AMD Zen 3 Announcement by Lisa Su: A Live Blog at Noon ET (16:00 UTC)
by Dr. Ian Cutress on October 8, 2020 9:15 AM EST
Update at the top: Here's our article on today's launch!
11:52AM EDT - One of the most anticipated launches of 2020 is now here. AMD's CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, is set to announce and reveal the new Ryzen 5000 series processors using AMD's new Zen 3 microarchitecture. Aside from confirming the product is coming this year, there are very few concrete facts to go on: we are expecting more performance as well as a competitive product.
11:52AM EDT - Eight minutes to go
11:54AM EDT - There is a live stream for those that want to watch at the same time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuiO6rqYV4o
11:54AM EDT - Why not put the stream and our live blog side by side for interesting commentary!
11:56AM EDT - All text and photos in this Live Blog is being done by Ian
11:59AM EDT - 'Begin shortly'
12:01PM EDT - A one minute countdown
12:01PM EDT - This is technically pre-recorded. One of the benefits of a presentation without a live audience, can be prepared and optimized in advance
12:02PM EDT - Here we go
12:02PM EDT - Starting with a short Intro about Zen
12:04PM EDT - Committment to customers, deliver to roadmap
12:04PM EDT - Making the right bets 3-5 years in advance
12:04PM EDT - Lisa to the stage
12:05PM EDT - It's been a challenging year due to COVID
12:05PM EDT - But High perf computing has been really important
12:05PM EDT - work, school, gaming, entertainment
12:05PM EDT - PC is the platform of choice in 2020
12:05PM EDT - An incredible year for gamers
12:05PM EDT - powering both consoles
12:05PM EDT - High performance Ryzen and Radeon
12:06PM EDT - Deep engineering partnerships
12:06PM EDT - Gaming at the heart of AMD - PC or console or cloud or mobile
12:06PM EDT - AMD loves gaming
12:06PM EDT - Gaming beings with AMD
12:06PM EDT - Next Gen PC Gaming platform
12:06PM EDT - One goal - to build the best PC desktop processor possible
12:06PM EDT - With each gen of Ryzen, we're going towards that goal
12:06PM EDT - more perf, best features, more capabilites to everyone
12:07PM EDT - Do more than you ever thought on desktop or notebook
12:07PM EDT - Ryzen in desktops, TR in high-end desktops, and Ryzen 4000 in notebooks
12:07PM EDT - PC users love Ryzen
12:07PM EDT - Desktop progress has been amazing with Ryzen
12:07PM EDT - Beating the expectations
12:08PM EDT - First 7nm desktop processor
12:08PM EDT - Highest in MT perf
12:08PM EDT - Best in power efficiency
12:08PM EDT - That was 3rd gen
12:08PM EDT - Work with Ryzen is never done
12:08PM EDT - What can we do more? What can we do better?
12:08PM EDT - Zen 3
12:08PM EDT - Bringing the best to the PC market
12:08PM EDT - Increases lead in overall perf, and efficiency
12:08PM EDT - Best single threaded performance in the market
12:08PM EDT - Big changes in the core
12:09PM EDT - Papermaster with the details
12:09PM EDT - Shipping Q4 2020
12:09PM EDT - A course over 5 years for outright leadership
12:09PM EDT - Multiple processor teams in parallel
12:09PM EDT - COnsistent delivery to market of performance
12:09PM EDT - Beast in performance
12:10PM EDT - Absolute leadership
12:10PM EDT - 7nm efficiency enabled leadership performance
12:10PM EDT - chiplet allowed ease of manufacturing and scalability
12:10PM EDT - now Zen 3
12:10PM EDT - Improving every aspect of the CPU in the same 7nm node
12:10PM EDT - higher frequency, higher IPC
12:10PM EDT - Lower latency on top
