AYANEO has officially revealed its latest handheld gaming console, dubbed the AYANEO 3. The company has teased the handheld multiple times in the past, while refraining from sharing any specifications regarding the same. Now, however, the company has detailed the internals for its new flagship handheld along with a few extra details.

The AYANEO 3 appears to be powered exclusively by AMD APUs, with Intel's Lunar Lake options nowhere to be found. Interested buyers will get to choose between either the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 "Strix Point" APU, or the Ryzen 7 8840U "Hawk Point" APU. The "Strix Point" option happens to be AMD's latest and greatest, packing 4 Zen 5 and 8 Zen 5c cores, while the "Hawk Point" option sports 8 Zen 4 cores only.

AMD's answer to Intel's "Lunar Lake" is here. According to Olrak29, who discovered a strange entry on the OpenBenchmark benchmarking suite made by Phoronix, we have preliminary information on AMD's "Krackan / Kraken Point" APU. Spotted in the benchmark trials is the "100-000000713" model, which corresponds to an eight-core, sixteen-threaded CPU with four regular Zen 5 and four smaller (but not less potent) Zen 5c cores clocked at 3.95 GHz. Do note that this is just an engineering sample in the wild, so final clock speeds will depend mainly on AMD and its OEMs, given by TDP they plan to support with Kraken Point.

Accompanying the 8C/16T CPU configuration is the 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory from SK Hynix. According to the benchmark reading, four 8 GB modules were present, so we expect it to be on the system board, unlike on-chip like Intel does with Lunar Lake. The memory is running at 8000 MT/s, which is a 500 MT/s improvement over Strix Point and slower than its competitor, Lunar Lake, which has LPDDR5X running at 8533 MT/s. Lastly, the Krackan / Kraken Point APU has been spotted with eight RDNA 3.5 Compute Units. Where this exactly lands in AMD's product stack is still unclear. We expect to hear more about it as we enter 2025, so by then, remain patient until the next leak.

Nintendo's next-generation Switch 2 handheld gaming console is nearing its release. As leaks intensify about its future specifications, we get information about its planning stages. According to Moore's Law is Dead YouTube video, we learn that Nintendo didn't choose AMD APU to be the powerhouse behind Switch 2 due to poor battery life. In a bid to secure the best chip at a mere five watts of power, the Japanese company had two choices: NVIDIA Tegra or AMD APU. With some preliminary testing and evaluation, AMD APU wasn't reportedly power-efficient at 5 Watt TDP, while the NVIDIA Tegra chip was maintaining sufficient battery life and performance at target specifications.

Allegedly the AMD APU was good for 15 W design, but Nintendo didn't want to place a bigger battery so that the device remains lighter and cheaper. The final design will likely carry a battery with a 20 Wh capacity, which will be the main power source behind the NVIDIA Tegra T239 SoC. As a reminder, the Tegra T239 SoC features eight-core Arm A78C cluster with modified NVIDIA Ampere cores in combination with DLSS, featuring some of the latest encoding/decoding elements from Ada Lovelace, like AV1. There are likely 1536 CUDA cores paired with 128-bit LPDDR5 memory running at 102 GB/s bandwidth. For final specifications, we have to wait for the official launch, but with rumors starting to intensify, we can expect to see it relatively soon.

The upcoming Strix Point Halo processors from AMD now have a new name - Ryzen AI Max - and come with big promises of impressive power. This rumor, first reported by VideoCardz and originating from Weibo leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, reveals key details about the first three processors in this lineup, along with their specifications.

The leaker claims AMD might roll out a new naming system for these processors branding them as part of the Ryzen AI Max series. These chips will run on the anticipated Strix Halo APU. This series includes three models, with the top-end version boasting up to 16 Zen 5 cores and 40 Compute Units (CUs) for graphics. This setup is expected for the best model contrary to earlier rumors that AMD would drop such a variant. In fact, word has it that at least two of the models in this lineup will come with 40 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units. The leaker also hints that Strix Halo will handle up to 96 GB of video memory suggesting AMD aims to make this processor work with its ROCm (Open Compute Platform) system.

