Friday, December 15th 2023
AMD Ryzen 8000G Socket AM5 Desktop APU Lineup Detailed
Here is our first look at the higher end of AMD's Ryzen 8000G series Socket AM5 desktop APU lineup. The company is planning to bring its 4 nm "Phoenix" and "Phoenix 2" monolithic silicon to the socketed desktop platform, to cover two distinct markets. Models based on the larger "Phoenix" silicon cater to the market that wants a sufficiently powerful CPU, but with a powerful iGPU that's fit for entry-level gaming, or graphics-intensive productivity tasks; whereas the smaller "Phoenix 2" silicon ties up the lower end of AMD's AM5 desktop processor stack, as it probably has a lower bill of materials than a "Raphael" multi-chip module.
The lineup is led by the Ryzen 7 8700G, a direct successor to the Ryzen 7 5700G "Cezanne." This chip gets the full 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4" CPU, along with its 16 MB shared L3 cache; and the full featured Radeon 780M iGPU with its 12 compute units worth 768 stream processors. The CPU features a maximum boost frequency of 4.20 GHz. This is followed by the Ryzen 5 8600G, which is based on the same "Phoenix" silicon as the 8700G, but with 6 out of 8 "Zen 4" cores enabled, and a maximum CPU boost frequency of 4.35 GHz, and the 16 MB L3 cache left untouched. It's likely that the Radeon 780M is unchanged from the 8700G.Update 13:59 UTC: A CPU-Z screenshot of the Ryzen 7 8700G surfaced, which confirms that it features the maxed out Radeon 780M iGPU
Things get interesting with the Ryzen 5 8500G. This chip is rumored to be based on the smaller "Phoenix 2" silicon. While its CPU is 6-core/12-thread, two of these are "Zen 4," and can sustain higher boost frequencies of up to 3.35 GHz, while four of them are smaller "Zen 4c" cores that run at a lower maximum boost frequency. Both CPU core types feature an identical IPC, ISA, as well as SMT; and AMD's software based OS scheduler optimizations will simply mark the two "Zen 4" cores as UEFI CPPC "preferred cores," so they get priority in processing workloads. This chip gets the full 16 MB of L3 cache present on the silicon.
At the entry level is the Ryzen 3 8300G. This is a quad-core chip based on "Phoenix 2," in that two out of four "Zen 4c" cores are disabled, leaving it with two "Zen 4" cores, and two "Zen 4c." Just like the 8500G, the OS scheduler is made to prefer the two "Zen 4" cores. AMD has also reduced the L3 cache size to 8 MB. Both the 8500G and 8300G feature a physically smaller iGPU that's branded as the Radeon 740M. It only gets 4 compute units (256 stream processors). All four chips feature a TDP of 65 W, and a possible 90 W PPT, which should give them plenty of boost residency compared to their mobile-segment siblings.
In addition to these four chips, AMD is preparing the Ryzen 5 PRO 8500G, which is likely based on the "Phoenix" silicon, with 6 "Zen 4" CPU cores, 16 MB of L3 cache, and a Radeon 780M iGPU. This chip gets the full AMD PRO feature-set, and is designed for commercial desktops.
We still don't see any concrete evidence about AMD enabling the on-chip XDNA Ryzen AI NPU for at least the 8700G, 8600G, and PRO 8500G. "Phoenix" has it, while "Phoenix 2" physically lacks it.
The lineup is led by the Ryzen 7 8700G, a direct successor to the Ryzen 7 5700G "Cezanne." This chip gets the full 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4" CPU, along with its 16 MB shared L3 cache; and the full featured Radeon 780M iGPU with its 12 compute units worth 768 stream processors. The CPU features a maximum boost frequency of 4.20 GHz. This is followed by the Ryzen 5 8600G, which is based on the same "Phoenix" silicon as the 8700G, but with 6 out of 8 "Zen 4" cores enabled, and a maximum CPU boost frequency of 4.35 GHz, and the 16 MB L3 cache left untouched. It's likely that the Radeon 780M is unchanged from the 8700G.Update 13:59 UTC: A CPU-Z screenshot of the Ryzen 7 8700G surfaced, which confirms that it features the maxed out Radeon 780M iGPU
Things get interesting with the Ryzen 5 8500G. This chip is rumored to be based on the smaller "Phoenix 2" silicon. While its CPU is 6-core/12-thread, two of these are "Zen 4," and can sustain higher boost frequencies of up to 3.35 GHz, while four of them are smaller "Zen 4c" cores that run at a lower maximum boost frequency. Both CPU core types feature an identical IPC, ISA, as well as SMT; and AMD's software based OS scheduler optimizations will simply mark the two "Zen 4" cores as UEFI CPPC "preferred cores," so they get priority in processing workloads. This chip gets the full 16 MB of L3 cache present on the silicon.
At the entry level is the Ryzen 3 8300G. This is a quad-core chip based on "Phoenix 2," in that two out of four "Zen 4c" cores are disabled, leaving it with two "Zen 4" cores, and two "Zen 4c." Just like the 8500G, the OS scheduler is made to prefer the two "Zen 4" cores. AMD has also reduced the L3 cache size to 8 MB. Both the 8500G and 8300G feature a physically smaller iGPU that's branded as the Radeon 740M. It only gets 4 compute units (256 stream processors). All four chips feature a TDP of 65 W, and a possible 90 W PPT, which should give them plenty of boost residency compared to their mobile-segment siblings.
In addition to these four chips, AMD is preparing the Ryzen 5 PRO 8500G, which is likely based on the "Phoenix" silicon, with 6 "Zen 4" CPU cores, 16 MB of L3 cache, and a Radeon 780M iGPU. This chip gets the full AMD PRO feature-set, and is designed for commercial desktops.
We still don't see any concrete evidence about AMD enabling the on-chip XDNA Ryzen AI NPU for at least the 8700G, 8600G, and PRO 8500G. "Phoenix" has it, while "Phoenix 2" physically lacks it.