Intel rolled out its first Pentium-branded processor with 4.00 GHz clock-speed, the Pentium Gold G5620 (retail SKU: BX80684G5620). The chip replaces the G5600 on top of the entry-level product stack. Based on the 14 nm "Coffee Lake" microarchitecture, it packs a 2-core/4-thread CPU clocked at 4.00 GHz without Turbo Boost. 256 KB of L2 cache per core and 4 MB of shared L3 cache are also offered. The integrated graphics solution is Intel's workhorse UHD Graphics 630, with 24 execution units. The dual-channel DDR4 integrated memory controller supports up to 64 GB of DDR4-2400 memory. The chip's TDP is rated at 65W. Pricing is up in the air, with retail channel shortages expected to swing the chip on both sides of the $100-mark. Availability is slated for early-March, 2019.

In a sign of just how arid the DIY retail channel has become for Intel, Tom's Hardware reports that the new socket flagship LGA2066 HEDT processor model Intel sneaked into its product-stack, the Core i9-9990XE, is restricted to the OEM/SI (system integrator) channel. Even to OEMs, ordering a tray of i9-9990XE chips isn't as simple as ordering other chips, such as the i9-9900K. Apparently, Intel has been running secret online auctions that are OEM-only, for these chips. OEMs get to bid on the per-chip price in n-unit tray quantities.

Workstation integrator Puget Systems was able to score itself some i9-9990XE inventory at USD $2,300 per chip. Puget Systems last week received its first batch of chips from Intel, and released performance benchmarks. At this price, the i9-9990XE is being sold at a 21% premium over the retail-channel SEP price of the i9-9980XE, and a whopping 65% premium over the i9-9940X. Intel can't shake off comparisons between the i9-9990XE and the i9-9940X because both chips are 14-core/28-thread with 19.25 MB shared L3 cache, with the i9-9990XE only offering significantly higher clock-speeds, but at an astounding TDP of 255W. The i9-9990XE was shown beating the 18-core i9-9980XE in a variety of HEDT-relevant benchmarks.

Akasa Turing is the company's latest fanless cases for Intel "Bean Canyon" NUC family, which embeds 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" processors. Designed for living rooms or corner offices, the Turing is a carbon-black monolith with its aluminium body doubling up as heatsink for the processor. Fins and ridges of the body panel curve in an almost Art Deco style. You can either orient the case vertically, or sideways. The case can handle SoCs with TDP of up to 28 W without needing fans. Front panel connectivity includes a pair of USB 3.1 type-A, an IR receiver, and headset jack, while the rear panel is designed for most "Bean Canyon" boards. Akasa will reveal pricing very soon.

Intel succeeded in bringing down the TDP of its 8-core/16-thread "Coffee Lake-Refresh" silicon all the way down to a staggering 35 W, from its currently rated 95 W, which in real-world usage easily exceeds 110 W, given Turbo Boost, and other performance enhancements enabled by DIY motherboards. The new Core i9-9900T achieves its TDP with a combination of significantly lower clock-speeds, and an aggressive on-die power-management system. Its nominal-clock is down to 1.70 GHz from 3.60 GHz of the original i9-9900K, while 1~2 core Turbo Boost frequency is down to 3.80 GHz from 5.00 GHz of the original. The all-core Turbo clock-speed could be as low as 3.30 GHz. Intel hasn't tinkered with the L3 cache amount, which is still set at 16 MB, and the UHD 630 iGPU retains its EU count and clock-speeds. The chip features its 4-character product code of QQC0.

Be Quiet invited us to its product unveil suite on the sidelines of CES 2019. The company unveiled six new products, most of which are variations or improvements of existing products in the company's stack. The lineup begins with Dark Base 700 White Edition, limited-edition (3,000 units) ATX mid-tower. The case combines all-white interiors with mostly-white exteriors, black mesh accents along the sides, with RGB LED embellishments, and clear tempered glass. The case retains the remaining feature-set from the Dark Base 700, and is expected to be priced at 189.95€.