A few days ago, we reported on AMD's newest expansion plans for Serbia. The company opened two new engineering design centers with offices in Belgrade and Nis. We were invited to join the opening ceremony and got an exclusive interview with one of AMD's top executives, Andrej Zdravkovic, who is the senior vice president and Chief Software Officer. Previously, we reported on AMD's transition to become a software company. The company has recently tripled its software engineering workforce and is moving some of its best people to support these teams. AMD's plan is spread over a three to five-year timeframe to improve its software ecosystem, accelerating hardware development to launch new products more frequently and to react to changes in software demand. AMD found that to help these expansion efforts, opening new design centers in Serbia would be very advantageous.

We sat down with Andrej Zdravkovic to discuss the purpose of AMD's establishment in Serbia and the future of some products. Zdravkovic is actually an engineer from Serbia, where he completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in electrical engineering from Belgrade University. In 1998, Zdravkovic joined ATI and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a senior director. During his decade-long tenure, Zdravkovic witnessed a significant industry shift as AMD acquired ATI in 2006. After a brief stint at another company, Zdravkovic returned to AMD in 2015, bringing with him a wealth of experience and a unique perspective on the evolution of the graphics and computing industry.Here is the full interview:

AMD is about to extend its mobile CPU lineup with the introduction of new Ryzen AI APUs, which are going to include the Krackan Point series which has been greatly expected. These CPUs are aimed at mainstream platforms and are targeted to bring performance, AI capabilities, and memory support to a new level. Krackan Point is supposed to be a cheaper alternative to the premium Strix Point series. Jack Huynh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Computing and Graphics Business Group of AMD confirmed at IFA 2024 that Krackan will be released to the mass market early in 2025.

One of the highlights is the support for LPDDR5X-8000 memory, this feature is expected to place the Krackan Point APUs close to AMD's Strix Halo series and compete directly with Intel's Lunar Lake processors. The XDNA2 Neural Processing Unit and also the certification of AMD for Microsoft Copilot+PC will be the advantages of this enhancement of the product.

AMD has unveiled its latest processor, the Ryzen 8040H. This new model boasts 8 Zen 4 cores and full RDNA3 graphics with 12 Compute Units. Notably, it lacks the AMD XDNA processor, confirming earlier rumors of a mobile SKU without a Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Contrary to speculation, the 8040H's specifications differ from the Ryzen 8845HS. The new chip has a boost clock of 4.9 GHz, 200 MHz lower than its predecessor. Graphics performance has also been slightly reduced, with the 12 Compute Units clocked at 2.6 GHz, down from 2.7 GHz in the 8845H.

The Lenovo XiaoXin 14 Pro is the first laptop to feature this new APU, priced at 5499 RMB ($768) with 24 GB of memory. For comparison, a similar model with the 8845H and 32 GB of memory is priced at 5599 RMB ($773), suggesting only a marginal price difference between the two configurations.

Since its reveal last week, we got a slightly more technical deep-dive from AMD on its two upcoming processors—the "Strix Point" silicon powering its Ryzen AI 300 series mobile processors; and the "Granite Ridge" chiplet MCM powering its Ryzen 9000 desktop processors. We present a closer look into the "Strix Point" SoC in this article. It turns out that "Strix Point" takes a significantly different approach to heterogeneous multicore than "Phoenix 2." AMD gave us a close look at how this works. AMD built the "Strix Point" monolithic silicon on the TSMC N4P foundry node, with a die-area of around 232 mm².

The "Strix Point" silicon sees the company's Infinity Fabric interconnect as its omnipresent ether. This is a point-to-point interconnect, unlike the ringbus on some Intel processors. The main compute machinery on the "Strix Point" SoC are its two CPU compute complexes (CCX), each with a 32b (read)/16b (write) per cycle data-path to the fabric. The concept of CCX makes a comeback with "Strix Point" after nearly two generations of "Zen." The first CCX contains the chip's four full-sized "Zen 5" CPU cores, which share a 16 MB L3 cache among themselves. The second CCX contains the chip's eight "Zen 5c" cores that share a smaller 8 MB L3 cache. Each of the 12 cores has a 1 MB dedicated L2 cache.

