AMD announces 7th Generation A-Series mobile processors

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

First Bristol Ridge based laptop available now:

http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptop...ptop-t5y05av-1

Looks like a great spec apart from one little thing:

8GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM (1 x 8GB)

Try to customise the laptop and you can't add another one.

FAIL!!

[jigger]

Single channel memory again?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Single channel memory again?

It seems so and you cannot add another DIMM when configuring it.

I hope the system actually has two slots,otherwise you might as well not bother,as the IGP will be starved of bandwidth.

[jigger]

It's facepalm time if AMD have allowed this to happen again.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It's facepalm time if AMD have allowed this to happen again.

Or at the very least indicate if the laptop has another free DIMM slot. But yes,epic fail if it only has a single DIMM and no way of adding another!!

[DanceswithUnix]

Or at the very least indicate if the laptop has another free DIMM slot. But yes,epic fail if it only has a single DIMM and no way of adding another!!

What's the betting this chip is pin compatible with the Carrizo they messed up last time, so they just swapped APUs on the exact same board?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What's the betting this chip is pin compatible with the Carrizo they messed up last time, so they just swapped APUs on the exact same board?

Probably.

But that last AMD article also messed up when they wrongly indicated that some laptops were only single channel and it was only because the laptops AMD provided were pre-production.

Either way,AMD needs to get its act together regarding this.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It seems it only has one RAM slot acccording to this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comment...touch_laptops/

I just got off chat support and they told me that this computer only has 1 RAM slot, and that the RAM is not user-upgradeable. I'd imagine the same thing applies to the HD.

[jigger]

I think someone needs a rocket, but how can the computer have a RAM slot and not be upgradable. Is the case bonded closed after assembly.

[DanceswithUnix]

I think someone needs a rocket, but how can the computer have a RAM slot and not be upgradable. Is the case bonded closed after assembly.

If the ram is soldered down, then that can make the machine a bit cheaper. If they start putting HBM onto APUs, then get used to this!

But, having said that you can build a machine with one channel of ram soldered down and the other going to a dimm socket. That gives you cheap for now, upgrade path for later. Matching memory sticks doesn't seem as important as it used to be.

[Gimm91xy]

It is nice to see AMD also planned to bring something similar to Hyper threading.
Then if Intel introduce something with 4 threads on 1 core ? oho

[scaryjim]

... AMD needs to get its act together regarding this.

I think the problem for AMD is that they're not in a good enough position, market-wise, to dictate to laptop manufacturers how to specify their laptops.

If HP are going for AMD chips because they're cheaper for equivalent performance, but AMD then try to specify that they MUST be installed with dual-channel RAM, HP lose that cost benefit. What AMD need to do is sell chips. Most HP laptops will be bought by people who won't know the difference between single and dual channel RAM and won't do anything with it that's going to make that single channel set up matter. They'll just see a cheap laptop that can play the Sims and Plants v Zombies. So if the cost of getting their chip in an HP laptop is that it gets specified with a sub-optimal memory set up, they kind of need to swallow that for now.

[TooNice]

Edit to add: Does anyone actually bother with benchmarks for laptop processors? I mean, if Intel produced a complete dog of a processor then in desktops it would get charted and laughed at, but does the same happen in laptops or would it sell anyway just from branding? Perhaps I just haven't been looking.

There are enthusiasts like myself who only use laptops for various reasons, and there are communities aimed towards laptop users.
Saying that though, we have to do with "ballpark figures" because you seldom find reviews of the exact same laptop using different CPUs. So we have do make do with benchmarks of laptop so we have to look at "closest match" between different laptops and trust that the benchmark app primarily focus on CPU.

I must say that I don't pay nearly as much attention to the CPU as I do the GPU though, since the later is still the first thing to become obsolete as a gamer, and CPU nowadays are pretty capable for most part for what I use for. By the time I replace a laptop, I can be pretty sure that the CPU performance would improved over what I previously had, so for it to be a "complete dog of a processor", it'll pretty much need to be faulty by design. If it were to happen though, it would probably be widely circulated in site/forums like NotebookReviews, and I would skip the generation, or buy a previous generation, or, if viable go for a competing product.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think the problem for AMD is that they're not in a good enough position, market-wise, to dictate to laptop manufacturers how to specify their laptops.

If HP are going for AMD chips because they're cheaper for equivalent performance, but AMD then try to specify that they MUST be installed with dual-channel RAM, HP lose that cost benefit. What AMD need to do is sell chips. Most HP laptops will be bought by people who won't know the difference between single and dual channel RAM and won't do anything with it that's going to make that single channel set up matter. They'll just see a cheap laptop that can play the Sims and Plants v Zombies. So if the cost of getting their chip in an HP laptop is that it gets specified with a sub-optimal memory set up, they kind of need to swallow that for now.

The issue is the X360 is a higher end AMD laptop. It is the highest SKU for BR,and if AMD cannot really compete as well on CPU performance,someone buying a top end AMD laptop is buying it to run games better.

The massive drop in IGP performance is going to make Intel look better and put people off buying a premium AMD laptop with a decent resolution screen. The Intel version can have the memory upgraded:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Spec....159134.0.html

It is dual channel.

[DanceswithUnix]

Perhaps AMD need to get some HBM memory in package to make single channel external ram a non issue.

[scaryjim]

The issue is the X360 is a higher end AMD laptop. ....

The Intel version is currently on special offer and starts at $80 less than the AMD version, but it's pre-offer price is $150 more. It's using a higher end AMD APU, but it's barely mid-range in terms of HP's laptop spread. AMD can't persuade OEMs to put their APUs in high end laptops, because they don't have the reputation to sell in volume, and big box retailers won't spend time training their sales staff to do anything other than say "oh, you want an Intel processor". There's a whole culture that still pervades that equates Windows PCs with Intel processors, and I don't see any easy way for AMD to deal with that. OEMs simply won't invest in high end AMD laptops, as they don't think they'll sell, and AMD don't have either the market position to argue from, or the performance position to market them from. Why does the Intel version have dual channel memory options? My money's on Intel having the financial clout and market position to insist that HP make those options available. If AMD threaten to walk with no dual channel laptops, I doubt HP would care. If Intel threatened to walk? yeah, that's an issue.

Anyway, people buying a laptop to play games on wouldn't buy an HP Envy. If you're looking for an AMD laptop to play games you are going to get something like http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Pr...p=c-amd-gaming - a dual graphics, dual channel, full HD laptop. That's a high end AMD laptop; it's still only £429. See? No market position to argue from. The only way for that to change is for AMD to produce processors that are so good, laptops will sell just because they have an AMD processor in them. Given the prevailing culture in general consumers, though? I can't see that happening, even if Zen is a huge success. Consumer inertia will continue to keep AMD stuck to the bottom of the barrel.

It's utterly sucky, but it's some way out of AMD's hands. They barely have enough income to keep the company running. Changing the entire public perception of their products? That's not going to happen overnight, or because they persuade one OEM to use dual channel memory. It's a very long term project.

EDIT for cross-post:

Perhaps AMD need to get some HBM memory in package to make single channel external ram a non issue.

I think that's more or less inevitable at some point. A single HBM2 stack would give you an 8GB laptop with bandwidth that X99 can only dream of. External memory would become pretty much moot at that point.

A more realistic option at this point though might be a 1GB HBM 1 stack for the graphics subsystem. It makes all sorts of technical sense; I can only assume it doesn't make financial sense or they'd have done it by now?