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Ghost of Tsushima Lets You Use DLSS 2 and FSR 3 Frame Generation Together

The latest update of Ghost of Tsushima lets you use DLSS 2 super-resolution and FSR 3 Frame Generation simultaneously, so you have the unique benefit of having the NVIDIA DLSS 2 handle super resolution and image quality, while letting the AMD FSR 3 nearly double frame-rates of the DLSS 2 output. All this, without the need for any mods, it's part of the game's original code. It's crazy when you think about it—you now have two performance enhancements running in tandem, with gamers reporting over 170 FPS at 4K with reasonably good image quality. This could particularly benefit those on older GeForce RTX 30-series "Ampere" and RTX 20-series "Turing" graphics cards, as those lack support for DLSS 3 Frame Generation.

XFX Launches Phoenix Nirvana Series Radeon RX Graphics Cards in White

XFX earlier this month debuted the Phoenix Nirvana line of premium custom-design Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards with the China-exclusive RX 7900 XTX Phoenix Nirvana. The company is expanding this lineup with two new models, both of which are draped in white. These are the company's first white-themed graphics cards. The lineup now includes the Radeon RX 7800 XT Phoenix Nirvana White, and the RX 7900 GRE Phoenix Nirvana White. Both cards appear to share a common board design, because the compacted "Navi 31" ASIC powering the RX 7900 GRE is pin-compatible with the "Navi 32" ASIC that the RX 7800 XT is based on. Since both GPUs feature a 256-bit GDDR6 memory interface, and a nearly identical typical board power value of around 260 W, AMD's board partners get to use their RX 7800 XT custom board designs for RX 7900 GRE products.

The XFX RX 7900 GRE Phoenix Nirvana White features a significantly different board design to the company's Merc 319 product that's available in the west. The heatsink is noticeably larger, the cooler shroud appears better ventilated, and XFX is using thicker 100 mm fans for higher static pressure than from the ones you find in the global Merc 319 card. The most striking design element of course is its color trim. White makes up the cooler shroud, the fan impellers, and the backplate. The heatsink protrudes out of the edges of the black PCB that's barely noticeable. The card is 33.7 cm long, and 5.9 cm-thick, with a 13.2 cm height. The RX 7900 GRE Phoenix Nirvana White comes with a hearty 6.7% factory overclock, with a 2394 MHz boost clock (vs. 2245 MHz reference); while the RX 7800 XT Phoenix Nirvana White ticks AMD reference 2430 MHz boost. Both these cards, unfortunately, are China-exclusive products, just like the RX 7900 XTX card XFX launched earlier this month.

Sapphire Announces Radeon RX 7700 XT Pure Frostpunk 2 Edition, Includes the Game's Deluxe Edition

Sapphire today unveiled the Radeon RX 7700 XT Pure Frostpunk 2 Edition graphics card. The card is a branding collaboration with 11 bit Studios, which releases Frostpunk 2 this July. The city-building survival strategy game is one of this Summer's most anticipated game releases. Sapphire celebrates it with a variant of the RX 7700 XT Pure graphics card that has a game code for the Deluxe Edition of Frostpunk 2, a themed backplate, and some goodies in the box, including custom keycaps, and enamel pin badges. While the backplate is heavily themed on the game, the all-white cooler shroud, the white impellers for the three fans, and the rest of the card, sticks with the white color scheme that's characteristic of Sapphire's Pure brand. The card comes in a collector's edition box themed after the game.

Based on the 5 nm "Navi 32" silicon, the Radeon RX 7700 XT features 3,456 stream processors across 54 compute units. The GPU is based on the RDNA 3 graphics architecture, and AMD recommends it for 1440p gaming with maxed out settings. The card features 12 GB of 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit wide memory interface, and features 48 MB of Infinity Cache memory. The card draws power from a pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors. Display outputs include two each of DisplayPort 2.1 (featuring UHBR 13.5), and two HDMI 2.1 connectors. The card will release to market in July, probably alongside the game's July 25 release date, pricing isn't known yet (we asked Sapphire).