AMD is about give the new "Zen 5" microarchitecture a near-simultaneous launch across both its client segments—desktop and mobile. The desktop front is held by the Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" Socket AM5 processors; while Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" powers the company's crucial effort to capture Microsoft Copilot+ AI PC market share. We recently did a technical deep-dive on the two. HardwareLuxx.de scored two important bits of specs for both processors in its Q&A interaction with AMD—die sizes and transistor counts.

To begin with, "Strix Point" is a monolithic silicon, which is confirmed to be built on the TSMC N4P foundry node (4 nm). This is a slight upgrade over the N4 node that the company built its previous generation "Phoenix" and "Hawk Point" processors on. The "Strix Point" silicon measures 232.5 mm² in area, which is significantly larger than the 178 mm² of "Hawk Point" and "Phoenix." The added die area comes from there being 12 CPU cores instead of 8, and 16 iGPU compute units instead of 12; and a larger NPU. There are many other factors, such as the larger 24 MB CPU L3 cache; and the sizes of the "Zen 5" and "Zen 5c" cores themselves.

According to a recent leak from Golden Pig on Weibo, AMD is gearing up to introduce the Ryzen 7 8745HS, a modified version of the existing Ryzen 7 8845HS APU. The key difference in this new chip lies in its neural processing capabilities. While the 8845HS boasts AMD's XDNA-based NPU (Neural Processing Unit), the upcoming 8745HS is rumored to have this feature disabled. Specifications for the 8745HS are expected to closely mirror its predecessor, featuring eight Zen 4 cores, 16 threads, and a configurable TDP range of 35-54 W. The chip will likely retain the Radeon 780M integrated GPU with 12 Compute Units. However, it is possible that AMD might introduce slight clock speed reductions to differentiate the new model further.

It is also worth pointing out that Hawk Point generation is not Copilot+ certified due to first-generation XDNA NPU being only 16 TOPS out of 40 TOPS required, so having an NPU doesn't help AMD advertise these processors as Copilot+ ready. The success of this new variant will largely depend on its pricing and adoption by laptop/mobile OEMs. Without the NPU, the 8745HS could offer a more budget-friendly option for users who don't require extensive local AI processing capabilities. After all, AI workloads remain a niche segment in consumer computing, and many users may find the 8745HS an attractive alternative if pricing is reduced, especially given the availability of cloud-based AI tools.

Ling-Long, a Chinese PC manufacturer, has introduced an innovative device that combines a fully functional AMD Ryzen 7 8840U PC with a foldable keyboard. This design stands out among recent Mini and Portable PC offerings. Unlike Mini PCs, it doesn't require an external power source to boot, and unlike laptops, it lacks a built-in display. Users can simply connect it to a monitor and mouse to create a complete workstation. Ling-Long emphasizes the product's extreme portability, demonstrating how it can fit in a pocket.

Aiming to surpass the compactness and functionality of Apple's Macbook and Mac mini, Ling-Long describes their product as an "unibody" design with a dedicated converting mechanism. Essentially, it's a mini-PC integrated into a keyboard. The device's chassis is divided into two compartments: one for the main PC with a single active-blower fan and copper heatsink, and another for the battery pack. Battery life varies from 10 hours for light workloads to 4 hours for gaming.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen AI 300 APUs pre-launch leaks continue, the latest coming from the BAPCo CrossMark benchmark database. Two models have been spotted: the officially announced Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and the recently leaked Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, part of the "Strix Point" family, boasts 12 cores and 24 threads. Its hybrid architecture combines four Zen 5 cores with eight Zen 5C cores. The chip reaches boost clocks up to 5.1 GHz, features 36 MB of cache (24 MB L3 + 12 MB L2), and includes a Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 compute units (1024 cores). The Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360, previously leaked as a 12-core part, has now been confirmed with 8 cores and 16 threads. It utilizes a 3+5 configuration of Zen 5 and Zen 5C cores, respectively. The APU includes 8 MB each of L2 and L3 cache, with a base clock of 2.0 GHz. Its integrated Radeon 870M GPU is expected to feature the RDNA 3.5 architecture with fewer cores than its higher-end counterparts, possibly 8 compute units.

