AMD is introducing the Zen 4C, a new processor architecture for laptops, a response to Intel’s hybrid design introduced two years ago.
Source: Lenovo
AMD has just introduced a new processor architecture for smaller laptops, Ultrabooks. With these two new CPUs, the Ryzen 5 7545U and the Ryzen 3 7440U, the manufacturer promises all the advantages of the big.LTTLE technology adopted from Intel, without any of its disadvantages.
The manufacturer also announced that this new architecture has been implemented in the Z1 version of the Asus ROG Ally released a few weeks ago and should adapt perfectly to future portable consoles running on a Ryzen mobile processor.
Identical Zen 4c cores, but smaller
The big novelty of this architecture lies in the Zen 4c cores, which are a 35% more compact version of the classic Zen 4 cores.
Source: AMD
According to AMD, these new cores offer the same number of instructions per cycle (IPC), but with lower power consumption under 15W. Because of their smaller size, they can also ultimately be more numerous on the integrated circuit.
Source: AMD
The Zen 4 cores are more efficient starting at 20W power consumption, with a higher maximum frequency and optimization for single-threaded tasks. AMD insists that these two cores are identical in terms of instruction sets, cache and even latency.
AMD is taking a cautious approach against Intel
The manufacturer makes no secret of it: it is Intel that is being targeted with this hybrid architecture. The latter has been using powerful and low-power cores since the 12th generation of Alder Lake processors, although there are fundamental differences between the two core types.
AMD compares itself directly with Intel // Source: AMD
With the Zen 4c, AMD does not differentiate between the two core types, both of which offer the same performance at the same frequency. Additionally, unlike Intel and its Thread Director, AMD only uses the operating system’s scheduler to dynamically assign a specific task to a specific core.
AMD is currently integrating this new architecture into its more modest ultrabook processors, the Ryzen 5 7545U and the Ryzen 3 7440U. But we can bet that it will be gradually implemented in the rest of the range by 2024.