MSI revealed three new gaming PCs: MEG Aegis Ti5 12th, MEG Trident X 12th, and Aegis RS 12th.
The MEG Aegis Ti5 12th is MSI’s flagship PC, as it runs on an Intel Core i9-12900K and Nvidia RTX 3090 as well as features MSI's Silent Storm Cooling 4 system. The MEG Trident X 12th uses an Intel Core i7-12700K and an Nvidia RTX 3090, with an emphasis on cooling thanks to the Silent Storm 3 cooling system and enlarged heatsink it packs. Finally, the Aegis RS 12th is a pre-build that’s meant for easy upgrading with the potential to use up to an Intel i9-12900K and up to an Nvidia RTX 3090.
The desktops all ship with Windows 11, meaning that they have access to the new gaming features like Direct Storage and Auto HDR. Though MSI unveiled the full build details, no pricing or availability has been shared as of now.
Analysis: Why Intel Alder Lake?
MSI has clearly outfitted this new line of desktops with some premium hardware, as both Intel Alder Lake and Nvidia Ampere are some of the best components on the market.
In particular, using Alder Lake processors is a stroke of genius thanks to the big.LITTLE architecture powering them. This tech features a mix of performance and efficiency cores to better manage power usage but also improve performance. This means that for more intensive activities, such as gaming, Alder Lake will be using Golden Cove cores while lower priority tasks and apps will use less powerful Gracemont cores instead.
The chips themselves are built with the Intel 7 process, are 13% better in gaming performance than previous-gen chips, and support DDR5.
The hardware company Other World Computing, more commonly known as OWC, has announced the launch of the world's fastest and highest capacity PCIe SSD yet.
The OWC Accelsior 8M2 is compatible with Windows and Linux computers as well as with Apple's Mac Pro and the new drive utilizes the total bandwidth of the latest PCI technology to deliver ultra-fast speeds of up to 26GB/s. Each of the eight NVMe M.2 SSD slots in the OWC Accelsior 8M2 can run at their full x4 lanes of data throughput and the drive can be outfitted with up to 64TB of storage.
As a high-performance NVMe-based storage solution, OWC's latest drive delivers the consistent low latency data throughput required in edge computing applications used in industrial automation, smart city ecosystems and smart retail solutions. The company has also taken steps to ensure the OWC Accelsior 8M2 runs at peak speed over long periods which is why there's a cooling fan in the drive's aircraft-grade aluminum heat shield.
CEO and founder of OWC, Larry O'Connor explained how the company's latest drive pushes technology to the limits in a press release, saying:
"We are always trying to push technology to the limits, and with the OWC Accelsior 8M2, can be summed up in one definitive sentence. It's the fastest, highest-capacity PCIe SSD in the galaxy."
OWC Accelsior 8M2
OWC has also included SoftRAID XT with its new drive and users will be able to choose from multiple RAID options to select the RAID level that best fits their or their project's needs best.
While the OWC Accelsior 8M2 can store heaps of data, keeping this data backed up and protected is also critically important. For this reason, OWC has partnered with Acronis to give is customers one full year of cloud backup and antivirus software protection. Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office safeguards users from today's data threats with intuitive backup and AI-enhanced anti-malware technology.
The OWC Accelsior 8M2 is available now in several configurations including a 0TB option for $799 (£588) where customers add their own drives. The device can also be purchased with 2TB, 4TB, 8TB, 16TB, 32TB and 64TB of storage included starting at $1,299 (£958).
While the OWC Accelsior 8M2 is certainly an expensive proposition for the average consumer, this device is aimed at creative professionals and large organizations that need large amounts of storage in the smallest possible form factor.
When Intel launched Alder Lake, we were told some games had issues running on the new 12th-generation processors, mostly due to DRM. MSI Z690 boards should be able to circumvent this problem, however. Here's how - and what it means for you.
The workaround was found first by PCMag, which detailed how it works. Some Asus and MSI motherboards have a BIOS setting called "Legacy Game Compatibility Mode", which you need to turn on. Then, once you launch a game, simply press the Scroll Lock key and the game should run.
