The Hot Take: I really wonder if this will deflate the Ai bubble even a little bit.
The x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group led by Intel and AMD recently firmed up the AI Compute Extensions (ACE) specification for optimizing x86 for AI computation tasks around matrix multiplication and the like for machine learning workloads. The cross-vendor ACE extension is ultimately a successor to Intel's Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX). Posted to the GCC mailing list today by Intel engineers are the initial patches in preparing the compiler support for ACE...
The Hot Take: Oh so the Ultra series aren't just crap then? /smh
It's curious to call this one a leak, exactly, since the original source is direct from AMD and live on the web, but here we go: AMD's Vishal Badole submitted a patch for the Linux Kernel that he describes as adding support for "a Low Power core type, in addition to the existing Performance and Efficiency types." That's pretty clear-cut.
Now,
The Hot Take: I just hear Tim Allen in my head from tool time.
Intel is expected to push the boundaries on power draw with its upcoming Nova Lake series processors, which will rival the best CPUs. According to newly leaked information, the flagship 52-core desktop variant is expected to feature a dual-compute tile architecture with a massive PL2 limit of 474W. The information was shared by LC Tech Leaks and confirmed by Jaykihn, who has a pretty solid track record with Intel hardware.PL2, or Power Limit 2, represents the maximum power a CPU can draw during short boost periods. That said, a PL2 target of 474W remains quite demanding, although a previous rumor suggests Intel may also have a PL4 emergency power limit over 700W. It is important to note that these power limits may only apply to the top-end models with the dual-tile architecture.Additionally, the leak also sheds light on the upcoming platform, including the previously rumored LGA1954 socket. We already know that Nova Lake-S will require a new generation of motherboards. Motherboard vendors are expected to classify their boards by sustained PL1 power levels, with configurations for 35W, 65W, 125W, and 175W CPUs. Enthusiast-grade motherboards, likely the Z990 series, are also rumored to feature three EPS 8-pin CPU power connectors instead of the traditional two. While vendors will have the option to include a third connector, its primary purpose would be to support extreme overclocking and would not affect the CPU's rated performance profile.The upcoming Nova Lake-S lineup is expected to carry the âCore Ultra 400Sâ moniker and will be Intel's biggest desktop CPU overhaul in years. Weâve previously reported leaked specifications indicating configurations ranging from 6 to 52 cores, with support for DDR5-8000 memory. The flagship 52-core model is expected to feature 16 performance cores, 32 efficiency cores, and a new Big Last Level Cache (bLLC) design to take on AMD's 3D V-Cache gaming dominance. The company is also rumored to introduce integrated Xe3 graphics, Thunderbolt 5, PCIe 5.0 connectivity, and an upgraded NPU for AI workloads.While these specifications are unconfirmed, it is clear that Intel is targeting substantial gains in gaming, multi-threaded performance, and overall platform capabilities with its next-gen processors.
Qualcomm has introduced its first-ever CPU designed for Data Centers, the Dragonfly C1000, which leverages the Oryon architecture. Qualcomm Enters The Agentic AI CPU Race With Dragonfly C1000 Chip, Oryon-Based With Over 5 GHz Clocks, Over 250 Cores, & Aims To Achieve Single-Core Leadership One of the biggest announcements by Qualcomm today was its first release of a CPU for the data center segment, called the Dragonfly C1000. This is a chip purpose-built for Agentic AI & General-Purpose workloads, delivering best-in-class power efficiency and TCO. As per Qualcomm, the Dragonfly C1000 is based on a custom-designed Oryon core architecture that [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/qualcomm-single-core-leadership-first-server-cpu-dragonfly-c1000-250-cores-5-ghz-2028/
The Hot Take: Why did it disappear in the first place?
AMD has confirmed that it will restore Transparent Secure Memory Encryption (TSME) support on consumer Ryzen processors after previously removing the feature through AGESA firmware updates.
The Hot Take: It seems Nvidia is hedging two architectures against each other. x86 vs ARM. They've been working with MediaTek to create the Spark SoC.
According to an exclusive report by VideoCardz, Intel's first x86 system-on-chip (SoC) integrating an Nvidia RTX GPU has been added to its internal product roadmap and is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2028, potentially making its public debut at CES 2028.
The Hot Take: AMD getting ready for Intel refocus on HPDT?
With Threadripper, it has always been a bit like heavy-haul transport on the motorway: massively overdimensioned for normal users, but for certain workloads exactly the kind of tool where every additional lane matters. Now AMDâs next workstation generation has become tangible for the first time. An entry for âTR6 Mustang Peakâ has appeared in AMDâs [âŚ]
The Hot Take: Making the CPU important again on the x86 platform.
