Author: Jan Olšan

AMD confirms development of little “LP” core for Zen 6

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

When AMD came back nine years ago with the Zen core, its strategy was to eliminate the split between big and little (Bobcat and Jaguar) cores and cover the entire market with a single, balanced architecture. Intel, on the other hand, moved to hybrid (big.LITTLE) CPUs. AMD is apparently going there too, now. It has used classic and compact cores where both shared the same architecture so far, but now there will be a separate low-power core. Read more “AMD confirms development of little “LP” core for Zen 6″ »

ZLUDA project enables PhysX effects on Radeon graphics cards

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

PhysX effects simulating realistic physics are a good example of the risks associated with proprietary technologies in games. Nvidia kept them as an exclusive feature available only on GeForce graphics cards for years, only to ditch support on the new RTX 5000 series, causing the effects to stop working. Ironically, this may have been the catalyst for an independent emulation effort that, years later, brings them to Radeon GPUs. Read more “ZLUDA project enables PhysX effects on Radeon graphics cards” »

SSD and memory price to remain high at least until 2029?

Memory, News, SSDs | | Jan Olšan

If you’ve been looking to buy a new PC, laptop, or components, you’re probably asking when will the AI boom-cdrive pricing crisis finally end? Unfortunately, there is still no light at the end of the tunnel, and worse still, estimates of when that light might appear keep getting pushed further and further back. Memory manufacturers currently believe prices will remain at these extreme levels for at least another two years. Read more “SSD and memory price to remain high at least until 2029?” »

Wafer s 0,7nm čipem IBM

IBM Boasts First Chip Made Using 0.7 nm Technology

News, Technology | | Jan Olšan

Although IBM no longer operates its own fabs, it remains active in semiconductor research. The company announced experimentally produced 2nm chips all the way back in 2021, albeit not manufactured in commercial volume production (which has only now begun at TSMC). IBM is still active in research and has now announced the first chips made on a sub-1 nm node—designated 7A, or 7 angstroms (0.7 nm)—using a new type of transistor. Read more “IBM Boasts First Chip Made Using 0.7 nm Technology” »

Intel Nova Lake Processors Could Consume Up to 474 Watts

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Next-gen Intel Core Ultra 400 “Nova Lake” processors are expected to launch later this or early next year, bringing major changes to the desktop platform. The new LGA 1954 socket will support dual compute die CPUs, akin to AMD models such as the Ryzen 9 9950X, but with up to 52 cores. As a result, these processors are expected to have unprecedented power draw and we have finally learned just how high that figure will be. Read more “Intel Nova Lake Processors Could Consume Up to 474 Watts” »

AMD Re-Enables RAM Encryption on Ryzen CPUs Following Criticism

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Recently, reports spread that AMD had disabled TSME, one of the Ryzen CPU security features without warning. It’s a bit more complicated than that, however, as this was not a regular default feature, but rather a Pro SKUs technology that was only present on standard Ryzen CPUs unofficially if not accidentally. The media attention seems to have resulted in access to TSME technology being restored for the non-Pro Ryzen processors, though. Read more “AMD Re-Enables RAM Encryption on Ryzen CPUs Following Criticism” »

Advanced Yet Cheap Chips? Intel and UMC Developing a 3nm Node

News, Technology | | Jan Olšan

As is well known, Intel is trying to pivot to a foundry business fabbing chips for external customers like TSMC or Samsung. Compared to those, however, it currently lacks a portfolio of older, lower-cost technologies. For those, Intel has paired up with Taiwan’s UMC some time ago, aiming to develop an inexpensive easy-to-use 12nm process. But it now appears that this collaboration could later also produce an affordable 3nm process. Read more “Advanced Yet Cheap Chips? Intel and UMC Developing a 3nm Node” »

FSR 4.1 for Radeon RX 7000 Launched, APUs Will Get Lite Version

Graphics, News | | Jan Olšan

In May, AMD announced that FSR 4.1 AI upcaling is coming to Radeon RX 7000 and later also RX 6000 graphics cards. It was supposed to be due next month for X 7000, but AMD went and launched it this week possibly due to the launch of Valve’s Steam Machine, which uses GPUs from the Radeon RX 7000 series. And furthermore: Official FSR 4.1 should work better than the leaked FSR4 libraries that could previously be used unofficially. Read more “FSR 4.1 for Radeon RX 7000 Launched, APUs Will Get Lite Version” »

