Cpu articles

amd zen cpus amd ryzen amd cpu vulnerability

AMD Ryzen CPUs are impacted by all of these serious vulnerabilities

A hot potato: All users with AMD Ryzen processors from the last few years should check and update their motherboard firmware ASAP, especially if they haven't done so since before 2023. AMD has published a detailed chart describing four severe security issues affecting server, desktop, workstation, HEDT, mobile, and embedded Zen CPUs. Recent BIOS updates have addressed most, but not all of the flaws.
amd athlon k7 easter texas amd cpu easter egg

AMD hid a fun Easter egg on its Athlon K7 CPU that went undiscovered until now

Easter eggs are more fun when they aren't immediately discovered
Neat: Hardware photographer Fritzchens Fritz recently stumbled across a fascinating Easter egg when examining an Athlon Classic CPU from AMD. When inspecting an Athlon K7 under magnification, Fritz discovered a logo of the state of Texas in one corner, right above a revolver firing a bullet. It is believed the state is a nod to Austin where AMD has some facilities, but the gun could mean anything (perhaps AMD firing a shot at Intel?).
hobbyist cpu microsoft excel excel

Hobbyist builds fully functioning 16-bit CPU in Microsoft Excel

Turns out, Excel is a lot more interesting than we ever imagined
In a nutshell: In an impressive display of creativity and technical finesse, a hobbyist has managed to build a fully functioning 16-bit CPU entirely within Microsoft Excel. The project provides a unique hands-on way to explore low-level computing concepts and highlights Excel's flexibility beyond boring spreadsheets, letting anyone download and tinker with a miniature computer architecture.
intel granite rapids xeon cpus intel xeon

Intel Granite Rapids Xeon CPUs could ship with up to 480MB of L3 cache

Granite Rapids Xeons are expected to hit the market in 2H 2024
What just happened? Intel's next-gen Xeon CPUs, codenamed Granite Rapids, could come with a massive cache upgrade compared to their predecessors. While the high-end Emerald Rapids SKUs ship with up to 320MB of L3 cache, the leading Granite Rapids chips are said to offer a whopping 480MB of L3 cache.

Explainer: What is Chip Binning?

#TBT You just bought a new CPU and it seems to run cool, so you try a bit of overclocking. The GHz climbs higher. Did you hit the silicon jackpot? You've got yourself a binned chip. But what's that exactly?