AMD Documents the Firmware of its GPU Scheduler that Distributes Graphics and Compute Workloads Among Shader Engines

AMD earlier this month released documentation for the Micro Engine Scheduler (MES) firmware of its RDNA 3 GPUs. The MES is a hardware component that distributes graphics processing and general-purpose compute workloads among the main number-crunching machinery of the AMD GPU—the shader engines, which contain the compute units (CU), the indivisible SIMD muscle of the GPU with programmable shaders and certain kinds of specialized hardware, such as the AI Accelerator and Ray Accelerator. The MES is driven by a programmable firmware, which is what AMD released developer documentation of.

The decision to release MES documentation probably comes from the very top of AMD corporate management. In March, a controversy erupted when Tiny Corp, builders of AI compute servers and workstations, complained of issues testing the Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card with a ROCm compute stack, prompting a response from no less than CEO Dr Lisa Su. There were then calls to open-source the firmware, which AMD didn't agree to, probably since it treads on their core GPU hardware IP; but the company did the next best thing, by releasing detailed developer documentation for the MES firmware.

AMD to Discontinue Windows 10 Support for its Ryzen 9000 "Strix Point" Mobile Processors

AMD is rumored to be discontinuing driver support for the Windows 10 operating system for its next-generation mobile processors, starting with the upcoming Ryzen 9000 "Strix Point" (and possibly "Strix Halo" and other chips from the generation). This would mean a lack of official drivers for the XDNA 2 NPU, SoC components, and possibly even the iGPU. This who know their way around manual driver installation might have some luck getting the Windows 11 drivers to work on Windows 10, but for the most part, notebooks and pre-built SFF desktops powered by these chips will not come with Windows 10 preinstalled, since there won't be any official drivers from AMD.

The CPU of Ryzen 9000 "Strix Point" processors should still very much work with Windows 10. This however doesn't cover the upcoming Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" desktop processors, which have minimal hardware that need drivers, except for the basic iGPU they pack. Microsoft is discontinuing Windows 10 from regular updates on October 14, 2025. Those who want to hold on to the operating system need to pay for extended security update plans that get progressively pricier with each year.

ASUS Intros Radeon RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT DUAL OC Graphics Cards

ASUS introduced the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT DUAL OC graphics cards. The two join ASUS's rather slim RX 7900 series custom-design lineup, which until now only included the TUF Gaming OC products for the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX. ASUS's common board design for the cards it's launching, features a large cooler shroud, a tall, yet triple-slot board design, and a cooling solution that uses an aluminium fin-stack heatsink that uses no more than two Axial-Tech fans, hence the name DUAL OC. We've seen this exact board design on some of the RTX 30-series "Ampere" DUAL OC products, so ASUS may probably be carrying over the design, with suitable changes for compatibility with the "Navi 31" GPU.

Both the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT DUAL OC cards feature a milder factory overclock compared to the company's TUF Gaming OC products. The RX 7900 XTX DUAL OC does 2455 MHz Game clock (compared to 2365 MHz reference); while the RX 7900 XT DUAL OC offers 2075 MHz Game clocks compared to 2025 MHz AMD reference. It's also interesting to note here, that the RX 7900 XTX/XT DUAL OC cards feature a significantly different board design than the RX 7900 GRE DUAL OC, which features a design closer to that of the RX 7800 XT DUAL OC. Both the RX 7900 XT DUAL OC and RX 7900 XTX DUAL OC feature triple 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and display I/O that includes three DisplayPort 2.1, and one HDMI 2.1. Besides the minimal RGB, the cards offer dual-BIOS, with the Q-BIOS running them at reference speeds, and with a tighter fan curve. The card measures 32.3 cm in length, 14.7 cm in height, and is no more than 3 slots thick. The company didn't reveal pricing.

AMD Software Adrenalin 24.5.1 WHQL Released

AMD today released the latest version of the AMD Software Adrenalin Edition drivers. Version 24.5.1 WHQL comes with optimization for Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, and F1 24. AMD added HYPR-Tune support for Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition, Starfield, and The Last of Us Part I. AMD also says that these drivers offer optimal support for AI acceleration on Radeon 7000 series RDNA 3 graphics cards.

