ASUS today unveiled the TUF Gaming A620-PRO WiFi, a Socket AM5 motherboard based on the entry-level AMD A620 chipset. When ASUS debuted its A620 motherboard lineup, it lacked a product in the ATX form-factor, and its top motherboard model at the time was the Micro-ATX TUF Gaming A620M-Plus WiFi. The new A620-PRO WiFi is feature-packed, and looks like a product from a segment above. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, and 8+4 pin EPS, and although you don't get CPU overclocking support with this chipset, there's plenty of CPU power delivery for even 12-core and 16-core processors. A 13-phase VRM conditions power for the processor.

The Socket AM5 is wired to four DDR5 DIMM slots, a PCI-Express 4.0 x16 slot, and two CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slots, each with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 wiring. A PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot (electrical Gen 3 x2), and two Gen 3 x1 slots wired to the A620 FCH, make for the rest of the expansion feature-set. Besides the CPU-attached M.2 NVMe slots, you get four SATA 6 Gbps ports from the A620 chipset for storage. Display connectivity includes a DisplayPort and HDMI. Networking connectivity consists of a 2.5 GbE wired Ethernet driven by a Realtek 8125 series controller; and 802.11ax (WiFi 6), with Bluetooth 5.3 (possibly an Intel WLAN module). USB ports include two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A, two 5 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 1 type-A and type-C, and four 5 Gbps ports via two internal USB 3.2 headers or internal ports, besides a handful USB 2.0 headers. The onboard audio solution is driven by an entry-level Realtek ALC892 CODEC, with 7.1-channel analog jacks. The motherboard offers USB BIOS Flashback. The company didn't reveal pricing.

The recent escalating AMD Ryzen 7000X3D Series CPU issue has come to our attention, ASRock treats this type of incident seriously and would like to offer the most updated BIOS across our entire range of AM5 motherboards. ASRock has released new BIOS as well as A-Tuning utility for following AM5 chipset motherboards which limit CPU voltage on certain power rails. We encourage users to update to the new BIOS with the appropriate voltage settings urgently to ensure system stability and durability.

Apart from bringing rock-solid hardware products to PC users, ASRock is also keen on working with AMD and integrating the most up to date technologies into its products. If you're unsure about the risk of using old BIOS version, please seek professional support from ASRock customer service.

ASUS's sensational handheld game console, the ROG Ally, will be priced at $699.99 for the model powered by the top AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor, according to a leak by SnoopyTech. This top model will feature a 7-inch Full HD screen with 120 Hz refresh-rate, and Dolby Atmos-capable audio. Under the hood, the Ryzen Z1 is based on the 4 nm "Phoenix" silicon, featuring an 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4" CPU, and its full Navi3 iGPU based on the RDNA3 graphics architecture, with 12 CU (768 stream processors). This chip is wired to 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and a 512 GB NVMe SSD.

ASUS has a cheaper model of the ROG Ally designed for cloud gaming and casual gaming, powered by the Ryzen Z1 (non-Extreme). The non-Extreme Z1 rocks a 6-core/12-thread "Zen 4" CPU, but a heavily cut down iGPU with just 4 CU (256 stream processors), which are plenty for the intended use-cases. ASUS could price this much lower than the top model, with speculations pointing to $499.

AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT reportedly launches on May 25, 2023. Moore's Law is Dead scored the key dates associated with the launch. The upcoming performance-segment graphics card is rumored to be based on the 5 nm "Navi 33" silicon and RDNA3 graphics architecture. Apparently, the tech press should have its samples to test by May 15, and AMD is taking a similar approach to NVIDIA's recent GeForce RTX 4070 launch, where cards priced at MSRP will be eligible to a review embargo that's a day sooner than that of non-MSRP cards. Reviews of MSRP cards go live on May 24, with those of non-MSRP cards following the next day on May 25, along with market availability. It's no wonder that we heard reports of RX 7600 series cards being shown off at Computex, all those cards will be available to purchase by then.

