WebProNews

Tag: Ryzen

  • System76 Debuts Updated AMD-Based Pangolin Linux Laptop

    System76 Debuts Updated AMD-Based Pangolin Linux Laptop

    System76 has unveiled a new and updated version of the Pangolin, its AMD-based Linux laptop.

    System76 is a US-based computer maker that specializes in Linux-compatible machines. Each component is selected for maximum compatibility, so users don’t have to worry about their WiFi or Bluetooth not working reliably. Whereas most of System76’s laptops are Intel-based, the Pangolin is the company’s AMD offering, including both an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U CPU and an AMD Radeon 680M GPU.

    The fully redesigned Pangolin is ready to impress! Sleek magnesium alloy build, beautiful 15-inch display, and up to 10 hours of battery life round out its portfolio. Pursue ambition from any location. With all eyes on your System76 laptop, you’re bound to meet new allies along the way.

    The new model comes with 32GB of RAM and two M.2 SSD NVMe slots that can be outfitted with up to 16GB of storage.

    Pangolin is the only System76 laptop powered by both an AMD Ryzen processor and AMD Radeon graphics. The CPU—a Ryzen 7 6800U chip—tackles both at fast speeds for work and relaxation. Operate applications 40% faster and experience fluid responsiveness thanks to a higher bandwidth from DDR5 RAM and PCIe 4.0 storage.

    Another nice feature is the Privacy Switch, a hardware switch that gives users the ability to instantly kill the laptop’s camera.

    Like all of System76’s machines, the Pangolin comes with a choice of Ubuntu or the company’s own Pop!_OS Linux distro. PoP!_OS is based on Ubuntu, but System76 updates the kernel, graphics drivers, and select other packages to ensure maximum compatibility and performance with newer hardware. The distro also includes a number of productivity features, such as a tiling window mode, which we will cover in more detail in an upcoming review as part of our Linux Distro Reviews series.

    In the meantime, users wanting the latest AMD Linux laptop can order the System76 Pangolin starting at $1,299.

  • Intel’s CEO: ‘AMD In the Rearview Mirror…Never Again In the Windshield’

    Intel’s CEO: ‘AMD In the Rearview Mirror…Never Again In the Windshield’

    Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger released a video on LinkedIn welcoming the new year, and took the opportunity to take a major swipe at rival AMD.

    Intel has had a rough few years, with the company losing its once undisputed dominance in the semiconductor industry. TSMC is now the world’s largest chipmaker, and AMD has released a steady stream of competitive chips — in the form of its Ryzen line — that have challenged Intel across its various markets. The company has seen some high-profile defections among its customers, thanks to the performance and efficiency of AMD’s latest designs.

    According to Gelsinger, however, those days are in the past, thanks to Intel’s Alder Lake line of chips.

    “Alder Lake, all of sudden, boom! We are back in the game! AMD in the rearview mirror in clients, and never again will they be in the windshield,” Gelsinger said.

    A number of the commenters who responded to Gelsinger’s post were quick to point out that Intel is still technologically behind AMD. While Intel has barely made the move to 10nm processors, AMD is already on 7nm, and will soon move to 4nm.

    Benjamin Banks, a self-processed “Linux nerd,” wrote:

    Intel launched a 10nm processor in November 2021, 364 days after AMD launched their 7nm chip, and somehow you claim superiority? Intel’s arrogance is staggering. AMD are about to launch a 4nm chip, while still Intel lags behind in what can only be described as a legacy manufacturing process.

    Patryk Jarosz, Information Technology Technical Specialist at IKEA, voiced similar sentiments:

    It also speaks volumes how they claim superiority with much newer product… Lets see how this stands up to whatever AMD will bring out in few months, shall we? 

    There’s no doubt Gelsinger is in the process of turning Intel around and helping it get back on track. As many of the comments point out, however, the company still has a long way to go before AMD is truly in the rearview — if that scenario is even still possible.

  • PSA: AMD and Microsoft Fix Ryzen Slowdown With Windows 11

    PSA: AMD and Microsoft Fix Ryzen Slowdown With Windows 11

    AMD Ryzen users can finally update to Windows 11 without taking a major performance hit, thanks to a pair of updates.

    Windows 11 is Microsoft’s much-anticipated update to its long-running operating system (OS). The OS brings a host of new features and refinements, but it came with a particularly nasty issue for AMD users: Ryzen chips experienced significant slowdowns due to a bug that caused the Level 3 cache to take a major performance hit.

    The two companies have released a fix, in the form of the latest Windows update and AMD Chipset Driver 3.10.08.506.

    AMD users should update immediately.

