Components
AMD Intros Ryzen 3000XT Desktop Processors

Today, AMD announced three new additions to the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen desktop processor family – the AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT, AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT and AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT processors. Introducing XT branding for the first time to the Ryzen family of processors, the new AMD Ryzen 3000XT desktop processors are purpose-built to maximize performance under any workload. Expanding on the award-winning 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processor family, 3000XT series desktop processors are optimized with higher boost frequencies to deliver elite-level performance that dominates gaming and content creation.
Today also marks worldwide availability of the AMD B550 chipset, the first mainstream chipset with support for PCIe 4.0. Available in a variety of motherboard form factors, the AMD B550 chipset is perfect for high-speed performance in both gaming and multitasking. Additionally, AMD announced the A520 chipset for socket AM4 and 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen desktop processors with more than 40 designs in development. Alongside these new chipset and processors, AMD also announced the redesigned StoreMI storage acceleration software with a new UI and enhanced acceleration algorithm.
“At AMD, we are committed to listening closely to our customers and the enthusiast community to deliver leadership products,” said Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, client business unit. “With AMD Ryzen 3000XT processors, we’re making additional optimizations to the 7nm manufacturing process to deliver industry leading single-thread performance and more choice and flexibility for enthusiasts.i”
AMD Ryzen 3000XT Series Processors
Building upon the legacy established by the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processor family, the 3000XT Series processors elevate the world-class “Zen 2” architecture with an optimized 7nm manufacturing process technology to offer higher boost frequency and increased performance at the same TDPs of their Ryzen 3000 counterparts.
The AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT offers:
- Up to 4% increase in single-threaded performance over AMD Ryzen 3000 desktop processors
- Up to 40% more power efficiency than the competition
MODEL | CORES/ THREADS | BOOST/ BASE FREQUENCY (GHZ) | TOTAL CACHE (MB) | TDP (WATTS) | Platform | SEP (USD) | EXPECTED AVAILABILITY |
AMD Ryzen™ 9 3900XT | 12/24 | Up to 4.7/3.8 | 70 | 105 | AM4 | $499 | July 7, 2020 |
AMD Ryzen™ 7 3800XT | 8/16 | Up to 4.7/3.9 | 36 | 105 | AM4 | $399 | July 7, 2020 |
AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600XT | 6/12 | Up to 4.5/3.8 | 35 | 95 | AM4 | $249 | July 7, 2020 |
Thermal Solutions
AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT retail box processors include a Wraith Spire cooler. The AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT, AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 5 3600XT processors feature tailored specifications engineered for enthusiasts who regularly choose aftermarket cooling for the highest possible performance. As a result, AMD is recommending the use of an AIO solution with a minimum 280mm radiator or equivalent air cooling to experience these products at their best. A list of AMD recommended coolers can be found on AMD.com to ensure enthusiasts can maximize the potential from the entire 3000XT series of desktop processors.
Expanded AM4 Platform Offerings
The new A520 chipset for socket AM4 is the latest addition to the AMD 500 Series chipset family providing a streamlined, trusted platform to satisfy everyday PC users. These AMD 500 Series motherboards including the new A520 provide essential performance for 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors and beyond. The AMD Ryzen 3000XT Series processors also come with unbeatable platform support, compatible with all motherboards equipped with a Ryzen 3000-ready BIOS, including day-one support on the entire 500 series chipset families.
AMD StoreMI
AMD StoreMI technology has been reimagined for 2020 and beyond with an all-new interface and new features. Highlights of the 2.0 version include a new caching-based acceleration algorithm that enhances data integrity and prioritizes most-used data, speeding up boot times by up to 31% and decreasing game load times by up to 13% vs an HDD only, With its intelligent design and streamlined interface, AMD StoreMI is ideal for achieving SSD level speed with HDD level capacity.
Availability
AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT, AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT, and AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT processors are expected to be available from top retailers and etailers worldwide starting July 7, 2020. AMD A520 motherboards are expected to be available at leading retailers and etailers starting in August 2020 from board partners including ASRock, ASUS, Biostar, Colorful, GIGABYTE, and MSI.

