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AMD’s Dr Lisa Su To Keynote Computex 2021: Accelerating the HPC Ecosystem

(Image credit: AMD)

Dr Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, will deliver a keynote address at an all virtual Computex 2021. The keynote will be titled “AMD Accelerating – The High-Performance Computing Ecosystem” and will cover AMD’s recent consumer innovations, including CPUs and GPUs for PC enthusiasts and gamers.

“The past year has shown us the important role high-performance computing plays in our daily lives — from the way we work to the way we learn and play,” said Dr Lisa Su. “At this year’s Computex, AMD will share how we accelerate innovation with our ecosystem partners to deliver a leadership product portfolio.”

During the keynote AMD will share its vision for the future of computing, including the company’s high-performance computing and graphics solutions aimed at enthusiasts and gamers. Since Computex is a trade show mostly covering consumer technology, despite the title of the keynote AMD does not promise to discuss its datacenter / supercomputer HPC innovations, which include EPYC processors as well as Instinct compute GPUs, at least not in depth.

It remains to be seen whether AMD formally unveils its new Radeon RX 6000-series for notebooks and desktops at Computex, but there is certainly an outside chance. Furthermore, it is likely to give a glimpse on what to expect from its Ryzen Threadripper processors for high-end desktops.

The Computex 2021 keynote will be delivered on Tuesday, June 1, at 10:00 AM Taipei time (May 31, 10:00 PM Eastern Time). Both Taitra, the organizer of the trade show, and AMD yet have to announce where to watch Dr. Su’s keynote address.

GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Allegedly Up For Purchase At $3,500 Before Launch

MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Suprim X
(Image credit: FaisalKhatib/Reddit)

According to a Redditor, one of the biggest computer hardware retailers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has already offered up MSI’s GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Suprim X for a whopping sum of $3,500. An employee reportedly sent a WhatsApp message to notify interested buyers that the graphics card is available for sale.

The dates are still a bit fuzzy, but the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is rumored to launch this month, or maybe early June. It’s strange that a retailer would risk getting in trouble with Nvidia by selling the Ampere graphics card before its official product launch. However, the Redditor claimed that it’s not the first time that UAE retailers are jumping the gun. It looks like it’s standard practice over in the UAE to sell computer hardware before the official date. The Redditor stated that the GeForce RTX 3070, RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3060 were also clandestinely up for sale ahead of their corresponding launch.

As we’ve said numerous times, computer hardware is more expensive outside of the U.S. The industry is still going through a graphics card shortage, and the cryptocurrency miners and scalpers are making things worse. The $3,500 price tag is just downright absurd, but looks credible. We’ve already seen other custom models listed for up to $2,300. Then again, the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Suprim X is MSI’s flagship model so it’s expected to carry a small premium in comparison to other mainstream SKUs.

Even if you have money lying around, it doesn’t make sense to pick up a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti right now, considering that it’s an unreleased product so there are no public drivers for it. However, you would beat the cryptocurrency miners and scalpers to the punch. There’s still the risk of buying something that you have no idea on how it performs in comparison to the competition — logically, it should be slower than the 3090 but faster than the 3080, but by how much?

The justification for the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti’s existence is to rival AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT. While the Ampere offering has been rumored to cost between $999 and $1,099, the jury is still out on whether we’ll see the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti at a reasonable price. When in stock, the cheapest Radeon RX 6900 XT on the market right now starts at $1,499.99. If the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti can’t beat that price, it doesn’t make sense for it to come out swinging.

RX 6700/6900 XT Join Ampere GPUs in Today’s Newegg Shuffle

(Image credit: Newegg)

Almost every SKU of the RTX 30-series line returns in today’s Newegg Shuffle, save for the RTX 3090. But making up for that high-end absence are new bundles for some of AMD’s best graphics cards, giving you a total selection between not only the RTX 3060, RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080, but also the RX 6700 XT and RX 6900 XT.

Like most of Newegg’s recent shuffles, all of today’s cards do come bundled with another component. For the most part, that’s a power supply or motherboard, though there are a few RAM bundles in today’s shuffle as well. There’s also a bundle for an RTX 3070 and EVGA XR1 Capture Card that might interest streamers.

These bundles, unfortunately, don’t represent savings. Instead, Newegg’s just taking the opportunity to sell loosely related components by forcing prospective graphics card buyers to get them with their purchase. These additional parts aren’t overpriced, but you can’t opt out of buying them if you don’t need them. Certain parts, like the Gigabyte Power Supplies, also have low ratings and could prove unreliable over time.

Still, even with the extra parts, our eBay GPU pricing index shows that you’re still likely to pay less for a GPU here than you would with a scalper. You could probably trash the bundled item and still come out ahead, though reselling might be the wiser choice.

And that’s not a horrible tradeoff to be able to buy cards from all over the top half of our GPU benchmarks hierarchy. For an idea of the power we’re looking at here, know that RTX 3060 cards are about as fast as the RTX 2070 from 2018, but with more memory (and less memory bandwidth). The RTX 3080, meanwhile, is the Ampere flagship and offers the best performance you can find without going into the RTX 3090’s Titan RTX-level power.

AMD’s Radeon cards are also powerful when it comes to rasterized games, but our ray tracing face-off shows that they still have a ways to go when it comes to matching Nvidia’s ray-tracing and DLSS prowess.

