HP Inc. today introduced two new innovations—the world's highest performance AI PC and the first integration of a trust framework into an AI model development platform. Both announcements expand HP's efforts to make AI real for companies and people with new and transformative AI experiences across the company's PCs, software, and partner ecosystem.

HP is empowering everyone, from corporate knowledge workers to freelancers and students, to unlock the power of AI. Users can connect with anyone in the world with real time translation to 40 languages, become master presenters with their personal communication coach, and quickly create videos like a pro.

In a community blog post, Arm has announced its new Accuracy Super Resolution (ASR) upscaling technology. This open-source solution aims to transform mobile gaming by offering best-in-class upscaling capabilities for smartphones and tablets. Arm ASR addresses a critical challenge in mobile gaming: delivering high-quality graphics while managing power consumption and heat generation. By rendering games at lower resolutions and then intelligently upscaling them, Arm ASR promises to significantly boost performance without sacrificing visual quality. The technology builds upon AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (FSR 2) and adapts it specifically for mobile devices. Arm ASR utilizes temporal upscaling, which combines information from multiple frames to produce higher-quality images from lower-resolution inputs. Even though temporal upscaling is more complicated to implement than spatial frame-by-frame upscaling, it delivers better results and gives developers more freedom.

This approach allows for more ambitious graphics while maintaining smooth gameplay. In benchmark tests using a complex scene, Arm demonstrated impressive results. Devices featuring the Arm Immortalis-G720 GPU showed substantial framerate improvements when using Arm ASR compared to native resolution rendering and Qualcomm's Game Super Resolution (GSR). Moreover, the technology helped maintain stable temperatures, preventing thermal throttling that can compromise user experience. Collaboration with MediaTek revealed significant power savings when using Arm ASR on a Dimensity 9300 handset. This translates to extended battery life for mobile gamers, addressing key concerns. Arm is releasing ASR under an MIT open-source license, encouraging widespread adoption and experimentation among developers. Below you can see the comparison of various upscalers.

AMD reportedly plans to incorporate glass substrates into its high-performance system-in-packages (SiPs) sometimes between 2025 and 2026. Glass substrates offer several advantages over traditional organic substrates, including superior flatness, thermal properties, and mechanical strength. These characteristics make them well-suited for advanced SiPs containing multiple chiplets, especially in data center applications where performance and durability are critical. The adoption of glass substrates aligns with the industry's broader trend towards more complex chip designs. As leading-edge process technologies become increasingly expensive and yield gains diminish, manufacturers turn to multi-chiplet designs to improve performance. AMD's current EPYC server processors already incorporate up to 13 chiplets, while its Instinct AI accelerators feature 22 pieces of silicon. A more extreme testament is Intel's Ponte Vecchio, which utilized 63 tiles in a single package.

Glass substrates could enable AMD to create even more complex designs without relying on costly interposers, potentially reducing overall production expenses. This technology could further boost the performance of AI and HPC accelerators, which are a growing market and require constant innovation. The glass substrate market is heating up, with major players like Intel, Samsung, and LG Innotek also investing heavily in this technology. Market projections suggest explosive growth, from $23 million in 2024 to $4.2 billion by 2034. Last year, Intel committed to investing up to 1.3 trillion Won (almost one billion USD) to start applying glass substrates to its processors by 2028. Everything suggests that glass substrates are the future of chip design, and we await to see first high-volume production designs.

According to a recent leak from Golden Pig on Weibo, AMD is gearing up to introduce the Ryzen 7 8745HS, a modified version of the existing Ryzen 7 8845HS APU. The key difference in this new chip lies in its neural processing capabilities. While the 8845HS boasts AMD's XDNA-based NPU (Neural Processing Unit), the upcoming 8745HS is rumored to have this feature disabled. Specifications for the 8745HS are expected to closely mirror its predecessor, featuring eight Zen 4 cores, 16 threads, and a configurable TDP range of 35-54 W. The chip will likely retain the Radeon 780M integrated GPU with 12 Compute Units. However, it is possible that AMD might introduce slight clock speed reductions to differentiate the new model further.

