Both pictures and videos of a partial teardown of Apple's recently launched Mac mini with the M4 SoC have appeared online courtesy of various Chinese sources. There are at least two interesting parts to these partial teardowns and they're related to storage and WiFi. On the storage front, Apple has moved away from having soldered NAND chips straight on the main PCB of the Mac mini, to instead having them on a custom PCB which is similar to M.2, but a custom Apple design. The PCB pictured contained a pair of 128 GB NAND chips and with the source of the teardown being from China, there's also a video showing a repair shop desoldering the two chips and replacing them with two 1 TB chips, or in other words, the SSD was upgraded from 256 GB to 2 TB.

The upgrade brought with it some extra performance as well, even if the write speed remained at a comparatively slow 2900 MB/s, the read speed went up from 2000 MB/s to 3300 MB/s which is a significant gain in performance. This is obviously not a consumer friendly upgrade path, but we'd expect to see third party upgrade options at some point in the future, assuming there's no black listing of third party storage modules. The NAND controller is still likely to be integrated into Apple's SoC, but the PCB that the NAND flash chips are mounted onto appears to have some kind of SPI flash on it as well, which might make third party upgrades a lot harder.

Gigabyte, the world's leading computer brand, proudly announces that the AORUS Z890 series motherboards are now officially available for purchase. Designed to maximize the performance of the latest Intel Core Ultra processors, the groundbreaking D5 Bionic Corsa technology was introduced along with advanced thermal management and optimized power design on these boards. GIGABYTE's continuous partnership with HWiNFO further enhances the boards with real-time monitoring of CPU vCore power phase outputs and efficiency. With these powerful boards now on sale, users can enjoy unmatched performance and seamless customization, making them the ideal platform for enthusiasts and professionals.

D5 Bionic Corsa is the core technology for AORUS Z890 series motherboards, which leverages AI-enhanced innovations across software, hardware, and firmware to boost DDR5 memory speeds to an unprecedented 9500+ MT/s. The AI SNATCH Engine, powered by advanced AI overclocking models, optimizes configurations for DDR5 XMP memory and CPUs, enabling up to 20% faster speeds. With XMP AI BOOST and CPU AI BOOST, users can achieve world-class overclocking performance with just one click. The AI-driven PCB Design enhances signal integrity by reducing reflection by 28.2%, while HyperTune BIOS fine-tunes the Memory Reference Code (MRC) for peak performance. The VRM Thermal Balance mechanism ensures heat dissipation across the VRM with a heatpipe design, while optimized PWM firmware balances current output for superior stability.

Intel today announced that its lead products on Intel 18A, Panther Lake (AI PC client processor) and Clearwater Forest (server processor), are out of the fab and have powered-on and booted operating systems. These milestones were achieved less than two quarters after tape-out, with both products on track to start production in 2025. The company also announced that the first external customer is expected to tape out on Intel 18A in the first half of next year.

"We are pioneering multiple systems foundry technologies for the AI era and delivering a full stack of innovation that's essential to the next generation of products for Intel and our foundry customers. We are encouraged by our progress and are working closely with customers to bring Intel 18A to market in 2025." -Kevin O'Buckley, Intel senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services

It feels that only a few days have passed since we announced the HatDrive! Nano, and there is much more in the pipeline that we're excited to share with you! Today, though, we have our Pineboards Ai Bundle (Hailo 8L) to whet your ever-hungry AI appetites, and we think you're going to love it.

Combining an M.2 2280 M-Key NVMe connection with an M.2 2230 A/E-Key connection pre-loaded with a Hailo-8L on a bottom-mounted Raspberry Pi 5 HAT enables you to get your AI fix whilst also being able to boot and make use of fast NVMe storage. This builds on the success of our ever-popular Raspberry Pi 5 AI HAT and Google Coral combinations, but massively bumps the processing power, enabling you to do so much more!

Today, we have the latest round of leaks that suggest that AMD's upcoming RDNA 4 graphics cards, codenamed the "RX 8000-series," might continue to rely on GDDR6 memory modules. According to Kepler on X, the next-generation GPUs from AMD are expected to feature 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory, marking the fourth consecutive RDNA architecture to employ this memory standard. While GDDR6 may not offer the same bandwidth capabilities as the newer GDDR7 standard, this decision does not necessarily imply that RDNA 4 GPUs will be slow performers. AMD's choice to stick with GDDR6 is likely driven by factors such as meeting specific memory bandwidth requirements and cost optimization for PCB designs. However, if the rumor of 18 Gbps GDDR6 memory proves accurate, it would represent a slight step back from the 18-20 Gbps GDDR6 memory used in AMD's current RDNA 3 offerings, such as the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX GPUs.

