Intel launched its 10th generation Core desktop processor family last week, with the announcement of a staggering 22 SKUs (32 if you count energy-efficient T-SKUs). This got us wondering if some of the deliciously-priced SKUs such as the $157 6-core/12-thread Core i5-10400F would be available in the first wave. Turns out, it might not.

Apparently, Intel has a split launch schedule for these processors, but in the very first wave, only the unlocked K-SKUs will be available in the market. These would include the 6-core/12-thread Core i5-10600K at $262 (1k-unit tray pricing), the 8-core/16-thread Core i7-10700K at $374, and the flagship 10-core/20-thread Core i9-10900K at $488). The three SKUs will be available in markets within May 2020.

Update May 4th: Intel confirmed that the KF-SKUs will also be part of the first wave.

Internal documents of Intel's 10th generation Core "Comet Lake" processor family, leaked by momomo_us, reveal the CPUID, TDP, and configurable-TDP values of the various desktop SKUs. Intel broadly classifies Comet Lake by core-count and companion iGPU tier. The 10-core Comet Lake die ships with 125 W, 65 W, and 35 W TDP, for the K/KF, locked, and T-SKUs, respectively.

For the desktop Comet Lake-S, there are only two iGPU tiers, GT2 (iGPU present in UHD 630 flavor), or completely disabled (denoted as GT0). The charts detailing the non-Turbo clock speeds reveal that the presence or absence of iGPU has no impact on TDP, cTDP, or CPU frequencies. The "Comet Lake" 10-core + GT2 silicon is listed with a CPUID of A0655h, while the 6-core + GT2 and 4-core + GT2 variants share the A0653h CPUID.

Intel is preparing lots of interesting designs for the future and it is slowly shaping their vision for the next generation of computing devices. Following the big.LITTLE design principle of Arm, Intel decided to try and build its version using x86-64 cores instead of Arm ones, called Lakefield. And we already have some information about the new Alder Lake CPUs based on Lakefield design that are set to be released in the future. Thanks to a report from Chrome Unboxed, who found the patches submitted to Chromium open-source browser, used as a base for many browsers like Google Chrome and new Microsoft Edge, there is a piece of potential information that suggests Alder Lake CPUs could arrive very soon.

Rumored to feature up to 16 cores, Alder Lake CPUs could present an x86 iteration of the big.LITTLE design, where one pairs eight "big" and eight "small" cores that are activated according to increased or decreased performance requirements, thus bringing the best of both worlds - power efficiency and performance. This design would be present on Intel's 3D packaging technology called Foveros. The Alder Lake CPU support patch was added on April 27th to the Chrome OS repository, which would indicate that Intel will be pushing these CPUs out relatively quickly. The commit message titled "add support for ADL gpiochip" contained the following: "On Alderlake platform, the pinctrl (gpiochip) driver label is "INTC105x:00", hence declare it properly." The Chrome Unboxed speculates that Alder Lake could come out in mid or late 2021, depending on how fast Intel could supply OEMs with enough volume.

AMD's timely announcement of the Ryzen 3 "Matisse" processor series could stir things up in the entry-level as Intel kitted its 10th generation Core i3 processors as 4-core/8-thread. Last week, a head-to-head Cinebench comparison between the i3-10300 and 3300X ensued, and today we have a 3DMark Firestrike and Time Spy comparison between their smaller siblings, the i3-10100 and the 3100, courtesy of Thai PC enthusiast TUM_APISAK. The two were benchmarked on Time Spy and Fire Strike on otherwise constant hardware: an RTX 2060 graphics card, 16 GB of memory, and a 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO SSD.

With Fire Strike, the 3100-powered machine leads in overall 3DMark score (by 0.31%), CPU-dependent Physics score (by 13.7%), and the Physics test. The i3-10100 is ahead by 1.4% in the Graphics score thanks to a 1.6% lead in graphics test 1, and 1.4% lead in graphics test 2. Over to the more advanced Time Spy test, which uses the DirectX 12 API that better leverages multi-core CPUs, we see the Ryzen 3 3100 post a 0.63% higher overall score, 1.5% higher CPU score; while the i3-10100 powered machines post within 1% higher graphics score. These numbers may suggest that the i3-10100 and the 3100 are within striking distance of each other and that either is a good pick for gamers, until you look at pricing. Intel's official pricing for the i3-10100 is $122 (per chip in 1,000-unit tray), whereas AMD lists the SEP price of the Ryzen 3 3100 at $99 (the Intel chip is at least 22% pricier), giving AMD a vast price-performance advantage that's hard to ignore, more so when you take into account value additions such as an unlocked multiplier and PCIe gen 4.0.

