Intel has successfully deployed two advanced ASML High-NA Twinscan EXE:5000 EUV lithography systems at its D1 development facility near Hillsboro, Oregon, processing approximately 30,000 wafers in a single quarter. The High-NA EUV systems, each reportedly valued at $380 million, represent a substantial improvement over previous lithography tools, achieving resolution down to 8 nm with a single exposure compared to the 13.5 nm resolution of current Low-NA systems. Early operational data indicates these machines are approximately twice as reliable as previous EUV generations, addressing reliability challenges that previously hampered Intel's manufacturing progress. The ability to accomplish with a single exposure what previously required three exposures and approximately 40 processing steps has been reduced to just "single digit" processing steps.

Intel has historically been an early adopter of high-NA EUV lithography, a much more aggressive strategy than its competitors like TSMC, which manufactures its advanced silicon using low-NA EUV tools. The company plans to utilize these systems for its upcoming 14A chip manufacturing process, though no specific mass production date has been announced. While ASML classifies these Twinscan EXE:5000 systems as pre-production tools not designed for high-volume manufacturing, Intel's extensive wafer processing is more of a test bed. The early adoption provides Intel with valuable development opportunities across various High-NA EUV manufacturing aspects, including photomask glass, pellicles, and specialized chemicals that could establish future industry standards. Intel's current 18A node is utilizing Low-NA lithography tools, where Intel is only exploring High-NA with it for testing, before moving on to 14A high-volume manufacturing with High-NA EUV.

Almost five years ago, SK hynix announced a planned $9 billion acquisition of Intel's NAND flash memory and storage business. The semiconductor giant's takeover process has been a gradual affair; the first phase was complete by the end of 2021, with Asian governing bodies—just before Christmas—giving clearance to absorb Chinese facilities. Within this time frame, the South Korean giant pulled in Team Blue's SSD NAND design and R&D departments—thus establishing the "Solidigm" entity. According to a new Businesskorea report, SK hynix is about to pay off a final installment; allegedly $2.235 billion.

Industry insiders believe that SK hynix's takeover of Intel NAND and storage properties will be completed by next month. This (rumored) March time fortification will place SK hynix in direct competition with a nearby rival: Samsung. Businesskorea believes that recent expansions signal a "competitive edge"—targeting increased demand for enterprise SSD products. Google and Meta are reportedly engaged in widespread upgrading of data center facilities. The local publication reckons that: "SK Hynix plans to capitalize on this trend by strengthening its position in the market and leveraging AI to drive innovation and growth." The aforementioned absorption of Intel intellectual property (IP) plus R&D resources is viewed as a crucial move in reinforcing an already solid foundation.

ASUS today announced an all-new series of servers powered by the latest Intel Xeon 6 processors, including the Xeon 6900-series, 6500P/6700P-series and 6300-series processors. These powerhouse processors deliver exceptional performance, efficiency and scalability, featuring up to 128 Performance-cores (P-cores) or 288 Efficient-cores (E-cores) per socket, along with native support for PCI Express (PCIe 5.0) and DDR5 6400 MT/s memory speeds. The latest ASUS server solutions also incorporate the updated BMC module within the ASPEED 2600 chipset, providing improved manageability, security and compatibility with a wide range of remote management software - and coincide with the unveiling of the latest Intel Xeon 6 processors.

Redefining efficiency and scalability
Intel Xeon 6 processors are engineered to meet the needs of modern data centers, AI-driven workloads and enterprise computing. Offering a choice between P-core and E-core architectures, these processors provide flexibility for businesses to optimize performance and energy efficiency based on specific workloads.

ASUS today announced the all-new ExpertBook B5 laptop series (B5405/B5605) - a lightweight, AI-enhanced marvel powered by the latest up to Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2) with Intel vPro and built-in Intel Arc graphics, ushering in a new era of productivity. Packed with cutting-edge AI capabilities, including a dedicated NPU, ExpertBook B5 is built to streamline complex business tasks and accelerate productivity - especially during video calls, with exclusive ASUS AI ExpertMeet delivering optimized audio, video and real-time transcription for seamless collaboration.