AMD's first generation RDNA used GDDR6 with 12-14 Gbps speeds, RDNA 2 came with GDDR6 at 14-18 Gbps, and the current RDNA 3 used 18-20 Gbps GDDR6. Without an increment in memory generation, speeds should stay the same at 18 Gbps. However, it is crucial to remember that leaks should be treated with skepticism, as AMD's final memory choices for RDNA 4 could change before the official launch. The decision to use GDDR6 versus GDDR7 could have significant implications in the upcoming battle between AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel's next-generation GPU architectures. If AMD indeed opts for GDDR6 while NVIDIA pivots to GDDR7 for its "Blackwell" GPUs, it could create a disparity in memory bandwidth performance between the competing products. All three major GPU manufacturers—AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel with its "Battlemage" architecture—are expected to unveil their next-generation offerings in the fall of this year. As we approach these highly anticipated releases, more concrete details on specifications and performance capabilities will emerge, providing a clearer picture of the competitive landscape.

SPARKLE unveiled its low-profile series around mid-January—this lineup included an Intel Arc A380 GENIE dual-fan/dual-slot model and an Arc A310 ECO (single-slot, single-fan config) card. Compact device expert/YouTuber, ETA Prime, has uploaded a fascinating video that covers a modification project that involved a hybridization of SPARKLE's latest low-profile graphics cards and a Minisforum MS-01 test system. SPARKLE has released various models based on Intel's "Alchemist" Arc A380 6 GB GPU, but their PCB design is shared across a range of cooling options. ETA Prime could not source an aftermarket lower-profile cooler for his SPARKLE A380 GENIE, so he resorted to cannibalizing the A310 ECO model for relevant parts.

The ECO's single-slot cooling solution was not well proportioned enough to make contact with the SPARKLE A380 GENIE's VRM, so ETA Prime had to "add an aftermarket heatsink." He sold the remaining unneeded pieces—A310 board and GENIE cooler—to a friend for $60. The resultant hybrid—the "world's first-ever single-slot Intel Arc A380"—was bunged into the SFF Minisforum MS-01 test system. Notable specs included the Intel Core i9-13900H CPU and 32 GB of DDR5-5200 RAM. ETA Prime utilized Acer's Predator BiFrost graphics card utility to "trick" in a stable 54 W power limit. 60-ish FPS performance results—with low-to-medium settings at 1080p across a selection of games—were promising, especially for a restrictive small form factor build. ETA Prime hopes that SPARKLE will launch a smaller A380 model in the future—alternatively a specialist firm could produce a nice aftermarket copper part.

EMTEK products rarely pop up on TPU's news section, but the GPU database contains a smattering of the South Korean manufacturer's Ampere-based GeForce RTX graphics card. VideoCardz has discovered an updated MIRACLE X3 White model—EMTEK's latest release is a GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB card. The triple-fan model seems to stick with NVIDIA's reference specifications—VideoCardz also noticed a physical similarity: "under the cooler shroud, the card boasts a non-standard U-shaped PCB, reminiscent of Team Green's Founders Edition. However, it remains uncertain whether EMTEK utilizes the same PCB as NVIDIA." The asking price—of ₩919,990—converts to around $680, when factoring in regional taxes. EMTEK's MIRACLE X3 cooling solution seems to be fairly robust—featuring four 6 mm heat pipes—so an adherence to stock clocks is a slight surprise. The company's GAMING PRO line includes a couple of factory overclocked options.

Altair, a global leader in computational intelligence, announced the upcoming release of Altair SimSolid for electronics, bringing game-changing fast, easy, and precise multi-physics scenario exploration for electronics, from chips, PCBs, and ICs to full system design. "As the electronics industry pushes the boundaries of complexity and miniaturization, engineers have struggled with simulations that often compromise on detail for expediency. Altair SimSolid will empower engineers to capture the intricate complexities of PCBs and ICs without simplification," said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer, Altair. "Traditional simulation methods often require approximations when analyzing PCB structures due to their complexity. Altair SimSolid eliminates these approximations to run more accurate simulations for complex problems with vast dimensional disparities."