Also shown here is a Dark Rock Slim 120 tower-type CPU cooler with a single fan. This cooler is rated to handle thermal loads of up to 180 W (TDP), and hence only supports mainstream-desktop CPU sockets such as LGA115x, AM4, and probably even LGA2066. The fin-stack features a high-clearance fin design that curves inward. Slated for Q2-2019, the cooled is expected to be priced around 50€. Three color variants of the company's existing fan lineup were shown, including matte-black and all-white variants of Shadow Wings 2, and a new high-RPM version of Pure Wings 2, with up to 1,600 RPM for the 140 mm variant, and up to 2,000 RPM for the 120 mm one. Available from January 2019 (later this month), prices of these fans could range between 12.50-13.90€.

Intel's upcoming "Ice Lake" die could be the company's biggest processor innovation in a decade, combining new clean-slate design "Sunny Cove" CPU cores, and a new integrated graphics solution based on the company's Gen11 architecture. "Sunny Cove" introduces significant IPC (single-thread performance) gains over "Coffee Lake," introduces new ISA instruction sets, including AVX-512; and a brand new uncore component; while the Gen11 graphics core is Intel's first iGPU to reach the 1 TFLOP/s mark. Intel demonstrated the ultra-low power "Ice Lake-U" SoC platform in its 2018 Architecture Day briefing.

This "Ice Lake-U" chip, with its TDP in the ballpark of 15 W, was shown ripping through 7-zip and "Tekken 7." With 7-zip, Intel was trying to demonstrate vector-AES and SHA-NI improving archive encryption performance by 75 percent over "Skylake." The Gen11 iGPU was shown providing a smoother gameplay than Skylake with Gen9, although the company neither mentioned resolution, nor frame-rates. Anandtech wagers it's above 30 fps.

ENERMAX, a leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance PC hardware products, announces the launch of a new all-in-one liquid cooler series, LIQTECH II. Responding the market demand of cooling solution for high-end CPUs, LIQTECH II can deliver enthusiast-grade cooling capacity of 500+ watts (TDP) and is compatible with both Intel and AMD sockets (except AMD sTR4).

Furthermore, certified by main motherboard makers (ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI), LIQTECH II can support the latest addressable RGB lighting synchronization with advanced motherboards featuring addressable RGB headers (pin assignment: 5V/D/-/G) to create dynamic visual effects. LIQTECH II is perfect for overclocked systems, image editing workstations, and high-end gaming machines.

Intel is readying a curious-looking "KF" brand extension for key SKUs of its 9th generation Core "Coffee Lake Refresh" family. These SKUs include the Core i9-9900KF, the Core i7-9700KF, Core i5-9600KF, and the Core i3-9350KF. The source revealing slides from a GIGABYTE internal presentation mentioning these doesn't explain what "KF" means, but we've heard rumors on what "KF" could mean. The "K" in KF denotes that the processor features an unlocked base-clock multiplier. No points for guessing that one. The "F," however, could indicate a disabled or physically absent iGPU.

This won't be the first time that Intel has launched variants of its mainstream desktop premium SKUs with disabled iGPUs. Intel's reasons for doing so with "Coffee Lake Refresh" could be many, including harvesting dies with defective iGPU components. Physically absent iGPUs could only make sense from the perspective of increasing yields per wafer, as the dies could be around 15% smaller for the 8-core silicon, and 25% smaller for the 6-core silicon. It doesn't make sense from a purely TDP-optimization perspective, because Intel processors are capable of power-gating (and not just clock-gating) user-disabled iGPUs.

Raijintek today introduced the Juno Pro RBW, a low-profile air CPU cooler and successor to the Juno-X RGB from late-2017. While the Juno-X RGB only featured a multi-color fan strapped onto the original Juno-X heatsink, the new Juno Pro RBW features a more substantial redesign, with a metal shroud crowing the upper portion of the heatsink, and a silicone RGB LED diffuser ring framing the shroud. The lighting system conforms to the newer addressable-RGB standard, so you can control it using various motherboard branded lighting control software.

