Quote:On January 24, 2017, AMD filed a complaint against several prominent tech companies, requesting that the ITC commence an investigation pursuant to Section 337. The basis for the complaint: some of these companies (namely, LG, MediaTek, VIZIO, and Sigma) unlawfully import into or sell inside the U.S. products which infringe on AMD's graphics intelectual property - namely, on U.S. Patent Nos. 7,633,506 (the '506 patent), 7,796,133 (the '133 patent) and 8,760,454 (the '454 patent) (collectively, the "asserted patents".

According to the complaint, these patents generally relate to architectures for graphics processing unit (GPU) circuitry. The '506 patent relates to "a graphics processing architecture that enables a large amount of graphics data to be rendered to a frame buffer". The '133 patent relates to specialized "texture" processing circuitry that is employed by GPUs. Lastly, the '454 patent relates to a "unified shader" hardware architecture for GPUs. The complaint specifically refers to various televisions and smartphones, specifically, towards the graphics processing systems within those televisions and smartphones - as infringing products.

Quote:Unlike some previous benchmark leaks of Ryzen processors, which carried the prefix ES (Engineering Sample), this one carried the ZD Prefix, and the last characters on its string name are the most interesting to us: F4 stands for the silicon revision, while the 40_36 stands for the processor's Turbo and stock speeds respectively (4.0 GHz and 3.6 GHz). This is the 8-core, 16-thread SMT-enabled monster of a processor that AMD will be bringing to the table in its uphill battle against Intel, with the Ryzen chip having achieved CPU Framerate scores of 81.4 (normal batch, 73.4 (medium batch) and 60.2 (heavy batch), paired with a Pascal-based NVIDIA Titan X (which would likely point towards the test having been done by an independent, off-AMD labs part).

(02-05-2017, 01:47 PM)gstanford Wrote: So, looks like AMD needs 8 cores/16 threads to compete with intel 4 cores/8 threads judging by what SC posted above.

Quote:As it is, the prices cover only three models of AMD's overall Ryzen line-up, namely, the R7 1800X, the R7 1700X and the non-X, R7 1700 (all 8-core, 16-thread parts). According to the source, these chips will feature base clocks in the order of 4 GHz for the 1800X; 3.8 GHz for the 1700X; and 3.7 GHz for the 1700. Overall european pricing (including taxes) is set at €599.99 for the 1800X; €469.99 for the 1700X; and a "measly" €389.95 for the 1700. As always, you can expect US pricing to be even more competitive; perhaps a $349 pricing for the 1700 chip.

From this, and considering all AMD Ryzen processors will be multiplier-unlocked, we can surmise that the 1700 should be quite a steal at this pricing. And this also bodes well for AMD's upcoming 6-core, 12-thread R5 processors - status-quo upsetting at an affordable price-point, anyone?

(02-05-2017, 08:33 PM)SickBeast Wrote:

(02-05-2017, 01:47 PM)gstanford Wrote: So, looks like AMD needs 8 cores/16 threads to compete with intel 4 cores/8 threads judging by what SC posted above.

That is my concern as well.

Quote:
Bottom Line Telecommunications shows even lower pricing. As you can see in the image above, the site lists the same three models, and again shows that the R7 1700 has a 65W TDP. However, the prices listed are almost comically low: $490 for the top-end R7 1800X, $382 for the R7 1700X, and then $317 for the R7 1700. All three processors are marked as "unavailable, do not order" when you click through to their product pages. While these figures are hard to believe, the site has been correct before when it came to pre-release pricing and specs for new CPUs.

The disparity in the two sources appears to simply be a matter of U.S. versus Euro pricing. El Chapuzas Informatico's figures include taxes, and after correcting for that, the prices are strikingly similar. That site also insists that the new CPUs will be in stores February 28, which is even sooner than the March 3 date that the rumor mill brought up previously. It's tempting to speculate on the meaning of these seemingly bargain-basement prices on what are purportedly quite-potent processors. If any of this information is true, there's a possibility that the launch could be just a couple of weeks away. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Quote:Recently, a report from ComputerBase emerged online which indicated AMD’s upcoming Ryzen processors would support Windows 7, despite Microsoft having already said that the chip would only be supported under the latest Windows 10. Today, AMD clarified on the issue and confirmed it won’t ship Ryzen drivers for Windows 7.

