MSI began rolling out UEFI firmware updates for its Socket AM5 motherboard lineup that encapsulate AMD AGESA 1.2.0.3F microcode. This latest version of AGESA comes with support for several new upcoming processor SKUs, including Ryzen 9000F series, which are "Granite Ridge" based chips with integrated graphics disabled; as well as AMD's upcoming Ryzen 9000G series desktop APUs, which are expected to be based on the 4 nm "Krackan Point" monolithic silicon. This chip features a 12-core CPU (4x "Zen 5" + 8x "Zen 5c"), a powerful iGPU based on RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture with up to 16 compute units; and the Ryzen AI XDNA 2 NPU capable of 50 AI TOPS, meeting Microsoft Copilot+ local acceleration requirements.

Besides support for new processors, AGESA 1.2.0.3F is also expected to lend 256 GB platform maximum memory support using four 64 GB DIMMs (2 DIMMs per channel). The firmware carries over many of the fTPM security vulnerability mitigations introduced with AGESA 1.2.0.3, which are recommended for all users. Lastly, MSI introduced several overclocking stability improvements with its latest firmware updates. Grab these updates from the Support section of the product page of your motherboard model on the MSI website.

AMD is giving finishing touches to the Ryzen 5 9600X3D processor, which could improve the company's standing in the mid-range, against Intel's Core i5-14600K and Core Ultra 5 245K. This came to light when AMD inadvertently leaked the SKU in its processor support list for the recently launched Radeon AI R9700 graphics card. The Ryzen 5 9600X3D will likely be a 6-core/12-thread processor based on the "Granite Ridge" silicon with 3D V-Cache memory. The processor is based on the latest "Zen 5" microarchitecture.

3D V-Cache is 64 MB of stacked cache on top of the 32 MB on-die cache, for a total of 96 MB last-level cache. Clock speeds of the 9600X3D could end up similar to those of the 9600X, given that AMD has changed the way the L3D (3D V-Cache die) stacks with the CCD (CPU complex die), inverting them, such that the L3D serves as a base tile for the CCD on top, giving the 9600X3D similar thermal and overclocking characteristics to the regular 9600X. The introduction of 3D V-Cache could significantly improve the gaming performance of the 9600X3D over the 9600X, giving gamers in the sub-$300 processor market segment a compelling alternative to the i5-14600K and the 245K.

AMD is looking to introduce the Ryzen 7 9700F 8-core/16-thread processor to target a price-point well under $300, possibly around $250. Naming convention dictates that the processor will lack integrated graphics. Given that AMD hasn't released 65 W variants of its Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" processors, instead giving the 9700X a 65 W TDP out of the box, but with a motherboard BIOS-based "105 W mode" that improves boost frequency residency, the 9700F will likely have either the same or slightly lower clock speeds than the 9700X, a 65 W TDP, and likely even lack this "105 W mode." The idea for AMD would be to offer a decent alternative to the Core Ultra 5 245K.

The Ryzen 7 9700F will be based on the "Granite Ridge" MCM, with one 4 nm CCD that has eight "Zen 5" CPU cores, each with 1 MB of dedicated L2 cache, and sharing a 32 MB on-die L3 cache. The 9700X comes with 3.80 GHz base frequency that boosts up to 5.50 GHz, so the 9700F either sticks with these clock speeds with a 65 W power limit to offer performance resembling the 9700X out of the box, or a 100 MHz lower boost frequency out of the box, but with unlocked multipliers.

Yesterday, ASRock's South Korean office issued a statement regarding problematic hardware pairings; affecting current-gen motherboards and AMD Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" desktop processors. Curiously, the Taiwanese manufacturer's local branch slipped in an intriguing tidbit into its message, addressed to members of the Quasar Zone forum: "ASRock has released a new BIOS version 3.25. This version is based on AMD AGESA 1.2.0.3d, and has been improved to enhance compatibility with next-generation CPUs and optimize PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive) settings to enable more stable system operation." Due to media outlets focusing on an important BIOS update, a major hint was largely ignored. Fortunately, VideoCardz's keen eye was not distracted by current affairs.