  • AMD Ryzen Performance Takes Another Hit With First Windows 11 Patch

    AMD Ryzen Performance Takes Another Hit With First Windows 11 Patch

    Windows 11 offers many welcome improvements but has spelled trouble for AMD Ryzen users, and the first patch makes it worse.

    Reports quickly emerged that Windows 11 was poorly optimized for the Ryzen processors, resulting in decreased Level 3 cache performance.

    Users hoping the first Windows 11 patch would fix the problem are in for a disappointment, as the new patch actually makes it worse, according TechPowerUp. The issue can result in a up to a 15% loss of performance.

    Fortunately, it appears Microsoft and AMD are working on the problem, with a fix rumored to be coming later this month.

  • Windows 11 CPU Requirement Angering Users

    Windows 11 CPU Requirement Angering Users

    Microsoft has announced its upcoming Windows 11 and, while there’s much to like, its CPU requirements are upsetting some users.

    Windows 11 is the next major iteration of the Windows operating system. It includes a number of major new features, not the least of which is the ability to run Android apps, both from the Microsoft Store and via sideloading.

    The OS CPU requirement, however, will leave many users out in the cold, even those with relatively new, powerful devices. According to Microsoft, Windows 11 will only support Intel 8th Gen Core and AMD Ryzen 2000 series and newer CPUs. Older CPUs will not be able to run the new OS.

    Particularly surprising is the fact that the company’s own Surface Studio 2 runs the older Intel 7th Gen Core CPU, meaning it will not be able to run Windows 11 despite costing over $3,000.

    While leaving older hardware behind is a common practice for Apple, Microsoft has traditionally supported older hardware longer as a result of the larger user base and the company’s focus on the business market. Microsoft is clearly willing to break with tradition to bring to market the benefits and security upgrades Windows 11 promises.

  • Intel’s Troubles Mount As Hedge Fund Urges Action

    Intel’s Troubles Mount As Hedge Fund Urges Action

    Third Point LLC, an activist hedge fund, is urging Intel to make changes to address its falling status in the chipmaking industry.

    Once the undisputed leader in chipmaking, Intel’s processors were used in everything from mobile devices to PCs to servers. Unfortunately for the company, it failed to keep up with changes in the industry, especially with the rise of mobile processing.

    Designed by Arm Holdings, ARM chips are known for their outstanding performance to power consumption ratio. ARM-based chips power iPhones, iPads, Android devices and, most recently, computers. In the case of Apple’s Mac platform, the ARM-based M1 offers superior performance to comparable Intel chips while using a fraction of the energy. The result are machines that run cooler and have much longer battery life.

    Intel, in contrast, has struggled to offer that winning combination of performance and efficiency. The company struggled to move to 7nm processors, has had issues keeping up with demand and been plagued with “unfixable” security issues. The company has also lost some of its best engineers, including Jim Keller and Murthy Renduchintala.

    To make matters worse, AMD has been chipping away at some of Intel’s stronghold markets, especially with its Ryzen line of chips. The Ryzen 3000 took aim at the desktop, the 4000 series made headway in the mobile market and the 5000 is challenging Intel in the gaming market. Meanwhile, the Threadripper Pro is challenging Intel’s server dominance.

    Intel’s issues have reached the point where the company is even considering outsourcing its chip production.

    Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb wrote to Intel’s chairman, Omar Ishrak, urging the company to take action to address its issues, according to Reuters.

    “Without immediate change at Intel, we fear that America’s access to leading-edge semiconductor supply will erode, forcing the U.S. to rely more heavily on a geopolitically unstable East Asia to power everything from PCs to data centers to critical infrastructure and more,” Loeb wrote.

    One of the suggested remedies was “separating its chip design from its semiconductor fabrication plant manufacturing operations, according to the sources. This could include a joint venture in manufacturing, according to the sources.”

    It’s unclear if Intel will respond, although Third Point’s nearly $1 billion stake in Intel could make it hard to ignore. Either way, one thing is clear: Intel must figure out a way to turn its business around before it’s too late.

  • AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Is More Bad News For Intel

    AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Is More Bad News For Intel

    The reviews of AMD’s Ryzen 5000 chips are in, and it’s more bad news for Intel.

    AMD’s Ryzen is one of the company’s most successful line of chips and has been making significant inroads against Intel. The popular Ryzen 3000 chips challenged Intel on the desktop.

    AMD next went after Intel’s mobile market with the 4000 line of chips. Mobile chips is an area where Intel had always been unmatched, offering a combination of performance and efficiency AMD couldn’t match. For the first time, the Ryzen 4000 put AMD in a competitive race with Intel for the mobile market.

