AMD officially lifted the curtains off its next-generation Ryzen 7000 Dekstop CPUs that are going to feature the Zen 4 core architecture at CES 2022 & Computex 2022. The next-generation lineup will be bringing some drastic changes, not only limited to the CPU and we are going to talk about what you can expect in terms of specifications, performance, and prices.

AMD Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4' Desktop CPUs, The First 5nm Consumer CPUs For The Latest AM5 Platform

[Launched - 27/09/22]

[Our Review]

While Intel may have managed to take the performance, value, and efficiency throne from AMD with its 12th-Gen Alder Lake lineup, AMD isn't going to sit silent. They have planned two brand new CPU launches this year with the upcoming one being a demonstration of how 3D V-Cache can allow gamers to benefit from faster performance in a mainstream package. But that's just one chip, the bigger launch is scheduled for the second half of 2022 in the form of the Ryzen 7000 and it's going to fundamentally change everything for the Ryzen Desktop CPU platform.

AMD Ryzen  'Zen 4' Desktop CPU Expected Features:

  • Up To 16 Zen 4 Cores and 32 Threads
  • +29% Performance Uplift In Single-Threaded Apps
  • Brand New Zen 4 CPU Cores (IPC / Architectural Improvements)
  • Brand New TSMC 5nm process node with 6nm IOD
  • 25% Performance Per Watt Improvement Vs Zen 3
  • >35% Overall Performance Improvement Vs Zen 3
  • ~13% Instructions Per Clock (IPC) Improvement Vs Zen 3
  • Support on AM5 Platform With LGA1718 Socket
  • New X670E, X670, B650E, B650 Motherboards
  • Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Support
  • Up To DDR5-5600 Native (JEDEC) Speeds
  • 28 PCIe Lanes (CPU Exclusive)
  • 105-120W TDPs (Upper Bound Range ~170W)

AMD AM5 Platform - A New Beginning

Before we talk about CPUs, we have to talk about the platform itself. The AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs will be migrating to a new home known as AM5, the successor to the long-lasting AM4 platform. It marks a fresh start for the Ryzen Desktop family and as such, existing Ryzen CPUs starting with Ryzen 1000 & all the way up to Ryzen 5000 won't be supported by the new platform we will tell you why it is so.

The AM5 platform will first and foremost feature the brand-new LGA 1718 socket. That's correct, AMD isn't going the PGA (Pin Grid Array) route anymore and now focusing on LGA (Land Grid Array), similar to what Intel uses on its existing desktop processors. The main reason to go LGA is due to the addition of enhanced and next-gen features such as PCIe Gen 5, DDR5, etc that we will get to see on the AM5 platform. The socket has a single latch & gone are the days of worrying about pins underneath your precious processors.

In terms of features, the AM5 platform will initially support AMD's Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4' Desktop CPUs and extend that support to future Ryzen CPUs and APUs. The platform offers DDR5-5200 (JEDEC) memory support, up to 28 PCIe lanes (Gen 5 standard), increased NVMe 4.0, and USB 3.2 I/O lanes & we have also heard chatter about native USB 4.0 support which will be a game-changer.

A new feature called EXPO (AMD Extended Profiles for overclocking) will allow enhanced DDR5 memory OC on the new platform, similar to Intel's XMP. It has been a rough road for AM4 to offer decent DDR4 OC capabilities but that has more or less been sorted out by now, we can only expect DDR5 to have a much better OC and compatibility experience compared to DDR4 on AM4 platforms. Furthermore, it looks like the platform will only be DDR5 compatible and we won't see DDR4 options as we do on Intel's existing platform. But with DDR5 prices and availability improving, that won't be that big of a deal for most high-end consumers for who AMD will be aiming first.

AMD X670 Series Platform

The AM5-compliant AMD 600-series motherboards are currently being prepped up by the board makers, The 600-series lineup will initially consist of three chipsets, the X670E, X670, B650E, and B650.

In terms of features, the X670E (Extreme) is designed for the higher-echelon of motherboards with unparalleled capabilities, and extreme overclocking, and will have PCIe 5.0 support for both GPU and storage.

The X670 motherboards will be very similar in offering enthusiast-level overclocking but PCIe Gen 5.0 support for storage and graphics will depend on the manufacturers. It is likely that some board makers will go to the cost-effective route and enable PCIe 5.0 support only for the GPU while keeping storage limited to PCIe 4.0. Both X670 chipsets will come in a dual-PCH solution on the motherboard to allow for the increased I/O for the next-gen platform.

AMD B650 Series Platform

Finally, there are the B650E & B650 chipsets which will be aimed as a mainstream motherboard solution with the Extreme series featuring both PCIe Gen 5.0 and M.2 while the non-E boards will adopt only PCIe 5.0 slot designs.

