AMD’s next-generation Zen processor architecture and Socket AM5 motherboards were the hot topic at Computex this week and PC enthusiasts and gamers kept an eye on every word of the company’s speeches. The company has new technologies and products desirable for the market. This fall this year, but Robert Hallock, AMD’s director of technical marketing, spoke to me today and answered some of the most pressing questions enthusiasts have about their new processors and platform.
You can watch everything here or watch the interview below.
In short, we are informed why the AM5 Socket will be DDR5 only, what its new generation 3-d V-Cache will look like on long-term Ryzen 7000 processors, why it has the X670E and X670 chipset and whether Threadripper is dead or AMD has the door open for it to come back.
Antony: I’d like to start with the offer and then communicate about the zen 4 stuff and the questions are mine and my readers’. So, with the offering, the Ryzen 7 5800X3-d was a very attractive addition to the socket. AMfour and maybe even unforeseen contemplating the proximity of zen four. Can you tell us why AMD launched it now?Was it to introduce 3-d V-cache or to bring gaming functionality to life rather than decent competition?
Robert: Can I answer yes to all those questions? I think what you’ve noticed about AMD and I don’t know how it identifies is that we’ve pushed a lot of package generation. We are very focused on that Zen or Zen or which procedure node we are on. But there’s this third column of progress that AMD did when we went from monolithic arrays to chips and nodes combined and now stacked and it’s a five/six-year roadmap in the same way that Zen was.
So it’s time to show what we can do with 3D stacking. Yes, for the functionality of the game, but also to give other people a technical idea of where we are headed outside the doors of Zen and what we can do for the functionality without iterating. the procedure or architecture. So, now you see AMD with another 3 functionality tracking columns that are all very vital and equivalent in terms of benefits and all will play a role in our roadmap going forward. So on the one hand, we take a look at what it can do and on the other hand, we need to give a really forged end to the AM4 socket, even if it doesn’t go anywhere. We seek to end on a positive note.
Antony: As for the 3-d V-cache, will it be included in all Ryzen 7000 processors or will there be X3-d models and models like the ones we have with Ryzen 7 5800X and Ryzen 7 5800X3-d?
Robert: I can’t move on to the main points yet, but I want other people to know that 3-d V-Cache is coming to life, there will be Zen 4 with 3-d V-Cache and it’s not an exclusive technology.
Antony: Is the 5800X3D the last processor we’ll see featured in Socket AM4?
Robert: I would probably say no. I don’t know what we plan to do with Socket AM4, but I think you noticed that Lisa communicated about AM4 continuing, it will be alive, and in fact it is in high demand from DIY developers and system consumers. Can there be more AM4?Probably? But I have nothing express to say about it.
Antony: The AM4 socket and the Ryzen 5000 along with the AM5 socket in the same way that we saw the Ryzen 3000 along with the Ryzen 5000?
Robert: Yes, you will surely see AM4 living in parallel with lower costs and more non-unusual options. This is not to say that Zen 3 is slow in every way. In fact, there is an opportunity for this to move forward.
Antony: The AM4 socket has had a gloriously long lifespan that was made even smoother thanks to the new backward compatibility of the Ryzen 5000 processors with the first-generation AM4 cards recently. Is AMD aiming for a lifespan with the AM5 socket?Or will it be limited to two or 3 generations of CPUs?
Robert: I don’t know yet, that’s the right answer. We are still at the beginning of the AM5 structure. It comes out in autumn, but it is far away. One of the things we need to explain is what it looks like. Our users expect transparency on this issue. But we don’t have an answer yet.
Antony: So, a popular query I’ve noticed is whether DDR5 memory will be the only type of ed memory in all chipsets; in fact, it turns out to be the case. Have DDR4 and DDR5 been taken into account and what can you tell enthusiasts who are concerned about the existing high costs of DDR5 compared to DDR4 and the limited gains presented through the previous one?
Robert: It all comes down to a macro issue of source and price and what I mean is that we’ve had active conversations with all the memory-related vendors for months and we’re looking to make sure their source production matches our offering. foresee. We don’t see any demanding situations in the source chain and we’re really very excited about Socket AM5 being exclusively DDR5. I must be very transparent about it: there will be no DDR4 in Socket AM5.
This will create this demand and economies of scale that do not exist today. It is the bird and the egg. He wants adopters to lower the price, but if he gives them an alternative, they may not adopt it. So, I think it’s fair to say that memory vendors were frustrated with this (Intel supports either with its 12th gen processors).
