AMD At its first live product launch event in several years, AMD unveiled a new processor architecture, a new desktop motherboard architecture and a new line of desktop processors that offer nearly double the performance and efficiency compared to the company’s previous generation – a big feat for any company in the semiconductor field. While AMD didn’t release all the details of the new architecture and processors, it did provide enough information to show how the company has once again managed to achieve impressive performance results from what is now the 4th generation of its highly successful Zen processor architecture. Uncapped view of the new Ryzen 9 7000 series desktop processor AMD The best way to describe the improvements to the new AMD Ryzen 9 7000 series desktop processors is that they’re faster – faster memory with DDR5 DRAM, faster I/O with PCIe Gen 5.0 support for both storage and graphics, and a new interface get more data to the processor faster than ever before. The company also moved the Ryzen 9 7000 processor die to a TSMC 5nm process and the I/O die to a 6nm process, from the 7nm and 14nm processes respectively used with processors based on the Zen 3 architecture. The company improved AI performance with support for AVX-512 instructions. Additionally, AMD has shown that it has improved the timing circuitry throughout the design to further improve performance performance. Unlike the Zen 3 architecture, Zen 4 is not a complete redesign but an improvement. The big change is in the motherboard architecture with the AM5 socket, introduced earlier this year at Computex. The AM5 socket and motherboard support DDR5 memory, PCIe gen 5 and other features such as higher thermal limits for processors operating at higher frequencies. The new processor supports clock rates up to 5.7 GHz (800 HMz higher than the Zen 3 generation) and advanced overclocking. Like the previous AM4 socket, AMD promises to support the new motherboard and socket for several generations. There is a point of compatibility between the two generations. To save costs for OEMs and third-party cooler manufacturers, the new AM5 socket will continue to support processor coolers designed for the AM4 socket. Every little bit helps. When comparing the previous flagship processor Ryzen 9 5950X with the new Ryzen 9 7950X, the 7950X shows a 13% improvement in Instruction Per Cycle (IPC) performance, up to 29% improvement in single-threaded performance, 44% improvement in multi-threaded performance and 47% improvement in performance per watt output. With support for AVX-512, the Ryzen 7000 series also increases AI performance by 1.3x and 2.5x using FP32 and Int8 data structures, respectively. The new lineup includes four new processors: the Ryzen 9 7950X, 7900X, 7700X and 7600X. All four processors are shipping to PC OEMs now and range in price from $249 to $699. That’s higher than the current Ryzen 9 5000 lineup, but the price is in line with what AMD thinks the market will respond to for what the company touts as the highest-end desktop processor available. The days of AMD products being the lowest performing budget products are long gone. Instead, AMD is clearly targeting the premium desktop market. The official release date of this product is September 27th. Due to processor pricing and the use of DDR5, new systems based on the Ryzen 9 7000 series processors will also be expensive, at least until component pricing is more in line with the current generation. AMD CEO Lisa Su holds up a new Ryzen 9 desktop processor that uses the Zen 4 architecture. AMD AMD also announced four new chipsets to support the new Zen 4 processors: the X670, X670 Extreme, B560 and B560 Extreme. As you’d expect, the “X” devices have higher performance than the “B” devices, and the “X” and “B” Extreme versions support PCIe Gen 5 for graphics as well as storage. All four chipsets support overclocking. AMD also announced an optimized or “tuned” memory architecture called Expo for overclocked memory. High-performance XMP memory DIMMs are also supported, but users will likely see higher performance on AMD systems using Expo memory DIMMs. AMD said 15 Expo memory kits will be available from leading DIMM vendors at launch. AMD didn’t announce any new Threadripper or Ryzen processors with V-cache in the ultra-high-end or mainstream Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 5 processors, but promised that those parts are coming. Given time, TIRIAS Research expects more desktop processor announcements from AMD by the end of 2022 and/or at CES 2023. With the Ryzen 9 series targeting the high-end desktop market, gamers and content creators will have something new to add to their holiday wish list. *All data provided by AMD. Tirias Research has not had the opportunity to evaluate the new products. Look for future update partners as more details become available and we have the opportunity for product reviews.