The B650 motherboards will be the successor to the B550 motherboards and come in a similar price range. Compared to the X670/E offerings, the B650 chipset will come in a single PCH design. The motherboards will carry support for RDNA 2 iGPU too which will be featured on Ryzen 7000 'Raphael' CPUs and offer both HDMI / DP outputs.

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You can check out our full roundup of all the X670E & X670 motherboards that have been revealed so far here.

One of the highlighted features of the AMD AM5 600-series platform is SAS or Smart Access Storage. This technology will enable GPU decompression with supported Microsoft DirectStorage games. Although there aren't many of those out there yet but expect industry-wide support for this on newer platforms.

As for longevity, AMD hasn't promised anything but they have stated that they want to see the new AM5 socket last at least four to five years, similar to AM4. While there has been a lot of controversy regarding Ryzen support on the initial AM4 motherboards, I believe that AMD has learned and will not follow the same route as AM5. With that said, the AM4 platform will still continue forward & will be supported in the foreseeable future (possibly with newer hardware and software launches).

SmartAccess Storage gets you out of the load screen and into your gameplay

Traditional game loading takes a significant amount of compute power to decompress the game’s data, requiring the CPU to do the decompression and data transfer, which introduces latency and takes up considerable system resources.

To help bypass these bottlenecks, AMD has created SmartAccess Storage, a suite of technologies supporting Microsoft DirectStorage that utilizes Smart Access Memory with new AMD platform technologies along with Radeon GPU asset decompression to improve both game load times and texture streaming.

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AMD Chipset Features and Specifications:

WccftechX670E/X670B650E/B650A620X570X399 RefreshX399X470X370B450B350A320X300A300
CrossfireX/SLI2-Way CFX2-Way CFXN/ATriple CFX/2-Way SLIQuad SLI/CFX
(Max 6 GPU Support)
Quad SLI/CFX
(Max 6 GPU Support)
Triple CFX/2-Way SLITriple CFX/2-Way SLIN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
CPU Lanes24 Gen 5 (with Ryzen 7000 CPUs & above)24 Gen 5 (with Ryzen 7000 CPUs & above)24 Gen 4 (with Ryzen 7000 CPUs & above)N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
PCH Lanes12 Gen 4
8 Gen 3
8 Gen 4
4 Gen 3
8 Gen 330 +16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)60 (With Threadripper CPU)
4 Lanes Reserved for PCH
60 (With Threadripper CPU)
4 Lanes Reserved for PCH
16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)
16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)
16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)
16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)
16 (with Ryzen 7 CPU)
8 (with Bristol Ridge)
PCIe Gen 2 LanesN/AN/AN/AN/A8 PCIe Lanes (reserved)8 PCIe Lanes (reserved)8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)8 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)6 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)4 (plus x2 PCIe Gen3 when no x4 NVMe)
USB 3.1/3.2 Gen22108222222100
USB 3.1/3.2 Gen1126212 (PCH + CPU)13 (PCH+CPU)13 (PCH+CPU)101066644
USB 2.0866N/A666666600
SATA 6Gb/s8448886644422
SATA ExpressN/AN/AN/A2222222211
DDR5 DIMMs444N/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
DDR4 DIMMsN/AN/AN/A4884444222
Overclocking
Support
YesYesN/AYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesNo
XFR2 EnhancedYesYesN/AYesYesNoYesNoYesNoNoNoNo
Precision Boost OverdriveYesYesN/AYesYesNoYesNoYesNoNoNoNo
NVMeYes (Gen 5.0)Yes (Gen 5.0)N/AYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Form FactorATX/mATX/ITXATX/mATX/ITXmATX/ITXATX, MATXATX, MATXATX, MATXATX, MITXATXATX, M-ATXATX, M-ATXM-ATX, Mini-ITXMini-ITXM-ATX, Mini-ITX

AMD Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4 Raphael' CPUs Specifications

Coming to the CPUs now, we have managed to get hold of the final specifications of AMD's Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPU family which, as expected, are going to feature four SKUs based on the Zen 4 core architecture. Once again, these SKUs include:

  • AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
  • AMD Ryzen 9 7900X
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
  • AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
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So before getting into the core specifications of these four SKUs, we have to point out that the AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs are based on a TSMC 5nm process node with a CCD die size of 70mm2 compared to 83mm2 for Zen 3 and feature a total of 6.57 Billion transistors, a 58% increase over the Zen 3 CCD with 4.15 Billion transistors, The CPUs adopt the Zen 4 architecture, bringing with it a 13% IPC uplift but the majority of the performance benefit comes from the higher clock speeds and a higher TDP that is supplemented to each chip versus the prior generation.

