From the Ryzen 1000 series based on Zen architecture to the Ryzen 5000 series based on Zen 3 architecture, the AM4 platform has witnessed AMD's phoenix-like transformation in the past few years.

This year we will see AMD launch the Ryzen 7000 series based on Zen 4 architecture. The new generation processor codenamed Raphael will use the new AM5 platform and support PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory. It also means that the AM4 platform that has been used for many years is about to enter the market. end of life cycle. From the Ryzen 1000 series based on Zen architecture to the Ryzen 5000 series based on Zen 3 architecture, the AM4 platform has witnessed AMD's phoenix-like transformation in the past few years.

After several years, many players may not remember the changes in Ryzen, and AMD’s market situation is also very different. Before the arrival of the Zen 4 architecture and AM5 platform, let us briefly review the changes in the entire Zen series architecture.

Zen (2017): Blockbuster

With the end of the K8 era, and Intel launched the Core architecture in 2006, the balance of x86 processor competition has continued to tilt towards Intel, and it has continued to lose market share. If the K10 architecture can barely resist Intel's offensive, then the " bulldozer " modular architecture directly caused AMD to give up the high-performance processor market and rely on cost-effectiveness (that is, cabbage price), APU and semi-customized business to find the market. The company is still struggling to survive, and is even on the verge of bankruptcy. The stock price has dropped to a minimum of less than 2 US dollars, and it is about to enter the ranks of junk stocks.

In order to survive the darkness before dawn, AMD established a joint venture with Tianjin Haiguang in early 2016 to license the yet-to-be-launched Zen architecture, earning US$293 million in revenue. You must know that AMD's revenue in the first quarter of 2016 was only US$832 million. This transaction gave AMD a chance to breathe. It can be said that AMD has placed all its bets on the Zen architecture during this period.

Although John Taylor, vice president of AMD's global marketing department, once told the media that Zen architecture processors will fully compete with Intel processors in terms of performance, power consumption and specifications, not just in price. However, many people are still skeptical. After all, the gap between AMD and Intel's processors in all aspects during this period is really too big.

In early 2017, the Ryzen 1000 series processors and AM4 platform based on the Zen architecture were released, which can support leading USB, graphics, data and other I/O technologies. AMD finally ushered in the dawn. The Zen architecture has higher performance and lower energy consumption due to dual upgrades in architecture and technology, including:

• SMT multi-threading, each core can support 2 threads
• single CPU Complex is equipped with an 8MB L3 cache
• capacity is increased Larger, more unified L2 cache
• Micro-op Cache
• Equipped with 2 AES encryption units
• High energy efficiency 14nm FinFET process

Compared with the 28nm/32nm process of the original product, the Ryzen 1000 series based on the Zen architecture The processor jumped directly to GlobalFoundries' 14nm FinFET process. The more advanced process not only promoted performance growth, but also significantly reduced power consumption, finally reaching the same level as the Intel Core processor at the time.

The first Ryzen 1000 series are three 8-core and 16-thread products, namely Ryzen 7 1800X, Ryzen 7 1700X and Ryzen 7 1700. Products with an "X" suffix support the XFR adaptive dynamic spread spectrum technology . These processors use AM4 sockets, support dual-channel DDR4 memory , and have built-in PCIe 3.0 controllers, providing 24 PCIe channels. There are also SATA, NVMe, and USB 3.0 controllers. In addition, the VRM power supply module is also in the processor. Internally, the integration is quite high. The smallest CPU Complex module (CCX) with

Zen architecture has four x86 cores. Each core has independent L1 and L2 caches. A single module shares an 8MB L3 cache. The core has changed from the CMT multi-threading technology of the previous generation and adopted a more advanced Mainstream SMT multi-threading. The 8-core and 16-thread product has two CCXs that communicate with each other using high-speed Infinity Fabric. This modular design also set the tone for AMD's processor expansion in the following years.

Compared with the previous modular architecture design, the Zen architecture has made a qualitative leap. AMD originally expected its IPC performance to be 40% higher than the Excavator excavator rack. In fact, it finally exceeded the expected goal with a 52% improvement. In addition, AMD also launched SenseMI technology, which integrates sensing, adaptive and learning technologies, to allow Zen architecture processors to perform better.

At that time, the LGA 115x socket processors used by Intel on the desktop platform could only have 4 cores and 8 threads at most. The Ryzen 1000 series not only greatly improved the IPC performance, but also provided 8 cores and 16 threads, which doubled the scale advantage. , adopting the product strategy similar to " Tianji horse racing". If Intel wants to have the same specifications, it needs to purchase the expensive HEDT platform. It can be said that the successful launch of the Zen architecture has given AMD a shot in the arm. It has come up with products that are on the same level as Intel in terms of performance, power consumption and specifications. It has swept away the haze of the past many years and can finally take a breath this time.