It is also worth pointing out that Hawk Point generation is not Copilot+ certified due to first-generation XDNA NPU being only 16 TOPS out of 40 TOPS required, so having an NPU doesn't help AMD advertise these processors as Copilot+ ready. The success of this new variant will largely depend on its pricing and adoption by laptop/mobile OEMs. Without the NPU, the 8745HS could offer a more budget-friendly option for users who don't require extensive local AI processing capabilities. After all, AI workloads remain a niche segment in consumer computing, and many users may find the 8745HS an attractive alternative if pricing is reduced, especially given the availability of cloud-based AI tools.

Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC is reportedly planning to increase its wafer prices by up to 10% in 2025, according to a Morgan Stanley note cited by investor Eric Jhonsa. The move comes as demand for cutting-edge processors in smartphones, PCs, AI accelerators, and HPC continues to surge. Industry insiders reveal that TSMC's state-of-the-art 4 nm and 5 nm nodes, used for AI and HPC customers such as AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel, could see up to 10% price hikes. This increase would push the cost of 4 nm-class wafers from $18,000 to approximately $20,000, representing a significant 25% rise since early 2021 for some clients and an 11% rise from the last price hike. Talks about price hikes with major smartphone manufacturers like Apple have proven challenging, but there are indications that modest price increases are being accepted across the industry. Morgan Stanley analysts project a 4% average selling price increase for 3 nm wafers in 2025, which are currently priced at $20,000 or more per wafer.

Mature nodes like 16 nm are unlikely to see price increases due to sufficient capacity. However, TSMC is signaling potential shortages in leading-edge capacity to encourage customers to secure their allocations. Adding to the industry's challenges, advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging prices are expected to rise by 20% over the next two years, following previous increases in 2022 and 2023. TSMC aims to boost its gross margin to 53-54% by 2025, anticipating that customers will absorb these additional costs. The impact of these price hikes on end-user products remains uncertain. Competing foundries like Intel and Samsung may seize this opportunity to offer more competitive pricing, potentially prompting some chip designers to consider alternative manufacturing options. Additionally, TSMC's customers could reportedly be unable to secure their capacity allocation without "appreciating TSMC's value."

AMD today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Silo AI, the largest private AI lab in Europe, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $665 million. The agreement represents another significant step in the company's strategy to deliver end-to-end AI solutions based on open standards and in strong partnership with the global AI ecosystem. The Silo AI team consists of world-class AI scientists and engineers with extensive experience developing tailored AI models, platforms and solutions for leading enterprises spanning cloud, embedded and endpoint computing markets.

Silo AI CEO and co-founder Peter Sarlin will continue to lead the Silo AI team as part of the AMD Artificial Intelligence Group, reporting to AMD senior vice president Vamsi Boppana. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2024.

CPUID this week released the latest version of CPU-Z, and its change-log confirms the core-configurations of upcoming AMD Ryzen AI 300-series "Strix Point" processor SKUs. On paper, "Strix Point" packs a 12-core CPU based on the latest "Zen 5" microarchitecture, but there's more to this number. We've known since June 2024 that the chip has a heterogeneous multicore configuration of four full-sized "Zen 5" cores, and eight compacted "Zen 5c" cores. Only the "Zen 5" cores can reach the maximum boost frequencies rated for the chip, while the "Zen 5c" cores go a few notches above the base frequency, although it's expected that the gap in boost frequencies between the two core types is expected to slightly narrow compared to that between the "Zen 4" and "Zen 4c" cores in chips such as the "Phoenix 2."

The series is led by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, an enthusiast segment chip that maxes out all 12 cores on the chip—that's 4x "Zen 5" and 8x "Zen 5c." This model is closely followed by the Ryzen AI 9 365, which AMD marked in its presentations as being simply a 10-core/20-thread chip. We're now learning that it has 4x "Zen 5" and 6x "Zen 5c," meaning that AMD hasn't touched the counts of its faster "Zen 5" cores. It's important to note here that "Zen 5c" is not an E-core. It supports SMT, and at base frequency, it has an identical IPC to "Zen 5." It also supports the entire ISA that "Zen 5" does.

