Note that the actual Ryzen 3rd Gen price in the US will vary, once sales taxes (between 0% and 12.875%) are factored in.
Our Advice On Buying The Ryzen 3rd Gen In The US
The AMD Ryzen 9 3900X appears to be a surprise hit. Due to overwhelming demand and extremely limited stocks, it is currently marked-up by a shocking 70% to $849.
The Ryzen 7 3800X and Ryzen 7 3700X are also selling at marked-up prices of $484.99 and $399.99 respectively due to high demand.
The good news is you can still buy the Ryzen 5 3600X and Ryzen 5 3600 at their SRP, or even at a slight discount – $239 and $199.99 respectively.
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Our advice? Skip the Ryzen 9 3900X, Ryzen 7 3800X and Ryzen 7 3700X for the moment. They are ridiculously overpriced.
If you must buy a Ryzen 7 processor, consider getting these Ryzen 2nd Gen bargains instead!
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The Six Skulls Update for World War Z is a MAJOR update with a large number of changes and fixes. There was, however, no mention of any performance boost.
But we can now confirm that the World War Z Six Skulls Update will give everyone a nice boost in performance!
The World War Z Six Skulls Update
On 3 July 2019, Saber Interactive released the big Six Skulls Update for World War Z.
It features a new Extreme (Six Skulls) difficulty level, with the Wakizashi sword and a unique Sniper Rifle as rewards for beating back the hordes of Zeds.
Saber Interactive also introduced a huge list of changes, but it conspicuously did not mention anything about improving performance…
New Features
Added new 6 skulls difficulty mode.
Added Wakizashi melee weapon for completing any level on the new difficulty mode.
Added unique Sniper Rifle variant for completing all levels on the new difficulty mode.
Ammo crates now have limited ammo available based on difficulty level. The amount of ammunition drained from the ammo crate depends on the weapon and how much ammo the player has left. On average, the distribution is:
Easy – unlimited refills.
Normal – unlimited refills.
Hard – 12 full refills.
Insane – 6 full refills.
Extreme – 6 full refills.
AI
Slightly reduced the number of special zombies that can spawn in idle state.
Reduced the total number of special zombies that can be present simultaneously from 6 to 4 on all difficulties except Extreme difficulty, which will have 5.
Slightly increased cooldown between special zombie spawns.
Very slightly reduced the total number of zombies that can spawn during non-swarm waves.
Increased AI bots’ efficiency on Insane difficulty.
Improved balance of zombie waves when playing without AI bots.
Improved friendly auto turrets on higher difficulties (previously their damage did not scale).
Enemy auto turrets will deal slightly less damage on higher difficulties, but will have more health.
Fixed issue that was preventing AI bots from attacking zombies when they were under masking effect.
Special zombies will no longer be able to grab player through thin walls.
Improved Lurker jump behavior; he will be able to spot and jump on players from above more efficiently.
Greengold and Svetlana friendly NPCs will use silenced pistols and will no longer undermine stealth for players.
Quality of Life
AI bots will no longer explode barrels and mines by accidental shooting.
Added HUD icon when teammates are carrying car parts on Jerusalem 2.
Added HUD icon when teammates are carrying explosive charges on Tokyo 2.
Added sound notification when zombie is approaching or attacking from behind.
Added a 6 second masking effect for players that respawn or join the game in progress (without screen effect).
Added a 2 second masking effect for players that are revived (without screen effect).
Added an indicator for remaining mortar shots.
UI
Added weapon perks display on Weapon Customization screen.
Minor UI and localization fixes.
Weapons
Added missing laser sight beam effect for Assault Carbine and Assault Rifle.
MAG5 Machine Gun’s damage increased by 50% (in PvE only).
Chainsaw will now generate noise in all of its attack modes.
Fixed issue that was causing the Chainsaw to not stagger zombies in some cases.
Perks
Gunslinger
Sleight of hand. Weapon switch speed increased from 50% to 100%.
Last Resort. When both primary and secondary weapon magazines are dry you can perform 4 (was 2) more melee strikes without fatigue and damage 2 (was 1) more targets with each melee strike.
Desperado. Pistol damage increased from 25% to 50%.
Free Refill. Primary weapon ammo restored 2% (was 1%) for each kill made with equipment.
Executioner. Killing 15 zombies in rapid succession gives 100% (was 25%) chance to refill one equipment charge (cooldown 60 seconds, was 10 seconds).
Switcheroo. Switching between primary and secondary weapons increases firearm damage by 50% (was 25%) for 3 seconds.
Thrifty. Reloading a weapon with less than 25% ammo in the magazine provides a 35% firearm damage boost (was 25%) for 5 seconds.
Gun Fanatic. Fixed perk conditions triggering early in some cases.
Hellraiser
Unshakeable. Self inflicted explosive damage is reduced by 90% (was 60%).
Pickpocket. Killing 15 zombies in rapid succession gives 100% (was 25%) chance to refill one equipment charge (cooldown 60 seconds, was 10 seconds).
I’ll Take That. Killing a special zombie gives 100% (was 25%) chance to restore one equipment charge (cooldown 60 seconds, was 10).
Deep Pockets. Heavy weapon ammo capacity increased by 35% (was 25%).
Predator. Killing special zombies boosts firearm damage by 100% (was 50%) for 10 seconds.
Medic
Combat Medic. Killing 15 zombies in rapid succession gives 50% (was 10%) chance to receive a Medkit (cooldown 180 seconds, was 10).
Pickpocket. Killing 15 zombies in rapid succession gives 100% (was 25%) chance to refill one equipment charge (cooldown 30 seconds, was 10 seconds).
I’ll Take That. Killing a special zombie gives 100% (was 25%) chance to restore one equipment charge (cooldown 30 seconds, was 10).
Patch Up. Fixed issue that was causing the perk to not trigger correctly in some cases.
Lobotomy. Fixed issue that was causing the perk to trigger with non-SMG weapons in some cases.
Fixer
Armory. Using a Supply Bag gives a 25% (was 15%) chance to restore one equipment charge.
Stand By Me. Increase firearm damage by 100% (was 50%) for 10 seconds when reviving or unpinning a teammate.
Pickpocket. Killing 15 zombies in rapid succession gives 100% (was 25%) chance to refill one equipment charge (cooldown 90 seconds, was 10 seconds).
I’ll Take That. Killing a special zombie gives 100% (was 25%) chance to restore one equipment charge (cooldown 90 seconds, was 10).
Go Get ‘Em. Reviving a teammate will restore 25% (was 15%) of primary weapon’s ammunition for you and your teammate.
Efficiency. Supply Bag contains 25% more explosive ammo. Masking Grenade effect duration increased by 2 (was 5) seconds.
Darkness Falls. Masking Grenade gas cloud duration is increased by 5 seconds (was 3 seconds).
Slasher
Bullet-dodger – Take 100% (was 90%) less friendly fire from bullets while performing melee attacks.
With My Last Breath – Melee strikes damage 2 (was 1) more targets when health is below 25%.
Third Hand – Killing 5 (was 10) zombies with melee attacks in rapid succession instantly reloads your primary weapon.
Bloodlust – Killing special zombies with a melee weapon will increase firearm damage by 100% (was 50%) for 10 seconds.
Pickpocket – Killing 15 zombies in rapid succession gives 100% (was 25%) chance to refill one equipment charge (cooldown 60 seconds, was 10 seconds).