For those unfamiliar with the process, Newegg Shuffle uses a lottery format. Just select the component(s) you’d like to potentially buy. Then Newegg will hold a drawing later today, after which the ‘winners’ will be notified by email with the chance to purchase an item (only one) within a several-hour period. Based on our experience, you won’t get selected most of the time. But hey, it’s free to try.

Here’s the full list of today’s options:

EVGA RTX 3060 with EVGA Supernova 750W Power Supply for $522
EVGA RTX 3060 with EVGA 750W Power Supply for $505
MSI RTX 3060 Ventus OC with OLOy WarHawk RGB 2 x 8GB RAM for $600
MSI RTX 3060 Ventus OC with OLOy 2 x 8GB RAM for $580
MSI RTX 3060 Ventus OC with OLOy 2 x 8GB RAM for $588
Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 OC with Asus TUF Gaming B450M Motherboard for $604
Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3060 OC with Asus ROG Strix GB450-F Motherboard for $644
EVGA RTX 3070 with EVGA Supernova 750W Power Supply for $761
EVGA RTX 3070 with EVGA XR1 Capture Card for $824
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Ti with Gigabyte 750W Power Supply for $759
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Ti with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $804
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Ti OC with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $814
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Ti OC with Gigabyte 750W Power Supply for $769
Gigabyte RX 6700 XT with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Wifi Motherboard for $1,084
Gigabyte RX 6700 XT with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $1,084
Asus ROG Strix RX 6700 XT with Asus TUF Gaming B450M Motherboard for $1,044
Asus ROG Strix RX 6700 XT with Asus ROG Strix B450-F Motherboard for $1,084
Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3080 with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Wifi Motherboard for $1,304
Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3080 with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $1,304
AsRock RX 6900 XT with ASRock B550M Steel Legend Motherboard for $1,859

With component shortages plaguing the PC industry, not to mention the smartphone and automotive industries, the latest word is that prices aren’t likely to return to ‘normal’ throughout 2021. If you can keep chugging along with whatever your PC currently has, that’s the best option, as otherwise prices are painful for all of the Nvidia Ampere and AMD RDNA2 GPUs.

Today’s Newegg shuffle starts at 1 pm EST/10 am PST. The Newegg Shuffle normally lasts for 2 hours, so if you’re interested in any of these components, act fast!For other ways to get hard-to-find graphics cards, check out our RTX 3080 stock tracker and our feature on where to buy RTX 30-series cards. And for more Newegg savings, visit out page of Newegg promo codes.

Every RTX 30-Series Card is in the Monday Newegg Shuffle

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Monday’s Newegg Shuffle comes with every SKU of Nvidia’s best graphics cards from the Ampere line, plus a single AMD GPU and a bunch of motherboards and power supplies that you probably don’t want. The RTX 3060 and RTX 3090 are both here, as well as every option in between, including Ti and overclocked models. Plus, the Radeon RX 6700 makes sure AMD has some representation.

Of note is that all of today’s bundles come with either a motherboard or power supply attached, save for one bundle that instead opts to include a 1440p @ 165Hz Asus Monitor. Some of these are decent gear, like the Gigabyte Elite and Master series motherboards, but be careful around those power supplies. The Gigabyte power supplies included here have some pretty low ratings, although the EVGA bundles are likely a safer bet. Maybe.

As for why you need to buy a bundle in the first place, it’s because Newegg knows these GPUs are rare, and it’s happy to take the opportunity to force you to buy extra gear if you want to get them. Not just any gear, either: It’s often gear that doesn’t sell as well on its own. Still, even with the extra parts, our eBay GPU pricing index shows that you’re still likely to pay less for a GPU here than you would with a scalper — the bundled item can be offloaded or trashed and you’d still come out ahead.

And this is a pretty strong lineup, featuring cards from all over the top half of our GPU benchmarks hierarchy. For an idea of the power we’re looking at here, know that RTX 3060 cards are about as fast as the RTX 2070 from 2018, but with more memory (and less memory bandwidth). The RTX 3090 meanwhile reigns as the king of the GPU hill, with 24GB of VRAM for good measure. It’s about 25% faster than the old Titan RTX, and right now costs nearly as much.

If you’re eyeing the lone Radeon card, refer to our ray tracing face-off to see how it stacks compared to Nvidia’s ray-tracing and DLSS prowess. It does a lot better in traditional rasterized games, however, where it keeps pace with the RTX 3070.

Here’s the full list of today’s options:

