For many PC enthusiasts looking to upgrade their rigs lately, the wait for AMD’s new Ryzen processors has been a sweet agony. Adding salt to the wound, heartless AMD has been providing potential buyers with juicy tidbits at just the right intervals to keep them from moving on. How much pain can an enthusiast take?!?! Well folks, I’m pleased to tell you the wait is finally over.

AMD has formally announced the release of Ryzen CPUs on a tech event held in San Francisco today, and they would reach the market on March 2nd. Initially, only the three Ryzen 7 CPUs (1800X, Ryzen 7 1700X and Ryzen 7 1700) will be released. The release of the rest of the lineup would follow thereafter.

In this event, AMD has also disclosed some new information about these processors that we were not privy to.

52% Better IPC

After the bulldozer fiasco, AMD decided that it would be much better to start with a clean slate. If you go by their words, this approach has worked wonders for them. Their target of 40% improvement in IPC over their previous chips (Excavator) was not only met, but exceeded! The Ryzen CPUs have 52% more IPC than the Excavator chips. Looks like Jim Keller (and his team, of course) has done it again!

Source: AMD

Die Shot

AMD has revealed a die shot of Ryzen processors. Built on a 14nm process node, the 8 core Ryzen CPU consists of 4.8 billion transistors and 2000m of signal wiring. The AMD team responsible for Ryzen has reportedly spent two million engineering hours over the architecture. Looking at the benchmark results (that are revealed till now), it looks like all that hard work has finally paid off.

Source: AMD

Benchmark Demos

AMD CEO Lisa Su showed three demos pitting Ryzen 7 1700X against Intels Core i7-6800K. The demos run included Cinebench, HandBrake, and a 4K gaming session. See how Ryzen fared in these tests below:

Source: pcper

In the 4K Gaming Session, AMD showed a Ryzen (Ryzen 7 1800X) processor and an Intel Broadwell-E (Core i7-6900K) processor running a demo version of Sniper Elite 4 side by side. The average frame rate (70-80 FPS) was similar on both the systems and the differences, if any, were imperceptible.

From all this, it can be seen how Intel has a serious competitor on it’s hands in the form of Ryzen.

Retail Packing and Coolers

AMD also unveiled the retail packaging and their new Wraith Spire Heat Sink Fans for select Ryzen processors. Have a look below:

Source: AMD

Apart from all this, here is some more miscellaneous information about the Ryzen 7 processors and AM4 Mobo Chipsets that AMD was kind enough to share:

Source: legitreviews

Source: wccftech

Ryzen 7 CPUs and AM4 Mobos are now officially available for pre order at following prices:

Amazon:

Ryzen 7 1800X – $499 – Amazon.com
Ryzen 7 1700X – $399 – Amazon.com
Ryzen 7 1700 – $329 – Amazon.com

ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero – $255 – Amazon.com
ASUS Prime X370-Pro – $170 – Amazon.com
ASUS Prime B350-Plus – $99.99 – Amazon.com
ASUS Prime B350M-A/CSM – $89.99 – Amazon.com

MSI X370 XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM – $299.99

Gigabyte GA-AX370-Gaming 5 – 194.99$
Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3 – 109.99$

Newegg:

AMD RYZEN 7 1800X 3.6 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo)
AMD RYZEN 7 1700X 3.4 GHz (3.8 GHz Turbo)
AMD RYZEN 7 1700 3.0 GHz (3.7 GHz Turbo)

BIOSTAR X370GT7 – $209.99
BIOSTAR X370GT5 – $149.99
BIOSTAR B350GT5 – $129.99

Now, before anyone jumps the gun seeing all this and indulges in their fanboyish whims by pre-ordering, I urge you to remember that the only benchmark results available of Ryzen CPUs as of now are either from AMD themselves (which could be cherry picked) or from unofficial leaks (which could very well be fake). So, it would be better if you wait till some reviews of them show up. You did wait till now, what’s another 1.5-2 weeks.

You can have a look at the Ryzen Launch Event below:

Source(s): pcper, wccftech, legitreviews

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New Update on AMD Ryzen: Official release, Benchmarks and pre-order list

With the launch of AMD’s new Ryzen CPUs inching closer, more and more information is surfacing about them online. Not even two days past the leak about the the full lineup and pricing, Ryzen CPUs have been seen listed for pre-order on multiple online stores, with a Thai retailer revealing the legit box-art. Have a look.