Heavy Metal I. Fixed issue that was causing improved Chainsaw not to receive proper 50% damage increase.
Exterminator
Dragon Hide. Fire resistance increased by 100% (was 90%).
Pickpocket. Killing 15 zombies in rapid succession gives 100% (was 25%) chance to refill one equipment charge (cooldown 60 seconds, was 10 seconds).
Thrifty. 25% (was 15%) chance of using the Claymore or Molotov without depleting an equipment charge.
Stability
Fixed several gameplay crashes.
Levels
Fixed some gameplay bugs that were causing inability to progress in levels.
Improved navigation on NY 1 level.
Reduced the number of crates player has to deliver on NY 1 when playing solo.
Prevented several options to farm XP by suicide rushing Moscow 1, NY 3 and Tokyo 1.
General fixes
Fixed issue with item pickup progress not showing up in some cases.
Fixed issue with player overhead marker not showing up upon respawn in PvP in some cases.
Fixed issue with receiving party lead privileges causing soft lock in menus in some cases.
Fixed soft lock in menus when entering game settings while respawning in PvP.
Fixed Infector effect staying on screen in outro cinematics.
Fixed voice chat not being output to connected headset in some cases.
Fixed issue that was moving player over large distances when grabbed by a zombie swarm.
Fixed issue causing AI bots trying to shoot through walls.
Fixed issue causing scoreboard to stay on screen in outro cinematics.
Fixed issue causing Medkit progress bar to appear briefly upon respawn.
Fixed issue causing zombies to not receive melee damage in certain doorways.
Fixed issue causing Medkit healing to constantly interrupt in certain locations.
Fixed issue with a certain combination of perks causing Slasher to heal when receiving friendly fire.
Fixed issue causing player to receive another player’s melee weapon when joining a game in progress.
Added sound for receiving medals in PvP.
Sho is no longer wearing 2 helmets at the same time like a true badass.
PC Specific Fixes
Increased bleed out timer on Insane difficulty from 20 to 30 seconds (PC only).
Fixed issue with DLC weapons selection reset upon game restart.
Halfway through, we realised that we should have preserved the old data for a performance comparison. Fortunately, we still had some old data based on the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, so here was what we found…
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When AMD launched the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G desktop APUs, they also announced price cuts for their existing Threadripper, Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 processors. In June 2018, they announced even lower prices. Check out the AMD Ryzen price cut details below!
Updated @ 2018-06-20 :Added the new AMD Ryzen price cut list, after the abolition of the 6% GST.
Updated @ 2018-03-23 :Added the AMD Ryzen price cut list in the US, and a comparison of that price list against the price cuts in Malaysia.
Originally posted @ 2018-02-13
The 2018 AMD Ryzen Price Cut Details
The original Ryzen price cut list was sparse, so we added prices in USD (after conversion), the price difference, and even the prices of the new Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G desktop APUs.
In the latest version, we added the new Ryzen price list after the abolition of the 6% GST.We also added the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor prices. Some have called this a price cut, but it’s not. The prices are just lower because there’s no longer a 6% tax,
The 2018 AMD Ryzen price cut list showed price cuts across every Ryzen model. The biggest discount was a massive RM 900 / ~$228 discount on the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X. The least was a paltry RM 20 / ~$5 discount on the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X.
If you read our AMD Ryzen 3 2200G Review, you may have noticed that it is supposed to be $10 / ~RM 39 cheaper than the Ryzen 3 1200. Yet, AMD is pricing it ABOVE the Ryzen 3 1200 here in Malaysia.
Unfortunately, there was no further price cuts after the launch of the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors.
The 2018 AMD Ryzen Price Cut In The US
Here was the AMD Ryzen price cut list announced for the United States. If you compare how the Ryzen price cut list in Malaysia compares to the Ryzen price cut list in the US, you can see some differences.
Also, AMD positioned (and priced) the Ryzen 3 1300X CPU above Ryzen 3 2200G in the US, while the opposite is true in Malaysia. On the other hand, the Ryzen 5 2400G is slightly more expensive than the Ryzen 5 1400 CPU in Malaysia.
The latest June 2018 AMD Ryzen price list also show that the Ryzen 5 1400 and Ryzen 3 1200 have not been phased out. They were supposed to be replaced by the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G desktop APUs. But it looks like, AMD will continue to sell them, alongside the new Ryzen desktop APUs.
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Are you trying to overclock your brand new 2nd Gen Ryzen processor? Let extreme overclocker Sami Makinen will show you how to overclock the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor!
They were all based on the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WIFI) (Price Check) motherboard, with G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4 memory (Price Check), but with different cooling solutions.
Sami Makinen On How To Overclock The 2nd Gen Ryzen
Before we got started on our test rigs, extreme overclocker Sami Makinen from AMD’s Technical Marketing team showed us how to overclock the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor using the new AMD Ryzen Master 1.3 utility.
AMD Ryzen Master 1.3 will highlight the four fastest cores in each processor. This allows you to turn off the slower cores, so you can achieve a higher clock speed.
AMD Ryzen Master 1.3 will allow you to adjust the core clock individually, the CPU voltage, as well as memory voltage and settings.
Using LN cooling, Sami Makinen managed to overclock his Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor to 5.6 GHz, which cored over 2,500 in Cinebench R15.
AMD Ryzen Master 1.3 comes with a new Apply & Test feature. Clicking on it runs a stability test, so you can quickly know if your settings are good to save and use.
One of the new features in the AMD X470 motherboard is Enhanced XFR. This is a 2nd Gen Ryzen enhancement that allows for higher clock rates (automatically) with better coolers. The new AMD Wraith Prism cooler, for example, would allow the Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) to automatically achieve a higher clock speed through Enhanced XFR, than with a less capable cooler.
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In this article, we will take a close look at the AMD Wraith Prism, and see why we are all so excited about this swirling vortex of colour!
AMD Wraith Prism – A Swirling Vortex Of Colour!
James Prior (AMD Senior Product Manager) revealed at the Bangkok preview that the no. 1 piece of feedback they received was that Ryzen fans wanted a “swirling vortex of colour directly into their eyeballs“. LOL!
So AMD took their Wraith Max cooler, added a rainbow LED ring, and topped it up with LED-illuminated fan blades – all in RGB glory!
It’s not just a pretty version of the Wraith Max though. AMD made other improvements to the Wraith Prism :
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Direct Contact Heat Pipes – The four heat pipes are now part of the copper base, in direct contact with the CPU. This allows for far better thermal transfer from the CPU to the heat pipes.
Enhanced Compatibility – The heatsink profile was reshaped to ensure compatibility with smaller motherboards.
Dark Mode for RGB Heathens – If the swirling vortex of colour in your eyeball is blinding you, yes, you can turn it off! 🙂
Switchable Overclock Fan Profile – In the standard quiet operation mode, the fan has a 39 dBA noise level. But if you need more cooling, you can kick it up a notch!
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AMD launched the Ryzen 7 processors in March 2017. Just over a year later, they finally launched the 2nd Gen Ryzen desktop processors, codenamed Pinnacle Ridge, and popularly known as Ryzen 2.
Here is everything you need to know about 2nd Gen Ryzen processors – key features, specifications, price and performance! As always, we will keep updating the article when new information comes to light.
