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.

The market for mini PCs has been blooming recently, and GEEKOM has been working to put themselves at the forefront with exceptionally well priced and decently performing machines mainly benefiting from their partnership with ASUS. We don't have much info about this upcoming mini PC except that it will offer configurations based on either the Ryzen 7 7840HS or Ryzen 9 7940HS and departs from the ASUS PN series styling for an aluminium chassis that takes clear inspiration from Apple's Mac Mini. Whether this is due to a vendor change or the efforts of internal R&D we'll likely learn when it launches. Aside from the rounded corners, bead blasted aluminium finish, and rear I/O laid out on a black accent fascia plate little else about the machine compares to the Mini except the tiny size at a mere 112.4 x 112.4 mm (4.43 in). Despite this tiny frame the I/O compliment is decent; three 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports, a 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, a 40 Gbps and a 10 Gbps Type C that can each handle DisplayPort out, two HDMI ports, a 2.5G Ethernet jack, SD Card reader on the side, and one 3.5 mm combo audio jack at the front.

GEEKOM is expected to launch this new mini PC model in Asia within the next month. Worldwide availability should follow soon after. Competitor offerings with similar hardware configurations have been available for a few months by now and have been seen discounted down to around $600 USD in recent weeks, with barebone unit prices going even lower. GEEKOM has quite the challenge ahead of them to offer competitive value.

AMD's 3D V-Cache technology utilizes blocks of SRAM stacked on top of the CPU logic die, where CPU cores reside, and allows the processor to access massive pools of cache for applications. However, using this extra level 3 (L3) cache as a RAM disk appears possible, where the L3 SRAM behaves similarly to a storage drive. A big disclaimer here is that this is only possible by exposing the L3 to the CrystalDiskMark benchmark, and no real-world applications can do it in a way that CrystalDiskMark. According to X/Twitter user Nemez (@GPUsAreMagic), the steps to replicate this procedure are: Obtaining an AMD Ryzen CPU with 3D V-Cache, installing OSFMount and creating a FAT32 formatted RAM disk, and running CrystalDiskMark, with values set to values to SEQ 256 KB, Queue Depth 1, Threads 16, and data fill to 0s instead of random.

The results of this experiment? Well, they appear to be rather stunning as the nature of L3 SRAM is that the memory is tiny but very fast and accessible to the CPU, so it can help load data locally before going to the system RAM. With AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the speeds of this RAM disk are over 182 GB/s for reading and over 175 GB/s for writing. In another test, shared by Albert Thomas (@ultrawide219), we managed to see RAM disk based on AMD Ryzen 7800X3D V-Cache, which scores a little less with over 178 GB/s read and over 163 GB/s write speeds. Again, CrystalDiskMark only performed these tests on small allocations varying between 16 MiB and 32 MiB, so no real-world workloads are yet able to utilize this.

Uptake on AMD's latest generation mobile offerings has been slow and steady to put it mildly, but today TUXEDO Computers, a specialist in Linux notebooks at a range of performance and pricing tiers, has announced pre-orders for their new Sirius 16 gaming laptop. This machine combines AMD's latest generation Ryzen 7 7840HS "Phoenix" APU with a Radeon RX 7600M XT RDNA3 GPU inside a sleek all aluminium chassis design that strives to remain understated while still providing a "sleek gamer look" via programmable RGB keys. The Sirius 16 is TUXEDO's first go at an all-AMD configuration and they've held very little back, choosing to allow the full TDP rating of the Phoenix APU at 54 W sustained (or 80 W CPU-only turbo) as well as keeping the RDNA3 GPU at its rated 120 W TGP under full CPU+GPU loads. The Sirius 16 features venting out of both sides as well as the rear of the chassis, and roughly half of the bottom panel is open intake for the dual-fan cooling system.

Powering everything is a 230 W power brick and an 80 Wh replaceable battery bolted inside the chassis. TUXEDO claims up to 10 hours of battery life at minimum display brightness with wireless disabled and without any programmable lighting enabled, or a more realistic 6 hours at medium brightness with wireless enabled and under minimal "office work" load.

