AMD's Threadripper Pro WX or workstation processors are set to finally join the 5000-series of AMD CPU's if the latest leaks are to be believed. It would seem that AMD is planning no less than five new SKUs, or one more than the current 3000-series of workstation chips. The new entry is a 24 core, 48 thread chip, which was lacking from the current range. As such, the entire series will consist of 12, 16, 24, 32 and 64 core options, all with twice as many threads. All chips have a common 4.5 GHz peak turbo clock, but the base clocks vary by quite a bit, depending on the core count.

The 12 core 5945WX has a base clock of 4.1 GHz, with the 16 core 5955WX coming in at 4 GHz, the 24 core 5965WX then drops to 3.8 GHz, followed by the 32 core 5975WX at 3.6 GHz. Finally the 64 core 5995WX is said to only muster a base clock of 2.7 GHz. All five CPUs have a TDP rating of 280 Watts. The new Threadripper chips are expected to work in current boards that sport a WRX80 socket. As such, PCIe lanes and memory support is expected to remain the same as for the 3000-series.

RockitCool is a new entrant towards the deliding and IHS replacement game, and the company is offering new delid kits that allow users to replace the Integrated Heatspreader (IHS) on their CPUs in an attempt to achieve better operating temperatures - and potentially improve performance. Considered by some to be one of the most daring quests towards extracting the most performance possible from a given chip, the deliding process is, however, not without its dangers, and will void CPU warranties irrespective of the tool - or care - employed in the operation.

RockItCool's website sprung up earlier this year, and the website doesn't count with many user reviews - but those that are there seem to be glowing. The company specializes in providing complete delid and pure-copper IHS replacement kits, taking advantage of copper's higher thermal conductivity as a way to increase the amount of heat that can be pulled away from the CPU - improving its operating temperatures and power profiles. The copper IHS themselves have guidance markings to ease concerns regarding the application of liquid metal itself, which is a particularly risky substance to misapply around electrical circuitry.

Since the launch of AMD's Ryzen processors, the CPU market share has been reshaped in AMD's favor. Intel's offerings were matched by team red, and AMD quickly broke into the consumer market. However, according to the latest round of reports, it seems like that is no longer the case. As per the Japanese DIY market analysis from BCNR, sales of Intel processors started rising in mid-2021, and the company is managing to grab some market share from AMD. After nearly two years of dominance in the Japanese market, AMD is now behind Intel in sales, and team blue is getting back to its older setting.

Another source that is generally a pretty good indicator of the market share of Intel and AMD processor is PassMark. As users submit their benchmark runs, the PassMark software developer has updated the CPU market share statistics chart, mainly showing the desktop segment. It also concludes the same thing as BCRN: Intel is again gaining share in the CPU market. As it always goes hand-in-hand, AMD is losing the CPU marker share naturally. This is due to many reasons, and it seems like Intel's marketing and supply tactics are paying off. Intel now sits at 60% share, while AMD is set at 40%.

Akasa, manufacturer of cooling solutions and computer cases, today updated two of its fanless compact cases designed to replace actively-cooled systems of mini-PCs. For starters, the new Akasa Turing ABX is a next-generation compact fanless case for GIGABYTE AMD Ryzen BRIX 4000U-Series Mini-PC with Radeon GPU. The Turing ABX case is compatible with the following GIGABYTE Ryzen BRIX models: GB-BRR3-4300, GB-BRR5-4500, GB-BRR7-4700, and GB-BRR7-480. It brings out all of the I/O ports that come standard with these BRIX models; however, the cooling system is replaced with Akasa's fanless design integrated within the case.

And last but not least, Akasa also launched Newton A50 fanless case for ASUS PN51 and PN50 mini-PCs. Coming in with a 1.3-liter design, this case represents a very compact solution capable of carrying 5000 and 4000 Series AMD Ryzen processors and Radeon Vega 7 Graphics. As far as I/O options, the case brings everything that ASUS PN51 and PN50 PCs have to offer; however, the cooling system is also replaced by Akasa's fanless design. You can learn more about Turing ABX here and Newton A50 here. For availability, you can expect these cases to become available in the next three weeks from Scan.co.uk, Amazon, Caseking, Jimms PC, Performance-PCs. Pricing is unknown.

