APC September 2021

500 is a very special number. This is issue #497 of APC. Not quite 500 – but almost. So you know what that means... it means, friends, that APC is about to pass a milestone very few magazines reach, and we’re going to mark the occasion properly. We’re celebrating with a retrospective, looking back at the evolution of the PC and PC-tech over the years, and how APC was there every step of the way. But APC exists because of you, and your journey through it all is the central story we want to share in issue 500. So! I invite you to take a moment and share your APC story, so we can share it with everyone in issue 500. Send me your tech tales. It could be professional,…

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APC is Australia’s oldest consumer technology magazine – having been consistently in print for forty years, since our first issue way back in May 1980 – and we take that heritage and responsibility very seriously. While our focus is obviously on the personal computer the very definition of the PC has changed and shifted markedly since the early 1980s. As such, we touch on many other areas of tech, too, from smartphones and apps to peripherals, accessories, and beyond. We have two goals: to find the best modern tech and to help you make the most of it. We’re also an open church in terms of platforms. We know most people aren’t wed to a single brand’s products and use a variety of devices. And, like you, APC’s journalists want…

There’s a lot to be excited about with AMD’s Zen 4 microarchitecture. For starters, the chips are rumoured to come with TSMC’s leading-edge 5nm process node. Previously, there were strong rumours that AMD could add a third chiplet to Ryzen 6000 to bump the core count up to 24, but reputable leaker ExecutableFix has dispelled that rumour. However, it was probably wishful thinking from the start since AMD already offers more cores than Intel on a mainstream processor. Furthermore, it wouldn’t make sense for AMD to continue adding more cores since it would only threaten the chipmaker’s Ryzen Threadripper HEDT lineup. Barring any surprises, the Ryzen 9 6950X will likely be the flagship chip for the Ryzen 6000 series. Logically, the 16-core part will replace the existing Ryzen 9 5950X.…

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter, Intel is in talks to buy GlobalFoundries for roughly US$30 billion. Intel has not confirmed the report, but if true, the plan would intercept GlobalFoundries’ widely-reported plans for an IPO later this year. The news comes on the heels of recent reports that Intel is in talks to buy RISC-V chip designer SiFive for US$2 billion as it undergoes a major restructuring effort under new CEO Pat Gelsinger. Intel’s rumoured buy-out plan also comes as it lobbies the US government for subsidies to boost its manufacturing capabilities, particularly to help fund its IDM 2.0 initiative that will find it producing chips for other companies through a newly-formed Intel Foundry Services (IFS). Acquiring GlobalFoundries would be…

A report from Data Center Dynamics says Talen Energy, a US power company, plans on building a 300MW crypto mining facility and data centre next to its nuclear Susquehanna Steam Electric Station in Pennsylvania. The business responsible for the crypto mining operation, Cumulus Coin, is a subsidiary of Talen Energy and expects the project to come online in the spring of 2022, with the first phase of development having 164MW of capacity. The goal is to have at least 300MW of onsite power by completion and the ability to expand to 1GW capacity in the future. Just to give you an idea of how lucrative these crypto mining operations are, the Albany Engineering Corp in New York said they could make more money mining cryptocurrency at its nearly 200-year-old hydroelectric…