Tag Archives: CPU

News

Downfall Vulnerability in Intel Chips Raises Security Concerns

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A recently discovered vulnerability in Intel chips, named “Downfall,” has the potential to expose millions of users to cybersecurity threats. Cybersecurity researcher Daniel Moghimi, who is associated with the University of California and Google, discovered the major vulnerability. The vulnerability affects a large number of Intel chips produced over the last decade.

Intel Core

The vulnerability centres around the ability of malicious programmes to access data belonging to other applications. Therefore, it poses significant risks to user privacy and security. At the core of “Downfall” is the exploitation of the “register buffer” feature present in modern processors. With it, processors are able to optimise certain operations for faster execution. 

What Is a Register Buffer?

Imagine a computer processor as a super-fast brain that helps your computer think and do tasks quickly. This brain needs to remember things temporarily while it is working, just like you might jot down a few things on a sticky note while solving a puzzle. The “register buffer” is like that sticky note – it is a temporary data storage place in the processor where it keeps important information for a short time to help with tasks. Sometimes, the processor may also keep sensitive information like passwords in the register buffer. 

So here is the catch: if a hacker finds a way to look inside this register buffer, they might see your password or other sensitive information they’re not supposed to have access to. So, the “Downfall” vulnerability is like discovering a hidden crack in the wall next to the shelf where the processor keeps its sticky note. If someone figures out how to use that crack to take a peek at the content of the sticky note, they could get their hands on sensitive information such as your online bank password and more. 

The Potential Impact of Downfall

As you can see, the impact of this vulnerability is far-reaching, particularly for the cloud computing industry. Many servers are using similar setups built on Intel and AMD processors to run workloads, it stands to reason that since the vulnerability affects a swatch of processors, these cloud setups and the businesses that use them could be at risk of a major breach. If these servers are susceptible to Downfall, hackers could have a field day, stealing sensitive information from high-profile organisations worldwide.

According to Intel exploiting this flaw is not exactly a walk in the park. While Intel acknowledged the issue, they mentioned the discovery of “Downfall” happened under very specific conditions – not exactly what hackers encounter in the real world. Newer Intel chips, including Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, and Sapphire Rapids, are reportedly not susceptible to this vulnerability. You may check for the full list of affected devices here.

Preventing Vulnerability and Mitigation Strategy

Intel has released a microcode fix to patch up this vulnerability. While Intel claims that most workloads will not slow down, some specific activities such as heavy data processing might be affected. So, the trade-off here is between keeping your data safe and not compromising device performance.

The discovery of the Downfall vulnerability in Intel chips is a significant concern for cybersecurity. It showcases the delicate balance between performance optimisation and security, highlighting the need for continuous vigilance and adaptation in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

News

AMD’s Zen 3 & Zen 4 CPUs Are At Risk of Exploitations Thanks to New “Inception” Vulnerability

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Researchers at ETH Zurich have identified a series of vulnerabilities in AMD’s CPUs. The vulnerabilities have been identified in CPUs with the Zen 3 and Zen 4 architecture in particular and are present across the board in both desktop and laptop CPUs and APUs with the architecture.

The vulnerability, identified now as “Inception”, takes advantage of speculative execution, a technique where a computer predicts and performs operations it anticipates needing in the future. Using an attack method called Training in Transient Execution (TTE), the affected CPUs can be manipulated to believe that they have seen a certain set of instructions before even if it has never happened before.

In the simplest of terms, the exploit acts exactly like how Leonardo DiCaprio and his team did in the movie “Inception”. Similar to how they were able to plant an idea to retrieve information, the vulnerability in AMD CPUs can do the same thing.

In fact, XDA Developers described that “Inception” takes its name from the movie of the same title, where the central concept involves implanting an idea in someone’s dream. In the exploit context, researchers metaphorically implant an “idea” into the CPU during its “dream-like” state, causing it to execute incorrect instructions. This manipulation of the CPU’s control flow is the core mechanism exploited by Inception.

amd ryzen 3000

Exploiting A Kernel Memory Breach

The vulnerability poses a serious security threat as “Inception” is an end-to-end exploit that can covertly leak sensitive information from Zen 3 and Zen 4 processors. The exploit can access confidential kernel memory, including sensitive files like “/etc/shadow” on Linux systems. This file holds hashed user account passwords, typically safeguarded and accessible only to the root user.

