AMD Answers Our Zen 4 Tech Questions, with Robert Hallock

[W1zzard]

AMD just announced their new Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 desktop processors. We sat down with AMD's Robert Hallock and asked him a load of technical questions to learn more about what to expect from the new platform, its highlights, and capabilities.

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[ModEl4]

Mostly what PCWorld interview uncovered.
At least the IGP will be present in all the 6nm dies of the upcoming SKUs and it will support AV1 decode in contrast with 6nm navi24 (unless we have another correction...)

 

[Jism]

I miss if the IGP and GPU do a passthrough or not. Meaning if you install a AMD GPU if your required to fit the HDMI wire into the GPU or onboard sollution.

 

[W1zzard]

I miss if the IGP and GPU do a passthrough or not. Meaning if you install a AMD GPU if your required to fit the HDMI wire into the GPU or onboard sollution.

Passthrough is a standard function of Windows now, so should be easy for them to implement, but why?

 

[Solid State Brain]

I miss if the IGP and GPU do a passthrough or not. Meaning if you install a AMD GPU if your required to fit the HDMI wire into the GPU or onboard sollution.

Passthrough is a standard function of Windows now, so should be easy for them to implement, but why?

I use this kind of setup with my Alder Lake configuration. Since the GPU is completely turned off and presumably PCIe slot power savings can be maximized, I get considerably lower idle power consumption in this way when I'm not actively using the discrete GPU (~20W instead of 40+W). EDIT: furthermore, on discrete GPUs with low amounts of VRAM this setup allows more of it to be fully dedicated to the 3D application (since modern 3D-accelerated desktops and background applications will generally use some video memory), mitigating VRAM-related performance issues.

Whether this can be done also on Zen 4 might depend on whether the iGPU is forcefully disabled when a discrete GPU is present.

 

[Jism]

Passthrough is a standard function of Windows now, so should be easy for them to implement, but why?

Convience. There will be no models without a iGPU it seems.

 

[mechtech]

Thanks W1zz

one question I didn’t see was

will these have ECC support??

 

[Dr_b_]

AMD putting in the effort to make the socket cooler compatible with AM4 deserves credit, and the "Castle" crenelated heatspreader looks cool. hope the thing isn't buggy, will probably wait 6 months for all the issues to get patched before buying it

 

[Ruru]

Nice overview, that answered practically everything I've been wondering about Zen4. And I didn't even think of that heatspreader design before, but that's now a logical solution.

 

[jesdals]

DDR5 will be abundant in the lifetime of Socket AM5

Am I the only one who thinks that the frase makes one think that AM5 will be short lifed?

 

[Aquinus]

Sounds like a good exchange. I can't wait to see how AM5 and Ryzen 7000-series pans out. After a decade of rolling with Sandy Bridge E, it would be nice to take the plunge on some modern hardware.

 

[Testsubject01]

I use this kind of setup with my Alder Lake configuration. Since the GPU is completely turned off and presumably PCIe slot power savings can be maximized, I get considerably lower idle power consumption in this way when I'm not actively using the discrete GPU (~20W instead of 40+W).

It would also be interesting to see a comeback of IGPU utilization for overhead stuff in 3D applications.

 

[trsttte]

Very cool interview, shed some needed light into the PCIe configuration, chipset running on Gen5 is very good to hear.

Thanks W1zz

one question I didn’t see was

will these have ECC support??

I'm also interested to know this, will they do the same as AM4 which was supported but up to motherboards to validate it and offer support for it (which most didn't do ), disabled entirely or (dream scenario) there's some incentive for at least some boards to offer it as a feature?

 

[asdkj1740]

it makes no sense for amd to force mobo vendors to have at least two pcie5.0 slots on x670e.
why add restriction for the assignment of that x16 pcie5.0.
why instead not to force mobo vendors to use that x4 out of x16 as another downlink for the second b650 chipset on x670.

 

[zlobby]

GJ, W1zzy!

Sounds like a good exchange. I can't wait to see how AM5 and Ryzen 7000-series pans out. After a decade of rolling with Sandy Bridge E, it would be nice to take the plunge on some modern hardware.

Embrace the Red side of the Force!

Very cool interview, shed some needed light into the PCIe configuration, chipset running on Gen5 is very good to hear.



I'm also interested to know this, will they do the same as AM4 which was supported but up to motherboards to validate it and offer support for it (which most didn't do ), disabled entirely or (dream scenario) there's some incentive for at least some boards to offer it as a feature?

X - doubt. I see no reason for them to break the current model i.e., ECC for Epyc and PRO versions, while PROs are found only in mobile PCs.

 

[Oasis]

He uses a D15 too

 

[Space Lynx]

Looks like I will go with an Intel KF processor for my next build, as a gaming laptop owner, I know all too well how many times I tried to play an old game, and Windows 'decided' it didn't need the dedicated GPU and I got a laggy gaming experience. Shame there won't even be one single model without an igpu.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Thank you @W1zzard for this write-up. What event is happening this summer for the next round of specifications release?

 

[Niceumemu]

Looks like I will go with an Intel KF processor for my next build, as a gaming laptop owner, I know all too well how many times I tried to play an old game, and Windows 'decided' it didn't need the dedicated GPU and I got a laggy gaming experience. Shame there won't even be one single model without an igpu.

You can just disable the igpu in the bios you know

 

[wheresmycar]

thanks w1zz....

I wander if the 3D-cache feature is a costly add-on... if it is, i can't see it making its way on the standard 7000-SKU make-up. Probably additional flagship SKUs with a higher price tag... or a rediculously higher price tag.

 

[konga]

It's strange. Robert Hallock was on live with HotHardware presumably after this interview was given, and he was a lot more guarded. He refused to say say anything about the AI acceleration instruction sets, refused to confirm AVX-512, and he wouldn't say if any memory faster than DDR5-6000 would be supported. Yet here he is just casually telling you about their AVX-512 support and DDR5-6400 support. What did you guys do to him to get this info out of him?

 

[chrcoluk]

I use this kind of setup with my Alder Lake configuration. Since the GPU is completely turned off and presumably PCIe slot power savings can be maximized, I get considerably lower idle power consumption in this way when I'm not actively using the discrete GPU (~20W instead of 40+W). EDIT: furthermore, on discrete GPUs with low amounts of VRAM this setup allows more of it to be fully dedicated to the 3D application (since modern 3D-accelerated desktops and background applications will generally use some video memory), mitigating VRAM-related performance issues.

Whether this can be done also on Zen 4 might depend on whether the iGPU is forcefully disabled when a discrete GPU is present.

Ironically I have been testing using my iGPU now on my 9900k for desktop use, to maximise my VRAM on my 3080 in games. Its a good trick. Effectively trading VRAM utilisation for RAM utilisation.

 

[ModEl4]

IF there are 2 16c SKUs, i wonder if the higher TDP option is going to be 7950XE to better match the chipset segmentation

 

[Displayname1008]

Ironically I have been testing using my iGPU now on my 9900k for desktop use, to maximise my VRAM on my 3080 in games. Its a good trick. Effectively trading VRAM utilisation for RAM utilisation.

turn on IGPU will debase CPU and Mem performance.

 

[Naito]

I wonder if that 15% ST performance gain over 5950X is an SKU utilizing 3DV Cache? If not, is it possible that AMD is, as said, being very conservative with these figures and only referencing SKUs without the cache? Would an AM5 SKU with 3DV Cache push these numbers over 20-25% ST gain? If they only match the 5800X3D performance in games, I'll stick with mine longer...