AMD Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs combine "Zen 4" CPU cores with a powerful iGPU based on the RDNA 3 architecture, and are the first desktop processors to pack an NPU with 16 TOPS of performance on tap. These Socket AM5 processors based on the "Hawk Point" silicon have been on a downward price trend. Last month, the top Ryzen 7 8700G asked for $299 compared to its $329 launch price; and the 6-core Ryzen 5 8600G went for $199, down from its $229 launch price. This month, the downward pricing trend continues.

According to the latest prices charted on B&H Photo, the Ryzen 7 8700G is now just $269, a $60 cut from its launch price; while the Ryzen 5 8600G faces its biggest ever cut, sending it all the way down to $152, a $77 or a 33% reduction from its launch price. At this price, the 8600G is a formidable processor, with a 6-core/12-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" architecture (all 6 of which are full-sized "Zen 4" cores); a 16 TOPS NPU, and a Radeon 760M iGPU with 8 compute units (512 stream processors). The Ryzen 5 8500G based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, with a combination of 2 "Zen 4" and 4 "Zen 4c" cores, is now priced at $139, a $40 cut from its original.

AMD's Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" family of Socket AM5 desktop processors based on the "Zen 5" microarchitecture arrive in July, with four processor models in the lead—the 9950X 16-core, the 9900X 12-core, the 9700X 8-core, and the 9600X 6-core. AMD is building the CCDs (CPU core dies) of these processors on the slightly newer 4 nm foundry node, compared to the 5 nm node that the Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael" processors based on "Zen 4" are built on; and generally lowered the TDP values of all but the top 16-core part. The company is reportedly reconsidering these changes, particularly in wake of company statements that the 9000X series may not beat the 7000X3D series in gaming performance, which may have sullied the launch, particularly for gamers.

From the company's Computex 2024 announcement of the Ryzen 9000 series, the 9950X has the same 170 W TDP as its predecessor, the 7950X. The 9900X 12-core part, however, comes with a lower 120 W TDP compared to the 170 W of the 7900X. Things get interesting with the 8-core and 6-core parts. Both the 9700X 8-core, and the 9600X 6-core chips come with 65 W TDP. The 9700X succeeds the 7700X, which came with a 105 W TDP, while the 9600X succeeds the 7600X that enjoys the same 105 W TDP. The TDP and package power tracing (PPT) values of an AMD processor are known to affect CPU boost frequency residence, particularly in some of the higher core-count SKUs. Wccftech reports that AMD is planning to revise the specifications of at least the Ryzen 7 9700X.

Prices of AMD Ryzen 8000G "Hawk Point" desktop APUs in the Socket AM5 package saw reductions over the week. The Ryzen 7 8700G, the fully unlocked part, is now available for $299, a $30 cut from its launch price of $329. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 5 8600G has now slipped under the $200-mark, with a $199 price-tag. The chip had originally launched at $229. Both these chips feature a 16 TOPS NPU, and are the first desktop processors that are capable of on-chip AI acceleration. Both processors are based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" monolithic silicon, and feature "Zen 4" CPU cores. The 8700G packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU with an RDNA 3 iGPU that has 12 compute units (CU); while the 8600G is 6-core/12-thread, with an iGPU that has 8 CU.

Things get interesting with the Ryzen 5 8500G, which is now down to $159 from its launch price of $179. This new price makes the processor competitive with the 13th Gen Core i3 and the lower end of the Core i5 lineup. Unlike the other two 8000G series chips, the 8500G lacks an NPU, and is based on the 4 nm "Phoenix 2" silicon that has two "Zen 4" and four "Zen 4c" CPU cores for a 6-core/12-thread CPU configuration. Both kinds of cores share a 16 MB L3 cache. It has a heavily cut-down RDNA 3 iGPU with just 4 CU. The Ryzen 8000G desktop APU series only features PCIe Gen 4 (no Gen 5), which may not mean much for today's discrete GPUs, but limit your SSD upgrade path to Gen 4 (Gen 5 SSDs will be limited to 7 GB/s).

EVGA designed an enthusiast segment AMD X670E chipset motherboard for the Socket AM5 platform, which never made it to the mass market. It had even planned to give the board its coveted Classified brand, and sell as the X670E Classified. Prototypes of this board fetched over $1,300 in auction. The board is built in the E-ATX form-factor like most of the EVGA Classified series motherboards; and packs a powerful CPU VRM, besides several overclocker-friendly features, such as top-oriented DDR5 memory slots, side-facing I/O (including power inputs), and in general, a decluttered layout that won't get in the way of extreme cooling solutions.