According to XDA Developers, with a leakage rate of up to 39 bytes per second, Inception has the capability to retrieve these passwords within 40 minutes.

Exploitation of Speculative Execution

The workings of Inception draw parallels to a similar exploit named Zenbleed. ETH Zurich researchers leveraged the TTE technique to craft an attack capable of infiltrating AMD Zen CPUs. This involves manipulating speculative execution to carry out actions that may not be immediately necessary, a strategy often used to optimise processing.

Inception: leaking the root hash from /etc/shadow on AMD Zen 4

A central component in this attack is the Branch Target Buffer (BTB) and the Return Stack Buffer (RSB). Inception disrupts branch prediction during the transient window by introducing fresh predictions into the branch predictor. This action creates more powerful transient windows, which can then be exploited to overflow the Return Stack Buffer. Ultimately, this allows Inception to take control of the CPU.

Preventing Exploitation and Mitigation Strategy

AMD has acknowledged the vulnerability in a recent bulletin. The company has released a µcode patch for the affected processors which can be applied via a BIOS update.

According to XDA Developers, like Intel’s “Spectre” vulnerability, effective mitigation strategies remain challenging. One proposed mitigation approach involves flushing the branch predictor during context switches. However, this could inflict significant performance degradation.

If you are using one of the following processors, it would be best to check for a BIOS update.

Desktop CPUs & APUs:

  • 3rd & 4th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs
  • Ryzen 5000 & 4000 Series Desktop Processors (including CPUs like Ryzen 5 5600G or Ryzen 7 4700G APUs)
  • Ryzen 7000 Series Desktop Processors
  • Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000WX Series Processors

Mobile CPUs:

  • Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors
  • Ryzen 6000 Series Processors (with Radeon Graphics)
  • Ryzen 7035 Series Processors (with Radeon Graphics)
  • Ryzen 7030 Series Processors (with Radeon Graphics)
  • Ryzen 7040 Series Processors (with Radeon Graphics)
  • Ryzen 7045 Series Processors
Computers, News

AMD’s Fastest Gaming CPUs with 3D V-Cache Are Here!

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AMD’s latest Ryzen 7000 processors are regarded as some of the most powerful CPUs you can find in the world today. The latest processors come with AMD’s latest Zen 4 architecture that is designed to make the processor respond much faster than before. Thanks to 5nm manufacturing process too, the Ryzen 7000 chips are some of the most efficient processing chips in the world. What could make the processors better? Slapping on 3D V-Cache on it, apparently.

What is 3D V-Cache? It is an important part of this CPU after all. 3D V-Cache makes the chip even faster than before by layering cache pools on top of the processing chiplets by increasing the the memory bandwidth of the CPU. You first see AMD applying the technology on their AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D to good effects.

Now that the new Ryzen 7000 series is here, it is also time for a refresh of the chip with 3D V-Cache technology. Welcome to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and Ryzen 9 7900X3D.

1131643 amd ryzen 7 5000 series 3D V Cache processor 1260x709 0
Source: AMD

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is technically based on the current Ryzen 9 7950X processor. It packs 16 cores in its heart, up to 32 threads, and is built upon Zen 4 and 5nm technology. With 3D V-Cache technology, it comes with 144MB of L2 and L3 cache combined. The chip is clocked at 4.2GHz (Base clock) and TDP is rated at 120W, 50W less than the standard Ryzen 9 7950X.

Then there is the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D that is based on the Ryzen 9 7900X. It comes with 12 cores and 24 threads at that. The Zen 4 architecture processor also comes packing plenty of cache memory at 140 MB of L2 and L3 memory. It is also clocked a little slower than the standard processor at 4.4GHz with a similar TDP to the higher end Ryzen 9 7950X3D at 120W.

The AMD Ryzen 7000X3D series of processors are now available in Malaysia. You can get your hands on one via AMD’s authorized retailers across the nation. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D will set you back MYR 3,299 while the Ryzen 9 7900X3D costs MYR 2,799.

