The Rise of AMD in Laptops: A Competitive Threat to Intel?

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the AMD booth at CES 2020, and I must say, it was an exciting experience. AMD is taking a significant leap forward with their Ryzen Mobile 4000 Series, which promises to bring powerful performance to laptops.

One of the key features of this series is the increased power output, going up to 45W TDP compared to the previous 15W. This means that the same chip can now run at a higher clock speed, resulting in significant performance boosts. For example, instead of base clocks on the U-series being around 1.8 GHz, we're looking at speeds of up to 2.9 GHz.

But what's even more exciting is that AMD is pairing this chip with dedicated graphics, whether it be an NVIDIA GeForce 1660 or an AMD Radeon RX 600M. This means that laptops powered by the Ryzen Mobile 4000 Series will be able to deliver competitive performance in gaming and other demanding workloads.

One of the most significant advantages of AMD's approach is the cost. With the Ryzen Mobile 4000 Series, you're looking at prices that are significantly lower than Intel's Core i7 or i9 options. This makes it an attractive option for budget-conscious buyers who still want powerful performance.

AMD is also making a big push on the low-end side with their new Athlon 3000 Series. While the lower-end Ryzen chips have been lacking, the Athlon Silver and Gold models are essentially rebranded Ryzen processors that offer a similar level of performance at significantly lower prices. This means that budget-friendly systems can now be powered by powerful AMD processors.

But what really caught my attention was the brand new AMD Threadripper 3990X. With 64 cores and hyper-threading, this processor is not for the faint of heart. It's designed for users who need an insane amount of processing power, but in a way that they can actually build a gaming PC out of it.

The fact that even at $3000, this processor is still a great deal compared to Intel's Xeon options makes it an attractive option for high-end users. And with AMD's aggressive pricing strategy, I believe we'll see some significant competition in the laptop market.

Overall, my visit to the AMD booth was extremely impressive. With their Ryzen Mobile 4000 Series and Athlon 3000 Series, AMD is making a strong case for itself as a competitor in the laptop market. And with the Threadripper 3990X on the horizon, it's clear that AMD is ready to take on Intel head-on.

Now, there is actually a lot more to talk about and something that I think very much got overshadowed is the brand new AMD Athlon 3000 Series. So, if you look at the lower end of laptops, you're going to see a lot of AMD, like A12 and A10 processors, and I'm going to be frank, they suck. They're very slow and they're really not usable for a modern system in 2020.

Well, thankfully Ryzen and therefore an extension Athlon has come down to that price level, so a couple of new chips. So there is Athlon Silver and Athlon Gold, in case you're curious about who they're targeting here, essentially these are very similar to the last generation Ryzen chips.

So the Athlon is going into those incredibly cheap systems, this is a 64 core processor. I'm just going to pause for a second, 64 cores, with hyper-threading, for the low, low price of $3990. (clears throat) Well, this is not for the faint of heart, this is not for your average gamer or UrAvgConsumer.

What this is really meant for is someone who needs an insane amount of processing power, but in a way that you can actually build a gaming PC out of it. So with those 64 cores, you're actually getting pretty reasonable clocks, so it's somewhere like 2.9 GHz on all cores, and it will boost well up into four GHz when you're actually going on single core.

But when you look at something like this, it's not really meant for, look you got to be someone whose gonna really take advantage of that many cores, that much memory, this is an incredibly high-end system. But the fact is, even at $3000, that's a great deal compared to Team Blue, right, I mean you're looking at Xeons which are significantly more expensive.

I'm very excited this thing when it goes on sale, actually I believe towardsthe end of this month. So that my friends is what AMD has here at CES 2020. Definitely be sure to subscribe to the channel for more CES content, as well as check out some of our other CES videos here, and here somewhere.

