AMD today released its latest platform core-logic (chipset) drivers for Windows 10, 8.1, and 7. The new version 17.10 WHQL chipset drivers are particularly important for AMD Ryzen platform users, as it installs a new Windows power-management plan called "Ryzen Balanced Power." This plan is better than the "Balanced" power plan Windows ships with, in that it hands over more power-management from the OS over to the silicon-level SenseMI power-management logic of Ryzen processors, which has more fine-grained voltage and clock-gating over cores, and which would otherwise cause latency issues with OS-level power-management using P-state triggers. The power plan is detailed at length in our older article. The power-plan is installed on machines with AMD A320, B350, and X370 chipsets. Grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Chipset Drivers 17.10

A new feature we are planning here on TPU is a post every so often with the latest Ryzen related bios updates. This will happen more or less as significant updates happen, starting today. This is a starting post and will list all bios updates as of today. Future posts will include only the latest releases and reference this post.

This post will include the latest bios updates, which ones are "hot off the press" (new as of the past 2 days) and links to where to get them. As for the rest, I assume you know how to flash a motherboard.

AMD has given its flagship Ryzen processor, the Ryzen 7 1800X, a small price cut. The chip is now priced at USD $469 on leading online retailers in the US, down from its launch price of $499. This $30 cut, however, isn't spread over to AMD's other Ryzen 7 series parts. The Ryzen 7 1700X continues to go for $399, and the Ryzen 7 1700 (non-X) around $329. Prices of the Ryzen 5 series six-core and quad-core parts seem unaffected, too.

AMD's flagship processor, the Ryzen 7 1800X features eight cores, SMT enabling 16 logical CPUs for the software to deal with, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. It is clocked at 3.60 GHz, with 4.00 GHz TurboCore frequency, and XFR (extended frequency range) unlocking higher automated overclocks depending on the effectiveness of your cooler. The socket AM4 chip is built on the 14 nm process, and has a 95W TDP rating.

In an AMA (ask me anything) session with Tom's Hardware community, AMD desktop processor marketing exec Don Woligrosky answered a variety of AMD Ryzen platform related questions. He did not shy away from making a key comment about the company's upcoming high-end graphics card, Radeon Vega, either. "Vega performance compared to the Geforce GTX 1080 Ti and the Titan Xp looks really nice," Woligrosky stated. This implies that Radeon Vega is in the same league of performance as NVIDIA's two top consumer graphics SKUs, the $650 GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, and the $1,200 TITAN Xp.

It is conceivable that AMD's desktop processor marketing execs will have access to some privileged information from other product divisions, and so if true, this makes NVIDIA's recent memory speed bump for the GTX 1080 a failed gambit. NVIDIA similarly bumped memory speeds of the GTX 1060 6 GB to make it more competitive against the Radeon RX 580. Woligrosky also commented on a more plausible topic, of the royalty-free AMD FreeSync becoming the dominant adaptive v-sync technology, far outselling NVIDIA G-Sync.

id Software, the pioneering game studio behind "Doom" and "Quake," in a marketing video about how its developers and gamers are benefiting from AMD Ryzen processors, hinted that it is working on a new next-generation game engine that succeeds idTech 6, which is heavily optimized for AMD Ryzen processors. id CTO Robert Duffy spoke at length about how Ryzen is putting more CPU capabilities in the hands of gamers at attractive price-points, which is letting game developers add that much more content and production design that benefits from this level of parallelism and performance.

The most interesting part about Duffy's comment comes later in the video, where he talks about a new game engine that id is working on, which will be "far more parallel than idTech 6" (far more multi-core and multi-thread friendly), and that it will be able to consume "all of the CPU [compute power] that Ryzen can offer." Duffy also confirmed that "Quake Champions," the studio's upcoming online hero-based FPS, will be optimized for both Ryzen and Radeon Vega.The video follows.

