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German Railway Still Running on Windows 3.11?

2025-03-30

German Railway Still Running on Windows 3.11?

A German railway company recently posted a job opening for a Windows 3.11 administrator to maintain outdated systems running on 166MHz processors and 8MB of RAM. These systems, used for railway display boards across most of Germany, provide real-time data to driver cabs on high-speed and regional trains. Despite their age, these mission-critical systems remain in use, adhering to a 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' philosophy, with an expected lifespan until at least 2030. The job posting sparked online discussion, highlighting the persistence of legacy systems in critical infrastructure.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech German railway

Qualcomm Accuses Arm of Anti-Competitive Practices

2025-03-27

Qualcomm Accuses Arm of Anti-Competitive Practices

Qualcomm has filed antitrust complaints against Arm with regulators in the US, Europe, and South Korea, alleging that Arm is limiting access to its technologies and changing licensing models to harm competition. Arm denies the accusations, framing Qualcomm's actions as a diversion from their ongoing commercial dispute. This follows a recent Delaware court case where Qualcomm won, but Arm is seeking a retrial. The complaints highlight a significant rift between the two tech giants, with Qualcomm seeking to secure access to Arm's crucial technologies.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech

AMD's Gaia: Open-Source LLM for Local Inference on Windows PCs

2025-03-22

AMD's Gaia: Open-Source LLM for Local Inference on Windows PCs

AMD unveils Gaia, an open-source project enabling local LLM execution on Windows machines. Leveraging the Lemonade SDK for inference and optimized for Ryzen AI processors, Gaia utilizes Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for improved accuracy and context-aware responses. Featuring agents for chatting, YouTube searching, and even joke generation, Gaia offers offline functionality, enhancing security and reducing latency. A strong contender in the burgeoning local LLM space, Gaia provides a compelling alternative to cloud-based solutions.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech

Akira Ransomware Cracked: GPU Brute-Force Method Discovered

2025-03-17

Akira Ransomware Cracked: GPU Brute-Force Method Discovered

Security researcher Tinyhack has discovered a GPU-based brute-force method to decrypt the Akira ransomware. Akira, known for its exorbitant ransom demands (reaching tens of millions of dollars), targets high-profile victims. Using an RTX 4090, Tinyhack cracked encrypted files in 7 days; 16 GPUs reduced this to just over 10 hours. The method exploits four nanosecond timestamps used as seeds in Akira's encryption, brute-forcing to find the precise timestamps and generate decryption keys. Success requires untouched files and local disk storage (NFS complicates decryption). While a significant cybersecurity win, Akira's developers will likely patch this vulnerability quickly.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech GPU brute-force

Bolt Graphics' Zeus GPU: A RISC-V Challenger to Nvidia

2025-03-16

Bolt Graphics' Zeus GPU: A RISC-V Challenger to Nvidia

Bolt Graphics, a California startup, unveiled its Zeus GPU platform based on the open-source RISC-V architecture. In path tracing workloads, Zeus significantly outperforms Nvidia's RTX 5090, boasting up to 10x the speed. However, its performance in traditional rendering and AI tasks remains unclear, and a mature software ecosystem is lacking. Zeus uses a multi-chiplet design, offering various configurations with up to 2TB of memory and built-in high-speed networking, targeting high-performance computing and scientific simulations. Developer kits are slated for late 2025, with mass production in late 2026. Despite significant challenges, Zeus's emergence injects new dynamism into the GPU market.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware

Windows 10's End of Life Leaves Charities in a Bind

2025-03-15

Windows 10's End of Life Leaves Charities in a Bind

With Windows 10's free security updates ending this October, millions of PCs unable to upgrade to Windows 11 face obsolescence. This poses a significant challenge for charities that rely on these older machines. They're faced with a difficult decision: provide insecure Windows 10, switch to Linux, or scrap the computers. While Linux offers a viable alternative, the learning curve for unfamiliar users, especially seniors and students, is steep and could lead to increased tech support issues. The article explores this problem, showcasing different charities' strategies and the resulting e-waste dilemma.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech security updates

