Recent rumors hinted at a 32 GB variant of the Radeon RX 9070 XT being in the works, which were quickly dismissed as false information by AMD's Frank Azor. However, reliable sources seem to point to the contrary, stating that a 32 GB variant of the RX 9070 XT, likely dubbed the RX 9070 XTX, is under active development indeed. The source, as pointed out by Wccftech, has a decent track record with AMD-related claims, which sure does add weight to the assertion. Unlike previous XTX-class cards from AMD, which boasted higher clock speeds and core counts, the 9070 XTX is almost certain to feature the same core count as the XT, since the latter already utilizes the full Navi 48 chip - unless, of course, there is an even higher-end chip under wraps.

The VRAM amount seems to indicate that the card will likely be positioned to appease AI enthusiasts. There is also the possibility that the rumored card will be launched under a different branding entirely, although that is not what the post at Chiphell states. Interestingly, Frank Azor did specifically mention that a 32 GB "RX 9070 XT" card is not on the horizon - he did not state that a higher-end XTX card isn't either, which sure does leave room for us to speculate. Benchlife has also chimed in on the matter, claiming that they are aware of AIB partners working on a 32 GB RDNA 4 card with the Navi 48 GPU, which in some ways, confirms the information that came out of Chiphell. The RDNA 4 cards are set to see the light of day soon enough, it seems the wait won't be much longer. However, if the 32 GB card is indeed in the pipeline, it's likely still further down the road.

AMD is readying two important client segment processors powered by the next-generation "Zen 6" microarchitecture, according to a sensational new report by Moore's Law is Dead. These are the "Medusa Point" mobile processor, and the "Olympic Ridge" desktop. The former is a BGA roughly the size and Z-Height of the current "Strix Point," but the latter is being designed for the existing Socket AM5, making it the third (and probably final) microarchitecture to do so. If you recall, Socket AM4 served three generations of Zen, not counting the refreshed "Zen+." At the heart of the effort is a new CPU complex die (CCD) that AMD plans to use across its client and server lineup.

The "Zen 6" performance CCD is being designed for a 3 nm-class node, likely the TSMC N3E. This node promises a significant increase in transistor density, power, and clock speed improvements over the current TSMC N4P node being used to build the "Zen 5" CCD. Here's where it gets interesting. The CCD contains twelve full-sized "Zen 6" cores, marking the first increase in core-counts of AMD's performance cores since its very first "Zen" CCD. All 12 of these cores are part of a single CPU core complex (CCX), and share a common L3 cache. There could be a proportionate increase in cache size to 48 MB. AMD is also expected to improve the way the CCDs communicate with the I/O die and among each other.

Gamers are eagerly awaiting the launch of the RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT gaming GPUs from AMD, which are widely expected to offer commendable value, thanks to comparatively reasonable prices paired with perfectly admirable raw performance that trades blows with the GeForce RTX 5070 family from NVIDIA. Interestingly, a recently leaked retail box for a PowerColor Red Devil RX 9070 XT GPU has revealed a striking detail - the AIB card will boast a whopping 900-watt requirement for a PSU. This is an absurd number, considering that the ROG Astral RTX 5090 behemoth commands a 1000-watt PSU requirement. While some may deem the image to be fake, or perhaps a typo, AMD's Frank Azor has responded to the tweet, claiming that there will be "plenty" of RX 9070 XT cards with lower PSU requirements.

The packaging also confirms that the upcoming mid-range GPU from AMD will sport 64 CUs, which is hardly a surprise. The Red Devil 9070 XT GPU from PowerColor is a very high-end unit with a 3.0 GHz boost clock and 3x 8-pin power connectors for overclocking headroom, which explains the mammoth 900-watt PSU requirement. As pointed out by Redditors, the Red Devil 7900 XTX also featured a 900-watt PSU requirement, which is 100 watts more than what AMD officially recommends. According to VideoCardz, the PowerColor RX 9070 XT Reaper (reference card) carries a 750-watt PSU requirement, whereas the RX 9070 variant requires a 650-watt PSU. The official launch for the RDNA 4 cards is just around two weeks away, which is when we will finally know for sure.

