AMD’s wins, fails, and WTF moments of 2024

There’s no doubt that AMD has had a very good year.

We looked back at AMD’s highs, lows, and head-scratching moments in 2024, and didn’t find too much wrong. At times, Intel stumbled through 2024 like it was going home from the bar on Christmas Eve. But AMD is stable, reliable, and basically reliable.

See if you agree with us as we review AMD’s best- and worst-case scenarios for 2024, just like we’ve done (or will do) for Microsoft, Google, and Intel. Can AMD keep up in 2025?

AMD Ryzen 8000: Failure

Calling this series a failure may seem like a heavy blow, but it’s truly one of AMD’s few missteps all year. this Ryzen 8000 Series It falls short in a few areas: First, it’s made entirely of APU, without the cheaper options of integrated graphics. For tabletop gamers who prefer graphics cards, this is just a waste of silicon. Second, while these chips offer artificial intelligence capabilities, they can’t reach the status of Copilot+ PCs — and gamers have always been a bit skeptical of artificial intelligence. Ryzen 8000 also started shipping a few months after its launch.

At the time, Intel’s 14th generation Core chips offered impressive performance, but with less focus on battery life. Since the Ryzen 8000 was released at the same time as the Ryzen 5000 series, it feels like people are no longer talking about the Zen 4-based 8000, but rather wondering when the Zen 5-based 9000 series will appear.

AMD Ryzen 5700X3D: Win

It’s fair to say that the Ryzen 8000 is also overshadowed by the 5700X3D it was launched with.

One of AMD’s most attractive features is the longevity of its platform, and the Ryzen 8000 is designed around the AM5 socket. The Ryzen 5700X3D had two things going for it: first, it was another processor that used the venerable AM4 socket, allowing customers to stretch their PCs a little longer; and second, by then the X3D’s massive cache had become a fan favorite. While I don’t have any data on the 5700X3D’s sales, I’m guessing it’s more attractive than the Ryzen 8000 APU.

But it must be pointed out that the 5700X3D is a Zen 3 part, which has a slower clock speed, thus reducing productivity performance. For gamers, though, the Ryzen 5700X3D is exactly what they need.

AMD mainstream GPU strategy: WIN

AMD’s GPU business in 2024 and 2025 will follow this storyline: Nvidia wins the high-end GPU market and everyone else chases the scraps. That’s not quite right, but close enough! AMD senior vice president Jack Huynh revealed AMD’s new direction In September, he explained that he would rather chase the 80% of the low-cost mainstream market than the top 20% of the market or premium products.

Since we don’t know what AMD has planned for 2025, we can’t say for sure whether AMD will stick to this price/performance strategy. But remember, AMD has found a comfortable little niche, holding a minority position in CPUs and GPUs, and also a minority position in enterprise CPUs, graphics, and artificial intelligence. AMD’s profit margins in the latter three categories help offset the challenges of competition in the PC space.

AMD’s GPU pricing strategy: WIN

But it’s not easy, and Rival Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 launched in February The $169 price tag is proof of that. Nvidia is expected to launch a consumer version of its “Blackwell” architecture (GeForce 5000 Series) by 2025, is likely to appear at CES with eye-popping specifications and prices. But there’s a risk that it could abandon updates to older architectures, fundamentally undermining AMD’s ambitions.

Still, AMD (and its customers) deserves credit for being willing to adjust pricing. AMD partner Sapphire, Radeon 7900XT card price drops by $200 In February, presumably to compete with the new “Ultra” versions of Nvidia graphics cards.

Radeon Link, RIP: Failed

January, AMD ends support for Radeon Link mobile appwhich allows gamers to stream games from PCs with Radeon graphics cards to phones and tablets running Android or iOS.

AMD is right, there are many other ways to stream games, including Microsoft’s own Xbox appand portable computers. Still, it would be a shame to take a proven solution and abandon it entirely.

AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.1: WIN

While AMD’s partners are to be applauded for the pricing adjustments they’ve made, there’s also a subtext to it all: Hardware doesn’t always dictate how a game plays. We’ve known for some time that driver improvements would push frame rates higher, but so would some of the most revolutionary technologies of the past few years: graphics upgrades and frame generation. March, AMD launches AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3.1 (FSR 3.1)its improved version FidelityFX 3.0 Technology.

FSR 3.1 decouples upgrades from frame generation, which is an interesting tweak. FSR can triple the frame rate, e.g. ghost of tsushima: director’s cut. This is important. But when AMD announced FSR 3.1 in March, it also promised that FSR would support 40 games. It’s already December and AMD lists 36 (between FSR2 and FSR3) on its website game page.

AMD Fluid Motion Framework 2.0: WIN

While FSR was originally an upgrade technology, AMD’s Fluid Motion Frames have always been a way to smooth out frame rates by inserting new frames (some call them “fake” frames) between the frames required by the game. While this technically increases frame rates, the goal is actually to provide a smoother gaming experience. AMD starts 2024 basically FMF 1.0 works with all DirectX games; In October, AMD also launched FMF 2.0.

