Computex 2024 Preview: The {Hardware} Aspect of AI
This June, the tech world’s important occasion is occurring in Taiwan. Whereas extra headlines usually come out of CES, the patron electronics expo that occurs in Las Vegas in January, Computex Taipei is a much more vital present. As a result of it takes place within the land the place many parts and PCs are manufactured, corporations can carry new prototypes proper over from their company HQs and onto the present ground.
A few of the hottest corporations within the PC area are primarily based in Taiwan, together with MSI, Asus, Acer, Gigabyte, Cooler Grasp, and ASRock. Main chip makers comparable to Intel, Nvidia, AMD and TSMC even have main footprints there. So, simply by advantage of who’s exhibiting at Computex 2024, it guarantees to be a tremendous present with a lot of new revelations.
That is my first 12 months at Computex since 2019 and I couldn’t be extra excited to roam the present flooring, go to the precise workplaces of among the world’s most vital corporations, and discover modern and intriguing merchandise I can share with you. I’ll be joined on-site by our A-Workforce of editors: Paul Alcorn and Matt Safford, together with frequent information contributor Anton Shilov.
Collectively, we’ve got greater than 25 years of expertise masking this present. We’re honored to have the privilege of being there and look ahead to bringing you information that’s each stunning and thought-provoking. You’ll discover all of our present protection on the Tom’s {Hardware} Computex 2024 hub. Press day is Monday, June third and the present runs by means of Friday, June seventh so you’ll be able to count on us to be publishing frequent Computex information all through that point.
This 12 months, we count on to be taught much more about the way forward for native AI processing on PCs. Quite a few distributors will exhibit new programs primarily based on the brand new Snapdragon X sequence and high-end and even next-gen processors from AMD and Intel. Right here’s what we count on from Computex 2024:
- New chips from Intel and AMD: Each of those corporations are holding main keynote occasions and we’d hazard to guess that they are going to exhibit new merchandise. After the current announcement that solely Snapdragon X-powered laptops would be capable of run Home windows 11’s new AI options, the 2 x86 producers have to reply again. We count on them to point out off new processors with built-in NPUs that may exceed the 40 TOPS minimal Microsoft requires to categorise a laptop computer as a Copilot+ PC.
- One thing fascinating from Nvidia: Nvidia has made quite a lot of headlines for its datacenter {and professional} GPUs, however the firm hasn’t finished a lot to impress shoppers of late. Its flagship RTX 4090 GPU is sort of two years outdated at this level, which leaves us questioning: what’s subsequent? CEO Jensen Huang has a significant keynote on Sunday night, and we might not be shocked if he talked about next-gen graphics for finish customers and gaming. However since that is an trade occasion, we additionally count on him to tout datacenter wins. Essentially the most fascinating query: Will Nvidia make its personal processor for Home windows on Arm (WoA) laptops and compete with Qualcomm?
- Extra Copilot+ PCs: Sure, we noticed a slew of latest Copilot+ laptops at Microsoft’s Construct press convention the opposite day, however we count on to see much more break cowl at Computex.
- Subsequent-Gen AMD and Intel Laptops: Since Intel’s Lunar Lake CPUs are due in Q3, there’s an incredible likelihood that we’ll see Lunar Lake-powered laptops at Computex. Laptops primarily based on AMD’s next-gen chips may make an look.
- Surprises from Qualcomm: Qualcomm has a significant keynote occurring on Monday, and whereas the corporate may simply use the time to hype its Snapdragon X chips, these are form of outdated information as they’re about to look in transport laptops beginning in June. We’re extra curious to see if the corporate talks about what comes after Snapdragon X — and whether or not it’s going to focus on desktops or servers for Home windows on Arm.
- Extra rear-connector circumstances and parts: One of many largest PC constructing traits of the previous 12 months has been the rising recognition of programs that allow you to plug your entire energy cables, together with the GPU energy on some programs, into the again of the motherboard. MSI, Asus and Gigabyte are all leaders on this area, though Maingear holds a patent on among the expertise. We count on to see much more motherboards and circumstances that assist rear-connector boards and parts.
- Distinctive peripherals and parts: It’s enjoyable once you see a novel keyboard or a mouse with a model new function, and even an automatic desk. We’re all the time looking out for the fascinating stuff, which is usually good, typically dangerous, however all the time noteworthy. Final 12 months, we had been impressed by Cooler Grasp’s MasterHUB tech, a modular model of the Steam Deck, however we nonetheless haven’t seen it come out.
Keynote Schedule
The next 4 main keynotes are happening throughout Computex. We’ll be reporting reside from every of them and posting a streaming hyperlink if one turns into accessible.
Notice that the instances beneath are native Taipei instances (UTC+8). So, in the event you reside within the jap U.S., Taiwan is 12 hours forward of you. For those who reside within the Pacific time zone, it’s 15 hours forward of you. And, in the event you reside within the UK, it’s 7 hours forward of you.
| Nvidia Keynote with CEO Jensen Huang | 7 pm, Sunday, June 2nd | Row 0 – Cell 2 |
| AMD Keynote with CEO Lisa Su | 9:30 am, Monday, June third | Row 1 – Cell 2 |
| Qualcomm with CEO Cristiano Amon | 1:30 pm, Monday, June third | Row 2 – Cell 2 |
| Intel with CEO Pat Gelsinger | 11 am, Tuesday, June 4th | Row 3 – Cell 2 |
We’ll be masking all 4 of those so please keep tuned.
