8/7/2023 0 Comments Zen 3 architecture![]() The Intel Core i9 10900K I tested in 2020, which was rated at 125 W TDP (Thermal Design Power, an indicator of the heat that needs to be dissipated by your CPU cooler), easily hit 300 W when pushed to the limit. ![]() Intel’s 10 th Gen Core architecture called Comet Lake was fast, beating Zen 2 on the gaming front, but could only do so while running incredibly hot and consuming a tremendous amount of power. ![]() Intel’s response was, for lack of a better phrase, a hot mess. This, again, brings down the cost of manufacturing a CPU because yields are higher - a smaller chip has fewer points of failure. Zen 2, which arrived in 2019, was a big upgrade, introducing chiplets, a 2 nd Gen Infinity Fabric that was far more efficient, a larger cache (think of it like RAM, but on a CPU), a 7 nm manufacturing process, and support for PCIe Gen 4 (doubling bandwidth to GPUs and PCIe-based storage).Ĭhiplets are small chips that can be manufactured separately and integrated into a larger die. Their biggest achievement, I think, was forcing Intel to reduce prices and double the core counts in its CPUs. Teething issues and developer support aside, this challenge played a significant role in keeping AMD’s earlier architectures - Zen and Zen+ - from offering real competition to Intel in 20. The downside to this approach is, of course, the difficulty in keeping these discrete modules in sync. Do note that Zen 3 currently tops out at 16 cores, but previous designs did hit 64-core cores. AMD could simply add more CCXs to the design and build 6 (1x 6-core CCX), 8 (1x 8-core CCX), 12 (2x 6-core CCX), 32 (4x 8-core CCX) CPUs with relatively minor modifications to the design. This design not only allows AMD to mix and match these CCXs as required, but it also allows AMD to scale up the design with relative ease and offer more cores at a relatively low cost. AMD’s Infinity Fabric handles internal communication between the CCXs and the IO die. The CCX is a 6-core or 8-core unit that handles processing, while the IO die handles communication between the CPU and the rest of the components (RAM, storage, GPU, etc.). ![]() Whether you’re buying a quad-core Intel CPU or a 10-core one, the entire CPU is, for all intents and purposes, functioning as a single unit.ĪMD’s distributed approach, on the other hand, splits the CPU into two primary components: the CCX and IO dies. A flaw in a single transistor could ruin an entire chip. This is great for efficiency and performance, since everything operates at the same frequency - so to speak - but the design is difficult to scale up and expensive to manufacture. Intel’s monolithic architecture means that a CPU is essentially designed and manufactured as a single unit. Zen 3 also introduced “chiplets”, where each component (Like the CCX) can be manufactured separately. If we think of a CPU as a factory, where data (raw material) is processed into a finished product, Intel’s approach is akin to Tesla’s Gigafactory where everything happens under one roof, and AMD’s to a more distributed approach involving smaller factories (called Core CompleX or CCX) and a complex system for communication (that AMD calls Infinity Fabric) between these mini factories. If you’d like to skip straight to the data, head to part II of the review here. This will help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of the chips, and inform our purchase decision. So… which CPUs should we be buying in 2021? AMD vs Intel: Designīefore we dive in, it’s worth looking at how AMD and Intel have approached CPU design.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |