According to the latest information shared by long-time Intel leaker Jaykihn, Intel's upcoming Xeon 7 "Diamond Rapids" will feature a flagship SKU with up to 256 P-Cores. This contradicts previous reports suggesting that Intel's flagship Xeon 7 SKU would be limited to 192 P-Cores and 192 threads, as this generation does not include Hyper-Threading. From Intel's VLSI Symposium 2026 presentation, we learned that "Diamond Rapids" includes four Compute tiles, also known as "core building blocks" (CBBs), each built on the Intel 18A-P foundry node. Each Compute tile contains a CPU complex with 48 "Panther Cove" P-Cores and an L3 cache localized to the tile. However, a 256-core design implies CBBs with 64 cores each and possibly a larger L3 cache.

Using Intel's latest 18A-P node, the "Diamond Rapids" CBBs are expected to achieve a 9% increase in performance at the same power level compared to the standard 18A node, or an 18% power reduction at the same performance level. Since Intel aims for maximum performance, we can expect these improvements to enhance performance further or to optimize power consumption with the additional cores. Earlier claims suggested a 500 W TDP design for 192 P-Core version, featuring 16 DDR5 memory channels and running on a new LGA-9324 socket on the "Oak Stream" platform. However, a 256-core design could go much higher, and cooling manufacturers have indicated 800+ W TDP designs for this socket.

Nanya Technology Board of Directors announced on August 5 that the company has launched its largest investment program, committing up to NT$346.6 billion (around $10.7 billion) to its Fab5A facility through 2026-2029. The project covers 10 nm-class processes from 1b through 1e nodes and introduces EUV lithography. Nanya has also increased its 2026 capital expenditures budget by 34% to NT$69.7 billion (around $2.16 billion). The extra NT$17.7 billion is going toward advance payments for equipment to keep Fab5A on schedule. The production roadmap has wafer starts being produced in the second half of 2027, reaching 30,000 wafers per month in 2028 and 35,900 in 2029. The maximum planned capacity is around 45,000 wafers monthly. The 1c pilot production has already begun, while the 1d node is under development and expected to enter pilot production soon. Nanya Fab5A investment, when completed, is estimated at roughly $16 billion, deployed in phases based on market demand.

Commercially, Nanya is having a strong run. July revenue hit NT$43.87 billion (around $1.3 billion), up 49.3% month over month and 719.6% year over year, driven by continued DRAM price increases, particularly sharp gains in DDR4 contract prices. Remember that just a year ago DDR4 module prices overtook DDR5 for the first time, with Nanya among the biggest beneficiaries. Its customers include giants like NVIDIA, Google, Microsoft, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, with the future looking great for the Taiwanese company. Its long-term agreements reportedly now cover about 50% of production capacity, with short-term contracts gradually converted into long-term agreements.

Samsung Electronics a global leader in advanced memory technology, today showcased its latest AI memory innovations at Future of Memory and Storage (FMS) 2026 in Santa Clara, California.

With broad expertise spanning DRAM, NAND, enterprise storage and relevant advanced semiconductor technologies, Samsung presented its latest AI memory portfolio and technology roadmap, including a preview of its zHBM and zNAND-O concept models, the industry-first introduction of its V10 BV-NAND with 400-plus layers and a comprehensive range of solutions designed to advance future AI infrastructure. Samsung is also featuring its AI cloud server-inspired booth at FMS 2026, where approximately 30 memory and storage technologies are on display.

Stormcraft PC, a California gaming PC brand founded by gamers and engineers, today announced the launch and multi-channel availability of new Valkyrie Series gaming desktops through Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg and the official Stormcraft PC webstore. The expanded lineup features NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics, paired with AMD Ryzen 7 X3D and Intel Core Ultra 7 processors.

The four featured configurations span AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors, the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 270K Plus, AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 and RTX 5080 graphics. Each featured system includes DDR5 6000 MHz RGB memory, PCIe Gen 4 NVMe storage, a 360 mm liquid CPU cooler, an 850-watt 80 Plus Gold power supply and seven ARGB chassis fans.

