In what looks like a move to get rid of ASUS-branded AMD Radeon graphics cards, the company announced a massive game-bundle promotion in the UK. The company is giving away Steam keys to four fairly old games with its Radeon RX Vega, RX 580, and RX 570 based graphics cards, that include not just ROG Strix models, but also Dual Fan, and Expedition sub-branded ones. Among the games are "The Surge" (2017), "Blood Bowl" Legendary Edition (2010), "Sprintires: MudRunner" (2017), and "Farming Simulator 17" (2017). Participating retailers include Aria, OCUK, Scan, Box, CCL, E-Buyer, and Novatech.

ASRock, which is the latest company to extend its product portfolio to graphics cards, has announced that they will be offering their AMD Phantom series of graphics cards in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) starting July 1st. The roll-out should see the Polaris-based graphics cards being introduced first, since product codes for the Vega variants haven't been made known yet. With demand from miners relatively cooled with lower (and lowering still) cryptocurrency values, perhaps ASRock has decided that stock of their Phantom series is enough now to fulfill orders from these additional regions.

AMD has partnered with Cooler Master to deliver a Threadripper 2-specific cooler. Dubbed the Wraith Ripper (as per AMD's Wraith stock coolers and their Threadripper 2, up to 32-core, 64-thread HCC CPUs), this is a behemoth of a mega cooler that can dissipate Threadripper 2's (perhaps theThreadripper 2990X's) 250 W TDP.

The cooler features addressable RGB lighting that can be app-controlled, and Cooler Master says this cooler has been designed to offer full memory compatibility. The height between the baseplate and the heatsink's fins does seem tall and tidy for the tallest RAM sticks you can find, for sure - even with the eight pairs of heatpipes that drive the heat away from your most precious silicon component. Check our COMPUTEX 2018 pics of this behemoth below.

The guys over at PC Perspective conducted an interesting interview with AMD, during which a company representative talked about impending changes to AMD's FreeSync program. Essentially, the company found that there is some consumer confusion regarding what features exactly FreeSync 2 delivers over its first-gen counterpart. As such, they feel renaming the technology to FreeSync 2 HDR conveys the focus on the new feature-set: LFC (Low Framerate Compensation) and the FreeSync 2 HDR fast-lane for tone-mapping improvements.

The AMD representative further clarified what specs are required for a monitor to receive FreeSync 2 HDR certification: support for at least HDR600, coverage of 99 percent of BT.709 and 90 percent of the DCI P3 color spectrum. Also mentioned was a minimum response time, though the exact value remains unknown. An interesting point that can be gleaned from AMD's change, though, is that this one is more than just cosmetic: AMD's first FreeSync 2 certification program required displays to only be able to adhere to HDR400. There are some examples of announced, FreeSync 2 monitors that only support that standard (and others that don't support even that but were certified all the same), instead of the aforementioned HDR600 the company will apparently start enforcing alongside the renewed "FreeSync 2 HDR" program. Here's hoping for a stricter certification program from AMD in this regard, since HDR400 was a push in itself towards being true HDR (it isn't...) - and FreeSync 2 already has all the market support and recognition it needs to now start increasing its requirements for quality support instead of mainly quantity.

First benchmarks and CPU-Z screenshots of AMD's upcoming Ryzen Threadripper 32-core monster have surfaced, courtesy of HKEPC. The on-time-for-launch (as AMD puts it) 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" processor has apparently been christened "Threadripper 2990X", which does make sense - should AMD be thinking of keeping the 2920X moniker for 12 cores and 1950X for 16-cores, then it follows a 20-core 2960X, a 24-core 2970X, a 28-core 2980X, and the aforementioned 32-core 2990X. whether AMD would want to offer such a tiered lineup of HEDT processors, however, is another matter entirely, and certainly open for discussion - too much of a good thing can actually happen, at least where ASP of the Threadripper portfolio is concerned.

On the CPU-Z screenshot, the 2990X is running at 3.4 GHz base with up to 4.0 GHz XFR, and carries a 250 W TDP - a believable and very impressive achievement, testament to the 12 nm process and the low leakage it apparently produces. The chip was then overclocked up to 4.2 GHz on all cores, which caused for some thermal throttling, since performance was lower than when the chip was clocked at just 4 GHz on all cores. Gains on this particular piece of silicon were reserved up to 4.12 GHz - the jump to 4.2 GHz must have required another bump in voltage that led to the aforementioned throttling. At 4.12 GHz, the chip scored 6,399 points in Cinebench - a remarkable achievement.

