ASUS today announced ASUS ExpertCenter P500 SFF (P500SV), an 8.6-liter compact desktop PC designed to redefine value and performance for small businesses. With the innovative compact air cooler thermal design and powered by an up to Intel Core i7 processor, P500 SFF unleashes up to 45 W TDP. Thanks to its enhanced thermal design, it also delivers whisper-quiet performance, generating just 30.8 dB even in Performance mode - or as serene as rustling leaves. This makes it ideal for focused, professional environments.

Security is paramount with ExpertCenter P500 SFF, so it's backed by the reassurance of multiple ASUS ExpertGuardian protections. This powerhouse meets commercial-grade standards with a NIST SP 800-155-compliant BIOS, while ASUS assures at least five years of BIOS and driver updates to protect critical data. Enhanced with ASUS AI ExpertMeet, ExpertCenter P500 SFF revolutionizes virtual meetings through advanced AI tools like real-time translation and automated summaries, making collaboration seamless. In short, ExpertCenter P500 SFF sets a new standard for small-business desktops, combining power, security and efficiency with incredible value - ready to empower professional excellence.

An early PassMark entry posted on X by the account "X86 is dead&back" offers a glimpse of Intel's Core Ultra 5 245HX notebook processor. The 14-core "Arrow Lake-H" mobile chip quietly outpaced its desktop counterpart, the Core Ultra 5 245, in both single-core and multi-core tests. The numbers themselves are straightforward. The 245HX recorded 4,706 points in single-core and 41,045 points in multi-core runs. By comparison, the desktop Core Ultra 5 245 logged 4,409 and 37,930, respectively, handing the notebook silicon a 7% lead in single-core results and an 8% advantage when all cores are engaged. Against the Core i5-14500, the 245HX is 19% faster in single-core work and 30% faster in heavily threaded tasks.

The gap widens further versus last year's mobile i5-14500HX, where the newcomer enjoys a 30% single-core margin and a 41% multi-core edge. The explanation is partly thermal. Intel grants the 245HX a maximum turbo power envelope of 160 W, well above the 121 W ceiling of the desktop 245. Clock speeds peak at 5.1 GHz, and the core configuration remains identical, pairing six performance cores with eight efficient cores. The higher TDP gives the HX version a chance to run at higher clocks for longer. Notebook manufacturers are expected to reveal Arrow Lake-HX systems later this quarter. Real-world gaming is a different arena, and PassMark is only one ruler. Yet the signs are hard to ignore: a mid-range laptop processor now outworks desktop counterparts.

SteamOS recently made its way to third-party gaming handhelds, with a surprising level of hardware support, and, since then, Valve has seemingly been working non-stop to add features to those third-party gaming handhelds with new SteamOS updates. On June 30, Valve announced the latest stable SteamOS and Steam Deck client update would bring new features for the Lenovo Legion Go S and a wealth of other third-party devices.

The latest SteamOS and Steam Deck update adds support for a SteamOS compatibility indicator in the Steam Library on the Lenovo Legion Go S, making it easier for gamers to know what games are known to run on the Legion Go S. Third-party SteamOS devices, like the Lenovo Legion Go S, will now also display controller compatibility icons alongside the SteamOS compatibility indicator. There are also a number of bug fixes directed at the Legion Go S's controller remapping UI for Ratchet and Clank, The Last Of Us: Part 2, and Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered. New handheld accessibility options for the Steam Deck and other SteamOS devices include UI scaling, high contrast mode, and reduced motion options, and there are new screen reader and color filter settings for SteamOS devices.

NuPhy's latest low-profile mechanical keyboard, the Air75 V3 was announced only a few short weeks ago, promising a slew of upgrades over its predecessors, including redesigned switches, a noise-isolating gasket mount, and a new removable, customizable knob. In general, the promised design updates seem to have been received positively by the community, but NuPhy's decision to sell the Air75 V3 with only the tall version of the knob—which sticks up over the low-profile keycaps—and sell the low-profile knob separately in a bundle with the NuFolio case. According to an announcement on NuPhy's official X account, all pre-orders of the NuPhy Air75 V3 will include both the low-profile and full-height knobs.

