AMD Phoenix 2 “Ryzen 7040” APUs Feature 23% Smaller Die Size, Allegedly Utilize Zen 4 & Zen 4C Core Combo

The first AMD Phoenix 2 APUs which will be part of the Ryzen 7040 series feature a die size nearly 23% smaller than the standard Phoenix chips.

Update: Golden Pig Upgrade has shared pictures of the AMD Phoenix 2 APU sitting next to the standard Phoenix APU which show a smaller die size on the same package for the PHX2 chips.

Rumors about a potential AMD Phoenix 2 APU were circulating a while back, and it looks like we finally have a glimpse of what the SoC will look like. Credits to Twitter users @xinoassasin and @BusAlexey; the AMD Phoenix 2 APUs will allegedly come in a dual-sourced core configuration featuring both Zen4 and Zen 4C cores.

According to the source, the Zen 4C core is a strip-down version of Zen 4, which is downclocked, making it possible for the APU to bin down from 8 high-clock cores to 2 high-clock and 4 low-clock cores. This is most probably AMD's version of the "hybrid" strategy that was previously revealed.

Phoenix2 top die is 7540U (2 high+4 low), but 7540U is dual sourced: some chips will be full Phoenix2 dies (2+4), some will be cut down Phoenix1 dies (since Zen4c is just a downclocked Zen4, it's easy to bin it down from 8 high-clock cores to 2 high-clock + 4 low-clock cores)

— Бусыгин Алексей (@BusAlexey) June 29, 2023

You might have heard of a similar strategy that Intel adopted with their 12th Gen Alder Lake & the 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPU. However, the main difference between AMD and Intel's ways is the approach to the core design. Intel utilized two core designs, Golden/Raptor Cove + Gracemont, whereas AMD will use the same Zen 4 architecture but with different configurations. Zen 4 and Zen 4C cores are mostly the same design but the latter is optimized for density and features a lower cache. It is likely that future variants can adopt higher core counts as seen on the Bergamo EPYC chips.

AMD's Phoenix 2 APUs are targeted at entry-level platforms and feature RDNA 3 Compute Units. So while the standard Phoenix chips feature an 8-12 CU configuration, the Phoenix 2 APUs feature half of that with 4 Compute Units on the Radeon 740M iGPU. Moreover, it is revealed that the die size is 137mm2 which is 23% smaller than the 178mm2 of the standard Phoenix SKUs.

Their dual-source may allow AMD to offer the Ryzen 3 7440U in the same die package as the standard Phoenix chips under a different OPN but that isn't confirmed yet. Furthermore, the Phoenix 2 chips aren't actually compatible with the FP8 socket since no support is listed for that.

It is expected that the AMD Phoenix 2 APUs will launch somewhere between Q4 2023. The APUs will probably be used in power-efficient PC gaming handhelds or laptops.

News Source: Videocardz