AMD has silently disabled the loop buffer feature in its Zen 4 processor architecture through an AGESA microcode update. This development, first reported by the website Chips and Cheese, affects the entire Ryzen 7000 series processors and related EPYC models. The loop buffer, a power-optimization feature capable of storing 144 entries (72 per thread with SMT enabled), was implemented for the first time in AMD's Zen 4 architecture but has been notably absent from the newer Zen 5 design. The feature's primary function was to allow the processor's front end to power down while maintaining operational efficiency. The change was discovered when testing an ASRock B650 PG Lightning motherboard paired with a Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor. Hardware performance monitoring showed the loop buffer was active in BIOS version 1.21 (AGESA 1.0.0.6) but ceased to function after updating to BIOS 3.10 with AGESA 1.2.0.2a.

In a performance test conducted by Chips and Cheese, we learned that there is no significant impact from the feature's deactivation, suggesting the existing op cache provides sufficient bandwidth for optimal processor operation. AMD's architectural design has historically relied on its op cache for similar functionality. The feature appeared experimental, given the lack of documentation and the absence of programming guides for loop buffer optimization. Unlike competitors Intel and Arm, who have extensively documented their loop buffer implementations, AMD's approach appeared less developed. While the exact reasoning behind the deactivation remains unclear, disabling undocumented features is a step in the right direction, mainly as future Zen architecture iteration doesn't rely on a loop buffer, as seen with Zen 5.

According to the market research firm Mercury Research, the desktop CPU market has witnessed a remarkable transformation, with AMD seizing a substantial 28.7% market share in Q3 of 2024—a giant leap since the launch of the original Zen architecture in 2017. This 5.7 percentage point surge from the previous quarter is a testament to the company's continuous innovation against the long-standing industry leader, Intel. Their year-over-year growth of nearly ten percentage points, fueled by the success of their Ryzen 7000 and 9000 series processors, starkly contrasts Intel's Raptor Lake processors, which encountered technical hurdles like stability issues. AMD's revenue share soared by 8.5 percentage points, indicating robust performance in premium processor segments. Intel, witnessing a decline in its desktop market share to 71.3%, attributes this shift to inventory adjustments rather than competitive pressure and still holds the majority.

AMD's success story extends beyond desktops, with the company claiming 22.3% of the laptop processor market and 24.2% of the server segment. A significant milestone was reached as AMD's data center division generated $3.549 billion in quarterly revenue, a new record for a company not even present in the data center in any considerable quantity just a decade ago. Stemming from strong EPYC processor sales to hyperscalers and cloud providers, along with Instinct MI300X for AI applications, AMD's acceleration of data center deployments is massive. Despite these shifts, Intel continues to hold its dominant position in client computing, with 76.1% of the overall PC market, held by its strong corporate relationships and extensive manufacturing infrastructure. OEM partners like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others rely heavily on Intel for their CPU choice, equipping institutions like schools, universities, and government agencies.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and hardware solutions, is proud to announce the launch of X3D Turbo Mode, a revolutionary BIOS feature designed to maximize gaming performance on X870E, X870, and 600 series motherboards with AMD Ryzen 7000 X3D and Ryzen 9000 series processors.⁠

GIGABYTE X3D Turbo Mode is a cutting-edge BIOS feature that pushes the boundaries of gaming performance. Empirical testing demonstrates that this innovative BIOS feature delivers tangible benefits to gamers, with performance increases of up to 35% for incoming Ryzen 9000 X3D processors and an astounding 20% for Ryzen 9000 non-X3D processors. Moreover, X3D Turbo Mode's unique optimization parameters allow even Ryzen 9000 non-X3D processors to achieve similar gaming performance levels as their Ryzen X3D counterparts. Experience smoother gameplay, higher frame rates, and reduced latency by GIGABYTE's BIOS wizardry-X3D Turbo Mode.

Lenovo, a global leader in technology innovation, announced its latest advancements at Lenovo Innovation World 2024, unveiling a series of AI PC devices, including ThinkPad, ThinkBook, Yoga, and IdeaPad laptops, designed to transform both enterprise and consumer user experiences.

