14 SEPTEMBER 2019 |COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 379
AMDISARGUABLYhaving adefining year in
2019,ifits recent Computex and E3 showcases
are anythingto go by.
At Computex in Taiwan, the chip maker
revealed five upcomingnext-generationRyzen
CPUs and the RadeonRX 5700, its first graphics
card built on its new Navi architecture.
The processorsuse AMD’snew Zen
7-nanometrefabricationprocess.Topofthe pack
is the Ryzen 93900X, a12-core,24-thread chip
runningfrom 3.8GHzto 4.6GHz,with a70MB
cache,built aroundathermaldesign power (TDP)
of 105W.Expect to payinthe region of $499 (around£390).
UsingthesameTDP,theRyzen73800Xhaseightcoresand16threads,
starts at 3.9GHzand tops out at 4.5GHz,has 36MB of cache,and will cost
$399 (£316). The Ryzen 73700X is pretty much the same as its sibling but
uses a65W TDP,and runs from 3.6GHzto 4.4GHz. It will cost $329 (£260).
The Ryzen 53600X has six cores and 12 threads,a95W TDP and 35MB
total cache,with clock speedsof 3.8GHzto 4.4GHz. Expect to pay$
(£200).Finally,the Ryzen 53600 is the same,but has alower 65W TDP
and alower clock speed of 3.6GHzto 4.2GHz.It will cost $199 (£160).
At E3 in LA, AMD took the covers off what it calls the ‘world’sfirst’
16-core,32-thread gamingprocessor,the Ryzen 93950X.The CPU packs in extra cores but still has the
same TDP as the 12-coreRyzen 9. It can hit atop
speed of 4.7GHzout of the box, but overclockers
at E3 managedto coax 5.37GHzout of it.
Set to cost $749 (£588),the Ryzen 93950X is
the most expensivemainstreamRyzen processor,
but when comparedagainstIntel’s £1,800 18-core
i9-9980XE,AMD’stopCPU looks good value.
On the graphicsside,AMD has the RadeonRX
5700 and RX 5700 XT; the latter was revealed at
E3. Both are Navi-basedcards, which come based
on a7nm fabricationprocessand have AMD’s
new RDNA core architecture,which finally replacesthe company’s
venerableGraphicsCore Next architecture.
The RX 5700 has 36 computeunits, 2,304 streamprocessors,8GB of
GDDR6RAM and atop clock speed of 1,625MHz,all adding up to a
potential 7.95 teraflopsof performanceforaprice of $379 (£297).
The RX 5700 XT builds upon that, with 40 computeunits and 2,
streamprocessorsto work with, alongside8GB of GDDR6video RAM and
aclock speed that runs up to 1,905MHz.All that equals apotential
9.75Tflops on tap for$449 (£353).There’s also a50th AnniversaryEdition
of the RX 5700 XT,which has the same specs but runs up to 1,980MHzto
deliver up to 10.14Tflops for$499 (£392).SAYWHAT?AMDreveals3rd-generation Ryzenprocessors
CONCERNSOVERHUAWEI’Sallegedlinks to the Chinesegovernment
and the supposedrisk that poses to US securityhas seen atrade ban
slappedon US companiesfrom using and selling technologyto anyone
viewedas athreat by the Americangovernment.
The ban is thoughtto be aimed directlyat Huawei,alongsidethe
company’ssubsidiaries.It has arguablybeen on the cards forsome
time,asthus farunfoundedconcernsthat Huawei
telecomsequipmentcould be used to spyonthe US
and its allies have been percolatingin the Trump
administrationforawhile.
Althoughthe concernsare centredaround
telecomsinfrastructureequipmentsuch as 5G
hardwareand networktechnology,the ban covers
Huaweias awhole.Asaresult, Googlehas pulled its
full Androidlicence forHuawei phones,and Intel and
Qualcommcan’t supply the Chinesecompanywith
chips and other hardwareforits products.
The ban is pretty bad news forHuawei, as not only
does it lose access to two of the world’smajor chip makers,it also loses
access to the full-fat versionof Google’s mobile operatingsystem.
Huaweiwill still have access to the open-sourceversionof Android,
but core Googleservicessuch as the PlayStore,Gmail, Chromeand
YouTube will be out of the company’sgrasp once atemporaryreprieve
from the licence ban expireson 19th August.As aUSfirm, Microsoftalso looks as if it will be forced to stop
providing Windows10 licencesto Huawei’slaptops. The companyinitially
pulled Huaweilaptops from its online store,but at the time of writinghas
put them back on sale in amovetoclear inventory; after that, it’s likely
there’ll be no more Huaweihardwareon the MicrosoftStore.
Huawei’sresponseat the time seemedto be amix of
pragmatismand annoyance.
“RestrictingHuaweifrom doing businessin the US
will not make the US more secure or stronger;instead,
this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more
expensivealternatives,leaving the US laggingbehind in
5G deployment,and eventuallyharmingthe interests of
US companiesand consumers,”the companysaid.
Yetasmore US companiesmoved to acquiescewith
the US trade ban, Huaweishaved off $30bn from its
predicted revenuesfor2019,which is quitethe hit.
“Wedid not expect theywould attack us on so
many aspects,”said HuaweiCEO RenZhengfei.
ARM, which offers processordesignsand instructionsets forHuawei’s
Kirin mobile chips, also moved to cut ties with the company.Although
ARM is based in the UK, it develops some processordesignsin the US,
and thus was concernedit has to complywith the US trade restrictions.
This would put Huaweiin the positionof needingto make its own chips
from scratch, with no componentsderivedfrom US tech or suppliers.USgovernmentforces techgiantsto shun Huawei
SAYWHAT?