AMD 7nm Zen 2 Renoir APU Graphics Performance Allegedly Previewed In 3DMark 11
It is only a matter of time before AMD launches a new round of accelerating processing units (APUs). Codenamed "Renoir," the company's next-generation APUs will replace its current-generation 12-nanometer Picasso lineup, and make the jump to a 7-nanometer Zen 2 foundation, possibly paired with Navi. While we sit back and wait for an official announcement, some supposed 3DMark 11 entries based on three Renoir APUs have popped up.
Before we get to that, let's first talk a little about Renoir. Things can get confusing in a hurry when jumping around AMD's lineup, as generational nomenclatures get tossed around rather loosely. As it pertains to that, Zen 2 (7nm) CPU architecture is the third-generation of Zen (succeeded 12nm Zen+ and 14nm Zen). However, Renoir APUs are expected to be labeled as Ryzen 4000 series parts (Ryzen 4000G/GE on the desktop, and Ryzen 4000U/H in mobile), even though AMD's regular desktop chips based on Zen 2 are labeled as Ryzen 3000 series CPUs.
In any event, a user on Reddit posted some preliminary specs and performance data of three supposed Ryzen 4000 series APU configurations, plucked from 3DMark 11's database. Here they are, side-by-side...
While there is not a lot here to digest, we do have some basic details. We assume these are all engineering samples. Either way, here are the specs of the three configs...
- Config 1: 1.7GHz CPU base clockspeed, 1.5GHz GPU clockspeed, DDR4-2666 memory
- Config 2: 1.8GHz CPU base clockspeed, ????? GPU clockspeed, ??? memory
- Config 3: 2.0GHz CPU base clockspeed, 1.1GHz GPU clockspeed, DDR4-2666 memory
All three configurations consisted of a Celedon-RN motherboard serving as the foundation. Unfortunately, the individual 3DMark 11 pages for each config are listed as private, but we do have some performance numbers to look at (as provided in the screenshots above). Here they are...
- Config 1: 3,578 points
- Config 2: 2,374 points
- Config 3: 3.143 points
All three are 3DMark 11 "Performance" scores. Config 2 scores the lowest and also has the slowest CPU base clock. The same is probably true of its GPU clock, though both the GPU clock and type of memory (probably DDR4-2666, like the other two) are not listed for Config 2.
It will be interesting to see what kind of iGPU accompanies the Zen 2 CPU cores on Renoir. We'd obviously like to see a straight implementation of Navi, though there have been rumors of AMD using Vega, albeit with some updated features.
As to when we all will be revealed, nothing is official, but tentatively mark your calendars for January. It's worth noting that AMD launched its Ryzen 3000 series Picasso APUs at CES earlier this year, and it is at least plausible (if not likely) Renoir will debut at CES 2020.
