3rd generation Ryzen Processors: Things that we learned at CES

AMD unveils world's first 7nm chip - beats Intel i9

There was no shortage of cutting-edge techs and glittering new devices in this year's CES, From VR bikes and robot butlers to paper-thin notebooks and foldable smartphones, gracing the show floor as they were to entice your inner nerd. Yet it was AMD that stole the show with a not-yet-finalized piece of silicon with two chiplets in it. And by the time you realized it was an early engineering sample of the company's upcoming Ryzen 3rd generation desktop processor - world's first 7nm desktop CPU, you probably couldn't care less about the rest of CES! We can't blame you either, it's Ryzen we're talking about after all - the processor that single-handedly changed the landscape of desktop computing in last two years. And from what we saw in CES, things are about to be shaken-up once more.
 
Expectation were pretty high when Dr. Lisa Su, Ceo and president of AMD, took to the stage to deliver her keynote address. Rumors and speculations were making rounds prior to the event within tech sites and forums, speaking of Ryzen 3000 series SKUs with some of them being too good to be true. Having been well aware of the anticipation, Dr. Su made good use of limelight that CES offers. AMD teased us with a working silicon, the aforementioned sample, of a 3rd generation Ryzen 8-core/16-thread CPU and showed glimpses of performance that we can expect from their upcoming high-end platform which will also be the first to support PCIe gen 4.0. 

The de-lidded CPU die that AMD showed features a new chiplet design. The bigger chip is built on a 14nm GlobalFoundries process and it handles the I/O duties along with various controllers and connectivity. It's the somewhat inconspicuous smaller chip where in lie the next-gen cores(presumably housed within next-gen Core-complex or CCX), built on a bleeding-edge TSMC 7nm fabrication process. It's a clever design choice as the performance of CPU mostly depends on its cores. Also, splitting the manufacturing load between two fabs might help AMD overcome some early yield issues.

If you look carefully, as some keen-eyed reviewers did, you can see that there is just about enough space to nudge another 8-core/16-thread chiplet or perhaps even a graphics one in future. The 16C/32T config might be reserved for HEDT and socket TR4.

These new chips will also implement Zen 2 core design. Back in 2017 when AMD introduced it's completely new and forward looking Zen micro-architecture with the 1st gen Ryzen processors, the company also stated its commitment to improve and enhance the design in a regular and long-term basis. Staying true to that course, AMD launched 2nd gen Ryzen line up last year based on Zen+ micro-architecture which brought minor refinements along with a matured 12nm process. Zen 2 however is going to be the next big step in the architecture's logical evolution and we expect some major improvements in the core-design; The primary of those being an uplift in IPC (instructions per clock-cycle), one that would enable AMD to close-in on Intel's still superior single-threaded performance.

In a performance demo, AMD pitted its yet unnamed octal-core Ryzen 3rd gen against a Coffee Lake Refresh Core i9 9900K - Intel's flagship behemoth costing around 55,000 Rupees. The selected benchmark was Cinebech - one of the darlings of enthusiasts and reviewers around the world. AMD didn't disclosed the clock-speed of the sample but mentioned it's not final which means there is still room for improvement; the Intel chip ran on its default 3.6GHz/5GHz speed. Results are very impressive - The Ryzen actually completed the rendering faster(2057score, 135w) and consumed much less power than its Intel counterpart(2040score, 180w). There was also a gaming demo of Forza Horizon 4 and while it was running smooth @4K, we can't get much out of that.
 
From that Cinebench score alone, we can see that the 3rd gen Ryzen (R7 3700X/3800X??) is at least 15% faster than current flagship R7 2700x and matches Coffee Lake Refresh parts core-for-core. Even after taking Cinebench's multithread affinity into account, that seems like a remarkable generational leap for AMD. Not long ago we were used to accepting ~5% performance gain over previous gen CPUs, thanks to Intel and its stingy updates.
 
