AMD’s Barcelo: Zen 3 APU Refresh for 2022

One of the key elements to how processor portfolios will evolve moving forward involves mixing and matching current generation and previous generation parts using the benefits of (supposedly) cheaper older processors taking advantage of economies of scale. It’s been no secret, for example, that below $300, AMD recommends its previous generation hardware on the desktop. On the Notebook however, along with the launch this week of next-generation hardware, AMD also launched updates to the previous generation under the heading of ‘Barcelo’.

These new 2022 Barcelo APUs are minor updates to the 2021 Lucienne APUs. They use the same Zen 3 cores, are built on the same TSMC 7nm process, have the same PCIe 3 and DDR4/LP4X support, and use the same socket. These are just refined for voltage, frequency, and power based on customer requests.

AMD Ryzen 5000 Mobile: U-Series
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Cores
Threads
Base
Freq
Boost
Freq
GPU
Core
GPU
Freq
TDP
2022 Barcelo
Ryzen 7 5825U
8C / 16T
2000
4500
8
1800
15W
Ryzen 5 5625U
6C / 12T
2300
4300
7
1600
15W
Ryzen 3 5425U
4C / 8T
2700
4100
6
1500
15W
2021 Lucienne
Ryzen 7 5800U
8C / 16T
1900
4400
8
2000
15W
Ryzen 5 5600U
6C / 12T
2300
4200
7
1800
15W
Ryzen 3 5400U
4C / 8T
2600
4000
6
1600
15W

For example, the new Ryzen 7 5825U is +100 MHz on base and turbo frequencies, but loses 200 MHz on graphics. Pretty much every processor is slightly increased on CPU, slightly regressed on GPU, and it looks like this is what AMD’s customers want.

The first laptop with a Barcelo processor that came across our inboxes is the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED. This is updated from the 2021 version, using the Ryzen 7 5825U with 16 GB of LPDDR4X-4266, 1 TB of PCIe 3.0 SSD, a 14-inch 2880×1800 display with 90 Hz and 100% DCI-P3, and HDR500 certification. It also comes with two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C ports, a Type-A port, an audio combo jack, an HDMI 2.0 output, and microSD. The touchpad doubles as a number pad as well, and it comes with a 180º hinge and a 75 Wh battery. The Zenbook 14 OLED (UM3402) is due on market in Q2.

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