What is happening
At Computex 2022, AMD introduces a new generation of desktop processors, originally aimed at gamers, and a new laptop processor aimed at laptops costing $ 399- $ 699.
Why it matters
Cheaper laptops with fewer trade-offs are always in demand, plus new PCs promise more than the usual increase in generation-to-generation performance, as well as support for some technologies that can improve gaming speed and smoothness.
What next
We will hear more about these developments in the coming months, leading to their launch closer to October.
During her keynote address on Computex 2022, AMD chip giant CEO Lisa Soo visualized new products and technologies we can expect to see from the next few months to the rest of 2022. These include the long-irritated Ryzen series. 7,000 next-generation 5nm desktop processors – codenamed “Rafael” – and the accompanying architecture of the platform, as well as new Ryzen processors (codenamed “Mendocino”), designed for cheap laptops and Chromebooks, costing $ 399- $ 699.
The new budget mobile processors are not seismic news, but the products they drive are what people are looking for. In this case, AMD will hit its low-end Ryzen mobile chips for Windows and Chromebook laptops, ostensibly updates to the Ryzen 3 5425U and 5425C (although AMD did not specify, did not specify the line name), most especially with integrated RDNA 2 graphics and some of the newer energy-saving technologies that will allow laptops to reach AMD’s goal of 10 hours of battery life in mixed use. The very jump to RDNA 2 should provide a noticeable boost to these laptops.
Next generation PC processors
AMD has abandoned some of its upcoming Zen 4 architecture at CES 2022 and today offered many more details – including that it seems to be on track for the second half of this year.
Zen 4 is based on dual 5nm chips containing processor cores sharing space with a 6nm support chipset that adds an integrated graphics processor based on its RDNA 2 architecture – recently included in its Ryzen 6000 mobile processors – that can output HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2. It also catches up with Intel with support for DDR5 memory, Wi-Fi 6E and up to 24 storage tapes and graphics on state-of-the-art PCIe Gen 5 slots.
The cores have twice as much L2 cache (1MB per core) and an extended set of instructions to allow for more AI acceleration. AMD claims that all this leads to more than a 15% increase in the performance of a single core and allows it to reach a maximum gain frequency above 5GHz. Although it has significantly reduced the gap, AMD still tends to lag behind Intel for the single-core speed that applications tend to use for intensive processing for short packets.
There are no PCIe 5 NVMe SSDs yet, but AMD says at least Crucial should be ready when the new motherboards launch in the fall.
Speaking of motherboards, the Ryzen 7000 uses a new AM5 socket, which has more pins than AM4, as well as built-in support for 170 watt CPU power (AM4 is 142 watts). One drawback of the new architecture: it does not support DDR5, only DDR4. Because DDR5 is still more expensive than DDR4, that means you can’t configure it cheaply and wait for prices to drop to upgrade.
AMD
The motherboard chipsets will be available in three versions, just as they do today: X670 Extreme for overclockers who are interested in control, with PCIe 5 everywhere; X670 with overclocking based, at least one PCIe 5 m.2 NVMe slot and optional PCIe 5 for the graphics card; and a massive B650 that has only PCIe 5 for m.2 SSDs. Motherboards for the first wave of systems will come from the usual suspects, ASRock, Asus, BioStar, Gigabyte and MSI.
Faster storage
The company also announced a new addition to its Smart Laptop gaming repertoire, SmartAccess Storage, which includes support for Windows 11 DirectStorage – technology used by the Xbox Series X and S – to speed up the loading of games and gaming assets from SSDs. by decompressing the texture of the graphics chip and providing the GPU with direct access to system memory (SmartAccess Memory), which allows it to take a faster path to graphics memory rather than the usual long path through the CPU.
It joins SmartShift Max, which can mix power between the processor and GPU in supported games to increase speed where you need it most, and SmartAccess Graphics, which intelligently switches the display connection between integrated and discrete graphics processors (a convenient change that uses less power than a typical hybrid graphics design), as well as SmartShift Eco, which can automatically switch between the two graphics processors when it detects you’ve unplugged the power adapter.
They all fit into a laptop that AMD calls AMD Advantage, which, like Intel’s Evo brand, means it uses AMD’s latest chips and technology. This summer, Corsair will launch a new AMD Advantage laptop, which AMD claims is the first streaming optimizer, the Corsair Voyager. “Optimized” means that it includes streaming technology from Elgato (owned by Corsair) with software and 10 special keys on the keyboard to emulate a Stream Deck and FHD webcam plus software based on Elgato Facecam. You will be able to purchase customized versions of Voyager through Origin PC (also owned by Corsair).
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