AMD Intros Mendocino APUs – Ryzen 7020 & Athlon 7020 Family With 6nm Zen 2 & RDNA 2 Cores

AMD has officially launched its Mendocino APUs for mainstream notebooks as a part of its Ryzen 7020 & Athlon 7020 lineup.

The AMD Ryzen 7020 'Mendocino' APUs will be equipped with Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 GPU cores. These cores will be upgraded and optimized on the latest TSMC 6nm node & offer up to 4 cores and 8 threads plus 4 MB of L3 cache. There are three SKUs launching today which include 2 Ryzen 7020 & a single Athlon 7020 APU. The chips also feature a new naming scheme that was recently introduced.

The AMD Ryzen 5 7520U is a 4-core and 8-thread APU that comes with a base clock of 2.8 GHz and a boost clock of 4.3 GHz. The chip features 6 MB of cache and the Radeon 610M graphics. The AMD Ryzen 3 7320U offers the same specifications but comes with slower clock speeds of 2.4 GHz base & 4.1 GHz boost. Both chips have a TDP that's configurable between 8W to 15W. The Athlon Gold 7220U features a 2-core and 4-thread design with a base clock rated at 2.4 GHz and a boost clock at 3.7 GHz. The entry-level APU also comes with 5 MB of cache and the same iGPU as the rest.

The new specifications unveil that the AMD Mendocino APUs will be supported by the brand new 'Sonoma Valley' platform which is based around the FT6 (BGA) socket. The GPU will be based on the RDNA 2 graphics architecture and feature a single WGP (Work Group Processor) for up to two Compute Units or a total of 128 stream processors. The iGPU will feature 128 KB of on-die graphics cache which should not be mistaken as Infinity Cache. So as far as the architectural details are concerned, we are looking at:

Up To 4 Zen 2 CPU Cores With 8 Threads

Up To 2 RDNA 2 GPU Cores With 128 SPs

Up To 4 MB of L2 Cache

Up To 128 KB GPU Cache

2x 32-bit LPDDR5 Channels (Up to 32 GB Memory)

4 PCIe Gen 3.0 Lanes

Other specifications include two 32-bit memory channels which support up to 32 GB LPDDR5 memory, four display pipes (1 eDP, 1DP, and 2 Type-C outputs), and the latest VCN 3.0 engine with AV1 and VP9 decode. As for I/O, the AMD Mendocino APUs will feature two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and a single USB 2.0 port for SBIO. The I/O will also include 4 GPP PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes.

This sounds pretty much like the same configuration that AMD has used on its Van Gogh SOC which powers the Steam Deck (handheld) console. These chips are expected to be super-efficient and are mentioned to operate with over 12 hours of battery life (internally projected). The laptops will come with an active cooling solution as confirmed by Robert Hallock since passive designs require more engineering and can raise the cost of the products.

Acer: “From thin-and-lights to rugged laptops, Acer provides a wide variety of products for customers with different needs,” said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. “With the introduction of AMD Ryzen 7020 Series processors, the new Acer Aspire 3 14 and Aspire 3 15 laptops with the new processors provide the perfect blend of performance and value.”

HP: “With the new HP 17 inch Laptop PC – powered by Ryzen 7020 Series processors – people will have the freedom and flexibility to work and play however and whenever they want,” said Jo Tan, Global Head of Consumer PCs, Personal Systems, HP Inc. “Together with AMD, we’re delivering the performance and experiences our customers need to stay connected, productive, and entertained.”

Lenovo: “We’re taking speed and efficiency to a new level in collaboration with AMD,” said Ouyang Jun, Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer Business Segment, Intelligent Devices Group. “With the trusted power and efficiency of AMD Ryzen processors, our next generation of consumer PCs, such as Lenovo IdeaPad, will offer the performance required for everyday multitasking and collaboration – all while fitting into a wider range of budgets.”

Microsoft: “We are excited to see the deep AMD and Microsoft co-engineering collaboration come to life on Ryzen 7020 Series processor-powered systems enabled with Windows 11,” said Pavan Davuluri, CVP Windows Silicon and Systems Integration. “Premium experiences don’t have to come at a premium price as customers will enjoy things like stellar battery life, graphics performance with RDNA 2, and security capabilities with VBS acceleration and chip-to-cloud security features enabled by the built-in Microsoft Pluton security processor.”

The Mendocino APUs will power the mainstream and entry-level lineup, starting at $399 - $699 US. AMD and their partners will be revealing more designs in the coming months such as Lenovo's Idea Pad 1.