12:11PM EDT - New processor layout
12:11PM EDT - New 8 core complex
12:11PM EDT - Better core-to-core communication
12:11PM EDT - Every core can address 32 MB of L3 cache
12:11PM EDT - Latency sensitive workloads like gaming get a boost
12:11PM EDT - 19% IPC boost
12:11PM EDT - On top of frequency increases
12:11PM EDT - Most significant Zen performance increase
12:12PM EDT - Floating point is wider
12:12PM EDT - Increased loads and store vs Zen2
12:12PM EDT - Wider exectuion capabilites
12:12PM EDT - More branch prediction bandwidth
12:12PM EDT - Clear desktop performance leader
12:12PM EDT - Broad set of improvements
12:12PM EDT - Total front to back redesign
12:13PM EDT - end-to-end improvements
12:13PM EDT - dispatch, decode, all improved
12:13PM EDT - Direct access to 32MB of L3 helps with gaming
12:13PM EDT - Games have a dominant thread that uses the cache
12:14PM EDT - Every core can now communicate to the cache on the chiplet without going off die
12:14PM EDT - Says sync for Gaming, AI
12:14PM EDT - 2.4x perf/watt over first gen Ryzen
12:14PM EDT - 24% perf/watt uplift over Zen2
12:14PM EDT - 2.8x more efficient than 10900K
12:14PM EDT - Not let up going forward
12:15PM EDT - 5nm Zen4 is in track
12:15PM EDT - Next gen Zen processors will keep AMD in the forefront and deliver the best experience for customers
12:15PM EDT - Lisa comes back
12:15PM EDT - Focused on gamers and enthusiasts
12:15PM EDT - Largest increase gen-on-gen since first gen Zen
12:15PM EDT - Ryzen 5000 series
12:16PM EDT - 5900X
12:16PM EDT - 12c/24t, 4.8G boost
12:16PM EDT - 64MB L3 cache, 105W
12:16PM EDT - Big upgrade over Ryzen 3000
12:16PM EDT - Gaming performance is up
12:16PM EDT - 5900X vs 3900XT
12:17PM EDT - Shadow of Tomb Raider
12:17PM EDT - 1080p High preset
12:17PM EDT - +28% increase from 3900XT to 5900X
12:17PM EDT - Better perf over 10900K
12:17PM EDT - 29% is a big upgrade gen-on-gen
12:17PM EDT - Combination of performance metrics
12:18PM EDT - Claiming ~25% overall
12:18PM EDT - from 5% to 50% gain vs 3900XT
12:18PM EDT - sorry, 26%
12:18PM EDT - monumental performance jump for an in-socket upgrade
12:18PM EDT - Relies on strong single core perf
12:18PM EDT - Cinebench R20 1T
12:19PM EDT - One of 25 workloads used to calculate +19% IPC
12:19PM EDT - First desktop to get above 600
12:19PM EDT - 631 on AMD
12:19PM EDT - 544 on 10900K at 5.3 GHz
12:19PM EDT - (595 on Tiger Lake at 4.8 GHz)
12:20PM EDT - Comapred against 10900K, AMD wins in most benchmarks (all but the one AMD is showing)
12:20PM EDT - Wait for 3rd party benchmarks
12:20PM EDT - AMD believes gamers will want 5900X for the best gaming performance you can get
12:21PM EDT - Best Gaming Processor in the world
12:21PM EDT - Now the stack
12:21PM EDT - 5800X - 8c/16t, 3.8G/4.7G, 105W
12:21PM EDT - 5600X, 6c/12t, 3.7G/ 4.6G, 65W
12:21PM EDT - Pricing
12:21PM EDT - +$50 more on MSRP over previous gen
12:22PM EDT - All available November 5th
12:22PM EDT - But THAT'S NOT ALL
12:22PM EDT - Ultimate processor
12:22PM EDT - 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X
12:22PM EDT - Up to 4.9G boost, 105W, 64 MB L3
12:22PM EDT - Breaks CB20 1T with 640
12:22PM EDT - Best in class in every dimension
12:23PM EDT - Still at 105W
12:23PM EDT - +29% gaming perf against 3950X
12:23PM EDT - Against 10900K, the 5950X wins
12:24PM EDT - $799, also Nov 5th
12:24PM EDT - Now Radeon
12:24PM EDT - Next gen Radeon GPU in a few weeks
12:24PM EDT - first preview
12:25PM EDT - Big Navi
12:25PM EDT - AMD's most powerful GPU
12:25PM EDT - Here's a performance preview?!