AMD and Nutanix have jointly developed virtualization/HCI solutions since 2019, working with major OEMs including Dell, HP and Lenovo, systems integrators and other resellers and partners. You can learn more about AMD-Nutanix solutions here.

AMD EPYC Processors
The EPYC 9004 family of high performance processors provide up to 128 cores per processor to help meet the demands of a wide range of workloads and use cases. High density core counts allow you to reduce the number of servers you need by as much as a five to one ratio when looking at retiring older, inefficient servers and replacing with a new one. Systems based on AMD processors can also be more energy efficient than many competitive processor based systems. For example, running 2000 VMs on 11 2P AMD EPYC 9654 processor-powered servers will use up to 29% less power annually than the 17 2P Intel Xeon Platinum 8490H processor-based servers required to deliver the same performance, while helping reduce CAPEX up to 46%.

Back in January, we covered a report about AMD designing its next-generation "Zen 6" CCDs on a 3 nm-class node by TSMC, and developing a new line of server and client I/O dies (cIOD and sIOD). The I/O die is a crucial piece of silicon that contains all the uncore components of the processor, including the memory controllers, the PCIe root complex, and Infinity Fabric interconnects to the CCDs and multi-socket connections. Back then it was reported that these new-generation I/O dies were being designed on the 4 nm silicon fabrication process, which was interpreted as being AMD's favorite 4 nm-class node, the TSMC N4P, on which the company builds everything from its current "Strix Point" mobile processors to the "Zen 5" CCDs. It turns out that AMD has other plans, and is exploring a 4 nm-class node by Samsung.

This node is very likely the Samsung 4LPP, also known as the SF4, which has been in mass-production since 2022. The table below shows how the SF4 compares with TSMC N4P and Intel 4, where it is shown striking a balance between the two. We have also added values for the TSMC N5 node from which the N4P is derived from, and you can see that the SF4 offers comparable transistor density to the N5, and is a significant improvement in transistor density over the TSMC N6, which AMD uses for its current generation of sIOD and cIOD. The new 4 nm node will allow AMD to reduce the TDP of the I/O die, implement a new power management solution, and more importantly, the need for a new I/O die is driven by the need for updated memory controllers that support higher DDR5 speeds and compatibility with new kinds of DIMMs, such as CUDIMMs, RDIMMs with RCDs, etc.

AMD's Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs are expected to come with up to 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. However, AMD is reportedly expanding its RX 9070 lineup with a new 32 GB variant, according to sources on Chiphell. The card, speculatively called the RX 9070 XT 32 GB, is slated for release at the end of Q2 2025. The current GDDR6 memory modules used in GPUs carry a capacity of 2 GB per module only, meaning that a design with 32 GB of VRAM would require as many as 16 memory modules on a single card. No 2 GB+ GDDR6 memory modules are available, meaning that the design would require memory module installation on both the front and back of the PCB. Consumers GPUs are not known for this, but it is a possibility with workstation/prosumer grade GPUs employing this engineering tactic to boost capacity,

While we don't have information on the GPU architecture, discussions point to potential modifications of the existing Navi 48 silicon. This release is positioned as a gaming card rather than a workstation-class Radeon PRO 9000 series product. AMD appears to be targeting gamers interested in running AI workloads, which typically require massive VRAM amounts to run locally. Additionally, investing in a GPU with a big VRAM capacity is essentially "future-proofing" for gamers who plan to keep their cards for longer, as recent games have been spiking VRAM usage by a large margin. The combination of gaming and AI workloads may have made AMD reconsider some of its product offerings, potentially giving us the Radeon RX 9070 XT 32 GB SKU. We have to wait for the Q2 to start, and we can expect more details by then.

Update 20:55 UTC: AMD's Frank Azor on X debunked rumors of the 32 GB SKU coming to gamers. So, this will not happen. Instead, we could be looking at prosumer oriented AMD Radeon Pro GPU with 32 GB of memory instead.

