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

[AthlonXP1800]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1614360/...ring-sample-numbers-8-core-tops-out-at-3-6ghz

Look like retail 8 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have 3150MHz base clock but unfortunately all 8 cores maxed out will reach 3.3GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.6GHz turbo clock. 4 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have lower base clock at 2.9GHz, all 4 cores maxed out will reach 3.1GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.4GHz.

I think Zen looked like will be a weak CPU that can compete with some low base and turbo clocked Intel CPUs like Sandy Bridge i5 2400 but cant compete with Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge/Haswell/Broadwell/Sky Lake and Kaby Lake Intel CPUs at higher turbo clock.

Guess GlobalFoundry 14nm is to blame for issues just like Polaris did. Maybe Zen cant OC to 4GHz either.

 

[jigger]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1614360/...ring-sample-numbers-8-core-tops-out-at-3-6ghz

Look like retail 8 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have 3150MHz base clock but unfortunately all 8 cores maxed out will reach 3.3GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.6GHz turbo clock. 4 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have lower base clock at 2.9GHz, all 4 cores maxed out will reach 3.1GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.4GHz.

I think Zen looked like will be a weak CPU that can compete with some low base and turbo clocked Intel CPUs like Sandy Bridge i5 2400 but cant compete with Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge/Haswell/Broadwell/Sky Lake and Kaby Lake Intel CPUs at higher turbo clock.

Guess GlobalFoundry 14nm is to blame for issues just like Polaris did. Maybe Zen cant OC to 4GHz either.

Based on a forum post.

Hi all! I went into the forest recently and birds have tweeted something again. They spoke about 2 new SKUs that have just hit the post-boxes of the mainboard manufacturers. They are both A0 revisions and Engineering Samples, so there is no improvement since my last post.

The first one is an 8-core design with AMD's HT implementation and it's got a 3150 MHz base clock, it's all-core turbo is 3300 MHz and the max turbo for 1 core is 3600 Mhz. Yes, here are some improvements regarding the previous 8-core SKU under the same TDP envelope.

The second SKU is a 4-core one with AMD's HT. It's got a 65W TDP and the base clock is still 2900 MHz. All-core turbo is 3100 MHz, max turbo is 3400 MHz. I don't know if it's only an SKU for testing mainboards or something is not okay with the clock-wattage correlation. I mean on higher clocks the 4-core SKU steps into the 95W TDP envelope, AMD can't keep the wattage low. Maybe GloFo's 14nm process needs some maturing... Frankly I don't have a clue what's in the background.

Retail AM4 mainboards are under production. The whole platform will be ready to have a paper-launch at the end of the year with a real availability in February of 2017. Performance wise the Zen uarch will be around Haswell and Broadwell (except for FMA), it seems it won't catch Skylake clock for clock. It's not a big deal, but if the clocks can't go higher until the start it won't fulfill the expectations. And we all know that expectations in this case are very high...

You must really be keen to find Zen info.

 

[humbug]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1614360/...ring-sample-numbers-8-core-tops-out-at-3-6ghz

Look like retail 8 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have 3150MHz base clock but unfortunately all 8 cores maxed out will reach 3.3GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.6GHz turbo clock. 4 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have lower base clock at 2.9GHz, all 4 cores maxed out will reach 3.1GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.4GHz.

I think Zen looked like will be a weak CPU that can compete with some low base and turbo clocked Intel CPUs like Sandy Bridge i5 2400 but cant compete with Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge/Haswell/Broadwell/Sky Lake and Kaby Lake Intel CPUs at higher turbo clock.

Guess GlobalFoundry 14nm is to blame for issues just like Polaris did. Maybe Zen cant OC to 4GHz either.

He's not making much sense.

He claims a base clock of 3.15Ghz but then goes on to say all 8 cores boost to 3.3Ghz and one core boosting to 3.6Ghz.
Thats a base clock of 3.3Ghz with a turbo of 3.6Ghz, the 3.15Ghz thing is nonsense.
He also says that AMD managed to get the 8 core (That one ^^^^) to its given TDP (95 Watts) at those speeds.
While the 4 core need to go over its 65 Watt TDP to 95 Watts to reach the same speeds as the 95 Watt 8 core.
That is completely nonsensical, they are the same chip, one with half the cores.

He claims to have got this info from the inside in some secrete way.

He's full of ####!

Next rumour please.....

 

[mmj_uk]

Well in most cases boost only works if power draw/temperature allows it, so it could be that 3.3ghz is the clockspeed under optimum conditions with 3.15ghz being worst case and going up to 3.6ghz when fewer cores are used.

As for the TDP it stands to reason that the 8 core parts will be the very best dies and 4 core dies will probably be the poorest, it doesn't bode well for 8 core prices if they're say the best 5% of dies though.

I wouldn't dismiss something as nonsense just because it's not spelled out.

 

[Freddie1980]

http://www.overclock.net/t/1614360/...ring-sample-numbers-8-core-tops-out-at-3-6ghz

Look like retail 8 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have 3150MHz base clock but unfortunately all 8 cores maxed out will reach 3.3GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.6GHz turbo clock. 4 core Zen Summit Ridge CPU will have lower base clock at 2.9GHz, all 4 cores maxed out will reach 3.1GHz turbo clock and 1 core maxed out at 3.4GHz.

