Techpowerup has posted a MASSIVE list of up-and-coming hardware launches for 2018. There are tons of new stuff. I’m particularly interested in the new Nvidia Turing and the AMD Zen+
“In this article, which our team will regularly update, we will maintain a growing list of information pertaining to upcoming hardware releases based on leaks and official announcements as we spot them. There will obviously be a ton of rumors on unreleased hardware, and it is our goal to – based on our years of industry experience – exclude the crazy ones. In addition to these upcoming hardware release news, we will regularly adjust the structure of this article to better organize information. Each time an important change is made to this article, it will re-appear on our front page with a “new” banner, and the additions will be documented in the forum comments thread. This article will not leak information we signed an NDA for.”
Processors
AMD Zen+
- Release Date: April 19th, 2018
- Optical shrink of Zen to 12 nm
- Codename: Pinnacle Ridge
- Ryzen 7 2700X: 3.7 – 4.35 GHz, 8c/16t, 20 MB cache, 105 W. $369
- Ryzen 7 2700: 3.2 – 4.1 GHz, 8c/16t, 20 MB cache, 65 W. $299
- Ryzen 5 2600X: 3.6 – 4.25 GHz, 6c/12t, 19 MB cache, 95 W. $249, € 250
- Ryzen 5 2600: 3.4 – 3.9 GHz, 6c/12t, 19 MB cache, 65 W. $199
- Meltdown/Spectre mitigation (through microcode)
- Improved memory latency and cache speeds
- Heatspreader is soldered (not using thermal paste)
- Compatible with 300 Series chipset motherboards (BIOS update required)
- All CPUs support Precision Boost 2 and XFR 2
- All CPUs have their multiplier unlocked, which requires appropriate chipset support (X470, X370, B450, B350)
- Accompanied by 400 Series chipsets
AMD Zen 2
- Release Date: 2019
- 7 nm production process
- Codename: Matisse (CPU), Picasso (APU w/ IGP)
- Hardening against Meltdown/Spectre (through architecture)
- Continues to use socket AM4
- Tape-out: end of 2018
AMD Zen 3
- Release Date: 2020
- Codename: Vermeer (CPU), Renoire (APU w/ IGP), Dali (value APU w/ IGP)
- New process tech
- New CPU core
- Continues to use socket AM4
AMD Threadripper 2nd Gen
- Release Date: 2018
- 12 nm production process (optical shrink from 1st gen)
- Uses Zen+ architecture and a pair of “Pinnacle Ridge” dies
- Stays on socket TR4, compatible with X399 motherboards through BIOS updates
AMD Threadripper 3rd Gen
- Release Date: 2019
- Codename: Castle Peak
- New process tech
- New CPU core
- Stays on socket TR4
Intel Coffee Lake
- Release Date: Q1 2018, and more models in second half of 2018
- These new Coffee Lake models will cover lower price points, possibly to combat AMD’s Ryzen offerings.
- i5-8600: 3.1 GHz, 4.2 GHz Turbo, 6c/6t, 9 MB cache, 65 W, BX80684I58600, $329
- i5-8500: 3.0 GHz, 4.1 GHz Turbo, 6c/6t, 9 MB cache, 65W, BX80684I58500, $290
- i3-8300: 3.7 GHz, 4c/4t, 8 MB cache, 65 W, $211
- Pentium G5600: 3.9 GHz, 2c/4t, 4 MB cache, 54 W, BX80684G5600, $142
- Pentium G5500: 3.8 GHz, 2c/4t, 4 MB cache, 54 W, BX80684G5500, $127
- Pentium G5400: 3.7 GHz, 2c/4t, 4 MB cache, $97
- Celeron G4920: 3.2 GHz, 2c/2t, 2 MB cache, 54 W, BX80684G4920, $80
- Celeron G4900: 3.1 GHz, 2c/2t, 2 MB cache, 54 W, BX80684G4900, $64
- CPUs in H2 2018 are confirmed to have fixes against Spectre variant 2 and Meltdown
Graphics / GPUs
AMD Vega
- Machine learning version in 2018
- Die-shrink to 7 nm. Tape-out in 2018
AMD Navi
- Release Date: 2019, probably H2
- TSMC, 7 nm
Intel Discrete GPU
- Release Date: Probably not before 2019
- Advanced management for power and clocks
- Test chip: 8×8 mm² die area, 1.54B transistors, 14 nm, 50-400 MHz clock, EUs at 2x clock if needed
- Raja Koduri who left AMD in late 2017 is somehow involved
NVIDIA Volta
- Release Date: Q1 or Q3, depending on source
- Architecture already debuted with $3000 Titan V; these are GeForce GTX SKUs at saner prices
- 12 nm TSMC process
- Questionable whether Tensor cores (for machine learning) will be included in gaming-oriented GPUs
NVIDIA Turing
- Release Date: Q1 2018, other source says reveal in Q1, mass production in Q3 2018
- Possibly a “Volta” based blockchain compute accelerator targeted at crypto miners
NVIDIA Ampere
- Release Date: 2018
- Being released sooner than expected, with a focus on gaming performance (opposed to mining performance?)
Chipsets
AMD 400 Series Chipsets
- Release Date: Early 2018
- X470, B450
- Both support multiplier overclocking
- Both support XFR2 Enhanced Mode and Precision Boost Overdrive
- Other specs identical to predecessors
- PCIe lanes coming out of the chipset (x4) are still PCIe Gen 2. The CPU itself will provide PCIe Gen 3 lanes for graphics
Intel Coffee Lake Chipsets
- Release Date: Q1 2018
- These new chipsets will enable cheaper Coffee Lake motherboards to support the new, more affordable processors that are launching at the same time
- Compatible with Coffee Lake only (just like Z370)
- H370 Express, B360 Express, and H310 Express
- Confirmed vendors: ASRock, Gigabyte, and MSI, most probably all the other big players, too
Memory
DDR5 System Memory
- Release Date: Latest 2019/2020
- 4800 – 6400 Gbps
- Expected to be produced using 7 nm technologies
- 64-bit link at 1.1V
- Voltage regulators on the DIMM modules
GDDR6 Graphics Memory
- Release Date: Early 2018 (chips), late 2018 (products using these chips)
- Up to 16 Gbps speeds (2x GDDR5)
- First products will launch with 12 Gbps and 14 Gbps
- Voltage: 1.35 V (same as GDDR5X)
- AMD is working on supporting GDDR6 for future graphics cards
HBM3 Graphics Memory
- Release Date: Not before 2019
- Double the memory bandwidth per stack (4000 Gbps expected)
- Expected to be produced using 7 nm technologies
Other
PCI-Express 4.0
- Specification released in late 2017
- 16 GT/s bandwidth per lane, per direction (2x the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0)
- Reduced latency
- Lane margining
- I/O virtualization capabilities
- No chipsets/motherboards in sight
PCI-Express 5.0
- Release Date: Q1 2019
- 32 GT/s bandwidth per lane, per direction (4x the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0)
- 128/130 bit encoding (= 1.5% overhead)
- Physical connector targeted to be backward compatible