AMD late Tuesday released its first media statement on the controversy surrounding Ryzen 7000X3D series processors burning-out as a result of voltage-assisted overclocking. We've covered this in detail, in our older article. The AMD statement reads that the company is aware of the issue, is investigating it, and in the meantime, is getting motherboard- and ODM vendors to ensure that their device firmware/BIOS operate Ryzen 7000X3D processors within the correct voltage tolerances. The statement also called for affected users to reach out to AMD Support.

AMD Statement"We are aware of a limited number of reports online claiming that excess voltage while overclocking may have damaged the motherboard socket and pin pads. We are actively investigating the situation and are working with our ODM partners to ensure voltages applied to Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs via motherboard BIOS settings are within product specifications. Anyone whose CPU may have been impacted by this issue should contact AMD customer support."

Since the highly-expected AMD Ryzen 7000X3D-series CPUs launched by AMD, GIGABYTE has provided the best quality AM5 motherboards to unleash the performance of these best gaming processors. GIGABYTE always work closely with AMD to ensure our motherboard design within AMD's guidelines and provide supreme performance with reliability from all aspect. To consistently deliver the most remarkable and solid platform, GIGABYTE release the new beta BIOS regarding to the recent concerns of potential motherboard damaged issues with Ryzen 7000X3D-series CPUs.

The latest beta BIOS provides a more secure range of SOC voltage settings to reduce the risk of CPU damage due to over-voltage settings. Meanwhile, through the GIGABYTE exclusive Performance Bung in the BIOS option, users can easily optimize the tuning process of CPU voltage setting, while obtain the optimal CPU voltage by AMD PBO2 option, which both help to unleash the foremost performance of Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs.

AMD is expected to debut its performance-segment Radeon RX 7600 RDNA3 graphics card in May-June 2023, with board partners expected to show off their custom-design cards in the 2023 Computex (June). Moore's Law is Dead reports that they've spoken to a source with access to an early graphics card sample running the 5 nm "Navi 33" silicon that powers the RX 7600. This card, with development drivers (which are sure to be riddled with performance limiters); offers a 11% performance uplift over the Radeon RX 6650 XT, and a gaming power draw of 175 W (the RX 6650 XT pulls around 185-190 W).

This is still an early sample running development drivers, but a 11% performance boost puts it in the league of the Radeon RX 6700 XT. Should a production RX 7600 with launch-day drivers put on another 5-7% performance over this, the RX 7600 could end up with performance roughly matching the RX 6750 XT (a slim performance lead over the RTX 3070 in 1080p gaming). Should its power draw also hold, one can expect custom-design graphics cards to ship with single 8-pin PCIe power connectors. A couple of nifty specs of the RX 7600 also leaked out in the MLID report: Firstly, that 8 GB will remain the standard memory size for the RX 7600, as it is for the current RX 6650 XT. Secondly, the RX 7600 engine clock is reported to boost "above" 2.60 GHz.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, has released a new BIOS update for its X670E VALKYRIE, RACING B650EGTQ, and B650M-SILVER motherboards. This update aims to limit the voltages of AMD Ryzen 7000X3D processors, ensuring improved CPU safety. Recent reports suggest that AMD Ryzen 7000X3D processors are prone to physical damage when overclocked with voltage assistance. This has prompted motherboard vendors to rush BIOS updates with voltage limiters, and BIOSTAR is no exception.

The new BIOS update from BIOSTAR restricts direct voltage to CPU Vcore Voltage, CPU SOC Voltage, and CPU MISC Voltage, preventing over-voltage and reducing the risk of damage to the 7000X3D series CPUs. Additionally, BIOSTAR also has PBO (Precision Boot Overdrive, Default: Auto) function to provide the best performance for 7000X3D series CPUs even under Voltage restrictions.

