Monday, March 20th 2017
AMD May Have Ryzen 16-Core Version and New Chipset in the Works for June
AMD may be preparing a true silicon monster to compete directly with Intel's HEDT line, a dual octo-core-die based 16 core, 32 thread processor under the Ryzen branding, if a leak from ChipHell is to be believed.
According to the leak (and my rough google translate interpretation of both it and a German version kindly provided by Heise.de) the processor will not use the current dual channel AM4 socket. Rather, it will use a cut down version of the Naples based server SP3 socket called SP3r2. SP3r2 and the new chip would be quad channel, putting it in direct memory bandwidth competition with Intel's HEDT lineup.
It's also worth noting this would be a LGA-based socket; that is, rather than pins on the processor, the processor will have copper pads for small metal points in the socket to make pressure contact with, like what Intel has been doing for some time. Naples already uses such a config, but AMD has not ever used this configuration in a consumer socket.
As well as this exciting chip, the leak indicates AMD has a new chipset planned exclusively for it, named X399. The chip and chipset are expected to be announced sometime in June, with an unknown date of actual retail availability. Also, unknown as of now is the Chip's clock, TDP, or pretty much any other specification information.
Sources:
heise.de, ChipHell
According to the leak (and my rough google translate interpretation of both it and a German version kindly provided by Heise.de) the processor will not use the current dual channel AM4 socket. Rather, it will use a cut down version of the Naples based server SP3 socket called SP3r2. SP3r2 and the new chip would be quad channel, putting it in direct memory bandwidth competition with Intel's HEDT lineup.
As well as this exciting chip, the leak indicates AMD has a new chipset planned exclusively for it, named X399. The chip and chipset are expected to be announced sometime in June, with an unknown date of actual retail availability. Also, unknown as of now is the Chip's clock, TDP, or pretty much any other specification information.
69 Comments on AMD May Have Ryzen 16-Core Version and New Chipset in the Works for June
Except end of the day, unlike most here, i am a.. 'consumer' i guess? 'Casual'? This isn't exactly a 24/7 occupational hobby for me. I read on what i feel i need to know; not on everything.
Why am i saying all this?
Because when AMD tells me Ryzen + AM4 mobos + 4 years, i say O.K., Ryzen + AM4 mobos + 4 years.
Now imagine if i had already bought a mobo. Only to hear of this now. Me, i'd be livid. I don't like Intel's "tricks", but at the very least, i always know which way the wind's blowing with them.
This is.. new.
(the above is phrased such due to the type of responses i'm expecting, such as "but this is an HEDT". I get that. I also get that this being a science and not magic, this has been in the works for a long time now. Ergo if the rumor -does- stand, they knew this was coming long before they promised Ryzen + am4 mobos + 4 years)
I'm leaving aside the people who have no choice (budget limited) and as such buy from AMD because that's what they can afford -they don't really support, do they? They're customers out of necessity-.
I'm focusing on the people who actually support them. Those that do, they do for reasons relating to mentality, practices, ethics and the age-old desire to side with the little guy.
Following Intel's 'way' the second the money starts flowing in is not the way to go if you want these supporters. I don't appreciate this at all.
Although yes, happy to know this may be a possibility.
Go look up the new Naples CPUs and you will quickly realize they are twice as big in size, this is because they pack up to 32 cores. This one will have 16 or less cores and 16 or more of them will be disabled, essentially a market segment to make money with (Naples server CPU) garbage that has defective units in it, like the Core i7 LGA2011 line. So it's absolutely fine and has nothing to do with their AM4 stuff - only those who need more than 8 core's OR need more PCI-E lanes for whatever reason (Multi GPU, NVMe, whatever) would want to buy this. It will have double or more PCI-E lanes compared to the mainstream Ryzen line. Anyway, this is just talking rumours, let's see if its true. But I'm pretty sure it is. Reminds me of the Opteron line of Athlon CPUs that were introduced alongside Athlon 64 on a different socket, just that this time it will be made for prosumers and not for a niche server market.
May jump to it.
I guess it's a waiting game for me right now.
Unless people build PC's every single year, this shouldn't be a deterrent to supporting today's AM4 & Ryzen. Like most, I usually build a new PC from the ground up, every 5-7 years, with minor little upgrades here and there, throughout that time frame.
Intel on the other hand has a nasty habit of making your last years Intel CPU/Mobo as obsolete as possible. AMD is not like that. Let this new AMD Platform serve the Enthusiasts. That are willing to spend $1,000's on a Ryzen and another $500 on a Mobo/chipset.
I understand that yeilds may not always be perfect, but disabling all those cores is a lot of silicon to waste.
a) it's 32 core (8xCCX each 4 cores, half or more disabled), quite unlikely as you pointed out, a very very big chip even compared to LGA2011 CPU's
b) it's a 16 core with 4x CCX, each 4 cores and the defective core's disabled leading to 12 and 8 core Ryzen HEDT as well. Quite likely.
The problem with b) is, if you want to game with it and you're not going for the full chip, which will probably be very expensive, it will be 3/3/3/3 (usable cores) or 2/2/2/2 cores. Whereas 3/3/3/3 is still quite usable even with the crappy Windows scheduler that's senselessly using 2 CCX even if the usage is at 4 cores or lower, the 2/2/2/2 8 core part will be just a mess for gaming, because constant CCX traffic is not avoidable then - the Windows scheduler problems just add to it, but even a perfect scheduler wouldn't be able to cope up for the bandwidth/latency issues with inter-CCX communication then. That said, even the 4/4/4/4 full 16 core chip wouldn't be better for gaming than Ryzen 7, no game needs more than 8 cores anyway.
Always been the case really.
You would think AMD would be very careful to ensure nothing hinders Ryzen's performance. Putting aside the Bios Updates needed and the various Windows 10 optimization updates needed.
These Ryzen 3 and 5 CPU's are suppose to be direct competitors to i5's and i3's. And are suppose to OC better too.
Because it would mess up it's cache latency and speed.
However, for these new HEDT parts, the story is totally different. Margins are higher and the market is performance-centric. So, for everybody's (including AMD) sake, I hope they don't go 2+2+2+2 or 3+3+3+3. This is unless the architecture requires a balanced distribution across the included CCX's...
It has nothing to do with HEDT (in my books Ryzen 7 is HEDT anyway, just with fewer PCI-E lanes) or not, it's about maximum profit and nothing else. I already explained why.
In any case, I don't think I saw a scientific review comparing 2+2 vs 4+0 in terms of performance and power usage. We are very reasonably assuming that the latter should be better, but by how much?
edit:
I found this at least, not really the source I was speaking of but better than nothing:
www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amd-ryzen-cores&num=2