Gigabyte RTX 3060 Vision OC with Gigabyte B550M Aorus Pro Motherboard or Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 Motherboard for $634
Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3060 Ti with B550M Aorus Pro Motherboard or Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 Motherboard for $774
Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3060 Ti with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $804
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Ti with Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 Motherboard for $784
Gigabyte RTX 3060 Ti with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $814
EVGA RTX 3070 with EVGA 750W Power Supply for $819
EVGA RTX 3070 with EVGA Supernova 750W Plus Gold Power Supply for $821
EXGA RTX 3070 with EVGA Supernova GT 750W Power Supply for $834
Gigabyte RTX 3070 Vision OC with Gigabyte 750W Power Supply for $879
Gigabyte RTX 3070 Vision OC with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro Motherboard for $959
Gigabyte RTX 3070 with Gigabyte 750W Power Supply for $899
Gigabyte RTX 3070 with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $1,004
Gigabyte RTX 3070 with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master for $1,064
Asus ROG Strix RX 6700 XT with Asus TUF Gaming B450M Motherboard for $1,044
Asus ROG Strix RTX 6700 XT with Asus ROG Strix B450-F Motherboard for $1,084
Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3080 with Asus ROG Strix B550-F Motherboard for $1,239
Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3080 with Asus TUF Gaming 27 inch 1440p @ 165Hz Monitor for $1,409
Gigabyte RTX 3080 Vision OC with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Motherboard or Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Wifi Motherboard for $1,304
Gigabyte RTX 3080 Vision OC with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master Motherboard for $1,364
Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3090 with Asus Prime B550M Motherboard for $2,309
Asus TUF Gaming RTX 3090 with Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming for $2,399
Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3090 with Gigabyte 850W Power Supply for $2,379
Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3090 with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master Motherboard for $2,604
Gigabyte Aorus RTX 3090 with Gigabyte X490 Aorus Master Waterforce Motherboard for $2,854

TSMC Uses AMD’s EPYC Chips to Make Chips

(Image credit: AMD)

TSMC produces chips for AMD, but it also now uses AMD’s processors to control the equipment that it uses to make chips for AMD (and other clients too). Sounds like a weird circulation of silicon, but that’s exactly what happens behind the scenes at the world’s largest third-party foundry.

There are hundreds of companies that use AMD EPYC-based machines for their important workloads, sometimes business-critical workloads. Yet, when it comes to mission-critical work, Intel Xeon (and even Intel Itanium and mainframes, rule the world. Luckily for AMD, things have begun to change, and now TSMC has announced that it is now using EPYC-based servers for its mission-critical fab control operations.

“For automation with the machinery inside our fab, each machine needs to have one x86 server to control the operation speed and provision of water, electricity, and gas, or power consumption,” said Simon Wang, Director of Infrastructure and Communication Services Division at TSMC.

“These machines are very costly. They might cost billions of dollars, but the servers that control them are much cheaper. I need to make sure that we have high availability in case one rack is down, then we can use another rack to support the machine. With a standard building block, I can generate about 1,000 virtual machines, which can control 1,000 fab tools in our cleanroom. This will mean a huge cost saving without sacrificing failover redundancy or reliability.”

(Image credit: AMD)

TSMC started to use AMD EPYC machines quite some time ago for its general data center workloads, such as compute, storage, and, networking. AMD’s 64-core EPYC processors feature 128 PCIe lanes and support up to 4TB of memory, two crucial features for servers used to run virtual machines. But while the infrastructure to support 50,000 of TSMC’s employees globally is very complex and important (some would call it business-critical), it isn’t as important as TSMC’s servers that control fab tools.

Fab tools cost tens or hundreds of millions of dollars and process wafers carrying hundreds of chips that could be used to build products worth tens of thousands of dollars. Each production tool uses one x86 server that controls its operating speed as well as provisions water, electricity, and gas, or power. Sometimes hardware fails, so TSMC runs its workloads in such a way that one server can quickly replace the failed one (naturally, TSMC does not disclose which operating systems and applications it runs at its fabs).

At present TSMC uses HPE’s DL325 G10 platform running AMD EPYC 7702P processors with 64 cores (at 2.0 GHz ~ 3.35 GHz) in datacenters. It also uses servers based on 24-core EPYC 7F72s featuring a 3.20 GHz frequency for its R&D operations. As for machines used in TSMC’s fabs, the foundry keeps their specifications secret.

It is noteworthy that AMD’s data center products are used not only to produce chips, but also to develop them. AMD’s own Radeon Technologies Group uses EPYC processors to design GPUs.

AMD is ramping up GPU production to fight shortage

João Silva
20 hours ago
Featured Tech News, Graphics

The current GPU shortage has been quite troublesome – it’s really hard to buy a GPU nowadays, especially if you’re trying to buy it at MSRP. However, AMD wants to change that in the coming months.

According to AMD’s Q1 2021 earnings call transcript, AMD CEO, Lisa Su, stated that the company will be ramping up production to increase GPU sales: “We expect Radeon 6000 series GPU sales to grow significantly over the coming quarters as we ramp production.”

The CEO admits that the semiconductor industry is currently in a tight spot, but AMD has been in close conversations with its supply partners, allowing the company to know where it stands stock-wise throughout the rest of the year.

A GPU production cycle tends to take at least a few months, so a GPU entering production today would likely hit retail in the Summer, or later if any issues pop up. Considering this, do not expect the GPU stock situation to immediately, but we may start to see some improvement on the AMD side in the second half of the year.

During the earnings call, it was also confirmed that RX 6000 series mobile GPUs should begin shipping later this quarter.

KitGuru says: There is only so much one company can do during this unprecedented shortage, but hopefully we’ll start to see better availability of Radeon graphics cards in the second half of the year. How many of you have been trying to get hold of a new GPU in recent months?

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Sapphire launches Nitro+ RX 6900 XT Special Edition with 2365MHz boost clock

Matthew Wilson
23 hours ago
Featured Announcement, Graphics

Sapphire is back with an even faster Radeon RX 6900 XT. The new Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6900 XT Special Edition is launching today, with faster out-of-box overclocks, pushing the GPU up to 2365MHz.

The Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6900 XT Special Edition features the highly regarded Tri-X cooling solution, which maximises airflow with three 100mm fans and tunnelled fins on the fans to increase the convection of airflow for improved temperatures and noise levels.

