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After years of using a monolithic CPU design, which had a whole chip on a single processor, Intel had released Meteor Lake CPUs with a tile / chiplet based design. In it, the processor has dedicated tiles / chiplets for CPU compute, SoC, GPU and I/O respectively.

However, desktops did not get Meteor Lake CPUs with the tile design. Instead, Intel gave desktops Raptor Lake Refresh range of CPUs. Which are nothing but improved Raptor Lake CPUs.

With Raptor Lake and it’s refresh series facing crashing issues reported worldwide, everyone is waiting to finally get their hand’s on Intel’s next-gen CPU series for the desktops with tile design. The Intel Core Ultra 200 Arrow Lake CPUs.

We do know some things about them already. Like they will come without hyper-threading, will support only DDR5 RAM and that TSMC is likely to manufacture some higher-range models rather than Intel themselves.

Three months ago, we also came to know about the core config of some of these CPUs. Now we have a full line-up and its specs leak.

Full Intel Arrow Lake Lineup Specs Leak

User Jaykihn on Twitter (now X) and Benchlife (via @harukaze5719) have leaked the full lineup specs for the B0 silicon chips in the Core Ultra 200 Arrow Lake CPUs. The CPU lineup, which has 14 CPUs in it so far, starts from a 24 core (8P+16E) Intel Core Ultra 285K CPU and to goes till 10 core (6P+4E) Intel Core Ultra 225 CPU.

Not only that, it seems that the turbo boost clock sees some reduction over the turbo boost clocks of Intel Raptor Lake Refresh series. With the turbo boost clock reaching max 5.7GHz. Which is 300MHz less than what Intel Core i9-13900KS could reach due to its 6.0 max clock. However, the base clock seems higher than the Raptor Lake Refresh CPUs.

Additionally, the report reveals that Intel will launch Arrow Lake desktop CPUs starting from 10th October this year. It’s likely that the unlocked K/KF series of CPUs will launch first.

The date is interesting though. The 10th October is the same date on which AMD is going to release some of its server CPUs.

The report also mentions that the BIOS for these CPUs can only set Intel Default Settings for power settings. However, the Core Ultra 9 users can still choose Performance or Extreme mode within the BIOS. This is probably done to prevent crashes in the Arrow Lake series that are happening currently on the Raptor Lake / Refresh series of CPUs.

Specs Table

Based on the above information, we have made the Intel Arrow Lake specs table below for the readers to understand easily.

Specs Explained

What is TVB, TBMT 3.0 and TBT 2.0? Benchlife article explains it simply:

TVB = Thermal Velocity Boost (Full heat speed increases frequency), 1-Core

 

TBMT 3.0 = Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 (Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0), 2-Core

 

TBT 2.0 = Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 (Turbo Boost Technology), 1- Core

Basically, only Intel Core Ultra 9 285/K/T series supports TVB. Whereas, the Core Ultra 7 265/K/KF/F/T series supports only TBMT 3.0 and TBT 2.0. Similarly, other CPUs in the lineup support only TBT 2.0.

Also, where are the clocks and GPU specs for Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Core Ultra 5 235? It seems that Jaykihn hasn’t provided them. Whether they are going to release later and not use the B0 stepping, we aren’t aware.

Also, where are Core Ultra 3 CPUs? Earlier rumors suggested that Intel will not make Core Ultra 3 CPUs. However, new rumors suggest that Intel will make them.

A month ago, Jaykihn mentioned that Intel Core Ultra 3 CPUs will not be based on Arrow Lake CPU core. It will be a refresh of earlier CPUs. While everyone expected a refresh of Raptor Lake, it is possible that the Core Ultra 3 Ultra lineup will be a refresh of core of the Meteor Lake CPUs, which are so far only for notebooks and not made for desktops.

Conclusion

We now know almost everything about Intel Arrow Lake Ultra Core 200 series of CPUs. From core specs to clocks to iGPU to their release dates.

We even have some idea that the CPU might not perform that great in some workloads, but the built-in iGPU performs great. However, those tests on the CPUs were done a year ago and checked during their initial tests and their performance might have increased in a big way since then.

What we don’t know are two big things. One, is Intel going to manufacture all of the above CPUs. There are some rumors that Intel will make only Core Ultra 5 and below CPUs and all the CPUs above it, that is Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 9’s CPU chip, will be made by TSMC instead.

The second thing we don’t know is the pricing. However, we expect either leakers to leak them or Intel to officially announce them, either on its release or before that.

Hopefully, Arrow Lake will not have crashes like Raptor Lake / Refresh series and it does better than what AMD is performing with it’s Ryzen 9000 series of CPUs.

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Paul's Hardware (1.48M subscribers)

August 18, 2024

Video length: 12m 02s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - August 18, 2024

1:36 Ryzen 9950X and 9900X Launch - It’s Complicated

3:42 Windows Bug Affecting Ryzen Performance Found

5:53 AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D 6-Core CPU spotted in EEC filing

6:56 AMD won't patch all chips affected by 'Sinkclose' data theft vulnerability

TECH BRIEFS

7:53 GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 GPUs Debut Later This Month

8:57 Intel Preps W890 Chipset For Next-Gen HEDT CPUs

9:55 Google pulls the plug on uBlock Origin

10:43 Google’s Gemini AI fails during live demo at Made by Google event

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Table of contents:

1. Windows 10 and 11 news
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Gaming news

Windows 11 and 10

Here we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And of course, you may find a word or two about older but still supported versions.

The August 2024 Patch Tuesday updates are out. Windows 11 received KB5041585 and KB5041592, while Windows 10 got KB5041580, KB5041578, KB5041773, and KB5041782. Copilot+ PCs with Windows 11 24H2 received KB5041571.

In addition to the latest Patch Tuesday updates, Microsoft released new Defender images and confirmed that KB5034440 and KB5034441, two "unfixable" updates, are now dead—the company replaced them with KB5042321 and KB5042320.

After releasing the August 2024 security updates, Microsoft revised its list of known issues to confirm that the bug with Windows systems booting into BitLocker recovery is now fixed. It was not the most earth-shattering bug since you could just enter your encryption key to boot as usual, but some found it annoying nonetheless. After all, not everyone knows where to find their BitLocker keys. If you don't, check out this guide.

Besides fixing some bugs, Microsoft confirmed a bunch of others. Certain Office apps, such as Outlook, OneNote, and Word, are crashing when performing mundane tasks. Also, Classic Outlook is crashing on startup for some users due to corrupt server-side rules. Fortunately, both bugs have quite simple workarounds.

Finally, users discovered that one trick that previously allowed installing Windows 11 on unsupported hardware is no longer working. Therefore, you will not be able to install Windows 11 version 24H2 on an unsupported PC by pretending you are installing a server edition of the OS. Luckily, there are plenty of other methods to make the system work, so it is not the end of the world.

In a rather surprising move, Microsoft decided to stop nagging certain Windows 10 users with Windows 11 upgrade prompts. Sadly, the change only affects non-managed domain-joined systems with Windows 10 Pro—Home SKU are still subject to Microsoft's relentless prompts and nags to upgrade on eligible hardware (some are getting those ads even on unsupported devices).

AMD launched its Ryzen 9000 processors, and the chips received quite lukewarm receptions. But the most interesting part was that the reviewers noticed that the hidden Admin account in Windows 11 can boost performance in AM5 processors.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft Released this week for testing in the Windows Insider Program:

The new build 27686, which was introduced in the Canary this week, brought some interesting changes. For example, the maximum FAT32 partition was finally increased from 32GB to 2TB. Also, the OS can now automatically switch on HDR for high dynamic range content and specify different power modes for different power states. If you use Windows Sandbox, you will be glad to learn that the feature received several quality-of-life improvements and new features.

