AMD Radeon 680M: The Ryzen 6000 iGPU in review : Test |CUP | Specs |Config

AMD Ryzen 6000 for notebooks combines revised Zen 3+ cores with an integrated graphics chip based on RDNA 2 in TSMC’s 6 nm process. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 also relies on the new mobile Radeon RX 6800S. Too much news for a test. The iGPU called Radeon 680M alone deserves a start.

AMD Ryzen 6000: The first APU with RDNA 2

AMD presented the Ryzen 6000 Mobile aka “Rembrandt” at the beginning of January at CES 2022. As with the predecessor, there are H and U models that differ in their maximum power consumption, the number of cores and the iGPU expansion level. The H series relies on DDR5 and makes the start, the U series also on LPDDR5X. The following variants have been announced by AMD so far.

Ryzen 6000 relies on Zen 3+, an optimized version of the well-known core that is designed for efficiency and is therefore used in the notebook. AMD is using a new power management framework that includes over 50 changes and new instructions as well as additional sleep modes for the CPU. The TSMC N6 manufacturing process, which already offers improvements, also helps to climb further up the efficiency curve. The performance-relevant core structure is identical in the Zen 3+ and Zen 3, however, there are still a maximum of eight cores for the APUs. As before, the combined L2 and L3 cache is up to 20 MB in size. What this means for the CPU will be looked at separately by the editors shortly. For now, it’s about the much more important innovation of the Rembrandt APUs.

Vega is history

After almost five years of the Vega graphics unit in the notebook, AMD has also made the switch to the current generation with the Ryzen 6000 aka “Rembrandt”: The new iGPU relies on RDNA 2 with more powerful and at the same time more efficient execution units that also master ray tracing. But not only that.

More shaders and more clock

After AMD had successively reduced the iGPU at Vega from 11 CUs to 8 CUs at Cezanne since Raven Ridge, the new Rembrandt APU has 12 CUs again at the start – i.e. 50 percent more than before.

The plus of stronger shaders can also clock even higher thanks to TSMC’s 6 nm process. Up to 2.4 GHz has never been available ex works for integrated solutions, with Vega8 it was 2.1 GHz.

What the RDNA 2 solutions lack in the APU is an infinity cache. With this extremely fast cache in the GPU, AMD buffers the (LP)DDR5(X) comparatively narrow memory interface of the RDNA-2 graphics cards, and users had long hoped that this could also be the case with the APU. But it is not.

AMD takes the change to RDNA 2 as an opportunity and gives the iGPUs new, much more prestigious names: The variants with 12 CUs run as Radeon 680M, the variants with 6 CUs as Radeon 660M.

Rembrandt is responsible for AV1-Decoding

With the new iGPU, AV1 decoding is also finding its way into AMD’s notebook APUs. To date, Ryzen Mobile has only mastered this codec, which is being used on YouTube for more and more SD videos in compatible browsers, in software – this costs CPU power and increases system consumption.

For more information on AMD Ryzen 6000 Rembrandt with Zen 3+ and RDNA 2, see the CES 2022 Announcement post.

The test sample: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

The editors used the ROG Zephyrus G14 as a sample for this test, which has already served as a showcase model for a new mobile generation of Ryzen in the past. In 2022, however, Asus not only updated the CPU and GPU of the compact gaming notebook with a 14-inch display, but also made decisive changes in many other areas.

The new display is much better

A visible flagship is the new 16:10 display with QHD+ resolution and 120 Hz with a response time of 3 ms and 500 nits – alternatively Full HD+ and 144 Hz are installed. The 1.65 kg heavy and maximum 18.5 mm thick 14-inch notebook has a 76 Wh battery.

The device relies on the Ryzen 9 6900HS (DDR5-4800, 8 GB soldered, 8 GB as SO-DIMM) trimmed for efficiency with the large iGPU Radeon 680M. The new AMD Radeon RX 6800S is also installed as a dedicated graphics chip, which works with a vapor chamber and liquid metal thermal paste with a TGP of up to 105 watts – in the predecessor, the GPU was only allowed to consume 65 watts. A test of the Radeon RX 6800S follows separately.

The connections have not changed much compared to the predecessors, but the card reader has been upgraded to UHS-II microSD. Thanks to IR, the built-in webcam can also handle Windows Hello. WiFi 6E is also available, implemented as with all AMD notebooks via the MT7922 from MediaTek, which also operates under an AMD branding. Adjustments to the case and keyboard are intended to improve readability and contrast. Other small tricks should round off the complete package.

A USB Type-C port is already prepared for USB 4.0. However, because the platform is still pending certification, this function will only be added later via a firmware update.

The new generation will not be cheap either: The ROG Zephyrus 14 GA402 should still be available in Germany in the first quarter from 1,899 euros. There are still no details about the specific equipment options.

Performance Profiles via Asus Armory Crate

The ROG Zephyrus G14 offers the Armory Crate configuration tool known from Asus, which can be used to select different performance profiles, define the fan curve or the RGB lighting and configure the MUX switch. In addition to the cooling system, you adjust the maximum and minimum TDP to be maintained by the processor with and without parallel graphics load as well as the maximum power consumption of the graphics card and that of the platform in total.

Even with the dGPU disabled, the performance profiles have a small impact on the notebook’s gaming performance, as shown in the chart below.

The ROG Zephyrus G14 with Radeon 680M is 5 percent faster in Cyberpunk 2077 when operated in the “Turbo” profile. Log files reveal that slightly higher iGPU and possibly higher CPU clock rates are responsible for this. In return, the APU allows itself the maximum permitted 80 watts in the “Turbo” profile.

This is not related to the increase in performance. In order to show what the Radeon 680M is capable of, the following benchmarks took place in the “Turbo” profile.

Compared to the Ryzen 9 5900HX in the Asus ROG Strix G15 from the previous year, the 300 MHz more iGPU clock promised by AMD can be seen in the turbo profile. At 45 watts, it’s around 150 MHz more than the Ryzen 5900HX with 50 watts TGP.