So we all use DDR5, it’s a wonderful technology, less power, overclocking is more wonderful, density is more wonderful and that’s why we rely exclusively on it. People will see those economies of scale and exclusivity reduce costs and overall market diversity.
Antony: The memory speed has been very similar to the functionality of the PROCESSOR in the afterlife due to the basics of zen architecture and Infinity Fabric. Can you tell us more about how Zen 4 is evolving with DDR5 and its times?Opting for some of the faster DDR5 kits is going to give a lot more functionality in the same way, let’s say a 3600MHz kit did it with Zen 3 to a 2666MHz kit.
Robert: I would say that, in terms of overclocking, Zen 4 is like Zen 3 or Zen 2. The features are the same, they work the same way, the benefits are similar. with Zen 4. Es quite predictable. ” I’ll say I’m excited about what DDR5 can offer from a memory clock and a fabric watch, but it’s too early to go into detail.
Antony: Will memory speed have an effect on the functionality of the new built-in RDNA2 graphics card and what kind of functionality can we expect from it?
Robert: That’s a smart question. So for us, I think I’d like to point out that APUs like other people see them today with big graphics cores, that will continue on our roadmap. The Ryzen 7000 series does not report an update there. The Ryzen 7000 series has only a few sets of compute on the new I/O chip just to allow for the demonstration of outputs, as well as the encoding and interpretation of video directly from the CPU. This will happen to us especially in the advertising market where they do not buy discrete graphics at all.
We now have a full stack of Ryzen processors that have graphics and can control a display. This is a smart opportunity for us. We know that for enthusiasts, they will have discrete graphics, so we didn’t have to push the built-in graphics too hard in terms of performance. These are lightweight graphics, similar to those of a desktop computer.
Antony: Next, let’s move on to Zen 4 and all that has generated a lot of interest is how Zen 4 processors will balance frequency with IPC and force ingestion. It looks very different from Zen 3 here. First of all, I noticed some impressive frequencies in the demo. this week and we know some wonderful single-threaded functionality innovations are coming. What can you tell us about innovations at the CPI?
Roberto: There aren’t a couple of things I have to say yet about that 15% improvement figure. Notice that we said more than 15%. The asterisk about this is that we distrust in 4 other ways. We are very excited about launching a unique thread, either from a procedure or an IPCArray, and we intend to give other people the exact breakdown over the summer. We know this is a hot topic and we know that other people expect us to have that transparency. There is no replacement there.
From a frequency perspective, all I’ll say is that the 16-core prototype we demonstrated. There are enough threads in one game for all cores to run at 5. 5 GHz, but among those that worked, all of them were at 5. 5 GHz, so we’re getting a lot of new leeway from the new process with Zen 4, so it deserves to pay true dividends.
Antony: The strength of the socket has increased, which I assume will allow processors to improve the frequencies of all cores, among other things. We already know that the compatibility of the coolers will remain the same, which is excellent, but we will see a Do cooling desires accumulate as a result?For example, will an octa-core Zen 4 processor generate more heat than a Ryzen 7 5800X?
Robert: That’s a smart question. So I think it will manifest itself in a number of ways. First of all, I must say that I need to verify yesterday’s facts myself. I met my children. The 170 W TDP is a new option, but it is a 230 W connection force because the 1. 35 W multiplied TDP is still a connecting force, so it is true for the 65 W, 105 W and 170 W TDPs. So I purged the air around it.
In terms of chillers, anyone with a giant Noctua cooler or 240mm AIO liquid coolers will work well on the AM5 socket. I myself use Noctua’s NH-D5, but I must also say that this new 170W option does not sign a general Replace in the way we technique PDTs. Therefore, there will be 65W and 105W. We’re simply looking for an option to divulge more multithreaded functionality on processors with more cores and, frankly, we’ve left much of that force on the table in the afterlife with lower socket strength limits.
So, being able to disclose this gives us Zen 4 frequently, another 50% builds up on overall computing performance. It’s big. It’s worth it even if it wasn’t from the top to the bottom of the stack. I think other people deserve to realize that every time you shrink an array and load more transistors, the heat density increases. Concentrate the heat more, but that doesn’t mean the procedure is warmer or the procedure is warmer. It’s just physics. So we say we need other people to be able to use Socket AMfour refrigerators because we think they’re perfectly capable.
Antony: We’re used to other processors hitting the shelves at launch and we have to wait for the full stack to be available. Is there any data on whether AMD intends to release some or all of the key processors this fall?