AI PC Era
AI PCs are set to revolutionize computing as their relevance grows, with 60% of PCs shipped by 2027 anticipated to be AI-capable. Lenovo's AI PCs are at the forefront of this transformation, leveraging natural interactions, personalized large language models, and advanced computing architectures. These innovations make computing more personal by tailoring experiences to individual users, more productive by enhancing workflow efficiency, and more protected by integrating robust security features into AI-driven systems.

AMD's Ryzen processors have received a significant performance upgrade, thanks to the recent Windows 11 24H2 update. This development addresses initial disappointments with the Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" series performance, particularly in gaming applications. The update, which improves branch prediction capabilities, has resulted in substantial gains for both the Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" and Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" CPU lineups. According to tests by Hardware Unboxed, Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" CPUs have shown double-digit performance increases across multiple game titles, a boost typically seen only between generational upgrades.

Interestingly, contrary to AMD's initial claims, the performance gains are not limited to the Zen 5 architecture. The Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" processors have also benefited from the update, with minimal performance differences observed between comparable Zen 5 and Zen 4 models after the update. This development marks a crucial turning point for AMD, addressing earlier criticisms and narrowing the gap between reported and expected performance figures. As users install the Windows 11 24H2 update, they can expect enhanced gaming experiences across a wide range of titles, highlighting the complex interplay between hardware capabilities and software optimization in modern computing. Below are the results from Hardware Unboxed benchmarks.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 9000X3D series of processors with 3D V-Cache have been reportedly scheduled to arrive in January 2025 and should make a debut at the CES event, a few months later than initially expected. While disappointing for eager enthusiasts, the delay could signify that AMD is taking extra precautions to ensure a smooth launch and deliver a product that meets the high-performance standards set by its previous 3D V-Cache offerings. Delaying the new product launch could also be a strategic move by AMD to avoid potential supply chain issues or to align the launch with other product announcements.

We previously reported that the series will maintain the same cache size configurations as the last generation with 3D V-Cache, and it will just be an upgrade to up the performance of the new Zen 5 design. The launch of the 9000X3D series follows a smaller six-month gap from the regular Ryzen 9000 series, where the previous Ryzen 7000X3D and 5000X3D followed seven and seventeen months after the launch of their regular SKUs, respectively.

AMD announced the Q3-2024 edition of its "This is Why We Game" bundle. The company is bundling either "Unknown 9 Awakening," or "Warhammer 40000: Space Marine II," or both, with new purchases of select AMD Radeon RX 7000 series graphics cards across its add-in board (AIB) partner ecosystem, and AMD Ryzen 7000 series desktop processors. It is also available to notebooks powered by Ryzen 7000S and 7000HS series mobile processors. The bundle is open worldwide (except China and a few other countries). The Japanese edition of this bundle only covers certain higher-end models of Ryzen processors and Radeon RX graphics cards.

A fleet of recent reports have highlighted stability issues affecting Intel's 13th and 14th-generation desktop processors, raising concerns among consumers and industry professionals. The problem, which has gained significant attention over the past few months, is related to the processors' physical degradation over time. Custom PC builder Puget Systems has shared insights from its experience with these processors, revealing a nuanced perspective on the issue. While it has observed an increase in CPU failures, particularly with the 14th-generation chips, its failure rates remain notably lower than those reported by some game development studios and cloud gaming providers, who have cited failure rates as high as 50%. An interesting observation is that Puget Systems recorded a higher failure rate with AMD Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 7000 series than Intel's 13/14th generation, with most failures happening at Puget's shop rather than the "field" in customers' hands.