DOWNLOAD: the latest motherboard BIOS updates for BIOSTAR X670E Valkyrie | BIOSTAR Racing B650E GTQ | BIOSTAR B650M Silver

Prices of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT RDNA3 graphics card continue on a downward trend, with the cheapest street price now touching $762. This is $137 below the AMD MSRP for the RX 7900 XT of $899, or a 15.23% reduction. At this price, the RX 7900 XT is priced already below several custom-design GeForce RTX 4070 Ti models. At stock frequency, the RX 7900 XT beats the RTX 4070 Ti by around 6% in conventional raster 3D graphics that makes up the majority of the gaming graphics workload, while its ray tracing performance is closer to that of the previous-generation RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3090. The specific model in question is the XFX Speedster MERC 310 Radeon RX 7900 XT, with the $762 price surfacing on Amazon for $771.09 with a $10 checkbox coupon that's visible to buyers in the U.S.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) is proud to announce the ROG Ally, an incredibly powerful new Windows 11 gaming handheld. Powered by a cutting-edge AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor, the Ally can breeze through AAA games and indie titles with ease. A bright and high-refresh-rate touchscreen ensures that gamers see their content clearly even when gaming outdoors. The Ally is easy to carry and handle all day, thanks to its lightweight 608 g design and ergonomic handholds.

Featuring an all-new purpose-built APU - an AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor with RDNA 3 graphics - the ROG Ally is primed to deliver never-before-seen levels of handheld gaming performance. Gamers who enjoy lighter indie titles, or more graphically intensive AAA games, can do it all with the Ally. Making all this possible is also ROG's Zero Gravity thermal system, which uses a dual-fan system with ultrathin heatsink fins and high-friction heat pipes to ensure the Ally stays cool in any orientation.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an industry analyst known for making accurate predictions about Apple, we have some new information regarding Intel's Sapphire Rapids Xeon processors. As Kuo notes, Intel's major Cloud Service Provider (CSP) client, Microsoft, has notified the supply chain that the company is cutting orders of Sapphire Rapids Xeons by 50-70% in the second half of 2023. Interestingly, Intel's supply chain has notified the company to cut chip orders by around 50% amidst weak server demand. This comes straight after Intel's plans to start shipping Sapphire Rapids processors in the second quarter of 2023 and deliver the highly anticipated lineup to customers.

Additionally, Kuo has stated that Intel isn't only competing for clients with AMD but also with Arm-based CPUs. Microsoft also plans to start buying Arm-based server processors made by Ampere Computing in the first half of 2024. This will reduce Microsoft's dependence on x86 architecture and induce higher competition in the market, especially if other CSPs follow.

ASUS ROG Ally, the company's handheld game console that started out as an April Fool's joke before being announced as a serious product development and ASUS's answer to the Steam Deck, is a lean-mean gaming machine powered by the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. Announced earlier today, the Z1 Extreme is a highly power-optimized version of the 4 nm "Phoenix" silicon that packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the "Zen 4" microarchitecture, along with its full-config iGPU based on the latest RDNA3 graphics architecture, with 12 CU (768 stream processors), and an LPDDR5 memory interface.

On the ROG Ally, the Z1 Extreme is configured with a 1.70 GHz CPU clock-speed, along with a 2.10 GHz iGPU engine clock. Multiplayer Italy went hands-on with the ROG Ally, and showed off a gameplay of "DOOM Eternal," where the ROG Ally pumps out 71 FPS, with an SoC power-draw of 25.7 W, and an SoC temperature of just 56°C. ASUS and AMD are expected to give the ROG Ally the full spectrum of software-level optimizations suitable for the device, such as dynamic resolution (Radeon Boost), which should hold frame-rates above 60 FPS at all times.

It seems like the long boot times that have plagued MSI's X670 and B650 motherboards might soon be nothing but a bad memory, as the company has issued UEFI updates for its motherboards that are said to cut the boot times in half. The company has added what it calls "Memory Context Restore" in the new UEFI releases, which speeds up the boot times significantly. MSI didn't provide any details as to what the feature does, but according to a post on MSI's forum, it is meant to avoid retraining of the RAM and is a feature that MSI had offered on past AMD platforms.