According to the leaked benchmarks, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 was tested in an HP laptop, while the Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 appeared in a Lenovo model equipped with LPDDR5-7500 memory. Initial scores appear unremarkable compared to top Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and AMD Ryzen 7040 APUs, however, the tested APUs may be early samples, and their performance could differ from final retail versions. Furthermore, while the TDP range is known to be between 15 W and 54 W, the specific power configurations used in these benchmarks remain unclear. The first Ryzen AI 300 laptops are slated for release on July 28th, with Ryzen AI 300 PRO models expected in October.

Handheld gaming devices are a dime a dozen these days and more and more companies are joining the fray on almost a weekly basis. At Computex, XPG was showing its upcoming handheld gaming device—currently known as the NIA—and it has several interesting features that most of their competitors haven't mentioned so far. The potentially most interesting feature that XPG has implemented is an LPCAMM2 module with support for up to 64 GB of LPDDR5x memory. XPG didn't list how much RAM the NIA will ship with, but 16 or 32 GB seems like the logical choices.

The device will be powered by AMD's Phoenix APU, but no details were given. XPG has implemented support for foveated rendering, which the company claims is an exclusive feature. This is courtesy of a front-facing camera with eye tracking, but it's unclear how exactly it'll work, since it won't be exactly the same as in a VR headset. The NIA will ship with an XPG Gammix S55 SSD, which is an M.2 2230 PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive with sizes of up to 2 TB. XPG also claims that the NIA is built for a "circular computing product lifecycle" whatever that means, but we're guessing it has something to do with using recycled materials and being recyclable. The screen size of the 1080p, 120 Hz display wasn't mentioned, but the screen can be tilted for better ergonomics and is supposed to deliver up to 500 nits brightness. The NIA also has a built-in kickstand.

Merely two weeks ago, we published a story on AMD possibly preparing a new processor naming scheme for its ultraportable segment next-generation processors. Today, various trustful Chinese sources reported that AMD changed its mind again, that the Ryzen AI 100 series naming scheme was dropped, and now we should prepare for the Ryzen AI 300. If this turns out to be true, then AMD Strix Point will launch as Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen AI 9 365 (assuming AMD does not change the naming scheme again).

With handheld gaming devices being all the rage these days, thanks to PC manufacturers getting into the form-factor; the conditions seem ripe for a new PlayStation handheld generation. Rumors of Sony working on a new gaming handheld first surfaced in February 2024 from a Moore's Law is Dead report, and now other leakers are resonating the theory. This is a fully fledged handheld console that runs games locally, unlike the PlayStation Portal, which was a cloud gaming endpoint device.

The PlayStation 4 debuted a decade ago, with SoC hardware specs that can easily be match by current-generation AMD Ryzen Z1 APUs, in handheld console power footprints; and the leakers tend to agree—the new handheld console will be able to play all the games from the PlayStation 4 library, besides its own unique crop of games that take advantage of certain handheld human interface features, such as a touchscreen, accelerometer, and gyro.

AMD classified the Zenbleed vulnerability, CVE-2023-20593, as a medium-level threat about a year ago. AMD has acknowledged that it could potentially allow an attacker to access sensitive information under certain microarchitectural circumstances. Today, MSI has released new BIOS updates featuring AMD's AM4 AGESA 1.2.0.Ca firmware update. This update addresses the Zenbleed vulnerability affecting AMD's Ryzen 4000 series Zen 2 APUs. MSI is proactively rolling out the new BIOS updates across its range of compatible motherboards. The updates are currently available for almost all X570 motherboards, with support for other chipsets and 400 series motherboards expected to follow soon.

