AMD has planned to launch two new processor families in 2016 which will be aimed at desktop and mobility platforms. The first of these families is known as Bristol Ridge which will feature a range of chips for the AM4 and FP4 sockets. The Bristol Ridge family is expected to hit the market in first half of 2016 and the latest leak shows us what to expect from the Excavator powered family of processors.
Image Credits: The Citavia Blog
AMD's Bristol Ridge A-Series APUs and FX CPUs For FP4 Platform Leaked
The Bristol Ridge family is built for mainstream desktop and high-performance mobility products while the Zen based Summit Ridge family will be featured only on desktop platforms in 2016. The latest leak comes from the Citavia Blog which has compiled a list of Bristol Ridge SOCs along with their specifications. The compiled list was built with the help of USB.org where a list of these processors had been listed down. The site lists down a total of 13 SKUs however there could be more. Matching these with the previously leaked SKUs list by Benchlife.info, the site was able to provide a detailed list of the upcoming processors. First of all, the 13 upcoming processors include:
AMD Bristol Ridge "Mainstream Chips":
- AMD FX-9830P
- AMD FX-9800P
- AMD A12-9730P
- AMD A12-9700P
- AMD A10-9630P
- AMD A10-9600P
AMD Bristol Ridge "Business Chips":
- AMD Pro A12-9800B
- AMD Pro A12-9830B
- AMD Pro A10-9730B
- AMD Pro A10-9700B
- AMD Pro A8-9630B
- AMD Pro A8-9600B
- AMD Pro A6-9500B
AMD Bristol Ridge Mobility (FP4) APUs:
A quick glance at the technical features of both Carrizo and Bristol Ridge reveal no differences from both APU families. Both are based on a 3rd generation GCN architecture (GCN 1.2) which is the same version incorporated on the Fiji and Tonga GPUs. Both APU families have full support for DirectX 12, provide great audio, UVD, VCD, DCE features and support Dual Graphics, Panel Self Refresh, Dynamic Bezel Adjust along with the ability to run up to 3 simultaneous displays. Bristol Ridge APUs will feature up to four x86 Excavator cores with 2 MB of shared L2 cache. They will have support for HSA 1.0 and the latest DDR4 memory standard. The Excavator core ensures better IPC (Instruction per clock) versus previous generation cores.
The FP4 platforms is solely for the mobility products and will include several Bristol Ridge SOCs. The lineup will include several Quad and Dual core SKUs. The maximum base and boost clock speeds are 3.0 GHz and 3.7 GHz on the top end chip and the TDPs range from 15W to 35W. The Stoney Ridge family will have lower TDPs than the mainstream family as they are geared for low-power devices. All chips feature a graphics processing units that comes in 8/6/4 CU dies and are clocked in the range of 600 up to 900 MHz. Detailed specifications of these chips can be seen below:
AMD Bristol Ridge (FP4) Family:
| SKU | Cores | Base/Boost Clock | L2 $ | GPU CUs | GPU SPs | GPU Clock | Memory | TDP/cTDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD FX-9830P / Pro A12-9830B | 4 | 3.0/3.7 GHz | 2 MB | 8 CUs | 512 SPs | 900 MHz | DDR4-2400 DDR3-2133 | 35W/25W |
| AMD FX-9800P / Pro A12-9800B | 4 | 2.7/3.6 GHz | 2 MB | 8 CUs | 512 SPs | 758 MHz | DDR4-1866 DDR3-1866 | 15W/12W |
| AMD A12-9730P / Pro A10-9730B | 4 | 2.8/3.5 GHz | 2 MB | 6 CUs | 384 SPs | 900 MHz | DDR4-2400 DDR3-2133 | 35W/25W |
| AMD A12-9700P / Pro A10-9700B | 4 | 2.5/3.4 GHz | 2 MB | 6 CUs | 384 SPs | 758 MHz | DDR4-1866 DDR3-1866 | 15W/12W |
| AMD A10-9630P / Pro A8-9630B | 4 | 2.6/3.2 GHz | 2 MB | 6 CUs | 384 SPs | 800 MHz | DDR4-2400 DDR3-2133 | 35W/25W |
| AMD A10-9600P / Pro A8-9600B | 4 | 2.3/3.2 GHz | 2 MB | 6 CUs | 384 SPs | 686 MHz | DDR4-1866 DDR3-1866 | 15W/12W |
| AMD Pro A6-9500B | 2 | 2.3/3.2 GHz | 1 MB | 4 CUs | 256 SPs | 800 MHz | DDR4-1866 DDR3-1866 | 15W/12W |
As you can note, the Bristol Ridge SOCs get a nice clock speed improvement while retaining the same TDP and the same process node. This is a significant gain in terms of efficiency and is part of the power management in the latest generation of processors which we will also get to see on the high-performance Zen core.
"For its part, AMD engineers showed smart ways of squeezing as much as 15% more performance out of its Carrizo PC processor, simply by applying more aggressive power management to the 28nm design. The Bristol Ridge design was a study in using power management to overcome performance limits tied to heat, voltage and current." via EETimes
Expect to learn more about AMD's Bristol Ridge family in the upcoming days. We already know that AMD has three major announcements planned in 2016 which start off with their Bristol Ridge family for mainstream and performance oriented PCs (Desktop/Mobile) and followed with their high-performance Polaris GPUs and Zen powered FX series later this year.
| WCCFTech | AMD Summit Ridge | AMD Bristol Ridge | AMD FX "8000 Series" | AMD A-Series "7000/8000-Series" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product Segment | Performance Desktop Processors "FX" | Mainstream Desktop and Mobility APU | Performance Desktop Processors "FX" | Mainstream Processors "Kaveri/Godavari" |
| Product Architecture | x86 Zen | x86 Excavator | x86 Bulldozer/Piledriver | x86 Steamroller |
| Process Node | 14nm | 28nm | 32nm | 28nm |
| Max CPU Cores | 8 | 4 | 8 | 4 |
| GPU Architecture | None | GCN 3.0 | None | Sea Islands GCN |
| TDP | 95W | 95W | 125-220W | 95W |
| Socket | AM4 | AM4/FP4 | AM3+ | FM2+ |
| South Bridge | Promontory | Promontory/SOC | SB950 | A78/A88X |
| North Bridge | On-die | On-die | 990FX | Board |
| Memory Support | DDR4 | DDR3/DDR4 | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Launch | Q4 2016 | 2H 2016 | 2011-2016 | 2013-2016 |
