BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, today announced availability of the new BIOSTAR AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card, engineered to deliver exceptional high-framerate, high-fidelity 1080p gaming.

Built on breakthrough AMD RDNA 2 gaming architecture, the new BIOSTAR AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card has everything a gamer needs and more. It offers 32 powerful compute units, 32 MB of high-performance AMD Infinity Cache, 8 GB of high-speed GDDR6 memory, and AMD Smart Access Memory, among many other advanced features for the next-level immersive gaming experience. With game clock speeds up to 2359 MHz and boost clock speeds up to 2589 MHz, the BIOSTAR AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card can easily handle the latest AAA games thrown at it.

MSI, a world leader in high-performance and innovative computing solutions, has announced the PRO DP20Z 5M Business & Productivity PC. It comes in both barebone and full system solutions. Featuring a powerful processor, exclusive software, and various IO ports, the PRO DP20Z 5M is designed with efficiency and productivity in mind.

Everything you need for business is already in the 2.6L sized business & productivity PC - PRO DP20Z 5M. Inspired by the natural bamboo and its perseverance, transformation & refinement, the design of PRO DP20Z represents durability, reliability, and stability. It would have sustained its life as it grew only when it develops a strong foundation. Its barebone and full system solution makes it more flexible for different users and enterprises. The full system solution featuring the latest AMD Ryzen 5000 Series APU will be coming soon. Featuring up to Ryzen 7 5700G APU and DDR4 3200 MHz 64 GB memory, it can help users experience a better and faster computing performance during data analyzing and when gaming amusement is needed. It can support up to three displays and 4K resolution at 60 Hz, allowing users to connect advertising board to display their products or use it as a powerful home theater PC. Its portable size and sufficient features fully meet the needs of various scenarios.

AMD today released the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin. Version 21.8.1 Beta comes with support for the Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card (which we reviewed here). It also fixes an issue with "The Medium" that caused the game to crash while running FrameView. The company also identified a handful issues, some even specific to the RX 6600 XT, such as inaccurate point-lights in "Control," and driver timeouts observed in "Horizon Zero Dawn" with RX 6700 XT, and less specifically on RX 500 series products with simultaneous gaming+streaming. Grab the driver from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.8.1 Beta

PC components major GIGABYTE has reportedly been hacked, with the attacker group, which goes by the name RansomEXX, stealing 112 GB in data that contains confidential technical documents from Intel, AMD, and others; which are released to GIGABYTE under strict NDAs, to help it design motherboards, notebooks, desktops, servers, and graphics cards. The group also deployed ransomware to encrypt GIGABYTE's data, which includes these documents. The attack allegedly occurred in the week of August 2, and GIGABYTE was forced to shut down its systems in its Taiwan headquarters. This even caused some downtime for its websites.

While it's conceivable that a company of GIGABYTE's scale would maintain timely cold backups of its data, and can recover almost everything RansomEXX encrypted, there's another aspect to this attack, and it's the data the attackers stole. They threaten to leak the data if a ransom isn't paid in time. This would put a large amount of confidential documents, including motherboard designs, UEFI/BIOS/TPM data/keys, etc., out in the public domain. GIGABYTE didn't comment on the issue beyond stating that it has isolated the affected servers from the rest of its network and notified law enforcement.

Aya Neo announced an updated model of it's AMD-based handheld console by the same name at Chinajoy 2021. The Aya Neo 2021 Pro and Aya Neo 2021 Pro Retro Power will both feature 1 TB of storage as standard with a 2 TB model also offered. The Pro models feature an upgraded Ryzen 7 4800U processor with 8 cores and 16 threads up from the 6 core 12 thread Ryzen 5 4500U found in the regular model. This upgrade also increases the Vega graphics compute unit count to 8 and should provide a noticeable performance improvement. The Aya Neo 2021 Pro Retro Power features a NES-inspired color scheme and includes a special docking station for 100 USD more. Aya will also sell a GaN 108 W charger and mechanical keyboard with the same retro design. These new models are priced at almost double the 649 USD price of the 512 GB Steam Deck and are expected to start shipping in September.

TechPowerUp today released the latest version of TechPowerUp GPU-Z, the popular graphics subsystem, information, monitoring, and diagnostic utility. The latest Version 2.41.0 comes with support for the Windows 11 operating system (ongoing pre-release builds), including the ability to tell if the graphics driver conforms to WDDM 3.0 standard. Support is also added for current and upcoming GPUs, including Radeon RX 6600 XT, Radeon PRO W6800, W6600; NVIDIA CMP 90HX, 50HX, 40HX, 30H; and RTX 3050 Laptop GPUs based on GA107-B.

TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.41.0 also improves on several fronts. We've improved the TMU count estimation algorithm for unknown (upcoming) NVIDIA GPUs, as well as clock speed detection on AMD RDNA2-based Radeon PRO GPUs. The GPU-Z installer now adds version number of the installed GPU-Z to the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs list, to better work with Winget, the new Microsoft package manager. AMD "Navi" rated clocks will now always be shown in Advanced Panel, even if the reported clocks are 0. A "BIOS reading not supported" error with certain laptops that have NVIDIA discrete GPUs, has been fixed. The ASUS ROG-branded GPU-Z has some UI touch-ups. Die-size and transistor counts of AMD "Cezanne" APU and certain older AMD GPUs, have been fixed. Grab GPU-Z from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 2.41.0The change-log follows.

German online retailer Mindfactory may not be as big as Amazon, but it puts out its sales figures of PC hardware components, that often get picked up by the tech-press as a sample size. While using its data as a yardstick for AMD outselling Intel in the DIY market is debatable, sales of individual AMD or Intel products provide valuable insights to what consumers are after these days. Apparently, the recently launched Ryzen 7 5700G and Ryzen 5 5600G APUs are already outselling the Ryzen 7 5800X and Ryzen 5 5600X, respectively, for the week of 2nd August running.

AMD designed the Ryzen 7 5700G to succeed the popular Ryzen 7 3700X, and the 5600G to succeed the best-selling Ryzen 5 3600, which explains the absence of "Ryzen 7 5700X" or "Ryzen 5 5600," at least in the DIY market. It's little surprise then, that just as the 3700X outsold the 3800X, Mindfactory bagged orders for 820 units of 5700G, as opposed to 610 units of the 5800X; and 900 units of the 5600G, compared to 680 units of the 5600X. It's interesting to note that the 5700G even outsold the 5600X. The 5700G and 5600G are based on the 7 nm "Cezanne" silicon, which packs up to 8 "Zen 3" cores, and an iGPU with up to 512 stream processors. Unlike "Vermeer," Cezanne is a monolithic die.

Senior Technology Fellow Yuzo Fukuzaki shed light on the elusive new CPU technology AMD unveiled at its Computex 2021 keynote, 3D Vertical Cache (3DV Cache). The company had then detailed it as an additional 64 MB last-level cache stacked on top of a CCD (CPU core complex die), which significantly improves performance, including a claimed 15% average gain in gaming performance, which accounts for a generational performance gain over "Zen 3." The prototype AMD unveiled in its keynote was based on a Socket AM4 processor with "Zen 3" CCDs that have the 3DV Cache components in place. With two such CCDs, a 16-core processor would end up with 192 MB of L3 cache.

Yuzo Fukuzaki's theory sheds light on the most plausible position of 3DV Cache in the processor's cache hierarchy. Apparently, it expands the CCD's L3 cache, and doesn't serve as an "L4" victim cache to the L3. This way, the cache setup remains transparent to the OS, which sees it as a contiguous 96 MB block of L3 cache (per CCD). The 3DV Cache die is an SRAM chip fabricated on the same 7 nm process as the "Zen 3" CCD. It measures 6 mm x 6 mm (36 mm²), and is located above the region of the CCD that typically has the 32 MB L3 SRAM. Fukuzaki estimates that roughly 23,000 TSVs (through-silicon vias), each about 17 µm in size, connect the 3DV Cache die to the main CCD.

The leading global motherboard, graphics card, and small form factor PC manufacturer, ASRock, has released the latest BIOS that support AMD Ryzen 5000 G-Series Desktop Processors with Radeon Graphics and AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Desktop Processors with PRO Technologies.

AMD Ryzen 5000 G-Series Desktop Processors with Radeon Graphics are the newest generation processors come with industry-leading 7nm technology, elevating processing performance to the next level. And now, ASRock 500-Series, B450 AMD Ryzen motherboards and X300 Mini PC are able to support both of them by updating the latest BIOS.

AMD's 7 nm "Navi 21" silicon powers the company's Radeon RX 6800 series and flagship RX 6900 XT graphics cards. It's a big chip, competitive with NVIDIA's fastest GeForce RTX 30-series products, and AMD set 16 GB as the standard memory amount for all products based on this chip, despite its 256-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface. Komachi Ensaka spotted a curious-looking Navi 21 product with 8 GB of memory, on the UserBenchmark database. The card is slower than the desktop RX 6800, but found trading blows with the RX 6700 XT. Speculation is rife as to what it could be.