Puget Systems attributes their more modest failure rates of Intel processors to their conservative approach to power management settings. By adhering strictly to Intel's specifications and developing their own power settings that don't hurt performance, they've managed to mitigate some of the stability issues plaguing other users. Intel has acknowledged the problem and announced plans to release a microcode patch by mid-August, with extended warranty program. This update is expected to prevent further degradation but may not reverse existing damage. Despite the elevated failure rates, Puget Systems' data shows that the issue, while concerning, still needs to be at critical levels for their operations. The company reports that failure rates for 13th and 14th gen Intel processors, while higher than ideal, are still lower than those they experienced with Intel's 11th gen chips and some AMD Ryzen processors. In response to the situation, Puget Systems is taking several steps, including maintaining its current power management practices, promptly validating Intel's upcoming microcode update, and extending warranties for affected customers. Below, you can see failure rates by month, by Intel's Core generation, as well as by "shop" vs "field" testing.

AMD today introduced the EPYC 4004 line of server processors in the Socket AM5 package. These chips come with up to 16 "Zen 4" CPU cores, a 2-channel DDR5 memory interface, and a 28-lane PCIe Gen 5 I/O, and are meant to power small-business servers, as well as cater to the dedicated web-server hosting business that generally attracts client-segment processors. This is the exact segment of market that Intel addresses with its Xeon E-2400 series processors in the LGA1700 package. The EPYC 4004 series offers a superior support and warranty regime compared to client-segment processors, besides ECC memory support, and AMD Secure Processor, and all of the security features you get with Ryzen PRO 7000 series processors for commercial desktops.

AMD's offer over the Xeon E-2400 series is its CPU core count of up to 16, which lets you fully utilize the 16-core limit of the Windows 2022 Server base license. The EPYC 4004 series is functionally the same processor as the Ryzen 7000 "Raphael" except for its ECC memory support. This chip features up to two 5 nm "Zen 4" CCDs with up to 8 cores, each; and an I/O die that puts out two DDR5 memory channels, and 28 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. Besides today's processor launch, several server motherboard vendors are announcing Socket AM5 server boards that are rackmount-friendly, and with server-relevant features.

ASUS today announced BIOS updates enabling support for next-gen AMD Ryzen processors on ASUS AM5 X670, B650 and A620 motherboards, as well as support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processors. These updates are necessary to enable compatibility with these processors. BIOS updates for ASUS AM5 motherboards also add support for existing Ryzen 7000 and 8000 series processor.

The updates can be accessed on the ASUS BIOS update page for the models listed below.

MSI, a leading global server provider, will showcase its latest liquid-cooled and GPU servers powered by AMD processors and 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, optimized to meet the evolving needs of modern data centers, at CloudFest 2024, booth #H02 in Europa-Park from March 19-21. "With an increasing number of data centers leveraging applications like AI to enhance customer experience, the demands for more computing power and higher density deployments have driven significant changes in IT infrastructure, leading to greater use of liquid cooling," said Danny Hsu, General Manager of Enterprise Platform Solutions. "MSI's liquid-cooled server platforms enable data centers to deliver efficiency while deploying more compute-intensive workloads."

The G4101 is a 4U 4GPU server platform designed for AI training workloads. It supports a single AMD EPYC 9004 Series processor equipped with a liquid cooling module, along with twelve DDR5 RDIMM slots. Additionally, it features four PCIe 5.0 x16 slots tailored for triple-slot graphic cards with coolers, ensuring increased airflow and sustained performance. With twelve front 2.5-inch U.2 NVMe/SATA drive bays, it offers high-speed and flexible storage options, catering to the diverse needs of AI workloads. The G4101 combines air flow spacing and liquid closed-loop cooling, making it the optimal thermal management solution for even the most demanding tasks.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking, and storage solution innovator, today introduced the TS-h3077AFU, a highly reliable 30-bay SATA 6 Gb/s all-flash SSD NAS with a ZFS-based operating system, cutting-edge AMD Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series processors and integrated AMD Radeon Graphics. With up to 1.6M/1.2M iSCSI 4K random read/write IOPS, DDR5 RAM, built-in dual-port 10/2.5 GbE, upgradability to 100 GbE, PCIe Gen 4 expandability, and scalability to petabyte-scale storage, the TS-h3077AFU meets uncompromising performance demands in 4K/8K video workflows, storage centers, and virtualization. The QuTS hero operating system also features ZFS data reduction and SSD optimization, ensuring the utmost performance, lifespan, and efficiency from all-flash investments.