The origin of the name Ryzen

Why did AMD name the new processor Ryzen? This actually comes from Zen.

Zen originally means Zen or Zen. It emphasizes personal cultivation, takes enlightenment and seeing one's nature as the focus of practice, pursues enlightenment, starts cultivation after enlightenment, and ultimately eliminates two obstacles and achieves Buddhahood . Therefore, Zen itself has " The meaning of "self-transcendence" and "nirvana and rebirth". AMD obviously hopes that the new product can achieve self-transcendence and reach a new peak.

Since Zen is a word that is not unique and cannot be registered as a trademark, AMD hopes to combine a name that consumers can easily remember. It coincides with the American NASA's Pluto detection mission, which used a detector called "New Horizons". The second half of the name Horizons is pronounced very close to Zen, and "New Horizons" also means "New Horizons". With a very good meaning, AMD took the second half and combined it with Zen to create the name "Rizen". The pronunciation is close to Risen, which also represents AMD's expectations for the "rise" of Zen architecture processors.

In order to avoid misunderstandings in the pronunciation of the "i" in "Rizen", which is pronounced like "reason", AMD changed the "i" to "y", and thus "Ryzen" was born. The Chinese name " sharp dragon " is probably related to the Chinese people's belief in "dragon" on the one hand, and on the other hand it should mean "unstoppable" or "forge ahead".

Zen+ (2018): Slowly and steadily

The Ryzen 1000 series processors based on the Zen architecture have sounded the clarion call for AMD to fight back. However, there are still many areas for improvement in its design, such as relatively low core frequency and memory compatibility issues. AMD also knows that the success of one generation of products alone is not enough to completely reverse years of competitive disadvantage. It needs to follow up quickly to consolidate the existing results. AMD followed the planned roadmap and released the Ryzen 2000 series processors based on the Zen+ architecture in early 2018.

In response to the shortcomings of the Zen architecture, the Zen+ architecture has made many improvements, including:

• The new architecture has significantly reduced cache and memory delays. The L1 cache delay has been reduced by up to 13%, the L2 cache has been reduced by up to 34%, and the L3 cache It can be reduced by up to 16%, and memory latency can be reduced by up to 11%. The reduction in latency increases the single-threaded IPC of the processor by about 3%.
• adopts the "Girlfriend" 12nm process, which allows the maximum operating frequency of the Ryzen 2000 series processor to reach 4.35GHz, an increase of 250MHz compared to the previous generation product, and the operating voltage is also reduced.
• precision frequency improvement technology Precision Boost has been upgraded to the second generation, reaching a higher main frequency under the same power consumption, while allowing more threads to increase to a higher frequency at the same time, and the load of different threads can increase the frequency to Different levels.
• Adaptive dynamic spread spectrum technology %.
• has launched StoreMI technology software, which is an intelligent storage acceleration tool for computers. It supports SSD of traditional HDD, SATA and PCIe interfaces, and even Intel's D Xpoint, which can use high-speed disks to accelerate low-speed disks. Many improvements to the

Zen+ architecture have also brought good results. For example, memory latency has been significantly reduced, improving the gaming performance of Ryzen processors. At the same time, AMD is also using practical actions to fulfill its promise when the Ryzen 1000 series processors were released, that is, the AM4 platform can be used until 2020. Users who purchased 300 series motherboards can also use Ryzen 2000 series processors based on the Zen+ architecture. Compared with Intel has to change its motherboard every time it buys a new generation of and core . AMD's approach can be described as conscientious.

Since the processor specifications are still behind AMD, and the situation may have exceeded the original plan, Intel began to look a little panicked at this time. Although AMD has been punching continuously, it still has not caused enough damage to Intel. It can only be said that it has recovered its strength.

Zen 2 (2019): Keep up the good work. The success of two consecutive generations of

products, coupled with the positive response from consumers and the market, made AMD full of confidence before the release of the Zen 2 architecture. If the Zen+ architecture is just a minor revision, then the Zen 2 architecture is another major milestone for AMD. The introduction of many new technologies gave Intel no chance to breathe at all, and AMD was once again ahead of Intel.

