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Intel has reportedly placed 3nm orders with TSMC for its next-generation AI chip codenamed "Falcon Shores" which teases TSMC's new CoWoS advanced packaging will be used, with Falcon Shores expected to be produced in late 2025.

In a new report from CNyes, TSMC has received yet another "successful order" for Intel's next-gen AI chip called Falcon Shores on TSMC's newer 3nm process node and CoWoS advanced packaging technology, with Falcon Shores to take on NVIDIA's tight grip on the AI chip market.

The new Falcon Shores AI chip design has been finalized (tape out) and will reportedly enter mass production at the end of 2025. Intel acquired Habana back in 2019, with Habana maintaining its independence in its operating model, but over the years, things have changed and now Intel will combine Habana's technology with its own GPU technology.

GPU images and GPU-Z screenshots have emerged for the GeForce RTX 4070 10GB that could have been. The unreleased prototype from NVIDIA features 10GB of VRAM on a slower 160-bit memory interface. The 'for reals' GeForce RTX 4070 launched in April 2023 and features 12GB of VRAM on a 192-bit interface, with a total memory bandwidth that is 20% faster than what we see here.

However, the AD104-275 chip in this unreleased GeForce RTX 4070 10GB prototype features 7,168 CUDA Cores - more than what is found in the actual GeForce RTX 4070 (5,888 CUDA Cores) and in line with the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER that was released earlier this year.

Interestingly, this prototype also features faster Base and Boost Clock speeds compared to the retail GeForce RTX 4070 - 2355/2520MHz versus 1920/2475MHz.

SK hynix is gearing up to strengthen its "triangular alliance" with NVIDIA and TSMC for the future of AI GPUs and future-gen HBM4 memory.

The South Korean company will attend SEMICON Taiwan on September 4, with SK hynix president Kim Joo-sun to deliver a keynote speech at the CEO Summit of SEMICON Taiwan, which will be the first time that the company has taken a large role like this at the event.

Around 1,000 companies attend SEMICON, a major event in the semiconductor space. Companies like TSMC attend to show off their latest semiconductor equipment and technologies, build new relationships, and strengthen old ones.

AMD has confirmed that its upcoming Zen 5 desktop CPU, the Ryzen 9000 Series, is launching on July 31 with four models: the Ryzen 9 9950X, Ryzen 9 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 5 9600X. Price points are still TBC, but as part of a new deep dive into Zen 5, AMD has also provided some fresh benchmark results comparing the non-flagship 9900X, 9700X, and 9600X against their Intel 14th Gen counterparts.

Granted, as official benchmarks, these are most likely hand-picked to paint a positive picture, but they align with the impressive early leaks covering Zen 5 performance. The big takeaway, which is excellent to see confirmed by AMD here, is that the Ryzen 9000 Series is notably more efficient than Zen 4, runs a lot cooler, and supports more advanced overclocking for the CPU and DDR5 memory.

The first chart compares the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X to the Intel Core i9 14900K.

With U.S. export restrictions on GPUs hitting a certain performance level for AI, the flagship GeForce RTX 4090 is no longer officially available in China and has been replaced with the GeForce RTX 4090D. For PC gaming, there's not much separating the two; however, this raises questions about NVIDIA's plans for the upcoming Blackwell generation.

It's all but 'officially confirmed' that the next-gen GeForce RTX 5090 will be considerably more powerful than the RTX 4090 - with the question now being by how much, 30%, 40%, 80%? According to insider hongxing2020 on X, NVIDIA has its next-gen GeForce RTX 5090D ready and will release the GPU sometime in January 2025.

It's unclear what the configuration here will be or how it would differ from the baseline GeForce RTX 5090. On that front, NVIDIA could still be working on finalizing the GeForce RTX 50 Series specs. That said, any RTX 5090D would kind of have to be a PC gaming powerhouse - but without the raw AI performance.

Sabrent has just teased that it's about to kick off its Amazon Prime Day 2024 sales with some storage bargains for your new PC, laptop, or portable gaming handheld.

Let's begin with the Sabrent 4-Bay Docking Station that handles SSDs and HDDs in 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch sizes, with a power supply and fan, and with 4 bays, you can handle 4 big drives with separate on/off switches. The Sabrent DS-U3B4 is normally $99.99, down to $84.99 during Amazon Prime Day.

Next up is the Sabrent 4-Drive NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter (EC-P3X4), which is normally $179.99, down to $149.99 for Amazon Prime Day. The Sabrent 4-Drive NVMe M.2 SSD to PCIe 3.0 x4 adapter will allow you to add 4 x NVMe M.2 SSDs to a single slot inside of your PC, so if you need to fill some unused PCIe x4 slot inside of your system, this is the bad boy for you.

In a bid to maximize revenues and further improve profitability--especially a full year after the $70 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard King--Microsoft has made radical changes to its Xbox Game Pass subscription, including the outright removal of its console tier.

A bit ago, Microsoft announced a big shake up to its value-oriented Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Three key things happened: Price increases, adjustments of value, and the removal of the service's most saturated tier.