There were four such prototypes with Jiacheng Liu, a hardware enthusiast, each of which went under the hammer. The only trouble with these prototypes is that they're bare—they don't include heatsinks for the CPU VRM or the chipset, let alone heatsinks for the two M.2 Gen 5 NVMe slots that don't eat into the Gen 5 x16 PEG. Another problem with these boards is that they're not supported by EVGA, and only come with their initial BIOS that supports Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" processors, but not the upcoming Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5." We doubt if these even support the Ryzen 7000X3D series, which is probably the main reason the boards didn't fetch way more than $1,300 a piece at the auctions. Enthusiasts might still figure out a way to BIOS-mod and encapsulate the latest AGESA.

A market research of AMD Socket AM5 motherboards sold in South Korea by Danawa, provide some interesting insights on how gamers approach the platform. This research is confined to Korea, but can be extrapolated to other similar markets. The research studies the chipset model, and form-factor of Socket AM5 motherboards sold in the market. The most interesting finding of the research is that the AMD B650 is by far the most popular chipset for the platform, dwarfing even the entry-level A620 chipset by a factor of 8. A staggering 80% of the Socket AM5 motherboards being sold are based on the B650.

It's important to note here, that this figure does not include the B650E, which is separately shown making up just 2% of the volumes. The B650 (non-E) has nearly all platform features, with motherboards based on the chipset providing at least one Gen 5 M.2 NVMe slot that doesn't eat into the lanes of the x16 PEG slot; and with the current generation of GPUs not featuring the PCIe Gen 5 host interface, customers seem more than happy with the Gen 4 x16 PEG slot provided by B650 motherboards. What's more, you get CPU overclocking and memory overclocking on this mid-range chipset, so it appeals to a very wide demographic. The B650E, on the other hand, provides a Gen 5 x16 PEG slot, and motherboards based on this chipset tend to offer premium I/O features, such as a high-end onboard audio solution, premium wireless networking, among others.

Ocypus is a new PC casing and cooling brand we've met at Computex 2024. The brand has a formidable lineup of contemporary gaming PC cases, fans, and CPU coolers (both air and liquid). The Iota L36 line of AIO liquid CPU coolers come with high static pressure FDB fans, and a glossy rounded-square pump-block with a segmented display that puts out coolant temperature as measured in the pump (rather than pulled from ACPI over USB/software). The cooler comes in white and black trims, and there's just one radiator size on display—360 mm x 120 mm. The Delta L36 is a "lite" variant of the Iota L36, with a silicon RGB LED diffuser crowning the pump-block instead of the temperature display. Both coolers support the upcoming LGA1851, LGA1700, AM5, and AM4 sockets.

The CPU air cooler lineup is topped by the Iota A62, a large dual fin-stack cooler, which comes in silver and black color variants. It uses a pair of 120 mm FDB fans in push-pull configuration, with the second fan located between the two fin-stacks. The top-plates of the fin stacks have perforations, and the LED segment display peeks out from these in what is a neatly executed design. The Delta A62 is identical to this, but without the display. What's interesting is that the Iota A62 lacks fan illumination, but the Delta A62 has plenty of it.

GIGABYTE in its Computex 2027 booth showcased a huge lineup of next-generation Socket LGA1851 motherboards based on the top Intel Z890 chipset, which are ready for Intel's Core Ultra "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors. GIGABYTE has taped out the motherboard model names, so all mentions of Z890 in this article are based on our assumption that it's the name of the next-gen Intel chipset. These chips are expected to bring generational IPC increases from their "Lion Cove" P-cores, "Skymont" E-cores, a more complete PCIe Gen 5 I/O (including for the CPU-attached NVMe slots), and other innovations. If the socket looks similar to the LGA1700, it's because it's identical in physical dimensions, and you can use your LGA1700 cooler on the LGA1851, but the processors are not inter-compatible. The company also showcased a few AMD Socket AM5 motherboards based on the new AMD X870E chipset.

The first motherboard to catch our eye is the Z890 AORUS Tachyon. This board is geared for record-seeking CPU overclocking. The processor is wired to just two DDR5 memory slots (1 DIMM per channel, the best configuration for memory OC); and the CPU-attached NVMe slots being close to the socket, with a combined heatsink. The only expansion slots are a PCI-Express 5.0 x16, and what could be a Gen 4 x8. There are plenty of overclocker-friendly controls, voltage measurement points, diagnostic LEDs, and status displays, scattered all over the board.

