AMD has introduced Mendocino at the moment, a brand new breed of cellular APUs that goals to redefine the on a regular basis laptop computer. Whereas Ryzen 6000 (Rembrandt) targets premium notebooks, Mendocino caters to mainstream laptops that compete within the $399 to $699 value vary.
Rembrandt brings AMD’s Zen 3+ cores and RDNA 2 graphics right into a single bundle. With Mendocino, nevertheless, the chipmaker opted to roll with the Zen 2 microarchitecture as a substitute however retained the RDNA 2 answer. It is the precise blueprint that AMD used for Van Gogh, from which Aerith (the customized APU within the Steam Deck) is derived. Due to this fact, Mendocino is actually an offshoot of Van Gogh however on a more moderen course of node.
Van Gogh is on TSMC’s 7nm course of node. Rembrandt and Mendocino reap the benefits of TSMC’s 6nm manufacturing course of. The 6nm “N6” course of node delivers as much as 18% greater logic density with an similar energy and efficiency stage compared to the 7nm “7N” course of node that was beforehand used for Ryzen 5000 (Cezanne) lineup.
Whereas we have seen Rembrandt maxing out at eight cores and 16 threads, Mendocino will solely attain half of that quantity. The best Mendocino half will supply 4 Zen 2 cores with eight threads. AMD did not share the specs for Mendocino. By way of processing energy, we may anticipate one thing alongside the traces of AMD’s Ryzen 4000 (Renoir) chips that additionally wield Zen 2 cores. Nonetheless, Renoir was on TSMC’s 7nm course of node; subsequently, Mendocino ought to theoretically characteristic improved clock speeds as a product of the 6nm course of node.
On the graphics facet, Mendocino options the RDNA 2 graphics engine. Due to this fact, shoppers will get pleasure from all of the video encode and decode capabilities from RDNA 2 at a extra accessible value level. Once more, AMD did not delve into particulars. The Radeon 680M, Rembrandt’s highest-end iGPU, comes with 12 RDNA 2 compute models. Being a lower-tier APU, Mendocino will probably see a decrease compute unit depend, maybe between six to eight compute models. It is believable that we might get a Steam Deck-type stage of efficiency in a laptop computer with Mendocino.
Considered one of Mendocino’s robust fits is its battery life. AMD estimated a minimal of 10 hours of battery life primarily based on blended utilization. We have seen higher with AMD’s different cellular Ryzen chips. Nonetheless, Mendocino will energy laptops that price between $399 and $699, and at that value vary, most shoppers anticipate a battery life between 4 to 6 hours, not over 10.
AMD has massive plans for its Ryzen-powered pocket book expansions throughout the totally different segments. The chipmaker has forecasted over 60 enterprises, 50 high-performance, and 90 ultra-thin designs for what’s left of 2022. As for Mendocino, we are able to anticipate to see units with the brand new 6nm cellular APUs within the fourth quarter of the 12 months.