The Intel Graphics Twitter account was on fire today, because they posted an update on the development of the Xe graphics processor, mentioning that samples are ready and packed up in quite an interesting package. The processor in question was discovered to be a Xe-HP GPU variant with an estimated die size of 3700 mm², which means we sure are talking about a multi-chip package here. How we concluded that it is the Xe-HP GPU, is by words of Raja Koduri, senior vice president, chief architect, general manager for Architecture, Graphics, and Software at Intel. He made a tweet, which was later deleted, that says this processor is a "baap of all", meaning "big daddy of them all" when translated from Hindi.

Mr. Koduri previously tweeted a photo of the Intel Graphics team at India, which has been working on the same "baap of all" GPU, which suggests this is a Xe-HP chip. It seems that this is not the version of the GPU made for HPC workloads (this is reserved for the Xe-HPC GPU), this model could be a direct competitor to offers like NVIDIA Quadro or AMD Radeon Pro. We can't wait to learn more about Intel's Xe GPUs, so stay tuned. Mr. Koduri has confirmed that this GPU will be used only for Data Centric applications as it is needed to "keep up with the data we are generating". He has also added that the focus for gaming GPUs is to start off with better integrated GPUs and low power chips above that, that could reach millions of users. That will be a good beginning as that will enable software preparation for possible high-performance GPUs in future.

Update May 2: changed "father" to "big daddy", as that's the better translation for "baap".
Update 2, May 3rd: The GPU is confirmed to be a Data Center component.

Schenker today announced the release of their XMG Ultra laptops, which have been purpose/built as desktop alternatives. This means there are no limitations on hardware, and that portability or battery life aren't crucial factors - power is. To that effect, the XMG Ultra launches with a Z490/based motherboard and support for up to a ten-core Intel Core i9-10900K (the Core i7-10700K, with 8 cores, and the Core i7-10600K, with six cores, are also available). You can pair these CPUs with NVIDIA's RTX 2060 SUPER, 2070 SUPER, or 2080 SUPER for close to ultimate performance when it comes to available hardware. You can configure your XMG Ultra with up to 128 GB of system RAM.

Monitor options include a 17,3" 1080p 240 Hz, G-Sync panel, or an Ultra HD G-Sync panel with the same diagonal. The XMG Ultra's call to fame is that it is the first announced laptop with a 10-core Intel solution. And, since you'd be hard pressed to find an AMD offering that packs a comparable CPU with these very same graphics solutions (since OEMs, for some reason, have maxed out AMD CPU + NVIDIA GPU combos with up an RTX 2070 non-SUPER graphics card), this may be your best bet at getting a decent CPU paired with maximum mobile GPU power. Bear in mind that a pretty standard configuration will, however, set you back some €2,799.

Historically, Intel has separated its processors and chipsets that accompany them to overclockable and non-overclockable ones. That means that only the "K" CPUs can be overclocked. With the latest generation, only some parts of the lineup are K CPUs, like the Core i9-10900K, i7-10700K, i5-10600K, etc. Those processors could only be overclocked one put in motherboards based on "Z" chipset, like Z390 and Z490. However, it seems like ASRock has developed a new technology that will overclock non-K CPUs on non-Z motherboards, which is quite impressive.

Called the Base Frequency Boost (BFB) technology, it will allow for overclocking the non-K processors on chipsets like B460 and H470. How will that work you might wonder? Well, ASRock will take the TDP of the CPUs and make it run in the PL1 mode, which increases the processor TDP form 65 W and turns it into a 125 W TDP beast. This will, of course, be user selective and case dependent, meaning that if your cooling system can not handle that much heat coming out from the overclocked processors, it is unlikely that they will reach the peak clocks ASRock can target. You can check out the slide below:

ASRock, proudly announces its latest range of motherboards featuring Intel 400-series chipsets and supporting the latest Intel 10th Generation processors with up to 10-cores using the LGA1200 socket.

Whatever the build requirements, with over 30 models available, ASRock has the right motherboard to meet your needs. This includes the flagship Z490 Taichi and Z490 PG Velocita for performance and overclocking enthusiasts, and extreme gamers; popular Z490 Steel Legend, Pro and Phantom Gaming series'; comprehensive mini-ITX options for SFF builds; plus H470, B460 mainstream and H410 entry options.

