So is Zen possibly furthur along than we initially thought?

[Master Disaster]

The reason I ask is because of this

 

Download AIDA64 Extreme

Trial version, self-installing EXE package

Version: 5.60.3700 stable (Dec 08, 2015)

 

Release notes:

• Advanced SMART disk health monitoring
• Microsoft Windows 10 TH2 (November Update) support
• Preliminary support for AMD Zen Raven Ridge APU and Summit Ridge CPU
• Preliminary support for Intel Apollo Lake, Broxton, Kaby Lake CPUs
• Farbwerk sensor support
• Autodetect information and SMART drive health monitoring for Samsung NVMe SSDs
• Corsair HXi, Corsair RMi, Enermax Digifanless power supply unit sensor support
• OpenCL 2.1 support
• Crucial BX200, Lite-On MU II SSD support
• GPU details for AMD Radeon R9 380X
• GPU details for nVIDIA GeForce 945M, Quadro M3000M, Quadro M5000M

If Zen was only just taped out (as the last news article we had on Zen stated) then surely its not going to be possible for preliminary support to be added to AIDA. For the AIDA engineers to start adding support would surely require some kind of engineering sample, right?

 

Or am I reading to much into this?

[LokiFire]

Interesting, perhaps AMD will paper launch soon?

[Bogica]

There was a leak about a Zen APU two days ago. And they were scheduled for 2017. I'm guessing things are moving along faster than they predicted. Which is great, it got me excited, we might see some competition soon.

[Master Disaster]

There was a leak about a Zen APU two days ago. And they were scheduled for 2017. I'm guessing things are moving along faster than they predicted. Which is great, it got me excited, we might see some competition soon.

I'd be cautiously excited. I only hope AMD aren't rushing Zen to get to market quicker otherwise we might end up with another Excavator catastrophe on our hands.

[Bogica]

I'd be cautiously excited. I only hope AMD aren't rushing Zen to get to market quicker otherwise we might end up with another Excavator catastrophe on our hands.

Oh, I agree. I hope it goes competitive. But then again, I can't say I'm disappointed in current gen APUs. They offer quite a lot for the invested money. The segment AMD is failing hard in is the high end segment. They don't have anything that stacks up against an i7, their strongest FX are fighting i5s which overclock better, run cooler and have a lower TDP.

 

I have high hopes for Zen, just keeping my fingers crossed.

[BrightCandle]

These sorts of tools and operating system providers get given specs long before the hardware is made. This is entirely normally.

[LokiFire]

These sorts of tools and operating system providers get given specs long before the hardware is made. This is entirely normally.

Software such as AIDA needs to run tests on said hardware though.

[spwath]

Oh, I agree. I hope it goes competitive. But then again, I can't say I'm disappointed in current gen APUs. They offer quite a lot for the invested money. The segment AMD is failing hard in is the high end segment. They don't have anything that stacks up against an i7, their strongest FX are fighting i5s which overclock better, run cooler and have a lower TDP.

I have high hopes for Zen, just keeping my fingers crossed.

I wouldn't even say they are fighting i5, more like fighting i3

[Bogica]

I wouldn't even say they are fighting i5, more like fighting i3

Well, I was thinking more in the overall performance. Sure, gaming is somewhat beneath an i5, but their rendering and multicore application performance is around an i5 and better sometimes.

[spwath]

Well, I was thinking more in the overall performance. Sure, gaming is somewhat beneath an i5, but their rendering and multicore application performance is around an i5 and better sometimes.

Yeah, that's fair.

I really need a cpu upgrade. I have an fx-6300 on a motherboard that won't let me oc and its on a custom loop

[Prysin]

Yeah, that's fair.

I really need a cpu upgrade. I have an fx-6300 on a motherboard that won't let me oc and its on a custom loop

whatever you do dont go haswell though. not worth it.

FX to Haswell aint worth it. Been there, done that.

[Nena Trinity]

I hope they release it a Q earlier to be honest!

[flipped_bit]

I sure hope so.  The prices Intel are charging for entry-level quad-cores these days is outrageous, and the Skylake parts are especially pricey given they've been on the market for a few months now.  And motherboards with the overclocking chipsets (Z97, Z170) are also way too expensive. 

 

As long as Zen is around Haswell single-core performance and at least slightly cheaper, it's my next upgrade.  If they allow up to 8 cores/16 threads on the AM4 platform, it's got a lot of potential and is potentially very disruptive.  It would mean people could confidently buy quad cores knowing that they could upgrade to octa-cores in future if needed without having to uproot their entire platform.

[flipped_bit]

whatever you do dont go haswell though. not worth it.