“To achieve the highest confidence in the performance of our AMD Ryzen desktop processors (formerly code-named ‘Summit Ridge’), AMD validated them across two different OS generations, Windows 7 and 10,” AMD said in a statement. “However, only support and drivers for Windows 10 will be provided in AMD Ryzen desktop processor production parts.”

Quote:Yesterday we already showed you the EU prices of the top end R7 Ryzen processors. Now in the USA the prices have surfaced in ShopBLT as well, again on the 8-core 16-threaded R7 processors.

We again see prices on the three premium SKUs, the 8-core / 16 threaded models. The information on the three SKUs matches yesterdays news in relation to models alright. So unless AMD is pulling a rabbit out of somewhere it seems clear by now that these are the three products they will be launching with. And sure, that is a very nice lineup to start with alright. All models are multiplier unlocked and the top end SKU will indeed get a really nice 4 GHz boost frequency, likely on at least two out of the 8 cores.

• The flagship AMD Ryzen R7-1800X would get SKU code "YD180XBCAEWOF," and is  listed for USD $490.29.
  
• The AMD Ryzen R7-1700X (YD170XBCAEWOF) is listed at $381.72.
  
• Then there is the AMD Ryzen R7-1700 (YD1700BBAEBOX), with 65W TDP, which is priced at $316.59.
  

Interesting times folks, you can look up these prices for yourself at ShopBLT as it is all available and out wide in the open to see for everybosy. You'll also spot again (which validates yesterdays news item that the two X models get a 95 Watt TDP and the 1700 (non X) version will be a 65 Watt product).

Quote:Essentialy, AMD's "X" nomenclature regarding its upcoming Ryzen chips seems to denote the presence or absence of their touted XFR (eXtended Frequency Range) feature. This is part of AMD's SenseMI Technology suite, which aims to bring higher, intelligent performance to their Ryzen chips through the use of some particular technologies. XFR as it is, appears to be an added, automated overclocking capability to the chip, going further than the Precision Boost clocks would usually allow, supposedly scaling with the cooling performance of the end user's machine. This would fall in nicely with the rated TDP's of the non-X processors being rated at 65 W, with the X-branded, XFR-enabled processors featuring a higher theoretical TDP limit in-line with the capabilities of the XFR feature. As such, while it is true that an AMD Ryzen R7 1700 chip would also have base and boost clocks, much like their 1700X counterpart, the 1700's boost capabilities are designed for the chip not to surpass this 65 W hard limit. The 1700X, however, would be able to dynamically overclock according to the environment and cooling efficiency of the end user's rig, thus allowing it to, in some cases, hit a theoretical power consumption peak at the rated 95 W.

This theory (and AMD's strategy) would go some way to explain the high price difference between the 1700X and the 1700 R7 processors, which have a measly 100 MHz difference in their boost clocks favoring the 1700X (3.8 GHz vs 3.7 GHz on the 1700). After all, it still remains up in the air how good of an overclocker will AMD's ZEN architecture be, but a TDP difference of 30 W could go a long way overclocking-wise, especially when you consider AMD can apparently make these chips tick at 3.8 GHz with a measly 65 W TDP for an 8-core, 16-thread chip.

This strategy also makes sense in that power users who spend money on high-performance cooling solutions are probably more inclined to spend more on a CPU that promises (even if only theoretically) higher overclocking potential (we can expect these X chips to be cherry-picked samples with higher overclockability than other, non-X models). This also makes sense when one considers that the X versions of Ryzen chips are expected to ship with no cooling solution, whereas non-X models will ship with the company's "Wraith" cooling solution, more than enough for the non-power user who doesn't care about something like XFR. While it is a fact that most enthusiast users will simply buy the non-X chips and overclock them until the sky is no longer an achievement, it is also true that even some of us might feel more inclined towards simply "install and forget" high-performance, automatically-overclocked chips (also something the good Dr. Lisa Su mentioned during the "New Horizon" event, saying that XFR was "just for you enthusiast gamers").

