AMD is in a constant process of processor development, and there are always new technologies on the horizon. Back in March of 2020, the company has revealed that it is working on new X3D packaging technology, that integrated both 2.5D and 3D approaches to packing semiconductor dies together as tightly as possible. Today, we are finally getting some more information about the X3D technology, as we have the first codename of the processor that is featuring this advanced packaging technology. According to David Schor, we have learned that AMD is working on a CPU that uses X3D tech with stacked dies, and it is called Milan-X.

The Milan-X CPU is AMD's upcoming product designed for data center usage. The rumors suggest that the CPU is designed for heavy bandwidth and presumably a lot of computing power. According to ExecutableFix, the CPU uses a Genesis-IO die to power the connectivity, which is an IO die from EPYC Zen 3 processors. While this solution is in the works, we don't know the exact launch date of the processor. However, we could hear more about it in AMD's virtual keynote at Computex 2021. For now, take this rumor with a grain of salt.

GIGABYTE Technology, one of the top global manufacturers of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, announces today the latest AORUS Gen4 7000s Prem. SSD with up to 7 GB/s read speed while optimizing passive thermal dissipation, which promises no throttling under long-lasting operation. Through the SSD Tool Box application, users can have an instant control on overall operation of SSD.

AORUS Gen4 7000s Prem. SSD adopts the PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 interface and it equips the latest Phison E18 selected 8-channel controller, which provides users with ultimate random access rate, as well as the high speed 3D-TLC NAND Flash and SLC cache design that brings the PCIe 4.0 into full play. With the read speed up to 7 GB/s and write speed up to 6.85 GB/s, AORUS Gen4 7000s Prem. SSD can power up content creators, gamers, and users eager for extreme performance.

A reliable source with AMD and NVIDIA leaks, ExecutableFix has shared some interesting bits of early information on AMD's next-generation Socket AM5. Apparently this will be AMD's first mainstream-desktop socket that does away with pins on the processor package, shifting them to the motherboard, in a Land Grid Array (LGA) format. This won't be AMD's first client LGA, though, as it was the Quad FX platform from 2006, which used a pair of Socket F LGAs. Socket AM5 will have a pin-count of 1,718 pins, 18 more than Intel's upcoming Socket LGA1700, on which its 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake-S" is expected to be based.

AMD will give the I/O of its client desktop platform a major update, with the introduction of DDR5 memory. Socket AM5 processors are expected to feature a dual-channel DDR5 memory interface. With Intel "Alder Lake-S" implementing DDR5, too, you now know why every major memory manufacturer is unveiling their first DDR5 U-DIMM product development. Interestingly, the PCI-Express interface on Socket AM5 will remain PCI-Express 4.0, even though PCI-Express 5.0 is being rumored for "Alder Lake-S." The switch to PCI-Express 5.0 may not be significant from a graphics cards perspective immediately, but paves the way for next-gen M.2 NVMe SSDs with double the transfer-rates of current drives that use PCI-Express 4.0. AMD is developing the new 600-series chipset to do with its next-generation Socket AM5 processors.

A highly plausible looking AMD Radeon RX 6600 series graphics card is doing rounds on the web. The card is purportedly an AMD reference-design OEM-trim "Navi 23" board. We know from recent rumors that the 7 nm "Navi 23" silicon powers the upcoming Radeon RX 6600 XT and RX 6600. The picture only shows a portion of the card, the back-plate as viewed toward the rear I/O, but the bar-code sticker is unmistakable. The sticker reveals the OEM to be PC Partner, which is known to make all OEM and retail reference-design AMD Radeon graphics cards, which are marked "MBA" (made by AMD). You'll find a similar-looking bar-code sticker on all AMD reference-design cards, regardless of the AIB partner marketing it.

The bar-code sticker references "Navi 23 XT," which is very likely the Radeon RX 6600 XT. The card has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, and its display outputs include one HDMI, and three DisplayPorts. Elsewhere in the picture, we get valuable insights into the design of the cooler, revealing that the card features an aluminium fin-stack heatsink with one or more axial fans (top-flow), rather than a channel-type lateral blower-type cooling solution. The "Navi 23" silicon is rumored to feature up to 32 RDNA2 compute units that amount to 2.048 stream processors, a PCI-Express 4.0 x8 host interface, much like the RX 5500 XT, and a 128-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface.

AMD today announced that AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su will keynote COMPUTEX 2021, one of the leading global technology tradeshows focused on the theme of "Building Global Technology Ecosystems" in 2021. Dr. Su will present the AMD vision for the future of computing, including the growing adoption of AMD high-performance computing and graphics solutions in the keynote titled "AMD Accelerating - The High-Performance Computing Ecosystem." The digital keynote will be livestreamed at 10:00 AM (GMT+8) on Tuesday, June 1 and can be accessed on the COMPUTEX 2021 Hybrid platform as well as AMD.com.

AMD's roadmap for notebook processors from 2020 - 2022 has recently been leaked and it reveals some interesting information for the launch of Zen 3+ and Navi 2. AMD will release the Rembrandt "H" series for mobile workstations in 2022 manufactured on the 6nm node with Navi 2 graphics and a Zen 3+ core design. These chips will include PCIe 4.0, LPDDR5/DDR5, and USB 4 support and will come with a power target of 45 W while a 15 W lineup of U series processors will also be released with identical specifications. The roadmap also shows the launch of Dragon Crest processors for tablets and handheld devices in 2022 with Navi 2 graphics and Zen 2 core designs. AMD is also set to launch the Barcelo "U" series for ultrathin laptops with very similar specifications to Cezanne "U".

HP introduced its latest gaming hardware and software designed for today's gamers with the powerful OMEN 16 and OMEN 17, bright and customizable OMEN 25i Gaming Monitor, and community gaming with OMEN OASIS Beta feature in OMEN Gaming Hub. The company also debuted Victus by HP, its next-generation mainstream-level gaming PC portfolio, with a 16-inch laptop.

Gaming continues to be an outlet for entertainment and connecting with friends. Two out of three people are spending more time watching videos and gaming than they did prior to the pandemic, with one in four gaming three to four hours more and almost one in five gaming six to ten hours more a week6. HP's next-generation gaming portfolio is designed for both veteran gamers and enthusiast explorers to be entertained, connected, and empowered to progress in their favorite games.

As AMD's upcoming feature that rivals NVIDIA DLSS nears release, reportedly this June, a USPTO patent application sheds some light on its inner workings. In its November 2019 application, AMD describes the feature as "Gaming Super Resolution." The abstract points to what the feature essentially does—downscaling or upscaling images using various methods, with the goal of improving performance, without much loss in fidelity. "The present application provides devices and methods for efficiently super-resolving an image, which preserves the original information of the image while upscaling the image and improving fidelity. The devices and methods utilize linear and non-linear up-sampling in a wholly learned environment," the application reads.

The application emphasizes on using a combination of linear and non-linear upscaling methods to improve the fidelity of the lower-resolution render output to the user's display resolution, including leveraging a "wholly learned" AI deep-learning network. This would be a DNN that relies on ground-truth information to reconstruct some fidelity to the upscaled image. "The devices and methods include a gaming super resolution (GSR) network architecture which efficiently super resolves images in a convolutional and generalizable manner."

AMD has recently confirmed that the upcoming B2 stepping for Ryzen 5000 processors will only improve production and availability with no impact on performance. The new stepping will be deployed within the next 6 months and will be fully compatible with existing motherboards without the need for a BIOS update. We initially believed that the new revisions may bring small performance improvements similar to existing Ryzen XT products however with this recent confirmation from AMD we now know that this is not the case. AMD has not confirmed if they are preparing a potential Ryzen 5000XT series which would likely be the final release on the AM4 platform.

AMDAs part of our continued effort to expand our manufacturing and logistics capabilities, AMD will gradually move AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Desktop Processors to B2 Revision over the next 6 months. The revision does not bring improvements in terms of functionality or performance, furthermore, no BIOS update will be required.

Intel will detail its 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" client and "Sapphire Rapids" server CPU microarchitectures at the Hot Chips 33 conclave, this August. In fact, Intel's presentation leads the CPU sessions on the opening day of August 23. "Alder Lake" will be the session opener, followed by AMD's presentation of the already-launched "Zen 3," and IBM's 5 GHz Z processor powering its next-gen mainframes. A talk on Xeon "Sapphire Rapids" follows this. Hot Chips is predominantly an engineering conclave, where highly technical sessions are presented by engineers from major semiconductor firms; and so the sessions on "Alder Lake" and "Sapphire Rapids" are expected to be very juicy.

"Alder Lake" is Intel's attempt at changing the PC ecosystem by introducing hybrid CPU cores, a concept introduced to the x86 machine architecture with "Lakefield." The processor will also support next-generation I/O, such as DDR5 memory. The "Sapphire Rapids" server CPU microarchitecture will see an increase in CPU core counts, next-gen I/O such as PCI-Express 5.0, CXL 1.1, DDR5 memory, and more.

AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced that its Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase program. Under this program, the company intends to repurchase up to $4 billion of outstanding AMD common stock. AMD expects to fund repurchases through cash generated from operations which have been strengthened by the company's strong operational results.

"Today's announcement reflects our confidence in AMD's business and the successful execution of our multi-year growth strategy," said Dr. Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. "Our strong financial results and growing cash generation enable us to invest in the business and begin returning capital to our shareholders." Under this program, which is designed to return value to AMD stockholders, offset dilution from stock issuances, and reduce share count over time, the company will repurchase stock in the open market. This repurchase program has no termination date and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

NVIDIA's latest series of RTX 30 series graphics cards continue to remain elusive more than eight months after their release thanks to a combination of global chip shortages, logistics delays, and mining demand. The pricing for the latest generation graphics cards from various European retailers has been compiled and analyzed by 3DCentre and it paints a gloomy picture for gamers. The RTX 3080 now retails for 2999€ or 317% higher than the MSRP of 719€, other RTX 30 series cards saw price increases between 107% - 204%. This trend isn't exclusive to team Green with AMD's RX 6000 series also seeing significant price increases with the average price for an RX 6800 reaching 159% of MSRP at ~1600€, while other cards in the lineup see increases between 70% - 100%. The complete price history for all the cards tracked can be found at the source below. We don't see these prices falling significantly anytime soon unless there is a large drop in mining demand or a significant production increase.

AMD today released the latest version of their Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition drivers. Version 21.5.2 features support for the impending release of Days Gone. It also adds support for Microsoft's Direct X 12 Velocity SDK - meant to make it easier and faster for game developers to implement Direct X 12 features onto their development pipeline.

The new drivers also feature support for Shader Model 6.6. This particular revision for Microsoft's Shader Model implements expanded atomic operations (64-bit), dynamic resource binding, derivatives and samples in compute shaders, packed 8-bit computations, and wave size. Read on after the break for fixed issues, and remaining issues that AMD is aware of. Follow the link below towards our very own download section.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.5.2 Beta

AMD is reportedly preparing to launch a B2 stepping of their Ryzen 5000 series of processors, codenamed Vermeer. Thanks to the findings of Patrick Schur, who was lucky to get ahold of AMD's processor codes, we have information that AMD is slowly preparing a B2 stepping of Vermeer processors, to come as a refresh. First off is the alleged Ryzen 9 5950XT 16 core, 32 threaded models which are supposed to feature a base speed of 3.4 GHz, and a boost frequency of 5.0 GHz, entering the 5 GHz world. Another B2 stepping that we know about is an alleged Ryzen 5 5600XT 6 core, 12 threaded design. This one features the same frequencies as its Ryzen 5 5600X variant, meaning 3.7 GHz base, and 4.6 GHz boost frequencies.

Of course, all this information should be taken with a big grain of salt, as we don't know what AMD is planning to do, or how the company plans to manifest any new product launch.

German publication, Igor's LAB, has got ahold of some information regarding AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 6600 series graphics card. Based on the Navi 23 SKU, the GPU is supposed to satisfy all the entry-level needs one would expect from a GPU. That means light 1080p gaming and multimedia streaming. For starters, let's get into details of the die. Igor's LAB notes that the die size is 235.76mm2, with a 35x35 mm package. The die will be centered in a package with a 45-degree rotation, which you can see how it looks in the images below. Additionally, the Navi 23 GPU will have SKUs ranging from 65 Watts to 95 Watts of Total Graphics Power (TGP). As far as frequency goes, the card BIOS points to the maximum clock speed of 2350 MHz, which is lower than the rumored 2684 MHz.

When it comes to memory, the upcoming Navi 23 GPUs can be equipped with up to 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, however, it is most likely that the regular gamer version will come with 8 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon Pro models will use the full 16 GB limit. As far as interface is concerned, the Radeon RX 6600 series will be limited to PCIe 4.0 x8 connection, as the low-end GPU doesn't require a full x16 slot. With the bandwidth of the PCIe 4.0, only eight lanes are enough for this GPU. These cards are expected to hit the market sometime in June, and we are waiting for the official announcement.