FX to Haswell aint worth it. Been there, done that.

 

For certain games - like online multiplayer games, and physics-intensive games - the difference will be huge.  Intel platforms are very expensive nowadays though, so you have to consider the cost-benefit.  I'd personally just wait for Zen. 

[rjfaber91]

I'd be cautiously excited. I only hope AMD aren't rushing Zen to get to market quicker otherwise we might end up with another Excavator catastrophe on our hands.

 

Let's face it, Bulldozer's issues were dealbreakers from the get-go, so no matter how much AMD might hypothetically screw up Zen's launch, it's bound to still be better, because Zen is simply built on more sensible principles than Bulldozer ever was.

[BrightCandle]

I already have a cpu faster than Zen intends to be on launch in a years time. I still don't see what the value is unless somehow the reason people aren't buying haswell or better hardware is purely a price problem. AMD is presumably going to reduce the price of that performance level and the enterprise CPU range but at lower performance. Is that a compelling proposition for the end of the year?

[rjfaber91]

I already have a cpu faster than Zen intends to be on launch in a years time. I still don't see what the value is unless somehow the reason people aren't buying haswell or better hardware is purely a price problem. AMD is presumably going to reduce the price of that performance level and the enterprise CPU range but at lower performance. Is that a compelling proposition for the end of the year?

 

Well, it is a compelling proposition for those of us who loathe Intel with an unbridled passion, but have been waiting for six damn years for a new competitive CPU from AMD, for crying out loud...

 

Sorry, is it coming across that I'm a bit bitter about this whole issue?

[flipped_bit]

I already have a cpu faster than Zen intends to be on launch in a years time. I still don't see what the value is unless somehow the reason people aren't buying haswell or better hardware is purely a price problem. AMD is presumably going to reduce the price of that performance level and the enterprise CPU range but at lower performance. Is that a compelling proposition for the end of the year?

 

It is for people that can make do with their current setup.  I was hoping for great things from Skylake but all I see is marginal IPC improvements in most applications and a price increase of 20% over Haswell.  I would really like to build a new system, but it's more of a want than a need for me at this point.  My Phenom is definitely showing its age, though.  If Zen doesn't deliver, I guess I'll have to pay the Intel tax.  Certainly for people that can't wait, I'd recommend Intel 100% of the time.

 

I don't expect an overclocked Haswell-based system to bottleneck anything for a good long while.  If AMD can deliver Haswell-like performance for 20% or more in cost savings over Haswell, and allow you to scale from APUs to 8 core/16 thread behemoths on the same AM4 platform) instead of fragmenting (1150 vs 2011v3), they'll have a big winner on their hands IMO. 

[Master Disaster]

It is for people that can make do with their current setup.  I was hoping for great things from Skylake but all I see is marginal IPC improvements in most applications and a price increase of 20% over Haswell.  I would really like to build a new system, but it's more of a want than a need for me at this point.  My Phenom is definitely showing its age, though.  If Zen doesn't deliver, I guess I'll have to pay the Intel tax.  Certainly for people that can't wait, I'd recommend Intel 100% of the time.

 

I don't expect an overclocked Haswell-based system to bottleneck anything for a good long while.  If AMD can deliver Haswell-like performance for 20% or more in cost savings over Haswell, and allow you to scale from APUs to 8 core/16 thread behemoths on the same AM4 platform) instead of fragmenting (1150 vs 2011v3), they'll have a big winner on their hands IMO.

Yes they would. The problem is that's not very likely to happen. They'll likely release AM4 for APUs and AM4+ for Zen (like the 970 & 990 chipsets). That will mean bleeding edge boards can run the APUs while the cheaper boards can't run full blown Zen, or maybe it will work but with restrictions.

I really hope they put a lot of work into the power phase and VRM designs of the chipset. The vrm on the cheaper AMD boards are diabolical.

[flipped_bit]

Yes they would. The problem is that's not very likely to happen. They'll likely release AM4 for APUs and AM4+ for Zen (like the 970 & 990 chipsets). That will mean bleeding edge boards can run the APUs while the cheaper boards can't run full blown Zen, or maybe it will work but with restrictions.

I really hope they put a lot of work into the power phase and VRM designs of the chipset. The vrm on the cheaper AMD boards are diabolical.

 

Perhaps, but I've seen AMD slides indicating APUs and FX processors will both be on socket AM4.  Also, if AMD's claim of 40% IPC improvement over Excavator is to be believed, that would make Zen competitive with Haswell.  There are other goodies they could do too, like supporting more PCI-E lanes than 1150/1151.