RepairTuber Rossmann Slams Brother for Anti-Consumer Printer Practices

2025-03-04

RepairTuber Rossmann Slams Brother for Anti-Consumer Printer Practices

Louis Rossmann, a renowned repair YouTuber, expressed his disappointment with Brother printers in a recent video. He highlighted how Brother is disabling third-party toner cartridges and color registration functionality through firmware updates, harming consumers. Rossmann, who previously recommended Brother printers as a solution to cartridge DRM issues, now retracts his advice. He urges users to keep their printers offline and disable automatic updates to avoid issues. Brother's actions are seen as anti-consumer and raise concerns about individual property rights.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware printer anti-consumer

Framework Expands Beyond Laptops: Desktops and a Student-Focused Convertible Arrive

2025-02-26

Framework Expands Beyond Laptops: Desktops and a Student-Focused Convertible Arrive

Framework unveiled its second-generation products, including an updated Framework Laptop 13 with AMD Ryzen AI 300, a 4.5-liter Mini-ITX desktop powered by Ryzen AI Max and Radeon 8060S graphics, and a new 12-inch convertible laptop aimed at students. The desktop, a significant expansion into a new market, emphasizes customizability and boasts 1440p gaming capabilities. The company highlights the repairability and modularity characteristic of its previous laptops across its new lineup. Prices range from $899 to $1999.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware

Nvidia Quietly Kills 32-bit PhysX Support on RTX 50 Series GPUs

2025-02-19

Nvidia Quietly Kills 32-bit PhysX Support on RTX 50 Series GPUs

Nvidia has silently ended support for 32-bit PhysX on its RTX 50 series GPUs. This game-specific physics technology, popular in the early 2000s, is officially retired due to the deprecation of 32-bit CUDA applications support starting with the RTX 50 series. While no 64-bit PhysX games exist, RTX 50 and later GPUs will lack PhysX support entirely. PhysX, once used in major titles like the Batman Arkham trilogy and Borderlands series, offloaded physics calculations from the CPU to the GPU for performance gains. However, its Nvidia-only nature and inflexibility led to its decline. To use PhysX on RTX 50 series cards, users must now utilize an older GPU dedicated to PhysX.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Game GPU Physics

Acer to Hike Laptop Prices in US by 10% Due to Tariffs

2025-02-18

Acer to Hike Laptop Prices in US by 10% Due to Tariffs

Acer CEO Jason Chen announced a 10% price increase on its laptops in the US starting March 2025, citing upcoming tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. This increase will affect even existing stock, and while Acer is exploring alternative supply chains including US-based production, the immediate impact will be felt by consumers. Other PC manufacturers remain silent, suggesting this might be a harbinger of broader price increases across the market.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware Acer Tariffs Laptop Price Increase

SanDisk Unveils 1PB SSD Roadmap and 3D DRAM Challenges

2025-02-18

SanDisk Unveils 1PB SSD Roadmap and 3D DRAM Challenges

At its Investor Day, SanDisk revealed its roadmap for 1PB solid-state drives based on its UltraQLC technology, alongside insights into the challenges of 3D DRAM. UltraQLC combines BICS 8 QLC 3D NAND, a 64-channel controller, and custom firmware for high density, performance, and efficiency. While 1PB SSDs are on the horizon, 3D DRAM faces significant hurdles. SanDisk is exploring alternatives like High Bandwidth Flash (HBF) to address the massive memory demands of AI training.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware Solid State Drive

Portable Pi-Powered Tactical SDR System Jams Drones

2025-02-16

Portable Pi-Powered Tactical SDR System Jams Drones

Maker Media-Grizzly created a portable Raspberry Pi-based software-defined radio (SDR) system called D.E.S.E.R.T. This handy device functions as a mobile SDR and, with the flip of a switch, can disable nearby drones. Powered by a Raspberry Pi 4B (though compatible with other models), it features a keyboard, power LED, USB port, LCD display, and a prominent 'DE-AUTH' switch for drone jamming (legality varies by location). The system's source code is not yet public but is planned for release on GitHub.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware Drone Jammer