Altair SimSolid has revolutionized conventional analysis in its ability to accurately predict complex structural problems with blazing-fast speed while eliminating the complexity of laborious hours of modeling. It eliminates geometry simplification and meshing, the two most time-consuming and expertise-intensive tasks done in traditional finite element analysis. As a result, it delivers results in seconds to minutes—up to 25x faster than traditional finite element solvers—and effortlessly handles complex assemblies. Having experienced fast adoption in the aerospace and automotive industries, two sectors that typically experience challenges associated with massive structures, Altair SimSolid is poised to play a significant role in the electronics market. The initial release, expected in Q2 2024, will support structural and thermal analysis for PCBs and ICs with full electromagnetics analysis coming in a future release.

PowerColor, a leader in innovative graphics card solutions, is proud to announce the launch of its latest marvel in the gaming world: the PowerColor RX 7900 XT Hellhound - Spectral White Edition. Following the overwhelming success of the 7800 XT Spectral White model, this new release brings the same unique design elements to the powerful Radeon 7900 XT series.

Spectral White Edition: A Symphony in White
The RX 7900 XT Hellhound Spectral White Edition is a testament to PowerColor's commitment to exceptional design and engineering. It features an all-white PCB, heatsink, and cooling solution, setting a new benchmark in graphics card aesthetics. This card is not just a performance powerhouse; it's a statement piece for any gaming setup, offering a pristine, unified look that white PC build enthusiasts will adore.

The PC master race has yielded many interesting activities for enthusiasts alike, with perhaps the pinnacle of activities being overclocking. Usually, subjects for overclocking include CPUs, GPUs, and RAM, with other components not actually being capable of overclocking. However, the enthusiast force never seems to settle, and today, we have proof of overclocking an off-the-shelf 2.5-inch SATA III NAND Flash SSD thanks to Gabriel Ferraz, a Computer Engineering graduate, and TechPowerUp's SSD database maintainer. He uses the RZX Pro 256 GB SSD in the video, a generic NAND Flash drive. The RZX Pro uses the Silicon Motion SM2259XT2 single-core, 32-bit ARC CPU running up to 550 MHz. It has two channels at 400 MHz, each with eight chip enable interconnects, allowing up to 16 NAND Flash dies to operate. The SSD doesn't feature a DRAM cache or support a host memory buffer. It has only one NAND Flash memory chip from Kioxia, uses BiCS FLASH 4 architecture, has 96 layers, and has 256 GB capacity.

While this NAND Flash die is rated for up to 400 MHz or 800 MT/s, it only ran at less than half the speed at 193.75 MHz or 387.5 MT/s at default settings. Gabriel acquired a SATA III to USB 3.0 adapter with a JMS578 bridge chip to perform the overclock. This adapter allows hot swapping of SSDs without the need to turn off the PC. He shorted two terminals in the drive's PCB to get the SSD to operate without its default safe mode. Mass Production Tools (MPTools), which OEMs use to flash SSDs, were used to change the firmware settings. Each NAND Flash architecture has its own special version of MPTools. The software directly shows control of the Flash clock, CPU clock, and output driving. However, additional tweaks like Flash IO driving with subdivisions need modifications. Control and Flash On-Die Termination (ODT) and Schmitt window trigger (referring to the Schmitt trigger comparator circuit) also needed a few modifications to make it work.

Yeston, Chinese GPU AIB, has posted a preview of its upcoming Sakura RTX 40 SUPER cards, featuring a white PCB, a first for SUPER cards. The current RTX 40 Sakura models are set to be updated to these SUPER variants, with no reported visual changes. The RTX 4070 (Ti) SUPER will adopt the older design first introduced with the RTX 30 series, featuring a color scheme of white, purple, blue, and adorned with sakura-inspired graphic designs. In addition to the RTX 4070 (Ti) SUPER, Yeston will also release the RTX 4080 SUPER, which is expected to be the highest-end Sakura model from the company at the time of its release. The only RTX 4090 in Yeston's lineup is a Deluxe edition. These new releases offer gamers an exceptional GPU design, particularly those who appreciate the unique aesthetic of the Sakura series. The white PCB is a notable feature that sets these cards apart in the market. More details about the release date, clock speeds, and pricing are expected to be announced soon.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of premium gaming hardware, today launched GeForce RTX 40 SUPER series graphics cards powered by NVIDIA ADA Lovelace architecture. Featuring AORUS, AERO, GAMING, EAGLE and WINDFORCE series, the lineup completely serves the needs for every customer, from gamers, creators, to AI developers.

