Thursday, May 5th 2016
AMD "Summit Ridge" Silicon Reserved for 8-core CPUs Initially
Sources tell Bits'n'Chips that AMD could use a common 8-core CPU die based on its upcoming "Zen" architecture over multiple CPU SKUs, at least initially. AMD will have two distinct kinds of processors, those with integrated graphics (APUs) based on the "Bristol Ridge" silicon, and those without integrated graphics (CPUs), based on the "Summit Ridge" silicon. Since products based on both the dies will use a common socket on the desktop (socket AM4), consumers looking for 2-4 CPU cores will be presented with APU options, while those looking for more powerful CPU solutions will be made to choose 8-core CPUs based on the "Summit Ridge" silicon.
Source:
BitsnChips.it
76 Comments on AMD "Summit Ridge" Silicon Reserved for 8-core CPUs Initially
Constrain your brain folks, don't set it free. :laugh:
Dont underestimate the underdog, as it did a couple of times before, beat both Intel and Nvidia with genius engineering. AMD needs good sales, and they are going on a different course wich hopefully does better then it did in the past.
The Bulldozer story was'nt a bad choice, but it was aimed at something that is'nt there yet. Going for more cores would have helped in for example video-encoding, but it lacked for programs / games that would require high single core performance.
They tackled that with putting in the turbo thing, you know, lower some core-speeds and up the first 2 or 4 cores with a few hundred MHz. In single-threaded that would work, but it's not the real answer to more IPC.
And by now, AMD released a CPU that should be on par with Intel now, and will only get better in the next refreshes, fixes and tricks engineers can do for that chip. AMD was always the better & more affordable vendor to go for in PC's. It still is. Yes their CPU consume some more power, but do you really drive your PC to run 24/7 at 100% usage that power would be a problem?
The money you save on AMD stuff can be invested in a better SSD, Ram or graphics card. Graphics cards as well; AMD just puts a proper product and if story's are true, we are going to have an exciting 2016 & 2017 coming up. I have my hopes and money set on AMD, and will go for another AMD AM4 upgrade.
My Thuban X6 at 4.2Ghz is still kicking ass, in many games, programs and is capable of doing the exact same thing Intel cpu's do.
2) Even in same arch (45nm) AMD managed to make a great jump from Phenom II BE 955 X4 3.2GHz to Thuban X6 1100 3.3GHz in the same 125W. We are talking about a 50% more transistors in same procedure. So, why not to have more than 40% when we go to a much bigger core by the transistor count it will have?
And most important: All the above are pure estimations judjing from the past, so nothing sure, nothing to have tensions on it eh? :toast: Have fun speculating. October-November is Zen's launch. By then, all will be clear. ;)
I don't understand your "better and more affordable" comment. Last time I upgraded I didn't even look at Intel initially. I wasn't up on computer components but I was an AMD fan. They sure looked better on paper. Faster clocks and I could get a 6-core for the same price as a 2-core/2-HT Intel chip. Seemed like a no brainer. But when checked reviews and benchmarks I discovered the truth. The Intel chip would trounce AMD in any task running 4 threads or less, and AMD would barely come out on top at 6. If the power consumption under load was the only difference I wouldn't care, but it also sucked a lot more at idle. The electric difference worked out to ~$20/yr which is significant on a $100 processor. If I'd OC'd it to close the performance gap, it would have been even worse. Same thing happened with GPUs when Nvidia came out with Maxwell.
I think the brightest spot currently for AMD are the latest APUs. CPU performance isn't that good, but idle consumption is down and load power isn't that bad. For very casual gamers they handily beat Intel's iGPU, so they have a niche where they are the clear winner. Unfortunately it looks like the APUs are going to stay on 28nm for a good while yet.
I know the yadayada 980Ti/TX OMG Fury didn't trounce them, but if you recall, that:
a) they never chased TX
b) 980Ti is a downscaled TX
c) at 4k Fury is competitive nevertheless
Actual product is competitive, at least, beats competition in certain (not so unlikely) scenarios.
Now, what the heck can your PR drum beat about, if all what you will be able to do is compete with mid range Intel CPU which is a couple of generations old? (if even that)
Only Apple could successfully (to an extent) twist reality in such situations. (not that they had to after switching from IBM)
No offense but, @cdawall is right, you don't know what you're talking about and you're simply talking over each other. Even within major microarchitectures, there are significant differences between different processes. In fact, one could argue that a die shrink has considerable lower level changes that impact a transistors switching capability and breakdown voltage given the change in circuit size and channel width between both ends of any given transistor in the CPU. A great example of this is Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge, it's the same micro-architecture but Ivy Bridge introduced tri-gate transistors which is a CPU-wide change aside from the μ-Arch. It was a required change the influenced the entire CPU merely to move to a smaller node. Don't confuse the two because they're very independent from each other. One determines how the circuit operates (how switches turn on and off and its characteristics,) and other determines how it functions (μArch; what logic does it actually execute.)
I hope that it works, and it kicks ass, takes out the trash, and polishes the car! :rockout:
Hopefully, it's not too long of a wait to see how it does.
Even if it's merely ~good~ I'll probably get it in some form. (we can't let Intel make all of the money)
We can't make any sort of comparisons about it with anything from AMD previously as those arguments would be pointless, again because this is an entirely new design that was designed from the ground up. It really sounds like AMD threw out all their previous designs and is starting over.
I honestly don't really expect it to be a giant Intel killer, but I do expect it to get close enough that we can see Intel finally try some new stuff and hopefully we can stop being stuck at an 4 core consumer market CPU design.
Now if it could be clock for clock even or better than Intel that would be awesome. AMD usually offers a cheaper product than Intel and I just want to see some legit competition that would finally bring prices down while also forcing Intel to push the industry forward. If Intel does that, then AMD has to keep up at that point.
Time will tell I guess.
But here just in case you missed it die shrinks don't changer performance.
I fully understand the logic behing your argument since the start of our dialogue. Be sure of it.
Answer to me though pls: if a cpu manufacturer decides to stay in same arch when going into smaller manufacturing procedure and simply up the clocks to reach the same TDP as previous gen of its CPUs, doesn't it give more power?
Now, leaving the personal attack of yours aside (that caused my somewhat strong answer above), let's see into the near future (about half a year from Zen launch) to look for proofs. :toast: