Daily Tech News 11 November 2026

Top Story

Zen 6 is here but not for you. (WCCFTech)

Only the server versions are shipping now, but that tells us pretty much how the desktop versions will perform, because the CPU chiplets used are identical; only the I/O die changes.

And what we see from the CPU chiplets is 27% better performance at the same clock frequency, 10% higher clock frequencies (and desktop chips may go higher than that), and 50% more cores - twice the total performance.

Also interesting is the Zen 6c low-power chiplet. Unlike Intel's low-power cores it is functionally identical to the full Zen 6, just implemented in a denser, power-optimised layout. But where Zen 5c had 16 cores with 2MB of cache per core - twice as many cores but half the cache per core of Zen 5 - Zen 6c has 32 cores per chiplet and 4MB of L3 cache per core. 128MB in total, which is more than a desktop 9800X3D chip.

And the 32 cores all being on a single die means there is no added latency between the cores and between the cores and the cache. Or not much, anyway; L3 cache accesses look to be about 10 cycles slower than Zen 6.

As to when we'll see Zen 6 on the desktop - that's unanswered. Engineering samples for the laptop versions are already circulating, so it's up to AMD's marketing, so somewhere between tomorrow and never.
Tom's Hardware found a 93% performance gain comparing a 256-core Zen 6c with a 192 core Zen 5c. (Tom's Hardware)

So right in the ballpark of 2x.

Tech News

AMD also announced MEXT, which appears to be a predictive swap file. (WCCFTech)

All modern operating systems already have swap files, where unused pages in memory are written out to disk to free them up for other tasks. What MEXT does is try to read the pages back in before they are actually needed so this doesn't kill performance - and reportedly works pretty well. It's still slower than having enough DRAM, but it's faster than traditional swap mechanisms.
Who is Alice Huang and what has she been up to? (Tom's Hardware)

And is she why you can't buy an RTX 5090?
Terafab, the SpaceX / Tesla chipmaking join venture - is targeting production of a million wafers per month by 2032. (Tom's Hardware)

That's great, but if those aren't memory wafers it doesn't do us much good.

They are memory wafers? Or at least, 70% of them?

Well... Good.
How does Apple's top-of-the-line M5 Ultra compare with Nvidia's RTX Spark on local AI? (Tom's Hardware)

Like a bug, you say?

On the one hand, a 256GB M5 Ultra Mac Studio costs twice as much as the 128GB RTX Spark for twice the performance. On the other hand, there is a 96GB model that is only a little more expensive than the RTX Spark, and if your LLM fits it still delivers twice the performance.

Musical Interlude

Song is World's Smallest Violin by AJR. Anime is Spy x Family.

Disclaimer: Make it even smaller!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:02 AM (fDryU)

2 w00t

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:03 AM (odBC9)

3 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at November 11, 2026 04:03 AM (sAmhv)

4 Disclaimer: Make it even smaller!

Micro-size it? Done!

You have 2 more wishes.

Love,
Geni

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:04 AM (fDryU)

5 >>>Zen 6 is here but not for you. (WCCFTech)

I read "Zen," I think "Zyn," I think "drugs."
Perhaps moar covfefe. Also a drug.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:05 AM (odBC9)

6 Where's Skip?

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:07 AM (odBC9)

7 6 Where's Skip?
Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:07 AM (odBC9)

Last seen, he was on the ONT, saying:

317 Time to rise and shine
Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 03:44 AM (Ia/+0)

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:08 AM (odBC9)

8 So, how bad is Texas now?

This bad:

https://tinyurl.com/zdry4whd

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:08 AM (fDryU)

9 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 04:08 AM (Ia/+0)

10 It is Veterans Day

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 04:09 AM (Ia/+0)

11 8 So, how bad is Texas now?

This bad:

https://tinyurl.com/zdry4whd
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:08 AM (fDryU)

If you mix them all up in a blender and pour them out, you get Jennifer Welch.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:09 AM (odBC9)

12 Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:08 AM (fDryU)

Whatta hash!