Intel today launched its 10th generation Core desktop processor family and its companion Intel 400-series chipsets. Based on the 14 nm++ silicon fabrication process and built in the new LGA1200 package, the processors are based on the "Comet Lake" microarchitecture. The core design of "Comet Lake" and its IPC are identical to those of "Skylake," however Intel brought significant enhancements to the processor's clock-speed boosting algorithm, increased core- or thread counts across the board, and introduced new features that could interest enthusiasts and overclockers. The uncore component remains largely unchanged from the previous-generation, with support for DDR4 memory and PCI-Express gen 3.0. Use of these processors requires a new socket LGA1200 motherboard, they won't work on older LGA1151 motherboards. You can install any LGA115x-compatible cooler on LGA1200, provided it meets the thermal requirements of the processor you're using.

At the heart of the 10th generation Core processor family is a new 10-core monolithic processor die, which retains the same basic structure as the previous-generation 8-core "Coffee Lake Refresh" die, and 4-core "Skylake." The cores are arranged in two rows, sandwiched by the processor's uncore and iGPU blocks. A ring-bus interconnect binds the various components. The cache hierarchy is unchanged from previous generations as well, with 32 KB each of L1I and L1D caches; 256 KB of dedicated L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. The iGPU is the same Gen 9.5 based UHD 630 graphics. As we mentioned earlier, much of Intel's innovation for the 10th generation is with the processor's microcode (boosting algorithms).

Ahead of its launch a leaked ASUS ROG marketing slide reveals Cinebench R15 performance comparisons between the new Intel Core i9-10900K and AMD's current MSDT flagship part, the Ryzen 9 3950X. The graphs also include Intel's previous gen flagship, the i9-9900K, which should provide a reasonable indication of where the new Core i7-10700K performance could land.

In the single-threaded Cinebench R15 test, the Core i9-10900K scores 222 points, while the 3950X scores 213, which is a 4.22% lead for the new Intel flagship over AMD's. The i9-9900K is 2.81% faster than the 3950X in the same test. The landscape changes completely with multi-thread. Armed with 16 cores and 32 threads, the 3950X tests 48.61% faster than the i9-10900K, and a whopping 94.14% faster than the i9-9900K, which means the 3950X should land around 90% (±5%) faster than the i7-10700K. Core i9-10900K vs. Ryzen 9 3900X should make for a fascinating contest.

Ahead of its launch, tech publication HD Tecnologia posted the press-deck of Intel's 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processor series, as its launch is imminent (30th April, according to the slides). Right upfront, we see Intel's new retail packaging for the flagship Core i9 parts. Gone is the large acrylic dodecahedron, and in its place is a conventional paperboard-looking cuboidal box with a large triangular cutout window (probably made of LDPE) on the front face, which reveals the processor inside.

The next slide reveals all that's new with the 10th generation Core processor family, starting with clock speeds of up to 5.30 GHz, the desktop debut of Intel's Thermal Velocity Boost technology, HyperThreading being enabled across the board (Core i9 thru Core i3), native support for DDR4-2933, new CPU- and memory-overclocking features, and new platform I/O through the 400-series chipset. Next up, we see overclocker-relevant new features. Apparently, these processors allow you to toggle HyperThreading on a per-core basis. Until now, you could toggle HTT only across all cores. Next up, is "overclocking" for the PCI-Express x16 link (PEG) and DMI chipset bus. There are improved V/F curve controls with this generation. Intel is preparing to announce updated XTU and Performance Maximizer utilities. There are some packaging-level refinements, too, such as a physically thinner die (Z-height), making way for a thicker IHS. The internal TIM is still solder. We now move on to the actual SKUs.

Intel spoke of a "double digit percentage performance growth generation on generation" at its product reveal for "Tiger Lake" along the sidelines of its CES event. We now have a theory as to how they arrived at that. The company's 11th generation Core "Tiger Lake" processor, scheduled to launch sometime mid-2020, could bring about big gains in per-core performance for the ultraportable segment. PC enthusiast MebiuW, who has had a high hit-rate with Intel leaks, revealed that the flagship "Tiger Lake" part, the Core i7-1185G7, could ship with a CPU Turbo Boost speed of 4.70 GHz, a steep increase from the 3.90 GHz of the top current "Ice Lake" part, the i7-1065G7. The increased clock speeds, coupled with the more advanced "Willow Cove" CPU cores appear to be the 11th generation chip's value proposition.