The most plausible theory is that it could be a prototype, with its user testing out UserBenchmark. The GeForce RTX 3070 Ti has a shaky performance equation with the similarly-priced RX 6800, and any attempt to close the gap between the RX 6700 XT and the RX 6800 would cannibalize the latter, unless that's exactly what AMD wants—a product competitive with the RTX 3070 Ti, but with a leaner bill of materials than the RX 6800 on account of the 8 GB memory.

Nostalgia is perhaps the most present feeling among many gamers across the globe, and someone is seemingly playing with ours as there is a Twitter account claiming the return of a company that has been dead for 20 years. 3dfx Interactive, once a giant in the graphics card industry, is allegedly returning after 20 years to give gamers a new choice of a graphics card. According to a Twitter account that claims that 3dfx Interactive is returning, we are seeing a massive amount of hype being built around the seemingly fake and bad attempt of playing with our nostalgia.

3dfx went bankrupt in 2000 and was acquired by NVIDIA, who took over the rights to trademarks and everything involved with the brand. In the latest tweet, the alleged resurrected company is claiming a return after 20 years. It says that Jansen Products, also an alleged investment firm, that we couldn't find in any database of registered firms, is now the owner of 3dfx Interactive brand and its trademarks. A simple Google search points towards a Belgian building firm, not an alleged San Francisco investment company.. Together, this is making the alleged return seem just like a joke, as someone must be playing with many gamers that used 3dfx's famous Voodoo lineup of graphics cards.

AMD today announced availability of the new AMD Radeon PRO W6000X series GPUs for Mac Pro. The new GPU product line delivers exceptional performance and incredible visual fidelity to power a wide variety of demanding professional applications and workloads, including 3D rendering, 8K video compositing, color correction and more.

Built on groundbreaking AMD RDNA 2 architecture, AMD Infinity Cache and other advanced technologies, the new workstation graphics line-up includes the AMD Radeon PRO W6900X and AMD Radeon PRO W6800X GPUs. Mac Pro users also have the option of choosing the AMD Radeon PRO W6800X Duo graphics card, a dual-GPU configuration that leverages high-speed AMD Infinity Fabric interconnect technology to deliver outstanding levels of compute performance.

ASRock, the leading global motherboard, graphics card and mini PC manufacturer, today launched new Phantom Gaming and Challenger series products based on AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT GPUs. The new ASRock graphics cards are built on the 7 nm manufacturing process and AMD RDNA 2 gaming architecture, and include support for the DirectX 12 Ultimate API, hardware-accelerated raytracing, HDMI 2.1, and PCI Express 4.0. In addition, with high-speed 8 GB GDDR6 memory plus a wealth of exclusive features, the ASRock AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT series graphics cards can provide the ultimate 1080p gaming performance.

The high-end ASRock AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Phantom Gaming D 8 GB OC graphics card features the triple-fan Phantom Gaming 3X cooling system for excellent cooling performance, as well as a unique Striped Axial Fan, Air Deflecting Fin and Ultra-fit Heatpipe to greatly increase cooling efficiency. The stylish metal backplate strengthens the structure and prevents damage to the board. With the addition of an ARGB fan, ARGB LED board, and Polychrome SYNC lighting control software, users can fully customize and control their own lighting system. The cool black and red appearance and the ultimate factory-preset overclocking settings make ASRock AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Phantom Gaming D 8 GB OC graphics card ideal for hardcore gamers.

The stay-at-home economy remains robust due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, so the sales of gaming products such as game consoles and the demand for related components are being kept at a decent level, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. However, the values of cryptocurrencies have plummeted in the past two months because of active interventions from many governments, with the graphics DRAM market entering into a bearish turn in 3Q21 as a result. While graphics DRAM prices in the spot market will likely show the most severe fluctuations, contract prices of graphics DRAM are expected to increase by 10-15% QoQ in 3Q21 since DRAM suppliers still prioritize the production of server DRAM over other product categories, and the vast majority of graphics DRAM supply is still cornered by major purchasers.

It should be pointed out that, given the highly volatile nature of the graphics DRAM market, it is relatively normal for graphics DRAM prices to reverse course or undergo a more drastic fluctuation compared with other mainstream DRAM products. As such, should the cryptocurrency market remain bearish, and manufacturers of smartphones or PCs reduce their upcoming production volumes in light of the ongoing pandemic and component supply issues, graphics DRAM prices are unlikely to experience further increase in 4Q21. Instead, TrendForce expects prices in 4Q21 to largely hold flat compared to the third quarter.

