AMD has announced that its 7th generation AMD A-Series desktop processors, also known by their code name 'Bristol Ridge', are now shipping to PC OEMs and will be inside desktop PCs made by HP and Lenovo first, with more on the way.
AMD says the new APUs also use the company's new AM4 socket, which will be used in the upcoming high-end "Summit Ridge" processors:
Systems powered by 7th Generation AMD A-Series processors are productive, immersive, and energy efficient, with up to four "Excavator" CPU cores. 7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors consist of 65-watt and 35-watt versions, offering superior power efficiency and enabling flexible solutions in a wide variety of form factors. The new 7th Generation 65-watt A-Series processors deliver performance only realized at 95-watts with the previous generation. In addition, when compared to the Intel Core i5 6500, the new 65-watt processors offer up to equivalent productivity performance and up to 99% higher graphics performance.
The new APUs also support 4K Ultra HD video in both H.264 and H.265 formats, and will also be able to run Windows 10 PCs games with DirectX 12 APIs.
AMD is still planning to release its "Summit Ridge" processors, which it claims matches Intel's current highest end Core processors for performance, sometime in the first quarter of 2017. Summit Ridge chips will also use the same AM4 socket as the new "Bristol Ridge" APUs.
