New AMD Ryzen 8000G Series Desktop APUs Expected in January 2024
The Ryzen 7000 desktop CPU series from AMD has been a game-changer, with a small integrated GPU included by default to appeal to budget and business desktop users. But now, a new series of APUs is on the horizon. According to the release notes for a slew of BIOS updates for Gigabyte motherboards, a new series of APUs for socket AM5 motherboards will be released starting in January 2024.
Tom’s Hardware has reported that the new series, named Ryzen 8000G, will use the same “Phoenix” silicon that is used in AMD’s Ryzen 7040U laptop processors and the Ryzen Z1 series for gaming handhelds. The top-end chip, the Ryzen 7 8700G, will feature eight Zen 4 CPU cores and a Radeon 780M GPU with 12 RDNA 3 compute units. Additionally, the Ryzen 5 8600G will have six Zen 4 CPU cores and a Radeon 760M with eight GPU compute units.
The Ryzen 5 8500G and Ryzen 3 8300G will come with a different Phoenix variant, featuring a mix of high-performance Zen 4 cores and high-efficiency Zen 4c cores. Both will be equipped with a Radeon 740M GPU with four CUs.
The BIOS data does not disclose how the chips will be released, but the Ryzen 4000G APUs and the Ryzen 3 5300G were exclusively available to PC companies and not sold directly to DIY PC builders.
These new APUs will use the same Zen 4 CPU architecture as the current-generation Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs, and unlike higher-end processors, the APUs are generally one large monolithic die with the CPU, GPU, and other functions bundled together. This means there are no 12- and 16-core CPUs available in AMD’s APUs.
The anticipated release of the Ryzen 8700G is expected to outperform both the older 5700G and the low-wattage 7040-series laptop chips, due to the newer RDNA 3 GPU cores, the availability of faster DDR5, and the greater power budget available to desktop APUs.
Furthermore, the use of the Phoenix silicon suggests that the higher-end CPUs could include AMD’s “Ryzen AI” neural processing unit, enabling acceleration of AI and machine learning features locally.
With the release of these new APUs, AMD is looking to continue its success in the desktop CPU market and provide more powerful and versatile options for budget and business desktop users.