The recent launch of Copilot+ PCs, a collaboration between Microsoft and Qualcomm, has taken an unexpected turn in the market. While these devices were promoted for their artificial intelligence capabilities, a Bloomberg report reveals that consumers are primarily drawn to them for their impressive battery life. The Snapdragon X-powered Copilot+ PCs have made a significant impact, securing 20% of global PC sales during their launch week. However, industry analyst Avi Greengart points out that the extended battery life, not the AI features, is driving these sales. Microsoft introduced three AI-powered features exclusive to these PCs: Cocreator, Windows Studio Effects, and Live Captions with Translation. Despite these innovations, many users find these features non-essential for daily use. The delay of the anticipated Recall feature due to privacy concerns has further dampened enthusiasm for the AI aspects of these devices.

The slow reception of on-device AI capabilities extends beyond consumer preferences to the software industry. Major companies like Adobe, Salesforce, and SentinelOne declined Microsoft's request to optimize their apps for the new hardware, citing resource constraints and the limited market share of AI-capable PCs. Gregor Steward, SentinelOne's VP for AI, suggests it could take years before AI PCs are widespread enough to justify app optimization. Analysts project that by 2028, only 40% of new computers will be AI-capable. Despite these challenges, Qualcomm remains optimistic about the future of AI PCs. While the concept may currently be more on the marketing side, the introduction of Arm-based Windows laptops offers a welcome alternative to the Intel-AMD duopoly. As the technology evolves and adoption increases, on-device AI features may become more prevalent and useful. The imminent arrival of AMD Ryzen AI 300 series and Intel Lunar Lake chips promises to expand the Copilot+ PC space further. For now, however, it appears that superior battery life remains the primary selling point for consumers.

AMD today released the FidelityFX SDK 1.1 to the public through its GPUOpen initiative. This update includes the source code to FSR 3.1, which should make it easier for game developers to understand the technology, and integrate it with their games. FSR 3.1 requires an AMD Radeon RX 5000 series (or later) GPU, or an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20-series (or later) GPU, although the company recommends at least an RX 6000 series or RTX 30-series GPU, regardless of model. You get the full upscaling and frame-generation capabilities of FSR 3.1 on all supported GPUs, across AMD and NVIDIA, which is the main pull for the tech, as the rival DLSS 3 Frame Generation technology only works on RTX 40-series (or later) GPUs.

AMD FSR 3.1 builds on top of FSR 3 by introducing updates to the upscaler. If you recall, the star attraction with FSR 3 has been frame-generation, but the underlying upscaling tech had been carried over from FSR 2.2. FSR 3.1 introduces some much-needed updates to the quality of upscaling, and introduces new upscaler quality presets, including a native AA mode analogous to NVIDIA's DLAA. These increases in upscaler quality lets you trade in quality for performance better. You can find all the resources you need on FSR 3.1 here.

Apparently the AMD "Strix Halo" processor is real, and it's large. The chip is designed to square off against the likes of the Apple M3 Pro and M3 Max, in letting ultraportable notebooks have powerful graphics performance. A chiplet-based processor, not unlike the desktop socketed "Raphael," and mobile BGA "Dragon Range," the "Strix Halo" processor consists of one or two CCDs containing CPU cores, wired to a large die, that's technically the cIOD (client I/O die), but containing an oversized iGPU, and an NPU. The point behind "Strix Halo" is to eliminate the need for a performance-segment discrete GPU, and conserve its PCB footprint.

According to leaks by Harukaze5719, a reliable source with AMD leaks, "Strix Halo" comes in a BGA package dubbed FP11, measuring 37.5 mm x 45 mm, which is significantly larger than the 25 mm x 40 mm size of the FP8 BGA package that the regular "Strix Point," "Hawk Point," and "Phoenix" mobile processors are built on. It is larger in area than the 40 mm x 40 mm FL1 BGA package of "Dragon Range" and upcoming "Fire Range" gaming notebook processors. "Strix Halo" features one or two of the same 4 nm "Zen 5" CCDs featured on the "Granite Ridge" desktop and "Fire Range" mobile processors, but connected to a much larger I/O die, as we mentioned.

