The first review of AMD's upcoming Ryzen 7 2700X and the Ryzen 5 2600X processors has been published by the french magazine CPCHardware (via Videocardz). The review shows off that the 12nm Zen+ cores do a good job at improving the already spectacular multi-threading performance and delivering better gaming experience at the cost of higher power consumption which comes from the higher clock speeds.
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600X CPUs Review By French Magazine - Lower Memory Latency, Improved Cache and Higher Clocks Provide Gains At The Cost of More Power Consumption
The French magazine tested a total of three chips that are part of the upcoming Ryzen 2000 series family. These include the Ryzen 7 2700X, Ryzen 5 2600X and the Ryzen 5 2600. Aimed at the main stream high-performance market, the chips will stand loyal with the AM4 platform and while there is a new 400-series chipset launching alongside these chips, the current motherboards are more or less still very capable to house these new entrants. There will be a few features missing if you'll be using the older boards such as Precision Boost Overdrive and XFR2 but these chips are still a whole lot capable when it comes to performance numbers.
The magazine states that while these CPUs are tested on a A320 motherboard, which is the entry level chipset, an upgrade from X370 to X470 doesn't deliver any substantial performance lift which shouldn't affect performance too much. Before moving to the performance numbers, let's take a look at the specifications.
AMD Ryzen 2700X – Flagship 8 Core With 4.35 GHz Clock, 105W TDP and $369 US
First up, we have the AMD Ryzen 7 2000 series products which aim for the high-end sector. There are two processors listed at the moment which include the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 7 2700. Flagship seems to be the Ryzen 7 2700X right now which comes with 8 cores and 16 threads and supports the brand new 12nm process node. The TDP for this chip is maintained at 105W which might seem higher than the 95W on the previous parts but you also get higher clock speeds in return.
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X clocks in at a base clock of 3.7 GHz and turbos up to 4.35 GHz. The chip supports 20 MB of cache, 16 PCIe lanes, 2933 MHz DDR4 memory and ships with the Wraith Prism cooler for a price of just $370 US. AMD is pitting this chip against the Core i7-8700K which costs the same.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X – A 6 Core CPU With 4.25 GHz Boost, 19 MB Cache and $249 US Price
On the Ryzen 5 family, the fastest chip will be the Ryzen 5 2600X which is a 6 core, 12 thread chip that comes with a 95W TDP. This chip is clocked at a base frequency of 3.6 GHz and turbos up to 4.25 GHz. There’s also 19 MB of cache, 16 PCIe lanes and the chip itself ships with a Wraith Spire cooler. AMD is pricing the part at $250 US which puts it next to the Core i5-8600K in competition.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 – A 6 Core, 65W CPU With 3.9 GHz Boost, 19 MB Cache and $200 US Price
The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 comes with the same technical aspects of the Ryzen 5 2600X but has lower TDP like the Ryzen 7 2700 and as such, it comes with lower clock speeds too. The 65W TDP allows for a 3.4 GHz base and 3.9 GHz boost clock while the packaging includes a Wraith Stealth cooler at a price of $200 US which makes it compete against the 8 USD expensive Core i5-8600 SKU.
AMD 2nd Generation Ryzen Specs:
| CPU Name | AMD Ryzen 3 2300X | AMD Ryzen 5 2500X | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | AMD Ryzen 7 2700 | AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Family | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 |
| CPU uArch | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ |
| CPU Cores | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| CPU Threads | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Base Clock | 3.5 GHz | 3.6 GHz | 3.4 GHz | 3,6 GHz | 3.2 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Boost Clock | 4.0 GHz | 4.0 GHz | 3.9 GHz | 4.25 GHz | 4.1 GHz | 4.35 GHz |
| Total Cache | 10 MB (L2+L3) | 18 MB (L2+L3) | 19 MB (L2+L3) | 19 MB (L2+L3) | 20 MB (L2 + L3) | 20 MB (L2 + L3) |
| Memory Support | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 |
| TDP | 65W | 65W | 65W | 95W | 65W | 105W |
| Cooler Bundle | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Spire | Wraith Spire LED | Wraith Prism |
| Price | $130-$140 US | $150-$160 US | $199 US | $229 US | $299 US | $329 US |
| Release Date | TBC | TBC | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 |
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Performance Numbers and Power Consumption Tests
Moving on to the performance numbers, we can see that the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X delivers 14% better performance in multi-threading workloads compared to the last-gen flagship, the Ryzen 1800X. This is a great improvement and we can only expect higher performance on a much more capable motherboard. The Ryzen 5 2600X is 11% and the Ryzen 5 2600 is 8% faster than its older counterpart.
When it comes to gaming performance, the average performance uplift from the Ryzen 7 1800X is around 4% while the Ryzen 5 2600X is around the same at 4.2% better than it's predecessor, the Ryzen 5 1600X. The non X Ryzen 5 2600 is a 4.3% jump over the non-X Ryzen 5 1600. The Ryzen 7 2700X is still 14% slower when it comes to gaming performance compared to a Core i7-8700K or the Core i7-7700K. Games that were tested included GTA V, Grid Autosport, Battlefield 4, ARMA III, X3: TC, The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt and Company of Heroes 2.
Moving on the latency sub-system, we can see much lower latency compared to first generation Ryzen parts which is a direct result of the architecture improvements. Similarly, the boost system on the Ryzen 7 2700X scales much better across all cores compared to the Ryzen 7 1800X, reaching as high as 4.3 GHz on a single core and 4.175 GHz on 2 operating cores.
Last of all, we have the power consumption results which show that the improvements in clock speeds affected the power input. AMD states that the Ryzen 7 2700X has a TDP of 105W, the testing shows that the CPU on stock frequencies was consuming 6.6W on idle loads which is fine but on load, the CPU sipped in 142.6W from the wall. This is a 13W jump in TDP for the CPU alone without any overclocking taken into consideration. The Ryzen 5 2600X seems a jump of 17W over the Ryzen 5 1600X.
The AMD Ryzen 2000 series will be launching on 19th of April so expect more details prior to the official launch.