Engineered for professionals who demand both performance and security, ExpertBook B5 is protected by ASUS ExpertGuardian, an enterprise-grade security suite that safeguards data, user identities and system integrity with multi-layered protection. With an up to 15 hours battery life for all-day performance on the go, this durable, MIL-STD-810H-tested business laptop empowers uninterrupted productivity. ExpertBook B5 also underscores the ASUS commitment to sustainability with the integration of a Digital Product Passport (DPP), providing transparent lifecycle tracking and reinforcing responsible environmental practices.

Leading network platform provider AAEON this week announced the release of its FWS-7370, a Rackmount Network Appliance powered by Intel Atom P5300 series CPUs (formerly Snow Ridge). Compatible with the higher end models from the series, the FWS-7370 offers up to 24 cores alongside integrated network and security features like Intel QuickAssist Technology for hardware-accelerated encryption, decryption, and compression of large datasets.

The FWS-7370's standard I/O grants users a total of 12 LAN ports, comprised of four RJ-45 ports for 2.5GbE and four RJ-45 ports for 1GbE—each with one pair LAN bypass, as well as four 10GbE SFP+ ports. AAEON note that the platform's networking capacity can be expanded via NIM slot, which can accommodate either a PoE module for an additional dual 2.5GbE PoE LAN interfaces or extra fiber-based networking ports for extended distances.

Earlier today, three of Intel's South Korean authorized distributors announced the introduction of Raptor Lake-R-based "Value Pack Genuine" buying options—Danawa's news section stated that the involved companies are: PC Direct, Coit, and Intec & Company. The newly revealed "reasonably priced" packages will contain 14th Generation Core i5-14600KF or i5-14400F processors. A photo preview (see below) showcases very plain blue retail boxes (with no logo), adorned with information-carrying stickers. The freshly unveiled "Value Pack (genuine product)" designs are region exclusive (for the moment); seemingly slotting somewhere in-between Intel's traditional "Boxed" retail and barebones "Tray" processor offerings.

According to the Danawa report, one of the local distributors stated: "this is a very meaningful moment as it is the first time that an official Intel value pack has been released in Korea. We are pleased to offer a more reasonable price while maintaining the same warranty period and standards as existing genuine products. We hope that this release will allow more consumers to upgrade their PCs without burden." Western news sites have highlighted the Core i5 14600KF Value Pack's cheapest available price point (identified via the Danawa comparison engine); KRW 284,540 (~$199 USD). The traditional "Boxed" retail equivalent goes for KRW 295,700 (~$207 USD), while the barebones "Tray" (OEM-oriented) package is priced at KRW 261,200 (~$183 USD). Tom's Hardware checked out the new offering's Batch # and Serial # codes: "on Intel's warranty information page, (it) said that the ATPO (Batch #) we listed indicated that it was a tray processor...We'd like to believe the numbers on the image were just placeholders that belong to a tray processor, or that Intel RMAs in South Korea are all handled by its distributors." Danawa's news piece repeatedly claims that the two new options offer lower pricing compared to "existing genuine box products," but come with the "same genuine warranty" terms.

Today, Lenovo announced three new infrastructure solutions, powered by Intel Xeon 6 processors, designed to modernize and elevate data centers of any size to AI-enabled powerhouses. The solutions include next generation Lenovo ThinkSystem V4 servers that deliver breakthrough performance and exceptional versatility to handle any workload while enabling powerful AI capabilities in compact, high-density designs. Whether deploying at the edge, co-locating or leveraging a hybrid cloud, Lenovo is delivering the right mix of solutions that seamlessly unlock intelligence and bring AI wherever it is needed.

The new Lenovo ThinkSystem servers are purpose-built to run the widest range of workloads, including the most compute intensive - from algorithmic trading to web serving, astrophysics to email, and CRM to CAE. Organizations can streamline management and boost productivity with the new systems, achieving up to 6.1x higher compute performance than previous generation CPUs with Intel Xeon 6 with P-cores and up to 2x the memory bandwidth when using new MRDIMM technology, to scale and accelerate AI everywhere.