The card of course features plenty of RGB, with LEDs in the fans, cooling shroud and the back of the PCB as well. As you would expect, the GPU also comes with several classic Sapphire features, including Intelligent Fan Control, Precision Fan Control, TriXX Software BIOS switch and TriXX Boost for further performance enhancements.

While the standard Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6900 XT comes with a GPU game clock of 2050MHz and a boost clock of 2285MHz, the Special Edition pushes things further, with a 2135MHz game clock and a 2365MHz boost clock.

The Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6900 XT Special Edition will be available at retailers starting this week. We will update with pricing information as soon as UK retail listings go live.

KitGuru Says: Are any of you looking to make the upgrade to an RX 6900 XT? Will you be considering the new Sapphire Special Edition card for its higher overclock speeds?

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Leo Says Ep. 61 – Nvidia wants to rule the world

Nvidia made a big splash when they announced their planned CPU named Grace at their recent virtual GTC event. We all know about Nvidia’s GPUs and we are sort-of aware of Bluefield which is described as a DPU. Now Nvidia also has plans for a CPU, so that means they have a Three Chip Strategy which surely merits a video from Leo…

AMD Vows to Resolve GPU Shortage: We Are Ramping Production

(Image credit: AMD)

Last year, AMD finally released a family of graphics processors that can compete against Nvidia’s high-end offerings in terms of performance. Unfortunately, AMD could not meet demand for new GPUs. But apparently there is light at the end of the tunnel as AMD is ramping up production.

“We introduced our Radeon 6700 XT desktop CPU with leadership 1440p gaming performance in March, and are on track for the first notebooks featuring our leading edge mobile RDNA 2 architecture to launch later this quarter,” said Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, during the company’s latest earnings call. “We expect Radeon 6000 series GPU sales to grow significantly over the coming quarters as we ramp production.”

Increasing GPU supply is not a particularly easy task. AMD’s manufacturing partner TSMC operates at a nearly 100% load. Furthermore, production cycle of a modern process is around three months long, so a chip AMD orders today may not be shipped until sometime this summer.

“We see good customer ordering patterns and strong backlog,” said Su. “Then, we have also seen that the supply chain has been tight overall for the semiconductor industry. And we’ve been working very closely with our supply chain partners. So, we also have good visibility to additional supply as we go throughout the year.”

AMD’s graphics revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 increased by “a strong double-digit percentage year-over-year and sequentially” due to the success of its Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs.

Sadly for AMD, all graphics cards today are sold at prices that are dramatically higher than their MSRPs, so increasing its sales might be a difficult task since even graphics boards meant to be inexpensive are priced unreasonably high due to demand amidst component shortages.

AMD and Intel Invest in Substrate Production to Fight Shortages

(Image credit: JCET Group)

There a numerous causes that have led into the ongoing computer component shortage, one of which is the lack of availability of materials called ABF substrates. The Good news is that companies like AMD and Intel are taking the problem seriously and are investing in packaging facilities and production of substrates.

A wide variety of chips from inexpensive entry-level processors for client PCs to complex high-end CPUs for servers use laminated packaging. Usually, chips that use laminated packaging also use IC substrates featuring insulating Ajinomoto build-up films (ABF), which are made by just one company, Ajinomoto Fine-Techno Co.

While there are dozens of companies that package chips and use ABF substrates, there is only one ABF supplier that has to serve them all. But as it transpired this year, the Japanese company is not the bottleneck here, but OSAT (outsourced assembly and test) houses like ASE Technology are.

Earlier this year, numerous top packaging houses vowed to increase their production capacities. But for large companies, a tangible capacity increase is complicated, as equipment vendors can’t simply increase their output overnight. But now even second-tier OSAT players have announced plans to expand their capacity already. For example, Kinsus plans to raise its ABF substate capacity by 30% this year, DigiTimes reports. But chip packaging houses are not the only companies that can address issues with chip packaging.

“I would say overall, the demand if we look at coming into this year, the demand has been sort of higher than our expectations,” said Lisa Su, chief executive of AMD, at this week’s conference call, reports SeekingAlpha. “There are sort of industry-wide types of things that are going on. We work very closely with our supply chain partners. So, whether it’s wafers or back-end assembly test, capacity or substrate capacity, we work it on a product line by product line level.”

AMD used to own assembly, test, mark and pack facilities, but sold them in 2016 when it was in dire need of money. Apparently, AMD wants to address its chip shortages by investing in OSAT and substrate partners to gain capacity that is dedicated to AMD.

“We continue — on the substrate side in particular, I think, there has been underinvestment in the industry,” said Su. “So, we have taken the opportunity to invest in some substrate capacity dedicated to AMD, and that’ll be something that we continue to do going forward.”

Intel has its own chip production as well as test and assembly facilities in multiple countries. But apparently the in-house packaging capacities are not enough for Intel, which significantly increased its chip output capacities in the recent year following shortages it faced in 2018 – 2019. In a bid to meet demand for its products, Intel is working with its third-party substrate partners.

“By partnering closely with our suppliers, we are creatively utilizing our internal assembly factory network to remove a major constraint in our substrate supply,” said Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, during a recent call. “Coming online in Q2, this capability will increase the availability of millions of units in 2021. It is a great example where the IDM model gives us flexibility to address the dynamic market.”

