If AMD was stingy with technical details regarding its “Zen 4” CPU architecture evolution, its communication leaves no doubt. Its reference target is that of gamers and creators who need 16/32 cores. And who can put the price.
After a “6000” generation dedicated to laptop PCs, AMD is launching its Ryzen 7000 range for tower PCs (desktop). Open secret, since we already knew the novelties brought by this new generation. Starting with the arrival of the new evolution of the CPU microarchitecture called Zen 4. Which brings with it not only a performance gain (logical!) partly linked to the fineness of engraving of 5 nm. But also support for DDR5 or even PCIe 5.0.
- Ryzen 9 7900X: 16c/32t, 4.5-5.7GHz, 80MB L3 cache, 170 watts TDP: $699 excl.
- Ryzen 9 7800X: 12c/24t, 4.7-5.6GHz, 76MB L3 cache, 170 watts TDP at $549 excl.
- Ryzen 7 7700X: 8c/16t, 4.5-5.4GHz, 40MB L3 cache, 105 watts TDP at $399 excl.
- Ryzen 5 7600X: 6c/12t, 4.7-5.3GHz, 38MB L3 cache, 105 watts TDP at $299 excl.
The leaks and rumors had been right in terms of references: it is indeed two Ryzen 9, a Ryzen 7 and a Ryzen 5 which will be launched initially. References clearly aimed at users looking for power. Namely gamers and “creators”, those who need high frequencies, a large number of cores and a lot of cache memory. That’s good for them: consuming up to 170W, the big baby of the family that is the Ryzen 9 7900X has 16 cores / 32 tasks, pushes up to 5.7 GHz and integrates 80 MB of cache.
The only concern of this generation which benefits from the thinnest engraving in the PC world (5nm, like Apple’s M chips) is its price: ranging from $299 to $699, these chips will hurt the wallet. Because the American prices are expressed in dollars and excluding tax. European tariffs are not only generally higher (thanks to the fragmented market) and with VAT around 20%.
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With this premium positioning, AMD will have to face an Intel in great shape on desktop PCs. If its chips are more energy-consuming, they are both efficient and available. One of AMD’s weaknesses being its dependence on TSMC when Intel has its own factories.
One thing is certain for purists looking for performance: it will be necessary to wait for the first independent tests to know if AMD takes full advantage of its new micro-architecture with TSMC’s 5 nm engraving. Let’s hope, in any case, that these Ryzen 7000s score a lot of points against the current generation of 12th generation Intel chips (Alder Lake S). Because the 13th generation “Raptor Lake” chips are expected to be announced within a few weeks, with availability in the coming months.