I think Zen looked like will be a weak CPU that can compete with some low base and turbo clocked Intel CPUs like Sandy Bridge i5 2400 but cant compete with Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge/Haswell/Broadwell/Sky Lake and Kaby Lake Intel CPUs at higher turbo clock.

Guess GlobalFoundry 14nm is to blame for issues just like Polaris did. Maybe Zen cant OC to 4GHz either.

That doesn't make any sense. Have Intel shrills been awaken from their hibernation?

 

[humbug]

That doesn't make any sense. Have Intel shrills been awaken from their hibernation?

95 Watt 8 core that has them in a panic?

 

[TheMorningStar]

Could be the entry level chips for all we know, I'm sure they will have a lot of "scrap" handy while they work on process refinements/revisions etc.

 

[Freddie1980]

95 Watt 8 core that has them in a panic?

It's been a decade since they have seen anything remotely competitive. Priced correctly it has the potential to shake up the market.

 

[h4rm0ny]

I think people should be reminded that AMD's primary goal here is to take share from Intel in the lucrative server / cloud market. It's fine to discuss the relative merits from a desktop CPU point of view as that's what most of us here are interested in, but when people start talking about if chips are a "failure" or if competitors need to worry, they need to keep in mind their purpose. Desktop market is shrinking. For the server market high core numbers and slightly lower clocks are good.

Way up this thread a couple of months ago, I said that personally if I saw something atound 3.2 to 3.5GHz that would probably be good and inline with my expectations so if it's 3.15 base that's slightly disappointing but not by much and we'll probably see that rise over the lifetime of Zen, too.

 

[DONOHUE07]

All speculation and no news, this is a tedious thread at the moments

 

[Matkinson]

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/amd-ceo-lisa-su-reconfirms-zen-release-in-q1-2017.html

Q1 2017 release date confirmation.

 

[Bonjour]

Bring it on.

Will probably struggle against the i7 / i5 at their full clock speeds. Hopefully Zen clocks can be ramped up as the process matures.

 

[AllBodies]

Bring it on.

Will probably struggle against the i7 / i5 at their full clock speeds. Hopefully Zen clocks can be ramped up as the process matures.

Bear in mind the 8-core i7 6900k is $1000, 140W, and max turbo is 3.7 GHz.

If the reports of Zen's 8-core being 95W and 3.3 GHz turbo, that's very close already, and would only need to overclock to 4 GHz to be extremely decent. Especially if it's a lot cheaper than the 6900k.

The 6-core may turn out to be the sweet spot. If that's like ~£300 and can get to ~4.4 GHz at similar IPC to Haswell, then AMD will be on to a big winner.

 

[Bonjour]

Bear in mind the 8-core i7 6900k is $1000, 140W, and max turbo is 3.7 GHz.

If the reports of Zen's 8-core being 95W and 3.3 GHz turbo, that's very close already, and would only need to overclock to 4 GHz to be extremely decent. Especially if it's a lot cheaper than the 6900k.

The 6-core may turn out to be the sweet spot. If that's like ~£300 and can get to ~4.4 GHz at similar IPC to Haswell, then AMD will be on to a big winner.

Please don't get me all excited again...

 

[eddiew]

Please don't get me all excited again...

It's not the excitement that's the problem, it's the crushing disappointment and the realisation that you could have bought something 6 months ago rather than waiting

 

[edscdk]

I don't think it matters what AMD they release the ball park will remain the same, it seems obvious to me Intel are just cruising... an i5 2nd gen only slightly slower than a i5 6th gen... seriously? (when comparing in the same price bracket)

I would be fairly sure they are holding back as there is no competition pushing them, if AMD Zen CPU costing £100 was 3x the performance of a current intel £100 CPU the next month intel would balance the books.. dropping prices, or releasing new CPUs slightly better than AMD but slightly more expensive (but not by much)

 

[AllBodies]

I don't think it matters what AMD they release the ball park will remain the same, it seems obvious to me Intel are just cruising... an i5 2nd gen only slightly slower than a i5 6th gen... seriously? (when comparing in the same price bracket)

I would be fairly sure they are holding back as there is no competition pushing them, if AMD Zen CPU costing £100 was 3x the performance of a current intel £100 CPU the next month intel would balance the books.. dropping prices, or releasing new CPUs slightly better than AMD but slightly more expensive (but not by much)

The bigger part will likely end up in not comparing Zen to the 'k' CPUs.

If all Zen parts are unlocked and also have hyperthreading, it'll be very interesting to see what happens in the £150-200 price range.

What if AMD offers a 4c/8t Zen chip that may be low clocked at stock, but overclocks even to just 4 GHz. That would destroy the entire i5 lineup.

 

[HEADRAT]

I guess AMD is trying to hit the lucrative middle ground again like they've done with GPU?

 

[~>Dg<~]

The bigger part will likely end up in not comparing Zen to the 'k' CPUs.

If all Zen parts are unlocked and also have hyperthreading, it'll be very interesting to see what happens in the £150-200 price range.

What if AMD offers a 4c/8t Zen chip that may be low clocked at stock, but overclocks even to just 4 GHz. That would destroy the entire i5 lineup.

it will compete with i5s but remember that just as these drop a newer line of i5s will drop.

so sorta same old story.

i7s will remain faster.

 

[Orangey]

The only thing AMD can destroy is themselves and they're damn good at it.