This week on TechPowerUp News, new details emerge of AMD's upcoming "Zen" micro-architecture; Intel "fixes" micro-code of its non-K "Skylake" processors to prevent base-clock (BClk) overclocking.

Celebrating the 10th season, Intel Extreme Masters returns to Katowice, Poland, as the world will watch the best professional players compete for over US$600,000. Intel will be present to show the best in technology and announce new initiatives that will enrich and grow gaming and eSports through the next decade.

Come see amazing advances in gaming in the Intel Experience Zone. Set across 625 square meters, experience virtual reality, see the smart ways Intel RealSense technology is integrated into games, and play the latest titles. When: March 4-6, 2016. Doors open at 10 a.m. daily for ticketed attendees, 12 p.m. for free. Where: IEM Expo hall, B1.

Intel pushed a CPU microcode update to its motherboard partners, which "plugs a loophole," which allowed people to overclock Core "Skylake" processors, other than those with the "K" brand extensions. The PC enthusiast community rejoiced what it felt was a comeback of base-clock overclocking on non-enthusiast Intel chips, with the advent of the company's 6th generation Core "Skylake" architecture. Apparently, Intel sees it as a flawed CPU micro-code which allowed overclocking, and which some motherboard vendors even built marketing campaigns around.

In an interview with PC World, a company spokesperson stated: "Intel regularly issues updates for our processors which our partners voluntarily incorporate into their BIOS," an Intel spokesman said. "The latest update provided to partners includes, among other things, code that aligns with the position that we do not recommend overclocking processors that have not been designed to do so. Additionally, Intel does not warranty the operation of the processor beyond its specifications." So how does this micro-code update work? For starters, it will work only if you want it to. If your motherboard currently supports overclocking, then it will continue to do so, until you update its BIOS. Intel will push the new micro-code to its motherboard partners, who in turn will deploy it on their latest production batches, and to their customers through DIY BIOS updates.

Earlier, Intel confirmed that its Skylake processors were plagued by a bug which causes the system to freeze or act abnormally when executing complex workloads, such as the stress test benchmark Prime95. While the majority of computer users might not use Prime95 at all, or never had the urge to stress their system to the point of discovering this Intel Skylake bug, still ASRock has already released BIOS updates for fixing this flaw on all of their Intel 100 Series motherboards. So, on the bright side, after a quick ASRock BIOS update you will never notice or remember Intel's small hiccup.

This week on TechPowerUp News: Intel 6th gen. Core "Skylake" processors freeze over under certain kinds of stress; AMD's big price-cut for the super-small Radeon R9 Nano, and the fabled 5.10 GHz Intel Xeon processor.

Microsoft, in a tactfully-worded blog post by Exec VP for its Windows and Devices Group, Terry Myerson, announced that it won't support older versions of Windows (eg: Windows 7 and Windows 8.1) on the latest/upcoming processors. The software might run on the new hardware, but the company won't provide enterprise support for such platforms. This could include software updates, as the platform won't technically meet the software's requirements.

In the post, Microsoft named upcoming platforms from the big three CPU makers - Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, to which the company will provide enterprise support only for Windows 10. These include the 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors from Intel, "Bristol Ridge" processors from AMD, and the "8996" SoC from Qualcomm. Machines running a select few models of Core "Skylake" processors will receive enterprise support, but only till 17th July, 2017. After this date, only the most critical security updates will be released for the OS running on those platforms.

Intel's first 5-gigahertz CPU will bear an unlikely brand - Xeon. The company's upcoming Xeon E5-2602 V4 quad-core chip based on the 14 nm "Broadwell-EP" silicon, is rumored to ship with a staggering 5.10 GHz clock speed out of the box. Getting there won't be easy for this socket LGA2011v3 chip. Despite being a quad-core chip, with just four out of ten cores on the "Broadwell-EP" silicon bring physically enabled, the chip's TDP is rated at 165W. Other features include 10 MB of L3 cache, and a quad-channel DDR4 memory interface.

Intel Corporation today reported full-year revenue of $55.4 billion, operating income of $14.0 billion, net income of $11.4 billion and EPS of $2.33. The company generated approximately $19.0 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $4.6 billion and used $3.0 billion to repurchase 96 million shares of stock.

For the fourth quarter, Intel posted revenue of $14.9 billion, operating income of $4.3 billion, net income of $3.6 billion and EPS of 74 cents. The company generated approximately $5.4 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.1 billion, and used $525 million to repurchase 17 million shares of stock.

