CPU, APU & Chipsets News - Page 1

Intel's new Alder Lake-S is currently in the foundry ovens and being tested, with the 12th Gen Core processors being teased in a different form today: codename Core-1800.

The newly-teased Intel Core-1800 processor was spotted by Igor Wallossek that has published a datasheet from HWiNFO for the new Intel 12th Gen Core CPU. The specification sheet for codename Core-1800 shows the engineering sample processor listed with a B0 stepping which is the second revision engineering sample (ES2) with more changes to be made to the chip before it's made final.

Intel's codename Core-1800 in its ES2 form is a 16-core, 24-thread CPU with varying boost clocks. The datasheet for the Core-1800 has 2 of its cores at up to 4.6GHz, 4 cores at up to 4.4GHz, and 6 cores at up to 4.2GHz. Intel has an all-turbo boost CPU clock of 4GHz on the codename Core-1800 chip.

AMD is hard at work on its next-gen Zen 4 and Zen 5 architectures, with recent rumors teasing new Zen 5 APUs codenamed "Strix Point" and now we have new rumors for the upcoming Zen 4 architecture.

The new Zen 4 architecture will be powering AMD's next-gen Ryzen 7000 series CPUs that will be released in the second half of 2022, while we could see an announcement of it by the end of the year. The new Zen 4 architecture is codenamed Raphael and will be made on TSMC's new 5nm process node, with the new CPUs reportedly pack a Navi2-based integrated GPU.

In the meantime, Intel will be introducing its next-gen Alder Lake platform, with the new 600-series chipset and 12th Gen Core processors supporting next-gen technologies with DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 connectivity. AMD won't have a response to Alder Lake until Raphael, with AMD including DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support with Zen 4... Intel will launch with DDR5 + PCIe 5.0 first, AMD will be a few months behind.

The situation between China, Taiwan, the United States and pretty much the entire world right now -- but those 3 countries specifically, is tense AF and it is only getting worse.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the crown jewel of not just Taiwan, but the world. If Taiwan was invaded by China it would mean the end of technology as we know it for many years, as TSMC is the only place that can make some of the world's most advanced chips that if it were invaded it would bring the entire world to its knees.

Now we have TSMC chairman Dr. Mark Liu talking about possible armed conflict in Taiwan due to TSMC strategic importance in a recent interview with CBS. He said that TSMC is one of only 3 companies in the world manufacturing semiconductors on advanced, leading edge process nodes but access to that technology has been limited by the United States Department of Commerce to entities that act against American national security interests.

TSMC has announced that it is using AMD EPYC processors in its general workload, and even R&D teams to make the very latest technology on the planet.

In a new post on AMD's website titled "TSMC optimizes workloads with AMD EPYC CPUs" the company explains how it has been deploying AMD's industry-leading EPYC processors across its company. It started off with pushing the high core count beasts into their general workload, and then quickly into the R&D heart of TSMC.

Simon Wang, Director of Infrastructure and Communication Services Division at TSMC explains: "We first introduced AMD EPYC processors into the general workload and they are being deployed with our research and development team".

We are very close to the reveal of Intel's next-gen Tiger Lake-H processors, with the new Core i9-11950H turning up to the party a little early.

Intel's new Core i9-11950H processor is an 8-core, 16-thread offering that will have boost clocks of up to 4.9GHz according to the new leaks. The new CPU was spotted inside of the HP ZBook Studio 15.6 G8 Mobile workstation PC which normally features an NVIDIA Quadro RTX mobile GPU.

We might see this particular Intel Core i9-11950H processor being exclusive to HP for the time being, with some Geekbench 5 benchmarks run on it and throwing out a single-core score of 1365 while we have a multi-core score of 6266. Intel will be fully unveiling and detailing its new Tiger Lake-H series on May 11, which is just over a week away now.

Intel's next-gen Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPU has been spotted with an MCM (multi-chip module) design packing an insane 80 cores in a new shot of an engineering sample of the CPU.

