ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16, the latest in an illustrious lineup of supremely powerful thin-and-light gaming laptops. These machines feature a new CNC-machined aluminium chassis, a customizable Slash Lighting array, and a brand-new Platinum White colorway, while cutting-edge AI accelerated silicon from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA stand ready to push gamers and creators to new heights of performance. Both the Zephyrus G14 and G16 come equipped with the ROG Nebula Display, stunningly color-accurate OLED panels that are also G-SYNC capable for incredible gaming experiences. Ultra-efficient cooling technology, including tri-fan technology, liquid metal, and vapor chambers on select models enable the Zephyrus G14 and G16 to breathe easily despite their ultra-portable designs.

Brand-new chassis design
The 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16 have been completely redesigned inside and out. Both machines boast all-new and all-aluminium CNC-machined chassis for the perfect mix of weight reduction, structural rigidity, and increased chassis space. This allows for an edge-to-edge keyboard design, as well as the inclusion of larger and louder speakers with superior bass response down to 100 Hz. The speakers are 25% larger than the previous generation, with a 47% volume increase for more immersive audio experiences than ever before. The Zephyrus G14 and G16 also come with larger individual keycaps and a larger touchpad, for superior typing, precision scrolling, and fluid gaming. Both the 2024 Zephyrus G14 and Zephyrus G16 ship with three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, providing access to a library of hundreds of great games.

Acer today announced the Predator BiFrost AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT OC and a trio of Nitro graphic cards powered by the latest AMD Radeon RX 7000 series GPUs, including the new AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT GPUs. The new graphics cards empower users to experience immersive gaming experiences when playing the latest AAA titles with up to 16 GB memory and next-gen technologies. Boasting 60 unified AMD RDNA 3 compute units and paired with Predator FrostBlade 3.0 fans, the Predator BiFrost AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card offers seamless performance in 1440p and 4K gameplay. The Acer Nitro AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT OC graphics card comes loaded with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and up to 624 Gbps memory bandwidth, while the Acer Nitro AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT OC graphics card offers 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and up to 432 Gbps memory bandwidth.

To achieve smooth and fast performance, the Acer Nitro AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT OC graphics card features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory while doubling down on cooling with Nitro FrostBlade ringed fans, a dual-ball bearing system, three heat dissipation vents, and offering a reinforced copper base to efficiently absorb heat and help increase the device's lifespan. The meticulously engineered cooling system delivers the overclocking power gamers need to push the graphics card to its limits.

ASRock proudly announce its AM5 motherboards now support the latest AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors with a BIOS update. AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors are built on Zen 4 and AMD RDNA 3 architecture, offering improved performance and computing efficiency per watt, thus providing enhanced gaming experience for consumers.

Additionally, the newest AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D and 5700 processors as well as AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT/5500GT processors now can also be supported on ASRock AMD 500/400 series AM4 motherboards with a BIOS update. The latest BIOS is already available to download on ASRock website, be sure to update to the latest BIOS to enjoy the ultimate gaming experience.

The AMD Ryzen 8000 and 5000 series desktop processors have been released, broadening system build options. Notably, they are respectively compatible with MSI AM5 and AM4 motherboards, offering enthusiasts expanded possibilities for powerful and customizable setups. The latest AMD Ryzen 8000 series desktop lineup includes the powerful Ryzen 7 8700G, Ryzen 5 8600G, and Ryzen 5 8500G processors. These processors come equipped with built-in AMD Radeon graphics solution, ensuring an exceptional gaming experience for all gamers. Compatible with MSI AM5 platform, including X670E, X670, B650, and A620 series motherboards.