There were no new Dev Channel updates unless you count known issues. This week, Microsoft updated the release notes for build 26120.1350 to clarify that the emoji panel could dismiss itself automatically in certain scenarios. Expect a fix for the bug in future build updates.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties.

Do you remember Paint 3D, Microsoft's ill-fated attempt to replace the immortal classic with a fancy new app capable of 3D modeling? If not, do not be too hard on yourself—the app was a major flop, and now, years after its last feature update, Microsoft is abandoning it. An in-app banner started notifying users that Paint 3D will be retired on November 4.

PowerToys, one of our favorite Windows apps, is getting another feature update later this month. Although we do not know the exact changelog, we know for sure that version 0.84 will bring a big new utility called Workspaces. PowerToys Workspaces allows you to create groups of applications, arrange them on the screen in a certain order, add some arguments or additional commands and then create a shortcut for launching them altogether.

Here is the utility in action:

Microsoft announced changes for OneDrive Business customers. Starting in January 2025, the company will begin freezing unlicensed OneDrive accounts within companies to prevent security issues and file conflicts. Bringing back archived accounts will require paying Microsoft a fee, so IT admins are recommended to review available options right now.

Microsoft Teams received several preview updates, such as new window options for minimized meetings and the Speaker Progress feature that can help you become a better public speaker.

Word, another Microsoft-made productivity app, is getting a new feature that should make it easier to ensure your document has no accessibility issues. The latest preview build features a "Quick Fix" button that automatically applies suggested accessibility corrections. The button is now available for testing in the Microsoft 365 Insider program.

Firefox received a small update this week under version number 129.0.1. It fixed two video-related bugs: the inability to play DRM-protected videos, such as Netflix or Hulu and tab crashing when dragging videos onto certain websites.

Microsoft Edge also received new updates this week. In the Dev Channel, version 129.0.2766.0 is available with fixes for VPN-related issues. In the Stable Channel, Edge received a small update that resolved a bug causing the browser to crash when uploading documents.

Another browser-related story that is worth mentioning is about uBlock Origin, one of the most famous content blockers for modern browsers. As it turned out, you can continue using the original extension even with Manifest V2 deprecated. All you need is one small registry tweak.

Other notable updates include the following:

• Microsoft launched the first preview of Visual Studio 2022 v17.12 with .NET 9 support.
• Microsoft officially launched its Face Check facial recognition tech for businesses.

• Microsoft Lists now lets you reorder items with drag and drop.

• Clipchamp for iOS received a multi-track editor and other upgrades.

• Microsoft 365 Insiders can try out new regex modes in Excel.

• Microsoft Azure will start pushing mandatory multi-factor authentication in October.

• Microsoft Copilot will offer free enterprise data protection for Microsoft Entra users.

   

And here are the newest drivers released this week (only one from Intel):

• Intel 32.0.101.5971 non-WHQL with support for Black Myth: Wukong and two more games.

To finish the update section, check out this week's Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly, where we track the latest features coming soon to Microsoft's productivity apps.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts and more.

Microsoft's racing games, Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon 5, have received new free content updates. Forza Motorsport now has the Road Atlanta raceway and multi-class racing. Forza Horizon 5, on the other hand, received a more substantial update. It brought four exclusive cards, new collectibles, four new race routes, and more.

Earlier this year, Microsoft decided to shut down Tango Gameworks, one of its Xbox-owned studios. Now, in a surprising move, PUBG publisher Krafton acquired the studio. Despite the change, all of the current Tango Gameworks games will remain available on all platforms, including Game Pass.

It appears that the original Red Dead Redemption is coming to PCs. The game's store listing on PSN confirmed that PC users may soon get to play the legendary title. However, the are no official confirmations yet.

Next week, Microsoft is taking its gaming division to Gamescom in Germany, and a fresh report suggests that the company plans to unveil another Xbox/PC title heading to PlayStation 5. For now, there is no consensus on what exact title is going to lose its Microsoft exclusivity.

If you play Overwatch 2 and you have an active Xbox or PC Game Pass subscription, look out for some free content. Starting September 17, Microsoft will begin rewarding subscribers with free in-game content, such as 30 Mythic prisms and six hero skins.

Another story coming down from Activision was about Call of Duty, namely its humongous installation size. In order to make life easier for those without super-fast internet connections, Activision decided to separate Warzone from the main game. That means that Call of Duty 6 will arrive separately from Warzone, but you will be able to download it on demand.

Those living in the United States and Canada and owning an Xbox Series X can sign up for a beta test of Mecha BREAK. Developers announced that the closed beta will run from August 25 through August 27.

If you have a Windows-powered handheld console, you will soon get access to the new Compact Mode for better navigation. Microsoft has released the feature for Xbox Insiders. Besides handhelds, the new UI will be available for those laying with controllers. If you do not like how Windows works on your handheld, you will be pleased to know that Valve will soon let you officially run StreamOS on the ROG Ally.

Of course, some may want to do the opposite and install Windows on the Steam Deck. If you are such a user, good news: there are now official drivers that let you install Windows on the Steam Deck OLED. Just keep in mind that Valve does not provide official support for Windows-powered Steam Decks.

Valve also made some changes to how Steam, the most popular store for PC games, handles reviews. Now, it prioritizes useful feedback from gamers and lowers jokes and memes to make the review section more useful.

Nvidia announced five new games for the catalog of supported titles in its GeForce NOW cloud streaming service. The latest additions include Level Zero: Extraction, shapez 2, Car Manufacture, Psychonauts, and Psychonauts 2. By the way, today is your last chance to purchase a GeForce NOW membership with a 50% discount. The offer ends on August 18.

Deals and freebies

This week, you can get Death's Gambit: Afterlife for free from the Epic Games Store. As usual, the giveaway is valid until the next Thursday. Just keep in mind that the giveaway is only for PC—the newly launched Epic Games Store on Android and iOS won't let you play that game.

If one free game is not enough, there is always our weekly Weekend PC Game Deals series full of discounted games, specials, and more.

Finally, we have updated our picks for the most anticipated PC games in the second half of 2024.

Other interesting gaming stories from this week include the following:

• Star Wars Outlaws PC hardware specs have been revealed with some beefy requirements.

• The release of the Terminator: Survivors game is being pushed back into 2025.

• Developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 published a new deep dive video with details about the game.

• Homeworld 3 will get its first paid DLC on August 15 with the Kalan Raiders Fleet Pack.

• Witchfire is coming to Steam in 2024.

• SEGA announced Two Point Museum, a new sim where you manage a museum.

• Age of Empires Mobile is launching on October 17 on iOS and Android.

• Sins of a Solar Empire II is now available on Steam.

   

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What you need to know

• Capcom's next upcoming mainline entry in the Monster Hunter franchise, Monster Hunter Wilds, has just received its final weapon overview gameplay trailer.
• The trailer gives a glimpse of the Dual Blades, a fast weapon type that allows the player to charge at monsters and use a pair of short swords to chop up monsters with speedy combo attacks.
• Monster Hunter Wilds will be released in 2025 and the platforms it will launch on include Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

It's been a long journey but we've finally reached the end of Monster Hunter Wilds' weapon overview series as Capcom has just released its final gameplay trailer. The last of this upcoming Xbox title/upcoming PC title's fourteen weapon types to be showcased, along with the new moves and gameplay changes it will receive, is the Dual Blades.

