Ryzen (Zen)

The MINISFORUM DeskMini DMAF5 is now shipping, following a successful crowdfunding campaign. The DeskMini DMAF5 starts at US$399 and comes with an AMD Ryzen 5 3550H APU. The machine can be equipped with up to 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD.

AMD introduced the RX 6800 as the most vanilla of its all-new RDNA 2-based line-up today (October 28, 2020). However, based on its specs, it may pack a punch of its own. It offers the same GDDR6 memory and Infinity Cache as its higher-end siblings, albeit with fewer compute units (CUs) and the series' lowest base clock thus far.

Initial benchmark leaks of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X show excellent leads in single-core performance over the Intel Core i9-10900K in PassMark and Geekbench 5. The scores seem to indicate anywhere between 16 to 20% benefits in single-core applications for the Ryzen 9 5950X. Even the Ryzen 5 5600X seems to have managed quite a decent lead over Intel's flagship offering.

The CPU-Z benchmark results for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Zen 3 are out and everything looks impressive: 11% faster than the Intel Core i9-10900K and 25% faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 3800X in single-core, as well as 10% slower than the Core i9-10900K and 17% faster than the Ryzen 7 3800XT when all cores are being used.

New sales data from Mindfactory has revealed the continued success story that is AMD Ryzen. The top 13 places are occupied by Ryzen CPUs, with the evergreen Ryzen 5 3600 still selling by the truckload. With the Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 series launching soon, and rumors of a Ryzen 5 5600 for next year, Team Red will likely go from strength to strength.

Lenovo is now introducing Ryzen 4000H APU options for the world's lightest gaming laptops featuring RTX 2000 GPUs. The new Legion Slim 7 models can be equipped with up to a Ryzen 4900H APU coupled with up to 32 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, up to 2 TB of NVMe SSD storage and up to an RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU. Users can also choose between 60 Hz / 144 Hz FHD displays and even a 60 Hz 4K HDR screen.

In order to bring the total weight down to 643 grams, Fujitsu had to reduce the number of components, replace the metallic upper cover with carbon fiber and redesign some of the ports and internal circuitry. The UH-X / E3 models are powered by the Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU and includes a small 25 Wh battery, but Fujitsu also offers the slightly heavier UH90 / E3 models with 54 Wh batteries and the UH75 / E3 models powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 4700U APUs that weigh just under 1Kg.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 5000 APU lineup will be a mix of Zen 2 Lucienne (Renoir Refresh) and Zen 3 Cezanne parts probably with the intention of offering more value to OEMs and maximizing the utilization of the 7 nm node. So far, there is no direct way to demarcate both the architectures in the lineup save for the fact that the odd-numbered parts are Lucienne while the even-numbered ones are Cezanne.

Apparently, AMD made it easier to overclock the Ryzen 5000 CPUs, as the Geekbench tests were recorded on an iMac Pro running macOS, which are not particularly suitable for overclocking. The best results for the Ryzen 9 5950X running at 6 GHz show decent gains of 20% in single-core tests and 12% in multi-core tests over a Ryzen 9 3900X clocked at 5.9 GHz.

In this quick test, we attempt to overclock and underclock the Ryzen 5 4600U APU powering a Xiaomi RedmiBook 16 using the new Renoir Mobile Tuning 1.0.0. Underclocking worked like a breeze, but the Renoir-U APU in question shows no overclocking potential. We suspect that the Renoir-H APUs may be more overclocking-friendly.

AMD may have increased price points for the Ryzen 5000 desktop CPUs, but keep in mind that we have not yet seen any non-X versions. According to a new leak, the non-X Ryzen 5000 CPUs are expected to launch in Q1 2021, and the Ryzen 5 5600 could be priced at $220 while almost matching the performance of an Intel Core i7-10700.

The Simply NUC Aspen is a new series of Mini-PCs based on AMD Ryzen 4000 Renoir APUs. The Aspen can be configured with up to 64 GB of dual-channel RAM and a 2 TB PCIe NVMe SSD.

Dell’s Alienware division has just revealed its upgraded Aurora desktop gaming PCs. As you would expect, the new models feature Nvidia’s vaunted new RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 GPUs, although they have been customized by Alienware to fit more easily into the chassis of the PC.

AMD has revealed the much anticipated Zen 3 Vermeer lineup today led by the flagship Ryzen 9 5950X. According to AMD, Zen 3 offers 19% IPC increase, 2.8x higher performance-per-watt, and up to 26% higher gaming performance. In Zen 3, core counts remain the same from last generation, but with higher boosts, a US$50 higher price, and no bundled Wraith cooler.

