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12 MAXIMUMPC OCT 2019 maximumpc.com
TRIUMPHS TRAGEDIES
DIABLO FOR FREE
Two levels of the classic 1996
game are now available to play
in your browser for nothing.OLD-SCHOOL MACHINE
Fujitsu employs an engineer
to keep its 1959 FACOM128B in
working order. It uses electro-
mechanical relays, rather than
more advanced vacuum tubes.SMART SWITCH
An unofficial port runs Android
on a Nintendo Switch, but it
occasionally bricks.CRYPTOTAX
The IRS has warned owners
of cryptocurrencies that it will
chase any tax due.CISCO’S LAX SECURITY
Knowingly selling surveillance
gear that was open to hacking
cost Cisco a $8.6 million fine.NO-SO-SMARTSPEAKERS
A researcher has warned that
many IoT speakers have little
protection to stop malware
from turning them into low-
grade sonic weapons.A monthly snapshot of what’s good and bad in techTech Triumphs and Tragedies
WE’VE BEEN TOLD for a while that there is an over-production of DRAM, and
prices are low. However, it appears there may well be a lot more to come. A
report by Gartner (world-class research, advisory company, and developer
of the Hype Cycle) claims that prices have a lot further to fall. It gives the
figure of a 42.1 percent fall before the end of the year. This is a strangely
specific figure, which must have been generated by some statistical
method—nobody estimates in tenths of a percent. The report says there is
so much excess stock in the supply chain that it will take months to clear, and
prices won’t stiffen until the middle of next year. Reasons include a slowing of
smartphone sales, a “weaker pricing environment,” and the tension between
the US and China. Prices have been dropping since a high around December
2017, when 16GB of decent RAM would have cost in the region of $200; that’s
fallen to around $70, and is still dropping. It does sound like good news, even
if it’s only half right, because you can never have too much RAM. –CLDRAM PRICES
SET TO DROP
FURTHERTWITTER OVERWRITES
PRIVACY SETTINGS
TWITTER HAS ADMITTED that its privacy settings haven’t been working properly, which
has lead to people’s data being shared with advertising partners, even though users
had set their privacy settings to block this. The revelation came from a post in its Help
Center, which said that two advertising privacy settings “may not have been working
as intended.” One bug would share information when you clicked an ad, whether or not
you’d allowed this. A second bug would serve users with targeted ads based on their
online activity. These ads are selected using “inferences,” and draw on data collected
outside of Twitter, including other devices. The privacy settings offer the option not
to “personalize” your experience, but apparently often the user settings were simply
overwritten. As Twitter’s admission says, “You trust us to follow your choices, and we
failed here.” It transpires that Twitter had been leaking data since last spring. –CLYET ANOTHER DATA LEAK
AMD’S ZEN 2 architecture has reached
its server chips with Rome, the second
generation of Epyc processors. As well
as the expected increase in instructions
per cycle, and a hike in clock speeds, it
is the core count that has really pushed
performance—it has effectively doubled.
The top model, the Epyc 7742, packs 64
cores across eight chiplets, and clocks in
at 3.4GHz. At its launch, AMD made some
bold statements, including claiming 80
world records running industry-standard
benchmarking software, and the title of
the world’s most powerful x86 chip.
Pricing is competitive and impressive.
The Epyc 7742 sells for just under $7,000;
its rival, the 28-core Xeon Platinum 8280,
is $10,000, and nowhere near as fast. The
Rome chips undercut the older Naples
chips, too: An Epyc 7502 bests the older
7601 in every department, but is only $2,
versus $4,200 for the part it replaces. We
knew Rome was going to be good, but it
has proved far better than expected. At the
launch, AMD’s CEO, Lisa Su, said, “I hope it
is absolutely clear that second-gen Epyc is
the best in the industry.”
Intel also made an announcement
on its server chips. It has new 56-core
Cooper Lake chips coming next year, and
talked of 10nm 26-core Ice Lake chips
after that. Progress, but by the time Intel
can respond with new silicon, AMD will be
ready with Rome’s planned replacement:
Milan. Intel can lower prices to compete,
but otherwise has little it can do other than
rely on its market position. The booming
server market is where you can make real
money, and is vital to both companies.
AMD has started to gather an impressive
list of big customers, including Google and
Twitter. Market watchers are predicting
that it will double its market share before
the end 2020. The company has been here
before; the Opteron did well for a few
year s, but this retur n is ver y strong indeed.
Epyc is giving Intel quite a headache. –CLAMD reaches 64 cores
SERVER WAR
GETS HOT
AMD claims the new
Epyc 7742 is the world’s
fastest x86 chip.©^AMD,^
TWITTER,^ C
RUCIAL^ BALLISTIX