AMD is reportedly planning to launch the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F Socket AM5 desktop processors for a global launch, in the retail channel, as boxed processors. The two chips had launched earlier this month in the Chinese retail market. The 8700F reportedly comes with an OPN of 100-100001590BOX, while the 8400F is marked 100-100001591BOX. The "F" in both SKUs denotes a lack of integrated graphics. The Ryzen 7 8700F is an 8-core/16-thread processor based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" silicon, while the 8400F is a 6-core/12-thread processor based on "Phoenix 2," which offers two "Zen 4" cores that run at higher clock speeds, and four "Zen 4c" cores that run at lower speeds.

The lack of an iGPU isn't the only thing differentiating the 8700F from the 8700G, the new chip even comes with slightly lower CPU clock speeds—100 MHz lower base and maximum boost frequencies. The 8700F CPU runs at a base frequency of 4.10 GHz, with 5.00 GHz maximum boost, when compared to the 4.20/5.10 GHz speeds of the 8700G. The 8400F, on the other hand, runs at 4.20 GHz base frequency, and a 4.70 GHz maximum boost frequency that applies to at least its two "Zen 4" cores; its four "Zen 4c" cores run at lower frequencies. There is no word on pricing. One reason you could want an 8700F over something like a 7700 would be its appetite for memory overclocking, if you can overlook the lack of integrated graphics, a smaller L3 cache, and most importantly, the lack of PCIe Gen 5, and four fewer PCIe lanes.

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.

Lenovo has unveiled a selection of ThinkCentre desktops powered by AMD Ryzen PRO 8000 Series desktop processors with up to 16 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of integrated NPU capability dedicated to process AI workloads, including the performance focused ThinkCentre M75t Gen 5, the flexible ThinkCentre M75s Gen 5, and the compact ThinkCentre M75q Gen 5. Designed to meet the diverse needs of modern business, the ThinkCentre M75 Gen 5 family of desktops harnesses the AI capability of its component while optimizing its energy efficiency to deliver impressive results.

"The AI PC era is already here and at Lenovo we are embracing it to unlock new possibilities," said Sanjeev Menon, vice president and general manager, Worldwide Desktop Business in Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo. "The need for businesses to integrate AI into their operations continues to grow and our ThinkCentre M75 family of desktops, with a strong and stable power supply, the ability to upgrade components when needed, and the space to expand memory and optimize thermal management are the ideal options to enhance productivity with AI without heavy investments. Lenovo and AMD have a long-standing partnership focused on delivering value to our customers and we know users will be delighted by the leap in performance of our new desktops."

Minisforum has unveiled a game-changing device that blurs the lines between tablets and laptops: the Minisforum V3. Today, the V3 laptop has hit the Minisforum store. This innovative 3-in-1 tablet is powered by the high-performance AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor, offering a unique blend of portability and computing power. Unlike its traditional Mini PC design, Minisforum has adopted the popular form factor of Microsoft Surface and Lenovo Yoga tablet PCs with the V3. This versatile device can be a handheld tablet, a laptop with an included magnetic attachable keyboard, or a solo kickstand. At the heart of the Minisforum V3 lies the 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 8840U processor, capable of delivering exceptional performance for demanding tasks. The tablet features a stunning 14-inch 2560 x 1600 IPS screen with a 165 Hz refresh rate and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, making it an ideal choice for creative professionals and content creators.

The V3's standout feature is its advanced cooling system, which allows the Ryzen 7 8840U and onboard Radeon 780M iGPU to operate at a stable 28 watts. This ensures smooth and efficient performance even under heavy workloads, making it a reliable device for all your tasks. The tablet's screen boasts a remarkable 500 nits of brightness, and its high color gamut coverage makes it perfect for professionals who require accurate color representation. Minisforum has priced the V3 competitively at $1199 at the pre-sale offering, making it an attractive option for those seeking a powerful and versatile device that can adapt to various scenarios. This primary option includes 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB SSD for storage. For early birds, Minisforum offers a V Pen, tempered glass screen protector, and laptop sleeve as a gift. Here is the link to the Minisforum V3 store.

Acer today announced the new Nitro 14 and Nitro 16 gaming laptops, powered by AMD Ryzen 8040 Series processors with Ryzen AI[1]. With up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060[2] Laptop GPUs supported by DLSS 3.5 technology, both are backed by NVIDIA's RTX AI platform, providing an array of capabilities in over 500 games and applications, enhanced by AI. Gamers are immersed in their 14- and 16-inch NVIDIA G-SYNC compatible panels with up to WQXGA (2560x1600) resolution.

