Acemagic unveiled its latest Mini PC lineup at CES 2026, highlighting significant advancements in local AI computing, content creation and gaming performance. Among the key exhibits was Acemagic's flagship Mini PC powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 processor. Featuring Radeon 890M graphics and an XDNA 2 NPU, the system delivers up to 55 TOPS of AI performance, meeting Copilot+ PC requirements and enabling a wide range of local AI applications. The device also supports OCuLink expansion, PCIe 5.0 storage, dual 2.5 Gb Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, offering flexible performance and high-speed networking options.

For professional users, Acemagic introduced the TANK CENTER M1A PRO+, designed for intensive AI inference and creative workloads. Powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, the system delivers up to 126 TOPS of total AI computing performance. It supports up to 128 GB of LPDDR5x unified memory and features three PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, providing strong support for large AI models and storage-intensive applications.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the arrival of a new generation of Zephyrus G14 and G16 gaming laptops, powered by cutting edge next-gen chips. Both the Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16 feature models with Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA silicon, perfect for creatives and professionals on the go who need extra power. Both laptops also now feature models with a new ROG Nebula HDR OLED display capable of 1100 nits peak brightness, and all models feature a timeless CNC-milled aluminium chassis to ensure a precise, premium experience from end to end.

Next-gen power
Both the Zephyrus G14 and G16 are available with the latest Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors. This family employs a modular, tile-based architecture to enable broad flexibility, from low power operations to peak performance that users would expect from an ROG Zephyrus gaming laptop. With up to 50 TOPS of NPU performance available, local execution of AI tasks and potential for in-game AI workflows make the Core Ultra Series 3 family a perfect choice for modern computing. The Zephyrus G14 GU405 features up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, while the Zephyrus G16 GU606 features up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU. Featuring the latest NVIDIA Blackwell architecture and killer software features like DLSS 4 and Frame Generation, these laptops are built for next-gen gaming.

During CES 2026, ASUS announced the TUF Gaming TM500 Gaming PC, which in and of itself isn't a big deal and in fact, the TPU team on site grabbed a couple of quick snaps of it, without realising what sets it apart from your typical gaming PC. The TUF Gaming TM500 appears to be using leftover bits at ASUS, since it will be powered by either an AMD Ryzen 5 220 or a Ryzen 7 260, both of which are mobile CPUs based on AMD's Zen 4 processor architecture. These are obviously budget notebook chips with either six or eight cores, a Radeon 760M or 780M GPU and a total of 20 usable PCIe 4.0 lanes. ASUS decided that as this is a mobile CPU, the TM500 should use SO-DIMM memory. We're looking at a pair of DDR5 slots that support up to 64 GB of 5600 MT/s memory.

The motherboard itself appears to be microATX, but it has a custom layout and ASUS has even implemented a special heatpipe cooler that attaches to the rear of the chassis where the fan is located. As the TM500 is being sold as a gaming PC, it also comes with a choice of an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT or an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics card. The motherboard also has room for a pair of SATA ports and a pair of PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSDs in the standard 2280 form factor. Connectivity wise, ASUS didn't seem to even have bothered, as the board only has a HDMI 2.1 port, one DP 1.4, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A port, two USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port and three audio jacks around the back. The front of the chassis is home to a further two USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) Type-A ports and one Type-C port and a 3.5 mm combo headset jack. Considering the CPUs used have native USB4 support, as well as support for USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), this just feels cheap from ASUS. A Wi-Fi 6 module with Bluetooth 5.4 support and a 330 W PSU rounds off the package. There was no word on pricing, but it seems like there are competing mobile on desktop type systems out there that offer more features than the TUF Gaming TM500.

Today, HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) unveiled the HP EliteBoard G1a Next Gen AI PC, a CES 2026 Innovation Award Honoree and the world's first full AI PC built into a keyboard—powering the future of work with a design that moves, connects, and adapts to any workspace. To complement this evolution of the desk, HP also introduced the newest HP Series 7 Pro 4K Monitor, pushing the boundaries for visual fidelity and flawless performance for the most demanding professional users.

"Work is being redesigned in real time—where it happens, how it happens, and what tools employees need to stay productive," said Guayente Sanmartin, Senior Vice President and Division President, Commercial Systems & Displays Solutions at HP Inc. "HP's focus is to remove the friction and complexity that slows people down and turn emerging AI into a real advantage. The HP EliteBoard G1a Next Gen AI PC does exactly that by delivering next-generation local AI power in a keyboard-sized form factor that moves at the speed of modern work."