Under the hood, the heatsink is unchanged from the Juno-X: a radially-projecting aluminium fin-stack that's bunched up at the center, making up the base that makes contact with the CPU, which is ventilated by a 120 mm PWM fan that spins between 400 to 1,800 RPM, pushing up to 38.5 CFM of air, with a noise output of 28 dBA. Measuring 122.5 mm x 122.5 mm x 65 mm (WxDxH), it weighs 315 g. The cooler is capable of handling thermal loads of up to 105W TDP. Among the CPU sockets supported are LGA115x and AM4. The company didn't reveal pricing.

The shadow of a ARM-based MacBook has been there for years. Rumors have been adding up, and the performance of their own mobile processors is more and more convincing with each new generation of devices. The recent launch of the iPad Pro has reinforced those signs after knowing its Apple A12X Bionic' Geekbench 4 results. According to this benchmark, the new iPad Pro isn't that far in raw performance from what we have with a Core i9-8950HK-based MacBook Pro (2018). We have a Single-Core/Multi-Core score of 5020/18217 in the iPad Pro vs the 5627/21571 on the MacBook Pro. If this seems nuts it's because it really is.

This comparison is pretty absurd in itself: TDPs are quite different on both (7 W vs 45 W) but there are also important distinctions in areas such as the memory used in those devices (most Apple laptops still use DDR-2133 modules) and, of course, the operating system on which they are based. Those numbers are just a tiny reference, but if we pay attention to Apple's recent keynote, that Photoshop CC demo can really speak for itself. And again, comparisons are hateful, but let's look for a slightly fairer comparison.

TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.12.0 released today with useful new features and several stability updates. We worked extensively on the ability of GPU-Z to detect fake NVIDIA graphics cards (i.e cards not really having the GPU advertised on the box). GPU-Z now prepends "[FAKE]" to the Graphics Card name field, and lights up with a caution triangle. This capability is forward compatible for the supported GPUs (listed in the changelog), so for example, it will be able to detect a fake RTX 2060, which in reality uses a GK106 GPU. The second big feature is the ability to extract and upload graphics card BIOS of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2000 graphics cards. Graphics cards with multiple independent fans (each with its own speed control) are gaining popularity, and we've added the ability to read and log fan-speeds of individual fans on NVIDIA "Turing" graphics cards that support the feature, in addition to fan speed percentage monitoring.

Our feature-rich "Advanced" tab now also shows information on HDMI and DisplayPort connectors of your graphics cards. Power-draw on NVIDIA graphics cards is now reported both as a percentage of TDP and as an absolute value in Watts. Among the bugs fixed are a system hang due to Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) kicking in when GPU-Z is running in the background; memory bandwidth reading on RTX 2080 & RTX 2080 Ti with GDDR6 memory, AMD Radeon RX 400-series GPU utilization monitoring, and improved texts for system memory usage sensors.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z v2.12.0

The change-log follows.

ZOTAC is preparing to launch another tier to its GeForce RTX 20-series graphics cards lineup with the AMP Extreme series. Sitting above their now historic AMP Series (at least in computer hardware terms, it's already historic), the new lineup will bring much improved factory overclocking numbers, so these are certainly part of those cherry-picked chips for maximum performance. Core clocks aren't known at the time, but memory clocks have been upped to 14.4 Gbps, some 400 MHz above the factory specifications for the RTX 2080 - the only confirmed card until now.

The rest of the design is relatively straightforward, with a metallic backplate, a tri-90 mm fan design, 2x 8-pin power connectors, a 16+4 phases power delivery system, and a much increased TDP of 280 W (over the reference 215 W). Of course, there's RGB lighting as well, but that's not the important thing here: the cherry-picked chips are. It's unclear os of yet when this series will hit the market, but expect them sooner rather than later. ZOTAC is apparently also working on a AMP Core series, which should find its differentiation over the factory overclocking specifics.