MSI is diligently working to release the official BIOS version for gamers. The first wave of supported beta BIOS is already available on the MSI official website. More choices for system builds on the AM4 platform as AMD introduces the Ryzen 7 5700X3D, Ryzen 7 5700, Ryzen 5 5600GT, and Ryzen 5 5500GT processors, extending the portfolio for system builds. The MSI AM4 motherboards are fully compatible with the latest AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors. With the current AGESA ComboAm4v2PI 1.2.0.B official BIOS, users can seamlessly upgrade their processors hassle-free.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of premium gaming hardware, today launches a new graphics card powered by AMD RDNA 3 architecture. The GIGABYTE AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT GAMING OC 16G graphics card comes with the top-of-the-line WINDFORCE cooling system from GIGABYTE. It delivers unmatched performance, stunning visual effects, and exceptional efficiency, perfect for smooth 1080p gaming and streaming experience.

The GIGABYTE WINDFORCE cooling system is tailored for gamers, boasting three unique blade fans with alternate spinning, composite copper heat pipes in direct contact with the GPU, 3D active fans and screen cooling. The Alternate Spinning technology rotates the central fan in the opposite direction of the side fans, directing airflow in the same direction and doubling air pressure while reducing turbulence. This design effectively dissipates heat from both the top and the bottom of the graphics card, resulting in improved overall cooling performance.

AMD announced the new Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics card, bolstering its mid-range of 1080p class GPUs. The RX 7600 XT is designed for maxed out AAA gaming at 1080p, although it is very much possibly to play many of the titles at 1440p with fairly high settings. You can also take advantage of technologies such as FSR 3 frame generation in games that support it, AMD Fluid Motion Frames on nearly all DirectX 12 and DirectX 11 games; as well as the new expanded AMD HyperRX performance enhancement that engages a host of AMD innovations such as Radeon Super Resolution, Anti-Lag, and Radeon Boost, to achieve a target frame rate.

The Radeon RX 7600 XT is based on the same 6 nm "Navi 33" silicon, and the latest RDNA 3 graphics architecture, as the Radeon RX 7600. If you recall, the RX 7600 had maxed out all 32 CU on the silicon. To design the RX 7600 XT, AMD retained the "Navi 33," but doubled the memory size to 16 GB, and increased the clock speeds. The 16 GB of memory is deployed across the same 128-bit wide memory bus as the 8 GB is on the RX 7600. The memory speed is unchanged, too, at 18 Gbps GDDR6-effective; as is the resulting memory bandwidth, of 288 GB/s. There are two key changes—the GPU clock speeds and power limits.

GIGABYTE Technology, a leading global powerhouse in motherboards, graphics cards, and cutting-edge hardware solutions, proudly unveils the world's first motherboard designed to seamlessly support the native USB-C 40 Gbps signal when paired with the cutting-edge AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors.

"We are thrilled to introduce a motherboard that not only supports the cutting-edge AMD Ryzen 8000 series processors but also incorporates advanced features that cater to the evolving needs of our users. This marks a significant leap forward in terms of performance, user-friendliness, and design aesthetics." Said Jackson Hsu, Director of the GIGABYTE Channel Solutions Product Development Division.

AMD today announced the Ryzen 8000G line of desktop APUs. These come in the Socket AM5 package, and are supported by all motherboards based on the AMD X670/E, B650/E, and A620 chipsets, with some requiring UEFI firmware updates. Since USB BIOS Flashback is standard issue on AMD motherboards, this should be no problem. With Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael" desktop processors that debut the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, AMD had standardized integrated graphics, however, the iGPU for these are just enough for desktop/productivity workloads, offering comparable performance to the iGPUs of Intel 13th Gen Core desktop processors. AMD doesn't consider Ryzen 7000 chips as APUs for this reason. An APU has to be a processor with powerful integrated graphics that can offer entry-level gaming, high-res content consumption, or multi-monitor productivity, and "Raphael" isn't it. Enter the Ryzen 8000G series.

