Performance increased by 16%, support USB4! AMD released the latest Zen5 and Zen
2024-04-06 / tech
Rumors of AMD's long-awaited 6th generation Ryzen processors, the four Ryzen 9000 series processors based on the Zen 5 architecture, were finally officially unveiled at Computex 2024 in Taipei. AMD also provided key information such as product specifications and performance expectations. Let's take a look at the changes compared to the previous generation Zen 4 processors and the potential performance improvements.
The Zen 5 processor architecture has three major enhancements:
1. Improved branch prediction accuracy and reduced latency.
2. Wider pipeline and vector units for higher throughput.
3. Deeper window size design for higher parallelism.
Compared to the Zen 4 processors, the instruction bandwidth, data bandwidth, and AI performance in the Zen 5 architecture can be doubled at most.
The Zen 5 processor has a 16% IPC performance improvement over the Zen 4.
AMD also mentioned that compared to Zen 4, the instruction bandwidth for front-end instructions, data bandwidth from L2 cache to L1 cache, data bandwidth from L1 cache to floating-point units, and performance related to AI and AVX512 in the Zen 5 architecture can all be improved by up to two times. The end result of these improvements is that with the same number of processor cores and threads, the 8-core, 16-thread Zen 5 processor Ryzen 9 9700X has an average IPC performance improvement of up to 16% in 13 tests that include gaming, transcoding, web applications, and processor benchmark tests, compared to the 8-core, 16-thread design of the Zen 4 processor Ryzen 7 7700X.
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The smallest improvement is in the game "Far Cry 6" with a 10% increase, and the improvement in HandBrake video transcoding is 11%. In Speedometer browser performance tests, Adobe Premiere Pro video editing, Octane rendering, CINEBENCH R23 rendering tests, the game "League of Legends," and Blender rendering, improvements ranging from 15% to 23% can be achieved. The largest improvement is in the Geekbench AES-XTS encryption and decryption performance test, with an increase of up to 35%. The reason is that this test mainly calls on the processor's AES, SHA, and AVX2 Vector AES, AVX-512 Vector AES, and other vector instruction sets, and some of the improvements in the Zen 5 architecture are aimed at enhancing the computational performance of these instruction sets.
From 16 cores to 6 cores, there are four products available at launch:
The Ryzen 9000 series processors based on the Zen 5 architecture still use the Socket AM5 package and support PCIe 5.0 bus, and only support DDR5 memory.Like the Ryzen 7000 series, the Ryzen 9000 series processors based on the AMD Zen 5 architecture also debut with four models: 6-core, 8-core, 12-core, and 16-core, codenamed Granite Ridge, which translates to Granite Ridge. The main features are the same as those of the Zen 4 processors, still using AM5 socket motherboards, supporting PCIe 5.0 bus, and only supporting DDR5 memory.
Its flagship product is still the one named with "950X" at the end of the model number, namely the Ryzen 9 9950X, while the flagship of the Zen 4 processors is the Ryzen 9 7950X. Why did they skip the 8950X? We speculate that the main reason is that "8" has already been given to other products of the Zen 4 processors, such as the Ryzen 5 8600G with a large-scale display core, the Ryzen 7 8700G, and so on.
The Ryzen 9 9950X processor features a 16-core, 32-thread design with up to 80MB of combined L2 and L3 cache.
In terms of specifications, there is not much change between the Ryzen 9 9950X and the Ryzen 9 7950X. The 16-core, 32-thread design, and the maximum boost frequency remain at 5.7GHz. The total capacity of the second and third-level caches is still 80MB, that is, 1MB of L2 cache per core, totaling 16MB of L2 cache. The processor still consists of 8 Zen 5 processor computing cores forming a CCX (CPU Complex), so it has two CCXs inside, each with 32MB of shared L3 cache, totaling 64MB of L3 cache, and its TDP remains consistent, both at 170W.
According to AMD's official data, whether it is productivity and content creation performance or gaming performance, the Ryzen 9 9950X leads the Core i9-14900K.
In terms of performance, AMD has not yet provided a comparison between the Ryzen 9 9950X and the Ryzen 9 7950X, but has shown a comparison between the Ryzen 9 9950X and its competitor's flagship, the Core i9-14900K. The performance improvement is quite impressive, especially in content creation applications, where the Ryzen 9 9950X's HandBrake video transcoding and Blender graphics rendering performance has increased by 55% compared to the Core i9-14900K, and there is a 21% improvement in the CINEBENCH R24 multi-core rendering test. Moreover, it is not just the multi-core performance that has improved, in games such as "Cyberpunk 2077", "Horizon: Zero Dawn", F1 2023, and DOTA2, the Ryzen 9 9950X also has a lead of 13% to 23% over the Core i9-14900K.