Thecus Technology Corp. today announced the launch of its newest 2-bay NAS, the N2810, a NAS server designed to optimize multitasking and provide seamless 4K multimedia playback. The N2810 is equipped with the newest generation Intel Braswell N3050 1.6 GHz dual-core processors (burst to 2.16 GHz) and 2 GB DDR3 RAM. Furthermore the N2810 supports AES-NI encryption engine for increased performance and enhanced security.

"The N2810 steps up to the challenges that 4K playback creates and provides a robust hardware platform that is able to handle multiple tasks with ease," said Florence Shih, CEO at Thecus Technology Corp. "With the recent development of our newest operating system, ThecusOS 7.0, we are elated to announce that the N2810 will be the first Thecus NAS to be released with the new software."

Intel's 6th generation Core "Skylake" architecture is faced with a major bug. Responding to a support question on its Communities page, on how certain multi-threaded stress tests like Prime95 can cause the system to freeze; Intel confirmed that an issue affects all 6th generation Core products. In certain highly-specific workloads, such as Prime95, "Skylake" chips hang or cause "unpredictable behavior."

Intel stated that it identified the issue and has released a fix. The company is working with its motherboard partners to get the fix across to users through a system BIOS update:

Intel has identified an issue that potentially affects the 6th Gen Intel Core family of products. This issue only occurs under certain complex workload conditions, like those that may be encountered when running applications like Prime95. In those cases, the processor may hang or cause unpredictable system behavior. Intel has identified and released a fix and is working with external business partners to get the fix deployed through BIOS.

Intel's upcoming Core i7 "Broadwell-E" HEDT processors in the LGA2011v3 package will be sold in not three, but four models, detailed in our older article. The lineup consists of two six-core parts, and one each of eight-core and ten-core. The biggest question at the time was pricing - with Intel traditionally pricing the slowest HEDT part around the $400-mark, the middle variant around $600, and the top-dog at $1000, how the company could squeeze in a fourth variant. It turns out that the company wants you to pay top-dollar for ten cores in your machine.

Intel could retain its traditional HEDT pricing scheme for all but the 10-core part. The "entry-level" (if you can call it that) Core i7-6800K could be priced around the $400-mark. The Core i7-6850K, could retail for $600. It's likely that clock-speed isn't the only thing setting the two six-core models, it wouldn't surprise us if Intel ships the i7-6800K with a "limited" PCIe root-complex, much like the i7-5820K. The eight-core i7-6900K could be priced at $999, at what used to be Intel's top client CPU price-point. It turns out that the 10-core i7-6950X could be priced at no less than $1,500. This isn't the first time Intel priced its top HEDT chip above $999. The dual-socket capable Core 2 Extreme QX9775, which sold exclusively with Intel's first-generation "Skull Trail" motherboard, retailed at $1,300. Intel plans to launch its Core i7 "Broadwell-E" lineup in the second quarter of 2016.

Intel Corporation today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Altera Corporation ("Altera"), a leading provider of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology. The acquisition complements Intel's leading-edge product portfolio and enables new classes of products in the high-growth data center and Internet of Things (IoT) market segments.

"Altera is now part of Intel, and together we will make the next generation of semiconductors not only better but able to do more," said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. "We will apply Moore's Law to grow today's FPGA business, and we'll invent new products that make amazing experiences of the future possible - experiences like autonomous driving and machine learning."

Altera will operate as a new Intel business unit called the Programmable Solutions Group (PSG), led by Altera veteran Dan McNamara. Intel is committed to a smooth transition for Altera customers and will continue the support and future product development of Altera's many products, including FPGA, ARM-based SoC and power products. In addition to strengthening the existing FPGA business, PSG will work closely with Intel's Data Center Group and IoT Group to deliver the next generation of highly customized, integrated products and solutions.

In this episode of TechPowerUp News: the return of overclocking on budget Intel CPUs by playing with base-clock (BClk); and AMD GPUOpen, the company's ambitious counter to NVIDIA GameWorks that harnesses the power of open-source.

MSI has received news from various media websites about possible bending of Intel 6th Generation Processors when using heavy-weight cooling solutions. Possible bending might not occur straight away, however, as your system sits on its desk or moving it anywhere, could result in unwanted effects. To make sure you will never encounter this problem we developed the CPU GUARD 1151 to protect your Socket 1151 Intel Xeon E3 v5 / Core / Pentium or Celeron processor which strengthens the corners to withstand more vertical pressure.