AMD is perhaps among the companies that suffered the most from chip production crisis. In the second half of 2020 the company had to supply its partners from Microsoft and Sony over 10 million of SoCs for the the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5 that were launched last November. Around the same time AMD introduced its Ryzen 5000-series CPUs based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture as well as the Radeon RX 6000-series GPUs running the RDNA2 architecture.

Eventually AMD admitted that it could not meet demand for its products because it could not procure enough chips from its manufacturing partners and because its OSAT partners did not have enough capacity to test and pack its chips too.

AMD Smashes Records Again, Data Center Revenue up 286%, Consumer Up 46%

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

AMD crushed expectations with its first quarter 2021 financial results today with a record quarterly revenue of $3.45B, an increase of 93% year over year (YoY). AMD grew in every segment of its businesses despite constant product shortages for its consumer CPUs and GPUs at retail, a byproduct of record demand and pandemic-spurred supply chain disruptions.

It’s no secret that AMD has been plagued by shortages of consumer CPUs and GPUs, but the company is obviously selling every piece of silicon it can punch out. AMD raked in $2.1 billion for the computing and graphics segment (Consumer CPUs and GPUs), a 46% improvement over the prior year, driven by Ryzen and Radeon sales.

AMD’s Ryzen processors set records for revenue and average selling prices (ASPs), and AMD says it has increased its desktop PC market share again, an encouraging sign for the company after Intel stole back some desktop PC market share last quarter. However, Intel reported last week that it suffered a sharp decline in ASPs for both its notebook and desktop PC chips due to a shift in its sales mix to lower-end processors. That shift is likely due to AMD’s continued performance lead with its Ryzen 5000 processors and strong sales of its higher-end models. AMD CEO Lisa Su remarked that AMD remains firmly focused on its high-end products.

AMD is also doing well in the notebook segment, with Su remarking, “We delivered our sixth straight quarter of record mobile processor revenue based on sustained demand for Ryzen 4000 series processors and the launch of our new Ryzen 5000 series processors.” Notably, Intel also sold a record number of notebook PC chips last quarter, but it suffered a sharp 43% decline in average selling prices.

Su also said that the company had doubled sales of its Radeon 6000 GPUs over the prior quarter and that GPU supply will improve in the next quarter.

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AMD’s Enterprise, Embedded, and Semi-Custom (EESC) group, which covers data center chips and game consoles, was up an incredible 286% over last year as it raked in $1.35 billion, largely driven by strong EPYC processor sales that more than doubled (consoles declined slightly during the quarter).

Notably, during its last earnings report, Intel claimed that its data center processor business suffered from the second quarter in a row of cloud “digestion,” meaning customers were still working through their existing inventory of chips, leading to a massive drop in its own revenue for this important high-margin segment. On the surface, it appears that some of that drubbing took place at the hands of AMD’s EPYC Rome and Milan chips. AMD’s data center revenue accounted for a ‘high-teens’ percentage of the company’s revenue.

AMD reported gross margins of 46%, which is flat for the year. The company has also raised its guidance for the year by $1.3 billion dollars, indicating that it expects the impressive performance will continue throughout the end of the year. That’s an increase from the previously-projected 37% annual growth to a projection for 50% annual growth. Su commented that this increased projection is due to increased demand in both the data center and consumer markets.

Overall, AMD posted an almost flawless quarter, especially in light of the current state of the global market. AMD also guides for an impressive $3.6 billion next quarter, an impressive 86% YoY gain during what is historically a slower quarter.

AMD Adrenalin 21.4.1 drivers improves GPU power consumption by up to 72%

João Silva
3 hours ago
Featured Tech News, Graphics

Last week, when AMD released the Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.4.1, the patch notes included a slew of upgrades, features, and optimisations, but as it turns out, there was another sneaky improvement that we weren’t told about. Reportedly, the new driver also improves GPU power consumption, reducing it by as much as 72% in non-gaming workloads.

The team at TechPowerUp tested the whole Radeon RX 6000 series GPU line-up, which consists of the Radeon RX 6700 XT, the RX 6800, the RX 6800 XT, and the RX 6900 XT. They’ve run tests running both the 21.3.2 driver and the 21.4.1 driver in various scenarios, including when the GPU is idle, in a multi-monitor setup, and during media playback.

Image credit: TechPowerUp

While idling, the RX 6800, RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT graphics cards saw power consumption reduced by up to 72 percent. In multi-monitor setups, there is also a slight difference, although it could be within the margin of error. As for media playback, these three GPUs had power consumption reduced by up to 20W. Interestingly, these power consumption improvements already seemed to be in place for the RX 6700 XT, which didn’t change much between the two driver versions.

It’s unclear why AMD didn’t announce these improvements with the patch notes.

KitGuru says: While it is odd that we didn’t hear about this when the new driver was announced, these are still welcome optimisations. Do you own an RX 6000 series graphics card? Have you noticed any differences in power consumption since updating to the latest driver?

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Razer’s Orochi V2 is a compact wireless mouse with up to 900 hours of battery life

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eGPU Scaling Benchmark w/ Cooler Master EG200

Dominic Moass
11 hours ago
Featured Tech Reviews, Graphics

External GPU enclosures have been around for a few years now, most of them using Thunderbolt 3 which provides four PCIe 3.0 lanes. We’ve tested a few solutions over the years, including Razer’s Core X and the Sapphire GearBox, but today we’re taking a closer look at just how well an eGPU can perform. To do so, we test Nvidia’s RTX 3060 Ti, RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and even the RTX 3090, across 1080p, 1440p and 4K resolutions. Is there any benefit to using a faster GPU over Thunderbolt 3? That’s what we will find out today.