Among the issues fixed with this release include an intermittent driver timeout or crash observed when playing World of Warcraft or World of Warcraft Classic on RDNA 3 GPUs; a similar issue with Overwatch 2 on Radeon RX 5000 series GPUs; an intermittent stutter after alt+tab with performance metrics overlay enabled; and corruption with certain water elements when playing Alan Wake 2 with Radeon Boost enabled.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Software Adrenalin 24.5.1 WHQL

Lenovo Announces its New AI PC ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 Mobile Workstation Powered by AMD Ryzen PRO Processors

Today, Lenovo launched the Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 designed for professionals who need top-notch performance in a portable 14-inch chassis. Featuring a stunning 16:10 display, this mobile workstation is powered by AMD Ryzen PRO 8040 HS-Series processors. These processors are ultra-advanced and energy-efficient, making them perfect for use in thin and light mobile workstations. The AMD Ryzen PRO HS- Series processors also come with built-in Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, including an integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for optimized performance in AI workflows.

The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 5 is provided with independent software vendor (ISV) certifications and integrated AMD Radeon graphics, making it ideal for running applications like AutoCAD, Revit, and SOLIDWORKS with seamless performance. This mobile workstation is ideal for mobile power users, offering advanced ThinkShield security features and passes comprehensive MIL-SPEC testing for ultimate durability.

Intel Ponte Vecchio Waves Goodbye, Company Focuses on Falcon Shores for 2025 Release

According to ServeTheHome, Intel has decided to discontinue its high-performance computing (HPC) product line, Ponte Vecchio, and shift its focus towards developing its next-generation data center GPU, codenamed Falcon Shores. This decision comes as Intel aims to streamline its operations and concentrate its resources on the most promising and competitive offerings. The Ponte Vecchio GPU, released in January of 2023, was intended to be Intel's flagship product for the HPC market, competing against the likes of NVIDIA's H100 and AMD's Instinct MI series. However, despite its impressive specifications and features, Ponte Vecchio faced significant delays and challenges in its development and production cycle. Intel's decision to abandon Ponte Vecchio is pragmatic, recognizing the intense competition and rapidly evolving landscape of the data center GPU market.

By pivoting its attention to Falcon Shores, Intel aims to deliver a more competitive and cutting-edge solution that can effectively challenge the dominance of its rivals. Falcon Shores, slated for release in 2025, is expected to leverage Intel's latest process node and architectural innovations. Currently, Intel has Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 accelerators for AI. However, the HPC segment is left without a clear leader in the company's product offerings. Intel's Ponte Vecchio is powering Aurora exascale supercomputer, which is the latest submission to the TOP500 supercomputer lists. This is also coming after the Rialto Bridge cancellation, which was supposed to be an HPC-focused card. In the future, the company will focus only on the Falcon Shores accelerator, which will unify HPC and AI needs for high-precision FP64 and lower-precision FP16/INT8.

AMD Launches the Ryzen 7 8700F ($270) and Ryzen 5 8400F ($170)

AMD formally launched the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F Socket AM5 desktop processors. These are variants based on the Ryzen 8000-series desktop APUs, but with their integrated graphics disabled. The 8700F may lack integrated graphics, but includes the Ryzen AI NPU, with up to 16 AI TOPS performance. The 8400F lacks an NPU. Much like the 8700G, the 8700F packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the current "Zen 4" architecture, but with a 100 MHz lower maximum boost frequency of 5.00 GHz. The TDP is the same, at 65 W, and the retail package includes a Wraith Stealth cooler.

The Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core/12-thread processor, but much like the 8500G, it is based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, which has two "Zen 4" cores that can achieve the maximum 4.70 GHz boost frequency for this chip, and four "Zen 4c" that boost lower. Both kinds of cores feature an identical IPC and ISA, and so AMD Chipset Software uses UEFI CPPC preferred cores software flags to prioritize workload to the "Zen 4" cores. AMD in its launch presentation claims that the 8700F should offer competitive gaming and productivity performance to an Intel Core i5-14400F, and that the 8400F should offer gaming performance in the league of an i5-13400F. The company is pricing the 8700F at $269, or $60 cheaper than the 8700G; while the 8400F is priced at $169, or $10 less than the 8500G.

ASUS ROG Ally X Priced at $799, Battery 40% Larger

We've had our eye on the ASUS ROG Ally X since last week. The Ally X started its life on the rumor mill as a design revision of the ROG Ally that corrects the location of its microSD slot away from a heat vent, before we learned that it's a whole new product positioned above the ROG Ally, which not just fixes the microSD slot, but also comes with a larger battery, and support for M.2-2280 NVMe SSDs to unlock the widest selection of aftermarket SSDs among any handheld console.

