AMD's next-generation desktop Ryzen 10000 series "Olympic Ridge" processor platform will supposedly come in various SKU flavors ranging from 6 to 24 cores, in some very specific configurations based on the CCD structure. The first in the lineup are single-CCD SKUs, which include 6, 8, 10, and 12 "Zen 6" cores. With the "Zen 6" generation, AMD is boosting its CCD core count with up to 12 instances, whereas the previous-generation CCDs maxed out at 8 cores. However, for versions with two CCDs, the core count increases, starting at 12 cores, continuing with 16 and 20-core models, and topping off with the flagship 24-core dual CCD SKU. AMD is able to pack more cores per CCD due to the new manufacturing technology, which is TSMC's N2 2 nm node, providing better transistor density compared to the older nodes used in previous generations.

The upcoming Ryzen 10000 series is expected to land on AMD's AM5 socket, extending the socket life for another processor generation and confirming AMD's long-term socket selection. For other specific information, AMD plans to implement up to 4 MB of L3 cache per core for a total of 48 MB of L3 cache per CCD, and a total of 96 MB of L3 cache for the fully-fledged 24-core SKU. This is, of course, before adding any 3D V-Cache enhancements that AMD is known for when it comes to boosting gaming performance. AMD is able to pack this much punch because TSMC's N2 2 nm technology packs more than 200 million transistors per mm², depending on the configuration and whether AMD chooses the high-density or high-performance variant.

In the latest Linux kernel v7.0, freeing up system memory used for caching large files has received a noticeable performance boost. According to notes on the kernel mailing list, a new set of patches queued for the Linux 7.0 merge window showed reclaim speed improvements of up to 75% in testing. In one benchmark, developers allocated 10 GB of file-backed data in memory and then reclaimed 8 GB of it. On a 32-core Arm64 server, the reclaim process completed about 75% faster compared to the older Linux implementation, while on an x86 machine, the improvement was reported at over 50%.

Imagine your system running a large database or another memory-intensive workload. Instead of constantly reading from storage, the kernel can keep tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of frequently accessed file data in RAM for much faster access. When memory pressure builds and part of that cached data must be freed, the cleanup process now completes significantly faster. This is not going to be noticeable to consumers, but hyperscalers, HPC simulations, AI runs, and other workloads that involve heavy data processing will now see a significant performance boost. The improvement comes from work authored by Baolin Wang of Alibaba, who optimized how the kernel handles large blocks of cached file memory.

AMD's next-generation Ryzen 500 series of APUs, which include the "Medusa Point" and "Medusa Halo" SoCs, are slowly taking shape, and we are learning more about the integrated graphics of "Medusa Point." According to the latest compiler patches, "Medusa Point" will feature a variant of RDNA 4 called RDNA 4m, likely a mobile version designed for laptops and mini PCs. In contrast, the "Medusa Halo" will utilize AMD's next-generation RDNA 5 / UDNA GPU microarchitecture. "Medusa Point" will introduce a desktop-exclusive RDNA 4 with the new RDNA 4m variant. Although we initially lack comparisons between the two, some instruction set extensions, such as WMMA and SWMMAC instructions, indicate support in the new "GFX1170" GPU, which should be associated with the GFX11 generation, also known as RDNA 3. Currently, this is believed to be an upgraded RDNA 3 with many RDNA 4 modules, enabling FSR 4 support even on the less powerful "Medusa Point" APU.

When it comes to the overall system configuration, AMD targets "Zen 6" CPU cores for both "Medusa" variants. Both "Point" and "Halo" versions will likely differentiate with the same factors we have in the current generation APUs, which is a mix of AMD's "Zen 6" and "Zen 6c" CPU cores for the "Medusa Point," while the more powerful "Medusa Halo" will feature a uniform "Zen 6" core cluster for maximum CPU performance on that side as well. Recently, we learned that the platform will adopt LPDDR6 memory, which will increase the memory bandwidth by 50% over the standard LPDDR5X memory we see implemented today.

