Two "new" Ryzen 5000 processors to extend the life of the AM4 platform. Always good to go!
Of course, some users will object to the lack of real innovation in the launch of the two latest processors announced by AMD at Computex 2024 in Taipei. They won't necessarily be wrong, as the Ryzen 7 5800XT and Ryzen 9 5900XT capitalize on the success of previous models. However, we shouldn't complain, as the release of these two new chips demonstrates AMD's commitment to keeping an aging platform alive. Indeed, whereas Intel has taken to completely changing its platform every two years, pushing users to renew their hardware prematurely, AMD insists on the longevity of its products. Just think, the AM4 platform was launched in March 2017 with the release of the Zen micro-architecture. Since then, the AM4 has seen many, many generations of processors until the release of the Ryzen 7000 on the Zen 4 micro-architecture, and it was only with the latter - which is therefore not AM4-compatible - that AMD began the transition to the AM5 platform.
© AMD
However, at the time of the launch of the AM5 and the first Zen 4 Ryzen processors, AMD CEO Lisa Su made it clear that there was no question of abandoning the AM4 in favor of the AM5. Since then, the American company has made a series of announcements proposing new AM4 processors more or less every 8 months, in order to keep the platform alive. The latest announcement came at Computex 2024, when AMD logically focused on the new Zen 5 micro-architecture and Ryzen 9000. Of course, such processors will not be available in AM4, but AMD has presented the Ryzen 7 5800XT and Ryzen 9 5900XT to support AM4. These two processors don't offer any real innovations, but they are a kind of honorary barroud, and should offer quite acceptable performance at attractive prices, especially as the AM4 platform is reputed to be cheap, and DDR4 memory is still less expensive than DDR5.
© AMD
The Ryzen 7 5800XT is very similar to the Ryzen 7 5800X, retaining the same number of cores/threads (8/16), combined cache (32 MB) and TDP (105 watts). It does, however, boast a higher 100 MHz boost frequency and a much lower launch price: the Ryzen 7 5800X was launched at $449, while the Ryzen 7 5800 XT should be launched at $199! Let's not forget, however, that water has flowed under the bridge since the release of the Ryzen 7 5800X, and it's now trading at around $200. For its part, the Ryzen 9 5900XT seems more surprising: rather than adopting the design of the Ryzen 9 5900X, it's closer to the Ryzen 9 5950X with its 16 cores, only the clock speed has been reduced (by 100 MHz). The combined cache remains identical (64 MB), as does the TDP (105 watts) for a processor that would be invoiced at $359, a little less than the current price of Ryzen 9 5950X.