    AMD followed up with the Threadripper Pro CPU, designed to take on Intel’s Xeon line. Like the Xeon, Threadripper Pro is aimed at the workstation market.

    Now AMD is going after the gaming industry with the Ryzen 5000 series. As TechRadar points out, AMD has long had the advantage in multi-threaded performance, while Intel was the king of single-threaded tasks. The Ryzen 5000 changes, with the end result being a line of processors that has almost every advantage over Intel.

    With the Ryzen 9 5900X, along with other processors in the lineup, like the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, there is no reason to buy an Intel processor for your next gaming PC. Not only does AMD have the better performance across the board, but because Intel still hasn’t implemented PCIe 4.0 support, AMD processors are more fully-featured and future-proof, too.

    Intel has had a string of issues. The company has struggled to keep up with demand, to move to 10nm and 7nm processors and is even considering outsourcing their manufacturing. Meanwhile, Apple is moving away from Intel in favor of its own chips. AMD’s Ryzen 5000 is just the latest evidence that Intel is no longer the undisputed king of the chip business.

  • AMD Buying Xilinx For $35 Billion

    AMD Buying Xilinx For $35 Billion

    AMD has reached an agreement to buy Xilinx for $35 billion, as AMD continues to gain ground against Intel.

    In early October, news broke that AMD was in talks to buy Xilinx. Xilinx specializes in making chips for the telecommunications industry, although it has also expanded to the datacenter market, a lucrative field where Intel has long been dominant.

    In recent years, especially with its Ryzen line of chips, AMD has been chipping away at Intel’s lead in the semiconductor business. The acquisition of Xilinx should help it do so even more.

    “Our acquisition of Xilinx marks the next leg in our journey to establish AMD as the industry’s high performance computing leader and partner of choice for the largest and most important technology companies in the world,” AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su said. “This is truly a compelling combination that will create significant value for all stakeholders, including AMD and Xilinx shareholders who will benefit from the future growth and upside potential of the combined company. The Xilinx team is one of the strongest in the industry and we are thrilled to welcome them to the AMD family. By combining our world-class engineering teams and deep domain expertise, we will create an industry leader with the vision, talent and scale to define the future of high performance computing.”

    “We are excited to join the AMD family. Our shared cultures of innovation, excellence and collaboration make this an ideal combination. Together, we will lead the new era of high performance and adaptive computing,” said Victor Peng, Xilinx president and CEO. “Our leading FPGAs, Adaptive SoCs, accelerator and SmartNIC solutions enable innovation from the cloud, to the edge and end devices. We empower our customers to deploy differentiated platforms to market faster, and with optimal efficiency and performance. Joining together with AMD will help accelerate growth in our data center business and enable us to pursue a broader customer base across more markets.”

    The deal was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close by the end of 2021.

  • AMD Takes On Intel Xeon With Threadripper Pro CPU

    AMD Takes On Intel Xeon With Threadripper Pro CPU

    The hits keep on coming for Intel as AMD rolls out its Threadripper Pro CPU, aimed at taking on the Intel Xeon.

    Intel’s Xeon processors are aimed at workstations and offer a number of advanced features not found in their consumer CPUs. In recent years, AMD has been making significant strides against Intel, as the latter has struggled to keep up with demand and move to 10nm processors.

    In particular, AMD’s Ryzen line of CPUs have won almost universal praise, and further illustrated how far Intel has fallen. Now the company has released its Ryzen Threadripper, aimed at the same workstation market as the Xeon.

    “AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO Processors are purpose-built to set the new industry standard for professional workstation compute performance,” said Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Client business unit. “The extreme performance, high core counts and bandwidth of AMD Ryzen Threadripper Processors are now available with AMD PRO technology features including seamless manageability and unique built-in data protection5. Even the most demanding professional environment is addressed with the new AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO line-up, from artists and creators developing breathtaking visual effects, to architects and engineers working with large datasets and complex visualizations, all brought to life on the most advanced professional workstation platform in the world6.”

    AMD is launching the CPU in conjunction with Lenovo, who is offering the chip in the ThinkStation P620.

    “Our customers need class-leading, innovative solutions to power through the most demanding applications,” said Rob Herman, General Manager, Workstation and Client AI Business Unit, Lenovo. “By leveraging the AMD Threadripper PRO Processors for our newest workstation, the ThinkStation P620, we can offer users the smarter solutions to create complex models, render photorealistic imagery or analyze geophysical and seismic interpretations, while offering crucial security and scalability features to ensure safe and effective operation for our professional users.”

    This is great news for IT professionals, AMD and Lenovo. For Intel, this is just the latest in a string of bad news, including the loss of one of their leading chip designers and Apple moving to its own custom silicon.