AMD's Dali APU Could Be Based on Raven Ridge

[harlan4096]

Linux-focused publication Phoronix has discovered a new patch to the AMDGPU Linux driver that seemingly confirms that, in addition to Renoir, AMD is indeed working on another APU (accelerated processing unit).

Leaked roadmaps have suggested AMD is prepping two separate APU lineups for 2020. Renoir is allegedly aimed at both the mobile and desktop market, and Dali is rumored to be a budget APU tailored for mobile devices.

The newly discovered Linux patch adds the ASIC ID and implements a voltage limit for Dali. However, what's more interesting is the description saying that Dali is based around Raven Ridge, which puts it in doubt whether Dali will wield cores based on AMD's Zen 2 microarchitecture.

If you recall, Picasso, which debuted this year with new second-gen Ryzen 3000-series APUs, is still on the 12nm process node. Sadly, AMD's APUs are the only products that haven't transitioned to the new 7nm manufacturing process. However, Renoir is expected to come out of the 7nm furnace, and Dali, being its sidekick, could potentially follow suit.

But let's keep our expectations for Dali in check. Thus far, we're pretty convinced that Renoir will likely employ the Zen 2 and Vega graphics microarchitectures. Being a lower-end part, AMD could get away with using a different processor microarchitecture for Dali. We wouldn't be shocked if AMD chose a combination of Zen+ cores and Vega graphics. If that's the case, Dali could turn out to be a rewarmed Picasso chip; we can only hope that's not the case.
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