The AMD Ryzen 8000G series debuts four APU models, the Ryzen 7 8700G, the Ryzen 5 8600G, the Ryzen 5 8500G, and the Ryzen 3 8300G. The 8700G and 8600G are based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" silicon, feature Ryzen AI, and are the first desktop processors to feature an NPU (neural processing unit). The 8500G and 8300G are based on the 4 nm "Phoenix 2" silicon. The Ryzen 7 8700G leads the pack, and is a maxed out implementation of "Hawk Point," featuring an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, the full Radeon 780M integrated graphics implementation with 12 RDNA3 compute units; and the Ryzen AI XDNA NPU. The processor has a combined AI throughput of 39 TOPS, with 16 TOPS from the NPU. For reference, an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H "Meteor Lake" mobile processor with its AI Boost NPU, has a combined AI throughput of 34 TOPS.

AMD kicks off the 2024 International CES with its new Advancing AI PCs event, and we are live-blogging it! AMD is locked in an arms race with Intel to bring local AI acceleration to PCs in the form of on-chip NPUs. The vast majority of PCs lack discrete GPUs, and so the expectation is that NPUs becoming standard to PC processors will help the software industry respond with a host of AI accelerated client applications, all running locally on the machine. If 2023 was the year of the cloud-based AI, 2024 promises to localize it. AMD in today's event is expected to give us an overview of its AI acceleration portfolio, and possibly launch some new products for the PC.15:00 UTC: The show is underway, and as always, it's good to see Dr Lisa Su. It's never a CES without her.

15:02 UTC: We were the first to processor-based NPU: Lisa

Acer today announced the extension of its SpatialLabs stereoscopic 3D lineup to the Aspire line of laptops and Predator gaming monitors.

The new Aspire 3D 15 SpatialLabs Edition laptop delivers captivating 3D content for entertainment and creation on its 15.6-inch UHD display; It also comes with a suite of AI-powered SpatialLabs applications for 3D viewing and content creation, without the need for specialized glasses, delighting users when watching their favorite content and empowering developers to see their designs in their real 3D forms. With Microsoft Copilot in Windows 11, users can experience upscaled creativity and productivity with AI-powered task assistance, while Acer's suite of AI-supported solutions in Acer PurifiedView and PurifiedVoice elevate conference calls on the 3D laptop.

Acer announced new additions to its Aspire laptop line, showcasing an extensive range of performance and design options to support everyday computing needs.

The Aspire Vero 16 is the latest from its Vero product line, powered by the new Intel Core Ultra processors with Intel AI Boost and Wi-Fi 7 compatibility. Acer has committed to carbon neutrality for the Aspire Vero 16, following international standards for carbon footprint calculation and carbon neutrality. Actions are taken at each stage of the device lifecycle to minimize its carbon footprint, and then, high-quality carbon credits will be applied to attain carbon neutrality. The Intel Evo Edition laptop has increased the usage of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials on the chassis, doubling that of the 2021 model, to combine eco-innovation and premium PC experiences on the device.

According to the report from a journal called Fundamental Research, researchers from the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a 256-core multi-chiplet processor called Zhejiang Big Chip, with plans to scale up to 1,600 cores by utilizing an entire wafer. As transistor density gains slow, alternatives like multi-chiplet architectures become crucial for continued performance growth. The Zhejiang chip combines 16 chiplets, each holding 16 RISC-V cores, interconnected via network-on-chip. This design can theoretically expand to 100 chiplets and 1,600 cores on an advanced 2.5D packaging interposer. While multi-chiplet is common today, using the whole wafer for one system would match Cerebras' breakthrough approach. Built on 22 nm process technology, the researchers cite exascale supercomputing as an ideal application for massively parallel multi-chiplet architectures.