Back at Computex, AMD showed a demo of their Vega 20 graphics processor, which is produced using a refined 7 nanometer process. We also reported that the chip has a twice-as-wide memory interface, effectively doubling memory bandwidth, and alsomaximum memory capacity. The smaller process promises improvements to power efficiency, which could let AMD run the chip at higher frequencies for more performance compared to the 14 nanometer process of existing Vega.

As indicated by AMD during Computex, the 7 nanometer Vega is a product targeted at High Performance Compute (HPC) applications, with no plans to release it for gaming. As they clarified later, the promise of "7 nanometer for gamers" is for Navi, which follows the Vega architecture. It's even more surprising to see AOTS results for a non-gaming card - my guess is that someone was curious how well it would do in gaming.

Oh well, this almost makes us think of this industry as going hand in hand merrily, tongue-in-cheeking each other towards fulfilling, eternal happiness. It's a shame that this not usually the shape of our industry, but really, life isn't either, so let's keep our expectations in check. All in all, Intel's Twitter response to the viral, beautifully-crafted AMD initiative of exchanging one of Intel's commemorative 8086K CPUs for one of its Threadripper 1950X processors is equally satisfying - there's an unavoidable smile to be found while considering these two exchanges.

Kudos, Intel. Kudos for both companies for keeping it in a good spirit. If only we didn't have strange things such as Optane memory shenanigans going on concurrently...

AMD's latest Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.6.1 Beta, which is available now, lacks Raven Ridge APU support. Driver support for the APUs are limited to WHQL releases only, as noted by an AMD representative on the Overclockers UK forum. Currently AMD is set to use a three month release cycle for APU drivers. Understandably, this has caused some concern with the latest driver to offer support for the Raven Ridge APUs being the Adrenalin Edition 18.5.1 driver released in May. The only good news here is the limited driver releases allow AMD to further optimize their costs in regards to testing and qualification.

Limited or outdated drivers, with such a long period between releases, means games could perform sub-optimally on AMD's latest and greatest APUs. Worse yet, consumers could be stuck waiting three months for an updated driver. Even then, if a problem arises and is a fringe issue, fixes could take even longer. Essentially Raven Ridge owners are being left out in the cold to some extent in regards to hot-fixes and performance improvements. This makes AMD's Raven Ridge APUs with built in VEGA graphics for both desktops and mobile systems a bit less appealing. This issue is further exacerbated by the fact Intel's Kaby Lake G series which also features AMD's VEGA graphics has seen a new driver released that is based on the 18.6.1 driver.

Current AMD AM4 motherboards basically support four platforms at the moment: the new Ryzen 2000 processors, Ryzen 2000 G APUs with integrated graphics, 1st generation Ryzen and Bristol Ridge. Bristol Ridge was AMD's last processor generation before Ryzen was released. Bristol Ridge introduced Socket AM4, which according to AMD has a lifespan beyond 2020. According to Anandtech, several motherboard manufacturers are now reporting that they might drop support for Bristol Ridge in their future motherboard releases. The underlying reason is that in addition to the setup interface, and UEFI with its driver and network stack, the BIOS has to support all processors by including microcode for them.

Supporting so many CPU models bloats the size of the BIOS beyond 128 megabits (16 MB), which would exceed the capacity of the BIOS flash chips used by most vendors and force them to use higher capacity models, ie 256 megabits. As always in this industry, the issue here comes down to pricing.

It looks like AMD has some more Ryzen 2000 models coming out soon. Two benchmark runs were posted to Geekbench showing off the capabilities of these two new processors.

The Ryzen 3 2300X runs at 3.5 GHz base, with turbo reaching up to 4.0 GHz. It comes with four cores and four threads, ie it lacks SMT. This is slightly surprising as all Ryzen 2000 non-APU processors so far came with SMT enabled to double their thread count. The Ryzen 5 2500X on the other hand does feature SMT and a higher base clock of 3.6 GHz. Highest turbo is set to 4.0 GHz too. Both processors feature the X suffix, which means Precision Boost and XFR is available, to boost the processor's operating frequency to the highest clock possible depending on load and cooling capabilities.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today launched the new 10GbE-ready TS-x63XU rack-mountable NAS (available in 4, 8, and 12-bay models with single and redundant power supply options) that features an AMD G-Series GX-420MC quad-core 2.0 GHz processor, 4GB DDR3L memory (upgradable to 16GB), and easy scalability, providing ideal storage solutions for bandwidth-demanding data center and virtualization applications.

