Stardock and Oxide Complete First Optimization for AMD Ryzen CPUs Delivering Up to 30 Percent “Average FPS All Batches” Uplift in “Ashes of the Singularity” DirectX 12 Benchmark

AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced, in conjunction with game developers Stardock and Oxide Games, the completion of initial optimization of “Ashes of the Singularity” for AMD Ryzen desktop processors resulting in significant performance increases. The popular game title, which initially launched one year ago, demonstrates significant performance increases in game play and an up to 30 percent increase in “Average Frames Per Second All Batches” in-game benchmark performance, placing AMD Ryzen 7 1800X in elite performance levels for the game.¹ Stardock and Oxide Games are premier participants in the AMD Ryzen game development program that spans numerous significant game development houses and titles.

“Unleashing the full high-performance value proposition of the ‘Zen’ core and AMD Ryzen CPUs requires close collaboration with software, hardware, and game developers. The results Stardock and Oxide have achieved show impressive gains,” said Jim Anderson, SVP and GM of the Computing and Graphics Business at AMD. “We’re very pleased with the results, not just because of the statement it makes about incredible AMD Ryzen performance headroom, but more importantly what it means for fans of ‘Ashes’ – a state-of-the art implementation of DirectX^® 12 in a real-time strategy game.”

 “I’ve always been vocal about taking advantage of every ounce of performance the PC has to offer. That’s why I’m a strong proponent of DirectX 12 and Vulkan^® because of the way these APIs allow us to access multiple CPU cores, and that’s why the AMD Ryzen processor has so much potential,” said Stardock and Oxide CEO Brad Wardell. “As good as AMD Ryzen is right now – and it’s remarkably fast – we’ve already seen that we can tweak games like ‘Ashes of the Singularity’ to take even more advantage of its impressive core count and processing power. AMD Ryzen brings resources to the table that will change what people come to expect from a PC gaming experience.”

Performance Uplift

                In testing with an AMD Ryzen 7 1800X CPU paired with DDR4-2933 memory at 1920x1080 resolution and “High Preset” image quality setting, the updated game and its in-game benchmark showed a minimum increase of up to 26 percent in “Average Frames Per Second Large Batches”, to a maximum uplift of up to 33 percent in “Average Frames Per Second Normal Batches”, compared to testing with the previous version of “Ashes of the Singularity”.[i]

Game Update Availability

“Ashes of the Singularity” game owners may download the updated game free of charge on Steam starting today at 9 a.m. EDT, while new customers will be able to purchase and download the same new standard version. All three models of AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs are available at retailers and etailers worldwide.

Supporting Resources

·         Learn more about AMD Ryzen processors at AMD.com/Ryzen

·         View video of Stardock and Oxide CEO Brad Wardell discussing game optimizations for the AMD Ryzen CPU

·         Learn more about the “Zen” core architecture at AMD.com/Zen

·         Learn more about AMD Products, Solutions, and Innovations

·         Become a fan of AMD on Facebook

·         Follow AMD on Twitter @AMD

About Stardock

Stardock is a developer and publisher of PC games and desktop software founded in 1991 by nationally recognized technology expert Brad Wardell. Located in Plymouth, Michigan, Stardock is a powerful leader in the video gaming and software development world.  Its PC games include Sins of a Solar Empire, the critically acclaimed Galactic Civilizations series, and Ashes of the Singularity. Stardock puts the user experience first through software that enriches the Windows experience for everyone from casual computer users to highly technical professionals. Products offered by Stardock include Start10, Fences, WindowBlinds, Multiplicity, and more at www.stardock.com.

About Oxide Games

Oxide games was founded in 2013 by industry veterans Tim Kipp, Dan Baker, Marc Meyer, Brian Wade, and Brad Wardell. Located in Timonium, Maryland, Oxide is a world class game and engine developer, with it's key members having worked in leadership positions on such well known titles as Civilization, Elder Scrolls Online, Command and Conquer, and many more. Oxide develops the powerful Nitrous engine, used by Ashes of the Singularity and many upcoming titles. The Nitrous Engine has been recognized as world class leader in state of the art technology, often considered the gold standard for both next generation API development and multicore scaling.