The Ryzen 9 9950X does not affect the graphics card bandwidth after being directly connected to a 5.0 SSD, and it runs faster with large language models.
At the same time, the Zen 5 processor also has stronger AI content creation performance. Since the Zen 4 processor, AMD products have more PCIe 5.0 channels, for example, the Zen 4 processor has up to 24 PCIe 5.0 channels. When users connect the graphics card and PCIe 5.0 SSD to the processor at the same time, their respective bandwidths will not be affected. However, the Core i9-14900K processor only has 16 PCIe 5.0 channels, and after connecting the graphics card and PCIe 5.0 SSD at the same time, the graphics card bandwidth is reduced to PCIe 5.0 x8 or PCIe 4.0 x8 (note: depending on the graphics card specifications), the bandwidth is halved, which naturally has a significant impact on the AI performance of the graphics card when using the graphics card for AI acceleration applications. In addition, AMD also mentioned that the Ryzen 9 9950X itself has a good AI computing performance. When running the Mistral large language model with processor cores, its processing speed per second is about 20% faster than the Core i9-14900K.
The four Ryzen 9000 series processors based on the Zen 5 architecture will be available in July 2024.
In addition to the dazzling Ryzen 9 9950X, AMD has also announced the main specifications of the other three products. Including the 12-core, 124-thread Ryzen 9 9900X, its surface specifications are still very similar to the Ryzen 9 7900X. Including the same maximum boost frequency of 5.6GHz, a total of 76MB of second and third-level cache capacity, the only difference is that the processor TDP has been significantly reduced by 50W, only 120W. The 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 9700X has increased the maximum boost frequency from the Ryzen 7 7700X's 5.4GHz to 5.5GHz, and the TDP thermal design power has been reduced from the Ryzen 7 7700X's 105W to 65W. The higher frequency and lower power consumption highlight the better energy efficiency ratio of the Zen 5 processor, and the total capacity of the second and third-level caches of the two processors remains unchanged, still totaling 40MB.As for the entry-level Ryzen 5 9600X, its maximum boost frequency has also been increased by 100MHz, from the Ryzen 5 7600X's 5.3GHz to 5.4GHz, while the TDP thermal design power has been reduced from the Ryzen 5 7600X's 105W to 65W. Both processors have consistent L2 and L3 cache, totaling 38MB. Finally, AMD announced that all four Zen 5 processors will be available in July this year, so users looking to build a high-performance PC can wait for another month before assembling their system.
Comprehensive support for USB 4.0, the X870/870E motherboards are here
The new X870/X870E motherboards launched for the Ryzen 9000 series processors will support USB 4.0 technology and higher-speed EXPO overclocked memory.
In anticipation of the release of the Ryzen 9000 series processors, AMD has also introduced the latest X870/870E motherboards. Compared to the previous 600 series motherboards, the biggest upgrade of the X870/870E motherboards is the full support for USB 4.0 technology. In the previous 600 series motherboards, only a few provided USB 4.0 interfaces. USB4 is based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol specification, offering a large bandwidth (40Gbps) for data transfer, and supports video expansion capabilities and PD charging functions equivalent to Thunderbolt 3.
According to previous tests by "Micro Computer," USB 4.0 mobile storage systems indeed perform much better than USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 products in sequential read and write speeds, with sequential read and write speeds reaching 3798.61MB/s and 3775.73MB/s, respectively. In contrast, the sequential read speed of USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 products generally does not exceed 2100MB/s, and the sequential write speed is even harder to reach 2000MB/s. Therefore, the widespread adoption of USB 4.0 on motherboards can further enhance the mobile storage experience for users. In addition, both X870/870E support PCIe 5.0 SSDs, PCIe 5.0 graphics cards, and can utilize higher-speed EXPO overclocked memory.
According to AMD's planning, AM5 motherboards will still be compatible with new processors until 2027, and AM4 processors may continue to receive updates after 2025.
Seeing this, users who have already purchased 600 series motherboards might be anxious, wondering if they need to change their motherboards to upgrade to Zen 5 processors. The answer is no. The Ryzen 9000 series processors still use the Socket AM5 package, and another chart provided by AMD shows that AM5 motherboards introduced in the second half of 2022 are likely to have more than 5 years of new product support, usable with new Ryzen processors until 2027. Therefore, the current 600 series motherboards can support the Ryzen 9000 series processors with a BIOS update.
