Computex 2022 – AMD wants to revolutionize low-cost laptops with its new Mendocino chip


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At Computex 2022, AMD unveiled a new processor that could drastically increase laptop battery life and gaming performance.

Mendocino’s presentation at Computex 2022. © AMD

Each year, AMD takes advantage of Computex to announce its new processors. In 2022, the manufacturer was no exception to the rule by unveiling its Ryzen 7000 for desktop PCs, but also another unexpected and very interesting chip on paper. This processor, codenamed Mendocino, is based on the now somewhat dated Zen 2 architecture (the current one being Zen 3, as a reminder), and offers just four cores and eight threads. Why such a backward step?

In reality, these Mendocino processors are not clones of the Ryzen Zen 2 released a few years ago, since they are manufactured with the 6 nm engraving process currently used for the manufacturer’s Ryzen 6000 (Zen 3+). They will also carry the integrated RDNA 2 graphics part, which promises interesting in-game performance.

Low price, autonomy and gaming on the program

With Mendocino, the objective is threefold for AMD. First, by using an aging architecture, the manufacturer is targeting the chip for entry-level computers (PC or Chromebook) between $400 and $700.

Coupled with the 6 nm process, their energy efficiency should also be excellent (on paper anyway) and AMD has announced that it wants to achieve more than 10 hours of battery life in real use. If we are used to this kind of declarations from manufacturers, who greatly overestimate the autonomy of their machines, this figure seems realistic to us for once. A data that we will of course not fail to check when the first equipped PCs reach us.

More than 10 hours of autonomy announced.  © AMD

More than 10 hours of autonomy announced. © AMD

Third determining element for this chip: the integration of RDNA 2 which, as on the Ryzen 6000, promises gaming at 1080p without a dedicated GPU. This will obviously not be possible on the latest triple AAA titles to date, but according to AMD, we can indulge without batting an eyelid in not so old games by approaching – or even exceeding – 60 fps. On a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 Pro X (in Ryzen 6800 HS), the manufacturer thus evokes 59 fps on Shadow of the Tomb Raider46 fps on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided or even 266 fps on League of Legends (which is not very demanding).

The iGPU performance is nice.  © AMD

The iGPU performance is nice. © AMD

If the autonomy and performance in play are really up to par, a computer equipped with Mendocino could well be an excellent choice for those who want to do office automation without very demanding software (photo or video editing for example). PCs and Chromebooks equipped with these new processors may become models of versatility, but we will have to wait until the second half of this year to find out, AMD having not given more details on the availability of its chips. Mendocino.

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