CPU

Jim Keller's Royal Core project was reportedly dismantled by Intel into individual technologies that could be used in different CPU architectures. One of these technologies was a Unified Core design that would see Intel ditch separate P and E-cores. It has now come to light that Intel is indeed working on Unified Cores.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D reportedly outperforms the Ryzen 7 9800X3D to become the best gaming CPU money can buy. This also means that Intel's Core i9-14900K and the flagship Core Ultra 9 285K also don't stand a chance against the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. However, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D consumes a lot of power.

The Ryzen 7 9850X3D was launched a few weeks ago, on January 29, and Newegg is already offering a big discount on it. While it normally costs $499, Newegg has knocked $100 off.

A complete table showing the PL1, PL2, PL3, and PL4 power limits of Intel Nova Lake has leaked online. The figures leaked show a PL2 of close to 500 W for the dual-compute-tile high-end/flagship Nova Lake CPUs.

We had the chance to test the performance of the new Intel Core Ultra 5 338H including the Arc B370 GPU with 10 Xe cores in some benchmarks. The results are very promising and the performance difference to the Arc B390 is small.

The latest Amazon US CPU sales data for January 2026 shows a concerning trend. Many consumers are not buying new CPUs, as CPU sales have seen an enormous 51% decline from January 2025 to January 2026. The relative position of AMD Ryzen and Intel Core processors has remained unchanged, as AMD CPUs remain at the top of the sales chart.

High-end Intel Nova Lake-S desktop CPUs are shaping up to be quite power hungry. According to recent reports, the flagship 52-core Intel Core Ultra 400 Nova Lake CPU could have power consumption in line with HEDT processors. However, even with an enforced PL2, Intel Nova Lake might still consume considerably more than Arrow Lake.

The long awaited and highly anticipated game, Crimson Desert, is nearing its release on March 19. The developers are working with AMD to provide a free copy of the game to those who are shopping for select AMD CPUs, GPUs, and AMD powered laptops.

Intel's next-generation Nova Lake desktop CPUs are expected to land by the end of 2026. When the Core Ultra 400 desktop processors do release, the flagship 52-core CPU is reported to consume an absurd amount of power under full load.

ASRock has responded to the community outcry regarding AMD Ryzen 9000 CPUs burning up in its motherboards, although no clear instructions were given to customers regarding how to prevent the same. The company had previously issued BIOS updates, but the problem continues to persist.

Rumors suggest Qualcomm’s next-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 lineup will include a standard and a Pro variant. A new leak has surfaced online suggesting that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro could see a significant jump in clock speeds, with a maximum of 6GHz mentioned.

While DDR5-6000 is regarded as the sweet spot for optimal gaming performance with X3D processors, AMD says that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D can perform similarly with cheaper DDR5-4800 RAM. The difference is said to be around 1%.

AMD’s new Ryzen 7 9850X3D, a Zen 5-based octa-core CPU with 3D V-Cache, launches at $499 on January 29, 2026, positioning itself as a higher-clocked, better-binned successor to the 9800X3D. While it delivers top-tier gaming performance with a 5.6 GHz boost clock and basic integrated Radeon graphics, its price premium over the 9700X and 9800X3D makes it a niche pick for enthusiasts chasing maximum FPS.

The price of Zen 3 CPUs has increased dramatically over the past few months. Despite being old, desktop processors like the Ryzen 7 5700X are now sitting quite a bit above their record-low prices. This means that customers are buying old AM4 CPUs with DDR4 support as a consequence of the ongoing DRAM supply crunch.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D was the first-ever AMD CPU with the 3D V-Cache technology. Over the years, the 3D V-Cache-equipped Ryzen CPUs have proven to be the fastest gaming processors. Despite being nearly four years old, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, thanks to the 3D V-Cache, can still hang with the best gaming CPUs of today.