AMD has highlighted a +29% Single-Threaded, >35% Multi-Threaded and >25% Perf/Watt increases when comparing Zen 4 to Zen 3 cores. The IOD is fabricated on the 6nm process node and houses an iGPU which comes with 2 RDNA 2 Compute Units running at up to 2200 MHz as detailed here. It features a die size of 124.7mm2 which is almost the same size as the Zen 3 IOD which measured 124.9mm2.

AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPU Render (With/Without IHS):

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amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-official-product-gallery-_20-low_res-scale-4_00x-custom
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amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-official-product-gallery-_17-low_res-scale-4_00x-custom
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As per AMD, the main improvements for IPC come from a new Front End & Load/Store + Branch Predictor that makes up for 80% of the gains while the L2 cache structuring and Execution Engines offer the remaining 20% uplifts.

AMD also highlighted that AVX-512 & VNNI add up to 30% faster FP32 (multi-thread) inferencing performance and a 2.5x gain in INT8 (multi-thread) CPU performance uplift. In addition to the larger caches, the Micro-op cache has been increased from 4 KB to 6.75 KB, the L1I and L1D cache stick to 32 KB, the L2 cache size has doubled to 1 MB and now runs at 14 cycles instead of 12 while the L3 cache also features slightly higher latency, going up from 46 cycles to 50 cycles. The L1 BTB has also been increased from 1 KB to 1.5 KB.

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Compared to Zen 3, Zen 4 architecture is also going to be really efficient, offering 62% lower power at the same performance, and 49% more performance at the same power. The CPUs also feature 50% less area versus the competition (10nmESF Alder Lake) thanks to their 5nm process node and up to 47% higher power efficiency.

AMD Ryzen  'Zen 4' Desktop CPU Features:

  • Up To 16 Zen 4 Cores and 32 Threads
  • +29% Performance Uplift In Single-Threaded Apps
  • Brand New Zen 4 CPU Cores (IPC / Architectural Improvements)
  • Brand New TSMC 5nm process node with 6nm IOD
  • 25% Performance Per Watt Improvement Vs Zen 3
  • >35% Overall Performance Improvement Vs Zen 3
  • ~13% Instructions Per Clock (IPC) Improvement Vs Zen 3
  • Support on AM5 Platform With LGA1718 Socket
  • New X670E, X670, B650E, B650 Motherboards
  • Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Support
  • Up To DDR5-5600 Native (JEDEC) Speeds
  • 28 PCIe Lanes (CPU Exclusive)
  • 105-120W TDPs (Upper Bound Range ~170W)
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X & Ryzen 5 7600X CPU Benchmarks Leaked Out, Over 30% Single & 40% Multi-Thread Improvement 1
AMD Ryzen 7000X3D
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Alleged AMD Desktop CPU Roadmap Leaks Out: Ryzen 7000 3D V-Cache, Threadripper 7000 & Ryzen 7000G Chips In 2H 2023 1
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Mesa3D Project
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Alleged AMD Ryzen 7000 Non-X

The CPUs will come with an optimized cache restructuring, featuring double the L2 cache (1 MB vs 512 KB), a shared L3 cache like the previous generation, support for DDR5 memory with EXPO (AMD's Extended Profiles For Memory Overclocking), PCIe Gen 5.0 graphics card, and M.2 SSD support. Overclocking features such as PBO and XFR will also carry over from the past chips. So with all of that said, let's get on with the specifications.

AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU Box Packages:

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AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16 Core "Zen 4" Desktop CPU

Starting with the flagship of them all, we have the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X which retains its healthy 16 core and 32 thread count from the previous two generations. The CPU will feature an impressive base frequency of 4.5 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.7 GHz (5.85 GHz F-Max) which should make it 200 MHz faster than Intel's Alder Lake Core i9-12900KS which has a boost frequency of 5.5 GHz on a single-core.

It looks like AMD is extracting every ounce of Hertz that it could within that 170W TDP (230W PPT) for the Ryzen 9 chips. As for the cache, the CPU comes with 80 MB of that which includes 64 MB from L3 (32 MB per CCD) and 16 MB from L2 (1 MB per core). The flagship is going to cost $699 US which means that it will be priced slightly higher than the Core i9-12900K while offering a significant performance leap in multi-threading apps such as Chaos V-Ray of up to +57% and doing so with up to 47% higher energy efficiency.

In terms of gaming performance, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X will be offering up to 35% higher uplift in games such as Shadow of The Tomb Raider versus the Core i9-12900K.