Mystery Lupin a source with ASUS leaks, suggests that the ASUS ROG Ally X could be priced at $799, which would be a $100 premium over the top-spec ROG Ally Extreme. For this premium, ASUS is dropping in a battery that's rumored to have a 40% higher capacity than the one the original ROG Ally Extreme comes with; and the sheer convenience of an M.2-2280 drive bay that has a 1 TB SSD. It's also rumored that ASUS may step up the memory size. The other hardware specs are unchanged—the processor is still an AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme, the display is still that 7-inch 48-120 Hz VRR with 1080p resolution; and with an identical controller layout. ASUS is expected to launch the ROG Ally X on June 2.

ASUS Offers Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Game Bundle for Selected NVIDIA and AMD Graphics Cards

ASUS today announced that it is bundling a Steam code for the role-playing video game Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series and AMD Radeon RX 7000 series graphics cards purchased from May 13 to July 8, 2024. For gamers who have been waiting for their chance to explore Japan and Hawaii's criminal undersides with Kasuga Ichiban and the gang in the latest installment of the beloved Like a Dragon series, now is the chance to leverage new hardware in an adventure so vast that it spans the Pacific.

During this global promotion, any purchase of an ASUS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 or above or any ASUS AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT or above will include a bundled Steam code for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Gamers everywhere can take advantage of this opportunity to upgrade their system and redeem the game code by August 8. For complete promotion details and instructions on how to redeem this code, click here.

Dell XPS Roadmap Leak Spills Beans on Several Upcoming Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm Processors

A product roadmap leak at leading PC OEM Dell, disclosed the tentative launch dates of several future generations of processors by Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm. The slide was detailing hardware platforms for future revisions of the company's premium XPS notebooks. Given that Dell remains one of the largest PC OEMs, the dates revealed in the leaked slides are highly plausible.

In chronological order, Dell expects Intel's Core Ultra 200V series "Lunar Lake-MX" processor in September 2024, which should mean product unveilings at Computex. It's interesting to note that Intel is only designing "Lunar Lake" for the -MX memory-on-package segment. This chip squares off against Apple's M3, M4, and possibly even the M3 Pro. Intel also has its ambitious "Arrow Lake" architecture planned for the second half of 2024, hence the lack of product overlap—there won't be an "Arrow Lake-MX."

AMD Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F Detailed

AMD is indeed bringing the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F desktop processors to the retail PIB channel. Both these processors are based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" or "Phoenix 2" silicon, but with their iGPU disabled, hence the "F" in the model name. Company slides related to the two were leaked to the web. The processors feature CPU cores based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, and are built in the Socket AM5 package.

The Ryzen 7 8700F features the 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4" CPU that the 8700G, but with lower CPU clock speeds of up to 5.00 GHz boost (compared to up to 5.10 GHz for the 8700G). Although its iGPU is disabled, its NPU isn't. The Ryzen AI NPU offers 16 AI TOPS performance. The processor retains the 65 W TDP of the 8700G. Moving on to the 8400G, and here we see the processor being based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, with 6 CPU cores. Two of these are "Zen 4," and can reach the processor's 4.70 GHz maximum boost frequency; while the other four are "Zen 4c," and operate at lower clock speeds. The chip physically lacks an NPU, and its iGPU is disabled. It still has 65 W TDP to feed its CPU cores. In their retail packages, both processors include a Wraith Stealth cooling solution that's meant for 65 W TDP processors.

TOP500: Frontier Keeps Top Spot, Aurora Officially Becomes the Second Exascale Machine

The 63rd edition of the TOP500 reveals that Frontier has once again claimed the top spot, despite no longer being the only exascale machine on the list. Additionally, a new system has found its way into the Top 10.

The Frontier system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, USA remains the most powerful system on the list with an HPL score of 1.206 EFlop/s. The system has a total of 8,699,904 combined CPU and GPU cores, an HPE Cray EX architecture that combines 3rd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs optimized for HPC and AI with AMD Instinct MI250X accelerators, and it relies on Cray's Slingshot 11 network for data transfer. On top of that, this machine has an impressive power efficiency rating of 52.93 GFlops/Watt - putting Frontier at the No. 13 spot on the GREEN500.