NuPhy also clarified that the knob color will match the keyboard color. The main knob stems remain red, but the knob module's background color and the color of the translucent ring around the low-profile knobs will change depending on the keyboard color—the Nova White Air75 V3 has a clear plastic ring around the red stalk, while the Nebula Dark colorway comes with a smokey translucent plastic ring. Critically, it's unclear whether this only applies to the Air75 V3 pre-orders or if NuPhy will include both versions of the knob in the final in-stock version of the keyboard. A recent post on the r/NuPhy subreddit claimed to present an email from NuPhy's customer service that also said the low-profile knob would be included with the Air75 V3 from the start, but there was no distinction made between the pre-order and the in-stock keyboard here, so it may be the case that the low-profile knob will be included after all.

Lenovo, today at NXT BLD, announced its new portfolio of Workstation Solutions, a series of purpose-built, expertly-curated industry solutions that meet and exceed the rigorous performance and workflow requirements of engineers, designers, architects, data scientists, researchers, and creators so these power users can work smarter, faster, and more cost-effectively. Lenovo also unveiled the latest editions of its newest ThinkStation P2 and P3 desktop workstations designed to maximize performance and value.

Lenovo Workstations Solutions—Your Workflow, Perfected
Businesses need more than just powerful hardware—they need complete workflow solutions tailored to real-world industry challenges. Developed by Lenovo engineering experts through research and customer engagement to understand workflow bottlenecks and pain points, Lenovo Workstation Solutions deliver easily deployable blueprints—scalable and secure reference architectures powered by the state-of-the-art Lenovo Workstations—featuring superior hardware, software and services.

BenQ, the pioneer of monitor lighting solutions, today launched the ScreenBar Halo 2, its next-generation flagship monitor light engineered to deliver optimal eye comfort for professionals working in dim environments. Developed over four years, the ScreenBar Halo 2 enhances workspace lighting through a powerful dual-light design that provides full front and rear illumination.

Building on the success of its predecessor, the ScreenBar Halo 2 introduces a Tri-zone Backlight Design that expands coverage by 423%, reducing contrast between the monitor and its surroundings to ease visual fatigue. The front light features BenQ's ASYM-Light, an asymmetrical optical design with an 18-degree cut-off angle that eliminates screen glare and prevents direct light from reaching the eyes.

AMD's upcoming Radeon RX 9060 XT has shown up in the news a number of times leading up to the expected retail launch, from AsRock's announcement to a recent Geekbench leak that put the RDNA 4 GPU ahead of the RX 7600 XT by a fair shout. Now, however, we have a gaming benchmark from 3DMark Time Spy showing the RX 9060 XT nearly matching the RX 7700 XT, and those results could still improve as drivers mature and become more stable. The benchmark results are courtesy of u/uesato_hinata, who got their hands on an XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB and posted their results on r/AMD on Reddit.

There are a few caveats to these performance figures, though, since the redditor who shared the results was using beta drivers and a moderate GPU overclock and undervolt—cited as "+200mhz clock offset -40mv undervolt +10% power limit, I can get 3.46Ghz at 199 W". With those performance tweaks, however, the RX 9060 XT puts up a respectable result of 14,210 points in 3DMark Time Spy. For comparison, the average RX 7700 XT scores 15,452 points in the same benchmark. However, it should also be noted that the gaming PC used in the RX 9060 XT benchmark in question was powered by a rather old AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with mismatched DDR4-2133 RAM, meaning there is likely at least some performance left on the table, even if GPU utilization seems consistently high in the 3DMark monitoring chart, indicating there was little bottlenecking limiting the performance. The redditor went on to benchmark the GPU in Black Myth: Wukong, where it managed a 64 FPS average at stock clocks at 1080p, with most settings set to high. Applying the overclock boosted average FPS to a mere 65 FPS, but increased the minimum FPS from 17 to 23. These numbers also won't be representative of the performance for all RX 9060 XT GPUs, since we know that AMD is launching both 8 and 16 GB versions of the RX 9060 XT with different GPU clock speeds for the different memory variants

