AMD has finally announced the 2nd generation Ryzen
desktop processors. Four models have been announced, two Ryzen 5 and two Ryzen
7, all of which are available for pre-order now and go on sale April 19.
Today's launch comes with very little information.
All we know for sure right now are the basic specifications of the four new
SKUs. We are not entirely sure of the range of differences between the first
and second generation Ryzen processors. All that and much more will be revealed
on April 19.
Let's talk about what we know today. The four SKUs
launched include the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 7 2700 at the high-end and the
Ryzen 5 2600X and Ryzen 5 2600 in the popular mid-range segment. All of the new
processors use a 12nm process and based on the new Zen+ architecture.
The top of the line 2700X has 8 cores and 16
threads, with 3.7GHz base clock and 4.3GHz boost clock speed. It has 20MB
'Smart Prefetch Cache', which is 4MB L2 cache and 16MB L3 cache. The TDP is
105W. The 2700X comes with a new Wraith Prism cooler with RGB backlit clear
blades and four direct-contact copper heat pipes. It's priced at US$ 329.
The 2700 also has the 8/16 core/thread count and the
same amount of cache but has lower 3.2GHz/4.1GHz base/boost clock speed and a
lower 65W TDP. It comes with the Wraith Spire cooler with RGB ring and is
priced at $299. The 2600X is a 6 core 12 thread part with 19MB combined cache,
3.6GHz base and 4.2GHz boost clock speed. It has a TDP of 95W, comes with the
standard Wraith Spire cooler and is priced at US$ 229.
Lastly, the 2600 has the same number of cores,
threads and cache as the 2600X but 3.4GHz/3.9GHz base/boost clock speed and 65W
TDP. It comes with the basic Wraith Stealth cooler and is priced at US$ 199.
Along with the new CPU, AMD also announced the X470
chipset for motherboards. Again, we don't know a ton about the new chipset and
how it differs from X370. Fortunately, you can still use the new CPU with the
older AMD chipsets from last year and the older CPU can run with the new X470
boards. OEMs such as ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI will soon be announcing
their boards with the new chipset.
More will be revealed on April 19. Meanwhile, if you
have been waiting, you can now pre-order from Amazon.