Colloquially known as Ryzen 2, the 2nd Gen Ryzen desktop processors promise even to deliver even better price-performance value than their award-winning Ryzen brethren. But calling the actual models Ryzen 2 is confusing, because the Ryzen family is split into three numerically-named lines – Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3.
Officially, they should be known as the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors, or the AMD Ryzen 2000 Series, like so :
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AMD Ryzen 7 2000 Series
AMD Ryzen 5 2000 Series
AMD Ryzen 3 2000 Series
Even so, many people still insist on calling them the Ryzen 2 processors…
AMD Raven Ridge
The first AMD Ryzen 2 processors already hit the market on 12 February 2018. The AMD Ryzen 2000G Series, codenamed Raven Ridge, is considered to be part of the Ryzen 2000 series, even though they are based on the original Zen microarchitecture.
They are Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) – essentially Ryzen CPUs with integrated Vega graphics. You can read more about them in our articles :
The true 2nd Gen Ryzen desktop processors are codenamed Pinnacle Ridge. They are based on the Zen+ microarchitecture, and fabricated using the 12LP process technology. Here are the first four 2nd Gen Ryzen processors :
Existing AMD 300-series motherboards will support the new 2nd Gen Ryzen “Pinnacle Ridge” processors with a BIOS update, which should be available starting March 2018.
The AMD Ryzen 2000 Series Stack
According to the current AMD Ryzen 2000 Series Stack, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X replaces both the Ryzen 7 1700X and Ryzen 7 1800X.
2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 Specifications
Here are the specifications of the six AMD Ryzen 2000 series processors – four 2nd Gen Ryzen “Pinnacle Ridge” processors, and two Raven Ridge APUs.
Specifications
Ryzen 7 2700X
Ryzen 7 2700
Ryzen 5 2600X
Ryzen 5 2600
Ryzen 5 2400G
Ryzen 3 2200G
Code Name
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Raven Ridge
Raven Ridge
Socket
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
Process Technology
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
14 nm FinFET
14 nm FinFET
Cores / Threads
8 / 16
8 / 16
6 / 12
6 / 12
4 / 8
4 / 4
Base Clock
3.7 GHz
3.2 GHz
3.6 GHz
3.4 GHz
3.60 GHz
3.50 GHz
Boost Clock
4.3 GHz
4.1 GHz
4.2 GHz
3.9 GHz
3.90 GHz
3.70 GHz
L2 Cache
4 MB
4 MB
3 MB
3 MB
2 MB
2 MB
L3 Cache
16 MB
16 MB
16 MB
16 MB
4 MB
4 MB
Integrated GPU
None
None
None
None
Radeon RX Vega 11
Radeon Vega 8
PCIe Lanes
16
16
16
16
8
8
Max. DDR4 Speed
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
TDP
105 W
65 W
95 W
65 W
65 W
65 W
Bundled Cooler
Wraith Prism
Wraith Spire (LED)
Wraith Spire
Wraith Stealth
Wraith Stealth
Wraith Stealth
Launch Price
US$ 329
US$ 299
US$ 229
US$ 199
US$ 169
US$ 99
2nd Gen Ryzen Price & Availability
The 2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 processors are available for sale beginning 19 April 2018, at the following price points :
Will the first generation Ryzen (Summit Ridge) processors get a price cut when the 2nd Gen Ryzen begins shipping? Find out in our article – Cheaper Ryzen CPUs When Ryzen 2 Launches?
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2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 Key Features Part 1
The AMD Ryzen 2 processors are based on an improved Zen microarchitecture, what AMD calls the Zen+ microarchitecture. Let’s take a closer look at what’s new with the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors!
2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 Tech Briefings
This time, we have not one, but TWO, tech briefings on the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors. This one was recorded at the March preview event in Bangkok, featuring Kevin Lensing (AMD Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Client Business Unit) and James Prior (AMD Senior Product Manager).
And here is an online tech briefing by Robert Hallock, AMD Head of Global Technical Marketing.
AMD Zen+ Microarchitecture
The 2nd Gen Ryzen processors are based on the improved AMD Zen+ microarchitecture, which delivers slightly better performance, with lower cache and memory latencies :
3% more 1T IPC (instructions per second)
13% lower L1 cache latency
34% lower L2 cache latency
16% lower L3 cache latency
11% lower memory latency
Official support for JEDEC DDR4-2933
12LP Process Technology
The 2nd Gen Ryzen processors are fabricated using the 12LP (12 nm Leading Performance) process technology from GlobalFoundries.
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This is really a 14 nm process, with improvements and a tighter pitch, so the die size and transistor count remain the same. However, the improved process allows for these improvements :
top clock speed increased by 250 MHz
“all core” now overclock around 4.2 GHz
CPU voltage is reduced by about 50 mV at all clock speeds
up to 11% lower power consumption, compared to 14 nm
up to 16% better performance per watt, compared to 14 nm
Precision Boost 2
Precision Boost 2 is one of the biggest improvements in AMD SenseMI. It replaces the old 2-core boost model, with a linear boost model. This allows for much greater performance for games and applications that use more than 2 cores.
Precision Boost Overdrive
James Prior revealed that AMD will introduce a feature called Precision Boost Overdrive in the future. The motherboard will be able to communicate its actual capabilities to the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor, allowing for better boost profiles and a relaxed vcore limiter with better motherboards.
Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR 2)
XFR 2 boosts the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor’s performance by 4-7%, depending on the performance of the installed CPU cooler.
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2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 Key Features Part 2
Soldered IHS
All 2nd Gen Ryzen processors will feature soldered heatspreaders, using premium indium alloy solder. This allows die temperatures to be reduced by 10°C.
Multiplier Unlocked
Like its predecessor, the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors are all multiplier unlocked, so you have full flexibility in overclocking them. Fun fact : The entry-level A320 chipset, which doesn’t allow CPU overclocking, will still allow you to overclock the DDR4 memory.
New Wraith Prism Cooler
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) now comes with the new Wraith Prism cooler, which is basically the Wraith Max with a “swirling vortex of colour“. The heatsink fin profile was reshaped to allow for better compatibility with smaller motherboards.
The heatsink was also improved with direct contact heat pipes. The fan is also quieter at just 37 dBA, although there is a switch that allows the fan to be overclocked.
AMD 400-Series Chipsets
AMD announced the AMD X470 chipset to complement the new 2nd Gen Ryzen processors. Eventually, they will also release the B450 chipset in mid-2018. However, this does not mean you need to pair the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors with an AMD X470 motherboard.
The 2nd Gen Ryzen processors are drop-in compatible with AMD 300-Series motherboards, with one caveat – they must have an updated BIOS. To help you with that, motherboards that have the updated BIOS will come with an AMD Ryzen Desktop 2000 Ready sticker.
The AMD X470 is very similar to the previous-generation X370 chipset. It is an evolutionary upgrade that improves idle power draw, and introduces an improved power infrastructure to help 2nd Gen Ryzen processors achieve higher boost speeds.
The AMD 400-Series chipsets boast better memory routing, better VRM and power layouts, and a lower idle power of less than 2 watts. While the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors will run on the existing AMD 300-series motherboards, an AMD 400-Series motherboard will allow for better overclocking, and a free AMD StoreMI licence.