AMD released the Ryzen 3000 series processors based on the Zen 2 architecture in July 2019. It not only provides specifications of up to 16 cores and 32 threads, but also basically surpasses its competitors' products of the same level in terms of performance. The Zen 2 architecture, developed from the Zen and Zen+ architecture, not only continues the original advantages, but also has many innovations and improvements. Ultimately, it has greatly improved its computing power and expansion capabilities. The main improvements include:

• Kernel optimization - maintains the SMT synchronous multi-thread design of 1 core supporting 2 threads, but provides a larger microinstruction cache, supports 4K instructions AVX2 instruction set, and the L3 cache is doubled compared to Zen and Zen+ architecture, 1 There are 4 integer units and 2 floating point units inside the core. At the same time, a new TAGE branch predictor is adopted, which significantly reduces the prediction error rate by 30%, allowing the processor to spend less time completely dispatching work in the front stage.
• multi- chip package - Each PCB can be installed with up to one IOD and two CCDs. The IOD and CCD are connected through the second-generation Infinity Fabric bus. The bit width is doubled from 256-bit to 512-bit. The unit power consumption reduced by 27%. Each CCD has an area of ​​74mm², has 3.9 billion transistors , and is manufactured using TSMC's 7nm process. The IOD has an area of ​​125mm², has 2.09 billion transistors, and is manufactured using GlobalFoundries' 12nm process. In addition, a CCD contains two 4-core and 8-thread CCX, while the memory, PCIe, USB, SATA controller are moved to the IOD.
• New memory controller - In the past, the memory frequency and the Infinity Fabric bus frequency were 1:1 corresponding, making it difficult to increase the memory frequency. The new memory controller introduces a frequency division mechanism between the IF bus and memory, using DDR4-3733 as the dividing line. Below this frequency, the memory/IF bus corresponds to 1:1, and above it will automatically switch to memory/IF bus 2. :1 frequency division, so that the memory frequency is no longer limited by the IF bus, thereby obtaining higher memory bandwidth.
• supports PCIe 4.0 for the first time - the Zen 2 architecture is the first consumer-grade processor to support PCIe 4.0. AMD provides the X570 chipset, which has 16 PCIe 4.0 lanes and 12 SATA 6Gbps, as well as 8 USB 3.1 Gen 2 interfaces and 4 USB 2.0 interfaces. The introduction of PCIe 4.0 has doubled the bandwidth of the M.2 SSD interface from 4GB/s to 8GB/s.

Based on the Zen 2 architecture, the Ryzen 3000 series is the first processor to use the 7nm process. At the same time, the foundry is no longer GlobalFoundries, but TSMC. According to AMD, the use of TSMC's new N7 process node has achieved twice the transistor density, a 50% reduction in power consumption at the same performance, or a 25% improvement in performance at the same power consumption.Compared with the Zen+ architecture, the Zen 2 architecture has a 21% improvement in single-thread performance, 60% of which comes from the improvement in architecture optimization IPC, and the other 40% comes from the frequency increase brought by the 7nm process.

AMD goes in the opposite direction on the Zen 2 architecture. It abandons the past practice of integrating functions as much as possible in the CPU, and separates the computing core and I/O interface part for more flexible deployment. Trapped in the 14nm process, Intel's desktop Core processor was finally upgraded to 8 cores and 16 threads. Suddenly, the gap widened from process to scale. It was like a heavy punch. AMD completely established multi-threading. The performance advantage has caused many fans to start shouting: AMD Yes!

Zen 3 (2020): A big win. The

Zen 2 architecture makes up for the shortcomings of the previous Zen/Zen+ architecture and puts a lot of pressure on Intel. Although the performance of multi-threaded has already formed a crushing trend, the Zen 2 architecture still has shortcomings. For example, game performance is still far behind. In November 2020, AMD released the Ryzen 5000 series processors based on the Zen 3 architecture. The first batch of products includes four models, namely Ryzen 9 5950X (16 cores and 32 threads), Ryzen 9 5900X (12 cores and 24 threads), and Ryzen 7 5800X (8 cores and 16 threads) and Ryzen 5 5600X (6 cores and 12 threads).