Source: Wccftech

AMD has chosen to go with a “less is more” approach for their box art, consisting of a black background with the Ryzen logo in the middle. A small AMD logo can be seen right below the Ryzen logo, and on the top-right corner of the package. The left side of the box contains a short passage giving the features of the processor. Judging from the thickness of the package, it is fair to say that the CPU cooler will be bundled along with the processor. The coolers look amazing, complete with RGB lighting (apparently the biggest innovation of the year 2016 😀 ) From all the praise the new AMD stock coolers (Wraith) have been getting, this is a good move by AMD, as it could allow the XFR enabled processors to reach higher clock speeds.

The prices listed here are a bit on the higher side. The final pricing is expected to be lower than this(according to the leaks, anyway). A Belgian retailer (Centralpoint.be) also has listed Ryzen 7 CPUs as available for pre-order. Heres the list:

Source: Centralpoint.be via Wccftech

What intrigues me here is that they have two SKU listings for each part, with a €20 price difference between the two SKUs (for the same product), except for the R7 1700, whose two SKUs are priced the same too. Maybe they’ve messed up on the naming.The pricing given here is closer to what the leaked pricing suggests.

The Ryzen CPUs are expected to be released at Feb 28th 2017 – the same date AMD will host its ‘Capsaicin & Cream'(GDC) 2017 press event.

Source(s): Wccftech(1) Wccftech(2)

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New Update on AMD Ryzen: Official release, Benchmarks and pre-order list

Some new details have emerged about AMD’s new “Ryzen” series of processors, and it is astounding to say the least. This new information is leaked from the internal product listing of a Chinese retailer. Without further ado, here are the details:

Source: Baidu

Here’s a table translated to English and with prices normalised for USD:

Source: Wccftech

Okay, now let’s analyze the details in the table. According to the leaks, AMD would be releasing Ryzen in 4C/4T(R3), 4C/8T(R5), 6C/12T(R5) and 8C/16T(R7) variants. All of these configs are further subdivided into Normal edition and “X”(Whatever cheesy name AMD comes up with) edition chips that are clocked higher, have a higher TDP and have XFR enabled. XFR is AMD’s version of Enhanced Auto Overclocking (to be introduced with Ryzen), that allows the chip to be clocked at frequencies higher than the Turbo boost speed, should your cooling solution be able to handle it. The whole process is automated and does not require any user intervention.

At the top of the chart are the R7 variants (Enthusiast and Professional Grade). Among these, the 1800X and 1700X are 8C/16T CPUs with 16 MB L3 cache and a TDP of 95 W. The only difference between these (apparently) is that the 1800X has a higher Stock Clock and Turbo Boost by a margin of 200MHz, for which it carries 110$ higher price than the latter. Previously leaked benchmarks have shown the 8C/16T Ryzen variants literally obliterating the i7 7700k (Kaby Lake); which is a 350$ chip. Also, AMD themselves have demoed benchmarks (in their new horizon event) showing the same chip (clocked at 3.4 GHz w. Turbo disabled, ie, SLOWER than the released chips) going toe-to-toe against the 1100$ 6900k (Broadwell-E). So, it’s really surprising to see the top of the line Ryzen CPU priced at less than half the price of it’s direct competitor. A price that is in fact closer to the 4C/8T Intel Chip (7700K). At this price point, AMD need not even compete on performance to the Intel counterpart. Any person with a slim budget could sense the much better deal that AMD is offering. But if it does in fact compete, well, it would be a huge icing on the cake for consumers and a big blow to Intel. Below this is the R7 1700 which has a lower Stock Clock of 3 GHz without XFR, and with a lower TDP of 65W.

Moving lower, the R5 variants are mid range CPUs that are either 4C/8T or 6C/12T, with both having “X” edition and Normal chips. These are priced between 175 – 260$. 259$ for the 6C/12T variant with XFR(R5 1600X) and 175$ for the 4C/8T variant without XFR(R5 1300). These would be going against the Core i5 CPUs of Intel, whose top performer is priced closer to the 1600X.

All 8C/16T and 6C/12T CPUs will have 16MB of L3 Cache. Below this, all CPUs will have 8MB of L3 Cache

At the lower end of the spectrum are the R3 variants, that are 4C/4T with and without XFR. The R3 1200X(hope you understand the naming convention. I won’t be going through it again!!!) is priced at 149$ and the R3 1100 is priced at 129$. These would be going against the i3 CPUs.

All the Ryzen CPUs will have unlocked multipliers. Whether or not a system built around Ryzen is OCable will depend on the Motherboard chipset (Motherboards with X370 and B350 chipsets support Overclocking. Those with X320 and X/B/A300 chipsets dont).

