AMD unveils Ryzen 6000 laptop processors with RDNA2 graphics

AMD kicked off this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with a slew of announcements, including the unveiling of its AMD Ryzen 6000 mobile processor lineup and the launch of a new desktop processor featuring its stacked 3D cache storage for added performance.

The AMD Ryzen 6000 series features an updated Zen 3+ core with a focus on energy efficiency while delivering high performance. It boasts rapid speed adjustments that adapt to a PC's workload, and promises to use 30% less power for video conferencing, the company said. It offers 24 hours of video playback on a single charge.

The chip family supports up to eight performance cores and also feature integrated graphics based on the company's RDNA 2 architecture, which it says can handle most games, including AAA titles, in high definition. It also supports higher-speed DDR5 memory.

The company also announced the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, a desktop-focused processor that arrives as a refresh to AMD's existing 5800X unit. The '3D' in the name refers to the company's 3D V-Cache technology. This feature, formerly targeted at data center chips, stacks on-chip cache vertically to increase the available level 3 cache for enhanced performance. This chip, which will be available in the spring, features 1000Mb of combined cache. The company had promised a 3D cache upgrade to its Zen 3 product line in statements last year.

AMD Ryzen 6000 laptops will ship next month, and AMD will follow the Ryzen 6000 family with a professional series early this year that will feature additional security and management features.

However, AMD fans will have to wait a while longer for the firm's Zen 4 core architecture. It previewed the technology on its Ryzen 7000 processors but won't ship these until the second half of this year, it said. It will also introduce a new socket architecture called AM5, based on LGA socket technology that places sensitive pins on the motherboard rather than the chip to make processor installations and removals easier.

The company addressed gamers and others with a need for floating point performance with an update to its mobile and desktop graphics lineup. Premium laptops got several additions to its RX 6000M series, while its new RX 6000S family targets slim form-factor laptops with 1080P gaming at up to 1,000 frames per second (fps).

The AMD desktop graphics lineup saw two new units, the RX 6500XT and RX 6400. These both offer RDNA 2 support, featuring up to 65% more performance per watt over the last-generation RDNA graphics technology, the company said. The two GPUs sit within the budget range, with the 6500XT selling at $199.