Pre-installed with a single-port 10GbE 10GBASE-T network card (which also supports 10G/5G/2.5G/1G/100M data transfer) the TS-x63XU series delivers up to 1,038 MB/s read speed and 985 MB/s read with AES-NI encryption acceleration. Supporting SSD caching, tiered storage allocation, and excellent expandability with a QNAP 12-bay expansion enclosure, the TS-x63XU series is ideal for business organizations looking for a secure private cloud and efficient IT infrastructure for 10GbE networks.

AMD at E3 2018 announced its commitment to powering the ultimate gaming experiences via partnerships with game publishers and developers, to bring fantastic 3D realms to life. In line with AMD's cooperation with Ubisoft in Far Cry 5, which saw the usage of AMD Vega-centric technologies (such as FP16 Compute on some water and lighting scenarios, Rapid Packed Math, and Shader Intrinsics) across the title, the company has announced it will help Ubisoft deliver a DX12-driven experience with The Division 2. It remains to be seen if more technologies than were used in Far Cry 5 will be in play here.

Alongside its Ubisoft/The Division 2 announcement, AMD also established partnerships with Capcom, for the upcoming Resident Evil 2 remake, and with Rebellion for their Strange Brigade title. The partnership with Capcom is a novel one, but AMD had already worked with Rebellion on Sniper Elite 4, for some stellar CrossFire performance. These partnerships join AMD's long-standing, long-reaching partnership with Bethesda Softworks, in order to fight NVIDIA's entrenchment with the videogame industry via its GameWorks program.

AMD monetizes its GPU IP not just with discrete graphics cards and integrated graphics in its PC processors, but also by selling semi-custom SoCs for most modern game consoles, such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with some of the newer 4K UHD-capable models such as the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X even leveraging newer graphics architectures by the company, such as "Polaris." 2020 could see the roll out of next-generation gaming consoles, which are more purpose-built for 4K UHD gaming, with visual fidelity matching gaming PCs, and so console manufacturers are looking for a lean and powerful new GPU IP. Sony seems to have made up its mind of sticking with AMD.

AMD will supply a semi-custom SoC to Sony for its next major console, "PlayStation 5." This chip will feature a graphics processor based on the "Navi" architecture, which succeeds "Vega." 2020 could also be the year when the 7 nm silicon fabrication process achieves some maturity and makes up most of the bulk ASIC production nodes. According to Tweaktown, Sony is closely working with AMD for the development of the "Navi" architecture itself, so versions of it are efficient enough to be deployed in console SoCs that are built to a cost. The design goal will be to enable 4K @ 60 Hz gaming, as 4K televisions will have proliferated a lot by 2020.

At Computex 2018, we witnessed two major HEDT (high-end desktop) processor announcements. Intel unveiled a client-segment implementation of its "Skylake XCC" (extreme core count) silicon, which requires a new motherboard, while AMD announced a doubling in core-counts of its Ryzen Threadripper family, with the introduction of new 24-core and 32-core models, which are multi-chip modules of its new 12 nm "Zen+" die, and compatible with existing X399 chipset motherboards. With frantic increases in core counts, the practicality of these chips to even the most hardcore enthusiast or productivity professional diminishes. The Computex 2018 demos reek of a pissing-contest between the x86 processor giants, with AMD having an upper hand.

The HEDT segment is intended to occupy the space between client desktops and serious scalar workstations. Intel is frantically putting together a new HEDT platform positioned above its current LGA2066 (X299) platform, built around its Purley enterprise platform, and a variant of the LGA3647 socket (this chip + your X299 motherboard is no bueno). This socket is needed to wire out the 28-core Skylake XCC (extreme core count) silicon, which has a six-channel DDR4 memory interface. The company put up a live demo at the teaser of this unnamed processor, where it was running at 5.00 GHz, which led many to believe that the processor runs at that speed out of the box, at least at its maximum Turbo Boost state, if not nominal clock. Intel admitted to "Tom's Hardware," that it "forgot" to mention to the crowds that the chip was overclocked.

At its Computex presser, leading up to its 7 nm Radeon Vega series unveil, AMD touched upon the massive proliferation of the Vega graphics architecture, which is found not only in discrete GPUs, but also APUs, and semi-custom SoCs of the latest generation 4K-capable game consoles. One such slide that created quite some flutter reads that "Vega" shipments are over 10 times greater than those of the "previous generation."

