AMD appears to be preparing to expand its professional desktop portfolio, bringing its 3D V-Cache technology to the enterprise market for the first time. A new shipping manifest has revealed the Ryzen 9 Pro 9965X3D, a 16-core CPU with a 170W TDP.

The leak, spotted initially by hardware sleuth @Olrak29_ (via VideoCardz), identifies the processor under the product ID 100-000001999. According to the manifest, the chip is a 16-core, 32-thread part with a 170W TDP. This power envelope is particularly notable, as it aligns the Pro model with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, rather than the more conservative, power-limited SKUs typically found in the series. The “9965” naming convention follows AMD's established pattern of using slightly higher model numbers for its professional-grade chips to distinguish them from their consumer counterparts while maintaining the same underlying Zen 5 architecture.

The database entry marks the processor as being in the Design Validation Testing (DVT) phase. This suggests the silicon is well past the initial Engineering Validation (EVT) stage and is currently undergoing stability and compatibility testing to meet reliability standards. While DVT is a late-stage development milestone, it precedes the final Production Process Validation (PVT), indicating that while a launch is likely, the final release window may still be several months away.

The primary appeal of a Pro X3D chip lies in the intersection of high-capacity L3 cache and business-critical security. While the manifest doesn't explicitly confirm the cache size, we assume it will feature 144 MB of L3, matching the consumer 9950X3D. For professional workloads, this massive cache could provide substantial performance uplifts in latency-sensitive applications. Moreover, the Pro designation confirms the inclusion of the AMD Pro Security stack, including Secure Processor, Shadow Stack, Microsoft Pluton Security, Memory Guard and Platform Secure Boot.

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KitGuru says: The existence of a Ryzen 9 Pro 9965X3D suggests that AMD has recognised a growing demand for X3D technology outside of the gaming sphere. For engineers and developers who require the extra cache for specialised software but also need the IT manageability and security of the Pro platform, this chip can offer the best-of-both-worlds.

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Pocketpair is continuing to invest in the Palworld IP, officially announcing the Palworld Official Card Game at the “Bushiroad New Year Grand Presentation 2026”. Developed in partnership with Bushiroad, the studio behind Cardfight!! Vanguard and Weiß Schwarz, the game aims to translate the survival-crafting loop of the digital hit into a competitive tabletop format. Scheduled for a global launch on July 30th, the TCG marks a step toward establishing Palworld as a multimedia franchise, even as legal battles with Nintendo continue in the background.

The Palworld Official Card Game is designed as a head-to-head, two-player competitive experience. Unlike traditional creature battlers that focus solely on combat, this TCG incorporates the core pillars of the video game: base building and resource management. Players will deploy Pals not just to attack and defend, but to gather the resources necessary to expand their “fortress”. The ultimate goal is to leverage Pals' traits and technological upgrades to overrun the opponent's base. A teaser for this new card game has already been released and is available below via YouTube:

Bushiroad has confirmed that the launch will include starter decks and booster packs, with a full ruleset reveal expected at the Card Game Festival 2026 in Tokyo this May.

With nearly 200 Pals already in the digital game's roster, the TCG has plenty of content for future expansions, including the elemental variations and “Lucky” Pals familiar to veteran players.

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KitGuru says: Partnering with Bushiroad ensures the Palworld TCG has a solid foundation, but the real test will be whether the base-building mechanics feel good in a card game.

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The “AI tax” on PC hardware is spreading beyond silicon. After the cost increase for RAM and SSDs, the industry is now bracing for a significant price hike in other fundamental parts of a build: power supplies and cooling solutions. According to a warning issued by Guangzhou Xinhong Zhengdian Electronic Technology, a leading Chinese electronics firm, the surging cost of raw materials, specifically copper, silver, and tin, is forcing an immediate adjustment across the supply chain.

According to the letter shared by MyDrivers (via NotebookCheck), these increases are a direct side effect of the global AI infrastructure boom. While memory makers are busy reallocating wafer capacity to HBM, the construction of massive AI data centres has sent the price of industrial minerals to historic highs. Copper, the primary conductor in PSU transformers and cooler heatpipes, reportedly broke through the $13,000/tonne barrier in early January. Combined with surging silver and tin prices, manufacturers are no longer able to absorb the ballooning production costs.

As such, PSUs will see a 6% to 10% increase, while CPU coolers are slated for a 6% to 8% jump. Upstream suppliers reportedly stopped accepting orders at previous price points as of January 6th, meaning that any stock currently entering the channel is already being calculated at the new and higher rates.

Perhaps more concerning for the average consumer is the impending “promotional purge”. The notice from Guangzhou Xinhong Zhengdian states that all current promotional pricing and vendor discounts will terminate on February 1st. After this date, over 90% of products in these categories are expected to revert to a higher “standard” MSRP, with some products also subject to additional per-item surcharges. This creates a narrow window for builders to secure current inventory before the 2026 pricing baseline resets across the board.

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KitGuru says: We've already seen the impact of the AI boom on the high-end GPU and memory markets, but seeing it trickle down into copper-heavy components like PSUs and air coolers is a grim sign for the 2026 DIY market.

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Microsoft's strategy to bring its established first-party library to competing hardware appears to be working. While Forza Horizon 5 originally served as a flagship showcase for the Xbox Series X|S and Windows back in late 2021, its eventual arrival on the PlayStation 5 in April 2025 has proven that the appetite for high-quality arcade racers remains high across all ecosystems. 

According to data shared by Rhys Elliott (via Eurogamer), Forza Horizon 5 has officially surpassed five million copies sold on the PlayStation 5. This performance is particularly noteworthy given its age at the time of its port. Moving five million units of a late 2021 game certainly suggests that the Forza brand has resonated with the PlayStation audience.

Moreover, Elliott reports that the PlayStation 5 version has generated approximately $300 million (£223 million) in revenue to date. This figure reinforces the narrative that Microsoft's multi-platform pivot might be pretty lucrative. The port's success was foreshadowed as early as July last year, when Alinea Analytics noted that the game had become the top-selling new release on PlayStation 5 in 2025, and that sales momentum has clearly persisted into the current year.

This commercial success sets a strong precedent for the franchise's future. Playground Games is currently working on the next instalment in the series, which is scheduled to arrive on Windows and Xbox Series X|S in 2026. While a PlayStation 5 version of the upcoming sequel is confirmed to be in development, no specific release window has been announced yet. Given the significant revenue generated by the current port, it is highly probable that the gap between the Xbox and PlayStation release dates for the next title will be narrower than what we saw with this generation.

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KitGuru says: Have you played Forza Horizon on the PS5? Do you think Xbox should consider launching Forza Horizon 6 for all platforms simultaneously?

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