Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
Regarding competition:
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Intel Launches $699 Core i9-13900KS, the World's First 6 GHz 320W CPU: Available Now
it's also now officially the most power-hungry desktop CPU in history — it peaks at 320W in a new Extreme Power Delivery Profile.
Notably, the 13900KS' peak of 6 GHz is 300 MHz faster than the 5.7 GHz for AMD's Ryzen 7000 processors, but AMD has a special series of Ryzen 7000X3D chips that will square off with the 13900KS for the title of the world's fastest gaming CPU.
As previously noted in this thread, Intel and Nvidia "factory overclock" some of their products to beat AMD.
They've been doing it a long time. AMD long ago indicated they would rarely or never be the absolute fastest because Intel and Nvidia will do all overclocking necessary to "beat" AMD. However, the Ryzen 7000X3D chips should be competitive in gaming situations at lower speed and lower power, it is believed. We'll see.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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Insiders Inform That TSMC May Lower 3nm Costs To Swoon AMD & NVIDIA
the foundry price of 3nm technology surpasses $20,000 for each wafer.
AMD has previously mentioned that the company intends to utilize the 3nm process for the Zen 5 microarchitecture, but this won't happen until the second half of 2024 at the earliest, while NVIDIA is aiming to use the N3 technology in its future Blackwell-based graphics cards.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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AMD Fixes Botched Ryzen Firmware That Accidentally Disabled CPU Cores
The Ryzen 5 7600X is one of the best CPUs for budget consumers. However, AMD's AGESA ComboAM5PI 1.0.0.4 firmware with SMU 84.79.204 unintentionally disabled cores on Ryzen 5 7600X chips with dual-CCD designs. The revamped AMD firmware with the new SMU 84.79.210 has seemingly fixed this problem.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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AMD Quietly Lists 31 New CPU Vulnerabilities, Issues Patch Guidance
AMD tells us that it typically issues its vulnerability disclosures twice a year, in May and November, but chose to release some in January due to the relatively large number of new vulnerabilities and the timing of the mitigations.
AMD's chips have long been known for having fewer known vulnerabilities than Intel's models. However, it's hard to ascertain if the initially limited discoveries in AMD processors were due to a security-first approach to hardened processor design, or if researchers and attackers merely focused on Intel's processors
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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Cheaper AMD AM5 motherboards are finally coming, Gigabyte/ASUS A620 spotted
The good news is that budget friendly AMD A620 motherboards might be just around the corner. Some new models have just been spotted over at Eurasian Economic Commission regulatory office and on Goofish selling platform. The following motherboards were listed there:
ASUS TUF GAMING A620M-PLUS D5 GIGABYTE A620M D3H GIGABYTE A620M DS3H GIGABYTE A620M S2H GIGABYTE A620M H GIGABYTE A620M K
AMD announced its plan to sell AM5 motherboards starting from $125. The current entry point into new platform is around $388, which is the lowest price of Ryzen 7 7600 non-X ($229) and the cheapest B650 motherboards ($159-$169).
I have a $200 B650 motherboard. It supports my R9-7950X with no slowdowns. We'll see how the 620 series does it.
FWIW: My "broken" Gigabyte motherboard (in signature) is on its way back to me (fixed, I presume) -- to arrive Thursday this week (3 days).
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
Given that some AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (reference cards only) have defective coolers -- some users might be interested in this information:
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Alphacool introduces water blocks for reference Radeon RX 7900 XTX and 7900 XT GPUs
Alphacool presents new and innovative solutions for active water cooling of Nvidia’s Geforce RTX 4080 as well as AMD Radeon RX 7900XT(X) graphics cards with the Eisblock Aurora coolers.
AMD Radeon RX 7900XT Reference and AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX Reference [coolers] are available for pre-order now from the Alphacool Online Shop.
I just managed to snag an AMD XFX 7900 XTX Merc 310 Black Ed. card on Amazon for $1150 USD. I should have it sometime next week - according to their ETA. I'll let you all know how it goes!
Re: AMD's stock XTX coolers... What a shame. I've heard there are huge stock backlogs now.