Normally you'd assume the previous-generation of "Vega" to be "Polaris," since we're talking about the architecture, and not an implementation of it (eg: "Vega 10" or "Raven Ridge," etc.). AMD later, at its post event round-table, clarified that it was referring to "Fiji," or the chip that went into building the Radeon R9 Fury X, R9 Nano, etc., and comparing its sales with that of products based on the "Vega 10" silicon. Growth in shipments of "Vega" based graphics cards is triggered by the crypto-mining industry, and for all intents and purposes, AMD considers the "Vega 10" silicon to be a commercial success.

After the AMD event, we got a chance to go hands on with the PowerColor Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano, the most compact desktop graphics card based on the "Vega10" silicon. This product is so special that it got an exclusive unveiling by AMD as a "one more thing." The card's PCB itself it slightly under 5 mm longer than that of the original R9 Nano, but the cooler adds another centimeter to its length. We can only imagine what SFF enthusiasts can do with this card under a specially-design full-coverage water-block.

It's also revealed that the card draws power from a combination of a 6-pin + 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The cooling solution consists of a dense aluminium fin-stack heatsink. A single 80 mm spinner ventilates this heatsink, and a plastic shroud covers it all up. Given that this card has specific "RX Vega 56" SKU marking and not an off-beat "RX Vega Nano" branding, we think this card will be as fast as a stock RX Vega 56, out of the box. Display outputs include three DisplayPort 1.4 and a HDMI 2.0. The MSRP for this card is set at USD $449.

AMD in its Computex 2018 address earlier today, mention that its second-generation EPYC enterprise processors will be based on its 7 nanometer "Zen 2" architecture, and not 12 nm "Zen+." The company has the 7 nm silicon ready in its labs, and will begin sampling within the second half of 2018. The first products could launch in 2019, after validations. Besides improved energy-efficiency, the 12 nm "Zen+" architecture features a minor 3-5 percent IPC uplift thanks to improved multi-core clock-speed boosting, and faster caches. "Zen 2," on the other hand, presents AMD with the opportunity to make major design changes to its silicon to achieve higher IPC uplifts. The 7 nm process introduces significant transistor density uplifts over the current process. AMD is in the process of building 4-die multi-chip modules using the 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" silicon for its 2nd generation Ryzen Threadripper HEDT client processor family.

AMD demonstrated the world's first GPU built on the 7 nanometer silicon fabrication process, a Radeon Vega Instinct HPC/AI accelerator, with a 7 nm GPU based on the "Vega" architecture, at its heart. This chip is an MCM of a 7 nm GPU die, and 32 GB HBM2 memory stacks over four stacks (4096-bit memory bus width). It's also the first product to feature a removable InfinityFabric interface (competition to NVIDIA's NVLink interface). There will also be variants based on the common PCI-Express 3.0 x16. The card supports hardware virtualization and new deep-learning ops.

AMD at its Computex 2018 presser unveiled the 2nd generation Ryzen Threadripper high-end desktop (HEDT) processors. These processors are multi-chip modules of four 12 nm 8-core "Pinnacle Ridge" dies, with up to 32 cores, and SMT enabling up to 64 threads. Much like the first-generation Threadripper family, there could be 16-core, 12-core, and 8-core SKUs; in addition to 24-core, 28-core, and 32-core ones. AMD did mention that these chips are backwards compatible with X399 motherboards, although it remains to be seen how AMD wires out the memory of two extra dies on the X399 platform. In all likelihood, there could be a new wave of motherboards that retain the TR4 socket with backwards-compatibility with 1st generation Threadripper proccessors, but having 8-channel memory slots.

The 2nd generation chips feature higher clock-speeds, and all of the "Zen+" features introduced by "Pinnacle Ridge," including Precision Boost II and XFR 2.0. AMD put up a demo of the chip challenging Intel's top-dog Core i9-7980XE, which has two more cores than it. This probably explains why Intel revealed a 28-core HEDT SKU yesterday. AMD stated that the lineup is en route Q3-2018 launch.

AMD today unveiled the Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano, the spiritual successor to the disruptive high-end SFF graphics card, the Radeon R9 Nano. Unlike the R9 Nano, the RX Vega 56 Nano is an AIB (add-in board) partner effort, specifically by PowerColor. The card itself is a good inch longer than the R9 Nano. Also, unlike its predecessor, it doesn't feature all stream processors physically present on the silicon. The card is cooled by a dense aluminium fin-stack heatsink, ventilated by a single fan. The card is expected to be priced at USD $449.