ASUS today announced the 2026 version of ProArt PX13, a versatile 13.3-inch AI-powered convertible laptop for creators. ProArt PX13 combines cutting-edge AI power with refined design to elevate modern creation. Powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor with a 50 TOPS NPU and up to 128 GB of unified memory, it delivers unmatched performance for AI-assisted workflows. This processor is capable of running optimized 120B-parameter large language models (LLMs) locally, enabling new frontiers in on-device AI creation. Enhanced by advanced AMD video-generation models, it supports the exclusive ASUS MuseTree app for text-to-video generation and intelligent storyboard simulation.

The sleek, 1.39 kg convertible flips seamlessly between laptop, tent, stand, or tablet modes, with full stylus support for intuitive input. Its 3K ASUS Lumina OLED touchscreen ensures precise color accuracy for flawless proofing. The ASUS DialPad provides tactile control for precise adjustments, while versatile I/O ports allow seamless connections to peripherals. Together with the ProArt Creator Hub, the AI-powered StoryCube media hub, a dedicated Copilot key, military-grade toughness, and a long-lasting battery, ProArt PX13 transforms any setting - indoors or outdoors - into a fully-fledged creative studio, ensuring the creative process is limited only by imagination, not hardware.

Dell's gaming division Alienware has a new type of OLED display panels for its new gaming laptops that has a new type of anti-glare coating that "diffuses reflections without sacrificing color quality." The new Alienware 16X Aurora, as well as the 16 Area-51, will sport the new OLED panels that deliver up to 620 nits peak HDR brightness and are VESA HDR True Black 500 certified. The new OLED display panels have a 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution, 240 Hz refresh rate and a 0.2 ms response time (not GtG, as that is 3 ms). The 16X Aurora, 16 Area-51, 18 Area-51 have all been upgraded with Intel Core Ultra 200HX processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs. All three models will be available sometime in Q1.

Alienware also teased what it calls an ultra-slim gaming laptop at 17 mm thick that will be available in both 14- and 16-inch sizes. The company will also be adding an entry-level gaming laptop in the future, but again didn't go into much in terms of details, except saying that it will deliver strong gaming performance. Finally, Alienware announced an updated Area-51 Desktop that will be powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU when it launches next month. No pricing was revealed, but we expect all of these products to be on the pricey side.

ASUS today announced the ASUS V series (VM701MG, V701ML, VM501MH, V501MV, V501SV)—an all-new lineup of home-focused desktop PCs that redefines how performance computers should look, sound, and feel in modern living spaces.

Powered by up to an AMD Ryzen AI 7 processor with a built-in NPU delivering over 50 TOPS for Copilot+ AI features, and up to dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, V series delivers smooth, responsive performance for work, creativity, and entertainment alike. Combined with an advanced ASUS cooling system that keeps temperatures low and noise levels down, it's designed for quiet performance that blends harmoniously into modern homes.

ASRock, the global leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, mini PCs, power supplies, and gaming monitors, today officially unveiled its complete next-generation AIO liquid cooling lineup, marking a major step forward in the company's evolution into a comprehensive PC hardware solutions provider. Building on decades of proven engineering expertise in motherboards and graphics cards, ASRock now extends its design philosophy and thermal know-how into a full-spectrum AIO liquid cooler portfolio designed to support extreme enthusiast systems, professional workstations, gaming rigs, and mainstream PC builds alike.

Spanning the flagship Taichi series, professional-grade WS series, hardcore gaming-dedicated Phantom Gaming series, the durable Steel Legend series, and the mainstream-focused Challenger and Pro series, each lineup is purpose-built for its intended audience while remaining unified by ASRock's core DNA of performance, stability, and long-term reliability.

This year at CES, HP unveiled its new HyperX OMEN MAX 16 gaming laptop and HyperX OMEN OLED 34 gaming monitor, alongside the HyperX Clutch Tachi arcade controller. The HyperX OMEN MAX 16 comes with either an Intel Core Ultra 200HX series processor or a next-gen AMD Ryzen AI processor and is available with a range of graphics options that tops out with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU. HP mentions that the HyperX OMEN MAX 16 packs 300 W of total platform power, which apparently is 20 percent higher than its predecessor and it sounds like this will be one loud and hot laptop. That said, HP claims that its OMEN Tempest Cooling Pro system with three fans and fan cleaner technology will keep it cool. Other new additions include a new keyboard with four times faster polling rate, again compared to previous products from HP, a 16-inch, 240 Hz WQXGA 500 nits OLED display and of course OMEN AI that is meant to offer one click optimisation for each and every game you own.