About AMD

For more than 45 years, AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies ― the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms, and the datacenter. Hundreds of millions of consumers, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research facilities around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work, and play. AMD employees around the world are focused on building great products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.

​Acer Chromebook R 13 Tops CNET’s ‘Top 25 Battery Life Laptops and 2-in-1 Hybrids’ List

CNET recently published its “Top 25 battery life laptops and 2-in-1 hybrids” and the #1 spot went to the Acer Chromebook R 13 with a distant lead of 13 hours and 2 minutes of battery life, providing more than an hour of additional battery life compared to the next closest competitor.

Three other Acer notebooks also made the list including the Acer Aspire S 13 with 9 hours and 46 minutes, the Acer Chromebook 14 with 9 hours and 30 minutes, and the Acer Chromebook R 11 with 8 hours and 11 minutes.

AMD Ryzen 5 CPUs to Power Performance Desktop PCs Starting April 11 Worldwide

 Following the successful introduction of AMD Ryzen™ 7 desktop processors including record pre-orders and award-winning¹ performance, AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced Ryzen™ 5 desktop processors will launch worldwide on April 11, 2017, offering disruptive price-to-performance for gamers and creators. With end users at the heart of everything AMD does, the new Ryzen 5 processors feature the powerful and efficient “Zen” architecture in 6-core,12-thread as well as 4-core, 8-thread options, to deliver enhanced performance, immersive experiences and high performance innovation to gamers and consumers worldwide with a price range of $169 to $249 USD SEP.  

“Ryzen will ultimately bring innovation and competition to virtually every segment of the PC market, and Ryzen 5 is the next big step on that journey, designed to achieve new levels of compute performance for millions of PC users,” said Jim Anderson, senior vice president and general manager, Computing and Graphics Group, AMD. “AMD reinvigorated the high-performance desktop market with Ryzen 7 earlier this month, and AMD Ryzen 5 now brings the power and efficiency of the “Zen” core to users in the highly popular sub-$300 segment of the market.”

Ryzen 5 Performance and Lineup

During an event today in Beijing, China for press, customers, and partners, AMD outlined the AMD Ryzen 5 desktop processor lineup. AMD specifically designed these processors for performance desktop users, AAA-title and streaming gamers, and the new AM4 desktop platform. Featuring AMD SenseMI technology and impressive multi-tasking capabilities, the groundbreaking AMD Ryzen 5 adapts to consumers’ needs with incredible responsiveness and performance. Previously, AMD demonstrated the Ryzen 5 1600X beating the Intel Core i5 7600K by 69 percent² in CPU performance testing using Cinebench R15 nT.

Game Optimizations

With the announcement of the Ryzen 5 lineup, AMD reiterated its commitment to delivering excellent gaming performance to ensure existing and future game titles take full advantage of Ryzen.

“We are impressed by the technological evolution enabled by the Zen architecture, which was designed to keep pace now and well into the future as gaming, eSports and virtual reality experiences continually push the limits of devices,” said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks. “Working with an all-new microarchitecture, like that in the Ryzen family of processors, means that everyone has the opportunity to raise their game and bring the very best interactive experiences to players. All of us at Bethesda are excited about working with AMD to keep evolving the premium performance that Ryzen offers.”

Ryzen 5 Processor and Platform Availability

Availability for all four Ryzen 5 models begins April 11 at etailers around the world. All Ryzen processors support the new AM4 infrastructure, with motherboard designs being produced from top ODMs. Announced at CES 2017, AMD and its motherboard partners already debuted a wide array of new motherboards from ASRock, Asus, Biostar, Gigabyte, and MSI, all built upon the following desktop chipsets for AMD Ryzen processors – the X370, B350 and the A320, the latter intended for mainstream PCs at new, consumer-friendly price points.  