In a "Public Real-Time Gold Deck" presentation document, Intel has advertised a good number of current and upcoming processor platforms that offer support for Time Coordinated Computing (TCC). Earlier today, InstLatX64 highlighted interesting "in development" technologies that were mentioned on page 34. The PDF was uploaded—for public consumption—mid-way through May, but Team Blue's "TCC Experience" was last revised on September 2024 (according to a footnote). This is fairly dry material; covering edge applications—suitably capable processors are advertised as dealing with a combination: "of real-time workloads and best effort workloads on the same system, by leveraging many silicon and SW optimizations." Interestingly, this TCC support slide confirms the existence of furthest out "Nova Lake-S" desktop and "Nova Lake-U" mobile processors.

Up until last month, Intel's "Nova Lake" next-gen CPU family was a mostly leaked property—an alleged "matching LGA 1954" socket standard was unearthed very recently. Intel leadership anticipates a loose 2026 launch window. Rumors of a 12-core "Bartlett Lake-S" gaming processor turned up online in April (linked to LGA 1700), following continued speculative talk regarding a lineup of "pure P-core" variants. The latest "TCC Experience" roadmap points to "Bartlett Lake-S" processors arriving—before "Panther Lake"—under the banner of "Intel Core Series 2." A "Bartlett Lake-S 12P" category sits just above "Wildcat Lake" on the TCC slide's timeline. The latter seems to be a lower-end mobile CPU range, likely designed with power efficiency in mind.

We have not heard much about Intel's much-debated "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" (or ARL-S Refresh) desktop CPU family in the second quarter of this year. Going back to March, Golden Pig Upgrade predicted another revival of Team Blue's troubled mid-gen update—aka the Core Ultra 300 series. A week or two later, Jaykihn—another tenured discloser of inside track info—theorized an upcoming lineup of "-K and -KF only" SKUs. Hardcore PC hardware enthusiasts and overclockers will likely welcome these unlocked offerings, but an alleged lack of "normal" refreshed options will sting certain consumer bases. The ever intrepid momomo_us has discovered an interesting tidbit; bringing and end to two+ months of "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" silence.

A leaked "W880 PCH" workstation-grade motherboard flow diagram mentions support for "Arrow Lake-S Refresh." This is under the banner of "Core Ultra (Series 2) processors up to 125 W TDP." Unsurprisingly, we are looking at repeat business with the current generation's LGA 1851 socket platform. Intel is still working on the "Nova Lake‑S" (NVL‑S) CPU range; serving as a natural successor to their "Arrow Lake-S" desktop lineup. Lately, data miners have unearthed details regarding a matching "LGA 1954" socket type. According to official announcements, "Nova Lake" processors are "on track" to launch somewhere within 2026. Before then, "Arrow Lake-S Refresh" CPUs are expected to arrive later this year—possibly signalling the final tranche of "ARL."

At Computex 2025 in Taipei, Framework Computer highlighted the growing importance of compact, serviceable hardware by unveiling an AI cluster built entirely from its new Framework Desktop mini PCs. Each 4.5-liter unit is equipped with an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, which combines 16 Zen 5 cores running up to 5.1 GHz and a Radeon 8060S graphics engine with up to 128 GB of unified LPDDR5x memory. In a striking demonstration, four of these desktops were mounted side by side in a 10-inch half-rack enclosure, creating a scalable cluster that delivers up to 200 TOPS of on-device AI performance from the XDNA 2 NPUs alone, before the 8060S comes into play. The rack features integrated Wi-Fi 7 and 5 GbE networking, while its modular expansion card slots allow users to tailor ports to their exact needs. By packaging powerful inference capability into a compact, repairable chassis with efficient cooling and low power draw, Framework is making it simpler for research labs, small businesses, and edge-computing enthusiasts to deploy AI solutions outside traditional data centers.

