AMD working on improving thermal power management with its Ryzen processors based on Zen4

AMD is preparing itself for the launch of its next-generation Ryzen processors that will be based on its new Zen4 architecture. The new architecture is reported to offer numerous performance improvements to the company’s next processors. According to a recent report delivered by Igor’s Lab, AMD is also geared to improve its power delivery and thermal output reading for Raphael.

Overall power management has always been an issue haunting the CPU manufacturers and the report suggest that AMD has been working on improving this issue as well as thermal readings in its upcoming CPU lineup. There have been many complaints that AMD’s previous generations have reported incorrect readings of AMD CPU temperatures.

When it comes to CPU cooling its cooling solutions depend on one specific CPU output and that is Control (Tctl). When Tcl is reported to be higher than the fans on the cooler spin at higher speeds, and if the CPU reports lower Tctl, then the fans ramp down slowly.

In the latest Tctl update a new and improved feature called CUR_TEMP (current temperature) using which Raphael’s implementation can get an overhaul. In the previous generations of Ryzen CPUs, the CUR_TEMP output was jittery and caused random fan spin-up in a non-consistent way. With Raphael, the CUR_TEMP part was re-worked to output a smoother curve and provide fans with clearer signals about the temperature.

As far as power management goes, Igor’s Lab writes that:

“AMD points out to avoid excessive levels (stages) of power conversion when generating partial voltages in order to maintain efficiency and not push the overall efficiency down too much. The topology of the power conversion must therefore be carefully examined in advance. The number and level of voltages as well as the current requirements for each of these rails must meet the requirements. If the current requirement is high, switching regulators must be used that are sufficiently high. The total number of stages in the current path should be limited to two, including the main input power supply because each stage significantly reduces the overall efficiency of the final voltage supplied. Series connection of power supplies is therefore always extremely counterproductive.”

It appears AMD is aiming to make power consumption a very efficient game and wants to minimize the inefficiency that the processor produces.

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