Ling-Long, a Chinese PC manufacturer, has introduced an innovative device that combines a fully functional AMD Ryzen 7 8840U PC with a foldable keyboard. This design stands out among recent Mini and Portable PC offerings. Unlike Mini PCs, it doesn't require an external power source to boot, and unlike laptops, it lacks a built-in display. Users can simply connect it to a monitor and mouse to create a complete workstation. Ling-Long emphasizes the product's extreme portability, demonstrating how it can fit in a pocket.

Aiming to surpass the compactness and functionality of Apple's Macbook and Mac mini, Ling-Long describes their product as an "unibody" design with a dedicated converting mechanism. Essentially, it's a mini-PC integrated into a keyboard. The device's chassis is divided into two compartments: one for the main PC with a single active-blower fan and copper heatsink, and another for the battery pack. Battery life varies from 10 hours for light workloads to 4 hours for gaming.

Just a few weeks ago, AMD invited us to Barcelona as part of a roundtable, to share their vision for the future of the company, and to get our feedback. On site, were prominent AMD leadership, including Phil Guido, Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer and Jack Huynh, Senior VP & GM, Computing and Graphics Business Group. AMD is making changes in a big way to how they are approaching technology, shifting their focus from hardware development to emphasizing software, APIs, and AI experiences. Software is no longer just a complement to hardware; it's the core of modern technological ecosystems, and AMD is finally aligning its strategy accordingly.

The major difference between AMD and NVIDIA is that AMD is a hardware company that makes software on the side to support its hardware; while NVIDIA is a software company that designs hardware on the side to accelerate its software. This is about to change, as AMD is making a pivot toward software. They believe that they now have the full stack of computing hardware—all the way from CPUs, to AI accelerators, to GPUs, to FPGAs, to data-processing and even server architecture. The only frontier left for AMD is software.

As AMD prepares to roll out its next-generation Ryzen 9000 series of CPUs based on Zen 5 architecture, we are starting to see some systems being tested by third-party OEMs and system integrators. Today, we have Geekbench 6 scores of the Ryzen 9 9900X CPU, and the 12-core, 24-thread processor that has demonstrated impressive performance gains. Boasting a base clock of 4.4 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.6 GHz, the CPU features only 120 W TDP, a significant reduction from the previous 170 W of the previous generation. In Geekbench 6 tests, the Ryzen 9 9900X achieved a single-core score of 3,401 and a multicore score of 19,756.

These results place it ahead of Intel's current flagship Core i9-14900KS, which scored 3,189 points in single-core performance. Regarding multicore tasks, the i9-14900K scored 21,890 points, still higher than AMD's upcoming 12-core SKU. The benchmark of AMD's CPU was conducted on an ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Gene motherboard with 32 GB of DDR5 memory. As anticipation builds for the official release, these early benchmarks suggest that AMD will deliver a compelling product that balances high performance with improved energy efficiency. The top tier models will still carry a 170 W TDP, while some high-end and middle-end SKUs get a TDP reduction like the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X dial down to 65 W, decreased from 105 W in their previous iterations.

AMD is preparing to release its next generation of high-performance CPUs, the Ryzen 9000X3D series, and rumors are circulating about potential increases in stacked L3 cache. However, a recent report from Wccftech suggests that the upcoming models will maintain the same 64 MB of additional 3D V-cache as their predecessors. The X3D moniker represents AMD's 3D V-Cache technology, which vertically stacks an extra L3 cache on top of one CPU chiplet. This design has proven particularly effective in enhancing gaming performance, leading AMD to market these processors as the "ultimate gaming" solutions. According to the latest information, the potential Ryzen 9 9950X3D would feature 16 Zen 5 cores with a total of 128 (64+64) MB L3 cache, while a Ryzen 9 9900X3D would offer 12 cores with the same cache capacity. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is expected to provide 96 (32+64) MB of total L3 cache.