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AMD StoreMI Technology
AMD StoreMI is an OEM version of the Enmotus FuzeDrive Basic. It combines all of your storage drives into a single virtual storage drive. It can even add up to 2 GB of DDR4 memory as a very fast cache to the combined drive.
The software than automatically assigns frequently used data blocks to the fastest storage devices, optimising your storage devices to deliver the best performance possible. This allows you to leverage your much faster SSD and system memory to boost the performance of your HDD drives.
According to AMD’s tests, StoreMI will let you load your games faster by 2.8X, and applications by 9.8X.
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2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 Demos
We had an early preview of the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors in Bangkok. Here are videos of the previews and demos :
First Look At The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
This was our first look at the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check). AMD ran it on the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WIFI) motherboard, with G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4 memory. It was also our first look at the new AMD Wraith Prism cooler, with its RGB LED ring, and illuminated fan blades.
Extreme overclocker Sami Mäkinen from AMD’s Technical Marketing team showed us how to overclock the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor using the new AMD Ryzen Master 1.3 utility.
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The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Up Close!
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor is the top-of-the-line Ryzen 7 model. It has eight Ryzen processor cores, with a 3.7 GHz base clock, and a 4.3 GHz boost clock. It supports SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), and can therefore handle 16 threads simultaneously.
The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) processor is the top-of-the-line Ryzen 5 model. It has six Ryzen processor cores, with a 3.6 GHz base clock, and a 4.2 GHz boost clock. It supports SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), and can therefore handle 12 threads simultaneously.
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A detailed performance analysis of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 processors was leaked before the launch. It compared their performance against the Ryzen 7 1700X and Intel Core i7-6700K processors. For your convenience, here are the leaked performance charts :
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The Complete 2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 Presentation Slides
Here are the fifty (50) 2nd Gen Ryzen @ Ryzen 2 presentation slides for your perusal!
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AMD first showed us the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X at an exclusive tech briefing in March. Now, we have the opportunity to test it out for ourselves. So how fast is the new AMD Ryzen 7 2700X? What exactly does it offer over its predecessors? Find out in our review of this new 2nd Gen Ryzen processor!
AMD Pinnacle Ridge
Codenamed Pinnacle Ridge, the 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen processors are based on an improved Zen microarchitecture, what AMD calls the AMD Zen+ microarchitecture. In addition, they’re fabricated on the 12 nm LP process technology.
AMD categorise them as part of the AMD Ryzen 2000 Series. This may be a little confusing since the AMD Raven Ridge APUs are also in the same series, even though they are based on the first-generation Ryzen processors, and fabricated on the original 14 nm process.
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Specifications Compared
Specifications
Ryzen 7 2700X
Ryzen 7 2700
Ryzen 5 2600X
Ryzen 5 2600
Ryzen 5 2400G
Ryzen 3 2200G
Code Name
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Raven Ridge
Raven Ridge
Socket
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
Process Technology
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
14 nm FinFET
14 nm FinFET
Cores / Threads
8 / 16
8 / 16
6 / 12
6 / 12
4 / 8
4 / 4
Base Clock
3.7 GHz
3.2 GHz
3.6 GHz
3.4 GHz
3.60 GHz
3.50 GHz
Boost Clock
4.3 GHz
4.1 GHz
4.2 GHz
3.9 GHz
3.90 GHz
3.70 GHz
L2 Cache
4 MB
4 MB
3 MB
3 MB
2 MB
2 MB
L3 Cache
16 MB
16 MB
16 MB
16 MB
4 MB
4 MB
Integrated GPU
None
None
None
None
Radeon RX Vega 11
Radeon Vega 8
PCIe Lanes
16
16
16
16
8
8
Max. DDR4 Speed
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
TDP
105 W
65 W
95 W
65 W
65 W
65 W
Bundled Cooler
Wraith Prism
Wraith Spire (LED)
Wraith Spire
Wraith Stealth
Wraith Stealth
Wraith Stealth
Launch Price
US$ 329
US$ 299
US$ 229
US$ 199
US$ 169
US$ 99
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Unboxing The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) comes bundled with the new AMD Wraith Prism cooler, which features a rainbow LED ring and illuminated fan blades. Let’s unbox it, and see what we find inside!
Here is what you will find inside the box :
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU and case badge
The AMD Wraith Prism cooler, with two cables
An AMD CPU installation guide, and certificate of authenticity (missing in our box)
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The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Processor
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor is the top-of-the-line Ryzen 7 model. It has eight Ryzen processor cores, with a 3.7 GHz base clock, and a 4.3 GHz boost clock. It supports SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), and can therefore handle 16 threads simultaneously.
The Ryzen 7 2700X is positioned just under theRyzen 7 1800X, which could mean a Ryzen 7 2800X is in the pipeline.
AMD Zen+ Microarchitecture
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is based on the improved AMD Zen+ microarchitecture, which delivers slightly better performance, and lower cache and memory latencies :
3% more 1T IPC (instructions per second)
13% lower L1 cache latency
34% lower L2 cache latency
16% lower L3 cache latency
11% lower memory latency
Official support for JEDEC DDR4-2933
12 nm Process Technology
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is fabricated using the 12 nm LP (Leading Performance) process technology from GlobalFoundries. While the die size and transistor count remain the same, the smaller transistors allow :
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top clock speed increased by 250 MHz
“all core” now overclock around 4.2 GHz
CPU voltage is reduced by about 50 mV at all clock speeds
up to 11% lower power consumption, compared to 14 nm
up to 16% better performance per watt, compared to 14 nm
Precision Boost 2
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)supports the improved Precision Boost 2, whose more graceful and linear boost algorithm allows them to “boost more cores, more often, on more workloads“. It can change frequencies in very fine granularity of just 25 MHz.
This will allow the Pinnacle Ridge processors to perform better with apps and games that spawn many lightweight threads, as opposed to apps with persistent loads (e.g. video editing and 3D rendering).
Precision Boost Overdrive
AMD will introduce Precision Boost Overdrive in the future. The motherboard will be able to communicate its actual capabilities to the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)processor, allowing for better boost profiles and a relaxed vcore limiter with better motherboards.
Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR 2)
XFR 2 boosts the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor’s performance by 4-7%, depending on the performance of the installed CPU cooler.
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Soldered IHS
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)processor features soldered heatspreaders, using premium indium alloy solder. This allows die temperatures to be reduced by 10°C.
AMD StoreMI
AMD StoreMI Technology is an OEM version of the Enmotus FuzeDrive Basic. It combines all of your storage drives into a single virtual storage drive. It can even add up to 2 GB of DDR4 memory as a very fast cache to the combined drive.
The software than automatically assigns frequently used data blocks to the fastest storage devices, optimising your storage devices to deliver the best performance possible.
AMD X470 Chipset
AMD introduced the new X470 chipset to offer better overclocking for the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors. Here is our Ryzen 7 2700X (Pr1ice Check) running on the X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WiFi (Price Check) motherboard.
However, this does not mean you will actually need to buy an AMD X470 motherboard. The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor will work with all existing AMD 300-series motherboards, with one caveat – the motherboard must be upgraded with the latest BIOS update to support the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors.
AMD Wraith Prism
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) comes with a new cooler – the AMD Wraith Prism. This is an upgraded version of the AMD Wraith Max cooler with heat pipes that are in direct contact with the CPU for better performance, and a rainbow LED ring.