Anyway, thank you very much for watching, I'm going to go continue to be impressed, because that's what it is.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, this is Austin,this little chip is one of themost important new productsthat AMD has released in a very long time.This is the Ryzen 4000 series mobile chipand with it you get a full eight coreswith solid graphics that can fit ina thin and light laptop.It is a very, very big deal.So obviously, AMD has been workingon laptops for quite a while,however for the most part,they've been fine, they've been usable,but in the last couple of yearsthey've started to turn around,ever since Ryzen Mobile came out.Now with it you havereally impressive graphics,and while the CPU and thepower usage wasn't amazing,it was still very usable.However now, they've hit the 4000 series,it looks like they're prettymuch firing on all cylinders.So for context on all of this,over the last couple of monthsI've been using the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1,which does feature thelatest 10th generation,Intel Ice Lake processor,with it I get four cores aswell as a pretty decent GPU.But with Ryzen Mobile the idea is thatthe performance is goingto be significantly better.In the same tiny chip, inthe same 15W power budget,you can all the way to up to eight coreswith even better graphics.Yes, my friends, it's a brave new worldwhere AMD is now making someof the best desktop processorsthat are right up there with laptops too,I mean, obviously it's CES,we haven't had a chanceto benchmark anything.All the laptops are behind a plastic case,because they don't wantme to get near them.But if this is anywhere closeto what I think it should be,it's going to be really, really funto try some of these laptops.The lineup is actuallypretty straightforwardand very similar to whatyou get on the desktop.So, Ryzen 3 isavailable with four cores,kinda similar to whatyou got last generation.However, if you jump up to Ryzen 5,that gets you six cores, withor without hyper-threading,depending on which chip you go for.And then if you up to Ryzen 7,you're getting eight cores,again, eight cores by themselvesor eight cores with 16 threadson the very high end Ryzen 7 chip.Now, that's actuallywhat I've got right hereand the interesting thing here is,that all the Ryzen Mobile chipsare actually using thesame eight core dies.So everything you seegoing down to four or six,it's all going to fitin this tiny form factorand there's pretty wide rangeof the different kinds ofTDP's that you'll find this at.So, at 15W you'll very much see itin some of very thin and light laptops.But if you want to goup to a gaming laptop,such as the Zephyrus,which we took a look at a couple days ago,you're actually getting something which ismuch more in the 35W, 45W range,which is very, verycompetitive with Intel.It's interesting that they're usingthe exact same chip across the board,but they're able to get such good scalingout of not only the Zen 2 cores inside,but also the fact that it isrunning on the 7 nm process.They could just, do that, you know,eight cores and everything, that's fine,don't worry about it.What's cool here is that you're notonly losing a lot of clock speed either,even with the top end Ryzen 7 4800Uit still clocking in at 1.8GHz base and 4.2 GHz boost.That's about what my currentIce Lake system is running at,except that of course this haseight cores instead of four.Now, it's not a complete match withthe desktop version of Ryzen,so there is no PCI 4.0 on this,which isn't particularlyrelevant in the laptop space.As well as it does take advantageof integrated Vega graphics not Navi,so it's a little behind the curve there.But by saying, it's alittle behind the curve,they're still claimingthat it's about 30% fasterthan an equivalent Ice Lake systemand about 30% faster Iwould guess from thatbased on the lastgeneration of Ryzen Mobile.So, what you're getting here issomething which is not to far offfrom like lower end dedicated GPU,think maybe like MX150, MX250,that kind of ball park.Certainly this would be goodenough to play some gameslike 1080p Low,you could also have eight coresto do it at the exact same time.To do it, to game with,wait no, I guess...You can game with all of it,but you have like four extra coresto watch Austin Evansvideos on a constant loop.- Or stream.- Or you could stream...No, but you just watchAustin Evans videoson a constant loop.Really that's what youneed eight cores for,please watch my videos.(ping)Now if gaming is really your thing,you're properly going to want to jump upto the H series processorsand something like the Dell G5,as well as ROG Zephyrus G14.Now with this, it'sbasically the same chip,it's just running at a higher 45W TDPas opposed to 15W.And with that you stillget the eight cores,but you're really able to essentiallyboost it significantly higher.So, opposed to baseclocks on the U-seriesbeing like 1.8 GHz or so,you're up to, I think, 2.9 GHz.But what you're reallygoing to find this with,is that this chip is going tobe paired with dedicated graphics,whether it be like 1660 or a RTX 2060or of course AMD also hastheir own dedicated GPU's.But, the cool thing hereis the gaming laptopson the AMD and Intel sideare about to be very, very competitive.I'm curious to see,AMD is talking a big game,they're talking about how thisis going to be very much equivalentto like a Core i7 or even aCore i9 on the laptop side.And if that's the case.Wow!Yeah!Now it should be cheaper too.So, the Ryzen Mobile 4000 Series willactually be going on sale pretty quickly.So laptops should start shipping somewherein the next two to three months or soand I am really excitedto give them a try.So, obviously the last year or sohas been a very, very huge winfor AMD on the desktop sideand with the mobile side,I feel like they are poised formaybe not quite that same slam dunk,because Intel does havea lot of advantagesin the power side as well as optimization.But if AMD can get close, ifthey can get that much better,I think it is going to bea really interesting year for laptops.I mean, this is, it's a lot of powerfor a very thin, very small computer.I am very excited.Now, there is actuallya lot more to talk aboutand something that I thinkvery much got overshadowedis the brand new AMD Athlon 3000 Series.So, if you look at thelower end of laptops,you're going to see a lot of AMD,like A12 and A10 processors,and I'm going to be frank, they suck.They're very slow and they're reallynot usable for a modern system in 2020.Well, thankfully Ryzenand therefore an extension Athlonhas come down to that price level,so, a couple of new chips.So there is Athlon Silver and Athlon Gold,in case you're curious aboutwho they're targeting here,essentially these are very similarto the last generation Ryzen chips.So they are 12, 14 mm, couldn'tquite get a completely clear answer on that,but essentially, you'regetting a couple Zen cores,either with or without hyper-threading,some level of Vega graphics,which generally speaking,this would be a much,much more usable systemat that $200, $300, $400 price point.I can't image a moredifferent thing to move on tothan the brand new AMD Threadripper 3990X.So the Athlon is going intothose incredibly cheap systems,this is a 64 core processor.I'm just going to pause for a second,64 cores, with hyper-threading,for the low, low price of $3990.(clears throat)Well, this is not for the faint of heart,this is not for your average gameror UrAvgConsumer.What this is reallymeant for is someone whoneeds an insane amountof processing power,but in a way that you can actually builda gaming PC out of it.So with those 64 cores,you're actually gettingpretty reasonable clocks.So it's somewhere like2.9 GHz on all cores,and it will boost well up into four GHzwhen you're actually going on single core.But when you look at something like this,it's not really meant for,look you got to be someone whosegonna really take advantageof that many cores,that much memory, this is anincredibly high-end system.But the fact is, even at $3000,that's a great deal compared to Team Blue,right, I mean you're looking at Xeonswhich are significantly more expensive.I'm very excited thisthing when it goes on sale,actually I believe towardsthe end of this month.So that my friends is whatAMD has here at CES 2020.Definitely be sure tosubscribe to the channelfor more CES content,as well as check out some of ourother CES videos here, and here somewhere.Anyway, thank you very much for watching,I'm going to go continue to be impressed,because that's what happenedwhen I came to the AMD booth today.(gentle music)