The AGESA 1.2.0.Ca firmware update specifically targets the Zenbleed vulnerability in the Zen 2 microarchitecture. Although the vulnerability primarily affects Ryzen 4000 "Renoir" APUs, it also exists in other Zen 2 processors, including the Ryzen 3000 series and certain EPYC and Threadripper CPUs. AMD has already addressed the Zenbleed vulnerability in previous AGESA microcode updates for Ryzen 3000 processors and other platforms, such as EPYC server CPUs and Ryzen mobile CPUs. However, the Ryzen Embedded V2000 CPUs are still awaiting the EmbeddedPi-FP6 1.0.0.9 AGESA firmware update, which is expected to be released by April. While AMD has not explicitly stated whether the security update will impact performance, previous testing of Zenbleed fixes has shown potential performance drops of up to 15% in certain workloads, although gaming performance remained relatively unaffected. Users with AM4 chips based on architectures other than Zen 2, such as Zen+ or Zen 3, do not need to update their BIOS as they are not affected by this specific vulnerability.

Colorful Technology Company Limited, a leading brand in gaming PC components, gaming laptops, and Hi-fi audio products, proudly presents the CVN B650M GAMING FROZEN motherboard. This motherboard is our first AMD AM5 motherboard that supports the AMD Ryzen 7000 Series and the latest AMD Ryzen 8000 Series processors that feature the groundbreaking AMD Ryzen AI technology as well as support for AVX-512.

The CVN B650M GAMING FROZEN supports the latest AMD Ryzen 8000G Series APUs with AMD Ryzen AI technology. It also supports the AMD Ryzen 7000 and AMD Ryzen 7000 X3D Series processors with 3D V-Cache Technology, as well as support for the future AM5 processors. AMD Ryzen AI brings the power of personal computing closer to you on an AI PC, unlocking a whole new level of efficiencies for work, collaboration, and innovation so that you can stay connected better with the world around you.

AMD Linux engineers have been working on "GFX1150" and "GFX1151" targets for a while—official references to "Strix 1/Strix Point" and "Strix Point Halo" have appeared several times on official development channels. Phoronix's head honcho—Michael Larabel—monitors these activities with keen interest, his latest finding indicates that Team Red is preparing open-source RadeonSI/RADV driver support for the GFX1151 IP. Their MESA 24.1 update merges in GPU enablement for possible high-end "Strix Point Halo" laptop processors—tech tipsters believe that these chiplet variants could sport up to sixteen Zen 5 CPU cores and forty RDNA 3.5 GPU cores.

AMD's enablement of the "GFX1150/Strix Point" GPU appeared online late last month—these monolithic laptop chips are alleged to sit below "Strix Point Halo" in Team Red's product hierarchy. Insiders suggest that the best configurations could house twelve Zen 5 CPU cores and sixteen RDNA 3.5 GPU cores. Phoronix posited that the "RDNA 3 refresh" graphics solution: "is just rumored for select APUs, while ultimately we'll see where this GFX 11.5.1 IP is found if for some further upgraded APU or something more special. In any event the open-source Linux driver support is coming together." According to official product roadmaps, the initial batch of "Strix Point" mobile chips are expected ship later this year—representing a proper next-gen upgrade over current "Hawk Point" offerings.

Some of the earliest signs are emerging that AMD's mobile processor or desktop APU silicon that succeeds "Strix Point" being codenamed "Sound Wave." AMD tends to come up with quirky internal codenames for upcoming projects, mostly to zero in on the source of leaks, so "Sound Wave" as a codename is subject to change with time. While the upcoming 4 nm "Strix Point" and "Strix Halo" chips implement the "Zen 5" CPU microarchitecture and RDNA 3+ graphics architecture, besides XDNA 2 based NPU with a generational tripling in AI TOPS; Wccftech believes that "Sound Wave" could be an AMD processor of comparable class to "Strix Point," which implements the "Zen 6" CPU microarchitecture, which AMD has planned for a 2025-26 timeframe.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this leak is the foundry node, with the original source over at Korean tech blog Gamma0burst referencing 3 nm. This is the final node family from TSMC to implement FinFET transistors before the foundry transitions to nanosheets with N2. It's likely that AMD chooses one of the more advanced variants of TSMC's 3 nm nodes, such as the N3P or N3X, because 2025-26 will see rival Intel get close to introducing the Intel 20A foundry node for mass-production. Not much else is known about "Sound Wave" besides the "Zen 6" CPU cores at this point.