The Dual Blades equips the player with a pair of short swords which they can use to let loose a never-ending series of slash attacks that can combo into each other. 

Dual Blades have a special, unique gameplay mechanic Demon Mode. When Demon Mode is activated, the user's speed and attack power will increase and they gain access to new attacks and special evasive maneuvers. However, their Stamina gauge will slowly drain while in Demon Mode so players will need to be mindful of it while in this state.

Every attack you land while in Demon Mode, builds up a special gauge meter that when filled activates Archdemon Mode. Archdemon Mode grants the user a portion of Demon Mode's special attacks and stat boosts while they're not in Demon Mode. Archdemon Mode is mainly for helping maintain the Dual Blade user's attack power while they're recovering the Stamina gauge so they can get back into Demon Mode and continue their assault on an enemy monster.

In the latest Monster Hunter Wilds gameplay trailer, there don't seem to be many changes to Dual Blades' toolkit compared to how it functioned in previous Monster Hunter games like Monster Hunter World: Iceborne or Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

The following changes and new moves for Dual Blades seen thus far are:

• A new Archdemon Mode-exclusive evasive move that lets you hop backward during combos to avoid attacks or reposition yourself.
• The new Focus Strike attack for Dual Blades has you plunge both Dual Blades into a monster's weak spot or wound, leap backward off them into the air, and use the Slinger's grappling hook to latch back onto a monster to unleash a spinning attack where you fly across a monster's entire body to tear their back to shreds.
• A special dodge move in Demon Mode where if you perform a dodge roll at the last second before a monster hits you, you can completely negate the damage and attack a monster as you're dodging them.

Could the Dual Blade user's armor set hint at the return of an old-school monster in Monster Hunter Wilds?

Gamers Nexus (2.26M subscribers)

August 17, 2024

Video length: 32m 18s

00:00 - AMD R9 9900X CPU Alternatives & Prices

02:02 - CPU Benchmarks List

05:16 - Windows Administrator

06:11 - All-Core Frequency (9900X, 9700X, 9950X)

07:21 - Single-Core Frequency (Zen 5 vs. Zen 4)

08:27 - Thermal Misconceptions

09:29 - Thermal Benchmarks (Zen 5 Comparison)

10:24 - Power Consumption (All-Core, Blender)

11:32 - Efficiency (Blender)

12:27 - Efficiency (Compression)

13:31 - Efficiency (Decompression)

14:27 - Gaming Efficiency (Stellaris)

15:15 - Gaming Efficiency (Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty)

15:43 - Gaming Efficiency (FFXIV)

16:16 - Computational Fluid Dynamics (Rodinia CFD)

17:58 - 3D Rendering (Blender CPU Benchmarks)

18:51 - Code Compile Benchmark (Chromium CPU Test)

19:45 - File Compression CPU Test

20:29 - File Decompression CPU Comparison

21:13 - Adobe Photoshop CPU Benchmarks

21:59 - Adobe Premiere CPU Benchmarks

22:28 - SpecWS Financial Simulations

23:03 - SpecWS LAMMPS Biomedical Modeling

23:27 - Gaming Benchmarks List

23:58 - Gaming (Dragon's Dogma 2 Best CPUs)

24:59 - Gaming (F1 24)

25:40 - Gaming (FFXIV Dawntrail Benchmarks)

26:38 - Gaming (Stellaris CPU Benchmarks)

27:16 - Gaming (Baldur's Gate 3 CPU Benchmarks)

27:32 - Conclusion

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The game quickly hit the number one spot for sales on Steam's service in the US. It currently is at number two in sales for the US, as of this writing, and is currently the sixth best-selling game on Steam worldwide.

Late on Friday, Ironclad and Stardock released the first hotfix for Sins of a Solar Empire II since its Steam release to fix a few issues that have cropped up, along with some new maps. Here's what it contains:

New Content:

 

• added 15 new maps

 

Misc:

 

• fixed crash attempting to save games with reserved win32 names
• fixed save game crash
• added fix for mouse movement through remote desktop
• fixed unable to complete "Galaxy Overview" tutorial with certain keyboards.
• updated game credits

Keep in mind that the game is currently being sold at a 20 percent discount until August 29. You can get the base version of Sins of a Solar Empire II for just $39.99 until that date. You can also get the Premium Edition, which includes the game's digital soundtrack and its first Content Pass for a 20 percent discount of $79.99, again until August 29.

People who order the Premium Edition can expect to get a number of DLC packs for the game over the following weeks and months. Those updates will include a new single-player campaign, an extra scenario pack, new ship units for each of the game's playable factions, and finally, there will also be a new, and so far unrevealed, fourth playable faction as one of the DLC packs.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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What you need to know

• Diablo 4 Season 5 recently kicked off, bringing new activities for players to undergo like the Infernal Hordes.
• The latest patch notes for Diablo 4 are now available, showing a number of bug fixes that players can expect. 
• This update is scheduled to arrive on Aug. 20, 2024.

Hell is always changing and growing, and so too are its patch notes.

Developer and publisher Blizzard Entertainment shared the latest notes on Friday for what players can expect in Diablo 4 across the next update. While nowhere near as gargantuan as the finger-numbing list of changes introduced with Season 5, there's still some important things to note, with a number of bug fixes that should make the experience far more pleasant. 

This update is scheduled to arrive in Diablo 4 on Aug. 20, 2024. You can find the patch notes below:

Infernal Hordes

• The Spoils of Gold chest is now reuseable.
• The sound effects that play when picking up Burning Aether have been updated to be more prominent.
• The Following Infernal Offerings have been updated to increase their rewards:
  • The Exalted Elite: Burning Aether amount increased from +1 to +2.
  • The Surging Elite: Burning Aether amount increased from +1 to +2.
  • The Unstoppable Elite: Burning Aether amount increased from +1 to +2.
  • The Burning Rain: end of wave Burning Aether increased from 1-3 to 3-9.

Accessibility

• Fixed an issue where a non-functional setting for Read on Hover was present.
• Fixed an issue where the Screen Reader announced Roman Numerals as letters.

User Interface and User Experience

• Trade chat is now separated by World Tier.
• Players will now be notified when there is a new patch update available.
• Party Leaders can now promote another Party member to be the new Leader.
• Newly created characters are now always placed at the top of the character list.
• Clan Name can now be changed.
• Fixed an issue where character stats were inaccurate in town when certain items were equipped.
• Fixed an issue where the tooltip for Infernal Compasses had two instances of "Compass Affixes".
• Fixed an issue where the name for Echo of Varshan displayed as Tormented Echo of Varshan.
• Fixed an issue where an error could display when comparing an Ancestral Mythic Unique Item.
• Fixed an issue where the Whisper icon for defeating the Blood Maiden overlapped the icon for the Accursed Ritual on the map.
• Fixed an issue where the Icons for Infernal Offerings were inconsistent between the minimap and the world map within the Infernal Hordes.
• Fixed an issue where Treasure Goblins in Helltide could leave behind a portal indefinitely.
• Fixed an issue where the visual effect for poison could remain indefinitely on enemy corpses if they were killed while poisoned.
• Fixed an issue where Thorns granted by the Thorns while Fortified Tempering Affix did not display in character stats.
• Fixed an issue where players using a Controller would be sent to the Equipment inventory tab when using an Abyssal scroll.
• Fixed an issue where the minimap was not accurate in certain Infernal Hordes instances.

