A DigiTimes Asia report posits that TSMC is preparing another VVIP foundry lane for Apple Inc.—insiders claim that the Taiwanese foundry giant is in the process of expanding production capacity into next generation 2 nm nanometer fields. This expensive and time consuming endeavor is only made possible with the reassurance of big customers being added to the foundry's order books. TSMC's 2 nm-class N2, N2P, and N2X process technologies are due in 2025 and beyond (according to recent presentation slides)—these advanced packages are set to drop with all sorts of innovations: nanosheet gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, backside power delivery, and super-high-performance metal-insulator-metal (SHPMIM). According to a DigiTimes source "Apple is widely believed to be the initial client to utilize the (next-gen) process."

Apple and NVIDIA were reported to be ahead of many important clients in the queue for TSMC's 3 nm process nodes, so it is not surprising to see old patterns repeat (according to industry rumors) again. Apple is expected to update its next generation iPhones, iPad, and Mac laptop product lines with more advanced Bionic and M-series chipsets in 2025. Last year's roster included a rollout of 3 nm TSMC silicon across Apple A17 Pro and M3 ARM-based processors.

MediaTek revealed its (now current generation) flagship Dimensity 9300 flagship mobile processor last November, but we are already hearing about its successor's foundation. Digital Chat Station published some early insights on their Weibo micro-blog—the tipster appears to have an inside track at MediaTek's system-on-chip R&D department. The imaginatively named "Dimensity 9400" chipset is reportedly earmarked for mass production chez TSMC, with the foundry's second generation 3 Nm process being the favored node—this information aligns with official announcements as well as industry rumors from last autumn. MediaTek's Dimensity 9300 sports a "one-of-a-kind All Big Core design," with no provision for puny efficiency units—built on TSMC's third generation 4 nm process with four ARM Cortex-X4 cores (going up to 3.25 GHz) and four Cortex-A720 cores (maximum 2.0 GHz).

Digital Chat Station reckons that the 9300's All Big Core configuration will carryover to its next generation sibling, albeit with some major upgrades. MediaTek hardware engineers are alleged to have selected ARM's latest and greatest CPU and Mali GPU designs—the Cortex-X5 core could be a prime candidate in the first category. The rumor mill has the next batch of flagship Exynos SoCs utilizing ARM's fifth generation design. Digital Chat Station proposes that more smartphone manufacturers could adopt a top-flight Dimensity 2024 chip, if its performance can match the closest rivals. Industry experts posit both MediaTek and Qualcomm choosing TSMC's N3E process for their upcoming flagship chipsets—this node apparently "offers improved cost-effectiveness and superior yields" when compared to the first generation N3B process (as ordered by Apple for its latest M and B-series SoCs). Dimensity 9400 is expected to take on Snapdragon 8 Gen 4—this could be a tough fight, given that Qualcomm's offering is set to debut with custom Oryon cores.

Intel presented its next generation Xeon "Clearwater Forest" processor family during September's Innovation Event—their roadmap slide (see below) included other Birch Stream platform architecture options. Earlier this week, Team Blue's software engineers issued a Linux kernel patch that contains details pertaining to codenamed projects: Sierra Forest, Grand Ridge and the aforementioned Clearwater Forest. All E-Core Xeon "Sierra Forest" processors are expected to launch around the middle of 2024—this deployment of purely efficiency-oriented "Sierra Glen" (Atom Crestmont) cores in enterprise/server chip form will be a first for Intel. The Sierra Forest Xeon range has been delayed a couple of times; but some extra maturation time has granted a jump from an initial maximum 144 E-Core count up to 288. The latest patch notes provide an early look into Clearwater Forest's basic foundations—it seems to be Sierra Forest's direct successor.

The Intel Xeon "Granite Rapids" processor family is expected to hit retail just after a Sierra Forest product launch, but the former sports a very different internal configuration—an all "Redwood Cove" P-Core setup. Phoronix posits that Sierra Forest's groundwork is clearing the way for its natural successor: "Clearwater Forest is Intel's second generation E-core Xeon...Clearwater Forest should ship in 2025 while the open-source Intel Linux engineers begin in their driver support preparations and other hardware enablement well in advance of launch. With engineers already pushing Sierra Forest code into the Linux kernel and related key open-source projects like Clang and GCC since last year, their work on enabling Sierra Forest appears to be largely wrapping up and in turn the enablement is to begin for Clearwater Forest. Sent out...was the first Linux kernel patch for Sierra Forest. As usual, for the first patch it's quite basic and is just adding in the new model number for Clearwater Forest CPUs. Clear Water Forest has a model number of 0xDD (221). The patch also reaffirms that the 0xDD Clearwater Forest CPUs are using Atom Darkmont cores."

OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, had a turbulent winter 2023 career moment, but appears to be going all in with his company's future interests. A Bloomberg report suggests that the tech visionary has initiated a major fundraising initiative for the construction of OpenAI-specific semiconductor production plants. The AI evangelist reckons that his industry will become prevalent enough to demand a dedicated network of manufacturing facilities—the U.S. based artificial intelligence (AI) research organization is (reportedly) exploring custom artificial intelligence chip designs. Proprietary AI-focused GPUs and accelerators are not novelties at this stage in time—many top tech companies rely on NVIDIA solutions, but are keen to deploy custom-built hardware in the near future.

OpenAI's popular ChatGPT system is reliant on NVIDIA H100 and A100 GPUs, but tailor-made alternatives seem to be the desired route for Altman & Co. The "on their own terms" pathway seemingly skips an expected/traditional chip manufacturing process—the big foundries could struggle to keep up with demand for AI-oriented silicon. G42 (an Abu Dhabi-based AI development holding company) and SoftBank Group are mentioned as prime investment partners in OpenAI's fledgling scheme—Bloomberg proposes that Altman's team is negotiating a $8 to 10 billion deal with top brass at G42. OpenAI's planned creation of its own foundry network is certainly a lofty and costly goal—the report does not specify whether existing facilities will be purchased and overhauled, or new plants being constructed entirely from scratch.

References to GFX1150 & GFX1151 targets have been spotted again—this time in a ROCm Github repository—by renowned hardware sleuth; Kepler_L2. These references were first spotted last summer, in an AMDGPU LLVM backend/compiler (reported by Phoronix)—industry experts immediately linked these target codes to next generation "Strix" APU families. The latest leak provides confirmation that the GFX1150 ID is tied to "Strix Point 1," while GFX1151 is an internal IP for "Strix Point Halo," or simply "Strix Halo." The freshly published ROCm Github's commit is titled: "Strix Halo Support and Strix support in staging," which corroborates previous rumors regarding Team Red's engineers being deep into development of Zen 5 (and RDNA 3.5)-based accelerated processing units.

AMD has published several processor product roadmaps with references to "Strix Point" next-gen APUs, with a targeted 2024 launch window. Their December 2023 "Advancing AI Event" confirmed that the "Strix Point" mobile family will sport "XDNA 2" NPUs—previous generation "Phoenix" and recently released "Hawk Point" processors are on the first iteration of XDNA (a spatial dataflow NPU architecture). It is speculated that a typical "Strix Point" laptop processor will pack 12 Zen 5 CPU cores and 16 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores. Team Red has kept quiet about "Strix Halo" (also known as "Sarlak") when conducting public-facing presentations—a loose 2025 launch window is being touted by the rumor mill. The most advanced examples could feature up to 16 Zen 5 CPU cores and 40 RDNA 3.5 GPU cores.

NVIDIA's intrepid CEO, Jensen Huang, has spent a fair chunk of January travelling around China—news outlets believe that Team Green's leader has conducted business meetings with very important clients in the region. Insiders proposed that his low-profile business trip included visits to NVIDIA operations in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. The latest updates allege that a stopover in Taiwan was also planned, following the conclusion of Mainland activities. Photos from an NVIDIA Chinese new year celebratory event have been spreading across the internet lately—many were surprised to see Huang appear on-stage in Shanghai and quickly dispense with his trademark black leather jacket. He swapped into a colorful "Year of the Wood Dragon" sleeveless shirt for a traditional dance routine.