Intel today showcased how Intel Xeon 6 processors with Efficient-cores (E-cores) have dramatically accelerated time-to-market adoption for the company's solutions in collaboration with the ecosystem. Since product introduction in June 2024, 5G core solution partners have independently validated a 3.2x performance improvement, a 3.8x performance per watt increase and, in collaboration with the Intel Infrastructure Power Manager launched at MWC 2024, a 60% reduction in run-time power consumption.

"As 5G core networks continue to build out using Intel Xeon processors, which are deployed in the vast majority of 5G networks worldwide, infrastructure efficiency, power savings and uncompromised performance are essential criteria for communication service providers (CoSPs). Intel is pleased to announce that our 5G core solution partners have accelerated the adoption of Intel Xeon 6 with E-cores and are immediately passing along these benefits to their customers. In addition, with Intel Infrastructure Power Manager, our partners have a run-time software solution that is showing tremendous progress in reducing server power in CoSP environments on existing and new infrastructure." -Alex Quach, Intel vice president and general manager of Wireline and Core Network Division

As enterprises modernize infrastructure to meet the demands of next-gen workloads like AI, high-performing and efficient compute is essential across the full spectrum - from data centers to networks, edge and even the PC. To address these challenges, Intel today launched its Xeon 6 processors with Performance-cores (P-cores), providing industry-leading performance for the broadest set of data center and network infrastructure workloads and best-in-class efficiency to create an unmatched server consolidation opportunity.

"We are intensely focused on bringing cutting-edge leadership products to market that solve our customers' greatest challenges and help drive the growth of their business," said Michelle Johnston Holthaus, interim co-CEO of Intel and CEO of Intel Products. "The Xeon 6 family delivers the industry's best CPU for AI and groundbreaking features for networking, while simultaneously driving efficiency and bringing down the total cost of ownership."

MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation, a leading server platform design manufacturer and a subsidiary of MiTAC Holdings Corporation, today announced the launch of its latest server systems and motherboards powered by the latest Intel Xeon 6 with P-core processors. These industry-leading processors are designed for compute-intensive workloads, providing up to twice the performance for the widest range of workloads including AI and HPC.

Driving Innovation in AI and High-Performance Computing
"For over a decade, MiTAC Computing has collaborated with Intel to push the boundaries of server technology, delivering cutting-edge solutions optimized for AI and high-performance computing (HPC)," said Rick Hwang, President of MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation. "With the integration of the latest Intel Xeon 6 P-core processors our servers now unlock groundbreaking AI acceleration, boost computational efficiency, and scale cloud operations to new heights. These innovations provide our customers with a competitive edge, empowering them to tackle demanding workloads with superior empower our customers with a competitive edge through superior performance and an optimized total cost of ownership."

LG Electronics USA (LG) today announced pricing and pre-order availability of its 2025 AI-enabled LG gram lineup, the company's first on-device AI-laptops powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 2 CPUs. Introduced at CES 2025, the new lineup includes the LG gram Pro Z90TP ($1999 to $2399), LG gram Pro Copilot+PC Z90TS ($1849 to $2399), LG gram Pro 2-in-1 T90TP ($1999 to $2399) and LG gram Copilot+PC Z90TL ($1999 to $2399). Leveraging LG's gram AI technology, and cloud AI capabilities powered by GPT-4o, these laptops deliver impressive hybrid AI performance while preserving the LG gram's iconic slim and lightweight design.

Throughout the duration of the pre-order period (Feb. 24, 2025 to March 23, 2025), customers will receive an LG gram +view IPS portable monitor (349.99 value) at no additional cost and $200 savings on select models. All standard terms of purchase apply.

MSI is excited to partner with SEGA for an exclusive limited-time offer! From February 20 to March 20, 2025, customers who purchase selected MSI Z890 Series Motherboards will receive a FREE Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii game key. Dive into the pirate adventure and level up your gaming experience today!

About Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Step into the boots of a pirate with no memory and a fierce desire to uncover your past. Sail the dangerous, treasure-filled seas of Hawaii, battling ruthless enemies and forging alliances. Every decision shapes your journey - recruit a crew, hijack ships, and explore the lawless island of Madlantis. With thrilling combat, a gripping story, and unforgettable characters, this is a world where danger and treasure await at every turn. The fate of the seas is in your hands - will you conquer the waves, or be lost to the tides forever?

A Bloomberg report said Silver Lake Management, a large private equity firm, has begun exclusive talks to buy a controlling stake in Intel's Altera division. Altera focuses on versatile chips that are widely used in telecommunications networks. The size of the stake is still being worked out, but negotiations have moved forward, people familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity. They caution that things could slow down or the deal might not happen. When asked, people speaking for Intel and Silver Lake did not comment.

The news jolted the market, sending Intel shares up as much as 17% on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, marking their biggest single-day gain in nearly five years. The surge was driven in part by separate speculation about a potential spinoff involving Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). By late afternoon trading in New York, Intel shares were up 15%, valuing the company at about $117 billion. If the sale goes through, it would mark a major shift for Intel as it tries to reshape its business. While there is no information on the size of the deal, last November Lattice Semiconductor Corp. and a group of buyout firms expressed interest in Altera. Some insiders said that potential buyers valued Altera at just $9 billion, a big drop for Intel, which bought Altera in 2015 for about $17 billion. Intel faces continued challenges following Gelsinger's departure, as the company searches for both a new CEO and a replacement for its Data Center and AI division head, who recently left to become Nokia's chief executive.

Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY), together with its subsidiaries ('the Group'), today announced Q3 results for fiscal year 2024/25, reporting significant increases in overall group revenue and profit. Revenue grew 20% year-on-year to US$18.8 billion, marking the third consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. Net income more than doubled year-on-year to US$693 million (including a non-recurring income tax credit of US$282 million) on a Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards (HKFRS) basis. The Group's diversified growth engines continue to accelerate, with non-PC revenue mix up more than four points year-on-year to 46%. The quarter's results were driven by the Group's focused hybrid-AI strategy, the turnaround of the Infrastructure Solutions Group, as well as double-digit growth for both the Intelligent Devices Group and Solutions and Services Group.

Lenovo continues to invest in R&D, with R&D expenses up nearly 14% year-on-year to US$621 million. At the recent global technology event CES 2025, Lenovo launched a series of innovative products, including the world's first rollable AI laptop, the world's first handheld gaming device that allows gamers free choice of Windows OS or Steam OS, as well as Moto AI - winning 185 industry awards for its portfolio of innovation.

This new generation of PCs, introduced in December 2023 with the Intel Core Ultra processor family, combines the power of a central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU) and neural processing unit (NPU) to elevate user productivity, creativity, gaming, entertainment, security and more.

Powerful hardware that delivers the performance needed for modern-day artificial intelligence (AI) workloads is only part of what makes a great PC an AI PC. The big opportunity for the PC industry is clear: develop new AI software and new user experiences that take advantage of this modern hardware. Finding fast, efficient ways to create new AI assistants that help with everyday tasks is the next frontier for making AI PCs deliver the best AI experience. At CES Las Vegas in January, Intel unveiled Intel AI Assistant Builder (code-named Project SuperBuilder). It's a fuss-free solution that enables computer makers and software vendors to create tailored AI assistants for any use case in minutes.

Sparkle, a notable Intel GPU board partner, introduced its dual-fan GUARDIAN custom design late last year. The Taiwan-based manufacturer's Arc B570 GUARDIAN 10 GB model launched mid-way through January—on day one, TechPowerUp's W1zzard awarded this particular card with "Highly Recommended" and "Great Value" badges. In a December leak, Sparkle's roadmap revealed Sparkle's plans for an upcoming Arc B580 GUARDIAN 12 GB SKU. A launch window was not denoted, but the new card would seemingly arrive after the early 2025 release of Sparkle's B580 TITAN Luna OC model. VideoCardz and its network of observers have detected a new listing on the official Sparkle website; signalling the B580 GUARDIAN's arrival.