Whether in call or streaming in-game, Acer PurifiedVoice 2.0 harnesses the power of AI to block out external noises, while Acer PurifiedView keeps users always front and center of all the action. Microsoft Copilot in Windows (with a dedicated Copilot key) helps accelerate everyday tasks on these AI laptops, and with one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included with every device, players will enjoy hundreds of high-quality PC games. To seamlessly take command of device performance and customizations, one click of the NitroSense key directs users to the control center and the library of available AI-related functions through the new Experience Zone.

Two of AMD's upcoming mobile processors that implement the "Zen 5" microarchitecture, "Strix Point" and "Fire Range," were spotted in shipping manifests. These are prototypes moving between AMD and its OEM partners. The manifest explicitly mentions a "Fire Range" 16-core processor sample with 55 W TDP, another "Fire Range" chip with an 8-core configuration and the same 55 W power; and a trio of "Strix Point" processors with a 28 W power design. Two of these are Ryzen 9 SKUs, and one of them is a Ryzen 7.

VideoCardz has the OPN codes for the samples being moved. The Ryzen 7 "Strix Point" sample bears 100-0000001335. One of the two Ryzen 9 "Strix Point" chips bears 100-000000994. The 16-core "Fire Range" is marked 100-000001028, while the 8-core "Fire Range" is 100-000001029. "Strix Point" will be AMD's most imporant mobile processor silicon, as this will be the one with a "Zen 5" CPU core count relevant to the notebook market, pack an RDNA 3+ iGPU, and that alleged 40 TOPS+ XDNA 2 NPU that can run Microsoft Copilot locally. A step up from this will be "Strix Halo," with a higher CPU core count, a much larger iGPU designed for performance-segment gaming. "Fire Range" is essentially a low Z-height BGA version of the "Granite Ridge" chiplet processor that has up to two "Zen 5" CCDs and an I/O die.

ZOTAC TECHNOLOGY, a global company focused on innovation, announces three brand-new series of compact form-factor mini AI PCs powered by cutting-edge processors. These mini AI PCs, powered by Intel and AMD processors with dedicated Neural Processing Units (NPU), let users embrace the next generation of computing empowered by Artificial Intelligence.

Accelerated with embedded NPUs within Intel Core Ultra and AMD Ryzen Processors, the brand-new AI PC ZBOX lineup brings the power of Artificial Intelligence to the desk, allowing users to jumpstart their productivity or creativity with AI-powered acceleration. ZBOX's signature lightweight form factor chassis coupled with next-gen hardware create a new generation of versatile, capable personal computers that are smarter to use and even easier to set up.

AMD's Beijing AI PC Innovation Summit served as introduction point for a Chinese market launch of "Hawk Point" Ryzen 8040 mobile series and 8000G desktop processors—news coverage has, so far, focused on that rollout as well as a teasing of next-gen "Strix Point" processors. HXL/9550pro has put a spotlight on an easy-to-miss presentation slide—their social media post revealed the existence of new budget-friendly Ryzen 8000F CPUs. Team Red seems to be preparing two China-exclusive SKUs: Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F—not many details were revealed on-stage, so reporters have played a guessing game with speculated technical information. Industry experts believe that the 8700F is an iGPU-less version of AMD's "Hawk Point" Ryzen 7 8700G APU—utilizing the same 8 core and 16 thread configuration, but missing the Radeon 780M integrated graphics solution.

The lower-end SKU is a more perplexing product, since AMD did not elaborate much during "budget" product unveilings—VideoCardz put its thinking hat on for this one: "meanwhile, the 8400F might be harder to guess, as the name sits between 8500G and 8300G, both featuring vastly different configurations. An educated guess would be 6 cores and 12 threads, possibly with two Zen 4 and four Zen 4c cores." The "F" model suffix gained attention last year—courtesy of Team Red's Ryzen 5 7500F CPU. This iGPU-less "Raphael" Zen 4 SKU was initially released as a Chinese market exclusive, but eventually headed West as an option for system integrators.

Tianbo has prepared a very an intriguing Cyberpunk 2077-themed Mini PC for the Chinese gaming hardware market—the JD.com listing (as reported by VideoCardz) showcases black and white enclosures with a sci-fi aesthetic and plenty of RGB lighting courtesy of the slimline internal cooling solution's illuminated 9 cm fan. It is not immediately clear whether CD Projekt and R. Talsorian Games have jointly approved the GOD88 Mini PC's prominent usage of their Cyberpunk title/logo/font. The specification sheet and accompanying imagery place emphasis on the Cyber GOD88's APU of choice: an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS mobile processor—this sits at second place within Team Red's recently launched 8040 "Hawk Point" series, their Ryzen 9 8945HS chip takes principal position here.

