CPU, APU & Chipsets - Page 3
All the latest CPU and chipset news, with everything related to Intel, AMD, ARM, and Qualcomm processors & plenty more - Page 3.
Made in the USA: TSMC making new Apple Watch chips, AMD Ryzen 9000 desktop CPUs in Arizona
TSMC's new fab in Arizona has reportedly picked up another contract from Apple, with reports that the Arizona fab will be making SiPs (Systems-in-Package) for the new Apple Watch.
Tim Culpan recently posted a report that says he's 99% sure that this is the new Apple S9 SiP and that TSMC Arizona is manufacturing at N4 (part of the N5 family of process nodes) adding that "while the S9 is made in Taiwan at N4 and is a derivation of the 16, so this would make sense".
Not only that, but TSMC Arizona is reportedly also making AMD's new Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" desktop Zen 5-based processors, to. Tim says that these Zen 5 processors are "now in production" at its fab in Arizona, and that TSMC has 3 processors in the ovens at Arizona, noting that Ryzen 9000 series CPUs were only released a few months ago "so the delay from first release to Arizona production is rather brief".
AMD Ryzen AI Max 'Strix Halo' monster APU is official: 16C/32T Zen 5 CPU, 40-core RDNA 3.5 GPU
AMD has just formally announced its new Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" APUs with the new flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip featuring 16 cores and 32 threads of Zen 5 power, 40 CUs of RDNA 3.5 GPU, up to 50 TOPs of AI performance, and up to 256GB/sec memory bandwidth.
The new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 features 16 cores and 32 threads at up to 5.1GHz boost, 80MB of cache, 50 TOPs of AI performance out of the XDNA 2 NPU, 40 Compute Units of RDNA 3.5 GPU performance (up from 16 CUs on Strix Point APUs, so over double the gaming performance) and between 45W and 120W TDP.
AMD compared its new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU against Intel's new Core Ultrra 9 288V "Lunar Lake" mobile processor, with the flagship Strix Halo APU offering an average of 1.4x higher graphics performance. AMD touted 220%+ improvements in the entire stack of 3DMark benchmarks, but missed actual gaming benchmarks.
NVIDIA Project DIGITS is the World's Smallest AI Supercomputer, 1 Petaflop of AI performance
NVIDIA Project DIGITS is described as the 'World's Smallest AI Supercomputer,' a desk-sized rig with the new NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip. This thing is an absolute beast, offering a staggering 1 Petaflop of AI computing performance at FP4 precision, and it's capable of running 200B, that's 200 billion, parameter models.
"AI will be mainstream in every application for every industry. With Project DIGITS, the Grace Blackwell Superchip comes to millions of developers," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "Placing an AI supercomputer on the desks of every data scientist, AI researcher and student empowers them to engage and shape the age of AI."
The new GB10 Superchip is a system-on-chip (SoC) based on the NVIDIA Grace Blackwell architecture. It sports the latest generation of CUDA Cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores, connected via an NVLink-C2C interconnect.
Intel now stands in the shadow of the world's best CPU for gamers and creators
AMD has just wrapped up its CES 2025 press conference where it officially unveiled the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which the company is touting as the world's best CPU for both gamers and creators.
AMD explained during its press briefing that it has seen a very positive reaction to the release of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is currently viewed as the best gaming CPU in terms of performance while also factoring in efficiency. To provide consumers with an option that builds on the power and efficiency of the 9800X3D, AMD has unveiled the Ryzen 9950X3D, which has been designed with gamers and creators in mind.
As for specifications, the 9950X3D sports 16 Zen 5 CPU cores, a maximum boost frequency of up to 5.7 GHz, and 144MB of total cache, which includes AMD's second-generation V-cache technology. AMD went on to showcase the performance uplift of the 9950X3D versus the company's previous generation of CPUs, and the Intel's competing solution. For example, AMD states the 9950X3D falls within 1% of gaming performance compared to the 9800X3D, but compared to previous generation 7950X3D it's on average 8% faster across 40 games tested.
Intel's next-gen Nova Lake and Razer Lake CPU architectures leaked, next-gen CPUs for 2026
Intel's next-generation Nova Lake and Razer Lake CPU architectures have appeared in the Linux kernel, teasing the company's next-generation architectures.
The next-gen Intel Nova Lake (NVL-S) should end up being the Core Ultra 400 series for the desktop, while Razer Lake (RZL-M) will be bound for next-gen laptops. We should expect Intel's next-gen Nova Lake desktop CPUs to be made on Intel's new in-house 14A process node, or TSMC's new 2nm process node, but we'll see how that rolls out throughout 2025.
