AMD has trademarked a bunch of goofy names for Zen

[superstition]

Ryzen
Vara
Joro
Jitzu
Grok
ThreadRipper

http://hothardware.com/news/amd-trademarks-ryzen-and-other-names-possibly-associate-with-zen-cpu

The only one that sounds tolerable to me is Vara but it also sounds too obscure to be useful as anything more than a code name.

AMD should remember that Zen is about purity. Ryzen is fail.

 

[Arachnotronic]

How about some Phenom III action?

 

[superstition]

How about some Phenom III action?

They won't do that because it would look like admitting that the entire Bulldozer line was a failure.

Phenom isn't very catchy anyway.

Now that you mention it, though, AMD III might be a good name for it. It's a no-nonsense name but is catchy because of the rhyme. It makes sense because this is their first SMT processor.

 

[nitromullet]

Brought to you by the same folks that brought you "Sempr0n".

...which, admittedly, was a bad name for an otherwise great CPU.

 

[richaron]

Man, i would buy me some Grok just to say i owned it. I don't care what tier product it was.

Best. Name. Ever.

Edit: After a little thought; they sound more like goofy mascots than products to me..

 

[Valantar]

Ryzen
Vara
Joro
Jitzu
Grok
ThreadRipper

http://hothardware.com/news/amd-trademarks-ryzen-and-other-names-possibly-associate-with-zen-cpu

The only one that sounds tolerable to me is Vara but it also sounds too obscure to be useful as anything more than a code name.

AMD should remember that Zen is about purity. Ryzen is fail.

Vara means "deputy" or "substitute" in Norwegian (as in "deputy Mayor"). So Zen is the deputy CPU that steps in once your Intel chip kicks the bucket?

 

[imported_bman]

ThreadRipper sounds juvenile yet kinda cool.

 

[zinfamous]

How about some Phenom III action?

I agree. The Phenom line has only ever been good, even if the name isn't all that great. Then again, maybe III is bad...which kinda killed the Pentium name, no? My CPU history is fuzzy, but I recall Pentium III being awful but Pentium IV being at least better, just not all that special. Pentium is pretty much buried, right?

Maybe AMD is worried the same thing will happen with their legacy with Phenom, as it is, if Zen turns out to be a dud (it doesn't look to be a dud, but I'd be astonished if it is somehow the greatest thing of the last 5 years, like some are hoping). I'm only hoping that it is solid and worth the price of entry, bringing some much-needed competition back into those various spaces.

 

[zinfamous]

Man, i would buy me some Grok just to say i owned it. I don't care what tier product it was.

Best. Name. Ever.

Edit: After a little thought; they sound more like goofy mascots than products to me..

Grok is pretty awesome. Who doesn't want a Grok in their box?

 

[DrMrLordX]

Grok has a history. They may be issuing these trademarks for things other than CPUs/APUs.

 

[master_shake_]

was it pronounced fee-nom on fen-om like venom?

 

[BigDaveX]

I agree. The Phenom line has only ever been good, even if the name isn't all that great. Then again, maybe III is bad...which kinda killed the Pentium name, no? My CPU history is fuzzy, but I recall Pentium III being awful but Pentium IV being at least better, just not all that special. Pentium is pretty much buried, right?

Pentium III did mark the start of the period where AMD more or less consistently outperformed Intel, but that wasn't really due to any particular failing on the chip's part; AMD just came up with a better design.

Pentium 4 on the other hand? Yeah, that started out bad with the Willamette incarnation, got better for about 18 months with Northwood, and then ended up crashing and burning totally with Prescott. Though it may well have been the Pentium D that was the real killer blow for Pentium as a top brand, since it wasn't even remotely competitive at the high-end and Intel were forced to undercut AMD on price, and it's been left as their budget brand in the years since.

As for the potential brand names in the OP, they all sound more like the names of Pokemon than anything I'd install in my PC.

 

[CHADBOGA]

I always thought the Athlon was the best name of any AMD processor.

 

[CHADBOGA]

was it pronounced fee-nom on fen-om like venom?

fee-nom because they wanted you to think it was phenomenal.

 

[Arachnotronic]

I always thought the Athlon was the best name of any AMD processor.

Athlon might actually be the best name of any PC processor, period. They relegated it to the cheap, low-end garbage chips though, so there's no chance of it coming back as a high end part

AMD FX and Intel Core are both terrible names. Just think -- some executives got paid in the high six-figures or even low seven figures to come up with those "highly creative" names.

 

[CHADBOGA]

Athlon might actually be the best name of any PC processor, period. They relegated it to the cheap, low-end garbage chips though, so there's no chance of it coming back as a high end part

AMD FX and Intel Core are both terrible names. Just think -- some executives got paid in the high six-figures or even low seven figures to come up with those "highly creative" names.

Yes I know.

With "Core" it is literally like they had no one working on a new name and they were forced to come up with something at 5 minutes to Midnight.

Utterly ridiculous name.

 

[nitromullet]

Yes I know.

With "Core" it is literally like they had no one working on a new name and they were forced to come up with something at 5 minutes to Midnight.

Utterly ridiculous name.

Yeah, "Core" doesn't really flow very smoothly to me. I do sort of like the i7, i5, and i3 moniker though. It's nice for not everything to have an "X". Although, I never did understand what they didn't make the HEDT versions i9 instead of i7.

 

[Dresdenboy]

ThreadRipper sounds juvenile yet kinda cool.

Especially in forums.

 

[bbhaag]

Man, i would buy me some Grok just to say i owned it. I don't care what tier product it was.

Best. Name. Ever.

Edit: After a little thought; they sound more like goofy mascots than products to me..

I kind of agree. They do sound more like mascot names then actual chip names. Doesn't Intel have three mascots they use as well to promote certain product lines geared toward gamers and enthusiasts? Maybe AMD is following suit and trademarking the names for new mascots.

Anyway, we won't really know until we start seeing these names show up in promotional material.

 

[dark zero]

Athlon might actually be the best name of any PC processor, period. They relegated it to the cheap, low-end garbage chips though, so there's no chance of it coming back as a high end part

AMD FX and Intel Core are both terrible names. Just think -- some executives got paid in the high six-figures or even low seven figures to come up with those "highly creative" names.

Actually Athlon is not badly treated compared to Pentium (Atom)... They can reuse it only as High tier CPU without any GPU.

Also... why not bring back the Turion or the Duron name?

 

[swilli89]

I've been saying this for months.. Why not just stick with Zen? Its already drummed up a huge amount of interest. Zen 8x, Zen 6x, Zen 4x for the first generation of 8, 6, and 4 core configurations respectively. Then when Zen + comes around just go with Zen II 8x etc...

 

[superstition]

AMD apparently wants something that can be trademarked.

 

[PG]

I like AMD in general, I like the underdog, but I'm sick of AMD's screwball names, and excessive names. Most things have two names vs one name like Intel.
Here is what I mean:
Bulldozer / Zambezi
Vishera / Piledriver
Steamroller / Kaveri
Steamroller / Godavari
Excavator / Carrizo

AMD also had platform names for some of those, which I skipped, (Scorpion for Bulldozer, Volan for Vishera)
It's nuts. Intel had Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswelll, etc. They seem to keep it simple.
I say stop putting energy into the names and do some more engineering to make the products better.

 

[EightySix Four]

I bet ThreadRipper is the name of their SMT implementation, like HyperThreading.

 

[Atari2600]

If its any good, then AMD Phoenix might be an apt name for it...