The first performance benchmarks of the second generation AMD Ryzen 7 CPU have leaked out. The benchmarks come from HWBattle (via Videocardz) who have historically been accurate about such leaks as they do get their hands on unreleased (Engineering / Pre-Production) samples from their sources.
AMD Ryzen 7 2000 8 Core, 16 Thread CPU Performance Leaks Out - Pinnacle Ridge With Zen+ Improves Clock Speeds and Performance Numbers, Bumps Clocks Up To 4.35 GHz On Pre-Production Chips
We have seen a few leaks prior to this one, the Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 7 2700X both got leaked before but this chip seems to clock higher than all the CPUs we have seen before. We still haven't seen any production samples so all the specs and clocks can change in the final retail models, but given these clock speeds, we are noticing a very good improvement in terms of clocks which is thanks to both an improved architecture and the updated 12nm process node.

Starting off with the specs, the name of this particular sample is hidden but we can tell that it falls in the Ryzen 7 series since it comes with 8 cores and 16 threads. The chip has a base clock of 3.70 GHz which is similar to the Ryzen 7 2700X we saw before but boosts up to 4.35 GHz. This is unlike anything we have seen on current Ryzen processors. Even current Ryzen chips can't reach such speeds when overclocked and this chip can do 4.35 GHz without any OC applied. This is basically the XFR 2.0 tech in action and a glimpse at the clocks we will be getting on the upcoming CPUs.
AMD 2nd Generation Ryzen Specs:
CPU Name | AMD Ryzen 3 2300X | AMD Ryzen 5 2500X | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | AMD Ryzen 7 2700 | AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CPU Family | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 | Ryzen 2 |
CPU uArch | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ | 12nm Zen+ |
CPU Cores | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
CPU Threads | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 16 |
Base Clock | 3.5 GHz | 3.6 GHz | 3.4 GHz | 3,6 GHz | 3.2 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
Boost Clock | 4.0 GHz | 4.0 GHz | 3.9 GHz | 4.25 GHz | 4.1 GHz | 4.35 GHz |
Total Cache | 10 MB (L2+L3) | 18 MB (L2+L3) | 19 MB (L2+L3) | 19 MB (L2+L3) | 20 MB (L2 + L3) | 20 MB (L2 + L3) |
Memory Support | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 |
TDP | 65W | 65W | 65W | 95W | 65W | 105W |
Cooler Bundle | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Spire | Wraith Spire LED | Wraith Prism |
Price | $130-$140 US | $150-$160 US | $199 US | $229 US | $299 US | $329 US |
Release Date | TBC | TBC | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 | 19th April 2018 |

The sample chip was tested on an ASRock X370 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard so we don't know if that is fully compatible with the upcoming processors but ASRock has released an updated BIOS to support Ryzen 2000 series processors, aside from the Raven Ridge APUs. Still, the BIOS for X370 motherboards needs to get more mature before the launch in April which would further improve performance and stability on current boards. It will be recommended to get an X470 motherboard when the new CPUs launch but current motherboards with good power delivery systems would do the job just fine for users.
Coming to the benchmarks, the chip was compared to the Ryzen 7 1700X in AIDA64 annd shows a very decent improvement in latency which is due to the tweaked architecture design. In other tests, the chip is compared to a range of processors including the Core i7-8700K. When Ryzen launched, it took a great deal of CPU market share away from Intel in many market regions. Intel took this share back recently with their popular Core i7-8700K in the mainstream segment but it looks like the upcoming Ryzen 7 series will be even better, performing ahead of the i7-8700K while delivering a good performance increase over the previous gen flagship, Ryzen 7 1800X. You can check out the single and multi-core performance tests in the following charts:
Do look forward to more details on Ryzen 2 based on Zen+ core architecture in the coming month. The Ryzen 2 family will feature a full range of processors which will include Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7 series and also the upgraded X470 motherboards.