Lexar has introduced a new THOR RGB DDR5 Gen 2 32 GB memory kit, consisting of two 16 GB DDR5 modules, specifically for the Chinese market. The kit features DDR5 memory running at 7,200 MT/s, with the actual DDR5 modules produced by an unidentified Chinese DRAM manufacturer, likely CXMT. The latest THOR RGB 32 GB kit offers memory with 38-48-48-86 CAS latency timings at 1.40 V and supports Intel's XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO profiles to achieve maximum frequency and overclocking potential. While the exact overclocking range of these modules is unknown,

Lexar has not explicitly disclosed which Chinese DRAM maker is used for this DDR5 kit, but it is assumed that CXMT DRAM is housed under the sandblasted aluminium heat spreaders. The company tested a variety of ASUS and MSI motherboards on both AMD and Intel platforms, even mentioning a 32 GB kit with 7,600 MT/s speeds, as opposed to this newly listed 7,200 MT/s kit. It is likely that more motherboards and vendors will be compatible without issues, but only those mentioned in the list below were tested. Lexar's official JD store lists the price for the THOR RGB DDR5-7200 32 GB kit at 3,999 RMB, which is approximately $592 at the time of writing, based on the current exchange rate. This kit is meant for the mainland China, with no mention of global availability.

Montage Technology today announced the industry's first trial production of its CXL 3.2 Memory eXpander Controller (MXC) chip, designed to address escalating demands for memory expansion and resource pooling in AI, cloud computing, and data center environments. Leveraging CXL technology, the MXC chip enables customers to build memory infrastructure with higher capacity, improved resource utilization, and greater flexibility.

The CXL 3.2 MXC complies with CXL Type 3 specifications, including both CXL.mem and CXL.io protocols. It is designed with PCIe 6.x and CXL 3.2 protocol support, delivering data transfer rates of up to 64 GT/s. The chip integrates dual DDR5 memory controllers that support up to 8000 MT/s DDR5 memory. By converting host-side CXL memory requests into DDR commands in real time, it enables efficient data exchange between the host and backend memory, effectively breaking through the memory capacity limits of traditional servers.

Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced its third-generation (Gen 3) DDR5 Multiplexed Rank Dual In-Line Memory Module (MRDIMM) chipset solutions, delivering DDR5 server-class MRDIMM speeds up to 16,000 mega transfers per second (MT/s). The new solutions are designed to address the growing demand for higher memory bandwidth driven by artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, cloud infrastructure and accelerated compute workloads.

Renesas will showcase memory interface components for Gen 3 MRDIMMs at FMS 2026 (Future of Memory and Storage Conference), Santa Clara, California, August 4-6, 2026. (Booth #807) They include third-generation Multiplexed Registering Clock Driver (MRCD, RRG5013) and Multiplexed Data Buffer (MDB, RRG5103) devices that support next-generation MRDIMM performance.

Innodisk, a leading global AI solution provider, introduces the DDR5 12800 MT/s MRDIMM to support the rapid growth of generative AI, large language models (LLMs), and robotics applications. With an industry-leading data rate of 12800 MT/s, this advanced memory module delivers exceptional bandwidth efficiency and scalability to meet the growing processing demands of AI-driven innovations.

Breaking the Memory Wall with Advanced Architecture
The growing complexity of AI and HPC workloads has exposed the limitations of traditional memory architectures, often referred to as the "memory wall"—a bottleneck where memory bandwidth fails to keep up with processing speeds, leading to inefficiencies. The DDR5 12800 MT/s MRDIMM overcomes this challenge with its innovative Multiplexed Registering Clock Driver (MRCD) and Multiplexed Data Buffer (MDB) architecture. By enabling simultaneous two-rank access, this breakthrough design increases bandwidth by 60% compared to traditional DDR5 8000 MT/s RDIMMs, significantly improving data transfer speeds and computational efficiency. By reducing the load on the memory controller and lowering latency, this module enhances AI model training, large language models (LLMs), and robotic automation applications.