It was not all fun and games during Huang's first trip to China in four years—inside sources have informed the Wall Street Journey about growing unrest within the nation's top ranked Cloud AI tech firms. Anonymous informants allege that leadership, at Alibaba Group and Tencent, are not happy with NVIDIA's selection of compromised enterprise GPUs—it is posited that NVIDIA's President has spent time convincing key clients to not adopt natively-developed solutions (unaffected by US Sanctions). The short hop over to Taiwan is reported not to be for R&R purposes—insiders had Huang's visiting key supply partners; TSMC and Wistron. Industry experts think that these meetings are linked to NVIDIA's upcoming "Blackwell" B100 AI GPU, and "supercharged" H200 "Hopper" accelerator. It is too early for the rumor mill to start speculation about nerfed versions of NVIDIA's 2024 enterprise products reaching Chinese shores, but Jensen Huang is seemingly ready to hold diplomatic talks with all sides.

News reports from Asia point to an ongoing price battle between major chip foundries in the region—sluggish market conditions in 2023 have caused the big industry names to adjust charges, in concerted efforts to retain customers. This situation has escalated in early 2024—news media outlets claim that mainland China-situated factories have plenty of new production capacity, and are therefore eager to get their order books filled. The reports point to: "Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), Hua Hong Semiconductor and Jinghe Semiconductor lowering the price of tape-out services to chip design companies in Taiwan." Industry insiders believe that several Taiwanese IC designers have jumped onto better deals, as offered by Chinese facilities—it is alleged that Samsung, GlobalFoundries, UMC and Powerchip have all experienced a worrying increase in customer cancellations (at the tail end of 2023). The loss of long-term clients has forced manufacturers—in South Korea and Taiwan—into a price war.

TrendForce's analysis of market trends stated: "Due to the mature manufacturing processes in China, unaffected by US export restrictions, the lowered wafer fabrication costs have become attractive to Taiwanese IC design companies seeking to enhance their cost competitiveness. Reports also indicate that this competitive pressure has forced Taiwan's foundries, UMC and PSMC, to follow suit by reducing their prices. UMC has lowered its 12-inch wafer foundry services by an average of 10-15%, while its 8-inch wafer services have seen an average price reduction of 20%. These price adjustments took effect in the fourth quarter of 2023." Samsung is reportedly slashing prices by ~10-15%, and is expressing a "willingness to negotiate" with key clients in early 2024. Reports state this is a major change in attitude for the South Korean chip giant—allegedly, leadership was unwilling to budge on 2023 tape-out costs. TrendForce reckons that TSMC's response was a bit quicker: "(having) already initiated pricing concessions last year, mainly related to mask costs rather than wafer fabrication. It was reported that these concessions primarily applied to the 7 nm process and were dependent on order volumes."

According to the report by Windows Central, Microsoft is preparing a major update for Windows 11, codenamed Hudson Valley, which is expected to be released later this year as "version 24H2" or the 2024 Update. This update is anticipated to be a substantial upgrade from last year's version 23H2, featuring performance, security, quality-of-life updates, and new features. The star of the 24H2 update is going to be the focus of next-generation AI experiences, a concept Microsoft has hinted at over the past year. Rumors suggest the introduction of an advanced Copilot that will leverage AI and machine learning to enhance the Windows user experience for improved productivity across apps, search, and more. According to sources, Microsoft is aiming for a September release window for version 24H2, with plans to finalize the update over the summer. Despite speculation that this update might be called "Windows 12" due to its alignment with next-gen AI PCs and experiences, sources indicate that it will likely remain a significant Windows 11 update, especially following the departure of ex-Windows chief Panos Panay.

Microsoft is currently testing some of the features of this next release in the Insider Canary Channel, providing a glimpse into the new features. The update will enhance Snap Layouts with machine learning, suggesting commonly snapped apps for a more streamlined user experience. File Explorer will now support the creation of 7zip and TAR compressed archive files, and PNG files will support viewing and editing metadata. The Quick Settings panel will be updated, allowing users to scroll through all available settings and include a new refresh button for the Wi-Fi list. Phone Link will also see improvements, including using a linked phone as a webcam. A new "Energy Saver" mode will be introduced, reducing system performance and saving energy on battery-powered and plugged-in PCs. General improvements include a new "Install drivers" button during the Wi-Fi setup page, the removal of several built-in Windows apps from the OS image, and a new "Windows protected print mode" for Mopria-certified printers.