Careful software optimization is required to balance workloads across the system hierarchy. Integrating near-memory processing and 3D stacking could further optimize efficiency. The paper explores lithography and packaging limits, proposing hierarchical chiplet systems as a flexible path to future computing scale. While yield and cooling challenges need further work, the 256-core foundation demonstrates the potential of modular designs as an alternative to monolithic integration. China's focus mirrors multiple initiatives from American giants like AMD and Intel for data center CPUs. But national semiconductor ambitions add urgency to prove domestically designed solutions can rival foreign innovation. Although performance details are unclear, the rapid progress shows promise in mastering modular chip integration. Combined with improving domestic nodes like the 7 nm one from SMIC, China could easily create a viable Exascale system in-house.

The AMD Socket AM4 platform is still alive and kicking, with AMD releasing new processor models in its 7th year. Many of these chips started selling online in Europe. The Ryzen 7 5700X3D is a slightly lower clocked version of the 5800X3D, which for many of those still on AM4 is the final upgrade to their platform. The 5800X3D may be based on the older "Zen 3" microarchitecture, but thanks to its 3D Vertical Cache technology, offers gaming performance comparable to the Core i9-12900K "Alder Lake," making even 7-year old AM4 gaming desktops contemporary. To cash in on this exact market, AMD released a more cost-effective option, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D.

The 5700X3D is an 8-core/16-thread Socket AM4 processor that features 96 MB of L3 cache thanks to the 3D V-cache technology, just like the 5800X3D, but comes with a maximum boost frequency of 4.10 GHz, compared to the 4.50 GHz of the 5800X3D. Store listings do not mention its TDP or base frequency. The 5700X3D is being listed at 271€ including taxes, or about 15-20% cheaper than the 5800X3D. A word of caution when choosing the 5700X3D would be its close to non-existent overclocking headroom, so this probably isn't a chip that you can manually overclock to performance levels of a 5800X3D while saving some 40€ on the side.

Today, AMD announced it will showcase automotive innovation at CES 2024 and expand its portfolio with the introduction of two new devices, the Versal AI Edge XA adaptive SoC and Ryzen Embedded V2000A Series processor. The devices underscore AMD automotive technology leadership and are designed to serve key automotive focus segments including infotainment, advanced driver safety and autonomous driving. Working alongside a growing automotive partner ecosystem, AMD will demonstrate at CES 2024 the broad range of capabilities and applications for these new devices in automotive solutions available today and in the future.

Versal AI Edge XA adaptive SoCs add an advanced AI Engine, enabling the devices to be further optimized for numerous next-generation advanced automotive systems and applications including: forward cameras, in-cabin monitoring, LiDAR, 4D radar, surround-view, automated parking and autonomous driving. Versal AI Edge XA adaptive SoCs are also the first AMD 7 nm device to be auto-qualified, bringing hardened IP and added security to automotive applications where safety is paramount.

MINISFORUM unveiled a high-end tablet convertible based on the Windows 11 x64 platform. Called simply the V3 AMD Tablet, this 3-in-1 convertible can be used as a 14-inch tablet, or combined with a dock that adds a keyboard, trackpad, and a stand. The tablet measures 318 mm x 213.8 mm x mm 9.8 mm (WxDxH), weighing 946 g. Its 14-inch 16:10 aspect-ratio display offers a 2560 x 1600 pixels resolution, with 165 Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 coverage, and 500 nits maximum brightness. This display is backed by a sensitive touchscreen that supports MPP 2.6 SLA and sensitivity suitable for a natural handwriting stylus.

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6E with Bluetooth 5.3, a USB-C V-Link (DP in), two 40 Gbps USB4, a fingerprint reader, and 4-pole headset jack. Under the hood, the MINISFORUM V3 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 8040U series "Hawk Point" processor, paired with 32 GB of LPDDR5-6400 memory, and a 2 TB M.2 Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The SoC has a 28 W configured TDP, and MINISFORUM has innovated a four flat copper heatpipe, dual fan cooling solution. The tablet also has a 4-speaker setup and multi-directional microphone. The front camera is 2 MP with full Windows Hello compatibility, while the rear cam is 5 MP. Powering it all is a 50.82 Wh battery, and a 65 W USB-PD power source over a type-C connector. Windows 11 Pro 23H2 with Ryzen AI enablement comes pre-installed. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Hot on the heels of yesterday's leak revealing that the Ryzen 5 8600G Socket AM5 desktop APU features a Radeon 760M iGPU with 8 CU, we're getting to know that the top of the line Ryzen 7 8700G comes with the maxed out Radeon 780M. The 8700G is a Socket AM5 APU based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" or "Phoenix" silicon (unclear at this point).