New Coolers

The AMD Ryzen 5 lineup also includes new Wraith coolers, including the Wraith Spire and the Wraith Stealth, available with select AMD Ryzen processors. These new AMD thermal solutions are designed to provide near-silent operation, with unique styling and superb cooling.

Supporting Resources

·         Learn more about AMD Ryzen processors at AMD.com/Ryzen

·         Learn more about the “Zen” core architecture at AMD.com/Zen

·         Learn more about AMD Products, Solutions, and Innovations

·         Become a fan of AMD on Facebook

·         Follow AMD on Twitter @AMD

About AMD

For more than 45 years, AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies ― the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms, and the datacenter. Hundreds of millions of consumers, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research facilities around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work, and play. AMD employees around the world are focused on building great products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.

AMD Previews “Naples” High-Performance Server Processor, Prepares to Return Innovation and Choice to the Datacenter in Q2 2017

AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today took a significant step into the server and datacenter market with its most detailed look yet at the upcoming high-performance CPU for servers, codenamed “Naples”. Purpose-built to disrupt the status-quo and to scale across the cloud datacenter and traditional on-premise server configurations, “Naples” delivers the highly regarded “Zen” x86 processing engine in industry-leading configurations of up to 32 cores. Superior memory bandwidth and the number of high-speed input / output channels in a single-chip further differentiate “Naples” from anything else in the server market today. The first processors are scheduled to be available in Q2 2017, with volume availability building in the second half of the year through OEM and channel partners.

“Today marks the first major milestone in AMD re-asserting its position as an innovator in the datacenter and returning choice to customers in high-performance server CPUs,” said Forrest Norrod, senior vice president and general manager, Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom business unit, AMD. “’Naples’ represents a completely new approach to supporting the massive processing requirements of the modern datacenter. This groundbreaking system-on-chip delivers the unique high-performance features required to address highly virtualized environments, massive data sets and new, emerging workloads.”

The new AMD server processor exceeds today’s top competitive offering on critical parameters, with 45% more cores¹, 60% more input / output capacity (I/O)², and 122% more memory bandwidth³.

“It is exciting to see AMD back in the server conversation with a new CPU and a sound strategy for why it is the right processor for the modern datacenter and the cloud computing era,” said Matt Eastwood, senior vice president, Enterprise Infrastructure and Datacenter, IDC. “Looking at the product details announced today, it sounds like a compelling combination that will give IT buyers a unique new option to consider when making their next upgrade.”

 “Naples” features:

o   A highly scalable, 32-core System on Chip (SoC) design, with support for two high-performance threads per core

o   Industry-leading memory bandwidth, with 8-channels of memory per “Naples” device. In a 2-socket server, support for up to 32 DIMMS of DDR4 on 16 memory channels, delivering up to 4 terabytes of total memory capacity.

o   The processor is a complete SoC with fully integrated, high-speed I/O supporting 128 lanes of PCIe® 3⁴, negating the need for a separate chip-set

o   A highly-optimized cache structure for high-performance, energy efficient compute

o   AMD Infinity Fabric coherent interconnect for two “Naples” CPUs in a 2-socket system

o   Dedicated security hardware

AMD will deliver two presentations on its datacenter strategy and upcoming products this week during the Open Compute Summit. Scott Aylor, vice president of enterprise solutions will talk in the main hall on Wed., March 8^th at 4:55 PM PST, while Dan Bounds, senior director of enterprise products, will deliver an engineering Tech Talk on Thurs., March 9^th at 9:20 AM PST on the Expo Hall stage.

Supporting Resources

·         Introduction to “Naples” on AMD.com

·         Blog by Forrest Norrod in the AMD Community

·         Learn more about the “Zen” x86 core

·         Follow AMD datacenter developments on Twitter @AMDServer

About AMD

For more than 45 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics and visualization technologies ― the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms, and the datacenter. Hundreds of millions of consumers, leading Fortune 500 businesses and cutting-edge scientific research facilities around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work and play. AMD employees around the world are focused on building great products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, and Facebook and Twitter pages.

*This is Press Release