Marvell today released the industry's lowest power PCIe Gen4 NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) controller portfolio. Marvell's newest SSD controllers are designed to meet the need for lower power and higher performance in next-generation data centers and edge devices as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G gain momentum. This breakthrough technology delivers unparalleled performance in an ultra-compact footprint, leveraging the company's complex system-on-chip (SoC) design expertise and groundbreaking storage IP to help data center, notebook, tablet, gaming and edge computing platform architects advance their solutions for the highly distributed data era.

"Marvell's latest family of storage controllers has been architected to optimally address edge computing and data center pain points of power-performance and capacity-performance," said Nigel Alvares, vice president of marketing for the Flash Business Unit at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. "With today's launch, we're once again demonstrating Marvell's leadership in storage, delivering the industry's first 4-Channel PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD controllers with the industry's lowest power consumption that will help revolutionize SSD solutions for the data economy."

AMD's add-in board (AIB) partners are preparing to launch custom-design Radeon RX 5700-series graphics cards leading up to mid-August, 2019. Although it wouldn't take dates, PowerColor revealed that its custom-design Radeon RX 5700 XT cards would start at USD $399. This is the same price at which all AIB partners sell AMD's reference-design RX 5700 XT.

PowerColor's parent company, TUL, has designed custom-design Radeon graphics cards for recent entrant ASRock. It's fairly possible that PowerColor's $399 RX 5700 XT will bear physical resemblance to ASRock's RX 5700 XT Challenger with differences in the form of color-scheme, cooler shroud, and decal designs. Nearly all AIB partners could have custom-design RX 5700 XT cards starting at $399, but innovating pricier, beefier premium designs that have superior cooling solutions, such as the ASRock Taichi. It will be very interesting to see what factory-overclocked speeds they ship with.

AMD's president and CEO Dr. Lisa Su was talking during AMD's Q2 earnings Q&A conference and got asked a very interesting question. When prompted about high end Navi GPUs, Dr. Su answered with "I would say they are coming. You should expect that our execution on those are on track and we have a rich 7 nm portfolio beyond the products that we have already announced in the upcoming quarters."

This answer gives us hope to see more powerful Navi GPUs possibly by the end of the year, meaning that AMD's answer to Turing is almost ready. As we saw earlier in the rumors, we might get additional higher end GPU models in form of alleged RX 5800 and RX 5900, with XT variants available for both of those models. The RX 5800 is supposed to utilize a new GPU core called Navi 12, while the core for RX 5900 is still unknown.

AMD ended July with the fifth release of Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition for the month, version 19.7.5 beta. The drivers address an application crash noticed with "Wolfenstein: Youngblood" on Radeon RX 5700 series graphics cards, which is the only item on the change-log. AMD identified a number of new "known issues," but the 50 percent increased idle fan-speeds on RX 5700 series isn't one of them.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.7.5 beta

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, is releasing a highly optimized, extremely low latency Trident Z Neo series DDR4-3800MHz CL14 RGB memory kit in 16 GB (8 GB x2) and 32 GB (8 GB x4) capacities for the AMD Ryzen 3000 series CPU and X570 chipset platform. Built with the powerful Samsung B-die component, this is the perfect DDR4 memory kit for those looking to push the limits of memory bandwidth on your new AMD Ryzen 3000 platform.

At this point, it's well-known that memory performance with the new AMD Ryzen 3000 processor series is best when Infinity Fabric being tied to the memory clock at a 1:1 ratio. The G.SKILL R&D team is dedicated to push the performance boundaries even further and developed a high-frequency, low-latency memory kit at DDR4-3800 CL14-16-16-36 in capacity configurations of 8GBx2 and 8GBx4, reaching a superb memory bandwidth performance under the optimal 1:1 ratio.

According to VideoCardz'es sources at ASUS, they have received confirmation that ASUS is working on new motherboards for AMD's unannounced chipset offerings, X590 and possibly even X599. In ASUS'es internal documentation two motherboards are appearing with X590 name, PRIME X590-PRO and ROG STRIX X590-E.

These motherboards are named similarly as the current offering from ASUS, the PRIME X570-PRO and ROG STRIX X570-E Gaming, so even though that we don't know if these models will ever hit the market, there is great possibility. Additionally, there is another chipset refresh coming, but now for the HEDT space. ASUS is working on ZENITH II EXTREME, an update to first ZENITH EXTREME motherboard (based on X399 chipset), which is expected to feature updated X599 chipset and should support new ThreadRipper 3000 series of CPUs. For now, we don't have any details of either two chipsets nor the improvements they will bring.