Microsoft has showcased its latest AI capabilities in the Windows 11 operating system, demonstrating what this planned integration will look like. The new interface, called "Ask Copilot," is an optional feature that users can enable in place of the standard Windows Search. Once activated, it connects to Microsoft 365 services and allows users to summon specific agents in the taskbar by typing the "@" symbol, similar to tagging someone in a message thread. For example, one of these agents, the Researcher, can perform extended research tasks that run for ten minutes or longer in the background, with small taskbar indicators tracking its progress in a manner similar to file downloads.

Although this project contradicts with the company's recent promise to step back from its "AI everywhere" strategy, this AI integration has been part of Microsoft's long-term plan. In addition to the taskbar changes, Microsoft is adding a Copilot button inside File Explorer, which provides summaries and relevant context for synced shared documents without requiring users to open a separate application. Instead of directing users to a dedicated Copilot app, Microsoft aims to integrate AI assistance into the parts of Windows that people use every day. This means that these small AI integrations across the OS can help provide little productivity boosts that compound, delivering users a slightly better experience researching new topics and creating new content. Microsoft states that these changes will be widely available to users within the next few weeks.

Microsoft's Xbox Insider program lets gamers experience the newest Xbox-related technologies, software updates, and overall improvements. Today, Xbox Insiders are getting an update for their Xbox App on Windows 11 that lets users access postgame recaps. This means that after significant gaming sessions, you can see a recap of your achievements where all the session highlights are recorded, including Xbox Game Bar screenshots and clips, which you can later check out. You also get game recommendations when you first enter a game and a quick overview of the best gaming moments/achievements you have made during your session. Microsoft notes that the feature is now only available in the preview phase to Xbox Insiders, but it is gearing up for a wide release in the Xbox App in the coming weeks.

Users can choose what they wish to see through additional customizations, and these features can be turned off completely. If you head to Settings > App > Postgame recaps, you can tailor the entire user experience and how you want the new feature to work within your PC. Interestingly, if you opt out of all postgame recap types and features, the Xbox App will not start in the system tray when you start the game, but only when you turn it on. Microsoft notes that the company has made various optimizations to minimize the memory usage of another system overlay, with little to no performance impact on the system.

Intel's Japan president, Makoto Ohno, made interesting remarks that this year will be a make-or-break year for AI PCs. He also mentioned that by 2026, AI PCs will account for roughly half of the unit shipments for the year. This means that out of the total unit shipments, which IDC estimates at around 260 million, about 130 million are expected to be AI PCs. This loosely defined term means that the PC comes with an NPU or other AI processing unit, allowing the system to perform some local AI processing with enough power to meet basic user needs. However, Makoto Ohno also admits that the primary reason for purchasing an AI PC may not be its AI capabilities, but rather the better battery life due to newer and more optimized silicon.

Intel Makoto OhnoIt is also predicted that by 2026, this will exceed half, with one in two computers being an AI PC. However, given the current situation, reasons for choosing an AI PC include its high performance and the long battery life provided by the use of an NPU. In other words, it is important to reflect on the fact that people are not currently purchasing an AI PC in order to use its AI-related functions.

Once a target of the largest industry acquisition that was halted by market regulators, NVIDIA has officially divested all its holdings in Arm Holdings PLC by selling 1.1 million shares, valued at about $140 million at the time of writing. Importantly, this does not end the NVIDIA-Arm relationship, as NVIDIA continues to be a customer and partner, licensing Arm IP and its instruction set for its older "Grace" and newer "Vera" CPUs. If readers recall, NVIDIA announced in late 2020 that it was acquiring Arm Ltd. in a deal valued at $40 billion. However, regulators from the UK and EU blocked the deal to preserve fair market competition, citing concerns that the NVIDIA-Arm deal would harm competition and stifle innovation. NVIDIA even paid a break-up fee of $1.25 billion as the deal collapsed under regulatory pressure.

As mentioned, NVIDIA's partnership with Arm is not limited to investment or stock ownership, as the company utilizes its IP and instruction set across a range of products. For example, NVIDIA has Arm-based SoCs in various forms in its embedded computing unit with Jetson modules and mini-computers that power everything from robotics to automated driving development in modern vehicles. Additionally, NVIDIA recently began offering its "Vera" CPUs as standalone server CPUs designed to compete with the industry's latest and greatest x86-based designs from AMD and Intel, demonstrating that NVIDIA is serious about being an Arm ISA licensee for the foreseeable future, not just viewing the company as an investment target.