Khadas recently unveiled its Mind Pro mini PC, powered by Intel's Panther Lake CPUs, alongside its modular eGPU solution, which is powered by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, but the brand has recently announced that the ongoing hardware shortages caused by the AI boom have resulted in the brand needing to hike prices for the entire series and delay or potentially cancel some versions of the mini PC altogether. In a recent statement regarding the pricing of the Khadas Mind Pro Pricing, Khadas references the ongoing PC hardware availability issues and says that, while it will be increasing prices for the Mind Pro, it has "chosen to keep this price adjustment as minimal as possible" by absorbing part of the price increase.

It goes on to explain that the Khadas Mind Pro with the Intel Core Ultra X7 and 64 GB of memory will see a $300 price increase, from the pre-order price of $1,999 to a new MSRP of $2,299. Additionally, the brand has had to delay the launch of the Intel Core Ultra X9 version of the mini PC with 96 GB RAM and the Core Ultra X7 model with 32 GB of memory. It cites a disproportionate increase in memory costs for the 96 GB DDR5-9600 modules used in the high-end version as the reason for the delay in the high-end model. The brand didn't exactly explain why the Mind Pro X7 with 32 GB of memory was delayed, but it did explain that the Core Ultra X7 version that remains available is the best balance between price and performance. It might also be the version that is most likely to sell the most units and where Khadas can generate enough profit to cover some of the increased memory costs. Until the pre-order period is over, the Mind Pro mini PC with the Core Ultra X7 will carry the same $500 discount from the new MSRP, coming in at $1,799 ahead of the March 27 pre-order closure.

Update Jul 30th: The Core Ultra X7-based Khadas Mind mini PC has received yet another price increase, this time bringing the price up by $300 to $2,599. At the time of writing, the only model available is the Core Ultra X7 358H version with 64 GB of memory and 2 TB of SSD storage.

CXMT, the world's fourth-largest DRAM maker, is now reportedly charging more for its 64 GB DDR5 server RDIMM modules than Samsung, which is already asking $1,240 per unit. The numbers come from Reuters and flip the script on what most people assumed about CXMT, that it would undercut Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron on price. As we reported previously, CXMT's edge was never really about price. It was about supply availability at a time when demand was consuming everything that Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron could provide. That demand has since surged roughly tenfold, and CXMT is now under the same pricing pressure as everyone else. The situation was so serious that, reportedly, this year, some Chinese electronics firms filed complaints with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The companies complained over price hikes from both CXMT and YMTC, claiming the increases were delaying product launches.

CXMT is also building two new plants in Shanghai and Hefei, and is involved with ongoing talks about a third fab. When those two fabs start production, CXMT's monthly wafer output will pass 600,000. That is more than doubling current capacity and the Chinese company could match Micron this year and possibly overtake it by 2030 if plans stay on track. Financially, CXMT reported Q1 2026 revenue of about RMB 50.8 billion (~$7.5B), up 719% year over year, with net profit rising over 1,200%. The company is forecasting first-half 2026 revenue of RMB 110-120 billion ($16-$17.7 billion), representing growth of over 600% compared to the same period last year. A historic IPO is also in the works alongside the fab expansion push. CXMT currently holds around 8-10% of the global DRAM market, behind Micron at 24%, SK Hynix at 29%, and Samsung at 36%.

Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, today announced that its full lineup of DDR5 motherboards now supports CXSH (CXMT) chip-based memory, giving consumers more options and greater availability amid an ongoing industry-wide memory shortage. The BIOS optimization enables AM5 800/ 600 series motherboards to run CXSH (CXMT) chip-based memory stably at 8200 MT/s, while Intel 800/ 700 series platforms support CXSH (CXMT) chip-based memory out of the box.