The new GeForce RTX SUPER GPUs are the ultimate way to experience AI on PCs. Specialized AI Tensor Cores deliver up to 836 AI TOPS to deliver transformative capabilities for AI in gaming, creating and everyday productivity. PC gamers demand the very best in visual quality, and AI-powered NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) Super Resolution, Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction combine with ray tracing to offer stunning worlds. With DLSS, seven out of eight pixels can be AI-generated, accelerating full ray tracing by up to 4x with better image quality.

The recent U.S. government restrictions on AI hardware exports to China have significantly impacted several key semiconductor players, including NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel, restricting them from selling high-performance AI chips to Chinese land. This ban has notably affected NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4090 gaming GPUs, pushing them out of mainland China due to their high computational capabilities. In anticipation of these restrictions, NVIDIA reportedly moved a substantial inventory of its AD102 GPUs and GeForce RTX 4090 graphics cards to China, which we reported earlier. This could have contributed to the global RTX 4090 shortage, driving the prices of these cards up to 2000 USD. In an interesting turn of events, insiders from the Chinese Baidu forums have disclosed that specialized factories across China are repurposing these GPUs, which arrived before the ban, into AI solutions.

This transformation involves disassembling the gaming GPUs, removing the cooling systems and extracting the AD102 GPU and GDDR6X memory from the main PCBs. These components are then re-soldered onto a domestically manufactured "reference" PCB, better suited for AI applications, and equipped with dual-slot blower-style coolers designed for server environments. The third-party coolers that these GPUs come with are 3-4 slots in size, whereas the blower-style cooler is only two slots wide, and many of them can be placed in parallel in an AI server. After rigorous testing, these reconfigured RTX 4090 AI solutions are supplied to Chinese companies running AI workloads. This adaptation process has resulted in an influx of RTX 4090 coolers and bare PCBs into the Chinese reseller market at markedly low prices, given that the primary GPU and memory components have been removed.Below, you can see the dismantling of AIB GPUs before getting turned into blower-style AI server-friendly graphics cards.

Just over a month ago, Gigabyte launched a pair of white motherboards for Intel CPUs and now the company has quietly released a pair of white models for AMD CPUs. The two models are the B650 AORUS Elite AX Ice and the B650M AORUS Elite AX Ice, the main difference being the form factor, as the latter is a microATX board. Besides the white PCB, all of the heatsinks are silver/white in colour, although all the connectors on the boards are black, just as with the Intel boards. The rear I/O shield has also been given the white treatment to better fit into a white case.

However, the Ice boards are not identical in terms of specs to their older siblings, as Gigabyte has done a few minor changes that aren't noticeable at first look. Gigabyte has shifted away from using MTK/AMD and Intel WiFi cards and is now using the Realtek RTL8852CE on these new boards. We should mention that Gigabyte are using the RTL8852CE on later revisions of the black versions as well. It's currently unknown when these new boards will be available and how much they'll retail for.

According to SemiAccurate, Qualcomm is currently navigating through many challenges with its Oryon SoC for laptops. The current problem is that Qualcomm is insisting on integrating its own PMICs (Power Management Integrated Circuits), which are inherently designed for cell phones, causing significant compatibility and efficiency issues. This approach is reported to have led to escalated costs and disagreements with OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), seemingly hindering Qualcomm's foothold in the laptop sector. These PMICs are highlighted as unsuitable and highly priced, requiring the adoption of high-density interconnect (HDI) PCBs engineered explicitly for cell phones, thus not designed to meet the current requirements of laptops optimally. The subsequent spike in production costs has ignited conflicts with OEMs, with several contemplating withdrawing from the project.