In a recent Dell leak, we saw Intel's next-gen Nova Lake-H processors confirmed with 20W, 40W, and 80W TDP options, but other than that, we don't know much about Intel's next-gen desktop CPU platform. In other leaks, we heard that the Arrow Lake-S Refresh was reportedly cancelled, with Nova Lake succeeding Arrow Lake.
AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D 'Fire Range' enthusiast laptop CPU to fight Intel Arrow Lake-HX in 2025
AMD is preparing to take the enthusiast laptop CPU battle to Intel's doorstep at CES 2025 with the introduction of its new Ryzen 9 9955X3D processor.
AMD's new Ryzen 9000HX series "Fire Range" enthusiast laptop processors will be led by the new flagship Ryzen 9 9955X3D processor, introducing X3D V-Cache to mobile processors. The new Fire Range APU will be different to AMD's Strix Point, Strix Halo, and Krackan Point APUs as Fire Range is aiming for the high-performance premium laptop market.
in a new post by leaked Golden Pig Upgrade on Weibo, we're learning that AMD's new flagship Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor will go head-to-head with the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and Core Ultra 7 255HX processors, which will reportedly not have many improvements at all. The Ryzen 9 9955HX3D will be the first mobile CPU from AMD that will enjoy that additional L3 cache.
The first laptop with AMD's new Krackan Point APU with Zen 5c cores, RDNA 3.5 GPU teased
ECS has just announced its new UP42KP laptop featuring an unreleased AMD Krackan Point APU, featuring Zen 5c CPU corers, RDNA 3.5 GPU cores, and an NPU with over 40 TOPS for AI workloads.
The new ECS UP42KP is based on AMD's upcoming Krackan Point APU, with 8 cores (4 x Zen 5 + 4 x Zen 5c) and Hyper-Threading enabled, which should be unveiled officially as the Ryzen AI 7 350 processor. The integrated GPU is based on the RDNA 3.5 GPU architecture, which is similar to the RDNA 3.5-based CPU inside of Strix Point and the upcoming Strix Halo APU, just nowhere near as powerful with fewer GPU cores.
The new 14-inch laptop will feature DDR5-5600 memory, Wi-Fi 6, and USB4 connectivity, with the Krackan Point APU running at between 15W and 54W TDP, similar to Strix Point APUs. We should expect the full unveiling of both AMD's new Krackan Point APUs and ECS's new UP42KP laptop at CES 2025 next week.
Watch out, Intel - AMD's Ryzen CPUs are getting far more popular going by latest Steam survey
AMD's processor sales have gone up quite considerably over the past two months according to the Steam survey, news that should get CPU rival Intel sitting up and taking notice.
AMD CPUs are now in 38.73% of the PCs owned by Steam gamers in the latest of Valve's hardware surveys which is for last month, December 2024.
That's up just a smidge over 3% compared to November, and in October, AMD only held 33.77% of the CPU share for Steam PCs, so Team Red is up almost 5% in the past two months. Intel is, of course, down by the same amount, as this is a two-horse race in the realm of PCs.
AMD's new Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the most popular Zen 5 chip in Germany, selling like hotcakes
AMD's new Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor is doing extremely well in Germany, so much so that the X3D-powered Zen 5 chip is the most popular Zen 5 processor of them all in the country.
The company unleashed its new Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor nearly two months ago now, and since its launch the $479 processor has been selling extremely well in retailers worldwide, as well as e-tailers across the planet. Mindfactory is one of the biggest retailers in Germany, with the outlet saying it has sold around 8650 units of the 9800X3D... more units than every other Zen 5 processor... combined. Impressive.
In second place at Mindfactory, the AMD Ryzen 9 9700X processor had 2560 units sold, followed by the Ryzen 5 9600X which sold 920 units, the Ryzen 9 9900X with 820 units, and finally the Ryzen 9 9950X with 790 units. The total number of units from the rest of the Zen 5 chips comes to 5090 units, which means the 9800X3D has sold 3560 more units than every other Zen 5 chip combined at Mindfactory.
Apple rumored to delay using TSMC's new 2nm node, until capacity expands 8x in 2026
Apple is reportedly changing plans for its new A19 and M5 processors, which were destined for TSMC's new 2nm process node, but the latest rumors have the new chips sticking to the N3P node as wafer costs are still too high... for now.
In a new post from the Commercial Times, we're learning that Apple's next-gen A19 processor will continue on with the N3P process node, and so too will the Mac-focused M5 processor. TSMC's N3P reduces the number of EUV layers and avoids dual patterning, trading a little transistor density for significantly improved yield rates, and lower production costs -- music to Apple shareholders' ears.
However, as TSMC continues to ramp up its 2nm capacity, the process would become more commercially viable for mass adoption, where by 2026, TSMC's new 2nm process node capacity is expected to boost up from 10,000 wafers during its recent trial production, up to 80,000 wafers per month... a point in which Apple is waiting for before it dives head-first into using 2nm chips.