Thanks to some sleuthing from various readers, AMD has accidentally let the cat out of the bag with regards to the official Ryzen launch date. While they haven’t specifically given an exact date, the talk to be given by AMD at the annual Game Developer Conference (GDC) says the following:

Join AMD Game Engineering team members for an introduction to the recently-launched AMD Ryzen CPU followed by advanced optimization topics.


From http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/optimizing-for-amd-ryzen-cpu-presented-by-amd

The GDC event runs from February 27th to March 3rd, and currently the AMD talk is not on the exact schedule yet, so it could appear any day during the event (so be wary if anyone says Feb 27th). At this time AMD has not disclosed an exact date either, but it would be an interesting time to announce the new set of Ryzen CPUs right in the middle of both GDC and Mobile World Congress which is also during that week. It would mean that Ryzen news may end up being buried under other GDC and smartphone announcements.

Then again, the launch could easily be anytime during February – this March 3rd date only really puts an end-point on the potential range. AMD has stated many times, as far back as August, that Q1 is the intended date for launch to consumers in volume. When we spoke with AMD at CES, nothing was set in stone so to speak, especially clock speeds and pricing, but we are expecting a full launch, not just something official on paper. Ryan will be at GDC to cover this exact talk, and I’ll be at MWC covering that event. Either way, we want to make sure that we are front of the queue when it comes time to disclosing as much information as we can get our hands on ahead of time. Stay tuned!

Source: GDC

Comments Locked

72 Comments

View All Comments

  • wiineeth - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - link

    I hope Anandtech publishes long review on ryzen. im a video editor and im pretty stoked about this if the 8c/16t version is affordable, would make my video editing workflow a breeze. Also i hope ryan and ian does youtube videos for normal people!
  • bill.rookard - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - link

    Agreed. I'm more interested in the hex-core version as that would probably be a bit more of the performance/price sweet spot. And to just highlight this (again): pricing will be crucial. I get that they need to make money, I get that they can't give it away for nothing, I get that if it's close to Intel performance they can charge close to Intel pricing, but they NEED market share.
  • Krysto - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - link

    Yeah, I would say AMD needs to focus on increasing market share so that people start seeing AMD devices around and consider them viable. Plus being 10% behind Intel in performance but offering a 10% discount on price so they offer the same value just won't be enough, because most people would still pick Intel in that scenario, if the value is the same. So their offers need to look very appealing in terms of value.
  • xype - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - link

    They need profits, too. I find it silly to demand AMD to catch up with Intel and once it looks like the might, people don’t want to pay for it. Sure, it has to be good value for money, but it’s starting to sound like everyone will be dissapointed if AMD doesn’t make those Ryzen super cheap.

    If the CPUs perform well, people should pay for it.
  • BikeDude - Thursday, February 16, 2017 - link

    If VW wanted to, they could probably launch a car tomorrow that would have the look and feel of a BMW, but they would struggle if they expected to be paid the same amount of money. Heck, if somebody simply replaced the BMW badge with VW badge, the value of the car would instantly be reduced. Or vice-versa: BMW could put their own badge on a VW, and instantly increase its value.

    The badge carries value in itself, and AMD is simply not where Intel is in terms of name recognition.

    Humans are dumb. Which explains why the advertising business is as big as it is.
  • Mr Perfect - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - link

    If the product is good enough, then they don't have to be cheap. I can remember back when the Athlon 64 X2s hit, they where fast chips and had some serious prices on them. It was north of $500 for the X2 chip I purchased and was worth it compared to the P4s of the time.

    Considering Intel is currently charging $1000 for their 8core 16thread chips, even $500 for a 8c16t Ryzen would be a complete steal!
  • extide - Thursday, January 12, 2017 - link

    Yeah, my guess is you will see something like:
    $500 -- 8 - core
    $300-350 -- 6 - core
    $200-250 and below -- 4 - core
    Probably wont see dual core -- maybe as mobile APU's but I doubt it in the non IGP chips. I also bet AMD will leave hyper threading on all but they very lowest end or possibly not even disable it on anything.
  • just4U - Saturday, January 14, 2017 - link

    One thing to remember is.. Intel can charge what it wants with no competition. Don't expect Intel pricing from AMD in the short-term even if they have a good chip..
  • redwarrior - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - link

    I had previously estimated any time between February 21 and February 28. The silicon gas been finalized and already is being manufactured. It takes 6 weeks to fill the channel. It will launch before February 27th.
  • ddriver - Wednesday, January 11, 2017 - link

    Naturally, no self-respecting professional would line up to be an early adopter of any tech. I myself would gladly get a much needed break from intel chips, providing performance is good and price is competitive, but not before the retail product and platform go through at least 6 months of testing.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now