AMD also showcased the performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X against the Intel Core i9-12900K in both gaming and content creation tasks. The CPU was anywhere from -1% to +23% faster in the gaming benchmarks and +36 to +62% faster in creation workloads.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core "Zen 4" Desktop CPU

Next up, we have another AMD Ryzen 9 chip, the 7900X, which as the name suggests, would come equipped with 12 cores and 24 threads. The CPU comes with an even higher base clock of 4.7 GHz and a boost clock adjusted at 5.6 GHz across a single core. The CPU retains its 170W TDP and gets 76 MB of cache (64 MB L3 + 12 MB L2). The CPU will be positioned in the same ballpark as the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X but with performance that would shake the ground from below the Core i7-12700K. The Ryzen 9 7900X will retain the same prices as the Ryzen 9 5900X while offering better processor capabilities.

AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 8 Core "Zen 4" Desktop CPU

Moving over to the Ryzen 7 family, here we have the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, an 8-core and 16-thread part. AMD positions this as the sweet spot for gamers and as such, the CPU will feature a base clock of 4.5 GHz and a boost clock of 5.4 GHz but at a lower 105W TDP (142W PPT). The CPU will get a 40 MB cache pool which consists of 32 MB L3 from the singular CCD &8 MB L2 from the Zen 4 cores.

Now one interesting thing to mention is that there is so far no update by AMD on a Ryzen 7 7800X chip. It is likely that AMD wants to replace that part with a successor to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D with Zen 4 cores (3D V-Cache). If that was the case, we can expect an update later this year to the CPU lineup since the V-Cache parts have been confirmed for a late Q4 2022 launch by AMD themselves. The Ryzen 7 7700X will be priced at $399 US and will be competing with the Core i7-12700K during launch.

AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 6 Core "Zen 4" Desktop CPU

Last up, we have the most budget-tier chip (if you can call it that but the pricing won't be reflective of that), the Ryzen 5 7600X. This will be a 6-core and a 12-thread part that features a high 4.7 GHz base clock and a 5.3 GHz single-core boost frequency. The CPU will also run at a 105W TDP (142W PPT) which is much higher than its 65W predecessor though once again, that's the sacrifice you've to pay to achieve the faster clock speeds. The CPU will carry 38 MB of cache which comes from 32 MB of L3 and 6 MB of L2 on the die. This chip is going to be priced at $299 US and will be offering a 5% performance gain over the Core i9-12900K in gaming.

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AMD will be bringing back its PBO and XFR overclocking features to the Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 CPUs along with enhanced DDR5 memory and overclocking support through EXPO technology. The CPUs will also come equipped with RDNA 2 iGPU with up to 2 Compute Units running at 2.2 GHz which would be usable through HDMI 2.1 FRL and DP 1.4 connectors on the latest AM5 motherboards. In addition to the CPU & GPU, there will be an expanded instruction set for AI acceleration (AVX-512 anyone?).

AMD Ryzen 7000 'Raphael' Desktop CPU Specs (Official):

CPU NameArchitectureProcess NodeCores / ThreadsBase ClockBoost Clock (SC Max)CacheTDPPrices (USD)
AMD Ryzen 9 7950XZen 45nm16/324.5 GHz5.7 GHz80 MB (64+16)170W$699 US
AMD Ryzen 9 7900XZen 45nm12/244.7 GHz5.6 GHz76 MB (64+12)170W$549 US
AMD Ryzen 7 7700XZen 45nm8/164.5 GHz5.4 GHz40 MB (32+8)105W$399 US
AMD Ryzen 5 7600XZen 45nm6/124.7 GHz5.3 GHz38 MB (32+6)105W$299 US

AMD Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4' CPUs Performance

AMD showcased a ton of gaming and workloads-specific performance numbers which we have posted above but the most impressive result is in Geekbench 5. Based on the overall Single-Threaded performance increase in Geekbench 5, we can compile the following chart:

AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU ST Benchmarks Official (Geekbench 5)
Single-Core
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Core i9-13900K
2.3k
Ryzen 9 7950X
2.3k
Ryzen 9 7900X
2.3k
Ryzen 7 7700X
2.2k
Ryzen 5 7600X
2.2k
Core i9-13900
2.1k
Core i7-13700K
2.1k
Core i5-13600K
2k
Core i9-12900K
1.9k
Core i7-12700K
1.9k
Core i5-12600K
1.9k
Ryzen 9 5950X
1.7k
Ryzen 7 5800X
1.7k
Ryzen 9 5900X
1.7k
Ryzen 5 5600X
1.6k

In the performance metrics posted above, you can tell how AMD is positioning each CPU based on its strength. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is going to be a beast with best-in-class multi-threading CPU efficiency and strong single-core performance at $100 US cheaper than the previous flagship while the Ryzen 5 7600X will be aimed purely at gamers who want the best gaming performance, tackling, and even exceeding the Core i9-12900K at a price of just $299 US. It will definitely be a big blow for Intel to see its best gaming chip being crushed by a competitor that costs half the amount.

