It’s still few days before we see actual reviews, so the least we can do now is gather some rumors and try to understand what we are waiting for (or in a case of those who preordered, what they paid for).

Ryzen overclocking

MSI X370 Titanium

Probably the two most important topics regarding Ryzen are gaming performance and overclocking. The first topic cannot be discussed without proper and well-documented data. Basically, what we need is a comparison at all popular resolutions between DirectX11/12/Vulcan/OpenGL with old and new titles. So yes, for that we need to wait, but when it comes to overclocking, we are seeing some rumors that could give us a hint on what to expect.

So far the best example is MSI’s manual for X370 Titanium motherboard. It has a special GAME BOOST Knob, with 11 different settings for easy overclocking. I think we all agree those preset configurations are not always working as indented, also choosing the most demanding preset instantly after installing the motherboard is probably not the best idea. For those who are not into tuning to achieve the best performance, auto-overclocking is actually a great idea. I never had the chance to test MSI’s GAME BOOST, but from my experience just because such ‘stage’ exists, it doesn’t mean it will work for your processor. We did, however, expect at least 4.4 GHz from Ryzen CPUs on air, so maybe those presets are not that far from what Ryzen has to offer.

Although by comparing to X99 Titanium’s manual, we may have a basic understanding. We all know that Broadwell-E is not the best architecture for overclocking, but if those presets were working for all samples, then we could expect at least 1 GHz more by choosing Stage 11. My first 6800K died after being ‘tortured’ for a month at 4.5 GHz, while my current 6800K does not work very well beyond 4.4 GHz, at least not without a huge voltage boost, so my understanding is that Ryzen at 4.4 GHz may also require more voltage than we would normally configure ourselves. It’s a pity MSI does not state what voltages are applied, but since this is a hardware solution, then it was without a doubt tested comprehensively before entering mass production. We don’t know how auto-overclocking will affect other components, like memory, which does not always work at certified speed when overclocking is in question.

Also, it’s quite interesting to see 6-core and 4-core CPUs listed in this chart, despite Ryzen 5 and 3 not being available for preorders yet. I’m sure AMD was trying to get the most out of their CPUs in this segment to be more competitive, so it’s good to know that there’s still (allegedly) 1 GHz available (assuming Stage 11 would work for most units). If that’d be the case, Ryzen 5 could be a game changer for this price segment.

via: Reddit

Scan UK bundles

British retailer is offering parts with pre-overclocked Ryzen 7 CPUs. The bundle includes a processor, motherboard, CPU Cooler, Memory and better warranty. I guess we could consider this as a moderate overclocking option. The descriptions are not very accurate though.

This one should say 1700X:

Extreme 5.2 GHz overclocking with LN2

If you saw Austin’s video, which was taken down shortly after publishing, then you probably saw the part about extreme overclocking using liquid nitrogen. This part is for some reason still under NDA. Basically, some talented souls managed to achieve 5.2 GHz with a voltage of 1.875. That’s quite a lot, but thanks to this we have a new world record in Cinebench. In case you didn’t see it, here’s a copy:



via: Hexus

AMD RYZEN MASTER

I already posted this screenshot, but I think it’s worth adding it here. Per clock configuration, voltage control and option to save profiles, that’s AMD’s Ryzen Master overclocking tool.

AMD Ryzen 7 1800X at Sisoft

First results of retails Ryzen units are starting to appear on Sisoft website.

Official gaming comparison

Gaming performance is still a mystery. Two cherry-picked AMD titles are the only thing that was officially shown to the public:

Guys over at HWBattle took pictures of the framerates:

The other comparison in Battlefield 1 (starts at 2:56):

But there was also a video from DinoPC. Apparently, they forgot to read the NDA and they posted GTA5 benchmark:

AMD Wraith cooler, a closer look

The glorious RGB stock coolers, Intel’s worst nightmare, are not yet all available for sale. So far only Ryzen 7 1700 ships with a stock cooler.

ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Pro Gaming manual sheds more light on Ryzen stock cooler installation:

via: Reddit

AMD Ryzen for notebooks

According to Eurocom, Ryzen mobile is already being considered as a new platform for Tornado F5 and F7 models. The company claims to have a lot of experience with AMD technologies, so that should help speed up the process.

Small Ryzen motherboards are here

We added few AM4 motherboards, most based on A320 chipset. But we also added few Maxsun motherboards. Two of them are based on very small form factor, smaller than Micro ATX, but still not as small as Mini-ITX. Upon checking, they appear to be Flex-ATX.



MAXSUN X370FE TURBO Specs provided by VideoCardz.NET Database Chipset : AMD X370 Form Factor : Micro-ATX PCI-E 3.0 x16 / x1 / M.2 : 2× / 0× / 1×





MAXSUN X370FX GAMING PRO Specs provided by VideoCardz.NET Database Chipset : AMD X370 Form Factor : Standard ATX PCI-E 3.0 x16 / x1 / M.2 : 3× / 3× / 2×





MAXSUN B350FE TURBO Specs provided by VideoCardz.NET Database Chipset : AMD B350 Form Factor : Micro-ATX PCI-E 3.0 x16 / x1 / M.2 : 2× / 0× / 1×





MAXSUN B350FX GAMING PRO Specs provided by VideoCardz.NET Database Chipset : AMD B350 Form Factor : Standard ATX PCI-E 3.0 x16 / x1 / M.2 : 3× / 3× / 2×





MAXSUN B350GL+ Specs provided by VideoCardz.NET Database Chipset : AMD B350 Form Factor : Flex-ATX PCI-E 3.0 x16 / x1 / M.2 : 1× / 0× / 0×





MAXSUN A320GL+ Specs provided by VideoCardz.NET Database Chipset : AMD A320 Form Factor : Flex-ATX PCI-E 3.0 x16 / x1 / M.2 : 1× / 0× / 0×



AMD Ryzen is wow

Just some reviewers sharing their first reactions:

Goldfries

DonanimHaber:

Alva Jonathan (JagatReview):

AMD Ryzen is out of stock

Tom’s Hardware has a story that some US retailers are out of stock. So let’s see how it looks in other countries. Here’s Mindfactory.de. It appears that the most expensive Ryzen 7 1800X is the most popular:

Meanwhile, in Komputronik (one of the Polish biggest retailers), only 4 out of 116 units of 1800X were sold.

The Ryzen Sticker

Just a sticker passing by.

Closing paragraph — random stuff