A recent episode of XboxEra's podcast aired some interesting insider information about "Project Tatanka"—games industry spies believe that developer, Certain Affinity, initiated development of a Halo Battle Royale project at some point in 2020. The studio is best known for its ancillary work on many Call of Duty and Halo sequels—the most recent entry on their CV is Halo Infinite, a co-production with Microsoft's 343 Industries. The rumor mill proposes that work on "Project Tatanka" has ended prematurely, although early 2023 insights allege that Certain Affinity was instructed to take the shooter in a different direction. Many news sites have cited XboxEra Podcast episode no. 194 and its hosts as the origin of fresh cancellation claims. Jon "Sikamikanico" Clarke, co-founder and Editor in Chief of XboxEra, was not amused by these allegations.

Clarke's response stated: "What's hilarious to me, and certainly a big surprise to Nick (Shpeshal_Nick), is that this was a simple conversation, on the show, where we talking about someone else's (YouTuber ColtEastwood) discussion on a podcast...What's even more amusing is I even make a joke about overreactions to a rumored game..."we don't know—it's just the scuttlebutt out there. What's really depressing in all of this is that we're discussing someone else's discussion, and all the headlines at the other end are effectively 'Nick Baker reports Tatanka cancelled.' This is factually wrong. If we had corroborated, verifiable evidence and detail on this, I think it's pretty likely we'd do a report ourselves. We don't, so we haven't. There's a reason it's just a discussion on the podcast."

Last week Patrick Moorhead, CEO and founder of Moor Insights & Strategy, shared his insider sourced thoughts about ARM's next generation Cortex-X processor: "Blackhawk is planned to enable in smartphones shipping at the end of 2024. I think phones could be on the shelf a year from now at CES or maybe MWC." Moorhead believes that Cortex-X4's successor will be the most powerful option available at launch, which forms part of (ARM CEO) Rene Haas's strategy to "eliminate the performance gap between ARM-designed processors and custom ARM implementations." He believes that "this is a big and bold claim," since Apple is widely considered to rule the roost here with its cutting edge ARM-based Bionic designs. Moorhead's inside information has "Blackhawk" demonstrating the "largest year-over-year IPC performance increase in 5 years" citing undisclosed Geekbench 6 results.

He also presented evidence that the artificial intelligence processing is a key focus: "I am hopeful these performance goals translate to app performance as well. ARM also believes that Blackhawk will provide "great" LLM performance. I will assume that this has to do with big CPU IPC performance improvements as ARM says that its Cortex CPU is the #1 AI target for developers...The NPU and GPU can be an efficient way to run AI, but a CPU is the easiest and most pervasive way, which is why developers target it. A higher-performing CPU obviously helps here, but as the world moves increasingly to smaller language models, Arm's platform with higher-performing CPU and GPU combined with its tightly integrated ML libraries and frameworks will likely result in a more efficient experience on devices."

Insider information emerging from an LG Display manufacturing plant points to OLED screen production ramping up in the coming months for fitting on next generation Apple iPad Pro models. According to Korea's The Elec, LG as well as rival Samsung's Display division are about to begin production on thin film transistor (TFT) layering for prosumer iOS-driven tablets. LG is allegedly contracted to manufacture upcoming 13-inch iPad Pro display tech, while Samsung is tasked with producing an 11-inch parts. The Korean report proposes that Apple is hoping to get its 13-inch and 11-inch OLED iPad Pro models into a mass production phase by March. Industry insiders think that M3 (ARM-based) chipsets are a natural choice to power these devices.

An Apple analyst—Ming-Chi Kuo—reckons that OLED-equipped iPad Pro models are scheduled for a second quarter 2024 launch, which lands anywhere between April to June. The multinational technology company had a sluggish 2023, in terms of hardware sales, and is likely keen to generate interest with its next-gen iPad Pro range—the addition of OLED technology (a first for Apple tablets) seems to be a key strategy. Mac Rumors believes that: "Apple's OLED iPad Pro shipments forecast for the year have reportedly decreased to 8 million units, down from the 10 million units that were projected for 2024 last year. The reduction is said to be a reflection of broadly sluggish performance across Apple's product lineup. Apple did not release any new iPad models last year, so it will be interesting to see if pent-up demand can offset poor sales."