Watch video via Vimeo (below) or over on YouTube at 2160p HERE

For this investigation, we’re using Cooler Master’s new EG200 external GPU enclosure. It’s the company’s first eGPU product and has an MSRP of £329.99, though it is not currently listed for sale in the UK. As a standard Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, you are free to use pretty much any graphics card you want, though there is a size restriction as cards cannot be bigger than 325 x 141 x 54 mm.

We’re testing with the ASUS TUF RTX 3080 and TUF RTX 3090, as well as Nvidia’s RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070 Founders Editions. Testing all four GPUs will allow us to get a clear idea of how performance scales with an eGPU, which is what we are interested in. We know all four will be faster than using integrated graphics, but is there any benefit to the RTX 3090 over an RTX 3080 when using a Thunderbolt 3 dock? That’s what we’re looking at today.

Of course, we also need a device to connect the dock to, and we opted for the Razer Blade 15 Base. This is the latest 2021 model, and obviously the most important thing is that it has a Thunderbolt 3 port. The CPU is also important though, as overall gaming performance will vary depending on the calibre of processor inside your host PC. The Blade uses Intel’s i7-10750H, which is a 45W hexa-core CPU. It’s beefier than an ultra-low power processor you may find inside an Ultrabook, but for our testing today it will do the job just fine.

Cooler Master EG200 Specification:

SERIES: MasterCase Series
SIZE: External GPU
MODEL NUMBER: MCM-EG200-KNNA55-S00, MCM-EG200-KNNA55-UK
AVAILABLE COLOR(S): Black
MATERIALS: Steel, Plastic, Mesh
DIMENSIONS (L X W X H): 383 x 140 x 208mm (incl. Protrusions), 371 x 128 x 204mm (excl. Protrusions)
VOLUME (EXLC. PROTRUSIONS): 9.7L
EXPANSION SLOTS: N/A
I/O PANEL – USB PORTS: 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
I/O PANEL – USB IN: 1x USB Micro-B 3.2 Gen 1
I/O PANEL – TB3: USB C
HARD DRIVE DOCK: 2.5” or 3.5” SATA drives
PRE-INSTALLED FANS – TOP: 1x 92mm Slim PWM 2600RPM
FAN SUPPORT – TOP: 1x 92mm
CLEARANCE – GFX: L: 325 / 12.79inch, W: 54mm (2.5 slot) / 2.13inch, D: 141mm / 5.55inch, (Max. sizes incl. connector)
CABLES: Thunderbolt 3 – 500mm, USB – 700mm (incl. USB A to C adapter)
INCLUDED POWER SUPPLY: Cooler Master V Gold SFX (550W)
INCLUDED POWER CABLES: 1x 24 pin, 2x 6+2 pin PCI-e, 1x SATA power
USB POWER DELIVERY: 60W

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Mac Pro 7.1 with AMD Radeon Pro W6900X spotted on Geekbench 5 database

João Silva
1 day ago
Featured Tech News, Graphics

Despite Apple’s focus on developing its own chips, it looks like the company still needs AMD’s help for higher-power workstation GPUs. That’s according to new entries on the Geekbench 5, showing an unannounced ‘Radeon Pro W6900X’ SKU powering an Apple Mac Pro 7.1.

With the launch of macOS Big Sur 11.4 Beta, Apple introduced support for Radeon consumer-grade cards on its OS. Professional Radeon cards are not yet supported, but that might change soon with the new Mac Pro 7.1.

Initially found by Benchleaks, we have spotted nine entries of a MacPro 7.1 equipped with an AMD Radeon Pro W6900X and running macOS 11.4 on the Geekbench 5 database. All the entries seem to belong to the same system, which featured a 12C/24T Intel Core i9-10920X CPU and 192GB of DDR4-2933 memory.

The entries do not show the card’s specifications, but performance-wise, it scored slightly above the Radeon RX 6900XT. It’s unclear if the card will be exclusive to Mac systems like the Radeon Pro Vega II, but compared to it, the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X scored about 66% higher.

These entries coincide with the appearance of a photo showing an undisclosed AMD graphics card. The uploader didn’t share any information about the card, but we believe it might be the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X, the OEM variant of the Radeon Pro card we have previously shared, or a combination of both.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Apple plans to become more independent from CPU and GPU manufacturers, but for now, it still depends heavily on the likes of Intel and AMD for high-powered solutions. Will Apple eventually release its own workstation-class CPUs and GPUs?

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Lenovo P620 Threadripper Pro 3975WX Review

AMD’s Threadripper consumer HEDT processors continue to be praised strongly for their excellent compute performance and connectivity options. But what if you want more than 256GB of memory? What if you want your RAM to run in 8-channel mode? What if you want more than 64 PCIe Gen 4 lanes? Well… that’s where Threadripper Pro comes in.