Global power and cooling specialist, FSP, is pleased to announce the new Windale series of supremely effective, ultra-quiet, heat pipe equipped fan-cooled PC heatsinks. The Windale 6 (AC601) and Windale 4 (AC401) bring a combination of extreme cooling performance with very low noise and vibration to a huge range of Intel and AMD CPUs - including the newest Core i7 and Ryzen processors. These new PC coolers are ideal for gamers, performance enthusiasts, and overclockers, as well as for general users who need quiet, reliable cooling and long CPU life.

Both the Windale 4 and Windale 6 feature CPU direct contact technology to remove heat from the CPU with maximum efficiency, protecting the valuable CPU and extending its lifespan. As their names suggest, the Windale coolers feature four and six heat pipes respectively, to spread that heat through the cooling fins. These louver fins are assembled with a patented solder-less technique which ensures unhindered heat transfer, unlike traditional soldered fins. Finally, the large, quiet 120 mm cooling fan drives up to 60 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air through the fins to dissipate the heat and keep the CPU running safely at optimum speed.

EK Water Blocks, the Slovenia-based premium computer liquid cooling gear manufacturer is proving its market leadership once again by releasing the first ever AM4 socket based monoblock tailor made for the ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero motherboard. The EK-FB ASUS C6H RGB Monoblock has an integrated 4-pin RGB LED strip which makes it compatible with ASUS Aura Sync, thus offering a full lighting customization experience.

This is a complete all-in-one (CPU and motherboard) liquid cooling solution for the new AMD X370 Chipset AM4 socket based ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero gaming motherboard that supports the latest generation of AMD Ryzen and 7th Generation A-series/Athlon processors. Designed and engineered in cooperation with ASUS, this monoblock uses award-winning EK-Supremacy EVO cooling engine to ensure best possible CPU cooling. This water block directly cools AMD AM4 socket type CPU, as well as the power regulation (MOSFET) module. Liquid flows directly over all critical areas, providing the enthusiasts with a great solution for high and stable overclocks. Like with every EK monoblock, EK-FB ASUS C6H features high flow design and this monoblock can be easily used with the system using a weaker water pump as well.

BIOSTAR is thrilled to announce the latest addition to the growing mini-ITX family of BIOSTAR motherboards with the introduction of the world's first mini-ITX motherboards for AMD AM4 platform and the first mini-ITX RGB LED-capable motherboards with AMD X370 and AMD B350 chipsets. BIOSTAR is pleased to welcome the new BIOSTAR RACING X370GTN and RACING B350GTN mini-ITX motherboards into the RACING Series family. Both motherboards aim to deliver the best balance of form and function, delivering the full potential that the AMD AM4 platform offers especially with AMD RYZEN CPUs, all in a small package.

The BIOSTAR RACING X370GTN and RACING B350GTN comes equipped with BIOSTAR 2nd-gen RACING features like 5050 LED Fun Zone with dual 5050 LED header for DIY customization, the BIOSTAR exclusive VIVID LED DJ with full RGB LED control that lets enthusiasts design their own system lighting with precise control. Together with that, BIOSTAR also adds performance and quality features for maximum system performance and stability.

DeepCool today updated its Gammaxx 400 cooler with AMD socket AM4 support. The new Gammaxx 400 Blue is practically identical to the original DeepCool launched way back in 2012, but now comes with retention modules for socket AM4 motherboards. The cooler can handle thermal loads of over 130W, making it ready for 95W AMD Ryzen 7 series and 5 series chips that feature XFR (extended frequency range), which rewards effective CPU cooling with automatic CPU overclocks beyond the rated maximum TurboCore frequency of the processor. The "Blue" moniker in the name refers to the included blue LED-illuminated 120 mm fan.