Sparkle's Arc B580 GUARDIAN graphics card seems to be available for purchase in the United Kingdom, at the time of writing. CCL Computers and AWD IT have units in-stock at their respective warehouses, ready for immediate shipping. Both e-tailers have priced their offerings at £289.99 (including VAT), AWD has kindly knocked off £10 from their original demand of £299.99. Overclockers UK has a pre-order listing, coming in at a very reasonable £274.00 (incl. VAT). The Sparkle Arc B580 GUARDIAN 12 GB model conforms to Intel reference specifications, so global costs of ownership are likely sticking close to baseline MSRP.

Last December, Intel revealed that its next-generation "Celestial" GPU architecture was "complete." At the time, Team Blue's Tom "TAP" Petersen revealed: "our IP that's kind of called Xe3, which is the one after Xe2, that's pretty much baked... And so the software teams have a lot of work to do on Xe3. The hardware teams are off on the next thing (aka Xe4/Druid), right." Noted Intel inside info leaker—Raichu—believes that "Celestial" will be: "different from Panther Lake, Celestial dGPU looks like will maybe be based on Xe3P instead of Xe3. I estimate it will (be) based on INTC's process instead of outside." Their Friday evening (February 14) social media declaration suggests that Team Blue is bringing things in-house for the manufacturing of discrete "Celestial" graphics cards; utilizing an Intel Foundry node process, rather than rely on TSMC once more. The latter's foundry produced the Arc "Alchemist" and "Battlemage" dGPU generations.

Intel's rumored "Xe3P" architecture is not a fully known quantity, but reports from last November pointed to the existence of multiple "Xe3" variants; courtesy of information gleaned from an employee's LinkedIn profile. Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed plenty of leaks alluding to future Intel CPU families, but the flow of Arc graphic solutions-related leaks seemingly slowed down around the launch of Intel's budget-friendly "Battlemage" B570 card. Recent-ish insider disclosures have uncovered a possible expansion of the current-gen Arc series, with more SKUs rumored to be on the way. A certain group of industry watchdogs reckon that the unannounced "BGM-G31" GPU will be the basis for higher-end "Battlemage" B-series models, but others believe that options above B580 and B570 are canceled—potentially paving the way for "Xe3P-based" C-series designs later this year, or in 2026.

According to sources close to the Wall Street Journal, Intel is weighing preliminary acquisition offers that could split the company into two parts: product and foundry. TSMC and Broadcom are independently exploring deals that would divide Intel's chip design and manufacturing operations. Broadcom has initiated informal discussions regarding Intel's chip design and marketing divisions, while TSMC is considering assembling an investor consortium to acquire Intel's facilities. This solution is improbable, as Intel's fabs are strategically one of the most critical aspects of the US semiconductor supply chain. Intel manufactures custom chips for the US Department of Defense; hence, having a foreign owner of fabs is not acceptable. The news about the acquisition comes as Intel grapples with manufacturing setbacks, including a total $13.4 billion loss in its foundry segment during 2024 and a significant erosion of market share in the AI processor market.

The acquisition talks face substantial regulatory hurdles, particularly regarding national security concerns. The US government has signaled resistance to foreign ownership of Intel's domestic manufacturing capabilities, which are deemed strategically vital to American technological sovereignty. This could particularly impact TSMC's bid for Intel's plants despite the Taiwanese company's position as the world's leading contract chipmaker. Intel's vulnerability to acquisition follows a series of strategic missteps under former leadership, including delayed manufacturing innovations and an increasing reliance on government subsidies for facility expansion. The company's share price has declined 60% from its 2021 highs amid these challenges, attracting potential buyers despite the complexity of any potential deal structure. Successful execution would require navigating both regulatory approval and the practical difficulties of disaggregating Intel's deeply integrated design and manufacturing operations.

The ASUS NUC 13 Pro lineup of mini PCs has been around for a while, and has now been updated with new Raptor Lake-H CPU options. There do not appear to be any other improvements or changes to the systems, with the product continuing to be available in "tall" and "slim" variants. As one might expect, the tall variant has room for a 2.5-inch drive, while the slim variant relies solely on M.2 storage. Both the systems can be equipped with up to 64 GB of DDR4-3200 memory courtesy of dual SO-DIMM slots, and storage requirements are taken care of by an M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0x4, as well as an M.2 2242 PCIe 3.0x1 slot.