Besides protecting your CPU, the CPU GUARD 1151 is also the perfect tool for anyone looking to 'delid' their 6th Generation Intel processor. When re-applying the IHS, the design of the CPU GUARD 1151 tightly locks the HIS ensuring it will stay in its place and you will never have to worry about optimal thermal performance or it moving. Recently the CPU GUARD 1151 was used during an overclocking event, helping top overclockers push their Skylake CPU to the max, breaking world records.

Intel is breaking away from its tradition of three Core i7 HEDT (high-end desktop) processors per generation, capturing price points of $400, $600, and $1000; with its upcoming Core i7 "Broadwell-E" HEDT lineup. According to leaked documents accessed by BenchLife.info, the company is readying four SKUs based on the 14 nm "Broadwell-E" silicon, these include the Core i7-6800K, the Core i7-6850K, the Core i7-6900K, and the Core i7-6950X.

The Core i7-6800K and i7-6850K are six-core chips, with HyperThreading enabling 12 logical CPUs, and 15 MB shared L3 cache. The i7-6800K is clocked at 3.40 GHz, with a 3.60 GHz Turbo Boost frequency. The i7-6850K is a notch above, with 3.60 GHz core, and 3.80 GHz Turbo Boost frequency. The slide doesn't mention if either of the two parts feature a limited PCIe root complex, like the one on the i7-5820K.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of Crucial DDR4 2400MT/s 8Gb-based RDIMM, LRDIMM and ECC UDIMM server modules. Engineered to enable higher density modules, 8Gb-based DDR4 enables increased performance, bandwidth and energy efficiency. The modules are available for immediate purchase through select global channel partners and at www.crucial.com.

Higher-density, 8Gb-based modules allow for greater channel bandwidth and channel density and are also up to 20 percent more energy efficient than 4Gb-based modules. Ultimately, these benefits provide more value per gigabit than current 4Gb-based offerings, making it easy to scale up server deployments in the future. Designed for Intel's next generation processor product families, Crucial's 8Gb-based server memory is extensively tested to mission-critical standards and is backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

Intel is readying its most powerful NUC (next-unit of computing) compact desktop, codenamed "Skull Canyon." Slated for the first quarter of 2016 (between January and March), this NUC will feature Intel's most powerful implementation of its 9th generation Iris Pro graphics. According to FanlessTech, we're looking at a chip with Core "Skylake" CPU cores, and an iGPU with 72 execution units, and 128 MB eDRAM L4 cache, which makes up the company's Iris Pro 580 solution. It remains to be seen how small Intel can make this thing.

MSI, world leading in motherboard technology, announces its 2nd generation of ECO motherboards, based on Intel's 100-series 'Skylake' chipset. Introducing 3 new models, the MSI H170M ECO, B150M ECO, and H110M ECO motherboards offer industry leading power efficiency while retaining optimal performance. This is made possible through the new MSI ECO Series motherboards optimized PCB and circuitry design. This allows for saving more energy without sacrificing performance, compatibility or functionality. ECO Genie and ECO Center Pro allows the user to completely control the system's power consumption and feature set through an easy to use interface.

The 2nd generation MSI ECO Series motherboards offer more features than ever, without impacting it's power efficiency or performance. Reliable and efficient Intel Gigabit LAN with 15kv anti-surge LAN Protect offers a stable and secure networking solution. Through carefully selected and thoroughly tested components and materials, Guard-Pro and Military Class 4 provide industry leading stability. Even Audio Boost can now be found on MSI ECO Series motherboards as a testament to technical ingenuity.

A ominously named app claims to boost certain apps performance on AMD processors. Called "Intel Compiler Patcher," this app scans your machine for apps developed using Intel C++ compilers, and patches them to work better on non-Intel CPU platforms (namely AMD). The idea (suspicion rather), is that apps developed with Intel C++ compilers give modern AMD CPUs a performance disadvantage. The following is how the developer describes the app works:

The compiler or library can make multiple versions of a piece of code, each optimized for a certain processor and instruction set, for example SSE2, SSE3, etc. The system includes a function that detects which type of CPU it is running on and chooses the optimal code path for that CPU. This is called a CPU dispatcher. However, the Intel CPU dispatcher does not only check which instruction set is supported by the CPU, it also checks the vendor ID string. If the vendor string says "GenuineIntel" then it uses the optimal code path. If the CPU is not from Intel then, in most cases, it will run the slowest possible version of the code, even if the CPU is fully compatible with a better version.