According to their evening report (dated June 4), their local contacts have confirmed that there are no misunderstandings when Westerners machine translate ASRock Korea's original statement. Naturally, guess work—about the company's teasing of next-gen processors—will land on two upcoming Team Red product families. VideoCardz quickly eliminated a successive "Zen 6" CPU series, aka "Ryzen 10000." Despite recent leaks, industry watchdogs anticipate (at best) a mid-2026 debut. Given the uptick of semi-official Ryzen 9000G "Gorgon Point" leaks throughout Q2'25, VideoCardz reckons that AMD and mainboard partners are preparing for the arrival of this Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5-based APU series. Industry insiders have proposed a fourth quarter launch window.

At Computex 2025, ASRock deliberated over the problems that have plagued certain AMD 800-series motherboard models. Fatal combinations—usually affecting popular Ryzen 7 9800X3D gaming CPUs—have been highlighted by sections of the PC hardware community, and (subsequently) press outlets. Months ago, the Taiwanese mainboard manufacturer's Japanese branch took a combative stance (in response to widespread criticism). Following continued failures of Team Red "Granite Ridge" desktop processors on "mid-to-high-end" ASRock mainboards—even in non-3D V-Cache guises—company representatives have interacted with key media conduits, including Tech YES City's Bryan Bilowol. Coinciding with the release of fresh BIOS fixes, long-form video coverage of Q&A sessions have turned up on YouTube.

Company reps have alluded to a warranty replacement scheme, but full details were not disclosed during May-time Computex proceedings. Many critics are still waiting for an official company statement; hopefully addressed to a global audience. In the meantime, one regional office has weighed in with some much-needed outreach: "ASRock Korea takes the recent AMD 800 series motherboard issues experienced by some users very seriously and will follow up with you to protect your trust. ASRock is continuously monitoring the performance and stability of the platform and will provide a firmware update as soon as possible if any issues are identified. In addition, if the system you are using is damaged due to this issue, we will take responsible measures for both the CPU and the motherboard distributed through the official domestic importer, and please submit the case through ASRock Korea's official distributor for diagnosis and processing. ASRock Korea will continue to listen to the voices of our customers and do our best to remain a trusted brand." This message was posted on Quasar Zone; a high-traffic PC hardware forum. A good number of manufacturers have responded to cases raised by members of this South Korean community.

Earlier this month, Bryan Bilowol—of Tech YES City fame—was taken aback by the unexpected "death" of his Ryzen 9 9950X processor, at the alleged hands of an ASRock X870 Steel Legend motherboard. Throughout early 2025, widespread news reports and community tracking efforts have largely implicated ASRock boards. AMD's highly popular Ryzen 7 9800X3D gaming CPU has "fallen victim" on numerous occasions, but a smaller number of incidents have affected non-3D V-Cache equipped Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" models. The Taiwanese manufacturer and Team Red have investigated these problems, and have released fixes via BIOS updates. Despite these efforts, unhappy owners have experienced CPU failures in Q2'25. Following the uploading of initial findings and theories, Bilowol promised further reports. Fortunately, a sit-down—with ASRock's motherboard team—happened late last week, at Computex 2025. At the time of writing, the company has not published an official statement regarding their latest findings or fixes. Tech YES City shared a couple of compelling details in a May 26 YouTube upload (viewable below).

Commenting on the Ryzen 9000 CPU failure situation, Bilowol relayed important ASRock material: (the motherboard team) told me it had to do with the EDC and TDC, which is the electric design current as well as the thermal design current. Essentially, they're saying it's an ampage problem that exists with the precision boost overdrive (PBO) settings. In particular, these mid-range and high-end motherboards—say for instance a B650E or an X670E Taichi or even a B850 Steel Legend—have the ability to run Ryzen 9000 series CPUs at their maximum PBO settings out of the box. What's happening here is ASRock told me they were implementing these settings to what they believe was too aggressive for what the CPUs were able to handle, at least for earlier samples. However, they do promise me that these issues have been fixed with their latest BIOS updates that they're rolling out for these mid-range and high-end motherboards. They also told me that the lower-end boards, say for instance, an A620 HDV or something like that, shouldn't be affected by this issue simply because those PBO settings have been deliberately tuned down, due to the motherboard in question not being a high-end model." Three months back, ASRock's Japanese branch accused the PC hardware community of spreading "misinformation." Hopefully, the latest batch of fixes will bring an end to all Ryzen 9000 CPU + high-end/mid-range ASRock mainboard controversies.

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.