Here's the first picture of a possible custom-design Radeon RX 5700-series graphics card by XFX. The company could leverage this common board design to develop both Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 products. The design involves a large custom-design cooling solution that uses an aluminium fin-stack heatsink that's ventilated by a pair of large 100 mm fans. It's likely that the card will offer idle fan-stop looking at the size of the heatsink and the idle power-draw of the "Navi 10" silicon. The card could also feature some RGB LED embellishments. At this point it's not known if XFX has designed its own custom-design PCB for the "Navi 10," or whether it's using a reference- or close-to-reference PCB design. AMD's add-in board partners are expected to launch custom-design RX 5700-series products in August.

AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) today announced revenue for the second quarter of 2019 of $1.53 billion, operating income of $59 million, net income of $35 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.03. On a non-GAAP basis, operating income was $111 million, net income was $92 million and diluted earnings per share was $0.08.

"I am pleased with our financial performance and execution in the quarter as we ramped production of three leadership 7nm product families," said Dr. Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. "We have reached a significant inflection point for the company as our new Ryzen, Radeon and EPYC processors form the most competitive product portfolio in our history and are well positioned to drive significant growth in the second half of the year."

BIOSTAR expanded its AMD X570 chipset motherboard family with the micro-ATX Racing X570GT. The board ships with out-of-the-box support for 3rd generation Ryzen processors, and features PCI-Express gen 3.0 connectivity. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and a single 8-pin EPS power connector. A simple 4+3 phase VRM conditions power for the SoC, and even lacks cooling over the MOSFETs. Expansion options include one PCI-Express 4.0 x16, and two PCI-Express 4.0 x1 slots.

Storage connectivity of the Racing X570GT includes one M.2-22110 slot with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps wiring. Display outputs include HDMI and D-Sub. The onboard audio solution features an entry-level Realtek ALC887 CODEC, and the board's sole network connectivity is care of a 1 GbE interface, driven by a Realtek RTL8111H PHY. USB connectivity includes four 5 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 1 ports on the rear panel, and two additional 5 Gbps ports via headers. The company didn't reveal pricing, but the Racing X570GT could be one of the cheapest AMD X570 motherboards, if not the cheapest.

AMD today addressed multiple issues with its 3rd generation Ryzen processors through a highly-recommended update to its Chipset Driver software. To begin with, it stated that several users noticed anomalous behavior with 3rd generation Ryzen chips where the voltages and clock-speeds would be raised as the processor would misinterpret low-scale performance requests from certain software as a request to unlock higher performance states (combinations of higher clock-speeds and voltages to support them). This first came to light when users reported abnormally high voltages at idle when performance was measured by certain software that caused the Observer Effect. The new version 1.07.29 of AMD Chipset Drivers refine the AMD Ryzen Balanced Windows power scheme to be more aware of low-priority workloads and ensure the right state when the system is idling. AMD recommends Ryzen Master software. Version 2.0.0.1233 (or later), as they have fixes to the hardware monitoring module.

The AMD Chipset Drivers 1.07.29 also includes a "beta" fix for the bug that rendered "Destiny 2" unplayable on machines powered by 3rd generation Ryzen processors. The company had earlier tried to fix this bug through an update to its AGESA processor microcode, through ComboAM4 1.0.0.3ABA, although that particular version, not to be confused with the widely circulated 1.0.0.3AB, was found to be buggy and pulled. AMD said it's working on a newer version of AGESA, version ComboAM4 1.0.0.3ABB, which will include "a more comprehensive solution" to the bug affecting "Destiny 2."

ASRock confirmed that its custom-design Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics cards will launch in the 2nd week of August, 2019. Most AMD add-in board (AIB) partners are expected to announce their custom-design RX 5700-series graphics cards around that time. ASRock responded to a buyer's query about the RX 5700 XT Challenger, one of the three known custom-design RX 5700 XT products by the company, besides Phantom Gaming and Taichi. AMD debuted the RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 on the 7th of July, and the two are currently only available in reference-design boards through various AIB partners.

AMD's recent Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.7.3 beta drivers appear to break the fan settings of reference-design Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 cards. All earlier drivers for these cards offered good idle fan-speeds, despite the lack of fan-stop, with the fan of Radeon RX 5700 XT idling around 14% or 740 RPM. Once the new 19.7.3 drivers are installed, the fan-speed never drops below 23% or 1,170 RPM. This phenomenon can be observed even on the reference RX 5700, which now idles at 22% fan-speed, or 1,130 RPM, up from 13% or 685 RPM. This increases fan speed RPMs by 66% for the RX 5700 XT and +57% for the RX 5700. To demonstrate this bug, we first installed reference RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 cards with 19.7.2 drivers, and logged their idle fan-speeds using GPU-Z. Next we switched to 19.7.3 and recorded the same data for a completely idle card, sitting at the desktop.