The cost also makes it an interesting proposition for gamers as they can build a PC with a $299 US CPU, a $150 US motherboard, and a $150-$200 US DDR5 kit, all for around $600-$650 US which is the cost of Intel's flagship CPU alone. With DDR5 prices coming down, gamers will be able to build the same PC for even less. And with that said, we also have some leaked benchmark figures for the Ryzen 9 7950X which show multi-threaded performance on par with Intel's upcoming Raptor Lake Core i9-13900K CPU.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X "Alleged" Cinebench R23 Performance (Single-Core)
ST
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Core i9-13900K
2.3k
Ryzen 9 7950X
2.2k
Core i7-13700K
2.1k
Core i9-12900K
2k
Core i5-13600K
2k
Core i7-12700K
2k
Ryzen 7 7700X
2k
Core i5-12600K
2k
Ryzen 5 7600X
1.9k
Core i9-11900K
1.7k
Ryzen 9 5950X
1.6k
Ryzen 9 5900X
1.6k
Ryzen 7 5800X
1.6k
Ryzen 5 5600X
1.5k
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X "Alleged" Cinebench R23 Performance (Multi-Core)
MT
0
9000
18000
27000
36000
45000
54000
0
9000
18000
27000
36000
45000
54000
Core i9-13900K (Unlimited Power)
40.2k
Ryzen 9 7950X
39k
Core i9-13900K (Limited Power)
35.7k
Core i7-13700K
28.9k
Core i9-12900K
27.5k
Core i5-13600K
24.4k
Ryzen 9 5950X
24.2k
Core i7-12700K
23k
Ryzen 9 5900X
21.1k
Ryzen 7 7700X
19.8k
Core i5-12600K
17.9k
Ryzen 7 5800X
15.4k
Ryzen 5 7600X
15.1k
Ryzen 5 5600X
11.3k

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scored an impressive 38984 points in multi-core tests. Now comparing it to the Ryzen 9 5950X, the Ryzen 9 7950X blazes ahead with a 61% better multi-threaded uplift. It also crushes the Core i9-12900K with an impressive 42% performance uplift. Finally, the chip does lose out to the Intel Core i9-13900K with 3% slower performance but that's almost on par with what the 13th Gen flagship produces. The Intel Core i9-13900K does consume much higher power rated at 350W with the Unlimited Power Setting and that gives Zen 4 a major power efficiency advantage over its rival.

AMD Ryzen 7000 RDNA 2 iGPUs: Video Encode/Decode, APUs Still Happening For Desktops!

As for what the new RDNA 2 iGPUs on the Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs bring to the table, AMD states that with integrated graphics on their entire CPU portfolio, they can expand their business into the commercial segment and that makes a lot of sense since a lot of consumers there don't require a discrete graphics card and want something that is as simple as plug-and-play.

For DIY builders, the RDNA 2 iGPU can provide troubleshooting and diagnostic capabilities where users with graphics cards can debug if their graphics card is faulty or not or for other purposes. The same can be applied to users without graphics cards or those waiting on one who can't turn on their PC until they get their discrete GPU.

Frank Azor took the topic to a more interesting space by stating that while AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs will have 'little graphics' cores compared to the 'bigger graphics' cores on APUs, they will still host some of the Smart Eco technologies boasted by notebooks. While AMD's RDNA 2 iGPUs can allow for sub-50W power usage in idle mode, Smart Shift on Desktop CPUs with RDNA 2 iGPUs can switch from discrete graphics to integrated graphics for light-weight workloads and offer sub-5W power or even mW power.

The other thing is that, unlike AMD's Navi 24 GPUs, the Ryzen 7000 iGPU based on the same RDNA 2 core architecture (but on a 6nm Rembrandt revision) will come with a VCN engine that supports both AV1 Video Encode and Decode.

We still think of the Ryzen 7000 series as a CPU. The graphics cores in that IO die are not many, the purpose of adding graphics is three-fold. One, it greatly expands these products in the commercial market where they don't buy discrete at all, they just want to turn it on, have video encode/decode and light up some displays for office work and that's what the GPU in the IO die will offer so that's a huge business opportunity for us on the Ryzen PRO side as we start migrating these components over to that business.

The second is for diagnostic purposes, how do you know that you have a bad graphics card? Well, you have to swap in another graphics card but with the graphics core we have, you can do a little bit of troubleshooting thirdly, we were thinking about users who are planning to buy a discrete graphics, and it's still in transit in the mail but all the other hardware has arrived first so it's all sat there, looking at a pile of components and don't have a GPU to actually set that all up. That would go away with the Ryzen 7000 series.