AMD today announced its much awaited Ryzen 9000 series desktop processors. Built in the Socket AM5 package, and drop-in compatible with all current AM5 motherboards with a BIOS update, the processors are based on the new "Zen 5" CPU microarchitecture. The operational part of the processor, the CPU complex dies (CCDs), are built on the 4 nm process, wired to a 6 nm I/O die. AMD didn't get down into the nuts and bolts of the microarchitecture, but briefly mentioned an impressive 16% IPC increase over "Zen 4." Coupled with the fact that the first wave of processors lack 3D V-cache and can sustain higher boost frequencies and TDP, processors in the series should beat the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in gaming performance, which also means that AMD has beaten the 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" processor series by a significant margin.

The 16% IPC increase over "Zen 4" is backed by branch prediction improvements, wider pipelines and vectors, and deeper window sizes across the core design, for more parallelism. The core also features doubling in instruction bandwidth for front-end instructions, FPU to L1, and L1 to L2 data bandwidth, and a redesigned FPU to double AI performance and AVX512 throughput. The company hasn't put out a block design for "Zen 5," and we'll learn more about it in the run-up to the market availability of these chips some time in July 2024.

An alleged company slide by motherboard maker GIGABYTE leaked a few interesting tidbits about the upcoming AMD Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" Socket AM5 desktop processor powered by the "Zen 5" microarchitecture. To begin with, we're getting our first confirmation that the "Zen 5" common CCD used on "Granite Ridge" desktop processors and future EPYC "Turin" server processors, is built on the 4 nm EUV foundry node by TSMC, an upgrade from the 5 nm EUV node that the "Zen 4" CCD is built on. This could be the same version of the TSMC N4 node that AMD had been using for its "Phoenix" and "Hawk Point" mobile processors.

AMD is likely carrying over the client I/O die (cIOD) from the "Raphael" processor. This is built on the TSMC 6 nm DUV node. It packs a basic iGPU based on RDNA 2 with 2 compute units; a dual-channel DDR5 memory controller, and a 28-lane PCIe Gen 5 root complex, besides some SoC connectivity. AMD is rumored to be increasing the native DDR5 speeds for "Granite Ridge," up from the DDR5-5200 JEDEC-standard native speed, and DDR5-6000 "sweetspot" speed of "Raphael," so the cIOD isn't entirely the same.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, introduced the latest all-round B650E AORUS PRO X USB4 motherboard. Built-in with Dual USB4 ports and comprehensive leading features, B650E AORUS PRO X USB4 enables users to enjoy the most affordable next-gen AM5 platform in advance.

With blisteringly fast and reliable transfer speeds, extensive compatibility, efficient charging, and ultra-HD display connectivity, USB4 has evidently become an essential specification on the coming next-gen AM5 platform. Among the increasing number of USB4-ready devices on the market, the B650E AORUS PRO X USB4 exclusively features dual native USB4 ports, providing up to 40 Gbps on each port with support for all Ryzen processors. Uniquely, this total 40 Gbps bandwidth can be fully used for data transferring, unlike Thunderbolt 4, which shares bandwidth between data and video. Aside from the full 40 Gbps USB4, B650E AORUS PRO X USB4 also offers superb connectivity with Wi-Fi 7 using GIGABYTE's Ultra-High Gain antenna and 2.5 GbE LAN.

An AMD Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" desktop processor engineering sample with a maximum boost frequency of 5.80 GHz was found to offer an astonishing 19% higher single-threaded performance increase over an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. "Granite Ridge" is codename for the Socket AM5 desktop processor family that implements the new "Zen 5" CPU microarchitecture. The unnamed "Granite Ridge" processor comes with an OPN code of 100-0000001290. Its CPU core count is irrelevant, as the single-threaded performance is in question here. The processor boosts up to 5.80 GHz, which means the core handling the single-threaded benchmark workload is achieving this speed. This speed is 100 MHz higher than the 5.70 GHz that the Ryzen 9 7950X processor based on the "Zen 4" architecture, boosts up to.

The single-threaded benchmark in question is the CPU-Z Bench. The mostly blurred out CPU-Z screenshot that reveals the OPN also mentions a processor TDP of 170 W, which means this engineering sample chip is either 12-core or 16-core. The chip posts a CPU-Z Bench single-thread score of 910 points, which matches that of the Intel Core i9-14900K with its 908 points. You've to understand that the i9-14900K boosts one of its P-cores to 6.00 GHz, to yield the 908 points that's part CPU-Z's reference scores. So straight off the bat, we see that "Zen 5" has a higher IPC than the "Raptor Cove" P-core powering the i9-14900K. Its gaming performance might end up higher than the Ryzen 7000 X3D family.Many Thanks to TumbleGeorge for the tip.

