CPU, APU & Chipsets News - Page 1

A new rumor is floating around that could be a game-changer for the PC industry, with TSMC reportedly set to manufacture Intel CPUs starting this year.

TrendForce reports that Intel will procure wafers from TSMC starting in the second half of 2021, for around 20-25% of the production required for some of its non-CPU products but where it gets juicy is that TSMC is making some of Intel's own Core i3 processors on their 5nm manufacturing node.

Intel can't do 5nm now, and it won't be able to do it for many years -- instead, Intel is almost reaching into the future by using its competitor -- and now business partner, TSMC, to make its new Core i3 processors on TSMC's in-house 5nm manufacturing process.

AMD only just unveiled its new non-X Ryzen 7 5800 and Ryzen 9 5900 processors, with the Ryzen 7 5800 still an 8-core, 16-thread part but with 400MHz less base clock, 100MHz lower boost, and a 65W TDP.

But it seems as though the new Ryzen 7 5800 can be easily unlocked to a Ryzen 7 5800X through some PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive) optimizations. Yeah, that non-X chip can be made into an X-series processor without much of a deal at all -- but remember, the new Ryzen 7 5800 is being sold as an OEM part to companies like Lenovo, Dell, and HP.

Out of the box the Ryzen 7 5800 is running at 4.55GHz while when PBO is enabled the Ryzen 7 5800 boosts up to 4.79GHz -- compare this to the 4.78GHz that the Ryzen 7 5800X runs at and you're effectively gaming or content creating away like a Ryzen 7 5800X processor.

AMD has just announced that its new Ryzen Threadripper PRO workstation CPUs will be able to be purchased directly, starting in March 2021.

At the moment, AMD's new Zen 3-based Ryzen Threadripper PRO chips are limited to the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 workstations exclusively, but that ends in March. We have seen motherboards from the likes of ASUS and GIGABYTE, ready for Ryzen Threadripper PRO processors on the sWRX8 package.

These new Ryzen Threadripper PRO processors break away from the regular Ryzen Threadripper 3000 series CPUs, with the new Ryzen Threadripper PRO chips using fully unlocked "ROME" multi-chip module re-configured for workstation. We're talking up to 64 cores and 128 threads (Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX), 8-channel DDR4 memory, and an insane 128 PCIe 4.0 lanes.

Qualcomm has just announced its second-gen 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 technology, with it being the next big leap in their ultrasonic fingerprint sensor technology.

The new ultrasonic sensor has a 77% larger fingerprint reader area, something that captures 1.7x more data than the first-gen fingerprint sensor. It's also 50% faster than the last-gen fingerprint sensor, so the chip itself will spend less time trying to find where your finger is -- because the sensor is larger, and the chip is faster.

Qualcomm's new 3D Sonic Sensor Gen 2 is also thinner, at just 0.2mm (0.008-inch) thick which is perfect for edge-to-edge flexible OLED displays inside of foldable smartphones. Better yet, the new technology will also be better at recognizing your fingerprints when they're wet -- which we all know can be annoying at times on current fingerprint sensors.

Intel is coming out much stronger at CES 2021 with a bunch of new technologies, processors, and even a glimpse of what's coming next with the 12th Gen Alder Lake platform.

The new 12th Gen "Alder Lake" CPUs that are coming in the second half of 2021, with the Alder Lake CPUs being a proper huge leap over the previous generation. Intel's new 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs represent a "significant breakthrough in x86 architecture" according to Intel.

Intel says that its next-gen Alder Lake CPUs will be the foundation for the future of desktop and mobile processors, where the first wave of 12th Gen Alder Lake parts will be its "most power-scalable system-on-chip" that drops in 2H 2021.

Can you believe it's nearly here? I feel like the hype of Intel's new Core i9-11900K processor has been going on forever now, but the company has finally detailed the flagship Rocket Lake-S processor in all its tech nerd glory:

Intel is giving us an 8-core, 16-thread CPU with up to 5.3GHz boost CPU clocks, support for up to DDR4-3200 memory, enhanced Intel UHD graphics, "new overclocking features and capabilities", and so much more. That so much more is the most important (at least to me, and many enthusiasts) is that Intel is finally stepping up the PCIe 4.0 plate next to AMD.

Intel will have 20 CPU Gen 4.0 PCIe lanes for super-fast SSDs and new GPUs, as well as the new Intel 500 series chipset coming with the flagship Z590 being the chipset of choice for the Intel Core i9-11900K processor. The new Intel Core i9-11900K is also backwards compatible with the Intel 400 series chipset motherboards, too.

Intel has just announced its new 11th Gen Intel Core vPro platform, which the company says offers "an unrivaled business platform delivering the industry's highest performance and world's most comprehensive hardware-based security".

The new 11th Gen Intel vPro processors are built on Intel's new 10nm SuperFin technology, pack built-in Intel Xe graphics and the "world's biggest Wi-Fi improvement in 20 years" with integrated Wi-Fi 6/6E technologies. The company is touting 8x better AI performance, and up to 2.3x faster creation and video editing abilities versus the previous generation.

One of the most important parts of Intel's new 11th Gen Core vPro platform is the Intel Hardware Shield, which the company explains is the "world's most comprehensive security deep in hardware for business and the industry's first silicon-enabled artificial intelligence (AI) threat detection to help stop ransomware and crypto-mining attacks. It is also equipped with Intel Control Flow Enforcement Technology, ground-breaking technology to help shut down an entire class of attacks that long evaded software-only solutions".

Intel has just launched new Tiger Lake H35 processors built on the 10nm SuperFin process, aimed at Ultraportable gaming laptops.

• Intel Core i7-11375H - which is the TGL-H 35W flagship with a 5.0 GHz boost clock, 4.3 GHz all-core turbo, and 12MB of cache.
• Intel Core i7-11370H - which is the non-boosted SKU at 4.8 GHz turbo and 4.3 GHz all-core turbo.
• Intel Core i5-11300H - which is a CPU with 4.4 GHz of turbo boost, 4.0 GHz all-core boost, and 8MB of L2 cache.

Intel has officially teased its new Rocket Lake-S chips at CES 2021, with the flagship Intel Core i9-11900K teased in a variety of games in CPU limited situations: 1080p gaming and it includes Cyberpunk 2077.

Intel's new Core i9-11900K was put up against AMD's new Zen 3-based Ryzen 9 5900X which has 50% more cores but that brute Intel IPC performance is shining through, even on 14nm+++++. Intel is clocking its new Core i9-11900K processor at all the way up to 5.3GHz which is some pretty high clock speeds for a CPU, helping it beat AMD.

The company tested a bunch of games at 1080p, including Total War: Three Kingdoms, Gears of War 5, Metro Exodus, Cyberpunk 2077, Watchdogs: Legion, Farcry: New Dawn and Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

It looks like AMD is working on two new Zen 3-based CPUs with the purported Ryzen 9 5900 and Ryzen 7 5800 processors, both non-XT versions of the Ryzen 9 5900X and Ryzen 7 5800X that are already out.

The new Ryzen 9 5900 and Ryzen 7 5800 will reportedly both be 65W chips, a 40W reduction from the X-series processors. AMD's upcoming Ryzen 9 5900 will be a 12-core, 24-thread CPU with a base clock of 3.0GHz and boost of 4.7GHz with 70MB of cache.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7 5800 will be an 8-core, 16-thread offering with a higher base clock of 3.4GHz and slower boost clock of 4.6GHz with 36MB of cache. But the thing is: you might not even be able to buy them as AMD could sell them to OEM partners instead of retail packages to consumers.