MAINGEAR—an award-winning PC system integrator of custom gaming desktops, notebooks, and workstations—today announced that new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics cards are now available to configure within MAINGEAR's product line of award-winning custom gaming desktop PCs and workstations. Featuring support for real-time ray tracing effects and AI technologies, MAINGEAR PCs equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 offer gamers next-generation ray-traced graphics and performance comparable to the latest consoles.

Powered by Ampere, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 features NVIDIA's 2nd gen Ray Tracing Cores and 3rd generation Tensor Cores. Combined with new streaming multiprocessors and high-speed G6 memory, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 can power the latest and greatest games. NVIDIA RTX on 30 Series GPUs deliver real-time ray tracing effects—including shadows, reflections, and Ambient Occlusion (AO). The groundbreaking NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) 2.0 AI technology utilizes Tensor Core AI processors to boost frame rates while producing sharp, uncompromised visual fidelity comparable to high native resolutions.

We're not sure if this will bring more praise for AMD, or if there will be a new angry mob with virtual pitchforks, because it's coming too late, but it looks like at least some AMD X370 based motherboards are getting support for AMD's Zen 3 based Ryzen processors. First out is ASRock with the X370 Pro4, which even at launch was a run of the mill X370 board, but it's possible that the company is just using it as its test platform to see if it's worth adding support for Zen 3 or not.

ASRock has added support for all of AMD's Vermeer based CPUs, as well as several Renoir based APUs. You can find all the added models in the modified screenshot below, since the processors weren't all listed in order on ASRock's website. The P7.10 UEFI update is required and it also drops support for AMD's now rather old Excavator+ based Bristol Ridge APUs, a loss that almost no-one is likely to shed a tear over. The interesting thing to keep an eye on now, is both if ASRock will follow suit with other models, as well as what its competitors will do in terms of adding support for Zen 3 CPUs on their older motherboard models.

It would seem that AMD is concerned about DDR5 memory availability in the market, at least based on an interview that Tom's Hardware had with David McAfee, the Corporate VP and GM of the Client Channel business at AMD. It's not just about availability it seems, but also pricing, as McAfee is quoted saying "One of the dynamics that we do think about a great deal is how and when to introduce that AM5 ecosystem and ensure that the DDR5 supply, as well as pricing of DDR5 memory, is mature and something that's easily attainable for an end-user".

With the current issues that the DRAM module makers are experiencing, with both staff issues related to the pandemic and the PMIC shortage some are having, the question is how long it'll take until there's a steady supply of DDR5 modules in the market, at a reasonable price point. We obviously don't know what kind of DRAM speeds AMD is aiming for either, although it's unlikely that the company is looking at something faster than JEDEC spec at this point in time, even though we expect faster speeds will also be supported. Outside of the US, it seems like a cheap stick of 8 GB of DDR5 memory is going for around the US$100 mark (€89) or roughly four times that of a similar DDR4 stick. Crucial in the US is offering a single 8 GB stick for US$68, with a 16 GB stick costing the same as a pair of 8 GB sticks, US$137. This is unlikely to be the kind of price point AMD is hoping for and most DDR5 memory modules are a lot more expensive.

AMD's Ryzen 7000 series of desktop processors based on the novel Zen 4 core architecture are scheduled to arrive in the second half of 2022. While we are not sure just how big the architectural differences will be going from Zen 3 (with or without 3D V-cache) to the new Zen 4 core, we have some leaked information that confirms the existence of two SKUs that reveal additional details about the processor configuration. In the MilkyWay@Home project, aiming to create a model of the Milky Way galaxy by utilizing countless PCs across the globe, we found two next-generation Ryzen 7000 SKUs. The MilkyWay@Home project isn't a benchmark. However, it is a valuable reference where the next generation processors appeared.