The GOD88's Ryzen 7 8845HS APU is no slouch when compared to the Ryzen 9 sibling—it runs the same 8-core/16-thread configuration, with a 5.1 GHz max boost (only trailing behind by 100 MHz). The spec sheet mentions a configurable TDP of 35 - 54 W. Tianbo's Mini PC is sold as a barebones system, according to the JD.com product page—customers are expected to plug in their own choice of RAM and storage. Dual-channel DDR5-5600 memory is supported, while the cramped interior can accommodate a single full-sized M.2 2280 PCIe 4×4 SSD. The Tianbo GOD88 "High Performance" Cyberpunk Mini PC will be open to pre-orders (via JD.com) on February 5—barebones pricing is set at 2688 RMB (~$378.50).

MAINGEAR, the leader in premium-quality, high-performance gaming PCs, announces its 2024 preconfigured MG-1 gaming PCs, featuring the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-Series SUPER GPUs. Designed to redefine the gaming experience, these newly announced pre-configured systems, starting at $1,199, offer enhanced performance, diverse options, more memory, larger SSD capacities, and can be had with Windows 11 Pro.

"Refreshing the MG-1 Series to feature the latest gaming hardware and components represents our ongoing commitment to delivering cutting-edge gaming experiences. With the latest Intel & AMD processors, NVIDIA GPUs, including the new SUPERs, and a broader range of options in the MG-1, MAINGEAR continues to set the standard for gaming excellence." - Wallace Santos, CEO of MAINGEAR.

The first CPU-Z test results of AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7 8700G were sniffed out by serial leaker @momomo_us on X/Twitter and the new APU is looking very promising performance wise. It ends up being neck and neck with yours truly own Ryzen 7 7800X3D with a small lead to the CPU over the APU in single-threaded performance, but in the multi-threaded test the APU manages to stay ahead of the CPU, if only just. Both AMD chips are still somewhat behind Intel's Core i7-12700KF, but it has an extra four threads, even though those threads are slower due to them being on the E-cores.

The Ryzen 7 8700G test system was using an ASRock B650 Pro RS motherboard and the APU was paired with 32 GB of DDR5-6400 memory with reasonably tight timings of 32-39-39-102. The tester relied on the integrated Radeon 780M graphics in the APU and the Windows 11 operating system was installed on a 500 GB Seagate BarraCuda 510 SSD. In the single-threaded test the Ryzen 7 8700G scores 675 points vs 683 for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and in the multi-threaded tests it came in at 7318 vs 7301. Not bad for a 65 W TDP APU vs a 120 W TDP CPU. For comparison, the average for Intel's Core i7-12700KF is 7754 in the mutli-threaded test. Although CPU-Z is far from an exhaustive test, it does at least give us a first glimpse of what to expect from the new Zen 4 APUs from AMD in terms of performance and it looks like it's in line with its best Zen 4 CPUs.

MINISFORUM has recently unveiled a new high-performance Mini PC, the HX100G, now available in their official store. This compact system boasts the powerful combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS flagship processor and Radeon RX 6650M graphics card, making it an ideal choice for gamers, designers, and creative professionals. The sale price for the barebone version is set at $719, the 32 GB RAM+1 TB SSD version is set at $905, and the 64 GB RAM + 1 TB SSD version is priced at $995. As an iterative upgrade to the HX99G, the HX100G features an enhanced CPU in the form of the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS. Manufactured using a 4 nm process, this processor boasts 8 cores, 16 threads, a base frequency of 3.8 GHz, and a maximum boost clock of 5.1 GHz. With a TDP ranging from 35 W to 54 W and a generous 16 MB of L3 cache, it also integrates the Radeon 780M integrated GPU, utilizing the FP8 slot. Compared to the 6900HX, the HX100G demonstrates an 8% improvement in single-core performance and a 16% improvement in multi-core performance.