Gameplay

• Infernal Hordes
  • Fixed an issue where Hellborne did not spawn as frequently as intended when the Hellfire Infernal Offering was active.
  • Fixed an issue where the Stalking Devil Infernal Offering pedestal could appear again after being interacted with.
  • Fixed an issue where the Withered Wanderer Infernal Offering reduction to All Resistances did not actually reduce resistance.
  • Fixed an issue where Treasure Goblins spawned during an Infernal Hordes encounter could become indefinitely unkillable, preventing wave progression.
  • Fixed an issue in local co-op play where one player could collect the other player's Burning Aether after that player died. Finders keepers!

• Quests/Dungeons
  • Fixed an issue where the player could respawn on the other side of the objective while protecting Locran during the To The Edge of the Abyss quest.
  • Fixed an issue where monsters could endlessly spawn during the Seething Mountain quest.
  • Fixed an issue where the Istel Tornado encounter during The Rising Hells quest could persist indefinitely.
  • Fixed an issue where progression in the Sins of the Willing quest could be blocked if the player died during the ritual.
  • Fixed an issue where the second Spider Caller monster in Sirocco Caverns could fail to spawn, preventing progression.
  • Fixed an issue where Stormbane's Wrath didn't deal damage. (Not so wrathful after all.)
  • Fixed an issue where the Aspect of Inevitable Fate could appear on Chest armor through a Seasonal Questline reward.

• General
  • Fixed an issue where the Tormented Echo version of the Beast in the Ice dropped the same amount of Pincushioned Dolls as the normal version.
  • Fixed an issue where the visual effects for Death Trap and Concealment were not properly visible for other players.
  • Fixed an issue where higher Ranks of Firewall did not have the blue flame effect.
  • Fixed an issue where Dungeon whispers did not appear in the Scouring Sands zone.
  • Fixed an issue where multiple Shade Totems could be spawned by swapping weapons when using the Umbracrux.
  • Fixed an issue where Baneful Hearts could be lost when using Accursed Altars after Helltide ended.
  • Fixed an issue where a small number of affixes couldn't roll as a Greater Affix, such as the Blood Orbs restore essence affix on Blood Artisan's Cuirass.
  • Fixed an issue where the player could get stuck when interacting with the World Tier statue in Kyovashad and using a Town Portal at the same time.
  • Fixed an issue where the Leave Dungeon ability couldn't be used to leave Cellars.
  • Fixed an issue where Echo of Lilith sometimes couldn't be Staggered during the first phase of the encounter.
  • Fixed an issue where Echo of Lilith could remain in the air indefinitely if Staggered immediately after landing.
  • Fixed an issue where Echo of Lilith would not progress to the second stage of the encounter in certain circumstances.
  • Fixed an issue where Summoned Lightning Spear would not consume stacks of Crackling Energy or grant the damage increase bonus.
  • Fixed an issue where certain affixes were not affected by Masterworking for the following Unique Items
    • The Oculus
    • Blue Rose
    • Storm's Companion
  • Fixed an issue where the player couldn’t interact with various objects.
  • Fixed an issue where Blood Howl did not grant Stealth when Waxing Gibbous was equipped.

Miscellaneous

• All players will receive a cache of Legendary items with guaranteed Greater Affixes, to make up for the issue seen with patch 1.5.0 where players were not getting items with guaranteed Greater Affixes from multiple sources.
• The Alchemist Control Tempering affix for Rogue has been re-enabled with the following adjustments:
  • The Flurry Size affix has been removed from Rogue Innovation and put into Alchemist Control.
  • The Ranks of Trick Attacks affix has been removed from Alchemist Control.
• Extra visual effects have been added to the projectile trail for Corpse Bows to make it easier to track the projectile's origin.
• Fixed an issue where the corpses of Duriel and Grigoire did not despawn soon after dying.
• Various UI, visual, stability, and performance improvements.

Diablo 4 is growing even bigger this year

However, the release date for the game was not the only thing that was announced by EA this week. The game's official website has posted the official hardware recommendations for the PC version of the title.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

 

• OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 3 3300X* (see notes)
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970/1650 / AMD Radeon R9 290X
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 100GB available space
• Additional Notes: SSD Preferred, HDD Supported; AMD CPUs on Windows 11 require AGESA V2 1.2.0.7

 

RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS

 

• OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Core i9-9900K / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (see notes)
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700XT
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 100GB SSD available space
• Additional Notes: SSD Required; AMD CPUs on Windows 11 require AGESA V2 1.2.0.7

While the PC hardware specs, even on the higher recommended requirement level, should not be that beefy for most PC gamers, the game will take up a fairly large 100GB of hard drive space, and people who want to play at the recommended level will be required to store Dragon Age: The Veilguard with their SSD option.

Along with the release date and PC hardware specs, BioWare and EA also released a new trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. It shows off the game's single player visuals with a mix of in-engine gameplay and cinematics. The game will also be released for Microsoft Xbox Series X and Sony's PlayStation 5 consoles.

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Unfortunately, AMD just could not capitalize on the situation, it seems, as most of the tech media community felt the performance uplift on Ryzen 9000 is not enough compared to Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 series CPUs. The one area where the new chips have impressed me is power efficiency, and it appears that most of the IPC gains have gone towards that.

However, that's not all there is to this. Recently, comparative performance testing between Windows 11 24H2 and Linux (Nobara) revealed that the latter generally came out on top much more often in gaming as well as other workloads, indicating that Windows needed more optimization.

It looks like our speculation was correct, that Windows in its current state is indeed slowing down AMD's Ryzen processors, at least some of them.

YouTube Hardware Unboxed (HWU) recently got in touch with AMD regarding Zen 5's performance, and the latter suggested that a Windows bug related to the Account privileges is what's causing performance loss on the Ryzen 9000 series desktop CPUs.

Upon re-testing via the Administrator Account, the Zen 5 part, Ryzen 7 9700X, gained close to 4% in terms of the average frame rates and just over 3.5% in terms of the percentile lows.

For those wondering, the Administrator Account on Windows is generally hidden but can be accessed by using the command:

net user administrator /active:yes

It has one of the highest privileges in the Windows environment, surpassed only by the SYSTEM Account.

Curiously, although AMD said that the problem is only Zen 5, it appears that the Zen 4-based 7700X also saw improved performance, thus suggesting that the bug could be affecting the entire Socket AM5 lineup. It will be interesting to see if the problem extends to Socket AM4 chips as well.

Speaking of sockets, AMD has also supposedly suggested that incorrect driver provisioning on Windows could also be playing a part in this. The company has apparently indicated that reviewers clean up Windows when changing CPUs or at least re-install the chipset driver.

Provisioning essentially means the automatic configuration of the PC so that the driver is appropriately deployed on a system.

Source: HWU (YouTube)

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Owners of the game on the Epic Games Store will get all of the improvements and new content that will be made available for Steam owners.

Here's a quick summary of the game:

• Three playable races including the Advent, Vasari, and TEC return with two sub-factions that utilize unique items, mechanics, and Empire Systems to achieve total victory
• Orbiting planets that dynamically alter the map during play, requiring players to gradually shift strategies as new challenges and opportunities emerge
• Minor factions that provide unique capabilities to players that befriend them through a new influence system
• Enhanced tactical battles and deeper combat simulation including missiles that can be shot down
• New economy model that allows players to truly customize their worlds to fit production needs
• Ten-player multiplayer matches that allow players to seamlessly join or resume games
• Build and command thousands of high-fidelity units in a new engine built from the ground-up for Sins of a Solar Empire II
• Capital ships that can be equipped with special augmentations to be more effective in battle
• New in-game mod browser allows for easy installation for user generated content and maps

From now until August 29, you can get the base version of Sins of a Solar Empire II version on Steam for a 20 percent discount of $39.99. You can also get the Premium Edition, which will add the game's digital soundtrack and its first Content Pass for a 20 percent discount of $79.99, again until August 29.