The Pavilion's hardware brings all modern computer games smoothly onto the matte 15.6-inch screen (IPS, Full HD, 144 Hz). The latter scores points with fast response times and good color reproduction. This is complemented by an NVMe SSD and 16 GB of RAM (dual-channel mode).

Trusted sources claim that only the 8-core Ryzen 7 5800X and 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X will hit retailers by October 20. However, around December this year, AMD also plans to release the 6-core Ryzen 5 5600X and the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X models and price points might be slightly higher compared to the current Ryzen 3000 CPUs.

Atari’s long overdue VCS PC/console hybrid is finally on the way from the factory to backers. The device was originally revealed in June 2017 with pre-orders beginning on May 30, 2018 and has repeatedly been delayed since.

We just completed our test on the new Schenker XMG Core 15. In the budget gaming laptop, we are particularly convinced by the new Zen-2 processor, while the RTX 2060 shows some slight weakness. But it is still surprising what powerful hardware can be found in a laptop below 1500 Euros (~$1745) at this point.

The new IdeaPad S540-13 (AMD) is now available on Lenovo's French-language webstore. It has been here before: however, this latest arrival is powered by the Ryzen 7 4800H APU, rather than the 7 4800U. Nevertheless, the price for this newer model with the more powerful chipset remains the same as the old.

Initial Ashes of the Singularity benchmark leaks show the upcoming AMD Ryzen 7 5800X offering excellent performance gains over both the Ryzen 7 3800X and the Intel Core i9-10900K. The results indicate that Zen 3 Vermeer may alleviate a lot of the CPU bottlenecking concerns that have plagued AMD processors to date.

Lenovo refreshed the ThinkBook 13s with Intel Tiger Lake processors. The Lenovo ThinkBook 13s Gen 2 comes with a 13.3-inch WQXGA IPS panel, up to 8GB of RAM and 1TB of solid-state storage, and a 61Wh battery that can be charged at 65W. It will be available for sale in October 2020, starting at US$829 and US$729 for the Intel and AMD versions.

Lenovo is offering processor options up to an i7 Tiger Lake for the Intel models or up to a Ryzen 7 4800U for the AMD models. The Intel models are a bit bulkier as they get the best features including up to 40 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, up to 3 TB of storage, an MX450 dGPU option and a Thunderbolt 4 connector. The AMD models, however, are limited to up to 16 GB LPDDR4x-4266 RAM, up to 1 TB storage, and they do not get a dGPU option, but they also are lighter and slimmer.

The upcoming GeForce MX450 will bring the biggest gen-to-gen leap in performance for the low-power MX series since the launch of the MX150 back in 2017. Both Intel and AMD are now able to offer GeForce MX150-like performance from more power-efficient integrated GPUs which will push Nvidia to finally incorporate Turing onto its next generation MX400 family.

Avita, an emerging notebook brand, has already launched the Admiror mid-ranger to the US market. Now, it is to be available via UK retailers as well. It is a 14-inch USB type C-only model with an atypical design to match its Flaming Copper or Blazing Brown colorways.

The Envy offers a Ryzen 5-4500U APU, 16 GB of working memory (dual-channel mode), and an NVMe SSD. In addition, there is a very good battery life. Not only can the touchscreen be operated with finger input, but also with an input pen that is available separately.

The German OEM ran into incompatibility issues caused by the Vega iGPUs and was unable to fix these problems because Samsung no longer offers engineering support for those particular OLED panels. Schenker/XMG states that the demand for an OLED option is there and we will most likely see AMD-powered laptops with OLED panels in 2021.

While the CPU performance increase seems negligible on the new Ryzen 7 5700U models, the results mustered by the iGPU side certainly suggest that the Lucienne APUs could integrate Vega 11 chips, at least for the top-of-the-line models. These Lucienne APUs may turn out to be AMD's rushed response to Intel's Tiger Lake models that are just a bit faster than the previous AMD Renoir processors.

AMD's leaked roadmap now shows that the Rembrandt APUs would come in desktop as well as laptop versions with 6 nm Zen 3 cores and RDNA2 iGPUs, plus support for DDR5-5200 / LPDDR5-6400 RAM, a mysterious CVML (computer vision & machine learning) component, 20x PCIe 4 lanes and two USB4 connectors.

The demand for the next gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft is expected to greatly offset the supply, as the console APU yields are still not that great. This could lead to prolonged shortages that could last until mid-2021, despite AMD's increased allocation of wafers at TSMC.