The HX100G is equipped with the AMD Radeon RX 6650M dedicated graphics card (GDDR6 8 GB), supporting AMD Smart Access Memory technology. With a TDP of up to 100 watts, it meets the demands of 1080p high-quality AAA gaming and excels in professional photo editing, 4K video editing, and complex 3D rendering tasks. One of the notable advantages of the HX100G is its robust expandability. Featuring two DDR5 memory slots, it supports a maximum of 64 GB dual-channel memory, with DDR5 clocked at 5600 MHz—an impressive 47% increase over the HX99G's 4800 MHz. In addition to the default M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD slot (supporting up to 2 TB), an extra M.2 2280 SSD slot is provided, supporting NGFF SATA or NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs for further expansion.

AMD announced its Ryzen 8000G series of Zen 4-based desktop APUs earlier this month, with an official product launch date: January 31. The top models within this range are the "Hawk Point" Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G processors—Olrak29_ took to social media after spotting pre-release examples popping up on the Geekbench Browser database. It is highly likely that evaluation samples are in the hands of reviewers, and more benchmarked results are expected to be uploaded over the next week and a half. The Ryzen 7 8700G (w/ Radeon 780M Graphics) was benched on an ASUS ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI board with 32 GB (6398 MT/s) of DDR5 system memory. Leaked figures appeared online last weekend, originating from an Ryzen 5 8600G (w/ Radeon 760M Graphics) paired with an MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI (MS-7E26) motherboard and 32 GB (6400 MT/s) of DDR5 RAM.

The Geekbench 6 results reveal that the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G APUs are slightly less performant than "Raphael" Ryzen 7000 non-X processors—not a massive revelation, given the underlying technological similarities between these AMD product lines. Evaluations could change with the publication of official review data, but the 8000G series is at a natural disadvantage here—lower core clock frequencies and smaller L3 cache designations are the likely culprits. The incoming APUs are also somewhat hobbled with PCIe support only reaching 4.0 standards. VideoCardz, Tom's Hardware and Wccftech have taken the time to compile the leaked Geekbench 6 results into handy comparison charts—very much worth checking out.

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.

Today, at CES 2024, Lenovo showcased its latest repertoire of new consumer devices: A selection of Yoga AI laptops that supercharge the creative process, a tablet that invites users to play and learn, IdeaPad laptops designed for the everyday user, and peripherals for the modern world. "Modern consumers need solutions that adapt to their evolving needs, and our latest selection of portable devices addresses those needs with thoughtful technologies, including AI," said Jun Ouyang, Lenovo's Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer Business Segment, Intelligent Devices Group. "Our vision of delivering 'AI for all' places the individual user at the center, while emphasizing privacy and security."

Seeing is Believing - The Power and Flexibility of AI
Ushering in a new era, Lenovo's newest lineup of Microsoft Windows 11 Lenovo Yoga laptops come with Lenovo Yoga Creator Zone, an exclusive new software for creators, artists, and anybody looking to harness the power of generative AI in a simple and private way with security in mind. As an imagination sparkplug, Lenovo Yoga Creator Zone offers image generation, which transforms text-based descriptions or even sketches into stunning visuals without complex prompts, codes, or setups. Users simply type whatever they want to see, and the system instantly creates a visual representation.

Modularity takes center stage in Framework's latest laptop innovation—the Laptop 16—showcased at their CES 2024 booth. The TechPowerUp team was there to look at the modules that the company showed. As a bigger brother to their popular Laptop 13, the 16-inch model amps up the modularity with new expansion systems for unrivaled customizability. The showstopper is the laptop's graphics modularity, realizing the long-sought dream of upgradeable discrete GPUs in a laptop. Gamers and creators can swap graphics modules to keep up with the latest technology. The laptop also introduces a modular keyboard deck with interchangeable parts for full input flexibility. Framework's expansive modularity translates to sustainability. Components can be reused, reducing e-waste. The company is open-sourcing designs and engaging partners to participate in the ecosystem.

Starting at $1399 for the DIY edition, the choice is either AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS or Ryzen 9 7940HS CPUs, along with Radeon RX 7700S graphics configured at 100 Watt TGP. A variety of modules and various keyboard positions can be seen in the pictures below, including the configuration with LED matrix spacer, color shifting spacer, different color screen bezels, and much more. Additional modules like SD Card expansion module are coming soon as well.

Acer announced new additions to its Aspire laptop line, showcasing an extensive range of performance and design options to support everyday computing needs.

The Aspire Vero 16 is the latest from its Vero product line, powered by the new Intel Core Ultra processors with Intel AI Boost and Wi-Fi 7 compatibility. Acer has committed to carbon neutrality for the Aspire Vero 16, following international standards for carbon footprint calculation and carbon neutrality. Actions are taken at each stage of the device lifecycle to minimize its carbon footprint, and then, high-quality carbon credits will be applied to attain carbon neutrality. The Intel Evo Edition laptop has increased the usage of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials on the chassis, doubling that of the 2021 model, to combine eco-innovation and premium PC experiences on the device.

MINISFORUM unveiled a high-end tablet convertible based on the Windows 11 x64 platform. Called simply the V3 AMD Tablet, this 3-in-1 convertible can be used as a 14-inch tablet, or combined with a dock that adds a keyboard, trackpad, and a stand. The tablet measures 318 mm x 213.8 mm x mm 9.8 mm (WxDxH), weighing 946 g. Its 14-inch 16:10 aspect-ratio display offers a 2560 x 1600 pixels resolution, with 165 Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 coverage, and 500 nits maximum brightness. This display is backed by a sensitive touchscreen that supports MPP 2.6 SLA and sensitivity suitable for a natural handwriting stylus.

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.3, a USB-C V-Link (DP in), two 40 Gbps USB4, a fingerprint reader, and 4-pole headset jack. Under the hood, the MINISFORUM V3 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8040U series "Hawk Point" processor, paired with 32 GB of LPDDR5-6400 memory, and a 2 TB M.2 Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The SoC has a 28 W configured TDP, and MINISFORUM has innovated a four flat copper heatpipe, dual fan cooling solution. The tablet also has a 4-speaker setup and multi-directional microphone. The front camera is 2 MP with full Windows Hello compatibility, while the rear cam is 5 MP. Powering it all is a 50.82 Wh battery, and a 65 W USB-PD power source over a type-C connector. Windows 11 Pro 23H2 with Ryzen AI enablement comes pre-installed. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Courtesy of serial leaker @momomo_us we now have an indication on potential pricing for AMD's upcoming 8000G-series of APUs for the AM5 socket. The Ryzen 8000G-series APUs are expected to use the same CPU cores as AMD's Zen 4 based Ryzen 7000-series CPUs, but paired with a new I/O design in a monolithic die. The leaker has provided pricing from what is said to be three different shops and for three different SKUs, with the Ryzen 5 7600 as the reference point in all three cases. All three shops list the Ryzen 5 7600 at a higher price than Amazon, so it's unlikely that we're looking at MSRP pricing here.

The Ryzen 5 8500G has a price range of US$190-240, followed by the Ryzen 5 8600G which comes in at US$240-310 and finally the Ryzen 7 8700G which is listed at US$340-440. The price span is rather large, which makes it impossible to draw any conclusions of what the MSRP will be. Tom's hardware managed to dig up a pair of retailers, including what appears to be the one with the lowest pricing in the leak, which is DirectDial. The other retailer that Tom's Hardware located was Zones, but that pricing doesn't match any of the initial leaks, but are somewhat towards the higher numbers. AMD is expected to announce the new series of APUs at CES early next year.

Market research by Korean publication Danawa DPG provides valuable insights to how desktop AMD Ryzen processor users are charting their upgrade paths given the long upgrade longevity of AMD sockets. The research follows a 10-month date range from December 2022 to October 2023, and tracks the sales of motherboards based on various AMD chipset models. We're shown that toward the turn of the year, AMD B550 chipset motherboards sell the most. This is when AMD Ryzen 5000 Socket AM4 processors top sales for the company, Given that the B550 fully supports CPU overclocking, and that there are plenty of feature-packed B550 motherboard models, it explains why the B550 covers a wide price-band.

AMD launched the Ryzen 7000 series "Zen 4" to lukewarm response in September 2022, mainly because the platform lacked DDR4 memory support that was relevant at the time, and hence wasn't as flexible to consumers as Intel's LGA1700. Its launch caused price-cuts for Ryzen 5000 series processors, clearing out some upgrade headroom for those on the AM4 platform still using Ryzen 3000. Off to a slow start, we see its successor from Socket AM5, the B650 chipset, rise steadily over the time period, and for two reasons—DDR5 memory became affordable over the course of 2023; and AMD breathed life into the Ryzen 7000 series with the introduction of the Ryzen 7000X3D series, which restored gaming performance competitiveness to Intel's 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake." The B650 has everything you need right now for a Ryzen 7000X3D build, given that both the GeForce RTX 40-series and Radeon RX 7000 series are PCIe Gen 4 graphics cards; and that the B650 has at least a Gen 5 NVMe slot. If you absolutely need a Gen 5 x16 slot, there's the premium B650E chipset to go with.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, is excited today to showcase the best graphics card and motherboard combo for work efficiency and home entertainment.

