Veteran motherboard maker Gigabyte has let slip the release schedule for the next-gen new AMD APU range. The new lineup of Socket AM5 CPUs is rumored to be named using the AMD Ryzen 8000G numbering scheme, and the top model is touted to feature a stronger AMD Radeon GPU than current AMD Zen 4 desktop CPUs.
The announcement was made in a press release issued by Gigabyte, which clearly states that the ‘forthcoming AM5 next-gen APU will be launched at the end of January 2024.’ The company has already released beta BIOS updates for its AMD AM5 motherboard lineup, which support the latest AGESA 1.1.0.0 standard for the new AMD CPUs.
Gigabyte also promises to release official BIOS updates at the end of November, 2023, which will provide ‘formal’ support for the new Socket AM5 AMD APU lineup. If you want to get your motherboard ready for one of the new APUs, make sure you read our full guide on how to flash your BIOS.
Meanwhile, previous AMD Ryzen 8000G rumors have suggested that the top model will be called the Ryzen 7 8700G, and will come with eight AMD Zen 4 CPU cores and 12 GPU compute units (CUs) based on the AMD RDNA 3 architecture. If true, this would give the Ryzen 7 8700G integrated GPU 768 dual-issue stream processors, making it powerful enough to play some of the latest games, though not at graphically demanding settings.
Previous AMD APU launches have built on the company’s ability to integrate Radeon GPU tech into the same die as its CPU cores, a technique that’s also used in the AMD chips featured in the Xbox Series X and Sony PlayStation 5, as well as mobile gaming devices such as the Valve Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go.
However, the desktop PC flavors of these chips often have quite low-spec GPUs, and their reliance on standard PC system memory also means they lack memory bandwidth compared to using a separate graphics card.
For example, while the Ryzen 7 5700G was based on the AMD Zen 3 CPU architecture, it only had eight compute units based on AMD’s aging Vega GPU architecture. Similarly, the rumored AMD APU specs for chips further down the new model range show the lower-end models only having four CUs in their GPUs.
If the rumors are true, it looks as though the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G and Ryzen 3 8300G will only have four compute units, which would give you just 256 dual-issue stream processors in each GPU. While four compute units is more than the single RDNA 2 one you get in AMD’s standard Ryzen 7000 CPUs, such as the excellent Ryzen 7 7800X3D, it’s not going to give you enough GPU power to run the latest demanding games at even basic settings.
As a point of comparison, the Radeon RX 7600 has 2,048 stream processors spread over 32 compute units, while even the SteamDeck has eight compute units – twice as much GPU power as the four rumored to be in these new APUs.
Previous rumors have also pointed to the new range of CPUs being called the AMD Ryzen 7000G series, rather than the AMD Ryzen 8000G series. AMD has skipped a generation of numbers before when releasing a new APU range, with the Ryzen 4000G lineup based on the same Zen 3 architecture as the Ryzen 3000 series, so this move isn’t without precedent, but we’ll have to wait until the launch before we know for sure.
In the meantime, if you’re on the lookout for a new processor, make sure you check out our full guide to the best gaming CPU. Are you interested in building a PC with one of these rumored new APUs, or would you need a better GPU? Let us know your thoughts on the Custom PC Facebook page, via Twitter, or join our Custom PC and Gaming Setup Facebook group and tap into the knowledge of our 420,000+ members.