FEB 2022MAXIMU MPC 9
TRIUMPHS TRAGEDIES
FUSION POWER GETS REAL
For the first time, the National
Ignition Facility has managed to
get a fusion reactor to generate
more power than it consumes.TEXAS GETS FAB
Samsung is to invest $17bn
in a new chip fabrication plant
in Taylor, Texas, as part of a
$205bn expansion of production.SELF-DESTRUCTING FLASH
Russian firm Rostec has launched
a USB drive with a button that
burns them beyond recovery.SPACEX IN TROUBLE
The company’s problems with
the Rapter engine could mean
a “genuine risk of bankruptcy,”
according to Elon Musk.SWITCH HACKER FINED
Hacker Ken Browser has
been ordered to pay Nintendo
$14.5m in damages for selling
Switch modding kits.EDGE DISSES CHROME
Search for Chrome using
Microsoft Edge and dialog pop-
ups try to dissuade you. Sneaky!A monthly snapshot of what’s good and bad in techTech Triumphs and Tragedies
NO MAJOR OPERATING SYSTEM upgrade goes unpunished. The move to Win
has been mostly smooth, although another wrinkle has emerged: it appears
the speed of some SSD drives has been compromised. Specifically, the
random write speed has been halved, or worse. Initial reports pointed to
Samsung drives, but it appears that all makes are affected except Optane.
Many report that only the drive used to install Win11 suffers, as swapping
around drives proves. The upshot is that anything that makes use of random
write is going to be significantly more lethargic. The chatter on forums
suggests that the trouble isn’t new either, there were issues reported with
the preview builds of Win11 months ago. Microsoft is aware of the bug and is
reportedly “almost ready” with a fix. No doubt there is a long list of bugs to
squash, but a performance drop of over 50 percent is quite some hit. –CLIt turns out that Windows 11’s
sluggishness isn’t your imaginationSSD SLOWDOWN
NO GAMING
WHILE DRIVING
TESLA IS IN TROUBLE with the National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration after a
software update allowed owners to play games
whilst driving. Normally only usable in Park, the update
removed this restriction for the pre-installed games. You
can now play Sky Force Reloaded and 18 other games while driving. Click through a
warning message saying “Use of Tesla Arcade while the vehicle is in motion is only for
passengers” and to “check local laws,” and off you go. Teslas are still a long way from
self-driving, despite Elon Musk’s promises, and if there is one thing you need to do when
driving it is to pay attention. This sort of loose play with regulations looks sloppy at best,
some would say irresponsible. A software update or recall is expected shortly. Tesla
isn’t alone either, Mercedes Benz recently had to fix a server bug that enabled you to
watch television on the EQS, and S-Class ‘hyperscreen’ whilst driving. –CLTESLA WARNED AFTER
SOFTWARE UPDATEAT THE ANNUAL GAME AWARDS, we got a
glimpse of Arc Alchemist in action, Intel’s
first serious discrete graphics card. We
saw a handful of top titles running at
1440p, and also saw a 3D rendered card
which sported an 8-pin power connector
(enough for 150W, so a maximum of 225W
with the PCIe power). Whilst Intel is tight
on details, there are plenty of engineering
samples around and we have some solid
details on the GPU dies. There are two: the
DG2-SOC1 and DG2-SOC2.
The bigger die is the DG2-SOC
(about the size of an Nvidia GA104) and
comes in versions with either 512, 384,
or 256 Execution Units. The 512 version
sports 16GB of GDDR6, with 32GB being
considered for ‘professional’ cards. The
384 EU card gets 12GB, and that half chip
version has 8GB. SOC1 cards are being
pitched against the Nvidia RTX 3060 and
3070, and AMD’s Radeon 6600 to 6800:
mid-range and up to about $500. SOC
production is due to start in February, so
don’t expect to see any cards before April.
The smaller die, SOC2, will have two 128
EU versions, one a lower-power version,
and a 96 EU variant for low-end kit. It’ll use
6GB or 4GB, and draw its power from PCIe.
SOC2 production starts in January. With
just two dies, Intel aims to cover almost the
entire market, but cards in numbers won’t
arrive until the middle of the year.
Prices? The stated aim of Intel is to
be 10 percent cheaper and faster than
equivalent Nvidia offerings. Intel’s tactic
appears to be to establish itself as the
third option before going for the crown: the
high-end enthusiast cards. We will have to
wait, probably until Battlemage in 2023, for
that fight. Intel’s promotional video opens
with the phrase “a new player enters the
game”. It’s not wrong. –CLAnd then there were three...
INTEL’S ARC
ALCHEMIST
GPU REVEALED
Intel’s DG2 dies prove it is deadly serious about
© TESLA, INTEL becoming a rival to Nvidia and AMD.