The HyperX OMEN OLED 34 is using one of the new V-Stripe QD-OLED panels and offers a 21:9 aspect ratio with a WQHD resolution and a 360 Hz refresh rate. HP has also included 100 W USB PD charging and built in KVM functionality. There's also the option to add a 3D-printable headphone hook and HP offers a three year HyperX OLED CoreProtect limited burn in warranty. The HyperX Clutch Tachi is HP's first arcade controller that is Xbox compatible and it features magnetic switches with TMR sensors. Here it's also possible to 3D print various additions to the top plate of the controller and HP's NGENUITY software allows for custom button mapping, rapid triggers and actuation adjustments. No pricing was mentioned for either of the products, which will launch sometime this spring.

At CES 2026, GIGABYTE is unlocking the full potential of AMD Ryzen 9000 Series Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology. Through its exclusive, AI-powered X3D Turbo Mode 2.0, GIGABYTE delivers real-time, adaptive performance tuning that pushes X3D CPUs beyond traditional limits. Built as a true hardware-software fusion and trained with massive real-world datasets, X3D Turbo Mode 2.0 is fully optimized and ready for the latest X3D Powered Ryzen 9000 Series Processors—right from day one.

Highlighting this breakthrough is the flagship X870E AORUS XTREME X3D AI TOP, engineered for users seeking uncompromising performance. It supports DDR5 speeds up to 9000+ MT/s, enabling exceptional memory bandwidth and stability. Its advanced thermal architecture includes the CPU Thermal Matrix, reducing VRM and DDR temperatures by up to 8.5°C, while DDR Wind Blade XTREME lowers module temperatures by up to 9°C. To maintain storage reliability under heavy workloads, the M.2 Thermal Guard XTREME reduces SSD temperatures by up to 22°C, ensuring sustained speed and endurance.

Today, AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) introduced the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded processors, a new portfolio of embedded x86 processors designed to power AI-driven applications at the edge. From automotive digital cockpits and smart healthcare to physical AI for autonomous systems, including humanoid robotics, the new P100 and X100 Series processors provide OEMs, tier-1 suppliers and system and software developers in automotive and industrial markets with high performance, efficient AI compute in a compact BGA (ball grid array) package for the most constrained embedded systems.

The processors integrate the high-performance "Zen 5" core architecture for scalable x86 performance and deterministic control, an RDNA 3.5 GPU for real-time visualization and graphics, and an XDNA 2 NPU for low-latency, low-power AI acceleration - all in a single chip.

MSI has officially unveiled the specifications of its new AI-centric mini PC line-up that is being debuted at CES 2026. The new line-up offers something for everyone—as long as you're looking to run local LLMs or similar AI workloads—whether you're looking for a hyper-compact x86 system powered by AMD's RDNA 3.5, a more powerful NVIDIA RTX 5070, or something more exotic with NVIDIA's new Arm-based DGX Spark platform.

Perhaps the most interesting mini PC that MSI is showing off at CES is the EdgeXpert, which is targeted at AI developers and is built on NVIDIA's DGX Spark platform. In the EdgeXpert, which was announced earlier this year, that means 20 Arm CPU cores and an AI Blackwell GPU as well as NVIDIA's NVLink C2C tech, which claims to offer "five times the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0," for improved data transfer and sharing between the CPU and GPU. According to MSI, the EdgeXpert is capable of a petaFLOP of AI performance. It also features 128 GB of LPDDR5x unified system memory and a vapor chamber cooling system.

Digital Storm today unveiled two new desktop platforms at CES 2026, Vector and Aventum 5, which showcase two distinct approaches to modern high-end computing: an unapologetically extreme liquid-cooled tower and a dramatically slimmer performance desktop that condenses serious hardware into a compact footprint.

Rethinking High-End Desktops
For the last decade, many high-end desktops have grown bigger, louder, and more power hungry in the race for peak numbers. Vector and Aventum 5 take a different path, focusing on how a PC performs and behaves over hours of rendering, creation, or AI workloads, not just what it hits in a 30-second benchmark run. Both platforms are engineered around modern CPUs from Intel and AMD and graphics options up to NVIDIA RTX 6000 Pro Blackwell.

