Ryzen (Zen)

The M1 Mac mini has been pitted against the Ryzen 9 5900HX-powered EliteMini HX90 in a clash of processor titans. While the Apple M1 couldn’t completely overpower the AMD Zen 3 part in every single benchmark, it was clearly dominant overall. The M1’s 8-core iGPU also stood up well against the AMD Radeon Graphics 8 iGPU.

AMD has slipped against Intel in the Steam Hardware and Software Survey for August. In terms of processor usage share, Team Blue managed to regain a significant amount back from Team Red. With Alder Lake looming on the horizon, it could be a turbulent time ahead for AMD in the hotly contested CPU market.

The Linux-based Pangolin refreshes come with the Lucienne R5 5500U and R7 5700U APUs integrating Zen 2 cores. Other features include a 15.7-inch FHD display, up to 64 GB DDR4-3200 RAM, up to 2 TB NVMe SSD storage, Wi-Fi 6 and a GbE NIC. Prices start at $1,199.

Apparently, AMD was considering implementing Intel's Foveros 3D technology at some point, but later decided to go with TSMC's superior Micro Bump 3D packaging that is 1 micron thinner and quite a bit more efficient. This is only the beginning, as AMD plans to refine the interconnect pitch in the future, allowing for more complex 3D stacking applications.

Leaked documents have confirmed AMD's plans to equip Socket AM5 processors with integrated GPUs. AMD's next-generation desktop processors are expected to utilise the Zen 4 and RDNA 2 architectures.

The Ryzen 7 5800H APU and the GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU bring all modern games smoothly onto the matte 15.6-inch display (2560x1440 pixels, IPS, 144 Hz). Due to the low TGP, the GPU performs below its potential. The laptop offers room for three storage drives (2x M.2 SSD, 1x 2.5-inch).

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X has taken over as a firm fan favorite with DIY PC builders judging by the latest CPU sales data taken from Mindfactory, a huge German retailer that specializes in consumer electronics. Strong sales of both Zen 2 and Zen 3 desktop chips have left AMD far ahead of Intel in this interesting snapshot of the semiconductor market.

An apparent Intel Core i9-12900K qualification sample has been spotted in a few benchmark runs carried out via PugetBench. The i9-12900K was on an Asus ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WIFI motherboard, and it produced scores that put both the i9-11900K and AMD Ryzen 5950X in its sights.

Asus has launched a special edition of its ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop. The new device is the result of a collaboration with DJ Alan Walker and features a DJ mixing deck built into the packaging along with some other unique design touches and bonus items.

Leaked schematics of AMD's upcoming Socket AM5 for Zen 4 Raphael desktop processors indicate that AMD will use the same two-piece retention frame as current AM4 sockets in order to ensure cooler compatibility. Also being leaked is a datasheet that confirms Zen 4 will also see higher TDPs such as 120 W and 170 W with at least a 280 mm AIO cooler recommended for the 170 W TDP SKU.

The Legion 5 Pro from Lenovo shows many of the characteristics that make a good gaming laptop. The QHD display in the 16:10 format that is very bright at 522 cd/m² was excellent in our test. The CPU and GPU in the Legion appear to be well matched to the display resolution.

We were expecting to see RDNA iGPUs added to the Ryzen 5000 APUs, but AMD was not able to sync the production schedule for that to happen. Then we saw the leaked future gens with RDNA2 iGPUs, and we thought AMD is probably ditching the RDNA iGPUs altogether, but some recent Linux code uncovered by Phoronix seems to be proving us wrong.

While other manufacturers charge over 3,000 (~$3,561) or even around 4,000 Euros (~$4,748) for an RTX 3080 laptop, the Medion Erazer Beast X25 costs "only" 2,699 Euros (~$3,204) despite its very generous configuration.

The 2nd generation of the ThinkPad L15 is offered by Lenovo with processors from Intel and AMD. There are almost no differences in design and price, which is why it's worth taking a look at the details.

Initially supposed to launch with i7-1165G7 and i7-1185G7 processor options, the GPD Win Max 2021 handheld gaming laptop is now up for pre-order only with a surprising i7-1195G7 upgrade that is offered for the same price as the AMD Ryzen 7 4800U variant. Preordering now can further lower the price to only $999.

Lenovo debuted world-first 16-inch WQXGA (or QHD) laptop displays in its latest Legion 7 gaming machine. Its Ryzen 7 5800H-equipped SKUs are now available on the US market, starting at US$1,800. Its Intel counterpart (the Legion 7i Gen 6) has also now been released to the same OEM website.

Minisforum and Morfine are preparing crowdfunding campaigns for the first mini PC "workstations" powered by AMD's top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 5900HX laptop APU. These will not offer enough room for a dGPU, but the integrated Vega 8 GPU is still a decent solution. The Indiegogo campaigns are expected to start in a few weeks.