On the price increase front, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is increasing from $16.99 a month to $19.99 a month. Prices for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate held strong, with the debut $14.99 staying static across for years, but Ultimate prices jumped to $16.99 in 2023, and now to $19.99 in 2024--representing a 33% increase across the full five-year span that Ultimate has been offered.

Microsoft's recent Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price hike is the second increase since the service rolled out in 2019, and represents a +18% increase in a year's time.

As we had predicted in 2022, Microsoft recently made the decision to raise Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription prices to reflect the added value of new games, such as the gargantuan Call of Duty Black Ops 6. That's not the only thing Microsoft did, though; the company also fragmented the value of Game Pass by removing day one first-party releases on its new Game Pass Standard tier.

The new multi-tiered structure gave rise to a price hike for the all-encompassing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. This appears to be an effort to offset cannibalization and ensure long-term revenue via the lease-based model of subscriptions versus the one-off premium purchase that companies like Activision enjoyed in the past; gamers can sub for one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $20 instead of paying $70 for new first-party games, including Call of Duty Black Ops 6.

Thanks to GEEKOM, we've got another exclusive Prime Day Deal on a powerful Mini PC that you won't want to miss. TweakTown readers can save $100 off the GEEKOM Mini IT13 Mini PC. A powerful little unit equipped with the 14 Core and 24 Thread Intel Core i7-13620H processor. With integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, 32GB of DDR4 memory, and 1TB of fast PCIe Gen 4 storage.

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AMD's next-gen Zen 5-based Ryzen 9 9950X processor has been tested once again, this time at 253W and its unlimited PPT setting, which sees the Ryzen 9950X beating out Intel's current-gen flagship Core i9-14900K by 35% in Blender benchmarks.

The new performance information on the Ryzen 9 9950X processor is coming from AnandTech forum user "Igor_Kavinski" once again, testing the Zen 5 chip on Blender. Remember: this isn't a final retail CPU but an ES chip (engineering sample), meaning we could see slightly more performance out of the Ryzen 9 9950X when it launches later this month.

Igor tested the Ryzen 9 9950X processor at 5 different PPT (Package Power Tracking) settings, which control the maximum amount of power the CPU can use. The Ryzen 9 9950X ended up being 20% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X at its maximum power level, with Igor unleashing the 253W PPT setting, matching the Core i9-14900K "PL2" mode and unlimited PPT.

Anandtech forum user 'Igor Kavinski' has posted benchmark results for the upcoming Zen 5 launch flagship CPU - the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. Still, on track for a July launch, the forum user has posted several Blender benchmark results covering various demanding 3D modeling tests. Based on what we're seeing, the upcoming Zen 5 CPU looks like a great option for 3D modelers.

The benchmarks include Precision Boost Overdrive and water cooling, with some of the most exciting results coming from the CPU when it's being pushed to its power limit. As an engineering sample, the CPU boost clock speed is listed as 5.62 GHz, lower than the 5.7 GHz outlined by AMD - so what we're seeing could be from a sample with limitations. Even so, it's excellent that temperatures rarely rise above 60 degrees.

As for the 160W sweet spot, the Ryzen 9 9950X outperforms the Ryzen 9 7950X, running at 230W by up to 16%, and the Intel Core i9-14900K, running at 253W, by up to 20%.

MediaTek is plotting along with new server processors based on the Arm architecture, in both CPU and GPU form, using TSMC's newer 3nm process node. The new Arm-based MediaTek AI chips will be launched in the second half of 2025.

In a new report from UDN, we hear that mass production is aiming for the second half of 2025, with orders expected from large cloud service providers (CSPs). MediaTek hasn't responded to the rumors, of course, but industry analysis shows that the AI server market is "rising rapidly," reports UDN, and that high-end AI models require high-performance computing (HPC) chips from major manufacturers like NVIDIA and AMD.

However, HPC consumes far too much power and doesn't require a large amount of AI inference, so in this field, there's no need for HPC chips. The mid-to-low-end AI server market is now growing, generating new demand. The low-power Arm architecture processor has become a "new target" for major CSP manufacturers.

Apple will be enjoying the first waves of TSMC's new 2nm production capacity, with TSMC reportedly kicking off trial production of its new 2nm node this week.

In a new report from Ctee, Apple has the first production capacity out of TSMC in 2025 for its new 2nm process node, with plans to use next-generation 3D advanced packaging platform SoIC (or System on Integrated Chip) on its next-gen M5 chips. SoIC production capacity is scheduled to "increase several times" in 2026, reports Ctee.

Apple is TSMC's largest customer and has taken the lead in booking 2nm advanced process production capacity, with rumors that its next-gen M5 chips and the use of SoIC advanced packaging will hit mass production in 2025. Ctee's supply chain sources said that Apple's upcoming SoIC production is "relatively easy" compared to AI chips.

ASUS has updated its entry-level GeForce RTX 40 Series card design with the new ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4060 V3 8GB. As the naming suggests, this is the third version of the card. As the most efficient GPU in NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace line-up, the redesign sports smaller axial fans in a more compact two-slot build.