The chart below shows the boot times using two 16 GB DDR5-6000 modules from Kingston with EXPO and with Memory Context Restore enabled, the boot time goes from 43 to 22 seconds. The specific test system was using MSI's own MAG X670E Tomahawk WiFi motherboard, paired with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU.If you have an MSI X670 or B650 motherboard and want to take advantage of the new improved boot times, head over to MSI's website and downloaded the latest UEFI version for your motherboard.

Today, AMD introduced the new Ryzen Z1 Series processors, the ultimate high-performance processor for handheld PC gaming consoles. The Ryzen Z1 Series features two high performance processors, the Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen Z1 Extreme, both offering industry-leading gaming experiences, uncompromising battery life, and featuring AMD RDNA 3 architecture-based graphics. AMD is partnering with Asus to launch the first Ryzen Z1 Series device with the Asus ROG Ally, a premium handheld PC console, featuring up to a Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor.

"At AMD, we're continually advancing the next generation of gaming experiences, from consoles to desktops to on-the-go handheld devices," said Jason Banta, corporate vice president and general manager, Client OEM at AMD. "Ryzen Z1 processors deliver gamers an elite gaming experience and extreme portability in exciting gaming form factors."

The global economy has faced increased inflation risks and downstream inventory corrections in 2H22, which have affected IC design houses faster than wafer foundries, as they are far more sensitive and responsive to market reversals. TrendForce reports that adverse factors such as weak overall consumption, restrictions from China, and the slowdown of corporate IT spending and CSP demand have impacted the revenue performance of the world's top 10 IC design houses in 4Q22, leading to a QoQ decline of 9.2%, or approximately US$33.96 billion.

TrendForce predicts that the revenue of these top 10 companies keep declining—though with a slight convergence—into 1Q23, owing to ongoing inventory corrections across the entire supply chain as well as Q1 being the traditional off-season for consumer demand. Demand will continue to be weak despite new product launches and inventory replenishment in the supply chain.

ASUS has released an official statement regarding the recently discovered issues with AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, especially the Ryzen 7000X3D series. ASUS has also released EFI updates on Friday, that include thermal monitoring mechanism to protect motherboards and CPUs and is working on new updates that should be available soon and define new rules for AMD Expo and SoC voltage, which appear to be the main issue related to the CPU VDDIO/MC voltages.

We have already covered the first reports of damaged Ryzen 7000X3D series CPUs that suffered physical damage, and some motherboard manufacturers have already released new BIOS updates, including MSI. In the meantime, Roman "Der8auer" Hartung has also discovered that the issue might not be just limited to the Ryzen 7000X3D series, but could also impact the Ryzen 7000 X-series CPUs. Although there were no earlier reports on such issues, AMD Expo appears to be the main source of the problem and users can either disable it or manually set the SoC voltage, at least until motherboard makers come up with new BIOS updates or we hear an official statement from AMD.

TrendForce reports that mass production of new server platforms—such as Intel Sapphire Rapids and AMD Genoa—is imminent. However, recent market reports have indicated a PMIC compatibility issue for server DDR5 RDIMMs; DRAM suppliers and PMIC vendors are working to address the problem. TrendForce believes this will have two effects: First, DRAM suppliers will temporarily procure more PMICs from Monolithic Power Systems (MPS), which supplies PMICs without any issues. Second, supply will inevitably be affected in the short term as current DDR5 server DRAM production still uses older processes, which will lead to a convergence in the price decline of DDR5 server DRAM in 2Q23—from the previously estimated 15~20% to 13~18%.

As previously mentioned, PMIC issues and the production process relying on older processes are all having a short-term impact on the supply of DDR5 server DRAM. SK hynix has gradually ramped up production and sales of 1α-nm, which, unlike 1y-nm, has yet to be fully verified by consumers. Current production processes are still being dominated by Samsung and SK hynix's 1y-nm and Micron's 1z-nm; 1α and 1β-nm production is projected to increase in 2H23.