First in line is the 100-000000666-21_N CPU, a codename for an eight-core, sixteen-threaded design. This model should correspond to the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X CPU, a successor to the Ryzen 7 5800X model. Next in line is the 100-000000665-21_N CPU with 16 cores and 32 threads, a successor to the Ryzen 9 5950X named Ryzen 9 7950X. One important thing to note is that these new CPUs feature different level two (L2) cache configurations. With the previous generation 5000 series "Vermeer" processors, the L2 cache was locked at 512 KB per core. However, according to today's leak, the upgraded Zen 4 IP will bring 1024 KB of L2 cache per core, doubling the cache size at one of the fastest levels.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers (Hong Kong Stock Code: 1337), is kicking off 2022 with new Razer Blade gaming laptop models including the Razer Blade 14, Razer Blade 15, and Razer Blade 17. The world's fastest laptops for gamers and creators are equipped with the recently announced NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop GPUs, up to an RTX 3080 Ti, making the new Blades better than ever, now shipping with Windows 11. All new Razer Blade gaming laptops now also include groundbreaking DDR5 memory, providing blistering clock speeds up to 4800 MHz, an increase in frequency by up to 50% compared to the previous generation.

"The Razer Blade series continues to be the best gaming laptop by providing desktop-class performance on-the-go," says Travis Furst, Senior Director of Razer's Systems business unit. "Additionally, we've enabled creators to work anywhere with gorgeous displays, available NVIDIA Studio drivers, and up to 14-Core CPUs. Users will have the ability to choose any model or configuration that best fits their gaming or creating needs, while getting the latest and greatest in graphics, memory and processing technology."

In a few hours, AMD is about to hold its CES press conference, but details of its Ryzen 6000 series Mobile CPUs have made their way online and it looks like anyone considering a new laptop this year, should be in for quite a treat. AMD's CEO, Lisa Su already teased the company's new CPU on social media yesterday, but obviously provided no further details, but courtesy of a leak from VideoCardz, we now have what looks like the full specs.

AMD is apparently planning no less than eight H-series consumer SKUs, plus another two U-series consumer SKUs at launch, plus the rumoured 5x25U Zen 3 based additions, which adds a further three SKUs. The new H-series processors will range from Ryzen 5 to 9 and will have max boost speeds ranging from 4.5 to 5 GHz, which confirms earlier rumours about these chips supporting very high clock speeds. All of the new CPU SKUs will feature 19 or 20 MB of L2 plus L3 cache and with the exception of the three Zen 3 based chips, all of the new processors will be manufactured at 6 nm.

As we approach the next generation of AMD's Ryzen processors, accompanying chipsets will follow the launch of their main co-host device. Enabling different levels of features across the new processor generation, chipset versions are limiting the number of options a platform offers to the end-user. AMD is designing its motherboard chipsets in collaboration with a Taiwanese design firm ASMedia. They usually develop a few chipset types covering low-end, middle-end, and high-end motherboards segments. However, it seems like the high-end motherboard segment could be populated with the same silicon as the middle-end section of the chipset stack; note a few Chinese forum members on BiliBili.

As they note, the high-end AMD X670 chipset could be a multi-chip module (MCM) design incorporating two middle-end B650 chipsets. A combination of two B650 dies is allegedly forming an X670 chipset, and that is what AMD could force motherboard makers to use. By doing so, the Mini-ITX motherboard form factor could be challenging to design and manufacture, meaning that the package of the X670 chipset could be rather extensive. This rumor should, of course, be taken with a massive grain of salt as we don't know how this would function. However, it financially makes sense as AMD wouldn't need to design and request manufacturing for an additional chipset variant.

The semicondustor market in 3Q21 is red hot with total revenue of the global top 10 IC design (fabless) companies reaching US$33.7 billion or 45% growth YoY, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. In addition to the Taiwanese companies MediaTek, Novatek, and Realtek already on the list, Himax comes in at number ten, bringing the total number of Taiwanese companies on the top 10 list to 4.