David McAfee—AMD's corporate vice president and general manager of client channel business—has highlighted February 28 as a highly important date for next-gen graphics technology. The much-anticipated (and teased) Radeon RX 9000 series unveiling event has a confirmed time slot on that day: 8 AM EST. The overseer of Ryzen CPU and Radeon GPUs has warded off curious queries from journalists and members of the PC hardware for several weeks, since the conclusion of CES 2025. A confusing early January presentation did not include a segment dedicated to upcoming RDNA 4 products. Online conjecture pointed to Team Red delaying and restrategizing the launch of Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 models.

AMD enthusiasts will breathe a collective sigh of relief, after reading McAfee's announcement: "the wait is almost over. Join us on February 28 at 8 AM EST for the reveal of the next-gen AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series. Get ready to make it yours when it hits shelves in early March. RSVP by subscribing to the AMD YouTube channel." Insider sources reckon that retailers will have stock on shelves by the rumored March 6 launch day. Mid-to-late January leaks suggested a fairly comprehensive distribution of board partner custom cards across European retail channels. Alleged specifications and performance results have leaked out over the past month and a half—will AMD (and AIBs) have any surprises lined up for the February 28 event?

AMD's Radeon RX 9070 GPU series is due for release next month; a specific date has not been set, but we will likely find out more through official channels at the end of this month. Team Red and its board partners have chosen to remain silent on the subject of RDNA 4's technical makeup; post-CES 2025, hardware news outlets have relied on a steady trickle of Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070-related leaks. Very basic sleuthing pointed to pools of 16 GB VRAM for both models, while insiders kept on mentioning an unannounced "Navi 48" GPU. The latest—courtesy of HKEPC—seems to confirm that the Radeon RX 9070 XT will utilize the aforementioned new RDNA 4 Navi chip. Earlier today, a screenshot was uploaded to social media—the leaker shared graphics card information displayed in a TechPowerUp GPU-Z (v2.62) session. Despite patch notes not disclosing compatibility, the latest version of GPU-Z is seemingly able to identify key aspects of the alleged "RX 9070 XT (Navi 48)" sample.

The card's name is obscured, but HKEPC and several press outlets believe that it is the genuine article. The fundamental details appear to be: 16 GB GDDR6 VRAM (Hynix-made), a 256-bit memory bus, 4096 stream processors, and a boost clock reaching a maximum frequency of 3.1 GHz. Older leaks have indicated that the first wave of RDNA 4 cards will make do with PCI-Express 4.0 x16 interfaces, but the GPU-Z screenshot shows a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 bus interface (detection could be bugged). The driver version was identified as Adrenalin 24.30.01.05. The unnamed card appears to feature a steep factory overclock; industry experts reckon that the sample could be a very high-end AIB model. Past reports suggest that PowerColor's Radeon RX 9070 XT Red Devil card is capable of boosting up to 3060 MHz. HKEPC uploaded another incriminating screenshot; showcasing performance results produced by Capcom's Monster Hunter Wilds PC performance benchmark tool. The test system—featuring Intel's Core Ultra 9 285K CPU and 48 GB of RAM—scored 36102 points and achieved a maximum frame rate of 211.71 FPS at 1080p, with "Very High" profile settings. The leaker confirmed that FSR and Frame Generation were enabled during the benchmark session.

Late last month, an AMD "How to Sell" Ryzen AI MAX series guide appeared online—contents provided an early preview of the Radeon 8060S iGPU's prowess in 1080p gaming environments. Team Red seemed to have some swagger in their step; they claimed that their forthcoming "RDNA 3.5" integrated graphics solution was up to 68% faster than NVIDIA's discrete GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile GPU (subjected to thermal limits). Naturally, first-party/internal documentation should be treated with a degree of skepticism—the PC hardware community often relies on (truly) independent sources to form opinions. A Chinese leaker has procured a pre-release laptop that features a "Zen 5" AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor. By Wednesday evening, the tester presented benchmark results on the Tieba Baidu forums.

