New Zen microarchitecture details

[LTC8K6]

Clocks.

Not everyone overclocks their systems.

Sent from my XT1040 using Tapatalk

Which should actually just be binning alone in the case of RyZen, since the processor itself determines it's clocks.

There should not be any AMD locks or settings on the clocks. Each one should be determining it's own clocks and overclocks.

Unless AMD is releasing locked chips.

 

[Doom2pro]

From Apollo over at SA: http://imgur.com/gallery/qheFr

AM4 Motherboard slides from today's presentation.

 

[.vodka]

Well, motherboard partners are going all in with Ryzen. Those are some beefy boards!

Nice to see.

 

[guskline]

That Crosshair Vi Hero mb really looks nice.

 

[tamz_msc]

That Crosshair Vi Hero mb really looks nice.

Yes, the fan headers are placed in a convenient location. The problem is that a lot of the lower priced SKUs have some weird placements of ports and headers.

 

[The Stilt]

That Crosshair Vi Hero mb really looks nice.

It just doesn't look, it actually is

 

[Erenhardt]

It just doesn't look, it actually is

I hate you!

 

[lolfail9001]

It's true. A couple of Universities switched after AMD paid them to switch. It's not a bad concept, get the people in college to use your platform and then carry that experience into the business world.

Oh, it is a really good concept, every company uses that on regular basis, though my knowledge of that is second hand.

Crosshair board is nice but for some reason i feel like it is a downgrade of a brand.

P. S. Did anyone notice in the press release that it is stated that Raven Ridge is laptop-only?

 

[Dresdenboy]

Which should actually just be binning alone in the case of RyZen, since the processor itself determines it's clocks.

There should not be any AMD locks or settings on the clocks. Each one should be determining it's own clocks and overclocks.

Unless AMD is releasing locked chips.

Binning is also about reached base/standard turbo clocks for given TDPs at standard temperature ranges. XFR is a separate feature. I wouldn't mix that. I also don't think, that there are "locks". There are just standard P-states and XFR on top of them.

 

[Dresdenboy]

P. S. Did anyone notice in the press release that it is stated that Raven Ridge is laptop-only?

There will be FP5 and AM4 Raven Ridge models.

 

[swilli89]

Ryzen launching "early March" with full availability day 1.

 

[inf64]

Ryzen launching "early March" with full availability day 1.

Hmm did I miss that from the slides/commentary? It would be nice to have products on the shelves on day 1 but that would imply we should be seeing listings on various websites (pre-order) at least 2 weeks before launch. Which is 2 weeks from now.

 

[swilli89]

Hmm did I miss that from the slides/commentary? It would be nice to have products on the shelves on day 1 but that would imply we should be seeing listings on various websites (pre-order) at least 2 weeks before launch. Which is 2 weeks from now.

Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, said in the call today that Ryzen will launch early March, with full channel and retail availability.

 

[Atari2600]

Ryzen launching "early March" with full availability day 1.

If thats the case, surely its only a matter of time before someone somewhere in the entire distribution network gets a hold of one and the leaks really start.

 

[zinfamous]

The shortest month of the year already feels like the longest.

 

[cytg111]

From Apollo over at SA: http://imgur.com/gallery/qheFr

AM4 Motherboard slides from today's presentation.

VR Optimized USB ports? What the actual .

 

[Doom2pro]

VR Optimized USB ports? What the actual .

I know right? That part caught my attention too... I wasn't aware of any issues with USB 3.0 and VR... Maybe it's latency stuff with head tracking?

 

[krumme]

We might quickly get lost in interesting theories here. But let's return back to basics (KISS principle, Occam's razor, etc.): They have a pool of good IP, now including a viable CPU core, too, they have access to two current and one or two future not so crappy processes with at least a little flexibility in capacity w/o a fixed cost burden as in the past, they have Infinity Fabric, experience with interposers and HBM1/2, they look at adding PIM and FPGAs to the mix, the software stack is getting better, and whatever I forgot to list. Intel has a different mix, a mindshare advantage, and lots of production capacity in an environment of shareholder expectations being used to Intel's current numbers. That could mean they have to be careful with cutting prices.

We might also have to adjust our estimated volume. It's difficult to find useful numbers, so let's try with these:
In Q1'14 AMD sold 17M GPUs with 4.36M being dGPUs. This leaves about 13M APUs (they probably sold some chipsets with iGPU, too) in a first quarter. Given that 28nm APUs are uarch, power, and mem bandwith constrained, and sold in combination with not so fast CPU cores, the prospects of Zen cores, 14LPP, faster uarch and DDR4 memory, on a nicely upgradable socket for DT at least, should be good to sell at least 10M per quarter again, or 40M per year (seasonality removed). This means, if sold for only one year, roughly $4 per chip would suffice to recover the R&D investment incl. risk. Add $30 per packaged good die, and some margin to offset other costs, $45 should be a good ballpark estimate. This would define where AMD could begin to earn money, aside from sold chipsets. How would Intel's numbers change, if they'd lower prices of similarly performing to <$100?

Yep. But what zen apu is selling 40M a year or the equivalent of bobcat when it was most successfull. Is it the 16c or 4c variant?
What can a 16c big apu sell and at what prices? - that will determine if we will see it in single die configuration.

 

[DrMrLordX]

It just doesn't look, it actually is

So . . . are you allowed to tell us what is the VRM configuration on the C6H?

The shortest month of the year already feels like the longest.

Agreed. Yargh. And here I was thinking Feb 28th . . .

 

[jpiniero]

What can a 16c big apu sell and at what prices? - that will determine if we will see it in single die configuration.

It's still too early to say but my guess would be that Snowy Owl would be at least $2500 to start, including the board.

 

[lolfail9001]

There will be FP5 and AM4 Raven Ridge models.

◦
AMD delivered new details on the architecture, go-to-market plans, and performance of
upcoming “Zen”-based processors:
• Revealed Ryzen, the brand that will span “Zen”-based desktop (codenamed
“Summit Ridge”) and notebook (codenamed “Raven Ridge”) products.

That i am talking about.

 

[AtenRa]

That i am talking about.

RavenRidge is a high-end Laptop and Desktop product, from that, I see AMD heavily pushing RavenRidge in the Mobile market because of higher ASPs. That doesnt mean it will not be available for the desktop as well.

 

[hrga225]

It just doesn't look, it actually is

This and change in avatar.I now officialy hate you.

 

[lopri]

If they are all unlocked, what would be the difference in the two 8c/16t chips?

Is this confirmed and set in stone? I find it difficult to believe that all SKUs will have multiplier unlocked. At a minimum there has to be either a ceiling or a floor between different SKUs if AMD want to differentiate their products.

Bus overclocking, yes, I assume that is a given. But unless AMD plans to sell their chips like mobile SOCs I see no chance of unlocked multipliers for every SKU.

Clocks.

Not everyone overclocks their systems.

Sent from my XT1040 using Tapatalk

Yes, but then it will be trivial for system builders (perhaps not the big ones, but small ones will) to sell an overclocked lower-end model as a higher end model for a premium which AMD will never see. It will also greatly cut into motivation to purchase a higher end model for end-users, individuals and corporations alike.

I would be ecstatic to see all unlocked CPUs but I have a grave doubt that AMD will actually do that.

 

[Tup3x]

VR Optimized USB ports? What the actual .

Marketing bullsheit.