Stardock has also revealed some of the details for its DLC packs that it plans to offer after the launch of Sins of a Solar Empire II that will be included with the purchase of the Premium Edition:

• Paths to Power Scenario Pack - Custom scenarios with unique starting conditions and victory conditions
• Reinforcements Ship Pack - New forces join the fray as each race gains two new units to field
• Times of War Campaign Expansion - A full single player story drive campaign that relates the tragic story of the TEC, Vasari, and Advent.
• Harbinger Expansion - Discover and play as the mysterious fourth faction!

There's no word yet on when these DLC packs will become available.

Disclaimer: Neowin's relationship to Stardock

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The leaked trailer appears to be from an advertisement, like the ones that usually play on YouTube. Rehosted on Streamable, seen here, the video shows off clips that fans may recognize from the recent gameplay reveal that happened in June. A PEGI 18 rating can also be seen. At its closing though, the video clearly shows off a October 31 release date for the RPG.

By the looks of it, these advertisements were supposed to go live after today's reveal, which is when pre-orders would have opened as well.

Here's how BioWare sets the stage for this latest Dragon Age single-player adventure:

"Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in conflict and secret magics. Now, a pair of corrupt ancient gods have broken free from centuries of darkness and are hellbent on destroying the world.

 

Rise as Rook, Dragon Age’s newest hero. Be who you want to be and play how you want to play as you fight back and lead your team of seven companions, each with their own rich story. Together, you will become the Veilguard"

The title is already Steam Deck Verified too, and the developer has confirmed that the EA App will not be required when launching the game via Steam.

If the leak turns out to be accurate, Dragon Age: The Veilguard will land on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 on October 31. As usual though, take the date with a grain of salt until the confirmation arrives from EA or BioWare later today. The official trailer with release date info is slated to premiere at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET on YouTube.

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There's one thing Ryzen 9000 doesn't include: There's no integrated neural processing unit (NPU) here. So far, AMD has only included those in laptop processors—like the Ryzen 7040, 8040, or Ryzen AI 300—or in CPUs like the Ryzen 8000G series that repackage laptop silicon for use in desktop motherboards. If you're using a desktop for AI-related work, there's a good chance you're using a powerful dedicated GPU for it. But it leaves regular desktop users without any option for supporting Copilot+ or other NPU-accelerated features. To be clear, NPUs and Copilot+ are still in their infancy in desktop PCs, and even when they're present, they don't do all that much yet. It's just odd to hear AMD talk up its XDNA technology in laptops while ignoring it in high-performance desktops.

Testbed notes

	AMD Socket AM5	Intel LGA 1700	AMD Socket AM4
CPUs	Ryzen 7000, 7000X3D, and 9000 series	Intel 12th, 13th, and 14th-generation Core	AMD 5000 and 5000X3D series
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair X670E (provided by AMD)	Gigabyte Aorus Z690 Pro (provided by Gigabyte)	Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero (provided by Asus)
RAM config	32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo (provided by AMD), running at DDR5-6000	32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo (provided by AMD), running at DDR5-5800 for stability	16GB Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan Z, running at DDR4-3600

 

The core of our CPU testbed is the same as it's been for a while now: a Lian Li O11 Air Mini case with an EVGA-provided Supernova 850 P6 power supply and a 280 mm Corsair iCue H115i Elite Capellix AIO cooler. We use an AMD-provided Radeon RX 7900 XTX as our GPU, so most benchmarks running at 1080p will be more CPU-bottlenecked than GPU-bottlenecked.

 

As usual for our CPU reviews, we also try to test each model with different power limit settings in addition to the manufacturer-specified defaults. For most Intel and AMD chips, this is an easy and relatively foolproof way to either boost performance at the expense of power efficiency or lower performance while improving efficiency (AMD even supports this directly with its "Eco Mode" settings, which automatically sets each CPU's TDP setting one level lower than it is by default).

 

For Intel's chips, these settings are called PL1 and PL2 (Power Level 1 controls how much power the CPU can use during a sustained, intensive workload, while PL2 dictates how much it can use for short bursts). For AMD boards, TDC is roughly equivalent to PL1 and EDC is roughly equivalent to PL2, while a third number (PPT) determines the amount of power provided to the CPU socket.

Testing difficulties

When AMD and Intel send us new CPUs to test, they provide a reviewer's guide with some background information on the chips. Included in these guides are some manufacturer-provided reference numbers for some common, easily reproduced benchmark tests—not so reviewers can just republish them but so we can check to make sure our test beds are performing more or less as expected when we go to run our own tests.

 

Normally, this is pretty trivial. AMD and Intel also provide motherboards, RAM kits, pre-release BIOS updates, and pre-release drivers, so there really aren't many unknown variables that should prevent the chips from performing as expected; usually, we can just plunk them in, set an XMP or EXPO RAM overclocking profile, run some perfunctory tests for reference, and get on with it.

 

The 9600X and 9700X in particular weren't performing as expected and were performing worse with memory overclocking profiles applied—often no better than the Ryzen 7000-series CPUs they're supposed to be replacing. Other reviewers, such as the YouTubers at Gamers Nexus and JayzTwoCents, also reported some stability and RAM configuration problems.

 

After much discussion and sharing of log files with AMD—as well as multiple testing runs with both processors, three different motherboards, and three different RAM kits—the issue seems to be that the EXPO memory overclocking profile is applying incorrect settings. Specifically, we had to set the SoC voltage to 1.2 V from the default 1.25 V, and we had to set the Infinity Fabric clock speed (or FCLK) from 2100 MHz to 2000 MHz. There may be other things that could be tweaked, but this got our numbers to where they were supposed to be.

 

AMD told us that part of the issue came down to that 1.25 V voltage setting interacting with the 65 W TDP for both the 9600X and 9700X—that with a relatively limited power budget, delivering more power than necessary to the CPU SoC takes it away from the rest of the processor. This didn't explain why the EXPO profile was apparently loading the wrong SoC voltage in the first place, but it does at least make logical sense.

 

The upshot is that any early adopters who attempt one-click overclocking will probably run into the same issues we did. These are hopefully things that can be cleared up with future BIOS updates, but if you're buying these chips on day one, you may have some problems getting the full performance out of them. AMD didn't give us any kind of timeline for a fix.

For the Ryzen 9600X, 9700X, and 9900X, all three chips generally manage to outperform their predecessors despite being set to lower TDP levels and consuming less power.

 

We do see indications that this is holding the 9000-series back. Setting the 9700X to a 105W TDP helps it leap ahead of the 7700X, though its power consumption leaps ahead quite a bit as well. Using AMD's Precision Boost Overdrive should yield good results here since it's meant to help find the best spot on the performance/power curve for specific CPUs.

 

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At its stock settings, the 9950X is the one exception in our testing. While both the 9950X and 7950X have a 170 W TDP, the 9950X actually pushes up against the limit of that TDP number, performing better but also burning more power when all the CPU cores are engaged in heavy-duty tasks like video transcoding. (It is, however, more efficient than Ryzen 7950X by a bit when both chips are set to their 105 W Eco Mode TDP).

