New AMD Ryzen “Van Gogh” mobile APU details emerge: Zen 2 CPUs and RDNA2 graphics set to turbocharge 7.5W to 18W low-power notebooks

[Redaktion]

Tipster @patrickschur_ revealed new details about AMD's upcoming Van Gogh mobile APUs. The new chips will evidently feature Zen 2 CPUs paired with Navi graphics and target a low power profile between 7.5W-18W.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/New-AMD-Ryzen-Van-Gogh-mobile-APU-details-emerge-Zen-2-CPUs-and-RDNA2-graphics-set-to-turbocharge-7-5W-to-18W-low-power-notebooks.489329.0.html

[hfm]

This is going to be super interesting in the ~15W space...  Though I'm guessing I'll still have to use Intel since I require TB3.

[Padmakara]

As it will come next year, there are big chances to have usb 4. First probably only the most expensive ones.

[Oberoth]

Why would they go to all the trouble of making a Zen 3 + Vega APU and Zen 2 + RDNA 2 APU and they will obviously have to make a Zen 3 + RDNA 2 APU at some point too?

I would rather have the Xbox Series S APU in my laptop and the Series X chip in my desktop then Cezanne or Van Gogh.

[RinzImpulse]

Why would they go to all the trouble of making a Zen 3 + Vega APU and Zen 2 + RDNA 2 APU and they will obviously have to make a Zen 3 + RDNA 2 APU at some point too?

I wonder about that too. Sounds like they might have the same issue with last year ice lake/comet lake, better CPU with less GPU power (Cezanne) or less CPU power for better GPU (Van Gogh). Of course, 15 watt limitation for U series laptop is still the bottleneck

[Anonym]

As it will come next year, there are big chances to have usb 4. First probably only the most expensive ones.

Lack of TB3/USB 4 is the one and only reason I have delayed my purchase of a Thinkpad T14s. Hopefully AMD will see the light on just how important these are for docking.

[Rizky]

Why would they go to all the trouble of making a Zen 3 + Vega APU and Zen 2 + RDNA 2 APU and they will obviously have to make a Zen 3 + RDNA 2 APU at some point too?

I would rather have the Xbox Series S APU in my laptop and the Series X chip in my desktop then Cezanne or Van Gogh.

Well, it comes down to the die size. Packing iGPU takes a lot of space. On smaller machine that doesn't need serious CPU performance, they could make iGPU big enough, so on CPU side it still a capable zen 2 cpu, and on gpu it won't disappoint everyone. (No one would using dGPU on 7W ultra thin machine, you know.)

On other side, more powerful chip is more likely to also using dGPU, so they can prioritize CPU and let dGPU leverage the compute task.

[Rizky]

As it will come next year, there are big chances to have usb 4. First probably only the most expensive ones.

Lack of TB3/USB 4 is the one and only reason I have delayed my purchase of a Thinkpad T14s. Hopefully AMD will see the light on just how important these are for docking.

I hope they could figure out how to implement TB4 (or equivalent) directly, and using PCIe gen4 x4 lane. Since every revision of PCIe double the bandwidth, PCIe Gen4 x4 is supposedly similar to PCIe Gen3 x8 right? If that really happened, we could use gpu like RX5700XT that having little perf. loss due to PCIe bandwidth.

[Lobster]

Why would they go to all the trouble of making a Zen 3 + Vega APU and Zen 2 + RDNA 2 APU and they will obviously have to make a Zen 3 + RDNA 2 APU at some point too?

That would be Rembrandt, but only in 2022.

[ekaneria007]

Next gen Ryzen APUs better be powerful enough to defeat Intel. I've been in the market for a laptop for months now and I've been delaying my purchase due to newer and newer processors.

I'm really losing my patience here. If they don't announce anything interesting by holiday 2020, I'll go with tiger lake. Even though I've been a long time AMD customer.

[Conan]

This is going to be super interesting in the ~15W space...  Though I'm guessing I'll still have to use Intel since I require TB3.

If you are building a desktop, boards like the Asrock X570 ITX TB3 already combine Thunderbolt 3 with AM4.

[ilikegames]

Van Gogh, being very innovative and thoughtful, the fruition of this platform will come only if they can nail it right. As far as I know, it should be a very low powered APU that will come for Ultra-thin laptops but if you didn't get the main point out of this, it is that it will provide a sufficient GPU that can be taken advantage of. Some folks are saying it is going to have 20 CUs (24 on the die but 4 disabled for redundancies purposes) on the highest model and a clock speed under a gigahertz. If someone is going argue about the bandwidth, I don't think that it is going to be a huge issue as with RDNA 2, there should some cache on the die to account for low bandwidth provided either by DDR4/DDR5.

The main takeaway is, AMD might have a APU that has a cpu performance like a 4800u and the most essential part, GPU that might have a similar performance like GTX 1050 ti / 1060.

If this is true, we might have a laptop that can be both ultra thin and gaming at the same time. (I know, this wouldn't hit the highest FPS in ultra settings on every single game out there but you know, it might run ...Cyberpunk. Still what this gives an opportunity for those who require the best performance at a slim design chassis and hopefully with a lower price tag)