AMD RAMP Technology For DDR5 Could Give Intel XMP 3.0 Run For Its Money

Intel may have taken the lead on the DDR5 memory frontier with the launch of its 12th generation Alder Lake CPUs, but that may change once AMD’s Socket AM5, 600 series motherboards, and Ryzen 7000 series CPUs launch later this year. This includes the launch of its Ryzen Accelerated Memory Profile, or RAMP for short.

RAMP is expected to succeed AMD’s A-XMP that currently serves as the default memory-overclocking software for all DDR4-based chipsets right now. RAMP was first listed on HWInfo’s v7.17 beta release notes, in which it says the technology had been added as preliminary support to the software. More to the point, it is highly likely that the software was created by AMD as a response and direct rival to Intel’s 3rd generation Extreme Memory Profile (XMP 3.0) memory overclocking profile when, once again, its Ryzen 7000 “Raphael” CPU series makes it to market.

While brief in its presentation and announcement, AMD’s Socket AM5 is set to be a new milestone for the chipmaker, in more ways than one. Its arrival will mark the second time the tech brand will drop the Pin Grid Array (PGA) CPU layout in favour of the Land Grid Array (LGA) format, the first time it adopted the format having started with its Ryzen Threadripper HEDT CPU lineup. Specifically, the new Socket AM5 will also be based on a new LGA1718 design, as well as be the first AMD chipset to support the DDR5 memory standard PCIe Gen5 standard.

At the time of writing, there is no further information about RAMP but if AMD were to maintain the status quo, the new memory technology could mean that currently existing XMP DDR5 memory will also be compatible with it. At the same time, AMD might just allow manufacturers to make RAM modules that cater to their technology, exclusively. Having said that, do remember that this is all just speculation and as such, do take this news with a grain of salt. 

Bank Of England Governor Warns Crypto Investors That They May Lose All Their Money

Interest in cryptocurrencies may be surging but there are still notable skeptics out there. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned cryptocurrency investors that they risk losing all of their money.

According to CNBC, Bailey was recently asked about the rising value of cryptocurrencies at a press conference, prompting him to say, “They have no intrinsic value. That doesn’t mean to say people don’t put value on them, because they can have extrinsic value. But they have no intrinsic value.”

“Buy them only if you’re prepared to lose all your money,” he added.

Unsurprisingly, his comments weren’t taken well by crypto enthusiasts. Cryptocurrency entrepreneur and billionaire Cameron Winklevoss tweeted, “People who don’t invest in #Bitcoin should be prepared to lose all of their money due inflation. All central bankers know this. Few understand this.”

Winklevoss and his brother, Tyler Winklevoss, famously sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing their idea for the social media platform. They later founded a cryptocurrency exchange called Gemini. According to Forbes, both are now billionaires – thanks to their investments in bitcoin.

Relatedly, the Bank of England itself along with the UK Treasury are exploring the possibility of introducing a central bank-backed digital currency.

Square Enix Brings Banhammer Down On Thousands Of Final Fantasy 14 Players For Real Money Trading

Square Enix recently brought down the banhammer on thousands of players in its MMORPG, Final Fantasy 14 (FF14). The bans were issued between 25 February and 3 March, and all players were involved in Real Money Trading (RMT) schemes, as well as other illicit activities.

The video games studio confirmed its action via its official blog post, stating that it had, at the time of this article, terminated 5037 accounts after it was discovered that they had engaged in RMT, along with another 814 accounts for advertising or otherwise attempting to create a deal that involved real currency. Instead of the in-game currency, Gil.

It comes as no surprise that this Square Enix’s first foray with RMT offenders. Back in 2019, the publisher cum developer banned over 9500 accounts for the same reason and in several of those instances, many of those “players” turned out to be bots.

On a somewhat related note, Square Enix announced that its next expansion, Endwalker, recently and that the game would be available sometime closer to the end of the year.

Study Finds Asia-Pacific Consumers Trust Robots Over Humans To Manage Their Money

An overwhelming majority of Asia-Pacific consumers said they would trust a robot more than a personal financial advisor to manage their finances according to a recent study by software giant Oracle and market research firm Savanta.

As noted by CNBC, the global study which is called “Money & Machine” had more than 9,000 respondents, including over 2,500 consumers and business leaders in the Asia-Pacific region.

Not only that, 68% trusted a robot more than themselves when it comes to financial management.  In addition to that, business leaders in the region are even more enthusiastic about machines (or distrustful of their fellow humans) as 83% have said that they trusted robots more to manage finances than their own finance teams.

“The role of finance teams and financial advisors will never be the same,” said Guruprasad Gaonkar, global go-to-market lead for Oracle’s ERP Cloud Business, according to CNBC. “90% of business leaders believe robots will replace finance professionals, and almost two-thirds (62%) believe it will happen within the next five years (by 2025).”

That being said, the age of humans isn’t ending anytime soon. Asia-Pacific respondents apparently gave robots the thumbs up in most tasks: freeing up spare time (38%), detecting fraud (36%), and reducing unnecessary spending (34%). However, the machines fell behind in one crucial, telling, and predictable area which is investment, as only 11% trusted robots to buy stocks.