AMD today announced the much-awaited 2nd generation Ryzen quad-core socket AM4 processors, in addition to two new E-series (energy-efficient) variants of its existing processor models. To begin with, the company announced the 4-core/8-thread Ryzen 5 2500X and the 4-core/4-thread Ryzen 3 2300X.

Unlike their predecessors that are carved out of the "Summit Ridge" silicon by disabling 2 cores per compute complex or CCX (2+2 CCX config), the 2500X and 2300X feature a 4+0 config, or an entire CCX in the "Pinnacle Ridge" silicon being disabled. This also means that the 2500X has just 8 MB of L3 cache (its predecessor has 16 MB). The 2300X is clocked at 3.50 GHz with 4.00 GHz boost, while the 2500X ticks at 3.60 GHz with 4.00 GHz boost. The TDP of both chips is rated at 65W.

AMD also released the "E" brand extension for its 2nd generation Ryzen series, with the new Ryzen 5 2600E, and the Ryzen 7 2700E. Both these chips sacrifice clock speeds for an impressive 45W TDP. The 2600E is clocked at 3.10 GHz, with 4.00 GHz (compared to 3.60 GHz ~ 4.20 GHz of the 2600X); while the 2700E ticks at 2.80 GHz, with 4.00 GHz boost (compared to 3.70 GHz ~ 4.30 GHz of the 2700X). The company didn't reveal pricing of the four chips.

AMD is readying its second generation Ryzen Pro socket AM4 processors targeted at commercial desktops in a corporate environment, with additional management and security features. These chips are based on the company's new 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" silicon. Its biggest differentiator from the other Ryzen SKUs is the GuardMI feature, which is a collective of Secure Memory Encryption, a hardened Secure Boot feature, Secure Production Environment (useful for big organizations that oversee the manufacturing of their hardware, and fTPM.

AMD's 2nd gen Ryzen Pro lineup initially includes three models: the 8-core/16-thread Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X, the Ryzen 7 Pro 2700, and the 6-core/12-thread Ryzen 5 Pro 2600. Some of these chips are clocked marginally lower than their non-Pro siblings. The Pro 2700X ticks at 3.60 GHz, with 4.10 GHz (vs. 3.70 to 4.30 GHz of the 2700X); while the Pro 2700 and Pro 2600 are clocked on par with its non-Pro counterparts. The decision behind clocking the Pro 2700X lower could have something to do with TDP, which is now 95W, compared to the 105W of the normal 2700X.

The GeForce GTX 1080 set high standards for efficiency. Launched as a high-end product that was faster than any other client-segment graphics card at the time, the GTX 1080 made do with just a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, and had a TDP of just 180W. The reference-design PCB, accordingly, has a rather simple VRM setup. The alleged GTX 1080-successor, called either GTX 1180 or GTX 2080 depending on who you ask, could deviate from its ideology of extreme efficiency. There were telltale signs of this departure on the first bare PCB shots.

The PCB pictures revealed preparation for an unusually strong VRM design, given that this is an NVIDIA reference board. It draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and features a 10+2 phase setup, with up to 10 vGPU and 2 vMem phases. The size of the pads for the ASIC and no more than 8 memory chips confirmed that the board is meant for the GTX 1080-successor. Adding to the theory of this board being unusually hot is an article by Chinese publication Benchlife.info, which mentions that the reference design (Founders Edition) cooling solution does away with a single lateral blower, and features a strong aluminium fin-stack heatsink ventilated by two top-flow fans (like most custom-design cards). Given that NVIDIA avoided such a design for even big-chip cards such as the GTX 1080 Ti FE or the TITAN V, the GTX 1080-successor is proving to be an interesting card to look forward to. But then what if this is the fabled GTX 1180+ / GTX 2080+, slated for late-September?