Thermalright introduced the Burst Assassin 120 EVO DARK, a performance-segment air CPU cooler. The cooler relies on a conventional D-type aluminium fin-stack heatsink that's ventilated by a pair of fans in push-pull configuration. Its design involves a nickel-plated copper base from which six 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes draw heat, conveying it to an aluminium fin-stack. This 52 mm-thick fin-stack has fins with jagged edges to increase air turbulence, and heat dissipation. The stack is covered by a metal top-plate with a brushed aluminium finish. Ventilating the heatsink is a pair of 120 mm fans.

Unlike most other companies, Thermalright includes two different kinds of 120 mm fans. The first one is a Thermalright TL-C12B V2 meant to be installed in the "push" position, and the second one is a TL-C12RB V2 intended for the "pull" position. Both fans feature fluid dynamic bearings, 4-pin PWM inputs, and top speeds of 1,500 RPM; however the push fan offers 66.17 CFM of maximum airflow, while the pull fan does 58 CFM. The static pressure ratings of both fans are 1.58 mm H₂O, and both their maximum noise outputs are rated at 25.6 dBA. With the two fans in place, the Thermalright Burst Assassin 120 EVO DARK measures 124 mm x 156 mm x 102 mm (WxHxD). The company didn't mention weight. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1700, AM5, AM4, and LGA1200/115x.

AMD's next-generation Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop processors based on the "Zen 5" microarchitecture, is rumored to launch in late-July, 2024, according to multiple sources in the ChipHell tech forums. The first four SKUs in the processor series will include one each of 16-core, 12-core, 8-core, and 6-core, spanning the Ryzen 9, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 5 series, just like the company's Ryzen 7000 series debut. The company could unveil these processors in its 2024 Computex keynote address early next month, talking about their features and performance in broad strokes, while we get technical previews in the run-up to the late-July launch.

A late-July launch of the Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" processors should also mean that the various motherboard manufacturers will showcase their upcoming motherboards based on the AMD X870 desktop chipset at Computex. Ryzen 9000 series are built in the existing Socket AM5 package, and should be compatible with existing AMD 600-series chipset motherboards. In fact, most motherboard vendors have already released UEFI firmware updates that include Ryzen 9000 series processor compatibility. Those buying a Ryzen 9000 series processor with an AMD 600-series chipset motherboard can simply take advantage of the USB BIOS Flashback feature that's available on most motherboards, including the entry-level ones.

ID-COOLING today announced the release of its newest product, the FX360 PRO 360 mm AIO liquid cooler, priced at just $60. Building on the success of the FROSTFLOW series, the FX360 PRO features a redesigned Gen 7 pump core, boasting a higher speed of 2800 RPM and an enhanced water flow range to provide further improved cooling performance.

The FX360 PRO is designed with a sleek, all-black aesthetic, instead of ARGB lighting for a more minimalist look, highlighted only by the CD pattern pump cover. The water block chamber has also been redesigned to maximize water flow efficiency. Included in the package are three TF-12025-PRO black fans, each equipped with short daisy chain cables for streamlined cable management. These cables can be discreetly connected and extended to the back of the tray, simplifying the installation process.

Today, global memory leader Team Group Inc. announced today the launch of three AIO CPU liquid coolers - the T-FORCE SIREN DP360 ARGB, GA360M ARGB, and GA240M ARGB AIO CPU Liquid Coolers. With a revolutionary magnetic design on the water block, users can effortlessly attach either an LCD or ARGB module, complemented by a pre-installed fan lock on the radiator for added convenience. Compatible with the latest Intel LGA 1200/1700 sockets and AMD AM4 and AM5 platforms, the coolers empower users to harness the full potential of dual-platform processors. Combining powerful performance with striking aesthetics, these coolers redefine heat dissipation standards.

The T-FORCE SIREN DP360 ARGB utilizes Asetek's 8th module, featuring a six-wire, three-phase motor for exceptional liquid cooling performance. Its 30 mm thick aluminium radiator, combined with a pre-installed high-pressure ARGB PWM fan, significantly enhances cooling efficiency with the increased surface area. The DP360 ARGB offers fast and convenient installation, with two options available: with or without a magnetic LCD Display module on the water block. With the specially developed T-FORCE software, users can unleash their creativity, customizing high-resolution images up to 480 x 480 and displaying vibrant visuals with 16.8 million colors. Showcasing personalized GIF animations and real-time hardware monitoring to guarantee an elevated gaming experience.

