AMD Mendocino: Three models launch as the first Ryzen/Athlon 7020 APUs

The new entry-level APU series, codename Mendocino, confirmed by AMD for the first time in May of this year, will be launched with three models from the fourth quarter. These offer a few surprises, because AMD literally puts together an interesting solution for notebooks from many individual IP components.

Mendocino combines Zen 2 and RDNA 2 with LPDDR5

As already explained at Computex 2022, Mendocino will consist of older Zen 2 cores at its heart, to which a current RDNA 2 graphic will be flanged. The whole thing is also combined with a memory controller for fast but at the same time energy-saving LPDDR5, while LPDDR4 or other modifications are not supported.

In order to integrate the APU as a complete package into the In order to squeeze a tight TDP corset of 8 to 15 watts, AMD also relies on a very modern N6 production from TSMC, with which the manufacturer has already had good experiences with the larger APUs of the Cezanne type.

The result is a current entry-level solution for inexpensive notebooks that are supposed to last the whole day and “at least” 12 hours. In many cases, AMD believes that there will be a few more hours, but refers to the OEMs, who have to implement the products accordingly.

AMD Mendocino aka Ryzen and Athlon 7020 at a glance (Image: AMD)

AMD will launch three models for this series, which will be launched as Athlon, Ryzen 3 and even Ryzen 5. While the Athlon and Ryzen 3 clearly differ in the number of processor cores – Athlon with only two, Ryzen 3 with four cores – the Ryzen 5 is ultimately just a slightly higher clocked Ryzen 3 model.

< p class="p text-width">All three processors rely on the Radeon 610M Graphics, the RNDA-2-based solution that only offers 2 CUs and is therefore not primarily intended for graphics-intensive applications and games, but as a multimedia unit for acceleration in everyday life, including AV1 decoding is. Four graphics outputs are also supported. In terms of naming, they are adapting to the recently introduced new scheme, which should apply to notebooks from 2023 – so they are the spearhead.

AMD Mendocino in the hierarchy (Image: AMD)

Manufacturer benchmarks: A two-year-old Tiger Lake is beaten

AMD is also providing the first test results of the new solutions. AMD contrasts a Ryzen 3 with four cores and eight threads with an older two-core Intel Core i3-1115G4. On paper, this has long since been replaced by more modern CPUs such as a Core i3-1215U or 1235U with six (2P+4E) or ten cores (2P+8E), respectively, but notebooks with it have hardly been found on the market so far. Nevertheless, as always, manufacturer benchmarks are only one side of the coin and should always be treated with great caution.

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the performance of Mendocino according to AMD (image: AMD)

AMD is already preparing three notebooks with partners. The Lenovo Ideapad 1 was already hinted at at Computex 2022, along with an Acer Aspire 3 and a still nameless 17-inch HP notebook. Asus and other OEM partners will also follow, AMD explained in advance in a press briefing.

AMD Mendocino overview (image: AMD)

ComputerBase received information about this article from AMD under NDA. The only requirement was the earliest possible publication date.