Lenovo put up an updated specs sheet of its ThinkCentre M725 small form-factor desktop, with more processor options. Notable additions to these include the upcoming AMD Ryzen 3 2300X and Ryzen 5 2500X quad-core socket AM4 processors. The two chips succeed the 1300X and 1500X, respectively, and are designed to capture sub-$150 price-points, competing with Intel's Core i3 "Coffee Lake" quad-core processor series. It's rumored that the 2300X could even be priced close to the $100-mark, making it competitive with the i3-8100, while the 2500X could be priced competitively with the i3-8300.

AMD is giving these quad-core chips all its innovations it can muster to make them competitive with Intel's chips - the two feature unlocked base-clock multipliers, Precision Boost (Intel's Core i3 chips lack Turbo Boost), and XFR 2.0, which automatically overclock beyond the max boost frequencies. You also get the latest Precision Boost 2.0 algorithm that ensures each of the four cores gets varying degrees of boost clocks. Based on the 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" die, the two chips feature a 2+2 CCX configuration. The 2300X has 4 MB of L3 cache enabled per CCX (8 MB total), while the 2500X gives you the full 8 MB per CCX L3 cache, for a total of 16 MB. TDP of both chips are rated at 65W, and AMD could bundle the Wraith Stealth cooler with the two.

AMD announced its second-generation Ryzen Threadripper high-end desktop (HEDT) processor series, succeeding its lean and successful first-generation that disrupted much of Intel's Core X HEDT series, forcing Intel to open up new high-core-count (HCC) market segments beyond its traditional $1000 price-point. AMD's 16-core $999 1950X proved competitive with even Intel's 12-core and 14-core SKUs priced well above the $1200-mark; and now AMD looks to beat Intel at its game, with the introduction of new 24-core and 32-core SKUs at prices that are sure to spell trouble for Intel's Core X HCC lineup. The lineup is partially open to pre-orders, with two SKUs launching within August (including the 32-core one), and two others in October.

At the heart of AMD's second-generation Ryzen Threadripper is the new 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" die, which made its debut with the 2nd Generation Ryzen AM4 family. This die proved to introduce 3-5 percent IPC improvements in single-threaded tasks, and multi-threaded improvements with an improved Precision Boost II algorithm, which boosted frequencies of each of 8 cores on-die. The Threadripper is still a multi-chip module, with 2 to 4 of these dies, depending on the SKU. There are four of these - the 12-core/24-thread Threadripper 2920X, the 16-core/32-thread Threadripper 2950X; the 24-core/48-thread Threadripper 2970WX, and the flagship 32-core/64-thread Threadripper 2990WX.

Intel is ready with pre-built NUC desktops based on its 8th generation "Coffee Lake" SoCs. The cases of these NUCs are mosty similar to those the company debuted its low-power "Gemini Lake" based NUCs with, this March. The NUC8i3BEH, NUC8i5BEH and NUC8i7BEH, differentiated by Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 chips, respectively; come in larger cases to cope with the 28-Watt TDP. In addition to a bigger heatsink, these three serve up a 2.5-inch drive bay with SATA 6 Gbps back-plane, in addition to an M.2-2280 slot that has both SATA and PCIe 3.0 x4 wiring. The slimmer NUC8i3BEK and NUC8i5BEK, differentiated by lower TDP (15 W) SoCs, lack 2.5-inch drive bays. You still get a full-featured M.2-2280 slot. Retailers hint at availability from the first week of August.

Back in 2011, a team of engineers with the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, proposed an audacious new chip air-cooling concept called simply the Sandia CPU cooler. Its design involved a chunky metallic fan not just ventilating the cooler, but also dissipating heat by itself, conveyed through a thin layer of conductive lubricant between the fan and the static heatsink below it. The concept itself never made it to commercial production, but Thermaltake brought something closely resembling it to the market in 2016, with the Engine 27. The company is giving this cooler an even smaller sibling, with the new Engine 17. The number in the model name refers to its Z-height of just 17 mm, making it comfortable for 1U builds.