Following Discord's introduction of digital ID and face scanning requirements for some online servers, many users have started exploring alternative communication platforms. As a result, the well-known TeamSpeak software has experienced a significant increase in new users. In the United States, TeamSpeak's current hosting capacity has reportedly been maxed out, with all servers operating at full capacity. Despite this, the company has announced plans to expand by adding additional Frankfurt-3 and Toronto-1 instances to accommodate new users. Currently, only a few regions still have available capacity, including Amsterdam-3, along with the newly announced Frankfurt-3 and Toronto-1.

Discord has revealed that its new age verification requirements will take effect in early March 2026. These settings will automatically place all existing and new Discord accounts into a mode that filters out content unsuitable for minors, creating a "teen-appropriate experience." Users who wish to access age-restricted content will need to complete an age verification process, which involves either uploading a scan of a government-issued ID or using facial recognition to confirm their age. However, not all users will need to undergo this process, as Discord will also implement an age inference model. This model will analyze user accounts by examining the types of games played, the amount of time spent on Discord, and the times users are active to determine if they are adults. Discord states that the new system aims to provide strong protections for teens while allowing verified adults more flexibility. As users seek software that doesn't restrict their online experience, migrations are expected, and TeamSpeak is the "old reliable" alternative that the community leans on.

ComputerBase conducted a massive online blind test, allowing thousands of gamers to vote on their preferred game video output. The options included NVIDIA's latest Deep Learning Super Sampling 4.5, AMD's FSR Upscaling AI with FSR 4 on Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs, and native resolution rendering without AI upscaling. Interestingly, DLSS 4.5 received the highest percentage of votes, winning in every scenario. ComputerBase tested various games like Anno 117, ARC Raiders, Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon Forbidden West, Satisfactory, and The Last of Us Part II. Only in Cyberpunk 2077 did gamers almost equally prefer native resolution rendering, but DLSS 4.5 still came out on top with a slight edge.

Initially, the ComputerBase team conducted the comparison using videos labeled only with options like 1/2/3/4, without revealing which rendering method was used, to ensure a fully blind test. After two weeks of testing and thousands of votes, the results showed a significant preference for NVIDIA's latest DLSS 4.5 technology. This conclusion highlights that NVIDIA's newest technology is now so refined that its video output offers superior visual appeal. DLSS 4.5 uses a second-generation Transformer model trained on a much larger dataset of video games, with five times the computational investment of the first DLSS 4 Transformer upscaler. It utilizes the FP8 data format, allowing for more processing with minimal precision loss. The new algorithm is more context-aware, and NVIDIA confirmed that the input for upscaling is used more intelligently, resulting in much more detailed and precise video output.

AMD has released its latest Ryzen Chipset Software version 8.01.20.513 driver, which includes general bug fixes and performance improvements. These updates should provide Ryzen CPU owners with some quality-of-life enhancements. In the release highlights, AMD mentions that the installer file has been updated with a new installation wrapper called Install Shield. Interestingly, AMD notes that this latest package does not include the AMS Mailbox and S0i3 filter drivers, which now need to be installed independently on systems that require them or may produce errors without them. Finally, AMD acknowledges that some issues persist, such as the regression from branch version 7 to the earlier chipset driver branch version 6, but the company offers a workaround, which is listed below. We have included the entire changelog below, as well as a download option on TechPowerUp's download section page.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Chipset Software 8.01.20.513

According to reports from Chinese local media, Apple is considering partnering with Chinese semiconductor manufacturers CXMT and YMTC for its upcoming iPhone 18 series and potentially other products like MacBooks and Mac computers. With memory and storage suppliers such as Kioxia, Samsung, and SK hynix raising prices due to a significant industry shortage, Apple is experiencing a squeeze on its profit margins while maintaining the same MSRP for its products. To diversify its supply chain, Apple is reportedly exploring the addition of DRAM from CXMT and NAND Flash from YMTC to reduce its dependence on South Korean and Japanese suppliers.