AMD claims that compared with the Zen 2 architecture, the IPC of the Zen 3 architecture has increased by 19%. Such a substantial performance improvement is due to AMD's improvements in many aspects, including:

• front-end improvements - using a faster TAGE branch predictor, and improving the instruction fetch and instruction decoding system.
• execution engine - In terms of integer units, the number of entries in the integer scheduler has been increased and the structure has been optimized. At the same time, the number of floating point execution units has been increased from 4 to 6, and an independent F2I/storage unit has been added for storage and processing. The floating point register file has been moved to integer units.
• reading and storage system - In order to adapt to the changes in the CCX structure, AMD has made changes in the prefetch algorithm to more efficiently utilize the larger L3 cache, and uses new technologies to shorten the storage-read forwarding operation. Delay.
• core CCX - The CCX of the new Zen 3 architecture has been changed from 4 cores to 8 cores, so that there is only one CCX in each CCD. Two independent 16MB L3 caches in a single CCD become a 32MB L3 cache. This Can effectively reduce latency. In addition, AMD abandoned the XBAR bus that it has been using and switched to a ring bus.
• multi-chip package - each CCD has an area of ​​80.7mm², has 4.15 billion transistors, and is manufactured using TSMC's 7nm process. The IOD has an area of ​​125mm², has 2.09 billion transistors, and is manufactured using GlobalFoundries' 12nm process.

AMD carried out a comprehensive and drastic reform on the Zen 2 architecture. When it came to the Zen 3 architecture, AMD focused its attention on CCX and made targeted improvements. The benefits brought by the CCX changes are also obvious, reducing latency in all aspects, which greatly improves the gaming performance of the Ryzen 5000 series processors, making them unable to fight back against the Intel Core processors of the same period.

In addition, AMD launched the Ryzen 7 5800X3D using 3D vertical cache (3D V-Cache) technology, which brings an additional 64MB 7nm SRAM cache to the CCD, increasing the L3 cache capacity of this Zen 3 architecture processor from 32MB to 96MB. , the capacity has tripled. This is the only consumer-grade processor to use this technology so far, and it has pioneered the development of the Zen architecture in the future. After the emergence of

Zen 3 architecture, AMD's market share continues to rise. In the fourth quarter of 2021, AMD's overall market share of x86 processors unsurprisingly hit a record high, reaching 25.6%. By the first quarter of 2022, it increased to an unprecedented 27.7%.

AMD’s success is also reflected in its financial reports. AMD's revenue in 2021 is US$16.4 billion, an increase of 68% compared to 2020, and revenue is breaking records every quarter. With the completion of AMD's acquisition of Xilinx (Xilinx), revenue in the first quarter of 2022 reached a record high of US$5.887 billion, a year-on-year increase of 71% and a month-on-month increase of 22%. AMD's full-year revenue in 2022 is expected to be US$21.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31%.

In addition, AMD’s stock price continues to rise with the success of the Zen series architecture. In the US stock market on July 29, 2021, AMD's stock price soared, historically breaking the $100 mark, reaching an intraday high of $105.732, and the final closing price was $102.950, a single-day increase of 5.13%. By February 15, 2022, according to AMD's stock price after the U.S. stock market closed ($121.47), its market value reached $197.75 billion, which was higher than Intel's market value at the time (approximately $197.25 billion).

This is a historic moment. You know, six years ago, AMD was still on the verge of bankruptcy. Before the release of Zen architecture processors in 2017, AMD's stock price was only about $7. Starting from the first generation of Ryzen processors, it took AMD about five years to finally achieve a counterattack against Intel.

Zen 4 (2022): Offensive and defensive?

AMD officially announced the Ryzen 7000 series processors based on Zen 4 architecture and the corresponding AM5 platform at Computex 2022. However, the specific product specifications have not yet been announced and will meet consumers this fall.

According to AMD, the L2 cache capacity of the Zen 4 architecture core will double to 1MB, single-thread performance will increase by more than 15%, the acceleration frequency will be above 5GHz, and it will support the AVX-512 instruction set. The Ryzen 7000 series processors also have two chips, CCD and IOD. The former uses TSMC's 5nm process, and the latter uses 6nm. It also integrates the RDNA 2 architecture core display and supports PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory. The new AM5 socket retains the original 40×40 mm size of the AM4 socket. In addition to changing the socket type from PGA to LGA, its pins are also increased to 1718, making it compatible with the radiator of the original AM4 platform.

The specific performance of the Zen 4 architecture core will not be known until the Ryzen 7000 series processors are released. Since Intel has enabled a hybrid architecture design in the Core series, and the performance improvement of Alder Lake is quite obvious, it has put a lot of pressure on AMD. What's more, when the Zen 4 architecture comes out, Intel will use the updated Raptor Lake to compete, which will be a big challenge for AMD.

Picture: Zen 3 architecture on the left, Zen 4 architecture on the right

Different from the past few years, the positions of AMD and Intel in the desktop market have quietly changed. AMD has shifted from offense to defense, while Intel's status has shifted from defense to defense. Enter the attack. At present, the Zen 4 architecture shoulders a heavy responsibility. Whether it can withstand the waves of attacks from Intel and consolidate the achievements of past generations of Zen architecture is uncertain.