PC hardware watchers continue to pore over official AMD repositories and adjacent databases, in the hopes of finding unannounced next-gen technologies. Olrak29 and InstLatX64 have presented their latest Team Red-related findings; apparently reaching across futuristic desktop, mobile, and workstation product families. As outlined and interpreted by VideoCardz, several of these next-gen branches are already somewhat "known" properties—namely AMD's allegedly Zen 5-based Ryzen Threadripper "Shimada Peak" 9000WX (workstation) processor series. Following almost two years of leaks, an official introduction is expected to happen during Computex 2025. The Ryzen 9000G "Gorgon Point" desktop (Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5) APU series has turned up again; now "fully" linked to the AM5 socket platform (not a big surprise). The two leakers have also uncovered another rumored AM5-bound product lineup—"Grado" chips could be based on existing "Granite Ridge" foundations, but elevated to commercial/enterprise levels. These speculated basic/entry-level "EPYC 4005" processors are floated as natural successors to currently available 4004 forebears (related to Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" architecture).

Olrak29 and InstLatX64 have also found multiple mysterious FP8 socket-related Ryzen AI Mobile SoCs. "Krackan2" could be a cheaper refresh of current "Krackan Point" APUs—Tom's Hardware proposes smaller designs that sport fewer cores, and not configured with NPUs. Kepler_L2 has weighed in on the matter of three listed "Gorgon Point" IPs—he reckons that the third variant ("Gorgon Point3") will be a spin-off (aka refresh) of a "Krackan2" design. As suggested by insider knowledge, Team Red's convoluted scheme points to "Gorgon Point" being the sequel to "Strix Point." An FF5-based "Soundwave" processor design has appeared alongside the aforementioned futuristic Ryzen AI Mobile chipsets—industry whispers propose that AMD will be leveraging Arm architecture within a lower product tier. InstLatX64 pulled additional compelling information from AMD's Technical Information Portal—providing further insight into Ryzen AI "Medusa Point" APUs (Zen 6 + RDNA 3.5) being dreamt up, with a matching "larger footprint" FP10 platform.

Large language models (LLMs) love large quantities of memory—so much so, in fact, that AI enthusiasts are turning to multi-GPU setups to make even more VRAM available for their AI apps. But since many current LLMs are extremely large, even this approach has its limits. At times, the GPU will decide to make use of CPU processing power for this data, and when it does, the performance of your CPU cache and DRAM comes into play. All this means that when it comes to the performance of AI applications, it's not just the GPU that matters, but the entire pathway that connects the GPU to the CPU to the I/O die to the DRAM modules. It stands to reason, then, that there are opportunities to boost AI performance by optimizing these elements.

That's exactly what we've found as we've spent time in our R&D labs with the latest AMD Ryzen CPUs. AMD just launched two new Ryzen CPUs with AMD 3D V-Cache Technology, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D, pushing the series into new performance territory. After testing a wide range of optimizations in a variety of workloads, we uncovered a range of settings that offer tangible benefits for AI enthusiasts. Now, we're ready to share these optimizations with you through a new BIOS feature: AI Cache Boost. Available through an ASUS AMD 800 Series motherboard and our most recent firmware update, AI Cache Boost can accelerate performance up to 12.75% when you're working with massive LLMs.

Last Friday, AMD confirmed finalized price points for its upcoming Ryzen 9 9950X3D ($699) and 9900X3D ($599) gaming processors—both launching on March 12. Media outlets are very likely finalizing their evaluations of review silicon; official embargoes are due for lifting tomorrow (March 11). By Team Red decree, a drip feed of pre-launch information was restricted to teasers, a loose March launch window, and an unveiling of basic specifications (at CES 2025). A trickle of mid-January to early March leaks have painted an incomplete picture of performance expectations for the 3D V-Cache-equipped 16 and 12-core parts. A fresh NDA-busting disclosure has arrived online, courtesy of an alleged Ryzen 9 9950X3D sample's set of benchmark scores.