The leaker uploaded a screenshot from a 3DMark Time Spy session. No further insights were shared via written text. On-screen diagnostics pointed to a "Radeon 8050S" GPU, and the CPU being an "AMD Eng Sample: 100-000001243-50_Y." Wccftech double-checked this information; they believe that the OPN ID corresponds to a: "Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 with the Radeon 8060S, instead of the AMD Radeon 8050S iGPU...The difference between the two is that the Radeon 8060S packs the full 40 Compute Units while the Radeon 8050S is configured with 32 Compute Units. The CPU for each iGPU is also different and the one tested here packs 16 Zen 5 cores instead of the 12 Zen 5 cores featured on the Ryzen AI MAX 390." According to the NDA-busting screenshot, Team Red's Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 engineering sample racked up an overall score of 9006 in 3DMark Time Spy. Its graphics score tally came in at 10,106, while its CPU scored 5571 points. The alleged Radeon 8060S iGPU managed to pull in just under NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile dGPU (average) score of 10,614. The plucky RDNA 3.5 40 CU iGPU seems to outperform a somewhat related sibling; the Radeon RX 7600M XT dGPU (with 32 RDNA 3 CUs) scored 8742 points. Radeon 8060S trails the desktop Radeon RX 7600 GPU by 884 points.

XFX and ASRock have registered various Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 SKUs in South Korea—earlier today, harukaze5719 discovered these "public secrets." The National Radio Agency received two filings from Hightech Systematic Limited (aka XFX); the graphics card manufacturer is seeking certification for five models. A single filing from ASRock Incorporation contains one product, a Radeon RX 9070 (non-XT) Challenger 16 GB card—TechPowerUp spent a little bit of hands-on time with this particular model at CES 2025.

XFX showcased two unnamed custom Radeon 9070 graphics card designs at last month's CES event, but yesterday's leak revealed a slew of incoming MERCURY, QUICKSILVER and SWIFT SKUs. The latest South Korean filings corroborate a couple of the accidental Canadian retail listings. The unannounced QUICKSILVER Magnetic Air model has attracted the most interest—promotional imagery is not available at the time of writing, but VideoCardz reckons that XFX could borrow elements from last year's hot-swappable Radeon RX 7900 XTX and RX 7800 XT Series design. TPU's W1zzard praised XFX's Magnetic Air system, in his evaluation of the Radeon RX 7900 XTX MERCURY model. An "amazing removable fan implementation" was pinpointed as a major highlight. The unusual usage of Honeywell PTM7950 thermal paste—a phase change material (PCM)—was another novel plus point.

The EU could influence the mobile phone industry to ditch bundling wall chargers with their phones, and got them to standardize the USB-C connector, with the goal of minimizing the number of wall chargers people would have to own, which could last years, spanning many phones. It even got Apple to ditch its proprietary Lightning connector in favor of USB-C. The European Commission could be turning its attention to the way products such as desktop PC processors are sold in the retail channel. In the OEM channel, things are golden—processors are sold by the 1,000 units in trays that aren't all that different from the way eggs are sold to restaurants. In the retail channel, these processors put on elaborate packaging material that includes boxes that are about 20 times the size of the processor itself, and include stock cooling solutions that can run the processors at stock settings.

This could change, as the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) came into effect on February 11, 2025. This regulation gives manufacturers an 18-month grace period for compliance, and it affects desktop processor packaging in the retail channel. The first casualty will be special edition or flagship SKUs that come with swanky acrylic packaging, like Intel's large dodecahedron that shipped with the Core i9-9900K. Intel has already made the switch, and its current flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K, comes in much simpler paperboard boxes. AMD's flagship processors also comply, as they come in compact paperboard boxes even for the top Ryzen 9 9950X. Then there's the issue of stock CPU coolers included in these boxes, at least for the 65 W processor models.

