AMD’s 2nd-gen Ryzen processors for desktop computers are up for pre-order starting today and they’ll be available starting April 19th.
The new chips come in 6-core and 8-core variants, use have TDPs between 65 watts and 105 watts and sell for between $199 and $329.
The new chips include a number of updates over the original Ryzen chips that shipped in 2017, including:
- They’re manufactured using a 12nm process, down from 14nm.
- They use a new Zen+ architecture.
- The new models have higher base and turbo frequencies than their equivalent 1st-gen predecessors.
- AMD has introduced a new X470 chipset.
Overall you should probably expect a decent performance boost from the new models… although we’ll have to wait until next week for the embargo detailed reviews to lift before we see real-world performance notes.
Here’s an overview of key specs for the first four Ryzen 2 chips, which all have 2000-series model numbers:
| AMD Ryzen 2000 dekstop chips | |||||||
| Processor | Cores | Threads | Base clock | Turbo clock | Smart prefetch cache | TDP | Price |
| Ryzen 7 2700X | 8 | 16 | 3.7 GHz | 4.3 GHz | 20MB | 105W | $329 |
| Ryzen 7 2700 | 8 | 16 | 3.2 GHz | 4.1 GHz | 20MB | 65W | $299 |
| Ryzen 5 2600X | 6 | 12 | 3.6 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 19MB | 95W | $229 |
| Ryzen 5 2600 | 6 | 12 | 3.4 GHz | 3.9 GHz | 19MB | 65W | $199 |
If that chart looks familiar, it’s because these are basically the same detailed that leaked in March, although it turns out some clock speeds are a bit higher than expected and some prices are a bit lower than anticipated.
AMD says motherboards with the new AMD X470 chipset will launch alongside the new processors on April 19th, and for the first time the AMD 7 2700X CPU will come bundled with a Wraith Prism cooler.
Other processors come bundled with Wraith Spire or Wraith Stealth coolers.
I definitely just had to read this twice to realize that Ryzen 2 was the second generation of Ryzen and not a new entry-level tier (a la Ryzen 3, 5, 7).
It’s always great to see AMD get more competitive, but they could do a bit better with the naming… :-/
If the reviews look good, I think I will be ready to buy.