First introduction to the AM5 platform. A small review of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X processor, ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Gene board and Kingston Fury DDR5-6000 memory

In the previous material, we already got acquainted with the new AMD Zen 4 architecture, which, in addition to the transition to finer technological standards, brought us a new design of the processor itself, respectively, a socket and the need for a new chipset with memory. But this has its advantages — new, more modern interfaces and increased speed. For all this, you still have to pay a lot of money.

In this review, we will take a closer look at the new products, namely the 7000 series processor, the X670E chipset and the DDR5 memory, which has built-in AMD EXPO profiles.

AMD Ryzen 7000

New AMD processors, like the previous ones, have a chiplet layout, but unlike the 5000 series, they are manufactured according to 5-nm standards for CCD and 6-nm for IOD. This affected the increase in operating frequency and speed. Of course, it was not without architectural features. The Ryzen 7000 model line, as happens in AMD at the start of sales, now includes four processors: two top-class and two mid-level. All of them are based on the Raphael kernel and have an AM5 design, which requires new motherboards to install. They are also equipped with 1024K L2 cache memory per core and support DDR5-5200, which is better than the competition, which officially works with DDR5-4800. They also have a built-in weak graphics core consisting of two CUs and operating at a frequency of 2200 MHz.

The working frequencies of the Ryzen 9 7950X are equal to 4500 MHz, which can automatically increase to 5700 MHz in turbo mode. Looking ahead, I can say that under an average load on all cores, this processor can function at a frequency of 5000-5200 MHz and accelerate to 5750 MHz in single-threaded tasks. And this is under AiO 280mm cooling! In general, a good result, which is worth the increase in power consumption — the TDP level is now equal to 170 W (PPT 230 W) against 105 W (PPT 143 W) in the predecessor. It is also cheaper than the Ryzen 9 5950X at the start of sales, which cost almost $800. The slightly more affordable Ryzen 9 7900X with 12 cores is not so fast in auto-overclocking, but its base frequency is 4700 MHz. Its price is $549.

The more affordable Ryzen 7000 can also boast increased frequencies compared to their predecessors. Yes, the Ryzen 7 7700X works at 4500 MHz, but can be overclocked to 5400 MHz, the TDP remained the same at 105 W. Its price is $399 — like the Ryzen 7 3800XT at the start. The Ryzen 5 7600X model has a base of 4700 MHz, which is 1000 MHz more than the Ryzen 5 5600X, and can be overclocked to 5300 MHz, but its TDP has increased to 105 W (versus 65 W in the old model). It costs $299.

Ryzen 9 7950X

The 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X was the first representative of AMD’s new line of processors to arrive. He was without anything, so let’s get to him right away.

As you can see, the CPU with the AM5 connector has a new heat distribution cover and “belly” like Intel processors with Socket LGA – still, the number of contacts has increased from 1331 to 1718 pieces.

If compared with the AM4 processor, the physical dimensions of the novelty are almost the same, but the area of ​​the cover has decreased slightly due to the cutouts.

It also became 30 percent thicker, so that compatibility with cooling systems under Socket AM4 could be maintained. In addition, this thickness can even out sharp temperature jumps when the processor is loaded.

In idle mode, the Ryzen 9 7950X runs at a frequency of 3600 MHz, which can increase depending on the number of computing threads and temperature.

The maximum frequency that was recorded was about 5750 MHz, while the processor was cooled by the usual AiO Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280.

But this is when loading with one flow. If it will be some kind of stress test, then the frequency will be 4850-5250 MHz after 15 minutes of operation. Moreover, the processor will warm up to 95 (!) degrees and will stick to this indicator, reducing power if necessary. And this is at 20 °C indoors.

In more applied applications, the frequency will rise to the level of 5050-5300 MHz, and the CPU will also tend to heat up to its maximum temperature. Fortunately, the test ended early.

In 3DMark, the temperature was already more pleasant, “only” 85 degrees, and the frequency was fixed at the level of 5790 MHz!

All these tests were carried out using standard cooling and DDR5-5200 memory mode, but it’s time to switch to custom and DDR5-6000, for which we activate the EXPO profile.

In this case, the frequency rose to the level of 5050-5300 MHz, the temperature was again 95 °C, but the power was already 91 percent of the maximum PPT mark instead of the 86% that was with AiO. In 3DMark, the result became better, and the temperature decreased by one degree. A frequency jump to 5920 MHz was also recorded (we do not take 8 and 14 GHz into account, because the software is still very raw and can make mistakes).

No more testing was done, because there was only a few hours, and we still have to compare with competitors…

AMD X670E

Along with Ryzen 7000 processors, AMD released new X670(E) and B650(E) chipsets, which differ in the number of supported interfaces.

In addition, chipsets without the suffix “E” will not be able to work with video cards through modern PCI Express 5.0, only with the old revision 4.0.

Motherboards based on X670(E) chipsets are already on sale, based on B650(E) should appear in October this year. The only downside of new products is their price.

I tested the processor with the ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Gene board, which belongs to the Republic of Gamers series. Usually, ROG products can offer users good quality and a large number of settings that help in overclocking and benching when conquering the overclocking Olympus.

This model was no exception. Despite the compact mATX format, it has enough ports and interfaces for a powerful PC, and the variety of useful little things for overclocking will appeal to enthusiasts.

There are also many parameters in UEFI, without which fine adjustments are impossible.

At an early stage, it is necessary to monitor the update of the board, because in my case, the early version of UEFI did not allow keeping Uclk at the memory level, which affected the performance. There will be a more detailed review next time.

DDR5-6000

The transition to the DDR5 standard brought some unusual processes that occur with a board based on the AM5 socket. The first start of the system may last several minutes, because memory training is taking place, which can put an unprepared user into a stupor. After this process, the board can start up quite quickly, but there are times, like mine, when it still silently and slowly thought of something. Despite the official support of Ryzen 7000 processors only DDR5-5200, AMD recommends using DDR5-6000 memory, which will give the maximum acceleration of the system, because with it the memory controller will work at the frequency of the modules. If the frequency is higher, the control unit will switch to a 1:2 divider. It is better to keep the Infinity Fabric bus in Auto mode, so it will work at a frequency of 2000 MHz.

I used the Kingston Fury KF560C36BBEAK2-32 kit, which is certified to work with the AMD AM5 platform.

It has two AMD EXPO profiles, clocked at 5600 and 6000 MHz with latencies of 36-38-38-80 at 1.25 and 1.35 volts, respectively.

It was enough to select EXPO I and the motherboard automatically set all the necessary settings for the memory frequency of 6000 MHz.

Well, after we familiarized ourselves with the platform, let’s move on to its testing.