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Intel prepare la riposte a Ryzen en coulisse • CPC Hardware

Intel prepares Ryzen's response behind the scenes

Last autumn, Intel's marketing teams published a succinct presentation on future AMD processors based on Zen (Ryzen) architecture. The goal was then to reassure the sales people and offer them a rationale to answer their customers' questions. In essence, the presentation indicated that there was nothing to fear from Zen (especially on the performance side).
Since then, things seem to have changed. The latest reports confirm that the upcoming Ryzen - which will be officially announced on March 2 - represent a serious threat to Intel's hegemony. Intel's communication department is now trying to avoid at all costs the humiliation that would represent a Ryzen comparable to the Core i7 6900K (1200 €) for a much lower price. Adjustments to the tariff schedule are becoming inevitable and are being finalized. Nonetheless, this is a last-resort solution that represents a confession of indisputable weakness. In the rest of the range, the response is also organized.
Kaby Lake pushed into the trenches to counter Ryzen
According to one of our sources, Intel would be sampling several new Quad Core processors based on the Kaby Lake architecture.
[Edit 17/02/06 - 18h50] Presence of HT on the 7640K
Following the publication of this news, several sources contacted us about these two pieces of information. All confirm the existence of the Core i7 7740K and the Core i5 7640K but we get conflicting information about the presence or not of HyperThreading on the Core i5 7640K. Our sample should arrive at the end of the week, we will confirm the presence of this functionality and all the specifications (frequencies, TDP, etc.).
- First we find the Core i7 7740K . It has 8 MB of L3, with a base frequency of 4.30 GHz (100 MHz more than the Core i7 7700K) at the price of a significantly higher TDP (> 100W against 91W).The Turbo frequency is not known, but should logically be 4.60 GHz.
- One of the other sample takes the name of Core i5 7640K . At first glance, this is also a speed bump of the Core i5 7600K: Quad Core, 6MB L3, 4.0GHz base frequency for the 7640K against 3.8GHz for the 7600K. On the TDP side, it would also climb above the 100W. But there is much more interesting: the Core i5 7640K would have active SMT (Hyper-threading), a first for a Core i5 Desktop. This modification profoundly upsets the segmentation of the different "Core". Until now, the Core i5 were distinguished from the Core i7 by the absence of Hyper-threading.
Indeed, it should not be forgotten that an identical evolution has already taken place between the Pentium and the Core i3 in the world of Dual Core: the Kaby Lake versions of the Pentiums now benefit from Hyper-threading, while this functionality was Previously reserved for Core i3 only. The arrival of the HT on the Core i5 is however a last-minute maneuver, presumably intended to counter the Ryzen CPU. They benefit in fact from the SMT in almost the whole range (4, 6 and 8 cores), only one model Quad Core being deprived.
We should very soon have access to a Core i5 7640K, which will allow us to confirm this information and give you more details about the frequencies in Turbo mode. Given the excitement at Intel, and according to the first tests on final Ryzen processors, other models could quickly complement these CPUs. Conversely, Intel is currently testing the Core i5 7640K and 7740K with its major customers but does not guarantee them a final sale. The manufacturer wants to ensure that it can respond almost immediately (within a few days) in case AMD changes its plans at the last minute. However, the validation of new processors is a time-consuming process, especially when they incorporate sensitive modifications such as activation of HT on Core i5. However, the democratization of 4C / 8T models in the mid-range would remain very good news for consumers. Proof of the concrete interest of healthy competition, absent for too long.
Quad Core Ryzen always in search of MHz. Hope for Intel?
The Santa Clara giant had certainly not anticipated the level of performance achieved by the Zen architecture. Nevertheless, it should not bury Intel too fast. The new AMD CPUs clearly pose a concern for the price positioning of the most expensive models (at 6, 8 or 10 cores). Thanks to their frequent frequency, the SMT and the number of embedded cores, the most high-end versions of Ryzen offer excellent performance on highly multi-threaded applications, that is to say, Set of available cores. For the rest, especially for Quad Core and video games, the latest information that has come down to us creates doubt. As we wrote in our article, the frequency of Ryzen Quad Core should be between 3.8 GHz and 4.2 GHz base to compete effectively with the Intel range. But we are far from it. The current quasi-final samples are limited to 3.2 GHz in base frequency. This is very insufficient and especially surprising since the two 8-core models reach 3.4 / 3.8 and 3.6 / 4.0 GHz.
Why a frequency so low on the Quad Core while the Octo Core go much higher? One can first imagine that a Turbo mode particularly swift will come to save the furniture, but currently, we have no information in this sense. For now, we only have access to the 6- and 8-core versions of the Ryzen in stepping B and we do not know the Turbo frequencies of the Quad Core B-Step. We can, however, risk a comparison. Between stepping A0 and B, the turbo mode of 8-core models increased by 400 MHz at best from 3.6 to 4 GHz. In stepping A0, Quad Core were clocked at best at 3.4 GHz (for 2.9 GHz base). In stepping B, the Quad Core Ryzen should therefore be at 3.8 GHz. It's still far too little to compete with the next Core i5 7640K for example. This situation seems all the more strange since AMD seems determined to sell Ryzen with 8 cores clocked faster, which proves that the architecture can reach more frequencies. So what?
A yield problem on the 14 nm of GF?
A potential yield problem on the 14nm Globalfoundries process may well explain this situation. We now know that the first 4- and 6-core Ryzen will be based on 8-core non-functional cores, with AMD providing the ability to easily disable multiple cores, whether or not they are in the same CCX. Perfectly aware that demand will focus on Ryzen as soon as it leaves , AMD could logically choose to recycle its defective dies to the maximum by turning off some cores ... and lowering the frequency. The cores contained in the dies may in fact be faulty in two ways: either they do not work, or they turn out to be unstable at the expected frequency. By taking out CPUs with half the cores disabled and which, in addition, remain limited in frequency, AMD can recycle as many defective dies as possible and limit the breakdown financially.
However, such a situation is not sustainable in the medium term. The Wow Effect that AMD is looking to create with its strongest Ryzen chip will only hide disappointing performances of the rest of the range (if the frequencies do not evolve by the launch). The end of the NDA and the release of the first official tests in the press will give a foretaste of the situation: if AMD just sampler journalists only with its chip 8C / 16T at 3.6 / 4.0 GHz, forgetting the 4C declinations, There will be a wolf. Then, if the problems are proven, they can significantly impact the bulk availability of the chip ... or cause a much higher price than expected. AMD unfortunately has little latitude on production since it no longer has manufacturing plants. Nevertheless remains a last resort: leave Globalfoundries (or at least find another foundry with whom to work in parallel). Coincidence strange, AMD would be in the process of negotiating with ... Samsung.
 
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