In a few days, April 19th to be exact, AMD is ready to reveal its 2nd gen Ryzen CPUs to the world. The second installment in what has to be one of greatest competition to Intel; Ryzen CPUs are more fierce and sharper than its predecessors. Breaking the title of being one of the best processors of its time, the first gen Ryzen chips were a giant in a league of their own. After finally seeing AMD tread in the right direction, the 2nd gen processors expected to make a louder noise.
After the success of the first Zen core powered Ryzen chips, the company is soon releasing its cheaper yet unbelievably powerful 2nd gen chips with 12 nm Lithography. Namely, the Ryzen 7 2700X at $329, Ryzen 7 2700 at $299, Ryzen 5 2600X at $229, and Ryzen 5 2600 at $199. The team at AMD was also kind enough to add respectable AMD cooling units with the processors.
Also added to the launch was the announcement of the X740 chipset, an improvement to the Ryzen’s AM4 motherboards. These improvements are looking to drastically improve the power infrastructure making the 2nd Generation AMD processors to work on higher clock rates. However they clearly stated that these 2nd Gen chips will also be backwards compatible with the previously sold X370 motherboards by the AMD team so you can breathe easy as you won’t be required to throw out your previously owned AMD motherboards to power them up.
Since AMD has been kind enough to let us in on the specs of these processors, let’s look at what the processor bundles will hold for every purchase. Starting with:
- The Ryzen 7 2700X:
Ryzen 7 2700X processor will host a powerful 8-core, 16 thread combination which is promising a clock speed ranging somewhere between 3.7-4.3GHz. The special addition of ‘X’ behind the model number states the higher end premium version of the range which speaks of its ability to be over-clocked. AMD has bundled it with its premium Wraith Prism Cooler which feature a beautiful illuminated RGB blades. It costs a user $329 to pick these up. - The Ryzen 7 2700:
The Ryzen 7 2700 is the little brother to its ‘X’ suffixed sibling. Similar capability with the 8 core and 16 thread combinations, it ranges a little lower on clocking rate but still pumps out an impressive 3.2 GHz to 4.1GHz. AMD aims to sell it in a bundle with the AMD Wraith Spire cooler, illuminated with the RGB ring. It will be sold at $299.
The Ryzen 5 2600X:
A little lower in the pecking order, the Ryzen 5 2600X is another higher clocked version with X boasted on its side specifying its premium status. The 2600X is said to clock at the speed around 3.6 to 4.2GHz. The particular model is also sold in a bundle with AMD Wraith Spire cooler which however would be without the RGB ring. The cost of the 2600X is set to be an economical $229.
- The Ryzen 5 2600:
The Ryzen 5 2600 is the most economical available processor that AMD aims at launching on the 19th. This particular processor is expected to clock at a respectable 3.4GHz to 3.9GHz. The AMD is planning to sell it with an AMD Wraith Stealth cooler
The above provided configuration was reached due to the 12nm fabrication process which is more efficient than its previous 14nm fabricated chips. The Thermal Design Power or the TDP is slightly higher than before. A 105-Watt TDP would be accompanying the Ryzen 2700X processor. Although this powers the processor enough to give them the following expected features:
- Higher clocking speed: The better fabrication processes made it possible for the processors to achieve such speeds. They are higher than the previously available 1st gen processors and their speeds are thought to be increased in the coming years by AMD.
- Intelligent boosting: A couple of extra features which have essentially tweaked its speed are the Precision Boost 2 and the XFR (Extended Frequency Range) 2. These are used to specifically target the CPU goalposts that boost the overall performance. The previously popular Precision Boost activated when it was just 2 cores that were being used, however, it can now stay activated even with all the cores engaged.
- Low Power usage: As compared to the previously available processors and the performance they are offering, these new 12nm processors consume less power. With the availability of Precision Boost 2 and the XFR (Extended Frequency Range) 2 you can expect lower power consumption.
- Far better over-clocking: With the above mentioned features being installed in the processors like the XFR 2 and the Precision Boost 2, the processor can be expected to be over-clock friendly and in fact provide the processor an ability to over-clock when the need demands it to be making it extremely gamer friendly.
What do we think we know?
Although there’s still a long way to go for AMD if it wants to obliterate the rival Intel’s primary well-established grip over gaming, they are expected to take the right steps in the right direction. Intel has always had an upper hand over AMD processors in the department of brute gaming but with the claim of an in-built over-clocking feature, it is very well likely that AMD Ryzen chips can take over the processor giant. The higher end gaming world has already been introduced with the Threadripper processors by AMD which performs at par with the Intel’s i9 core processors; the lower to mid range gaming might just be in for a surprise too. One thing is for certain, Intel needs to start watching its back; the competition is expected to become ridiculously close.
