AMD's Next-Gen Ryzen 9 7000 'Raphael' CPUs May Feature 170W TDP

AM5 Socket
(Image credit: AMD)

When AMD and its partners started to talk about the company's next-generation desktop platform with its AM5 socket several quarters ago, many observers expected the CPU developer to maintain the maximum thermal design power for its processors at current levels. However, later on, it transpired that at least some of AMD's AM5 CPUs would have a TDP of up to 170W, a significant increase over the current 105W. As it turns out, all AMD Ryzen 9 7000-series CPUs will have a TDP of 170W. 

AMD's next-generation Ryzen 7000-series 'Raphael' processors based on the Zen 4 microarchitecture will come in different configurations with different TDP ranges. According to the Gigabyte leak, entry-level SKUs will maintain a thermal design power (TDP) of 65W and a package power tracking (PPT) limit of 88W. Meanwhile, all high-end Ryzen 9 7000-series offerings will feature a TDP of 170W and a PPT of 230W, according to hardware leaker @Kopite7kimi

"All [Ryzen] R9 [7000-series] SKUs with a normal voltage are base on 170W TDP," he tweeted. 

Keeping in mind that AMD's Ryzen 9 processors are positioned for high-end gaming desktops and entry-level workstations, they are used by people who are quite used to expensive motherboards, high-performance air and all-in-one liquid cooling systems. So, increasing TDP and PPT of these processors to get higher performance is apt since these audiences value performance the most. 

Based on the Gigabyte leak from last year, AMD also plans AM5 CPUs with 45W, 65W, 95W, 105W, and 125W TDPs. It remains to be seen which SKUs will be available at launch, but the company will eventually offer a range of AM5 microprocessors based on its Zen 4 microarchitecture that will fit satisfy the needs of price-conscious mainstream and performance-demanding users. The only question is when these models will become available and what they will offer. 

In general, AMD and Intel are gradually increasing the TDPs of their CPUs in a bid to offer higher performance as competition between these manufacturers heats up. AMD and Nvidia do the same with graphics cards, so the overall power consumption of desktop PCs is ever-increasing.

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • TerryLaze
    Admin said:
    AMD's upcoming high-end Ryzen 9 7000-series processors will be hot, but mainstream CPUs will be cooler.

    AMD's Next-Gen Ryzen 9 7000 'Raphael' CPUs May Feature 170W TDP : Read more
    What do you mean MAY?! You already reported on 170 "TDP" with 230W real peak power.
    You don't even read your own articles...
    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-corrects-socket-am5-for-ryzen-7000-power-specs-230w-peak-power-170w-tdp
    Reply
  • duzytv
    If Amd is ready to compete in the 170-230W range, I wonder if Intel also turns out to compete in the 45-65W range...
    Reply
  • ottonis
    Many wished that high end Ryzen 5000 SKUs had the ability to scale up frequency and power draw much higher than they were able to.
    So, AMD listened to their customers and will provide well known great power efficiency at lower clock speeds with their lower and medium range CPUs but will significantly extend power usage abilities at their high end.
    Reply
  • NamelessBryan
    TerryLaze said:
    What do you mean MAY?! You already reported on 170 "TDP" with 230W real peak power.
    You don't even read your own articles...
    https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-corrects-socket-am5-for-ryzen-7000-power-specs-230w-peak-power-170w-tdp