I hope they did indeed fix your mobo - as I've mentioned before, I've always been happy with Gigabyte products and warranties.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
FWIW: My Gigabyte MB has returned. Not yet tested. Two of my 3 primary PCs are in pieces. Some parts are still on order. Plus, making 2 gift PCs (for my Sister and a Son). So, I'll be busy off-camera for the next week or more (I have limited time per day).
FWIW: The primaries are R9-7950X/RX6900XT, R5-7600X/RX6750XT, R7-5800X/RX5700XT. I want all 3 running the same software identically (my backup plan). Having 3 identical is an accident due to the failed Gigabyte MB repercussions -- 2 identical are enough.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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Graphics Cards Ranked by Value, January 2023
The best graphics card can mean a lot of different things — fastest card, best value, best card for a specific price, etc. And some people might refuse to buy an AMD card, or an Nvidia card.
We wanted to look at the current and previous generation GPUs, ranked by current value, for everything that's readily available in brand-new form.
For the rasterization rankings, we're sorting by the 1080p column, which penalizes the fastest GPUs. If you're only interested in 4K or 1440p performance, some of the cards change places, though the overall standings remain relatively consistent.
Best value overall right now, no surprise, goes to the AMD RX 6600.
I have the RX6900XT, RX6750XT, RX6600, and two RX6500XT. The RX6750XT does it all to my tastes at $400 (what I paid last week -- and got a free $120 game offer in addition).
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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Intel Engaging in 'Semi-Destructive' Actions Against AMD, Says Firm
Intel uses capacity and price to sustain market share, limit AMD's PC market share expansion
A leading Wall Street firm has downgraded AMD, saying that Intel had engaged destructive actions against its smaller rival in the desktop PC space to slowdown its market share expansion. These actions could eventually hurt Intel itself, but for now it can use its vast manufacturing capacity and ability to offer competitive pricing to outsell its competitor and prevent its penetration into lucrative high-end notebook space.
the PC market is weak and sales of CPUs is down and the competition between Intel and AMD is getting fiercer. To ensure that AMD does not ship all the units it can, Intel is apparently using its vast production capacities, heavy discounts, and close ties with PC makers.
Competing on price is okay.
However, using "close ties" (paying under the table) is nothing new. Roughly two decades ago Intel did the same thing. They paid some top PC Makers "under the table" to NOT use AMD in their products.
As mentioned before in this thread, this was all proved In Court. Intel was Fined over $1 Billion (to be paid to AMD) -- but, used its money and connections to avoid payment of the Fine for years. It virtually put AMD out of business -- not so long ago AMD stock was selling for $2 a share or less.
They pull this stunt every so often. Its one reason I'm an AMD fan.
My XFX Merc310 Black Edition 7900 XTX came in on Tues and I've been putting it through its paces. On much of my testing, it's between 30%-50% faster.
MSFS 2020, DCS and Red Dead Redemption 2 are particularly improved for me. I can run MSFS 2020 on Ultra, DCS maxed out, and Red Dead Redemption 2 maxed out. My resolution in all 3 titles is at 3840x1600, and this monitor is tuned to run 10-bit color at 120hz or 8-bit at 144hz. I do rather enjoy the extra color vibe at 10-bit. It's subtle, but noticeable to me. MSFS 2020 still has some fps drops in highly dense cities, but I get no stutters or laggyness - according to AMD's drivers I've averaging about 60fps in the game - much better than before!
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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AMD admits to be undershipping CPUs and GPUs
We will undership, to a lesser extent, in Q1. So I think you can infer that from our guidance single-digit down. And then, we’ll be back to a more normal environment. Now, just as a reminder though, the first half is not usually a — the first half is usually a seasonally weak client time anyways. — Dr. Lisa Su, AMD CEO
Despite undershipping, AMD was forced to lower the price of their GPUs and CPUs massively in the last 2 quarters. In fact, even the Ryzen 7000 series were heavily discounted after just 6 weeks of reaching the market, by up to 20%.