In terms of CPU options, the NUC 13 Pro mini PC lineup will now be available with the Core i5-13420H, and the Core i7-13620H. Both are 45-watt units, although the i7 variant sports two additional 'Golden Cove' performance cores allowing for a ~35% increase in multicore performance. The i7 also sports a substantially faster iGPU with 64 EUs (vs 48), although the Intel UHD iGPUs found in the Raptor Lake-H chips were never that powerful to begin with. The port selection has remained the same, boasting dual Thunderbolt 4, dual HDMI 2.1, triple USB 3.2 Gen 2, single USB 2.0, audio jack, and a 2.5G Ethernet port. Prices start at $455 for the NUC 13 Pro slim barebones variant with the Core i7-13620H according to B&H Photo Video's listing, and increase based on the chosen configuration.

In an exclusive report, Laptop Mag has extracted intriguing disclosures from Intel's Robert Hallock. The company's VP and General Manager of Client AI and Technical Marketing was happy to announce that new-generation processors are lined up for inclusion within next waves of handheld gaming PCs. Industry rumors posited that things would end with Team Blue's Core Ultra "Lunar Lake" generation of APUs; as featured on the recently deployed MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ models. First-generation devices with "Meteor Lake" chips did not disrupt the market, and struggled to keep up with AMD Ryzen Z1 chipset-based rivals. Despite negative conjecture suggesting a withdrawal, Hallock revealed that a certain department is growing in size: "Intel is beefing up its staff to support gaming ISVs who want to do handhelds."

Team Blue's fortified support network is touted to expand the market reach of portable gaming PCs; the Intel executive elaborated on this topic: "we're starting a number of internal programs to give them more assistance in targeting this performance profile because—relative to what they're accustomed to—(handhelds) are still relatively rare in terms of availability." Hallock and colleagues are diving in with a new strategy; game development studios are on the receiving end of pre-release hardware: "a lot of game devs tend to just target what they have on their desks or in their QA labs...so (we're) arming them with more handhelds as prototype devices. Getting them dev kits leading into Panther Lake."

Thanks to a well-known industry leaker, Jaykihn, Intel's Panther Lake-H processor family, built on the 18A process node, features three distinct configurations, with several power profiles for each case. The flagship model combines four "Cougar Cove" P-cores, eight "Skymont" E-cores, and four LPE cores alongside a 12-core Xe3 "Celestial" GPU. This variant supports LPDDR5X memory exclusively and delivers 180 TOPS of computational power for local AI workloads, operating at 25 W PL1 (base) and 64 W PL2 (turbo) power levels. Secondary configurations include a 4P+8E+4LP+4Xe3 model and a 4P+0E+4LP+4Xe3 variant, both rated at 100 TOPS and supporting both LPDDR5X and DDR5 memory.

The entry-level model operates at 15 W PL1 with 44 W PL2 in baseline mode, scaling to 25 W PL1 and 55 W PL2 in performance mode. All variants feature Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, with high-end models incorporating expanded PCIe 5.0 lane configurations. The integrated Xe3 graphics architecture scales from four to 12 cores across the product stack, with the top SKU eliminating DDR5 compatibility in favor of LPDDR5X optimization. The Panther Lake processor family is slated for launch within the latter half of 2025, and it will be the company's leading 18A product. As a "Lunar Lake" successor, Panther Lake will deliver improved IPC and optimization for new cores in the same device form-factor like laptops, ultrabooks, and handhelds.

The EU could influence the mobile phone industry to ditch bundling wall chargers with their phones, and got them to standardize the USB-C connector, with the goal of minimizing the number of wall chargers people would have to own, which could last years, spanning many phones. It even got Apple to ditch its proprietary Lightning connector in favor of USB-C. The European Commission could be turning its attention to the way products such as desktop PC processors are sold in the retail channel. In the OEM channel, things are golden—processors are sold by the 1,000 units in trays that aren't all that different from the way eggs are sold to restaurants. In the retail channel, these processors put on elaborate packaging material that includes boxes that are about 20 times the size of the processor itself, and include stock cooling solutions that can run the processors at stock settings.