GIGABYTE Technology, Giga Computing, a subsidiary of GIGABYTE and an industry leader in AI servers, server motherboards, and workstations, today announced its support of AMD EPYC 4004 Series processors on AM5 socket servers and server motherboards for entry-level enterprise customers. This will require a BIOS update, which will come pre-installed in the near future.

The new AMD EPYC 4004 platform, built on the AM5 socket, delivers enterprise-grade features that allow small businesses and cloud services to have dependable daily operations with minimal downtime. For reliability and manageability, the platform has been validated for compatibility with server operating systems: Ubuntu, RHEL, and Windows Server. By doing so IT administrators can better control and monitor systems, as well as protect businesses against cyberthreats.

Today, TYAN, a leading server platform design manufacturer and a MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation subsidiary, introduced its latest offering: affordable and high-performance servers and motherboards powered by the new AMD EPYC 4004 Series CPUs. "The new AMD EPYC 4004 Series CPUs, along with our strong ecosystem of technology partners, bring enterprise solutions to a traditionally underserved market and ensure that small and medium businesses have access to highly-performant technologies that help them stay competitive," said John Morris, corporate vice president, Enterprise and HPC Business Group, AMD. "The AMD EPYC 4004 CPUs fill an important market gap, providing cost-optimized solutions with enterprise-grade dependability, scalability and security in cost-optimized system configurations that make sense for smaller businesses and dedicated hosters."

AMD EPYC 4004 Series processors complement the broad AMD EPYC processor offering, extending the established high performance, highly efficient "Zen4" core architecture into an expanded range of entry level system designs desired by small business customers as well as regional hosted IT services providers. With new low core count CPU offerings and TDP ranges as low as 65 W, attractively priced server systems featuring AMD EPYC 4004 Processors deliver the strong performance, scalability and dependability needed by growing businesses and 24x7 hosted services. With an optimized, single-socket package, 2 channels of DDR5 memory and up to 28 lanes of Gen 5 PCIe connectivity, these servers offer a compelling balance of performance and scalability in an affordable, easy-to-deploy, easy-to-manage package.

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for AI, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is announcing additions to the AMD based H13 generation of CPU Servers, optimized to deliver an outstanding balance of performance and efficiency and powered by the AMD EPYC 4004 Series processors. Supermicro will feature its new MicroCloud multi-node solution, which supports up to ten nodes in a 3U form factor. This very high-density option is designed for cloud-native workloads.

"Supermicro continues to offer innovative solutions for a wide range of applications, and with this new entry, based on the AMD EPYC 4004 processor, we can address the needs of on-premises or cloud service providers who need a cost-effective solution in a compact form factor," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "In a single rack, 160 individual nodes can be made available for cloud-native applications, which reduces real estate need and decreases a data center TCO."

ASRock Rack Inc., a leading innovative server company, announces its support for the new AMD EPYC 4004 Series CPUs. The latest BIOS updates for all ASRock Rack AM5 socket products are now available online, ensuring that ASRock Rack motherboards for AMD EPYC 4004 CPUs are ready to support the new processors.

The AMD EPYC 4004 Processors utilize the AM5 socket and feature from 4 to 16 SMT-capable (Simultaneous Multithreading), energy-efficient "Zen 4" processor cores, enabling needed performance in cost-efficient system designs. ASRock Rack launched a complete range of boards and systems based on AM5 socket and pioneered equipping the servers with IPMI since 2022. Now, with the launch of AMD EPYC 4004 Processors, ASRock Rack releases the new BIOS for these servers to leverage AMD official server-grade features such as the support of Windows Server 2022; RHEL 8 and 9; Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04.

AMD today introduced the EPYC 4004 line of server processors in the Socket AM5 package. These chips come with up to 16 "Zen 4" CPU cores, a 2-channel DDR5 memory interface, and a 28-lane PCIe Gen 5 I/O, and are meant to power small-business servers, as well as cater to the dedicated web-server hosting business that generally attracts client-segment processors. This is the exact segment of market that Intel addresses with its Xeon E-2400 series processors in the LGA1700 package. The EPYC 4004 series offers a superior support and warranty regime compared to client-segment processors, besides ECC memory support, and AMD Secure Processor, and all of the security features you get with Ryzen PRO 7000 series processors for commercial desktops.

