We have an update on developments in the European CPU project. We recently reported that deliveries of the first generation of these server CPUs, Rhea1, have begun, after a considerable delay. Now we have more details on the follow-up generation, which SiPearl is currently developing. It could be significantly better and more competitive—provided that it arrives on time this time and is not again delayed by several years. Read more “Rhea2 & Mobius100: Details of Second-Generation EU CPUs”
For some time now, Intel has been working on the APX extension, which adds more working registers to x86 CPUs along with other improvements that should make the x86 instruction set more competitive with, say, Arm processors. APX will be introduced in Intel Core Ultra 4000 “Nova Lake” CPUs. We assumed that it would take time for software to utilise it, and that it would initially be of little use. That turns out to not be the case. Read more “Windows 11 To Support APX Instructions in Nova Lake CPUs Early”
Intel has a new generation of desktop processors, Core Ultra 4000 Nova Lake, coming around the year’s end. It should be a significant step forward compared to the ill-received Core Ultra 200 generation, but it also brings the new LGA 1954 platform, so it will require new motherboards. A list of some of the models Gigabyte is preparing has now leaked onto the internet, and it looks like board makers are expecting a lot from Nova Lake. Read more “Z990 Boards for Nova Lake Leaked: Gigabyte Preparing 24 Models”
Microsoft’s new 26H2 Windows 11 update brings a number of new features, like improved search and a long-requested Start menu customization and ability to have a vertical taskbar. But his version also brings progress to another criticized area: It improves the performance and responsiveness of the system and works better on computers with a small amount of RAM (of which there will be more and more thanks to the AI craze). Read more “Windows 11 Is 20% Faster, Needs Less RAM Now, Microsoft Claims”
Intel has had 1.8nm chips since January, while TSMC’s 2nm technology arrived much later. The official names don’t mean much, though—evidence has emerged that Intel’s 1.8nm process has significantly worse characteristics despite the “better number”. Intel has apparently developed versions of their next-gen processor for both technologies internally, but the in-house process suffered worse transistor density and poor performance. Read more “Intel Tried Their Own Process for Nova Lake, But Had to Capitulate”
Two years after the Core Ultra 200 “Arrow Lake” processors, Intel is finally close to launching new generation of CPUs for desktop computers, which are mostly used for gaming thee days. Gaming performance specifically was a weak point of Arrow Lake and that is is one of the things expected to be fixed by the upcoming Core Ultra 4000 “Nova Lake” processors. However, the improvements may not be as good as expected, according to leaks. Read more “Intel Nova Lake CPUs Without “BFC” Reportedly Weak in Games”
Chip foundry GlobalFoundries, successor company to AMD’s fabs, withdrew from the race for advanced manufacturing processes in 2018 by opting to not put its in-house 7nm EUV process into production. A pity, since this was just a few years before the later chip demand boom. The company may nevertheless offer a more modern process after all. It is now promising a new manufacturing technology that is meant to enable “7nm-class” chips. Read more “GlobalFoundries Will Have a 7nm Process After All. In the EU”
According to recent leaks, Nvidia is discontinuing the GeForce RTX 5090 and redirecting the GB202 chips to the production of AI accelerators for workstations and servers. At first, it was hard to believe. It would be the first time the company itself had canceled the most powerful and most expensive GPU model for gaming PCs—and what’s more, two years before the new generation. However, more and more signs appear to confirm this. Read more “End of GeForce RTX 5090: Retailers Ending Sales, Nvidia too”
Long awaited laptops with Nvidia’s RTX Spark N1X processors are finally coming the market. One of their main propositions is a GPU derived from the GeForce RTX 5000 graphics architecture, although games will have to contend with the poorer compatibility of the Arm platform. Nvidia has therefore aligned various gaming news with the launch of the RTX Spark, including updates to DLSS technologies that also benefit regular GeForce cards. Read more “Nvidia Speeds Up DLSS 5 and Frame Gen. The Cost Is Quality”
We recently reported the new generations of GPUs from Nvidia (GeForce RTX 6000 / Rubin) and AMD (RDNA 5) will not arrive until 2028. There was supposed to be one exception, however—AMD could reportedly release one of the new-generation cards in 2027. The information at the time did not say when exactly in that year this might happen. Now we have clarification, and it seems it will not be anytime soon either—as might have been expected. Read more “New Radeon GPUs Likely Won’t Arrive Until Second Half of 2027”
Radeon GPUs have been significantly better value than similarly fast Nvidia cards lately. These lower prices (by today’s dismal standards) may not last much longer, however. According to news from China, AMD and AIB makers are now preparing a substantial price increase, despite similar price move happening recently. The reason is the AI mania again, which has massively driven up the cost of memory, as well as manufacturing itself. Read more “AMD Reportedly Raising GPU Prices. Apart From One Radeon card?”
Advanced Shader Delivery appeared in the Windows gaming ecosystem a year ago, addressing the issue of modern games often spending many minutes compiling shaders after launch, if they were freshly installed or the GPU driver was updated (which happens frequently). With Advanced Shader Delivery, shaders are instead downloaded, which is much faster. Initially, only AMD GPUs supported the feature, but now the others are getting it too. Read more “Advanced Shader Delivery Comes to Nvidia, Intel & Qualcomm GPUs”
At the beginning of the year, Gerrard Williams III and other ex-Nuvia and ex-Apple processor architects had left Qualcomm, who had acquired their company five years earlier for the high performance Arm cores that power current Snapdragon X and X2 processors, as well as mobile chips. They immediately founded another new CPU-development startup, Nuvacore. The strategy they have revealed will be quite different from Nuvia’s, though. Read more “Nuvia Architects’ New CPU Core Can Use Arm, RISC-V or x86”
The final quarter of the year is here, and it increasingly looks like we will not see a new generation of x86 CPUs before the end of it, whether from AMD (Zen 6 has been launched in servers only) or Intel. There is a sign that the latter’s new CPUs are getting closer, though. The silicon for “Nova Lake” CPUs with a new architecture and 2nm manufacturing process has now successfully passed certification for USB4 and PCI Express 5.0 support. Read more “Intel Nova Lake CPUs Already Passed USB4 and PCIe 5.0 Validation”
We reported that Intel was preparing to raise CPU prices next month, but according to further information, the same was planned by AMD. Further sources have now confirmed that this manufacturer will also be raising prices. However, the scope of the price increases is to be much broader—it will affect not only CPUs, but apparently all chips manufactured by AMD. As a result, graphics cards pricing will rise further, but so will prices of motherboards. Read more “AMD to Raise Prices on All Products: GPUs, CPUs and Chipsets”
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