News

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 announced at Snapdragon Summit 2022

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The Snapdragon Summit 2022 has unveiled the highly anticipated Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform, promising to revolutionize the flagship smartphone experience.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Chip and QRD
The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 unveiled at the Snapdragon Summit 2022

Snapdragon’s highlight event of 2022 held in Hawaii from November 15th to 16th centered around the announcement of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The platform will be adopted by global brands including ASUS, HONOR, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, and Redmi to name a few. Expect to see it in commercial devices as early as the end of 2022.

Key Experience Pillars show AI integration systemwide

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 QRD Outdoor
The new features highlighted by Key Experience Pillars”; Snapdragon Smart, Sight, Elite Gaming, Connect, Sound and Secure

With the latest iteration of the SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 offers better performance with the new Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Processor that has a 3.2GHz Arm-Cortex X3 prime core. The mobile platform offers a host of new features, described as six “Key Experience Pillars” by Qualcomm. The first and most central pillar is Snapdragon Smart, which utilizes AI integration across the system. This integration allows faster natural language processing, multi-language translation and advanced AI camera features.

Expect camera performance improvements with Snapdragon Sight, which uses AI to better recognize facial features, hairs and even the sky to allow professional grade image tuning. The platform will support new image sensors and features from other brands such as Sony’s quad digital overlap HDR technology and Samsung’s ISOCELL HP3, the first 200-megapixel image sensor. It also has an AV1 codec with support for video playback up to 8K HDR at 60 frames per second.

Elite Gaming Performance

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 QRD Gaming
Enhanced gaming visuals with Ray Tracing thanks to Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Snapdragon Elite Gaming will be welcome news to gaming fans as the 8 Gen 2 comes with an improved Adreno GPU. The highlight is the mobile platform will have Ray Tracing to further elevate gaming visuals. This will also be the first platform to support Vulkan 1.3 API on top of improved and more efficient performance.

High Speed Connectivity with Wi-Fi 7, improved 5G and dual Bluetooth

Qualcomm FastConnect7800 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Stay connected with low latency WiFI 7, peak 5G speeds and dual Bluetooth.

Connectivity will be improved on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 as described in the Snapdragon Connect Experience pillar. Sporting the new Snapdragon X70 5G Modem-RF System with Qualcomm® 5G AI Processor, expect faster than ever 5G speeds and first-in-market to support 5G+5G/4G Dual-SIM Dual-Active. It also features the Qualcomm® FastConnect™ 7800 connectivity system, for low latency Wi-Fi 7 and dual Bluetooth connectivity.

Soundly secure

Snapdragon has also beefed-up security on its new platform, with Snapdragon Secure. Described as premium level protection, it offers the latest tech available to protect your data and privacy with features such as the Qualcomm® 3D Sonic Sensor a Max fingerprint sensors. Finally, expect better audio performance with Snapdragon Sound. It features spatial audio with dynamic head-tracking for better surround-sound experience and supports 48kHz lossless music. Gamers will benefit from the built-in voice backchannel for clearer in-game voice chat and lowest-ever latency at 48ms.

In short, Snapdragon has brought out all the features of a flagship-level mobile platform with more intricate AI utilization as icing on the cake. For a full list of specifications and features, visit the official Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 webpage.

Android, Gaming, Mobile, News

MediaTek Takes on Flagships with Dimensity 9000+

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The absolute king of the hill right now when it comes to raw processing power on a smartphone platform is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 system on a chip (SoC). It is also what everybody, at least in the Android world, wants in their flagship smartphones currently. It is the most powerful SoC your smartphone can get today with only the Samsung Exynos as a distant challenger. They are introducing a new one too, very soon.

The second-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC is not coming until the end of the year, as far as we know. In the meantime, there is MediaTek making their steps in high-end smartphone chips.

MediaTek APU 590 copy 3
Source: MediaTek

To be fair, the name MediaTek does not bring a lot of confidence in terms of high-end SoC for mobile applications. They are mostly known for their budget friendly SoCs in entry-level and mid-range smartphones. In that regards though, MediaTek’s SoCs have been solid performers in their class, in some cases probably better than what you can expect from price equivalent Qualcomm devices.

The new Dimensity 9000+ from MediaTek is their hope that the “budget king” perception ends. It is also MediaTek’s most powerful SoC to date with 5G in tow. The new Dimensity, in this case, goes head-to-head with Qualcomm’s current best.