AMD RDNA 5 a "Clean Sheet" Graphics Architecture, RDNA 4 Merely Corrects a Bug Over RDNA 3

AMD's future RDNA 5 graphics architecture will bear a "clean sheet" design, and may probably not even have the RDNA branding, says WJM47196, a source of AMD leaks on ChipHell. Two generations ahead of the current RDNA 3 architecture powering the Radeon RX 7000 series discrete GPUs, RDNA 5 could see AMD reimagine the GPU and its key components, much in the same way RDNA did over the former "Vega" architecture, bringing in a significant performance/watt jump, which AMD could build upon with its successful RDNA 2 powered Radeon RX 6000 series.

Performance per Watt is the biggest metric on which a generation of GPUs can be assessed, and analysts believe that RDNA 3 missed the mark with generational gains in performance/watt despite the switch to the advanced 5 nm EUV process from the 7 nm DUV. AMD's decision to disaggregate the GPU, with some of its components being built on the older 6 nm node may have also impacted the performance/watt curve. The leaker also makes a sensational claim that "Navi 31" was originally supposed to feature 192 MB of Infinity Cache, which would have meant 32 MB segments of it per memory cache die (MCD). The company instead went with 16 MB per MCD, or just 96 MB per GPU, which only get reduced as AMD segmented the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 GRE by disabling one or two MCDs.

AMD Hits Highest-Ever x86 CPU Market Share in Q1 2024 Across Desktop and Server

AMD has reached a significant milestone, capturing a record-high share of the X86 CPU market in the first quarter of 2024, according to the latest report from Mercury Research. This achievement marks a significant step forward for the chipmaker in its long battle against rival Intel's dominance in the crucial computer processor space. The surge was fueled by strong demand for AMD's Ryzen and EPYC processors across consumer and enterprise markets. The Ryzen lineup's compelling price-to-performance ratio has struck a chord with gamers, content creators, and businesses seeking cost-effective computing power without sacrificing capabilities. It secured AMD's 23.9% share, an increase from the previous Q4 of 2023, which has seen a 19.8% market share.

The company has also made major inroads on the data center front with its EPYC server CPUs. AMD's ability to supply capable yet affordable processors has enabled cloud providers and enterprises to scale operations on AMD's platform. Several leading tech giants have embraced EPYC, contributing to AMD's surging server market footprint. Now, it is at 23.6%, a significant increase over the past few years, whereas AMD was just above 10% four years ago in 2020. AMD lost some share to Intel on the mobile PC front due to the Meteor Lake ramp, but it managed to gain a small percentage of the market share of client PCs. As AMD rides the momentum into the second half of 2024, all eyes will be on whether the chipmaker can sustain this trajectory and potentially claim an even larger slice of the x86 CPU pie from Intel in the coming quarters.
Below, you can see additional graphs of mobile PC and client PC market share.

Report: 3 Out of 4 Laptop PCs Sold in 2027 will be AI Laptop PCs

Personal computers (PCs) have been used as the major productivity device for several decades. But now we are entering a new era of PCs based on artificial intelligence (AI), thanks to the boom witnessed in generative AI (GenAI). We believe the inventory correction and demand weakness in the global PC market have already normalized, with the impacts from COVID-19 largely being factored in. All this has created a comparatively healthy backdrop for reshaping the PC industry. Counterpoint estimates that almost half a billion AI laptop PCs will be sold during the 2023-2027 period, with AI PCs reviving the replacement demand.

Counterpoint separates GenAI laptop PCs into three categories - AI basic laptop, AI-advanced laptop and AI-capable laptop - based on different levels of computational performance, corresponding use cases and the efficiency of computational performance. We believe AI basic laptops, which are already in the market, can perform basic AI tasks but not completely GenAI tasks and, starting this year, will be supplanted by more AI-advanced and AI-capable models with enough TOPS (tera operations per second) powered by NPU (neural processing unit) or GPU (graphics processing unit) to perform the advanced GenAI tasks really well.

