The Exciting World of AMD Zen and Next-Gen Platform

We are live here at PA, where I am joined by Don from AMD to discuss some exciting developments in the world of Zen and next-generation platforms. Don, thanks for joining us today.

"Well, I know everyone's super excited about Zen," Don begins, "and that's understandable. Zen is attached to the upcoming AM4 platform, which will be available in OEM systems starting on September 5th. This marks an exciting milestone for AMD, as it will be the first time our next-generation platform is made available to consumers."

The AM4 platform promises a lot, with support for DDR4 2400 MHz, USB 2.1, and Gen 2 NVMe interfaces. Don highlights that this platform will enable users to experience the latest and greatest in storage and connectivity technology.

"Now, it's worth noting that while the OEM release of AM4 is coming first," Don adds, "we still have some work to do before we can fully unleash the power of Zen on consumers. The overclockable CPUs on the platform, known as Summit Ridge, will be available later. We haven't announced a specific date yet, but rest assured that custom motherboards and other peripherals will be released around the same time."

Don also discusses the upcoming availability of Summit Ridge processors, which have been benchmarked against Intel's 6900K in recent tests. The results are promising, with AMD coming out on top in the Blender Benchmark.

"We're really excited about how well Zen is performing," Don says, "and we believe it has the potential to make a big impact in the high-end enthusiast space. We've been working hard to bring this technology to market, and it's great to see that our efforts are paying off."

In addition to the next-generation platform, Don also mentions AMD's acquisition of talent from other companies. He highlights Scott Watson, who has joined AMD as part of a team aimed at improving the performance and efficiency of their GPUs.

"Scott is an amazing guy," Don says, "and his expertise in frame time variance will be invaluable to our team. We're thrilled to have him on board and believe that his input will help us push the boundaries of what's possible in GPU technology."

Finally, Don mentions AMD's growing market share, which has been boosted by the success of their RX 480 and RX 470 graphics cards.

"We've seen some amazing sales numbers lately," Don says, "and it's clear that our Enthusiast products are resonating with gamers. We're excited to see how this trend continues as we move forward."

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso we at PA and this is day two and I'm joined here by Don here is from AMD he's qualified to speak on some things involving Zen and also some upcoming products from AMD so what do you you got to say to the audience well I I know everyone's super excited about Zen and of course Zen is attached to the uh upcoming am4 platform and that am4 platform will see the light of day in OEM systems uh starting on September 5th uh you'll start to be able to buy these These are of course our nextg platform supporting ddr4 2400 um of course USB 2.1 uh you know uh Gen 2 nvme all the newest IO um so this is our first launching of that am4 platform on desktop now it won't be available in the channel for some time we haven't announced that availability but uh in OEM systems it'll be the first chance for people to see what what our nextg platform can do so the OEM release is coming first you guys heard it from AMD themselves that's coming in the OEM system so we won't see Summit Ridge until a little bit later that's the overclockable CPUs on the platform and then the custom motherboards obviously coming out around the same time yeah exactly I mean uh we haven't announced a date for those things but they'll be coming out together in the channel uh you know when we have uh some Ridge available obviously we'll have platforms for it and stuff so you can build your own from the parts but for now it's all bundled OEM systems in theory those sockets those am4 socketed systems would accept a Summit Ridge um processor but of course we'd have to I mean that the C it is the oems would have to support that with a bias Flash and uh we can't guarantee that but and also the recent Benchmark we saw from AMD with the The Summit Ridge CPU being up against the 6900k from Intel we saw eight Calles versus eight Calles 16 threads versus 16 threads now I did speak to Don yesterday and that was in relation to the uh blender Benchmark and the AMD actually came out in front by a little bit yeah we did Zen's looking just amazing uh it's very exciting time for us we're really excited to bring that product to Market uh where we can actually really offer something relevant to the really high-end Enthusiast space again I know a lot of people have been asking us for that and uh we we uh it took us a little while but uh the process technology has caught up with us and and it's really exciting how well this Parts come out internally we've been very very excited for a long time but just a little bit more of a weight yeah so it's just a little bit more of a weight for Zen I know a lot of you guys are pumped out there I myself am pumped I'm wanting to get one of these motherboards want to get a CPU overclock it see how it works also any word on vager as well I know a lot of the enthusiasts are waiting on the top end AMD graphics card there uh I don't think we can say anything more about Vega yet except uh it's looking good also um the only thing we have to talk about this weekend to pack is uh the availability of the new FX 8300 CPU uh that's a CPU we previously offered in Asia now it's available in the rest of the world uh full eight cores uh great little part 95 Watts so not not uh the top of our power draw and uh with a nice high 4.2 GHz boost clock so a great little part we've actually got uh it running VR in the background here so some other questions you guys wanted to know was about the obviously those stock prices coming through the roof recently with AMD which would signal a comeback and one thing that I've noticed from behind the scenes is AMD also acquiring a lot of talent now I speaking with dom before and he was uh working with Tom's Hardware for approximately 10 years was it with the GPU side of things and I know Scott Watson's on board they've got a lot of new talent coming in I think this is AMD making a really big push it is a really big push uh we are trying to fit people in right positions uh Scott Watson's amazing that he's the first guy to really take a hard look at uh you know frame time variance uh so that kind of input is really I think what we need in the in the in the GPU industry I think I think he's helping push us in directions we really need to be going in um so I mean you know anytime you can get somebody of that caliber it's great and of course as as we go on and gain more market share back with Zen and and am4 uh I I think we'll see that Trend continue for sure and and now before we get out of here I will just introduce you guys to Jerry as well he's actually going to talk about the rx4 series and how they come out with a bang I mean we've seen the rx480 just selling out everywhere over the charts got the rx470 introduced and the 460 and they're actually taking it head-to-head with Nvidia with their GTX 1060 especially the 480 right yeah of course I mean like our RX 480 or 470 and 460 have actually done really well uh in the market like we I go on newegg.com every day I'm seeing them like out of stock like every single day so I mean that's a testament to how well they're they're selling I mean like we targeted this to uh the majority of Gamers 84% of gamers are looking for you know just mainstream under $200 cards and I I feel like we've really hit the mark on that one well I definitely the statistics agree with AMD actually pulling ahead with some Enthusiast market share there so that's a great thing to see them crawling back in the market especially where they needed I think with the big strong word of mouth comes from those Gamers and those people who actually know a lot about tech would you agree they've been doing uh quite well like uh I'm actually not too sure about the sales numbers for that but like honestly like if more people are buying them they're they're seeing like how great our Enthusiast products are and I mean if that trickles down to more and more market share it's all good for us well that's what we want to see AMD more market share more good news for you guys cuz that means better products more competition love it thank you thank you very much and thank you Don AMD has been acquiring a lot of talent we are in the worst part of the Arena I I think we got a rock band here we got an announcer behind us so thank you for doing the interview my pleasure man that for doing all the gravis and those people who actually know a lot about tech would you agree oh sorry\n"