It uses a 7-blade fan, with a maximum noise level of 39 dBA. The fan blades are LED-illuminated, but you can turn off the lights.
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AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Price + Availability
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X is priced at US$ 329 / RM 1,559. Here are some purchase links for your convenience :
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Benchmarking The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
In this review, we will take a look at the work and gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, comparing it to 6 other processors :
Note : The motherboard BIOSes were all updated, and so was Windows 10, to ensure that all Spectre and Meltdown mitigations are in effect.
3D Rendering Speed – CINEBENCH R15
CINEBENCH R15 is a real-world 3D rendering benchmark based on the MAXON Cinema 4D animation software. This is a great way to accurately determine the actual performance of a processor in 3D content creation.
CINEBENCH R15 Single Core
This Single Core test is not reflective of real world performance, but it is useful to find out the performance of the individual core.
This is due to the internal improvements made to the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors, which almost doubled the boost clock advantage in this test. Otherwise, it would have scored only 163 cb.
CINEBENCH R15 Multi Core
The Multi-Core test shows the processor’s real-world 3D rendering performance.
With all 8 cores firing, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is 11.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check). This performance advantage can be attributed to the slightly higher clock speed, XFR 2 and the internal improvements in the Zen+ microarchitecture.
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Multi-Threading Boost
This is not a CINEBENCH benchmark result. The Multi-Threading Boost is our calculation of the performance boost that the processor’s Multi-Threading capability provides. It is based on the MP Ratio and the number of physical cores.
Surprisingly, the multi-threading capability of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is 10% lower than that of the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check).
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Video Transcoding Speed – HandBrake
HandBrake is a free, open-source video transcoding utility. Video transcoding basically converts a video file from one resolution / format to another. As you can imagine, it’s very compute-intensive. In our test, we converted a 4K video of 1.3 GB in size into a 1080p video (HQ1080p30).
The radial blur filter adds the perception of motion to a picture. This is a compute-intensive operation that benefits from multiple processing cores. This radial blur test was performed on a single 13.5 megapixel photo, with a filesize of 4,910,867 bytes.
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Ashes of the Singularity
In the RTS game, Ashes of the Singularity, the single core CPU performance has a significant effect on the actual frame rate. We tested the cards using the Normal setting preset.
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Things flipped at the higher resolution of 1440p. The Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) was now very slightly faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check).
2160p Gaming Resolution
At the 2160p resolution, For Honor was graphics-limited. The CPU played only a minimal role in the frame rate. The fastest processor – the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) only delivered a 5% higher frame rate than the slowest processor – AMD Ryzen 5 2400G.
Priced at just US$ 329 / RM 1,559, the Ryzen 7 2700X is $20 cheaper, and now comes with an AMD Wraith Prism cooler! This is going to significantly impact the appeal of the 8th Generation Intel Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake.
But make no mistake – the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is a refined, faster version of the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check). It is faster and more power-efficient, but not significantly so. The Ryzen Effect forced Intel to buck the hell up, but AMD is under no pressure to do the same.
What does this mean for you?
If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 7 processor, it would not make much sense to upgrade to the Ryzen 7 2700X.
If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 3 processor, the Ryzen 7 2700X is a good upgrade option, offering a significant boost in performance.
If you are using an older / slower processor (pre-Ryzen, 6th Gen Intel Core or earlier), the Ryzen 7 2700X would make a great upgrade option, with great value for your money.
What AMD brought to the table with the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is not shock and awe, but refinement and even more value for your money. By our books, that’s worthy of our Reviewer’s Choice Award!
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On 27 March 2017, AMD organised an exclusive 2nd Gen Ryzen tech briefing and demo session in Bangkok. Space was extremely limited, so we are most fortunate to attend.
Don’t worry though – we recorded everything, so you can see for yourselves what went on during the 2nd Gen Ryzen tech briefing and demo in Bangkok! ENJOY!
Codenamed Pinnacle Ridge, the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors were more popularly (albeit inaccurately) called Ryzen 2. We had earlier shared with you the key features and specifications of the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors, as well as a price comparison.
Now, let’s join Kevin Lensing (AMD Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Client Business Unit) and James Prior (AMD Senior Product Manager) for their 2nd Gen Ryzen tech briefing.
The entire 2nd Gen Ryzen tech briefing runs just over an hour, including the Q&A session. If you are in a rush, here are the key points.
For a price comparison against the first-generation Ryzen processors, click here!
Performance Vs. Coffee Lake
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X will come within 5% of the Intel Core i7-8700K in 1080p gaming performance (average of 12 games), while delivering over 20% better content creation performance (average of 5 applications).
Value Vs. Coffee Lake
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X comes with two additional processor cores, a premium Wraith Prism cooler, but is priced 6% cheaper than the Intel Core i7-8700K.
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The 2nd Gen Ryzen Tech Briefing (Continued)
AMD Zen+ Microarchitecture
The 2nd Gen Ryzen processors are based on the improved AMD Zen+ microarchitecture, which delivers slightly better performance, and lower cache and memory latencies :
3% more 1T IPC (instructions per second)
13% lower L1 cache latency
34% lower L2 cache latency
16% lower L3 cache latency
11% lower memory latency
Official support for JEDEC DDR4-2933
12 nm Process Technology
The 2nd Gen Ryzen processors are fabricated using the 12 nm LP (Leading Performance) process technology from GlobalFoundries. While the die size and transistor count remain the same, the smaller transistors allow :
top clock speeds increased by 250 MHz,
“all core” now overclock around 4.2 GHz
CPU voltage is reduced by about 50 mV at all clock speeds
Precision Boost 2
Precision Boost 2 is one of the biggest improvements in AMD SenseMI. It replaces the old 2-core boost model, with a linear boost model. This allows for much greater performance for games and applications that use more than 2 cores.
Precision Boost Overdrive
James Prior revealed that they will introduce Precision Boost Overdrive in the future. The motherboard will be able to communicate its actual capabilities to the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor, allowing for better boost profiles and a relaxed vcore limiter with better motherboards.
Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR 2)
XFR 2 boosts the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor’s performance by 4-7%, depending on the performance of the installed CPU cooler.
Soldered IHS
All 2nd Gen Ryzen processors will feature soldered heatspreaders, using premium indium alloy solder. This allows die temperatures to be reduced by 10°C.
Multiplier Unlocked
Like its predecessor, the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors are all multiplier unlocked, so you have full flexibility in overclocking them. Fun fact : The entry-level A320 chipset, which doesn’t allow CPU overclocking, will still allow you to overclock the DDR4 memory.
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New Wraith Prism Cooler
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X now comes with the new Wraith Prism cooler, which is basically the Wraith Max with a “swirling vortex of colour“. The heatsink fin profile was reshaped to allow for better compatibility with smaller motherboards.
The heatsink was also improved with direct contact heat pipes. The fan is also quieter at just 37 dBA, although there is a switch that allows the fan to be overclocked.
Ryzen 2000 Series Stack
According to the current AMD Ryzen 2000 Series Stack, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X replaces both the Ryzen 7 1700X and Ryzen 7 1800X.
AMD X470
AMD X470 is very similar to the previous-generation X370 chipset. It is an evolutionary upgrade that improves idle power draw, and introduces an improved power infrastructure to help 2nd Gen Ryzen processors achieve higher boost speeds. X470 motherboards will also come with AMD StoreMI Technology.