AMD Socket AM4 users are in for a treat, as the company plans two more processor models in the Ryzen 5000X3D series, according to chi11eddog, a reliable source with AMD leaks. Although based on the older "Zen 3" microarchitecture, these chips feature 3D Vertical Cache technology, which helps shore up their gaming performance to levels comparable at least to 12th Gen Intel Core "Alder Lake," giving Socket AM4 platform users a cost-effective upgrade path to prolong their gaming PC builds that could be as old as 5 years now. If you recall, AMD has formally extended "Zen 3" and 3D V-cache support to all Socket AM4 chipset generations, including AMD 300-series.

Among the two new processor models are the Ryzen 7 5700X3D, and the Ryzen 5 5500X3D. The 5700X3D is an 8-core/16-thread processor with 100 MB of total cache (that's 512 KB of L2 cache per core, plus 96 MB of L3 cache); while the Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core/12-thread chip with 99 MB of total cache. What sets the 5700X3D and 5500X3D apart from the 5800X3D and 5600X3D are lower clock speeds, and possibly, lower TDP. Both chips come with a base frequency of 3.00 GHz, compared to the 3.30 GHz of the 5600X3D and 3.40 GHz of the 5800X3D. The 5700X3D boosts up to 4.10 GHz compared to the 4.50 GHz of the 5800X3D; while the 5500X3D boosts up to 4.00 GHz when compared to 4.40 GHz of the 5600X3D. Both the 5800X3D and 5600X3D have their TDP rated at 105 W, so it's possible that AMD is using lower TDP and PPT values for the 5700X3D and 5500X3D. There's no word on when the two new chips are coming out, although AMD continues to release updates to the Socket AM4 AGESA microcode, with the latest version ComboAM4v2 1.2.0.B being released as recently as September 2023.

MINISFORUM starts the full payment pre-sale of its new flagship mini-PC: UM780 XTX, with a starting price of ＄479. It stands out as the flagship integrated graphics mini-PC on the market, boasting the most powerful performance and comprehensive interface array. The UM780 XTX, distinguished by its outstanding hardware and innovative design, delivers exceptional performance and diverse interface choices. Compared to its predecessor, the UM780 XTX boasts six major upgrades: enhanced cooling, vertical stand, RGB lighting effects, OCulink support, dual Ethernet ports, and a USB4 layout on both the front and back. These enhancements comprehensively elevate the reliability, expandability, personalization, and user-friendliness of the entire system.

In terms of processing power, the MINISFORUM UM780 XTX features the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, capable of reaching a maximum overclocking frequency of 5.10 GHz, providing users with outstanding computing capabilities. For CPU performance optimization, the UM780 XTX offers two modes: balanced mode (54 W) and performance mode (70 W). The AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics in this CPU delivers smooth graphics processing performance, supporting VRAM allocation and positioning the UM780 XTX as one of the most powerful products in the integrated graphics mini-PC market.

The first reviews of Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) are live, and the results are everything we hoped for when we kicked off the product. Reviewers called out the massive jump in graphics performance, increases in battery life, and improvements in multi-core workloads. The integrated graphics capabilities are especially astounding, putting a wide range of recent game titles within reach in a thin, light, portable system. Check out some of what reviewers have to say:

"It immediately jumps to my number one recommendation for software developers looking for a small and portable laptop. But, given how insanely good this laptop is, I'd also strongly recommend those looking for a laptop for school or home or office use, to really consider this one."—JustJosh

MINISFORUM today is launching their BD770i ITX "Mobile on Desktop" motherboard which comes equipped with AMD's 8-core "Zen 4" Ryzen 7 7745HX. Upon the CPU sits a custom "integrated advanced cooling system" which partially exhausts out of the I/O shield and supports installation of a 120 mm fan, which is not included. The board features dual actively cooled M.2 2280 PCI-E Gen 5 SSDs plus M.2 2230 E-Key for WLAN cards, 2.5G Ethernet, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, another pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port that also supports display out as DisplayPort 1.4. The BD770i also features dual SODIMM slots for up to DDR5-5200 DRAM, as well as a full length PCI-E Gen 5 x16 for dedicated graphics cards. A small detail we noticed in the product images is the silhouette of two more M.2 ports on the rear of the board that aren't in the specifications. On the product page there are mentions of a higher-end BD790i with the Ryzen 9 7945HX which does not seem to be available yet, so perhaps this higher end board will feature these extra ports.

Despite the AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX supporting overclocking features such as an unlocked multiplier, AMD EXPO, and Precision Boost Overdrive; MINISFORUM has chosen to not support those features on the BD770i. Perhaps the upcoming BD790i will include OC support and features, we'll have to wait and see. Pricing for the BD770i is currently set at $399 USD for early orders, however the price is expected to increase to $499 USD after the launch period promotion expires.

