AMD has officially confirmed that it will be introducing its next-generation Ryzen 4000 CPUs based on the Zen 3 architecture and Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards based on the RDNA 2 architecture in the coming month of October. The announcement comes just a few hours after it was teased that AMD plans to unveil something brand new today which we reported first here.
AMD Ryzen 4000 Zen 3 CPUs Unveil on 8th October, Radeon RX 6000 Series RDNA 2 GPU Unveil on 28th October
AMD has confirmed that it will be introducing its next-generation CPU and GPUs for the desktop PC segment in a series of separate tweets. In the tweets, AMD confirms that it will first unveil its Zen 3 based Ryzen Desktop CPUs codenamed “Vermeer” on 8th October followed by the Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards based on the RDNA 2 GPU architecture on 28th October.
Preparing to delight gamers globally with the next horizon of Radeon Graphics, we invite you to learn more about our RDNA 2 architecture, Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards, and our deep collaboration with game developers and ecosystem partners who will help us bring the best of Radeon to gamers. Tune in for the reveal of the future of Radeon PC gaming at 12 p.m. ET, October 28th. via AMD
AMD #RDNA2 architecture and Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards will bring the best of Radeon to gamers worldwide. Learn more October 28. pic.twitter.com/CZJRxTBe6m
— Radeon RX (@Radeon) September 9, 2020
As for the tweets, the Radeon RX 6000 series video doesn’t give out much information but the one for next-gen Ryzen Zen 3 desktop CPUs does provide some key information. From the looks of it, it looks like AMD will be revisiting the same triple chiplet die on its Zen 3 processors which will come with two CCD’s with up to 8 cores and 16 threads each and a single I/O die.
This suggests that we’ll once again be looking at 16 cores & 32 thread as the maximum core/thread count on the CPUs but with much faster clock speeds and a newer architecture which will utilize an enhanced 7nm process node.
With the next wave of AMD Ryzen processors and the all-new Zen 3 architecture, @AMD is taking its PC gaming and content creation leadership to new heights. Learn more October 8. pic.twitter.com/PAvA5m3FGo
— AMD Ryzen (@AMDRyzen) September 9, 2020
Here’s Everything We Know About The AMD’s Zen 3 Based Ryzen 4000 ‘Vermeer’ Desktop CPUs
The AMD Zen 3 architecture is said to be the greatest CPU design since the original Zen. It is a chip that has been completely revamped from the group up and focuses on three key features of which include significant IPC gains, faster clocks, and higher efficiency.
AMD has so far confirmed themselves that Zen 3 brings a brand new CPU architecture, which helps deliver significant IPC gains, faster clocks, and even higher core counts than before. Some rumors have even pointed to a 17% increase in IPC and a 50% increase in Zen 3’s floating-point operations along with a major cache redesign.
We also got to see a major change to the cache design in an EPYC presentation, which showed that Zen 3 would be offering a unified cache design which should essentially double the cache that each Zen 3 core could have access compared to Zen 2.
The CPUs are also expected to get up to 200-300 MHz clock boost, which should bring Zen 3 based Ryzen processors close to the 10th Generation Intel Core offerings. That, along with the massive IPC increase and general changes to the architecture, would result in much faster performance than existing Ryzen 3000 processors, which already made a huge jump over Ryzen 2000 and Ryzen 1000 processors while being an evolutionary product rather than revolutionary, as AMD unveiled very recently.
The key thing to consider is that we will get to see the return of the chiplet architecture and AMD will retain support on the existing AM4 socket. The AM4 socket was to last until 2020 so it is likely that the Zen 3 based Ryzen 4000 CPUs would be the last family to utilize the socket before AMD goes to AM5 which would be designed around the future technologies such as DDR5 and USB 4.0. AMD’s X670 chipset was also hinted as to arrive by the end of this year and will feature enhanced PCIe Gen 4.0 support and increased I/O in the form of more M.2, SATA, and USB 3.2 ports.
It was recently confirmed by AMD that Ryzen 4000 Desktop CPUs will only be supported by 400 & 500-series chipsets while 300-series support would be left out.
AMD had also recently confirmed that Zen 3 based Ryzen 4000 desktop processors would mark the continuation of its high-performance journey. The Zen 3 architecture would be first available on the consumer desktop platform with the launch of the Vermeer family of CPUs that will replace the 3rd Gen Ryzen 3000 Matisse family of CPUs.
So, what’s next for AMD in the PC space? Well, I cannot share too much, but I can say our high-performance journey continues with our first “Zen 3” Client processor on-track to launch later this year. I will wrap by saying you haven’t seen the best of us yet…
AMD Executive Vice President of Computing & Graphics – Rick Bergman
As of now, the competitive advantage that AMD has with its Zen 2 based Ryzen 3000 is just way too big compared to whatever Intel has in their sleeves for this year, and Zen 3 based Ryzen 4000 CPUs are going to push that envelope even further.