AMD processors have been very good at the field of security, on par with its main competitor, Intel. However, from time to time, researchers find new ways of exploiting a security layer and making it vulnerable to all kinds of attacks. Today, we have information that two new research papers are being published at this year's 15th IEEE Workshop on Offensive Technologies (WOOT'21) happening on May 27th. Both papers are impacting AMD processor security, specifically, they show how AMD's Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) is compromised. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich and the University of Lübeck are going to present their papers on CVE-2020-12967 and CVE-2021-26311, respectfully.

While we do not know exact details of these vulnerabilities until papers are presented, we know exactly which processors are affected. As SEV is an enterprise feature, AMD's EPYC lineup is the main target of these two new exploits. AMD says that affected processors are all of the EPYC embedded CPUs and the first, second, and third generation of regular EPYC processors. For third-generation EPYC CPUs, AMD has provided mitigation in SEV-SNP, which can be enabled. For prior generations, the solution is to follow best security practices and try to avoid an exploit.

The AMD embedded roadmap for 2020 - 2023 was recently leaked and reveals some interesting information about AMD's upcoming Zen 4 based EPYC server processes. The current generation 7003 series of Zen 3 EPYC processors offer up to 64 cores and 128 threads with a TDP range of 120 W - 280 W. The next-generation EPYC 7004 "Genoa" Zen 4 processors will push the maximum core count to 96 cores and 192 threads with a maximum TDP of 320 W. The Zen 4 based EPYC processors will move to a 12 chiplet design up from the current 8 chiplet design which allows for the core increase that will increase the physical size of the processors and require a new SP5 socket. The new EPYC 7004 series processors will also support the latest features such as 12 channel DDR5-5200 ECC memory and PCIe Gen5.

XPG, a fast-growing provider of systems, components, and peripherals for Gamers, Esports Pros, and Tech Enthusiasts, announces the XPG GAMMIX D45 and SPECTRIX D45G RGB DDR4 memory modules. Sporting rugged industrial designs and equally robust capabilities, the modules are designed for discerning overclockers and gamers seeking gaming flair and reliable overclocking performance.

The GAMMIX D45 and SPECTRIX D45G RGB sport black armor-like aluminium exteriors with rugged ridges and a hefty look and feel. Not only do they look and feel robust, but they also offer incredibly sturdy performance for overclocking. They achieve this by using only the highest quality IC chips and PCBs and feature Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0 support. XMP 2.0 makes overclocking a snap and enhances system stability. Instead of adjusting individual parameters in BIOS, users can do it right through their PC's operating system. Both modules have been rigorously tested, and verified to work with the latest AMD platforms for hassle-free compatibility and seamless performance. Both modules come in the following capacities - 8, 16, and 32 GB.

AMD in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), revealed that its wafer supply agreement with GlobalFoundries has been amended. Under the new terms, AMD places orders for wafers from GlobalFoundries up to 2024, with purchase targets set for each year leading up to 2024. Beyond meeting these targets, AMD is free from all other exclusivity commitments. The agreement was previously amended in January 2019, setting annual purchase targets for 2019, 2020, and 2021, while beginning a de-coupling between AMD and GlobalFoundries. This enabled the company to source 7 nm (or smaller) chips, such as CCDs and GPUs, from other foundries, such as TSMC, while keeping GlobalFoundries exclusive for 12 nm (or larger) nodes.

The updated wafer supply agreement unlocks many possibilities for AMD. For starters, it can finally build a next-generation sIOD (server I/O die) on a more efficient node than GlobalFoundries 12LP, such as TSMC 7 nm. This transition to 7 nm will be needed as the next-gen "Genoa" EPYC processor could feature future I/O standards such as DDR5 memory and PCI-Express Gen 5, and the switching fabric for these could be too power-hungry on 12 nm. The "Zen 4" CPU core complex dies (CCDs) of "Genoa" are expected to be built on TSMC 5 nm.

MSI today rolled out the Optix AG321CR, a curved 31.5-inch gaming monitor. Its VA panel features 1500R curvature, and conventional 16:9 aspect-ratio, with WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) native resolution. Its other gamer-relevant specs include 1 ms (MPRT) response time, 165 Hz refresh rate, 10-bpc color (1.07 billion colors), 178°/178° viewing angles, and support for AMD FreeSync Premium technology. Other panel specs include 250 cd/m² maximum brightness, and 3,000:1 static contrast ratio. Its stand allows height, tilt, and 30° of pivot. A USB 2.0 hub, and an RGB ornament behind the panel, make for the rest of it. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Specifications of AMD's upcoming mid-range Radeon RX 6600 XT and Radeon RX 6600 recently surfaced, and now we see screenshots of TechPowerUp GPU-Z confirming the two. The RX 6700 XT is shown featuring 2,048 stream processors, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface with 8 GB of memory. The RX 6600 (non-XT), on the other hand, is shown featuring 1,792 stream processors, 112 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and the same 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. Both chips feature PCI-Express Gen 4 support, but much like the RX 5500 XT, the "Navi 23" only has 8 PCIe lanes. GPU-Z also seems to detect raytracing.

