RUMOURCONTROL
AMDreadyingZen2 ‘XT’CPUs
While we wait for AMD’s forthcoming Zen 3
CPUs, the tech rumour mill is spinning with
news that AMD is readying a ‘Matisse refresh’,
with plans to launch more Zen 2 CPUs,
which will feature the ‘XT’ suffix. Apparently
scheduled for launch in July, the new CPUs
could strengthen AMD’s arsenal against
Intel’s new Comet Lake line-up (see p16 ).
According to tech site wccftech.com, there
are three new XT chips in development. At
the top of the stack is the Ryzen 9 3900XT,
which retains the 3900X’s 12 cores and 24
threads, but could up the base clock from
3.8GHz to 4.1GHz, and the boost clock from
4.6GHz to 4.8GHz. Likewise, the Ryzen 7
3800XT and Ryzen 5 3600XT reportedly
retain the same number of cores (and
threads) as the 3800 and 3600, but increasethe clock speed, with boost clocks of up
to 4.7GHz. It’s reported that the new chips
will be priced at the same level as their
X-branded predecessors, while the older
CPUs will have their prices cut.September GPU explosion
Both AMD and Nvidia are reportedly gearing
up to launch new GPUs in September,
presumably in order to coincide with the
launch of CD Projekt Red’s game Cyberpunk
2077 in the same month.
Taiwanese tech site digitimes.com
says graphics card manufacturers are also
expected to cut the prices of older GPUs. AMD
has already confirmed that its forthcoming
RDNA2 GPU architecture will support
hardware ray tracing, bringing its graphics
feature support in line with Nvidia.Zen3 couldbe5nm
It’s being reported that AMD’s new Zen 3
CPUs are set to be built on TSMC’s 5nm
process, rather than 7nm. According to Twitter
user chiakokhua, who goes by the name of
‘RetiredEngineer’, the new CPUs are set to be
announced in September or October 2020,
but won’t be launched until the end of the year.
‘According to semiconductor industry
players,’ he says, ‘AMD plonked down a lot
of money to enter the enhanced 5nm era,
hoping to build upon its success and expand
it’s [sic] leadership in advanced process
technology before Intel’s 10nm process is fully
deployed.’ If this is true, we assume that AMD
will be taking a similar approach to production
as with Zen 2, using a 5nm process to make
the chiplet dies, while the I/O hub is built on
a larger process.Thermaltakehasintroduceda new
range of all-in-one liquid CPU coolers
with ARGB lighting; the company says
these will offer ‘premium quality at
affordable prices’. Two versions are
available– theTH120ARGBwitha
120mmradiator,andtheTH240ARGB
witha 240mmradiator.
Thermaltakesaysthelighting
systemwillsynchronisewithany
motherboardsequippedwith5VRGB
headers,includingmodelsfromAsus,Gigabyte,MSI,ASRockandBiostar. A
‘smart’ fan controller is also included,
enabling you to switch lighting effects,
adjust the colour distribution and the
speed of the lighting effects, without
theneedformotherboardcontrol.
Thecoolersaren’tavailableinthe
UKatthetimeofgoingtopress,but
theTH120iscurrentlygoingfor
$74.99USextaxontheothersideof
theAtlantic,whichequatestoaround
£71.50incVAT.E NEW AOC
MING MONITORS
aker AOC has just unleashed five
torsaimed at competitive gamers,
to0.5ms (some of them are
onse times and 240Hz refresh
new monitors in AOC’s G2 series
A panels support AMD’s FreeSync
Active sync tech, in order to
tearing and stuttering artefacts
ngan AMD GPU.
Thetop-end 27in and 31.5in models (the
C27G2ZU,C27G2ZE and C32G2ZE) feature
VA panels with a quoted contrast ratio of
3,000:1. Meanwhile the 23.8in flavours
(the 24G2ZU and 24G2ZE) are based on
TN panels. All the new monitors have a
‘borderless’ bezel on the top three sides of
thepanel,a 1,920x 1,080resolutionand
ffeattureHDMIHDMI 22 andd DiDispllayPPortt 1 2 i 1. 2 inputts.OUR ROUNDUP OF THE LATEST UNCONFIRMED TECH GOSSIP. TAKE THESE
STORIES WITH THE APPROPRIATE PINCH OF SALT
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The topTHERMALTAKE MAKES
CUTPRICE ARGB COOLERS