Weekly Tech Recap - № 352 - DDoS, Nighthawk A8000, Framework Chromebook, GeForce RTX 40, farewell Pentium
Farewell Pentium (and Celeron)
Pentium. © iStock.
A page turns on computing history. Intel announced that it is phasing out the Pentium and Celeron designations. Instead, the firm will use the generic term “Intel Processor” starting next year to signify all its entry-level processors that are less powerful than the Core series. The Pentium brand was launched in 1993 and applied to Intel’s flagship processors for nearly ten years, before Intel’s Core chips took its place. Celeron was introduced in 1998 for budget-friendly CPUs based on previous versions of the Pentium. Intel says that the purpose of retiring the Pentium and Celeron naming scheme and replacing it with Intel Processor is to streamline its lineup.
⇨ PC Gamer, Aaron Klotz, “Intel's retiring the Pentium: a chip brand so famous Weird Al once wrote a song about it.”
2022-09-19
USB WiFi 6E dongle
Nighthawk A8000. © Netgear.
Netgear’s new Nighthawk A8000 is a SB 3.x Type-A adapter that lets users easily add 6GHz wireless connectivity to a PC that’s not set up for it. Many PCs are ready for the WiFi 6 standard (5GHz), but few allow for the higher-bandwidth WiFi 6E. If you’ve already upgraded your router, the Nighthawk will connect your current devices to a dedicated 6GHz lane. Though, as with the WiFi 5GHz, the transfer rate doesn’t exceed 1,200Mbps, it’s more likely to actually reach this rate on the new frequency. The device automatically connects the computer to the fastest available WiFi, whether 2.4GHz, 5GHz or 6GHz, as long as it runs Windows 10 or 11. You can preorder the 90 USD adapter on the Netgear site, with deliveries starting October 4. The only hurdle to adopting WiFi 6E is the cost of compatible routers, which is still high but dropping fast.
⇨ The Verge, Umar Shakir, “Netgear’s new Nighthawk USB dongle can add 6GHz Wi-Fi to your PC for $89.99.”
2022-09-21
The most fixable Chromebook
Framework Chromebook Edition. © Framework Computer.
We’ve repeatedly mentioned Framework’s laptop, a slim and lightweight PC that users can easily upgrade, customize and repair. It was high time for this kind of thing, yet Framework is now going even further by launching, in partnership with Google, a Chromebook (a laptop that runs ChromeOS) and adheres to the same DIY principle. The Chromebook works off the same expansion card system as the Windows edition, which means that you can, for example, choose your ports and where you want them. It weighs 1.3 kg or 2.87 lbs, its 3:2 display measures 2256 x 1504 pixels, and it comes equipped with a 12th Gen Core i5-1240P. Framework tweeted that Google is committed to putting out “a minimum of 8 years of security updates” for the Framework Chromebook Edition. Preorders are off and running in the US and Canada with a starting price of 1,000 USD. Shipping is for early December.
⇨ The Verge, Monica Chin, “Framework’s new Chromebook is upgradable and customizable.”
2022-09-21
Nvidia announces the RTX 4080 and 4090
GeForce RTX 4090. © Nvidia.
Nvidia officially announced its long-awaited RTX 40-series GPUs, powered by the Ada Lovelace architecture that greatly improves ray tracing and supports Deep Learning Super Sampling 3. The high-end RTX 4090 card will come with a whopping 24GB of GDDR6X memory. Nvidia claims that the new card is two to four times faster than the RTX 3090 Ti without using any more power. Based on a PC with a Ryzen 5900 X processor, Nvidia recommends a minimum 850 watts power supply. The RTX 4080 will come in two versions: one with 12GB of memory and the other with 16GB for a little more computing power. There too, Nvidia promises two-to-four times faster performance than the previous RTX 3080 Ti. These three RTX 40-series cards will include support for Nvidia’s ShadowPlay to capture gameplay in 60fps HDR with resolution up to 8K. The RTX 4090 will show up on October 12 with a 1,600 USD price tag, while the RTX 4080 for 900 USD will follow in November. With Nvidia’s inventory surplus, the RTX 30-series cards will be around for a while.
⇨ The Verge, Tom Warren, “Nvidia announces next-gen RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 GPUs.”
2022-09-20
Massive DDoS attacks intensify
© iStock.
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks are proliferating and their onslaught is more virulent than ever. Two mitigation companies specialized in protecting servers reported intense bombardment of data requests by bad actors whose tactics changed constantly. Monday, Imperva announced that it defended a Chinese telecom client against an offensive that lasted over four hours and peaked at more than 3.9 million requests per second (RPS). Attackers sent 25.3 billion requests to their target with an average rate of 1.8 million RPS. This attempt was launched by a botnet composed of hacked routers, security cameras and servers associated with 170,000 different IP addresses. The week before, Akamai said it had recently protected an Eastern European client against a record-setting rush of 704.8 million packets per second. DDoS attacks can be measured in one of several ways, namely in the number of packets or the number of requests issued per second. The current records are 809 million packets per second and 17.2 million RPS.
⇨ Ars Technica, Dan Goodin, “The record-setting DDoSes keep coming, with no end in sight.”
2022-09-21
