AMD has revealed the official name of its new generation of processors. The CPUs, codenamed Summit Ridge, will hit the market as Ryzen in the first quarter of next year. During the unveiling, AMD compared the chip to an Intel Core i7-6900K.
The Ryzen processor that AMD demonstrated has eight cores and sixteen threads and runs at 3.4GHz. The chip can also boost to higher speeds, but how far is not yet known. AMD only showed the chip at the standard clock speed in the demonstrations. There is a total of 20MB of L2 and L3 cache on the processor that should be plugged into an AM4 motherboard.
AMD showed that the Ryzen processor in Blender rendering software is just as fast as an Intel Core i7-6900K, which is also an eight-core CPU with sixteen threads. For comparison, AMD has run the Intel CPU at the standard speed of 3.2GHz with boost to 3.7GHz. In August AMD also compared its new processor with a Broadwell-E processor, but at the time it was a Zen CPU at 3GHz and the Intel processor was clocked at the same speed.
AMD also had both systems convert a movie file in Handbrake. The Ryzen processor took 54 seconds to do this, while the Intel CPU was ready after 59 seconds. AMD emphasizes that its processor has a TDP of 95 watts, while the Intel processor used has a TDP of 140 watts.
During the livestream, AMD also showed a comparison of Battlefield 1 on both CPUs, combined with an Nvidia Titan X video card. The game would run in 4k resolution with ultra settings at 60 to 70 fps. During the livestream, the fps counters were not in view, so it is not clear whether there is a difference between the Ryzen processor and the Core i7-6900K.
AMD has only disclosed the name of the processor series. It is not yet known how many variants will appear and which model names or numbers they will receive. AMD does say that the Ryzen CPUs will have a clock speed of at least 3.4GHz. It is not yet known what the maximum speed is with boost switched on. AMD wants to provide more details about this at the official introduction next year.
On Tuesday afternoon, AMD’s Ryzen presentation was already largely leaked. That information appears to be correct. It is still unclear when the new generation of AMD processors will actually be available. AMD maintains that the CPUs will be on the market in the first quarter of next year, but cannot specify that further. It is not clear whether there will only be an official introduction, or whether the chips will also be for sale immediately.
Server variants of the Zen processors will follow in the second quarter and the Raven Ridge platform should be available in the second half of 2017. That platform for laptops and all-in-one systems consists of apus with Zen cores, combined with a gpu.
At the end of the livestream, AMD also gave a preview of a Vega video card for gamers. A system with Ryzen CPU, AM4 motherboard and Vega GPU would achieve a frame rate of more than 60fps in 4k resolution in the Rogue One DLC of Star Wars: Battlefront. However, AMD showed no concrete performance, benchmark or further details of the Vega video card.