AMD "Ryzen AI 9 HX170" Surfaces, Suggests New Naming Scheme for Ultraportable Processors

AMD is preparing a new processor naming scheme for its next-generation processors, targeting the ultraportable segment, according to a report by Chinese tech publication ITHome, citing sources in ASUS. The new naming scheme purports to make it easier for customers to identify processors with AI capabilities (integrated NPU), processor class (whether it's U, H, or HX), followed by a numerical component that lets customer know product grade. This runs contrary to yesterday's report that cited a Lenovo product flyer referencing a "Ryzen 8050 series." It remains to be seen if the 8050 series are a class of mainstream processors without AI capabilities, which is unlikely, given that Lenovo is using them with its premium ThinkPad T-series.

AMD to Use Ryzen 8050 Series Numbering for "Strix Point" Mobile Processors?

Leaked Lenovo product flyers point to the possibility of AMD's next-generation "Strix Point" mobile processor getting the processor numbering scheme of Ryzen 8050 series. The Lenovo flyer describes a ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 business notebook. Lending credence to the theory of the 8050 series being "Strix Point" is the numeral "5." The Ryzen 7030 series processors were based on the "Rembrand-R" silicon and the "Zen 3" microarchitecture. The Ryzen 7040 series were based on the newer "Phoenix" silicon, and "Zen 4." The current 8040 series chips are based on the "Hawk Point" silicon, and the existing "Zen 4" microarchitecture. See where this is going? The Ryzen 8050 series will hence be based on "Strix Point," featuring the latest "Zen 5" CPU cores, besides other cool stuff, such as a 50 AI TOPS-class NPU, and an updated iGPU based on the RDNA 3+ architecture. AMD's 2024 Computex address promises to be action-packed, with announcements expected across the client- and commercial processor spaces based on "Zen 5," next-gen EPYC "Zen 5" server processors, and perhaps even the Radeon RX RDNA 4.

XFX Rolls Out Radeon RX 7900 XTX Phoenix Nirvana Graphics Card

XFX over the weekend rolled out the Radeon RX 7900 XTX Phoenix Nirvana graphics card, the company's new flagship custom-design product based on fastest AMD Radeon GPU you can buy. From the looks of it, the card is China-exclusive, as we haven't seen any updates from the European or North American arms of XFX showcase this card. The Phoenix Nirvana is noticeably larger than the company's current MERC 310, and features a 4-slot design, with a significantly heavier heatsink. The card is 34.6 cm long, 13 cm tall, and is 4 slots thick.

The star attraction with this card is its large aluminium fin-stack heatsink, which features 216 aluminium fins for a total of 62.586 mm² of surface area for heat dissipation; six copper heatpipes, a vapor-chamber base, and 15,000 W/mK Honeywell PTM 7950 phase-changing thermal pad between the vapor-chamber and the GPU. Each of the three 100 mm fans of the XFX RX 7900 XTX Phoenix Nirvana features a fluid-dynamic bearing, turns at speeds of up to 3,200 RPM, pushing 70.08 CFM of airflow, at 4.88 mm H₂O, each. The card is priced at ¥7,899 in China, which converts to roughly $1,090.

AMD Patches Zenbleed Vulnerability with AGESA 1.2.0.Ca Update

AMD classified the Zenbleed vulnerability, CVE-2023-20593, as a medium-level threat about a year ago. AMD has acknowledged that it could potentially allow an attacker to access sensitive information under certain microarchitectural circumstances. Today, MSI has released new BIOS updates featuring AMD's AM4 AGESA 1.2.0.Ca firmware update. This update addresses the Zenbleed vulnerability affecting AMD's Ryzen 4000 series Zen 2 APUs. MSI is proactively rolling out the new BIOS updates across its range of compatible motherboards. The updates are currently available for almost all X570 motherboards, with support for other chipsets and 400 series motherboards expected to follow soon.

The AGESA 1.2.0.Ca firmware update specifically targets the Zenbleed vulnerability in the Zen 2 microarchitecture. Although the vulnerability primarily affects Ryzen 4000 "Renoir" APUs, it also exists in other Zen 2 processors, including the Ryzen 3000 series and certain EPYC and Threadripper CPUs. AMD has already addressed the Zenbleed vulnerability in previous AGESA microcode updates for Ryzen 3000 processors and other platforms, such as EPYC server CPUs and Ryzen mobile CPUs. However, the Ryzen Embedded V2000 CPUs are still awaiting the EmbeddedPi-FP6 1.0.0.9 AGESA firmware update, which is expected to be released by April. While AMD has not explicitly stated whether the security update will impact performance, previous testing of Zenbleed fixes has shown potential performance drops of up to 15% in certain workloads, although gaming performance remained relatively unaffected. Users with AM4 chips based on architectures other than Zen 2, such as Zen+ or Zen 3, do not need to update their BIOS as they are not affected by this specific vulnerability.