MSI, a leading global provider of high-performance server solutions, unveils its latest AI innovations using NVIDIA MGX and NVIDIA DGX Station reference architectures at COMPUTEX 2025, held from May 20-23 at booth J0506. Purpose-built to address the growing demands of AI, HPC, and accelerated computing workloads, MSI's AI solutions feature modular, scalable building blocks designed to deliver next-level AI performance for enterprises and cloud data center environments.

"AI adoption is transforming enterprise data centers as organizations move quickly to integrate advanced AI capabilities," said Danny Hsu, General Manager of Enterprise Platform Solutions at MSI. "With the explosive growth of generative AI and increasingly diverse workloads, traditional servers can no longer keep pace. MSI's AI solutions, built on the NVIDIA MGX and NVIDIA DGX Station reference architectures, deliver the scalability, flexibility, and performance enterprises need to future-proof their infrastructure and accelerate their AI innovation."

Acer today announced powerful new 14-inch Predator gaming laptops designed for gamers and creative professionals. With a set of high-performance components, including the latest Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series Laptop GPUs, both devices offer a strong mix of power, portability and innovative features coveted by gamers, content creators, as well as on-the-go creative professionals and students.

Powered by NVIDIA Blackwell, GeForce RTX 50 Series Laptop GPUs bring game-changing capabilities to gamers and creators. Equipped with a massive level of AI horsepower, the RTX 50 Series enables new experiences and next-level graphics fidelity. Multiply performance with NVIDIA DLSS 4, generate images at unprecedented speed, and unleash creativity with NVIDIA Studio. Users can effortlessly level up their gaming performance and creative capabilities on the Predator laptops with support from the latest Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) processors that power next-gen AI gameplay and scale up both performance and efficiency. Both laptops are a new class of Windows PCs that are designed for AI-intensive processes like real-time translations and image generation. Plus, access to NVIDIA NIM Microservices - state-of-the-art AI models that let enthusiasts and developers build AI assistants, agents, and workflows with peak performance on NIM-ready AI systems. The newly refreshed Predator Orion 3000 gaming desktop is also enhanced with the latest silicon from Intel and NVIDIA, providing avid gamers with the edge they need to max out the graphics on the latest AAA titles and content creators with the necessary performance for editing or streaming.

Unlucky owners of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors have encountered major problems that largely involve ASRock motherboards. Throughout early 2025, user feedback provided insight into numerous cases of "catastrophic CPU failures." Members of the official ASRock subreddit have kept track of these unfortunate incidents; now closing in on 200 documented "murdered" specimens. Industry watchdogs reckon that even more disagreements—involving the Zen 5-based 9000X3D series and ASRock B- and X- (AM5) boards—exist outside of this community-aggregated log. At the end of February, ASRock pushed out an important BIOS update—this fix did not resolve all problems. Over a month later, AMD weighed in with their findings—in response, ASRock released another update.

Evidently, Ryzen 7 9800X3D products continue to perish—Tech YES City's Bryan Bilowol has added Team Red's Ryzen 9 9950X model to the mix. The tech YouTuber was surprised by the death of his example; apparently caused by an ASRock X870 Steel Legend mainboard. Standard "Granite Ridge" processors—that lack 3D V-Cache—have received less attention, but observers believe that these non-X3D options are still vulnerable. Bilowol did not personally experience the moment of catastrophe—instead, a friend was borrowing an affected PC build. As demonstrated in a new Tech YES City video post-mortem, the completely dead CPU sported some worrying gray marks. Tech YES City has a fairly large audience, so ASRock leadership will likely be cursing after noticing another uptick in public scrutiny. Past reports have pointed out the manufacturer's belief that too much "misinformation" is being spread. Bilowol surmised that the company is keeping this issue: "under the radar—they seem to be hoping that the issue will just go away." Despite collaborating with ASRock for over a decade, Tech YES City will not pull any punches—await for more gory details in upcoming follow-up investigations.