One thing I don’t get is why AMD is abandoning (OK, strong word, but you get the point) the sub 100$ market. That could’ve been a huge get for AMD, if it would have released a Dual Core Variant to compete with Intel’s Pentiums. After all, who needs a premium range CPU for office work? I hope for their own sake they do come up with something for this segment.

Coming back to the point of the post, let me say that if AMD does price their CPUs close to what this leak suggests and does compete in performance, Intel would have to seriously up their game (or increase their marketing budget, whatever works for them :-)) to stay relevant in the market.

P.S., how very refreshing it is to see AMD CPUs have a TDP close to that of the Intel CPUs?!?!

Source(s): Wccftech and Baidu

The post AMD’s Ryzen CPU lineup specs and other details out prior release appeared first on OCFreaks!.

It seems AMD, after lying dormant in the CPU segment for quite a while now, is ready to reenter it with a bang.A leaked slide containing the details of AMD’s upcoming High Performance Server APU based on it’s new micro-architecture, Zen, has surfaced on Fudzilla, and is making quite a noise.

According to the Slide; the APU comprises of 16 Zen cores and will support 32 threads via SMT (Simultaneous Multi Threading). With AMD’s previous attempt at utilizing CMT (Clustered Multithreading) being underwhelming to say the least, this is quite a welcome change. The chip offers 512 KB of L2 Cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache, 8MB per module (consisting of four cores). It also offers secure boot and a Crypto Coprocessor, which clears all doubts that the said chip is indeed, most likely a server part.

Apart from this, the chip also features “Greenland” Stream Graphics processor, with upto 16 GB of HBM running at 512 GB/s. With AMDs first GPU supporting HBM just around the corner(R9 380X/390X), this doesn’t seem too far off. And if true, this could deal a major blow to Intel in the Graphics department, whose efforts so far have been nothing but futile (but whoever buys Intel for the igp anyways, am I right? 🙂 ).

The APU supports quad channel DDR4 system memory running at a speed of upto 3200 MHz. The slide also speculate the chip to support a whopping 64 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, with 16 lanes switchable with 2 lanes of SATA Express and 14 lanes of SATA.

On paper, this appears to be a monster of a chip. What remains to be seen is if AMD could actually pull this off. Who doesn’t remember the Bulldozer fiasco. But this time things seem quite a bit different. AMD has brought back Jim Keller (remember those amazing Athlon chips based on the K8 Architecture, which hit Intel where it hurt and showed them the harsh truth that it aint all about Clock Speed? He was the lead architect of K8.) and Raja Koduri (Graphics Guru. Now the Corporate VP of Visual Computing) back from Apple. Some other big name recruits include Dr. Lisa Su and Mark Papermaster. With a team consisting of such heavyweights, it shouldn’t be a surprise if AMD’s next chip does surpass all expectations. If AMD does manage to pull this off at a reasonable TDP and power envelope, this chip should be a no brainer.

No word has come from AMD’s side on the legitimacy of this slide. Some of the features mentioned do appear far fetched (64 PCIe 3 LANES!!! 16 GB IGP MEM!!!), but none of them are impossible. Regardless of all this, a bit of competition is severely needed in the CPU segment to keep the prices in check. So I do hope AMD’s new chips heat up the market (not literally AMD, not literally!).

Source : Fudzilla

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GIGABYTE motherboards on display:

The demo rig: Still yet to be powered on.

Representatives from GIGABYTE India:

Demo rig in action:

Audience:

GIGABYTE representative Prathamesh Patil explaining improvements achievable in games due to overclocking.

A key ring won by a participant answering correctly.

USB hub:

A GIGABYTE Z97 series motherboard won by a participant. Surrounded by GIGABYTE regional manager Mr. Amit Raj and Representative Mr. Prathamesh Patil:

Mr. Ganesh Kalita from AMD hosts a quiz.

We had a very nice experience. As for me, it was the first time in my life I met with professionals working in reputed multinational companies. It was great to talk to them and to people around us.

The post Inside Game-O-Thon held at Lalani eTech City, Kolkata – Presented by AMD and GIGABYTE appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction

Hey Folks , this time we will be reviewing Noctua’s 2 Mid-Range CPU coolers viz. NH-U12S and NH-U14S. These days the trend on forums is such that , if there is no mention of Nocuta in serious discussions relating to CPU Coolers than its considered incomplete; Hmm. Noctua Products are now synonymous with Quality Stuff. Customer Service wise Noctua has been in the lead and with 6 years warranty you could ask for nothing more! NH-U12S is a slimmer version of NH-U14S. This means that, with NH-U12S the real estate surrounding your RAM slots won’t be Hijacked! For NH-U14S that won’t be a problem for LGA2011. With more bulky Air Coolers swapping RAM sticks has been a real big pain in the ass.

