AMD unveils new Ryzen mobile processors at CES 2019

AMD Ryzen mobile APUs offer boost clock speeds of 4GHz or more

AMD has unveiled its new line-up of 2nd generation Ryzen 3000-series APUs at the CES 2019 trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The chips are produced on TSMC's 12-nanometer process technology and combine the Zen+ architecture with Vega graphics. Both Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 offer four cores and eight threads, with a boost clock speed of up to 4.0GHz.

AMD claims that this will help support a decent level of gaming for laptops. The Vega GPUs, with either eight or 10 GPU cores, are capable of streaming 4k HDR-content, according to AMD.

Table (bordered)
Ryzen 7 3750H
Four
Eight
35W
2.3
4.0
10
6MB
Ryzen 7 3700U
Four
Eight
15W
2.3
4.0
10
6MB
Ryzen 5 3550H
Four
Eight
35W
2.1
3.7
8
6MB
Ryzen 5 3500U
Four
Eight
15W
2.1
3.7
8
6MB
Ryzen 3 3300U
Four
Four
15W
2.1
3.5
6
6MB
Ryzen 3 3200U
Two
Four
15W
2.6
3.5
3
5MB
Athlon 300U
Two
Four
15W
2.4
3.3
3
5MB

Other supported features include Wake On Voice, which enables users to activate their PC only with their voice, and Modern Standby, a tool enabling computers to stay connected to the internet while in sleep mode. AMD claimed that laptops running the devices will be able to provide up to 10 hours of battery life.

Third-party tests of the new processors are still to come. AMD claims that its Ryzen 5 3500U can load websites up to 14% faster than the Intel Core i5-8250U and its Ryzen 7 3700U can edit media up to 29% faster than the Intel Core i7-8550U.

The first laptops featuring the new Ryzen 3000-series will be available in early 2019.

AMD also responded to consumer complaints about insufficient updates to graphics drivers. The company is promising to provide more regular updates for all new Ryzen processors using Vega graphics in future.

At the same time, AMD chose CES 2019 to introduce some beefed-up A-series APUs - the 7th generation A6-9220C and A4-9120C processors. Both chips will pack in three Radeon R5 or R4 graphics cores.

According to AMD, the A6-9220C will be up to 24 per cent faster than its bargain-basement rivals, the Intel Pentium N4200 and Celeron N3350.

The dual-core A4 processor will be the first AMD chip to power a Chromebook. The chip is designed for simple, power-efficient computers and can be found in the forthcoming HP Chromebook 14 and the Acer Chromebook 315.