AMD concentrated on the promotion of new Zen 4-based APU products at last week's CES trade show, and they even lobbed in a couple of new Zen 3 offerings for PC enthusiasts who are more than happy to stick with Team Red's last generation AM4 socket. Future-focused folks were a little bit disappointed with Team Red keeping quiet about their next-generation "Zen 5" CPUs at CES 2024—one seeker of information, Peter Weltzmaier, turned to a notorious source of hardware leaks on X. Kepler has a decent track record of providing accurate inside tracks—and they more than happy to address Weltzmaier's query regarding the status of AMD's upcoming "Granite Ridge" desktop CPU series.

Kepler believes that Granite Ridge has reached the mass production phase, but did not provide any further elaboration beyond a brief reply on social media—this information should be taken with a grain of salt. We have not heard a lot about Granite Ridge processors since last November, with AMD choosing to not preview next-gen desktop processors at a December "Advancing AI" event. The rumor mill proposed that XDNA-based Ryzen AI acceleration will not be a key feature present on Granite Ridge and a mobile-oriented derivative called "Fire Ridge."

NVIDIA revealed basic price guides for GeForce RTX-40 SUPER graphics cards at the recently concluded CES 2024 trade show, but their board partners largely stayed coy about figures for customized options (review embargoes will be lifted soon). ZOTAC broke the mold later on in the week, with press material updated to reflect that non-overclocked models will adhere to Team Green's basic MSRP. However, premium charges for overclocked SUPER Twin Edge OC, AMP HOLO, Trinity OC and AMP Extreme AIRO cards remain a mystery. VideoCardz decided to conduct some weekend detective work, and fiddled around on Newegg and Best Buy online stores—although the focus shifted to other brands/manufacturers.

Workaround methods were implemented in order to prematurely extract card prices, before NVIDIA's staggered schedule of reveals for customized versions of the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, RTX 4070 Ti SUPER and RTX 4080 SUPER GPUs (throughout January). The leaked results show that GIGABYTE and PNY have custom overclocked GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER models targeting base MSRP at $599, while MSI has several options exceeding that base level—ranging from $10 to $50 premiums. GIGABYTE's GAMING OC card also tops the table at $649. Jumping up to the GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER tier, we see a GIGABYTE Gaming OC model sitting at $849.99 and an MSI VENTUS 3X OC going for $899.99. The sole custom GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER within the VideoCardz article appears to be an MSI VENTUS 3X OC; we are witnessing a $100 extra tacked on for this design.

AMD's Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000 "Storm Peak" CPU series has not received any form of official announcement—we have relied solely on leaks to find out nitty-gritty details about Team Red's Zen 4-based follow-up to the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 lineup. Pre-release samples have been landing online at an increased rate—courtesy of benchmark suite database leaks—with various news sites theorizing that AMD is preparing for an autumn launch window. This prediction is seemingly coming into focus, according to the latest information from insiders at AMD and connected supply chains.

Wccftech reckons that an October 19 launch day has been pencilled in: "Our sources have told us that AMD is all set to unveil its Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7000 CPU family on the 19th of October. This marks more than 1.5 years since the introduction of the Zen 3-based Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 CPUs. The new processors will once again be primarily positioned in the premium workstation segment with limited DIY availability. OEMs will be offering their pre-built designs along with DIY TRX50 motherboards from various manufacturers."

Pierre Ferragu, the Global Technology Infrastructure chief at New Street Research, has predicted a very positive 2025 financial outcome for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). A global slowdown in consumer purchasing of personal computers and smartphones has affected a number of companies including the likes of NVIDIA and AMD—their financial reports have projected a 10% annual revenue drop for 2023. TSMC has similarly forecast that its full year revenue for 2023 will settle at $68.31 billion, after an approximate 10% fall. Ferragu did not contest these figures—via his team's analysis—TSMC is expected to pull in $68 billion in net sales for this financial year.

The rumor mill has TSMC revising its revenue guidance for a third time this year—but company leadership has denied that this will occur. New Street Research estimates that conditions will improve next year, with an uptick in client orders placed at TSMC's foundries. Ferragu reckons that TSMC could hit an all-time revenue high of $100 billion by 2025. His hunch is based on the upcoming spending habits of VIP foundry patrons encompassing: "a bottom-up perspective, looking at how TSMC's top customers, which we all know very well, will contribute to such growth." The Taiwanese foundry's order books are reported to be filling up for next year, with Apple and NVIDIA seizing the moment to stand firmly at the front of the 3 nm process queue.

