AMD Ryzen 8000G APUs, Radeon RX 7600 XT GPU Announced at CES 2024

AMD has announced a new range of desktop APUs and a single new GPU at its CES 2024 keynote. The Ryzen 8000G desktop APU models feature powerful Radeon integrated GPUs based on the RDNA 3 architecture, and for the first time, dedicated AI acceleration hardware. These processors use the Zen 4 CPU architecture. The top-end Ryzen 7 8700G features eight CPU cores with multi-threading, a 5.1GHz peak boost speed, 24MB of total cache memory, and integrated Radeon 780M graphics. 

Lower down in the product stack are the Ryzen 5 8600G and Ryzen 5 8500G with six cores each, and the quad-core Ryzen 3 8300G. All four models have the same 65W TDP rating. However, only the top two models feature integrated NPUs (Neural Processing Units) based on AMD’s XDNA architecture to accelerate AI workloads. AMD has announced pricing of $329 (approximately Rs. 27,330 before taxes in India) , $229 (approximately Rs. 19,044) and $179 (approximately Rs. 14,870) for the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 models, while the Ryzen 3 version will be OEM only. They are expected to go on sale to DIY PC builders on January 31, with prebuilt OEM PCs arriving in Q2 2024.

AMD promises smooth 1080p performance in AAA games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Hitman 3, GTA 5, F1 2022, and more at low detail settings, thanks to its Hypr-RX optimisation feature and using frame generation. Of course gamers can add a standard graphics card later for much better performance. 

The models with integrated NPUs will benefit from the same AI capabilities that the recently announced Ryzen 8040 laptop CPU lineup enjoys. Software that can take advantage of these NPUs includes Microsoft Windows, Adobe’s suite of creator tools, Blender, Avid, OBS Studio, and more. 

AMD is also extending the life of its previous-generation AM4 platform by introducing new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs including the new Ryzen 7 5700X3D, which is aimed specifically at gamers. With AMD’s 3D V-cache feature, its total cache memory comes to 100MB. It has eight cores, a 4.1GHz peak boost speed, and a 105W TDP rating, and will sell for $249 (approximately Rs. 20,685 before taxes). This could be a great way for users of older PCs to get an upgrade without the cost and hassle of changing their motherboard and RAM. This model is joined by the Ryzen 7 5700, Ryzen 5 5600GT, and Ryzen 5500GT. These CPUs use the older Zen 3 architecture but offer slightly higher clock speeds than their previously-launched Ryzen 5000 series counterparts. They will all go on sale on January 31. 

The new Radeon RX 7600 XT GPU is targeted at cost-sensitive gamers who want ray tracing and are happy with a 1080p resolution, but will also appeal to anyone working on AI or content creation, thanks to its 16GB of GDDR6 memory. AMD touts its support for FidelityFX image upscaling, Fluid Motion Frames for frame generation, and Hypr-RX settings optimisations. It’s based on the RDNA 3 architecture with 32 compute units and dedicated ray tracing hardware. The Radeon RX 7600 XT also supports AV1 video encode/decode acceleration which is needed for game streaming.

Graphics cards based on this GPU from Sapphire, XFX, Asus, Gigabyte, ASRock, PowerColor and Acer will be available starting January 24, priced at $329 (approximately Rs. 27,331) onwards.