AMD RyZen is an upcoming flagship processor based on Zen architecture. The CPU should be able to tackle Intel i7 series processors, according to AMD. A couple of benchmarks in which the RyZen was compared with the Intel i7-6900K and i7-7700K got leaked on Chinese forums. The results confirm the RyZen is quite powerful CPU, and that it can stand against top desktop processor from Intel.
The chip tested was the same model used in the recent New Horizon event, according to benchmarks. It features 8 cores (16 threads) clocked at 3.4 GHz, along with a shared cache of 4 MB + 16 (8 MB + 8 MB) MB (L2 + L3). Other specs include simultaneous multi-threading and 95 W TDP.
The first benchmark was Cinebench R15; the RyZen scored 1188 cb points in the CPU rendering test. The Core i7-7700K scored 966 cb points (base clock) and 1083 cb points (when overclocked to 5 GHz), The Core i7-6900K scored around 1500 cb points, while the flagship i7-6950X processor scored more than 1800 cb points.
The second benchmark was Fritz Chess benchmark. AMD RyZen managed to score 36.86 points and 17693 Kilo Nodes per second. Intel i7-7700K scored 35.52 points and 17049 Kilo Nodes per second at the base clock; when overclocked to 5 GHz, the i7-7700K gathered 41.44 points along with 19891 Kilo Nodes per second.
The more powerful i7-6900K went up to 47.80 points and around 22500 Kilo Nodes per second. Intel’s flagship model, the Core i7-6950X managed to gather 51.50 points and around 24000 Kilo Nodes per second.
Aside from the two leaked benchmarks, AMD matched the RyZen against the i7-6900K (which sells for $999). Both chips have 8 cores and 16 threads, the RyZen features a base clock of 3.4 GHz, while the i7-6900K works on 3.2 GHz (with the boost clock of 3.7 GHz). The RyZen managed to match the performance of the i7-6900K, ending just a couple of seconds behind it.
Two image rendering and video transcoding demos (Blender and Handbrake) further confirmed the RyZen can match the i7-6900K, even outperforming it is certain tasks (like in the Blender custom scene, where the RyZen finished in 35.57 seconds, half a second faster than the Core i7-6900K which finished rendering the scene in 36 seconds).
The upcoming CPU will use the AMD X370-based motherboards, with an AM4 socket. X370 is a chipset for advanced users, overclockers who like to have everything under control. The AM4 X370 motherboards will support CrossFire and SLI, offering two full x16 PCI Express (gen 3) lanes for graphic cards. The chipset supports advanced overclocking, along with unlocked multiplier, USB 3.1 Gen 2 support, NVMe and SATA Express.
The RyZen should arrive in Q1, 2017. There’s no info regarding pricing at the moment.