AMD shows off new partner motherboards

Flagship X670 boards

AMD and its partners have been showing off the new flagship X670 boards including the X670E and non-Extreme series.

The X670 motherboards have the new AM5 socket and support for PCIe Gen5 storage. Apparently, Gen5 support for next-generation graphics can be added as an option.

None of AMD’s partners mentioned what the DDR5 memory speed is for any of the boards. 

MSI showed off its MEG GODLIKE design. This is a 24+2 phase E-ATX motherboard with 105A power stages. M.2 XPANDER-Z Gen5 Dual storage expansion card will be included with the MEG ACE and GODLIKE. The X670E Carbon is designed with 18+2 phase and 90A power stages. The screwless M.2 installation will be the same as in the MEG series.

BIOSTAR has introduced the Valkyrie, an ATX premium board featuring a 22-phase and 105A VRM architecture. It is compatible with PCIe Gen5 storage and GPU.

ASUS displayed its Crosshair X670E Hero. It has an 18+2 phase design and 110A power stages (the Extreme includes 20+2 stages). It has a 2.5G network. Its Q-Latch M.2 and Q-Release will make it easier to install M.2 drives and remove discrete desktop GPUs.

Gigabyte has four X670E motherboards, including the premium XTREME and MASTER models. The AORUS PRO AX and AORUS ELITE MX models are unveiled. The XTREME motherboard has an 18+2+2 phase design, whilst the remainder of the AORUS series has 16+2+2.

Gigabyte AM5 Tachyon overclocking motherboard to be based on AMD B650 chipset, not X670

Gigabyte Tachyon on B650 chipset

High-end overclocking boards may not need X670 after all. 

During AMD Meet The Expert event Gigabyte representative Sofos Oikonomou confirmed that the company will launch a Tachyon motherboard for AM5 socket. Interestingly this board will not be based on X670 chipset but on a mainstream B650 one.

The Tachyon series are designed for overclocking with the most distinctive feature being the dual memory slot configuration as opposed to four. AMD already confirmed that memory overclocking will be enabled for B650 series (same as B550), however the X670E and X670 are still advertised for ‘extreme/enthusiast overclocking’, while B650 is not.

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Other companies did not confirm such designs yet. The MSI Unify-X or ASUS ROG Crosshair Apex have not been demonstrated during the event, either suggesting that there are no plans for them, or they are based on B650 chipset as well, a chipset that was not showcased during the webinar.

Interestingly, AMD never acknowledged the Extreme variant of the B650 motherboard chipset. This special variant of the ‘mainstream’ PCH could feature PCIe Gen5 support for both the storage and GPU.

AMD 600-series (left) & GIGABYTE Z690 Tachyon (right)

Source: AMD Meet The Experts Q&A

AMD to announce Ryzen 7000 on August 29th, launching September 15th

AMD Ryzen 7000 series to be unveiled this month

According to Wccftech, AMD has set the date for hard launch of the new desktop Zen4 CPUs.

This is a follow-up to official confirmation to AMD releasing Ryzen 7000 series this quarter. AMD CEO Lisa Su narrowed down the release date during Q&A session regarding the company’s Q2 earnings.

But it appears that now have an actual date. According to Wccftech sources, AMD is set to announce its new series on August 29th. Just two weeks later on September 15th, AMD will lift the embargo on product sales.

• AMD Ryzen 7000 Announcement – August 29th, 2022, 8:00PM ET
• AMD Ryzen 7000 Reviews – September 13th, 2022, 9:00 AM ET
• AMD Ryzen 7000 Launch – September 15th, 2022, 9:00 AM ET

Furthermore, we learn that Ryzen 7000 reviews should appear on September 13th, so two days before official launch. This should leave enough time for any customer to make a decision on a purchase.

The X670 motherboards, which are to be discussed tomorrow during AMD Meet The Expert event, will launch on the same day as Ryzen 7000 series, this also means motherboard reviews will be posted 2 days sooner.

What this leak means is that the rumored September 15th launch date that emerged mid-June is slowly finding its confirmation, although this is still not official.