A new leak has suggested that AMD has a more powerful X3D branded Ryzen Pro chip in the pipeline to top the current flagship Ryzen Pro 9000 series offering. It is expected to come with higher L3 cache and significantly higher TDP.

After memory and SSD prices surged due to the AI boom, power supplies and CPU cooling solutions now appear to be next in line for price increases, per the latest news from China.

Intel's upcoming Panther Lake APUs are shaping up to be quite impressive, at least in terms of energy efficiency and graphics performance. However, AMD is reportedly not that worried about the Core Ultra X9 388H Panther Lake flagship and its 12-core Arc B390 iGPU.

Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake platform has now appeared in early gaming tests, offering a first glimpse at its integrated graphics performance. A hands-on video from a popular YouTuber shows a Core Ultra X9 388H running inside a Lenovo reference laptop, with several AAA PC games tested at 1200p. The results provide an early indication of what Panther Lake could deliver in future laptops.

AMD’s new Ryzen 7 9850X3D builds on the already-dominant 9800X3D's lead by pushing Zen 5 boost clocks to 5.6 GHz while retaining 96 MB of 3D V-Cache and a 120 W TDP, delivering noticeably higher frame rates in 1080p gaming. AMD’s own benchmarks claim up to a 27% lead over Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K across 35 titles, positioning the 9850X3D as a premium, esports-focused upgrade for enthusiasts who prioritize high-FPS, CPU-bound gaming.

Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon X2 Plus series for Windows laptops. Snapdragon X2 Plus SoCs bring up to 10 Nuvia CPU cores, a new Adreno X2-45 iGPU, and more. Performance-wise, Qualcomm is claiming big improvements in both CPU and GPU departments.

A new report from a popular hardware insider claims AMD’s upcoming Zen 5 X3D desktop CPUs, reportedly named Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 and Ryzen 7 9850X3D, have been internally confirmed ahead of CES 2026. The YouTuber also suggests the new chips were demonstrated running significantly higher DDR5 memory speeds than current Zen 5 processors.

BIOS updates may not have addressed all the complications with AMD’s popular gaming CPU. Since earlier in 2025, an internet cafe has seen 10% of its PCs relying on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D crash. Problem-prone ASRock motherboards aren’t to blame, but the systems used a second-rate PSU.

AMD Zen 6 CPUs could bring much more 3D V-Cache than previously rumored. Currently, AMD only offers a maximum of 64 MB of 3D V-Cache in CPUs like the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. If the latest AMD Zen 6 leak is true, the total 3D V-Cache amount could jump to 144 MB per 3D V-Cache chiplet.

Intel and Nvidia are officially developing x86 chips for future Windows laptops. Intel Serpent Lake architecture could be a result of this partnership. RedGamingTech claims that Intel could use an Nvidia RTX iGPU for the Serpent Lake APUs.

Intel Nova Lake CPUs are scheduled to release sometime in late 2026. Intel is reportedly going all-out with up to 52 total cores and even 144 MB of extra last-level L3 cache. However, RedGamingTech has repored that there could be an even more monstrous Nova Lake SKU which doubles the 144 MB last-level cache.

RedGamingTech has dropped a detailed leak covering several of Intel's future desktop and mobile CPU architectures. Following Nova Lake CPUs, Intel is expected to bring Razer Lake desktop CPUs and Titan Lake mobile processor. Intel is also allegedly developing Hammer Lake with a "Unified Core" design.

We have gotten an AMD Zen 9 leak before GTA VI. Serial leaker Moore's Law Is Dead has revealed the codenames of the AMD Zen 8 and Zen 9 core architectures. The leaker has also alleged the CPU socket platform that Zen 8 and Zen 9 CPUs will use.

The Core Ultra 7 365, an 8-core Intel Panther Lake CPU, has leaked on Geekbench, giving us our first look at the potential performance of the chip. Sadly, based on the Geekbench 6.3 single and multi-core results, the Core Ultra 7 365's performance is nothing to write home about.