The Ryzen 7 8700G features an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, with a base frequency of 4.20 GHz, and a maximum boost frequency of 5.10 GHz. Each of the 8 CPU cores features a 1 MB L2 cache, and they share a 16 MB L3 cache. The Radeon 780M iGPU features 12 compute units (CU), amounting to 768 stream processors. The iGPU engine clock boosts up to 2.90 GHz. While all Ryzen 7000 desktop processors come with integrated graphics, AMD does not consider them to be APUs—processors with overpowered iGPUs that can be used for entry-level gaming besides high-resolution entertainment.

Intel Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" mobile processor may be the the company's most efficient, but isn't a generation ahead of the 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" mobile processors in terms of performance. This isn't just because it has an overall lower CPU core count in its H-segment of SKUs, but also because its performance cores (P-cores) actually post a generational reduction in IPC, as David Huang in his blog testing contemporary mobile processors found out, through a series of single-threaded benchmarks. Huang did a SPECint 2017 performance comparison of Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H, and Core i7-13700H "Raptor Lake," with AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, 7840H "Phoenix, Zen 4," and Apple M3 Pro and M2 Pro.

In his testing, the 155H, an H-segment processor, was found roughly matching the "Zen 4" based 7840U and 7840HS; while the Core i7-13700H was ahead of the three. Apple's M2 Pro and M3 Pro are a league ahead of all the other chips in terms of IPC. To determine IPC, Huang tested all processors with only one core, and their default clock speeds, and divided SPECint 2017 scores upon average clock speed of the loaded core logged during the course of the benchmark. Its worth noting here that the i7-13000H notebook was using dual-channel (4 sub-channel) DDR5 memory, while the Core Ultra 7 155H notebook was using LPDDR5, however Huang remarks that this shouldn't affect his conclusion that there has been an IPC regression between "Raptor Lake" and "Meteor Lake."

LG Electronics (LG) is introducing the company's 2024 OLED TV lineup, taking home entertainment experience to a new level. Powered by the company's latest AI processor with 4-fold higher AI performance, these new additions to the OLED lineup deliver unparalleled viewing experiences with even more vibrant, lifelike picture quality.

Driven by a customer-centric approach, LG's "Sync to You, Open to All" vision expresses the company's aim to create personalized experiences for every lifestyle, with products that are accessible to all. To this end, LG's webOS smart TV platform provides tailored solutions and services with an expanded ecosystem featuring extended connectivity, offering unique encounters as a media and entertainment platform company to provide the ultimate TV experience for all.

Samsung Electronics America today announced new Odyssey OLED gaming monitors debuting at CES 2024, the world's biggest tech event owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), in Las Vegas next week. The new OLED models deliver the performance and visual clarity gamers look for in their monitors, and include the Odyssey OLED G9 (Model Name: G95SD), Odyssey OLED G8 (Model Name: G80SD), and the Odyssey OLED G6 (Model Name: G60SD).

The Odyssey OLED G9 is a 49" curved ultra-wide gaming monitor with DQHD (5,120×1,440) resolution and a 32:9 aspect ratio and other upgraded features. The Odyssey OLED G8 is the first flat 32-inch Samsung OLED gaming monitor with 4K UHD (3,840×2,160) resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. Both monitors have a 240 Hz refresh rate and 0.03 ms GTG response time. The Odyssey OLED G6 is a 27" QHD (2,560×1,440) monitor which supports a 16:9 aspect ratio, 360 Hz refresh rate and 0.03 ms GTG response time.