Qualcomm has been buoyed by continuing robust demand for 5G mobile phones form major mobile phone manufacturers with further revenue growth from its processor and radio frequency front end (RFFE) departments. Qualcomm's IoT department benefited from strong demand in the consumer electronics, edge networking, and industrial sectors, posting revenue growth of 66% YoY, highest among Qualcomm departments. In turn, this drove Qualcomm's total 3Q21 revenue to US$7.7 billion, 56% growth YoY, and ranking first in the world.

According to the latest round of rumors coming from tech media VideoCardz, Intel could be preparing an answer to AMD's 3D V-cache in the form of... pre-binned Core i9-12900KS? As per the report, Intel could be making a pre-binned, pre-overclocked Core i9-12900KS processor with an all-core turbo boost frequency of 5.2 GHz. This alleged clock speed will push the processor to some fantastic heights and increase the overall performance of the regular Core i9-12900K processor. With AMD's Ryzen processors with 3D V-cache incoming, Intel has prepared this solution to keep up with the increasing pressure from AMD.

So far, we don't know the specific requirements for Core i9-12900KS to reach 5.2 GHz. However, we assume that Voltage needs a big boost, making cooling and power supply requirements increase. This special edition Alder Lake design should launch around the same time frame that AMD reveals its 3D V-cache enabled Ryzen processors, so Intel doesn't let AMD steal the performance crown.

AMD today announced that AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su will host its 2022 Product Premiere on January 4, 2022. Dr. Su will highlight innovations and solutions featuring upcoming AMD Ryzen processors and AMD Radeon graphics. The AMD Product Premiere livestream will be accessible to the public beginning at 10 a.m. EST on Tuesday, January 4 at AMD.com; replays will be available after the conclusion of the livestream event. The link to the AMD 2022 Product Premiere event page can be found below.

Since the introduction of the NUC by Intel some years ago, the mini PC space has taken off and one of the more popular NUC alternatives has been the BRIX series from Gigabyte and the company has just announced the BRIX Extreme. This is Gigabyte's first BRIX series based on the AMD Ryzen 5000U series of APUs and three different options will be available, in the shape of the R3-5300U, R5-5500U and the R7-5700U. This translates to four, six and eight core CPUs with a 15 W TDP, although these are all Zen 2 based, rather than Zen 3, which is slightly disappointing.

This is also one of the first device we've seen that uses the new AMD RZ608 WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module which was announced a little while back. Other features include 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, an M.2 PCIe 3.0 NVMe slot for an SSD, two HDMI 2.0a ports, a mini DP port port and a USB-C port with DP Alt mode, both supporting DP 1.4 and all display outputs can be used concurrently with four 4K displays. Gigabyte will offer the BRIX Extreme in a low profile chassis as well as a slightly bigger chassis that can either house a 2.5-inch SATA drive, or an optional expansion module.

Prominent chip designers like AMD and NVIDIA could bless consumers with a broader offering of their new products as soon as CES 2022 arrives. AMD should present its rumored Rembrandt-H lineup of processors based on the enhanced Zen 3 core, sometimes referred to as Zen 3+. According to the latest report coming from MyLaptopsGuide, Bluetooth SIG has some data entry about ASUS'es upcoming ROG Zephyrus Duo GX650 laptop that integrates AMD Rembrandt-H processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series graphics. As the website claims, the heart of this laptop will be AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor built on TSMC's 6 nm manufacturing process. We don't know much about this model, but we expect it to refine the previous Ryzen 9 5900HX.

We again see the rumored NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card for mobile, powering the graphics side of things. This model is supposedly based on GA103S GPU SKU, which is likely tailor-made for laptops in mind and exclusive to them. ASUS has also paired 16 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM with an AMD Ryzen processor, suggesting that Rembrandt-H has a new memory controller in place. This laptop model also has a 16-inch 300 Hz Full HD screen with anti-glare; however, the amount of information ended there. We have to wait for CES 2022 launch to find out more.