The Gammaxx 400 Blue is a tower-type CPU cooler, in which four 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes make direct contact with the CPU at the base, conveying heat to an aluminium fin-stack, which is narrower at the bottom to yield clearance around the CPU socket, for VRM heatsinks and memory. The included fan takes in 4-pin PWM input, spins between 900-1,500 RPM, pushing up to 74.34 CFM of air, with a noise output ranging between 17.8-30 dBA. The cooler measures 135 mm x 80 mm x 154.5 mm (WxDxH), weighing 670 g (including the fan). The included socket AM4 retention module lets you orient the cooler such that it exhausts out of the rear of the case. Available now, the cooler is priced at USD $25.

According to DigiTimes, sources among Taiwan-based PC vendors have indicated that Intel's upcoming Basin Falls platform, which includes Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors on a new X299 chipset, will be unveiled at Computex 2017 (May 30th, June 3rd), in Taipei - two months earlier than expected. This move comes accompanied by an accelerated launch of the Coffee Lake microarchitecture, which still uses the 14 nm process, to August 2017 from an initial January 2018 launch. If true, this is big in a number of ways - that Intel would bring forward a product launch 4 months has some interesting implications - or at least, confirmations.

Remember that Coffee Lake is supposed to carry an increased number of cores in its mainstream designs. And we all know how Intel's line-up has almost been torn apart by Ryzen's aggressive core and thread-count, with AMD offering more cores and threads than Intel at virtually all price-points. And even if an argument is made regarding Intel's better gaming performance, that's one scenario out of many. Future proofing, professional work, multimedia, all of these assert AMD's dominance in a pure price-performance ratio. I, for one, would gladly give up some FPS in some games and accept an increased number of cores than go the other way around (especially with AMD's platform support and the number of patches that have increased game performance on Ryzen CPUs.)

Scythe today introduced a revision of its Mugen 5 tower-type CPU cooler, which adds support for the new AMD socket AM4. The new Mugen 5 Rev. B includes a mounting kit for AM4 motherboards that lets AMD Ryzen processor users take advantage of Scythe's premium air cooler. The company could be working on similar revisions of its other coolers, which include the AM4 mounting kit. The company recently announced standalone mounting kits for AM4.

Besides AM4 support, the Mugen 5 Rev. B is identical to the original Scythe launched in December 2016. It consists of a large aluminium fin-stack heatsink, in which heat drawn from a nickel-plated copper base is drawn from six 6 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes, and run through a thick aluminium fin-stack, which is ventilated by an included Kaze Flex 120 mm fan, although it supports up to two fans in push-pull configuration. Pricing of the Mugen 5 Rev. B could be unchanged from the original's 40€ (including taxes).

MSI, world leading in motherboard design, launches five new ATX GAMING motherboards based on the AMD AM4 X370 and B350 chipset. These new GAMING models are positioned in the Performance GAMING segment, a series all about Gaming In style. Its new flagship is the X370 GAMING PRO CARBON AC with Mystic Light RGB, to fully customize its looks, but now also available with Intel WIFI AC. The new X370 and B350 GAMING motherboards all support the upcoming AMD RYZEN Series processors and 7th Gen A-series / Athlon Processors and are ready to fully utilize performance on AM4 with the exclusive MSI A-XMP feature, maximizing DDR4 speed & stability.

AMD is on a roll with product launches lately, having just pushed out what is probably the most significant update in mainstream CPUs in years: the Ryzen 5 line of desktop processors. You can look over TPU's review of the 1500X and 1600X here and here. AMD is looking towards powering another central part of your desktop processor, though, with the impending launch of the RX 500 line of GPUs.

Confirmed as rebrands of previous-generation Polaris 10, the new RX 500 series will carry the new Polaris 20 XTX and Polaris 20 XL chips, which are expected to feature higher clocks (in the range of 1300-1400 MHz) from AIBs, before your own overclocking. PowerColor has officially confirmed the launch date as April 18th through social media with a tease for their new Red Devil graphics card. Now if only we could see Vega on this new horizon...

