It appears that the period has once again arrived when chipmakers are rebadging some of their processors. Keen hardware enthusiast Gray has observed that AMD has rebranded certain Ryzen processors from its product stack; fortunately, these are not among the best CPUs, but rather some mobile chips from around 2023.
Rebranding in the processor industry is a widespread practice, despite being frowned upon. Launching new products helps to boost sales; it is sometimes more cost-effective to rebrand existing offerings. Recently, Intel employed this strategy with the Core Series 1, which includes models such as the Core 5 120 and the Core i5-110. The former, based on Raptor Lake and considered only a few generations old, is relatively current; however, the latter, originating from the Comet Lake architecture, is half a decade old. In response, AMD has also undertaken rebranding efforts for certain chips within its Zen 2 and Zen 3+ series.
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AMD Ryzen 7035 and Ryzen 7020 Rebranding
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New Model Name
Previous Model Name
Codename
CPU / GPU Architecture
Ryzen 7 170
Ryzen 7 7735HS
Rembrandt-R
Zen 3+ / RDNA 2
Ryzen 7 160
Ryzen 7 7735U
Rembrandt-R
Zen 3+ / RDNA 2
Ryzen 5 150
Ryzen 5 7535HS
Rembrandt-R
Zen 3+ / RDNA 2
Ryzen 5 130
Ryzen 5 7535U
Rembrandt-R
Zen 3+ / RDNA 2
Ryzen 3 110
Ryzen 3 7335U
Rembrandt-R
Zen 3+ / RDNA 2
Ryzen 5 40
Ryzen 5 7520U
Mendocino
Zen 2 / RDNA 2
Ryzen 3 30
Ryzen 3 7320U
Mendocino
Zen 2 / RDNA 2
Athlon Gold 20
Athlon Gold 7220U
Mendocino
Zen 2 / RDNA 2
Athlon Silver 10
Athlon Silver 7120U
Mendocino
Zen 2 / RDNA 2
Instead of encountering model names such as Ryzen 7 7735HS or Ryzen 7 7735U on a laptop, consumers will now see labels like Ryzen 7 170 or Ryzen 7 160, respectively. These designations bear a resemblance to Intel’s Core Series 1, such as the Core 5 120. While we admit that a three-digit format can simplify things, uninformed consumers might mistakenly believe these are new processors, whereas in reality, they are not.
Mendocino, on the other hand, features more concise model names utilizing a two-digit format. SKUs such as the Ryzen 5 7520U and the Ryzen 3 7320U are now reborn as the Ryzen 5 40 and Ryzen 3 30, respectively.
This is not the first time AMD has employed a three-digit numbering scheme for its Ryzen processors. The manufacturer adopted this format with the launch of the Ryzen AI 300 (codenamed Strix Point) and Ryzen 200 (codenamed Hawk Point Refresh) earlier this year. Therefore, the recent rebadges of Rembrandt-R and Mendocino may represent AMD’s efforts to standardize its product lineup.
How AMD will name its future processors remains uncertain. The chipmaker has exhausted its four-digit naming convention with the recent Ryzen 9000 (codenamed Granite Ridge) processors. Unless AMD adopts a strategy similar to Intel’s by using five-digit numerical identifiers such as 10,000, it may have to begin integrating superfluous keywords like “AI” or “Ultra” into shorter model names. Alternatively, AMD could maintain the three-digit naming scheme by continuing with the Ryzen 400 series and progressing thereafter.
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