Sapphire introduced a nifty lineup of new AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards, with the value-ended RX 6600 XT Pulse, and the premium RX 6600 XT NITRO+. Both are strictly two slots-thick designs that are compact, and use dual-fan cooling solutions. The NITRO+ features a higher factory OC, a heavier heatsink, and premium bits that include wave-edged aluminium fins in the cooler, fans with webbed impellers, dual-BIOS, a silvery metal backplate, an addressable-RGB LED illuminated Sapphire logo, and a 3-pin ARGB header so you can sync your lighting to the card's.

The RX 6600 XT Pulse, on the other hand, features a simpler design without the shiny dual-tone finish of the NITRO+. There are no illuminated logos, additional RGB headers, or dual-BIOS to be had. You still get a similar combination of wave-edge fin-stack, and webbed impellers, as well as a metal back-plate. The card has a lower state of factory OC than the NITRO+, and is expected to be priced closer to the baseline price. The company didn't reveal engine game/boost frequencies of either cards, but both feature 16 Gbps GDDR6 memory, and take in power from single 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

XFX released a trio of custom-design Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards. These include the RX 6600 XT Speedster SWFT210 Core, the RX 6600 XT Speedster QICK308 Black, and the range-topping RX 6600 XT Speedster MERC308 Black. The Speedster SWFT210 is the entry-level, with its compact dimensions, 2-slot thickness, a single 8-pin PCIe power input, and a cooling solution that uses two fans, and the lightest heatsink in the series. This card is likely to come with a mild factory-OC that's close to reference.

The Speedster QICK308 and the Speedster MERC308 have identical dimensions, with their lengthy triple-fan cooling solutions, except the QICK308 comes with slightly lower clock speeds than the MERC308, and does away with an illuminated nameplate along the top of the card (which only goes on to improve the airflow). The MERC308 comes with this nameplate, chrome accents along the fan intakes and other parts of the cooler shroud, and the highest factory-OC. XFX hasn't disclosed the GPU game/boost frequencies for either of the three cards.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and storage devices, today announced the new BIOSTAR AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card, built on the breakthrough AMD RDNA 2 gaming architecture. The all-new BIOSTAR AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card is designed to deliver exceptional high-framerate, high-fidelity 1080p gaming experiences. Offering 32 powerful compute units, 32 MB of high-performance AMD Infinity Cache, 8 GB of high-speed GDDR6 memory, AMD Smart Access Memory and other advanced features, the BIOSTAR AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the graphics card that everyone dreams of.

The graphics card also supports the new cutting-edge AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution open-source spatial upscaling solution, which is designed to boost framerates and deliver high-quality, high-resolution gaming experiences. The BIOSTAR AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card also supports the DirectX 12 Ultimate API, which enables games to provide a new level of realism with real-time DirectX Raytracing (DXR), Variable Rate Shading and other advanced features.

ASUS today introduces the ROG Strix and ASUS Dual AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards with the AMD RDNA 2 gaming architecture, which offer high performance and optimal cooling for the mainstream. The AMD RDNA 2 architecture has proven itself in the powerful AMD Radeon RX 6000 series and appeals to gamers who are looking for the best graphics with high-resolution monitors and a high refresh rate. The latest ROG Strix and ASUS Dual AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards unleash the next generation of features for extremely high performance in today's competitive games and smooth display in AAA titles.

AMD is slowly preparing to launch its next-generation processors based on the new AM5 socket. The new lineup of processors will be based on the upgraded Zen 4 architecture that is said to bring multiple microarchitecture improvements and enhancements, equaling to a possible high-performance increase. Today, according to ExecutableFix, the person who provided us with renders of AMD's upcoming AM5 socket designed for next-generation Raphael processors. As we previously reported, AM5 is doing away from PGA and switching to LGA type instead, where pins are delivered on the socket, not the CPU like we used to see with AMD processors.

The LGA-1718 socket, pictured in the renders below, looks like a simple retention mechanism, where there is one metal arm to hold the lid down under pressure. If it turns out to be true, this implementation will be a very positive upgrade over the past PGA socket found on AM4 and before. We can look forward to seeing what AMD will deliver once the launch of Raphael processors gets closer.

As a leading brand in True Gaming hardware, MSI is proud to officially announce the MSI AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT GAMING X and MECH 2X graphics cards. Equipped with AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT GPUs powered by the breakthrough AMD RDNA 2 gaming architecture, the new graphics are designed to deliver the ultimate in 1080p gaming for a wide range of enthusiast gamers.

Built upon AMD RDNA2 GAMING architecture, AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT series graphics cards are designed to deliver optimal performance and power efficiency. These new graphics cards support the latest technologies, including DirectX Raytracing (DXR), variable rate shading (VRS), and AMD FidelityFX, allowing gamers to experience realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections with rich detail in supported game titles.