Retailers in East Asia have reportedly chosen to go live with marketing imagery depicting Intel's initial batch of 14th Gen Core SKUs—this is roughly two weeks ahead of an official October 17 "Raptor Lake Refresh" product launch. A couple of "official" slides have been forwarded to VideoCardz—the information on display provides a quick overview of basic specifications for Core i9, Core i7 and Core i5 models. The 6 GHz clock and 24 core configuration is believed to be the upcoming flagship Core i9-14900K SKU. The Core i7-14700K would fit the bill of sporting a 5.6 GHz and 20-core setup—leaked marketing info confirms that this new model has been bolstered with an additional four Gracemont E-cores. The Core i5-14600K seems to align with the 5.3 GHz and 14-core spec. A premature publication of information is not all that surprising—a couple of marketing slides breaking embargo is relatively minor when compared to actual working hardware getting demoed during summertime. ITHome reported on Raptor Lake Refresh and Meteor Lake appearing on the showroom floor at July's Bilibili World.

By error, over the weekend Canada Computers published prices of upcoming Raptor Lake Refresh desktop CPUs—a competing national store, PC-Canada, also prematurely leaked placeholder charges midway through September. Analysis of last month's figures revealed a 4% (on average) price hike over equivalent 13th Gen Core predecessors, although that information could be out-of-date by now. The numbers released by Canada Computers (now removed from their searchable database) are alleged to be closer to the final article, since we are nearing Intel's October 16th launch day of higher-end 14th Gen Core SKUs, comprised of K and KF variants.

A VideoCardz reader, Kithana, managed to log all of the gory details prior to Canada Computers removing all traces of embargo-busting data. Their news section has pored over the numbers: "A quick check reveals that new SKUs are expected to see an increase ranging from 0% to 7%. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the upcoming next-gen Core i5-14600KF is currently listed at the same price point as its predecessor, 13600KF, at $399 CAD. Notably, not present is the Core i9-14900K model on this list."

Gigabyte has reportedly requested that reviewers refrain from revealing too much about newly refreshed motherboards—TPU's Darksaber was invited to take a closer look at "next generation motherboards" in late August, but representatives were cautious to mutter anything too obvious or specific about Intel's oft-leaked Raptor Lake Refresh/14th Gen Core CPU lineup. Fast forward to recent happenings—VideoCardz believes that Gigabyte had prepped a bunch of new motherboard products to showcase in parallel with Team Blue's September Innovation event—many expected to see Raptor Lake Refresh unveiled to a great degree, but an official announcement was instead relegated to a 12-second long livestreamed segment.

The Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer/distributor has allegedly manoeuvred to avoid breaking its partner's embargoes—VideoCardz stated: "Consequently, Gigabyte had to request reviewers to conceal any details pertaining to the new CPU series on the packaging and motherboards they had received as initially intended." Their report includes various pieces of evidence (screenshots and video captures)—focusing on a slightly rejigged AORUS Z790 Master X motherboard, which seems to sport "Core 14th gen processors" livery.

Intel's Core i5-14600K CPU was benchmarked mid-September, courtesy of ECSM getting their hands on some engineering samples—these examples were put under strain through Cinebench R23, Cinebench 2024, and CPU-Z suites. The ever reliable Benchleaks has kept track of mid-range Raptor Lake Refresh processor leaks—late last week they pointed to a new entry on Geekbench Browser. PC hardware news outlets have reported that reviewers now possess pre-release silicon, so we should be expecting an increase in leaky activity over the next fortnight—Intel's official embargo will likely be lifted on the 14th Gen Core launch day (October 17). Team Blue's Core i5-14600K has popped up a few times via Geekbench 6.2 results—TestKT's build was running on stock settings, and hit a maximum clock of 5.3 GHz (K and KF variants), with an ASUS Z790 TUF PLUS motherboard accompanied by 32 GB of DDR5-5200 memory, while an anonymous bencher fielded a system sporting a Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master X mainboard and 48 GB DDR5-7600 RAM. The latter had some overclocking on the go; Geekbench 6.2 stats reported clocks reaching 5.7 GHz on the Core i5-14600K.