Update: We went hands-on with this card.

AMD and Samsung today announced support for Radeon FreeSync technology in the new Samsung QLED 55" to 82" TV range, bringing the ultimate, ultrawide 4K gaming experience to an entirely new format - big screen TVs. Samsung is the first company to utilize industry-leading Radeon FreeSync adaptive refresh technology for stutter-free gaming inside a consumer television set. With High Dynamic Range (HDR) support up to 1000nits and stunning picture quality, Samsung's QLED displays allow gamers to experience strikingly high refresh rates and low latency on TVs at a variety of price points and screen sizes ranging from 55" to 82" creating a single display for all their home entertainment needs.

Over the past three years, Radeon FreeSync technology has driven widespread adoption and become the industry's most selected solution for smooth gaming. Earlier this year, AMD expanded the ecosystem by propelling tear-free gameplay beyond the PC with the launch of support for FreeSync technology in Microsoft's Xbox One S and Xbox One X consoles in early March. With more than 250 compatible displays offered by more than 20 partners, this is more than double the availability of competing technology.

MSI showed off two of its latest socket AM4 motherboards based on AMD's upcoming B450 chipset, the B450 Tomahawk and B450-A Pro. The Tomahawk is slotted in MSI's minimalist yet gamer-grade Arsenal Gaming series, and has a clean look, with a feature-set that doesn't exceed that of the chipset by much. Slick new VRM and chipset heatsink designs which debuted with Intel 300-series Tomahawk boards, make their appearance here. There's just one M.2-22110 slot. The B450-A Pro is part of MSI's mainline motherboard lineup, and targeted at system-integrators, with a similar feature-set to the Tomahawk, though slightly built to a cost.

Computex 2018 is flush with socket AM4 motherboards based on the mid-range AMD B450 chipset, which will launch sometime later in Q3. Leading ASUS' pack is the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Strix B450-F Gaming. This board covers all the essentials to qualify as a gaming-grade product worthy of the ROG tag. Built in the ATX form-factor, it draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, conditioning it for the SoC using an 8-phase VRM. The CPU is wired to just one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, the second x16 slot is electrical x4.

Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gbps (of which two come from the SoC), and two M.2 slots, from which one is gen 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps), and the other is gen 2.0 x4 (20 Gbps). You also get two 10 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 2, six 5 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 1, gigabit Ethernet powered by Intel i219-V controller, and high-grade onboard audio with Realtek ALC1220A (120 dBA SNR) CODEC, electrolytic capacitors, ground layer isolation, and headphones amp. There isn't much of a lighting besides a glowing ROG logo at the rear I/O shroud, and a few addressable RGB headers. Expect this board to be priced around $120.

This Computex, we are on the lookout for motherboards based on Intel Z390 and upcoming AMD chipsets such as the B450, or even the Z490; but a new X399 motherboard for the Ryzen Threadripper was the last thing we expected. Imagine our shock at the sight of the MSI MEG X399 Creation. This board has the most polarizing, in-your-face design from MSI since the mid-2000s (roller-coaster heatsinks, anyone?). The board appears to be clearly wider than ATX spec, and approaching E-ATX territory.

A humongous L-shaped heatsink dominates the bottom-right corner, cooling not just the AMD X399 chipset, but also three M.2 slots. The top-left, and far-left corners feature some of the largest CPU VRM heatsinks we've seen in a long while. The VRM heatsink extends to the left side, while the rear-I/O shroud blends into it, running the entire length of the left side. The board gives you a maximum of 7 M.2 slots. A 19-phase VRM drawing power from two 8-pin EPS connectors fuels your Threadripper. Four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, eight DDR4 DIMM slots, and the whole shebang of OC features make for the rest of it.

ASRock, a global leader in motherboard, graphics card, and small form factor PC, today announced that it will demonstrate its Intel and AMD series motherboard, Phantom Gaming series graphics card, and blockchain solution at COMPUTEX Taipei 2018, from June 5 to June 9, 2018.

The cutting edge computing solutions will be part of ASRock exhibit, showcasing its latest technologies and solutions addressing the demands of daily computing, gaming, and blockchain computing applications, including:

• Intel 300 series motherboard;
• AMD B450 series motherboard;
• Latest Phantom Gaming series graphics card;
• The world's leading solution for blockchain and high performance computing;
• Small Form Factor Solution equipped with Intel 300 series chipset and Mini-STX motherboard.