Articles by Matthew Connatser

Matthew first got into PC gaming after the Wii U launched out of pure disappointment, building his first desktop in 2015. Ever since, he's been burning money buying PC parts he really doesn't need, like a custom liquid cooling setup that may or may not have caused an electrical fire in his last PC build. All this experience in PC building led to a career in writing about them, and Matthew has written for Tom's Hardware, Digital Trends, HotHardware, and a few other publications. He mainly reports on PC news but would spend all of his time benchmarking if he could. Matthew originally went to college to get a computer engineering degree to complement his journalistic career but instead got a degree in history and linguistics, which he enjoyed studying much more than physics and math.

Articles by: Matthew Connatser

US chip toolmakers skip Semicon China conference they sponsored amid ongoing trade war

By Matthew Connatser published 22 March 24

Several of Semicon China's U.S.-based sponsors skipped the conference, as did companies like Micron and ASML.

A screenshot of the Procyon AI Image Generation benchmark.

Procyon AI image generation benchmark uses Stable Diffusion — UL to release new benchmark on March 25

By Matthew Connatser published 22 March 24

UL Solutions is introducing a Stable Diffusion benchmark to its Procyon software next week.

SK hynix to spend $90 billion to build 'world's largest mega fab complex' — first fab operational in 2027

By Matthew Connatser published 22 March 24

Termed the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, SK hynix's upcoming quadruple fab complex will be the largest in the world.

HP uses banned made-for-China AI GPU for Z workstations — A800 GPU is given a new purpose

By Matthew Connatser published 21 March 24

After being banned in China, the A800 is finally seeing new use in the form of HP's upcoming Z workstations for AI.

Burned RTX 4090 brought back from the dead — PCIe repair job resurrects GPU that suffered power connector meltdown

By Matthew Connatser published 19 March 24

A computer repair shop detailed how it fixed an RTX 4090 that had a burned PCIe slot and got it running like new.

An adapter board for H100 SXM GPUs to PCIe.

You can install Nvidia's fastest AI GPU into a PCIe slot with an SXM-to-PCIe adapter -- Nvidia H100 SXM can fit into regular x16 PCIe slots

By Matthew Connatser published 19 March 24

Although a PCIe version of the H100 already exists, an adapter board allows the SXM model to fit into x16 PCIe slots.

China's Zhaoxin KX-7000 CPU doubles performance of prior-gen chip, still trails 6-year-old AMD and Intel processors

By Matthew Connatser published 18 March 24

A Geekbench 6 result for Zhaoxin's KX-7000 shows that the new China CPU obliterates even the fastest KX-6000 CPU.

Despite U.S. sanctions, researchers in China can still access high-end Nvidia GPUs for AI

By Matthew Connatser published 18 March 24

Recent Chinese research papers indicate that academia has access to H100 GPUs, which were banned from being sold in China in 2022.

U.S. outlines five-year plan to harness CHIPS Act funds — R&D, manufacturing, education, and ecosystem highlighted for balanced funding

By Matthew Connatser published 17 March 24

The National Science and Technology Council has published its five-year strategy to make the most of the CHIPS Act.

A Thermal Grizzly-der8auer CPU water block on the Core i9-14900KS.

Intel Core i9-14900KS runs at all-core 6 GHz with direct die cooling - with headroom to spare

By Matthew Connatser published 17 March 24

Overclocker Der8auer showed off how his direct die CPU water block cooled the 14900KS to the point of hitting 6 GHz on all eight P-cores.

Intel CPUs see slight performance loss with new security fixes — E-cores and Atom chips not hugely affected by RFDS vulnerability

By Matthew Connatser published 16 March 24

Linux's mitigation for the RFDS security vulnerability in Atom-based CPU cores will cost users a little bit of performance.