TestKT's stock 14600K achieved scores of 2819 in single-threaded, and 16666 multi-threaded. Their 14600KF scored 2779 and 16707 (respectively) on the same ASUS platform. The unnamed Gigabyte system wielder tallied 2861 (SC) and 17974 (MC) on an overclocked 14600K. VideoCardz noted that: "this represents a minor increase in single-core performance and approximately an 8% improvement in multi-threaded performance." They brought in a previously leaked higher-end CPU for comparative purposes: "Since the latter score is using the same (Gigabyte) system as in the Core i7-14700KF Geekbench leak, we can now conclude that Core i7 CPU will be at least 8% and 18% faster respectively than the Core i5 SKU. That's, of course, assuming both scores were using OC settings." We will have to wait until the publication of official reviews to find out whether these figures were produced on finalized silicon.

Intel's forthcoming Core Ultra 7 1002H "Meteor Lake" mobile CPU has been sighted a few times, thanks to samples turning up on the Geekbench Browser database. We are months away from the official launch day—December 14—but multiple models have been leaking out since late summer. Team Blue has used different designations for evaluation and qualification silicon—we can assume that another Ultra 7 165H appearing online (courtesy of Geekbench 6.1 tests) has concreted that nomenclature as the finished/final article. Model codes and hierarchy information were not made available at Intel Innovation 2023 (last week), where Team Blue reps discussed Meteor Lake's AI-crunching capabilities.

Leaked information shows the Core Ultra 7 1002H being nigh identical in terms of specifications (16 cores/22 threads) and engineering platform (MTL-P). Benchmarked results between the engineering sample (1002H) and Core Ultra 7 165H are pretty close—respectively: 2439 versus 2502 (single-core) and 12668 versus 12545 (multi-core). We are seeing a slight improvement in single-threaded performance, but the prototype edges out its newer counterpart by 123 points. Both units were benched on an "Intel Corporation Meteor Lake Client Platform," using balanced power plans in Windows 11 (Pro and Enterprise, respectively).

NVIDIA is reported to be on next year's 3 nm-class order book at TSMC, with the Blackwell GB100 data-center GPU marked down as an important production project. A DigiTimes insider piece proposes that Team Green has signed up for orders in the second half of 2024, giving TSMC some wiggle room to iron out alleged advanced packaging issues—but it is implied that Apple is already ahead in the queue. Inside sources have not spotted an Intel request for TSMC's advanced 3 nm process (still utilizing FinFET). Industry experts reckon that NVIDIA could be granted access to a customized node for its Blackwell product line, given their VIP status and special relationship with the leading Taiwanese foundry.

DigiTimes believes that the Blackwell GB100 (sporting a chiplet design) will be targeting a Q4 2024 launch window, therefore arriving before any competing next-gen technologies: "For NVIDIA, which monopolizes more than 80% of the AI GPU market, the next generation B100 will use TSMC's 3 nm...It will seize AI deployment business opportunities while the iron is hot and suppress AMD, Intel and other challengers." Team Red, MediaTek and Qualcomm could be next in the procession—it is claimed that unspecified next-gen EPYC server chips are due in 3 nm form.

Samsung seems to be preparing follow ups to its current selection of Portable T7 SSDs—the series debuted back in early 2020, so a couple of successors are more than due. Last week TechRadar started to pick up on various retail listings popping up in Australia, France and the Netherlands. This information was posted online prematurely and by mistake—the involved organizations have since removed entries from their web stores. Samsung's Dutch division has been slow to respond, and its portal for a "MU-PG2T0B" model is still active (at the time of writing). France's Grosbill and P12.fr had listings for two T9 variants (1 TB and 2 TB configurations) sporting the aforementioned product code. Similar details appeared over in Australia, courtesy of the Microboss site. One of the French e-tailer spec sheets mentioned that Samsung's T9 SSD read and write speeds maxed out at 2 GB/s.

TechRadar believes that Samsung will be blowing out current T7 models during November's Black Friday sales week, in anticipation of clearing the way for all things T9. The publication managed to catch some (likely) placeholder prices from its sources, prior to removal: "There's also every chance it could be cheaper at launch than the T7, with PC12.fr retailing the T9 SSD for €236.52 including VAT (roughly $250) and Gosbill Pro retailing the device for just €199 (roughly $215) - though it's unclear if this is inclusive of taxes." There is also speculation regarding the integration of Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, since the older T7 generation relies on the preceding standard.

