AMD Confirms, Zen On Track For Q4 2016 Availability On High-End Desktops

[csbin]

http://www.computerbase.de/2016-01/amd-ceo-lisa-su-interview/

Speaking about AMD’s plans for 2016 in a round table discussion at CES 2016, CEO Dr. Lisa Su confirmed that Zen CPUs are on track to be available by the end of 2016 for high-end desktops. Su expressed her excitement about Zen, explaining that she has personally been inundated with requests from enthusiasts saying “we want Zen sooner”

 

[Aristotelian]

Does information exist (leaks, or otherwise) showing a potential Zen cpu lineup? I am curious whether or not Zen is meant to compete with Skylake, Broadwell-E, or both.

 

[Sweepr]

And the rest of the news that you left out:

As such the first Zen CPUs from the earliest production runs will be available before the end of the year, with significant expansion in volumes by 2017.

But this 8th-gen APUs come under the existing state only in about 18 months.

So no APU till H2-2017. Hello Cannonlake.

 

[Arachnotronic]

And the rest of the news that you left out:





So no APU till H2-2017. Hello Cannonlake.

Correct.

 

[moonbogg]

APU? Who the hell wants an APU? I thought people were interested in Zen being a high end desktop part? If someone wants low performance, low power, low cost, low this, low that, low low low boring low low low, they have plenty of crappy options right now regarding which "APU" to choose.
I want to know if Zen is going to give gamers and enthusiasts something to get excited about if they want a lower cost but still kinda high end chip. That's what Zen is supposed to do. So not low cost, but just lower than Intel's good stuff. Zen should be a sandy bridge for like $400 or something. That's what people are excited to hear about.

 

[Raftina]

The HEDP FX chips target a very different market than the APUs. They also have a different release date. I do not see any problems with separately stating the availability of the HEDT FX chips. After all, we see no issue dedicating separate threads to Skylake and Skylake-E.

 

[coercitiv]

Correct.

Did we have prior data pointing out Zen APUs for Q4 2016?

 

[Sweepr]

The HEDP FX chips target a very different market than the APUs. They also have a different release date. I do not see any problems with separately stating the availability of the HEDT FX chips. After all, we see no issue dedicating separate threads to Skylake and Skylake-E.

No problem at all, but both were mentioned in the link provided. Perhaps a separate APU thread is appropriate anyway.

Did we have prior data pointing out Zen APUs for Q4 2016?

A few days ago it was speculated HBM-enabled Zen APUs were coming in 2016:

 

[fourdegrees11]

Sweet, I'm excited to see something competitive from AMD again! I'll be interested in a 6c/12t chip priced under an i7, if it can OC as well as the current Intel X99 chips

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yea, but if you read carefully, 2017 is the time frame for easy availability. I still think 2016 will be token at best availability, and Su basically said as much.

 

[MrTeal]

No problem at all, but both were mentioned in the link provided. Perhaps a separate APU thread is appropriate anyway.




A few days ago it was speculated HBM-enabled Zen APUs were coming in 2016:

That wccftech article was junk, as most of them are. The image didn't come from a paper written by Mike Mantor, it was from the doctoral thesis of someone and one of the the judges at its defence was Mike Mantor. You can read the whole thing here.
https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01248522/document
The thesis was approved at the end of 2015, so most of it was likely written in 2014/early 2015, and revised/submitted middle of 2015. Considering in the same chapter that shows this Zen roadmap the author says the most recent Intel CPU uarch is Haswell, and that the most recent AMD GPU discussed was Volcanic Isles in 2014, and that Carrizo had been announced but not released, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the how current that roadmap is.

I doubt the wccftech author read the paper or did anything other than look at the picture and hit publish.

 

[Arachnotronic]

I doubt the wccftech author read the paper or did anything other than look at the picture and hit publish.

That's WCCFTech's M.O.

 

[William Gaatjes]

I sure hope so. I predicted ZEN will come in 2016 in the 2016 prediction thread in ATOT.

