AMD Actually Kept Their PROMISE!

Summary

Nvidia released an open beta for their RTX Remix software allowing modders to easily remaster old games with ray tracing and DLSS. New Frankenstein mobile GPUs adapted for desktops are being sold from China, but come with issues like lack of driver support. AMD finally shared specs for the Zen4C cores in their latest APUs, but still has some transparency work to do. Intel's upcoming CPUs may lack hyperthreading as the company transitions to a hybrid core design, signaling the end of multithreading in mainstream CPUs as we know it.

Takeaways

• 😲 Nvidia released RTX Remix software in open beta to easily remaster old games with ray tracing and DLSS
• 👆 Type AI is a new keyboard app powered by GPT that can finish sentences, rewrite tone, generate replies, and more
• 😮 Companies are selling makeshift GPUs made from mobile chips not officially supported by Nvidia or partners
• 💪 AMD finally shared clock speeds for the Zen4c cores in Ryzen 8000 APUs and mobile CPUs
• 🤔 Intel's upcoming CPUs may not support hyperthreading due to new rentable units technology
• 🎮 RTX Remix could allow modders to remake classic games with improved graphics for modern hardware
• ⌨️ Type AI works seamlessly across apps to rewrite, rephrase, translate and more right from your keyboard
• ⏰ There are still issues with how AMD discloses its hybrid core architectures in spec sheets
• ❓ The legitimacy and driver support for these new Frankenstein GPUs is questionable
• 🔚 Multi-threading may be replaced by more efficient scheduling between performance and efficiency cores

Q & A

What is Nvidia's new RTX Remix software?

RTX Remix is a free modding platform from Nvidia that allows modders to easily remaster old DirectX 8 and 9 games by adding ray tracing, DLSS and more.

Why is Nvidia releasing the RTX Remix software?

Nvidia is releasing RTX Remix to allow modders to upgrade old games to take advantage of Nvidia's latest GPU technology like ray tracing and DLSS. This helps drive demand for Nvidia's RTX GPUs.

What are the Frankenstein Nvidia GPUs being sold out of China?

These are mobile Nvidia GPUs mounted on desktop PCBs with fans added. They are not officially supported by Nvidia and come with issues like lack of proper drivers.

Why doesn't AMD clearly indicate which CPUs use hybrid Zen4 and Zen4c cores?

AMD has not been clear in their marketing about which Ryzen 8000 mobile and desktop APUs use a mix of Zen4 and Zen4c cores. You have to check detailed specs to see this.

Why is Intel dropping hyperthreading support in future CPUs?

With the move to hybrid core architectures, hyperthreading causes scheduling issues. Intel has developed a new scheme called rentable units to better utilize the mix of high performance and efficiency cores.

How does Intel's rentable units scheduling approach work?

Rentable units splits tasks and assigns them to the best suited core - bigger tasks go to performance cores and smaller tasks to efficiency cores. This aims to better utilize the heterogenous cores.

What is Type AI and what does it do?

Type AI is a keyboard extension app powered by GPT-3 AI. It can finish sentences, rewrite text, generate replies, and translate right within your keyboard.

Why does simultaneous multithreading provide a performance boost?

SMT boosts performance by filling in the idle time between tasks on a core by scheduling another thread, essentially doubling the throughput.

What are some of the downsides of SMT?

SMT can introduce scheduling headaches and instability in some cases. Performance gains are also highly dependent on the workload not saturating the cores.

Will AMD also move away from SMT with future CPUs?

Since AMD is adopting hybrid core designs similar to Intel's, it's likely they will develop their own optimized scheduling approach and move away from SMT.