AMD unveiled new information on its upcoming high-performance desktop processors based on its most advanced "Zen" core architecture (codenamed "Summit Ridge") in advance of the official launch in Q1 2017.
AMD explained that it has chosen the brand name "Ryzen" for its cutting edge processors as a blend of the core's name and the company's desire to "push high performance CPUs to a new horizon." The Ryzen brand which will span across Zen-based desktop and notebook processor families. Additionally, AMD introduced SenseMI, a set of sensing, adapting, and learning technologies built into the AMD Ryzen processor.
According to AMD, the new architecture is able to achieve 40% increase in instructions per clock thanks to the use to SenseMI technology with its five components:
• Pure Power – more than 100 embedded sensors with accuracy to the millivolt, milliwatt, and single degree level of temperature enable optimal voltage, clock frequency, and operating mode with minimal energy consumption;
• Precision Boost – smart logic that monitors integrated sensors and optimizes clock speeds, in increments as small as 25MHz, at up to a thousand times a second;
• Extended Frequency Range (XFR) – when the system senses added cooling capability, XFR raises the Precision Boost frequency to enhance performance;
• Neural Net Prediction – an artificial intelligence neural network that learns to predict what future pathway an application will take based on past runs;
• Smart Prefetch – sophisticated learning algorithms that track software behavior to anticipate the needs of an application and prepare the data in advance.
In AMD's internal testing, Ryzen was able to "match or outperform" Intel's Core i7 6900K in many image rendering and video transcoding benchmarks. For comparison, both processors have 8 cores and 16 threads; the Core i7 6900K runs at 3.2 GHz with boost up to 3.7 GHz and consumes 140 watt while the Ryzen runs at 3.4 GHz consuming 95 watt only. If those numbers held up in non-synthetic environments, the CPU performance might once again be a 2 players race.
AMD Ryzen processors for desktops are expected to be available beginning in Q1 2017 and AMD Ryzen notebook processors are planned to launch in the second half of the same year.