At its core is the ARM Cortex-X2 architecture, the same one the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 boasts in their Kryo CPUs. The single ARM Cortex-X2 core works with three powerful Cortex-A710 cores and low-power high-efficiency Cortex-A510 cores. The 4nm octa-core CPU arrangement makes ARM’s v9 architecture.

Vector Smart Object
Source: MediaTek

Besides the obvious CPU and GPU improvements, and 5G capabilities the SoC comes with a slew of compelling upgrades. One of which is LPDDR5X support with 8MB L3 CPU cache and 6MB system cache support for new-generation smartphones with ultra-fast memory. Instead of a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that is widely boasted by its competitors, MediaTek opted for something a little more practical in a dedicated Application Processor Unit (APU 5.0) for all its A.I. purposes.

MediaTek also packs a powerful imaging processor withing the Dimensity 9000+. They call it the MediaTek Imagiq 790. Rivaling the Qualcomm’s own image processor, the new processor supports up to 18-bit HDR-ISP at up to 320-Megapixel. Of course, you there is no camera sensor in the world currently that packs that many pixels into an area less than an inch. It is good to know that you can super sample your photos to up to 320-Megapixel though.

The Imagiq 790 also allows the MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ equipped devices to record three videos simultaneously at up to 18-bit HDR formats. It even does 4K HDR with AI noise reduction, especially useful in low-light conditions.

pngegg 1
Source: MediaTek

The new MediaTek Dimensity 9000+ can support up to 144Hz WQHD+ or even 180Hz Full HD+ displays thanks to the new MiraVision 790 engine. The new display engine also has something called Intelligent Display Sync 2.0 technology that optimizes the power efficiency of the display. Thanks to the engine, the Wi-Fi display now supports up to 4K resolution at 60fps with HDR10+ streaming.

Of course, the latest and greatest SoC cannot be the latest and greatest if it does not pack the latest connectivity and networking technology. For that the 3GPP Release-16 5G modem can hit downlink speeds of up to 7Gbps. The new SoC also supports the latest WiFi 6E standards, new Bluetooth 5.3 standards, and even a new more accurate GNSS.

img mobile pic
Source: MediaTek

MediaTek is expecting their new Dimensity 9000+ to make its way to flagship devices starting Q3 2022. As mentioned, the Dimensity 9000+ is meant to be a direct competitor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. At the same time, the second-generation Snapdragon 8 is meant to be announced by Q4 2022. How the Dimensity 9000+ will fare against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 remains to be seen. We think you might have to wait for the first Dimensity 9000+ devices to roll out. There are no confirmed devices sporting the new Mediatek flagship SoC currently too.

Computers, Gaming, News

AMD’s Ryzen 5000 CPUs with Integrated Graphics are Finally Available from MYR 1,239 onward.

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Gaming is expensive, let us all face that fact for a moment. We, techENT, are gamers and we love to game. We also love new gaming gear and hardware. We loved it when AMD launched their new Ryzen 5000 series processors and took over as the king of gaming processors. We loved NVIDIA’s new very powerful GPUs in the form of their next generation GeForce RTX 30 series Ampere architecture. What we talk less about though is the cost of gaming.

While all the new stuffs are great and amazing, we always forget that these powerful hardware come at a price. With the global chip shortage issue, prices become even more exaggerated. An example of this would be the prices of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GPU in the market these days at around MYR 5,000 a piece. You can buy a new pre-built PC for that kind of money. If you have not checked out Acer’s Predator Orion 3000 for that matter, that pre-built is a steal at MYR 6,899 compared to building your own system at this time.

With prices and availability of GPUs soaring as high as MYR 16,000 these days, building a ‘budget’ gaming rig may not be so pocket friendly after all. There is a solution, however. What if you cut out the most expensive part of your PC build? What if you exclude a GPU in your gaming build?

Now we hear questions like; “but is the GPU not the most important part of a gaming build?”, and “how are we to game without a GPU? Are you nuts?”. Hear us out. You can still build your PC with a GPU, just not with a huge GPU that is hanging from your PCIe slot. It is a GPU that is also integrated with your CPU, and APU (Accelerated Processing Unit, if you must know).

586681 vermeer 01 0017 alpha
Source: AMD

AMD has just released their next generation Ryzen 5000 G-series processors announced earlier this year in COMPUTEX, AMD Ryzen Zen 3 architecture processors with integrated Radeon VEGA graphics built into the CPU itself. That also means that you technically can solely rely on the AMD Ryzen chip for graphical requirements. In practical terms, you do not strictly need a separate GPU to get your PC to boot and run properly.