RUMORED AMD Ryzen 7000 Specifications
VideoCardz.com	Cores / Threads	Base/Boost Clock	TDP	Launch Price (USD)
AMD Ryzen 7000 Zen4 “Raphael”
Ryzen 9 7950X	16C/32T	~5.5 GHz	170W	TBC
Ryzen 9 7900X	12C/24T	TBC	170W	TBC
Ryzen 7 7700X	8C/16T	TBC	TBC	TBC
Ryzen 5 7600X	6C/12T	4.4/4.9 GHz	TBC	TBC
AMD Ryzen 5000 Zen3 “Vermeer”
Ryzen 9 5950X	16C/32T	3.4/4.9 GHz	105W	799 USD
Ryzen 9 5900X	12C/24T	3.7/4.8 GHz	105W	549 USD
Ryzen 7 5800X3D	8C/16T	3.4/4.5 GHz	105W	449 USD
Ryzen 7 5800X	8C/16T	3.8/4.7 GHz	105W	449 USD
Ryzen 5 5600X	6C/12T	3.7/4.6 GHz	65W	299 USD

Source: Wccftech

AMD confirms Ryzen 7000 is launching this quarter

AMD Ryzen 7000 is launching this quarter

AMD confirms Zen4-based “Raphael” desktop CPUs are on track to launch within the next 8 weeks.

During Q2 Earnings call AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su confirmed Ryzen 7000 series will launch this quarter. That narrows the launch date from previously communicated ‘this fall’ (so September – December) to just September. According to the rumors AMD might reveal the new series on September 15th, which would be the date of the product announcement with launch later that month.

“Looking ahead, we’re on track to launch our all-new 5nm Ryzen 7000 desktop processors and AM5 platforms later this quarter with leadership performance in gaming and content creation,”

— AMD CEO, Dr. Lisa Su

The company is set to unveil more details on X670E motherboard designs from their partners this week. AMD is hosting the Meet The Expert event for enthusiasts and professionals where representatives from all major board partners will talk about their AMD 600-series motherboards for Ryzen 7000 series.

Furthermore, Lisa Su also reaffirmed that Radeon RX 7000 series are on track to launch ‘later this year’. This means that there are no changes or updates to the previously communicated launch window.

RUMORED AMD Ryzen 7000 Specifications
VideoCardz.com	Cores / Threads	Base/Boost Clock	TDP	Launch Price (USD)
AMD Ryzen 7000 Zen4 “Raphael”
Ryzen 9 7950X	16C/32T	~5.5 GHz	170W	TBC
Ryzen 9 7900X	12C/24T	TBC	170W	TBC
Ryzen 7 7700X	8C/16T	TBC	TBC	TBC
Ryzen 5 7600X	6C/12T	4.4/4.9 GHz	TBC	TBC
AMD Ryzen 5000 Zen3 “Vermeer”
Ryzen 9 5950X	16C/32T	3.4/4.9 GHz	105W	799 USD
Ryzen 9 5900X	12C/24T	3.7/4.8 GHz	105W	549 USD
Ryzen 7 5800X3D	8C/16T	3.4/4.5 GHz	105W	449 USD
Ryzen 7 5800X	8C/16T	3.8/4.7 GHz	105W	449 USD
Ryzen 5 5600X	6C/12T	3.7/4.6 GHz	65W	299 USD

Source: Tom’s Hardware

MSI overclocker teases AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU running DDR5-6400 CL32 memory

AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU already running past the recommended speed

Toppc, an overclocker working for MSI, is teasing the upcoming Ryzen 7000 DDR5 memory capabilities. 

A screenshot from CPU-Z tool shows 64GB of DDR5 memory clocked at 3202.7 MHz (6400 MT/s) with a CAS Latency of 32 clocks. The screenshot alone does not confirm whether this is Intel Alder Lake/Raptor Lake or AMD platform, but the title associated with the posted screenshot does.

Since AMD currently does not have any desktop system that would allow DDR5 memory to be used, this is undoubtedly the upcoming Ryzen 7000 CPU codenamed Raphael based on Zen4 microarchitecture.

AMD Ryzen 7000 with DDR5-6400 memory, Source: Toppc

Both the Ryzen 7000 series and Intel 13th Gen Core “Raptor Lake” are to support DDR5-5600 memory out of the box. That is an increased speed over Alder Lake’s official support for 4800 MT/s modules. Of course, those platforms support faster-overclocked memory, either through Intel XMP 3.0 memory profiles, AMD EXPO technology (confirmed by MSI) or manual overclocking.

It is unclear what type of memory was used by Toppc, but it is 400 MHz higher than the default supported memory. The flagship MSI X670E motherboard officially supports DDR5-5600 memory and is faster through overclocking.

