Jul 14, 2023
Best of Computex 2023
Computex 2023 wrapped up late last week. The computer expo had an aura of
Computex 2023 wrapped up late last week. The computer expo had an aura of excitement surrounding it, given it provided regular attendees the benefit of attending the event in person, the first one in four years.
Computex 2023 saw some of the biggest original equipment manufacturers and IP designers roll out their latest wares. The event had more than 1,000 exhibitors give a glimpse into their innovations.
Spiceworks shared its picks for the products that can have the biggest impact on the computing industry. Read more about it here. Let us look at how these products can influence some crucial sectors in the computing space.
NVIDIA recently hit $1 trillion in market capitalization thanks to its aggressive stance in capturing the expanding AI sector. Moreover, while regulators and enterprises mull over AI development's ethical, cybersecurity, and existential qualms, NVIDIA is rapidly building hardware to power AI's lofty computing needs.
Moreover, we are still far from the commercialization of AI, thus leaving organizations with no clear business strategy. While semiconductor companies may still need to evolve their AI hardware lineup in the future, they already have a viable and profitable product. And NVIDIA seems to be ahead, for now.
At Computex 2023, NVIDIA demonstrated the intersection of AI and gaming. The company added the AI-rendering engine Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE) for Games to its AI product portfolio, a tool designed to enhance gamers’ interactive experience with non-playable characters (NPCs).
During his keynote address, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang spoke about the enterprise applications of its AI hardware. This includes GPUs based on the Hopper architecture (announced at NVIDIA GTC 2022), Ampere architecture (introduced in 2021, which succeeded NVIDIA's Volta and Turing architecture), and RTX GPUs optimized for generative AI workloads.
NVIDIA partnered with advertising company WPP to develop AI-generated branding content on the American chipmaker's Omniverse Cloud suite. The company also introduced the NVIDIA Isaac Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) platform and announced a partnership with SoftBank to bring generative AI applications to the Japanese investment company's servers.
See More: Cisco Live 2023: A Guide to the Annual Technical Extravaganza
Besides ACE, NVIDIA introduced Ultra Low Motion Blur (ULMB) 2, the next iteration of the namesake technology first announced in 2015. NVIDIA claims ULMB 2 can provide motion clarity to the tune of 1,000Hz, a smoother gaming experience.
ULMB 2 comes with a novel backlight strobing technique and is based on G-Sync, and is currently available only on 360Hz G-Sync monitors with 1440p. If your monitor fits the criteria, update it with the latest NVIDIA ULMB 2 firmware.
On the hardware front, multiple OEMs launched respective devices. These include:
MSI's Project 491C QD OLED, ASRock's 55" 8K UHD PG558KF, and Asus’ ROG PG38UQ get our honorable mentions.
Asus also added devices to its ROG Zephyrus, ROG Strik, and ROG Flow line of gaming laptops. Safe to say that the company's presence was huge at Computex 2023.
British semiconductor design company Arm took center stage at Computex 2023 to deliver the next generation of mobile chip designs. With nearly all present-day smartphones featuring system-on-a-chip or SoCs, the company is already the premier mobile chip IP designer today.
No wonder chipmakers globally voiced concerns to regulators when NVIDIA bid to acquire Arm for $40 billion in 2020, ultimately leading the deal to fail in 2022Opens a new window . The attempts of a Qualcomm-led consortium to acquire Arm also didn't bear fruit.
Now the Softbank-owned company announced Total Compute Solutions 2023 (TSC23), a complete IP solution offering inclusive of the following:
Notably, Arm didn't have a lot of PC-specific innovations to showcase at Computex 2023.
South Korea's XSLAB, which specializes in Arm-based servers, has developed a new hexagonal-shaped workstation powered by Arm chips. XSLAB V-raptor SQ nano is a 64-bit, 1GHz workstation powered by 24 Arm Cortex A-52 cores.
It comes with 32 GB (16×2) DDR4 RAM, NVMe SSD, 1 Gbit/sec Ethernet port, three USB ports, and a 2.08" display fit into a 193 x 169 x 33 mm purple case.
XSLAB V-raptor SQ nano is marketed as a testing and development machine. As such, it comes pre-installed with Ubuntu Server 18.04/20.04 LTS.
XSLAB V-Raptor SQ nano
Source: XSLAB
See More: WWDC 2023: Finally an AR/VR Device From Apple?
MSI revealed a new laptop powered by Intel's 14th generation core i7 processor, Meteor Lake. However, the MSI Prestige 16 Studio was overshadowed by another, the MSI Raider GE78 HX Smart Touchpad.
As the name suggests, the machine features an innovative touch-sensitive LED touchpad to toggle on/off several functional elements of the computer, including Bluetooth, camera, mic, location, etc. The extended part of the touchpad also enables system controls such as volume, brightness, and more.
MSI Raider GE78 HX Smart Touchpad
Source: MSI
Raider GE78 HX's other features specifications include the 24-core 13th gen Intel Core i9, GeForce RTX 4070 clocking at 5.6 GHz. It features a 17" QHD+ (2,560 x 1,600) display, 32 GB RAM, and 2 TB SSD.
Gigabyte unveiled a fresh new addition to its Z-line of motherboards. The most significant (visible) upgrade is the inclusion of a big LCD on its I/O heatsink, something motherboards lack across several OEM product lines.
The Xtreme X display shows the temperatures and other important system information. The display is customizable and can even play a GIF.
It also has Wi-Fi 7, a new Wi-Fi antenna, four PCI-E x4 SSD slots, and relies on the EZ-Latch mechanism for the M.2 SSD, thus making it easy for the user to remove the cover, the SSD, and the graphics card.
Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master X is nearly similar in all aspects, except it features a 10 Gigabit ethernet for faster data transfers.
Xtreme X and Master X are designed for Intel core 12th generation processors and higher.
Several manufacturers launched respective computer cases though the one by Lian Li stood out. The Taiwanese company's O11 Vision is an eye-catching computer case featuring glass on the front, side, and top glass.
Lian Li O11 Vision's aesthetic appeal is further enhanced by the lack of supporting column frames within the attractive glass box and the addition of a reflective one-way mirror on the top side, which makes viewing from the top unobstructed while ensuring parts are reflected while viewing from the side.
Lian Li O11 Visison
Source: Lian Li
It features a removable motherboard tray and supports a radiator up to 240mm thick for more significant cooling.
What are you planning to buy from these products featured at Computex 2023? Share your thoughts with us on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!
Image source: Shutterstock
Asst. Editor, Spiceworks Ziff Davis
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