Today, we have the latest round of leaks that suggest that AMD's upcoming RDNA 4 graphics cards, codenamed the "RX 8000-series," might continue to rely on GDDR6 memory modules. According to Kepler on X, the next-generation GPUs from AMD are expected to feature 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory, marking the fourth consecutive RDNA architecture to employ this memory standard. While GDDR6 may not offer the same bandwidth capabilities as the newer GDDR7 standard, this decision does not necessarily imply that RDNA 4 GPUs will be slow performers. AMD's choice to stick with GDDR6 is likely driven by factors such as meeting specific memory bandwidth requirements and cost optimization for PCB designs. However, if the rumor of 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory proves accurate, it would represent a slight step back from the 18-20 Gbps GDDR6 memory used in AMD's current RDNA 3 offerings, such as the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX GPUs.

AMD's first generation RDNA used GDDR6 with 12-14 Gbps speeds, RDNA 2 came with GDDR6 at 14-18 Gbps, and the current RDNA 3 used 18-20 Gbps GDDR6. Without an increment in memory generation, speeds should stay the same at 18 Gbps. However, it is crucial to remember that leaks should be treated with skepticism, as AMD's final memory choices for RDNA 4 could change before the official launch. The decision to use GDDR6 versus GDDR7 could have significant implications in the upcoming battle between AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel's next-generation GPU architectures. If AMD indeed opts for GDDR6 while NVIDIA pivots to GDDR7 for its "Blackwell" GPUs, it could create a disparity in memory bandwidth performance between the competing products. All three major GPU manufacturers—AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel with its "Battlemage" architecture—are expected to unveil their next-generation offerings in the fall of this year. As we approach these highly anticipated releases, more concrete details on specifications and performance capabilities will emerge, providing a clearer picture of the competitive landscape.

ASUS today announced BIOS updates enabling support for next-gen AMD Ryzen processors on ASUS AM5 X670, B650 and A620 motherboards, as well as support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processors. These updates are necessary to enable compatibility with these processors. BIOS updates for ASUS AM5 motherboards also add support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processor.

The updates can be accessed on the ASUS BIOS update page for the models listed below.

Today, AMD announced new products that will expand its commercial mobile and desktop AI PC portfolio, delivering exceptional productivity and premium AI and connectivity experiences to business users. The new AMD Ryzen PRO 8040 Series are the most advanced x86 processors built for business laptops and mobile workstations. In addition, AMD also announced the AMD Ryzen PRO 8000 Series desktop processor, the first AI enabled desktop processor for business users, engineered to deliver cutting-edge performance with low power consumption.

With AMD Ryzen AI built into select models, AMD is further extending its AI PC leadership. By leveraging the CPU, GPU, and dedicated on-chip neural processing unit (NPU), new Ryzen AI-powered processors provide more dedicated AI processing power than previous generations, with up to 16 dedicated NPU TOPS (Trillions of Operations Per Second) and up to 39 total system TOPS. Commercial PCs equipped with new Ryzen AI-enabled processors will help transform user experience, offering next-gen performance for AI-enabled collaboration, content creation, and data and analytics workloads. With the addition of AMD PRO technologies, IT managers can unlock enterprise-grade manageability features to simplify IT operations and complete PC deployment faster across the organization, built-in security features for chip-to-cloud defense from sophisticated attacks, as well as unprecedented stability, reliability and platform longevity for enterprise software.

AMD has introduced the Ryzen Embedded 8000 Series processors, the first AMD embedded devices to combine NPUs based on the AMD XDNA architecture with traditional CPU and GPU elements, optimized for workload versatility and adaptability targeting industrial AI applications. Embedded solution engineers and developers can harness the processing power and leadership features for a variety of industrial AI applications including machine vision, robotics, and industrial automation. AI is widely used in machine vision applications today to enhance quality control and inspection processes.

AI can also help robots make real-time, route-planning decisions and adapt to dynamic environments. In industrial automation, AI processing helps intelligent edge devices perform complex analysis and decision-making without relying on cloud connectivity. This allows for real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and autonomous control of industrial processes, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing downtime.

At CES, AMD didn't give away too many technical details of its upcoming Ryzen 8000G-series APUs, but details are starting to trickle out and it's not all good news. As has been known for some time, AMD is using two different chips to make the Ryzen 8000G APUs and they're known as the Phoenix 1 and Phoenix 2, where the Phoenix 2 parts feature Zen 4c cores, which are not present in the Phoenix 1 APUs. This in and of itself shouldn't be a huge issue, although the Zen 4c CPU cores can be slightly slower in some tasks based on testing of AMD's EPYC server parts.