MSI X670E GODLIKE specs, Source: VideoCardz

According to the rumors, AMD is set to launch Ryzen 7000 series in September, but we should see more details on X670E motherboards this week (August 4th) during the official showcase during AMD Meet the Expert event.

AMD Mainstream Desktop CPU Series
VideoCardz.com	Matisse	Vermeer	Vermeer-X3D	Raphael	Granite Ridge
Core µArch	7nm Zen2	7nm Zen3	7nm Zen3D	5nm Zen4	Zen5
Launch Date	July 2019	November 2020	April 2022	September 2022	2023
AMD Ryzen Series	Ryzen 3000	Ryzen 5000	Ryzen 5000X3D	Ryzen 7000	Ryzen 8000
Graphics	–	–	–	2CUs RDNA2	TBC
Max Core Count	16	16	16	16	TBC
Socket	AM4	AM4	AM4	AM5	AM5
Memory Support	DDR4	DDR4	DDR4	DDR5	DDR5
Max PTT	142W	142W	142W	230W	230W (?)
Max TDP	105W	105W	105W	170W	170W (?)
PCIe Gen	PCIe Gen4	PCIe Gen4	PCIe Gen4	PCIe Gen5	PCIe Gen5
Motherboard Chipset	AMD 400	AMD 500	AMD 500	AMD 600	TBC

Source: Topcc via @9550pro

Intel 24-core Core i9-13900K “Raptor Lake” CPU also seen running 6.0 GHz

Flagship Raptor Lake CPU at 6.0 GHz

Baidu user “Xiaochun” claims to have overclocked the upcoming Intel Raptor Lake CPU to 6.0 GHz.

The intel 16-core Core i7-13700K preproduction CPU sample has just been seen running at 6 GHz two days ago. But we have not yet seen flagship part, the i9-13900K, achieving the same overclocking goal. Technically both CPUs are very much the same, except i9 has twice the number of Efficient cores (16 vs 8) and higher PL2 limit.

The screenshot posted by Xiaochun appear to show i9-13900K ES2 operating at 6.0 GHz frequency at 1.546V. It scores 976 points in single-core test built into the CPU-Z tool:

The same user also posted this screenshot. What was said that no exotic cooling solution was needed to reach a clock of 6085 MHz. An AIO cooling kit was enough, but the temperature and power draw suggest this is an idle state. The leaker did mention that the CPU can reach 1000 points in CPU-Z test though, assuming without Efficient cores enabled

This i9-13900K sample appears to be just slightly slower than 13700K with Efficient cores disabled. It is probably just a matter of time before we see a screenshot with even higher clock.

Intel Raptor Lake Leaked CPU-Z Tests
VideoCardz.com	Configuration	Single-Thread Score
Core i7-13700K ES	8P @ 6.0 GHz	983
Core i9-13900K ES	8P @ 6.0 GHz + 8E @ (?) GHz	976
Core i7-13700K ES	8P @ 5.8 GHz + 8E @ 3.7 GHz	947
Core i9-13900K ES	8P @ 5.5 GHz	892
Core i9-13900K ES	8P @ 5.2 GHz	846
Core i9-12900K	8P @ 5.2 GHz	844
Core i9-12900K	8P @ 5.1 GHz	832
Core i9-13900K ES	8P @ 5.1 GHz	829
Core i9-12900K	8P @ 5.0 GHz	815
Core i9-13900K ES	8P @ 5.0 GHz	813
Ryzen 9 5950X	16C @ 4.9 GHz	647

Source: Baidu via Wccftech

Intel ARC A380 graphics now have their own very first water block

Water block for 92W Intel Arc GPU

• 

• 

Bykski I-GNA380-X GPU BLOCK is a custom water block for GUNNIR Arc A380 Photon OC graphics card, thus far the only desktop Arc model available for sale. At this moment it is unclear if GUNNIR PCB is a full custom design or, what would make more sense at this price point, based on Intel reference layout. Therefore, one cannot be sure if Bykski A380 water block will only ever fit one model.

For now, this full cover block only supports GUNNIR PCB equipped with ACM-G11 GPU and 6GB of GDDR6 memory. This board has one 8-pin power connector which feeds 92W, just slightly more than Intel reference 75W TGP. One thing is sure though, such power requirements usually do not require sophisticated cooling solutions, let alone liquid cooling.