Today, HP Inc. announced the company's newest innovations powering the work of everyday life with updates to its full HP OmniBook consumer portfolio that deliver passion-ready experiences for consumers to work smarter, look sharper, and lead better. "Today's consumers use their PCs in more ways than ever before to create content, stream entertainment, code, or game. And regardless what hat they may wear at any given point - student by day, entrepreneur or freelancer by night - they all need devices that can keep up with whatever comes their way," said Samuel Chang, Senior Vice President and Division President, Consumer Personal Systems at HP Inc. "Our newest OmniBook, OmniStudio, and Chromebook portfolios deliver our widest range of PCs yet - engineered to power the most demanding types of work while designed to enable whatever consumers love to do."

Powerful Performance Meets Stunning Design
The line between work and personal life has become increasingly blurred. Up to 12.5% of the total global workforce is made up of online gig workers, and people are using their PCs not just for school or personal tasks, but for side hustles, freelancing, and exploring their entrepreneurial spirit. Knowledge workers are using AI more than ever, with a 39% increase year-over-year in daily AI use. And close to half of all knowledge workers are optimistic about work because they believe tech will improve it. The company's newest HP OmniBook Ultra and HP OmniStudio X 27 are designed to take advantage of the latest in AI, delivering Copilot+ experiences to get the work done so you have more time to enjoy what you love.

MSI introduces the new PRO MAX Series, a unified high-end platform shaped by Modernity, Acceleration, and eXperience for the evolving rhythm of everyday work. Guided by a consistent design language of color, hierarchy, and structure, PRO MAX keeps the focus on what matters most-the content itself. Performance is tuned for multitasking, image processing, data-driven workloads, and out of office collaboration, while an intuitive and predictable user experience ensures a smooth and uninterrupted flow across different work environments.

As work expands across shared, and hybrid settings, PRO MAX maintains continuity wherever work happens. The PRO MAX Series debuts with a complete product lineup spanning Monitor, Desktop PC, All-in-one PC, Motherboard, Power supply, Chassis and Liquid cooler-forming a fully integrated ecosystem for everyday work.

Colorful has claimed the world OC record for frequency with the AMD Ryzen 7 9800 X3D on its iGame X870E Vulcan OC motherboard. According to the HWBot listing submitted by Hero, the CPU reached a 7335.48 MHz peak clock under liquid nitrogen cooling, beating out the previous record—7313.05 MHz—by just over 20 MHz. It's worth noting that this clock still does not come close to the top-scoring CPU overclock, which still belongs to the Intel Core i9-14900K, which scored 9130.33 MHz under liquid helium cooling.

It also bears pointing out that these frequency overclock records have very little to do with actual gaming overclocks or stability for daily use, since they largely measure single-core clocks, and often the configurations that are required to reach these clocks are far from standard—even ignoring the exotic cooling solutions. Regardless, they serve as a showcase for what is possible with modern silicon and specific motherboards, which is why Colorful has lauded the achievement.

Perhaps in response to the overwhelming demand for DDR5 and the resulting price increase for PC hardware, ASUS is apparently planning to increase production of its B550 AM4 motherboards, which still rely on aging DDR4 RAM. This is according to a leak posted to Board Channels (via Videocardz), which claims that ASUS will make changes to its supply chain and production in the first quarter of 2026 in order to increase DDR4 motherboard production. This may be an indication that ASUS doesn't expect DDR5 supply and pricing to return to normal anytime soon, which lines up with recent rumors that console makers are considering postponing next-gen console launches until DRAM supply has stabilized.

These plans will include both AMD's B550 and A520 motherboards, both of which use the venerable AM4 socket, and Intel's B760M and H610M-G, and the increased supply will apparently be dedicated to e-commerce channels rather than physical retailers. These motherboards will cover up to AMD's Ryzen 5000 CPUs and Intel 14th-Gen CPUs. At the time of writing, there has been no confirmation from ASUS that these rumors are true, but the AM4 platform has continued to receive support from AMD, with the most recent AM4 CPU, the Ryzen 5 5600F, launching as recently as September 2025.

AMD's Ryzen 9 9955HX3D launched earlier this year as a 16-core mobile gaming CPU based on AMD's Zen 5 architecture. Now, it appears to be coming to an microATX motherboard designed for use in DIY PC builds, courtesy of Aoostar. The company, known for its mini PCs, has announced two versions of the microATX motherboard via a Bilibili post: one with an AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX and another with the AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D. Both motherboards feature a full-size PCIe 5.0×16 expansion slots for dGPU compatibility, two DDR5 RAM slots for dual-channel capability, and dual 2280 M.2 PCIe 5.0×4 slots for storage expansion.