Intel's first client-segment processor microarchitecture built on its own 7 nm silicon fabrication process will be codenamed "Meteor Lake." The codename began surfacing in driver files and technical documents, one of which was screengrabbed and leaked to the web by Komachi Ensaka. Not much else is known about it, except that it succeeds the 10 nm++ "Alder Lake," an ambitious attempt by Intel to replicate Arm big.LITTLE heterogenous core technology on the x86 architecture, by combining a number of high-power cores with high-efficiency cores on a single piece of silicon. Intel "Lakefield," headed toward mass-production within this year, is the first such heterogenous core.

Older reports throughout 2019-20 speculate "Meteor Lake" (known at the time only by its name), could come out at a time when Intel monetizes its "Golden Cove" high-performance CPU core. It's quite likely that like "Alder Lake," it could be a heterogenous chip targeting several client form-factors, mobile and desktop. The company could leverage its 7 nm process - claimed to rival TSMC 5 nm-class in transistor density - in turning up core-counts over "Alder Lake." We'll learn more about "Meteor Lake" as we crawl toward its 2022 launch window, if it still holds up.

Here are some of the first pictures and details of a pair of premium socket LGA1200 motherboards by Colorful. The iGame Z490 Vulcan X appears to lead the company's upcoming Intel Z490 chipset motherboard lineup. The CVN Z490 Gaming Pro, on the other hand, is a mid-range offering. The iGame board offers a 280 W-capable 14-phase CPU VRM, three each of PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x8/x8/x4 with all three populated, else x16/NC/x4) slots, PCie x1, and M.2 NVMe slots; a PCH heatsink outer shroud that extends into heatsinks for two of the M.2 slots, a rear I/O shroud that extends into an M.2 heatsink; and connectivity that includes a premium ALC1220-based onboard audio solution, 802.11ax WLAN driven by an Intel AX201 board, and 2.5 GbE wired interface driven by an Intel i225-V controller. The I/O shroud and PCH heatsink feature RGB LED embellishments.

The CVN Z490 Gaming Pro is refreshingly spartan for a Colorful board. Chunky aluminium heatsinks cool the board's 10-phase VRM rated up to 125 W. The CPU socket is wired to two reinforced PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/x4 electrical), You still get three M.2 slots, but only one of them features a heatsink. The connectivity is entry-level, too, with a Realtek ALC892-driven 8-channel HD audio solution, and a single 1 GbE wired networking interface driven by a Realtek RTL8111H controller. There are ARGB headers, although no RGB LED embellishments.

Mainland Chinese firm One Notebook revealed more details about its next-generation OneGX UMPC (ultra-mobile PC), a compact notebook that can almost fit in your coat pocket. The notebook features a tiny 7-inch screen, a condensed keyboard, and a pointing stick. Apparently, the new OneGX 1 could feature Intel's next-generation 11th generation Core "Tiger Lake" processor. The notebook also features an integrated 5G cellular modem. The UMPC also comes with an M.2-2280 NVMe slot, and you can opt for SSDs up to 2 TB in size. The OneGX 1 is expected to launch later this year, alongside Intel's launch of "Tiger Lake"

Today, Microsoft Azure DCsv2-Series featuring a hardware-based trusted execution environment (TEE) built on Intel Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX) was released for general availability. Built on Intel's trusted foundation, the Azure DCsv2-Series makes confidential computing broadly available to enterprise customers who want to leverage cloud computing while helping to keep sensitive workloads protected.

"Customers demand the capability to reduce the attack surface and help protect sensitive data in the cloud by encrypting data in use. Our collaboration with Microsoft brings enterprise-ready confidential computing solutions to market and enables customers to take greater advantage of the benefits of cloud and multiparty compute paradigms using Intel SGX technology," said Anil Rao, Intel vice president, Data Center Security and Systems Architecture.

Intel is giving finishing touches to its 10th generation Core i3 desktop processors based on the "Comet Lake" microarchitecture. These upcoming socket LGA1200 processors are 4-core/8-thread, and see the debut of HyperThreading and Turbo Boost technologies to the Core i3 desktop processor brand extension. The i3-10100 is an entry-level part clocked at 3.60 GHz with 4.30 GHz boost; while the i3-10300 is clocked higher with 3.70 GHz nominal and 4.40 GHz boost frequency. The TDP of both parts is rated at 65 W. Besides clock speeds, the two parts are differentiated with L3 cache amount, with the i3-10100 featuring 6 MB, and the i3-10300 featuring 8 MB. Cinebench R20 scores of the two chips were leaked to the web by CPU-Monkey.

