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While AMD’s desktop CPUs have Intel in a bit of a tizzy, Intel still stands unchallenged in the laptop space. That might soon change. At CES 2019, AMD unveiled its entire portfolio of Ryzen and Athlon CPUs and A-Series APUs for mobile computers.
The line-up is as follows:
- 2nd Gen Ryzen 3000 Series mobile CPUs for Ultrabooks and gaming laptops
- Athlon 300 Series Mobile Processors for mainstream notebooks
- AMD A-Series APUs for “mainstream Chromebooks.
| Cores/Threads | TDP | Boost/Base Freq. | Radeon Graphics | GPU Cores | Max GPU Freq. | L2+L3 Cache |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4C/8T | 35W | 4.0/2.3 GHz | Vega | 10 | 1,400 MHz | 6 MB |
| 4C/8T | 15W | 4.0/2.3 GHz | Vega | 10 | 1,400 MHz | 6 MB |
| 4C/8T | 35W | 3.7/2.1 GHz | Vega | 8 | 1,200 MHz | 6 MB |
| 4C/8T | 15W | 3.7/2.1 GHz | Vega | 8 | 1,200 MHz | 6 MB |
| 4C/4T | 15W | 3.5/2.1 GHz | Vega | 6 | 1,200 MHz | 6 MB |
| 2C/4T | 15W | 3.5/2.6 GHz | Vega | 3 | 1,200 MHz | 5 MB |
| 2C/4T | 15W | 3.3/2.4 GHz | Vega | 3 | 1,000 MHz | 5 MB |
It’s interesting that AMD has brought back its older Athlon branding, but we suppose it’s for differentiating the high-end CPUs from the more mainstream ones. These new Athlon CPUs are still using the Zen cores that came with Ryzen, so you can rest assured that you’re getting new hardware.
The Ryzen processors are based on AMD’s 12 nm architecture. Intel is set to launch its 10 nm chips around the end of 2019 and is currently on a 3rd generation 14 nm process.
AMD claims that the mobile Ryzen chips can deliver 10 hrs of battery life and that the Ryzen 7 3700U mobile CPU is 29 percent faster than Intel’s Core i7-8550U CPU. The 8550U is a very popular chip that is found in most high-end laptops and Ultrabooks. AMD also claims that the Ryzen 5 3500U can “load websites up to 14 percent faster” than the Core i5-8250U, which is a more mainstream chip.
AMD could very well be cherry-picking benchmark results here, but we’re excited that there’s finally some competition to Intel. We’re also very curious to see how AMD’s CPUs hold up on the battery life front. This is one area that has, historically, been a challenge for AMD.
Notebooks powered by these new Ryzen CPUs are expected in Q1 2019. Athlon powered devices should arrive in “early 2019”.
| Cores/Threads | TDP | Boost/Base Freq. | Radeon Graphics | GPU Cores/Shaders | Max GPU Freq. | L2 Cache |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2C/2T | 6 W | 2.7/1.8 GHz | R5 Series | 3/192 (GCN 1.2) | 720 MHz | 1 MB |
| 2C/2T | 6 W | 2.4/1.6 GHz | R4 Series | 3/192 (GCN 1.2) | 600 MHz | 1 MB |
The AMD A-Series chips are special because they include relatively powerful onboard graphics, which was great for entry-level and compact gaming machines. Earlier, this power came at a price and battery life on the few laptops equipped with A-Series chips was awful. The new A6-9220C chips are apparently faster — by up to 43 percent — than competing Intel Pentium N4200 and Celeron N3550 CPUs. The Acer Chromebook 315 and HP Chromebook 14 will be among the first devices with these chips.
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