MediaTek and AMD announced a collaboration to co-engineer industry leading Wi-Fi solutions, starting with the AMD RZ600 Series Wi-Fi 6E modules containing MediaTek's new Filogic 330P chipset. The Filogic 330P chipset will power next-generation AMD Ryzen-series laptop and desktop PCs in 2022 and beyond, delivering fast Wi-Fi speeds with low latency and less interference from other signals.

To optimize the AMD RZ600 Series Wi-Fi 6E modules with a focus on delivering seamless connectivity experiences for customers, AMD and MediaTek developed and certified PCIe and USB interfaces for modern sleep states and power management, which are vital elements of modern customer experiences. Further, the optimization process included stress testing and ensuring compatibility standards, which may ultimately reduce development time for OEM customers.

Intel has dominated the client Wi-Fi + Bluetooth network adapter market in the PC space for some time now, particularly with WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E interfaces integrated with motherboards. Even on the AMD platform, motherboard vendors have extensively packaged not just Intel-branded WiFi + Bluetooth modules, but also their wired LAN controllers. In the commercial desktop and commercial notebook markets, Intel leverages this position to push its vPro management suite, with Intel WLAN controllers featuring vPro support. This is something felt lacking in the rival AMD PRO ecosystem, and something the company is looking to change with its collaboration with MediaTek.

AMD RZ660 will be the first controller based on this partnership. Based on the MediaTek Filogic 330P chipset, the controller combines WiFi 6E (6 GHz), with the latest generation Bluetooth (at least Bluetooth 5.2). Driver software and support for this solution will be handled by AMD, as would distribution. MediaTek stated that the first notebooks and desktop PCs (includes DIY motherboards) featuring the AMD RZ660 will debut in 2022. The AMD-supplied driver software would also enable the company to create special "PRO" variants of the RZ660 to bundle with its Ryzen PRO SoCs for the commercial PC and workstation markets. There doesn't appear to be any such collaboration with wired Ethernet, as there is an even competition between Intel and Realtek over the 2.5 GbE PHY market, with both companies offering gaming-specific variants—Intel Killer and Realtek DragonLAN.

With AMD's Ryzen 5000 series of processors, you needed 400 or 500 series chipset to run the latest generation. However, some reports of users enabling their Ryzen 5000 series processors to run on some 300 series chipset motherboards. And this made everyone curious if AMD's partners will ever bring proper firmware support to run Ryzen 5000 processors on AMD 300 series chipsets. According to today's round of news, ASUS and GIGABYTE have released a firmware update for their A320 boards that enabled Ryzen 5000 processors to run at their total capacity.

Added support means if you have a system with an A320 chipset and plan to upgrade your processors, you may not need to buy a whole new platform for the Zen3-based processors, and you could update your BIOS version to the latest version and perform an upgrade. Check your board's BIOS version and see if you are eligible for an upgrade on ASUS and GIGABYTE websites.

Simply NUC, Inc, a leading mini computer integration company, recently announced Cypress Porcoolpine, a new Simply NUC branded Rugged Long-Life Mini PC. As the fanless version of the newly released Cypress family, Cypress Porcoolpine delivers performance and innovation for embedded solutions without the use of a cooling fan.

Cypress Porcoolpine is the first rugged Mini PC featuring V2000 Embedded AMD processors and is guaranteed to be sold in the same form, fit, and function for seven years from launch. Simply NUC is currently taking orders on Cypress Porcoolpine with units now shipping.
"Whether its industrial computing, digital signage, or gathering edge data analytics, we saw an opportunity to create a fanless mini PC using the latest AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 processors," said Charles Abdouch, Simply NUC CTO, "With the addition of Cypress Porcoolpine, we can now offer customers a long life mini PC to meet any of their embedded application needs."

