In this special episode of the Full Nerd, Gordon Mah Ung, Brad Chacos, and Adam Patrick Murray are joined by Jim Anderson, the senior VP of AMD’s computing and graphics business, to dig deep into the 2nd-gen Ryzen CPUs that launched today.
This is no mere spec overview though. Anderson explains how upgraded Precision Boost 2 and XFR2 technologies help 2nd-gen Ryzen chips maintain higher clocks for longer, regardless of how many cores are being stressed—a key improvement over the initial iterations. We also dig into AMD’s decision to include coolers with X-branded Ryzen CPUs after skipping them the first time around, and the design of the swanky new RGB-enabled Wraith Prism cooler that ships with the flagship Ryzen 7 2700X ($329 on Amazon).
AM4 motherboards packing a new X470 chipset are releasing alongside 2nd-gen Ryzen, and Anderson explains what you’ll find in those as well. (Over a dozen are already available on Newegg.) The most intriguing feature? StoreMI, an Optane Memory rival that lets you use SSDs and extra RAM to cache hard drives on the fly, drastically speeding up the performance of anything you’ve got stashed on those mechanical spinning platters. Nifty stuff.
Be sure to check out PCWorld’s Ryzen 7 2700X review for our full analysis of the second-gen chip. But of course, we couldn’t let the opportunity to interview AMD’s computer boss pass by without asking him other questions, too. Stay tuned after the 2nd-gen Ryzen chat to hear what Jim Anderson thinks about multi-core software development, the state of PC gaming, whether Ryzen’s multi-module design could transition over to graphics cards, what’s going on with Meltdown and Spectre, and more.
Witness it all in the video embedded above. You can also watch The Full Nerd episode 47 on YouTube (toss us a follow while you’re there!) or listen to it on Soundcloud if you prefer the audio alone.
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