 

When experimenting with higher TDPs for some of the Ryzen chips, we found that each processor will gladly run hotter and consume more power when allowed to. The 9700X is a good example—when manually set to a 105 W TDP, you can expect around 10 percent faster performance in heavy multithreaded tasks, though the CPU can consume as much as 60 percent more power when all its cores are active at once.

 

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The Intel comparison is much more flattering for AMD. Whether running at its stock 170 W TDP or in its 105 W TDP Eco Mode profile, the 7950X transcoded our test video as fast or faster than the Core i9-14900K while using a fraction of the power. The 9600X and 9700X are a bit less convincing compared to the i5-14600K and i7-14700K—Intel's core count advantage is still tough for AMD to overcome, here—but AMD still delivers great game performance and good power efficiency even in these workloads.

Conclusions

Right now, Ryzen 9000 chips are a tough sell. While they are improvements over the existing Ryzen 7000-series, they don't deliver the same generational leap we saw between Zen and Zen 2, Zen 2 and Zen 3, or Zen 3 and Zen 4. Ryzen 9000 is certainly more efficient. But Ryzen 7000 was already reasonably efficient, particularly in Eco Mode. And as of this writing, the Ryzen 7800X3D isn't even $20 more expensive than the 9700X, and it comes with some of its own performance advantages.

 

On the other hand, the regular Ryzen 7 7700X and Ryzen 5 7600X (both currently available for about the same price as the non-X variants) are 70 percent and 80 percent of the price of their Ryzen 9000 counterparts while delivering about 92 percent and 98 percent of the speed (depending heavily on the specific app or game and your power settings, of course). Socket AM5 still wouldn't be my first choice for a budget build, but at the moment, Ryzen 7000 and Zen 4 are delivering a better value.

 

That's all here and now, though. Taking a longer view, assuming that new Ryzen 7000 chips will eventually vanish and Ryzen 9000 chips will slide downward a bit in price, they're respectable upgrades. We're always big fans of chips that balance speed and efficiency, something AMD is doing a better job of than Intel these days. If you're sitting on a Ryzen 3000 or Ryzen 5000 system you bought, built, or upgraded three or four years ago (or an Intel system from the 2015–2020 Skylake Forever era), these will give you that much more speed if and when you decide to upgrade your system.

 

Still, it's hard not to feel a touch of disappointment when using Ryzen 9000. Early rumors suggested the desktop chips might copy Intel's or Apple's recent desktop CPUs, swapping to a heterogeneous design that boosted single-core performance with a few large fast cores while supercharging multi-core performance with gobs of smaller efficiency cores. AMD is, in fact, taking this approach with the Ryzen AI 300 series laptop chips, combining four Zen 5 cores with eight smaller, slower Zen 5C cores. AMD's desktop core counts have remained the same since 2019, when the 16-core Ryzen 3950X added a new high-end option to AMD's consumer desktop platform.

 

If AMD plans to take that route for its desktop chips eventually, it isn't doing so with the first wave of Ryzen 9000 CPUs. There's always next generation.

 

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Call of Duty games have famously giant file sizes, but ahead of the October 25th launch of Black Ops 6, Activision is going to make some changes so that Call of Duty titles don’t take up as much space on your hard drive — including separating Warzone from the default download for the annual games.

 

The default separation of Warzone is happening soon: on August 21st, alongside the launch of Season 5 Reloaded. As part of that, when you download an annual Call of Duty game, you’ll also be able to opt in to also download Warzone if you want. And if you just want to download Warzone, that will still be an option as well.

 

With Season 5 Reloaded, Activision also says that it is going to rely more on texture streaming, and players will be able to pick between “optimized” (the default) or “minimal” streaming. In mid-October, Activision plans to introduce a new user interface for browsing your Call of Duty games, too.

 

But to prepare for these changes, Activision says you’re going to have to download a big update as part of the Season 5 rollout that will reorganize game files and add new tech “to prep the way for the full player interface.” After that update is done, Activision says that Call of Duty’s footprint will go down because of the “file optimizations.” (PlayStation 5 players will have to download a series of updates because of “differences in file organization.”)

 

A roadmap from Activision about upcoming Call of Duty updates.

Image: Activision

 

Because of the updates, Activision says that Black Ops 6 will be a “smaller download at launch than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.” The company doesn’t have a specific download size for Black Ops 6 yet, but it says that the estimated file sizes shown on preorder listings don’t represent the “download size or disk footprint” for the game. (Activision has already had to clarify this after an Xbox store page listing showed a jaw-dropping 309.85GB download.)

 

Activision will also be hosting a Black Ops 6 open beta that starts on August 30th.

 

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Allegedly, the new product could feature an iPad-style display attached to a robotic arm. It would purportedly use actuators to tilt up and down and could also perform 360-degree spins. The report adds that the device will be "a smart home command center, videoconferencing machine, and remote-controlled home security tool."

Notably, Gurman has previously reported on multiple occasions that Apple has been working on a super-project involving home robotics over the last few months. He now adds that the company is pressing on its plans to build a home robotics device under the leadership of Apple's Vice President, Kevin Lynch.

Some sources suggest that Apple could introduce this robotic home device for a premium price of $1,000, with a potential launch sometime in 2026 or 2027. It is speculated that the device will respond to commands using Siri or Apple Intelligence features, such as "Look at me" to tilt the screen of the device towards the face of the user during a video call.

Bloomberg also adds that Apple is allegedly testing models that run a customized version of iPadOS. The shift towards robotics could be a part of Apple's strategy to boost sales and expand the usage of Apple Intelligence, a suite of AI features that will come to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac later this year.

However, there is a possibility that this could be just another exploratory project for Apple, similar to its ambitious Apple Car project, which may not ultimately be introduced to the market.

For now, Apple is preparing for the upcoming launch of the iPhone 16 series, which is expected to launch a few days earlier than last year and could also add South Korea to the launch wave to offset the lower iPhone demand issue in China.

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Neural processing units (NPUs) are becoming commonplace in chips from Intel and AMD after several years of being something you'd find mostly in smartphones and tablets (and Macs). But as more companies push to do more generative AI processing, image editing, and chatbot-ing locally on-device instead of in the cloud, being able to measure NPU performance will become more important to people making purchasing decisions.

 

Enter Primate Labs, developers of Geekbench. The main Geekbench app is designed to test CPU performance as well as GPU compute performance, but for the last few years, the company has been experimenting with a side project called Geekbench ML (for "Machine Learning") to test the inference performance of NPUs. Now, as Microsoft's Copilot+ initiative gets off the ground and Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple all push to boost NPU performance, Primate Labs is bumping Geekbench ML to version 1.0 and renaming it "Geekbench AI," a change that will presumably help it ride the wave of AI-related buzz.

 

"Just as CPU-bound workloads vary in how they can take advantage of multiple cores or threads for performance scaling (necessitating both single-core and multi-core metrics in most related benchmarks), AI workloads cover a range of precision levels, depending on the task needed and the hardware available," wrote Primate Labs' John Poole in a blog post about the update. "Geekbench AI presents its summary for a range of workload tests accomplished with single-precision data, half-precision data, and quantized data, covering a variety used by developers in terms of both precision and purpose in AI systems."

 

In addition to measuring speed, Geekbench AI also attempts to measure accuracy, which is important for machine-learning workloads that rely on producing consistent outcomes (identifying and cataloging people and objects in a photo library, for example).