From the looks of it 3rd gen Ryzen processors should clock higher, how much we don't know. We can guess it's going to be in the range of ~4.5GHz to 4.8GHz. We also don't know at this point how much pure IPC gain AMD has achieved with these new breed of chips, just as we don't know how they are going to be priced. What we know is this - Ryzen 3rd gen is shaping up to be another powerhouse of a processor from AMD. With backward compatibility guaranteed, this is great news for existing AM4 users as they can just drop in these new CPUs for a clean and hassle-free upgrade.

Optimization matters: Ryzen gets a performance boost in Ashes of the Singularity

Ashes of the Singularity was the first PC game to come out with full DirectX 12 support and now it has also become the first Ryzen optimized title out there. In an interesting turn of events, Oxide Games – the studio which created Ashes of the Singularity – has released a patch update to improve the game’s performance on AMD’s recently launched Ryzen processors. Independent reviewers with access to game’s latest beta version have already run benchmarks and results demonstrate a performance boost of around 20%. This not only improves the in-game standings of Ryzen 7 CPUs but more importantly, it gives us an idea of what could be done if game developers are willing to tap into Ryzen’s ample resources.

“PREPARE FOR BATTLE” bundle now includes GeForce GTX 1060: Free games for midrange Pascal

NVIDIA has some good for performance-mainstream gamers. According to its website, the company’s “Prepare for Battle” gaming bundle now includes the GeForce GTX 1060 graphics cards. What it means is that if you buy a GTX 1060, you also get to download a free copy of “For Honor” or “Ghost Recon: Wildlands” by using the promotional code. Prior to this, the “Prepare for Battle” bundle was exclusive to the GTX1080ti, GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 – the upper-tier Pascal based GPUs. So, it’s good to see the free goodness trickling down to the midrange of things. The offer is also available on laptops and pre-built systems equipped with aforementioned parts.

AMD’s rumored super-HEDT platform: 16-core/32-thread Ryzen CPU on its way?

It’s becoming increasingly difficult these days to keep AMD’s Ryzen out of the limelight. The latest rumor to hit the inter-web speaks of an upcoming and yet unnamed 16-core desktop processor from AMD with an accompanying new socket. According to these unconfirmed speculations (originally from Chinese tech-site Chiphell), the new processor would be pitted squarely against Intel’s HEDT champion i7-6950X – a 10-core/20-thread behemoth. If the rumors are to be believed, AMD’s answer to that is going to be an even larger chip, accommodating 16 physical cores with equal number of logical ones by virtue of SMT.

Corsair releases Vengeance RGB DDR4 Memory

Burning red or nobler blue, corsair makes it sure that Vengeance comes in many shades! Corsair, The renowned maker of PC components and memory products, has just launched Vengeance RGB DDR4 Memory  modules. Rated for high bandwidth performance and compatibility, these new memory modules also feature effortless and exciting RGB lighting for ultimate customization of your gaming rig. Vengeance RGB comes in 16GB, 32Gb and 64GB packages with each module having a capacity of 8GB. It's available in both dual-channel and quad-channel kits.

AMD Ryzen 5 CPUs: Here comes the mainstream - specs, features and performance expectation

With the Ryzen 7 series of desktop processors AMD has made its much awaited return to the high-performance computing market and what a come-back story it has been! After years of frustration and misfiring, the perennial underdog has finally delivered a truly competitive x86 core design that can, in most cases, give Intel a good run for its money. But the Ryzen saga is just beginning and after launching the initial salvo comprising the flagship trio of Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X and 1700, AMD wants to shift its attention to the mainstream. The result is Ryzen 5 which forms the mid-range of AMD’s new processor line-up and brings the same Zen goodness to a more affordable package.

NVIDIA announces GTX 1080 Ti: A smaller Titan-X for $699

We were expecting it and now it’s official. Yesterday, at the GDC (Game Developers Conference) NVIDIA made the announcement regarding its upcoming high-end consumer graphics card – the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. Based on the company’s highly successful “Pascal” architecture and build on a cutting edge 16nm process, this new flagship should deliver almost 35% higher performance gain over the existing GTX 1080, according to the presentation slides. The card is expected to hit the stores worldwide during the first week of March, 2017 with a price tag of ~$700 and sits in-between the GTX 1080 and the prosumer GTX Titan-X.