Besides its reduced Z-height, the design is practically unchanged from the Engine 27 - a round, nickel-plated copper base-plate draws heat from the CPU, which is mated with a 60 mm diameter metallic fan that not just dissipates heat by itself, but also passes air through a ring of aluminium fin channels projecting radially. The reduced height means that this cooler can only handle thermal loads of up to 35W TDP. It only supports Intel LGA115x sockets. Despite its weight, the fan spins between 1,500 to 2,500 RPM, pushing about 9 CFM of air, with a noise output ranging between 11 to 23 dBA. Measuring 91.5 mm x 91.5 mm x 17 mm, it weighs 205 g. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Ahead of their unveiling later this week, four Intel Core i5 and Core i7 U-series (ultra-low power) mobile processor SKUs surfaced in Intel's public price-lists. The prices in the list are meant for notebook manufacturers, for each chip purchased in 1,000-unit tray quantities. The specifications of these SKUs put out in the price-list indicate that Intel is keeping up with its drive to increase core-counts across its product-stack, even with TDP as tight as 15W (that's 15W for quad-core chips). The nominal clock speeds of these chips are kept very low, and their Turbo Boost frequencies are kept high, so there's tighter control over when the processor wants to spend power on performance.

The lineup is led by the Core i7-8650U, which is a 4-core/8-thread SKU with a clock speed of 1.90 GHz, and max Turbo Boost over 4.00 GHz; 8 MB of L3 cache, and a price of USD $409. Selling at the same exact price is the i7-8550U, with a slightly lower clock speed of 1.80 GHz, and 4.00 GHz Turbo Boost. The Core i5 lineup, interestingly, is 4-core/8-thread (includes HyperThreading support), even through its L3 cache amount is 6 MB. The i5-8350U ticks at 1.70 GHz, and an unknown Turbo Boost clock, and is priced at $297; while at the same price, the i5-8520U is clocked at 1.60 GHz, with 3.40 GHz Turbo Boost. The four chips will already be up for order in August 2017, and the first finished-products based on these chips could launch by Holiday.

It turns out that the Core i3-8300 isn't the only upcoming quad-core processor bearing the value-segment Core i3 badge; with Intel planning two other quad-core SKUs, according to leaked company documents that surfaced on the forumscape. The two other SKUs are the Core i3-8350K and the Core i3-8100. While the specs-sheet puts out only a limited number of specifications, it confirms that both the SKUs are quad-core, and that the i3-8350K features an unlocked multiplier. It also confirms that Core i3 quad-core chips (including the i3-8300) lack HyperThreading.

The Core i3-8100 could position itself at the lower-end of the value-segment, below the Core i3-8300. The Core i3-8350K could be a logical successor to the unlocked i3-7350K, which is being sold at $189. One can expect a pricing overlap between this unlocked quad-core SKU, and the cheapest "locked" six-core SKU bearing the Core i5 badge, such as the Core i5-8400. The i3-8350K is clocked at 4.00 GHz out of the box, and the i3-8300 at 3.60 GHz. Both chips lack Turbo Boost. The i3-8350K has a TDP rated at 91W, which is marginally below the 95W rating of its six-core siblings. The i3-8100 has its TDP rated at 65W.

AMD has announced full and immediate retail availability of their Wraith Max cooler through retail channels. The 140 W TDP Wraith Max cooler was previously only available through a bundle with AMD's top of the line Ryzen 7 1700X and 1800X. However, through popular demand, AMD have decided to make that cooler available solo. Ease of installation through AMD's Spring-Screw mechanism, jolly good looks, LED lighting, relatively silent performance (38 dBa) and respectable performance seem to have been enough to convince AMD users.