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:09 AM (odBC9)

13 Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:08 AM (fDryU)

Whatta hash!

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:09 AM (odBC9)
-

Only if you truly believe that FDR graduated Yeshiva University.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:14 AM (fDryU)

14 13 Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:08 AM (fDryU)

Whatta hash!

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:09 AM (odBC9)
-

Only if you truly believe that FDR graduated Yeshiva University.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:14 AM (fDryU)

I was reading the "f" as the f-word, and Dry U as a place of higher education.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:16 AM (odBC9)

15 Who is Alice Huang and what has she been up to? (Tom's Hardware)

archived:
https://archive.is/mkmJR

They don't seem to know where she is.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:20 AM (odBC9)

16 Good morning all, TX is well and truely screwed.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen at November 11, 2026 04:23 AM (Q/FnY)

17 Who is Alice Huang and what has she been up to? (Tom's Hardware)

archived:
https://archive.is/mkmJR

They don't seem to know where she is.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:20 AM (odBC9)
-

She's just Huanging around!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:24 AM (fDryU)

18 couple of days old, but

Guardian

The AI poster boy, the ‘Chinese spy’ and Trump: how an affair may have harmed US security

Nov 9, 2026

https://archive.is/3E9N4

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:24 AM (odBC9)

19 Super Ice, Ice, baby:

https://tinyurl.com/2a988usx

Based on the shown color scheme, I would have named it Orca.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:25 AM (fDryU)

20 Oh.

Open Source Intel @Osint613
4m

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary, Mohsen Rezaei:

We will not remove even a single particle of enriched nuclear material from Iran.

We have informed our Russian friends that the enriched materials will remain in Iran, and we will use them ourselves.

We need enriched nuclear material to design nuclear-powered ships and submarines.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:29 AM (fDryU)

21 19 Super Ice, Ice, baby:

https://tinyurl.com/2a988usx

Based on the shown color scheme, I would have named it Orca.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:25 AM (fDryU)

And a baby orca rolled out of it, about halfway through.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:33 AM (odBC9)

22 21 19 Super Ice, Ice, baby:

https://tinyurl.com/2a988usx

Based on the shown color scheme, I would have named it Orca.
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 11, 2026 04:25 AM (fDryU)

And a baby orca rolled out of it, about halfway through.
Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:33 AM (odBC9)

... at 1:12.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:34 AM (odBC9)

23 The thing about life is nothing stays the same.
There will always be changes.
Always.

Posted by: Case at November 11, 2026 04:35 AM (En+fz)

24 France apparently looked up from getting rawdogged by their new friends and neighbors just long enough to notice that it was Iran who attacked their supermarket freezers and pharmaceutical storage facilities and say "heyyyy, that's not nice, cut that out", and then lustily returned to biting the national pillow again.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2026 04:35 AM (aKiSo)

25 dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/over 14k satellite trails after
https://tinyurl.com/5dzeaaa9

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 04:40 AM (Ia/+0)

26 If I were supreme governor of a red state, my first actions would be to raze all the universities, and shutter every head shop in the state.

Just as a first pass defensive measure. Active fumigation could proceed later.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2026 04:40 AM (aKiSo)

27 25 dailytimewaster.blogspot.com/over 14k satellite trails after
https://tinyurl.com/5dzeaaa9
Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 04:40 AM (Ia/+0)

Over 14K satellite trails after photographing the night sky over Mt Taranaki for 2 hours

It's kinda beautiful.

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:47 AM (odBC9)

28 And do users of the Zen server have a transcendental experience while using it?

And on another note, the Babylon Bee bit on "How to tell if your girlfriend is a Chinese spy" was quite funny?

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2026 04:53 AM (JrHfD)

29 26 If I were supreme governor of a red state, my first actions would be to raze all the universities, and shutter every head shop in the state.

Just as a first pass defensive measure. Active fumigation could proceed later.
Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2026 04:40 AM (aKiSo)

... and something-something all the lawyers?