Western Digital Bets Big on HAMR for 100TB HDDs by 2030

2025-02-14

Western Digital Bets Big on HAMR for 100TB HDDs by 2030

Western Digital announced its roadmap to adopt Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology for its HDDs, starting late 2026, aiming for 80TB-100TB drives by 2030. This marks a shift away from their previously championed MAMR technology. Initial HAMR drives, with 36TB (CMR) and 44TB (UltraSMR) capacities, will launch in 2026, with mass production slated for the first half of 2027. Two hyperscalers are already testing these drives. This breakthrough promises to more than double hard drive storage capacity within the next few years.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware Hard Drive Technology Western Digital

Global PC Performance Drops for the First Time: PassMark Data Reveals Unexpected Trend

2025-02-11

Global PC Performance Drops for the First Time: PassMark Data Reveals Unexpected Trend

PassMark's latest data reveals a surprising downturn: for the first time ever, the average global PC processor performance has dropped, breaking a long-standing trend of yearly increases. Laptop performance fell by 3.4%, while desktop performance saw a 0.5% decrease. Despite recent releases from AMD and Intel, actual performance gains have been minimal, falling short of expectations. PassMark speculates that factors such as users switching to more affordable machines, Windows 11 performance issues, and bloatware could be contributing to this unexpected decline. However, the exact cause remains undetermined, and future data may show changes.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware PC Performance

RTX 5090 Meltdown Investigation: Uneven Current Distribution Points to Design Flaw

2025-02-11

RTX 5090 Meltdown Investigation: Uneven Current Distribution Points to Design Flaw

YouTuber Der8auer investigated a recent RTX 5090 graphics card meltdown. While many blamed the use of a third-party 16-pin power cable, Der8auer's tests revealed uneven current distribution in the 12VHPWR connector, even with official cables. One wire carried over 22A, exceeding safety limits and reaching temperatures over 150°C, causing the meltdown. This isn't isolated; it suggests a potential design flaw in Nvidia's 12VHPWR connector requiring further investigation and improvement.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware GPU meltdown

AMD Q4 2024 Earnings: Datacenter Dominance, but Gaming Slumps

2025-02-06

AMD Q4 2024 Earnings: Datacenter Dominance, but Gaming Slumps

AMD reported impressive Q4 2024 and full-year results, with total revenue reaching $7.658 billion, a 24% year-over-year increase. The datacenter business was a standout performer, achieving record revenue of $3.86 billion, surpassing Intel for the first time and establishing AMD as the leading datacenter CPU vendor. However, sales of Instinct MI300-series GPUs fell slightly short of expectations. The client business saw strong growth, with revenue up 58% year-over-year. Conversely, the gaming segment experienced a significant downturn, with revenue plummeting 59% year-over-year. The embedded segment also saw a moderate decline. Overall, 2024 was a record year for AMD, but the weakness in the gaming sector is a concern.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech earnings report

Huawei's Ascend 910C: A Contender in the AI Chip Race?

2025-02-05

Huawei's Ascend 910C: A Contender in the AI Chip Race?

Huawei's Ascend 910C AI training chip, while lagging behind Nvidia's offerings in large model training, achieves 60% of the H100's inference performance, according to DeepSeek research. Further optimizations can improve its efficiency. Despite US sanctions and technological limitations, the Ascend 910C reduces China's reliance on Nvidia GPUs. However, long-term training stability remains a weakness, requiring further improvements in Huawei's hardware and software stack to compete globally.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech Huawei Ascend

Facebook Admits Error in Linux Group Censorship

2025-02-02

Facebook Admits Error in Linux Group Censorship

Facebook has admitted that its heavy-handed censorship of Linux groups and topics was a mistake. Following reports earlier this week about the censorship of DistroWatch, a popular Linux distribution website, Facebook confirmed the error and stated the issue had been resolved. However, inconsistencies remain, with DistroWatch's Facebook page still showing access limitations. The incident highlights Facebook's ongoing struggles with content moderation and raises questions about its new community-based approach.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech

Why Apple Ditched Intel for TSMC: A Little-Known Story

2025-01-29

Why Apple Ditched Intel for TSMC: A Little-Known Story

In 2011, Intel attempted to win Apple as a foundry customer, but ultimately failed. TSMC founder Morris Chang recounted that Apple CEO Tim Cook explicitly stated that Intel didn't understand the foundry business and lacked a customer-centric mindset. This contrasted sharply with TSMC's proactive response to even "crazy" customer demands, ultimately leading Apple to choose TSMC and solidifying the latter's leading position in chip manufacturing. This collaboration also forced TSMC to adjust its R&D plans, prioritizing Apple's custom needs and driving rapid technological iteration.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech

Seagate's New Hard Drives: A Case of Massive Reselling?