A PC components retailer, PrimeABGB, has listed the upcoming Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus desktop CPUs on its website. The listings appear to confirm many of the tidbits floating around on the internet, although their authenticity cannot be verified just yet.

AMD seemingly dominated the consumer desktop CPU market on Amazon US in November 2025. The top three revenue-generating CPUs were the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The Core Ultra 9 285K brought in the most cash for Intel, but the revenue was far less than the Ryzen CPUs.

A recent benchmark listing has once again shed light on the expected performance improvements of Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake Refresh desktop CPUs. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, to be precise, will boast 4 additional efficiency cores for a marginal improvement in multi-core performance.

Apple has lost a lot of talent to Meta and other Silicon Valley juggernauts lately, and the departures will keep coming. Its inability to craft a solid AI-centric approach may be to blame.

AMD is reportedly going to release new Zen 5 CPUs in the first half of 2026. Moore's Law Is Dead claims that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 both use new CCDs with enhanced boost clock behavior.

A patent filed by Huawei details its plan to manufacture 2 nm-class semiconductors with just DUV lithography. It is forced to do so because the company cannot access ASML's newer, more advanced EUV tools.

AMD has confirmed the existence of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D without an official announcement. The CPU is likely to resemble the 8-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D in everything except the boost clocks. So, the total cache size is also expected to be the same as the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

Fresh benchmarks reveal that Intel’s Core Ultra 200S CPUs have meaningfully improved since release, gaining performance while using less power. The results highlight how microcode, kernel, and compiler optimizations can breathe new life into existing silicon.

Intel’s 18A node is stabilising after months of concern, with yield improvements now rising at an industry benchmark pace. The recovery is clearing the path for Panther Lake laptop CPUs to enter mass production on schedule.

TSMC is reportedly collecting evidence against a former Senior Vice President to see if company secrets related to the TSMC A14 and A16 2 nm process nodes were stolen. The employess under alleged investigation is Wei-Jen Lo and he is currently working for Intel.

Qualcomm is expanding its product range with new processors, specifically for professional applications. These processors also deliver relatively high performance for accelerating AI models, enabling the simultaneous analysis of sensor data across multiple dimensions.

AMD has official launched the Ryzen 5 7500X3D CPU as the cheapest X3D chip, though based on previous gen Zen 4 architecture. It is targeted at 1080p gaming and outperforms the Core Ultra 245KF and the Core i5-14600K, as per AMD.

SK hynix is reportedly developing a new High-Bandwidth Storage (HBS) package that merges DRAM and NAND chips into one ultra-efficient module. The innovation promises faster data processing, better heat control, and enhanced AI performance for next-generation smartphones and tablets.

GMKtec’s AMD Strix Halo-powered EVO-X2 mini PC is taking aim at Nvidia’s $4,000 DGX Spark, claiming faster AI response times at nearly half the price. The test raises questions about value versus raw throughput.

AMD has trounced Intel in October’s Amazon CPU sales, with the Ryzen 9800X3D and 7800X3D alone outselling Intel’s entire lineup combined. Strong gaming performance and competitive pricing helped AMD claim over 80% of the retail market, leaving Intel struggling to keep pace.

TSMC is reportedly hiking chip prices by up to 10 percent, and Apple’s A- and M-series processors are caught in the mix. With 2 nm manufacturing costs soaring, your next iPhone or Mac might quietly get pricier.

A Samsung Senior Vice President has given us our first hint at the thermal management of the Exynos 2600. Through the use of a Heat Pass Block, Samsung has apparently reduced the temperature of the Exynos 2600 by quite a large margin.

AMD’s cutting-edge 3D V-Cache technology is now at the center of a major patent lawsuit. IP firm Adeia claims AMD’s Ryzen X3D chips use its hybrid bonding innovations without authorization, a case that could reshape the future of gaming CPU design and licensing costs.

APT is set to gain Rust code in 2026 as Debian modernises its package manager. The coding language's presence in open-source projects keep growing.