They say that the most difficult part of transportation planning is last-mile delivery. A network of warehouses and trucks can bring products within a mile of almost all customers, but logistical challenges and costs add up quickly in the process of delivering those goods to the right doors at the right time. There's a similar pattern in the AI space. Massive data center installations have empowered astonishing cloud-based AI services, but many researchers, developers, and data scientists need the power of an AI supercomputer to travel that last mile. They need machines that offer the convenience and space-saving design of a desktop PC, but go well above and beyond the capabilities of consumer-grade hardware, especially when it comes to available GPU memory.

Enter a new class of AI desktop supercomputers, powered by ASUS and NVIDIA. The upcoming ASUS AI supercomputer lineup, spearheaded by the ASUS ExpertCenter Pro ET900N G3 desktop PC and ASUS Ascent GX10 mini-PC, wield the latest NVIDIA Grace Blackwell superchips to deliver astounding performance in AI workflows. For those who need local, private supercomputing resources, but for whom a data center or rack server installation isn't feasible, these systems provide a transformative opportunity to seize the capabilities of AI.

Slimbook, a Linux hardware manufacturer based in Europe (Spain) unveiled Kymera Black, a highly configurable desktop computer designed for gamers, content creators and hardware enthusiasts. This latest model focuses on flexibility, performance and durability. Kymera Black comes with options for AMD or Intel processors, capable of housing up to the latest AMD Ryzen 9 or Intel Ultra 9 CPUs. It can support up to 192 GB of DDR5 RAM running at 6000 MHz, as well as a wide variety of storage options up to 4 TB NVMe 5.0 SSDs (NVMe 5.0 optional depending on motherboard) and 80 TB of HDD capacity. For networking, it can feature up to Wi-Fi 7 (depending on motherboard) and 2.5G Ethernet connectivity, and up to 1200 W Platinum power supply units.

This desktop PC features a matte black metal chassis with modular components, removable panels, and washable dust filters. The case uses a combination of tempered glass and metal side panels with an optional 8-inch front display to monitor system temperature, fan speed, and component performance in real time. In terms of software, the Kymera Black offers a wide selection of pre-installed Linux distributions. These include the Ubuntu-based Slimbook OS with GNOME or KDE Plasma, as well as Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, KDE neon, Debian, elementary OS, Pop!_OS, Linux Mint, Fedora, openSUSE, Manjaro, EndeavourOS, and Lliurex.

Over the past week or two, next-gen processor fanatics have been combing through AMD's Technical Information Portal—many truth seekers are trying to determine details of new product lineups; likely in anticipation of official unveilings (at Computex 2025). Super sleuths are still trying to find Team Red's mythical Ryzen Threadripper PRO "9995WX" processor; an alleged 96-core "Shimada Peak" range-topping beastie. Going against forward progress grains, VideoCardz has uncovered much older technologies—harking back to the days of Zen 3+ and RDNA 2. Revisiting late summer 2023, Team Red-related leaks suggested the potential arrival of (6 nm) Ryzen "Rembrandt" 6000G series desktop APUs.

We now know that AMD skipped a couple of AM5-bound steps, and eventually released its Ryzen "Phoenix" 8000G (Zen 4 and RDNA 3) family early last year. The discovery of an "AMD AM5 Functional Test Vehicle APUs (Family 19h Models 40h-4Fh) are based on the Zen 3+ 6 nm core with Radeon Navi Graphics" entry within Team Red's technical info database, has reopened online discussions about forgotten/abandoned intellectual properties. VideoCardz believes that the "19h" tag denotes "Rembrandt" family origins—additionally, their curiosity was piqued by the possibility of 6000G prototypes units escaping out into the wild. Looking ahead, the AM5 platform is expected to welcome (next-gen) Ryzen 9000G "Gorgon Point" desktop (Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5) processors.