AMD StoreMI Technology
AMD StoreMI is an OEM version of the Enmotus FuzeDrive Basic. It combines all of your storage drives into a single virtual storage drive. It can even add up to 2 GB of DDR4 memory as a very fast cache to the combined drive.
The software than automatically assigns frequently used data blocks to the fastest storage devices, optimising your storage devices to deliver the best performance possible.
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First Look At The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
This was our first look at the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check). AMD ran it on the ASUS ROG Crosshair VII Hero (WIFI) motherboard, with G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4 memory. It was also our first look at the new AMD Wraith Prism cooler, with its RGB LED ring, and illuminated fan blades.
Extreme overclocker Sami Mäkinen from AMD’s Technical Marketing team showed us how to overclock the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor using the new AMD Ryzen Master 1.3 utility.
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We had earlier leaked the specifications and benchmark results of the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors, codenamed Pinnacle Ridge. Now, we can reveal to you the official 2nd Gen Ryzen price list, and our price comparison with other AMD Ryzen CPUs!
2nd Gen Ryzen Price Comparison
AMD has officially announced that they will be launching four 2nd Gen Ryzen processors :
For your convenience, we prepared a table to compare the 2nd Gen Ryzen price lists, with the recently discounted prices for the existing AMD Ryzen processors.
As you can see, there are some differences in the 2nd Gen Ryzen price list for Malaysia, and the United States.
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700 costs the same as the Ryzen 7 1700 in the US, but in Malaysia, it is priced RM 30 (~US$ 12) or about 2% higher.
It appears that the AMD Ryzen 7 2700 will directly replace the Ryzen 7 1700 in the US, but both models will continued to exist side-by-side in Malaysia, at least initially.
You can also see that the positioning of the AMD Ryzen 3 2200G versus the Ryzen 3 1200 is different in the US, than it is in Malaysia.
2nd Gen Ryzen Availability
The 2nd Gen Ryzen processors will be available for purchase worldwide on 19 April 2018 (9 AM EDT).
Pre-orders for these new processors, though, will kick off today – 13 April 2018 (9 AM EDT). Here are some pre-order links for your convenience :
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AMD just sent us the AMD Ryzen Gen 2 Reviewer’s Kit. This time, it’s two heavy boxes, instead of just one. Let’s take a look and see what they sent us, and what you should look forward to!
The AMD Ryzen Gen 2 Reviewer’s Kit
Earlier AMD Ryzen Reviewer’s Kits came in the form of a large black box, or a fancy wooden box. Each Reviewer’s Kit contains a complete set of CPU + motherboard + memory kit.
This time, they sent us a gray box, as well as the large black box. Let’s take a look inside the AMD Ryzen Gen 2 Reviewer’s Kit!
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The AMD Ryzen Gen 2 Reviewer’s Kit contains the following components :
What AMD ships in these kits is important, because it shows us the motherboard and memory kit that AMD had earlier tested and confirmed to work best out of the box with their latest Ryzen processors.
AMD assured us that X470 motherboards that ship on launch date have been thoroughly tested by their partners for compatibility with the 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen processors.
But if you are an early adopter, and want a worry-free experience, it may be helpful to know what AMD has personally tested out and certified for use by reviewers.
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SiSoftware was one of the few companies to receive early samples of the 2nd Generation Ryzen processors. They tested both Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 processors, and inadvertently leaked their benchmark results and performance findings.
They have since removed their leaked performance evaluation of the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600, but the Internet never forgets. So we present to you – the leaked benchmark results and findings of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 processors!
Note : The SiSoftware team only compared the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 processors against the Ryzen 7 1700X processor, and the Intel Core i7-6700K processor, which is two generations old. Still, it gives us an advanced performance preview of the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 processors.
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 CPU Native Performance
by SiSoftware
We are testing native arithmetic, SIMD and cryptography performance using the highest performing instruction sets (AVX2, AVX, etc.). Ryzen supports all modern instruction sets including AVX2, FMA3 and even more like SHA HWA (supported by Intel’s Atom only) but has dropped all AMD’s variations like FMA4 and XOP likely due to low usage.
Results Interpretation: Higher values (GOPS, MB/s, etc.) mean better performance.
Environment: Windows 10 x64, latest AMD and Intel drivers. 2MB “large pages” were enabled and in use. Turbo / Boost was enabled on all configurations.
Dhrystone Integer : Right off Ryzen2 is 8% faster than Ryzen1, let’s hope it does better. Even 2600 beats the i7 easily.
Dhrystone Long : With a 64-bit integer workload – we finally get into gear, Ryzen2 is 12% faster than its old brother.
FP32 (Float) Whetstone : Even in this floating-point test, Ryzen2 is again 12% faster. All AMD CPUs beat the i7 into dust.
FP64 (Double) Whetstone : With FP64 nothing much changes, Ryzen2 is still 11% faster.
From integer workloads in Dhyrstone to floating-point workloads in Whestone, Ryzen2 is about 10% faster than Ryzen 1: this is exactly in line with the speed increase (9-11%) but if you were expecting more you may be a tiny bit disappointed.
Integer (Int32) Multi-Media : In this vectorised AVX2 integer test Ryzen2 starts to pull ahead and is 16% faster than Ryzen1; perhaps some of the arch improvements benefit SIMD vectorised workloads.
Long (Int64) Multi-Media : With a 64-bit AVX2 integer vectorised workload, Ryzen2 drops to just 10% but still in line with speed increase.
Quad-Int (Int128) Multi-Media : This is a tough test using Long integers to emulate Int128 without SIMD; here Ryzen2 drops to just 7% faster than Ryzen1 but still a decent improvement.
Float/FP32 Multi-Media : In this floating-point AVX/FMA vectorised test, Ryzen2 is the standard 11% faster than Ryzen1.
Double/FP64 Multi-Media : Switching to FP64 SIMD code, again Ryzen2 is just the standard 11% faster than Ryzen1.
Quad-Float/FP128 Multi-Media : In this heavy algorithm using FP64 to mantissa extend FP128 but not vectorised – Ryzen2 manages to pull ahead further and is 15% faster.
In vectorised AVX2/FMA code we see a similar story with 10% average improvement (7-15%). It seems the SIMD units are unchanged. In any case the i7 is left in the dust.
Crypto AES-256 : With AES HWA support all CPUs are memory bandwidth bound; as we’re testing Ryzen2 running at the same memory speed/timings there is still a very small improvement of 1%. But its advantage is that the memory controller is rated for 2933Mt/s operation (vs. 2533) thus with faster memory it could run considerably faster.
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Crypto AES-128 : What we saw with AES-256 just repeats with AES-128; Ryzen2 is marginally faster but the improvement is there.
Crypto SHA2-256 : With SHA HWA Ryzen2 similarly powers through hashing tests leaving Intel in the dust; SHA is still memory bound but with just one (1) buffer it has larger headroom. Thus Ryzen2 can use its speed advantage and be 12% faster – impressive.
Crypto SHA1 : Ryzen also accelerates the soon-to-be-defunct SHA1 and here it is even faster – 14% faster than Ryzen1.
Crypto SHA2-512 : SHA2-512 is not accelerated by SHA HWA (version 1) thus Ryzen has to use the same vectorised AVX2 code path – it still is 12% faster than Ryzen1 but still loses to the i7. Those SIMD units are tough to beat.