We are still going to do APUs with big graphics so APUs 'BIG GRAPHICS', CPUs 'little graphics'. That would be our strategy going forward.

Robert Hallock (AMD Director of Technical Marketing)

We are developing a lot of technologies that make use of integrated graphics in many ways and there are things that we are able to do with technologies such as Smart Shift ECO where we can turn off the discrete graphics and we can run the notebook off of the iGPU and say you want that because you want less heat, longer battery life (even when you are playing a game) or you want less fan noise or lower power consumption, there's all these benefits to it. Because we have that thin integrated graphics in Ryzen 7000 series, it's going to allow us to bring more of these types of smart technologies over to the desktops aswell so those customers can get some of these benefits.

Frank Azor (Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions)

As for whether we will see an iGPU disabled variant of Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs, Robert did state that all Zen 4 chips will have integrated RDNA 2 graphics so those in hopes of seeing a 'KF-esque' variant should be a bit disappointed.

The AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs will feature a perfect square shape (45x45mm) but will house a very chonky integrated heat spreader or IHS. The CPUs will be the same length, width, and height as the existing Ryzen Desktop CPUs and are sealed across the sides so applying thermal paste won't fill the interior of the IHS with TIM. That's also why current coolers will be fully compatible with Ryzen 7000 chips.

As for TDP requirements, the AMD AM5 CPU platform will feature six different segments starting with the flagship 170W CPU class which is recommended for Liquid coolers (280mm or higher). It looks like this will be an aggressively clocked chip with higher voltages and with CPU overclocking support. This segment is followed by 120W TDP CPUs which are recommended to utilize a high-performance air cooler. Interestingly, the 45-105W variants are listed as SR1/SR2a/SR4 thermal segments which means they would require standard heatsink solutions when running in a stock configuration so not much else is required to keep them cool.

First of all, the TDP (Thermal Dissipation Power) figures for AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs are going to be up to 170W while the PPT (Package Power Tracking) is going to be 230W. AMD provided this information in a reply to whether the 170W figure was an actual TDP for the upcoming chips or an upper-bound limit for the package.

As per AMD, this is an increase of around 88W over the AM4 package power limit (PPT) which was 142W while the CPUs had a TDP of 105W. According to AMD, motherboard manufacturers will now be able to deploy more premium power characteristics on their motherboards which should allow for better overclocking opportunities for enthusiasts and overclockers.

"AMD would like to issue a correction to the socket power and TDP limits of the upcoming AMD Socket AM5. AMD Socket AM5 supports up to a 170W TDP with a PPT up to 230W. TDP*1.35 is the standard calculation for TDP v. PPT for AMD sockets in the “Zen” era, and the new 170W TDP group is no exception (170*1.35=229.5).

"This new TDP group will enable considerably more compute performance for high core count CPUs in heavy compute workloads, which will sit alongside the 65W and 105W TDP groups that Ryzen is known for today. AMD takes great pride in providing the enthusiast community with transparent and forthright product capabilities, and we want to take this opportunity to apologize for our error and any subsequent confusion we may have caused on this topic." -- AMD Representative to Tom's Hardware (emphasis added)

AMD spokesperson via Tomshardware

So what we want to clarify is that it's a 170 Watt socket power which with AMD, that spec is PPT (Package Power) for us. That doesn't mean that every CPU is going to go up to 170 Watts but it's 30 (Watt) higher than the socket AM4 power cap which was a 142 (watts). And we did this to mainly improve multi-thread performance as many of the core count chips were actually held back in overall compute performance by relatively modest socket power.

The other point that I want to make is that by raising the minimum required socket power or minimum spec, you also raise the power delivery with every motherboard built to that spec so you get more robust power characteristics on all the boards which we are pretty excited about as well, It should be good for people who want to experiment with overclocking, people who appreciate premium board designs.

Robert Hallock (AMD Director of Technical Marketing)

AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop 'AM5 LGA 1718 Socket' TDP Segments:

The Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs are also expected to feature RDNA 2 onboard graphics which means that just like Intel's mainstream desktop lineup, AMD's mainstream lineup will also feature iGPU graphics support. In regards to how many GPU cores there will be on the new chips, rumors say anywhere from 2-4 (128-256 cores) clocked at up to 1100 MHz for up to 0.5 TFLOPs of horsepower. This will be lesser than the RDNA 2 CU count featured on the soon-to-be-released Ryzen 6000 APUs 'Rembrandt' but enough to keep Intel's Iris Xe iGPUs at bay.