The AMD Ryzen 5000 G-series APUs comes in two flavours too. You can either choose between an AMD Ryzen 5 5600G or an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G. Of course, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G would be the more powerful of the two packing more cores than the Ryzen 5. Both of them comes with AMD’s Radeon graphics power integrated within the chip as well.

AMD Ryzen 7 5700G

21824702 A AMDRyzen7 wGraphics 3DPIB LEFT ROW
Source: AMD

The new AMD Ryzen 5700G with Zen 3 architecture comes with 8 cores and 16 threads, pretty much similar to its non-G-series counterpart, the Ryzen 7 5800X. Like its more premium counterpart, it also clocks at 3.8GHz at its base. There are differences between the two though. It only boosts up to 4.6GHz, compared to 4.7Ghz, for example. The APU is also built to draw less power at 65W compared to 105W. It also packs an extra 8 Radeon Compute Units (CU) that clocks at 2.0GHz, which is amazing if you think about it. It draws less power than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X powerhouse, but it also packs its own graphics processing ability.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600G

21820167 A AMDRyzen5 wGraphics 3DPIB RIGHT ROW
Source: AMD

At a more budget conscious range is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G. It still packs a lot of power though from its 6 cores and 12 threads. It is also clocked a little higher than its Ryzen 5 5600X counterpart, at least on its base clock at 3.9GHz compared to 3.7GHz. It tops out at 4.4GHz though instead of the 4.6GHz of its CPU counterpart. With an additional 7 Radeon CU, the AMD Ryzen 5600G APU also only draws up to 65W in power, which is quite an amazing feat too in its own rights.

Full HD Gaming

Ryzen 5000 G Series Channel Desktop Press Deck 20210720 Page 06
Source: AMD

Of course, integrated graphics (IGP), you might need to adjust your expectations in gaming performances. If you are on a tight budget, you most likely will not be getting one of those 1440p displays with 165Hz refresh rate. You probably will be looking at Full HD displays that goes to 144Hz at the maximum. You would be happy to find that AMD’s Ryzen 5000 G-series APUs are more than capable at running modern titles at more than 100 fps in some cases. Games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) easily goes over 100fps in Full HD (low) settings with the APU. At the same time, you do want to tamper with your settings a little to accommodate to the relatively less powerful integrated GPU.

Prices and Availability

The good news in all this is that this is also even more budget friendly than its X-series counterparts. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is retailing at MYR 1,239, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G retails for MYR 1,639. The AMD Ryzen 5000 G-series is now available from AMD’s local retail partners nationwide and on AMD’s own online store.

Business, Computers, News

NVIDIA Grace CPU for Datacentres for Next Generation Super Computers

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NVIDIA’s GTC 2021 just happened last night. If you remembered 2020, you would remember that GTC 2020 was also the time where NVIDIA introduced their new A100 GPU chips for super computers. 2020 was also the yea NVIDIA launched their highly anticipated, and highly capable RTX 3000 series consumer grade GPUs.

GTC’s keynote is always a highly anticipated event. Not because the conference always brings a new GPU. Recent years of GTC has always been exciting because somehow GPU is able to push the limits of what is possible with computing and cloud. NVIDIA has made itself relevant not just in the graphics world, but also in the super computing world, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and even cybersecurity. NVIDIA’s own AI even composed its own song, and it is a good song mind you.

With GTC 2021, NVIDIA shows that they are not done innovating just yet. Now, they also want to give the likes of Intel a new sort of headache. NVIDIA has introduced Project Grace.

Source: NVIDIA

NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang mentions that the name Grace refers to a particular pioneer in the computer science field, Grace Hopper. The project is NVIDIA’s first dip into the datacentre CPU industry. Fitting to the Grace Hopper namesake, project Grace is supposed to be 10x more powerful than the current NVIDIA GDX x86 supercomputer platform.

Why is this a problem for Intel? The world’s fastest supercomputer today is all powered by Intel’s x86 CPU platform. The x86 platform has also existed for about a decade now and the platform has approached its technological limits in 2021. Of course, NVIDIA took matters into their own hands and the Grace CPU is an ARM based chip for the fastest ever datacentre and servers in the world.