Watch via our Vimeo Channel (Below) or over on YouTube at 2160p HERE

Video Timestamps:

00:00 Start

00:15 Some details/pricing

01:15 Star of the show – Threadripper Pro 3975WX

03:20 The CPU cooler

03:46 Memory setup / weird plastic shrouds with fans

05:27 AMD Radeon Pro W5700 GPU

07:00 Motherboard

08:55 Storage options

09:41 1000W PSU (Platinum) and custom setup

10:32 Luke’s thoughts and I/O panels

11:22 The Chassis

11:40 Cooling and tool less design

12:35 Summary so far

14:02 Performance tests

16:49 System temperatures, power and noise testing

19:05 System under idle conditions – ‘rumbling’ noise we experienced

19:22 Pros and Cons / Closing thoughts

Primary Specifications:

32-core AMD Threadripper Pro 3975WX processor
128GB of 3200MHz ECC DDR4 memory in 8-channel mode
AMD Radeon Pro W5700 graphics card with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
WD SN730 256GB NVMe SSD
1kW 80Plus Platinum PSU

We are examining the Lenovo ThinkStation P620 workstation that is built around Threadripper Pro and its 8-channel memory support. There are a few options for the base processor on Lenovo’s website including 12, 16, 32, and 64 core options. Specifically, we are looking at the 32-core Threadripper Pro 3975WX chip and we are hoping that Lenovo can keep it running at the rated 3.5-4.2GHz speeds beneath that modestly sized CPU cooler.

Partnering this 280W TDP monster with its 128 PCIe Gen 4 lanes is 128GB of 8-channel DDR4 3200MHz ECC memory. While a 128GB installation is merely small-fry for Threadripper Pro, the 3200MHz modules running in 8-channel mode should allow for some excellent results in bandwidth-intensive tasks. Plus, you get a 1600MHz Infinity Fabric link for the Zen 2 cores.

I will, however, emphasise my dislike for Lenovo decision to deploy a 40mm fan and shroud to cool each DIMM bank. This seems unnecessary for a 128GB installation and merely adds additional noise and points of failure. Metal heatspreaders on the DIMMs would have been better, if enhanced cooling is deemed necessary.

Graphics comes in the form of an 8GB Radeon Pro W5700 blower-style card which we have already reviewed on KitGuru. That makes this an all-AMD system as far as the key components go. Another key benefit is ISV certification for the Lenovo P620. That point will be music to the ears of system buyers in a business environment with users who run software on the guaranteed support list.

Another point that will garner particular attention from prospective buyers is the display output connectivity. On its ‘pro-grade’ card, AMD deploys five Mini-DisplayPort 1.4 connections and one USB-C port. That gives you convenient access to six total display outputs which is super. As highlighted in our review of the Radeon Pro W5700, you can power five 4K monitors or three 5K alternatives, making this an excellent workstation proposition.

Lenovo uses its own WRX80 motherboard to house the sWRX8 Threadripper Pro CPU. The power delivery solution looks competent and Lenovo’s use of proper finned VRM heatsinks with passive cooling is to be commended. Six total PCIe Gen 4 slots are provided by the motherboard – four x16 bandwidth and two x8. However, only two x16 slots remain usable due to the slot spacing, and the top one will likely interfere with the RAM fan’s header.

It is actually disappointing to see Lenovo offering up sub-par expansion slot capability. There is no clear way to use the 128 lane capability from Threadripper Pro. That is especially disappointing to users who will want multiple graphics card alongside high-bandwidth networking and storage devices. However, the limited expandability is a clear compromise from Lenovo’s use of a compact chassis with just a couple of 80mm fans for intake and exhaust airflow.

At least you do get dual, cooled M.2 slots on the motherboard. One of those is occupied by a 256GB WD SN730 SSD in our install. Clearly, most users will want to adjust the storage configuration. But this is clearly a very subjective requirement, so I respect Lenovo for offering a basic, cheap drive for the baseline configuration.

Power is delivered by a 1kW 80Plus Platinum unit. Lenovo highlights 92% efficiency on the configurator page, but this is likely a mistake for 230/240V UK customers given the more stringent 80Plus Platinum requirements for those operating voltages. The PSU’s tool-less design is absolutely superb and works very well; a single connector port feeds power from the unit through the motherboard where it is then distributed accordingly, including via break-out cables for PCIe and SATA connectors.

Connectivity for the system is just ‘OK‘. You get 10GbE Aquantia AQC107 networking onboard, but a secondary network adapter is disappointingly omitted. I would have liked to see a few more USB ports on the rear IO, including some in Type-C form and preferably 20Gbps high-speed rated. However, the front IO is excellent with four 10Gbps USB connections, two of which are Type-C. I also appreciated the system’s included audio speaker when using the unit without a proper set of speakers.

The chassis build quality is good and feels very well-built given its compact form. Man-handling the hefty system is easy thanks to the front handle. And the internal tool-less design is excellent. Lenovo’s configurator gives an option to upgrade to a side panel with key locking to prevent unauthorised access, which is good to see.

With that said, cooling certainly looks to be limited with just two 80mm intake fans on the chassis. The graphics card, CPU, PSU, and (annoyingly) RAM also have fans to take care of their own cooling. If you are thinking of adding a second high power GPU, though, the internals are likely to get very toasty.

Priced at around £5.5-6K inc. VAT in the UK (depending on the graphics card situation given current shortages), we are keen to see how Threadripper Pro performs in this reasonably compact workstation.

