Thursday, November 17th 2016
AMD ZEN Processors to Supposedly Carry SR3, SR5 and SR7 Branding
Recent reports peg AMD's upcoming line of microprocessors based on Zen micro-architecture as being labelled SR3, SR5 and SR7 for different hardware tiers (with the SR3 being the lowest-performing, and SR7 being, naturally, the highest-performing). A recent post on Chip Hell claims that a leaked slide from an AMD presentation give us these insights, with further information on pricing: it's shown in the roadmap that all Zen SR (Summit Ridge) processors will sell for higher than RMB 1500 ($220).
AMD is expected to offer either four-core or eight-core designs on their lineup (with eventual Simultaneous Multi Threading differentiation, like Intel does between their i5 and i7 lines) still being up in the air. And in what would mark a divergence from their recent movement in the GPU space, where AMD introduced their latest Polaris architecture at the highest-volume market of about $200, AMD's Zen efforts are expected to begin from the top, with the dubbed "SR7" enthusiast-grade products first, and trickling down the market scale eventually.
That said, I can't help but feel like this will not be the branding on Zen chips at all, and that the "SRx" moniker is nothing more than a visualization for AMD's roadmap. From a brand perspective, it doesn't make much sense to name AMD's future chips with the platform code name. Platforms change, which would lead to necessary changes in the naming scheme for their Zen processors - and if AMD wants to follow in Intel's footsteps of building strong brand recognition, an annual or biennial change in nomenclature (Summit Ridge = SRx; and an eventual Summit Ridge hypothetical successor being called "Raven's Ridge" = RRx) wouldn't make much sense, breaking continuity in brand awareness and eventually giving rise to confusion among customers.
AMD might instead opt for using ZEN's well-known code-name, imbibing it on their products: "z3", "z5" or "z7" would, in my opinion, make much more sense. AMD is expected to support and iterate on Zen for years to come (much like Intel does under their iX line of processors), and the "zX" moniker would be a symbol of AMD's confidence in ZEN being the horse to carry them to more successful waters. I think AMD would to well to copy Intel's naming scheme, for a variety of reasons: the "zX" capitalizes on Intel's well-known and well-understood branding scheme, and is so instantly recognizable for its proximity in nomenclature that it would increase consumer awareness. Also, I believe it would increase perception of performance being on-par with Intel (AMD's z7 being comparable to Intel's i7) but Z is (along with X) usually (and arguably) associated with higher performance than other nomenclatures (just look at all those "gaming products" with "X"s and "Z"s plastered all over their names).
Whether or not that ends up being the case, I'll make sure not to take credit for it. But it really is my firm belief that AMD should find a naming scheme close to Intel's, and that the company would do well to distance itself from their FX line of CPUs - which a letter and numeral code would definitely help in doing.
Source:
Chip Hell
AMD is expected to offer either four-core or eight-core designs on their lineup (with eventual Simultaneous Multi Threading differentiation, like Intel does between their i5 and i7 lines) still being up in the air. And in what would mark a divergence from their recent movement in the GPU space, where AMD introduced their latest Polaris architecture at the highest-volume market of about $200, AMD's Zen efforts are expected to begin from the top, with the dubbed "SR7" enthusiast-grade products first, and trickling down the market scale eventually.
Whether or not that ends up being the case, I'll make sure not to take credit for it. But it really is my firm belief that AMD should find a naming scheme close to Intel's, and that the company would do well to distance itself from their FX line of CPUs - which a letter and numeral code would definitely help in doing.
43 Comments on AMD ZEN Processors to Supposedly Carry SR3, SR5 and SR7 Branding
Man, if you're going to make an argument, you better try an analogy that works.
server space has mostly grown horizontally with the ability to add more and more cores to a single cpu and very little need for single threaded performance.
hmm
AMD Zen SR9000 with RX 420 graphics anyone?
If these chips are launching with half decent graphics i might run one in an itx board for a bit, adding a gpu later
I'd like to see them come up with something like that skull canyon nuc that was out a while back too
2 (more) full years of nothing new from intel.