Lenovo's newly released ultra-thin Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition laptop packs an exclusively tuned variant from AMD's 7040 "Phoenix" APU series—we are seeing a whole bunch of these mobile chipsets finally arriving inside portable computer hardware and in handheld games systems (Ryzen Z1 series), following several delays earlier in the year. AMD and Lenovo have partnered up on a special Ryzen 7 7840S eight-core APU, with a custom 30 W TDP profile—likely implemented to synergize with the Yoga Air's thin and lightweight design. Folks in the west have started to enjoy playing around with Ryzen 7 7840HS-equipped laptops, this particular APU has a 45 W TDP rating—also shared by China-market specific 7840H variants.

The MyDrivers review team has been taking Lenovo's Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition for a spin—PC Mark results suggest 10 to 11 hours of normal operation on battery, while lighter office tasking bumps that up to 14 hours. A snazzy 14.5-inch OLED screen with 10-touch support seemed to be a highlighted feature on this fancy slimline laptop. A 5% overall difference in performance (across a number of benchmark suites) was noted by the reviewer—a flagship Ryzen 9 7940HS (45 W) APU narrowly beat its less greedy 30 W sibling. The Yoga Air was judged to offer "top tier" performance that competes with a larger class of notebook (15.6-inch). The reviewer was suitably impressed by Lenovo's chassis design: "To be honest, there are very few thin and light notebooks on the market priced at 8,000 yuan (~$1095) that can surpass Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition in terms of appearance and craftsmanship."

With the XMG CORE 16, XMG's CORE series gets a new 16-inch model, whose features are based on the current top models of the NEO seri
es in many details. Powered by AMD's Ryzen 7 7840HS and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 or 4060, the laptop is aimed at the upper mid-range, but also adds features from the premium segment. These include, for example, an optional keyboard with CHERRY MX Ultra Low Profile Tactile switches, a 99 Wh battery and a liquid metal thermal compound for cooling the processor and graphics card. For the first time, there is also a configuration option for up to 96 GB DDR5 RAM.

The XMG CORE 16 (L23) is the first laptop in the CORE series to come in a 16-inch format and, alongside the APEX 15 and APEX 17, is now the third model to be based on an AMD Phoenix CPU featuring the Ryzen 7 7840HS with 8 cores and 16 threads. XMG offers the laptop with either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 or an RTX 4060, each with a graphics power of 140 watts (115 watts plus 25 watts Dynamic Boost). A composite cooling system with four heat pipes, separate heat sinks on all four air outlets and liquid metal for improved heat transfer from both the CPU and GPU is utilised to provide high continuous performance.

A die-shot of AMD's 4 nm "Phoenix 2" monolithic APU emerged over the weekend—possibly the first example of a Team Red hybrid core processor, utilizing a combination of bog standard Zen 4 cores as well as "compacted" Zen 4c units. Phoenix 2 has been hiding in plain sight it seems, within Ryzen Z1 series APUs—that have much in common with mobile/laptop-oriented 7040U products. David Huang has posted an analysis of a Ryzen Z1 APU via his review as posted on Zhuanlan, where he investigates the intriguing combination of Zen 4 and Zen 4c cores.

As interpreted/translated by Tom's Hardware: "HWiNFO, a system information, monitoring, and diagnostics utility, confirms that the Ryzen Z1, codenamed Phoenix 2, is on the PHX2-A0 stepping. It differs from AMD's Ryzen 7040U series (Phoenix) with the PHX-A1 stepping. The Ryzen Z1 has been rumored to be a clone of the Ryzen 5 7540U for a long time now." Laptops housing the latter APU are reported to have reached retail markets in certain territories, while the Ryzen Z1 (non-Extreme) SoC has not debuted in any new devices. A cheaper ASUS ROG Ally is expected to arrive in the near future with the lesser chip.

As a part of its promotional deal with Bethesda for the upcoming Starfield game, AMD has announced a limited edition release of both its Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card and its Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU. The latter is in all fairness a bit dull as far as limited editions go, as the only thing really limited is the packaging the CPU comes in. Despite being a limited production run of only 500 units, AMD didn't bother adding any extra marking on the CPU itself, making it less of a collectors edition than it could've been.