AMD Ryzen 8040 "Hawk Point" mobile processors continue to roll out in all sorts of review sample guises—mostly within laptops/notebooks and handheld gaming PC segments. An example of the latter would be GPD's Hawk Point-refreshed Win Max 2 model—Cary Golomb, a tech reviewer and self-described evangelist of "PC Gaming Handhelds Since 2016" has acquired this device for benchmark comparison purposes. A Ryzen 7 8840U-powered GPD Win Max 2 model was pitched against similar devices that house older Team Red APU technologies. Golomb's collection included Valve's Steam Deck LCD model, and three "Phoenix" Ryzen 7840U-based GPD models. He did not have any top-of-the-line ASUS or Lenovo handhelds within reach, but the onboard Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU is a close relative of 7840U.

Golomb's social media post included a screenshot of a Batman: Arkham Knight "average frames per second" comparison chart—all devices were running on a low 10 W TDP setting. The overall verdict favors AMD's new Hawk Point part: "Steam Deck low TDP performance finally dethroned...GPD continues to make the best AMD devices. 8840U shouldn't be better, but everywhere I'm testing, it is consistently better across every TDP. TSP measuring similar." Hawk Point appears to be a slight upgrade over Phoenix—most of the generational improvements reside within a more capable XDNA NPU, so it is interesting to see that the 8840U outperforms its predecessor. They both sport AMD's Radeon 780M integrated graphics solution (RDNA 3), while the standard/first iteration Steam Deck makes do with an RDNA 2-era "Van Gogh" iGPU. Golomb found that the: "three other GPD 7840U devices behaved somewhat consistently."

AMD's small but fledgling Ryzen 8000 line of Socket AM5 desktop APUs is about to grow, with the addition of four new low-power SKUs, under the Ryzen 8000GE line. These chips come with a TDP of 35 W compared to the 65 W of the regular 8000G APUs, and a lowered PPT (package power tracking) value, making them energy-efficient variants. To be clear, these are not AMD's 8000-series APUs meant for the commercial desktop market, for that the company has the Ryzen PRO 8000 series and Ryzen PRO 7000 series.

The Ryzen 8000GE series are meant to square off against Intel's 14th Gen Core T-series SKUs that have processor base power values of 35 W, and significantly lower maximum turbo power values than the regular processor models. To carve out these chips, AMD has lowered the clock speeds and TDP compared to the regular 8000G series. Since the underlying 4 nm "Hawk Point" silicon achieves fairly good clocks in its 35 W HS-segment notebook processors, one can expect reasonably good boost residency with the 8000GE desktop chips.

AMD's newly announced Ryzen 8000G "Hawk Point" desktop APUs do not support ECC memory, contrary to what the specifications on the AMD website had initially shown, Reddit users found out. The company has since quietly edited its product pages to remove the bit about ECC support. For the overwhelming majority of desktop client use cases, including enthusiast PCs, ECC memory support is irrelevant. That said, the memory controllers of "Phoenix" in Ryzen PRO 7000 mobile processors for commercial notebooks support ECC memory, and so it stands to reason that upcoming Ryzen PRO models for both commercial desktops and notebooks might feature it.

The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G are based on the 4 nm "Hawk Point" monolithic silicon, with a more overclocker-friendly set of DDR5 memory controllers than the ones found in the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" processors. Besides support for several high-frequency DDR5 modes, the memory controller technically supports ECC (at least "Phoenix" does, on the Ryzen PRO 7000 mobile processors). The memory controller also supports a maximum of 256 GB of memory, or 64 GB dual-rank memory modules per slot. It also supports 24 GB and 48 GB DIMM densities.