The 7 nm "Navi 24" silicon will very likely be the smallest discrete GPU based on the RDNA2 graphics architecture. The chip surfaced in technical documentation under the codename "Beige Goby." AMD uses such internal codenames to track sources of leaks. No specs of the "Navi 24" are known yet, but it could be significantly smaller than the "Navi 23" that powers the Radeon RX 6600 series and possibly the RX 6500 series, reportedly packing up to 2,048 stream processors. The "Navi 24" chip could also help AMD compete against NVIDIA and an emerging Intel in entry-level discrete GPUs for notebooks.

Pictures of the mysterious AMD 4700S SoC desktop kit just hit the web, courtesy Disclosuzen. As we reported earlier, the 4700S could be derived from the semi-custom SoC AMD originally co-developed with Microsoft for the Xbox Series X/S consoles. Close-ups of the PC motherboard reveals an interesting aspect—the board lacks any discernible display output, and instead relies on a PCI-Express graphics card. The board is built in the Mini-ITX form-factor, and draws power from a conventional combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors.

A custom-design fan-heatsink cools the SoC. There are no memory slots, an unknown amount of hardwired memory under the SoC heatsink. 6-channel HD audio, wired Ethernet, and twelve USB ports (six each of USB 3.x and USB 2.0), make for the rest of the I/O. Storage connectivity is interesting—there are no M.2 NVMe slots, just two SATA ports. Why AMD even came up with this contraption is anyone's guess, but we guess it serves two purposes—1, it lets AMD harvest dies with faulty iGPUs, and 2, it serves as a decent developer platform, for game devs to at least optimize for the CPU. The lack of any NVMe storage interfaces points to the likelihood of this board not being meant for the general audience. Retail channel availability of the board seems unlikely, although it won't surprise us if suppliers on AliExpress list it anyway.

AMD is preparing to round-out its RX 6000 series lineup with the upcoming RX 6600 XT and RX 6600, introducing true midrange GPUs to their latest generation RDNA2 architecture. According to recent leaks, both graphics cards should feature AMD's Navi 23 chip, another full chip design, instead of making do with a cut-down Navi 22 (even though that chip still only powers one graphics card in the AMD lineup, the RX 6700 XT).

According to the leak, the RX 6600 XT should feature 2048 stream processors and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory over a 128-bit memory bus. The RX 6600, on the other hand, is said to feature a cut-down Navi 23, with only 1796 stream processors enabled out of the original silicon design, whilst offering the same 8 GB GDDR6 over a 128-bit memory bus. There are even some benchmark scores to go with these leaks: supposedly, the RX 6600 XT scores 9,439 points in 3DMark Time Spy (Graphics), while the RX 6600 card scores 7,805 points. Those scores place these cards in the same ballpark as the RDNA-based RX 5700 XT and RX 5700. It's expected that these cards feature a further cut-down 32 MB of Infinity cache - half that of the RX 6700 XT's 64 MB. With die-size being an estimated 236 mm², AMD is essentially introducing the same performance with 15 mm² less area, whilst shaving some 45 W from that cards' TDP (225 W for the RX 5700 XT, and an estimated 180 W for the RX 6600 XT).

Since lobbying is both legal and regulated in the US (an attempt to bring attempts of influencing political power by corporations under legal boundaries, as opposed to being done in the dark), it feels like it was only a matter of time before big tech attempted to join under one banner. As such, the Semiconductors in America Coalition (SIAC) has now been put together, and boasts of 64 members including Microsoft, Apple, TSMC, Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Arm, and Samsung. It seems that all of these companies - which are often at odds with one another when it comes to competing for consumers' choice and money - have found enough similarities to get organized in an attempt to nudge political power in their favor.

SIAC said in a press release that its mission is to "advance federal policies that promote semiconductor manufacturing and research in the U.S. to strengthen America's economy, national security, and critical infrastructure." The first announcement from the SIAC following its foundation was its intention to support the CHIPS for America Act. The Act (supported by The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and President Joe Biden) has already been approved by the House and the Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 but has not yet been funded. It seems that SIAC's first mission is to get the government to open up its $50 billion-deep pockets.