 

Geekbench AI supports several AI frameworks: OpenVINO for Windows and Linux, ONNX for Windows, Qualcomm’s QNN on Snapdragon-powered Arm PCs, Apple’s CoreML on macOS and iOS, and a number of vendor-specific frameworks on various Android devices. The app can run these workloads on the CPU, GPU, or NPU, at least when your device has a compatible NPU installed.

 

On Windows PCs, where NPU support and APIs like Microsoft’s DirectML are still works in progress, Geekbench AI supports Intel and Qualcomm’s NPUs but not AMD’s (yet).

 

“We're hoping to add AMD NPU support in a future version once we have more clarity on how best to enable them from AMD,” Poole told Ars.

 

Geekbench AI is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS/iPadOS, and Android. It's free to use, though a Pro license gets you command-line tools, the ability to run the benchmark without uploading results to the Geekbench Browser, and a few other benefits. Though the app is hitting 1.0 today, the Primate Labs team expects to update the app frequently for new hardware, frameworks, and workloads as necessary.

 

“AI is nothing if not fast-changing,” Poole continued in the announcement post, “so anticipate new releases and updates as needs and AI features in the market change.”

 

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A few days ago, the reviews for the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X CPUs were out. Both the processors got very small gains in performance over their previous-gen Ryzen 7000 counterparts.

Except one outlet, Tom’s Hardware, most others found the performance of those two processors quite lacking in gaming. Though many found them to be quite efficient due to reduced official TDP. But, overall, they were disappointing.

Today, the reviews for the flagship AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X are out. Let’s check some of them.

Ryzen 9950X & Ryzen 9900X Reviews

Tom’s Hardware

Tom’s Hardware reviewed the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X CPU. Though, its performance graph also contains Ryzen 9900X in it.

In terms of gaming performance at 1080p, Ryzen 9950X was just 8% faster than the previous-gen Ryzen 7950X, which is more disappointing than even Ryzen 9700X.

But that’s not alone. What’s interesting is that a $100 cheaper Intel Core i9-14900K ($550) is 10% faster than the more expensive Ryzen 9950X ($650). If that’s not enough, then a $400 Intel Core i7-14700K is 5% faster than Ryzen 9950X in their gaming tests.

Similar is the story with Ryzen 9900X. It’s just 2% faster than Ryzen 7900X in gaming. A $200 cheaper Intel Core i5-14600K ($300) is performing better than Ryzen 9900X ($500).

It’s only in productivity and application benchmarks that these two CPUs do exceedingly good.

In terms of power consumption, here too, Ryzen 9950X does good. Ryzen 9950X uses anywhere between 7-15% lesser watts than Ryzen 7950X in various applications.

Two things are interesting though. Tom’s Hardware used officially supported DDR5-5600 RAM in their tests, rather than AMD’s recommended DDR5-6000 RAM. Most other reviewers tested it with a DDR5-6000 RAM.

Second thing is, Tom’s Hardware is saying that AMD has introduced new core parking driver for these CPUs, which was earlier only for Ryzen 7900X3D and Ryzen 7950X3D. This information from AMD came way later during reviews.

Basically, because Ryzen 9950X and Ryzen 9900X come with two chips, they don’t perform great in games. So core parking disables one chip during gaming. However, Tom’s Hardware had big issues getting it to work properly. Including requiring OS reinstallation when changing CPUs.

TechSpot

Steve Walton from Hardware Unboxed fame tested AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and posted it on TechSpot. Those who want to watch the review instead of reading it can do so here (YouTube).

In his review, he found Ryzen 9950X to be, guess what, 1% faster than Ryzen 7950X in gaming. That’s right. Just 1% faster in gaming over previous-gen. In some games, he even saw a performance regression, where Ryzen 7950X was faster than Ryzen 9950X.

In Cinebench, he found it to be just 4% faster while using the same amount of power. So no changes in power usage either.

In all, Steve called this CPU a significant disappointment and from a gaming perspective, a complete and utter flop.

He also mentioned how Ryzen 7950X was massively faster than Ryzen 5950X. In some workloads, the uplift in performance had reached 100% (double fast). So in that context, Ryzen 9950X does seem very bad in performance.

TechPowerUp

TechPowerUP reviewed both AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and AMD Ryzen 9 9900X.

In terms of gaming performance at 1080p (page 18), they found Ryzen 9950X to be just 2.6% faster than previous-gen Ryzen 7950X.

The Ryzen 9900X had a similar story. It was just 1.6% faster than the previous-gen Ryzen 7900X CPU in gaming performance at 1080p (page 18).

What’s even more funny is that both previous-gen Ryzen 7950X and Ryzen 7900X had better minimum FPS in gaming than the newer-gen Ryzen 9950X and Ryzen 9900X respectively (page 21).

In applications, both the CPUs did perform somewhat better. While Ryzen 9950X was almost 3.5% faster than Ryzen 7950X, the Ryzen 9900X was almost 4.5% faster than the Ryzen 7900X in overall application benchmarks.

The power consumption (page 23) too saw some improvements over the previous-gen counterparts. Ryzen 9950X consumed 14W less in single core tests, 40W less in multithreaded tests, 14W in overall application benchmarks, 12W less in gaming benchmarks and 5W less in overall idle PC benchmarks. Not big but something better.

Ryzen 9900X too was similar. It used 10W less in single core tests, 24W less in multithreaded ones, 10W less in overall application benchmarks, 4W less in gaming benchmarks and 3W less in overall idle PC benchmarks.

Interestingly, the temps differ with both the CPUs. While Ryzen 9950X was very efficient in Blender benchmarks, the temps clocked higher than Ryzen 7950X in gaming. However, Ryzen 9900X saw big improvements in Blender temps and minor improvements in gaming temps too.

Conclusion

Many other reviewers too tested both the processors for those who want to read or watch them. Our friends at Club386 tested both AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X. AnandTech too tested both AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X. Gamer Nexus tested just AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (YouTube).

As for our views. We are very disappointed with the AMD Ryzen 9000 CPU series. They offer hardly any uplift in performance in gaming.

They do good in applications and in offers better efficiency. Allowing some to suggest that these CPUs are preliminary designed for productivity software and datacenter CPUs.

What makes us sad is that AMD claimed big gaming performance gains. The above numbers do not agree to those claims. In fact, it’s AMD saying take a hike to gamers.

While many are saying wait for AMD Ryzen 9000X3D CPUs. We ask whether the performance gains are going to be similarly minimal with the X3D CPUs too. As AMD is making big claims with them too.

Interestingly, some reviewers are mentioning on Twitter (now X) that AMD Ryzen 9 9950X has 2.5 times higher latency than Ryzen 9 7950X. Which makes many think if there’s some chip interconnect issue.

There are also some rumors that AMD is considering to increase the TDP of both Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X CPUs. It’s likely because many reviewers found some increase in performance when power limits were removed.

But that’s unlikely to change the overall idea. AMD Ryzen 9000 non-X3D CPUs offer bad uplift in performance in gaming, they are good in application and better in efficiency. AMD could have done better here.

