Before 2016, as long as we can remember, Intel ruled the CPU market with exceptional success. Before Ryzen was released, AMD was nowhere to be found in the competition of processors with Intel. As AMD worked tirelessly to keep up with performance, Intel kept refreshing their old architectures (kabylake coffeelake), coming up with almost no innovations and kept raising prices.
AMD hit Intel with the Ryzen bomb just at the perfect time and everything changed. AMD’s 14nm chips released in late 2016 and started coming out to the public in Spring 2017, promising higher core counts and greater multi-thread performance – while being dramatically affordable than its competition – AMD’s hard work paid off. – AMD conquered.
To get to the nitty-gritty
On a South Korean forum, HWBattle, a user posted leaked benchmarks of what appears to be a second-generation Ryzen processor. Simply listed as Ryzen 7 2000 Series in the SiSoft SANDRA benchmarking tool, the CPU boasts speeds running from 2.2GHz base clock speed boosting to 3.7GHz with a turbo clock up to 4.35GHz. AMD has already shared some plans for the 2nd Generation Ryzen chips in the latest CES.
- What is it? AMD’s upgraded, budget-friendly processor chips
- When is it out? The first chips should launch in April 2018
- What will it cost? To be decided. However, rumors also exposed some pricing, which we’ll be discussing in a moment.
Pricing and Specification
Regarding prices, almost all of the leaked and rumored pricing indications that have been roaming around the internet is considered to be fake. But the rumors are worth mentioning as portrayed below:
Now to point out some assumptions, we will be seeing the price tags of the new 2nd generation line up very similar to the 1st generation of Ryzen. As AMD recently dropped its Ryzen 1st Generation prices across the board alongside the 2nd Generation announcement, keeping things competitive with Intel as well, this indicates that the 2nd generation pricing would be similar to the launch prices of 1st gen of Ryzen. Keep in mind that these are just assumptions and things can be different on the release day.
For specifications, they’re built using a new 12-nanometer process, which will cram in even more transistors and thus provide more raw speed along the way. According to ExtremeTech, AMD chief technology officer, Mark Papermaster claims that the 12nm process results in an approximately 10% performance increase over the original Ryzen’s 14nm process, “with additional opportunities to optimize performance per watt.”
AMD 2nd Generation Ryzen Specs:
| CPU Name | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | AMD Ryzen 7 2700 | AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Family | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 |
| Release Date | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 |
| TDP | 65W | 95W | 65W | 105W |
| Total Cache | 19 MB (L2+L3) | 19 MB (L2+L3) | 20 MB (L2 + L3) | 20 MB (L2 + L3) |
| CPU uArch | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ |
| CPU Threads | 12 | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| CPU Cores | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Boost Clock | 3.9 GHz | 4.25 GHz | 4,1 GHz | 4.35 GHz |
| Base Clock | 3.4 GHz | 3,6 GHz | 3.2 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Memory Support | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 |
| Cooler Bundle | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Spire | Wraith Spire LED | Wraith Prism |
| Price | $199 US | $249 US | $299 US | $369 US |
Spec sheet credit: wccftech.com
Recent leaks from techradar’s article AMD Ryzen 7 2700X suggests we’ll see a 300MHz boost over its Ryzen 1700X predecessor. The alleged spec sheet reveals a CPU that clocks up to 3.7GHz and boosts up to 4.1GHz – plus XFR 2.0 taking overclocks further to 4.2GHz. New APU’s can also be expected to help the budget, eSports gamers can play their games without the need of a dedicated GPU.
A new motherboard won’t be necessary
The greatest news for prospective upgraders: unlike Intel, AMD will keep the same AM4 socket as the last Ryzen chips, so you won’t need to buy a new motherboard to slot one of these CPUs into your machine. There will also be an enhanced X470 chipset that’s optimized for Ryzen 2nd Generation and claims lowered power consumption.
The second-gen AMD Ryzen chips will be launching soon, and an early April release is probable, making this time interval for the CPU market: “The Most Anticipated One”.