A memory mod for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 that doubles the amount of VRAM showed some impressive performance gains, especially in the most recent games. While the mod was more complicated than earlier ones, since it required some additional PCB soldering, the one tested game shows incredible performance boost, especially in the 1%, 0.1% lows, and the average frame rate.

Modding the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 to 16 GB VRAM is not a bad idea, since NVIDIA already planned a similar card (RTX 3070 Ti 16 GB), but eventually cancelled it. With today games using more than 8 GB of VRAM, it means that some RTX 30 series graphics card can struggle with pushing playable FPS. The modder benchmarked the new Resident Evil 4 at very high settings, showing that those additional 8 GB of VRAM is the difference between stuttering and smooth gameplay.

AMD is likely to skip the launch of a Radeon RX 7700 series for now, and prioritize the RX 7600 series. Sources tell Igor's Lab that AMD's dedicated AIB partners (such as ASRock, Sapphire, PowerColor, and XFX), are expected to have custom-design boards based on Radeon RX 7600 series ready to show by Computex 2023 (June), although multi-brand board partners, such as MSI, ASUS, and GIGABYTE, are expected to take a wait-and-watch approach toward the series. AMD is likely yet to figure out the economics of an RX 7700 series product that could compete with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4070 series, offering competitive performance and energy-efficiency, but the introduction of the RTX 4060 series could see NVIDIA reap the sub-$500 market, where AMD possibly has a competitive silicon.

GEEKOM is thrilled to announce the release of the GEEKOM AS 6, an AMD-powered mini PC. This powerful, feature-packed PC is the result of an exclusive collaboration between GEEKOM and ASUS, with these two industry-leading companies teaming up to co-develop a Mini PC with better overall performance than the Intel NUC 13 Pro Arena Canyon, making it the best choice for the gaming and office of the future!

GEEKOM and ASUS always strive to bring users the most optimal mini PC experience, and the AS 6 is proof of that commitment. The AS 6, powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor, delivers unprecedented levels of performance to effortlessly handle any task-from playing the latest games to intensive office work. It is truly eye-opening to discover that the AMD Radeon Graphics 680M in the AS 6 boasts a staggering performance improvement of nearly 90% compared to Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the NUC 13 Pro. And the new Radeon graphics technology combined with ultrafast DDR5 memory offers up to 2x faster game performance than the last gen.

A Reddit user has shared their experience of passively cooling an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, with some modifications to the setup. Using the Streacom DB4 passively cooled case, the user u/AromaticImpress7778 pulled off cooling a processor with 16 cores and 32 threads with a TDP of 170 Watts. Interestingly, the Streacom DB4 case rates CPU support for only 65 Watts, meaning some modifications were in place. To support the high-TDP CPU, the user used two of the one-kilogram copper bars and attached them to the case. Heat is transferred to the two one-kilogram blocks using the case's default plate and an additional 233-gram copper plate for the CPU and motherboard. These big copper blocks are not soldered to the case, but instead, the user puts Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal between copper parts and Arctic MX-6 between the case and copper.

To cool the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and MSI B650I board, accompanied by HDPlex GaN 250 W and 64 GB of memory, the system did well enough for a passive build. After running the system at full load, the CPU reached 95 degrees Celsius for CCD1 and 95 degrees Celsius for CCD2. The external panels of the Streacom DB4 case were getting 50C to 60C of heat. Additionally, the user noted that the usage of this system will be more relaxed, as it will not run under full load for a prolonged period. Regarding the system's total weight, the entire build weighs around 13 KG, with 4.4 KG of that being only copper. The case weighs 7.5 KG, and the other parts weigh about one kilogram.