The i3-10100 reportedly scores 448 points in the single-thread, and 2284 points in the multi-threaded test. The i3-10300, on the other hand, scores 457 points in the single-threaded test, and 2330 points in the multi-threaded test. The same source also claims to have tested the upcoming 3rd generation AMD Ryzen 3 "Matisse" 4-core/8-thread processor series, with the Ryzen 3 3100 scoring 444 points single-thread and 2154 points multi-threaded; and the Ryzen 3 3300X scoring 491 points single-thread, and 2341 points multi-threaded. If these scores hold true, it's game on between the two companies' entry-level chips.

Intel is taking a leaf out of AMDs book with their latest marketing campaign, the "Accelerate Your Game" bundle promotion was discovered on Overclockers UK and offer a selection of free games and software with the purchase of a qualifying Intel CPU. The promotion will offer free copies of Halo Wars 2, Dungeons 3, Hitman 2, Gears Tactics, VideoStudio Pro 2019, Corel Painters Essentials 7, DLC for The Cycle and World of Tanks along with one month of Origin Access to anyone who purchases a qualifying Intel Core i5 or above processor. The promotion is set to be officially announced by Intel shortly and will run until September 30th.

Intel Corporation today reported first-quarter 2020 financial results. "Our first-quarter performance is a testament to our team's focus on safeguarding employees, supporting our supply chain partners and delivering for our customers during this unprecedented challenge," said Bob Swan, Intel CEO."The role technology plays in the world is more essential now than it has ever been, and our opportunity to enrich lives and enable our customers' success has never been more vital. Guided by our cultural values, competitive advantages and financial strength, I am confident we will emerge from this situation an even stronger company."

In the first quarter, Intel achieved 34 percent data-centric revenue growth and 14 percent PC-centric revenue growth YoY. The company maintained essential factory operations with greater than 90 percent on-time delivery while supporting employees, customers and communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes a new Intel Pandemic Response Technology Initiative to combat the virus where we can uniquely make a difference with Intel technology, expertise, and resources.

Microsoft's flight simulator, an upcoming game designed to bring real-life scenarios of flying an airplane, just got a list of system requirements needed to run a game. To play with Flight Simulator, you would at least need to have a quad-core CPU like AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel Core i5-4460 equipped system, along with 8 GB of RAM. For graphics, you would need a GPU with at least 2 GB of VRAM, where the requirement is either AMD Radeon RX 570 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 GPU. Another interesting observation is the requirement of 150 GB of drive space, meaning that this game will be pretty big. Internet connection needs to be 5 Mbps at minimum, and as you up the resolution and graphics, you would need a faster connection. You can check out the entire table below.

The need for incrementally faster connection comes out of one reason - adaptive streaming. The game looks stunning, and if you wish to play at the highest quality, parts of the game will be rendered in the cloud. Microsoft is using its Azure infrastructure to help and render parts of the game and stream it down to your PC. This ensures that your PC is capable of playing the game and Microsoft is showing how they can tap the power of cloud for uses like this.

The week has begun with sporadic leaks about Intel's upcoming 10th generation Core "Comet Lake-S" desktop processor family, be it pictures of various socket LGA1200 motherboards, or leaked performance scores. Thai PC enthusiast TUM_APISAK posted links to Geekbench V4 entries of a handful 10th gen Core processors. These include the Core i7-10700K (8-core/16-thread), and the Core i5-10600K (6-core/12-thread). Comparisons with incumbent AMD offerings are inescapable. The i7-10700K locks horns with the Ryzen 7 3800X, while the i5-10600K takes the battle to the Ryzen 5 3600X.

The Core i7-10700K scores 34133 points in the multi-core test, and 5989 in the single-core one. The i5-10600K, on the other hand, puts out 28523 points in the multi-threaded test, and 6081 points in the single-core test. Both scores appear to be a single-digit percentage ahead of the AMD rivals in the multi-threaded test. The Intel chips appear to offer slightly better less-parallelized performance owing to higher boost frequencies for single-threaded or less parallelized workloads. These include an impressive 5.10 GHz max boost frequency for the i7-10700K, and 4.80 GHz for the i5-10600K. APISAK also posted scores of the iGPU-disabled Core i5-10600KF, which is roughly on par with the i5-10600K since it's basically the same chip with its eyes poked out.