Regarding L2, the CPUs feature one MB of L2 cache per core. Perhaps the most exciting development for overclockers is the reported inclusion of full overclocking support in the new X3D series. This marks a significant evolution from the limited options available in previous generations, potentially allowing enthusiasts to push these gaming-focused chips to new heights of performance. While the release date for the Ryzen 9000X3D series remains unconfirmed, industry speculation suggests a launch window as early as September or October. This timing would coincide with the release of new X870 (E) chipset motherboards. PC enthusiasts would potentially wait to match the next-gen CPU and motherboards, so this should be a significant upgrade cycle for many.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen AI 300 APUs pre-launch leaks continue, the latest coming from the BAPCo CrossMark benchmark database. Two models have been spotted: the officially announced Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and the recently leaked Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, part of the "Strix Point" family, boasts 12 cores and 24 threads. Its hybrid architecture combines four Zen 5 cores with eight Zen 5C cores. The chip reaches boost clocks up to 5.1 GHz, features 36 MB of cache (24 MB L3 + 12 MB L2), and includes a Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 compute units (1024 cores). The Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360, previously leaked as a 12-core part, has now been confirmed with 8 cores and 16 threads. It utilizes a 3+5 configuration of Zen 5 and Zen 5C cores, respectively. The APU includes 8 MB each of L2 and L3 cache, with a base clock of 2.0 GHz. Its integrated Radeon 870M GPU is expected to feature the RDNA 3.5 architecture with fewer cores than its higher-end counterparts, possibly 8 compute units.

According to the leaked benchmarks, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 was tested in an HP laptop, while the Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 appeared in a Lenovo model equipped with LPDDR5-7500 memory. Initial scores appear unremarkable compared to top Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and AMD Ryzen 7040 APUs, however, the tested APUs may be early samples, and their performance could differ from final retail versions. Furthermore, while the TDP range is known to be between 15 W and 54 W, the specific power configurations used in these benchmarks remain unclear. The first Ryzen AI 300 laptops are slated for release on July 28th, with Ryzen AI 300 PRO models expected in October.

According to a new leak by Hoang Anh Phu, the upcoming AMD Ryzen 9000 Strix Point desktop series and Ryzen AI 300 for laptops, both dedicated to consumers, will be complemented by the usual commercial and business counterparts: the AMD Ryzen PRO series sporting improved security and manageability features. The first Ryzen PRO model based on Strix Point was spotted in shipping manifests, confirming the series' existence. However, the launch date remains uncertain. Hoang Anh Phu, suggests an October launch for these CPUs.

Hoang's recent accurate leaks include the Radeon PRO W7900 Dual-Slot and Ryzen 8000F series for the DIY market. AMD is expected to introduce the Ryzen AI 300 PRO series six months after the April launch of the Ryzen 8000 PRO, including desktop and mobile variants. The leaker also revealed new PRO variant names: Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370 and Ryzen AI 7 Pro 360. While exact specs remain unconfirmed, the first one is rumored to be a 12-core processor. On the other hand, it's more likely that the Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 will be a 10-core version.

AOOSTAR has released a new Mini PC for its GEM series powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 Hawk Point processor. Despite its compact size (130 mm x 126 mm x 45 mm), the AOOSTAR GEM13 integrates an AMD Ryzen R7 8845HS Octa-Core processor with 16 threads, running at speeds of up to 5.1 GHz, and an NPU for AI with up to 38 TOPS. It includes a powerful 12-core Radeon 780M iGPU RDNA 3 that reaches a speed of 2.7 GHz. This setup should be sufficient to support a wide range of applications and games running in 720p and 1080p resolution. For internal memory and storage, it supports up to 32 GB DDR5 5600 MHz and up to 1 TB storage via an M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe x4 SSD. Inside, there is enough space to install an additional 2.5" SATA internal storage unit.

For network connectivity, it features a combination of WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and two RJ45 2.5G network ports. As for interfaces, it sports 2x USB 3.0 ports, 2x USB 2.0 ports, a full front USB-C, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and two HDMI 2.1 video outputs. It also has a USB4 Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 data, power, and video output that could be used for an eGPU to increase gaming performance. The AOOSTAR GEM13 comes with a small 100 W external power supply and Windows 11 Pro as the operating system.

