AMD’s Ryzen 7000 “Zen 4” CPU and the respective AM5 platform don’t seem to be going through a smooth launch plan. Prior to the August 29 unveiling, several rumors have surfaced indicating that the chips may experience a brief delay.
AMD Ryzen 7000 “Zen 4” desktop CPUs and AM5 platform slow as BIOS issues mount
While AMD has confirmed it will host the official reveal on August 29, actual sales won’t open until a few weeks or even a month later. Earlier, we reported in our own exclusivity that the launch may be delayed to September 27, the same day as Intel’s 13th-generation Raptor Lake CPU reveal.
Now there are more rumors (I don’t know if it’s appropriate to call them a rumor as these reports come from real reviewers and also from several insiders who work closely with motherboard manufacturers who know what’s going on) that the launch indeed delayed and AMD has asked for a new NDA to be signed, more or less confirmation of the new launch date.
The following was published by nApoleon, Chiphell’s resident tech reviewer and editor in the forums:
One thing I want to make clear is that the August 29 event will be an “Reveal” and not an actual “Launch” that should always have been in September. The launch was previously scheduled for September 15, but that has recently been moved to September 27. now we know that the main reason behind this slowdown has to do with the BIOS. Like every Zen generation, the BIOS has been a critical component that has undergone several revisions for improved CPU and memory support. This time, like the AM4 platform, there will be several revisions before and after the launch.
So far, we’ve heard that there have been at least 7 BIOS revisions in total of AGESA 1.0.0.1, starting with Patch A through Patch G. The latest BIOS was released this month and things aren’t going well there either.
Previously, the motherboard vendors were expected to release AGESA BIOS v1.0.0.1 Patch D with their motherboards at launch, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore as the older BIOS isn’t optimized enough for AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs and the AM5 CPU. motherboard platform that also supports EXPO DDR5 memory. As such, there are reports that the official BIOS at launch would be v1.0.0.2 and we will also see future revisions to the BIOS in the future.
For those wondering what these BIOS issues are related to, there are several revisions, each focusing on different optimizations, fixes, and support. The current SMU has been updated to 84.73 and supports AMD Ryzen 7000 16-core and 12-core CPUs, while the previous one added better OC capabilities for DDR5 memory.
The list goes on, but it’s not specific to just the memory or the CPUs. As mentioned, the AGESA BIOS firmware will be updated on a priority basis before and after the launch of the AM5 platform, so instead of sales starting now and users having to go through a cumbersome BIOS update process, AMD has moved the launch to a later time. date for a smoother and better first experience for users on their next-gen platform.
AMD Ryzen ‘Zen 4’ Desktop CPU Expected Features:
- Up to 16 Zen 4 cores and 32 threads
- Over 15% performance improvement in single-threaded apps
- Brand new Zen 4 CPU cores (IPC / architectural improvements)
- Brand new TSMC 5nm process node with 6nm IOD
- 25% performance per watt improvement vs Zen 3
- >35% overall performance improvement vs Zen 3
- 8-10% instructions per clock (IPC) improvement vs Zen 3
- Support on AM5 platform with LGA1718 connection
- New X670E, X670, B650E, B650 Motherboards
- Dual channel DDR5 memory support
- Up to DDR5-5600 Native (JEDEC) speeds
- 28 PCIe lanes (excluding CPU)
- 105-120W TDPs (upper limit range ~170W)
You can find full details of AMD’s next-gen Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs and the respective 600-series motherboards in our full round-up of the next-gen family here.
AMD Ryzen 7000 ‘Raphael’ Desktop CPU ‘Preliminary’ Specifications:
| CPU name | architecture | Process node | Cores / Wires | Core Clock (SC Max) | cache | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | Zen 4 | 5nm | 16/32 | ~5.5GHz | 80MB (64+16) | 105-170W | ~$700 US |
| AMD Ryzen 9 7900X | Zen 4 | 5nm | 12/24 | ~5.4GHz | 76MB (64+12) | 105-170W | ~$600 US |
| AMD Ryzen 7 7800X | Zen 4 | 5nm | 8/16 | ~5.3GHz | 40MB (32+8) | 65-125W | ~$400 US |
| AMD Ryzen 7 7700X | Zen 4 | 5nm | 8/16 | ~5.3GHz | 40MB (32+8) | 65-125W | ~$300 US |
| AMD Ryzen 5 7600X | Zen 4 | 5nm | 6/12 | ~5.2GHz | 38MB (32+6) | 65-125W | ~$200 US |
News source: Videocardz