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:56 AM (odBC9)

30 28 the Babylon Bee bit on "How to tell if your girlfriend is a Chinese spy" was quite funny
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2026 04:53 AM (JrHfD)

https://tinyurl.com/yc6529x8

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:57 AM (odBC9)

31 #28 it was quite funny. There should be no question mark.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2026 04:57 AM (JrHfD)

32 31 #28 it was quite funny. There should be no question mark.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2026 04:57 AM (JrHfD)

Oh, good. For a bit I thought you had taken to "up-talking" there....

Posted by: Warai-otoko at November 11, 2026 05:00 AM (aKiSo)

33 Even if size of a car, 14,000 satellites have lots of room to not hit each other.

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 05:01 AM (Ia/+0)

34 Sign on a roadside in a YouTube short
Don't feed the Quokkas
No matter what they say

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 05:04 AM (Ia/+0)

35
g'mornin' 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at November 11, 2026 05:08 AM (AMvSw)

36 Still at a fairly close job, maybe rest of the week
Have a great day horde

Posted by: Skip at November 11, 2026 05:15 AM (Ia/+0)

37 Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:57

Thanks for providing a link.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2026 05:17 AM (JrHfD)

38 If you want to read the full article about how Bang-Bang convinced Huang-Huang's Wang-Wang to provide her with billions of dollars worth of banned Nvidia products which she then smuggled into Chicomland hit the link.

https://archive.ph/mkmJR

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - General Lame Duck Retreat is my president at November 11, 2026 05:19 AM (9141e)

39 seating chart at the White House Super Intelligence luncheon, September 29, 2026

https://archive.is/8BQEA

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 05:21 AM (odBC9)

40
I just learned this. Everybody's favorite Flerfer (flat earther), Chris, CC from Westchester County, NY passed away on Nov. 3. No public word on what happened.

Posted by: Publius on Stupid Phone at November 11, 2026 05:29 AM (w6EFb)

41 Man reflects on the story of his dad's service in WWII and stories of the Bible. An "Our Daily Bread" devotional:

https://tinyurl.com/4veud7sr

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2026 05:31 AM (JrHfD)

42 That's what Pixy posted!

15 Who is Alice Huang and what has she been up to? (Tom's Hardware)

archived:
https://archive.is/mkmJR

They don't seem to know where she is.
Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 04:20 AM (odBC9)

38 If you want to read the full article about how Bang-Bang convinced Huang-Huang's Wang-Wang to provide her with billions of dollars worth of banned Nvidia products which she then smuggled into Chicomland hit the link.

https://archive.ph/mkmJR
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - General Lame Duck Retreat is my president at November 11, 2026 05:19 AM (9141e)

Posted by: m at November 11, 2026 05:31 AM (odBC9)

43 G'morning, all!

48.2 degrees out.

No morning walk as Mrs VIA has a dermatology appointment early this morning.

Plus, persistent hip pain on my part has become a real issue, making long walks a challenge.

I don't know where we are going with that new part of being just a few months past 29 years old, but it can stop any time it wants to.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 11, 2026 05:39 AM (iMotb)

44 Looks like Stacy Keach has departed the pattern, at age 85.

I always liked him as an actor.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 11, 2026 05:43 AM (iMotb)

45 Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 11, 2026 05:39 AM (iMotb)

I am sorry that you're in pain and hope that it dissipates.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at November 11, 2026 05:44 AM (JrHfD)

46 Thank you, Fen.

Just started taking Ostio Biflex yesterday, so we will give it a few weeks and see how it does.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at November 11, 2026 05:46 AM (iMotb)

47 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at November 11, 2026 05:48 AM (Hbeqj)

48 Evening and morning to the late midweek toilers and early risers for a Woden's Day!

'Tis not really cool here, 64-67 F., but there may be some light rain moving in by workout time. Maybe I'll have to cancel my plans. There are still tomorrow and Friday, though. Cooler air, the weather mavens tell us, will be here late Thurs., and we ought to see "fall" temps by Friday morning.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 11, 2026 05:48 AM (56Qyq)

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