During AMD’s CES 2018 Tech Day, CEO Lisa Su announced the plans for the second-generation Ryzen processor roll-out in April. This is the revised design that has been rumored for months, with a process technology change and slight tweaks to features.
Details are expectantly short, but what we know is that these parts will move from a 14nm process technology to 12nm from GlobalFoundries. AMD is calling the design “Zen+” and this is NOT Zen 2 – that is coming next year. You should expect higher clocks for Ryzen 2000-series processors and improvements to Precision Boost that will enable more consistent and gradual clock speed shifts in workloads of interesting like gaming.
Also on the roadmap now are updated Threadripper processors with the same “Zen+” enhancements, coming out in 2H of 2018.
The great news for enthusiasts that have already bought into AMD’s current generation platform is existing motherboards will support this processor update, as long as you have the associated BIOS. Motherboards are already being updated today for the channel (to support the Ryzen APU launch) so there should be little concern with compatibility come April.
However, there IS a new chipset coming with “Zen+”, the AMD X470. Information on it is also slim, but it includes some optimizations and fixes. AMD had growing pains with the initial set of motherboard releases including power concerns and routing issues, both of which are addressed with the new design.
That’s all we know for now, but I am excited to get my hands on the Ryzen second-generation processors this spring to see how much performance and behavior has changed. Intel has definitely changed the landscape since Ryzen’s first release in March of 2017, so enthusiasts should welcome the back and forth competition cycle once again.
Hoping the memory
Hoping the memory compatibility has been fixed with this iteration.
you mean improved? I have a
you mean improved? I have a 1950x and XMP worked as it should. (3200mhz, non samsung, tight timming beyond XMP, 256bit quad channel)
Same goes with the 1700. From what I see only early bios / agesa had problems overclocking with non samsung b die.
My experience even with
My experience even with latest BIOS/AGESA for 1700x has been quit opposite, I have never seen a CPU platform so picky about RAM. I went through 5 kits before finding one that worked “nicely” with the CPU. Threadripper certainly seems to have fixed most issues that existed with initial RYZEN launch.
What motherboard/memory
What motherboard/memory combinations have you used? Would anyone have recommendations for combinations with the best comparability?
Motherboard I used was
Motherboard I used was Gigabyte B350 Gaming 3 and had gone through 4 Corsair Vengeance LPX kits(8Gb*2 various speeds upto DDR4 3000) before getting hold of GSkill FlareX kit 8Gb*2 DDR4 2933. In India its not easy to find memory kits unlike US/Europe where you can find kits based on model no. here you need to keep bugging the dealers to find RAMs that you need. I would recommend getting those FlareX kits as they seem to work fine with Ryzen without any issues.
What many people seem to have
What many people seem to have missed is that updated BIOS versions have fixed this issue with RAM in most cases. With an Asus ROG Crosshair VI Hero, we have pre-release BIOS versions available that bring with it new AGESA versions. AGESA 1.0.0.0a is the latest as of January of 2018(yes, AMD reset the version numbers for some reason). Hitting 3200 with my Hynix M-die 3200 set(16-18-18-38) without too much of a problem, though am running my RAM at 1.41 volts instead of the official 1.35 volts this RAM is supposed to have.
Older BIOS versions with AGESA 1.0.0.5 or earlier were a lot tougher to get RAM running at the rated speed on.
So it will be the Zen+
So it will be the Zen+ Micro-Arch that is just some shrinking and tweaking of the current Zen Micro-Arch with Zen+ being used on the consumer branding/branded Ryzen 2000 series products.
No off the official channel mention of the expected Zen+ clock speed improvments other than what GF has said about its new 12nm precess node.
Be sure to ask ASUS if they are thinking about making some laptops with Desktop Raven Ridge APUs inside this year as that ASUS with the Ryzen 7 1700 Desktop SKU looks nice.
I’d sure consider a laptop with a Desktop Raven Ridge APU SKU(65 watts) inside to replace my current laptop with its Quad core IvyBridge i7(35 watts) and Discrete Mobile Radeon GPU(20 watts).
The first slide literally
The first slide literally says “Higher Clocks” for Ryzen 2nd Gen.
I want to see precentages
I want to see precentages quoted not some nebulous marketing Babble of “Higher Clocks”. I also want to Know about any Uncore(Intel term for non micro-arch related CPU functionality) types of Infinity Fabric tweaking for better Latency on any Zen+ Ryzen 2000 based SKUs. So “Higher Clocks” don’t amount to Goose Gggs for any actual information other than some mindless Marketing that some mindless hayseeds may fall for.
Can You Really Be That DAFT!
These new desktop processors
These new desktop processors will not be releasing until April, so the exact numbers are not expected until March. First generation will clock easily to 3.8-4.0GHz with some hitting 4.1GHz, so the expectation is 4.2-4.5GHz for the Zen+ chips for what they will be able to clock to(official numbers will always be lower for what the official clock speeds go up to). The RAM speed support will be better from the CPU at launch since people will need a recent BIOS version for CPU support on X470 and B450 chipsets.
Now I have to decide whether
Now I have to decide whether to wait for new parts in April or build now with the lower prices on Ryzen parts. Been waiting a while to build a new system.
Imho Depending on your
Imho Depending on your budget. If you will be able to pair x470 with a fast pair of DDR4, and a GPU greater or equal to a GTX1080 wait.
If you are going for a more budget build and you will be targeting ram kits with 3200 and RX580/1060/1070 cards, getting X370 now, you will be OK.
“Intel has definitely changed
“Intel has definitely changed the landscape since Ryzen’s first release in March of 2017”
Ryan, now go to the blackboard and write ‘AMD’ 50 times.
In a total panic… Hurriedly
In a total panic… Hurriedly scrabbling about for higher core-count parts, they “might” (allegedly) have been hiding at the back of their storage cupboard? 😉