Components
AMD Launches AMD RDNA 4 Architecture with New Radeon RX 9000 Series Graphics Cards

AMD today unveiled the highly-anticipated AMD RDNA 4 graphics architecture with the launch of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 graphics cards as a part of the Radeon RX 9000 Series. The new graphics cards feature 16GB of memory and extensive improvements designed for high-quality gaming graphics, including re-vamped raytracing accelerators and powerful AI accelerators for ultra-fast, cutting-edge performance, and breakthrough gaming experiences.
In a YouTube livestream, David McAfee, CVP and GM, Ryzen CPU and Radeon Graphics, AMD, was joined by Andrej Zdravkovic, SVP of GPU Technologies and Engineering, AMD and Chief Software Officer, as well as Andy Pomianowski, CVP of Silicon Design Engineering, AMD, to discuss the outstanding performance and value proposition of the Radeon RX 9000 Series. In a related event in Zhuhai, China, Jack Huynh, SVP of the Client and Graphics Group, AMD, led a regional event for the new products. Huynh was joined by David Wang, SVP of GPU Technology and Engineering, AMD, and Lanzhi Wang, Senior Director of Product Management, AMD. The celebration was also marked by a customer celebration with Darren Grasby, EVP and AMD Chief Sales Officer, AMD; Spencer Pan, President of AMD China, and partners including Asrock, ASUS, Gigabyte, Sapphire, Tul, Vastamore, Veston, and XFX.
“Today, we’re thrilled to unveil the AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series, a significant leap forward in graphics performance powered by our next-generation AMD RDNA 4 architecture,” said McAfee. “These GPUs are designed to meet the demands of today’s games, delivering enthusiast-class gaming experiences to gamers everywhere, while ready to support tomorrow’s innovations. Through the power of advanced AI and Raytracing accelerators, we’re not just improving frame rates – we’re fundamentally enhancing the gaming experience. Offering incredible performance, AI-powered features, and next-gen display support at competitive price points, the Radeon RX 9000 Series delivers exceptional value for gamers looking to upgrade their systems.”
The RX 9000 Series, powered by the new AMD RDNA 4 architecture, offers gamers and creators a powerful blend of performance, visuals, and value. These advanced graphics cards redefine incredibly fast, high-resolution gaming with third-generation raytracing technology enabling realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections to deliver immersive gaming experiences while integrating a suite of AMD features to maximize hardware utilization. Beyond gaming, the RX 9000 Series GPUs leverage new second-generation AI accelerators with up to 8x INT8 throughput per AI accelerator (for sparse matrices) to enhance creative applications and effectively run generative AI applications (vs. RDNA 3). The RX 9000 Series GPUs also implement the newly redesigned AMD Radiance Display Engine & Enhanced Media Engine for broad display support and elevated quality in both recording and streaming.
The Radeon RX 9000 Series unlocks new levels of performance while delivering a suite of new and enhanced features that improve the gaming experience. The Radeon RX 9070 Series offers 16GB of GDDR6 memory, allowing gamers to render the most exciting games of today and tomorrow at max settings. Compared to the previous generation RX 7900 GRE, the latest AMD Radeon RX 9070 is able to deliver over 20% more performance on average when gaming at 1440, with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT extending that lead to over 40% on average.
Both graphics cards make smart upgrades for gamers looking to future-proof their systems with a suite of next-gen features that will keep their experiences feeling fresh for years to come. Key features include:
- Unified AMD RDNA 4 Compute Units – Features up to 64 advanced AMD RDNA 4 compute units delivering up to 40% higher gaming performance than the previous-generation AMD RDNA 3 architecture.
High-Performance Raytracing – With 3rd generation Raytracing Accelerators, AMD RDNA 4 is able to deliver over 2x the Raytracing throughput per compute unit when compared to our previous generation. Gamers with the latest AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series are ready for immersive gaming experiences with high-quality graphics, including realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections. - Supercharged AI Acceleration – 2nd Generation AI Accelerators received several enhancements, allowing AMD RDNA 4 to efficiently process advanced AI models much faster than what was possible with RDNA 3, through a combination of additional math pipelines for AI calculations, expanding the capabilities of the AI Accelerator to support new emerging data types such as FP8, and support for inference optimization techniques such as structured sparsity. These changes deliver up to 8x INT8 throughput per AI accelerator (for sparse matrices) per compute unit vs the previous generation.
- AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution Technology 4 (FSR 4) – AMD’s new cutting-edge ML-powered upscaling technology delivers high-quality boosted frames under even the most demanding workloads, such as 4K gaming with maximum raytracing settings and will be supported in over 30 games at launch.
- Innovative suite of features through HYPR-RX – Gamers can instantly improve their experience by activating AMD HYPR-RX and the suite of features within AMD Software, including AMD Radeon Super Resolution, AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2.1, AMD Radeon Anti-Lag, and AMD Radeon Boost. These features can all be tailored to gamers’ hardware and preferences within AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition to drive increased FPS, responsiveness and efficiency.
- AI-Enhanced AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition Application – A new suite of software and resources designed to deliver an industry-leading AI user experience with AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series graphics cards. Keep your drivers and AI software up to date with the new Software Manager. Find the answers to your questions about all things AMD or create free and private text and images with AMD Chat. Discover, download and install new and exciting AMD-partnered AI applications with the App Portal, and leverage AI to improve software quality with the AMD Image Inspector.
- Ready for Next-Generation Displays – AMD Radiance Display Engine supports the latest DisplayPort 2.1a and HDMI 2.1b connections, enabling ultra-high resolutions and refresh rates up to 8K 144Hz, with 12-bit HDR and full REC2020 Color Space for incredible color accuracy. Paired with AMD FreeSync technology, gamers can enjoy tear-free, stutter-free gaming experiences on over 4000 compatible displays, including upcoming 4K 240Hz and 8K 144Hz DisplayPort 2.1 monitors.
Available exclusively on AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics cards, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition adds a new easy-to-use AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (AMD FSR 4) Upgrade feature that helps maximize performance at maximum quality in over 30 games at launch, with 75 coming later this year. AMD FSR 4 delivers a substantial image quality improvement over AMD FSR 3.1 upscaling, with the new ML-based algorithm helping to improve temporal stability, better preserve detail, and reduce ghosting.
Utilizing features already built into the AMD FidelityFX API added when game developers integrate AMD FSR 3.1 into their games, AMD FSR 4 enables an easy upgrade for supported FSR 3.1 games and can be combined with existing in-game AMD FSR 3.1 advanced frame-generation and AMD Radeon Anti-Lag 2 for ultra-smooth, ultra-responsive gaming at incredible frame rates on AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series graphics cards.
The new ML-accelerated AMD FSR 4 upscaling algorithm is trained using high-quality ground truth game data on AMD Instinct Accelerators and uses the hardware-accelerated FP8 Wave Matrix Multiply Accumulate (WMMA) feature of the AMD RDNA 4 architecture to ensure maximum upscaling quality while still providing a substantial game performance boost.
AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics cards are expected to be available from leading board partners including Acer, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, PowerColor, Sapphire, Vastarmor, XFX, and Yeston beginning March 6th, 2025. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT has an SEP of $599, while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 has an SEP of $549.
Components
Users Claim That Nvidia GPUs Are Melting Power Cables