Here’s Everything We Know About RDNA 2 Based Radeon RX Navi 2X Desktop GPUs
The AMD RDNA 2 based Radeon RX Navi 2x graphics card family is also touted to disrupt the 4K gaming segment similar to how Ryzen disrupted the entire CPU landscape. That’s a pretty bold claim from AMD themselves but leaks and rumors are suggesting that this might be the case for AMD’s next-generation Radeon RX graphics cards.
AMD unveiled that its RDNA 2 GPUs will deliver a similar performance jump over the first-gen RDNA GPUs like Zen 2 delivered over Zen 1. The first RDNA GPUs delivered a massive 50% increase in performance per watt over GCN architecture and RDNA 2 GPUs are expected to do the same over RDNA 1, delivering another 50% increase in performance per watt.
According to the roadmap shared by AMD, the RDNA 2 GPUs would feature three key features that will be part of the new GPU architecture. First and foremost is the performance per watt increase which is due to a number of reasons. AMD will be shifting from TSMC’s 7nm process to the more advanced 7nm process node. The new process node itself increases transistor efficiency on the new GPUs while decreasing its overall size, allowing AMD to cram more performance in a much smaller package.
The key changes that have led to a 50% increase in performance per watt include a redesigned micro-architecture with improved performance-per-clock (IPC), a logic enhancement that helps reduce design complexity and switching power, and physical optimizations such as increased clock speeds.
AMD has also announced that RDNA 2 GPUs would feature VRS (Variable Rate Shading) and hardware-accelerated ray tracing. AMD is following suit with NVIDIA here who have already implemented the said technologies on its Turing GPU based GeForce RTX graphics cards. With the launch of the new consoles from Microsoft and Sony imminent, AMD is going to work to provide these features with its own optimization framework to developers for integration within next-generation gaming titles.
AMD has also recently showcased its RDNA 2 GPUs running Microsoft’s DXR 1.1 (DirectX 12 API Ultimate) demo internally which utilizes hardware-accelerated ray tracing. AMD’s approach to ray tracing is to offer simplified development and speedy adopting and that is definitely possible through consoles where the mass majority of game developers focus their efforts towards.
AMD’s CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, has already stated that we can expect a new RDNA 2 GPU based Radeon RX high-end family and a 7nm RDNA refresh family to launch this year. The same was stated during the presentation in which it was stated that the “Navi 2x” lineup would scale from top to bottom and as the name suggests, would deliver twice the performance efficiency increase over the first-generation RX graphics cards. AMD’s CFO, David Kumar also shed some light on the RDNA 2 GPU based Radeon RX products for the PC platform, stating that PCs will be first to get a taste of the new architecture in the form of the Big Navi (Halo) graphics card followed by mainstream GPUs.
“There’s a lot of excitement for Navi 2, or what our fans have dubbed as the Big Navi“
“Big Navi is a halo product”
“Enthusiasts love to buy the best, and we are certainly working on giving them the best”.
“RDNA 2 architecture goes through the entire stack“
“it will go from mainstream GPUs all the way up to the enthusiasts and then the architecture also goes into the game console products… as well as our integrated APU products.
“This allows us to leverage the larger ecosystem, accelerate the development of exciting features like ray tracing and more.”
via AMD’s CFO, David Kumar
Some of the features to expect from 2nd Generation RDNA Navi GPUs would be:
- Optimized 7nm process node
- Enthusiast-grade desktop graphics card options
- Hardware-Level Ray Tracing Support
- A mix of GDDR6 graphics cards
- More power-efficient than First-Gen Navi GPUs
One of the key features on the Big Navi Radeon RX GPU is that it is going to disrupt the 4K gaming segment, similar to how Ryzen disrupted the entire CPU segment. These are some bold claims by AMD, but if those rumored specifications are anything to go by, then these claims may not be that far fetched.
“With the Radeon 5000-series we are essentially covering 90-something-percent of the total PC gamers today,” says Chandrasekhar. “And so that’s the reason why no 4K right now, it’s because the vast majority of them are at 1440p and 1080p.
“That doesn’t mean a 4K-capable GPU isn’t coming, it is coming, but for here and now we want to focus on the vast majority of gamers.”
“Similar to Ryzen,” he says, “all of us need a thriving Radeon GPU ecosystem. So, are we going after 4K, and going to similarly disrupt 4K? Absolutely, you can count on that. But that’s all I can say right now.”
Once again, AMD in its own presentation emphasized enthusiast-class performance for the RDNA 2 based Radeon RX ‘Navi 2X’ GPUs so that’s something to consider. The competition however from the other side won’t just go eyes closed as AMD launches its high-performance graphics cards. The next-generation NVIDIA based GeForce GPUs is shaping up to be a beast from what we’ve seen so far and will be available first to consumers on 17th September.
The second half of 2020 would definitely be interesting times for all the hardware enthusiasts and mainstream PC gamers who are looking forward to upgrading their PCs with the best hardware.