12:25PM EDT - Borderlands 3
12:25PM EDT - 4K with 5950X + RX6000
12:25PM EDT - 60+ fps at
12:26PM EDT - A few weeks until launch
12:26PM EDT - fine tuning
12:26PM EDT - Oct 28th for the full story for RX6000
12:26PM EDT - Nov 5 for Ryzen 5000 on shelves worldwide
12:26PM EDT - That's a wrap
12:27PM EDT - Here's our article
12:27PM EDT - https://www.anandtech.com/show/16148/amd-ryzen-5000-and-zen-3-on-nov-5th-19-ipc-claims-best-gaming-cpu
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GeoffreyA - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
Looked it up now. Quite interesting. "Blue Lightning" they called it, if I didn't mix up the models. Ah, the old days of computers!carewolf - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
Yeah, they all used the same sockets back then, before Intel figured out they could patent the socket to stop anybody from making drop in replacements.mrvco - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
The occasional and infrequent exception to the rule is preferable to changing the rule entirely and requiring a fork-lift upgrade at nearly every opportunity.BlakeCz - Friday, October 9, 2020 - link
I am sorry for being a nitpicker, but if your motherboard at that time had supported an upgrade from P-MMX-200 to K6-2 400, I guess it must had been with either Ali Aladin7 or VIA MVP3/MVP4 chipset. There were no significant differences neither in performance nor in features between those- as far as I can recall (I myself was upgrading from Cyrix M2 to K6-2 450 on Ali 7 board... those were the days...), What would had brought you a new motherboard then :-) ?philehidiot - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
Yeh I agree with you. The idea that you can is great but practically for me it hasn't happened. By the time I considered a CPU upgrade, so much had moved on that I'd probably have upgraded the moho anyway, regardless of compatibility.The counter arguments to that are first (and foremost) that continued compatibility gives people on smaller budgets (or who have a good enough CPU now anyway) the chance to buy a stopgap (or use an existing) CPU, facilitate an upgrade and then replace the CPU at a later date. That's great.
The other argument is that CPU life cycles had been extended artificially because of Intel sandbagging and a lack of competition. It may well be that a resurgent AMD may present us with reasons to upgrade CPUs more frequently by providing real improvements and enabling us to do that on the same mobo makes it far more likely that we will.
I remember upgrading CPUs every couple of years back in the day. I've only recently ditched Haswell and DDR3 and it was the bloody side channel exploit mitigations that killed it.
Had AMD not brought out Zen and given me a good reason to upgrade, I would have seriously resented paying Intel for a new CPU thanks to meltdown / spectre.
justaviking - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
Waaay back in the day, back before the days of electricity and my CPU was steam powered, upgrading to a new version of Windows would often be a reason to upgrade to a new CPU. There simply wasn't a lot of spare power available, and the newer software would be very sluggish on a CPU that was a generation or two old. Things like new CODEC support, such as built-in instructions for handling MP4 streams via hardware rather than software would also be a reason to upgrade to a new CPU.Then came the day when CPU power grew faster than the demands placed on it, and you had enough spare horsepower to survive the demands placed on it with newer software.
Of course there are enthusiasts who always push their system to the limits, but for quite a few years now I believe MOST people are have a far greater need to upgrade their graphics card every year or two but can live with their CPU for 5 or 6 years (or more) without much trouble.
SkyDiver - Sunday, October 11, 2020 - link
I was shocked to realize that it has been 8 years since I built my current PC. I overclocked my Intel 3570-K to 4.1 and it worked fine through 2019. Admittedly, my gaming performance has taken a hit in 2020. Now I'm going to build an AMD machine.mrvco - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
I'd say Zen3 backwards compatibility is a great opportunity for anyone with an existing Zen-based system. Why? Because of what's on the horizon, i.e. a new socket, DDR5, etc. Unfortunately I'm coming upgrading an older pre-Zen Intel CPU and a new mobo is mandatory for any upgrade path.Hifihedgehog - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
It's true: most buyers including myself swap out the motherboard and CPU with each new build. That said, I just saw the latest sales for a major European PC supplier, and 1 in 3 of their CPU sales do not include a motherboard. So while most DIY builders will continue unilaterally upgrading all their components, the long-term support and compatibility of the AM4 socket has definitely enabled many to stretch their dollar by keeping the same motherboard.Marlin1975 - Thursday, October 8, 2020 - link
"most buyers"What are you basing that off of? I upgraded my CPU 2 times, 3 cpus, on my old intel system and my current AMD system will get at least 2 changes, maybe 3 cpus as well.