On the other hand, the Radeon RX 7900 XTX Starfield Special Edition gets a custom white shroud with a lot of little quirky bits of text on the card and an overall different feel to it compared to AMD's reference design cards. Again, we're looking at a limited run of 500 cards here too and it's not clear if these will be numbered or not. Neither product will be available to buy though, so the only way to get your hands on one or the other, is to enter one of multiple giveaways that either AMD or its partners will host in the near future. There's a video after the break with more details.

SolidRun has announced the world's first rugged system design that combines 8-core AMD Ryzen 7040 series processors with multiple Hailo-8 AI accelerators to create its Bedrock R7000 Edge AI for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. This new member in SolidRun's Bedrock family of fanless modular industrial PCs is specifically designed to meet demanding vision-based situational awareness in harsh environments.

The new system integrates with the AMD Ryzen 7840HS processor, a state-of-the-art 4 nm APU with 8C/16T Zen 4 CPU and integrated RDNA 3 Radeon 780M GPU. The 20 native PCIe Gen 4 lanes and up to three Hailo-8 AI accelerators can be fully utilized together with NVMe Gen4x4 storage, dual 2.5 Gbit Ethernet and 4x4K displays. The CPU and all devices are passively cooled by the innovative fanless cooling system of the Bedrock R7000 in an industrial temperature range of -40°C to 85°C.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the new ROG Strix SCAR 17 X3D, the perfect fusion of cutting-edge silicon and ROG engineering. Featuring the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D mobile processor equipped with AMD 3D V-Cache technology for the very first time, the Strix SCAR 17 X3D takes performance to a whole new level. By doubling the L3 cache of the mighty Ryzen 9 7945HX processor, the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D gives users a boost in games that are hungry for this onboard ultrafast memory. Paired with a 240 Hz QHD display, Conductonaut Extreme liquid metal on the GPU, and a vapor chamber, the Strix SCAR 17 X3D is ready to dominate the leaderboards.

Making great processors even better
While the original 2023 ROG Strix SCAR 17 came equipped with AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors, the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D is truly in a league of its own. It leverages the power of AMD 3D V-Cache technology, a stacking of extra ultra-high-speed L3 cache vertically on top of one of the two core compute dies (CCD). This extra cache enables the eight cores to perform certain calculations quickly and efficiently, notably in gaming. For situations where increasing CPU frequency simply doesn't show significant performance gains, 3D V-Cache technology holds the potential to unlock extra compute power.

AYANEO, an Asian manufacturer known for its mobile handhelds, has introduced a new device, the AYANEO Kun. The Kun is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 7 7840U mobile processor from the Ryzen 7040 series. This SoC includes eight Zen 4 cores and an integrated graphics unit based on the RDNA 3 architecture with 12 compute units. The console's dimensions stand at 312 x 133 x 21.9 mm, making it slightly wider but slimmer than ASUS's ROG Ally, with the exact weight yet to be disclosed. Kun's battery capacity is rated for 75Wh, as compared to other handhelds' 40 Wh, potentially indicating a longer battery life.

The AYANEO Kun's other notable features include its 8.4-inch display with an IPS panel and resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. For controls, the device utilizes a D-Pad and two Hall sensor-equipped joysticks for gaming. The shoulder buttons also employ Hall sensor technology. There are touchpads on either side of the display, along with other function keys and the A/B/X/Y keys. For the first time, AYANEO has integrated buttons at the back of the device, offering customizable functions. The device provides two Type-C (likely USB4), one USB Type-A, and one 3.5 mm jack connection. More comprehensive technical details, model variants, and pricing information are to be released during the official unveiling of the AYANEO Kun scheduled for August.

Today, Lenovo unveiled the newest additions to its ThinkPad mobile workstation portfolio. Powered by the latest AMD Ryzen PRO 7040 Series Mobile processors with optional NVIDIA RTX professional graphics, the new ThinkPad P16v, P16s Gen 2 and P14s Gen 4 complement the models announced in May 2023, offering customers a broad choice in mobile workstation PC solutions. ThinkPad P Series devices deliver breakthrough performance, premium design, and durability for demanding workflows across a variety of price points and include support for Windows 11 and several flavors of Linux. Bringing advanced and power-efficient processors with AMD PRO technologies and Ryzen AI on select models opens up an enhanced world of AI-driven features for advanced collaboration on ThinkPad mobile workstations.

