*** AMD "Zen" thread (inc AM4/APU discussion) ***

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

First X470 based motherboard demoed:

https://hexus.net/tv/show/2018/01/Gigabyte_demos_AMD_X470_chipset_motherboard_for_Ryzen

Gigabyte has been the first motherboard manufacturer to show off an AMD X470 chipset-based motherboard. That board is the X470 Gaming 7 WiFi.

The company says that it has beefed-up the VRMs for the revised model that supports Ryzen+ 2000-series CPUs. We expect to see higher CPU overclocks - a couple of hundred MHz going by a best guess - better memory overclockingslightly lower power consumption

We have a quick sneak peek in this video.

 

[David Bisset]

Why beef up the VRMs if its got lower power consumption?

 

[jigger]

Why beef up the VRMs if its got lower power consumption?

Overclocking.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Why beef up the VRMs if its got lower power consumption?

Overclocking and to tackle Asus and ASRock boards. The CH6 and Taichi are the best boards, arguably, and have the best VRMs.
New chips also.

 

[DragonQ]

Would it help the IMC handle faster RAM also?

 

[Yaayuh!]

Would it help the IMC handle faster RAM also?

VRMs? No, the bottleneck is the IMC and DF (IF). This is however improving with the next generation.

 

[d_brennen]

Why beef up the VRMs if its got lower power consumption?

One of the targets of Zen+ was fixing the clock wall. Overclocking an 8 core 16 thread CPU like Ryzen will suck the juice regardless of how efficient they get the base clock/turbo mechanisms... 5GHz Ryzen inbound **Choo Choo - Hype Train is about to depart **

Also allows for iGPU equipped quads, who knows how much these will need with moderate overclocks

 

[DragonQ]

Something I hadn't thought of is that Pinnacle Ridge will pretty much have to feature higher clocks because the R7 1800X already boosts to 4 GHz. They can't really release a new chip without higher clocks, especially if it has the same IPC, otherwise it'd be a tough sell. Power efficiency is nice but less important for high-end desktop chips compared to server and mobile chips.

 

[ScottiB]

Why beef up the VRMs if its got lower power consumption?

because people like 8pack exist and running VRMs close to their limit is baaad mmmkay

 

[Doogles]

One of the targets of Zen+ was fixing the clock wall. Overclocking an 8 core 16 thread CPU like Ryzen will suck the juice regardless of how efficient they get the base clock/turbo mechanisms... 5GHz Ryzen inbound **Choo Choo - Hype Train is about to depart **

Also allows for iGPU equipped quads, who knows how much these will need with moderate overclocks

One of the things in favor of Ryzen is the solder.

 

[nashathedog]

Looking at the settings and resolution I was expecting more

 

[humbug]

Looking at the settings and resolution I was expecting more

This is a 15 Watt Laptop APU playing Project CARS 2 at 1080P, Thats not bad, not bad at all.

The alternative is Intel's integrated graphics and that will play the same game not at 35 FPS but 12.

 

[Yaayuh!]

This is a 15 Watt Laptop APU playing Project CARS 2 at 1080P, Thats not bad, not bad at all.

Indeed!

 

[d_brennen]

This is a 15 Watt Laptop APU playing Project CARS 2 at 1080P, Thats not bad, not bad at all.

The alternative is Intel's integrated graphics and that will play the same game not at 35 FPS but 12.

Probably closer to 25w by all accounts, assuming cooling budget is there, but impressive none the less

 

[nashathedog]

This is a 15 Watt Laptop APU playing Project CARS 2 at 1080P, Thats not bad, not bad at all.

Indeed!

The alternative is Intel's integrated graphics and that will play the same game not at 35 FPS but 12.

It's at 720p with the majority of settings off or on low.

 

[nashathedog]

Probably closer to 25w by all accounts, assuming cooling budget is there, but impressive none the less

Impressive? It's barely keeping it in the 30's at 720p.

 

[d_brennen]

Impressive? It's barely keeping it in the 30's at 720p.

It's a 15-25w quad core with usable GPU in a package designed for ultra portable and likely cheaper than a dual core Intel + low end Nvidia solution at 50w+

 

[nashathedog]

It's a 15-25w quad core with usable GPU in a package designed for ultra portable and likely cheaper than a dual core Intel + low end Nvidia solution at 50w+

I get that but I think it's not doing as well as I'd of hoped but I suppose I should have expected that especially with the power draw.

 

[FoxEye]

Impressive? It's barely keeping it in the 30's at 720p.

People who want to play 3D games will want something more powerful, and people who don't want 3D games don't need the GPU power it does have.

These "better than nothing but not great" APUs are great if they don't cost any more than a regular Intel chip with Intel's basic but functional HD Graphics.

If they do cost more it's hard to see why you'd buy them. Save the money if you don't need 3D - if you do buy something with a better GPU...

 

[David Bisset]

As one of many people gaming on an intel igpu i disagree with your assumption fox. I have a proper desktop at home but game as often on my work laptop. Increasing igpu power is a big boon to me.