AMD has started revealing key specs for the Ryzen 7000, its upcoming desktop processors. On the program, Zen 4 architecture, 5 nm engraving, PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 for high performance.
AMD has clearly returned to the forefront of the IT scene in recent years. And intends to stay that way! Thus, after a long period of slack in which it trailed far behind Intel with unattractive processors, the American company was able to bounce back and even take the lead in the technological race with its famous Ryzen, CPUs with a particularly advantageous performance/price ratio that have enjoyed enviable success, to the point of having become benchmarks for gamers, always fond of computing power. And if Intel, struck in its pride, was able to close the gap compared to its eternal competitor with its family of Core 12e generation, known as Alder Lake (see our article), some of whose representatives claim the best places in the benchmarks, AMD intends to regain the advantage with its new Ryzen 7000 range which should arrive in the fall of 2022.
So, while rumors and leaks had been rife for several months, AMD took advantage of the opening of the show Computex 2022 in Taiwan to officially present its future desktop processors. Next-generation and decidedly high-end CPUs that will benefit from several improvements over the current models of the already high-performance Ryzen 5000 series. But also compared to the chips of the recent Ryzen 6000 Mobile family, intended for laptops.
Ryzen 7000: new generation CPUs with Zen 4 architecture
On the technical side, the Ryzen 7000 processors – which, like all the others, will be available in multiple versions – will inaugurate a new architecture, Zen 4, which will succeed the current one, Zen 3 by bringing several improvements at the level of the internal organization. The Ryzen 7000s, which can have up to 16 physical cores and 32 logical cores (for parallel processing, threads), will be built on a fairly clever hybrid structure comprising two identical chiplets engraved in 5 nm technology and an input module -outputs (I/O) manufactured in 6 nm technology, taking advantage of new techniques developed by TSMC, the great specialist in electronic circuits – which also manufactures Apple’s M1 chips, among many others. By going from 7 nm engraving, used for the Zen 3 architecture of the best current Ryzen 5000s, to a fineness of 5 nm, AMD should be able to integrate more transistors into its calculation units while optimizing power consumption. An asset against Intel, which still uses 10 nm technology in its Core 12e generation – which does not prevent them from offering excellent performance – but not compared to Apple which has already moved to 5 nm in its M1 chips.
In practice, the Zen 4 architecture makes it possible to increase the level 1 cache of each core, which goes from 512 KB to 1 MB on a Ryzen 7000. It may not seem like much, but this ultra-fast memory, located within the chip itself, makes it possible to significantly speed up processing. In addition, without giving details, AMD promises that the Ryzen 7000 will exceed 5 GHz in turbo mode, during intensive calculations. During her on-stage demo presentation, AMD boss Lisa Su demonstrated a 16-core Zen 4 model that tops out at 5.5 GHz. An impressive frequency which should enable these new CPU to offer very high performance. However, it is difficult to know what these improvements will give in a real situation, because AMD remained relatively vague on this point, limiting itself to evoking a relatively modest gain of 15% for single-core operations. (single thread), but without specifying the reference model or the measurement conditions. It is to be hoped that the Ryzen 7000s will mark more differences in reality, including in operations using several cores (multi threads) to be able to justify their next-gen high-end status and take precedence over the latest Intel chips…
Ryzen 7000: DDR 5 and PCIe 5.0 for high performance
Of course, the Ryzen 7000s bring many other new features compared to the 5000 generation. To the point that AMD had to change the type of support (socket) that will accommodate them on motherboards. Thus, the AM4 format introduced in 2017 and used on the current Ryzen will give way to the AM5. Main consequence: the obligation to install the Ryzen 7000 on new motherboards, without the possibility of recovering the current ones. As a consolation, AMD has ensured that the metal cover (the IHS) of the Ryzen 7000s remains compatible with cooling devices designed for socket AM4. In the absence of savings – you will still have to buy a processor, a motherboard and RAM… – this will allow you to have a choice as soon as these CPUs arrive. Be careful, however, because the maximum TDP (the thermal envelope) goes from 105 W to 170 W. It is to be expected that the CPUs will rise significantly in temperature during heavy operations.
Another notable new feature: RAM. The Ryzen 7000s indeed manage DDR5, the new generation of Ram which offers much higher speeds than those of the DDR4 currently used on all current PCs. In the same vein, they also support the PCIe (PCI Express) 5.0 standard instead of PCIe 4.0, which also offers higher transfer rates, which will allow you to take full advantage of the new generation of high performance SSDs. .
Who says new support also says new chipset, the “set of chips” which manages the processor and the other elements on the motherboards. AMD has designed three new ones: the B650, the X670 and the lX670E, respectively intended for entry-level, mid-range and high-end PCs. We should see them arrive quickly on motherboards from specialists like Asus or MSI.
iGPU: RDNA 2 as standard in all Ryzen 7000s
In addition, it seems that unlike the Ryzen 5000s, all Ryzen 7000s come standard with a graphics circuit integrated (an iGPU as they are called), which avoids the use of a dedicated graphics card, except for the most demanding gamers. And it will not be a discount section since this module will be of the RDNA 2 type, in other words the technology found in the Ryzen 6000 but also the Steam Deck hybrid console or the essential Xbox Series and the PS5, equipped in AMD chip standard. Admittedly, for lack of details, we still do not know the number and frequency of the graphics cores that will be integrated. But since an RDNA 2 core is up to twice as powerful as a Radeon Vega core, we can expect a very good level of performance, not to mention the reduced power consumption compared to a graphics card. separated. Enough to be more than enough for most applications, including 3D in most games, which is no less of an asset in these times of component shortages…
For the moment, we do not know the exact composition of the Ryzen 7000 family, which will obviously evolve gradually, like all the other ranges. We just know that AMD plans to release them in the fall of 2022. And we can imagine that the brand will distill other information by the launch date. We will therefore have to wait a little longer to find out more about the other technical aspects, but also, and above all, about the actual performance and prices. And this last point is particularly sensitive when we know that TSMC has decided to increase its prices. See you in a few months to see what the new AMD champions are really worth against the competition, because we suspect that Intel will not remain inactive. And that Apple is also preparing new ARM architecture chips that are even more impressive than the current M1s. No doubt, after a few years of relative calm, the processor war is off to a good start!