Intel core i3-7350K performance analysis: unlocked, overclockable and overpriced?

One of the more interesting highlights of the Kaby Lake launch was the introduction of a multiplier unlocked core i3-7350K. Traditionally, the “K”-stamping which denotes the unlocked status of an Intel CPU is reserved for much costlier chips, namely the highest range i5s and i7s; dual-core i3 processors on the other hand represent excellent value thanks to their lower prices. So, when the news broke of an overclockable i3 - many enthusiasts, especially those on a budget, thought they’d found the dream chip. After all, not everybody can afford a 21K i5-7600K to entice their overclocking urge! We however wasn’t particularly captivated by its price tag and decided to hold our opinion for a later day. Meanwhile some of the leading hardware review-sites have recently published benchmark results of i3-7850K and that gives us ample reasons to go back and tackle the question of whether or not this is the right processor for you.

Intel HEDT beware: Ryzen Benchmark leaks suggest strong multithreaded performance and remarkable IPC gain

As we eagerly approach the launch of Ryzen processors, benchmark leaks continue to pour in like cats and dogs. Every tech forum member and their mod is out posting (or reading) leaked benchmarks; Chinese, Greek, Nordic – any website would do as long as the Google translator can spot the word “Ryzen”! Here, at the Technoprozium, we don’t usually take fondly to rumors and leaks as those often turn out to be false, exaggerated or even artificial. The fervor surrounding Ryzen however is quite real and compelled us to gather a few latest and interesting leaked benchmarks to share with you.

Ryzen countdown: list of new CPUs, specs, price and release date

AMD Ryzen processors are ready for shipment, image credit Videocardz, click to enlarge

The wait for AMD’s long waited Ryzen microprocessors is almost over. According to many sources worldwide, at least some of these next-gen high-end chips are going to be released within February 28^th – March 2^nd timeframe. With the NDA being lifted at the end of the current month, we can expect to see the reviews and benchmarks on the launch date too. The reports suggest that it’ll be the flagship 8-core/16-thread models coming out first, followed closely by the others members of what is supposed to be a family of no less than 17 brand new CPUs. Various tech publications seem to have already gotten their hands on review samples; which means Ryzen is being put through its paces as I write this!

Sapphire readies unlocked RX 460: Nitro 1024 SP edition

RX 460 may not be the fastest offering based on AMD’s Polaris GPU but this graphics card is quickly becoming the darling of gaming crowd. With a price tag of around 10K Indian Rupees for the 2GB version and 12K for the 4GB ones, RX 460 can handle anything HD and scores some respectable FPS even in FHD/1080p. In a land of budget constrained gamers with mostly 20” 1600x900 monitors, those are clear signs of a winner. But as it turns out, there is more to little Baffin (code name of RX 460) than eyes could see in the first glance. According to news from WCCFTECH, Sapphire, one of the largest vendors of Radeon graphics cards, is offering a special edition of the gpu with all 1024 SPs (Stream Processor) unlocked! The standard variant of Rx 460, the one you’d normally find in the market, features 896 SPs – so that’s an increment of 128 SPs. The card in question is “Nitro - OC” branded – one of Sapphire’s elite performers and comes with factory overclocked frequency of 1250 MHz out-of-the-box. All the other specifications remain identical with no word on pricing.

Kaby Lake comes to desktop: here is what you need to know

Intel has finally taken the veils off of its 7^th generation core Kaby Lake processors. The announcement came at the grand floors of CES and with it, the immediate availability of Intel’s latest family of desktop processors. From what Technoprozium has learnt, retail availability can be expected around halfway through January 2017 with e-tailer already offering the parts online. We have already covered the Kaby Lake architecture andperformance expectation in detail, it’s time to get things official. Here, we’ll try to sum-up the most important aspects of this launch and pass the verdict. Let’s go.