Just saying that the CPU will be the fastest ever server-based CPU though means nothing. What you want to know is numbers, and these are big numbers. The new Grace architecture allows the CPU and GPU to communicate at up to 900GB/s speed thanks to NVLink technology. According to NVIDIA, that is 30x faster than most servers today. Of course, paired to LPDDR5x memory modules, you get up to 10x the speed of today’s machines.

Before anyone can say that NVIDIA’s Grace dreams is just that; dreams, NVIDIA also announced that they will be installing their Grace based datacentre in the United States Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Labrotory and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS). The two clients will feature their very own NVIDIA powered supercomputer soon.

Source: NVIDIA

In those two places though, the servers and supercomputers are not built just to push cloud storage to corporations. They are purpose built for AI training and implementations. They are built for neural and language programming and training. They are built to progress humanity and probably cure cancer one day.

Of course, because Grace is a giant processor made for datacentres and supercomputers, we will not be expecting to see NVIDIA dive into consumer level ARM-based processors for PCs anytime soon. NVIDIA is working with MediaTek to bring their GPU technology into the mobile space and even ARM based PCs though. In that case, us regular consumers can expect a Qualcomm Snapdragon notebook PC with NVIDIA GeForce graphics power soon, probably. Catch NVIDIA’s GTC 2021 keynote on their website.

Business, Computers, News

Even More EPYC with AMD – Stacking Zen 3

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Just when we thought AMD is done with being the best at gaming, they proved that one title is never enough. They want to retain their title as the most powerful ever, with a full-stop right after. So, they went ahead and introduced what seems to be the most powerful processing chips in the world, the EPYC 7003 series server processors.

The new EPYC 7003 series is the third-generation server processors by AMD. That also means that it gets the Zen 3 architecture that the AMD Ryzen 5000 series line-up got. That same architecture also means that AMD’s processing core clusters gets to access all of the available cache memory module when necessary, instead of just half of it. Again, if you were doing some research with AMD’s latest Ryzen 5000 with Zen 3 architecture, it might sound like something simple and small. The results are quite significant though.

At least in terms of a server, Zen 3 architecture also allows the cores to process more data at any single time than before. In practical terms, that also means a much faster processor compared to before. Of course, AMD’s implementation also means more efficient power consumption.

The headline figures for EPYC’s flagship is up to 64 cores and 128 threads. With 64 cores, the processor features 256MB of cache, that is the first indication that this is not your regular consumer gaming PC stuff. All cores are clocked at 2.45GHz and can be boosted up to 3.675GHz when necessary.

Of course, these chips are also embedded with extra security measurements and algorithms. In a server, data center, cloud seservice, and virtualisation environment, protecting your data is of utmost importance. Security, in this case, has to start from the processors itself with AMD’s own Infinity Guard suite encryption technologies to keep everything it processes secure.

Of course, you are not going to see the AMD EPYC processors out on the street. These are highly specialised processors made for Artificial Intelligence implementation, data centers, and data backbones for larger organisations. These are the stuff that keeps thigs like Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon Web Services running for you.

The AMD EPYC processors range from 32 cores to 64 cores. The EPYC processors are usually the base for AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper platforms. There are obviously no announcements made yet on the availability of the prosumer processor platforms at this time. If they are launching a Threadripper soon though, the AMD EPYC processors could probably give you an insight to what you can expect.

Computers, News

Intel Has Joined the Chat – The New 11th Generation Desktop Intel Core Rocket Lake Processors

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Rocket Lake is here! Some might say, “about time”. We say, let the games begin.

Intel’s 11th Generation Intel Core processor for Desktop systems, while inevitable, seems to be something that should have come a while ago. Then again, taking their time to introduce a new product after the big game changer that was AMD’s new Ryzen 5000 series processor could be a smart thing to do. So here is the new Rocket Lake processors that has been teased and highly expected since the end of 2020.

500 Series Chipsets

The introduction of the new Rocket Lake processors also means that there is a new on-board chipset to pair to, as usual with Intel. Intel’s new 500 series chipset adds support for PCIe 4.0, which also means you can now take full advantage of new PCIe Gen 4.0 devices like the newer NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series and AMD Radeon 6000 sieres GPUs. It also means you can get the newer, faster PCIe 4.0 SSDs to work with too. Of course, there is some new improvements in Intel Optane Memory.

