What you need to know
- AMD shared details about its upcoming Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs, Zen 4 architecture, and AM5 motherboards at Computex 2022.
- Ryzen 7000 CPUs are the first PC processors based on a 5nm process and can reach clock speeds of up to 5.5 GHz.
- AMD’s AM5 motherboards will support DDR5 and PCIe 5.0.
- The new chips and motherboards are expected to ship in fall 2022, with more details coming out throughout the summer.
AMD announced several details and benchmarks for its Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs, Zen 4 architecture, and AM5 motherboards at Computex 2022. All of the new technologies promise improved performance and capabilities over their predecessors. The new Ryzen 7000 chips should start shipping in fall 2022, and AMD plans to share more details about them over the coming months.
Starting off with the Ryzen 7000 processors, AMD promises a boost clock speed of over 5 GHz. Assuming the company delivers on those figures, the Ryzen 7000 CPUs would be among the first desktop chips to break that threshold (Intel’s 12th Gen Core i9-12900KS can boost to 5.5 GHz).
At Computex, AMD demoed a 16-core Ryzen 7000 CPU that hit speeds of 5.5 GHz while gaming. It also beat out Intel’s Core i9-12900K in a Blender render test by 31%. Of course, it was AMD that shared those figures, so we’ll need to wait for real-world testing by outlets and reviewers to get a proper gauge of how AMD’s processors stack up with the best CPUs from Intel.
More importantly than clock speed, AMD’s chips based on Zen 4 architecture should have “greater than 15 percent” quicker single-thread performance. That increase should make more of a difference when playing the best PC games.
The new Ryzen 7000 chips will have two 5nm Zen 4 CPU modules, a 6nm die that integrates with RDNA 2 graphics, and DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 controllers. All Ryzen 7000 processors will have at least integrated graphics, according to AMD marketing director Robert Hallock. Notably, the chips will only support DDR5 memory (via Tom’s Hardware).
Moving over to motherboards, AMD discussed its 600-series AM5 options at Computex. All AM5 motherboards will have at least one PCIe 5.0 NVMe storage slot. The company also promised 60% faster sequential read speeds. MSI, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, Biostar, and others have confirmed AM5 motherboards that are on the way.
Some of the new motherboards, such as the X670 Extreme, will have PCIe Gen 5 graphics support. OEMs will have the option to include PCIe Gen 5 graphics support on the X670 (non-extreme). Other motherboards, like the B650, will rely on PCIe Gen 4.
All of the AM5 motherboards will have 24 lanes of PCIe 5.0 bandwidth and support up to 14 USB 3.x ports. Among those, there will be up to 14 SuperSpeed USB ports up to 20Gbps and Type-C. They will also support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth LE 5.2. The motherboards will work with up to four display outputs and have options to work with HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2. The new boards will also support up to 170W CPUs, which is quite high.
AM5’s predecessor, AM4, was well supported by AMD. It worked with five CPU architectures since its launch and will continue to be supported. “We want to keep AM4 going into the future so people can continue to benefit from this amazing platform,” said Hallock.
While PC gamers will have to replace many components to build a system with all of the new tech from AMD, they won’t need to purchase a cooler. AM4 CPU coolers will work with AM5 motherboards.
The Ryzen 7000 processors and 600-series AM5 motherboards should arrive in fall 2022. AMD should share more details about them in the months leading up to launch.
