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 12 months’s Computex was delivered by AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su.
Given AMD’s vast product portfolio, it isn’t stunning that Dr. Su’s keynote lined a broad vary of matters – even a couple of unrelated to GenAI (!). The 2 key bulletins had been the brand new Zen 5 CPU structure (lined in full element right here) and a brand new NPU structure known as XDNA2.
What’s significantly attention-grabbing about XDNA2 is its help for the Block Floating Level (Block FP16) knowledge sort, which gives the pace of 8-bit integer efficiency and the accuracy of 16-bit floating level. In line with AMD, it is a new business customary – that means present fashions can leverage it – and AMD’s implementation is the primary to be achieved in {hardware}.
The Computex present has a protracted historical past of being a essential launch level for conventional PC parts, and AMD began issues off with their next-generation desktop PC components – the Ryzen 9000 sequence – which haven’t got a built-in NPU. What they do have, nonetheless, is the type of efficiency that players, content material creators, and different PC system builders are continually searching for for conventional PC functions. Let’s not overlook how essential that also is, even within the period of “AI PCs.”
In fact, AMD additionally had new choices within the AI PC area – a brand new sequence of mobile-focused components 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 sequence to replicate the truth that they’re the third technology of laptop computer chips constructed by AMD with an built-in NPU. Slightly-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 12 months.
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 provides 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. Programs are anticipated as quickly as subsequent month, simply weeks after the primary Qualcomm Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs are set to ship.
One large problem, nonetheless, 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 anticipate x86 distributors like AMD and Intel to be achieved so quickly and prioritized their work for the Arm Qualcomm gadgets. Consequently, these might be Copilot+ “Prepared” techniques, that means they will want a software program improve – doubtless in early fall – to turn out to be 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 improvement 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 sturdy aggressive risk from Qualcomm, nonetheless, 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 sequence 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 are as much as 5x sooner than Intel equivalents, in keeping with AMD.
… as Nvidia did final evening, AMD additionally unveiled an annual cadence for enhancements for his or her GPU accelerator line and supplied particulars as much as 2026.
For GPU accelerators, AMD introduced the Intuition MI325, which gives twice the HBM3E reminiscence of any card available on the market. Extra importantly, as Nvidia did final evening, AMD additionally unveiled an annual cadence for enhancements for his or her GPU accelerator line and supplied particulars as much as 2026.
Subsequent 12 months’s MI350, which might be primarily based 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’ll give them a efficiency lead over Nvidia’s newest technology merchandise.
AMD is without doubt one of the few corporations that is been in a position to achieve any traction towards AMD for large-scale acceleration, so any enhancements to this line of merchandise is sure to be well-received by anybody searching for an Nvidia various – each giant cloud computing suppliers and enterprise knowledge facilities.
Taken as an entire, the AMD story continues to advance and impress. It is superb 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 group. You possibly can observe Bob on Twitter @bobodtech