The A620MP-E PRO motherboard and Radeon RX7600 GPU by BIOSTAR redefine excellence, specifically catering to the diverse requirements of students, home users, and casual gamers. These innovative products, embodying BIOSTAR's commitment to quality, seamlessly blend advanced technology with unparalleled performance. This dynamic duo establishes a new standard in versatility and efficiency, exemplifying BIOSTAR's legacy in delivering cutting-edge, reliable solutions for a broad range of computing needs.

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is designed to be a middle-of-the-market processor SKU from Intel's next generation "Meteor Lake" processor family. It comes with a CPU core configuration of 14-core/18-thread. That's 4P+8E+2L (four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, two low-power island cores), although with a full featured Xe-LPG iGPU that has all 8 Xe cores (128 EU) enabled. The chip is normally rated for a 28 W power envelope, although OEMs such as Lenovo have developed a custom 65 W "power mode," which raises the base power value.

A Chinese PC enthusiast with access to an unreleased Lenovo notebook based on this processor, including Lenovo's 65 W Mode toggle, benchmarked it, and compared it with a notebook powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS "Phoenix" processor (8-core/16-thread, "Zen 4," Radeon 780M iGPU with all 12 compute units enabled); and another notebook powered by Intel's current middle-of-market chip in the H-segment, the Core i5-13500H "Raptor Lake" (4P+8E, Xe-LP iGPU with 5 Xe cores or 80 EU). The results were a little unexpected. The Xe-LPG iGPU of the 125H is shown beating both the Radeon 780M of the Ryzen, and the Xe-LP iGPU of the i5-13500H, with the highest 3DMark Time Spy and Fire Strike scores in the comparison. The Xe-LPG iGPU is 15% faster than the Radeon 780M in Time Spy, and 6% faster in Fire Strike. It's a whopping 70% faster than the Xe-LP iGPU of the "Raptor Lake" chip in this comparison. Things are shockingly different on the CPU performance front for the "Meteor Lake" chip.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, and storage solutions innovator, today unveiled the new high-capacity TS-hx77AXU-RP ZFS NAS series, including 12-bay TS-h1277AXU-RP and 16-bay TS-h1677AXU-RP rackmount models powered by AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors based on the cutting-edge AMD Socket AM5 platform. By integrating robust hardware and diverse I/O including DDR5 RAM, M.2 PCIe Gen 5, PCIe Gen 4 slots, and redundant power supplies, the TS-hx77AXU-RP series unleashes enterprise-level performance and delivers ultra-high bandwidth, futureproof expandability, and trusted reliability for performance-demanding Tier 2 storage, virtualization, 4K video editing, and PB-level storage applications.

"The whole new TS-hx77AXU-RP series ZFS NAS provides enterprises with superb performance and large storage capacity to tackle business-critical workloads and storage-demanding applications. The AMD Ryzen 7000 Series multi-core processors further unlocks the key performance of DDR5 and M.2 PCIe Gen 5," said Alex Shih, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "Paired with the ZFS file system that's most suited for business applications, the TS-hx77AXU-RP series stands out as the top choice for storage solutions that require uncompromising data integrity."

AMD today announced the new Ryzen 8040 mobile processor series codenamed "Hawk Point." These chips are shipping to notebook manufacturers now, and the first notebooks powered by these should be available to consumers in Q1-2024. At the heart of this processor is a significantly faster neural processing unit (NPU), designed to accelerate AI applications that will become relevant next year, as Microsoft prepares to launch Windows 12, and software vendors make greater use of generative AI in consumer applications.

The Ryzen 8040 "Hawk Point" processor is almost identical in design and features to the Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix," except for a faster Ryzen AI NPU. While this is based on the same first-generation XDNA architecture, its NPU performance has been increased to 16 TOPS, compared to 10 TOPS of the NPU on the "Phoenix" silicon. AMD is taking a whole-of-silicon approach to AI acceleration, which includes not just the NPU, but also the "Zen 4" CPU cores that support the AVX-512 VNNI instruction set that's relevant to AI; and the iGPU based on the RDNA 3 graphics architecture, with each of its compute unit featuring two AI accelerators, components that make the SIMD cores crunch matrix math. The whole-of-silicon performance figures for "Phoenix" is 33 TOPS; while "Hawk Point" boasts of 39 TOPS. In benchmarks by AMD, "Hawk Point" is shown delivering a 40% improvement in vision models, and Llama 2, over the Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" series.