From the looks of it, this water block is single slot, so some A380 users may find this block interesting for smaller and quieter builds. But the last time we checked, there weren’t many users to begin with.

At the time of writing, the official product page did not list any pricing for this water block.

Source: Bykski via @Haze2K1

AMD Radeon RX 7900 (Navi 31) series rumored to feature 20 Gbps memory, launch in November

According to Greymon, Radeon RX 7900 series will feature faster memory than previously reported.

Over the past few days Greymon has been sharing some further details on the upcoming Radeon RX 7900 cards based on RDNA3 series. These series are to exclusively use Navi 31 GPU, and they should appear before models from new Radeon series.

The leaker now claims that RX 7900 series will feature 20 Gbps memory, which is higher than previously rumored 18 Gbps. Additionally, he notes that 24 Gbps memory may appear in RX 7x50XT refresh later.

Radeon RX 7900 series equipped with 384-bit memory bus and 20Gbps memory would enable maximum memory bandwidth of 960 GB/s. Note, this bandwidth does not account for Infinity Cache.

7900 series is 20Gbps, I don't know about the rest.

— Greymon55 (@greymon55) July 30, 2022

Furthermore, Greymon reaffirms the rumors that Radeon RX 7000 series launch should be in November. This is actually not new information, but it matches previous claims that RDNA3 series may appear 6 to 8 weeks after Ryzen 7000 CPU series.

Red Gaming Tech claims to have initial lineup specs for Radeon RX 7000 series, including RX 7900, RX 7800, RX 7700 and RX 7600 series. Historically speaking, it is very unlikely that the specs of RX 7700-7600 are finalized, so we encourage everyone to take those with a grain of salt.

RGT’s specs appears to match what other leakers claim, such as the one that Navi 31 will only be used by Radeon RX 7900 series. The Navi 32, on the other hand, would be used by Radeon RX 7800 and RX 7700 series.

Alleged Radeon RX 7000 Specs, Source: Red Gaming Tech

The chart is labeled with high uncertainty and there are many specs that are ‘unsure’. However, just assuming that this is based on real information, it is still very likely to change once we get closer to the launch of individual models. If we were to combine both rumors, the full alleged Radeon RX 7000 lineup could look like this:

AMD Radeon RX 7000 RUMORED Specifications
VideoCardz	GPU	Cores (CUs)	Memory Size	Mem. Speed	Memory Bus	Bandwidth
RX 7975 XT	Navi 31	12288 (96)	24GB G6	20 Gbps	384-bit	960 GB/s
RX 7950 XT	Navi 31	11264 (88)	24GB G6	20 Gbps	384-bit	960 GB/s
RX 7900 XT	Navi 31	10240 (80)	20GB G6	20 Gbps	320-bit	800 GB/s
RX 7800 XT	Navi 32	8192 (64)	16GB G6	18-20 Gbps	256-bit	576 GB/s
RX 7800	Navi 32	7168 (56)	12*/16GB G6	18*-20 Gbps	192*/256-bit	432 GB/s
RX 7700 XT	Navi 32	6144 (48)	12GB G6	18*-20 Gbps	192-bit	432 GB/s
RX 7600 XT	Navi 33	5120 (40)	8GB G6	18*-20 Gbps	128-bit	288 GB/s
RX 7600	Navi 33	4096 (32)	8GB G6	18*-20 Gbps	128-bit	288 GB/s
RX 7500 XT	Navi 33	2560 (20)	6GB G6	18*-20 Gbps	96-bit	216 GB/s

Based on rumors from @Greymon55 & Red Gaming Tech

Source: @greymon55, RedGamingTech

Intel Arc desktop cards to gradually launch between August 5th and September 29th

According to the report, Intel has now modified the launch schedule for Arc desktop cards to take place between August 5th to September 29th. It is said that Intel is no longer planning a large-scale launch, which has been teased by leaked roadmaps by Moore’s Law is Dead. On a contrary, Intel will be rolling out its Arc desktop models gradually in a more silent fashion.

[…] Intel is said to have now internally decided on a narrower time frame. If they’re going to stick to the current timeframe, the range that’s being colocated to me now is between Aug. 05, 2022 and Sept. 29, 2022. This means that there is enough time to launch the three announced larger models one slice at a time. It is interesting that the internal documents no longer report about a large-scale, joint launch event, but it could rather be a kind of “silent” launch, which could be carried out gradually in the retail sector and via only a few media.

