AMD Ryzen 7 8700G, 8C/16T, 4.20-5.10GHz, tray

AMD verspricht nicht weniger als flüssiges Full-HD-Gaming mit der integrierten Grafikeinheit auf RDNA-3-Basis, die in den Ryzen-8000G-Prozessoren verbaut sind. Doch was ist Marketing und was entspricht der Wahrheit? PCGH hat den Test gemacht.

Ryzen 8000G ist AMDs erste APU für den Sockel AM5. Sie setzt auf Zen-4-CPU-Kerne und eine RDNA-3-iGPU. Der Sprung gegenüber Ryzen 5000G mit Zen 3 und Vega-iGPU ist im Test der beiden neuen Topmodelle Ryzen 7 8700G und Ryzen 5 8600G entsprechend groß.

It’s been a surprisingly busy 2024 with a list of different GPU launches that were all announced at CES. AMD didn’t just announce the RX 7600 XT at CES however, they also introduced a new line of CPUs their Ryzen 8000G Series, and a few new SKUs in the older Ryzen 5000 Series as well for AM4 users. Today I’m going to check out two of the new 8000G Series CPUs, the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G which will be hitting stores on the 31st. They are Zen 4 CPUs with upgraded integrated GPU capabilities including AI processing as well with an integrated NPU on both the 8700G and 8600G. Onboard graphics performance is an area that we always test and keep an eye on with included so I’m excited to see what AMD’s promise of “fastest built-in graphics in its class” will mean for actual gameplay so let’s dive in and see what they are capable of.

The AMD Ryzen 8000G series demonstrates impressive performance, showing just how capable the combination of both CPU and GPU components in a single unit can be. Unlike the past where compromises were necessary, these processors, such as the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G, exhibit impressive performance for daily computing tasks, making them suitable for work and entertainment. However, when it comes to graphics-intensive games, the APU still has limitations. For less graphics-demanding tasks or work, Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G are excellent choices. Noteworthy is the impact of software features like AMD FidelityFX, providing a notable enhancement in gaming experiences. With FidelityFX FSR, even at low settings, graphics remain better than expected, and FidelityFX FSR 3 Frame Generation significantly boosts FPS, resulting in smoother gameplay. but the limited bandwidth with PCIe 4.0 X8 limits the options of dedicated GPU you can go with the Ryzen 8000G series APUs. However, for AAA gaming, pairing the system with a dedicated GPU is recommended. Despite current limitations, AMD’s continuous hardware and software improvements indicate promising advancements in future APU offerings. This anticipation keeps us excited for AMD’s next-generation APU.

Overall, the new chips are solid and largely what we have seen before. What should be slightly more exciting to STH readers is this CPU/ GPU solution making its way to bespoke systems. Finally, one can build a system with Zen 4 and the Radeon 780M. Perhaps the bigger takeaway is that this is the first of the next-gen AI PCs. Being the first of the new generation is always a bit tricky. Usually, features like utilizing NPUs take a few quarters to garner software support. In the meantime, the new hardware accelerators tend to get much better. The idea of having an NPU in the chips is exciting despite this being an area where we would expect outsized performance gains in future generations. To us, the big win is deploying something like this today and being able to do video inference on the NPU and GPU decode pipelines.

Overall, the AMD Ryzen 5 8600G and Ryzen 7 8700G are good values that offer strong all-around performance in their respective price segments. If you’re looking for a mainstream processor, that’s “AI PC” ready, and features some of the best integrated graphics performance out there, they are an easy recommendation.

We went pretty far off the rails with this build, delving into a realm of borderline insanity by turning this particular motherboard into a NAS platform. Setting aside the limitation of the switched PCIe lanes, however, early testing is showing promising results for the very limited number of users that this build will see over the coming months in the Edge Lab. With a low idle power of around 60 watts when properly configured and a very low noise footprint, it’s still a compelling idea to consider, given a different motherboard choice. It is important to emphasize here, that we don’t dislike the board, but for this side quest, there are better options. The first generation of Ryzen CPUs, launched by AMD in 2017, marked a paradigm shift in the CPU market, challenging Intel’s longstanding dominance. Featuring the innovative Zen architecture, these chips offered a substantial improvement in IPC and core counts compared to AMD’s previous offerings. The Ryzen 7 1700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, provided a compelling blend of multi-threaded performance and affordability, redefining expectations for consumer CPUs. Fast forward to the latest Ryzen generation today, AMD continues to build on Zen’s powerful legacy, while maintaining competitive pricing.

At the price point, the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G certainly hit a sweet spot between compute and integrated graphics performance, more so than we've seen before with any generation of AMD Zen-based APUs. It's been a long time coming as we've anticipated AMD to release a Zen 4 APU to the market. For users waiting for this day (today), there's certainly a lot to be had for the price when opting for either the Ryzen 7 8700G or the Ryzen 5 8600G. It does, however, prove fruitful to point out that there's still value to be had from the Ryzen 5000G series, even more so since the turn of the year. The Ryzen 7 5700G can be purchased from Amazon for just $170, which represents impeccable value for money, given how cheap the AMD AM4 motherboards can be purchased, as well as the DDR4 memory. Even cheaper still, the Ryzen 5 5600G is only $124 at Amazon (at the time of writing), and all things aside, it still proves an excellent proposition for users on a stringent budget but who want to do basic tasks and light gaming at 720p while avoiding the cost of a discrete graphics card. Overall, the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G offer solid performance for the price, but the next step in the evolution of the APU may yet still be to come, as AMD is preparing Zen 5 for launch, which, according to their roadmap, is scheduled for this year. It'll be a while after that until we see Zen 5-based APUs (if at all), but we appreciate the concept of the APU and what it offers to users on a budget in an increasingly inflated hardware market.

Affordable chips that pair nicely with discrete GPUs too.