found. The changelog is a bit vague and states "The maximum memory tuning limit may be incorrectly reported on AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics products."—we tested it. (...)

AMD Expected To Utilize Samsung 4nm Process For Low-End Ryzen APUs & Radeon GPUs
https://wccftech.com/amd-utilize-samsung-4nm-process-low-end-ryzen-apus-radeon-gpus-rumor/
AMD is reportedly going to utilize Samsung's 4nm process node for the development of low-end APUs and Radeon GPUs.
The rumor comes from @Tech_Reve who states that AMD is expected to utilize Samsung's 4nm node to power some of its client-side products including Ryzen APUs and Radeon GPUs. Citing "Reliable sources", it is projected that AMD will rely more on Samsung's Foundries in the future which might have to do with TSMC's fabs being booked out entirely due to huge demand from other segments such as AI.

Microsoft DirectSR API Seeks to Make Upscaling Easier
https://wccftech.com/microsoft-directsr-api-seeks-to-make-upscaling-easier/
About a month ago, the Game Developers Conference 2024 schedule unveiled a new technology called Microsoft DirectSR. As one could easily guess from its name (Direct SuperResolution), it's an attempt to make the implementation of upscalers easier, and it was built in collaboration with all of the main CPU and GPU vendors (NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel).
Shawn Hargreaves, Dev Manager at Microsoft's Direct3D division, took the stage on Thursday, March 21, in Room 2009 of Moscone Center's West Hall to introduce Microsoft DirectSR. Hargreaves noted that PC games nowadays are expected to support multiple upscaling techniques right away (just think of the controversies when AMD FSR or NVIDIA DLSS are missing in a game, like with Starfield), and platforms want to apply newer, improved techniques to existing games. These are precisely the kind of problems that DirectX was always meant to solve on behalf of developers.

Microsoft Patents Resource-Based Ray Tracing, Promises Less Strain on GPU VRAM
https://www.techpowerup.com/320778/microsoft-patents-resource-based-ray-tracing-promises-less-strain-on-gpu-vram
Microsoft has filed for a new and even potentially groundbreaking patent that could transform the way ray tracing graphics are processed, especially when video memory (VRAM) is scarce. The patent proposes a technique to minimize the memory footprint of ray tracing graphics, tackling the escalating concerns about the growing memory demands for ray tracing and path tracing. The innovation outlined in Microsoft's patent employs a dynamic level of detail (LOD) approach to adaptively modify the quality of ray tracing effects based on accessible resources. The patent portrays the ray tracing pipeline as an acceleration structure that can be streamlined using this LOD system. The cornerstone of this optimization is a residency map that aligns with a bounding volume hierarchy of objects. The graphics processing system can then utilize this map to ascertain the suitable quality level for objects at any given moment. This methodology enables a more reasonable allocation of resources, guaranteeing that the most crucial objects receive the highest quality rendering. At the same time, less important elements can be rendered at lower quality to conserve memory.