Following AMD's release of AGESA 1.3.0.1c and Gigabyte's own memory optimization technology, AM5 motherboards across both the 800 series and 600 series now support CXSH (CXMT) chip-based memory, including 16 Gb and 24 Gb densities. With this update, Gigabyte AM5 motherboards can now stably run these DIMMs at speeds of up to 8200 MT/s, breaking the previous AM5 platform limitation and giving builders more performance headroom on AMD's platform. Meanwhile, Gigabyte's Intel 800 and 700 series motherboards already support CXSH (CXMT) chip-based memory through their current shipping BIOS, with no additional update required.

DDR5 pricing in Germany has been picking up pace again, according to the latest report by 3D Center. Unfortunately, this July has seen a 7% monthly price increase for DDR5 kits, on top of the already elevated prices, pushing DDR5 to new all-time highs. Despite stagnation between February and slight price decreases in March and June, July has continued the upward trend, now placing the average cost of DDR5 memory at a 448% increase over the prices recorded back in July 2025. In a single year, prices have more than quadrupled, mostly driven by massive price hikes between October 2025 and January 2026. PC enthusiasts have already faced significant affordability issues due to these price hikes, and there doesn't seem to be an end to this trend.

Even ADATA's Chairman, Chen Li-bai, suggested that it might take another 10 years for the DRAM supply chain to stabilize. This is a grim outlook for PC DIY enthusiasts who want to build their own PCs or make upgrades, as DRAM is driving up the prices of GPUs as well as DDR5 memory kits. Only after 2030 might there be some preliminary estimations on whether the demand for more DRAM, more NAND Flash, and more computing power will be sustained until 2040 or 2050. For now, we are bracing for the impact of sustained price hikes, which have become the new norm for months.

Major PC OEMs are beginning to secure deals with Chinese memory maker CXMT, as the supply chain has been depleted of available DRAM from the big three memory makers—SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron. According to a report from DigiTimes, CXMT's memory capacity has been booked through the end of 2027, leaving little room for new customers to source DRAM from China's largest memory producer. The report notes that large PC vendors such as Dell, HP, and Apple are the only ones that managed to receive allocations, while smaller brands with less presence in the desktop and laptop market have been left with nearly no allocation.

An important aspect of this situation is the negotiation leverage that larger PC vendors have. As they command more volume than smaller companies, Dell, HP, and Apple are willing to sign bigger contracts with CXMT to secure a larger DRAM supply, even at prices higher than historical levels. For CXMT, this is a positive indication that capacity expansion is well-received and a signal to continue building new fabs. DigiTimes also notes that the United States government has not yet made a firm decision on whether to keep CXMT on the barred entity list, so PC OEMs are taking advantage of the opportunity to stockpile any available DRAM. Future policy changes might impact this, but for now, long-term supply agreements are being made to secure any DDR5/LPDDR5X memory possible.

Dynabook Americas, Inc., a Sharp Company, today announced the Portégé Z40L-P, a premium Copilot+ PC, the second generation of Dynabook's advanced Portégé Z40L platform. Built for the demands of today's AI-enabled workplace, the 14-inch Portégé Z40L-P combines next-generation Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processor options, enhanced on-device AI capabilities, enterprise-grade security, Intel Wi-Fi 7 and user replaceable 56Wh Li-Polymer battery. Pricing for the Portégé Z40L-P starts at $2,170 MSRP.

Expanding the platform beyond premium business productivity, select Portégé Z40L-P configurations feature Intel Core Ultra X9 and X7 processors with Intel Arc Pro B390 graphics. With up to 12 Xe graphics cores, these models deliver discrete-class performance for technical and engineering workflows in a slim mobile workstation built for AI. Purpose-built to accelerate technical drafting, engineering design and computer-aided design applications, the Portégé Z40L-P provides smooth visuals, responsive performance and professional-grade capability in a thin-and-light form factor.