AMD to Redesign Ray Tracing Hardware on RDNA 4

AMD's next generation RDNA 4 graphics architecture is expected to feature a completely new ray tracing engine, Kepler L2, a reliable source with GPU leaks, claims. Currently, AMD uses a component called Ray Accelerator, which performs the most compute-intensive portion of the ray intersection and testing pipeline, while AMD's approach to ray tracing on a hardware level still relies greatly on the shader engines. The company had debuted the ray accelerator with RDNA 2, its first architecture to meet DirectX 12 Ultimate specs, and improved the component with RDNA 3, by optimizing certain aspects of its ray testing, to bring about a 50% improvement in ray intersection performance over RDNA 2.

The way Kepler L2 puts it, RDNA 4 will feature a fundamentally transformed ray tracing hardware solution from the ones on RDNA 2 and RDNA 3. This could probably delegate more of the ray tracing workflow onto fixed-function hardware, unburdening the shader engines further. AMD is expected to debut RDNA 4 with its next line of discrete Radeon RX GPUs in the second half of 2024. Given the chatter about a power-packed event by AMD at Computex, with the company expected to unveil "Zen 5" CPU microarchitecture on both server and client processors; we might expect some talk on RDNA 4, too.

NVIDIA Advertises "Premium AI PC" Mocking the Compute Capability of Regular AI PCs

According to the report from BenchLife, NVIDIA has started the marketing campaign push for "Premium AI PC," squarely aimed at the industry's latest trend pushed by Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm for an "AI PC" system, which features a dedicated NPU for processing smaller models locally. NVIDIA's approach comes from a different point of view: every PC with an RTX GPU is a "Premium AI PC," which holds a lot of truth. Generally, GPUs (regardless of the manufacturer) hold more computing potential than the CPU and NPU combined. With NVIDIA's push to include Tensor cores in its GPUs, the company is preparing for next-generation software from vendors and OS providers that will harness the power of these powerful silicon pieces and embed more functionality in the PC.

At the Computex event in Taiwan, there should be more details about Premium AI PCs and general AI PCs. In its marketing materials, NVIDIA compares AI PCs to its Premium AI PCs, which have enhanced capabilities across various applications like image/video editing and upscaling, productivity, gaming, and developer applications. Another relevant selling point is the user base for these Premium AI PCs, which NVIDIA touts to be 100 million users. Those PCs support over 500 AI applications out of the box, highlighting the importance of proper software support. NVIDIA's systems are usually more powerful, with GeForce RTX GPUs reaching anywhere from 100-1300+ TOPS, compared to 40 TOPS of AI PCs. How other AI PC makers plan to fight in the AI PC era remains to be seen, but there is a high chance that this will be the spotlight of the upcoming Computex show.

SilverStone Intros XE360-TR5 AIO CPU Cooler for Ryzen Threadripper 7000-series

SilverStone today introduced the XE360-TR5, an all-in-one liquid CPU cooler for AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000-series processors in the Socket TR5 and SP6 packages. The cooler's design consists of a 1U-friendly waterblock, and a 360 mm radiator that integrates the pump and coolant reservoir, which is connected to the block over Nylon-sleeved tubing. The block features a nickel-plated copper main material, with metal alloy top. The cold-plate makes contact with the entire IHS of an sTR5/SP6 processor, providing cooling to all twelve CCDs and the large central sIOD. The pump integrated with the radiator is made as thin as possible using a 6-pole motor.

The 360 mm x 120 mm radiator is 28 mm-thick, and is made of aluminium, and connects to the water block over a 42 cm-long tubing. Each of the three included 120 mm fans turns at speeds ranging between 600 RPM to 2,800 RPM, pushing up to 87.72 CFM of airflow, at a radiator-friendly 3.09 mm H₂O static pressure, and 46 dBA maximum noise output. The company didn't reveal pricing.
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