    It looked to me like the previous article was saying the AM5 socket was going to handle a 170w TDP for some Ryzen 7000 CPUs. We now know that TDP applies specifically to the entire Ryzen R9 lineup. It may not be earth shattering news, but give 'em a break maybe?
    Reply
  • Sleepy_Hollowed
    Well that's nice, not even a drop in the bucket compared with Intel's power usage, but hopefully it sips power when not maxed out.
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    NamelessBryan said:
    It looked to me like the previous article was saying the AM5 socket was going to handle a 170w TDP for some Ryzen 7000 CPUs. We now know that TDP applies specifically to the entire Ryzen R9 lineup. It may not be earth shattering news, but give 'em a break maybe?
    So we knew it was for some CPUs and now we know it is for some CPUs....
    unless AMD would make an R10 tier it was clear that only their largest CPUs would get that new highest TDP, if they had info on the highest the r5 and lower tiers will go at least they would have a reason for a new article.
    Sleepy_Hollowed said:
    Well that's nice, not even a drop in the bucket compared with Intel's power usage, but hopefully it sips power when not maxed out.
    Yes 230w against 241w is such a huge difference...
    Reply
  • KyaraM
    duzytv said:
    If Amd is ready to compete in the 170-230W range, I wonder if Intel also turns out to compete in the 45-65W range...
    The 12100 is a 60W CPU, the 12400 65W. Not sure which chips you are talking about on the AMD side of things? Heck... My 12700k often uses less than 65W in games, too. Those chips are better than their rep in most day to day use-cases.

    Sleepy_Hollowed said:
    Well that's nice, not even a drop in the bucket compared with Intel's power usage, but hopefully it sips power when not maxed out.
    Yeah, a drop that only fills up 95% of the bucket, 230W PPT vs. 241W PL1! Really, a difference like night and day. Also, read from several people already that their 5950X can easily draw over 200W, too, if left unchecked, but that's just a minor, unimportant detail, right?

    If all Ryzen 9s play in that league, and the 13700k stays at around the consumption and relative performance of the 12700K, then Intel might actually have the less power hungry chip of that performance level next generation...
    Reply
  • Sleepy_Hollowed
    KyaraM said:
    The 12100 is a 60W CPU, the 12400 65W. Not sure which chips you are talking about on the AMD side of things? Heck... My 12700k often uses less than 65W in games, too. Those chips are better than their rep in most day to day use-cases.


    Yeah, a drop that only fills up 95% of the bucket, 230W PPT vs. 241W PL1! Really, a difference like night and day. Also, read from several people already that their 5950X can easily draw over 200W, too, if left unchecked, but that's just a minor, unimportant detail, right?

    If all Ryzen 9s play in that league, and the 13700k stays at around the consumption and relative performance of the 12700K, then Intel might actually have the less power hungry chip of that performance level next generation...
    That's a nice story, but not accurate in testing:
    https://www.tomshardware.com/features/amd-vs-intel-cpus#section-amd-vs-intel-cpu-power-consumption-and-heat
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    Sleepy_Hollowed said:
    That's a nice story, but not accurate in testing:
    https://www.tomshardware.com/features/amd-vs-intel-cpus#section-amd-vs-intel-cpu-power-consumption-and-heat
    That's a nice link, but not at all relevant to what kyara said.
    It doesn't have the 12100 or 12400 in the power draw benchmark and there is no power draw test for games to see what the 12700k draws in gaming.
    Reply
  • KyaraM
    Sleepy_Hollowed said:
    That's a nice story, but not accurate in testing:
    https://www.tomshardware.com/features/amd-vs-intel-cpus#section-amd-vs-intel-cpu-power-consumption-and-heat
    And what exactly do you want to prove with that link, which doesn't even test the load scenario I was talking about? Are you trying to tell me I'm lying, or that there is somewhing wrong with my eyes when I monitor power draw of my components? It's not a bloody story. People who actually test gaming power consumption verify my claim about low gaming power draw for even the high-end Alder Lake chips:
    https://www.igorslab.de/en/intel-core-i9-12900kf-core-i7-12700k-and-core-i5-12600k-review-gaming-in-really-fast-and-really-frugal-part-1/
    Or are they lying and falsifying data now in your opinion? This graph shows that you can literally limit the high-end Alder Lakes to 65W-85W for gaming and wouldn't lose much, if any, gaming performance. And what's more. Your graph isn't even involving the 12100 or 12400 at all. The link above isn't, either, but since I was talking about the 12700K I own, in gaming loads, and since those two are powered even lower... I think in that case it's fine.

    Btw, a theretical 60W AMD CPU would draw more power in heavy load scenarios, too. They have a PPT of 1.35 times their TDP, similarly to how Intel chips have a PL1 and PL2 as well. So that 60W Ryzen would have a power budget of around 80W.
    Reply