Early adopters of Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card are reporting issues with melting power cables, with at least one report on YouTube and another on Reddit. This situation mirrors an earlier problem with the RTX 4090, where power connectors melted or caught fire, damaging GPUs and power supplies.
Investigations revealed that the 4090’s connector issues were largely due to user error, with 12VHPWR connectors not being fully inserted or bent, creating stress and heat. The PCI-SIG, the standards body for the connector, stated the design was sound and blamed implementation issues. An updated connector, 12V-2×6, which ensures proper seating before delivering power, replaced the 12VHPWR connector in the RTX 50-series cards.
Both connectors aim to deliver significant power to high-end GPUs via a single cable, reducing the need for multiple 8-pin connectors and saving board space. While Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Arm, and others are PCI-SIG members, Nvidia is the primary user of these connectors in its GPUs. AMD and Intel continue using 8-pin connectors, with some Nvidia partners doing the same for lower-end cards like the RTX 4060 and 4070 series.
The two reported RTX 5090 incidents involved third-party cables, one from MODDIY and another from an FSP power supply, rather than Nvidia’s provided 8-pin adapter. It’s too early to determine if the problem lies with the cables, Nvidia, the connector design, or user error, or if it’s simply a coincidence.
Components
Cooler Master Launches MasterLiquid Core II

Cooler Master has announced the MasterLiquid Core II, a next-level liquid cooler that comes in both 240mm and 360mm sizes. This latest version of Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid series builds on the excellence of that renowned series of liquid coolers while bringing an array of new features to the table. With a refined G9R dual chamber pump, updated CPU compatibility, and more, the MasterLiquid Core II is an upgrade fit for the next generation.
Key features and benefits of the MasterLiquid Core II include:
- Dual chamber pump: Upgraded design resulting in a compact cooler with superior performance.
- Updated CPU compatibility: The Core II is compatible with all the latest AMD and Intel CPUs.
- Innovative design: An infinity mirror pump cover gives the Core a stellar aesthetic.
- Revamped fans: Brand-new fan blades and revamped visuals deliver outstanding performance with a fresh look.
- Easy installation: Now includes a quick-mount kit compatible with all mainstream processor sockets, along with pre-installed fans.
- Optimum tubing length: 400mm of tubing enables effortless mounting in any orientation.
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