In response to the rising tensions, Qualcomm is allegedly providing financial compensation to the OEMs, potentially leading to selling SoCs at cost. The only good thing is the reported success of Nuvia-based Oryon SoC. The silicon is perfect at A0 stepping, and performance is reportedly good. However, power usage and efficiency are still in question. Forcing OEMs to use proprietary PMICs will likely have far-reaching impacts on Qualcomm's market strategies and relationships with OEMs. With disputes like this, we expect that Qualcomm-powered laptops are nearing availability, and we could see them in the coming months.

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast components for gamers, creators, and PC builders, today launched the much anticipated latest addition to its award-winning memory line-up, DOMINATOR TITANIUM DDR5 memory. Built using some of the fastest DDR5 ICs alongside patented CORSAIR DHX cooling technology for improved overclocking potential, DOMINATOR TITANIUM continues the DOMINATOR legacy with a stunning design and blazing performance.

Sporting an elegant, fresh new aesthetic and built using premium materials and components, DOMINATOR TITANIUM DDR5 memory will be available for both Intel and AMD platforms, supporting Intel XMP 3.0 when paired with 12th and 13th-Gen Core processors or AMD EXPO for Ryzen 7000 CPUs. These technologies enable easy overclocking in just a couple of clicks on compatible platforms.

As a global provider of ultimate storage products and solutions, Hangzhou Hikstorage Technology Co.,Ltd.("Hiksemi") is committed to constantly exploring and inventing to meet the demand of consumers. Seeing that SSDs have emerged as the mainstream technology in digital data storage, Hiksemi has made full efforts in the field of PCIe 4.0 SSDs with the rich technical experience. Recently, Hiksemi has launched high-performance PCIe 4.0 SSD, FUTURE Series, designed for PC enthusiasts, gamers and content creators.

Just as the name FUTURE, this series is born to break limits and embrace the future. FUTURE SSD has faster speed, stronger performance, larger capacity, making users even more powerful in the world of game entertainment and content creation.

Sapphire has officially boarded the white PCB design train, a trend most popular within China's PC hardware market—the Hong Kong-based graphics card specialist is teasing its oddly named "Power Elves" custom cooling solution. They have decided to pair this new look with non-cutting edge silicon, namely AMD's Radeon RX 6500 XT GPU. The budget Navi 24 XT (RDNA 2) card looks to be cooled by a single fan and heatsink array housed within a shroud approximating a Mini-ITX form factor.

Sapphire appears to using its "Angular Velocity Fan Blade," as seen on its Radeon RX 7000-series PULSE and NITRO custom models, so it is somewhat odd that we are not seeing a new-ish RX 7600 GPU in fresh Polar Elves/all-white livery. Since the company is merely teasing this upcoming 4 GB model (at the time of writing) we can assume that it will be served by the normal single 8-pin power connector, and its name assignment suggests a factory overclock will be applied as standard.

Yeston introduced its first Game Ace RTX 40-series custom graphics card yesterday, with a product launch occurring soon after—only for the Chinese market it seems, so prospective Western buyers will have to carry out a few extra steps to acquire one. The GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Game Ace is yet another example of the company producing a white PCB-toting graphics card, albeit in the lower mid-range tier. Yeston has released white boards in the past—most notably for its high-end Sakura Sugar series RTX 4080 and RX 7900 XT models.

The Weibo announcement outlines that the RTX 4060 Ti Game Ace will costs around $432 - 460 (3099 - 3299 RMB), and it offers a simple 2-color lighting system: "the combination of pure white and light blue is fresh and soft, and with the blue LED, it will bring you a little coolness in this hot summer." Yeston's press release was lacking in terms of technical details, but the photos show a very basic looking card that lacks a dual-BIOS switch.

Zephyr has produced an NVIDIA GeForce custom graphics card that sports a very unique pink printed circuit board—bright and pastel colors have featured on cooling solutions in the past, but this new-ish product presents the first example of a PCB with a tinge of blush. Renowned hardware tipster harukaze5719 broke from his normal delivery of very cold and macho tech on social media, and shared his discovery of Zephyr's GeForce RTX 3060 Ti compact ITX card.

International buyers will be disappointed to learn that the pink Ampere card is a China market exclusive, with the company only offering a limited number of products on JD.com. VideoCardz notes that the card's specifications are not at all special, despite its interesting compact form factor and brightly toned cooling solution design. It is a non-overclocked model based on the older RTX 3060 Ti GDDR6 GPU variant with a standard 1750 MHz boost clock, 8 GB VRAM configuration, and a single 8-pin power connector.