"Our latest workstations are designed to help our customers make a difference and drive a positive long-lasting impact in their fields, whether it's research and design, engineering and finance, media and entertainment, healthcare and education, or anything else. We are committed to delivering human-centric innovations that empower our customers to unleash their potential with ThinkPad mobile workstations," said Rob Herman, VP and GM, Worldwide Workstation and Client AI Business at Lenovo.

US Computer component retailer Micro Center has announced that the store has struck an exclusive deal with AMD to be the sole retailer for the Ryzen 5 5600X3D processor. The CPU is apparently a limited edition release, although it's not clear how limited it'll be in terms of available quantities. The new CPU will launch on the 7th of July and has a base clock of 3.3 GHz and a boost clock of 4.4 GHz, each 100 MHz slower than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. The CPU obviously has six CPU cores, which results in a total cache of 99 MB due to the missing two cores.

The TDP remains at 105 W and it appears that the Ryzen 5 5600X3D might just consist of failed Ryzen 7 5800X3D chips sold with two cores disabled. From what TPU understands, there should be some OEM availability of the Ryzen 5 5600X3D as well, based on what our sources have told us, but we don't have any details on which system integrators might be offering the CPU. Micro Center will be charging US$229.99, which is US$220 less than what the Ryzen 7 5800X3D launched at, although Micro Center is currently selling it at US$279.99. The Ryzen 5 5600X3D will also be offered at a discounted price when bought with eligible motherboard and memory bundles from Micro Center.

In addition to the Ryzen PRO 7045 series mobile processors for commercial notebooks, AMD announced the Ryzen PRO 7000 processors for commercial desktops. These are desktops deployed by medium-large businesses and enterprises in their offices, which remain connected to the enterprise network at all times, and require remote management and security features. This particular segment is addressed by Intel using its 13th Gen Core vPro processors. The Ryzen PRO 7000 processors are based on the Socket AM5 platform, which is ready for next-generation connectivity. AMD is also introducing a new motherboard chipset to go with these processors, although they are compatible with consumer AMD 600-series chipset motherboards.

The Ryzen PRO 7000 series processor models being launched today are based on the "Raphael" MCM, which depending on the model, comes with one or two 5 nm "Zen 4" CCDs, and a 6 nm I/O die. What makes these processors especially formidable compared to past attempts by AMD at commercial desktop processors, is that while the previous-generation chips were based on monolithic APU dies for their integrated graphics; these chips are based on the full-featured MCM for this generation, with integrated graphics as standard. AMD's decision to make integrated graphics standard should prove particularly helpful for adoption in the commercial desktop space.

ASUS today announced the refreshed Vivobook 16 OLED (M1605), a slim-and-light laptop featuring up to an AI-enabled AMD Ryzen 7000 H-Series processor, and expertly engineered for everyday entertainment and productivity. Perfect performance is delivered by up to an AMD Ryzen 7000 H-Series processor with 16 GB RAM and up to a 1 TB SSD. Quiet and efficient cooling is provided by the dual-vented cooling system with two heat pipes and an IceBlade fan. The long-lasting up to 70 Wh battery gives users more freedom, and there's up to WiFi 6E for ultrafast connectivity.

This latest model features a superb OLED NanoEdge Pantone Validated display with 3.2K resolution, a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 0.2 millisecond response time - plus an 16:10 aspect ratio display for an extended view. The NanoEdge OLED displays offer up to a 1.000,000:1 contrast ratio with a screen-to-body ratio of up to 86.5%. It also benefits from TÜV Rheinland low blue-light certification to ensure eye comfort during long viewing sessions. The eye-catching slim and lightweight design is finished in a selection of on-trend colors. The 180° lay-flat hinge allows easy collaboration and sharing, and the comprehensive I/O capabilities include up to a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port with Power Delivery, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB 2.0 port, an HDMI output, and an audio combo jack.

Acer today announced the refreshed Acer Swift Edge 16 (SFE16-43) laptop, designed for dynamic professionals requiring high computing capability, productivity, and portability from their hardware. The lightweight laptop is powered by AMD Ryzen 7040 Series processors and up to AMD Radeon 780M graphics for next-gen performance and visuals, and features AMD Ryzen AI on select models with select processors, enabling the device to keep up with today's AI demands and more.