According to the latest round of reports, AMD has decided not to include China in the initial global launch of its upcoming Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics card. The RX 7600 XT, featuring 16 GB of memory and based on AMD's next-generation RDNA 3 architecture, was expected to launch soon at a price of around $300. However, the company is currently re-evaluating its Chinese GPU launch strategy due to the runaway success of its existing Radeon RX 6750 Golden Rabbit Edition (GRE) series in the region. The RX 6750 GRE cards with 10 GB and 12 GB configurations retail between $269-$289 in China, offering exceptional value compared to rival NVIDIA RTX models. AMD seems hesitant to risk undercutting sales of its popular RX 6750 GPUs by launching the newer 7600 XT.

While the RX 7600 XT promises more raw performance thanks to advanced RDNA 3 architecture, 6750 GRE, with its RDNA 2 design, seemingly remains efficient enough for most Chinese mainstream gamers. With the RX 6750 GRE still selling strongly in China, AMD has postponed the RX 7600 XT introduction for this key market. Final launch timelines for the 7600 XT in China and globally remain unconfirmed by AMD at time of writing. The company appears to be treading cautiously amidst the shifting competitive landscape.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 5 8600G Socket AM5 desktop APU will feature the truncated Radeon 760M integrated graphics, and not the previously believed Radeon 780M, or the full iGPU configuration present on the silicon. At this point, there are still conflicting reports on which exact silicon the Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs are even based on, with some of the older reports and Geekbench detecting 8600G engineering samples to be based on "Phoenix," and some of the newer reports suggesting that it's based on "Hawk Point." Both "Phoenix" and "Hawk Point" are nearly identical, except for the latter to feature a faster NPU.

The Ryzen 5 8600G is configured with a 6-core/12-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, with 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU base frequency is set to a healthy 4.35 GHz, and maximum CPU boost frequency of 5.00 GHz. These CPU clocks are very similar to those of the mobile Ryzen 5 7640H (which has a base frequency of 4.30 GHz, but the same 5.00 GHz boost), but in case of the 8600G, the 65 W TDP and possible 90 W PPT should help with boost frequency residency. The Radeon 760M gets 8 out of 12 RDNA3 compute units physically present on the silicon, giving it 512 stream processors. Geekbench detects an engine clock (GPU clock) of 2.80 GHz, compared to the 2.60 GHz of the Radeon 760M on the Ryzen 5 7640H. The 8600G ES was running on an MSI MEG X670E Ace motherboard, with 32 GB of dual-channel DDR5-6000 memory.

AMD's small Radeon RX 7000M and RX 7000S lines of mobile GPUs based on the latest RDNA 3 graphics architecture includes just five SKUs, spanning the "Navi 31" and "Navi 33" chips. The RX 7000M series only has enthusiast-segment RX 7900M series based on the "Navi 31," and the RX 7600M series based on the "Navi 33," leaving a vast gap that the company plans to fill with RX 7800M series and RX 7700M series SKUs based on the "Navi 32," referred to internally as "Cuarzo Verde." The GPU is meant to be hardwired onto the mainboards of gaming notebooks, however, AMD hands out reference-design MXM boards to OEMs. These were sniffed out in a public shipping manifest harukaze5719 on Twitter.

The "Navi 32" package is roughly similar in size to the compacted "Navi 31" package powering the RX 7900M series. It has a physically smaller 5 nm GCD with 60 compute units compared to the 96 on the "Navi 31" GCD; and is surrounded by four 6 nm MCDs, which give it 64 MB of Infinity Cache, and a 256-bit GDDR6 memory bus. With this, AMD has the option of not just carving out RX 7800M series and RX 7700M series SKUs, but also RX 7900S series SKUs within its segment aimed at gaming-grade ultraportables. We could see some product announcements to this effect Q1 2024, alongside some new desktop SKUs.