The look has also changed compared to the more sci-fi transparent shroud of earlier Dual models that were also 2.5 slots thick. The V3 looks plain and simple, with a slightly curved shape and an all-black finish. The specs and requirements remain unchanged, so performance should be on par with previous Dual designs in a smaller, more compact package. 3072 CUDA Cores, a 2490 MHz OC-mode Boost Clock, and 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit interface.

It's a simple design that befits an entry-level mainstream GPU. It's similar to the recent ASUS Dual Radeon RX 6600 V3 8GB. However, it removes the white text and graphics.

TSMC is reportedly preparing to start production of NVIDIA's next-gen Blackwell AI GPU platform, with strong customer demand, NVIDIA has reportedly increased AI chip investment in TSMC by 25%.

In a new report from UDN, we hear that NVIDIA has amped up Blackwell AI GPU orders by 25% at TSMC. This shows that the insatiable AI demand isn't slowing down. TSMC's performance in the second half of 2024 is going to be bonkers, and 2025 will be even bigger (for both companies).

NVIDIA's next-generation Blackwell AI GPU family will usher in new performance levels, with major manufacturers like Amazon, Dell, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and more to use Blackwell AI GPUs in their new AI servers, and right now the capacity exceeds expectations.

News surrounding stability issues with Intel's flagship 13th and 14th Gen CPUs (the Core i9-14900K, Core i9-13900K) has been cropping up for several months. Recently, we got word that Intel was denying RMA requests for issues like blue screens, system crashes, and intermittent errors. Intel blamed the motherboard makers, conducted its own investigation, and outlined workaround fixes; it's been messy.

Alderon Games, an Australian-based developer behind the dinosaur-themed multiplayer survival game Path of Titans, announced "we are swapping all our servers to AMD" because "Intel is selling defective" CPUs - specifically 13th and 14th Gen models.

The post doesn't mince words; it states that its customers have been reporting thousands of crashes on Intel 13th and 14th Gen CPUs (verified by the game's crash reporting tools), and its game servers have been "experiencing constant crashes, taking entire servers down." It also claims that it's only a matter of time before Core i9-14900K and Core i9-13900K CPUs that have yet to fail will fail.

Samsung Foundry has proudly announced that it has secured its first 2nm AI chip order from a Japanese company, taking one of TSMC's long-standing customers away.

In a new press release, the South Korean electronics giant said it secured a Japanese company to fab its new 2nm AI chip, with Taejoong Song, Corporate VP at Samsung Electronics explaining: "This order is pivotal as it validates Samsung's 2nm GAA process technology and Advanced Package technology as an ideal solution for next-generation AI accelerators. We are committed to closely collaborating with our customers ensuring that the high performance and low power characteristics of our products are fully realized".

The Japanese company in question is Preferred Networks, a leading Japanese AI company that is involved the R&D focused on deep learning workloads. Preferred Networks is heading towards vertically integrating "the AI value chain from chips to supercomputers" with the Japanese company providing a medium for businesses to have their own in-house AI clusters.

Unlike other prominent players in the gaming space, Valve is the very definition of a private company. The developer behind Half-Life, DOTA 2, and Counter-Strike also runs Steam, the largest PC gaming platform in the world. Yet, little is known about Valve's overall size and how it operates day to day.

According to a new leak, Valve only has a fraction of the employees of its contemporaries, companies like EA, Epic Games, and Riot Games. Information regarding how many employees work at Valve surfaced recently via redacted documents as part of an antitrust lawsuit against Valve.

Spotted by SteamDB's Pavel Djundik, the information covers Valve's employee headcount and even gross pay across the company's four key divisions - Admin, Games, Steam, and Hardware.

NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce RTX 50 series "Blackwell" gaming GPUs have had their TDPs leaked by PSU maker Seasonic, with the monster ultra-enthusiast GeForce RTX 5090 expected to have a 500W TDP.

In the leak, Seasonic details the RTX 5090 with a 500W TDP, and the second-highest Blackwell GPU -- the RTX 5080 -- with a 350W TDP. We also have TDP details on the RTX 5070 with 220W, RTX 5060 with 170W TDP, and the RTX 5050 with a 100W TDP. These are preliminary TDP details, nothing final, just leaks... just so you know.

NVIDIA's new ultra-enthusiast GeForce RTX 5090 with a 500W TDP means it has an 11% higher TDP than the current Ada Lovelace flagship, the RTX 4090, with its 450W TDP. We should expect the new GeForce RTX 5090 to boost even higher in overclocked and custom RTX 5090 form, past 500W.

An assassination attempt was just made on US President Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, with the former president grabbing his face after he had been shot (grazed his ear) by an unknown shooter.

Just minutes later, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk said: "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery". The attempted assassination of the former president saw multiple shots heard, with screams from the crowd, and the Secret Service was quick to respond to protect the president.

There was blood on Trump's ear and face after the shot, where the former president rose up from the ground and raised a fist into the air to let everyone know he was okay. The crowd began chanting "USA, USA, USA!" while his Secret Service detail escorted him to the car.