A pre-release candidate posted single and multi-thread ratings of 4739 and 69,701 (respectively), upon completion of PassMark tests. Based on this information, a comparison chart was assembled—pitching the Ryzen 9 9950X3D against its direct predecessor (7950X3D), a Zen 5 relative (9950X), and competition from Intel (Core Ultra 9 285K). AMD's brand-new 16-core flagship managed to outpace the previous-gen Ryzen 9 7950X3D by ~14% in single thread stakes, and roughly 11% in multithreaded scenarios. Test system build details and settings were not mentioned with this leak—we expect to absorb a more complete picture tomorrow, upon publication of widespread reviews. The sampled Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU surpassed its 9950X sibling by ~5% with its multi-thread result, both processors are just about equal in terms of single-core performance. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU posted the highest single-core result within the comparison—5078 points—exceeding the 9950X3D's tally by about 7%. The latter pulls ahead by ~3% in terms of recorded multi-thread performance. Keep an eye on TechPowerUp's review section; where W1zzard will be delivering his verdict(s) imminently.

Earlier today, AMD confirmed finalized price points and a launch date for its two incoming additions to the Ryzen 9000X3D processor lineup. The current Zen 5 processor population (with 3D V-Cache onboard) has a count of one—Team Red's reigning gaming champion: the eight-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D model. AMD's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Computing and Graphics was the first staffer to make an official announcement regarding definitive talking points. Jack Huynh stated (via a social media post): the world's best processor for gaming and content creation is almost here. Available starting March 12th. Ryzen 9 9950X3D—$699. Ryzen 9 9900X3D—$599. A huge thank you to our incredible community of gamers, creators, and innovators for your continued support. Together, we're shaping the future of gaming and content creation! Let's level up together!"

The sixteen-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D and twelve-core 9900X3D SKUs were officially unveiled at CES 2025, in early January. Since then, many leaks have emerged online—certain soothsayers were bang on with their predictions. Almost a month ago, speculative $699 and $599 price points were leaked. On two separate occasions, a—now confirmed—March 12 launch day was projected. AMD is expected to lift media embargoes on March 11; reviews of finalized silicon will finally reveal whether the two new players can beat their incumbent sibling in gaming performance benchmarks. As reported this afternoon, China's JD.com retail platform has opened its order book to customers—a limited quantity of Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D units were made available for a short period of time.

AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors are reportedly due to launch mid-way through next week (March 12)—this "unofficial" release date was revealed by JD.com listings. Yesterday's report focused on the popular Chinese e-commerce platform's apparent leaking of Team Red's mid-March schedule. Last month, a local tipster—Golden Pig Upgrade—also alluded to a possible March 12 rollout of 16 and 12-core 3D V-Cache-equipped Zen 5 chips. In a surprise move, JD has started selling Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D units. Earlier today, ITHome spotted updated product pages—JD disclosed that it was prepping an earlier than expected sale: "limited time and limited quantity available at 20:00 (local time) on March 7."

Officially, AMD has only teased a loose March launch window for its latest Ryzen Niners. VideoCardz has kept track of the company's recent announcements, and opines that the Ryzen 9000X3D release strategy is strange one. Embargoes for reviewer and influencers are tipped for lifting on March 11, so JD's premature sale of Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors clashes with this schedule. JD's unusual 20:00 release time was highlighted by VideoCardz; they reckon that the 22:00 hour is a more appropriate kick-off time. It is possible that the limited quantity/short period sale was a mislabeled promotion for pre-orders—something could be lost in translation (see primary screenshot below), but similar events were reported in recent history.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor will head to retail next month—a March 12 launch day is rumored—but a handful of folks seem to have early samples in their possession. Reviewers and online influencers have been tasked with evaluating pre-launch silicon, albeit under strict conditions; i.e. no leaking. Inevitably, NDA-shredding material has seeped out—yesterday, we reported on an alleged sample's ASUS Silicon Prediction rating. Following that, a Bulgarian system integrator/hardware retailer decided to upload Cinebench R23 and PCMark Time Spy results to Facebook. Evidence of this latest leak was scrubbed at the source, but VideoCardz preserved crucial details.

The publication noticed distinguishable QR and serial codes in PCbuild.bg's social media post; so tracing activities could sniff out points of origin. As expected, the leaked benchmark data points were compared to Ryzen 9 9950X and 7950X3D scores. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D sample recorded a score of 17,324 points in 3DMark Time Spy, as well as 2279 points (single-core) and 42,423 points (multi-core) in Cinebench R23. Notebookcheck observed that the pre-launch candidate came: "out ahead of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D in both counts, even if the gaming win is less than significant. Comparing the images of the benchmark results to our in-house testing and benchmark database shows the 9950X3D beating the 7950X3D by nearly 17% in Cinebench multicore." When compared to its non-3D V-Cache equivalent, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D leverages a slight performance advantage. A blurry shot of PCbuild.bg's HWiNFO session shows the leaked processor's core clock speeds; going up to 5.7 GHz (turbo) on a single CCD (non-X3D). The X3D-equipped portion seems capable of going up to 5.54 GHz.

