AMD Zen 3 (5000 Series), rumored 17% IPC gain.

[AStaley]

Zen 3 is looking interesting, potentially up to a 17% IPC gain and a small uplift in frequency. I can see me upgrading my CPU again at the end of next year.

AMD really pushing their advantage over Intel, and good on them for driving things forward.

http://www.redgamingtech.com/amd-zen-3-more-info-on-ipc-clock-speeds-am5-follows-am4-exclusive/

 

[AStaley]

I'm in two minds, will I need this? Will I buy a game like cyberpunk or some other game in 2020 and think, ahhh my 3700X is grinding to a halt I need more power????

Although I will upgrade to a 4000 series CPU, it won't be on launch, it will likely to be 6 months to a year later as this will be the last CPU that can be used in the AM4 socket. As Praz94 said, at least for gaming the 3700X should last you a good long while. The GPU is more likely to need to be updated before the CPU.

 

[AStaley]

Perhaps a little to obvious, AM5, not that I could tell you what it will bring beyond a new pin layout.

 

[AStaley]

AM5 will almost certainly make use of DDR5.

Any idea when Zen3 is out, end of next year/early 2021?

DDR5 seems a good call and probably PCIE5, sure I'd read that nVidia were looking to make use of the extra bandwidth for some AI functions.

 

[AStaley]

I thought it was named that way, I.E. AM2 = DDR2, AM3=DDR3 AM4=DDR4, AM5=DDR5.. I remember reading that years back but not sure if it's 100% that way.

Interesting I've not read that anywhere, I thought it was just the generation.

 

[AStaley]

As much as I'm loving my 3900X I wouldn't write Intel off, the have deep pockets a massive pool of talent and will very likley hit back with a very strong product, admitidly not until 2021 atleast. Long let the competition continue .

 

[AStaley]

I'm pretty sure there won't be a new chipset for Zen 3, but I am fairly certain we'll see a refreshed X570. Might not get a new name though. X570 was a dog's dinner of a product; excessive use of PCIe retimers just to maintain signal integrity, the PCH was in-house design based on the Zen 2 IO die and then backported to GloFo 16nm (of all things) because Asmedia couldn't get theirs out in time and still variable in VRM counts and quality. It needs updating, with a couple of upgrades maybe for new tech. Why do I think it'll be refreshed rather than a new chipset?

Zen 3 has improved memory and IF speeds (I think)
B550 was late so is still relatively new
A520 practically just landed
TRX40 boards have massively re-engineered PCIe 4 signalling to not need retimers, so board designers now know how to do it properly
B550 VRMs are monstrous (see engineer knowledge above)
A520 VRMs are surprisingly solid
Asus added USB 3.2 to their refreshed B450 boards

Wrap all of this up and bang out X570X (just to **** off Intel because the 3rd refresh of X299 is X229X ), or maybe X590. Even with these improvements, I don't think there's enough of a change to call it a new chipset.

I have a feeling you might be right, perhaps a node drop as well for better thermals/energy efficiency?

 

[AStaley]

Yeah I really don't want to see that in my case for this next build.

Are AIO CPU coolers a) effective and b) easy enough to install?

I have no intention of doing a full loop. Too much like real work

Yes very effective, under heavy load with fans setup for quiet operation I can keep my 3900X under 70c under load. Also very easy to install, check YouTube for some mounting video's. If I was purchasing one now I think I would go for the Artic Liquid Freezer 2, when I do eventually switch to the 5900X I may well switch the cooler to see if I can shave a few degrees off my temps.

 

[AStaley]

Well Asus has some new boards coming to grab some of that Zen 3 hype.

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-un...rosshair-viii-dark-hero-motherboards-for-zen3

Interesting, I wonder what other refinements they have made.

 

[AStaley]

So no fan on the PCH this time, looks like my musings was accurate: refreshed X570 boards done properly this time. I wonder if they have USB3.2? The refreshed B450 boards do.

Don't they already have USB3.2, I know my C8H does?

 

[AStaley]

Unfortunately the price expectation of X570 has been set so it won't come down.

Part of the reason X570 was so expensive is because of the ridiculous amount of PCIe retimers used to maintain signal integrity. Now compare X570 boards to Threadripper TRX40 boards: more PCIe slots, more lanes, more memory, bigger socket, more I/O, still PCIe 4 and...similar price? TRX40 apparently is much better engineered to do away with the expense of PCIe retimers, so the money went into HEDT-class IO and all that jazz. Now, Asus et al can translate that PCIe engineering into refreshed X570 boards to make them better and cheaper to produce, therefore costing less.

But they won't cost less, of course, because the old tat already set sky-high prices (and pushed B550 up as a result), so straight away there's some massive boosts in profit margin.

What would be the negative impact of PCIe retimers, or is it something that most wouldn't notice? How would you know the retimers have been removed, is something we can check or are we reliant on Asus posting a blog?

 

[AStaley]

With motherboards you're paying for connectivity, quality of power delivery, quality of the components used, in some cases you're paying a premium for the brand, Asus ROG for instance. At the end of the day you pay an amount you are comfortable with for what you need, if you don't need 101 USB ports or the 16+4 phase power delivery you'll go for a cheaper board because it meets your demand.