The company states that Zen 4 offers:

  • Significant generational performance per watt and frequency improvement
  • ~13% IPC increase
  • +29% single-thread performance gain
  • Up To 125% memory bandwidth per core
  • ISA extensions for AI and AVX-512

Furthermore, it is also confirmed that Zen 4 will come in 3D V-Cache flavors as early as late 2022. It is not said what core counts we can expect in 3D V-Cache flavors but they will definitely be tackling Intel's 13th-Gen Raptor Lake CPU lineup.

AMD Ryzen 7000 EXPO Memory Overclocking Technology

AMD's EXPO tech which stands for "Extended Profiles For Overclocking" for Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs will be aiming for the high-end "Extreme" series 600-series motherboards in the X670 and B650 family. The profile will be an extension for XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) which will also be available on the AM5 platform but to benefit from higher speeds, AMD has designed the EXPO technology.

Based on what AMD has shown, EXPO will enable one-click DDR5 to overclock support on AM5 motherboards and offer up to 11% faster performance at 1080p resolution. The EXPO memory kits from various memory makers will be designed to hit low latencies of around 63ns and there will be a range of public certification reports that will provide users with full specifications and OC settings that they can work with.

New for the Ryzen 7000 Series Desktop processors and optimized for AMD Socket AM5 motherboards, AMD EXPO technology provides users with advanced profile settings for DDR5 memory overclocking. When optimized for high-performance gaming, consumers can expect to see up to 11% faster gaming performance with AMD EXPO technology in F1® 2022.

AMD EXPO technology was designed to achieve higher gaming performance from pre-configured overclocking profiles and is easy to implement. PC enthusiasts who want to understand the finer details of an AMD EXPO technology-enabled module can find public self-certification reports, which clearly lay out the module’s full timing table, components, and the system configuration used to finalize the memory’s specifications. AMD is offering EXPO technology to its industry memory partners without royalties or licensing fees.

AMD EXPO technology arrives to market alongside the AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors, with offerings from ADATA, Corsair, GeIL, G.SKILL, and Kingston. Over 15 AMD EXPO technology-enabled memory kits will be initially available, with memory speeds up to DDR5-6400.

via AMD

As for the first EXPO products, AMD announced that their memory partners such as ADATA, Corsair, GeIL, G.Skill, and Kingston, will have a total of 15 kits at launch with speeds of up to DDR5-6400. The native speeds will be rated at:

  • 1x1R - 5200 MT/s
  • 1x2R - 5200 MT/s
  • 2x1R - 3600 MT/s
  • 2x2R - 3600 MT/s

We also had previously reported that DDR5-6000 will be the sweet spot for AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs based on the Zen 4 core architecture using the EXPO technology. The DDR5-6000 memory kits that are optimized with EXPO support will offer the best performance with the lowest latency in a 1:1 FCLK mode.

Now as per Robert, we now know that the default FCLK for AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs is set to 1733 MHz. Robert also states that memory overclocking is a little bit different with Ryzen 7000 since 1:1:1 (FCLK:UCLK:MCLK) isn't important anymore. It is mentioned that to achieve the best results, you should leave the FCLK to auto and overclock the memory modules and memory controller in 1:1 mode. There will be some corner cases where users will be able to get better performance results by hitting over 2 GHz FCLK speeds but those aren't a big priority, as AMD mentions.

At the native setting, DDR5-5200 will operate in a 2:1:1 mode or 1733:2600:2600 clock. Robert also confirmed something that we had stated early on that DDR5-6000 will "Roughly" the sweet spot & by sweet spot, he means the best compromise to cost/stability/performance/availability/ease. So as of right now, we have the following sweet spots as mentioned directly by AMD:

  • Ryzen 3000 "Zen 2" Sweet Spot - DDR4-3800 (Official AMD)
  • Ryzen 5000 "Zen 3" Sweet Spot - DDR4-4000 (Official AMD)
  • Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" Sweet Spot - DDR5-6000 (Official AMD)

It is stated that DDR5-5200 C28 kits should go really well with Ryzen 7000 too as they are pretty fast but there aren't a lot of kits in those configurations available right now.

AMD's Robert Hallock responds to various queries regarding DDR5 support on AMD Ryzen 7000 & confirms DDR5-6000 as the sweet spot. (Credits: AMD Discord)

As Robert states:

The reason why we say "AUTO:1:1" is now ideal because the FCLK will automatically change depending on what memory speed is in the DIMM slots. There's no "one size fits all" ideal fabric frequency. For example: JEDEC 5300 fclk goes to 1767, 6000 RAM should go to 2000 fclk. Each memory speed has its own optimal fclk, which is why I'm gently guiding people to not worry about what the fclk is because it's going to change with RAM speed and the AUTO setting will usually give the most performant result unless you have an astonishing overclocker.