The raised idle fan-speeds keep the GPU cooler when idling. With 19.7.2, the GPU hotspot was observed to be around 42 °C. Booting from 19.7.3, we see hotspot temperature settle down to around 38 °C for the RX 5700 XT, and to 37 °C for the RX 5700. Such a small difference at such low temperatures really shouldn't have any effect on longevity or anything else. On the other hand, higher fan-speeds also mean that the idle fan-noise levels are noticeably higher, and no longer match the idle fan-speeds measured in launch-day reviews by TechPowerUp and other tech publications.Update (30/07): We can confirm that the 19.7.4 drivers released late Monday do not fix this issue.

Our resident AMD Ryzen memory tuning guru Yuri "1usmus" Bubliy released DRAM Calculator for Ryzen version 1.6.0.1, which comes loaded with support for 3rd generation Ryzen processors based on the "Zen 2" architecture, motherboards based on AMD X570 chipset, and an exhaustive list of new features, and bug-fixes. AMD made major changes to the memory controllers of its Ryzen "Matisse" processors over past generations, including changing the various clock-domains and their interdependence, broader support for overclock across various memory vendors, and more, with the intention of improving memory overclocking. These also mean additional settings to be made in the UEFI BIOS setup programs. DRAM Calculator for Ryzen v1.6.0.1 greatly simplifies that, to help you simply key in the values it calculates based the system configuration it detects or you specify.

DRAM Calculator for Ryzen v1.6.0 also introduces presets for AMD X399 platform and Threadripper processors, helping out the HEDT crowd. Among the key changes are VDDG and FCLK for Zen 2, Vref (CHA / CHB) recommendations; PMU training recommendations that greatly stabilize the overclock; updated presets for Samsung b-die, Hynix CJR and Micron e-die memory modules; support for "Zen 2" processors on older-generations of motherboards (AMD 300-series and 400-series chipsets); improved tWRRD prediction for Dual Rank memory setups; an in-app shortcut to Internet overclocking statistics generation Zen 2; two new settings for MEMBench, the internal stability benchmark; and the overall stability of the program. Grab it from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: DRAM Calculator for Ryzen v1.6.0.1

The change-log follows.

AMD is giving final touches to a second wave of 3rd generation Ryzen processor family, which includes the new Ryzen 5 3500 processor, and "Pro" variants of various already-launched SKUs, such as the 3600X, 3700X, and 3900X. These chips were spotted in an import registry of the Eurasian Economic Union. The most interesting bit from this disclosure is the fact that the Ryzen 5 3500 is a 6-core processor with 65 W TDP. For the previous two generations of Ryzen processors, AMD configured its x500 series SKUs, such as the 2500X and 1500X, as 4-core/8-thread processors. It's likely that the 3500 will be a slightly lower-clocked sibling of the Ryzen 5 3600, priced lower, to compete with Intel chips such as the Core i5-9400 or i5-9500. This also raises the possibility of Ryzen 3 "Matisse" processors being 4-core/8-thread chips.

AMD fixed a bug that caused "Destiny 2" to be unplayable on 3rd generation Ryzen processors, through updated chipset drivers. The company had, earlier this month, released an update to its processor microcode with the AGESA ComboAM4 1.0.0.3ABA update (not to be confused with 1.0.0.3AB), before pulling it for causing other bugs. Ahead of its publication on AMD website, Robert Hallock, the company's technical marketing head for processors, posted a Google Drive link to the driver's installer. It bears the version number v1.07.26.0551, and is marked beta. Hallock comments that this is a "workaround" to help "get you into the game." It looks like a more permanent solution to the bug still lies in updating the microcode, once AMD figures out what went wrong with 1.0.0.3ABA.

The Japanese DIY PC market has developed a strong appetite for AMD Ryzen processors, with PC Watch reporting sales data aggregated by BCN across leading retailers. In the DIY space, AMD processors now hold a monstrous 68.6 percent market share. Data was collected from Amazon Japan, Bic Camera, EDION, etc., and distributors who supply to brick-and-mortar PC hardware stores. AMD's market share started its upward trend from September 2018, when it stood at 20 percent, propelled mainly by shortages of Intel processors in the DIY channel, overpricing of Intel processors, discounts on AMD 2nd generation Ryzen processors; and the recent introduction of 3rd generation Ryzen processors which are both priced reasonably and outperform Intel at every price-point.