Recent reports indicate that evaluation samples of AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors have circulated to global press and influencer outlets. Leaks are expected to trickle out, going all the way up to a rumored March 11 lifting of review embargoes. Late last week, we reported on a double NDA-busting test system; utilizing Team Red's upcoming 16-core 3D V-Cache-equipped flagship gaming CPU, and a Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU. HXL (aka 9550pro) unearthed another example—their weekend sleuthing activities pointed to an alleged ASUS Silicon Prediction (SP) rating of 120. This tally was (reportedly) produced by a Ryzen 9 9950X3D sample unit. The predictive rating system sniffs out a candidate processor's quality and overclock potential.

An off-screen capture of an unidentified tester's UEFI BIOS session was posted to social media—the "MBEC-X870-0130" identifier points to a non-specific X870-based ASUS motherboard model. Leaked diagnostic information clearly shows a "Ryzen 9 9950X3D" processor (base clock 4.3 GHz) powering this particular test build. Its 120 ASUS SP score was cross-referenced with tallies shared by owners of Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors. As observed by VideoCardz, various examples of AMD's reigning gaming champion scored within the typical range of 113 to 118. The upcoming 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 12-core 9900X3D parts are predicted to offer only mild benefits (in gaming environs) over their 8-core sibling; so any sign of superiority will be celebrated as a victory.

We have noticed an uptick of AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D-related leaks in mid-to-late February; suggesting an imminent launch. Officially, a Q1 release window was set by Team Red leadership during their CES 2025 presentation, and further disclosures pointed to a loose March window. Earlier today, Golden Pig Upgrade disclosed NDA-busting information—the veteran leaker believes that AMD will be lifting global Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU review embargoes on March 11. VideoCardz jumped on this unofficial announcement, and reached out to industry insiders. The anonymous contacts reported back; they allege that a March 12 retail release is on the cards.

It is believed that the 16-core and 12-core X3D-equipped "Granite Ridge" Ryzen 9 desktop chips will roll out on the same day (March 12). Coincidentally, Golden Pig Upgrade reckons that Intel's Core Ultra 200HX "Arrow Lake" mobile processor series will launch alongside Team Red's high-end gaming duo. The latter two are touted to attract the majority of press attention on day one. As pointed out by VideoCardz, the release of Radeon RX 9070 GPUs is—speculatively—scheduled a week in advance of AMD's expansion of its Ryzen 9000X3D lineup. Early last week, price points were leaked—courtesy of accidental Newegg listings: $699.99 for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, and $599.99 for the 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X3D.

One of AMD's key announcements at its 2025 International CES keynote was the Ryzen 9000HX line of processors, codenamed "Fire Range." A successor to the 7000HX "Dragon Range," this is essentially a BGA package of the "Granite Ridge" MCM, which combines one or two "Zen 5" CCDs with a client I/O die. The processor lacks an NPU and has a basic iGPU, but is meant for enthusiast segment gaming notebooks and portable workstations, as it's meant to be paired with discrete GPUs, taking advantage of the package's lavish 28 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. The Ryzen 9 9955HX3D stands out in the series as the only model with 3D V-Cache, making it possibly the fastest mobile processor for gaming notebooks—faster than even the "Arrow Lake-HX," given how the desktop 9800X3D compares to the Core Ultra 9 285K at gaming.

Notebook OEM Dream Machines put out a press release which specifies that the first notebooks powered by the 9955HX3D will ship either toward the end of March, or early-April 2025. "Fire Range" is known to have scored design wins from several popular notebook OEMs, which means the chips could have a good run at the markets this generation. Notebooks powered by the 9955HX3D and discrete GPU options that include the GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU and the RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU, are expected to be priced around €2,530 and €3,860, respectively.

AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D "Zen 5" processors are scheduled for launch around March time, with many a hardcore PC enthusiast salivating at the prospect of an increase in core counts over already released hardware—the ever popular Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU makes do with eight cores (and sixteen threads). Under normal circumstances, higher core counts do not provide a massive advantage in gaming applications—over the years, Team Red's 8-core 3D V-Cache-equipped models have reigned supreme in this so-called "sweet spot." Many have wondered whether new-gen 12 and 16-core SKU siblings had any chance of stealing some gaming performance thunder—a recently published VideoGamer article provides a definitive answer for the "Granite Ridge" generation.

The publication managed to extract key quotes from Martijn Boonstra—a Team Red product and business development manager—providing a slightly tepid outlook for the incoming Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D models. The company executive stated: "(our) new chips will provide similar overall gaming performance to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. There will be some games that perform a bit better—if the game engine utilizes more cores and threads—and some games will perform a little worse (if the game engine favors a single CCD configuration), but on the whole, the experience is comparable." Boonstra did not reveal any details regarding forthcoming prices—the Ryzen 7 9800X3D has an MSRP of $479 (if you are lucky enough to find one)—but he hinted that finalized digits will be announced "closer to launch." He signed off with standard marketing spiel: "Ryzen 9000X3D Series desktop processors are perfect for gamers and content creators alike...whether you are already on the AM5 platform, on AM4 or another platform, these products are sure to impress."

Thanks to the informative breakdown by Chips and Cheese, we are learning that AMD's latest Ryzen AI processors for laptops, codenamed "Strix Halo," utilize a parallel "sea of wires" interconnect system between their chiplets, replacing the SERDES (serializer/deserializer) approach found in desktop Ryzen models. The processor's physical implementation consists of two Core Complex Dies (CCDs), each manufactured on TSMC's N4 (4 nm) process and containing up to eight Zen 5 cores with full 512-bit floating point units. Notably, the I/O die (IOD) is also produced using the N4 process, marking an advancement from the N6 (6 nm) process used in standard Ryzen IODs on desktops. The key change lies in the inter-chiplet communication system. While the Ryzen 9000 series (Granite Ridge) employs SERDES to convert parallel data to serial for transmission between chiplets, Strix Halo implements direct parallel data transmission through multiple physical connections.

This design achieves 32 bytes per clock cycle throughput and eliminates the latency overhead associated with serialization/deserialization processes. The parallel interconnect architecture also removes the need for connection retraining during power state transitions, a limitation present in SERDES implementations. However, this design choice necessitates additional substrate complexity due to increased connection density and requires more pins for external connections, suggesting possible modifications to the CCD design compared to desktop variants. AMD's implementation required more complex substrate manufacturing processes to accommodate the dense parallel connections between chiplets. The decision to prioritize this more challenging design approach was driven by requirements for lower latency and power consumption in data-intensive workloads, where consistent high-bandwidth communication between chiplets is crucial.

AMD today announced the Ryzen 9 9000HX and 9000HX3D line of mobile processors targeting enthusiast-segment gaming notebooks and portable workstations. These chips compete in the same market-segment as the Intel Core Ultra 200HX series. Codenamed "Fire Range," and powered by the "Zen 5" microarchitecture, the chip succeeds the "Zen 4" based "Dragon Range." This is essentially a thin BGA package of the desktop "Granite Ridge" chiplet-based processor, just the way "Dragon Range" relates to "Raphael." The chip has two "Zen 5" CCDs with full-sized "Zen 5" cores that are geared for high clock speeds, and have the full hardware FP implementation for AVX512, unlike the "Zen 5" cores on the "Strix Point" mobile processor.

AMD has, curiously, skipped single-CCD variants of "Fire Range," there are no Ryzen 7 9000HX models being announced today. There are just three processor-models—the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D, the Ryzen 9 9955HX, and the Ryzen 9 9850HX. The 9955HX3D is AMD's flagship mobile processor for gaming notebooks. It features a 16-core/32-thread configuration, and features 3D V-Cache memory on one of the two CCDs. The chip hence comes with 144 MB of "total cache" (L2 + L3). It ticks at 2.50 GHz base frequency, and can boost up to 5.40 GHz for the CCD with 3D V-Cache. It comes with a configurable TDP range of 55 W and 75 W. There is no NPU, but the client I/O die puts out a boatload of I/O that includes 28 PCIe Gen 5 lane, from which 24 are usable, so the discrete GPU has a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 connection, besides two M.2 NVMe Gen 5 connections directly from the processor.