"The TS-h3077AFU redefines the landscape of storage solutions, offering not just capacity but also efficiency and performance for the most demanding business environments. Its capabilities in graphics processing, connectivity, and reliability, provided by the powerful AMD Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series Processor, position it as a game-changer in the industry," said Meiji Chang, General Manager of QNAP.

Acer announced new additions to its Aspire laptop line, showcasing an extensive range of performance and design options to support everyday computing needs.

The Aspire Vero 16 is the latest from its Vero product line, powered by the new Intel Core Ultra processors with Intel AI Boost and Wi-Fi 7 compatibility. Acer has committed to carbon neutrality for the Aspire Vero 16, following international standards for carbon footprint calculation and carbon neutrality. Actions are taken at each stage of the device lifecycle to minimize its carbon footprint, and then, high-quality carbon credits will be applied to attain carbon neutrality. The Intel Evo Edition laptop has increased the usage of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials on the chassis, doubling that of the 2021 model, to combine eco-innovation and premium PC experiences on the device.

Market research by Korean publication Danawa DPG provides valuable insights to how desktop AMD Ryzen processor users are charting their upgrade paths given the long upgrade longevity of AMD sockets. The research follows a 10-month date range from December 2022 to October 2023, and tracks the sales of motherboards based on various AMD chipset models. We're shown that toward the turn of the year, AMD B550 chipset motherboards sell the most. This is when AMD Ryzen 5000 Socket AM4 processors top sales for the company, Given that the B550 fully supports CPU overclocking, and that there are plenty of feature-packed B550 motherboard models, it explains why the B550 covers a wide price-band.

AMD launched the Ryzen 7000 series "Zen 4" to lukewarm response in September 2022, mainly because the platform lacked DDR4 memory support that was relevant at the time, and hence wasn't as flexible to consumers as Intel's LGA1700. Its launch caused price-cuts for Ryzen 5000 series processors, clearing out some upgrade headroom for those on the AM4 platform still using Ryzen 3000. Off to a slow start, we see its successor from Socket AM5, the B650 chipset, rise steadily over the time period, and for two reasons—DDR5 memory became affordable over the course of 2023; and AMD breathed life into the Ryzen 7000 series with the introduction of the Ryzen 7000X3D series, which restored gaming performance competitiveness to Intel's 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake." The B650 has everything you need right now for a Ryzen 7000X3D build, given that both the GeForce RTX 40-series and Radeon RX 7000 series are PCIe Gen 4 graphics cards; and that the B650 has at least a Gen 5 NVMe slot. If you absolutely need a Gen 5 x16 slot, there's the premium B650E chipset to go with.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, is excited today to showcase the best graphics card and motherboard combo for work efficiency and home entertainment.

The A620MP-E PRO motherboard and Radeon RX7600 GPU by BIOSTAR redefine excellence, specifically catering to the diverse requirements of students, home users, and casual gamers. These innovative products, embodying BIOSTAR's commitment to quality, seamlessly blend advanced technology with unparalleled performance. This dynamic duo establishes a new standard in versatility and efficiency, exemplifying BIOSTAR's legacy in delivering cutting-edge, reliable solutions for a broad range of computing needs.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, and storage solutions innovator, today unveiled the new high-capacity TS-hx77AXU-RP ZFS NAS series, including 12-bay TS-h1277AXU-RP and 16-bay TS-h1677AXU-RP rackmount models powered by AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors based on the cutting-edge AMD Socket AM5 platform. By integrating robust hardware and diverse I/O including DDR5 RAM, M.2 PCIe Gen 5, PCIe Gen 4 slots, and redundant power supplies, the TS-hx77AXU-RP series unleashes enterprise-level performance and delivers ultra-high bandwidth, futureproof expandability, and trusted reliability for performance-demanding Tier 2 storage, virtualization, 4K video editing, and PB-level storage applications.

