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Following the rumors that 6-core SKUs are not part of the upcoming AMD Ryzen CPU release, fresh reports claimed that the new rivals to Intel's Core i3/i5/i7 chips will not be exactly cheap. Specifically, the Zen SR7 with 8-core/16-thread will debut bearing a sticker price of up to $720 a pop.
In a report, PC Gamer said that the so-called six-pack mid-ranger CPU or 6-core is not part of the Zen Summit Ridge chips, thought to be as the SR3, SR5 and SR7 in various configurations. Instead, "AMD will offer twice the number of cores/threads at each market segment ... (and) will offset its lack of a 6-core offering by including an 8-core chip that lacks SMT," the report added.
And in bypassing the 6-core segment and focusing on the more powerful 8-core SKUs, AMD appears to be gunning both for the enthusiasts and general consumers with its Ryzen thrust, perhaps to chip away a sizeable chunk of Intel's hold on the market. But there is a price to pay in delivering what looks like as twice the core expected from AMD.
The Ryzen pricing will have to be marked up. Sure, there were rumors that claimed the Zen SR chips will sell starting at $149 with the mid-range still reasonably priced at $249 but these were for the SR3 and SR5, respectively. It will be a different case for the high-end SR7 that obviously is designed to tussle with the Intel Core i7 family.
If the new rumor (from Zolkorn.com) picked up WCCFTech will prove accurate, the SR7 when unboxed will start at $580 and could go as high as $720. The levels are way up from the earlier figures obtained by the same publication that pegged the regular SR7 at around $350 and the SR7 Black Edition, which presumably with 8-core/16-thread, at below $500.
The considerable mark up, however, is not expected to turn off would be buyers as the same report stressed that AMD Ryzen can still beat Intel even in the SR7-Core i7 showdown. One key advantage that favors the Zeb is its unlocked features that make it easy for enthusiasts to overclock. In recent benchmark leaks, the SR7's native clock speed of 3.6GHz can be boosted to 4GHz on all-cores running and up to 5GHz in single core.
Ryzen also boasts of a more efficient power rating at 95W as against to Intel's 140W for the top-end chip, the report noted.
But the deal-breaker really for Intel is pricing or overall costs of using its flagship CPU. Core i7 chips can go beyond the $1000 mark and the X99 chipsets could be pricey too while the Ryzen SR7 is sure not to go over $800, and the Socket AM4 and motherboards likely to be relatively cheap when launched.
Speculations are rife that AMD has set the Ryzen Summit Ridge release date to coincide with the GDC 2017, indicating that the Zen SR3/SR5/SR7 CPUs will come out no later than March 3.
