On Wednesday, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) unveiled its new lineup of Ryzen processors. The Ryzen 7 lineup consists of three products: the 1800X, 1700x, and 1700. All three chips performed better than Intel’s offerings in early tests.
The results are remarkable for AMD, especially after years of being behind Intel concerning speed and performance. What’s more, the Sunnyvale-based company has also beat its rival in cost-effectiveness, offering the new processors for a fraction of the price of competing products.
Officially launching on March 2, Ryzen 7 processors are available for pre-order starting today. The release comes mere months after Intel did the same with their first Kaby Lake products.
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X vs. Intel Core i7-6900K
AMD’s top-of-the-line processor, the Ryzen 7 1800X, is “the world’s highest performing 8-core desktop processor,” and the company has some tests to back up their claims.
Standing against Intel’s Core i7-6900K, the new eight-core King scored 1,601 on Cinebench, 9% higher than its competitor’s mark. What’s more, AMD offers more performance at just half the price: $499 vs. $1,049.
At 3.6 GHz base clock speed and 4.0 GHz when boosted, the Ryzen 7 1800X barely doesn’t outrun Intel’s equivalent completely, which clocks at 3.7 GHz in Turbo mode.
The same thing happens with the two other AMD processors and their Intel counterparts. The Ryzen 7 1700X and 1700 cost $399 and $329 respectively, while the i7-6800K and i7-7700K cost $441 and $349.
With Intel’s next generation of chips not due out until who-knows-when, this leaves the industry giant in an uncomfortable position where it will have to significantly slash prices or come up with an impressive trick to steal AMD’s thunder.
Did AMD cheat on benchmark tests for Ryzen 7 chips?
AMD claims it has designed their latest processors to meet the needs of content creators, PC gamers, and tech enthusiasts. However, these groups appreciate honesty above all, and apparently, the company has not been entirely clear about their procedures.
Intel’s Core i7-6900K and 6800K were configured to run in dual-channel memory mode when they can do so using four channels.
PC World ran their tests and concluded it would have made no difference other than to show Intel’s chips in top form. Both processors still fail to match AMD’s offerings regarding performance.
All three AMD Ryzen 7 processors are available for pre-order worldwide. In the United States, online retailers such as Amazon and Newegg have the chips in stock ahead of launch on March 2.
Source: AMD