 

[Fjodor2001]

WccfTech actually made some comments themselves about that the 2016 release schedule for Zen based APUs seemed a little strange:

http://wccftech.com/xbox-one-may-be-getting-a-new-apu-based-on-amds-polaris-architecture/

Additionally, the Zen based APU is also shown featuring HBM memory with 128GB/S of bandwidth. Which is the amount of bandwidth a single 4-Hi stack of first generation HBM can deliver. And that’s surprising, considering that in 2016 second generation HBM is expected to come to market with Nvidia’s Pascal and AMD’s Arctic Islands graphics chips. What’s even more peculiar is that the compandy did not announce any Zen based APUs for 2016. Instead, at AMD’s Financial Analyst Day Zen based APUs and enterprise class products were said to be coming in 2017.

I think the main news in the article was that it looks like there are Zen based APUs with HBM on the roadmap. So the news was not primarily the release date which they did not say much about other than the quote and illustration posted above.

 

[mysticjbyrd]

Does information exist (leaks, or otherwise) showing a potential Zen cpu lineup? I am curious whether or not Zen is meant to compete with Skylake, Broadwell-E, or both.

no

WccfTech actually made some comments themselves about that the 2016 release schedule for Zen based APUs seemed a little strange:

http://wccftech.com/xbox-one-may-be-getting-a-new-apu-based-on-amds-polaris-architecture/

I think the main news in the article was that it looks like there are Zen based APUs with HBM on the roadmap. So the news was not primarily the release date which they did not say much about other than the quote and illustration posted above.

I will eat my metaphysical hat if Zen Desktop + APU comes out in 2016, and I am all out of ketchup.

HBM seems like an obvious move.

 

[Fjodor2001]

I will eat my metaphysical hat if Zen Desktop + APU comes out in 2016, and I am all out of ketchup.

Zen APU I don't see happening in 2016. AMD has given no such indication. Zen CPU is possible though, but perhaps a small volume Skylake/Broadwell-type of launch, with full availability in early 2017. Just guessing though of course.

HBM seems like an obvious move.

Yep, and it could be a really nice combo. Zen cores + 14 nm + HBM. Potentially it could finally pass the threshold where APUs become good enough for decent desktop gaming.

 

[cbn]

So no APU till H2-2017. Hello Cannonlake.

Another thing AMD needs to consider beyond Cannonlake (for APU competition) is people using external dGPUs (via Thunderbolt III or usb-C) with their laptops.

That leaves mobile gaming on the battery as an area they need to get right if they want the large APUs to take.

 

[LTC8K6]

All in all CEO Lisa Su was very optimistic about 2016. “The overall expectation is that AMD will be a better year from a financial standpoint compared to 2015,” Su also said she believes that by the same time next year everyone will say “AMD is back!”.

That sounds like a 1Q17 comeback brag...

Okay, I can wait at least that long to see if AMD turns around.

 

[frozentundra123456]

What is she supposed to say "We are screwed and going out of business"?

 

[mysticjbyrd]

What is she supposed to say "We are screwed and going out of business"?

Zen was delayed to 2017?

 

[Fjodor2001]

If that was the case yes, but the comment from AMD states the contrary. The Zen CPU is still on track for 2016Q4 release so far.

 

[el etro]

I bet Zen APUs six months later than Zen FX.

 

[Fjodor2001]

That sounds like a 1Q17 comeback brag...

Okay, I can wait at least that long to see if AMD turns around.

I wonder how long we'll have to wait until there are performance benchmarks leaked, and when AMD will publish benchmarks? Hopefully we'll get some indication to how it performs ahead of launch. Both AMD and Intel has been very secretive the last few years though, not giving up much details ahead of launch... :\

 

[mrmt]

If that was the case yes, but the comment from AMD states the contrary. The Zen CPU is still on track for 2016Q4 release so far.

She's the last person to be allowed to do that, and if she does, she ought to be fired right away.

 

[Azuma Hazuki]

That secrecy doesn't surprise me. Skylake has been kind of disappointing, Broadwell was all but MIA on desktop and had an almost nonexistent mobile lifespan, and you must remember what a complete failbomb Bulldozer was after all that hype. I think both companies play their cards closer to their chest now, and I can't blame them at all.

AMD especially has reason to be circumspect, doubly so if Zen here is actually an Intel killer. They will want the element of surprise if so. If not, they will not want to kill their market in utero.