AMD's tuned-up Bristol Ridge processors come to desktop PCs this autumn

AMD Bristol Ridge

AMD has just announced its 7th generation A-series processors will power new HP and Lenovo desktop systems by the second half of 2016.

Formally known by its codename Bristol Ridge, the desktop CPUs utilize up to four "Excavator" cores and they cover a wide power band ranging from 65- to 35-watts. This means first 7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors could power everything from full-tower gaming machines to micros-sized computers like the HP Elite Slice.

Bristol Ridge is also features improved AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next graphics, allowing users to watch more 4K Ultra HD media in H.264 and H.265 formats. The chips also offer full support for Microsoft DirectX 12, future-proofing them for gaming.

DDR4 memory is also on tap as well as broad bandwidth, which enables high-speed processing, smooth eSports gaming and enhanced HD streaming capabilities.

As previously revealed at Computex 2016, AMD's 7th generation chips are an evolutionary form of Carizo in which the company is tuning each individual APU to perform at its absolute limits. Bristol Ridge compute cores have been shown to perform 20% faster than Carrizo while offering up to 37% more GPU performance and 12% better energy efficiency.

Of course, there's many more things to be excited about in the processor world. Intel just announced its full lineup of Kaby Lake processors destined for laptops by the end of this year with desktop and other chipsets coming next year. What's more, AMD also is already gearing up to release Zen, its next generation desktop CPU architecture.

Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.