AMD CMO, John Taylor, and Director of Technical Marketing, Robert Hallock got together for a discussion on the topic of AMD Ryzen Processors: 5 Years Later on Tuesday. AMD has crafted a celebratory web page to host the video too, with some info nuggets linked, but it is more worthwhile watching the short video for a glimpse into the near future. Or just read our article, below.
At the start of the video chat, the two AMD execs mostly reminisce about pre-Covid-19 trade shows and the impact the first Ryzen processors made five years ago, this uses up the first six or so minutes of the 14 and a half minute video segment. To start listening to forward-looking AMD chip chat, you can confidently skip forward to about 6 minutes 40 sec in.
AM4 is near the end of its life as we enter 2022, that much is clear. The current platform has lasted an admirably long time, and it still has some legs thanks to new AM4 processors planned for early 2022. In 2022 overall, we have a "nice steady drum beat of new stuff" to look forward to, according to Hallock.
3D V-Cache in AM4 processors, early 2022
Shortly after 8 minutes into the video, the conversation turns to 3D V-Cache, as first unveiled at Computex this year. The technology, which will deliver an average 15 per cent performance boost to games (at the same clock speeds as previous CPUs), will debut on "a Ryzen product in early 2022, that goes into Socket AM4". The benefit in performance is very much like a traditional generational uplift, so AMD is happy with this upgrade for the time being.
Zen 4 product will arrive "later in 2022"
Sometime in 2022 Ryzen will have a new platform with key features including DDR5, PCIe Gen 5.0. Hallock added that existing users don't need to sweat with regard to carrying forward favoured processor cooling solutions, as AM4 coolers will be compatible with AM5 boards. In summary, AMD is building a platform with "all the latest and greatest technology to plug into".
Further down the roadmap, Hallock indicates that AMD is looking at "non CPU core performance enhancements," or accelerators, being used for specialised computer vision and ML tasks and so on. To be clear, these accelerators will be added in parallel to core architecture and process improvements to drive Zen forward.
We will see new AMD mobile processors in early 2022, too
Towards the end of the video, we hear confirmation of new mobile processors coming from AMD in early 2022. Hallock says that something under the working title of 'Power Management Framework' may be applied in new mobile processors, where multiple different power management algorithms could run for greater efficiency, dependent on user tasks. Additionally, AMD is working on new power states for processors where turning off various processor hardware/features is more granular. Is this a smart way to tackle the hybrid architecture competition, at least as a stop gap?
Remember that HP listed new all-in-one PCs with "AMD Ryzen 7000 Series" CPUs a few days ago. These machines, also available with Intel ADL CPUs, are expected to ship in early 2022.