NH-U14S features a 6×2 heat-pipe design and U12S features a 5×2 heat-pipe design. Obviously U14S has more Surface area for dissipating heat and 2 additional heat-pipes as compared to U12S. So how much difference is that gonna make, thermal performance wise? Well, we’ll see that shortly. The design of the aluminum fins for both is similar. Its much like a symmetric butterfly design elongated along the horizontal axis when viewed from top. I kinda like this design. The base and the heat pipes, as usual, are copper with soldered joints and have Nickle plated coating.

Fans in Air Coolers are one of the most important part which regulates the air flow through the fins and directly affects the performance of the coolers. The goods news is that NH-U12S comes bundled with 120mm NF-F12 PWM Fan which is one of the quietest CPU cooler Fan around , while NH-U14S comes bundled with 140mm NF-A15 PWM Fan which has performance similar to NF-F12. These fans have very low noise levels and also feature a Low Noise Adapter which reduces speed from 1500 rpm to 1200 rpm to further reduce the noise. And yes , not to mention that these fans support PWM by which the FAN speed can be controlled. Frankly, NF-F12 is one of my favorite CPU Fan. Noctua also bundles extra fan clips and an extra set of custom-designed anti-vibration pads if you want to add a second NF-F12(U12S) or NF-A15(U14S) for creating a push/pull setup. We will see, in our results, if push/pull setup configuration offers any significant advantage over single fan setup for both the coolers.

Compatibility wise both these coolers are good. The SecuFirm2 mounting system used for these coolers offers a, sort-of, broad spectrum compatibility for both Intel(except LGA775/1336) and AMD sockets. These coolers are compatible down to LGA775 and LGA1366 socket with ‘optional’ NM-I3 mounting kit which can be obtained from Noctua for free if you can provide them the proof of purchase , which as far as I recall is needed for both CPU Cooler and Motherboard. For future compatibility Noctua says (on their website) :

“If technically possible, Noctua will also provide upgrade kits for future sockets.”

Well, fingers crossed!

Finally these coolers come with NT-H1 Thermal Compound which is Noctua’s very own ‘professional grade TIM solution’. Equipped with high performance Fans and Thermal Compound – How will these coolers perform as compared to V8GTS , NH-D14 ? We’ll check that out in our results.

The post Noctua NH-U12S & NH-U14S CPU Cooler Review for AMD appeared first on OCFreaks!.

After Asus,Sapphire is second in race to announce their version of r9 295X2.
their version would ship in the original metal suitcase whihc AMD used to send to reviewers; although this ones would have sapphires robotic advertisements and technical jargon printed all over it.

Apart form that the card would feature a dual-GPU “CrossFire on a stick” solution based on two 28 nm “Hawaii” GPUs in the same core configuration as the Radeon R9 290X, the R9 295X2 features a factory-fitted closed-loop cooling solution, and clock speeds of 1018 MHz core, and 5.00 GHz memory. The card is expected to be priced at US $1,499.

The post Sapphire Radeon R9 295X2 Ships in Signature Suitcase appeared first on OCFreaks!.

German E-tailer Cyberport.de posted pre-order links of two variants from Asus and Powercolor.

both variants are priced at 1399 Euro.

The original links were removed but you can check out the screenshots

The post AMD Radeon R9 295X2 listed in Europe appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Asus just released some information about the availability and specifications of the new Matrix R9 290X and GTX 780 Ti GPU’s.

Both the cards come loaded with Asus standard fare stuff on both hardware and software side like the DIGI+ 14 phase VRM,single push bios change,LN2 jumper and Asus GPU tweak.

Prices are stated at 54K for the 290x and 60K for the 780Ti for now.

The post ASUS India announces Matrix R9 290X and GTX 780 Ti Graphics Cards. appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Just got a heads up from our friends over in ocaholic that AMD is going to release Catalyst 14.2 Beta in a few hours.

This one is mainly for the new Thief game,which is a part of the AMD gaming evolved lineup.Although the mantle and True Audio might not be available in this patch for Thief.

Apart form that this version will feature complex shadowing system,compute shader accelerated DOF,silhouette-enhancing tessellation and SSAA for Thief only.
Apart form that we will be seeing more frame pacing updates for battlefield series among other things.

Stay tuned for more updates.

EDIT: the drivers are out.Download them here : Link

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