The Swift Edge 16 showcases a stunning 16-inch 3.2K OLED display with an upgraded refresh rate of 120 Hz and support for 100% DCI-P3 color gamut to provide true-to-life colors and images. The Windows 11 laptop also boasts compatibility with up to Wi-Fi 7, Microsoft Pluton, and a range of smart features so users can stay connected to fast wireless connections and have private data secured.

ASUS today announced the all-new 14-inch, 16:10 Chromebook CM34 Flip, delivering an exquisite blend of powerful performance and versatility to empower both work and study. This stylish laptop features up to an AMD Ryzen 5 7520C processor, and WiFi 6 and a long-lasting battery, so it's well-equipped to breeze through everyday tasks anywhere.

The versatile 360° ErgoLift hinge means Chromebook CM34 Flip has the flexibility to function in a diverse array of modes, while the optional garaged stylus enables intuitive input to jot down notes or capture ideas. To top it all off, military-grade durability, one-touch fingerprint unlock and a physical webcam shutter for instant privacy offer peace of mind—at home, in the office or classroom, or exploring the world.

AMD's cheapest Zen 4 X3D processor is shaping up to be its most popular. Sales numbers from Germany's Mindfactory posted by TechEpiphany seemingly shows the recently launched Ryzen 7 7800X3D outselling last year's Ryzen 7 5800X3D nearly 2:1, with 4,720 7800X3Ds selling to the 5800X3D's 2,510 over a few week period. While these figures show sales for only a single region, evidence for this momentum is reflected in other regional retailers as well as some global outlets. On Amazon, for example, the 7800X3D has made a frequent appearance on the top 10 best selling CPUs list, with the rest of the Zen 4 lineup trailing well behind. Newegg reports the 7800X3D to be among the top 5 best selling CPUs on the site at time of writing. Microcenter also shows the 7800X3D and 5800X3D side-by-side in seventh and eighth places respectively for popularity.

Despite recent troubles with the AM5 platform and Zen 4 X3D processors, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is proving to be quite a success for AMD. The 7800X3D in our review was shown to be one of the most efficient processors we've ever tested, and offered gaming performance at or near the top of the charts across the gauntlet of games and resolutions thrown at it. The staggered release of the 7000X3D lineup, with the 7950X3D and 7900X3D launching first and the 7800X3D launching later, gave early signals that AMD knew what they had and wanted to push as many early adopters away from the better value chip as they could. Pricing for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D has been steady since it released, however we've already seen retailers offering discounts on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 9 7900X3D, as they presumably struggle to sell as well as the more aggressively positioned 7800X3D.

According to investigations undertaken by Igor's Lab and Hardware Busters this week it seems that AMD's problematic lineup of Ryzen 7000 & Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs are consuming unexpected levels of power in short bursts when running in idle mode. In conducting more in-depth tests over the past few days, Igor Wallossek and (outgoing TPU PSU expert) Aristeidis Bitziopoulos have both found that that the aforementioned AMD processors are producing (to the testers' slight concern) power spikes in situations involving minimal computing activity. It is not currently known whether the sharp climbs in power consumption are in any way related to the burnout issues experienced by unlucky overclockers this week.

Aris/crmaris (at Hardware Busters) says that he has tested many of the affected processors in the past, but was not privy to any major problems relating to burnout or power consumption spikes. By running new tests this week, using his own Powenetics v2 board, Aris has found out that: "There are some interesting facts here, which I didn't pay much attention to during the reviews because I only look at the average values and not the peak ones in idle. In the 7950X3D, there is a high spike during idle at 130 W, which is unjustified because the peak CPU load is only 3.53%. Even with the Curve Optimized enabled and a -15 setting, the idle power spike is close to 125 W, so something is happening there. On the 7800X3D, the spike during idle stays low, but this is not the case for the 7900X, which has an idle power spike at 109 W, while the peak CPU load at idle was at 5.12%, so these 109 W are not justified, either."

MSI has been in close contact with the AMD and has referred to their official technical guidance to provide users with a safer and more optimized hardware environment. To achieve this goal, MSI will release a new list of BIOS updates specifically for the AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPU.

According to AMD's design specifications, the Ryzen 7000X3D series CPU does not fully support overclocking or overvoltage adjustments, including CPU ratio and CPU Vcore voltage. However, AMD EXPO technology can be used to optimize memory performance by appropriately increasing the CPU SoC voltage to ensure system stability when operating at higher memory frequencies.