Minisforum showed off a range of new hardware at Computex 2026 earlier this year, and one of the new products it announced there was the MS-03 workstation mini PC, a new small form factor workstation PC designed for productivity, NAS, and local AI workloads. The MS-03 is based on the Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra 9 386H, a 25 W (80 W max Turbo) mobile CPU with four P-Cores, eight E-Cores, and four LP E-Cores, and four Arc Xe3 cores, meaning it's not going to be an outstanding gaming, content creation, or rendering workstation.

One of the big draws for NAS and server use cases is undoubtedly going to be the ample storage options and networking. Not only does the MS-03 have three M.2 slots that support up to 8 TB per slot, it also includes an adaptor to support U.2 SSDs, for up to 15 TB of enterprise storage, and the full-size PCIe ×8 slot can be used for additional storage expansion. The MS-03's chassis is made of aluminium and features a slide-out motherboard tray for easy upgrades. Although the CPU is soldered, it uses DDR5-7200 SODIMMs. Minisforum says that it offers up to 128 GB of memory, but it's unclear if it will only sell as a barebones kit or as a pre-built PC as well.

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), a premier chip and silicon IP provider making data faster and safer, today announced its complete DDR5 9600 Client Memory Module Chipset for high-performance CUDIMM, CQDIMM and CSODIMM modules in future generation AI PCs. The chipset includes the new Gen 2 Client Clock Driver (CKD02), delivering breakthrough performance with support for PC memory module operation of up to 9600 MT/s, Power Management IC (PMIC5120) and Serial Presence Detect Hub (SPD Hub).

With the rise of agentic AI, PCs now plan, execute, and adapt workflows in real time. These workloads require persistent context, concurrent processing, and continuous data movement between the processor and system memory requiring significant increases in both bandwidth and capacity. At the same time, scaling DDR5 memory beyond 6400 MT/s introduces new technical challenges, including signal degradation, clock jitter, and timing instability. To address these challenges, the industry is transitioning to clocked memory modules, including CUDIMM and CQDIMM for desktops and CSODIMM for laptops, which incorporate an on-module client clock driver (CKD) to condition and redistribute the clock signal.

Patriot Memory, a global leader in performance memory and storage solutions, today announced the upcoming launch of its Viper Steel 5 Infinite DDR5 memory kit. Designed for high-end gaming, professional content creation, and PC modding, the new series features a patent-pending "Infinite Mirror" RGB light bar alongside tested overclocking speeds reaching up to 8000 MT/s. As the successor to the highly successful Viper Steel 4 series—which established a strong reputation for reliability and performance in the DDR4 era—this new lineup shifts from traditional flat lighting layouts to a 3D optical design engineered to fit standard hardware constraints.

Patent-Pending 3D Lighting Design
Traditional infinite mirror layouts require deep physical layers that cannot fit within the narrow space of standard memory slots. Patriot Memory's design team overcame this limitation by developing a compact, solid-media optical structure. This allows the modules to project a deep 3D tunnel effect and smooth, hot-spot-free RGB lighting. The lighting integrates with proprietary Viper software, SignalRGB, and major motherboard ecosystems, including ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, and ASRock.

Lexar is preparing new DDR5 memory kits built around CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) chips, and the jump in speed over previous CXMT-based products is notable. Earlier kits using CXMT memory were limited to 6000 MT/s while the new modules push that to 7200 MT/s and 7600 MT/s, both running CL38 timings at 1.4 V. The new kits will launch under the THOR II name in the existing THOR RGB DDR5 lineup in 32 GB dual-channel configurations using two 16 GB modules. CPU-Z data backing the 7600 MT/s claim has already surfaced, with the faster kit identified by the module name LD5U16G76C38BV.

MSI recently demonstrated CXMT-based DDR5 hitting 8000 MT/s on AMD platforms, which signals that these chips have more overclocking headroom than their mainstream entry-level positioning suggested. However, the new Lexar kits don't seem to quite reach that speed, but 7600 MT/s at CL38 is competitive with what other memory vendors are offering in the same tier. No pricing or release date has been announced yet by Lexar for its upcoming THOR II RGB DDR5 memory kits. Looking back at CXMT, it does seem that the Chinese company has managed to close the gap with Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. Moreover, recent reports stated that even Apple is negotiating with the U.S. government to get clearance to use sanctioned CXMT memory chips in its products.