The Wraith Max cooler is compatible with AMD AM4, AM3+, and FM2 motherboards. The RGB ring's color can be customized through a myriad of RGB control apps from various manufacturers, such as Asus' Aura Sync, Gigabyte's RGB Fusion, MSI's Mystic Light, Biostar's Vivid LED DJ, and ASRock's RGB LED tools. AMD also offers the AMD Wraith Max RGB lighting control software (powered by Cooler Master) as a free download. The Wraith Max comes with both a USB header cable and an RGB LED header to control the lighting feature. A copper base plate and heatpipes, along with pre-applied thermal paste and a 92mm Cooler Master fan. The down-blowing fan also provides an extra bit of cooling for the socket area and VRMs. Perhaps the $59 price-tag will turn some prospective buyers off, but still, this remains the best stock cooler option in the market, and for someone who wants to keep an AMD cooling identity, is the best available option.

AMD's AM4 socket really is shaping up to be one of the company's most versatile to date. From true quad-core CPUS (just now available through Ryzen 3's launch through to veritable svelte behemoths 8-core, 16-thread CPUs, AM4 has something for every consumer. AMD is now taking that show further with the release of the Bristol Ridge family of APUs, which includes eight APUs and three CPUs. While pricing wasn't announced at time of writing, the top-priced part should fall below the $110 mark and bottom out at $50, so as not to collide with AMD's Ryzen 3 1200 (although these products aren't specifically overlapping anyway.)

AMD's new entry-level processors will hit a maximum of 65 W TDP, with the top spot being taken by the 2-module, 4-threads A12-9800, running at 3.8 GHz base and 4.2 GHz Turbo. This part holds a Radeon R7 GPU with 512 Stream Processors (GCN 1.3, the same as in the Fury GPUs) running at 800 MHz Base and 1108 MHz Turbo. There are three 35 W parts (denoted by a capital E after the model name.) One thing users should take into account is that the Bristol Ridge APUs deliver a maximum of 8x PCIe 3.0 lanes - thus rendering a multi-GPU solution unfeasible.

AMD today announced its Ryzen 3 series value desktop processors in the socket AM4 package. The lineup consists of the Ryzen 3 1200 priced at $109, and the faster Ryzen 3 1300X priced at $129; and compete with Intel Core i3 dual-core SKUs, such as the i3-7100 and the i3-7300, respectively. What AMD has going for these chips is that they are quad-core, even if they lack SMT featured on Ryzen 5 series quad-core parts. Both are endowed with 8 MB of shared L3 cache, and unlocked base-clock multipliers.

The Ryzen 3 1200 is clocked at 3.10 GHz, with 3.40 GHz boost, and XFR (extended frequency range) adding another 50 MHz; while the Ryzen 3 1300X is clocked at 3.40 GHz, with 3.70 GHz boost, and XFR adding a further 200 MHz. In most scenarios, the chip should boost up to 3.90 GHz. AMD carved the two Ryzen 3 series parts out of its 14 nm "Summit Ridge" silicon, by disabling two cores and 4 MB L3 cache per CCX, resulting in 4 cores and 8 MB of total L3 cache. Both chips feature TDP ratings of 65W, and include AMD Wraith Stealth cooling solutions.

The liquid-cooled variant of AMD Radeon Pro Vega Frontier Edition has some very lofty power requirements. Although it draws power from a pair of 8-pin PCIe power connectors, which along with the PCI-Express slot total a power output of 375W, the card was tested by PC Perspective, to be overdrawing power from the power connectors, with a peak power draw of a staggering 440W, with its power limit raised by 25% to stabilize a 7% overclock. At its stock clock speeds, however, the card remains well under the 375W limit, drawing around 350W of power.

The liquid-cooled Radeon Pro Vega Frontier Edition has its TDP rated at 375W, compared to 300W of the air-cooled variant. Given its performance being somewhere between the GeForce GTX 1080 and GTX 1080 Ti, these figures don't bode particularly well for the upcoming Radeon RX Vega family of consumer graphics cards, unless AMD pulls a rabbit out of its hat with pricing. The RX Vega series is expected to be announced on July 27.