AMD today announced revenue for the third quarter of 2021 of $4.3 billion, operating income of $948 million, net income of $923 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.75. On a non-GAAP basis, operating income was $1.1 billion, net income was $893 million and diluted earnings per share were $0.73. "AMD had another record quarter as revenue grew 54% and operating income doubled year-over-year," said AMD president and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. "3rd Gen EPYC processor shipments ramped significantly in the quarter as our data center sales more than doubled year-over-year. Our business significantly accelerated in 2021, growing faster than the market based on our leadership products and consistent execution."

The first trace of AMD's upcoming Ryzen 6000 mobile series has recently appeared with a processor of OPN code 100-000000518-41_N surfacing in the UserBenchmark database with the socket listed as FP7 which is the rumored platform for AMD's 6 nm Rembrandt family. The engineering sample features 8-cores and 16-threads with a base clock of 3.9 GHz and a boost of 4.1 GHz along with an integrated RDNA2 iGPU.

This marks the move from Vega to Navi 2 for the integrated GPU which should result in significant graphics performance and efficiency improvements. The processor was paired with a single 16 GB DDR5 memory module from Corsair running at 4800 MHz CL40, the computer is also listed as Corsair Xenomorph which is interesting as we are not aware of any plans for Corsair to release laptops. AMD is expected to announce Rembrandt at CES 2022 and the processors have allegedly already entered production.

Microsoft and AMD on Thursday released software updates that fix the two performance issues affecting AMD Ryzen processors with Windows 11. The two issues were abnormally high L3 cache latency, and a broken "Preferred Cores" system. The companies had assessed that the issues impact performance of Ryzen processors on Windows 11 by as much as 15%.

The two issues are fixed in separate methods. The L3 cache latency bug is improved through a Windows Update patch, which has been released now as an Update Preview (an Update Preview is not a "beta," but a software update released ahead of its designated "patch Tuesday"). The Update Preview is chronicled under KB5006746, and Windows 11 systems updated with this, get their OS build version set as "build 22000.282." The next update restores the Preferred Cores mechanism that leverages UEFI-CPPC2. This update comes in the form of an AMD Chipset Software update. You'll need to download and install both of the following:

DOWNLOAD: Windows 11 October 21, 2021 Update Preview KB5006746 | AMD Chipset Driver Software 3.10.08.506

Although we can't confirm it, the screenshot below is said to be of a retail version of the Intel Alder Lake Core i9-12900K that has been overclocked to 5.2 GHz on all P-cores, with the E-cores at stock clocks. It is said to be drawing a massive 330 Watts at these clock speeds, which is rather a lot for a consumer level CPU.

Sadly details such as the motherboard used and RAM clocks are absent. The E-cores are said to be locked at a maximum clock of 3.7 GHz, so there appears to be no overclocking potential in them. Yes, Intel does manage to edge out AMD's Ryzen 9 5950X at these clock speeds in the multithreaded test, which is no mean feat considering we're looking at eight threads less here, but Intel does so at over twice the power draw.Update: Updated due to a slight misunderstanding, the E-cores were apparently enabled, but running at stock clock.

As we await the update of AMD's highly anticipated 6000 series Rembrandt APUs based on Zen 3 cores and RDNA2 graphics, we are in for a surprise with information about the next generation, more than a year away, of Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors based on Zen 4 architecture. Codenamed Raphael-H, it co-exists with the upcoming lineup of Phoenix APUs, which come after the 6000 series Rembrandt APU lineup. This mobile variant of the forthcoming desktop Raphael processors features as many as 16 cores based on Zen 4 architecture. What is so special about the Raphael-H is that it represents a mobile adaptation of desktop processors, and we are not sure how it will be different from the Phoenix APUs. However, we assume that Phoenix is going to feature a more powerful graphics solution.

The confusing thing is the timeline of these processors. First comes the Rembrandt APUs (6000 series) and then both the Raphael-H and Phoenix mobile processors. AMD could disable iGPU on mobile Raphael-H designs. However, that is just a guess. We have to wait to find out more in the upcoming months.