Quote:At last year's Capsaicin livestream, AMD announced the Radeon Pro Duo and gave us a quick teaser of its Polaris line of graphics cards that came out a few months later. Details regarding this year's livestream are slim, but the event's registration page promises to feature "the hottest new graphics and VR technologies." After the Capsaicin livestream, AMD will host developer sessions with guests from Unity and Epic.
...
All that being said, AMD hasn't actually made an announcement about a Vega release. While we're excited to see what AMD has up its sleeve, we don't want to buffalo our readers with unfounded rumors and excessive speculation. The Capsaicin livestream will be held on February 28th from 10:30 to 11:30 PST. We'll dig into the details then.

Quote:Slight update on the Ryzen Event: reports confirm that Ryzen samples are finding their way to reviewers' hands, with the company's NDA being lifted on the 28th February - and the launch of AMD's flagship 1800X, 1700X and (my favorite so far) 1700 models on the same day. The remaining models in AMD's 17-strong Ryzen product-line are expected to follow a little later, on March 2nd.

Quote:Now, reports are coming in (with solid imagery at that) regarding a collaboration between Arkane and AMD, marrying Arkane's promising new IP, Prey, and AMD's upcoming Vega architecture. This may sound like an interesting, if not at all important, piece of information. But digging deeper, this is probably indication of Vega's expected launch window. Considering that AMD's woman of the moment, Lisa Su, has previously placed Vega's launch in Q2 2017 (spanning April, May, and June), and adding 1+1, this places AMD's Vega launch before Prey's - after all, it wouldn't make much sense to market a game as being optimized for a given architecture.... If users can't actually use it.

As an avid reader and story addict, I admit that Arkane's take on the world of Dishonored in its second iteration left me a little underwhelmed (though the worldbuilding, gameplay and art direction were simply sublime). However, judging from Prey's trailers and some hands-on impressions running the world wide web, it looks as if Arkane has again hit the proverbial nail in the head. And from what AMD promises, Vega will be here to power it when it launches on May 5th.

Quote:The main thing to notice here is of course the fact that each core has only one integer and FPU section, rather than splitting an FPU between two integer units. This represents a major design departure from earlier designs by AMD such as Bulldozer, Piledriver, etc, but is not entirely a surprise as Ryzen has been known (or at the very least, strongly suspected) to utilize such a config for quite some time now. This represents part of AMD's overall attempt to improve IPC by moving from a CMT (clustered multi-threading) model to a SMT (simultaneous multi-threading) based model, essentially trading two integer sections per core for one larger, better performing one. This will certainly go a long way towards raising single threaded performance and IPC.
...
AMD's main statement about the CCX module is that it is flexible, and allows for several adjustments to be made in the future with regards to L3 cache and core configuration. I would assume this is strong evidence that AMD has plans for Ryzen well beyond the initial "Summit Ridge" line of processors, if one were to be in the guessing game. Furthermore, AMD emphasizes the simplicity of their design. While it is true that Intel's 14nm process is a little more dense than AMD's (smaller), AMD says it has more than made up for this loss with a simpler, more efficient design that saves die space over Intel's present architecture. As such, AMD is confident it is finally on a "node parity" with Intel, something that we have not seen in quite a while, and should have a good many enthusiasts drooling at the very thought.

The final bit of AMD's presentation centered around a tech AMD has labeled "Precision Boost," which could be one of the most interesting slides of all.

Precision boost appears to be a form of fine grained clock control for the processor, and will likely be used to enable energy savings and perhaps (in the case of XFR) enable a sort of automatic overclocking. Precision boost works hand in hand with AMD's monitoring tech, Pure Power, and clocks a CPU based on its "health and workload." It does this in fine grained 25Mhz increments that AMD says happen without "halts or queue drains." Real world performance of course has yet to be seen, but anything that saves energy or enables extra performance for the average use without delving too deep into overclocking is of course a welcome sight.