AMD's problem area continues to be OEMs and the pre-built PC market, which makes up a bulk of processor sales for Intel. Despite the upperhand with pricing, performance, and efficiency, the company isn't able to match Intel in design-wins. Intel is able to retain its stranglehold over the OEM space with volume pricing and prioritizing the OEM channel over the DIY retail channel. In Japan, pre-built desktops and notebooks with AMD processors make up a paltry 14.7 percent of the market, although that number is still crawling upward. Perhaps AMD needs faster processor models with integrated graphics to appease OEMs?

AMD today posted the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition. Version 19.7.3 beta comes in the nick of time with optimization for "Wolfenstein: Youngblood," with up to 13 percent higher frame-rates on offer compared to 19.7.2. The release also adds Radeon GPU Profiler and Microsoft PIX for Radeon RX 5700 series. AMD also expanded its Vulkan API support by adding six new extensions, two of which are AMD-exclusive, and four standard. These include VK_EXT_display_surface_counter, VK_AMD_pipeline_compiler_control, VK_AMD_shader_core_properties2, VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control, VK_KHR_imageless_framebuffer, and VK_KHR_variable_pointers.

Among the fixed issues are "League of Legends" failing to launch with RX 5700-series on Windows 7; RX 5700 series experiencing application crashes with DirectX 9 applications after an Express Upgrade, Windows Mixed Reality not launching with Radeon Image Sharpening enabled on RX 5700-series; out-of-sync audio with ReLive VR; incorrect Radeon Wattman power gauge values for Radeon VII; AMD Log Utility not correctly installing; performance drops with Radeon Anti-Lag; minor stutter noticed in the first few minutes of "Fotnite" gameplay on RX 5700-series; Radeon Overlay flickering over Vulkan apps with Image Sharpening enabled; and some corruption noticed when running Adobe Premier Pro 2019 benchmarks. Grab the driver from the link below.DOWNLOADS: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 19.7.3

The change-log follows.

Silicon Lottery, a company specializing in the process called binning which involves testing of CPUs for particular features (overclocking potential in this case), has released its portfolio of 3rd generation of Ryzen CPUs. As of now, they are offering only Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9 models, covering Ryzen 7 3700X, 3800X and Ryzen 9 3900X. Ryzen 9 3950X is said to be introduced in September and that is the date Silicon Lottery will reveal the information about overclocking potential of that model and frequencies they have achieved. Mid range Ryzen 5 models should be added at later date as well.

MSI, the world's leading motherboard brand, is proud to announce AMD AM4 300- and 400- series MAX motherboards. Since AMD Ryzen 3000 series processors launched and have attracted public attention all over the world, AM4 socket compatibility has become a contentious topic for people who are interested in buying Ryzen CPUs. Currently AMD has 300-, 400-, and X570 platforms with the same AM4 socket, which might cause confusion. End users might feel a bit overwhelmed in terms of choosing a either a new CPU or a new motherboard or both a new CPU and a new motherboard.

To make everything simple, MAX motherboards provide maximum compatibility for AM4 socket. This means users do not have to worry about the collocation of CPU and motherboard. We have clear information both on the packaging and product page if customers are still confused.

Today an overclocking utility for AMD Ryzen CPUs called "Work Tool" has been updated with new features. The tool enables per-CCX overclocking, which is said to enable additional overclocking performance if one CCX is more capable than the other, so the whole CPU doesn't have to run at the speed of a slower CCX to be stable. The tool has been released by user shamino1978 on Overclock.net forums.

The reason for overclocking Ryzen CPUs on per CCX basis is because if you want to overclock a single core inside a CCX, the second core must run at a 1 GHz difference, meaning that if one core is OC'd to 4.5 GHz, the second core must run at 3.5 GHz. Such design is to be blamed on CPU's internal clock divider. However, you can use the Work Tool to do individual CCX overclocking and gain additional performance. Additionally, the tool has been updated to support tweaking of voltage aka VID. There are two versions of the tool, one which is smaller and has less features and one which can tweak the voltages. The smaller version is available here, while the bigger, more capable version is available here.

BIOSTAR formally (officially) enabled PCI-Express gen 4.0 support for four of its socket AM4 motherboard models based on the AMD X470 and B450 chipsets, through BIOS updates. The updated BIOS lets you use PCI-Express gen 4.0 graphics cards on the topmost PCI-Express x16 slot, and the M.2 NVMe slot that's directly wired to the AM4 SoC. The expansion slots that are wired to the chipset are still restricted to PCIe gen 2.0. You will need a 3rd generation Ryzen "Matisse" processor for PCI-Express gen 4.0. Among the motherboards that receive PCIe gen 4.0 support through BIOS updates are the AB45C-M4S (B450MH), the AB35G-M4S (B45M2), the AX47A-A4T (X470GT8), and the AX47A-I4S (X470GTN). The links lead to the BIOS image files on BIOSTAR website, which you use at your own risk.