AMD Ryzen 5 series desktop processors are officially available from today. The lineup is designed to compete with Intel's Core i5 quad-core "Kaby Lake" processor family, and consists of 6-core and 4-core parts carved out of the 14 nm "Summit Ridge" silicon. The lineup begins with the $169 Ryzen 5 1400 and $189 Ryzen 5 1500X quad-core parts, featuring SMT that enable 8 logical CPUs, 8 MB of L3 cache, unlocked multipliers, and XFR on the 1500X. The 1400 is clocked at 3.20 GHz with 3.40 GHz boost, while the 1500X ticks at 3.50 GHz with 3.70 GHz boost, and XFR enabling higher automatic overclocks.

While the Ryzen 5 1400 and 1500X compete with Core i3 and Core i5 "Kaby Lake" models under $200; the $219 Ryzen 5 1600 and $249 1600X six-core parts target the Core i5-7600K, with their 6 cores, 12 threads, 16 MB of L3 caches, and unlocked multipliers. The 1600 is clocked at 3.20 GHz with 3.60 GHz boost, while the 1600X ticks at 3.60 GHz core and 4.00 GHz boost. All four chips are available immediately.

In another Community Update from Robert Hallock, some more developments on the platform have been announced, after the last one's commitment to upcoming updates. AMD has done good on their promise for an optimized power profile for Windows systems that better leverages Ryzen's design and features.AMD's SenseMI technology allows the processor to fine-tune voltages and frequency on-the-fly, with a much higher granularity and lower latency than any software-based solution - such as Windows 10's power plans. These transitions between frequencies and voltages are governed by "P-States", which are frequency/voltage combinations requested by the operating system.

It so happens that Windows 10's Balanced power plan delays changes towards faster P-states - which bring increased frequency and voltage and hence, power consumption - so as to save more power. However, this means that there is an increased delay (latency) between the moment more processing power is required of the Ryzen processor and the moment the processor is allowed to change P-states to deliver it. Add to this the fact that Ryzen takes a significant performance hit with core-parking enabled, and Windows 10's balanced power plan attempts to park all logical processors beyond the first 10% whenever possible means that most of Ryzen's cores will have to be unparked before they can process any kind of workload - and this in itself incurs in an increased latency and, therefore, performance penalty.

MSI now has three "X370 Gaming Pro" motherboards. The first one is the X370 Gaming Pro Carbon, which the company launched its socket AM4 lineup with, then the X370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, released earlier this month, which is its variant with 802.11ac WLAN; and now we have the X370 Gaming Pro (without the "Carbon" moniker). This board is based on a different PCB, and has a lighter feature-set than the X370 Gaming Pro Carbon series. The board features the same 10-phase CPU VRM as the Pro Carbon boards. The expansion slot layout is identical, too, with two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 with both populated) wired to the CPU, a third x16 (electrical x4) slot wired to the X370 chipset, and three other x1 slots.

The differences kick in with the storage options. You get six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, but just one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot with MSI M.2 Shield (the Pro Carbon boards have two M.2 slots). Another major difference is the lighting. The chipset heatsink, audio ground-layer isolation strip, and various other areas on the board have red LED illumination, in place of RGB LED on the Pro Carbon boards. You can still control the brightness and illumination of these red LEDs using the Mystic Light Sync software. Another area of cost-cutting is the gigabit Ethernet. This board features a Realtek RTL8111H controller, while the Pro Carbon boards feature Intel I211AT controllers. The rest of the board's feature set is the same as the Pro Carbon, including two USB 3.1 ports (with one typc-C port), VR Boost USB ports. The MSI X370 Gaming Pro goes on sale on the 11th of April, at a price we expect to be around USD $150.

Outertech has released Cacheman 10.10, a Windows performance enhancement software that uses one-click optimization in order to improve responsiveness, privacy, and the security of a PC. The new Cacheman version introduces support for the recently released AMD Ryzen 7 1700, 1700X, 1800X and Ryzen 5 1400, 1500X, 1600, 1600X processors. A free test version is available from the Outertech website.

