The new year will see a bunch of exciting hardware launches from companies such as AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) that are sure to get PC gamers, enthusiasts and investors excited as we head into 2022.
The microchip shortage has meant the PC industry isn't quite operating in the same way as it was before the pandemic, but that hasn't seen the market dry up. The ongoing CPU war between Intel and AMD, similar battle between Nvidia and AMD with graphics cards and more have seen a renewed interest in PC hardware and gaming recently and 2022 has some great launches to look forward to.
AMD Zen 3 Ryzen refresh
AMD's Zen 3 CPUs aka the Ryzen 5000-series, took the CPU world by storm and matched or bettered Intel at medium and high-end price points, easily making them better options in a range of scenarios. It's been AMD's proudest moment, as you can read about in my interview with AMD's CTO, Mark Papermaster below.
MORE FROM FORBESAMD's Mark Papermaster Reveals Ryzen's Stunning Success Secrets: 2022 Will Excite PC EnthusiastsBy Antony LeatherHowever, while AMD is launching it's new Zen 4 architecture next year, ushering in a new CPU socket and other things you can read about below, it will first be launching a refreshed range of current Zen 3 CPUs. These will feature 3D V-Cache - a cache-stacking technology that will offer up to triple the amount of L3 cache.
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ByAmy DaniseEditorWhile still based on the Zen 3 architecture, the increased cache amounts could see up to 15 percent improvement in performance, specifically in applications that benefit from lower latencies such as games. This is good news because AMD has seen its gaming performance fall behind Intel following the latter's launch of its 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs and hybrid core architecture.
Even better is that AMD's Zen 3 refresh CPUs should be compatible with existing X570 and B550 motherboards, most likely after a BIOS update, so if you own one of these boards and an older Ryzen CPU, there could be an easy drop-in upgrade coming your way early in 2022.
AMD Zen 4
Following on from AMD's Zen 3 refresh is its highly anticipated Zen 4 architecture. Built using a 5nm manufacturing process, Zen 4 will also include the 3D V-Cache technology used in its Zen 3 refresh, but will also support DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 - features introduced recently by Intel on its Z690 platform and 12th Gen CPUs.
It will also have a new CPU socket so will not be backwards compatible - you'll need a new motherboard and possibly new memory and cooler too, although details of cooler and memory compatibility aren't known yet. Either way, 2022 will see no let up in the CPU wars, especially as it's rumored Intel could be releasing its 13th Gen 'Raptor Lake' CPUs at some point in 2022 as well.
More Intel 12th Gen CPUs and cheaper motherboards
While some are turning their attention to AMD's Zen 3 refresh and Zen 4 CPUs, both due in 2022, the real market share grabbing often happens at the low to medium end and this is one area Intel has held out against AMD.
It's Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs such as the Core i5-10400 have been very popular with gamers and with the success of its 12th Gen launch, we're expecting the lower end 12th Gen CPUs to be very popular too. In fact, the latest leaks point at the likes of the Core i5-12400 offering huge amounts of performance for less than $200.
MORE FROM FORBESIntel Core i5-12400 Gaming Performance Leak Reveals Stunningly Fast $180 ProcessorBy Antony LeatherKey to Intel's success here will be the availability of cheaper motherboards not based on the expensive Z690 chipset and the likes of H610 and B660 chipsets are set to land in the new year too with some models hopefully retailing well south of $150. So while AMD will be focusing on boosting it's high-end performance, Intel could be dominating the low and medium range with new 12th Gen CPUs.
New Nvidia and AMD graphics cards
Nvidia looks set to announce its latest graphics cards in early 2022, with a rumored launch date of January 27th. This points at reviews and availability likely appearing late January/early February with an expected announcement at CES next month too.
The RTX 3090 Ti is rumored to have 24GB GDDR6X memory with more CUDA cores, RT Cores and Tensor cores than the current RTX 3090, at least according to details from the latest leaks and rumors. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the RTX 3050 series looks set to land around the same time along with memory-boosted versions of the RTX 3070 Ti and RTX 3080. Pricing, as usual in these times, will be a key question.
AMD is focusing on the low end too, with Radeon RX 6500 XT and RX 6400 cards expected to be announced at January's CES event alongside CPU announcements. They're rumored to be based on a 6nm manufacturing process and along with Nvidia's RTX 3050, will likely sit below the RTX 2060, mixing it up with the GTX 1660 Ti and 1660 Super.
Intel Arc Alchemist graphics cards
It feels like Intel has been promising a discrete graphics card for an age, but 2022 might finally give PC gamers what they want: more competition in desktop gaming graphics. Arc Alchemist is rumored to be delayed until March 2022, but it's still unclear where Intel will be aiming in terms of competition.
Some reports suggests it will be focusing on the low to mid-range offerings from AMD and Nvidia rather than compete at the high-end with the likes of the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, but this is probably the launch we know the least about in terms of performance and products so it will be interesting to see what more we learn, if anything, at CES in January and in the weeks after it.
I'll be taking a look at the new products soon and also coverting big announcements from AMD and others at CES in 2022 so follow me here on Forbes for the latest PC hardware news and reviews and don't forget to check me out on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook as well.
