AMD will launch a new 7nm Navi GPU, Rome to UC in the 3rd quarter

In its call for results, AMD provided a bit more detail on the launch of its next-generation processors, built on the Zen 2 architecture and 7-nm TSMC manufacturing process, as well as on the new GPU architecture, Navi , again built on 7 nm. The server-oriented EPYC chips (codenamed Rome) are expected to be delivered to customers in the third quarter of this year, as will Navi-based video cards.

Last November, AMD presented the details of the Zen 2 design. It brings a number of architectural improvements to strengthen some of the weakest areas of Zen (for example, it now has native units 256-bit floating point to handle AVX2 instructions, the original Zen system only had 128-bit units, workloads in chunks). But the new approach to building processors is perhaps even more significant. Zen used four-core modules (managing eight threads), with two modules of this type per chip. The main Ryzen processors used a chip; the passionate Threadripper line used two chips (first generation) or four chips (second generation), and the server-oriented Epyc range used four chips. Each chip is a complete processor containing cores, cache, memory controllers, PCIe and Infinity Fabric connections for I / O, integrated SATA and USB controllers, and more.

Zen 2 will continue to use several chips, but this time the chips will be more specialized. There will be 7nm chiplets, each containing processor cores, Infinity Fabric cache and links, and a 14nm input / output chip, containing memory controllers, Infinity Fabric connections and SATA and USB controllers. Components at 7 nm should provide higher clock speeds and lower power consumption than their 14 nm predecessors. However, the components of the I / O matrix do not generally benefit from higher clock speeds. In fact, they can not – PCIe, USB, SATA and even memory – all have to operate at predetermined speeds because their performance is governed by the bus specifications. The extra performance margin offered by 7 nm is wasted. By keeping these parts at 14nm, AMD is likely to be able to reduce costs (because well-established 14nm manufacturing should be cheaper than the new, more advanced 7nm version).

The Rome processor will have up to eight core chiplets, for a total of 64 cores and 128 threads, and will support up to two sockets. These pieces are already being sampled and will be ready for launch in the third quarter. AMD, however, made no mention of the Ryzen chips of the 3000 series. It is thought that these will be announced at Computex later this month, but for the moment, it seems that AMD is focusing primarily on the server market, more lucrative.

AMD's new Navi GPU architecture also uses 7 nm. AMD is already building 7nm GPUs, such as its Radeon VII using Vega architecture. Unusually, the company said Navi's first pieces would be sold at a lower price than Radeon VII, worth $ 699. This suggests that, rather than launching with a high-end GPU, AMD will start with a mid-range main part. AMD has revealed very little information about Navi, refusing to specify whether the chip would offer ray tracing acceleration comparable to that of Nvidia's RTX components. But with a launch next quarter, the company will have to reverse the beans as soon as possible.