(02-18-2017, 07:33 AM)24601 Wrote: The very fact that AMD is positioning it's 8c/16t against i5-7600k (according to leaks) should be a giant flashing neon warning sign in and of itself.

(02-23-2017, 05:59 PM)24601 Wrote:

(02-23-2017, 02:58 PM)googoo24 Wrote:

(02-18-2017, 07:33 AM)24601 Wrote: The very fact that AMD is positioning it's 8c/16t against i5-7600k (according to leaks) should be a giant flashing neon warning sign in and of itself.

In most of the leaks I've seen, it's been going against 6900k.

Case in point:

http://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7-1800x-world-record/

and more:

https://www.techpowerup.com/230929/ryzen-7-1700-beats-core-i7-7700k-amd#comments

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/amd-reveals-ryzen-7-family-pricing-and-radeon-vega-logo.230891/#post-3605833

I'm not so sure these have "zero" head room when overclocking.

I'm very excited. These processors succeeding would be good news to everybody.

5.2 ghz on LN2 is literally trash, just like Broadwell HEDT was trash.

No one in their right mind bought Broadwell HEDT for gaming either.

(02-23-2017, 07:26 PM)24601 Wrote:

(02-23-2017, 06:59 PM)RolloTheGreat Wrote:

(02-23-2017, 05:59 PM)24601 Wrote:

(02-23-2017, 02:58 PM)googoo24 Wrote:

(02-18-2017, 07:33 AM)24601 Wrote: The very fact that AMD is positioning it's 8c/16t against i5-7600k (according to leaks) should be a giant flashing neon warning sign in and of itself.

In most of the leaks I've seen, it's been going against 6900k.

Case in point:

http://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7-1800x-world-record/

and more:

https://www.techpowerup.com/230929/ryzen-7-1700-beats-core-i7-7700k-amd#comments

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/amd-reveals-ryzen-7-family-pricing-and-radeon-vega-logo.230891/#post-3605833

I'm not so sure these have "zero" head room when overclocking.

I'm very excited. These processors succeeding would be good news to everybody.

5.2 ghz on LN2 is literally trash, just like Broadwell HEDT was trash.

No one in their right mind bought Broadwell HEDT for gaming either.

No offense intended, but you'd have to work for intel or be on crack to not think these CPUs are the best news in CPU industry since C2D.

A $399 CPU  beating intel's $1089 CPU?! I hope they sell a ton of these.

I'm not a stock analyst/holder hyping on forums if that's what you are getting at.

I'm purely analyzing on performance, on the assumption that the people reading forums about this stuff will have an OCed 2500k or 3570k or better.

You can make up arbitrary scenarios until the cows come home. Doesn't make the performance change.


If you want to pretend to be a stock analyst then you know which forum you should be typing on.

(02-23-2017, 07:47 PM)24601 Wrote: Far too late to buy stock, the point of buying stock is either on insider information before the hype train starts, and/or to buy it and then create your own hype-train.

If random people start saying to themselves "i should invest in this", it's usually dumping time.

(02-23-2017, 07:26 PM)24601 Wrote: No one in their right mind bought Broadwell HEDT for gaming either.

Quote:I'm purely analyzing on performance, on the assumption that the people reading forums about this stuff will have an OCed 2500k or 3570k or better.

(02-24-2017, 05:33 AM)gstanford Wrote: Don't know what all the fuss is about.  AMD finally quits dragging its arse along the ground like a dog with ringworms and mostly catches up.  Best part of a decade too late.

My 2600K and 4790K sure aren't getting replaced with anything AMD anytime soon.

(02-24-2017, 05:16 AM)24601 Wrote: *Grabs popcorn while AMD fans try to slice the possibilities in exactly as fine a way as possible to make sure only AMD processors is the correct answer, despite being inferior in single core as well as multi-core in any reasonable scenario*

Quote:Despite being inferior in single core as well as multi-core in any reasonable scenario*

(02-24-2017, 07:44 AM)googoo24 Wrote:

(02-24-2017, 05:16 AM)24601 Wrote: *Grabs popcorn while AMD fans try to slice the possibilities in exactly as fine a way as possible to make sure only AMD processors is the correct answer, despite being inferior in single core as well as multi-core in any reasonable scenario*

I guess Rollo was right about you then, huh? I'm using a 4670k btw, and there are only several, really active members here. As such, who are these AMD fans you're waiting for and why would you waste a good bag of popcorn? Weird.