In memory bandwidth bound algorithms, Ryzen2 will have to be used with faster memory (up to 2933 Mt/s officially) in order to significantly beat its older Ryzen 1 brother. Otherwise there is only a tiny 1% improvement.
Black-Scholes float/FP32 : In this non-vectorised test we see Ryzen2 is the standard 11% faster than Ryzen1.
Black-Scholes double/FP64 : Switching to FP64 code, nothing changes, Ryzen2 is still 11% faster.
Binomial float/FP32 : Binomial uses thread shared data thus stresses the cache & memory system; here the arch(itecture) improvements do show, Ryzen2 23% faster – 2x more than expected. Not to mention 3x (three times) faster than the i7.
Binomial double/FP64 : With FP64 code Ryzen2 is now even faster – 28% faster than Ryzen1 not to mention 2x faster than the i7. Indeed it seems there improvements to the cache and memory system.
Monte-Carlo float/FP32 : Monte-Carlo also uses thread shared data but read-only thus reducing modify pressure on the caches; Ryzen2 does not seem to be able to reproduce its previous gain and is just the standard 11% faster.
Monte-Carlo double/FP64 : Switching to FP64 nothing much changes, Ryzen2 is 10% faster.
Ryzen 1 does very well in these algorithms, but Ryzen2 does even better – especially when thread-local data is involved managing 23-28% improvement. For financial workloads Intel does not seem to have a chance anymore – Ryzen is impossible to beat.
SGEMM : In this tough vectorised AVX2/FMA algorithm Ryzen2 is still “just” the 10% faster than older Ryzen1 – but it finally manages to beat the i7.
DGEMM : With FP64 vectorised code, Ryzen2 only manages to be 4% faster. It seems the memory is holding it back thus faster memory would allow it to do much better.
SFFT : FFT is also heavily vectorised (x4 AVX/FMA) but stresses the memory sub-system more; Ryzen2 is just 4% faster again and is still 1/2x the speed of the i7. Again it seems faster memory would help.
DFFT : With FP64 code, Ryzen2’s improvement reduces to just 1% over Ryzen1 and again slower than the i7.
SNBODY : N-Body simulation is vectorised but many memory accesses to shared data and Ryzen2 gets back to 12% improvement over Ryzen1. This allows it to finally overtake the i7.
DNBODY : With FP64 code nothing much changes, Ryzen2 is still 13% faster.
With highly vectorised SIMD code Ryzen2 still improves by the standard 10-12% but in memory-heavy code it needs to run at higher memory speed to significantly overtake Ryzen 1. But it allows it to beat the i7 in more algorithms.
Blur (3×3) Filter : In this vectorised integer AVX2 workload Ryzen2 is 11% faster allowing it to soundly beat the i7.
Sharpen (5×5) Filter : Same algorithm but more shared data does not change things for Ryzen2. Only the i7 falls behind.
Motion-Blur (7×7) Filter : Again same algorithm but even more data shared does not change anything, but now the i7 is so far behind Ryzen2 is 50% faster. Incredible.
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Edge Detection (2*5×5) Sobel Filter : Different algorithm but still AVX2 vectorised workload still changes nothing – Ryzen2 is 11% faster.
Noise Removal (5×5) Median Filter : Still AVX2 vectorised code and still nothing changes; the i7 falls even further behind with Ryzen2 2x (two times) as fast.
Oil Painting Quantise Filter : Again we see Ryzen2 11% faster than the older Ryzen1 and pulling away from the i7.
Diffusion Randomise (XorShift) Filter : Here Ryzen2 is just 8% faster than Ryzen1 but strangely it’s not enough to beat the i7. Those SIMD units are way fast.
Marbling Perlin Noise 2D Filter : In this final test, Ryzen2 returns to being 11% faster and again strangely not enough to beat the i7.
With all the modern instruction sets supported (AVX2, FMA, AES and SHA HWA) Ryzen2 does extremely well in all workloads – but it generally improves only by the 11% as per clock speed increase, except in some cases which seem to show improvements in the cache and memory system (which we have not tested yet).
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AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 Software VM Performance
We are testing arithmetic and vectorised performance of software virtual machines (SVM), i.e. Java and .Net. With operating systems – like Windows 10 – favouring SVM applications over “legacy” native, the performance of .Net CLR (and Java JVM) has become far more important.
Results Interpretation: Higher values (GOPS, MB/s, etc.) mean better performance.
Environment: Windows 10 x64, latest drivers. .Net 4.7.x (RyuJit), Java 1.9.x. Turbo / Boost was enabled on all configurations.
.Net Dhrystone Integer : .Net CLR integer performance starts off OK with Ryzen2 just 8% faster than Ryzen1 but now almost 3x (three times) faster than i7.
.Net Dhrystone Long : Ryzen seems to favour 64-bit integer workloads, with Ryzen2 20% faster a lot higher than expected.
.Net Whetstone float/FP32 : Floating-Point CLR performance was pretty spectacular with Ryzen already, but Ryzen2 is 15% than Ryzen1 still.
.Net Whetstone double/FP64 : FP64 performance is also great (CLR seems to promote FP32 to FP64 anyway) with Ryzen2 even faster by 20%.
Ryzen1’s performance in .Net was pretty incredible but Ryzen2 is even faster – even faster than expected by mere clock speed increase. There is only one game in town now for .Net applications.
.Net Integer Vectorised/Multi-Media : Just as we saw with Dhrystone, this integer workload sees a 9% improvement for Ryzen2 which makes it 2x faster than the i7.
.Net Long Vectorised/Multi-Media : With 64-bit integer workload we see a similar story – Ryzen2 is 8% faster and again 2x faster than the i7.
.Net Float/FP32 Vectorised/Multi-Media : Here we make use of RyuJit’s support for SIMD vectors thus running AVX/FMA code; Ryzen2 is 11% faster but still almost 2x faster than i7 despite its fast SIMD units.
.Net Double/FP64 Vectorised/Multi-Media : Switching to FP64 SIMD vector code – still running AVX/FMA – Ryzen2 is still 12% faster. i7 is truly left in the dust 1/4x the speed.
Ryzen2 is the usual 9-12% faster than Ryzen 1 here but it means that even RyuJit’s SIMD support cannot save Intel’s i7 – it would take 2x as many cores (not 50%) to beat Ryzen2.
Java Dhrystone Integer : We start JVM integer performance with the usual 12% gain over Ryzen1.
Java Dhrystone Long : Nothing much changes with 64-bit integer workload, we have Ryzen2 12% faster.
Java Whetstone float/FP32 : With a floating-point workload Ryzen2 performance improvement is 13%.
Java Whetstone double/FP64 : With FP64 workload Ryzen2 is just 7% faster but still welcome
Java performance improves by the expected amount 7-13% on Ryzen2 and allows it to completely dominate the i7.
Java Integer Vectorised/Multi-Media : Oracle’s JVM does not yet support native vector to SIMD translation like .Net’s CLR but here Ryzen2 manages a 15% lead over Ryzen1.
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Java Long Vectorised/Multi-Media : With 64-bit vectorised workload Ryzen2 (similar to .Net) increases its lead by 24%.
Java Float/FP32 Vectorised/Multi-Media : Switching to floating-point we return to the usual 14% speed improvement.