— Igor Wallossek, Igor’sLAB

Intel is now expected to ship test samples to a few, select reviewers, possibly in an effort to avoid as much negative feedback as possible. Igor expects that objective reviews will only become available once these cards become available in stores.

In a Q&A session with PCGamer, Intel representatives claimed that Arc graphics cards will only be formally announced once they are ready to ship to customers. The company has no plans to announce availability weeks in advance. It is unclear if current launch timeline refers to global availability or rather select countires.

Just recently, Raja Koduri confirmed that the company is committed to their roadmap and ramping up of Alchemist series is one of the things that will improve this quarter.  And indeed, by shipping all cards by September 29th, Intel will fulfil its promise to launch all desktop Arc GPUs in the third quarter.

Thanks Anshel – We are very much committed to our roadmap. We are ramping Alchemist and will continue to improve the experience. You will see more updates from us this quarter.
AXG is also on track to ramp 4 new product lines by the end of the year https://t.co/N6BaVPRT2r

— Raja Koduri (Bali Makaradhwaja) (@RajaXg) July 29, 2022

RUMORED Desktop Intel ARC Alchemist Series Specifications
VideoCardz.com	GPU	Xe Cores	Memory Size	Memory Bus	Status
Arc A770	ACM-G10	32	16GB G6	256-bit	Officially presented, Full specs unconfirmed
Arc A750	ACM-G10	28	8GB G6	256-bit	Officially presented, Full specs unconfirmed
Arc A580	ACM-G10	16	8GB G6	128-bit	Appeared in a driver
Arc A380	ACM-G11	8	6GB G6	96-bit	Released
Arc A350	ACM-G11	6	4GB G6	64-bit	Never confirmed
Arc A310	ACM-G11	4	4GB G6	64-bit	Design leaked, Appeared in a driver, OEM datasheet

Source: Igor’sLAB

Intel confirms 14th Gen Meteor Lake has ‘Versatile Processing Unit’ for AI/Deep Learning applications

Intel is adding VPU to Meteor Lake and newer.

A new commit to Linux VPU driver today confirms that the company has plans to introduce a new processing unit into consumer 14th Gen Core processors, a Versatile Processing Unit.

The VPU driver is included into the Linux Direct Rendering Manager (DRM), the same way their graphics driver is integrated. The VPU appears 6 years after Intel acquired a company called Movidius, which has been developing their own VPUs. It is not entirely clear if and how Intel plans to incorporate Movidius designs into Meteor Lake, it could be a full-blown SoC-like integration or just a copy of architecture bits needed for Meteor Lake. Obviously after so many years, VPU design should be much more complex.

The confirmation on VPU comes from Kerner.org patches, where the following description is added:

Intel VPU for Meteor Lake, Source: kernel.org

Thus, Intel confirms the new VPU has five components, including CPU to VPU integration unit, memory management, RISC controller, network on chip and the most important part, the Neural Compute Subsystem (NCS) doing the actual work. This VPU unit could be considered Intel’s alternative to NVIDIA’s Tensor Cores, a dedicated chip that is heavily focused on AI algorithms.

Intel Meteor Lake is now officially coming next year, eventually it should become available for mobile and desktop platforms packed with new hybrid architecture featuring Redwood Cove and Crestmont CPU cores and Intel’s newest Xe-LPG graphics architecture.

Intel Mainstream CPU Roadmap (RUMORED)
VideoCardz	Alder Lake	Raptor Lake	Meteor Lake
Desktop Launch Date	Q4 2021	Q4 2022	Q4 2023
CPU Node	Intel 7	Intel 7	Intel 4
Big Core µArch	Golden Cove	Raptor Cove	Redwood Cove
Small Core µArch	Gracemont	Gracemont	Crestmont
Graphics µArch	Xe-LP	Xe-LP	Xe-LPG
Max CPU Core Count	16 (8C+8c)	24 (8C+16c)	TBC
Max GPU Core Count	96 EU	96 EU	128-192 EU
Desktop Socket	LGA1700	LGA1700	LGA 1851
Memory Support	DDR4/DDR5-4800	DDR4/DDR5-5600	DDR5
PCIe Gen	PCIe 5.0	PCIe 5.0	PCIe 5.0
Intel Core Series	12th Gen Core	13th Gen Core	14th Gen Core

Source: Phoronix via Tom’s Hardware, TechPowerUP