SafeDisk (AKA SoonHo Jeong) has tinkered with an AMD Ryzen 7 8700G APU and ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E GENE motherboard combination—earlier today, the professional overclocker set a validated/verified memory speed of DDR5-10600 world record on Team Red's AM5 platform. This has surpassed a previous result global-leading from late last week—DDR5-10346 was achieved with the same processor, but on a GIGABYTE B650E AORUS Tachyon board. SafeDisk has a distinct advantage in memory overclocking stakes, due to his workplace being the ASUS ROG labs in Taipei, Taiwan—his closest competitor, Benny Lodewijk Nitolo Lase (an Indonesian overclocker) now sits behind him in second place.

SafeDisk's test setup included the aforementioned APU plus motherboard combo, a Thermalright (not ASUS!) AIO, a twin pack of G.Skill Trident Z5 (F5-7800J3646H16G) DIMMs, and an ASUS GeForce GT 730 2 GB Silent graphics card. The ROG Crosshair X670E GENE's default set of VRM heatsinks were removed completely during test conditions. The two memory sticks were set at their default CL36 7800 MT/s speed at 1.45 V—SafeDisk's record breaking DDR5-10600 overclock was achieved with timings of 50-62-62-127-127. Wccftech noted that the: "overclock was able to boot directly into the OS and (SafeDisk) says that the whole OC procedure was very easy."

Tianbo has prepared a very an intriguing Cyberpunk 2077-themed Mini PC for the Chinese gaming hardware market—the JD.com listing (as reported by VideoCardz) showcases black and white enclosures with a sci-fi aesthetic and plenty of RGB lighting courtesy of the slimline internal cooling solution's illuminated 9 cm fan. It is not immediately clear whether CD Projekt and R. Talsorian Games have jointly approved the GOD88 Mini PC's prominent usage of their Cyberpunk title/logo/font. The specification sheet and accompanying imagery place emphasis on the Cyber GOD88's APU of choice: an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS mobile processor—this sits at second place within Team Red's recently launched 8040 "Hawk Point" series, their Ryzen 9 8945HS chip takes principal position here.

The GOD88's Ryzen 7 8845HS APU is no slouch when compared to the Ryzen 9 sibling—it runs the same 8-core/16-thread configuration, with a 5.1 GHz max boost (only trailing behind by 100 MHz). The spec sheet mentions a configurable TDP of 35 - 54 W. Tianbo's Mini PC is sold as a barebones system, according to the JD.com product page—customers are expected to plug in their own choice of RAM and storage. Dual-channel DDR5-5600 memory is supported, while the cramped interior can accommodate a single full-sized M.2 2280 PCIe 4×4 SSD. The Tianbo GOD88 "High Performance" Cyberpunk Mini PC will be open to pre-orders (via JD.com) on February 5—barebones pricing is set at 2688 RMB (~$378.50).

Skin temperature-aware power management (STAPM), is a 2014 feature introduced by AMD for its mobile processors that gets the on-die power management logic to take into account not just the processor's own temperatures (measured via on-chip thermal diodes); but also the physical surface temperature of the laptop itself, by reading off temperature probes mounted on the laptop chassis. This ensures that laptops don't get uncomfortably hot for the user, and the processor could do its bit to bring temperatures down. Every desktop APU released by AMD since 2014 has been a case of mobile processor silicon being adapted for the desktop platform by simply disabling certain I/O interfaces and features irrelevant to desktops, such as battery management GPIO, LPDDR memory interfaces, image processing, sensor suite, etc. One such feature is STAPM.

Gamers Nexus discovered that when creating the Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs, AMD forgot to properly disable STAPM, and this has been impacting the processor's CPU and iGPU boosting behavior under heavy load, where temperature-triggered clock speed throttling is engaged undesirably. AMD confirmed the Gamers Nexus discovery, and stated that it can be fixed through a motherboard UEFI firmware (BIOS) update; and that it will work with its desktop motherboard partners to get these out. The highest performance delta observed by GN between an 8000G processor with STAPM and one with its STAPM disabled (probably using an AMD CBS setting); is 16%; and so those with 8000G processors may want to look out for firmware updates from their motherboard vendors.