The seemingly outdated AM4 motherboards with DDR4 memory have a longer upgrade capability, as the AM4 processors introduced at the end of 2016 will continue to be updated beyond 2025, bringing more upgrade possibilities to AM4 motherboard users. For instance, AMD has also unexpectedly introduced two new AM4 processors this time.
Continuing to update the AM4 platform, two Zen 3 Ryzen 5000XT processors are released
To enhance the performance of the AM4 platform, AMD has released a performance-enhanced version of the Zen 3 processor, the 5000XT series. The XT series processors have previously appeared on the Zen 2-based Ryzen 3000 series processors, such as the Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT. The suffix T stands for "Turbo," indicating that the processor has been strengthened. The newly released Ryzen 9 5900XT and Ryzen 7 5800XT are indeed the case.AMD has introduced two high-performance processors for the AM4 platform: the Ryzen 9 5900XT and the Ryzen 7 5800XT.
Firstly, upon seeing the technical specifications of the Ryzen 9 5900XT, we were momentarily convinced that there was an error in the processor's specs and sought confirmation from AMD. This is because it features a 16-core, 32-thread design, identical to the highest-end Zen 3 processor, the Ryzen 9 5950X, and significantly different from the Ryzen 9 5900X, which only has a 12-core, 24-thread design. Additionally, the combined capacity of the processor's L2 and L3 cache has been increased from 70MB in the Ryzen 9 5900X to 72MB, matching the Ryzen 9 5950X.
In other words, although this processor is named Ryzen 9 5900XT, its main specifications are very close to those of the Ryzen 9 5950X. The only difference is that its maximum boost frequency is 100MHz lower than that of the Ryzen 9 5950X, the same as the Ryzen 9 5900X, both at 4.8GHz. Therefore, it cannot be called the Ryzen 9 5950XT, but naming it Ryzen 9 5900XT is appropriate. Due to the increase in core and thread count, the multi-threaded performance of the Ryzen 9 5900XT will obviously be significantly improved compared to the Ryzen 9 5900X, making it more suitable for content creation applications.
The gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT can compete with the Core i7-13700K. According to AMD's public data, the gaming performance of the Ryzen 9 5900XT is on par with the 13th generation Core processor: Core i7-13700K, slightly outperforming its competitor in games like "Shadow of the Tomb Raider," "Naraka: Bladepoint," and F1 2022. The only regret is that AMD has not yet announced the price of the Ryzen 9 5900XT in China. If it is not much more expensive than the Ryzen 9 5900X, it will be a great value. Interested readers can check the price of this product on domestic e-commerce platforms after its release in July to see if they can get 16 cores for the price of 12.
The gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 5800XT is comparable to the Core i5-13600KF. Compared to the Ryzen 7 5800X, the Ryzen 7 5800XT, with 8 cores and 16 threads, does not see significant changes in specifications, except for a 100MHz increase in the maximum boost frequency to 4.8GHz, while the total L2 and L3 cache capacity of 36MB and the nominal TDP of 105W remain unchanged. Another change is that AMD will include a Wraith Prism RGB air cooler with the purchase of the Ryzen 7 5800XT, whereas users who bought the Ryzen 7 5800X processor had to provide their own cooler. In terms of performance, the gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 5800XT is comparable to the 13th generation Core processor: Core i5-13600KF, and it slightly outperforms its competitor in games like "Red Dead Redemption 2," "Monster Hunter: World," "Naraka: Bladepoint," "Cyberpunk 2077," and F1 2022, with a lead of up to 12% in "Cyberpunk 2077," which is a significant advantage.
The development of AMD's desktop processors is vibrant. From the above new product releases by AMD, we believe that the development of AMD's desktop processors is full of vitality. AMD not only released the new generation Zen 5 processor just over a year after the launch of the Zen 4 processor but also brought a substantial 16% IPC performance improvement. Coupled with the X870/870E motherboards supporting USB 4.0 technology, whether it's content creation, professional applications, gaming, or even copying files from a computer, the AMD Zen 5 platform can provide users with a better experience.
What is more commendable is that AMD does not forget its old users. Not only can the 600 series motherboards released in 2022 support Zen 5 processors through BIOS upgrades, but the release of the Ryzen 5000XT processors also means that the 300 series motherboards that came out at the end of 2016, the 400 series motherboards that hit the market in 2018, and the 500 series motherboards that entered the market in 2019 all have new processors available for upgrades, allowing for continued performance improvements and fully protecting users' investments. We believe that with AMD's enthusiasm for the development of desktop processors, its practical spirit, and its thoughtful consideration for users, more people will accept AMD products, helping AMD's market share and revenue reach new heights.
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