Hmmm.
...this potential change for parts that have already been thoroughly tested seems surprising. Lower power consumption was highlighted as one of the biggest advantages of the new series over its predecessor.
This sorta reminds me of the new ATX 3.x standards for PSUs. The manufacturers of the newest PSUs claimed they were struggling to stay within the ±5% allowed tolerances on the +12VDC rail. Note that ±5% tolerance had been the accepted industry standard for decades - with the vast majority of PSUs staying within those limits across a full range of loads.
12VDC ±5% equates to a range from 11.4VDC to 12.6VDC and still be acceptable.
However, now the tolerance for +12VDC was been relaxed to -7% up to +5%. This allows the +12VDC to drop as low as 11.16VDC and still meet published ATX standards. 2% for 0.24V may not seem like much but it is significant - especially when dealing with super high-density ICs like processors and memory modules.
The change was made, apparently, because the manufacturers claimed it, all of a sudden after decades of meeting the ±5% standard, would significantly increase the cost to design and manufacture PSUs capable of maintaining output voltages within those tolerances.
So, instead of sticking to the decades-old standard, the ATX consortium
of PSU makers (that's right, they set their own standards) decided to weaken their own standards!
A classic case of the fox guarding the henhouse, if you ask me.
Why does this matter? Well motherboards, CPUs, GPUs, RAM, and every other component that relies on a good, clean solid +12.0 VDC may now have to deal with, and compensate for, a lower voltage. If this 11.16V is encountered, for example, the regulator circuits will be forced to work harder (and generate more heat) to compensate. In other words, the PSU makers are passing the buck for their inadequate ability (willingness!!!) to "supply" proper power.
So is AMD doing the same thing here? That is, they cannot meet specs so instead of going back to the design table, they change the specs? IDK but it smells like it.
Something to think about.
videocardz.com