ASUS announced a press event on July 17 to launch at least nine notebook designs powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300 series "Strix Point" mobile processors. All these notebooks are AI PCs that meet Microsoft Copilot+ requirements. Each of the 9 designs will have several variants based on the processor model, discrete graphics, and other hardware differentiators, making up dozens of individual SKUs. The AMD "Strix Point" mobile processor is based on a 4 nm monolithic die. It combines a 12-core/24-thread CPU based on a combination of "Zen 5" and "Zen 5c" cores, a 50 TOPS-class NPU, and a powerful iGPU based on the RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, with 16 compute units.

Among the notebook designs ASUS plans to announce on July 17 are the ROG Zephyrus G16 (GA605), the TUF Gaming A14 (FA401), the TUF Gaming A16 (FA608), the Zenbook S16 (UM5606), Vivobook S14 (M5406), Vivobook S16 (M5506 and M5606), ProArt P16 (HN7606) and ProArt PX13 (HN7306). With these, ASUS is covering pretty much all its notebook market segments, including enthusiast gaming, performance gaming, boutique ultraportability, mainstream, and creative professional.

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.

In 2016, TSMC developed and named its InFO FOWLP technology, and applied it to the A10 processor used in the iPhone 7. TrendForce points out that since then, OSAT providers have been striving to develop FOWLP and FOPLP technologies to offer more cost-effective packaging solutions.

Starting in the second quarter, chip companies like AMD have actively engaged with TSMC and OSAT providers to explore the use of FOPLP technology for chip packaging and helping drive industry interest in FOPLP. TrendForce observes that there are three main models for introducing FOPLP packaging technology: Firstly, OSAT providers transitioning from traditional methods of consumer IC packaging to FOPLP. Secondly, foundries and OSAT providers packaging AI GPUs that are transitioning 2.5D packaging from wafer level to panel level. Thirdly, panel makers who are packaging consumer ICs.

ORIGIN PC, a leader in custom high-performance systems, today announced the launch of their limited edition Dark Cherry bundle. The launch of this limited edition bundle marks a significant milestone, as it introduces a customizable gaming PC. This extraordinary package showcases stunning artwork by Corsair LAB and allows you to select the components that suit your preferences for a sleek gaming experience. Alongside the customizable PC, you will also receive a SCUF Envision controller, a Corsair K65 PLUS WIRELESS gaming keyboard, a Corsair M75 WIRELESS gaming mouse, and a Corsair MM300 mouse pad. This grand moment offers an unparalleled opportunity to create your ideal gaming setup.

The ORIGIN PC Dark Cherry PC is their inaugural Limited Edition System featuring customizable components. Now you can personalize your system and pick out the components of your choice to game, stream, and create with only the limit of your imagination. Characterized by its absolutely stunning Cherry Blossom imagery, the Dark Cherry PC is a sight to behold. Customize yours with the latest Corsair DDR5 memory plus a plethora of fast, reliable SSD storage to drastically improve performance and save every game, file, or program you need.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop processors based on the "Zen 5" microarchitecture will see a slight improvement in memory overclocking capabilities. A chiplet-based processor, just like the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael," "Granite Ridge" combines one or two "Zen 5" CCDs, each built on the TSMC 4 nm process, with a client I/O die (cIOD) built on the 6 nm node. The cIOD of "Granite Ridge" appears to be almost identical to that of "Raphael." This is the chiplet that contains the processor's DDR5 memory controllers.

As part of the update, Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" should be able to run DDR5-6400 with a 1:1 ratio between the MCLK and FCLK domains. This is a slight increase from the DDR5-6000 sweetspot speed of Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" processors. AMD is reportedly making it possible for motherboard manufacturers and prebuilt OEMs to enable a 1:2 ratio, making it possible to run high memory speeds such as DDR5-8000, although performance returns with memory speeds would begin to diminish beyond the DDR5-6400 @ 1:1 setting. Memory manufacturers should launch a new wave of DDR5 memory kits with AMD EXPO profiles for DDR5-6400.