Mid-week, leakers produced an impressive list of unannounced next-gen AMD processor families—spanning across workstation, desktop, and laptop/notebook product lines. Additional data mining activities have outlined a possible "PRO model-only" release of Ryzen Threadripper Pro "Shimada Peak" 9000WX CPUs. AMD's upcoming Computex 2025 presentation plans could include an unveiling of their much-leaked Zen 5 workstation-grade processor family. Curiously, AMD's Technical Information Portal does not list a "Shimada Peak" High-End Desktop (HEDT) category—industry watchers expected to see a successor to the current-gen Ryzen Threadripper (non-PRO) 7000X "Storm Peak" series. In theory, next-gen HEDT models could be introduced at a later date. All leaked identifiers have featured "-5WX" affixes; denoting workstation deployments. Keen observers have not found products IPs ending with "-0X." InstLatX64's supplementary investigations seemed to confirm presences of the vast majority of recently disclosed next-wave product ranges—namely Ryzen 9000G "Gorgon Point" APUs and EPYC 4005 "Grado" CPUs. Another anomaly was discovered; the alleged Arm-based "Soundwave" SoC family was notably absent from Team Red's tech info repository.

ASUS today announced the arrival of TUF Gaming T500, a compact desktop with the power to drive the latest and greatest AAA and esports games. Powered by up to an Intel Core i7-13620H processor, up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU, up to 64 GB of DDR5 RAM and 2 TB of PCIe 4.0 storage, T500 is a well-rounded machine for esports and AAA gamers alike. With a compact chassis that features classic TUF Gaming style, T500 is an excellent fit in bedrooms and dorm rooms anywhere.

High-performance components
Powered by up to an Intel Core i7-13620H processor with six Performance cores and eight Efficiency cores and a max boost of 5.0 GHz, T500 can drive incredible gaming experiences alongside a snappy desktop experience. T500 packs up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU. Boasting the latest NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs bring game-changing capabilities to gamers and creators. Equipped with a massive level of AI horsepower, the GeForce RTX 50 Series enables new experiences and next-level graphics fidelity. Multiply performance with NVIDIA DLSS 4 featuring Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, and Multi Frame Generation. The GeForce RTX 5060 Ti is ready to power incredible performance in the games of today and tomorrow.

After the infamous US trade war escalated tariffs on Chinese goods to as high as 145%, many PC hardware and peripherals vendors have felt the pressure, with hardware companies, like Framework, previously both increasing prices on certain products and suspending orders on others altogether. In the case of Framework, this was later overturned when the US administration announced an exemption for certain electronics, including smartphones and computers. 8BitDo, however, has not been so lucky, with Polygon recently discovering that items not currently in the US warehouse cannot be shipped to the US. We confirmed this with a brief test of our own and found the same warning that our order could not be shipped to the US.

Curiously, there are no warnings on individual product pages or anywhere else on the 8BitDo website that give any indication that 8BitDo will not be able to fulfil orders with US shipping addresses. It's only after the products are added to the cart and buyers head to check out that the warning appears. In the case of Polygon, the warning specified which items could not be fulfilled, indicating that US warehouses still had stock of certain items, but when we tested it, the warning was less specific, reading only "Shipping not available. Your order cannot be shipped to the selected address. Review your address to ensure it's correct and try again, or select a different address." Amazon, on the other hand, still seems to have stock for at least some of 8BitDo's items available. We tested the 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard C64 Edition, which is unavailable via the 8BitDo site but is still listed at $99.99 on Amazon. Recently, Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders were also suspended due to US tariffs on Chinese goods, and Gamers Nexus also recently published a deep dive detailing the sweeping effects of the increased pricing and uncertainty from the perspective of various US-based PC hardware vendors and system integrators.