The problem with frame generation is that these extra frames introduce lag, which is another thing gamers tend to avoid. FMF 2.0 is specifically designed to reduce latency (of course) by using AI. Fortunately, it works with AMD integrated graphics and RX 6000 and RX 7000 series GPUs.

AMD’s handheld dominance: WIN

I don’t own a handheld gaming computer, and if I brought it up my wife would probably start screaming at me, using words like “mortgage,” “vacation money,” and “the price of eggs.” Regardless, if you’re in the market for a handheld PC, it’s a virtual lock with an AMD processor inside.

2024 may be a slow year for consoles – which, by the way, also use AMD chips. but The resurgence of portable computers This means renewed interest in AMD’s Z-series processors: Z1 and Z1 Extreme. (The Z2 will likely debut at CES.) Basically, anytime a handheld computer makes news. No AMD chips are used internally.

Microsoft abandons AMD on Surface: failure

This year, 2024, is the year of the Copilot+ PC, specifically the year of Windows on Arm. AMD has been working hard to attract customers in the mobile space, with numerous PC makers signing on this year to produce at least one PC designed around Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite platform.

2019, AMD cracks Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 Microsoft and AMD maintain a fairly stable relationship with their custom-designed Ryzen processors. But by 2024, Surface is all sold to Snapdragon, and AMD is left out in the cold. If Qualcomm can maintain its combination of long battery life and good computing performance, AMD may be left alone.

AMD’s Copilot+ PC conundrum: WTF

In March this year, Microsoft launched the concept of Copilot+ PC, equipped with an artificial intelligence CPU to drive Microsoft’s artificial intelligence application set. Microsoft launches Copilot+ PC powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X platform, but Windows updates promised PCs running AMD Ryzen AI 300 processors and Intel Lunar Lake with Copilot+ capabilities will also be blessed. But… that didn’t happen. instead, Microsoft delays controversial recall featureallowing those with Snapdragon PCs to test out generative AI capabilities.

As for everyone else? In December, Microsoft rolled out a Windows update that allowed AMD and Intel Copilot+ PCs to test Recall – and that was it. If you want the AI ​​hype to keep going, this is it no How did you do it, Microsoft. Unfortunately, it’s AMD (and Intel) that got burned.

AMD Ryzen AI 300: Winner

Let’s be honest, the current crop of laptop processors—Snapdragon X Elite, Intel’s Lunar Lake, and AMD’s Ryzen AI 300—may be the best, most competitive generation of mobile processors in history. They are all great in their own way. With over 50 TOPS plus Radeon 3.5 GPU, Ryzen AI 300 looks great on paperand Tested on top of heap for performance as well as. Here’s why I think AMD should acknowledge its competitors’ low-power efforts, but strive for performance instead.

The next test will be conducted in games: AMD’s “Strix Halo” and Intel Core HX processors. It is expected that there will be a mobile gaming showdown at CES in January this year… and possibly Nvidia “Blackwell” mobile GPUs.

AMD market share growth: WIN

All those wins have to be rewarded, right? Yes. AMD seems to be continuing to post strong revenue and profits every quarter now. AMD’s market share has also surged, especially in the desktop segment. AMD’s growth record is Desktop market share alone increased by 10 percentage points.

Ryzen 9000: WTF

Reviews of AMD’s Ryzen 8000 APU may be mixed, but Ryzen 9000 desktop processor launched at Computex June’s show was a hit… even with a bump or two. Promises to be 40% better than Intel’s 14th generation core! AMD even confirmed that the AM5 socket (the basis of Ryzen 9000) will be supported until 2027, dropping AI and integrated GPUs on four of its new parts. Things are looking great!

But then it got a little weird. After discovering “quality issues” AMD delays Ryzen 9000 launch Until August. But then AMD Reduce Ryzen 9000 pricelower than its predecessor! But later in reality Ryzen 9000 review disappointing…but for some reason! But after installing the 2024 update for Windows 11…Performance surges again! And then there are other Update, this time firmware, pumped 105W achieves higher performance through chip.

Yes, this may have ended in “WIN” land, but not after a rough ride in “WTF land.”

Ryzen 9000X3D: Win

We end with AMD’s biggest win of 2024: the Ryzen 9000X3D gaming behemoth. If this chip is AMD’s final exam in 2024, the company says it Understood Mission: low power and Excellent gaming performance. it won our award The Best Desktop CPUs of 2024and for good reason: not only that Obliterating Intel’s best performance in gaming and content creationwhile consuming less power. What can’t AMD’s V-Cache do?

If there is any shortcoming, it is the 9800X3D sold out. But please wait, AMD says more products are coming soon.

With this, we conclude AMD’s best year ever. Happy holidays to you and your family, and be sure to attend CES in January to start the next chapter of AMD’s story!