Recently, the U.S. Government's Bureau of Industry and Security reportedly removed CXMT and YMTC from the list of restricted Chinese companies. This move could benefit Apple, which may now utilize products from both firms. CXMT offers LPDDR5X and DDR5 memory, which aligns with Apple's needs for its products. Since Apple's iPhones and M-series SoCs primarily use LPDDR5X memory, CXMT's 12 Gb and 16 Gb LPDDR5X capacities could serve both the smartphone and computer sectors effectively.

ASUS has released an official statement in response to the recent decision by a Munich court to prohibit the sale of its PCs and notebooks in Germany. Although the company is now unable to sell these products in Germany, it will continue to provide after-sales services, including support and warranty claims. This decision stems from a ruling that ASUS infringed on Nokia's HEVC/H.265 patents. As a result, ASUS is prevented from generating additional revenue in Europe's largest economy. The court found that the two OEMs, ASUS and Acer, did not demonstrate behavior consistent with willing licensees under FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) terms, leading the court to issue an injunction rather than limit the remedy to financial damages.

ASUSASUS has temporarily suspended its official website and online store in Germany following a Munich I Regional Court ruling (case no. Munich I - 7 O 4102/25) related to a patent dispute with Nokia. The suspension, resulting from a temporary injunction, affects select ASUS PCs and products using High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). All after-sales services in Germany remain fully operational, and existing customers will continue to receive uninterrupted support in full compliance with the current court order. ASUS is evaluating and pursuing further legal action to reach a fair resolution as soon as possible. ASUS continues to stand by its position and remains committed to our customers and partners.

According to SemiAnalysis, which recently released its InferenceX benchmark comparing the inference performance of the latest AI accelerators, AMD's next-generation Instinct MI455X accelerators, designed to compete with NVIDIA's "Vera Rubin," are facing serious manufacturing difficulties, causing delays in AMD's roadmap execution. Only low-volume production will occur this year, while customers will be generating AI tokens in Q2 2027. This means that NVIDIA's "Vera Rubin" VR200 rack-scale system will be the most powerful system shipping this summer, without competition. As AMD's first rack-scale system, the "Helios" AI rack with the MI455X UALoE72 configuration packs 72 GPUs and 6th Gen AMD EPYC "Venice" CPUs in a heterogeneous system designed to run as a single homogeneous GPU, delivering massive AI performance with multi-ExaFLOP compute output.

SemiAnalysisEngineering samples and low volume production of AMD's first rack scale MI455X UALoE72 system will be in H2 2026 while due to manufacturing delays, the mass production ramp and first production tokens will only be generated on an MI455X UALoE72 by Q2 2027.

Valve updated its Steam Deck website with a disclaimer, noting that the availability of the Steam Deck OLED version may be affected by the storage and memory shortage across the industry. While Valve has been able to secure a significant inventory of NAND Flash and DRAM modules for its Steam Deck handheld console, demand might be outpacing supply. The component shortage at Valve is not an isolated case, as many are expressing concerns over not being able to secure sufficient capacity. The only ones able to secure massive DRAM and NAND Flash capacities are hyperscalers building out data center infrastructure, who are securing long-term agreements with storage and memory makers.

Last week, we saw customers facing difficulty acquiring new Steam Deck OLED stock. Unfortunately, potential buyers in North America, Japan (through Komodo, Valve's regional distribution partner), Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong were unable to get their hands on new OLED units. Initial reports suggested a "plentiful" supply for customers in the UK and Australia, but several key markets appear to be suddenly experiencing shortages, as the inventory is depleting across the globe. While other components are plentiful, memory and storage are in a dire shortage situation, which might be prolonged. Regarding the 256 GB LCD version, Valve has reiterated that it will only be available while existing stock lasts, as this model was discontinued in December of last year.

TSMC is reportedly planning to announce the addition of four new fabs at its Phoenix, Arizona site, known as TSMC Arizona. According to the Financial Times, TSMC will add four additional fab buildings at its Arizona campus, worth about $100 billion, with an official confirmation expected as early as April, just two months from the time of writing. In January, TSMC reportedly purchased additional 900-acres of land directly across the highway from the existing site north of Phoenix, preparing to expand its campus across. That extra production capacity will be supported by an estimated $100 billion of additional funding that TSMC is willing to spend on U.S. soil, despite making additional simultaneous investments back home in Taiwan.

