SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
On July 7, AMD will launch three refreshed Zen 2 "Matisse" desktop CPUs with slightly higher boost clocks than the previous versions:
- 12-core Ryzen 9 3900XT will boost to 4.7 GHz, instead of 4.6 GHz for the 3900X.
- 8-core Ryzen 7 3800XT will boost to 4.7 GHz, instead of 4.5 GHz for the 3800X.
- 6-core Ryzen 5 3600XT will boost to 4.5 GHz, instead of 4.4 GHz for the 3600X.
The 3900XT and 3800XT will not come with a bundled cooler, unlike the 3900X and 3800X (the top-of-the-line 16-core 3950X also did not come with a cooler). 3600XT will come with a Wraith Spire cooler.
The "suggested etailer price" (SEP) is the same as the launch prices for the previous CPUs ($499, $399, $249), but the 3900X is often sold for $400-$420 instead of $500, for example. So customers may end up paying between 10-25% more for a 2-5% potential performance gain, unless retailers drop the prices soon after launch.
The new 3000XT family of processors focuses mostly on boosting the turbo frequency by 100-200 MHz for the same power. AMD states that this is due to using an optimized 7nm manufacturing process. This is likely due to a minor BKM[*] or PDK[**] update that allows TSMC/AMD to tune the process for a better voltage/frequency curve and bin a single CPU slightly higher.
[...] In each [of the] three cases, the XT processors give slightly better frequency than the X units, so we should expect to see an official permanent price drop on the X processors in order to keep everything in line.
The CPUs should work with existing motherboards that supported the non-XT CPUs, after a BIOS update.
A September to October 2020 launch date is likely for the first next-generation Ryzen 4000 Zen 3 "Vermeer" CPUs. Rumors of the launch being pushed back to 2021 have been denied.
[*] BKM: Best-Known Method
[**] PDK: Process Design Kit
(Score: 2) by Booga1 on Wednesday June 17 2020, @10:15PM (3 children)
Some people can't wait! Other's can't wait. Just helped a friend sort out making purchases for a new build over the last month. He's the type that would totally pay the extra money for that 5% performance, but all the purchases were finalized last week. I warned him this was right around the corner, but he just had to have his stuff right now.
It is nice to hear that the Zen 3 launch has not been pushed back completely. I do wonder if it will have a staggered release or other effects due to the coronavirus. It was hard enough getting a motherboard since some retailers were 100% out of stock on various motherboards for at least a month. One place ran out of every single AMD X570 board.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 18 2020, @01:55AM (2 children)
Zen 2 was a staggered release. The main chips came out in July 2019, but 3950X was pushed to late November. And then the 3100/3300X quad-cores came out this April.
Coronavirus effects may add up to only a month at worse. A lot of the pieces for Zen 3 were in place far in advance. It's stuff like TSMC's "3nm" node [wccftech.com] that might take the hit.
These refresh chips don't make too much sense yet. Maybe they will result in better than expected benchmarks, by hitting the top clock speeds for longer or something. But for now, expect just 2-5% gain. Zen 3 actually has a chance of seizing the gaming crown, and no delay to January means another 2-3 months of pain for Intel.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 18 2020, @05:43PM (1 child)
I think that's unfair. AMD's yields were high enough, and the manufacturing process sufficiently squared-away that it made sense to sell the chips a little faster than was prac tical at the initial launch. That sort of speed boost when manufacturing gets tweaked is pretty normal. Obviously, nobody is going to upgrade from the immediately previous model just for this extra few percent. But if you were shopping for a computer with a $350 CPU today vs. a month ago, the one you buy today will now be a little bit faster for the same price. Or the computer you would have bought a month ago will now be a few dollars cheaper. Yay. progress.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday June 18 2020, @06:13PM
Rumors were pointing to better gains (e.g. 10% overall), including base clock increases, and no less than 200 MHz increase in turbos (instead of the lethargic 100 MHz). We will have to wait for benchmarks to see exactly how well they do. Even if turbo clocks are only up 2-5%, maybe they can sustain those speeds for much longer. If the XT were to beat Intel's top CPUs in more games, that would be a nice victory before the Zen 3 launch.
IMO, AMD botched communication of the pricing. Because if you look at other discussions of the XT, there is a lot of bitching about the "SEPs". If it's a choice between a $500 3900XT and a $400 3900X, not many would pick the XT, especially if the gain appears to be as low as 2%. But apparently the 3900X suggested price is still officially $500. So the prices mentioned could settle down immediately, end up closer to each other, and even drive the non-XT versions down a bit more.
Mixed in with the news were the rumors that Zen 3 would be delayed to 2021, seemingly reinforced by the XT's existence (not to mention the coronavirus). AMD officially denied the rumor in a conference call a little before the SN story went live.
Don't take my word for it, look at other discussions to see some of the complaints and confusion:
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/amd-announces-new-ryzen-3000-xt-series-processors-and-availability-of-b550-motherboards.432830/ [guru3d.com]
https://www.anandtech.com/comments/15854/amd-ryzen-3000-xt-cpus-zen-2-more-mhz [anandtech.com]
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/06/amds-upcoming-ryzen-3000xt-brings-7nm-improvements-higher-boost/?comments=1 [arstechnica.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]