On top of that, the console CPUs, and in turn the 4800S, have a lot less onboard cache than AMD's Ryzen chips. Bandwidth is massively higher which is a good thing, but latency - the time taken for access - is also higher, which is most certainly not a good thing. This memory is typically used for graphics purposes, not CPU. The 4800S desktop kit comes with GDDR6 on the board. A standard desktop CPU is paired with SDRAM modules that you choose yourself and insert into the motherboard. However, the biggest impact to performance is going to be in the memory system. Bottom right, the high latency of GDDR6 reveals itself vs DDR4. Bottom left, you see that when the 3600 runs out of cache, the higher bandwidth GDDR6 virtually doubles performance of 3200MHz DDR4. Top right, as the size of data transfers increases, the 4800S runs out of fast cache, while the cache-rich Rykeeps on trucking. We're using the Clam Chowder Microbench system to test memory speed and latency (top left). On multicore scores, the 4800S has more cores and therefore a higher score - 10539 vs 8113 on the 3600. CineBench R20 gives us an 1184 point single thread score on the 3600, and an 1148 score on the 4800S - so the 4800S is barely outside of margin of error there in terms of the differentials, which is not surprising as both are Zen 2 processors with similar single core turbos. Where to begin with 4800S Desktop Kit testing, though? Before having fun with gameplay, I thought I'd do some basic benchmarks stacking it up against the mainstream CPU we use as a matter of course in our PC gaming reviews - the now-classic Ryzen 5 3600. So, thanks to Will, Stella and indeed Fidler_2K for making this project possible. Thankfully, my colleague Will Judd and his wife Stella visited China a couple of months back and managed to secure one - but even then, it required liaising with a local PC shop, getting an entire prebuilt system shipped from elsewhere in China and then stripping the board out in preparation for its return trip to the UK. While we were aware the 4800S was for sale, we found it nigh-on impossible to actually get it exported. I bought the 4700S on eBay from an Italian supplier. However, actually acquiring one was problematic. We bought the 4800S on the recommendation of DF supporter, Fidler_2K, who noted its more luxurious spec. I wrote off our coverage because PS5-level gaming simply wasn't possible on it, owing to the PCI Express bandwidth limitation. I do actually own the 4700S Desktop Kit - and others have covered it extensively. Here's our video breakdown of the AMD 4800S Desktop Kit - a fascinating, if bizarre, PC product based around the Xbox Series X processor. There are four SATA ports, an NVMe slot, a meatier cooler and, although GPU bandwidth is still limited, the 4x PCIe 4.0 interface does produce good results from higher-end graphics cards. With the 4800S, AMD resolves all of these issues. Meanwhile, the cooler is slight to say the least. PCI Express bandwidth is too limited to support high-end graphics, there's no NVMe functionality and only two SATA ports. I do own a 4700S, but it's a bit of a dead weight. The AMD 4700S Desktop Kit follows the same principles, although that's built around defective PlayStation 5 processors. There's also precedent with this happening before. As you'll see in the accompanying video - and indeed in the headline image - we can be sure it is Series X silicon because if you put the two chips side by side, they're a match. In this case, AMD chooses chips with defective GPUs, disables that graphics component and uses the CPU portion only. There can be imperfections in the silicon that write off the chip - or parts of it. Not every PS5 or Series X chip that makes it off the production line is functional. The idea that this product even exists is baffling, but there is some logic to it. The integrated GPU is disabled, but it is possible to install Windows on it, you can attach a decent graphics card - and yes, you can play PC games on an Xbox CPU. It's a Micro ATX motherboard built around the Xbox Series X APU, shipping with 16GB of GDDR6 memory. AMD recently - and somewhat stealthily - released the 4800S Desktop Kit for Chinese OEMs. What if you could take the Zen 2 CPU cores found within Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, transplant them onto a PC motherboard, install Windows and actually play PC games on them? Short of hacking the console and somehow crafting drivers for it, it's a pipedream, but we can do the next best thing.
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