Coreboot Finally Sees Zen/Ryzen Support In The Form Of Picasso APU Enablement

[wizard69]

I don't think one can call ARM Chromebooks niche.

The legendary Samsung XE303C12 led the Amazon sales charts for months, and even now almost all Chromebook vendors have at least one ARM model on sale. The ARM Chromebooks were also the first ones to make major inroads to the important sub-$200 price point. HiSense C11 even sold for $150 back in 2016.

Niche or not, I've yet to see an ARM based SoC with the GPU performance AMD offers in their x86 SoC's. I'm really hoping ot see somebody ship an ARM based laptop with decent performance, that has yet to happen so really AMD's Picasso is the near term answer to high performance in a low power device. The real advantage AMD has is with the GPU which does more for general performance than many realize ( a snappy UI is wonderful).

[Jumbotron]

X-86 Chromebook sales in North America destroys ARM based sales. And that doesn't include the education market. ARM is niche in Chromebooks unlike in the Android phone and tablet market where Intel has totally left, even getting out of the 5G modem market. I'd like to see that change in the Chromebook market but it is what it is for now.

[chithanh]

of course there are a couple of niche ARM based Chromebooks but they are very few and far between

I don't think one can call ARM Chromebooks niche.

The legendary Samsung XE303C12 led the Amazon sales charts for months, and even now almost all Chromebook vendors have at least one ARM model on sale. The ARM Chromebooks were also the first ones to make major inroads to the important sub-$200 price point. HiSense C11 even sold for $150 back in 2016.

[Jumbotron]

AMD Chromebooks?

Yep, LoveRPi. HP and Acer introduced the world's first AMD based Chromebooks earlier this year at CES 2019. The AMD APU used in both Chromebooks is a variant of the "Excavator" based Stoney Ridge APU....( I've seen reports that they are Bristol Ridge APU's but looking at the TDP and the number of cores it's more likely a Stoney Ridge.
Here's the link to the story about these guys....

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/6/18166614/chromebook-amd-processors-hp-world-first-announced-ces-2019

Now....about the "Zork" Chromebook board with the "Picasso" APU here's a couple of three stories about this upcoming line of AMD APU powered Chromebooks. These models may not actually arrive until later in the year or even early next year, perhaps CES 2020. Because this AMD APU is a "Picasso" type this is a Zen+ based Ryzen APU with a Vega GPU built in. Here are some links about this development....

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Picasso-powered-Chromebook-codenamed-Zork-will-utilize-Trembyle-Chrome-OS-board.416119.0.html

https://chromeunboxed.com/new-chromebook-zork-takes-amd-to/

https://www.aboutchromebooks.com/news/meet-zork-a-chromebook-reference-board-powered-by-more-powerful-amd-ryzen-chips/

All things said, the entrance of AMD into the previously Intel only Chromebook market ( of course there are a couple of niche ARM based Chromebooks but they are very few and far between ) is HUGE news and give Intel the first real competition since the introduction of Chromebooks. Of course, this also CAN mean better PRICE competition as well. MORE power for LESS money. That's VALUE !!

[ThoreauHD]

I'd be happy to have these picasso apu vendors launch with high speed(2933/3200) dual channel memory and proper cooling. Thus far they all seem to think it's still a intel cpu under another name. The last gen raven ridge assembly by these guys has been dime store trash.

I don't know if they are intentionally gimping the performance, or if they are barely functional morons, but they need to unfk that situation now. Coreboot isn't going to do any good at a 40% perf drop while frying an egg under a Intel cpu cooler.

[chithanh]

Good that AMD is finally moving on Ryzen Coreboot support. Bad that it took Google to make them, rather than user demands. But I guess that is par for the course, Mediatek and Rockchip had to be dragged kicking and streaming too.

My only wish is that these Chromebooks allow an easy deletion of the OS for a clean Linux install.

I think with all Chromebooks it is the same: Enter developer mode, have control over everything except system firmware.
Partial control over system firmware can be achieved by operating a hardware switch on the mobo.

[Veerappan]

I'm hoping this is a sign of more AMD Ryzen mobile laptops to come. My 10 year old MacBook pro 13" is looking for it's successor.

[wizard69]

AMD Chromebooks?

My experience with Ryzen has been surprisingly good! This taking into account the bleeding edge hardware and one or two outstanding bugs. AMD is no longer miles behind in performance and you do get decent GPUs in their APUs. My only wish is that these Chromebooks allow an easy deletion of the OS for a clean Linux install.

[LoveRPi]

AMD Chromebooks?

[cb88]

Well, that's a step in the right direction. A first step after some time, but a step.

Not really as this comes from Google not AMD.

That said Raven Ridge should only be trivially different form Picasso. And if Picasso works that should also be a lot of the changes for desktop zen as well.