AMD will be launching its new generation of "RDNA 4" Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 graphics cards next month, but we will likely hear more about technical details and price points from official sources around late February. Team Red had scheduled a special "launch event," but Radeon RX 9070 series leaks continue to flow online. Earlier today, reports alluded to an XT variant that allegedly sports a generous VRAM pool of 32 GB. VideoCardz has received another RDNA 4 tip-off, courtesy of Tomasz Gawroński and the AnandTech forums. Based on screenshots, Canada Computers has inadvertently revealed regional prices (minus tax) for PowerColor and XFX's opening round of custom Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 models.

Team Red is reportedly lining up an aggressive price strategy; industry insiders reckon that that baseline MSRP for the Radeon RX 9070 XT will be $599. Its non-XT sibling is expected to launch at a minimum point of $499. The Canada Computers leak seems to contain a small selection of models that hover closer to AMD's guidelines, but the majority of listed cards seemingly demand a premium upcharge. PowerColor's barebones models appear to conform closest to Team Red's recommended baseline—according to VideoCardz's conversion-crunching, the Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper will cost $999 CAD (~$697 USD). The RX 9070 (non-XT) Reaper will come in at $839 CAD (~$586 USD). We spotted no surprises when looking up and down the list of leaked PowerColor RDNA 4 SKUs; TechPowerUp staffers handled Red Devil, Hellhound and Reaper samples at CES 2025. In sharp contrast, XFX appears to have all sorts of options lined up for launch (refer to VideoCardz's chart, below). Two unnamed demonstration units—in black or white—were on display at AMD's recent partner roundup.

According to a fresh leak doing the rounds on the internet, NVIDIA has pushed the launch of its GeForce RTX 5070 GPU all the way to March - suspiciously close to AMD's RDNA 4 launch. The RTX 5070 Ti is still on track for a launch later this month, which can already be seen taking shape going by all the leaked retailer listings. The RTX 5070, has yet to witness any leaked listings, which adds credibility to the claim for sure. MEGAsizeGPU, the source, has further claimed that the GeForce RTX 5070 will "hit shelves" early next month.

Going by some of the rumored performance improvements, that the GeForce RTX 5070 family is poised to bring to the table, it can be said that there is a very real chance that the RDNA 4-based AMD Radeon RX 9070 family will have the upper hand in not just affordability, but also raster performance. Considering the abysmal supply that the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 recently witnessed, it is not unfathomable that the RTX 5070 family will face similarly dire circumstances. Of course, things may change, but the rumored delay surely does not inspire confidence. AMD has a real opportunity to do right by gamers by appropriately pricing its RDNA 4 cards and somehow sorting out its supply chain, although that is yet to be seen.

AI PC capabilities have evolved rapidly in the two years since AMD introduced the first x86 AI PC CPUs at CES 2023. New neural processing units have debuted, pushing available performance from a peak of 10 AI TOPS at the launch of the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor to peak 50+ TOPS on the latest AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 300 Series processors. A wide range of software and hardware companies have announced various AI development plans or brought AI-infused products to market, while major operating system vendors like Microsoft are actively working to integrate AI into the operating system via its Copilot+ PC capabilities. AMD is on the forefront of those efforts and is working closely with Microsoft to deliver Copilot+ for Ryzen AI and Ryzen AI PRO PCs.

In the report "The Year of the AI PC is 2025," Forrester lays out its argument for why this year is likely to bring significant changes for AI PCs. Forrester defines the term "AI PC" to mean any system "embedded with an AI chip and algorithms specifically designed to improve the experience of AI workloads across the computer processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), and neural processing unit (NPU)." This includes AMD products, as well as competing products made by both x86 and non-x86 CPU manufacturers. 2025 represents a turning point for these efforts, both in terms of hardware and software, and this Forrester report is an excellent deep dive into why AI PCs represent the future for enterprise computing.

AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) of France to collaborate on the advanced technologies, component and system architectures that will shape the future of AI computing. The collaboration will leverage the strengths of both organizations to push the boundaries on energy-efficient systems needed to support the world's most compute-intensive AI workloads in fields from energy to medicine.

Through this initiative, AMD and CEA will engage in a structured collaboration, focused on technological advancements on next generation AI compute infrastructure. AMD and CEA also are planning a symposium on the future of AI compute in 2025 that will convene European stakeholders and global technology providers, startups, supercomputing centers, universities and policy makers to accelerate collaboration around state-of-the-art and emerging AI computing technologies.