Java Double/FP64 Vectorised/Multi-Media : With FP64 workload Ryzen2’s lead somewhat unexplicably drops to 1%.
Java’s lack of vectorised primitives to allow the JVM to use SIMD instruction sets (aka SSE2, AVX/FMA) gives Ryzen2 free reign to dominate all the tests, be they integer or floating-point. It is pretty incredible that neither Intel CPU can come close to its performance.
Software VM Performance Summary
Ryzen1 dominated the .Net and Java benchmarks – but now Ryzen2 extends that dominance out-of-reach. It would take a very much improved run-time or Intel CPU to get anywhere close. For .Net and Java code, Ryzen is the CPU to get!
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AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 Memory Performance
by SiSoftware
Core Topology & Testing
Cores on Ryzen are grouped in blocks (CCX or compute units) each with its own 8MB L3 cache – but connected via a 256-bit bus running at memory controller clock. This is better than older designs like Intel Core 2 Quad or Pentium D which were effectively 2 CPU dies on the same socket – but not as good as a unified design where all cores are part of the same unit.
Running algorithms that require data to be shared between threads – e.g. producer/consumer – scheduling those threads on the same CCX would ensure lower latencies and higher bandwidth which we will test with presently.
We have thus modified Sandra’s ‘CPU Multi-Core Efficiency Benchmark‘ to report the latencies of each producer/consumer unit combination (e.g. same core, same CCX, different CCX) as well as providing different matching algorithms when selecting the producer/consumer units: best match (lowest latency), worst match (highest latency) thus allowing us to test inter-CCX bandwidth also. We hope users and reviewers alike will find the new features useful!
Native Performance
We are testing native arithmetic, SIMD and cryptography performance using the highest performing instruction sets (AVX2, AVX, etc.). Ryzen supports all modern instruction sets including AVX2, FMA3 and even more.
Results Interpretation: Higher rate values (GOPS, MB/s, etc.) mean better performance. Lower latencies (ns, ms, etc.) mean better performance.
Environment: Windows 10 x64, latest AMD and Intel drivers. 2MB “large pages” were enabled and in use. Turbo / Boost was enabled on all configurations.
Total Inter-Core Bandwidth – Best : Ryzen2 manages 15% higher bandwidth between its cores, slightly better than just 11% clock increase – signalling some improvements under the hood.
Total Inter-Core Bandwidth – Worst : In worst-case pairs on Ryzen must go across CCXes – and with this link running at the same clock (1200 MHz) on Ryzen2 we can only manage a 2% increase in bandwidth. This is why faster memory is needed.
Inter-Unit Latency – Same Core : Within the same core (sharing L1D/L2), Ryzen2 manages a 13% reduction in latency, again better than just clock speed increase.
Inter-Unit Latency – Same Compute Unit : Within the same compute unit (sharing L3), the latency decreased by 7% on Ryzen2 thus L3 seems to have improved also.
Inter-Unit Latency – Different Compute Unit : Going inter-CCX we still see a 6% reduction in latency on Ryzen2 – with the CCX link at the same speed – a welcome surprise.
The multiple CCX design still presents some challenges to programmers requiring threads to be carefully scheduled – but we see a decent 6-7% reduction in L3/CCX latencies on Ryzen2 even when running at the same clock as Ryzen1.
Aggregated L1D Bandwidth : Right off we see a 18% bandwidth increase – almost 2x higher (than the 11% clock increase) – thus some improvements have been made to the cache system. It allows Ryzen2 to finally beat the i7 with its wide L1 data paths (512-bit) though with twice as many (8 vs 4).
Aggregated L2 Bandwidth : We see a huge 32% increase in L2 cache bandwidth – almost 3x clock increase (the 11%) suggesting the L2 caches have been improved also. Ryzen2 has thus 2x the L2 bandwidth of i7 though with 2x more caches (8 vs 4).
Aggregated L3 Bandwidth : The bandwidth of the L3 caches has also increased by 19% (2x clock increase) though we see the 6-core 2600 doing better (398 vs 339) likely due to less threads competing for the same L3 caches. Ryzen2 L3 caches are not just 2x bigger than Intel but also 2x more bandwidth.
Aggregated Memory : With the same memory clock, Ryzen2 does still manage a small 2% improvement – signalling memory controller improvements. We also see Ryzen’s memory controller at 2400 having better bandwidth than Intel at 2533MHz.
We see big improvements on Ryzen2 for all caches L1D/L2/L3 of 20-30% – more than just raw clock increase (11%) – so AMD has indeed made improvements – which to be fair needed to be done. The memory controller is also a bit more efficient (2%) though it can run at higher clocks – hopefully fast DDR4 memory will become more affordable.
Data In-Page Random Latency : In-page latency has decreased by a noticeable 6% on Ryzen2 – we see 5 clocks reduction for L2 and 4 for L3 a welcome improvement. But still a way to go to catch Intel which has 1/3x (three times less) latency.
Data Full Random Latency : Out-of-page latencies have also been reduced by 8% on Ryzen2 (same memory) and we see the same 5 and 4 clock reduction for L2 and L3 (on both 2700X and 2600 thus no fluke). Again these are welcome but still have a way to go to catch Intel.
Data Sequential Latency : Ryzen’s prefetchers are working well with sequential access pattern latency and we see a 8% latency drop for Ryzen2.
Ryzen1’s issue was high memory latencies (in-page/full random) and Ryzen2 has reduced them all by 6-8%. While it is a good improvement, they are still pretty high compared to Intel’s thus more work needs to be done here.
Code In-Page Random Latency : Code latencies were not a problem on Ryzen1 but we still see a welcome reduction of 9% on Ryzen2.
Code Full Random Latency : Out-of-page latency also sees a 9% decrease on Ryzen2 but somewhat surprisingly a 1-2 clock increase.
Code Sequential Latency : Ryzen’s prefetchers are working well with sequential access pattern latency and we see a 8% reduction on Ryzen2.
While code access latencies were not a problem on Ryzen1 and they also see a 8% improvement on Ryzen2 which is welcome.
Memory Update Transactional : Ryzen2 is 10% faster than Ryzen1 but naturally without HLE support it cannot match the i7. But with Intel disabling HLE on all but top-end CPUs AMD does not have much to worry.
Memory Update Record Only : With only record updates we still see an 11% increase.
Ryzen2 brings nice updates – good bandwidth increases to all caches L1D/L2/L3 and also well-needed latency reduction for data (and code) accesses. Yes, there is still work to be done to bring the latencies down further – but it may be just enough to beat Intel to 2nd place for a good while.
At the high-end, ThreadRipper will likely benefit most as it’s going against many-core SKL-X AVX512-enabled competitor and we cannot wait to test those.
Final Thoughts & Conclusion On The Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600
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As with original Ryzen, the cache and memory system performance is not the clean-sweep we’ve seen in CPU testing – but Ryzen2 does bring welcome improvements in bandwidth and latency – which hopefully will further improve with firmware/BIOS updates.
With the potential to use faster DDR4 memory – Ryzen2 can do far better than in this test (e.g. with 3200MHz memory). Unfortunately at this time DDR4 – especially high-end fast versions – memory is hideously expensive which is a bit of a problem. You are better off using less but fast memory with Ryzen designs.
Ryzen2 is a great update that will not disappoint upgraders and is likely to increase AMD’s market share. AMD is here to stay!
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