The new photo turned up on Bilibili with the 4th Gen Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPU featuring an MCM design with 5x4 configuration -- which works out that each die has up to 80 cores, but we probably won't see the full 80-core silicon ever being released due to the mesh layout.

Wccftech reports that theoretically, the new Intel Sapphire Rapids-SP Xeon CPUs "could feature" a maximum of 72 cores and 144 threads, but we could see them tap out at 56 cores and 112 threads. Another leak pointed to the fact of an engineering sample with 60 cores (15 cores per die, with a 5x3 layout) while the CPU itself had just 56 cores and 112 threads enabled (14 cores per die).

Apple's next-gen M2 chip has reportedly entered production, with the new M2 processor set to power the next-gen Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops planned for later this year.

The new Apple M2 system-on-a-chip will be made by TSMC and should be on its new 5nm+ process, which is a performance-enhanced version of the 5nm process that the M1 was made on. Apple's new M2 chip will have improved performance and power efficiency over its predecessor.

• Read more: Apple breaks up with Intel, will use own chips from 2020

Apple is expected to use the next-gen M2 chip inside of its future MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops that will be unveiled later this year, a move that will see it pushing away from relying on Intel for its CPUs inside of its popular and high-end MacBook and MacBook Pro lines.

AMD currently has its Zen 3 architecture powering its Ryzen 5000 series CPUs and while the Zen 4 architecture is in the oven, the Zen 5 architecture is right behind it and now we have some juicy new rumors about AMD's next-next-gen Zen 5 APUs.

The next-next-gen AMD Zen 5 APUs are reportedly codenamed "Strix Point" -- with no affiliation to ASUS that I'm aware of -- which will be made on TSMC's new 5nm process and rock next-gen DDR5 memory support. The new codenamed Strix Point APUs would use the AMD Zen 5 architecture and will fill out the Ryzen 8000 series of CPUs in 2024.

Moepc has the scoop here, explaining: "Zen 5 APU "Strix Point" belongs to Ryzen 8000 series (at the time of writing), and it will adopt big.LITTLE like Intel's Alder Lake and Raptor Lake, with 8 big Zen 5 cores and 4 little cores. It's scheduled to be launched in 2024".

Inside of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox Series X/S consoles is an 8-core, 16-thread semi-custom APU powered by the AMD Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures -- but now the CPU-only AMD 4700S processor has turned up.

What the hell is the AMD 4700S processor, and why isn't the Ryzen branding there? Well, manufacturers in China are now selling the AMD 4700S processor as an ITX compatible solution that is used on an "AMD Cardinal" motherboard, which as VideoCardz explains "would suggest that AMD developed the motherboard themselves".

The motherboard doesn't have any DDR4 memory slots, as there is 16GB of GDDR6 memory on the sides of the AMD 4700S processor -- just like the 16GB of GDDR6 memory that surrounds the Xbox Series X chip. But this new AMD 4700S processor doesn't feature on-board graphics like the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles, which have 16GB of shared GDDR6 memory -- the 16GB of GDDR6 on the AMD 4700S is used purely as system RAM.

After announcing the new ROG Ryujin II AIO CPU cooler in January 2021, ASUS have now launched it into the wild.

The new ASUS ROG Ryujin II AIO CPU cooler comes in two flavors: 240mm and 360mm, with the AIO cooler rocking a 3.5-inch LCD display and beautifully styled all-black Noctua fans. ASUS uses the Seventh Gen Astek pump which is virtually silent, with a base operating speed of 840RPM.

ASUS Chief Operating Officer Joe Hsieh explains: "When developing the next generation of our premium Ryujin coolers, we again looked to Asetek and its most advanced technology to date which provides extreme performance, silent operation and industry-recognized quality and reliability. With ROG Ryujin II 240/360, not only did we want to max out performance, we wanted to enhance aesthetics while upgrading the screen to an LCD panel and retaining the FanXpert controls".