TrendForce's latest memory pricing survey reveals that the DRAM market will remain extremely tight in the third quarter of 2026. However, weaker demand from consumer applications and the impact of a higher comparison base are expected to moderate contract price increases to 13-18% QoQ.

Demand for NAND Flash will continue to be driven primarily by AI inference and large-scale data center deployments. Yet, with contract prices already at record highs and consumer demand slowing, price tolerance among consumer customers has reached its limit. As a result, NAND Flash contract prices are projected to increase by 10-15% QoQ—a noticeably slower pace than in previous quarters.

Shortly after Valve launched the long-awaited Steam Machine, reviews were quick to point out its middling performance and high price, with the gaming console scoring in between the AMD Radeon RX 6600 and 7600 in gaming tests. As it turns out, one of the compromises Valve made in order to launch the Steam Machine at a slightly lower price was to use single-channel DDR5 and not dual-channel DDR5. Curiously, even though you might expect the Steam Machine to suffer from a GPU bottleneck, given the GPU specs and limited VRAM, recent tests by Gamers Nexus on YouTube show that the mini PC is capable of up to 19.4% more performance in CPU-intensive workloads.

The YouTube channel's testing team put the Steam Machine through a battery of CPU and GPU tests, and, as expected, the biggest differences showed up in CPU-intensive workloads, with GPU tests demonstrating a peak performance difference of 8.7% in Baldur's Gate 3 at 1080p in Ultra settings. That's not to say there weren't improvements to gaming workloads. Especially when targeting high frame rates in games, as would be the case with e-sports games, for instance, differences of up to 15% could be observed. These substantial differences were observed by Gamers Nexus when testing Baldur's Gate 3 at 1080p and low settings, where a 15.3% performance improvement was exhibited, while Outer Worlds 2 at 1080p and low settings also showed a 14.7% performance improvement going from single-channel to dual-channel SODIMMs. The other major outlier was Resident Evil 4 at 1080p and "prioritize performance" mode, which showed a 10% improvement in frame rate.

Worldwide 300 mm fab equipment investment in the memory sector is projected to surpass $50 billion for the first time in 2026, rising 29% to $52 billion before increasing another 11% to $57 billion in 2027, SEMI reported today in its latest 300 mm Fab Outlook. The growth reflects continued AI-driven demand for advanced memory, supported by rising investment in AI infrastructure, data centers, and next-generation computing systems.

Looking further out, global 300 mm fab equipment spending in the memory sector is expected to grow at a 19% CAGR from 2024 to 2029. Worldwide 300 mm memory capacity is also projected to increase, reaching 4.1 million wafers per month in 2026 and 4.2 million wafers per month in 2027.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. alleging that the three leading DRAM manufacturers, namely Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix, are engaged in price-fixing and causing artificial scarcities to keep prices of computer memory high. Consumer DDR5 PC memory saw a near 700% inflation in price in a span of just 1 year, caused mainly by DRAM manufacturers allocating their production capacity to HBM stacks used by AI compute GPUs; and booking orders years into the future, which would keep a large percentage of their manufacturing capacity occupied with HBM production going as far into the future as 2030.

The lawsuit calls for PC memory manufacturers to restore consumer DRAM production and availability. Among the plenty of examples the lawsuit can cite, it mentions Apple's recent decision to increase the prices of all its products, including Macs and iPhones, citing escalating memory prices. The lawsuit alleges collusion and cartel-like behavior by Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix, to coordinate pricing. It also cites evidence of such activity in the past, specifically in the year 2000, where the U.S. Department of Justice fined these companies hundreds of millions of dollars, besides prison sentences for several company executives.