According to ITHome, AMD is preparing to disrupt its competition with aggressive pricing for its upcoming RX 9000 series. The RX 9070 XT, built on the RDNA 4 architecture, is expected to launch at $599, positioning it directly against NVIDIA's RTX 5070 Ti, which carries a $749 price tag. With this competitive pricing, AMD aims to revitalize its market position following lower-than-expected sales of the RX 7000 series, causing it to lose some market share. The upcoming RX 9070 XT features the Navi 48 core running at 2.97 GHz, complemented by 16 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit bus. Architecture's enhanced AI upscaling capabilities, already demonstrated in the PlayStation 5 Pro, could offer compelling performance advantages over current-generation cards. The base RX 9070 model is anticipated to debut at $499, creating a focused attack on multiple market segments, including NVIDIA's RTX 5070, priced at $549.

AMD reportedly plans to accelerate the end-of-life timeline for its RX 7800 XT, currently priced at $479. Sources from IT Home suggest production ceased as early as January, months ahead of the planned initial third-quarter 2025 termination. This accelerated timeline suggests AMD's confidence in the RX 9000 series' ability to deliver superior price-to-performance metrics. The March 2025 launch window for the RX 9000 series arrives at a critical point in the GPU market, as NVIDIA rolls out its Blackwell-based RTX 50 series. AMD's aggressive pricing strategy and the architectural improvements in RDNA 4 positions the company to challenge NVIDIA's market dominance, at least in the $500-$600 price range. This competitive positioning could trigger NVIDIA price adjustments, potentially benefiting consumers who have faced consistently high GPU prices in recent years.

AMD's China customers are now surprised by AMD's claim that the Radeon RX 7650's "GRE" nomenclature actually translates into "Great Radeon Edition" and not into "Golden Rabbit Edition" as we had previously thought. The Radeon RX 7900 GRE was the first "GRE" GPU to debut in the Chinese market. Back in 2023, China celebrated the Year of the Golden Rabbit; hence, AMD made a reference to that and named its GPUs appropriately to appeal to Chinese gamers. However, with 2025 being the year of the snake, AMD decided to just find a new meaning for its GRE branding instead of replacing it altogether. Now, AMD's official documents point to AMD Radeon RX 7650 Great Radeon Edition (GRE).

As a reminder, this RX 7650 GRE "great" SKU carries a Navi 33 GPU with 32 CUs translating into 2048 SPs. Clocked at 2.69 GHz, its 8 GB GDDR6 memory configuration positions it in the low-middle-class gaming segment. Scheduled for a launch in February, it will be priced at 2,099 RMB or 287 USD at the time of writing.

AMD's Ryzen 9000HX lineup of "Fire Range" Zen 5 mobile processors is due for release within a vague March to April window, with the upcoming 3D V-Cache-equipped Ryzen 9 9955HX3D SKU touted to become a top choice for manufacturers of ultra high-end gaming laptops. The latest version of CPU-Z is ready (in advance) with support for Team Red's incoming product line; CPUID's patch notes (published on February 8) have revealed previously unannounced models. AMD's official introduction of Ryzen 9000HX series CPUs included an opening salvo of Ryzen 9 9955HX3D (16-core), 9955HX (16-core) and 9850HX (12-core) models.

According to CPU-Z version 2.14, three additional "Fire Range" SKUs are seemingly on the way. Starting off with the Ryzen 9 9950HX3D—a (presumably) slightly less potent 3D V-Cache-sporting model—its nomenclature suggests that it will sit just below the series flagship. The 9950HX model is expected to slot just under the already announced 9955HX chip. The newly revealed 9845HX SKU could become the lowest 12-core offering within AMD's "Fire Range" product stack.

