AMD tackles Intel with its new processor architecture for laptops

AMD unveils a new processor architecture for laptops, the Zen 4C, a response to Intel’s hybrid design adopted two years ago.

AMD has just unveiled a new processor architecture for small laptops, ultrabooks. With these two new CPUs, the Ryzen 5 7545U and Ryzen 3 7440U, the manufacturer promises all the advantages of the big.LITTLE technology adopted by Intel, without the disadvantages.

The manufacturer has also revealed that this new architecture has been implemented in the Z1 version of the Asus ROG Ally released a few weeks ago. It should adapt perfectly to future portable consoles running on a Ryzen mobile processor.

Identical Zen 4c cores, but smaller

The big novelty of this architecture lies in the Zen 4c cores, which are a 35% more compact version of the classic Zen 4 cores.

According to AMD, these new cores offer the same number of instructions per cycle (IPC), but for reduced energy consumption below 15 W. Their smaller size also allows them to be, ultimately, more numerous on the circuit integrated.

Zen 4 cores perform better above 20W power consumption, with a higher maximum frequency and optimization for tasks single thread. AMD insists that these two cores are identical in terms of instruction sets, cache and even latency.

AMD gently tackles Intel

The manufacturer makes no secret of it: it is Intel that is being targeted with this hybrid architecture. The latter has used high-performance, low-power cores since its 12th generation of Alder Lake processors, with fundamental differences between the two types of cores.

With Zen 4c, AMD does not distinguish between the two types of cores, which both offer the same level of performance at equal frequency. Furthermore, unlike Intel and its Thread Director, AMD only uses the scheduler of the operating system to dynamically assign a particular task to a particular core.

For the moment, AMD is integrating this new architecture into its more modest processors intended for ultrabooks, the Ryzen 5 7545U and Ryzen 3 7440U. But we can bet that it will be gradually implemented in the rest of the range by 2024.