this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2024
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Somebody please explain AMD's current CPU lineup. (lemmings.world)
submitted 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I was looking for a new Laptop for my personal use. I shortlisted Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 with AMD's Ryzen 9 AI 365. Then I was searching around and found they released a new lineup of Ryzen 9000 series just a month after the AI 300 series's launch.

I am confused here. So confused that I am debating whether to buy a processor with AI jargon in its name.

Will there be good Linux support for this NPU enabled laptops or should I go ahead and buy a ThinkPad P14s with Ryzen 8840HS inside. Both are about similar in price and only thing that keeps me from buying its 60Hz panel (No OLED 120Hz display where I live).

I use Gnome on EndeavourOS.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I go to https://www.amd.com/en/products/specifications/processors.html quite often, as I can filter on any CPU specification and pull up the technical details I need right away.

For the AI 365, https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/laptop/ryzen/300-series/amd-ryzen-ai-9-365.html, AMD specifically lists Ubuntu and Red Hat as supported.

Ryzen 8000-series, https://www.amd.com/en/products/processors/laptop/ryzen/8000-series/amd-ryzen-7-8840hs.html, same story.

So, to actually answer your question, I think going with the AI 300 series might be a little premature. I tend to wait a generation, sometimes two, before adopting a new architecture or CPU model. There's just no telling what bugs need to be ironed out, what lessons were learned in the fabrication/design process, and so on.

The Ryzen 8000 series is built on a stable, time-tested platform. I would go with that, unless you are the adventurous type.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

This is not correct. The mobile chips have changed their naming scheme in 2022 to an potentially misleading scheme, where the first number does not mean the architecture but the year it released. See https://www.xda-developers.com/amd-processors-explained/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Ryzen 9000 and AI 300 are Zen 5, 8840 is Zen 4.

There is also generally no connection between the name of the model and actual hardware generation, AMD is known to sell old CPUs under new names (yes they are scummy like that). For example Ryzen 7000 can be Zen 4, Zen 3 or even Zen 2. You need to look up specific model name to learn what CPU core it has. So far though Ryzen 9000 and Ryzen AI are all Zen 5.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

AMD has a very specific model naming convention. The 3rd number dictates the zen architecture. 7020 is zen 2, 7030 is zen 3etc. It's extremely clear once you know how their 4 digits break down. It's not scummy, it's not shady, it's very, very clear.

https://www.howtogeek.com/amds-cpu-naming-scheme-in-laptops-explained/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

Uh no, they have like 4 or 5 different naming schemes in currently relevant CPUs. The one you explained isn't even the most current one and most of them aren't even unambiguous.

For someone not intimately familiar with AMD's line-up, the only good way to figure out the CPU core IP used in any given processor is to look it up for that specific processor.

Nerds like you and I have followed it over the years and can immediately tell that a 5300g is zen2 while the 5400g is clearly zen3 and that Ryzen AI 300 or whatever awful name they thought of is Zen5 but by the time someone unfamiliar followed a flow chart to figure that out, they might as well look up the specific CPU.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

to play devils advocate, its good for people who understand the numbers its terrible for people who ungabunga big number da better.

its on a similar boat to how acer names its monitors (the letter nonsense on a acer monitor tells you what features it has without having to read the spec sheet e.g the I's in the name represent how many HDMI ports it has)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Which Ryzen 7000 is Zen2?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Mendocino, which I think is 7X2X