2025-01-29

Seagate's New Hard Drives: A Case of Massive Reselling?

German publication Heise.de reports a widespread issue where numerous Seagate hard drive buyers received used drives instead of new ones. The drives, showing usage times of tens of thousands of hours, were purchased from various retailers, including authorized Seagate sellers and major online marketplaces. Affected models span different series and capacities. While Seagate is investigating, the scale and nature of the problem remain unclear, raising concerns about potential fraud.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware Hard Drives Fraud

DeepSeek's AI Breakthrough: Bypassing CUDA for 10x Efficiency

2025-01-29

DeepSeek's AI Breakthrough: Bypassing CUDA for 10x Efficiency

DeepSeek achieved a 10x efficiency boost in AI model training by bypassing the industry-standard CUDA and using Nvidia's PTX programming language instead. Employing 2,048 Nvidia H800 GPUs, they trained a 671-billion parameter MoE language model in just two months. This breakthrough stemmed from meticulous optimizations of Nvidia's PTX, including reconfiguring GPU resources and implementing advanced pipeline algorithms. While this approach has high maintenance costs, the drastic reduction in training expenses sent shockwaves through the market, even causing a significant drop in Nvidia's market capitalization.

(www.tomshardware.com)

AI

DeepSeek's $5.6M Model Defies Altman's $10M AI Startup Claim

2025-01-28

DeepSeek's $5.6M Model Defies Altman's $10M AI Startup Claim

Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, previously claimed that AI startups with only $10 million in funding were 'totally hopeless' in competing with OpenAI. However, the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, challenges this assertion. DeepSeek's groundbreaking model, r1, was trained for a mere $5.6 million, proving Altman's statement inaccurate and sending shockwaves through the industry. Altman himself has since praised DeepSeek's achievement, highlighting the rapid pace of AI development and the unexpected disruption from unexpected players.

(www.tomshardware.com)

AI

Intel Quietly Slashes Xeon 6 CPU Prices by Up to $5,340

2025-01-28

Intel Quietly Slashes Xeon 6 CPU Prices by Up to $5,340

Intel unexpectedly slashed prices on its latest Xeon 6 'Granite Rapids' processors, just four months after their release. The flagship model now costs $12,460, a $5,340 drop. This makes Intel's Xeon 6 CPUs cheaper than AMD's EPYC processors, both in absolute terms and per-core. While unannounced officially, the price cuts are reflected in Intel's online database. Reductions vary by model, reaching up to 30% for some, with certain models undercutting AMD's per-core pricing. This move may be a response to declining market share or an attempt to boost sales. However, these prices are based on Intel's Recommended Customer Price (RCP) for 1,000 units; large-scale buyers will likely have negotiated different prices.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware Xeon Price Cuts

Facebook's Linux Ban: A Case of Mistaken Identity?

2025-01-27

Facebook's Linux Ban: A Case of Mistaken Identity?

Facebook is blocking posts mentioning Linux, even targeting prominent sites like DistroWatch, labeling them as 'cybersecurity threats'. Users report account limitations and post removals. The irony is palpable: Facebook relies heavily on Linux infrastructure and frequently advertises for Linux developers. DistroWatch's appeal to Facebook was rejected, highlighting the potential for AI-driven content moderation to misidentify legitimate content. The incident underscores the challenges of large tech companies in balancing security and freedom of expression, raising questions about the accuracy and fairness of automated systems.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech

Nvidia Phasing Out Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta GPUs

2025-01-25

Nvidia Phasing Out Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta GPUs

Nvidia is phasing out its Maxwell, Pascal, and Volta GPU architectures, moving them to a legacy driver branch. While CUDA support will remain, these GPUs will no longer receive new feature updates. The announcement marks the end of an era for GTX-series cards, with only the GTX 16-series and newer architectures receiving full support going forward. While game driver support for Maxwell and Pascal currently persists, the timeline for its termination remains unclear. This means no further performance improvements for users of these older cards.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware driver support