"The whole new TS-hx77AXU-RP series ZFS NAS provides enterprises with superb performance and large storage capacity to tackle business-critical workloads and storage-demanding applications. The AMD Ryzen 7000 Series multi-core processors further unlocks the key performance of DDR5 and M.2 PCIe Gen 5," said Alex Shih, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "Paired with the ZFS file system that's most suited for business applications, the TS-hx77AXU-RP series stands out as the top choice for storage solutions that require uncompromising data integrity."

TYAN, an industry leader in server platform design and a subsidiary of MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation, debuts its new server line-up for 4th Gen AMD EPYC & AMD Ryzen Processors at SC23, Booth #1917, in the Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO, November 13-16.

AMD EPYC 9004 processor features leadership performance and is optimized for a wide range of HPC, cloud-native computing and Generative AI workloads
TYAN offers server platforms supporting the AMD EPYC 9004 processors that provide up to 128 Zen 4C cores and 256 MB of L3 Cache for dynamic cloud-native applications with high performance, density, energy efficiency, and compatibility.

AMD today announced at Smart Production Solutions 2023 the AMD Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series processor family, optimized for the high-performance requirements of industrial markets. By combining "Zen 4" architecture and integrated Radeon graphics, Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series processors deliver performance and functionality not previously offered for the embedded market. With its expanded features and integration, Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series processors are ideal for a wide range of embedded applications, including industrial automation, machine vision, robotics and edge servers.

The Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series processor is the first embedded processor to use next-generation 5 nm technology with a 7-year manufacturing availability commitment. The new embedded processor integrates AMD Radeon RDNA 2 graphics that eliminates the need for a discrete GPU for industrial applications. And because embedded applications require additional operating system software options, Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series processors include support for both Windows Server and Linux Ubuntu, on top of Windows 10 and Windows 11. Ryzen Embedded 7000 Series processors also include up to 12 high-performance "Zen 4" CPU cores, which combined with its integrated features and wide operating system choices, offers unparalleled ease of integration for system designers.

ASRock Rack Inc., the leading innovative server company, today is set to showcase a comprehensive range of servers for diverse AI workloads catering to scenarios from the edge, on-premises, and to the cloud at booth #1737 at SC 23 held at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, USA. The event is from November 13th to 16th, and ASRock Rack will feature the following significant highlights:

At SC 23, ASRock Rack will demonstrate the NVIDIA-Qualified 2U4G-GENOA/M3 and 4U8G series GPU server solutions along with the NVIDIA H100 PCIe. The ASRock Rack 4U8G and 4U10G series GPU servers are able to accommodate eight to ten 400 W dual-slot GPU cards and 24 hot-swappable 2.5" drives, designed to deliver exceptional performance for demanding AI workloads deployed in the cloud environment. The 2U4G-GENOA/M3, tailored for lighter workloads, is powered by a single AMD EPYC 9004 series processor and is able to support four 400 W dual-slot GPUs while having additional PCIe and OCP NIC 3.0 slots for expansions.

AMD's "Phoenix" monolithic processor silicon drives the company's Ryzen 7040 series mobile processor lineup, and possible some of its upcoming Ryzen 7000G desktop processor models. It is the first chip from the AMD camp to feature an AI accelerator, besides up to 8 "Zen 4" CPU cores, and a large iGPU based on the latest RDNA3 graphics architecture, with up to 12 compute units, the latest display I/O and media acceleration capabilities. Over the course of its lifecycle, AMD realized that it can't use the nearly 200 mm² silicon built on the expensive 4 nm node to power lower-end processor SKUs, and so developed the smaller 137 mm² "Phoenix 2" silicon that lacks the AI accelerator, has a smaller iGPU with just 4 compute units, and a unique hybrid CPU with 2 "Zen 4" and 4 "Zen 4c" cores. We're now hearing that the company is designing even more derivatives.

The PCI ID Repository discovered two new IDs believed to reference the iGPU models of "Phoenix 3" and "Phoenix 4" chips. At this point we have no clue what the two chips could be, and what the mixture of their CPU, iGPU, and AI accelerator components could be, especially given that AMD is able to carve out Ryzen 3 SKUs from "Phoenix 2." We speculate that "Phoenix 3" and "Phoenix 4" could reference rebranding such as "Escher," although it could even be entirely new chips with different combinations of "Zen 4" and "Zen 4c" cores.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices today, is excited to introduce the best AMD motherboard/GPU combination for professional content creators. BIOSTAR's B650MS2 motherboard, paired with its AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU, is the perfect solution for graphics designers and content creators who desire flawless performance at an attractive price.