AMD today announced the new Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card, its latest entrant to the RX 6000 series, based on the RDNA2 graphics architecture, with full DirectX 12 Ultimate support, including raytracing. The RX 6600 XT is suitable for AAA gaming at 1080p, or e-sports gaming at 1440p. The card debuts the new 7 nm Navi 23 silicon to the desktop, and maxes it out. It is endowed with 2,048 stream processors across 32 RDNA2 compute units, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide memory interface, holding 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 16 Gbps (256 GB/s bandwidth). The chip also has 32 MB of Infinity Cache memory. With a board power of 160 W, the card can make do with a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. The game clocks are up to 2359 MHz.

As for performance, AMD claims that the RX 6600 XT offers a 2.2-2.5 times performance gain over the GeForce GTX 1060, providing a viable upgrade. It also offers a 40% performance uplift over the previous-generation RX 5600 XT, and runs consistently faster than the RX 5700, perhaps even trading blows with the RX 5700 XT. In the current generation, AMD claims a 15% performance lead over the GeForce RTX 3060 on average, with both cards having Resizable BAR / Smart Access Memory enabled, at 1080p. Available from August 10, the card starts at USD $379, and is a partner-exclusive, meaning that only custom-design cards will be available, the company will not sell reference design ones.

As of 16:11 UTC today (29/07), the AMD stock has broken through the $100 stock-price glass ceiling, and is at $103.91, up 1384% from the $7 stock price in late-2016, prior to the company's competitive breakthrough with the "Zen" architecture. The latest rally comes in the wake of AMD's latest Q2-2021 financial results, where it clocked a 99% growth in YoY revenue. In the call, AMD mentioned that it is on track to maintaining its performance leadership, on the backs of the new "Zen 4" CPU architecture, RDNA3 graphics-, and CDNA2 compute architecture.

The ramp-up of the Intel Ice Lake and AMD Milan processors is expected to not only propel growths in server shipment for two consecutive quarters from 2Q21 to 3Q21, but also drive up the share of high-density products in North American hyperscalers' enterprise SSD purchases, according to TrendForce's latest investigations. In China, procurement activities by domestic hyperscalers Alibaba and ByteDance are expected to increase on a quarterly basis as well. With the labor force gradually returning to physical offices, enterprises are now placing an increasing number of IT equipment orders, including servers, compared to 1H21. Hence, global enterprise SSD procurement capacity is expected to increase by 7% QoQ in 3Q21. Ongoing shortages in foundry capacities, however, have led to the supply of SSD components lagging behind demand. At the same time, enterprise SSD suppliers are aggressively raising the share of large-density products in their offerings in an attempt to optimize their product lines' profitability. Taking account of these factors, TrendForce expects contract prices of enterprise SSDs to undergo a staggering 15% QoQ increase for 3Q21.

AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su, in the company's Q2-2021 financial results call, confirmed that the company is on-track to launch the Zen 4 CPU microarchitecture and RDNA3 graphics architecture, in 2022. Zen 4 would herald the first major desktop platform change since the original Zen architecture, with the introduction of a new CPU socket, and support for DDR5 memory. The RDNA3 graphics architecture, meanwhile, is expected to nearly triple SIMD resources over the previous generation, and introduce even more fixed-function hardware for raytracing.

In the meantime, AMD is preparing a counter to Intel's 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake-S" processor, in the form of Zen 3 with 3D Vertical Cache, which is also being referred to as the Zen 3+ architecture. These processors feature additional last-level cache, and the company claims a 15% gaming performance uplift, which should help it close the gaming performance gap with Intel, and win on sheer core-count of its big cores. It remains to be seen if Zen 3+ remains on Socket AM4 or if it debuts AM5, as AMD will be under pressure to match "Alder Lake" in platform I/O, which includes DDR5. Dr Su also confirmed that AMD has started shipping the Instinct MI200 "Aldebaran" compute accelerator based on the CDNA2 architecture. AMD's first MCM GPU with two logic dies, "Aldebaran" takes the fight to NVIDIA's top A100 series compute accelerators, and has already scored wins with ongoing HPC/supercomputing projects.

AMD today released the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin drivers. Version 21.7.2 beta introduces optimization for "Chernobylite." It also adds support for two new Vulkan API extensions, including "VK_KHR_copy_commands2," and "VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2." Among the handful issues fixed include incorrect upgrade advice by the Game Compatibility advisor over certain CPUs and GPUs; a BSOD error noticed on certain mobile platforms when using Enhanced sign-in; "Resident Evil Village" experiencing application hang or driver crash on machines with Radeon VII; and an application crash with Radeon Software when upgrading with core isolation enabled.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.7.2