AMD has announced the expansion of its Chromebook-focused lineup to include 14 nm Zen-based Athlon and 12 nm Zen+-based Ryzen processors. The new APUs for Chromebooks allow Chrome OS users to run more capable apps natively or via Linux. These processors, which carry a "C" moniker in the branding, will cater to more than 14 upcoming Chromebook designs from HP, Asus, Lenovo, and other OEMs.

HP announced two new mobile thin clients today, both of which can run either Windows 10 IoT or HP's ThinPro OS. The mobile thin clients will feature AMD Ryzen CPUs.

HP has announced an Athlon or Ryzen-based model to complement their Intel-based HP Pro C640 which released earlier in August. The new AMD Athlon C and Ryzen C options combine with up to 16 GB RAM and a 128 GB NVMe drive to create an impressive Chromebook.

Although the AMD Ryzen 4000 series offers better performance compared to current Intel CPUs, the former processors aren't available in business convertibles that can be used both as tablet and laptop. The only exception is the HP ProBook x360 435 G7, which promptly received a good score in our test.

We take a glimpse of what Intel's next generation of integrated graphics can do and it's pretty good for a 10 nm non-discrete solution. Now, Intel will have to price it just right to make it worth the purchase over existing Ryzen or GeForce MX-powered laptops that offer similar graphics performance.

AMD's upcoming Zen 3 Vermeer lineup could include the 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X and the 8-core Ryzen 7 5800X. This further confirms that AMD will be aligning mobile and desktop CPU names under the Ryzen 5000 family. We are also getting to know that Zen 3 may get conservative when it comes to boost clocks but will be able to sustain the boost for longer periods.

The new HP EliteDesk 805 G6 compact PCs can be equipped with up to a Ryzen 7 Pro 4750G APU, which in turn can be coupled with up to 64 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and up to 3 storage solutions, plus an optional GTX 1660 Ti dGPU. Additionally, the port selection is quite generous with 7x USB ports and up to 7 video outs.

The new HP ProBook 635 Aero G7 is the world's lightest AMD-based business laptop. Coming in just under 1 kg, the laptop is powered by the user's choice of AMD Ryzen 4000 series APUs, all wrapped in an aluminum-magnesium alloy made in part from recycled materials.

HP is expanding its mid-range ProBook 600 series with a new, lightweight 13.3-inch model powered by AMD Ryzen 4000. For the first time in a ProBook laptop, HP is using magnesium as the chassis material to reduce weight. However, if you want a weight of less than the magical 1 kg, you have to do without some extras.

Intel's Boyd Phelps has confirmed that 8-core Tiger Lake processors with up to 24 MB of low-level cache are in the offing soon. Rumors indicate that Tiger Lake-H will be available in 35 W and 45 W variants with four cores and up to eight cores, respectively. It will be interesting to see how the competition between Tiger Lake and AMD's upcoming Cezanne mobile APUs pans out.

Dell has now started selling its Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 Gaming Desktops with a 17% discount coupon available. Shoppers can choose a mainstream Ryzen 5 3500 chip or go for a benchmark-breaking 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen 9 3950X CPU alongside 32 or 64 GB RAM and a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card from Nvidia.

Leaked overclock benchmarks for the upcoming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ampere graphics card were recently published. The tests showed memory clocks pushed 9 percent for a mere 2-3 percent performance gain. This raises questions about the RTX 3080’s performance gap with the RTX 3090, which delivers 936 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

Timed exclusivity may work in the world of consoles games, but limiting a great processor to just one laptop and one screen size isn't such a great idea. The limited press coverage and availability of both the Ryzen 7 4800HS and Ryzen 9 4900HS may be attributed to the fact that only just a handful of Asus laptops carry such options.

Credible leaks unveil complete specs for NVIDIA’s upcoming GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ampere graphics card. The cut-down GA104 part is set to deliver performance comparable to the GeForce RTX 2080 at a far lower price point, making premium ray-traced experiences viable at 1080p.

ASRock has launched a trio of Ryzen 4000 Mini-PCs. Called the 4X4 BOX-4000, the series utilises Renoir APUs up to the Ryzen 7 4800U within a chassis that weighs 1 kg. The 4X4 BOX-4000 has a host of ports and connectivity, too.

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX super processor has been flexing its muscles on PassMark’s CPU Mark benchmark, and unsurprisingly the 64-core, 128-thread part has soared straight to the top of the high-end CPU chart. However, you better have plenty of money to spend if you want to pick one up inside a Lenovo ThinkStation P620.