Sapphire Technologies has started teasing new PURE series graphics cards; earlier today a social media post stated that new offerings are: "coming your way." An accompanying image presents two semi-obscured signature white models—press outlets believe that the pair are custom Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 (non-XT) models. Sapphire did not exhibit at CES 2025, but a lonely triple-fan Radeon RX 9070 XT PURE card did make the overseas journey to Las Vegas. At the time, AMD presented a small smattering of RDNA 4 board partner samples at a roundup showcase.

Sapphire started to market its new darker dual-fan PULSE design last month, but a series of leaks have ruined the company's (social media-driven) build-up of product anticipation. We have not witnessed any Sapphire Radeon RX 9070 XT or 9070 (non-XT) PURE stock reaching retail storage locations, but lower-end PULSE models have been distributed—reportedly, at least East of the Mediterranean. Sapphire's CES demonstration sample sported an almost all-white enclosure, a triple-fan cooling solution and dual 8-pin power connectors. The PURE Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 (non-XT) models could feature limited RGB lighting—an "ARGB out" connector was present on the back section of Sapphire's presentation card.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D "Zen 5" processors are due for launch at some point next month, but Team Red's recent-ish introductory presentation did not include any details regarding prices. Given patterns demonstrated by previous generations of Team Red's popular 3D V-Cache-equipped CPUs, we can safely assume that the incoming duo will demand a premium over the already released Ryzen 7 9800X3D SKU (MSRP: $479). Late last week, momomo_us happened upon speculated price points during a sleuthing session involving a comparison shopping website.

The PCPartPicker's price aggregation engine pulled data from two Newegg listings—now scrubbed from existence—that outlined a cost of $699.99 (plus a $12.41 shipping fee) for the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D model, and $599.99 (plus shipping) for the 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X3D. Fortunately, VideoCardz preserved this information over the weekend. PCPartPicker has removed the aforementioned figures from its price history chart system, and Newegg has delisted the offending pages. The leaked price points align closely with MSRPs set for previous-gen (Zen 4) Ryzen 9 7000-series CPUs: $699 for the 7950X3D, and $599 for 7900X3D. The de-listed prices could be based on placeholder information—the Ryzen 7 9800X3D launched last November with a generational premium of $30 (Ryzen 7 7800X3D's original MSRP was $449). AMD has alluded to gaming performance being on a roughly even plane, so the incoming Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D models are not expected to surpass the Ryzen 7 9800X3D as "THE best gaming processor."

The list of potent mini PCs continues to expand, with the Minix NGC-NR6600 being one of the latest additions. The mid-range mini PC should be sufficiently potent for the majority of non-intensive workloads, and should be able to fly through daily workloads without breaking a sweat. The system is already available for purchase on Amazon, starting at $399 for the entry-level variant with 16 GB of memory and a 512 GB SSD. Specs-wise, the Minix mini PC appears to be a well-equipped system that should suffice for most moderately intensive workloads, as long as it is forgiving on the GPU side.

At its core, the Minix mini PC in question is powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 6600H APU with 6 Zen 3+ cores and 12 threads, which can be paired with up to 64 GB of DDR5-4800 memory, courtesy of dual SO-DIMM slots. The diminutive 5 x 5.12 x 1.97 inch chassis, unsurprisingly, lacks the physical space for the comfort of discrete graphics, and has to settle for the decently capable Radeon 660M with 6 CUs, although it is by no means sufficient for modern AAA gaming. Some lightweight gaming is not our of the question, though. A 512 GB SSD takes care of storage requirements, while a supplementary M.2 slot allows for expansion down the road, up to a whopping 8 TB. The system packs HDMI 2.1 (TMDS, so basically HDMI 2.0), DisplayPort 1.4, USB4, as well as dual 2.5G LAN ports.

At some point this week, HP's North American online store was updated with new high-end EliteBooks that feature AMD Strix Point APUs. Three models appear to support up to 128 GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory—these curious entries were highlighted by tech enthusiast Hoang Anh Phu (AnhPhuH). The advertised maximum 8533 MT/s transfer rate exceeds Team Red's official reference figure (7500 MT/s) for the EliteBook X G1a's Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 APU. Looking further up in the Team Red "Strix Point" product stack, we spotted their Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 spec sheet boasting a maximum LPDDR5x transfer speed of 8000 MT/s. Press outlets have expressed doubt when analyzing three of HP's EliteBook X G1a SKUs. Theories point to product pages containing possible placeholder information, or inaccuracies.

