CPU, APU & Chipsets - Page 7

AMD's new super-popular Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor is now in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with multiple people posting on Reddit reporting crashing and failure incidents on their new Zen 5-based X3D gaming CPU.

There is a huge megathread on the ASRock subreddit, with an "abnormal" amount of Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors failing inside of systems, and it looks like the issues are more common on ASRock motherboards. Moderators of the thread have reported that an "abnormal amount of 9800X3Ds that are dying, often (but not exclusively) on ASRock boards".

Redditor u/SoupaSoka says that the posts are "frequent enough that we'd like to consolidate discussion here as well as provide consolidated updates if any news comes from ASRock, AMD, or elsewhere". Well, here's another source for you guys.

Intel recently announced that its 18A process node was "finally ready" and that chips made on the new node would tape-out in 2H 2025... but fresh rumors say there are major issues and that delays are coming.

In a new post on X, industry insider Ming-Chi Kuo said that the first Panther Lake engineering samples (ES) made on Intel Foundry's new 18A process node are being tested by major PC ODM/ESM makers, and that in an early 2025 industry survey from Kuo, Intel 18A yields are below 20-30%.

Kuo noted that the Intel 18A process node yields sitting at 20-30% "doesn't bode well for Intel's goal of hitting mass production" in 2H 2025, and that on top of the technology challenges, Intel Foundry Services (IFS) faces a "big obstacle" in winning outside orders due to its organizational setup, supply chain management, and culture"and that's where TSMC"totally stands out".

Intel has announced that its cutting-edge 18A process node is now "ready" to compete, with tape-out expected in 1H 2025, ready to compete with semiconductor leader TSMC.

The official announcement is exciting as Intel has been down and out from the semiconductor and processor business for many years now, with Intel Foundry falling behind in the semiconductor business with processes like Intel 4 (7nm). But, Intel's new 18A process is expected to provide the company's foundry business with a huge comeback, ready to battle TSMC.

The new Intel 18A process node will feature BSPDN (Backside Power Delivery) which sees the power delivery moved to the backside of the wafer, with RibbonFET GAA technology and higher chip densities, the new Intel 18A process should compete directly with the best process nodes from Taiwan-based TSMC.

AMD's new flagship Zen 5-based Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D processors are launching March 12, with reviews dropping the day before on March 11.

In a new post from leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, we're learning that the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors will have their review embargoes lift on March 11, with retail availability for the new Zen 5-based X3D-powered processors set for March 12, which is my birthday... making for the perfect Team Red present.

Not only that, but the review embargo for Intel's new Core Ultra 200HX series "Arrow Lake" processors is set for March 12, but the enthusiast-grade, up to 16C/32T of Zen 5 processing power with X3D will take all the headlines, we're sure of that. AMD doesn't only have its new Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors ready for March 12, but its new RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9070 series GPUs will be launching before that... we should expect some monster Ryzen + Radeon combos in the coming weeks.

AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors are rumored to be debuting in March, and some freshly leaked benchmarks back up that idea - though the results themselves look rather disappointing, particularly for the flagship CPU.

These are Geekbench results flagged up by VideoCardz and a regular contributor to hardware rumors on X, Olrak29.

The Ryzen 9950X3D presents a robust enough single-core uplift here compared to its predecessor, being around 15% faster than the 7950X3D. However, for multi-core, the generational increase is only about 4%, which looks disappointing to say the least.

AMD's new Ryzen AI Max+ 300 series "Strix Halo" APUs have launched, first appearing in ASUS's new ROG Flow Z13 gaming tablet that reviews have just gone live on.

The new flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU inside of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 gaming tablet, and torn down for review by ASUS China PM Tony Yu, which confirms that Strix Halo's new Zen 5 CCDs have TSV (Through-Silicon Via) which could see future APUs rocking 3D V-Cache. AMD's next-gen Zen 6-based Medusa Halo APU should have X3D cache, and now we know that's definitely a possibility.

For me, the GPU power inside of AMD's new Strix Halo APU is the most impressive thing on show: we have a huge 40 Compute Units of RDNA 3.5 GPU goodness, up from the 16 CUs inside of Strix Point APUs. This provides performance that gets close to the GeForce RTX 4070, and easily beats the RTX 4060 which is bloody impressive to see out of an APU.

AMD's previous-gen Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor has been picked up for an uber-cheap $99, making it the bargain of the century for this particular PC gamer.

Redditor "Global-Pickle5818" picked up the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor thanks to Walmart closing down its PC department, getting rid of the 7800X3D for just $99.75 down from $399. This is close to just 25% of its original price, and it's not the only super-cheap processor that the Redditor spotted, as you can see the Intel Core i5-14600K being discounted to just $77.25 down from its original $239 price.

Not only did the Redditor spot the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor for $99, but mentioned that he also purchased an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card for $350. Picking up the 7800X3D for just $99 is quite the bargain, especially as you can pick up a fantastic $100-$150 AM5 motherboard, making for a potent gaming PC on the cheap.

AMD's next-generation Zen 6 architecture is shaping up to be one of the most exciting CPU generations in recent history, with rumors that it will bump up core counts to 24C/48T, and arrive on the current AM5 socket.

In a new video from leaker Moore's Law is Dead, we're learning that Zen 6 will have a 12-core CCD meaning dual-CCD processors will feature 24 cores and 48 threads. AMD's new Zen 6 chips will also use the AM5 socket, a newer node at TSMC, and now we have a look at Medusa Point and Medusa Ridge CPUs.

MLID has some renders of AMD's next-gen Medusa Point APU based on Zen 6, the successor to the Zen 5-based Strix Point, which you can see in the shot above and below. On the right, you've got the CCD chiplet on the right, attached to an I/O chiplet (which MLID says has 8 Workgroups, a 128-bit memory controller, and likely a very large NPU attached to it).

AMD's new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU has been tested inside of a new Mini-PC, with some detailed specs and pictures to drool over with this incredible APU inside.

Chinese manufacturer SIXUNITED has its new AXB35-02 Mini-PC features AMD's new Ryzen AI Max+ 395 "Strix Halo" APU is described as an ES (engineering sample) with some BIOS issues that see the APU dropping to 10W directly from 140W. AMD's new RDNA 3.5-based Radeon 8060S integrated GPU clocks in at around 2100MHz, which is far lower than the official 2900MHz frequency.

The new Strix Halo APU-powered Mini-PC boasts some fantastic I/O including 3 x USB Type-A ports, 1 x USB Type-C port good for up to 10Gbps speeds, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort, enthusiast-grade 2.5GbE ethernet, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a DC-in power port. SIXUNITED provides a 350W PSU built-in, while on the front we've got a single USB Type-C port, an SD card reader, and a headphone jack.

The semiconductor market is about to have another player enter the scene as reports indicate Arm is set to unveil its first in-house chip.

A new report from ArsTechnica revealed that Arm plans to launch its first in-house chip, possibly as early as this Summer, after the company secured Meta as one of its first customers. Arm, which originally designed the structure of semiconductors and licensed those designs to companies such as Apple and NVIDIA, will now be entering the market with its own Central Processing Unit (CPU) for servers in large data centers. Notably, the new chip will be built on a base that enables it to be customized for clients such as Meta.

SoftBank, the parent company of Arm, is also reportedly closing in on an acquisition of Ampere, an Oracle-backed chip designer of Arm-based chips. The company is possibly valued at around $6.5 billion, and reports indicate the acquisition of Ampere is a big part of SoftBank's overarching plan of positioning Arm has a big contender in the semiconductor market. People familiar with the deal said the production of Arm's CPU server chip will outsourced to TSMC.