However, PCGamesN noticed that Gigabyte has posted the full specs for the B650E Aorus Elite X AX Ice motherboard and it looks like there's a much bigger difference between the Phoenix 1 and Phoenix 2 based APUs. Namely, the Phoenix 2 APUs have fewer PCIe lanes and as such are limited to two PCIe 4.0 lanes for the secondary NVMe slot. As if this wasn't bad enough, the Phoenix 2 APUs only have four PCIe 4.0 lanes for add-in GPUs, whereas the Phoenix 1 APUs have eight. This is very likely to lead to reduced performance if a higher-end GPU is used with such an APU. Note that this will vary depending on the motherboard design, but many B650/B650E boards feature a similar design with regards to the PCIe lanes coming from the CPU socket. Luckily, it's easy to avoid this issue, as the Ryzen 5 8600G and the Ryzen 7 8700G are both Phoenix 1 designs, whereas the Ryzen 5 8500G is the only Phoenix 2 design available in retail, as the Ryzen 3 8300G is an OEM only part.

During CES, PCWorld had a chat with Donny Woligroski, Technical Marketing Manager at AMD. The new Ryzen 8000G APUs were a large part of what covered in the almost 17 minute long video and PCWorld got some details that weren't covered in the official press materials that AMD released at the launch. The officially supported memory speed listed by AMD is DDR5-5600, which is a step up from the official speed of DDR5-5200 for the Ryzen 7000-series CPUs.

However, we know that the Ryzen 7000-series is more than happy to use faster memory and as before, AMD has an unofficial memory sweet spot and just as with the Ryzen 7000-series, the Ryzen 8000G-series of APUs has a memory sweet spot of DDR5-6000. That said, it's unknown if the Ryzen 8000G-series will support faster memory or will start flaking out above DDR5-6000, like many Ryzen 7000-series CPUs do unless you switch to a 1:2 ratio. Woligroski is also pointing out that dual-channel is a must to get the best performance out of the new APUs, although this shouldn't really surprise anyone. Full video after the break.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16, the latest in an illustrious lineup of supremely powerful thin-and-light gaming laptops. These machines feature a new CNC-machined aluminium chassis, a customizable Slash Lighting array, and a brand-new Platinum White colorway, while cutting-edge AI accelerated silicon from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA stand ready to push gamers and creators to new heights of performance. Both the Zephyrus G14 and G16 come equipped with the ROG Nebula Display, stunningly color-accurate OLED panels that are also G-SYNC capable for incredible gaming experiences. Ultra-efficient cooling technology, including tri-fan technology, liquid metal, and vapor chambers on select models enable the Zephyrus G14 and G16 to breathe easily despite their ultra-portable designs.

Brand-new chassis design
The 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16 have been completely redesigned inside and out. Both machines boast all-new and all-aluminium CNC-machined chassis for the perfect mix of weight reduction, structural rigidity, and increased chassis space. This allows for an edge-to-edge keyboard design, as well as the inclusion of larger and louder speakers with superior bass response down to 100 Hz. The speakers are 25% larger than the previous generation, with a 47% volume increase for more immersive audio experiences than ever before. The Zephyrus G14 and G16 also come with larger individual keycaps and a larger touchpad, for superior typing, precision scrolling, and fluid gaming. Both the 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16 ship with three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, providing access to a library of hundreds of great games.

ASRock proudly announce its AM5 motherboards now support the latest AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors with a BIOS update. AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors are built on Zen 4 and AMD RDNA 3 architecture, offering improved performance and computing efficiency per watt, thus providing enhanced gaming experience for consumers.

Additionally, the newest AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D and 5700 processors as well as AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT/5500GT processors now can also be supported on ASRock AMD 500/400 series AM4 motherboards with a BIOS update. The latest BIOS is already available to download on ASRock website, be sure to update to the latest BIOS to enjoy the ultimate gaming experience.

GIGABYTE Technology, a leading global powerhouse in motherboards, graphics cards, and cutting-edge hardware solutions, proudly unveils the world's first motherboard designed to seamlessly support the native USB-C 40 Gbps signal when paired with the cutting-edge AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors.

"We are thrilled to introduce a motherboard that not only supports the cutting-edge AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors but also incorporates advanced features that cater to the evolving needs of our users. This marks a significant leap forward in terms of performance, user-friendliness, and design aesthetics." Said Jackson Hsu, Director of the GIGABYTE Channel Solutions Product Development Division.