The AMD Ryzen 7 processors consist of 16 CPU cores - 8 physical and 8 virtual (emulated) cores. The physical processor cores are placed on the CPU die in two groups of 4 cores each, the so called CCX (CPU Complex). The two groups are interconnected with a 256-bit wide bi-directional crossbar. The speed of the crossbar is linked to the speed of the system memory. Within a CCX group, CPU cores can communicate very quickly with each other. Communication between cores that sit on separate CCX groups is significantly slower (by the factor of 2 and more).DOWNLOAD: Outertech Cacheman 10.10

With the success of Blizzard's "Overwatch," it's only natural for game studio Bethesda to develop the oldest, most successful hero-based FPS brand from the early 2000s, "Quake III Arena," into a brand-new title that keeps up with the times, and perhaps even sets new standards. That title is "Quake Champions," and Bethesda is tapping into big id Software talent in its development.

"Quake Champions" will by driven by a proprietary engine that's not id Tech 6. This game will take advantage of the Vulkan API, besides an OpenGL fallback, and as part of an agreement between Bethesda and AMD, it could feature optimization for AMD Ryzen processors. "Quake Champions" will build on the things that made Quake III Arena a cult-classic, besides featuring a cutting-edge production design. Besides PC, the game will launch on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms.

Even though the NDA still isn't up on AMD's second volley of Ryzen-based CPUs, some lucky buyers are already running some of the upcoming Ryzen 5 processors after some sellers jumped the gun. Now, a YouTube video by user "Santiago Santiago." is making the rounds in which he compares gaming performance between the Ryzen 5 1400 (4-core, 8-thread part @ 3.2 GHz base, 3.4 GHz boost), Intel's i5 7400 (4-cores @ 3.0 GHz base, 3.5 GHz boost), and the Pentium G4560, a Kaby Lake dual-core CPU with Hyper Threading @ 3.5 GHz base clocks. The user even snapped a picture proving he has his hands on this chip.

MSI today introduced the X370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC socket AM4 motherboard for AMD Ryzen processors and 7th generation A-series APUs. A variant of the X370 Gaming Pro Carbon the company launched its X370 motherboard lineup with, this board includes support for 802.11ac WLAN and Bluetooth 4.2 using a PCI-Express x1 add-on card. The card features an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 controller, which supports Dual Band 2x2 802.11ac and MU-MIMO Rx, and a maximum bandwidth of 867 Mbps. The card takes up a PCI-Express slot on your motherboard, and has a small riser cable that plugs into your motherboard for low-level wake-on-LAN functions, and the Bluetooth connection. The included MSI Gaming LAN app lets you run your machine with two Internet connections (one over the WLAN card, and the other over the wired gigabit Ethernet port), and lets you assign specific applications to the two connections. The rest of the board's feature-set is identical to that of the original X370 Gaming Pro Carbon.

Some outlets are reporting that Stardock's Ashes of the Singularity is about to receive the much-referred-to patch that allows for improved performance on AMD's Ryzen line of processors. If you remember, rivers of ink flowed regarding AMD's Ryzen performance in gaming, with its monstrous, high-performance 8-core, 16-threaded design sometimes delivering performance below expectations. At the time, AMD clarified how Ryzen is a distinctive CPU architecture, similar yet fundamentally different from Intel's x86 implementation, promising upcoming patches from game developers that would allow Ryzen's architecture to truly deliver.

After Creative Assembly and Oxide Games vouched to improve Ryzen support, Oxide seems to be the first developer with a patch available (from version 25624 to 26118) that improves performance by up to 30%. Reportedly, it took the developers around 400 work-hours to improve the game code in respect to its execution on AMD hardware.

