Why it issues: AMD is within the distinctive place of being the first competitor to Nvidia on GPUs – for each PCs and AI acceleration – and to Intel for CPUs – each for servers and PCs – so their efforts are getting extra consideration than they ever have. And with that, the official opening keynote for this yr’s Computex was delivered by AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su.
Given AMD’s broad product portfolio, it is not stunning that Dr. Su’s keynote coated a broad vary of subjects – even a couple of unrelated to GenAI (!). The 2 key bulletins have been the brand new Zen 5 CPU structure (coated in full element right here) and a brand new NPU structure referred to as XDNA2.
What’s significantly attention-grabbing about XDNA2 is its assist for the Block Floating Level (Block FP16) information kind, which gives the velocity of 8-bit integer efficiency and the accuracy of 16-bit floating level. In response to AMD, it is a new business commonplace – which means current fashions can leverage it – and AMD’s implementation is the primary to be carried out in {hardware}.
The Computex present has a protracted historical past of being a important launch level for conventional PC elements, and AMD began issues off with their next-generation desktop PC elements – the Ryzen 9000 collection – which do not have a built-in NPU. What they do have, nevertheless, is the form of efficiency that players, content material creators, and different PC system builders are consistently in search of for conventional PC purposes. Let’s not overlook how vital that also is, even within the period of “AI PCs.”
After all, AMD additionally had new choices within the AI PC area – a brand new collection of mobile-focused elements for the brand new Copilot+ PCs that Microsoft and different companions introduced a couple of weeks in the past.
AMD is branding them because the Ryzen AI 300 collection to replicate the truth that they’re the third era of laptop computer chips constructed by AMD with an built-in NPU. A bit of-known truth is that AMD’s Ryzen 7040 – introduced in January 2023 – was the primary chip with built-in AI acceleration, adopted by the Ryzen 8040 on the finish of final yr.
We knew this new chip was coming, however what was considerably sudden is how a lot new expertise AMD has built-in into the AI 300 (codenamed Strix Level). It options new Zen 5 CPU cores, an upgraded RDNA 3.5 GPU structure, and a brand new NPU constructed on XDNA2 that gives a powerful 50 TOPs of efficiency.
What’s additionally stunning is how rapidly laptops with Ryzen AI 300s are coming to market.
What’s additionally stunning is how rapidly laptops with Ryzen AI 300s are coming to market. Techniques are anticipated as quickly as subsequent month, simply weeks after the primary Qualcomm Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs are set to ship.
One massive problem, nevertheless, is that the x86 CPU and AMD-specific NPU variations of the Copilot+ software program will not be prepared when these AMD-powered PCs are launched. Apparently, Microsoft did not count on x86 distributors like AMD and Intel to be carried out so quickly and prioritized their work for the Arm Qualcomm gadgets. Because of this, these will probably be Copilot+ “Prepared” methods, which means they’re going to want a software program improve – probably in early fall – to turn into full-blown next-gen AI PCs.
Nonetheless, this vastly sped-up timeframe – which Intel can also be anticipated to announce for his or her new chips this week – has been spectacular to observe. Early within the growth of AI PCs, the frequent thought was that Qualcomm would have a 12 to 18-month lead over each AMD and Intel in creating a component that met Microsoft’s 40+ NPU TOPS efficiency specs.
The robust aggressive risk from Qualcomm, nevertheless, impressed the 2 PC semiconductor stalwarts to maneuver their schedules ahead, and it appears like they’ve succeeded.
On the datacenter aspect, AMD previewed their newest Fifth-gen Epyc CPUs (codename Turin) and their Intuition MI-300 collection GPU accelerators. As with the PC chips, AMD’s newest server CPUs are constructed round Zen 5 with aggressive efficiency enhancements for sure AI workloads which might be as much as 5x sooner than Intel equivalents, in accordance with AMD.
… as Nvidia did final night time, AMD additionally unveiled an annual cadence for enhancements for his or her GPU accelerator line and provided particulars as much as 2026.
For GPU accelerators, AMD introduced the Intuition MI325, which gives twice the HBM3E reminiscence of any card in the marketplace. Extra importantly, as Nvidia did final night time, AMD additionally unveiled an annual cadence for enhancements for his or her GPU accelerator line and provided particulars as much as 2026.
Subsequent yr’s MI350, which will probably be based mostly on a brand new CDNA4 GPU compute structure, will leverage each the elevated reminiscence capability and this new structure to ship a powerful 35x enchancment versus present playing cards. For perspective, AMD believes it would give them a efficiency lead over Nvidia’s newest era merchandise.
AMD is without doubt one of the few firms that is been capable of acquire any traction towards AMD for large-scale acceleration, so any enhancements to this line of merchandise is sure to be well-received by anybody on the lookout for an Nvidia various – each massive cloud computing suppliers and enterprise information facilities.
Taken as an entire, the AMD story continues to advance and impress. It is wonderful to see how far the corporate has come within the final 10 years, and it is clear they proceed to be a driving pressure within the computing and semiconductor world.
Bob O’Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Analysis, LLC, a market analysis agency that gives strategic consulting and market analysis companies to the expertise business {and professional} monetary neighborhood. You possibly can observe Bob on Twitter @bobodtech