AMD revealed more information about its next-generation Ryzen 9000 processors and their underlying Zen 5 CPU architecture this week, ahead of their launch at the end of July. The company reiterated some of the high-level performance claims it made last month, delivering low- to mid-double-digit performance gains over Zen 4 in both single- and multi-threaded tasks. But AMD also boasted about the chips’ power efficiency compared to Ryzen 7000, noting that power usage will be reduced even as performance increases.
Prioritize power efficiency
AMD says it has lowered the default power limits for three of its four Ryzen 9000 processors (Ryzen 5 9600X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 9 7900X) compared to the Ryzen 7000 versions of the same chips. Despite the lower default power limits, all three chips boast double-digit performance improvements over their predecessors. AMD also says it has seen up to 7°C reduction in Ryzen 9000 CPU temperatures compared to Ryzen 7000 chips at the same settings.
It’s worth noting that when we tested the original Ryzen 7000 CPUs at multiple power levels, we found that for most chips (especially the 7600X and 7700X), the increased TDP levels didn’t really help performance that much in the first place. The lower TDP for Ryzen 9000 may have been made possible in part by architectural improvements and/or new manufacturing processes, but AMD already had the room to lower power usage without impacting performance too much. TDP is best thought of as a measure of power consumption. limit It is not the actual amount of power used when the CPU is maxed out for a particular workload.
Still, it’s nice to see AMD focus on power efficiency with its Ryzen 9000 series, especially compared to Intel’s higher-end 13900K and 14900K. Has been plagued by collisions that Seem This is likely related to high power usage and improper motherboard configuration, and while Intel has yet to make a definitive statement on the issue, it’s quite possible (and likely) that it’s a side effect of pushing these chips to their thermal and electrical limits.
Ryzen 9000 CPUs can be further boosted by users who want to try overclocking by increasing the power limit, and AMD points out that there’s a bit of performance headroom at the default power limits, so all chips have extra headroom for Precision Boost Overdrive automatic overclocking. But the cooler-running, less-powerful chips are a better choice for people who just want to build a computer without a lot of tweaking, as long as the chips perform well at the default settings.
Socket AM5 Time Remaining
Another small but notable change buried in AMD’s slide deck is good news for anyone who’s already invested in a Socket AM5 motherboard or plans to do so in the near future: AMD has officially extended the warranty support timeline for the socket until at least 2027, with plans to continue support beyond that. That’s a two-year extension from the “2025+” timeline the company outlined in late 2022.
Of course, “support” can mean many things. AMD continues to officially support the AM4 socket with new CPU releases, and continues to lean on AM4 as a budget-oriented platform as the cost of socket AM5 remains stubbornly high. But all of these “new” releases are just repackagings of various iterations of late 2020 Ryzen 5000 CPUs, not true new products. Still, with AMD officially committed to the longevity of socket AM5, it’s clear that the company is on board with the move. a bit This makes it easier to recommend to people who upgrade their CPUs regularly.
The Ryzen 9000 chips will be available on current AM5 motherboards after a BIOS update. The company has also announced 800-series chipsets for the new motherboards, but these usually feature only minor improvements over the 600-series chipsets they replace. The X870E and X870 are guaranteed to have USB 4 ports, and the X870 supports PCIe 5.0 speeds on the GPU slot, while the X670 only supported PCIe 4.0 speeds on the GPU slot. The lower-end B850 chipset supports PCIe 5.0 speeds on the SSD and PCIe 4.0 speeds on the GPU, while the even lower-end B840 chipset is all limited to PCIe 3.0 speeds. The B840 also does not support CPU overclocking, but RAM overclocking is possible.
Listing image from AMD