Robert: Unfortunately, this is one of the last decisions we’re making, so we don’t have any data on it right now.
Antony: The trio of new chipsets is an attractive option. What was the main reason for splitting the high-end with X670 and X670E?Was it just due to PCIe five or imagine that the processors with the most cores would basically be used by high-level gamers and professionals who could opt for Threadripper in a different way.
Robert: That’s a smart question. The resolution for splitting X670 into two chipsets dates back to the early life of X570, where all those cards had PCIe four on each motherboard. At the time, we heard comments like other people saying we didn’t have PCIe four graphics. or garage devices and I had no intention of updating them for a while, or they can give me an option that doesn’t have PCIe 4 at a lower price.
We feel that with PCIe five it’s pretty much the same scenario and now we have the opportunity to take feedback seriously and do something different. Therefore, the X670E chipset has pcIe five in two PEG slots, either one x16 or two x8. Then one NVMe will be PCIe five, then PCIe five is optional on the popular X670 chipset.
This offers a wider variety of motherboards with X670 chipset, but not all of them have the additional load of PCIe 5. There will be a wider diversity of prices and we think other people will appreciate it.
Antony: One feature that is of interest to more and more people is Thunderbolt 4. Thunderbolt has been limited so far, however, one would probably expect it to be included on flagship motherboards, especially the X670E chipset. Is there still news about lightning?
Robert: As we saw at Computex, there are already motherboards with USB 4 right now and interoperability with Thunderbolt is known, so the market has already closed that gap.
Antony: I know you probably can’t communicate about fast CPU models, but is there anything about cache sizes outside of any 3-d V-Cache implementation?Have they stayed the same or are they increasing?
Robert: Well, we’re doubling the length of the L2 cache in Zen 4. It’s still a very clever balance with the L2 cache because it takes up a giant component of the core itself, but as Intel did with Alder Lake as well, as it transitions to smaller compute nodes, it’s a great opportunity to find a new load-capacity balance. The L2 cache is a huge improvement on IPC that increases your smart fortune rate in the L2 cache and prevents you from going above and beyond and increasing latency. We’ll communicate about the other caching later.
Antony: As for setup and overclocking, have you replaced here significantly?I know some enthusiasts would like to see more changes and follow closely.
Robert: We’re still running those overclocking functions, but for us it’s very early. We want to finish with the processors and then move on to the overclocking aspect closer to autumn.
Antony: AMD has been very competitive in its efforts to push the technologies forward. Will you introduce new impulse technologies with Zen 4?
Robert: AMD will use the same Precision Boost 2 rule set that’s used today. The wonderful thing is that it adapts to the processing generation or the frequency margin it has. -size-have compatibilities-the whole solution. If we take a ton of frequency margin or multi-threaded capability or whatever, Precision Boost 2 can be expanded to have compatibility and that will be the case with Zen 4.
Antony: As a result of that, manual overclocking has played a diminishing role with Ryzen thanks to more automatic strategies like Precision Boost Overdrive 2, and is only valued with fast processors or workloads. Do you think Zen 4 will do it?lean more to get the most out of the processor at the speed of inventory or manual overlocking will continue to occupy a place in the toolbox of PC enthusiasts?
Robert: So, for us, it’s a philosophical selection that we make. Let’s be transparent about what overclocking is. Yes, it’s fun, yes, it’s exciting, yes, it’s like you have something for free. But for the vast majority of users, the functionality of the chip is hidden behind a breach of warranty and this is not suitable for us. I need other people to have to break their warranty to get that extra frequency that the processor is capable of and that’s why we bought our portions so aggressively to enjoy everything there and Zen 4 would possibly be no different. Users shouldn’t expect big changes to the way we use CPU frequency overclocking. Precision Boost Overdrive will be useful, Curve Optimizer will be useful, memory overclocking will be useful.
Antony: Finally, one query that is close to my center and many of my readers is Threadripper. With the inclusion of a high-end chipset in X670E with full PCIe five and even more multithreaded features with the new 16-core quad-core Zen. , possibly the Ryzen nine 7ninefive0X, it is increasingly unlikely that we will see successors to the Threadripper 3nine60X, 3nine70X and 3ninenine0X. Is a new high-end desktop processor planned in AMD’s plans?
Robert: All I can say is that Threadripper is going somewhere.
I must thank Robert for the time he spent answering those questions about Zen 4 and the new Ryzen 7000 series. You can read more below and don’t limit yourself to me here at Forbes using the link at the top. You can also stick to me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.