Wednesday, 01 June 2016 04:17

AMD might have Demo Silicon for Zen at Computex

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AMD might have some demo Zen silicon to show off at their expected press conference during Computex. This is the rumor that is coming from multiple sources at the moment. If true, this would be good for AMD for a couple of reasons. The first is the most obvious; they would have a real product to show off to the press. This will, of course, generate a lot of press and conversation about Zen. It will also get consumers eager for Zen, if, the demos can showcase performance that compares to current Intel hardware in the same class at a price point that is competitive.

Zen is going to be a make or break product for AMD’s Desktop CPU business. After Rory Reed’s failed move to focus on mobile AMD has been well behind their rival Intel for the desktop performance crown. This was really not a big surprise given the deficit that AMD had in terms of revenue since the ATi purchase. However, AMD’s outlook has not been 100% doom and gloom. They have made a few very strong partnerships and are exploring licensing some of their patent portfolio to keep things going on the financial side. We would not be surprised to see a few more deals hit the tech press after Computex to help shore up their reputation with investors and stock holders alike.

Because of this it means that Zen cannot be like the Bulldozer launch. It must compete with Intel’s current batch of CPUs and not the last generation. On paper the architecture looks very solid and reminds us of AMD from years past in terms of what they are trying to do. Where things will actually come home is in memory performance. The last few generations of AMD CPUs have not had great memory performance compared to Intel. It has led to inefficiencies in performance that are hard to overcome even with lower prices.

As we have said before, AMD needs to knock this one out of the part to remain relevant for the desktop CPU market. So far, there are some numbers floating around, but these cannot really be confirmed and might not represent real performance once these CPUs hit the streets. We honestly hope that AMD pulls this one off and Zen is the beginning of the turnaround for AMD. We would not go so far as to hold our breath though.

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