AMD Ryzen 2: AMD’s new processors rival Intel

There once was a long-running debate in the PC enthusiast community between AMD and Intel, but Intel pulled steadily away for both performance and value in recent years. That was, of course, until AMD’s song and dance comeback with its Ryzen processor lineup, really showing Intel the American firm was back with a vengeance.

It’s all good news then, that following a press event at the annual CES conference in Las Vegas, AMD announced its second generation of Ryzen processors, appropriately called Ryzen 2. Not only that, but we certainly weren’t expecting the firm to reveal their CPU and GPU roadmap all the way up until 2020.

This side of the pond, the company has just announced UK pricing and availability.

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AMD Ryzen 2: Everything you need to know

AMD Ryzen 2 UK release date: When does it launch?

Remember that roadmap I mentioned earlier? Well, the Ryzen 2 – obviously – was part of that long-running timeline, and AMD’s second-generation Ryzen processors will ship on 19 April 2018.

AMD Ryzen 2 UK price: How much will it cost?

Okay, that AMD roadmap didn’t mention the Ryzen 2’s launch price, but thanks to further developments UK pricing has now been announced for the new processors. Below is a comparison table, listing the four new CPUs:

The processors are all available to order from Overclockers UK, I’ve conveniently linked the individual product pages to the corresponding processors in the table above.

AMD Ryzen 2 specs and features: What’s so special?

AMD’s second-generation lineup of PC processors are the firm’s first CPUs to be built to a 12nm process architecture – Intel’s current manufacturing process uses a 14nm transistor – and can still slot into current Ryzen-compatible AM4 motherboards. If you’re looking at upgrading, you shouldn’t have to worry.

Likewise, AMD has confirmed that, rather unsurprisingly, Ryzen 2 will bring higher base and overclocked clock speeds. Along with something the firm calls “Precision Boost 2” and the well-known “Extended Frequency Range (XFR)” tech, the new chips will have faster performance and a supposed boost in power efficiency.

In the previous iteration of Precision Boost, the Ryzen chip would only put the feature into play when two cores were being used. Now, it’ll work when all the cores are in use. This will result in better boost frequencies across various applications, such as Photoshop and gaming.

Better still, if you’re into overclocking the new chips bring plenty of new possibilities. It has been reported that the new chips can hit a staggering 5.88GHz with all cores enabled, although that’s on LN2 (liquid nitrogen).

To outline the differences a little more clearly, I’ve broken down the key features of each processor below:

Ryzen 7 2700X vs 2700 vs 1800X vs 1700X vs 1700

Ryzen 5 2600X vs 2600 vs 1600X vs 1600

You might have noticed there’s one processor, in particular, that’s missing. A keen eye will have seen that the Ryzen 7 1800X hasn’t been replaced with the Ryzen 7 2800X. I anticipate its launch later in the year.

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AMD Ryzen 2: Early verdict

AMD’s Ryzen 2 series of processors is shaping up to be very impressive. With faster base clock speeds than the last generation and greater efficiency, the Ryzen 2 has every chance at landing another blow square on Intel’s chin. Let’s just hope their performance lives up to its promise.