Custom PC - UK (2020-01)

RICHARD SWINBURNE / VIEW FROM TAIWAN

OPINION

I

knowthiscolumnwillgetmesomeangrytweets,
butseriously,hearmeout.I understandthatcreating
Threadripperislikegrabbinglow-hangingfruit
whenAMDisalreadymakingEPYCchipsthatarepractically
thesame.However,it’smissingoutonbiggeropportunities
byfocusingitsscantresourcesona newThreadripper
platform,whichtheforthcoming16-core/32-threadRyzen 9
3950Xwillalreadysufficientlyserve.
That’sbecause,attheotherendofthemarket,Intel’srecent
pricedropsmeanAMDhasnoproductstoeffectivelycompete
withtheIntelCorei3-9100FandCorei5-9400F.Whilea lot
ofenthusiastswillindulgeina Corei9-9900K
orRyzen9 3900X,moreCPUsattheother
endofthescalearesoldtoDIYfolksbuilding
capablerigsona budget.AMDhasitsRyzen
3 3200GandRyzen5 3400Ghere,butthey’re
basedontheZen+core,ratherthanthe
considerablymoreappealingZen2.
Accordingtodatafrommindfactory.de
(oneofthefewplacesthatprovideinsightintoindividual
CPUsales),salesoftheseAPUsrepresentonlya fractionof
thoseofthe6-core/12-threadRyzen5 3600,whichisthenext
CPUupthestack.Tome,it’sevidentthata quad-core/8-thread
Zen2 optionatthe£100-125markwouldbeveryattractive,
especiallywhentheIntelalternativeslackHyper-Threading.
AMDdidrecentlylaunchthe6-core/6-threadRyzen5 3500X,
butit’sanexclusivechipforitssystempartnersonly– it
needstobeavailabletotherestofus!
It’spossible,ofcourse,thatAMDiswaitingtoclearthe
channelofoldRyzen2000-seriesparts,whicharenowbeing
heavilydiscounted.If so,I hopeit willlaunchmoreaffordable

Ryzen3000-serieschipsinsyncwiththeupcomingB

chipsetrelease.Evenifentry-levelchipsdon’thavehuge

profitmargins,they’llhelptogrowAMD’smarketshareeven

further,andre-establishthemindsetthatAMDisn’tjust the

cheapoption,buta realblow-for-blowcompetitorwithIntel,

whichwillultimatelybenefitcustomers.

Theplaceforbetterprofitsisthegaminglaptopmarket,

whichisoneofthefewPCspacesthat’sstillgrowing.Thanks

toIntel’spriorsupplyissues,AMDhasfinallygotitsfoot in

thedoorofthelaptopmarketthisyear.However,again, it’s

sadlyonlyservingitwitholderZen+productsinsteadofits

latestandgreatestZen2 microarchitecture.

Ontheplusside,AMDhasjustlaunched

itsRadeonRX5500MGPU,whichisbased

onthelatestNaviarchitectureandis

provingtobecompetitiveinmid-range

performance.However,it’softenbeing

pairedwithRyzen7 3750Hand3850H

processors,whichareslowerthanIntel’s

alternatives.AMDneedstopushZen2 intoitslaptop

platformassoonaspossibletohitthehottest-selling

season(Nov-Dec),oritwilllosemomentum.Thesechips

don’tneedtobeAPUs– theyjustneedtobeversionsof

thedesktoppartswithTDPoptimisationsviaclockspeeds

andboostalgorithmstolimitthemto35-45W.

I’mnotsayingThreadripperisn’tgreat,butmostpeople

arenevergoingtoneedone,whereaslotsofpeoplebuy

high-performancelaptopsforgaming,creativeworkand

a close-to-desktopexperience.Insteadofsatisfyingour

salaciousneedforthehottestbenchmarknumbers,AMD

needstopushintobudgetrigsandgaminglaptops.

POSTPONE THREADRIPPER

Hot benchmark numbers are all well and good, but AMD really needs to

address the holes in its Zen 2 line-up first, argues Richard Swinburne

Richard has worked in tech for over a decade, asa UKjournalist,onAsus’ROGteamandnowasanindustryanalystbasedinTaiwan @ricswi

It’s evident that a quad-

core/8-thread Zen 2

option for £100-

would be very attractive