The bipartisan Protecting Circuit Boards and Substrates Act of 2023 introduced by Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT-1) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA-16) finishes the job the CHIPS Act began by incentivizing investment in the domestic printed circuit board (PCB) industry. This bill is a necessary follow-on to the CHIPS Act: without a trusted, reliable domestic source of PCBs and substrates, computer chips don't connect to end use electronic devices.

Domestic PCB production shrunk over the past 20 years, falling from 30% to barely 4% of the world's supply. Ninety percent of the world's supply now comes from Asia…56% in China alone.

A memory mod for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 that doubles the amount of VRAM showed some impressive performance gains, especially in the most recent games. While the mod was more complicated than earlier ones, since it required some additional PCB soldering, the one tested game shows incredible performance boost, especially in the 1%, 0.1% lows, and the average frame rate.

Modding the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 to 16 GB VRAM is not a bad idea, since NVIDIA already planned a similar card (RTX 3070 Ti 16 GB), but eventually cancelled it. With today games using more than 8 GB of VRAM, it means that some RTX 30 series graphics card can struggle with pushing playable FPS. The modder benchmarked the new Resident Evil 4 at very high settings, showing that those additional 8 GB of VRAM is the difference between stuttering and smooth gameplay.

MSI released the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti SUPER 3X graphics card. This is basically the company using up left over inventory of its TriFrozr SUPRIM cooling solutions with an SKU that's likely to sell in higher volumes. Underneath the cooler is a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti "Ampere" GPU with GDDR6X memory type, instead of the GDDR6 that's standard to the RTX 3060 Ti. The board design of the SUPER 3X is identical to that of the MSI RTX 3070 SUPRIM, which means the company is reusing both the cooler and PCB to create this product. The backplate of the card even features leftover SUPRIM branding.

The MSI RTX 3060 Ti SUPER 3X offers identical clock speeds to the company's RTX 3060 Ti G6X Gaming X Trio graphics card, with 1845 MHz boost frequencies, compared to 1665 MHz reference. The GDDR6X memory ticks at 19 Gbps, which over the 256-bit memory interface yields an impressive 608 GB/s memory bandwidth that's on par with the RTX 3070 Ti. From the looks of it, the MSI RTX 3060 Ti SUPER 3X is a China-exclusive product.

On Monday 27 March U.S. President Joe Biden invoked the Defense Production Act in order to form a budget of $50 million, to be spent on domestic and Canadian production of printed circuit boards (aka PCBs). This move was deemed as important to matters of national defense, and technology has been cited as key part of North American security efforts. In a memo issued that day, Biden stated that without presidential action under the act: "United States industry cannot reasonably be expected to provide the capability for the needed industrial resource, material, or critical technology item in a timely manner."

PCBs form the basis of vital components that are integrated into military-purpose missiles and radars, in addition to electronics utilized for energy distribution and the nation's healthcare. The President continues to outline the importance of the Defense Production Act: "I find that action to expand the domestic production capability for printed circuit boards and advanced packaging is necessary to avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability."

Today, thanks to Yuuki_Ans on the Chinese Bilibili forum, we have more information about the upcoming "Avenue City" platform that powers Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest. Intel's forthcoming Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest Xeon processors will diverge the Xeon family into two offerings: one optimized for performance/core equipped with P-cores and the other for power/core equipped with E-cores. The reference platform Intel designs and shares with OEMs internally is a 16.7" x 20" board with 20 PCB layers, made as a dual-socket solution. Featuring two massive LGA-7529 sockets, the reference design shows the basic layout for a server powered by these new Xeons.

Capable of powering Granite Rapids / Sierra Forest-AP processors of up to 500 Watts, the platform also accommodates next-generation I/O. Featuring 24 DDR5 DIMMs with support for 12-channel memory, with memory speeds of up to 6400 MT/s. The PCIe selection includes six PCIe Gen 5 x16 links supporting CXL cache coherent protocol and 6x24 UPI links. Additionally, we have another piece of information that Granite Rapids will come with up to 128 cores and 256 threads in both regular and HBM-powered Xeon Max flavoring. You can see storage and reference platform configuration details on the slides below.