AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced that the first OEM systems to feature 7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors are now shipping, paired with the new AMD AM4 platform supporting DDR4 memory and next-gen I/O and standards. Designs, initially from HP and Lenovo, with other global OEM designs to follow, deliver high-speed processing, smooth eSports gaming, and enhanced HD and UHD streaming capabilities, including the highest memory bandwidth to date for an AMD desktop platform.

“The consumer release of these new HP and Lenovo designs is an important milestone for AMD on two fronts. First, it marks a major increase in productivity performance, streaming video and eSports gaming experiences sought after by today’s consumers, delivered through our new 7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors. Second, because these new OEM designs also feature our new AM4 desktop platform, the motherboard ecosystem shows its readiness for our upcoming high-performance “Summit Ridge” desktop CPUs featuring “Zen” cores, which share the same platform,” said Kevin Lensing, Corporate VP and general manager of Client Computing at AMD.

Systems powered by 7th Generation AMD A-Series processors are productive, immersive, and energy efficient, with up to four “Excavator” CPU cores. 7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors consist of 65-watt and 35-watt versions, offering superior power efficiency and enabling flexible solutions in a wide variety of form factors. The new 7^th Generation 65-watt A-Series processors deliver performance only realized at 95-watts with the previous generation. In addition, when compared to the Intel Core i5 6500, the new 65-watt processors offer up to equivalent productivity performance² and up to 99% higher graphics performance³.

7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors (previously codenamed “Bristol Ridge”) also bring enhanced graphics capabilities and key video playback features that support up to 4K Ultra HD in both the popular H.264 and new-and-improved H.265 formats.⁴ These devices will also feature AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next graphics, with full support for Microsoft^® DirectX^® 12.

The AMD AM4 socket is a new unified socket infrastructure that provides compatibility between 7th Generation AMD A-Series processors and the upcoming high-performance “Summit Ridge” AMD desktop CPU. AM4 platforms feature DDR4 Memory and next-gen I/O and peripheral support, including PCIe® Gen 3, USB 3.1 Gen 2, NVMe, and SATA Express.