Zen 6 Desktop Ryzen CPUs Reportedly Lack Integrated GPU

Graphics, News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

One of the advantages of AMD CPUs for the AM5 socket compared to the AM4 platform is that even the higher‑end chiplet models include an integrated GPU located in the IO chiplet. Thanks to this, these processors can be used in office PCs (or workstations that don’t require high GPU performance) without the needing a discrete graphics card. But the new generation with Zen 6 cores may lose this advantage, likely due to the AI hype. Read more “Zen 6 Desktop Ryzen CPUs Reportedly Lack Integrated GPU” »

Nvidia’s plans with Spark CPUs: Next generation, lower-cost chips

News, Processors | | Jan Olšan

Nvidia unveiled its own RTX Spark laptop CPUs at Computex, with considerable support from PC manufacturers and Microsoft, who clearly expect Nvidia processors to capture a significant share of the PC market. Whether that’s achievable for the first generation, which has been delayed by more than a year, remains to be seen. Nvidia, however, already has a full roadmap of successors in development and revealed it at Computex. Read more “Nvidia’s plans with Spark CPUs: Next generation, lower-cost chips” »

ASRock at Computex: 3200W PSU, unique AIOs and LCP fans

CPU coolers, Fans, Motherboards, PSUs | | Jan Olšan

One company out of the big four has been missing from our coverage of Computex 2026: ASRock. This year’s Computex 2026 is tied to an anniversary for ASRock as well, as the company is celebrating the 10 years of its Taichi hardware lineup. The occasion is being marked with new hardware too: ASRock has unveiled new motherboards, graphics cards, power supplies with protection against cable melting, as well as coolers and fans. Read more “ASRock at Computex: 3200W PSU, unique AIOs and LCP fans” »

Diamonds, new heatpipes and metal fans: MSI at Computex

CPU coolers, GPU coolers, Graphics, Monitors, PC cases, Motherboards | | Jan Olšan

Our Computex 2026 coverage continues with a visit to another of the four major manufacturers of mobos, but also graphics cards, cases, PSUs, peripherals, and more these days: MSI, who is also celebrating an anniversary at this year’s show—the company was founded in 1986. Their display, however, wasn’t actually all that much about looking back. Instead, there were plenty of new and interesting products to see, including in cooling technology. Read more “Diamonds, new heatpipes and metal fans: MSI at Computex” »

The most interesting (and craziest) Asus hardware at Computex

Graphics, Keyboards, Mices, Motherboards, PC cases | | Jan Olšan

The Computex tradeshow this year seems to involve various anniversaries for many companies. In the case of Asus, the company is celebrating 20 years of its “premium” gaming brand, ROG. We visited the booth Asus has at the trade show as well and will show you some of the new hardware the company brought to its booth—because of this anniversary, much of it is quite extraordinary and forms a celebratory lineup called ROG Edition 20. Read more “The most interesting (and craziest) Asus hardware at Computex” »

From Computex 2026: New hardware and inovations from Gigabyte

Graphics, Monitors, Motherboards, Notebooks, PC cases | | Jan Olšan

This year, we once again have a colleague at the Taiwanese trade show Computex 2026, so we can show you some of the exhibits on display at the most important computer expo of the year. First up is a visit to Gigabyte’s showcase. At Computex, the company is once again displaying everything imaginable: laptops, monitors, stylish wooden and cute anime-themed component designs, and of course PC hardware—new graphics cards and motherboards. Read more “From Computex 2026: New hardware and inovations from Gigabyte” »

ATX12VO v3: Better ATX PSU successor, but with melting cable risk?

Motherboards, News, PSUs | | Jan Olšan

It’s been six years since Intel came up with ATX12VO PSUs as and alternative to ATX power supplies, replacing PC’s multiple voltage rails with a single 12V rail (hence the name: “12V Only”) to improve energy efficiency. So far, it hasn’t gained much traction. Intel is now introducing a new “v3” version, which brings deeper changes. They’re quite interesting and could justify a transition, but there’s also one big caveat. Read more “ATX12VO v3: Better ATX PSU successor, but with melting cable risk?” »

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