AMD's next-gen Ryzen Threadripper High-End Desktop (HEDT) processor family remains under wraps, but the latest insider whispers indicate a potential official introduction at Computex 2025. So far, leaks have provided the majority of insights into Team Red's speculated "Shimada Peak" 9000WX series. Mid-way through this month, three more unannounced product identifiers appeared online—industry observers are still seeking out a futuristic 96-core "9995WX" model. AMD's teaser material—regarding Jack Huynh's upcoming keynote presentation—does not list anything bearing a Threadripper label. Fresh evidence—not from a shipping manifest—points to a possible upcoming inclusion. As disclosed by the PCGH.de crew; GIGABYTE has rolled out an F10a BIOS update for TRX50 AERO D motherboards—accompanying release notes mention intriguing "Next Gen CPU Support."

PCGH's investigative piece put a spotlight on an exciting specification point, but potential customers will probably be greeted by corresponding extreme "niche" pricing. The article elaborated on this fan-favorite technology: "workstation and high-end desktop processors from the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9000 and Ryzen Threadripper Pro 9000 series—also known as 'Shimada Peak'—will feature multiple 3D V-Caches consisting of up to four stacks on as many chiplets, and could thus represent, for the first time, an option for gamers who benefit from as many processor cores and massive L3 cache as possible...(this CPU platform) will continue to be housed on the already established LGA4844 ('sTR5') socket and will most likely be compatible with the two chipsets: the TRX50 and WRX90. However, the much more interesting information is provided by the UEFI/BIOS itself, as this is where the use of the CPU's 3D V-Cache can now be configured. Configurations with 1, 2, or even 4 memory 'stacks' are available, as well as a corresponding auto-feature." GIGABYTE's "official" leak suggests the distribution of evaluation samples—naturally, review outlet test rig's would require support for "Shimada Peak" CPUs.

MSI proudly announces full support for Intel 200S Boost technology for the latest Z890 motherboard lineup, empowering gamers, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock next-level performance with a single click. Intel 200S Boost is a cutting edge memory enhancement technology that allows users to safely elevate DDR5 memory performance when paired with Intel Core Ultra 200S Series Desktop "K-SKU" processors and "Z890 series motherboards". To fully optimize this feature, MSI has forged strong partnerships with leading memory brands. Together, we've rigorously tested and validated a wide range of DDR5 modules to meet Intel 200S Boost standards, delivering exceptional performance, stability, and compatibility. Learn more about Intel 200S Boost.

Once a compatible processor and supported memory kit are installed, users can instantly activate 200S Boost via MSI Click BIOS X, no manual tuning or technical expertise required. This one click feature enables real performance improvements in gaming, content creation, and everyday multitasking. To support this breakthrough, MSI has released the latest BIOS for all Z890 series motherboards, ensuring full compatibility with Intel 200S Boost. Users are encouraged to visit MSI's official website and product pages for the latest BIOS updates.

Acer today announced the expansion of its mainstream Nitro gaming line with the launch of the new Acer Nitro AI laptops and the Nitro 20 desktop. The Nitro range brings a full-package gaming experience and great value for gamers and content creators, combining robust processing power, essential computing features, and more without breaking the bank. The addition of slim laptops and a compact Windows PC option also support users with limited space for their gaming set-ups.

The Nitro AI laptops are Copilot+ PCs, powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors and equipped with the game-changing NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series Laptop GPUs to make more powerful AI rendering capabilities more accessible. The Nitro 20 desktop also utilizes AI processors and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 GPU, focusing on better energy efficiency with a smaller footprint.

NVIDIA has not formally announced the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU, but its existence was leaked months ago via usual insider channels. Despite whispers of a launch happening mid-way through this month, Team Green did not host a rumored special preview event back in March. Premature listings of lower end "Blackwell" GPU-powered pre-built gaming systems have popped up online; Lenovo is the latest company to join in one the fun. Their "Legion Tower 5i Gen 10" pre-build is advertised as "coming soon," and configurable with GeForce RTX 5070, RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 discrete graphics solutions. Curiously, Lenovo is prepping this model with an "Intel ARL-HX customized HM870" microATX motherboard—implying that the Core Ultra 9 APU (285HX or 275HX) will be soldered on.