And "get the highest possible fclk" is no longer the rule like it was on AM4. In short.

In addition to these, MSI's in-house overclocker, TOPPC, has revealed that EXPO memory kits will be fully compatible with Intel XMP profiles. Simply put, Intel XMP memory can still support EXPO but it is worth it to have an EXPO-enabled kit to ensure the best possible profile for AMD's Ryzen 7000 CPU lineup.

As for the first EXPO products, AMD announced that their memory partners such as ADATA, Corsair, GeIL, G.Skill, and Kingston, will have a total of 15 kits at launch with speeds of up to DDR5-6400. The native speeds will be rated at:

  • 1x1R - 5200 MT/s
  • 1x2R - 5200 MT/s
  • 2x1R - 3600 MT/s
  • 2x2R - 3600 MT/s
amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-official-unveil-_28-low_res-scale-3_81x-custom
amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-official-unveil-_30-low_res-scale-3_81x-custom
amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-official-unveil-_27-low_res-scale-3_81x-custom

The AMD EXPO DDR5 memory kits will launch alongside the Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs and AM5

AMD Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4' CPUs Pricing

Pricing is a much bigger topic to discuss this time around as we saw with AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs. The Vermeer chips saw a bump in prices across all segments which was not welcomed by the PC consumers but still managed to break record sales figures, shipping over a million units in the first few months. AMD knows that they have the upper hand over Intel in terms of performance & that users are willing to pay extra for their chips. But despite that, the company chose a competitive route and offered similar or better prices than last-generation CPUs.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has an MSRP of $100 US cheaper than the Ryzen 9 5950X, the Ryzen 9 7900X retains the Ryzen 9 5900X pricing, and the Ryzen 7 7700X will be priced the same as the Ryzen 7 5700X and the same would be true for the Ryzen 5 7600X.

  • AMD Ryzen 9 7950X - $699 US
  • AMD Ryzen 9 7900X - $549 US
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7700X - $399 US
  • AMD Ryzen 5 7600X - $299 US

The current Ryzen flagship, the Ryzen 9 5950X costs $799.99 US and can be found on retail for around $700-$750 (discounted prices) even after more than a year since launch. The $800 US price tag is already the enthusiast category & anything more will be a hard pill to swallow for consumers but that's just where the whole tech industry is at right now.

AMD Ryzen 7000 'Zen 4' CPUs Launch & Availability

Availability is something that AMD has reaffirmed recently. AMD's CEO has stated that we can expect Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs in Fall 2022. This will mark two years since the launch of AMD's Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs. The AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs and AM5 platform are officially planned to hit retail shelves on the 27th of September.

  • Product announcement: August 29, 2022, at 7:00PM ET / August 30, 2022, at 1:00AM CET / 7:00AM TW
  • Press embargo: September 20, 2022, at 9AM ET / 3PM CET / 9PM TW
  • Sales embargo: September 27, 2022, at 9AM ET / 3PM CET / 9PM TW

AMD Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs faced severe supply shortages when they launched but things got better in the same quarter. AMD has confirmed that they won't face any supply constraints with 5nm CPUs at launch.

AMD Mainstream Desktop CPU Generations Comparison:

AMD CPU FamilyCodenameProcessor ProcessProcessors Cores/Threads (Max)TDPs (Max)PlatformPlatform ChipsetMemory SupportPCIe SupportLaunch
Ryzen 1000Summit Ridge14nm (Zen 1)8/1695WAM4300-SeriesDDR4-2677Gen 3.02017
Ryzen 2000Pinnacle Ridge12nm (Zen +)8/16105WAM4400-SeriesDDR4-2933Gen 3.02018
Ryzen 3000Matisse7nm (Zen 2)16/32105WAM4500-SeriesDDR4-3200Gen 4.02019
Ryzen 5000Vermeer7nm (Zen 3)16/32105WAM4500-SeriesDDR4-3200Gen 4.02020
Ryzen 5000 3DWarhol?7nm (Zen 3D)8/16105WAM4500-SeriesDDR4-3200Gen 4.02022
Ryzen 7000Raphael5nm (Zen 4)16/32170WAM5600-SeriesDDR5-5200Gen 5.02022
Ryzen 7000 3DRaphael5nm (Zen 4)16/32120WAM5600-SeriesDDR5-5200Gen 5.02023
Ryzen 8000Granite Ridge3nm (Zen 5)?TBATBAAM5700-Series?DDR5-5600+Gen 5.02024
What are you most excited to see in AMD's next-generation Zen 4 Ryzen Desktop CPUs?
Which AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs are you most interested in?
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