In the height of the crypto-mining GPU shortage of 2021-22, the Radeon RX 6900 XT and its refresh the RX 6950 XT, were scalped and resold for upward of $2,000. You can get one for as low as $600 on Newegg. The ASRock Radeon RX 6950 XT Phantom Gaming OC is now listed on U.S. retailer Newegg.com at $630, with a coupon code that shaves $30 off, bringing the effective price down to $600, which is the MSRP of the recently announced NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 "Ada."

Our testing shows that the RTX 4070 offers performance on-par with previous-generation RTX 3080 and the Radeon RX 6800 XT. The RX 6900 XT is about 6% faster than the RTX 4070 at 1440p (averaged over our test suite), and the RX 6950 XT from our older reviews is about 6-7% faster than the RX 6900 XT at 1440p. This is, however, performance with raster 3D graphics (which makes up the majority of gaming graphics), the ray tracing performance of the RX 6950 XT is closer to that of the RTX 3070 Ti, or about 23% slower than the RTX 4070. The RTX 4070 is a more efficient GPU, and also offers next-gen features such as DLSS 3 Frame Generation.

MINISFORUM is proud to announce the release of its latest device, the B550 PRO, an upgraded version of the B550 model. This Mini PC can be transformed into a full-sized gaming desktop when connected to an SFX power supply and discrete graphics card, offering users a versatile and powerful computing experience. Powered by the AMD B550 chipset and supporting Ryzen 5000 series CPU and APU (Up to 5800X processor), the B550 PRO is capable of handling daily office tasks and large-scale gaming.

This device's standout feature is its versatility, with a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot allowing direct connection of desktop discrete graphics cards through the PCIe 3.0 x16 interface on the chassis and the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot on the included expansion dock. The device also includes a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, which is added into the docking station, enabling the addition of an SSD or network card expansion card, and enhancing the device's overall versatility.

CD Projekt RED, the developer of Cyberpunk 2077, has advertised including various super sampling technologies like NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and now Intel XeSS supersampling. With the inclusion of XeSS version 1.1, Intel's Arc Alchemist graphics cards can record a significant performance uplift. Thanks to the Intel game blog, we compare XeSS enabled versus XeSS disabled, measuring the ability to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p Ultra settings with medium ray tracing enabled. The FPS comparison was conducted with Intel Arc A750 Limited Edition GPU, which was paired with Intel Core i9-13900K and 32 GB of RAM.

With XeSS off, the A750 GPU struggled and only reached 39 FPS. However, with XeSS set to performance, the number jumped to 67 FPS, making for a smooth user experience and gameplay. This is a 71% performance uplift, enabled by a new update in the game. Interestingly, Intel XeSS is computed on Arc's XMX Units, while NVIDIA and AMD compute their super sampling on shader units.

ASUS today announced the all-new Zenbook 15 OLED (UM3504), a premium thin and light 15.6-inch laptop powered by up to the latest AMD Ryzen 7 7735U processor. This powerful and compact laptop is designed for on-the-go productivity and creativity, featuring a durable all-metal chassis with a 14.9 mm-thin profile and a weight of just 1.4 kg. The 15.6-inch 16:9 120 Hz 2.8K ASUS Lumina OLED NanoEdge display is Pantone Validated for accurate color rendering and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified for the deepest blacks. It's also SGS and TÜV Rheinland certified for eye care.

To complement its Ryzen processor and AMD Radeon graphics, Zenbook 15 OLED has up to 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. Fast reliable connectivity is provided by WiFi 6E (802.11ax) enhanced with ASUS WiFi Master Premium. The premium design of Zenbook 15 OLED includes a choice of two finishes: a high-tech eco-friendly Basalt Gray plasma ceramic aluminium, or anodized Ponder Blue. To keep the laptop hygienic it's protected with ASUS Antimicrobial Guard plus, which reduces growth of viruses and bacteria by up to 99%. Conferencing is made easier with the FHD IR webcam and ASUS 3D Noise Reduction (3DNR) technology, along with the Harman Kardon-certified Dolby Atmos speaker system.