ACE, the upcoming set of x86 Extensions defined by both AMD & Intel, has seen the latest spec release, focusing on AI acceleration. AMD & Intel Focus on AI Acceleration Through Next-Gen x86 Architectures That Are ACE Compliant Last year, Intel and AMD partnered to strengthen the x86 ecosystem through their "x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group" initiative. The plan was to offer a standardized set of features across architectures to make x86 accessible, scalable, and compatible with future requirements. Four key features were announced: FRED, AVX10, ChkTag, and ACE. Now, the latest ACE "AI Compute Extensions" specifications have been published by AMD [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/amd-intel-arm-x86-with-ace-matrix-multiply-engines-low-precision-ai-formats-future-cpus/
By ckasprzak | TkOut | June 17, 2026 | CPU, Hardware
The Hot Take: Well now....
AMD appears to have yanked a memory encryption protection from consumer Ryzen chips, leaving users to play firmware detective.
For those who came in late: a decade ago, AMD added Transparent Secure Memory Encryption (TSME) to higher-end CPUs to protect systems from cold-boot attacks and other physical exploits that can siphon data from memory. The feature encrypts everything stored in RAM, making stolen memory contents useless to attackers with physical access.
Over time, TSME turned up on cheaper Ryzen consumer chips, and privacy-minded users reasonably started treating it as part of the package.
Recently, without warning, that protection vanished from lower-end AMD chips in a way Windows users could not easily detect and Linux users could spot only with some technical faffing.
According to Ars Technica AMD has not explained why TSME worked on these CPUs or fully confirmed the change, saying only that TSME âis a security feature only applied to PRO CPUs as part of AMD PRO Technologies.â
In April, Linux hobbyist Ben Kilpatrick installed a new operating system on a Ryzen 7 9700X system and ran Host Security ID to check firmware and hardware protections. He found HSI reporting âencrypted RAM: not supportedâ, even though TSME had been enabled in BIOS and had previously shown as âencryptedâ.
Kilpatrickâs digging led MSI engineers to test consumer Ryzen chips on MSI and Gigabyte boards, where older AGESA firmware enabled TSME but newer AGESA 1.2.7.0 showed it as unsupported.
Pro Ryzen chips supported TSME across motherboard brands and firmware versions, which rather spoiled the idea that this was just a random board-level wobble.
âThe big outstanding question is whether this is a deliberate policy decision by AMD to restrict TSME to PRO chips, or an unintentional regression that was introduced in AGESA 1.2.7.0,â Kilpatrick told Ars.
After Kilpatrick filed a bug report on AMDâs public engineering GitHub, AMD fellow software engineer Tom Lendacky suggested toggling the BIOS option and then speaking to MSI if that failed.
AMD senior principal software engineer Mario Limonciello gave similar advice, telling him: âIf it still doesnât work; then yes please report it to your board vendor to debug.â
Kilpatrick later said MSI had been told by AMD that TSME was officially supported only on PRO processors, and tests showed TSME active on a Ryzen 9945 PRO but off on a consumer Ryzen 9800X3D.
MSIâs ABL dump comparisons reportedly showed the internal AGESA flag DfIsTsmeEnabled returning FALSE for consumer chips, even when TSME was set to AUTO or ENABLED in BIOS.
Kilpatrick pressed AMD on whether this was a silicon limitation or a firmware policy decision, because one is fixed and the other could be changed.
Limonciello replied: âMy apologies, but I donât have any more information to share on this topic.â
This is embarrassing as Lendacky said in 2020 that a consumer Ryzen 3700X âshould support TSMEâ, and in 2025 recommended using it if the BIOS exposed the option.
Silicon-level security expert Joe Fitzgerald said: âBut I really feel like an explanation should be in order, even if it was âTSME was never supposed to be supported. We did ship some firmwares that erroneously enabled it, but you shouldnât use them since we canât guarantee itâll work properly.ââ
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The Hot Take: This is an interesting collaboration between the two seeing intel keeps saying they're not going to stop GPU development.
Intel's Serpent Lake SoCs featuring NVIDIA's RTX GPU tiles as integrated graphics are expected to roll out by Q1 2028. Intel & NVIDIA's Co-Developed Serpent Lake SoCs Featuring Next-Gen CPU & GPU Architectures Rumored For Q1 2028 Last year, Intel announced that it was working with NVIDIA on a custom SoC that would incorporate NVIDIA's RTX GPU tiles. Intel stated that these SoCs will power a wide range of PCs that require the integration of these levels of CPUs & GPUs together into a single package. It looks like we have our first timeline of when these SoCs will be [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/intel-serpent-lake-socs-with-nvidia-rtx-gpu-tiles-reportedly-arrive-in-q1-2028/