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Qualcomm’s HBC Stacks Compute Beneath DRAM To Smash The AI Memory Wall, Claiming 6x The Bandwidth Per Watt Of HBM

A layered chip with gold-colored elements is shown above the text '200x capacity per watt vs. SRAM*'.

Qualcomm is unveiling its breakthrough for the AI data center market called HBC (High-Bandwidth Compute), to break the memory wall. Qualcomm's HBC Is A Memory Accelerator That Is Stacked Under DRAM, Offering A Major Boost Versus Standard SRAM & HBM Configurations At its Investors Day 2026, Qualcomm unveiled HBC under its Dragonfly brand, an innovative technology that aims to offer a major boost in memory capacity and bandwidth. The HBC architecture deploys a purpose-built & near-memory solution that bonds compute with boosted memory bandwidth in a 3D stacked chip design. With this, Qualcomm aims to solve the memory bottlenecks that […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/qualcomm-hbc-stacks-compute-beneath-dram-to-smash-the-ai-memory-wall/

ASUS Signals That The PC Price Storm Has Passed As It Expects Single-Digit Price Bumps In Q3 2026

Four ASUS ROG Strix laptops are displayed on a table, with one laptop screen showing 'ROG Strix' on a colorful background.

ASUS says that PC price bumps will gradually decline in the coming quarters and expects just single-digit hikes by Q3 2026. ASUS Claims That PC Prices Won't See Double-Digit Spikes By The End of This Year, Only Single-Digit Increases Expected By Q3 2026 Recently, we have covered many reports stating how memory and component shortages will lead to higher prices through 2028, but ASUS has come forward to claim that the worst is over, & the market is now projected to see lower increases, falling in the single-digit range. In a report by United Daily News, ASUS's General Manager Yi-Hsiang […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/asus-says-pc-price-storm-has-passed-expects-single-digit-price-bumps-q3-2026/

Apple Is In For A Sticker Shock In Q3, With LPDDR5X DRAM Costs Surging By $68.8 In A Single Quarter, As Operating Profit Margin For General-Purpose DRAM To Hit 90% Within The Year

Apple's A21 Pro could exclusively use TSMC's 2nm N2P process

With an ecosystem of over 1.5 billion devices worldwide, Apple has historically enjoyed a heretofore unprecedented leverage with its supply chain partners. Yet, as the ongoing DRAM squeeze shows no sign of abating, Apple's leverage has largely become impotent, setting the stage for an atypical outcome where LPDDR5X modules are now dictating Cupertino-based tech giant's product roadmap and pricing. Apple's per-unit costs for 12GB LPDDR5X modules are expected to have surged by $68.8 between the Q1 and Q2 of 2026 Apple used to secure memory chips via 1-year or even longer contracts, winning hefty discounts relative to the prevailing market […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/apple-is-in-for-a-sticker-shock-in-q3-with-lpddr5x-dram-costs-surging-by-68-8-in-a-single-quarter-as-operating-profit-margin-for-general-purpose-dram-to-hit-90-within-the-year/

Valve’s $1049 Steam Machine Either Hides a Fat Margin or Got Rinsed by Suppliers, Says AMD Leaker

A Steam Machine priced at $1,428.00 features a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 CPU, AMD RDNA3 GPU, 16GB DDR5, a 2TB NVMe SSD, and includes extra faceplates and a Steam Controller.

The opening of pre-orders for the Steam Machine inevitably sparked heated discussions about Valve's decision to price the base SKU (512GB with no controller) at $1049, with the most expensive option (2TB with a Steam Controller) priced at $1428. That's a far, far cry from the $600 to 700 that people imagined when the console-like hardware was first announced in late November 2025. Some even hoped for $500, though Valve's choice not to subsidize the Steam Machine cut that option right away. Then came the massive price increases for both memory and storage components, which caused Valve's internal price targets […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/steam-machine-1049-price-margin-suppliers-amd-leaker/

JEDEC Approves SPHBM4 to Break HBM’s Costly Packaging Bottleneck, Retaining HBM4-level Speeds With Standard Packages

Micron HBM4 memory chip displayed next to its exposed circuitry on a black background.

SPHBM4 is a new JEDEC standard that aims to solve the high cost and packaging concerns with existing HBM technologies. HBM Demand Keeps on Surging, But The High-Cost Might Make JEDEC's Upcoming SPHBM4 A Better Alternative Almost all AI & HPC accelerators rolling out these days feature some form of HBM memory. The highest-end solutions are leveraging the latest HBM4 designs, and HBM4E is being sampled to the top chipmakers. But as demand continues to rise, and shortages persist in the premium DRAM segment, HBM has become a major bottleneck. The cost is one issue, but price surges are a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/jedec-approves-sphbm4-to-break-hbm-costs-retain-hbm4-speeds-standard-packages/

Micron Deploys Claude To Accelerate AI Factories While Anthropic Gets Backing To Support Its Multi-Year Growth Trajectory

A silicon wafer with the logos of Micron and Anthropic, featuring repeated 'AI' text on the chips.