As we're getting close to the launch of AMD's 9000-series Ryzen processors, local retailers have already started to put the new CPUs up for pre-order and this gives us a first glimpse into the pricing we can expect. The first company to do so in Europe is Slovenian retailer Funtech, which has put up all four SKUs on its site. For those not familiar with European pricing, Slovenia has a VAT or sales tax rate of 22 percent, which obviously makes the pricing higher than in the US and some other countries. As Funtech also sells AMD's current CPUs, we can also get an idea of how much more the new CPUs will cost, at least compared to what the online retailer sells the equivalent 7000-series models for.

Starting from the bottom, the Ryzen 5 9600X goes for €310 (US$332) and the shop has the Ryzen 7 7600X up for sale at €212. The Ryzen 7 9700X goes for €400 (US$429), whereas the Ryzen 7 7700X is sold for €305. The Ryzen 9 9900X is listed at €500 (US$536) with the Ryzen 9 7900X at €392. Finally the Ryzen 9 9950X is listed at €660 (US$707), compared to €510 for the Ryzen 9 7950X. This is in line with earlier leaked pricing from the Philippines and with the VAT removed, we end up close to proposed MSRP pricing by various leakers over the past couple of months, or even somewhat lower. If anything, it doesn't look like AMD is going to increase the MSRP over the 7000-series of Ryzen processors.

AMD announced FSR 3.1 in March 2024, and its first implementations are being announced. FSR 3.1 is a step up from FSR 3.0, in that it not just has frame generation, but also improvements to its upscaler up from FSR 2.2. If you recall, FSR 3.0 had only introduced frame generation, but its upscaler was carried over from FSR 2.2. The newer FSR 3.1 introduces image quality improvements to every performance preset of the upscaler, and introduces new presets, including the Native AA mode that's analogous to NVIDIA's DLAA. The game is rendered at native resolution, but the upscaler attempts to enhance details, making it an advanced AA mode. AMD today announced that FSR 3.1 is implemented with "Horizon: Forbidden West," "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart," "Ghost of Tsushima," "Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered," "Spider-Man: Miles Morales," and "God of War: Ragnarök."

AMD also recounts that FSR 3.0 now spans over 60 available and upcoming games (which includes the above titles with FSR 3.1). The company is announcing implementation for "Dragon's Dogma 2," "EVERSPACE 2," "Gray Zone Warfare," "House Flipper 2," "NARAKA: BLADEPOINT," "Pax Dei," "Senua's Saga: Hellblade II," "Ships At Sea," "Still Wakes the Deep," and" The Thaumaturge." Recently added upcoming titles include "Concord," "Creatures of Ava, Dungeon Stalkers," "Farming Simulator 25," "inZOI," "Nobody Wants to Die, Preserve," and "The First Descendant."

AMD is developing a new technology that promises to significantly reduce the size on disk of games, as well as reduce the size of game patches and updates. Today's AAA games tend to be over a 100 GB in size, with game updates running into tens of gigabytes, with some of the major updates practically downloading the game all over again. Upcoming games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is reportedly over 300 GB in size, which pushes the game away from those with anything but Internet connections with hundreds of Mbps in speeds. Much of the bulk of the game is made up of visual assets—textures, sprites, and cutscene videos. A modern AAA title could have hundreds of thousands of individual game assets, and sometimes even redundant sets of textures for different image quality settings.

AMD's solution to this problem is the Neural Block Compression technology. The company will get into the nuts and bolts of the tech in its presentation at the 2024 Eurographics Symposium on Rendering (July 3-5), but we have a vague idea of what it could be. Modern games don't drape surfaces of a wireframe with a texture, but also additional layers, such as specular maps, normal maps, roughness maps, etc). AMD's idea is to "flatten" all these layers, including the base texture, into a single asset format, which the game engine could disaggregate into the individual layers using an AI neural network. This is not to be confused with mega-textures—something entirely different, which relies on a single large texture covering all objects in a scene. The idea here is to flatten the various data layers of individual textures and their maps, into a single asset type. In theory, this should yield significant file-size savings, even if it results in some additional compute cost on the client's end.