FWIW on a slightly different topic -- power use & cooling: My R9-7950X is operational (in the basement -- not at my desk yet). Normal good cooling is not enough when its being Stressed in CPU-Z. That may be due to a design defect in the "shell" of the CPU (mentioned in some test reports). I notice the new R9-7950X3D is to use substantially less power and maybe run cooler. Something to think about if one is interested in buying an R9-7900 class CPU. One must check the 3'd party test reports. Meantime, I have a very strong, custom built water cooling system that I'll probably install.
Today, AMD partners have lowered the price of their Ryzen 7 7700X. The price is matched by two US retailers Newegg and Amazon who now offer Ryzen 7 7700X for just $298.99.
At this price, it actually matches the original MSRP of Ryzen 5 7600X, but this 6-core processor is now cheaper as well.
The upgraded Ryzen 7 model with 3D V-Cache is set to launch on April 6th. This means that this 8-core Zen4 CPU without this cache is now $150 cheaper than the upcoming X3D model.
I own the motherboard in the attached picture. It gives me full performance with an R5-7600X. So, the system price is dropping also -- if one shops sales.
I own the motherboard in the attached picture. It gives me full performance with an R5-7600X. So, the system price is dropping also -- if one shops sales.
Interesting...but 'full performance' from Zen4 CPUs includes PCIe 5.0 - which B650 boards like yours (or even X670) don't support. It requires a X670E or B650E board, and those will cost another $50+
Whether PCIe 5 is necessary at this point or not is a separate matter, and moot at that since it's here to stay. Far more significant potential in terms of storage speed, and that's nothing to dismiss, considering storage speed lags every other performance increase in PCs for the last few decades.
I'm sure everyone has an opinion, but to me it makes no sense to buy a hot rod processor and put it on a board that cannot (and will never) use one of the CPUs biggest feature improvements. You'd have to change boards later to get that feature, even though you're paying for it now (in the CPU). Everyone loves having to completely disassemble a system to replace the motherboard.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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but to me it makes no sense to buy a hot rod processor and put it on a board that cannot (and will never) use one of the CPUs biggest feature improvements.
As you suggest, if a person wants to be perfectly safe and not worry about it, spend the extra $50 on a motherboard that supports PCIe 5.0 graphics. Under that circumstance, the $50 would be well worth it to me (why I got my "expensive" motherboard).
Right now, the PCIe 5.0 GPUs do not exist. It will be interesting to see if they really make a visible (not merely measurable) FPS difference -- a difference worth the extra cost of the MB and the cost of the eventual replacement of the current non-PCIe 5.0 GPU.
Allen
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Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 8,855
Ohio USA
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AMD Ultimate Tech Upgrade to replace Intel Extreme Tech Upgrade at LinusTechTips YouTube channel
Linus Media Group will no longer produce Intel Extreme Upgrade videos, as the sponsor pulls out.
The owner confirmed that AMD will take over the format by introducing its own “Ultimate Tech Upgrade” series which is to kick off soon.
LTT has never revealed how much Intel did pay for the content, but with the upgrade budget alone it accumulated $120K, that’s not including the sponsorship deal and the ad revenue.
You can watch all Intel Extreme Update videos here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCUrphpzEqY&list=PL8mG-RkN2uTxLsQhOyM5TBgMHF9V4Gfqa
On another subject FWIW: I finished my PC shown in my signature. Runs fine, needed strong water cooling during stress tests. I wound up with two "backup" PCs -- not part of the plan. Those are more than I need.
Backup #2: My old main PC. Its an AMD Reference RX5700XT Anniversary OC GPU , various monitors, AMD R7-5800X, 32GB DDR4 RAM@3.2GHz, Gigabyte X570E AORUS Master AM4 WIFI MB, (2x M.2 SSD + 2xSSD + 2xHD) Rosewill 1000W PSU, W11 Pro 22H2 Located in Electronics Workshop
Notable Left Over up-to-date Parts: R5-7600X CPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM@6.0GHz, Gigabyte B650M AORUS Elite AX uATX Motherboard, RX6500X series GPUs, M.2 SSDs, 1100W PSU -- plus all other parts needed to make a relatively up-to-date PC.
I've heard there are huge stock backlogs now.
But, not real dumb. 