AMD Tech Day at CES: 2018 Roadmap Revealed, with Ryzen APUs, Zen+ on 12nm, Vega on 7nm
by Ian Cutress on February 1, 2018 8:45 AM ESTRyzen APU Overclocking: A Focus on Memory Support
Also part of the demonstration about the new APUs was overclocking. For a number of years, AMD has hired Sami Makkinen, a well-known former world-record holder in various overclocking categories, to help tune the overclocking on some of its processors. So despite this being an integrated graphics platform, Sami was on hand to show the day-to-day overclocking potential. I was told that liquid nitrogen overclocking might be held at a later date…
Nonetheless, we were shown the system that would be distributed to reviewers for launch day: a mini-ITX motherboard, a Ryzen 5 2400G processor, 2x8 GB of DDR4 memory, and an AMD Wraith cooler. Using the popular benchmarking tool 3DMark Fire Strike, Sami showed a 39% increase over stock performance by overclocking only the memory and the integrated graphics:
- DDR4-2400 + 1250 MHz GPU: 2911 Points - 'stock'
- DDR4-3200 + 1250 MHz GPU: 3322 Points (+14%)
- DDR4-3200 + 1550 MHz GPU: 3596 Points (+24%)
- DDR4-3600 + 1675 MHz GPU: 4048 Points (+39%)
This shows a couple of interesting data points. First, that the DRAM speed directly influences the results a lot: the 14% gain moving to DDR4-3200 and a similar gain again up to DDR-3600 means that we are still dealing with a graphics system that is memory bandwidth limited, even with only 11 compute units. The Infinity Fabric communication pathways are tied to the DRAM speed, so these would also get a speed up – when asked if it would be possible to discern how much of the speedup is due to a pure DRAM improvement and how much from the Infinity Fabric boost, I was told that AMD could do it in house, but it would be impossible for consumers to do.
However, the DRAM speed gains match up with what we have seen with previous generations of AMD APUs, but also it means that Intel’s decision to combine a Vega GPU with high-bandwidth memory is going to be the way forward in this market.
The second point that this data brings is about memory support. One of the major criticisms of AMD’s initial launch of Ryzen was the lack of high-performance memory support, due to a young firmware. AMD has stated that the Ryzen with Vega graphics line of processors have better memory support with newer firmware revisions, capable of driving higher memory speeds. This is, of course, important to APUs. Additional updates will be coming with the new X470 motherboards in Q2.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
131 Comments
View All Comments
mode_13h - Thursday, February 1, 2018 - link
Also, cardiovascular risk factors are known to affect brain health.mode_13h - Thursday, February 1, 2018 - link
Everything is fine... until one day, it's not. I have a co-worker somewhat like you describe (though he probably ate a bit better than that). He had a massive heart attack. He's still with us, but such an event is probably more costly and disruptive to one's life than simply taking better care of yourself.mode_13h - Thursday, February 1, 2018 - link
BTW, coffee is probably a net-positive, as long as you keep the cortisol in check and don't add lots of sugar.MFinn3333 - Saturday, February 3, 2018 - link
It is incredibly easy to get Vitamin D outside of the Pacific Northwest or similiar environments..."If you're fair skinned, experts say going outside for 10 minutes in the midday sun—in shorts and a tank top with no sunscreen—will give you enough radiation to produce about 10,000 international units of the vitamin. "
mode_13h - Thursday, February 8, 2018 - link
Um, so exactly how does this help in winter, where the only exposed skin most people have is on their face and hands?And getting a couple hours/day of direct sun exposure on your face is going to take its toll on skin aging and cancer risk.
mode_13h - Thursday, February 1, 2018 - link
Too much. About 2000 IU/day is optimal for minimizing all-cause mortality. Perhaps more can be supplemented in short spurts, however.It might be possible to safely exceed 2k IU/day if also supplementing magnesium and/or vitamin K, since one of the down-sides of overdosing Vitamin D is calcification of blood vessels.
Anyway, Vitamin D isn't the only proven immune booster. Garlic is another good one.
ckbryant - Saturday, February 3, 2018 - link
Endocrinology professor once said that the nations with the highest incidences of skin cancers (Australia) also have the lowest rates of population with low vitamin D, even in the Southeast United States people are going outside less and less; especially in the older populations. Not to mention the younger age groups with the phone attached to their face 24/7, and most people over 65 will need 2000-5000units of Vit D3 supplementation/day. However, in extreme cases a once weekly dose of Vit D2 1.25mg (50,000 units) once weekly for 12 weeks then reassessing lab values will render >45ng/dl will will be about where most people need to be. Then daily normal supplementation can continue from there. Endo professor said people who smoke need to avoid Vit A, and Copper supplementation unless they are in high risk of Macular Degeneration due to the increased risk in smokers of Vit A and Copper supplementation causing increased correlation of cancer. However he always emphazies that study x and study y can generate relevant data, and one study can "disprove findings" of another, because CORRELATION does NOT prove CAUSATION.letmepicyou - Friday, February 2, 2018 - link
Yeah, here's another tidbit for you all to research...SELENIUM. 95% of American diets are severely deficient in Selenium. Selenium is an immune system regulator. Best source of Selenium = Brazil Nuts. In fact, not one to spread conspiracy theories (ok, yes I am), but I read a rather in-depth article once by an AIDS researcher that claimed that AIDS isn't even caused by HIV (like conventional "wisdom" claims), but rather every subject he took samples from and tested that had AIDS actually was severely deficient in Selenium in their body. Since I've been eating 1 brazil nut a day, I haven't been sick in YEARS. Most I've ever had was a sniffle, but it goes no further into my RT than my nose. Check it out.mode_13h - Thursday, February 8, 2018 - link
Too much selenium is strongly linked to development of insulin resistance. So, be careful with long-term selenium supplementation and Brazil nut consumption. One/day is probably fine, but not much more.AndrewJacksonZA - Monday, January 8, 2018 - link
Get well soon Ian!!