However, many of the deal's specifics are still uncertain. According to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, about $100 billion of those pledges are firm, which means that the total value of TSMC's investment in Arizona will amount to $265 billion. About $165 billion has already been invested in Arizona, and another $100 billion will make this one of the highest ever external investments on U.S. soil. Interestingly, TSMC is not alone in this investment round, as its supply chain partners are expected to contribute about $30 billion of the $100 billion figure, meaning that many more players are gathering funds to form the new supply chain independence.

Sony is reportedly postponing the launch of its next-generation PlayStation 6 console to 2028 or 2029 due to the massive rise in memory costs. This is reportedly impacting decision-making at the top of the company unit responsible for PlayStation strategic planning. Rising memory costs and a tight semiconductor supply chain are the core reasons behind any changes. Initially, we expected to see the wave of next-generation consoles in 2027, as AMD recently confirmed Microsoft's next-generation Xbox arriving in 2027. However, Sony could be abandoning the 2027 release window and pushing its PlayStation 6 console to a late 2028 or even 2029 launch, indicating that the company is not capable of securing sufficient DRAM allocation from its partners. This could leave Microsoft's new Xbox console as superior for an entire year or even two before Sony could join the next-generation console wars.

BloombergSony Group Corp. is now considering pushing back the debut of its next PlayStation console to 2028 or even 2029, according to people familiar with the company's thinking. That would be a major upset to a carefully orchestrated strategy to sustain user engagement between hardware generations.

According to the latest ruling from the Munich Regional Court, ASUS and Acer are banned from directly selling their PCs in Germany—Europe's largest economy. The judgment, handed down on January 22, 2026, has already led both manufacturers to suspend or remove affected product listings from their German online stores while they assess legal options and the scope of the ruling. The court's order targets the manufacturers' own sales and distribution channels, rather than retailers selling existing stock, effectively leaving the German market to supply only through other OEMs and the remaining inventory from ASUS and Acer.

The core reasoning behind this decision is patent claims asserted by Nokia, including patents related to core HEVC/H.265 encoding and decoding techniques. As both ASUS and Acer use GPUs, processors, and many other digital decoding/encoding engines for video, the use has to be licensed, and the sales can only proceed with approval from Nokia. The judges concluded that the two OEMs had not demonstrated the conduct of willing licensees under FRAND rules, which allowed the court to grant injunctive relief instead of limiting the remedy to damages. We don't have information on the length of the ban, which will likely require a followup with the court and two OEMs.

Intel has released its latest 32.0.101.8509 WHQL driver package, bringing support for XeSS 3 across multiple graphics generations and finally ending the launch exclusivity of "Panther Lake" integrated graphics. Now, Intel supports XeSS 3 multi-frame generation across Arc B-series "Battlemage" and A-series "Alchemist" discrete GPUs. For other integrated GPUs, only the Intel Arc GPU family is receiving official support, with "Meteor Lake," "Lunar Lake," and laptop "Arrow Lake-H" chips now offering full XeSS 3 support for 4x the frame output with AI-based frame generation. As Intel recently launched "Panther Lake," some game issues occurred, but thankfully they have been resolved. This includes color corruption in Ghost of Tsushima using DirectX 12 and game crashes in Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord using DirectX 11. However, some "Panther Lake" issues persist, with certain titles crashing and experiencing in-game corruption, which is expected to receive an official fix in upcoming driver releases.

DOWNLOAD: Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.8509 WHQL

Intel has once again confirmed its product roadmap for the next generation of graphics IP, despite rumors that there might not be anything new after the launch of the Xe3P. According to a new presentation from Intel's Anil Nanduri, Vice President of GTM & Product Management AI Accelerators, responsible for data center AI accelerators, Intel will have a dedicated graphics portfolio after the recently introduced "Crescent Island." Labeled as "Xe Next," the next generation of GPU IP is still under development and currently without an official name. It is expected to follow the rollout of the Xe3P-based "Crescent Island" inference-focused GPUs. With "Xe Next," the data center lineup is seemingly expanding into two production lines: inference-focused "Crescent Island" GPUs and the long-awaited "Jaguar Shores" GPU for AI training and HPC workloads.