GIGABYTE formally launched the X870 AORUS Infinity Socket AM5 motherboard for competitive overclockers. The board was part of GIGABYTE's G.Skill Computex Memory OC competition, and was a part of the company's 40th Anniversary showcase. Although built in the ATX form-factor, this board features a layout that's optimized for test benches, and not cases. Most of its key connectors are pointed sideways, such as its 24-pin ATX power input, while there's a conveniently organized onboard control panel with two sets of ISA 80h readouts, and SMD buttons, which include a cold reboot button. The CPU socket is rotated 90° CCW to enable the memory slots to line its top edge.

The board draws power from a combination of one 24-pin ATX, two 8-pin EPS, and an 8-pin PCIe power supplementary input that enables 65 W USB-PD on the type-C ports. The board features an 18+2+2 phase CPU VRM that uses 110 A DrMOS and high-grade tantalum capacitors. This is among the rare few high-end motherboards that use a 10-layer PCB. The CPU socket is wired to two DDR5 DIMM slots in a 1-DIMM per channel topology that's best suited for memory overclocking, particularly tightening memory timings. It is also wired to two M.2 NVMe Gen 5 x4 slots, and two PCI-Express 5.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 Gen 5 when both are populated). The AMD X870 chipset puts out a third M.2 slot, which runs at Gen 4 x4 speed.

Apple has reportedly been negotiating with the U.S. government to get clearance to use sanctioned Chinese memory maker CXMT in its products. According to a report from the Financial Times, Apple is in talks with the U.S. government to clear the previously blacklisted Chinese entity. The U.S. government had earlier placed Chinese memory maker CXMT on a sanctions list, preventing American companies from purchasing products like the now highly sought-after DRAM. This has created a challenging situation given the severe supply shortage the entire industry is facing. Since the big three—Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron—are ramping up capacity at an insufficient rate, sourcing DRAM from another supplier would help ease the pressure on electronics makers by providing better pricing, more supply, and facilitating product shipments.

CXMT is capable of manufacturing the latest DDR5 and its low-power sibling LPDDR5X memory. Late last year, the company showcased DDR5-8000 and LPDDR5X-10667 DRAM modules that are in mass production. These memory modules are available in 12 Gb and 16 Gb LPDDR5X capacities, while DDR5 scales to 16 Gb and 24 Gb module formats. However, a significant problem remains. Even if Apple gets clearance from the U.S. government to use CXMT memory, the company likely can't satisfy domestic demand first before shipping the quantity that Apple would require. Some estimates suggest CXMT could reach over $50 billion in revenue by 2026, according to SemiAnalysis, indicating that domestic demand is so strong that CXMT is rapidly selling out wafers.

With launch pricing putting a damper on the hype for Valve's Steam Machine, it's no surprise that gamers are looking to more affordable or better value alternatives to the Steam Machine. One French PC vendor, LDLC, has officially announced its pre-built answer to the Steam Machine in the new "PC Box" pre-built PC. Somewhat comically, the PC was previously being referred to as the "Stim Machine" but has seemingly been rebranded as the PC Box in the meantime. The LDLC PC Box appears to be almost perfectly optimized to edge out the Steam Machine in performance, even if pricing is somewhat higher in the pre-built configuration.

The PC Box is available from LDLC as a pre-built PC for €1039.99 or as a DIY kit you can assemble yourself for €999.99, and its basic specs include an AMD Ryzen 5 8400F, 16 GB of dual-channel DDR5 memory, an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB, a 512 GB SSD, and a 350 W 80+ Bronze certified PSU, all built into a small form-factor SilverStone Sugo SG13B case. The most noticeable performance difference between the Steam Machine and the PC Box is that the latter has a significantly more powerful and modern GPU, which should deliver around 70% better GPU performance in many cases, based on currently available data on the Steam Machine hardware. One obvious drawback to the more powerful hardware is that, even though it is a Mini ITX case, the SilverStone Sugo SG13 is larger than the Steam Machine, at 222 (W) x 181 (H) x 285 mm), compared to the Machine's 152 × 162.4 × 156 mm.