DNA storage group publishes first standards for DNA-based storage — paves the way for broader use by standardizing vendor and codec data

By Matthew Connatser published 15 March 24

The DNA Data Storage Alliance, a group including SSD-maker Western Digital, has announced its standard for DNA storage.

Western Digital claims its new QLC SSD beats its last-gen TLC drive — SN5000S is up to 16.5% faster than SN740

By Matthew Connatser published 15 March 24

Western Digital's latest QLC-based SN5000S drive is apparently up to 16.5% faster than its TLC-based predecessor, the SN740.

Sycom's air-cooled RTX 40 GPU with Noctua fans.

Sycom puts RTX 4070 Super and 4070 Ti Super under massive cooler equipped with Noctua fans

By Matthew Connatser published 14 March 24

Sycom's lineup of GPUs cooled by Noctua fans expands to the RTX 4070 Super and 4070 Ti Super.

Maingear's Zero Series desktops with hidden motherboard cables are now widely available — prebuilts with MG-RC start at $1,399

By Matthew Connatser published 13 March 24

Maingear's new Zero Series is a full fledged lineup of gaming PCs featuring MG-RC hidden cables, ranging from $1,399 to $3,929.

Qualcomm's Arm chip beats Intel in pre-launch Windows performance demo — Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100 takes down Core 7 Ultra 155H

By Matthew Connatser published 12 March 24

Qualcomm showed early performance results for its upcoming Snapdragon X Elite processor, comparing it with Intel's Core 7 Ultra 155H under Windows and scoring the win.

Intel staves off AMD and China critics to keep exclusive export license to Huawei — Intel sells 90% of CPUs used in the company's laptops

By Matthew Connatser published 12 March 24

Intel's export license to Huawei won't be revoked, meaning for another year Intel can sell laptop CPUs to the Chinese tech giant.

Soaring SSD prices could hobble NAND flash industry with reduced demand, Phison CEO cautions

By Matthew Connatser published 11 March 24

SSD controller manufacturer Phison is warning the NAND industry that if prices go too high, demand may drop.

Prototype 'Steam Machine' dusted off and tested — running Windows on an old AMD APU ten years later

By Matthew Connatser published 11 March 24

YouTuber Bringus Studios got its hands on an old Steam Machine prototype that used Windows instead of SteamOS.

Nvidia CEO admits next gen DGX systems necessitate liquid cooling - and the new systems are coming soon

By Matthew Connatser published 10 March 24

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says its upcoming DGX servers will use liquid cooling and is "soon coming."

The five best Intel CPUs of all time: Chipzilla's rise and fall and rise

By Matthew Connatser published 10 March 24

We've gone through Intel's decades-long history to find its top five CPUs.

Thermal throttling on the M3 Macbook Air.

M3 MacBook Air hits eye-popping 114 degrees Celsius in stress test and didn't melt — temperature settles down at 100 degrees after thermal throttling

By Matthew Connatser published 9 March 24

Apple's latest M3-powered MacBook Air has a little heat problem and can easily hit over 100 degrees Celsius in prolonged, intensive workloads.

Microsoft's mysterious Z1000 SSD uncovered, points to wider portfolio of drives — M.2 NVMe drive comes with Toshiba NAND, Micron DRAM, and CNEX Labs controller

By Matthew Connatser published 9 March 24

Microsoft's Z1000 SSD has been pictured, with 1 TB of storage, 1 GB of DRAM cache, and a CNEX Labs controller.

Steam Deck OLED sees burn-in after 1,500-hour stress test — reducing brightness recommended to avoid damage

By Matthew Connatser published 8 March 24

YouTuber Wulff Den was able to achieve burn-in on his Steam Deck OLED after 1,500 hours in a high-brightness stress test.

Delidded Core i9-14900KS hits intense 409 watts, runs 10C cooler — beheaded chip gets tested before March 14th launch

By Matthew Connatser published 7 March 24

An enthusiast overclocker has obtained a Core i9-14900KS and showcased delidding it for better temperatures.

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