The B650MS2 motherboard from BIOSTAR brings features and functionality with globally renowned product quality and durability. Built based on AMD B650 single chip architecture, the B650MS2 is designed to run the latest and greatest AMD Ryzen 7000 series Processors with superior performance. With support for 2-DIMM DDR5 memory up to 96 GB and additional features like PCIe 4.0 M.2 and 2.5 Gigabit LAN, the B650MS2 is an excellent platform for digital creators who prefer a compact system with unparalleled user experience that enhances work efficiency.

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.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the new ROG Strix SCAR 17 X3D, the perfect fusion of cutting-edge silicon and ROG engineering. Featuring the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D mobile processor equipped with AMD 3D V-Cache technology for the very first time, the Strix SCAR 17 X3D takes performance to a whole new level. By doubling the L3 cache of the mighty Ryzen 9 7945HX processor, the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D gives users a boost in games that are hungry for this onboard ultrafast memory. Paired with a 240 Hz QHD display, Conductonaut Extreme liquid metal on the GPU, and a vapor chamber, the Strix SCAR 17 X3D is ready to dominate the leaderboards.

Making great processors even better
While the original 2023 ROG Strix SCAR 17 came equipped with AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors, the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D is truly in a league of its own. It leverages the power of AMD 3D V-Cache technology, a stacking of extra ultra-high-speed L3 cache vertically on top of one of the two core compute dies (CCD). This extra cache enables the eight cores to perform certain calculations quickly and efficiently, notably in gaming. For situations where increasing CPU frequency simply doesn't show significant performance gains, 3D V-Cache technology holds the potential to unlock extra compute power.

Best Buy has slashed $100 off of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X's normal asking price—North American customers can obtain these 6-core/12-thread processors for $199.90 a piece. Amazon US price matching the consumer electronics store's offer earlier today, but their stocks were depleted at some point this afternoon. AMD's Ryzen 5 7600 (non-X) processor is still stuck at MSRP ($229), so its X-model sibling presents a better deal at its current lower price. Buyers will have to splash out extra on a CPU cooling solution, since Team Red does not include a Wraith Stealth or Prism air cooler as standard with the Ryzen 5 7600X's retail package. AMD + Bethesda's Starfield Game Bundle partnership campaign kicked off last week, and all of the AM5 desktop Ryzen 7000-series models qualify for the active promotion. This plays a part in boosting customer interest, but a nice discount also goes a long way—hence the quick run on Amazon's supplies of the Ryzen 5 7600X.

Last week Bethesda announced AMD as its exclusive partner for Starfield on the PC platform, although the short video presentation did not tease upcoming hardware/software bundles. Details of a Ryzen 7000-series CPUs promotional campaign emerged seven days later thanks to a mini-store page appearing on Newegg's retail site. The Starfield promo was not active at the time, but AMD Taiwan has made it official that the event will be going live on July 11 (at least in that territory).

According to the freshly published event site their offer will be running until September 30, and product serial numbers will not be redeemable after October 28. Eligible hardware includes the aforementioned Ryzen 7000 processor family, as well as Radeon GPUs. Thankfully Team Red has made sure to make a significant number of RDNA 2 models eligible for the Starfield incentive, with the entry point being RX 6600. All discrete RDNA 3 cards qualify—starting with RX 7600 and jumping up to the expensive RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX GPUs. AMD Taiwan's info graphics show a two tier system—Standard Edition (NT$1990) applies to buyers of Ryzen 5/7 7000 series CPUs or Radeon 6600 through 7600 cards. Premium Edition (NT$2890) will grant a 5-day early access period—exclusive to buyers of Ryzen 9 7000 CPUs or Radeon cards starting at RX 6700.