The fix didn't work for PCMag at the time its article went live. But Wccftech reports that the workaround should work now. And, even if it doesn't, an Intel blog post describes a software fix the company is working on that should solve the issue for good.
So, hopefully, if you were one of the early adopters of the Intel Core i9-12900K, you should be able to play all your games soon, one way or another.
Analysis: what's the deal?
The reason Intel's 12th-generation processors have problems running games is entirely due to the Denuvo DRM, because of course it is. The issue stems from the two clusters of cores that makes the Intel Core i9-12900K such a powerful and efficient chip.
Sometimes, Denuvo reads these two clusters of Performance Cores and Efficiency Cores as two separate computers trying to run a game at the same time. This makes the software think something shady is happening, and it locks down the system.
So it's true that Intel's hardware is affected, but it really comes down to Denuvo for not updating its software in time. Intel's blog post does mention that "a software fix has been identified by the vendor of the affected DRM software". It's only a matter of time before that software fix is widely distributed to all affected games.
The graph below shows us the total crypto market cap - or the total value of all cryptoassets - excluding Bitcoin. In other words, the line shows the value of all altcoins combined over time.
Within the span of 2 weeks, we’ve seen Ethereum, Solana and Polkadot break their all-time highs and explore previously uncharted price ranges. If three of the most important altcoins are setting new all-time highs, then history tells us that this could be the start of a 2021 alt season.
Alt season - the crypto term for a period where alternative coins outperform Bitcoin, presents a far wider range of investment opportunities than a focussed Bitcoin rally. For many, a winning strategy is simply going all-in on the one blockchain technology that they believe has the most potential. Making that decision requires a substantial amount of research and a deep understanding that extends beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum.
If only there was a way to benefit from alt season without having to lock yourself away for weeks to research an expanding list of disruptive blockchain technologies.
Well, the good news is, there is.
It’s called diversification, and in this article, we’re going to look at why that’s not just a word that Wall Street bankers use.
What heralds alt season?
First-time crypto investors tend to buy Bitcoin because it’s the least volatile and best-known cryptoasset in the market. For many, moving money out of Bitcoin and into more volatile altcoins is scary. So, it’s important to consider objective, verifiable data when deciding whether or not an alt season really is playing out.
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At first glance, it’s clear that this graph is following some sort of repeating pattern. We can see startling similarities between the two highlighted periods, namely, 2014-2018 and 2018-present.
The 2014-2018 period shows an accumulation phase (red line), followed by an alt season (2017 price rise). We can see from the above graph that a similar accumulation phase has taken place in the 2018-2021 period. What’s more, we are currently in the same stage of the crypto price cycle as we were when the 2017 alt season kicked off.
If the pattern continues to follow the shape laid out in 2014-2018, then it could mean that this is only the beginning of yet another alt season.
Why it’s hard to pick a winner
In just 4 months, Solana’s price has shot up 574%, while rival Cardano has grown by just 52%. While investors who bought into Solana before its epic price rally are no doubt overjoyed by their returns, they would invariably have had to buy in without any real certainty that Solana would outperform a close competitor like Cardano so resolutely.
Every alt season has seen a small number of altcoins set price growth records, while others see more moderate gains. The fact is, even for seasoned analysts and market researchers, predicting which altcoin is going to outperform all others involves some element of luck.
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The table above shows the top 10 cryptoassets by market cap from 2015 to present day. The cryptoassets highlighted in blue represent the newcomers to the Top10 when compared to the previous year. It’s remarkable to see how significantly this list has changed year on year. This table shows a clear demonstration of just how difficult it is to accurately predict which cryptoasset will succeed or which will become a fly-by-night coin.
So how do we pick the winners? We don’t have to.
Diversification is easier than you think
In the world of cryptoassets, diversifying simply means investing in several different cryptoassets. By doing this, you are spreading your risk across multiple investments with exposure to various sectors rather than putting everything you have into a single cryptoasset.
The idea is that by exposing your portfolio to multiple cryptoassets, you’ll stand to benefit from uncorrelated returns.
