Tuesday, May 14th 2024
AMD Launches the Ryzen 7 8700F ($270) and Ryzen 5 8400F ($170)
AMD formally launched the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F Socket AM5 desktop processors. These are variants based on the Ryzen 8000-series desktop APUs, but with their integrated graphics disabled. The 8700F may lack integrated graphics, but includes the Ryzen AI NPU, with up to 16 AI TOPS performance. The 8400F lacks an NPU. Much like the 8700G, the 8700F packs an 8-core/16-thread CPU based on the current "Zen 4" architecture, but with a 100 MHz lower maximum boost frequency of 5.00 GHz. The TDP is the same, at 65 W, and the retail package includes a Wraith Stealth cooler.
The Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core/12-thread processor, but much like the 8500G, it is based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, which has two "Zen 4" cores that can achieve the maximum 4.70 GHz boost frequency for this chip, and four "Zen 4c" that boost lower. Both kinds of cores feature an identical IPC and ISA, and so AMD Chipset Software uses UEFI CPPC preferred cores software flags to prioritize workload to the "Zen 4" cores. AMD in its launch presentation claims that the 8700F should offer competitive gaming and productivity performance to an Intel Core i5-14400F, and that the 8400F should offer gaming performance in the league of an i5-13400F. The company is pricing the 8700F at $269, or $60 cheaper than the 8700G; while the 8400F is priced at $169, or $10 less than the 8500G.
The Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core/12-thread processor, but much like the 8500G, it is based on the "Phoenix 2" silicon, which has two "Zen 4" cores that can achieve the maximum 4.70 GHz boost frequency for this chip, and four "Zen 4c" that boost lower. Both kinds of cores feature an identical IPC and ISA, and so AMD Chipset Software uses UEFI CPPC preferred cores software flags to prioritize workload to the "Zen 4" cores. AMD in its launch presentation claims that the 8700F should offer competitive gaming and productivity performance to an Intel Core i5-14400F, and that the 8400F should offer gaming performance in the league of an i5-13400F. The company is pricing the 8700F at $269, or $60 cheaper than the 8700G; while the 8400F is priced at $169, or $10 less than the 8500G.
19 Comments on AMD Launches the Ryzen 7 8700F ($270) and Ryzen 5 8400F ($170)
Oh, you won't get the NPU but you can use that only with Radeon 7000 series VGA card so this not a selling point anyway...
more affordable and wider selection of available AM5 boards is.
I hate these laptop APUs in a desktop package, The 8400F is doubly pointless because it's more expensive than the 7500F based on the full-fat Raphael cores, whilst also being slower.
Sacrificing half the cache seems to be a necessary compromise to make room for the beefy IGP on the G-series processors, so then getting an F variant with no IGP is a real headscratcher at anything other than bargain-bin prices.
When the price dropped around 250$ then the statement can be reconsidered.
But nor 269 and especially not 299 dollar is valid price for such a CPU.
If you take laptop silicon designed to operate at 28W and put the same Stealth cooler designed for 88W PPT on it, then yes, it'll run cool - but that's not really gaining you any performance - and if you want silence from a 65W CPU I believe $15-20 will get you a massive, capable cooler like the TR Burst Assassin 120 that will cool an all-core torture test at 900rpm if you set the fan curve not to aggressively hunt lower temperatures.
Based on the 2 computers' usage patterns, the 5500 in it's current PC is great because it gets bursty workloads and is idling a lot so the monolithic design can power down well. The other computer gets a higher base level of use all the time so the 5600 may be better as it won't often be sitting at that low power state so the extra power use of the IO chiplet won't stand out as much.