Micron and Anthropic have announced a strategic agreement to scale next-generation AI infrastructure that spans memory and storage for rising compute demands. Micron Signs Supply Agreement With Anthropic While Expanding Claude Adoption Press Release: Micron Technology today announced a strategic agreement with Anthropic that spans memory and storage AI architecture design, supply and demand, enterprise adoption of Claude across Micron, and a strategic investment in Anthropic’s Series H funding round. The agreement directly links the demands of frontier AI models to how infrastructure is designed, supplied, and deployed at scale. AI Memory and Storage Infrastructure Frontier AI models demand uncompromising […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/micron-deploys-claude-to-accelerate-ai-factories-anthropic-fund-multi-year-backing-support/

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Dies Silently On ASUS X870, But No Invoice Leaves Owner With A $500 Keychain

A hand holding an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D keychain is shown with the text 'SMALL KEY BIG POWER' next to a gaming PC.

Not everyone can RMA their CPUs, and this user thought a keychain would be an appropriate usage of his $500 processor. User Reports Dead AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D on ASUS Strix X870-A; Turns the CPU Into a Keychain as He Doesn't Have the Invoice AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor and other Ryzen 7000/9000 series chips are still getting cooked on AM5 motherboards, particularly on 800-series boards. We have seen a noticeable reduction in such reports, which are usually posted on Reddit. In most cases, users are having success in RMA'ing their CPUs if AMD doesn't find any consumer-induced damage, but […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d-dies-silently-on-asus-x870-but-no-invoice-leaves-owner-with-a-500-keychain/

SanDisk Bets on Stacking NAND and Compute on One Chip as HBM Shortages Choke the AI Boom

HBF Memory Offers Higher Capacities Than HBM But NVIDIA Isn't Interested In It (Yet), Sampling This Year With Google A Key-Customer 1

SanDisk is looking for more innovative solutions to address memory limitations, such as stacking NAND Flash within chips. Memory Limitations Push DRAM/NAND Maker To Get More Innovative, SanDisk Proposes The Stacking of NAND Flash Within Chips The rapid rise of AI & the proportional demand for compute has led to the exposure of bottlenecks, which are pushing DRAM and NAND manufacturers into going with the out-of-the-box approach. In the past, chipmakers called it a day by introducing new memory technologies, and DRAM was the primary component. But the rise in costs, development/yield drawbacks, & increased power have led to a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/sandisk-bets-on-stacking-nand-and-compute-on-one-chip/

Modder Doubles GeForce GTX 1650’s VRAM To 8 GB With A Simple Chip Swap, Nearly Doubling Benchmark Scores

A close-up of a disassembled graphics card showing a 'Gigabyte' logo and a soldering tool working on the circuit board.

It was an easy task to upgrade the VRAM on the card, but only TU106-based GTX 1650 can be upgraded. GeForce GTX 1650 Modded With 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM Through Simple VRAM Modules Swap; Results in Double the Performance One of the easiest ways many modders can improve performance is through shunt modding, or by adding more VRAM modules to the GPU's PCB. Adding VRAM modules generally requires some firmware modifications and may or may not be supported by the GPU chip. However, it becomes an easy task when all you have to do is swap the existing memory modules […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/modder-doubles-geforce-gtx-1650s-vram-to-8-gb-with-a-simple-chip-swap-nearly-doubling-benchmark-scores/

AMD Reportedly Plots Another 10-15% RX 9000 Price Hike As The RAMpocalypse Swallows The GPU Market

AMD Rumored To Price Radeon RX 9000 GPUs 'Aggressively' To Compete With NVIDIA 1

Once again, we are expecting a price hike for the latest Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs as the DRAM market keeps pushing prices of components upwards. AMD to Raise RX 9000 Series GPU Price by 10-15%, While NVIDIA is Expected to Continue With the Current Price Trends AMD might be implementing another price hike soon, as reported by Gazlog. It's not the first time, and it certainly doesn't appear to be the last time we see such a price hike. For the last 6 months, we have been witnessing major GPU manufacturers and AIBs adjusting the prices for their GPUs […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/amd-reportedly-plots-another-10-15-rx-9000-price-hike-as-the-rampocalypse-swallows-the-gpu-market/

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