With the Freezer 12 and Freezer 12 CO, ARCTIC now offers two compact CPU coolers, which are multi-compatible and also suitable for the AMD Ryzen AM4 socket. The successors of the Freezer 11 series convince all along the line with regards to noise level, cooling capacity, mounting versatility and transport-proofness. As semi passive coolers, the Freezer 12 and Freezer 12 CO also work extremely efficiently as the fan only starts up at a PWM signal with 40 % pulse width.

The fan runs only when it is actually needed, i.e. with increased CPU utilization. In combination with the vibration absorption rubber mounts of the fan, this leads to almost silent operation even at its maximum cooling performance of 150 watts. The 92 mm fan provides an improved air flow, three double sided direct touch heat pipes and 45 aluminum fins ensure an optimal heat dissipation and an excellent cooling power. Unlike the predecessor Freezer 11 series, the Freezer 12 and Freezer 12 CO are multi-compatible and fit Intel sockets as well as AMD AM4.

BIOSTAR today introduced the first AMD X370 chipset based socket AM4 motherboard to the market, with the X370GTN. The board comes with out of the box support for AMD Ryzen processors, with TDP of up to 95W. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin ATX power connectors, and conditions it for the AM4 SoC using a 7-phase VRM. The socket is wired to two full-length DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory; and the lone PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, besides some of the I/O ports.

Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports from which two are directly wired to the AM4 SoC, and one 32 Gb/s M.2-2280 slot with NVMe booting support (reverse side). USB connectivity includes two 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 ports (including a type-C port), and six USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, two via headers). The board features BIOSTAR's Hi-Fi onboard audio solution, and a gigabit Ethernet connection driven by Realtek DragonLAN controller. Display outputs include DVI and HDMI.

With core performance back to competitiveness, AMD is preparing to take on Intel in the HEDT "high-end desktop" segment with a new line of processors that are larger than its current socket AM4 "Summit Ridge," desktop processors, but smaller in core-count than its 32-core "Naples" enterprise processors. These could include 12-core and 16-core parts, and the picture is getting clearer with an exclusive report by Turkish tech publication DonanimHaber. The biggest revelation here that the 12-core and 16-core Ryzen processors will be multi-chip modules (MCMs) of two "Summit Ridge" dies. The 12-core variant will be carved out by disabling 1 core per CCX (3+3+3+3).

Another revelation is that the 12-core and 16-core Ryzen processors will be built in a new LGA package with pin-counts in excess of 4,000 pins. Since it's an MCM of two "Summit Ridge" dies, the memory bus width and PCIe lanes will be doubled. The chip will feature a quad-channel DDR4 memory interface, and will have a total of 58 PCI-Express gen 3.0 lanes (only one of the two dies will put out the PCI-Express 3.0 x4 A-Link chipset bus). The increase in core count isn't coming with a decrease in clock speeds. The 12-core variant will hence likely have its TDP rated at 140W, and the 16-core variant at 180W. AMD is expected to unveil these chips at the 2017 Computex expo in Taipei, this June, with product launches following shortly after.

ID-Cooling introduced the SE-903-R tower-type CPU cooler with support for AMD socket AM4 processors, such as Ryzen and 7th gen. A-series "Bristol Ridge" APUs. The cooler is a variant of the SE-903, and comes with factory-fitted AM4 mounting clips and a red LED fan, compared to the blue LED the original SE-903 ships with. Its mounting clips easily hook on to the retention frames that come pre-installed on socket AM4 motherboards.

These aside, the SE-903-R is identical to the original. It is designed for thermal loads of up to 130W. It is a conventional tower-type heatsink featuring an aluminium fin stack, to which heat drawn directly from the base is fed by three 6 mm thick copper heat pipes, and ventilated by a 92 mm fan that spins up to 2,000 RPM, pushing 37.44 CFM of air, with a noise output of up to 23.1 dBA. The company didn't reveal pricing, although it shouldn't be too far off from the $20 price tag of the original.