Sony Ends Recordable Blu-ray Production After 18 Years

2025-01-24

Sony Ends Recordable Blu-ray Production After 18 Years

Sony is ceasing production of recordable Blu-ray discs in February, ending a nearly two-decade run. This also affects MiniDiscs and MiniDV cassettes. While Sony initially planned to continue production for business clients, dwindling consumer demand due to the rise of streaming services made it unsustainable. The article contrasts the convenience of streaming with its drawbacks: lack of ownership, monthly costs, and security concerns. It highlights the advantages of optical media for long-term archival storage and mentions competitors like Pioneer offering century-lasting Blu-ray discs and research into even longer-lasting glass storage.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech Blu-ray Data Storage

Apple to Soon Receive 'Made in America' Chips from TSMC's Arizona Fab

2025-01-14

Apple to Soon Receive 'Made in America' Chips from TSMC's Arizona Fab

TSMC's Arizona fab is nearing mass production of chips for Apple, with deliveries expected as early as Q1. This marks a significant step towards US chip independence, previously heavily reliant on Taiwan. While initial chip packaging will still occur in Taiwan, this development mitigates concerns about geopolitical risks and natural disasters disrupting the supply chain. TSMC is actively recruiting American talent and partnering with Arizona State University to foster US chip industry growth.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech Chip Manufacturing

AMD's Beastly Ryzen AI Max+ Debuts: Radical Memory Tech Fuels RDNA 3.5 & Zen 5

2025-01-06

AMD's Beastly Ryzen AI Max+ Debuts: Radical Memory Tech Fuels RDNA 3.5 & Zen 5

AMD unveiled its 'Strix Halo' Ryzen AI Max series at CES 2025, boasting groundbreaking integrated memory architecture. These APUs pack a 40-core RDNA 3.5 iGPU, delivering monstrous performance for thin-and-light gaming and AI workstations. AMD claims up to 1.4X faster gaming than Intel's Lunar Lake Core Ultra 9 288V, 84% faster rendering than the Apple MacBook M4 Pro, and a staggering 2.2X AI performance advantage over the desktop Nvidia RTX 4090, all while consuming 87% less power. The flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 features 16 cores/32 threads, 40 RDNA 3.5 CUs, and supports up to 128GB of shared memory, dynamically allocated between CPU, GPU, and XDNA 2 NPU. Desktop versions are expected in the future.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Hardware

Raspberry Pi RP2350 Challenge Cracked: Glitch Attack Bypasses Security

2025-01-05

Raspberry Pi RP2350 Challenge Cracked: Glitch Attack Bypasses Security

Engineer Aedan Cullen may have won the $20,000 Raspberry Pi and Hextree RP2350 hacking challenge. He achieved this by performing a voltage injection glitch attack on pin 53 of the RP2350 chip. This bypassed multiple security features including Secure Boot, TrustZone, and glitch detectors, allowing him to read the secret stored in the One-Time Programmable (OTP) memory. Cullen's attack exploited a vulnerability to enable the normally disabled RISC-V cores and their debug access port. This demonstrates that even supposedly 'permanently disabled' security features are not foolproof, highlighting the complexities and challenges of hardware security design.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech Hardware Hacking

NATO's Project HEIST: Satellite Backup for Undersea Cables

2025-01-01

NATO's Project HEIST: Satellite Backup for Undersea Cables

In response to a rising number of undersea cable disruptions, NATO is developing Project HEIST, a system for seamless switching between undersea cables and satellites. HEIST will pinpoint cable damage with meter-level accuracy and reroute data to satellite networks in case of disruption. This is crucial, as undersea cables carry over $10 trillion in transactions annually. While satellite bandwidth currently lags behind fiber optics, efforts are underway to upgrade satellite speeds. Furthermore, NATO plans to open-source parts of the project to accelerate development and enhance security against deliberate attacks.

(www.tomshardware.com)

Tech Undersea Cables Satellite Communication

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