The motherboard also looks to use a standard 24-pin ATX power connector. The 9955HX3D's biggest claim to fame is the sizeable cache that's split between 64 MB of 3D V-Cache and 64 MB of regular cache, but this specific offering might be a decent option for those looking for a lot of power in a smaller form factor without the very limited expansion options that come from traditional mini PCs. The Ryzen 9 9955HX motherboard will launch at $530 (converted from ¥3799), a while the 3D V-Cache-equipped 9955HX3D will launch at $669.53 (converted from ¥4799), although it is unclear if these motherboards will be available for purchase outside of China.

Update Dec 30th: Aoostar has officially launched the TA95X3D microATX motherboards on its international store at a launch price of $749 (after a 25% discount).

GEEKOM will make its fourth consecutive appearance at CES 2026, taking place from January 6 to 9 at Booth 35025 in LVCC South Hall 2. As a leader in the Mini PC industry, GEEKOM is presenting its most focused product launch to date, marking a major expansion into premium laptops while continuing to advance its compact computing lineup.

The centerpiece of GEEKOM's CES 2026 showcase is the GeekBook X14 Pro, a laptop that sets a new benchmark for lightweight design. Weighing just 2.2 pounds and measuring only 0.23 inches at its thinnest point, the GeekBook X14 Pro is positioned as the world's lightest all-metal laptop. It features a 2.8K OLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate, delivering sharp visuals, vivid colors, and smooth performance.

As a leader in innovative technology, ACEMAGIC today announced the upcoming launch of the ACEMAGIC Tank Centre series, introducing two new models, M1A PRO and M1A PRO+. Building on the success of the original TANK 03, the new lineup delivers significantly enhanced performance for gaming, AI workloads, and multi-display productivity, while retaining the series' distinctive industrial design.

As PC hardware continues to evolve, high-performance computing is becoming increasingly compact, intelligent, and energy-efficient. ACEMAGIC has been at the forefront of this shift, demonstrating that mini PCs can deliver desktop-class performance without the size or complexity of traditional systems.

In our reviews of previous Lenovo Legion laptops, we've noted that they deliver a lot of bang for the buck, with devices like the Legion 5i being a great example. Now, it looks like Lenovo is planning to launch an update to its Legion gaming laptop series at CES in January 2026. Recent leaks from Windows Latest indicate that Lenovo is planning on launching AMD-powered Legion 5a and Legion 7a laptops, all of which will feature updated AMD Ryzen AI 400-series APUs and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPUs. Prior leaks about the AMD Ryzen 400 APUs revealed that the next-gen APUs will pack both Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 tech, with the Ryzen 9 APUs featuring up to 12 cores, while the leaked Ryzen 7 variants both packed 8 cores.

The leak confirms Legion 7a laptops equipped with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 and Ryzen AI 9 465 APUs, while the 5a laptops will come with either the Ryzen AI 9 465 or Ryzen 7 250. The Legion 7a and the Ryzen 400-series Legion 5a will lead the line-up with 16-inch, 2,560 × 1,600, 16:10 OLED displays topping out at 240 Hz (165 Hz for the Legion 5a) and 500 nits brightness. It seems as though only the Lenovo Legion 7a will feature NVIDIA G-SYNC, while the entire line-up will deliver 100% DCI-P3 coverage. All except for the Ryzen 7-powered Legion 5a will feature X-Rite calibration from the factory. The top-end Legion 7a will come with up to 64 GB of LPDDR5x RAM at 8533 MT/s, while the lower-end Legion laptops will have slower DDR5-5600 RAM and top out at 32 GB. All three laptops will seemingly also feature keyboards with 24-zone RGB and swappable keycaps, which is interesting for those interested in longevity and repairability.

ASUS today announced ASUS ExpertCenter P500 Mini Tower (PM500MH), a high-performance desktop PC for that's designed to redefine value and performance for small businesses. With the new ASUS Tower Air Cooler thermal design and powered by the latest up to AMD Ryzen 7 processor, P500 Mini Tower unleashes up to 45 W TDP—delivering 40% better peak performance than competitors in its class.