For AI training and HPC workloads, Intel's "Jaguar Shores" design is reportedly being finalized and will be completed by the middle of this year, with production starting shortly after. Assuming a perfect design, we could see Intel's "Jaguar Shores" GPU late this year or early 2027. It will likely involve a mix of Intel's internal production in collaboration with TSMC or Intel's pure 18A design, assuming yields are manageable. We have already seen that Intel confirmed HBM4 memory will be used in these accelerators, and SK hynix appears to be the main partner supplying Intel with this memory. As a rack-scale design, Intel will compete with NVIDIA and AMD in the highest-margin business.

Laptop and Mini-PC maker Framework is sharing another update with the community about the company's cost base for acquiring DRAM, such as DDR5 memory. In its latest February update, the company notes that the cost for DDR5 memory in its systems is now priced at $12-16 per GB of capacity, depending on the kit size and total capacity. This means that for a 16 GB kit, customers are expected to pay anywhere between $192-256, and as much as about $400 for 32 GB of DDR5 memory in its Laptop 12/13/16 models. According to the company blog post, this represents an average price that Framework is charging depending on the kit, as there is different pricing for a single higher-capacity sticks or dual lower-capacity DIMMs going into the system.

In late December 2025, we reported that Framework's pricing was $10 per GB for 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB modules, and a bit higher for dual rank non-binary 48 GB modules. However, just two months later, the situation is now much worse, as we are seeing Framework's suppliers increasing memory costs anywhere from 20-60%, depending on the configuration.

Console gamers might not necessarily become console owners, as Sony's PlayStation UK division is experimenting with leasing the PlayStation 5. The lease starts at £9.95 per month and varies depending on the console version. This plan involves a 36-month lease for a PlayStation 5 Digital Edition with 825 GB of storage. Opting for a shorter lease, such as 24 months or 12 months, increases the monthly cost to £10.49 and £14.59, respectively. Other versions of the PlayStation 5, like the PlayStation 5 Pro, as well as accessories such as the DualSense Edge Wireless Controller, PlayStation VR2, and PlayStation Portal Remote Player, can also be leased for an additional cost per month, based on your lease choice. There is also a "rolling" lease option where users pay £19.49 monthly and can cancel at any time, provided they return the console.

A quick calculation shows that the 36-month lease is the most expensive, totaling £358.20 by the end of the term. Afterward, users have several options: upgrade the console by returning the old one, continue with the monthly subscription, or exit the Flex plan by returning the console. For the 24-month and 12-month plans, users pay £251.76 and £175.08, respectively, by the end of the lease period. These plans also offer the same options: return the console, upgrade the hardware and return, or continue paying the monthly fee for a while longer. The only flexible plan is the monthly rolling option, which allows users to pay £19.49 per month without any long-term commitment, and they can cancel at any time. This plan doesn't require any upfront payment for the console.

It is official: AMD is now capturing 40% of the entire server CPU market revenue share, according to data from Mercury Research. In the final quarter of 2025, AMD EPYC server CPUs managed to capture 41.3% of the revenue in the server/data center market that hyperscalers are spending on. This is a 1.8% increase from Q3 2025 and an impressive 4.9% year-over-year growth in a multi-billion USD data center market. For unit share shipment, AMD now stands at 28.8%, meaning the company is actually selling more SKUs at a higher average selling price. Intel, on the other hand, now holds 71.2% of the unit share while capturing 58.7% of the revenue share, indicating that Intel Xeon processors are now selling for a lower ASP with more units needed to reach this revenue.

The situation in the desktop segment looks interesting as well, with AMD's revenue share in the desktop CPU market now at 42.6%, while the unit share is at 36.4%. Again, this means that AMD's Ryzen processors sell at a higher ASP, nearly capturing half of the desktop CPU revenue with a bit more than a third of the unit sales. This sector also grew 1.6% sequentially, while Ryzen CPUs won the hearts of 14.6% more gamers for a yearly revenue share increase.