AMD Integrates Ryzen PRO and Radeon Vega Graphics In Next-Gen APUs

The three biggest PC OEMs -- Dell, HP, and Lenovo -- are now offering AMD Ryzen PRO mobile and desktop accelerated processing units (APUs) with built-in Radeon Vega graphics in a variety of commercial systems. There are a total of seven new APUs -- three for the mobile space and four for the desktop. As AMD notes in its press release, the first desktops to ship with these latest chips include: the HP Elitedesk G4 and 285 Desktop, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M715, and the Dell Optiplex 5055. ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes about what makes Ryzen PRO so appealing: Ryzen PRO has been built from the ground up to focus on three pillars -- power, security and reliability. Built-in security means integrated GuardMI technology, an AES 128-bit encryption engine, Windows 10 Enterprise Security support, and support for fTPM/TPM 2.0 Trusted Platform Module. One of the features of Ryzen PRO that AMD hopes will appeal to commercial users is the enterprise-grade reliability that the chips come backed with, everything from 18-moths of planned software availability, 24-months processor availability, a commercial-grade QA process, 36-moth warranty, and enterprise-class manageability.

There are no worries on the performance front either, with the Ryzen PRO with Vega Graphics being the world's fastest processor currently available for ultrathin commercial notebooks, with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700U offering up to 22 percent more productivity performance than Intel's 8th-generation Core i7-8550U in testing carried out by AMD. AMD has also designed the Ryzen PRO processors to be energy-efficient, enabling up to 16 hours of battery life in devices, or 10.5 hours of video playback. The Ryzen PRO with Vega Graphics desktop processors are also no slouches, opening up a significant performance gap when compared to Intel Core i5 8400 and Core i3 8100 parts. AMD also announced that it is sampling its second-generation Threadripper 2900X, 2920X and 2950X products. "For Threadripper Gen2 you can expect a refresh of the current line-up; an 8-core Threadripper 2900X, a 12-core Threadripper 2920X and of course a 16-core Threadripper 2950X," reports Guru3D.com. "AMD will apply the same Zen+ tweaks to the processors; including memory latency optimizations and higher clock speeds."

AMD has something for the datacenter enthusiasts out there too. Epyc, AMD's x86 server processor line based on the company's Zen microarchitecture, has a new promo video, claiming more performance, more security features, and more value than Intel Xeon. The company plans to market Epyc in an aggressive head-to-head format similar to how T-Mobile campaigns against Verizon and AT&T. Given Intel Xeon's 99% market share, they sort of have to...

Apu

[Anonymous Coward]

Please come again.

Re:

[DontBeAMoran]

I said good day! /Fez

18 Moths of Planned Software Availability

[Myrdos]

That's too bad. My company requires a minimum of 20 moths per unit.

True Intel Rival

[Roger W Moore]

36-moth warranty though

With that many bugs they'll really be rivalling Intel soon!

Re:18 Moths of Planned Software Availability

[amorsen]

On the upside, the warranty is for 36 moths, so that may allay your fear of lack of bugs a bit.

More seriously, 18 months of planned software ability?! That should be measured in years! I have just retired a server from 2006, appropriately due to too many problems with the firmware combined with modern Linux. 18 months useful life from a CPU is a joke.

Re:

[thegarbz]

18 months useful life from a CPU is a joke.

No the joke is the idea that a CPU is not forward compatible to any system which doesn't rely on some fancy new instruction only available in new ISAs. The punchline of that joke is that motherboard chipsets are complicated enough not to have driver support backwards compatibility for more than 10 years.

When did CPUs become cheap USB webcams in terms of soft/firmware support?

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

It doesn't mean that in 18 months Windows will drop support for it. It means that you get at least 18 months of firmware updates. Things like improved RAM compatibility and bug fixes.

Hopefully security fixes keep coming after that, but as Intel has demonstrated there is no guarantee.

Re:

[Lunix Nutcase]

But will the commercial-grade QA process make up for the moths coming in under count?

Re: 18 Moths of Planned Software Availability

[Bing Tsher E]

Commercial is actually the lowest grade of semiconductor.

Re:

[postbigbang]

QA is part of the problem with the Ryzen CPU issues.

ANY CPU YOU BUY FROM AMD right now is subject to the bugs of an onboard PSProcessor whose flash is immune from scrutiny until this is patched. No patch dates have been forthcoming, and every one of them has the same ugly bug. This is not commercial grade. This is recycling grade.

Have a nice APU day.

Re:

[postbigbang]

That is correct. Every single Ryzen/Epyc CPU is in an unknown state. Was it intercepted? Probably not. Or: Maybe. Or maybe not. Or, can it be fixed with a BIOS reflash, or, um, not?

The CIA/NSA/DoD don't have to worry about "back doors" and all that encryption stuff. They have AMD and Intel, partners in our better future.

Re:

[Armonk]

You are still better off with AMD... 1) intel chips have way more vulnerabilities than AMD chips 2) intels ME backdoor has been discovered, AMD's trusted platform is yet to be exposed

Re: 18 Moths of Planned Software Availability

[tigersha]

Our company wants butterflies, not moths

Moar cores

[PopeRatzo]

I'm holding out for the 32-thread Ryzen 3900x Pantyripper.

Re:

[joss]

> It will happen.

So will the heat death of the universe, but I'm not holding my breath.

For what you wish to come true, there would need to not be such a thing as GPUs otherwise new games will always all their high settings to exploit whatever additional power the GPU provided. Forget about it.

Re:

[Desler]

So you believe in fantasies like infinite growth?

Re:

[Z80a]

That's already a thing called Epyc.
But i suggest you to wait for the 128 thread Awe2ome.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

To be fair, Intels Xeon name isn't much better.

But professionals will just use the number designation anyway, be it the 1950X, 2200G, 8700k or Platinum 8180.

Re:

[Megane]

I prefer Doctor Mystery [northaustinurology.com] myself. (Disclaimer: I was a patient for some kidney work.)

Re:

[Megane]

Good work reading my post, knuckle dragger.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

What about the ole bugz of the past?

[slimshady76]

Are these next-gen APUs still affected by Spectre-type vulnerabilities? I saw no mention of those flaws in the PR. But then again, it's a PR.

Re:

[xkenny13]

Are these next-gen APUs still affected by Spectre-type vulnerabilities? I saw no mention of those flaws in the PR. But then again, it's a PR.

Apparently not, AMD chips appear to be in the clear:

https://www.elazaradvisors.com... [elazaradvisors.com]

Re:

[Armonk]

it would seem that in an insane tech world, an AMD is the only thing that makes sense :-) joking aside, despite their trusted platform crap, AMD is the best choice as things currently stand... if AMD want to secure their position as the next leading CPU manufacturer from now on, they need to drop trusted platform and similar backdoor tech right now... they have an unprecidentet chance here... even if intel followed suit, AMD would still have been the first ones to do it and at a time where they already had

Good news everyone!

[jay age]

After starting on the servers, desktops and a few low-end notebooks, now there are finally well specced notebooks with the Ryzen CPUs. These are great news for the consumers, Intel needs competition everywhere.
ThinkPad A485 with the chassis equivalent to T480 is particularly tempting. Same great Linux compatibility with 100% less Meltdown.