In Q1 2025, AMD is expected to expand its Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop processor family with new 65 W processor models, alongside the introduction of the new cost-effective AMD B850 motherboard chipset. The B850 is expected to be a single-chip solution, just like the X870, but makes PCIe Gen 5 optional for the x16 PEG slot. You still get at least one Gen 5 M.2 NVMe slot. USB4 is made optional for this chipset model, too. The B850, hence, is essentially a rebadged B650. CPU and memory overclocking are supported, so you can expect features like "X3D Boost" to carry over from the X870 series motherboards. Videocardz scored clear images of one of the first production AMD B850 chipset motherboards, the GIGABYTE B850M AORUS Elite Ice. This particular variant comes with integrated Wi-Fi 6E, and the "Ice" denotes a white PCB, along with white slots and connectors. You can expect variations of this board with black PCB, and other wireless networking solutions, or lacking one altogether.

The Micro-ATX board appears feature-packed, including an easy ejection lever for the PCIe x16 slot. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. Expansion slots include what is very likely a Gen 4 PCI-Express x16 slot, a Gen 4 x4 (physical x16) PCIe slot, and the space between them being dominated by an M.2 SSD heatsink that very likely conceals a Gen 5 M.2 slot wired to the CPU, and a Gen 4 M.2 slot that's either wired to the CPU (since there's no discrete USB4 controller), or the FCH. USB connectivity consists of 20 Gbps USB 3.2 for a few type-C ports (including a type-C header), and a combination of 10 Gbps and 5 Gbps USB 3.x ports.

AMD Ryzen AI MAX 300-series processors, codenamed "Strix Halo," have been on in the news for close to a year now. These mobile processors combine "Zen 5" CPU cores with an oversized iGPU that offers performance rivaling discrete GPUs, with the idea behind these chips being to rival the Apple M3 Pro and M3 Max processors powering MacBook Pros. The "Strix Halo" mobile processor is an MCM that combines one or two "Zen 5" CCDs (some ones featured on "Granite Ridge" desktop processors and "Turin" server processors), with a large SoC die. This die is built either on the 5 nm (TSMC N5) or 4 nm (TSMC N4P) node. It packs a large iGPU based on the RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, with 40 compute units (CU), and a 50 TOPS-class XDNA 2 NPU carried over from "Strix Point." The memory interface is a 256-bit wide LPDDR5X-8000 for sufficient memory bandwidth for the up to 16 "Zen 5" CPU cores, the 50 TOPS NPU, and the large 40 CU iGPU.

Golden Pig Upgrade leaked what looks like a company slide from a notebook OEM, which reveals the iGPU model names for the various Ryzen AI MAX 300-series SKUs. Leading the pack is the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395. This is a maxed out SKU with a 16-core/32-thread "Zen 5" CPU that uses two CCDs. All 16 cores are full-sized "Zen 5." The CPU has 64 MB of L3 cache (32 MB per CCD), each of the 16 cores has 1 MB of dedicated L2 cache. The iGPU is branded Radeon 8060S, it comes with all 40 CU (2,560 stream processors) enabled, besides 80 AI accelerators, and 40 Ray accelerators. The Ryzen AI MAX 390 is the next processor SKU, it comes with a 12-core/24-thread "Zen 5" CPU. Like the 395, the 390 is a dual-CCD processor, all 12 cores are full-sized "Zen 5." There's 64 MB of L3 cache, and 1 MB of L2 cache per core. The Radeon 8060S graphics solution is the same as the one on the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395, it comes with all 40 CU enabled.

Much of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D teaser material from AMD had the recurring buzzwords "X3D Reimagined," causing us to speculate what it could be. 9550pro, a reliable source with hardware leaks, says that AMD has redesigned the way the CPU complex die (CCD) and 3D V-cache die (L3D) are stacked together. In past generations of X3D processors, such as the 5800X3D "Vermeer-X" and the 7800X3D "Raphael-X," the L3D is stacked on top of the CCD. It would stack above the central region of the CCD that has the on-die 32 MB L3 cache, while blocks of structural silicon would be placed on top of the edges of the CCD that have the CPU cores, with these structural silicon blocks performing the crucial task of transferring heat from the CPU cores to the IHS above. This is about to change.

