The headlining purpose of AMD's Beijing AI PC Innovation Summit yesterday was to launch the Ryzen 8040 series and 8000G desktop solutions for the Chinese market. We reported on the fresh Hawk Point info from the event, but there was a slide we didn't spot during the two hours of footage. Twitter's HXL shared the image below, showing Spencer Pan, AMD SVP and President of Greater China, revealing that the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F are being prepared for launch.
Based on prior AMD (and Intel) SKUs, the F suffix indicates that these processors lack onboard graphics. Perhaps the iGPU failed some tests in the chip plant, and instead of these parts going to landfill or being converted into shoes, we have some F suffix chip options. The F suffix chips usually offer a modest discount compared to their fully-fledged brethren. PC DIYers who insist on discrete graphics typically aren't that bothered about missing an iGPU.
The above slide shows that the Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F are part of AMD's plan of "attacking every price point." It looks like a wide range of Ryzens will be maintained for this purpose, ranging from the Athlon 3000G through Ryzen 5000 series parts, plus these new Ryzen 8000 desktop APUs (sans graphics) that will provide more options for owners or buyers of AM5 motherboards.
We don't have official specs for the newly revealed Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F desktop processors, but it would be reasonable to assume they are similar to the AMD Ryzen 8000G Series 65W Phoenix APUs (without onboard graphics).
For example, the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G (review link) has an 8C/16T CPU configuration using the Zen 4 architecture, with boost speeds up to 5.1 GHz and a TDP of 65W. It also has a powerful Radeon 780M (12 CU) GPU using the RDNA 3 architecture. We wouldn't be surprised if all the CPU-related specs remain the same, but no onboard graphics option exists.
While there are AMD Ryzen 5 8600G, Ryzen 5 8500G, and Ryzen 3 8300G desktop APUs, there isn't a corresponding Ryzen 5 8400G to guestimate Ryzen 5 8400F specs and features. However, if pushed, we would say it is likely that the new Ryzen 5 part will have a 6C/12T (or possibly 6C/6T) Zen 4 architecture CPU configuration sans graphics.
Last but not least, the new Ryzen 7 8700F and Ryzen 5 8400F chips may be China-only products, so we don't have to ponder over what kind of a discount they will be sold for vs. G-suffixed parts. HXL has a hunch that these are only being prepared for sale in China, but it isn't certain. Remember, AMD's China-only parts can sometimes escape beyond the Great Wall - we now have Radeon 'Golden Rabbit Edition' GPUs available at retailers in the West.