  • Source: Intel
  • Source: Intel

The new chipset is also supposed to open up more USB bandwidth on the new boards too, which also means more USB lanes and faster ports. You also get to put in faster memory modules at DDR4-3200. The new 500 series chipset also allows memory overclocking on the H570 and B560 chipsets, so you are less restricted when you have a budget to work with.

Back to the new processing chips. Of course, the are not just launching a single Intel Core i9-11900K. The range topper is coming with a whole slew of Intel Core processors from the low-end, low-power Core i3-10105T with four cores and eight threads all the way to the superpower that is the flagship Core i9-11900K. The new Rocket Lake launch also include the launch of the new Pentium series with the Pentium Gold G6605 two core processor leading the way.

More Power

As per usual, Intel’s big focus on the new processors that were introduced is gaming. The headline figures for the class leading Intel Core i9-11900K unlocked processor is eight cores, 16 threads, and 16MB of Intel Smart Cache. The flagship chip clocks at up to 5.3GHz on Thermal Velocity Boost. Most games these days have not been able to capitalise on high multicore clocks too, so the Intel Rocket Lake platform processors are still expected to perform very well.

Of course, the new Rocket Lake Core processor will come with Intel’s UHD graphics with enhanced Intel Xe graphics architecture. Intel’s Xe GPU architecture pretty much has proven itself in the mobile computing space. It also means you technically can game on the on-board graphics. Intel claims 50% more graphics performance over the older generation Intel UHD Graphics. They also claim up to 19% generational improvement on the overall IPC performance. That is one of the larger leaps in terms of generational performance in Intel’s line-up. Oddly enough, the 11th Generation Core processors are still built on top of 12nm technology instead of AMD’s cutting-edge 7nm technology. AMD has also touted 5nm technology in their next Ryzen series.

Price and Availability

  • Source: Intel
  • Source: Intel
  • Source: intel

The biggest surprise from Intel’s new generation of processors though is their price tag. This time, their offering their CPUs at lower prices than their competitors. The range topping Core i9-11900K for example will be sold at US$ 539 (MYR 2,220*), US$ 10 (MYR 41*) cheaper than its competition the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X at US$ 549 (MYR 2,261*). The Core i5-11600K, which would most likely be the processor of choice for most users will sell at US$ 262 (MYR 1,079*), a whopping US$ 30 (MYR 124*) less than AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X at US$ 299 (MYR 1,231*).

Intel’s 11th Generation Rocket Lake Core processors for desktop is announced to be available later in March 2021. There are no solid leads regarding its local (Malaysia) availability just yet. That also means there are no official pricing locally just yet. Of course, we will keep you posted. For more information, you can head to Intel’s website.

*Approximate value based on conversion rate US$ 1.00 = MYR 4.12 on xe.com as of 17/03/2021

Business, Computers, Gaming, News

AMD Ryzen 4000 Desktop Series is Here! No Zen 3 Yet Though.

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AMD finally released their highly anticipated latest Ryzen processor platform for desktops. We mentioned ‘desktop’ specifically because AMD has launched their Ryzen 4000 series for mobile computing earlier this year. So, here it is, the new AMD Ryzen 4000 series for desktop alongside AMD’s latest Athlon 3000 series offering.

MODELCORES / THREADSTDP (Watts)BOOST9/BASE FREQ. (GHz)GPU CORESCACHE (MB)
AMD Ryzen™ 7 4700G8C/16T65WUp to 4.4 / 3.6 GHz812 MB
AMD Ryzen™ 7 4700GE8C/16T35WUp to 4.3 / 3.1 GHz812 MB
AMD Ryzen™ 5 4600G6C/12T65WUp to 4.2 / 3.7 GHz711 MB
AMD Ryzen™ 5 4600GE6C/12T35WUp to 4.2 / 3.3 GHz711 MB
AMD Ryzen™ 3 4300G4C/8T65WUp to 4.0 / 3.8 GHz66 MB
AMD Ryzen™ 3 4300GE4C/8T35WUp to 4.0 / 3.5 GHz66 MB
Athlon™ Gold 3150G4C / 4T65W​3.9 GHz36 MB
Athlon™ Gold 3150GE4C / 4T35W3.8 GHz36 MB
Athlon™ Silver 3050GE2C / 4T35W3.4 GHz35 MB
Source: AMD

This is not the end of the story though. Keen eyed readers will note that we did say that Zen 3 is not here yet (do not look at us, we are as surprised as you are). That is because the AMD Ryzen 4000 series we see here only packs AMD’s Zen2 architecture.