Quote:Despite being inferior in single core as well as multi-core in any reasonable scenario*

You already own Ryzen? I've seen nothing but leaks thus far, most of them in AMD's favor. Not a single review.

Quote:Lol, you parrot AMD's talking points to the letter that they have sent out to their viral marketers and then you try to paint me as a shill.

Quote:Too funny.

Quote:You insist on talking about unreleased hardware

Quote:that is not independently reviewed

Quote:that I specifically told everyone to keep their panties on until good reviews come out, and then when I respond to you you literally call me a shill and that >>I<< was the one to have brought such a thing up.

Quote:You have zero self-awareness. And it is absolutely hilarious.

(02-24-2017, 02:51 PM)gstanford Wrote: You are aware that Trollo used to shill for nvidia, yes?

Why wouldn't he shill for AMD if they paid him well enough?  he has a fancy new house to pay for not to mention he likes to purchase new road trains every several years.  Of course he's going to take AMD's money and run his mouth, just like he used to for nvidia.

(02-24-2017, 02:51 PM)gstanford Wrote: You are aware that Trollo used to shill for nvidia, yes?

Why wouldn't he shill for AMD if they paid him well enough?  he has a fancy new house to pay for not to mention he likes to purchase new road trains every several years.  Of course he's going to take AMD's money and run his mouth, just like he used to for nvidia.

(02-24-2017, 03:39 PM)googoo24 Wrote: Well, aren't you bed-bug crazy? I might have to stay away from popcorn in the near future.

And why the heck would I care about an ignore list? I have 41 posts in two-years!

(02-24-2017, 02:51 PM)gstanford Wrote: You are aware that Trollo used to shill for nvidia, yes?

Why wouldn't he shill for AMD if they paid him well enough?  he has a fancy new house to pay for not to mention he likes to purchase new road trains every several years.  Of course he's going to take AMD's money and run his mouth, just like he used to for nvidia.

Shhhh.....Apparently I'm Rollo in disguise. My devious mental tricks have been foiled! If it wasn't for those meddling kids and that mutt....Oh, wait.

(02-25-2017, 07:39 AM)gstanford Wrote:

(02-25-2017, 06:45 AM)RolloTheGreat Wrote:

(02-24-2017, 02:51 PM)gstanford Wrote: You are aware that Trollo used to shill for nvidia, yes?

Why wouldn't he shill for AMD if they paid him well enough?  he has a fancy new house to pay for not to mention he likes to purchase new road trains every several years.  Of course he's going to take AMD's money and run his mouth, just like he used to for nvidia.

I'm too busy doing psychopath stuff to do any shilling these days....

You been doing that forever!  What's changed?

(02-24-2017, 02:51 PM)gstanford Wrote: You are aware that Trollo used to shill for nvidia, yes?

Why wouldn't he shill for AMD if they paid him well enough?  he has a fancy new house to pay for not to mention he likes to purchase new road trains every several years.  Of course he's going to take AMD's money and run his mouth, just like he used to for nvidia.

Quote:Major new CPU launches rarely go without a hitch. Tom’s Hardware has learned that Ryzen motherboards (Socket AM4) could pose a potential problem with some of the announced CPU cooling solutions. This problem is specifically related to the backplates designed to secure the heatsink on the processors.

We’ve discovered that the backplates provided with some major motherboard brands could come with a screw that is too long. The screws reach their safety stop too soon, leaving the spring with too much headroom, and then the pressure of the sink on the CPU is inadequate.

According to our sources, AMD has provided the location of the fastening screws, but not the height of the screw holders. Sinks that use the backplate supplied with the motherboard could pose problems, especially those that have a compatibility kit.

We found that a few large cooling solutions may be impacted, as well as some popular motherboards.

The sinks (heatsink and waterblock) using their own backplates should not pose a problem, however.