This could change, as the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) came into effect on February 11, 2025. This regulation gives manufacturers an 18-month grace period for compliance, and it affects desktop processor packaging in the retail channel. The first casualty will be special edition or flagship SKUs that come with swanky acrylic packaging, like Intel's large dodecahedron that shipped with the Core i9-9900K. Intel has already made the switch, and its current flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K, comes in much simpler paperboard boxes. AMD's flagship processors also comply, as they come in compact paperboard boxes even for the top Ryzen 9 9950X. Then there's the issue of stock CPU coolers included in these boxes, at least for the 65 W processor models.

Unannounced Intel processor families have emerged online over the past week—one source, Jaykihn, has unearthed a treasure trove of speculative mobile SKUs. Today's discovery pushes into the enterprise market segment; focusing on Team Blue's "Granite Rapids-W" (GNR-W) platform, likely equipped with Redwood Cove cores. The latest leak suggests an upcoming emergence of "Mainstream" and "Expert" workstation-oriented product tiers, allegedly prepared with the company's rumored W890 motherboard chipset. Past generations of "Xeon W" HEDT processor families have rolled out with entry-level and high-end offerings.

The leaker reckons that the mainstream Intel Granite Rapids-W "Xeon W" lineup will arrive with 4-channel memory support and 80 PCIe Gen 5 Lanes. Team Blue's higher-end "Expert" tier is anticipated with 128 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and 8-channel memory support. In addition to leaking processor information, Jaykihn outlined basic details regarding the W890 chipset—they believe that board designs will have access to 24 PCIe Gen 4 lanes, as well as 8 Gen 4 lanes for Intel's proprietary link (DMI) between northbridge and southbridge. The leaker did not divulge details of upcoming socket types—Team Blue is notorious for its elaborate rollout out of multiple LGA platforms.

Intel experienced another leadership setback on Monday when Justin Hotard, who led its Data Center and AI (DCAI) division said he was leaving to become Nokia's CEO. Hotard joined Intel in early 2024 and worked there for just over a year. He will take over from Pekka Lundmark at Nokia on April 1. In his short time at Intel, Hotard oversaw the release of Intel's Sierra Forest E-core and Granite Rapids P-core Xeon 6 platforms. These helped Intel catch up to AMD in core count for the first time since 2017. Intel has temporarily appointed Karin Eibschitz Segal, an 18-year company veteran and co-CEO at Intel Israel, as the interim chief of DCAI.

However, Justin Hotard's exit comes as the DCAI division faces several problems. Not long ago, Intel said it would push back the launch of its next-generation Clearwater Forest Xeons to the first half of 2026 blaming low demand. The company also scrapped its Falcon Shores accelerators to focus on a future rack-scale platform called Jaguar Shores. These setbacks came after Intel fellow Sailesh Kottapalli left for Qualcomm last month. Kottapalli had worked at Intel for 28 years and played a key role in developing many Xeon server processors.

Intel today released the latest version of its Arc GPU Graphics Drivers. Version 101.6559 WHQL adds Game On driver-optimization for "Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii," with the optimization covering the Arc B-series, A-series, and Core Ultra processors with Arc iGPUs. The drivers also add optimization for "Avowed," covering the B-series and A-series discrete GPUs. Performance for Arc B-series GPUs has been improved for "Senua's Saga: Hellblade II," with up to 5.9% increase in framerates to be had at 1080p with High settings.

Among the issues fixed with this release are flickering seen with Arc A-series discrete GPUs, Core Ultra Series 1 and Series 2 processor iGPUs in Adobe After Effects, specifically in its Preview window. "Horizon Zero Dawn remastered" experiencing a crash with frame generation enabled on Core Ultra Series 2 processors with Arc graphics, has been fixed. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.6559 WHQL