If the leaks are right, AMD has inverted the CCD-L3D stack with the 9000X3D series such that the "Zen 5" CCD is now on top, the L3D is below it, under the central region of the CCD. The CPU cores now dissipate heat to the IHS as they do on regular 9000 series processors without the 3D V-cache technology. The way we imagine they achieved this is by enlarging the L3D to align with the size of the CCD, and serve as a kind of "base tile." The L3D would have to be peppered with TSVs that connect the CCD to the fiberglass substrate below. We know where AMD is going with this in the future. Right now, the L3D "base tile" contains the 64 MB 3D V-cache that gets appended to the 32 MB on-die L3 cache, but in the future (probably with "Zen 6"), AMD could design the CCDs with TSVs even for the per-core L2 caches.

FinalWire Ltd. today announced the immediate availability of AIDA64 Extreme 7.40 software, a streamlined diagnostic and benchmarking tool for home users; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Engineer 7.40 software, a professional diagnostic and benchmarking solution for corporate IT technicians and engineers; the immediate availability of AIDA64 Business 7.40 software, an essential network management solution for small and medium scale enterprises; and the immediate availability of AIDA64 Network Audit 7.40 software, a dedicated network audit toolset to collect and manage corporate network inventories.

The latest AIDA64 update introduces an enhanced SHA3 benchmark, AVX-512 accelerated benchmarks for AMD Ryzen 9000 processors, and supports the latest graphics and GPGPU computing technologies by AMD, Intel and NVIDIA.

DOWNLOAD: AIDA64 v7.40 Extreme

AMD today lifted the covers off its Ryzen 7 9800X3D Socket AM5 processor powered by the "Zen 5" microarchitecture and 3D V-cache technology. The company did not put out any product specs or other details, except announcing November 7, 2024, as the product availability date for this chip. This would put its launch exactly two weeks from that of Intel's Core Ultra Series 2 "Arrow Lake-S" processors, and give reviewers time to include the performance results of the new Intel chips in reviews of the 9800X3D. AMD is looking to extend its gaming performance leadership which it held with the 7800X3D. The switch to the newer "Zen 5" microarchitecture and higher clock speeds could push gaming performance up beyond the 7800X3D by a few percentage points. The 7800X3D is already faster than the Core i9-14900K in gaming workloads, so we're being set up for an exciting clash between the Core Ultra 9 285K and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D for gaming performance.

Next up, AMD announced official price cuts for all four current models in its Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" desktop processor family. Buyers in the retail channel should be able to find the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X 16-core/32-thread processor up to $50 cheaper than its launch price, which should bring it down to $600. The Ryzen 9 9900X (12-core/24-thread), the Ryzen 7 9700X (8-core/16-thread), and the Ryzen 5 9600X (6-core/12-thread), each get a haircut of up to $30. You should be able to find the 9900X for as little as $470. The 9700X should be down to as low as $330. The 9600X, the most affordable "Zen 5" part, should go for as low as $250. The price-cuts should be effective immediately. Although all pre-launch info points to this being an 9800X3D-only launch, our AMD PR contacts used the plural term ("X3D processors") when referring to the November 7 date. Could we see more than one X3D processor model launch, especially given the $50 price cut given to the 9950X? Watch this space.

High-resolution die-shots of the AMD "Zen 5" 8-core CCD were released and annotated by Nemez, Fitzchens Fitz, and HighYieldYT. These provide a detailed view of how the silicon and its various components appear, particularly the new "Zen 5" CPU core with its 512-bit FPU. The "Granite Ridge" package looks similar to "Raphael," with up to two 8-core CPU complex dies (CCDs) depending on the processor model, and a centrally located client I/O die (cIOD). This cIOD is carried over from "Raphael," which minimizes product development costs for AMD at least for the uncore portion of the processor. The "Zen 5" CCD is built on the TSMC N4P (4 nm) foundry node.

The "Granite Ridge" package sees the up to two "Zen 5" CCDs snuck up closer to each other than the "Zen 4" CCDs on "Raphael." In the picture above, you can see the pad of the absent CCD behind the solder mask of the fiberglass substrate, close to the present CCD. The CCD contains 8 full-sized "Zen 5" CPU cores, each with 1 MB of L2 cache, and a centrally located 32 MB L3 cache that's shared among all eight cores. The only other components are an SMU (system management unit), and the Infinity Fabric over Package (IFoP) PHYs, which connect the CCD to the cIOD.