When AMD released its first Ryzen processors a year ago, it seemed almost too good to be true; AMD was able to regain competition with Intel after years, and how. The Ryzen processors made a huge step forward in terms of current concepts and combined good performance with relatively low energy consumption. A new generation and architecture also require a new platform, and AMD promised that the AM4 platform, as we are used to from the company, can handle various process generations.
Finally the new generation is there, and yes, also the new processors you can use on existing motherboards. AMD has given the second generation Ryzen the codename Pinnacle Ridge, with cores called Zen +. The processors can be recognized by the type number that starts with a 2, where the previous Ryzen generation, with Zen cores, starts with a 1.
Although Pinnacle Ridge processors without problems on AM4 boards with the B350 or X370 chipsets work, according to AMD, it is advisable to combine a motherboard with the latest chipset, X470, with the new Ryzen 2 processors. That chipset can get just a bit more performance from the xfr functionality, the extra turbo. The suggested retail prices for four available Ryzen 2 processors, the Ryzen 7 2700X and 2700, and the Ryzen 5 2600X and 2600, are 329 and 299 dollars respectively, and 229 and 199 dollars. We tested the first three: we could not get hold of the 2600.