AMD's offer over the Xeon E-2400 series is its CPU core count of up to 16, which lets you fully utilize the 16-core limit of the Windows 2022 Server base license. The EPYC 4004 series is functionally the same processor as the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" except for its ECC memory support. This chip features up to two 5 nm "Zen 4" CCDs with up to 8 cores, each; and an I/O die that puts out two DDR5 memory channels, and 28 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. Besides today's processor launch, several server motherboard vendors are announcing Socket AM5 server boards that are rackmount-friendly, and with server-relevant features.

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.

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.

Following up on last week's launch of the ASTRIA 600 ARGB dual-stack CPU cooler, Thermaltake today introduced its single-stack siblings from the lineup, the ASTRIA 200 ARGB, and the ASTRIA 400 ARGB. The three coolers were unveiled by the company earlier this year at the 2024 CES. Both the 200 and 400 are single fin-stack tower-type CPU coolers. The 200 has a slightly smaller fin-stack, and uses four 6 mm-thick heatpipes, through a direct-touch base; while the 400 uses a slightly heavier fin-stack, six 6 mm-thick heatpipes, and a nickel-plated copper indirect touch base. Thermaltake rates the ASTRIA 200 ARGB for thermal loads of 210 W, while the ASTRIA 400 ARGB is rated at 230 W. Both coolers feature ARGB LED lighting in the form of a diffuser top-plate, and LEDs in the fan.

The ASTRIA 200 ARGB measures 124 mm x 93 mm x 160 mm (L x W x H), while the ASTRIA 400 ARGB measures 124 mm x 94 mm x 160 mm. Both coolers include an identical type of 120 mm fan, which takes in 4-pin PWM input, turns at speeds ranging between 500 and 1800 RPM, pushing up to 65 CFM of airflow, at 2.56 mm H₂O static pressure, and 26.8 dBA of maximum noise. The fan is rated for 40,000 hours. Among the CPU socket types supported by both coolers include LGA1700, the upcoming LGA1851, AM5, AM4, and LGA1200/115x.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D, the 12-core/24-thread Socket AM5 processor with 3D V-cache, is selling at a new low price of just $329. A retailer-specific discount by AntOnline puts the processor at a price lower than the launch price of the Ryzen 7 7700X, and Core i5-14600K. While we haven't had a chance to test this chip, testing by Tom's Hardware puts its gaming performance higher than the Core i9-13900K, with a multithreaded productivity performance in a similar range. The 7900X3D probably suffers from bad sales due to the popularity of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which remains the fastest gaming processor, and the 7950X3D, which is AMD's flagship processor.

That's not all, prices of even some of the recently launched processors for the older Socket AM4 platform are on a slope, which could attract sales from those that want to upgrade. The Ryzen 7 5700X3D is a slightly slower version of the 5800X3D—the fastest gaming processor for AM4, with a gaming performance rivaling the Core i9-12900K. This new chip can be had at just $229 on Amazon US. The Ryzen 7 5800X was once a solid gaming processor when AMD dominated Intel's 10th- and 11th Gen, it's now going for just $179.

Thermaltake today announced the ASTRIA 600 ARGB, a dual fin-stack type CPU cooler. The company had shown off the ASTRIA line of coolers earlier this year at the 2024 CES. The ASTRIA 600 leads the pack, being the heaviest model, with the most heat dissipation area from its dual-stack design. Its design involves a nickel-plated copper base, from which six 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes make their way through two aluminium fin-stacks with equal fin-pitch to each other. Both fin-stacks are capped by die-cast metal top-plates with ARGB lighting from 18 LEDs, each. Two 120 mm fans ventilate the fin-stacks.

Each of the two included 120 mm fans features a 40,000-hour rated bearing, and a 9-LED ARGB lighting that projects from the impeller hub. The fan takes in 4-pin PWM for its main function, turns at speeds ranging between 500 and 1,800 RPM, pushing up to 65 CFM of airflow, at 2.56 mm H₂O static pressure, and up to 26.8 dBA noise. Even with both fans in place, Thermaltake says you have clearance for 1.5x-tall memory modules (ones that have lighting or heatsink crowns). The cooler has a cooling capacity of 265 W, making it fit for any of the flagship desktop processors. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1700, upcoming LGA1851, LGA1200/LGA115x, AM5, and AM4. The cooler measures 124 mm x 137 mm x 160 mm (L x W x H). The company didn't reveal pricing.