GDP, a company specializing in the creation of tiny laptops designed for gaming, has just announced the latest addition to its family of tiny notebooks - the GDP Win Max gaming laptop. This model is an 8-inch gaming laptop packing a lot for its size. On the outside, this laptop is equipped with joysticks on both sides, so there is even an option to directly play games using these joysticks instead of the built-in keyboard. The display of the device is an IPS screen that features a 1280×800 resolution, resulting in a 16:10 aspect ratio of the display. What's more important, however, is what is under the hood of the small body.

It is powered by Intel's latest Ice Lake CPU - the Intel Core i5-1035G7. Being a 4 core/ 8 threaded CPU with Gen11 Iris Plus 940 graphics it is accompanied by 16 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 512 GB SSD. GDP has provided some of the benchmark results of this configuration which you can check out below, however, please take these with a grain of salt. As far as I/O goes, this small laptop is rather well equipped with plenty of ports. There is one Thunderbolt 3 port to connect to external GPU is it is needed. There is one USB Type-C 3.1 Gen2 port and two USB Type-A 3.1 Gen1 ports for the connection of external peripherals. If you wish to connect the laptop to the outside screen, there are options of HDMI, USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 ports for connection. A welcome addition to I/O is the inclusion of the RJ45 connector, meaning that if you have access to ethernet you can easily plug it into this laptop.

Here are some of the first pictures of the ASUS' high-end Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus XII family of socket LGA1200 motherboards based on Intel Z490 chipset. The lineup consists of an impressive 5 SKUs: ROG Maximus XII Extreme and Extreme Glacial (M12E); ROG Maximus XII Formula (M12F), ROG Maximus XII Hero WiFi (M12H), and the ROG Maximus XII Apex (M12A). The Maximus XII Extreme leads the pack with its 16-phase VRM that probably uses 90 A power stages. It includes Thunderbolt 3 and 10 GbE support. The Glacial version is possibly a combination of cosmetic- and functional changes (such as preparation for sub-zero cooling).

The Maximus XII Formula is the go-to board for overclockers with elaborate liquid-cooling setups. The board comes with liquid-cooling ready VRM heatsinks. Compared to the Extreme, the Formula loses out on Thunderbolt, but retains 10 GbE. The Maximus XII Hero (WiFi) is next in line, and somehow better endowed than the Maximus XII Apex, in featuring an 8-layer PCB like the Extreme and the Formula; and a combination of 5 GbE and 1 GbE networking. The Maximus XII Apex comes with a 6-layer PCB, a single 2.5 GbE connection, but somehow a similar CPU VRM configuration to the Extreme. This is probably how the Apex could end up pricier than the Hero. Find specific details in the specs sheet below.

Intel has regained its position of semiconductor leader by revenue from Samsung for the 2019 period. Intel had been trailing Samsung for the last 2 years but after a decline in DRAM demand Intel reclaimed the leading position. The overall semiconductor market saw revenue drops of 12% in 2019 which hit other companies worse than Intel.

Andrew Norwood, research VP at Gartner says: "Oversupply in the DRAM market helped push the overall memory market down 32.7% 2019. The memory market accounted for 26.1% of semiconductor sales in 2019 and was the worst-performing device segment,". Samsung being a large DRAM supplier was hit hard by this compared to Intel with limited memory production. Gartner the research firm has also cut its global semiconductor market outlook this year to a 0.9% dip from the 12.5% growth estimated at the end of 2019 due to the effects of COVID-19.

ASUS has inadvertently leaked images of their upcoming PRIME Z490-P and Z490-A motherboards, which will accompany the introduction of Intel's 10th Gen "Ice Lake" CPUs. As is usual with Intel, the new generation CPU release will be met with a new chipset launch, of which ASUS apparently has finalized designs: the company has uploaded Z490 pictures on their current Z390 PRIME webpage.

Like with previous ASUS designs, the PRIME Z490-P seems to target budget-conscious users, with a reduced feature set including a no-frills VRM heatsink design (which means the VRM itself isn't a top-tier one) and a pretty basic on-board sound processor. The motherboard still packs 2x M.2 slots and 2x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, though the rest of the expansion slots are of the 1x kind (4x slots in total). The Z490-A, though, boasts of a more premium construction, with oversized heatsinks (including for at least one of the M.2 slots) and 3x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots alongside 3x Pcie 3.0 1x slots. The sound processing subsystem has also been clearly beefed up in comparison.