Wednesday, October 23rd 2024

AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme to Feature a 3+5 Core Configuration

by
btarunr
 Discuss (17 Comments)
The second generation of AMD Ryzen Z-series processors for handheld gaming consoles, will be led by the Ryzen Z2 Extreme. There will also be an affordable Ryzen Z2 (non-Extreme). We've known for some time that the Z2 Extreme is based on the 4 nm "Strix Point" monolithic silicon, with some optimization (the highest bins to facilitate the best energy efficiency); but now we have a few more details thanks to a leak by Golden Pig Upgrade. AMD's engineering effort with the Z2 Extreme will be to give the console the most generational performance uplift from the iGPU, rather than the CPU.

The "Strix Point" silicon features a significantly updated iGPU from the previous-generation "Phoenix." It's based on the more efficient RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, which is better optimized for LPDDR5 memory; and comes with 16 compute units (CU), compared to 12 on the "Phoenix." The Ryzen Z2 Extreme will come with all 16 CU enabled. The CPU is where some interesting changes are planned. The "Strix Point" silicon features a dual-CCX CPU, one of these contains four "Zen 5" CPU cores sharing a 16 MB L3 cache, while the other features eight "Zen 5c" cores sharing an 8 MB L3 cache. For the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, AMD is going with an odd 3+5 core configuration. What this means is that the Ryzen Z2 Extreme will have 3 "Zen 5" cores, and 5 "Zen 5c" cores. The L3 cache on the CCX with "Zen 5" cores has been reduced to 8 MB in size. On paper, this is still an 8-core/16-thread CPU with 16 MB of L3 cache (same as "Phoenix,") but now you know that there's more going on.
Sources: Golden Pig Upgrade (Bilibili), Videocardz

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17 Comments on AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme to Feature a 3+5 Core Configuration

#1
petroj
For a handheld where they're optimizing for GPU power and battery life, wouldn't it be better to simply use 8 Zen5c cores instead of a mix? I imagine that it would be more than powerful enough for the use case
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#2
mate123
Given the past, they should be very careful with what they call 8 cores :D
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#3
A&P211
I would think with only 8mb, the cpu will be starving for data.
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#4
zenlaserman
Yeah you would think that because you're prolly swinging from the balls of benchmark tryhards like ~50% of this forum and therefore would prolly consider this nonviable for use by any mortal who dares to use a computer.

In the real-world, the last 10 years of PC hardware is overkill unless you're a thumb-monkey-denier and only uses a PC for games. Even cut-down shit like this is better than most of you.
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#5
SL2
petrojFor a handheld where they're optimizing for GPU power and battery life, wouldn't it be better to simply use 8 Zen5c cores instead of a mix? I imagine that it would be more than powerful enough for the use case
I'm leaning the other way, 6 cores is enough, but you need more Hz than only C-cores. However, 6 cores doesn't sound good in an EXXTTREEEEME product, not even handheld.
A&P211I would think with only 8mb, the cpu will be starving for data.
That's 8 MB for 3 cores, which is more per core than 16 MB for 8 cores.

8 + 8 MB in total.
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#6
Imouto
No wonder Valve said it's waiting for a real generational leap.
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#7
Wirko
mate123Given the past, they should be very careful with what they call 8 cores :D
Well it's their fault if they used the 2021 method to count cores in 2011.
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#8
TumbleGeorge
In other sites this leak is translated to z2 ixtreme still using same number of CU's like z1 - 12.
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#11
sethmatrix7
ImoutoNo wonder Valve said it's waiting for a real generational leap.
Going from 7 to 4nm is probably as generational as it's going to get until 2026.
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#12
cfenton
Focusing on the GPU is the right move. I don't think I've ever seen a game CPU bound on the Steam Deck and that's only a quad core. I'm sure there's some example, but anything that's modern enough to use more than four cores is likely to run into GPU limits first.
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#13
Imouto
sethmatrix7Going from 7 to 4nm is probably as generational as it's going to get until 2026.
Then there's no need to update the Steam Deck until 2026.
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#14
yfn_ratchet
My question is whether or not it even makes sense to put Zen 5c cores inside a gaming handheld. It's going to be used primarily for tasks that prefer higher core clocks and deeper per-core caches, no? I'd imagine a pure Zen 5 four-core SoC would supply similar or better performance at low power without having some odd irregular core config that looks like a frankensteining of a low-yield chip to get it chugging along.
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#15
SL2
yfn_ratchetIt's going to be used primarily for tasks that prefer higher core clocks and deeper per-core caches, no?
How do you know that? Why would it, with that kind of GPU?

What do you think happened? AMD just rolled the dice (twice) and called it a day? You don't think they did a few tests before making a decision lol..

Take the cheapest desktop graphics card available and run some benchmarks. It'll still be faster than this one, but it wouldn't surprise me if it would do just as good with 4 cores.
yfn_ratchetI'd imagine a pure Zen 5 four-core SoC would supply similar or better performance at low power without having some odd irregular core config that looks like a frankensteining of a low-yield chip to get it chugging along.
They're not that different like you suggest.
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#16
GenericUsername2001
yfn_ratchetMy question is whether or not it even makes sense to put Zen 5c cores inside a gaming handheld. It's going to be used primarily for tasks that prefer higher core clocks and deeper per-core caches, no? I'd imagine a pure Zen 5 four-core SoC would supply similar or better performance at low power without having some odd irregular core config that looks like a frankensteining of a low-yield chip to get it chugging along.
A pure gaming optimized SoC with four Zen 5 cores probably would be better for handhelds yes. But that would require more design work, setting up new masks at the fab, and so on, which AMD probably does not think is worth it, as the handheld market is still pretty niche. This Z2E chip is going to be made from the 4+8C Strix Point laptop chips AMD is already making; that oddball 3 + 5c format is probably good for binning any partially defective chips AMD ends up with. Very low effort on AMD's part, and still a good-enough product for this niche.
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#17
Wirko
GenericUsername2001A pure gaming optimized SoC with four Zen 5 cores probably would be better for handhelds yes.
There are hard thermal and power supply constraints in handhelds, so even 4 big cores wouldn't be able to run at full steam for more than ... a few seconds? 3+5+GPU seems like a good balance.
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