PerformanceDatabases has uncovered details relating to an alleged engineering sample of AMD's Ryzen 8000 "Strix Point" APU—likely insider sourced CPU-Z screengrabs from early last month revealed that the upcoming Zen 5-based laptop chip (in their words): "is built on a 4 nm Process and features the Big.Little CPU architecture with 4 Performance Cores and 8 Efficiency Cores. Both the P and E-Cores support hyper-threading. On the P-Core and E-Core, the L1 Data cache is 48 KB, while the L1 instruction cache is 32 KB. Each P Core boasts 1 MB of cache, and with E-Cores, it looks like there are 4 in a group, sharing 1 MB of L2 Cache. This setup is quite similar to Intel's design. Keep in mind, it's still in the engineering sample (ES) stage, so there's more to come. We'll keep you posted on any further updates!"

Another "AMD Strix - Internal GPU" example emerged late last week, this time in the form of a leaked HWInfo64 screen grab with some information completely covered up—the visible parts seems to point to this "Strix Point" APU featuring a core configuration as seen in the earlier leak, along with 1024 unified shaders. We can presume that the sampled Zen 5-based mobile APU possessing 16 RDNA 3.5 compute units (16 × 64 = 1024). Other details include a 45 W TDP rating, and the socket type being FP8 (as utilized by current Ryzen 7040U and 7040H(S) mobile SoCs). The 512 MB GDDR6 memory configuration is very likely an error—according to HWInfo64, the tested system was fitted with 32 GB of LPDDR5 memory. "Strix Point" looks to be the logical successor (in 2024) to AMD's current "Phoenix" lineup of mobile processors, as featured in gaming handhelds and laptops. PC hardware enthusiasts are expressing excitement about the upcoming APU series wielding impressive iGPU performance, with the potential to rival modern discrete mobile solutions.

Based on details posted on Twitter/X by a pair of well known leakers, AMD appears to be working on a pair of different Ryzen 8000-series mobile processors. The previously known Strix Point is said to get up to four Zen 5 cores and eight Zen 5c cores, whereas the Strix Halo is said to get 16 Zen 5 cores, according to @Olrak29_. This is something that was posted by Moore's Law is Dead back in April as well, who claimed the chip will launch sometime at the end of 2024. MLID also suggested that the Strix Halo will feature a 40 CU GPU and a 256-bit LPDDR5X memory interface, making it a very different proposition from your average APU from AMD.

@kopite7kimi chimes in on Twitter to point out that "Strix Halo looks like a desktop Zen 5 with a different IOD." This is definitely something that would be possible for AMD to do and if we look at the MLID information, the Strix Halo processor appears to have something called a Mall Cache, which seems to be something of a catch all cache for the various components inside the chip, such as the AI Engine and the GPU. Time will tell if AMD delivers on Strix Halo or not, but this might be the first notebook processor that can handle gaming at a decent resolution without needing a discrete GPU. Then again, with a rumoured peak TDP of 120 W, this chip is also going to run hotter and draw more power than most mobile processors to date.

Netac, a Chinese maker of memory and storage devices, has developed DDR5 memory modules with impressive speeds. The company has used SK Hynix A-type dies to create DDR5 memory with up to 8000 MT/s rates. With incredible speeds comes significant latency, whereas the DDR5-8000 memory kit comes with a CAS latency of 38-48-48-128. Netac has determined that these DRAM modules require as much as 1.5 Volts to power it. The base kit starts at 6000 MT/s, with 6200/6600/7200/7600 and 8000 MT/s variations mentioned above. Available in silver and black, these memory modules are equipped with an ARGB strip at the top that works with every RGB control software of motherboard makers.

You can check out the images and specification table below.

Today, we have talked about AMD's upcoming Raphael lineup of processors in the article you can find here. However, it seems like the number of leaks on AMD's plans just keeps getting greater. Thanks to the "itacg" on Weibo, we have learned that AMD's Ryzen 8000 desktop series of processors are reportedly codenamed as Granite Ridge. This new codename denotes the Zen 5 based processors, manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm (N3) node. Another piece of information is that AMD's Ryzen 8000 series APUs are allegedly called Strix Point, and they also use the 3 nm technology, along with a combination of Zen 5 and Zen 4 core design IPs. We are not sure how this exactly works out, so we have to wait to find out more.

Rapoo, a leader in Wireless peripheral technology, announces the launch of its advanced '8000 Wireless Mouse and Keyboard Combo', exclusive to those who are on the go.

The slim keyboard isn't just sleek; but truly compact and on the go! Experience the high-level architecture, meshed with customizable Multimedia Keys that supports 1000 DPI High-Definition Tracking Engine which brings responsive and smooth cursor control. The pocket -size keyboard features a familiar key shape, size, and feeling. It comes with a palm rest and adjustable tilt legs to keep you comfortable all the time.