Security is paramount with ExpertCenter P500 Mini Tower, so it's backed by the reassurance of multiple ASUS ExpertGuardian protections. This powerhouse meets commercial-grade standards with a NIST SP 800-155-compliant BIOS, while ASUS assures at least five years of BIOS and driver updates to protect critical data. Enhanced with ASUS AI ExpertMeet, part of the ASUS MyExpert suite, ExpertCenter P500 Mini Tower revolutionizes virtual meetings through advanced AI tools like real-time translation and automated summaries, making collaboration seamless. With an optional up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 graphics, this new desktop also supports high-end visuals and demanding graphical tasks.

For the first time ever, AMD has integrated "Znver6" patches into the GCC compiler, allowing software to target the "Zen 6" microarchitecture ahead of its official release. Traditionally, AMD has provided these updates only at the time of a product's launch, creating a gap between developers accessing early hardware and receiving official software support. On the other hand, Intel has been proactive in software enablement, such as implementing compiler patches and firmware integrations, well ahead of product launches, with AMD now trying to adopt a similar approach. This strategy has given Intel a competitive advantage with its software stack, as early enablement tends to result in fewer issues later on.

The delayed arrival of AMD compiler support induced significant challenges, especially given GCC's annual release schedule and LLVM/Clang's six-month cycle. Although both compilers release bug-fix updates that could allow for backporting, Linux distributions rarely adopt these versions. This meant that obtaining optimized compiler support for new AMD EPYC and Ryzen processors at launch was especially difficult. However, with the GCC compiler now officially supporting the upcoming "Zen 6" products, these common issues have been addressed. AMD might have changed its approach due to the new instruction support introduced with "Zen 6."

According to a report from Sedaily, cited by TrendForce, Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) Division is in discussions with AMD over manufacturing its chips on Samsung Foundry's second-generation 2 nm process known as SF2P. Samsung's 2 nm technology is competing directly with TSMC's N2 and Intel's 18A, both using the Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor architectures. Industry sources say a decision on moving forward with a formal agreement could come as early as January next year, with actual production being more a matter of "when" rather than "if". As part of the talks, Samsung is expected to run AMD designs through a multi-project wafer (MPW) program in the near term. This would allow both companies to evaluate SF2P's performance and yields before committing to volume manufacturing. The chip involved is believed to be AMD's next-generation EPYC "Venice" server CPU, according to Global Economic News. If the MPW results meet AMD's expectations, sources say it could open the door for AMD to adopt a dual-foundry strategy, pairing Samsung with TSMC. Such a move would not be limited to server products, and could eventually extend to future consumer CPUs, including the "Olympic Ridge" Ryzen lineup.

Separately, the report highlights the AI-focused partnership between Samsung and AMD. Despite Samsung's challenges in entering NVIDIA's HBM supply chain, it has secured a strong position with AMD. Samsung is already supplying HBM3E 12-layer memory for AMD's MI350 accelerators and is considered well positioned for HBM4, which is expected to debut alongside AMD next-generation MI450 products. From Samsung's perspective, adding AMD as a foundry customer would further support its recent recovery. Sedaily notes that Samsung Foundry has picked up momentum after winning orders from major clients such as Tesla and Apple. At the same time, industry sources point to TSMC capacity constraints and rising wafer prices, those factors making Samsung an alternative.

Earlier today, ASRock's "AGESA to Combo AM5 1.2.7.1" BIOS update turned up within the official support index. In general, several B650 and B850 chipset-based motherboard models—once updated with the AGESA BIOS 1.2.7.1 stable release—will be blessed with "upcoming CPU compatibility." Recent PC hardware community excitement has been generated by key marketing terms, including "Future CPU Ready" or "Ultimate Compatibility." As of mid-October, ASUS started hinting about forthcoming "Zen 6" processor support, on AM5 platforms. Next-gen mainstream desktop Ryzen CPUs are not expected to arrive until later on in 2026.

Looking at ASRock's latest BIOS release, upcoming support could refer to products that are due for launch in the near future. Around late October, the AGESA 1.2.7.0 beta contained code references to familiar Team Red "Strix Point" (STX) and "Phoenix Point" (PHX) architectures. Unlike nearby rivals, ASRock did not embrace v1.2.7.0—instead today's release jumps to v1.2.7.1. Presumably, the up-to-date revisions pave the way for "Krackan Point" or "Strix Point" desktop APUs on ASRock's slice of B650 and B850 boards. AMD could introduce the "Ryzen 9000G" series at CES 2025, potentially alongside the oft-leaked "Ryzen 7 9850X3D" SKU, and a more mysterious "Ryzen 9 9950X3D2" flagship model.