In a blog post, AMD's Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Mark Papermaster announced that AMD is officially joining Compute Express Link (CXL) Consortium. Previously AMD has joined different working groups that are addressing the problem of cache coherency inside various systems and accelerators, like CCIX, OpenCAPI and Gen-Z. CXL is initiative started by Intel that promises better solution to cache coherency problem and many companies have joined, now including AMD.

As workloads are split into different segments like machine learning and graphics processing that require a mix of scalar and vector processing, accelerators for those workloads need better inter connection to other processors such as CPUs, where coherency and memory semantics are one of the biggest challenges. AMD's goal of joining the CXL working group is to help advance the standard and possibly integrate it into future products. making the concept of heterogeneous computing a bit closer to reality.

The latest version of AGESA ComboAM4 microcode that enables 3rd generation Ryzen support on AMD 400-series chipset motherboards has been deemed buggy and pulled from motherboard vendors. AGESA ComboAM4 1.0.0.3ABA (not to be confused with 1.0.0.3AB that's being widely distributed), was originally released to fix an application crash noticed with "Destiny 2." The microcode inadvertantly destabilizes PCI-Express on motherboards, with users of ASUS motherboards complaining of stability issues with the latest BIOS updates that include 1.0.0.3ABA.

Peter "Shamino" Tan from ASUS commented that the company was under a tight schedule to push 1.0.0.3ABA out as BIOS updates, and didn't have the time to properly validate it. "We just got told to pull (was undergoing validation prior) 1003 ABA version," he said, adding the root cause of the problem being "that PCIE speed of BXB-C downgraded from gen4 to gen2,..." He comments "so its not surprising that bugs emerge since the source has hidden bugs that only gets unraveled with thorough testing. combine that with trying to get firmwares out in a tight time frame, kinda damn if you do (release firmware quickly) and damn if you dont (dont release firmware quickly) situation." It's interesting to note that in their BIOS update change-logs, quite a few motherboard vendors omit the full version string of AGESA. You may encounter ComboAM4 1.0.0.3AB being referred to simply as "AGESA ComboAM4 1.0.0.3."

EK-KIT Classic products are value-oriented, RGB liquid cooling kits with low noise emissions that offer efficient cooling of any mainstream Intel or AMD CPU on the market. Ready to be expanded with a GPU water block, some of the new kit models also open up the door for overclocking. Designed with case compatibility in mind, these kits are a great way to enter the world of custom liquid cooling with easy installation.

They contain everything you need to assemble your first custom liquid cooling loop. You don't have to worry about compatibility issues, missing something, being nervous about the right amount of fittings or tube length. The newly released Classic kits are available in four different setups - S240, S360, P240, P360. They vary by radiator size and thickness, as well as number of fans. The rest of the components are shared across all of the kits.

MSI is among the motherboard manufacturers who had to significantly modify their UEFI firmware packages to cram in AGESA ComboAM4 1.0.0.3ab microcode on their AMD 300-series and 400-series chipset motherboards, due to firmware ROM size limitations. Most older MSI AM4 motherboards have 128 Mbit (16 MB) SPI flash ROM chips, which proved insufficient to integrate the latest AGESA microcode alongside its feature-rich ClickBIOS 5 UEFI setup program. MSI addressed the issue on two fronts. For its existing motherboards that have 128 Mb flash chips, it released BIOS updates that have AGESA 1.0.0.3ab, but shed some bulk on the setup program, by replacing ClickBIOS 5 with the "GSE-lite" setup program. The company is also releasing newer revisions of many of its AMD B450 chipset motherboards anticipating demand from the section of 3rd gen Ryzen buyers who don't want to spend at least $170 on an AMD X570 motherboard.

These revised motherboards feature "MAX" in the name, and come with 256 Mb (32-megabyte) SPI flash ROM chips, enabling MSI to combine AGESA ComboAM4 1.0.0.3ab with ClickBIOS 5, and not compromising on any of the motherboard's BIOS-level feature-set. These motherboards also come with out-of-the-box support for all of the 3rd generation Ryzen processors launched so far, as indicated on the box. The boards also retain support for A-series "Bristol Ridge" and "Raven Ridge" Athlon APUs that had faced the axe with the latest BIOS updates. The B450 Tomahawk MAX and Mortar MAX are characterized by matte-black heatsinks replacing silver; while the B450-A PRO MAX has the "MAX" logo clearly printed on the VRM heatsink. Pricing of these boards are expected to be on par with the models they're replacing.