Detailed Specifications

Processor: AMD Threadripper Pro 3975WX (32 cores/64 threads, 3.5/4.2GHz, 280W TDP, 144MB L2+L3 cache, 128 PCIe Gen 4 lanes, up to 2TB 8-channel DDR4-3200 ECC memory support)
Motherboard: Lenovo WRX80 Threadripper Pro Motherboard
Memory: 128GB (8x16GB) SK Hynix 3200MHz C24 ECC DDR4, Octa-channel
Graphics Card: 8GB AMD Radeon Pro W5700 (RDNA/Navi GPU, 36 compute units, 2304 stream processors, 205W TDP, 1183MHz base clock, 1750MHz GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus for 448GBps bandwidth)
System Drive: 256GB WD SN730 PCIe NVMe SSD
CPU Cooler: Lenovo dual-tower heatsink with 2x 80mm fans
Power Supply: 1000W 80Plus Platinum PSU
Case: Lenovo Thinkstation P620 Workstation
Networking: Aquantia AQC107 10GbE onboard
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro

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Ryzen 9 5900X is $549 in Tuesday Newegg Shuffle

(Image credit: AMD)

Tuesday’s Newegg shuffles always seem to have the most options, and today’s shuffle brings with it a sale on one of AMD’s best CPUs plus a wide selection of Nvidia’s best graphics cards. Only the former is up for grabs solo, but you’re still able to sign up for a chance to buy the Ryzen 9 5900X, RTX 3060, RTX 3070, RTX 3080 or RTX 3090 today. Plus, the Radeon RX 6800 XT is on offer today too, if you want to go for a pure AMD build.

While previous shuffles have had solo purchase options, consoles or bundles with monitors, today’s shuffle brings us back to motherboard, RAM and power supply pack-ins. They’re not overpriced, but you’re not saving anything on these components, either. Newegg is just tacking them on to hard-to-find graphics cards so that you have to buy one to get the GPU you’re probably actually here for.

That said, there is an option to buy a Ryzen 9 5900X on its own for $549 in today’s shuffle, which is probably the most enticing offer today. There’s also an RTX 3080 and 1440p @ 165Hz monitor bundle that’s up for grabs and is probably less likely to give you a redundant part than a motherboard bundle — who doesn’t want a second (or third) monitor?

Of course, you can also splurge on other graphics cards across Nvidia’s RTX 30-series lineup, and there’s even some pretty fancy third-party custom options with water cooling and RGB lighting available. Just be prepared to get a motherboard or other component with your GPU. The Radeon RX 6800 XT bundles also have some pretty swank looking gear from ASRock, plus it’s pretty high up in our GPU benchmarks hierarchy. Although, you’ll be trading away DLSS and some ray tracing capability if you go AMD.

While it’s true that the prices in Newegg Shuffles are higher than the MSRPs for these items, our eBay GPU pricing index shows that they’re still generally far lower than what you’re likely to get from scalpers. In most cases, even with the bundled components you’ll end up with a lower price than on eBay for just the GPU.

Today’s complete options and prices consist of the following:

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X for $549
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with Antec 550W Power Supply for $594
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X with Cooler Master Water Cooler for $679
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3060 Elite with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $674
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3060 Elite with Gigabyte B550M Aorus Pro Micro ATX Motherboard for $644
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3060 Elite with Gigabyte B550 Gaming Motherboard for $719
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus OC with OLOy 2 x 8GB RAM for $844
MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus OC with OLOy WarHawk RGB 2 x 8GB RAM for $839
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3070 with Gigabyte B550 Aorus Pro Motherboard for $994
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3070 with Gigabyte 750W Power Supply for $899
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3070 with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite Motherboard for $994
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 with ASUS TUF Gaming 27 inch 1440p @ 165Hz Monitor for $1,409
Asus TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3080 with Asus Strix B550-F Gaming Motherboard for $1,269
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Vision OC with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master Motherboard for $1,454
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Vision OC with Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master Motherboard for $1,464
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080 Vision OC with Gigabyte 850W Power Supply for $1,229
ASRock Radeon RX 6800 XT with ASRock B550M Steel Legend Micro ATX Motherboard for $1,439
ASRock Radeon RX 6800 XT with ASRock Z490 Aqua Extended ATX Motherboard for $1,789
Gigabyte Geforce RTX 3090 Vision OC with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master Motherboard for $2,504
Gigabyte Geforce RTX 3090 Vision OC with Gigabyte 850W Power Supply for $2,279
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3090 Xtreme Waterforce with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master Motherboard for $2,704
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3090 Xtreme Waterforce with Gigabyte 850W Power Supply for $2,479
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3090 Xtreme Waterforce plus AIO Cooling System with Gigabyte 850W Power Supply for $2,479
Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 3090 Xtreme Waterforce plus AIO Cooling System with Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master Motherboard for $2,704

Regarding those pumped up prices, it’s worth noting that some of these components are also third-party custom options that generally include some extra features. It’s also unclear how much of the pricing increase comes direct from Newegg as opposed to from the AIB partners, though we do know that multiple GPU vendors announced higher prices due to increased tariffs several months ago.

Today’s Newegg shuffle starts at 1 pm EST/10 am PST. The Newegg Shuffle normally lasts for 2 hours, so if you’re interested in any of these components, act fast!

For other ways to get hard-to-find graphics cards, check out our RTX 3080 stock tracker and our feature on where to buy RTX 30-series cards. And for more Newegg savings, visit out page of Newegg promo codes.