AMD Updates Ryzen Mobile CPU Numbering System Ahead of Mendocino APU Launch

With all eyes on the imminent launch of AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 desktop processors, the chipmaker is rolling the wheels for the future of its mobile product lineup. And while we’re still quite a ways away from the first Zen 4 mobile parts, more pressing on AMD’s roadmap is a Zen 2 based Mendocino SoC aimed at mainstream laptops. They are set to launch in the quarter and to prepare for that launch, AMD is today updating its mobile processor numbering scheme to accommodate these future products.

Simply put, the new numbering system is very similar to AMD’s previous system (such as the Ryzen Mobile 6000), but the company now assigns numbers to represent the version of the Zen architecture used. . AMD plans to bring Zen 2 (Mendocino), Zen 3 (Rembrandt), and eventually Zen 4 (Phoenix) mobile APUs to market all at the same time, so AMD will be looking at the architecture used underneath. has determined that it is necessary to better disclose the The “necessary evil”, as former AnandTech CPU editor Dr. Ian Cuttress put it, is AMD’s improper practice (perceived or not) of misleading customers by offering multiple versions of the Zen architecture. ) is intended to avoid

So, without further ado, here are the decoders for AMD’s Ryzen Mobile product line for the next few years.

From top to bottom, The first digit is now explicitly the model year numberAMD is picking up where they left off here with their current Ryzen Mobile 6000 series offerings and starting with the 7000 series for the 2023 model year offerings. To do.

The Mendocino APU will be the first product to use the new numbering system, even though it launches at the end of 2022, so ‘model year’ is the operative term here. Ability to fold end-of-year products into the next calendar year.

In keeping with AMD’s APU mixing, this gives AMD more leeway to recycle/refresh existing parts for future model years by increasing model years. Indeed, AMD has already done this with parts such as the Renoir/Zen 2 based Ryzen Mobile 5000 chips, causing some of the confusion AMD is trying to solve with its new numbering system. This is a compromise, as OEMs want “current” model year number parts and AMD isn’t going to do a complete overhaul of their mobile APU architecture every calendar year. AMD updates hardware as development and market conditions permit.

on the other hand, The second digit remains as the chip market segment, indicates whether it is a Ryzen 3, 5, 7, or 9 part. AMD has been using this number fairly loosely over the years, increasing it broadly for higher segment parts, and that practice is set to continue under the new numbering system. The 9 and 7 will be Ryzen 9 and 7 respectively, and the 8 will split into both Ryzen 9 and Ryzen 7. Ryzen 5, on the other hand, uses 5 and 6, and finally Ryzen 3 uses 3 and 4.

that: The third digit is the Zen architecture versionThis is very simple and takes a value that each version of the Zen architecture matches. For example, Zen 2 is 2 and Zen 3 is 3.

As mentioned, this is the biggest and most important change to AMD’s numbering scheme. With the upcoming launch of his Zen 2 based Mendocino APUs, it is in AMD’s best interest to clearly disclose the CPU architecture used. Architecture like Zen 4. of various chip architectures while making the necessary disclosures to avoid misleading consumers.

Rounding the number gives The fourth digit is the minor performance segment of the chip.Even with seven major market/performance segments, AMD often offers several chips in each segment. The fourth digit is therefore used as the final factor to indicate whether this is the faster or slower (higher or lower) chip within that market segment. In particular, there are currently only two planned values ​​for the fourth digit, 0 and 5. 0 is lower segment part and 5 is faster. There’s also plenty of room for additional value if AMD chooses to introduce his 3rd chip (like the 3rd Ryzen 5 753x) within a given market segment.

finally, The suffix still indicates the TDP of the chip.This is unchanged from AMD’s current use of the suffix. So HX is the top 55W+ part, HS is the 35W part, U is the 15W part, lowercase e is the 9W part. However, AMD has dropped the H suffix. The company has not spoken about future products, but this does not imply that his SKU of 45W will be discontinued in order to maintain a clear grouping of 55W and 35W parts.

Meanwhile, the Chromebook-only SKUs will also retain the C suffix to distinguish them from AMD’s regular chips designed for serious laptops. For now, AMD’s Chromebook chips are all 15W to 28W.

Overall, it’s easy to see/predict how future AMD chips will be numbered. Become. On top of that, the Mendocino chip would be placed along the Ryzen 3 7320 line. When AMD launches Zen 4 mobile APUs, it will look something like the Ryzen 9 7945HX. slower Ryzen 9 7940HX and lower power Ryzen 9 7945HS). And taken to a ridiculous degree, this system gives AMD room to do some particularly crazy combinations, such as bringing back Zen+ based Picasso for the Ryzen 9 9915HX in 2025.

Realistically, unless you’re a regular AnandTech reader, you’re unlikely to remember the full details of AMD’s mobile chip numbering system. But by using a consistent numbering system that gradually increases in value according to the chip’s performance, AMD has made more sense of what’s inside and how the chips are meant to compare to each other. You should be able to communicate well.

Above: The Ryzen Mobile decoder wheel that AMD distributed to the press.Less burden than it looks