AMD Unveils First Zen Desktop Processor Details, Picks 'Ryzen' To Brand Zen CPU (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes from a report via HotHardware: AMD has just officially unveiled that desktop variants of its Zen processor family will now be branded RYZEN. Zen-based processors will eventually target desktops, servers, and mobiles device, but the first wave of products will be targeted at the performance desktop market, where gamers and VR continue to spur growth. AMD is positioning RYZEN as a high-performance option and though there will be other core configurations as well, AMD has disclosed that one of the high-end options in the initial RYZEN line-up will feature 8 cores (16 threads with SMT) and at minimum a 3.4 GHz base clock, with higher turbo frequencies. That processor will also be outfitted with 20MB of cache -- 4MB of L2 and 16MB of L3 -- and it will be infused with what AMD is calling SenseMI technology. SenseMI is essentially fancy branding for the updated branch predictor, prefetcher, and power and control logic in Zen. AMD's upcoming AM4 platform for RYZEN will be outfitted with all of the features expected of a modern PC enthusiast platform. AM4 motherboards will use DDR4 memory and feature PCIe Gen 3 connectivity, and support for USB 3.1 Gen 2, NVMe, and SATA Express. Performance demos of RYZEN shown to members of the press pit a stock Intel Core i7-6900K (3.2GHz base, 3.7GHz turbo) with Turbo Boost that was enabled on the 6900K, versus RYZEN with boost disabled running at 3.4GHz flat. In the demo, the RYZEN system outpaced the Core i7-6900K by a few seconds.

Comments

APU units?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

In light of their recent APU units with massive DP performance on the iGPU (apparently a 1:2 DP:SP ratio), if they pair those iGPUs with four Zen cores, I'm definitely in! Numericians would approve.

Re:Pretty much

[Ramze]

AMD began as a supplier for Intel. Every time they improve the x86 architecture, they end up cross-licensing the improvements with Intel for their improvements as well. AMD has pulled ahead twice in its history -- both times, Intel crushed them so bad, they almost didn't recover. Once due to illegal market pressure and the second time by revamping the cpu to blow AMD out of the water in specs. Intel has AMD's 64 bit tech now.

AMD was looking for a market they could actually compete and even maybe succeed in by buying ATI. NVIDIA is solid competition, but nowhere near Intel on the CPU side. AMD's APUs are the synthesis of ATI and AMD's 64 bit tech. Intel's got a few moves to make with this. Intel can improve their own integrated graphics or buy NVIDIA to use inside their cpus. Both are unlikely. The most likely outcome is Intel will license the tech from AMD at their next cross-licensing deal.

AMD makes money on the low end and gaming console market. They have no hope of ever taking on Intel, so they'll settle for a percentage of every chip Intel makes in a licensing deal instead. Wash, rinse, repeat. Intel won't let them die as AMD is their only evidence that they aren't a monopoly. (ARM is great, but it's got a long way to go before it's really a competitor -- especially in the laptop/desktop market). AMD will likely do quite well in the gpu market moving forward -- especially with VR being the next big thing.

Re: Pretty much

[xkenny13]

Today's demo reports Zen runs at 95 watts, with performance comparable to the i7-6900k running at 140 watts

Re:Pretty much

[TheRaven64]

AMD began as a supplier for Intel

Not quite, they began as a supplier for IBM. IBM insisted on a second source for all of the components of the IBM PC and wouldn't buy from Intel if Intel didn't license the 8088 designs to AMD and allow them to produce compatible chips. If they'd had the same foresight with respect to the operating system, the next few decades might have been very different.

both times, Intel crushed them so bad, they almost didn't recover. Once due to illegal market pressure and the second time by revamping the cpu to blow AMD out of the water in specs. Intel has AMD's 64 bit tech now.

In the second case, it was more that AMD didn't realise that power consumption had become important. The market shifted and AMD didn't have competing products. Laptops went from a niche to the largest market segment and server purchasers started to care about their air conditioning costs more than raw compute.

Re:More to CPUs than just CPUs

[Anonymous Coward]

*sigh*
I expect that the rest of your comment is just as bad as this line:

> Where is the AMD optimizations to CLANG or Mono, etc? Where's the optimization settings within Visual Studio or GCC for AMD?

Read the gcc manual and scan down to the section that begins "These -m options are defined for the x86 family of computers.". There are optimization settings for what appear to be every AMD processor from the k6 all the way through to Excavator.

And also: https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=AMD-Zen-znver1-GCC-Ready
Optimizations for processors that haven't even shipped yet. Wild, huh?

And also, from mid _2014_: https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTY3OTc (That's a news item about Excavator optimizations landing in clang. I expect that clang also covers a wide array of AMD processors, but CBA to spend any more time on this.)

Re: I'll be building a new computer early next yea

[haruchai]

I'll never understand why they went with the name nForce, especially since it was around the time when the battles with nVidia Geforce were the most intense.

I can't have been the only confused as fuck...

nForce *was* an nVidia chipset brand, originally for AMD but extending to Intel in later versions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...