The company also teased an upcoming ‘Mendocino' CPU lineup
for affordable mainstream laptops and Chromebooks as well as a new SmartAccess
Storage feature for high-performance laptops. While specific details of models,
pricing, and features were not disclosed, AMD did say that these products will
launch by the end of 2022.
AMD Ryzen 7000 series, AM5 socket, X670E, X670, B650
Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, codenamed ‘Raphael', will be based
on the Zen 4 CPU core architecture and will feature up to 16 cores spread
across two physical chiplets. These chiplets will be manufactured using a new
5nm TSMC process and CPUs will also feature a new IO die based on a 6nm process.
AMD will introduce the new AM5 socket, finally retiring the
AM4 standard which has served since before the introduction of the original
Ryzen CPU series in 2017. This will allow for a generational shift to DDR5 RAM
and the PCIe 5.0 interconnect standard. The maximum TDP supported will go up to
170W, and all coolers designed for socket AM4 will be compatible. This also
marks a shift to an LGA-style CPU package, from the current pin grid layout.
AMD promises boost clock speeds “significantly above 5GHz”
and a demonstration shown during the presentation appeared to show a
pre-production 16-core CPU sample running at up to 5.5GHz in the game
Ghostwire: Tokyo. The CPU was also shown beating Intel's Core i9-12900K in a
multi-threaded Blender workload.
Zen 4 CPU cores will feature double the L2 cache as the
current generation, and expanded instructions to handle AI acceleration. The
company will also use its RDNA2 GPU architecture for integrated graphics
capabilities. AMD touts improved power efficiency and a 15 percent uplift in
single-threaded performance thanks to the higher clock speed, architectural
improvements, and new manufacturing processes.
Ryzen 7000 CPUs will have up to 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes.
Platform-level capabilities include Wi-Fi 6E, up to 14 USB ports, and four
simultaneous displays over HDMI 2.1 and/or DisplayPort 2.0. Three new desktop
chipsets have been announced: the X670 Extreme for “the most demanding
enthusiasts” will support multiple PCIe 5.0 devices along with extreme
overclocking and power delivery capabilities.
The X670 will appeal to “the bulk of enthusiasts and gamers”
with PCIe 5.0 to at least one graphics card and M.2 storage device.
Motherboards based on the mainstream B650 will only support PCIe 5.0 for
storage devices. The budget segment will likely continue to be served by AM4
products for some time.
AM5-based Motherboards from ASRock, Asus, Biostar, Gigabyte,
and MSI will be announced this week at Computex 2022, and will go on sale along
with the new Ryzen 7000 CPUs later this year. AMD also says PCIe 5.0 SSDs from
major brands will be available at the same time, and it has worked closely with
SSD and controller manufacturers.
More information such as Ryzen 7000 series SKUs,
specifications and prices as well as details of the Zen 4 core architecture
will be announced closer to the “fall 2022” launch window.
AMD ‘Mendocino' CPUs
Along with new enthusiast desktop hardware, AMD talked about
the success of its Ryzen 6000 series laptop CPUs, announced at CES earlier this
year, and teased a new CPU family codenamed ‘Mendocino' for low-cost laptops
and Chromebooks.
Curiously, this is the same codename that Intel used for one
of its earliest Celeron CPU generations in the late 1990s. AMD's Mendocino will
be based on the Zen 2 CPU core architecture but will also feature RDNA2
graphics capabilities. Other specifications include support for LPDDR5 RAM.
CPUs will have up to four cores with eight threads. The company projects over
10 hours of battery life for Mendocino-based laptops.
AMD is targeting laptops in the $399 to $699 price range.
Laptop OEMs should begin announcing models in Q4 2022. These should appeal to
students, office workers, and those who need simple, basic productivity in a
portable package.
AMD Advantage
During the keynote, AMD also touted the success of its AMD
Advantage laptop design programme and various capabilities that OEMs can
implement with an AMD CPU and GPU. Along with models from Alienware, Lenovo, HP
and Asus that deliver such capabilities, AMD also previewed the upcoming
Corsair Voyager notebook which is designed for mobile gaming and streaming.Featuring
AMD hardware and smart features plus a 16-inch display, 10-key Elgato command
centre and dedicated webcam and video input switching controls, the Corsair
Voyager will be available in some countries later in 2022.
Corsair launching first ever gaming and streaming laptop
exclusively with amd – entire family of smart tech, 16” premium display.
Voyager. Truly mobile streaming solution. 10 key elgato command centre.
Integrated camera hub software, change video inputs and field of view. DDR5,
available this summer including customizable versions from origin.
Finally, the new Smart Access Storage will leverage
Microsoft DirectStorage to allow for large game textures and 3D models to be
loaded directly from an NVMe SSD to the GPU's memory.