Lenovo's NDA-busting product page does not go into as much (GPU-related) detail as HP New Zealand's webstore and Best Buy Canada's listings. Last week, reports focused on a new-generation OMEN 16L compact pre-built series—providing further evidence of GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards being readied with 16 GB and 8 GB pools of VRAM. Interestingly, TechPowerUp's GPU curator has scrubbed the alleged GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB model's page from the site's database. VideoCardz has trained its expert eye on the Legion Tower 5i Gen 10 model's spec sheet and promotional imagery—their investigation put a spotlight on Lenovo's pre-rendered mock-up of a dual-fan card design that sports a single 8-pin power connector. In the recent past, AIB insiders have alluded to several custom models being configured with this older standard. VideoCardz noted that the forthcoming Legion pre-build is listed with "limited DisplayPort 1.4 support." This could be a pre-release mistake (based on placeholder material), or an indication of NVIDIA's cheaper GeForce RTX 50-series options arriving without DisplayPort 2.1 capabilities.

Successors to AMD's current-generation lineup of Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs are reportedly in the pipeline—according to the latest HXL/9550pro predictive declaration, finalized units could arrive at retail later this year. They propose that an "AMD AM5 New APU" family could arrive alongside an unannounced MSI Unify-X enthusiast-grade motherboard design, within the final quarter of 2025. Press interpretations of this inside track information point to possible upcoming "Ryzen 9000G" processors, utilizing Team Red's Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 technologies. This potent combination already exists, albeit in mobile form—namely within Team Red's stable of Ryzen AI "Strix Halo, Strix Point," and "Krackan Point" APUs.

Industry experts opine that AMD will most likely deploy high-end "Strix Point" silicon to desktop, or more fancifully: "Gorgon Point." The latter codename turned up via leaks last week. Around early 2024, we witnessed Team Red's transfer of "Phoenix"—from original mobile formats—to their AM5 desktop platform. TechPowerUp's W1zzard evaluated the Ryzen 5 8500G "Phoenix 2" APU last summer; this plucky budget-friendly model sports Zen 4 and Zen 4c cores. Theoretically a flagship "Ryzen 9000G" SKU could emerge with twelve processor cores (4x "Zen 5" + 8x "Zen 5c"), a Radeon 890M iGPU, and an XDNA 2 NPU.

The status of Intel "Meteor Lake-S" (MTL-S) desktop processors was the subject of much speculation throughout 2023—by September of that year, Team Blue leadership projected an upcoming launch in 2024. Technically, Meteor Lake was deployed to "sort-of desktops" platforms—albeit in mini-PCs that utilized Core Ultra mobile chips. Industry moles insisted that Intel was still actively engaged in production of MTL-S samples in late 2023. According to a recent ITHome report, those insider tales turned out to be legitimate. On Monday (March 24), the online publication revealed the existence of a mysterious "Q46W" engineering sample—courtesy of Kyoka (a trusted source). A CPU-Z diagnostic revealed the unannounced CPU's turboboost capability reaching 4.5 GHz, while base frequency sat at the 2.8 GHz mark.

According to ITHome's investigative piece, Team Blue: "tested a very special desktop processor: it uses the Meteor Lake architecture, has 6 performance cores and 8 energy efficiency cores (6P+8E), but the performance cores (P-cores) do not support Hyper-Threading. The production date of the product in hand is the 51st week of 2023, which is obviously later than the time when Meteor Lake-S was reported to be cancelled for external sales. From this situation, 'Q46W' may be a development test processor for FCLGA1851 platform or the 800 series chipset. Kyoka believes that the processor should be in the ES2 stage." A Xianyu seller—tbNick_3u8k4—is reportedly offloading a surprising quantity of "Intel Confidential Q46W" processors, allegedly manufactured back in early 2024. Photos show tray-mounted units available for sale on Taobao's second hand market platform. tbNick_3u8k4 mentions that this particular batch of Q46W chips "requires a special motherboard to light up," suggesting that readily available Intel 800 Series chipset-based models are not fit for purpose.