We don't have an AMD machine at hand to put our benches ourselves, and so we invite AMD CPU users from our community to post their results by using this "patcher" at their own risk.DOWNLOAD: Intel Compiler Patcher

The next update to Intel's high-end desktop (HEDT) platform will arrive no sooner than Q2-2016 (April-June), according to a leaked company roadmap slide for its client computing platforms. These chips will be based on Intel's 5th generation Core "Broadwell" micro-architecture, although in the lineup, they will be sold as Core i7-6800 and i7-6900 series.

Core i7 "Broadwell-E" will see Intel release its first consumer 10-core processor, besides 6-core and 8-core. The cheapest ($400-ish) part will likely be 6-core, the mid-tier part ($600-ish) will likely be 8-core, and the top-dog $1000 part 10-core. The TDP for these parts will continue to be rated at 140W. These chips will be supported by existing LGA2011v3 motherboards, with a firmware update, just like Core i7 "Ivy Bridge-E" were supported by existing LGA2011 motherboards of the time. Elsewhere on the roadmap, we see Core "Kaby Lake" desktop processors making an entry in Q4-2016.

Intel isn't new to giving away games or in-game DLC with its processors. The company is making a comeback on that front with an even bigger game bundle. Called "Never Stop Gaming," it rewards buyers of the company's Core i7 processors (Skylake, Haswell-E, and Haswell LGA1150); with $125 worth games/DLCs. These include Just Cause 3, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and World of Warships ($50 worth items and in-game currency). The offer will be applicable to retail channel boxed processor purchases, as well as branded PCs with Core i7 processors. The bundle will be shipped as a voucher given with each Core i7 product purchase, which can be redeemed on Intel website. It is valued at $125, with the $60 Just Cause 3, $50-worth in-game goodies for World of Warships, and $15 worth Counter Strike: Global Offensive. The offer will be retailer specific.

Intel officially launched its new generation NUC desktops, complete with reference-design chassis; based on the company's 6th generation Core "Skylake" processors. Intel launched two main models, which each have variants based on chassis design - the NUC6i5SY, based on the Core i5-6260U processor; and the NUC6i3SY. The two each have variants with a compact chassis, with just enough room for an M.2 SSD (NUC6i5SYK and NUC6i3SYK); and those with room for a 2.5-inch SATA drive in addition to the M.2 SSD (NUC6i5SYH and NUC6i3SYH). NUC boards for the two are available without the chassis, opening things up for custom, third-party cases.

AMD reportedly finished testing some of its first "Zen" micro-architecture CPU prototypes, and concluded that they "meet all expectations," with "no significant bottlenecks found" in its design. This should mean that AMD's "Zen" chips should be as competitive with Intel chips as it set them out to be. The company is planning to launch its first client CPUs based on the "Zen" micro-architecture in 2016, based on its swanky new AM4 socket, with DDR4 memory and integrated PCIe (a la APUs). Zen sees AMD revert to the large, monolithic core design, from its "Bulldozer" multi-core module design with a near doubling of number-crunching machinery per-core, compared to its preceding architecture.

Compact desktop maker Shuttle is giving final touches to its XPC SH170R6 compact desktop barebones system. Designed to support 6th generation Intel Core "Skylake" processors, the SH170R6 gets you started with a custom-design motherboard based on the Intel H170 Express chipset, with two expansion slots (one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and one PCI-Express 3.0 x4); four DDR4 DIMM slots, a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot, four SATA 6 Gb/s ports; a heat-pipe based CPU cooler, and an 80 Plus Bronze rated 300W power supply.

The case itself offers room for a 5.25-inch optical drive, and two 3.5-inch drives (one of which is an externally accessible bay). The system board offers external connectivity of two DisplayPort 1.2 connectors (supports one Ultra HD display), an HDMI port, six USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA 6 Gb/s port, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio. There's provision for an mPCIe WLAN card. Slated for release later this month, the SH170R6 is expected to be priced at 258€ excluding VAT (around 307€ with 19% VAT).

QNAP, Inc. has sprung another surprise on the enterprise storage marketplace with the announcement of the new TVS-ECx80U-SAS-RP unified NAS-SAS storage solution. This new system bridges the gap between all three different types of drives: speedy all-SSD storage, large capacity SATA drives and cost-effective SAS HDD systems.

The new TVS-ECx80U-SAS-RP series marries high-performance 12 Gbps SAS drives with built-in ultra-high performance 256 GB SSD caching. Powered by QNAP's new QTS 4.2 management software along with the new Qtier automated data-tiering technology, the system keeps frequently accessed data readily accessible and infrequently accessed data close at hand in less-costly HDD storage, significantly improving the overall performance while reducing data warehousing costs.