Working with the belief that the specs are legit, AnhPhuH commented: "this is the first laptop featured with 128 GB LPDDR5x-8533 128-bit memory. That would mean it's using four 256 Gb x32 modules(?!). As far as I know, all three major DRAM manufacturers currently only have 128 Gb x32 modules...the EliteBook X G1a uses Strix Point, not Strix Halo, so it only pairs with four x32 modules (two 64-bit channels)." HP's web shop states that the EliteBook X G1a models are due to launch on March 14. We hope that further clarification and concrete specifications appear online closer to release time. Initial pricing starts at $2749 for the lowliest of the three "128 GB LPDDR5X-8533" equipped models. The agonizingly named flagship "HP EliteBook X G1a 14 inch Notebook Next Gen AI PC Wolf Pro Security Edition" offering comes in at an eye-watering $4299.

Intel's data center business has experienced a lot of decline in recent years. Once the go-to choice for data center buildout, nowadays, Xeon processors have reached a 13-year low. According to SemiAnalysis analyst Sravan Kundojjala on X, the once mighty has fallen to a 13-year low number, less than 50% of its CPU sales in the peak observed in 2021. In a chart that is indexed to 2011 CPU volume, the analysis gathered from server volume and 10K fillings shows the decline that Intel has experienced in recent years. Following the 2021 peak, the volume of shipped CPUs has remained in free fall, reaching less than 50% of its once-dominant position. The main cause for this volume contraction is attributed to Intel's competitors gaining massive traction. AMD, with its EPYC CPUs, has been Intel's primary competitor, pushing the boundaries on CPU core count per socket and performance per watt, all at an attractive price point.

During a recent earnings call, Intel's interim c-CEO leadership admitted that Intel is still behind the competition with regard to performance, even with Granite Rapids and Clearwater Forest, which promised to be their advantage in the data center. "So I think it would not be unfathomable that I would put a data center product outside if that meant that I hit the right product, the right market window as well as the right performance for my customers," said Intel co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus, adding that "Intel Foundry will need to earn my business every day, just as I need to earn the business of my customers." This confirms that the company is now dedicated to restoring its product leadership, even if its internal foundry is not doing okay. It will take some time before Intel CPU volume shipments recover, and with AMD executing well in data center, it is becoming a highly intense battle.

FFmpeg, the popular open-source multimedia library for compressed video and audio formats, just introduced a component to libavcodec that integrates AMD Accelerated Media Framework (AMF) SDK. This component is called AMFDEC, and it allows libavcodec to utilize hardware-accelerated decoding features on AMD Radeon RX GPUs and the integrated graphics of AMD Ryzen processors. On machines with compatible hardware, AMFDEC provides libavcodec with hardware acceleration for decoding of H.264, H.265 or HEVC, and AV1. FFmpeg also introduced filters that implement AMD FSR Video Super Resolution. This lets applications that use FFmpeg to take advantage of VSR features on Radeon RX GPUs to provide superior upscaling quality. The filter is labelled "ar_amf." The commit can be accessed here.

FSP, a well-known brand in the power supply and chassis has launched a new series of CPU air coolers. The lineup includes the high-efficiency MP7, powerful NP5, and NE5 models. Optimized for the latest Intel and AMD CPUs, these coolers are compatible with Intel LGA1851 and AMD AM5 sockets. Featuring high-quality designs, they offer superior cooling performance and versatile options to meet various user needs, perfectly blending extreme performance with silent operation for a cooling solution that exceeds expectations.

The MP7, NP5, and NE5 cooler series utilize antigravity heat pipe technology to enhance performance when the motherboard is mounted vertically inside the case, maximizing cooling efficiency. Additionally, the MP7 features a copper base with heat pipe welding, increasing the contact area with the CPU, significantly improving heat dissipation.