At least you are still getting AMD’s Radeon graphics integrated in the CPU. The previous AMD Ryzen 3000 series came with AMD’s highly acclaimed Radeon Vega graphics. We can safely expect the AMD Ryzen 4000 series for desktop systems that was just announced to come with AMD’s Radeon Vega graphics too in that case. Until they reveal it though, we do not know.

Source: AMD

They also touted that the new AMD Ryzen 4000 series for desktop performs 2.5x better in multi-threaded applications. There are some improvements on single-thread performance too, which is nice. With the integrated GPU, there are some expected added performance there too. All this means that this should perform better in video editing and rendering works and in games. With the integrated GPU, you can even properly game without having a dedicated GPU.

Alongside the regular consumer range of Ryzen 4000, AMD also announced the AMD Ryzen 4000 series with PRO technologies. Like the notebook range of AMD Ryzen 4000 Pro series, this one is made for AMD’s business customers. Like the mobile version as well, the desktop variant gets all AMD’s security features with the PRO series CPUs.

MODELCORES/ THREADSTDP (Watts)BOOST9/ BASE FREQ. (GHz)Graphics CoresL2/L3 CACHE (MB)
AMD Ryzen™ 7 PRO 4750G8C/16T65WUp to 4.4/3.6 GHz812MB
AMD Ryzen™ 7 PRO 4750GE8C/16T35WUp to 4.3/3.1 GHz812MB
AMD Ryzen™ 5 PRO 4650G6C/12T65WUp to 4.2/3.7 GHz711MB
AMD Ryzen™ 5 PRO 4650GE6C/12T35WUp to 4.2/3.3 GHz711MB
AMD Ryzen™ 3 PRO 4350G4C/8T65WUp to 4.0/3.8 GHz66MB
AMD Ryzen™ 3 PRO 4350GE4C/8T35WUp to 4.0/3.5 GHz66MB
AMD Athlon™ Gold PRO 3150G4C/4T65WUp to 3.9/3.5 GHz36MB
AMD Athlon™ Gold PRO 3150GE4C/4T35WUp to 3.8/3.3 GHz36MB
AMD Athlon™ Silver PRO 3125GE2C/4T35WUp to 3.4/3.4 GHz35MB
Source: AMD

What Do You Mean No Zen3?

The AMD Ryzen 4000 CPU has been touted and teased with a certain upcoming Zen3 architecture that is supposed to be way more powerful than what we see on the older generation AMD Ryzen 3000 series with Zen2. With the new AMD Ryzen 4000 desktop that just launched, it seems that AMD is not including the Zen3 architecture within the CPU just yet. They did not mention also if the architecture within the Ryzen 4000 series is Zen2+, which leaves us assuming that it is still the same Zen2 application that was on the Ryzen 3000 series.

Still, there are some performance gains on all the platforms they announced, including the Athlon offerings. While they may not be as big of a performance leap we expect from the Ryzen 4000 series, any improvements is welcome. The integrated graphics may also help with budget gaming and editing rigs.

Hope for Zen3 Still Alive with Big Navi

Source: AMD

Here is the kicker for the AMD Ryzen 4000 series for desktop PCs that was just announced though; you cannot buy them. To be specific, you cannot buy them on their own. You can only get these processors from OEMs in their desktop system offerings. AMD is teasing Lenovo and HP to be the first to produce a desktop system with the newly launched AMD Ryzen 4000 series somewhere after 21st July 2020.

That also creates a room and a gap for the enthusiasts’ market where Zen3 is yet to be available. Big Navi is also expected to be launched and announced later in 2020. With that also we expect AMD to announced another variant of the AMD Ryzen 4000 series that is available to consumers as an individual part and devoid of any integrated graphics. In that, we hope that the AMD Ryzen 4000 that we expect to launch with Radeon’s Big Navi to come with Zen3 or at least a Zen2+.