Panos Panay did not present at Microsoft's recent Windows event in New York City—his departure from the titanic technology corporation was announced on September 18; so only three days before an official unveiling of new Surface products. Panay and his (now former) executive colleagues painted a positive picture regarding the move onto pastures new. News reports emerged about an alleged high level hiring by Amazon, with Panay overseeing Alexa and Echo divisions—replacing Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices & Services. A Business Insider report suggests that Microsoft's former chief product officer was unhappy about budget cuts affecting his Surface division—certain insiders were not surprised when Panay announced his retirement from the big M.

The transfer to Amazon was in the works for a while, according to cited inside sources—Microsoft reportedly implemented a round of major budget cuts and product cancellations that did not sit well with Panay. The Surface department experienced "significant" downscaling, and plans for next-generation Surface Headphones were jettisoned. Business Insider proposed that funds had been reassigned to more important internal ventures—mainly artificial intelligence. Many folks were looking forward to Panay taking the stage in NYC earlier this week, but Brett Ostrum (Corporate Vice President of Surface Devices) ultimately acted as his replacement—with a showcasing of the company's latest portable Windows devices. Attendees were somewhat surprised to see Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella turn up as well—it is possible that he was added to the roster for "some extra firepower."

YuuKi_AnS has brought renewed attention to an already leaked Intel "Emerald Rapids" processor—the 5th Gen Xeon Platinum 8580 CPU was identified with 60 cores and 120 threads in a previous post, but a follow up has appeared in the form of an engineering prototype (ES2-Q2SP-A0). Yuuki noted: "samples are for reference only, and the actual performance is subject to the official version." Team Blue has revealed a launch date—December 14 2023—for its 5th Gen Xeon Scalable processor lineup, so it is not surprising to see pre-release examples appear online a couple of months beforehand. This particular ES2 SKU (on A0 silicon) fields an all P-Core configuration consisting of Raptor Cove units, with a dual-chiplet design (30 cores per die). There is a significant bump up in cache sizes when compared to the current "Sapphire Rapids" generation—Wccftech outlines these allocations: "Each core comes with 2 MB of L2 cache for up to 120 MB of L2 cache. The whole chip also features 300 MB of L3 cache which combines to offer a total cache pool of 420 MB."

They bring in some of the competition for comparison: "That's a 2.6x increase in cache versus the existing Sapphire Rapids CPU lineup and while it still doesn't match the 480 MB L3 cache of standard (AMD) Genoa or the 1.5 GB cache pool of Genoa-X, it is a good start for Intel to catch up." Team Blue appears ready to take on AMD on many levels—this week's Innovation Event produced some intriguing announcements including "Sierra Forest vs. Bergamo" and plans to embrace 3D Stacked Cache technology. Yuuki's small batch of screenshots show the Xeon Platinum 8580 CPU's captured clock speeds are far from the finished article—just a touch over 2.0 GHz, so very likely limited to safe margins. An unnamed mainboard utilizing Intel's Eagle Stream platform was logged sporting a dual-socket setup—the test system was running a grand total of 120 cores and 240 threads!

Microsoft Gaming's chief, Phil Spencer, has issued a public-facing response to the recent leak of potential upcoming Xbox products (2024 to 2028): "We've seen the conversation around old emails and documents. It is hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now, and in the future. We will share the real plans when we are ready." The information dump (in part) consisted of presentation material prepared for (internal) April 2022 meetings, so it is possible that the Xbox division has changed direction in the meantime. Spencer was also involved in an August 2020 discussion with Microsoft marketing executives, regarding a possible buyout of Nintendo—according to leaked FTC legal case material. It should be noted that Microsoft has made attempts to acquire Nintendo in the past—but their approaches were "laughed off."

The Verge has managed to obtain an email distributed to Microsoft employees, as sent out by an embattled Spencer—he reiterates his public messaging of "real plans" in the company memo: "I know this is disappointing, even if many of the documents are well over a year old and our plans have evolved...We all put incredible amounts of passion and energy into our work, and this is never how we want that hard work to be shared with the community. That said, there's so much more to be excited about, and when we're ready, we'll share the real plans with our players."