Lenovo equips the new ThinkPad E14 G3 with AMD's powerful Ryzen 5000 CPUs and brighter IPS panels. The excellent keyboard did not change and the AMD model also manages long battery runtimes thanks to improved efficiency as well as a larger battery.

With the TUF Gaming A15, Asus offers a powerful and comparatively inexpensive gaming laptop with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H. It offers decent gaming performance and a fast display.

Valve's recently announced handheld gaming PCs have received over 75,000 reservations across all variants within just the first hour of reservation opening in the United States alone. Delivery dates have also started to get pushed out to Q2 2022 for new reservations.

Multiple sources have confirmed that AMD's next-generation Zen 4 processors will limit the core count to 16 on the top model (Ryzen 9 6950X), which has a maximum TDP of 170W. The remaining SKUs are said to be rated at 120W, 105W, 95W and 65W.

Tipster @KOMACHI_ENSAKA spotted an Intel filing on the SATA-IO website highlighting PCH compliance for both Alder Lake and 13th-gen Raptor Lake parts. This is one of the earliest appearances of Intel’s post-Alder Lake platform, and likely the first alongside Alder Lake.

AMD has now confirmed that the 4700S Desktop Kit will be coming to 80+ designs in the coming days. The AMD 4700S is an SoC that is pretty much similar to the one found in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S but comes with the RDNA 2 iGPU disabled. AMD is pitched the 4700S Desktop Kit primarily for productivity and light 3D workflows.

@BenchLeaks recently spotted a Geekbench 4 entry for a purported Intel Sapphire Rapids dual-socket part with 40 cores in total. The possible engineering sample scored roughly 30,000 on Geekbench 4, a ways off, even from weaker commercial parts like the Ryzen 9 5800X.

The budget Dell laptop is now even more affordable with CPU and GPU performance levels that rival most pricier Intel Ultrabooks. The performance-per-dollar here is very high without needing to pay more for discrete Nvidia graphics.

Compared to the previous AMD-based mini PC barebones, the new DesktopMini Max from ASRock is considerably larger and allows users to install liquid coolers and larger dGPUs. The included AM4 motherboard supports AMD Ryzen 5000 all the way down to Ryzen 2000 processors that can be coupled with up to 128 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM.

Lenovo expands its AMD portfolio with two additional ThinkPad laptops: ThinkPad L13 Gen 2 and L13 Yoga Gen 2 are from the affordable ThinkPad L series. The Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga G2 is also the first ThinkPad Yoga convertible with AMD Ryzen 5000.

The Atari VCS hybrid console-PC is finally available to purchase some 3 years after originally being launched. The device features classic retro Atari looks and can play classic Atari games and also function as a desktop PC.

The Legion 7 16ACHg6 brings all the latest computer games smoothly onto the matte 16-inch screen (2560x1600 pixels, 165 Hz, IPS) in the 16:10 format. Furthermore, its equipment is good: The Ryzen 9 5900HX APU, the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU, 32 GB of RAM, and 2x 1 TB NVMe SSDs.

AYA has just proven all the naysayers wrong by shipping its first batch of NEO units earlier this month to initial backers. A second round of shipments is expected early July with an official online storefront to come at a later date.

The manufacturer is likely clearing room for the eventual ThinkBook 15 G3 model with AMD Ryzen 5000U series options later this year. If you want a prosumer laptop for a budget price, then this deal will check a lot of boxes.

Games could see up to 28% fps improvements with faster RAM kits, but the average is around 10% at 1080p max settings or 15% for 1080p low settings. The absence of a MUX switch raises the performance gap to 33% in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, so we might want to wait for the more expensive versions that allow us to disable the iGPU.

The Intel Core i7-1195G7 has been spotted on Geekbench recording incredible results for a laptop chip. The Tiger Lake-U part nipped at 5 GHz during testing and pulled out a single-core performance score that would leave it in the realm of Rocket Lake and Ryzen 5000 desktop processors in the chart if it was an average result.

According to reports, the Radeon RX 6000 series will be around for a while yet. In fact, RDNA 3 GPUs will supposedly not arrive until when Zen 4 CPUs do. While no GPUs are slated to fill the void, AMD reputedly plans to release Zen 3 XT CPUs in early 2022.

AMD's Zen 4-based future processors are currently thought to have the code-name Raphael. It is also rumored to move on to a new LGA-based socket called AM5. Now, a new leak purports to show what one of them will look like from the other side, strange indented integrated heat spreader and all.

The slower RAM gimps the gaming performance by up to 20% on the Asus model, while the missing MUX switch is further limiting the potential that should match models equipped with RTX 3080 mobile dGPUs. Similar RAM problems can also be encountered on the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro. However, the Lenovo Legion 7 AMD features faster RAM, so this is not really just another conspiracy against AMD.