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Paul's Hardware (1.48M subscribers)

August 14, 2024

Video length: 17m 30s

0:00 Welcome to my Ryzen 9950X Review

1:03 A Few Notes - Intel Situation and 9900X Testing Problems

3:32 Spec Comparison

4:25 Testing Hardware

4:44 Power Draw

5:38 Temps

7:02 BENCHMARKS - COMPUTE

10:03 BENCHMARKS - GAMING - 3DMark Time Spy Extreme

10:36 Shadow of the Tomb Raider

11:16 Cyberpunk 2077

11:38 Total War: Warhammer III

12:00 F1 23

12:21 Starfield

12:35 Microsoft Flight Simulator

13:09 Benchmarks Summary / Cost Per Frame

15:27 Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

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Gamers Nexus (2.26M subscribers)

August 14, 2024

Video length: 29m 58s

00:00 - AMD R9 9950X CPU Review & Prices

02:39 - Basic Specs & Chipset Differences

03:04 - Core Parking on AMD CPUs (9950X, 9900X, X3D)

04:51 - How to Enable Core Parking on Some AMD CPUs

07:44 - All-Core Frequency (9950X vs. 7950X, 9700X)

08:35 - Single-Core Frequency (9950X vs. 7950X, 9700X)

09:01 - Peak Power Consumption (Blender, All-Core)

09:55 - Power Efficiency: Blender All-Core

11:02 - Power Efficiency: 7-Zip Compression

11:37 - Power Efficiency: FFXIV Dawntrail

12:10 - Power Efficiency: Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty

12:39 - Power Efficiency: Stellaris Simulation

12:57 - Blender 3D Rendering CPU Benchmark

14:18 - Adobe Photoshop CPU Comparison

15:40 - Adobe Premiere Video Editing CPU Benchmarks

16:53 - Code Compile Benchmark (Best Programming CPUs)

17:55 - 7-Zip File Compression Test

18:52 - 7-Zip File Decompression 9950X vs 7950X

19:28 - SpecWS LAMMPS Test

19:52 - SpecWS Financial Simulation Tests

20:52 - Dragon's Dogma 2 Benchmarks

22:09 - Baldur's Gate 3 Benchmarks

22:55 - Stellaris CPU Simulation Time Comparison

23:52 - FFXIV Dawntrail CPU Benchmarks

24:17 - Dawntrail Frequency vs 9700X

25:09 - F1 24 Benchmark

25:51 - F1 CPU Frequency

26:12 - Conclusion

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JayzTwoCents (4.08M subscribers)

August 14, 2024

Video length: 27m 00s

"We tested 21 CPUs in this round of CPU testing to see whether or not the new 9000 series CPUs from AMD are worth it... spoiler... they aren't. "

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Hope you enjoyed this news post.

Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years.

2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

After a short delay to the planned release of AMD's all-new Ryzen 9000 Series desktop processors, the ultra-powerful Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X are ready for an imminent launch.

Following the entry-level Ryzen 5 9600X and mid-range champion Ryzen 7 9700X, these high-end chips increase the critical specifications to target enthusiast gamers and professional creators.

Are the extreme performance goals of the Ryzen 9 9950X worth the considerable asking price, or can you settle for a more affordable Ryzen 9 9900X and still crunch the most complex creative tasks? Here's what I found in my testing.

Today, Blackbird announced details of its first paid DLC drop, which will launch with the game's 1.2 update on August 15. In a post on its Steam page, it shows that the paid DLC will be the Kalan Raiders Fleet Pack. The Kalan Raiders were a non-playable part of Homeworld 3's campaign, but now its ships will be playable in two separate fleets for its War Games mode.

Here's the description of the two new fleets:

The Raider Fleet has extensively raided Hiigaran space, resulting in a mix of Hiigaran and Kalan ships to make up its tactical forces. This fleet will power ahead to be a formidable force for the enemies you take on. The Capture Fleet specializes in capturing enemy units. You’ll see a mix of Incarnate and Kalan vessels making up this fleet.

In addition to the ships from the Kalan Raiders faction, the update will add three more ships (Swarm Fighter, Mine Launcher Corvette, and Capture Frigate), along with 11 new challenges and 40 Artifacts to the War Games mode that are linked to the Kalan Raiders faction.

The paid DLC will be launched as a stand-alone package, but a price has yet to be revealed. It will also be included in the game's Year One pass, which costs $19.99 and will include access to two more paid DLC packs, which will include even more new fleets and ship factions for the War Games mode. The 1.2 patch is already available in a Beta preview release on Steam, as well as on the Epic Games Store.

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2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of July): 3,313 news posts

What you need to know

• Xbox studio Obsidian Entertainment is currently working on multiple projects, including  fantasy RPG Avowed and a science-fiction sequel, The Outer Worlds 2.
• Speaking with the Hit the Limit Break podcast, Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart shared that work on The Outer Worlds 2 is "going really well."
• Feargus added that Obsidian struggled early on with COVID, and that the studio considered canceling projects to focus entirely on Avowed, but was able to come together and find the right balance eventually. 

Even if it's a ways off, it sounds like another science-fiction Xbox role-playing game (RPG) is shaping up nicely. 

Speaking with Tom Caswell on the newly-launched Hit the Limit Break podcast (thanks, @HazzadorGamin), Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart explained that development on The Outer Worlds 2 is "going really well," with the team coming together and figuring out how to support development simultaneously with multiple projects, including the studio's upcoming fantasy RPG Avowed.

"I've actually been really impressed. We had a really hard time at the studio in COVID," he says. Urquhart went on to share that Obsidian was having a very hard time in the early months of COVID figuring out how to handle different projects, including briefly considering just putting the entire studio on Avowed.

"I appreciate Microsoft and the teams and everybody and that we kinda said 'No, we will get there. We will get there with all these games. Are they gonna be on the timelines that we originally thought? No. But we're gonna get there,'" he says. "And I think that's proven, right? Grounded turned out awesome, Pentiment turned out awesome, Avowed is gonna be great, Outer Worlds 2 is looking incredible." 

You can listen to the full podcast below, though you do need to be aware that it was recorded before Avowed was officially delayed to February 2025.

In the full podcast, Urquhart touches on several other topics, including the nature of the Fallout TV series giving the franchise a resurgence, Xbox studio closures, and more. 

When will The Outer Worlds 2 launch?

What you need to know

• Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart spoke with the Hit the Limit Break podcast about a number of topics, including other Xbox-owned IP he'd like to work on. 
• Urquhart noted that he'd be interested in making a Shadowrun game, saying that it's a "super cool" world to explore. 
• Obsidian Entertainment is currently working on fantasy role-playing game Avowed and a spacefaring adventure, The Outer Worlds 2.

Xbox developer Obsidian Entertainment already has a number of projects in the works, but there's one other Xbox IP that CEO Feargus Urquhart would like to explore. 

During an interview with Tom Caswell on the new Hit the Limit Break podcast, Urquhart was asked if there was a non-Fallout Xbox IP that he'd like to see Obsidian work on. Urquhart immediately responded with Shadowrun, noting that he'd asked to see the list of IP Microsoft owned shortly after Obsidian was purchased and added to Xbox Game Studios.

"I love Shadowrun. I think it's super cool," he says, adding that "If you had to pin me down on one, yes, Shadowrun is the one. I bought the book when it first came out, I probably own four of the six editions, I think it's a super cool IP."

You can check out the full podcast below:

During the podcast, Urquhart also touches on a number of other topics, including the nature of Fallout's resurgence thanks to the Prime Video TV series, how development on The Outer Worlds 2 is going, and more. 

Shadowrun has a complicated history

Shadowrun first began life as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, with the first edition launching back in 1989. Shadowrun is a cross between cyberpunk dystopia and dark fantasy, with powerful corporations and gangs wielding magic as elves and dwarves are born into the world.

Developed by FASA, several editions followed, with the pen-and-paper rights transferring to WizKids, a company that was then acquired by Topps, which now licenses the rights to Catalyst Game Labs (CGL).