Chinese x86 CPU developer Zhaoxin is working on adding support in the Linux kernel for scheduling optimization on its processors featuring "preferred cores." Similar to asymmetric core designs from Intel and AMD, Zhaoxin's chips may have specific higher-performance cores the OS scheduler should target for critical workloads. To enable this, Zhaoxin has proposed Linux patches leveraging existing ACPI functionality to indicate per-core differences in max frequency or capabilities. The CPUfreq driver is updated to reflect this, allowing the scheduler to favor the designated high-performance cores when assigning threads and processes. This ensures tasks can dynamically take advantage of the faster cores to maximize performance. The approach resembles tuned scheduling, aware of core topology and heterogeneity already found in Intel and AMD processors.

Zhaoxin's patches don't specify which existing or upcoming CPUs will expose preferred core hints. The company likely wants the functionality in place for future server-class products where asymmetric designs make sense for efficiency. The new code contribution reflects Zhaoxin's broader upstreaming effort around Linux kernel support for its Yongfeng server CPU family. Robust open-source foundations are crucial for gaining developer mindshare and data center adoption. Adding sophisticated features like preferred core scheduling indicates that Zhaoxin's chips are maturing from essential x86 compatibility to more refined performance optimization. While still trailing Intel and AMD in cores and clocks, closing the software ecosystem and efficiency gap remains key to competitiveness. Ongoing Linux enablement work is laying the groundwork for more capable Zhaoxin silicon.

GIGABYTE released UEFI firmware (BIOS) updates for its Socket AM5 motherboards encapsulating the AMD AGESA ComboAM5 PI 1.1.0.1a microcode. This latest version of AGESA has sparked speculation that some of AMD's upcoming Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs are in fact based on the newer "Hawk Point" silicon, and not "Phoenix." AMD released its Ryzen 8040 series "Hawk Point" mobile processors earlier this month, with a faster NPU that results in an up to 40% increase in AI interference performance over that of "Phoenix." "Hawk Point" is essentially identical to "Phoenix," including its first generation XDNA architecture based NPU, however the NPU's clock speed has been dialed up. If AMD is building some of its Ryzen 8000G desktop APU models on "Hawk Point" instead of "Phoenix," then we have our first solid hint that AMD is bringing Ryzen AI to the desktop platform, and that the Ryzen 8000G will end up being the first desktop processors with an NPU.

AMD is expected to be building at least two APU models based on the "Hawk Point" silicon, the Ryzen 7 8700G, and the Ryzen 5 8600G. The lower models, namely the 8500G and Ryzen 3 8300G, are expected to be based on the smaller "Phoenix 2" silicon, with a hybrid CPU that combines two "Zen 4" cores with up to four "Zen 4c" cores. The "Zen 4c" cores may feature an identical instruction set architecture (ISA) and IPC to the regular "Zen 4" cores, but have tighter Vcore limits, and operate at lower clock speeds. This makes the two available "Zen 4" cores the de facto "performance" cores, and AMD flags them as UEFI CPPC "preferred cores," ensuring the OS guides a bulk of its processing traffic to them. Both "Phoenix" and "Hawk Point" feature an identical CPU setup, with up to eight "Zen 4" cores.

AMD released its latest PMC (power management controller) driver patches for the Linux kernel, which reference a yet unreleased "Family 1Ah" processors. Phoronix believes this is the first reference to AMD's next generation "Zen 5" microarchitecture in the PMC driver. We've already seen AMD EPYC "Turin" server processors based on "Zen 5" in the flesh, and it's likely that AMD is handing these out to some of its biggest data-center customers for testing and evaluation, before giving them some final touches and green-lighting mass-production in 2024. The patches themselves are barely two new lines of code, and talk about a new sleep state called "s2idle." This is a software-defined system sleep state. The EPYC "Turin" processor comes in two packages, one with up to 128 "Zen 5" cores, and another with up to 192 "Zen 5c" cores for cloud applications.