Sure, you won’t realise the same returns as you would have if you went all-in on the highest performing cryptoasset, but on the flip side, you won’t risk having all your eggs in one basket. Instead, via diversification, you spread the risk and benefit from a far less volatile ride along the way.
Building a diversified crypto portfolio still requires that investors do their own comprehensive research, decide which cryptoassets are best to hold for exposure to certain market sectors, and constantly reweighting their portfolio to keep in line with the fast-paced nature of the crypto market. This is clearly neither a simple task nor a time-efficient task.
Revix, a crypto investment platform based in Cape Town, was founded to solve that very problem. In addition to making it easy and safe to buy individual cryptoassets, Revix’s claim to fame is its crypto Bundle offerings.
In the same way, you would buy into the JSE Top40, Revix bundles allow you to invest in a group of cryptocurrencies seamlessly.
Revix’s empowers users to invest in 3 different theme-based bundles:
The Top 10 Bundle is like the JSE Top 40 or S&P 500 for crypto and provides equally weighted exposure to the top 10 cryptocurrencies making up more than 75% of the crypto market. This bundle includes all the cryptocurrencies mentioned in this article and has significantly outperformed Bitcoin over the last 12 months.
The Smart Contract Bundle provides equally weighted exposure to the top 5 smart contract focused cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Solana and Polkadot that enable developers to build applications on top of their blockchains, similar to how Apple builds apps on top of its OS operating system.
The Payment Bundle provides equally weighted exposure to the top 5 payment focused cryptocurrencies looking to make payments cheaper, faster and more global. These cryptos include the likes of Bitcoin, Ripple, Stellar and Litecoin.
Revix’s bundles have outperformed an investment in Bitcoin alone over a one-, three- and five-year time period.
What’s more, if a new cryptoasset manages to meet the criteria that Revix’s bundles are based on, Revix will automatically reweight the bundle, keeping your portfolio bang up to date with the fast-moving world of cryptocurrencies.
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This graph shows the performance of Revix’s bundles over the last year.
The Smart contract bundle (+821%), Top10 Bundle (+712%) and the Payment bundle (+333%) have all outperformed Bitcoin (+317%) over the past year without the investor having to do any research or rely on any guesswork.
And it gets even better!
Revix Bundles are built on a direct indexing model, which means, unlike an ETF, Revix purchases and holds the underlying assets on your behalf. It was also the first crypto platform in South Africa to opt into and pass a third-party audit of these assets, conducted by Mazars.
So not only do you gain diversified exposure to alt season at the click of a button, but you also get the security that an audited company is looking after your assets.
According to CFO Marcela Martin who was appointed to the role last month, commerce represents an increasingly important part of the company's business as as commerce revenue brought in $59.8m during Q3 which is up 55 percent year-over-year. Additionally, at the end of the third quarter, Squarespace was able to achieve $210m in trailing twelve-month commerce revenue.
Founder and CEO of Squarespace, Anthony Casalena provided further insight on the company's recent commerce efforts in a press release, saying:
"Squarespace had another outstanding quarter as we continued to achieve strong revenue growth and introduce new solutions that give our millions of customers around the world the competitive advantages they need to succeed. We launched Everything to Sell Anything, our new brand vision that aims to disrupt the traditional ecommerce model by offering new and dynamic ways to sell any type of product or service in parallel."
Unique Subscriptions
During its fiscal third quarter, Squarespace was able to bring in a total of 201.m in revenue which is up 24 percent year-over-year and was likely boosted by the company's latest push into ecommerce. Meanwhile, its total annual run rate revenue (ARRR) increased to 788.6m (up 21% year-over-year).
When it came to subscribers to its website building service, Squarespace's Unique Subscriptions reached 4m in Q3, up 13.5 percent year-over-year. At the same time, the company's existing subscribers are spending more on new services as the average revenue per unique subscription (ARPUS) grew to $198, up 5.7 percent year-over-year.
Going forward, Squarespace expects revenue of $203-206m during the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021 and this will equate to year-over-year growth of 18 percent to 20 percent.
Whether you're looking to create an online presence or open an online store, Squarespace provides all of the tools you need to build a website and start selling your products online.
