Intel accuses AMD of selling snake oil CPUs in now deleted attack

theverge.com:

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

Intel has accused AMD of “selling half-truths to unsuspecting customers” by using its Zen 2 architecture in some of its latest Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors. In a now-deleted presentation to system integrators, Intel’s “Core Truths” largely focuses on AMD’s Ryzen 5 7520U mobile processor and its confusing and somewhat misleading naming.

AMD revealed a new naming scheme for its Ryzen 7000 series last year, with the first digit referring to the model year, the second for the segment, and the third revealing the architecture. At first glance you might look at the Ryzen 5 7520U naming and think it’s a mid-range CPU from AMD, with the 7 meaning it’s the latest. But the Ryzen 5 7520U is actually based on AMD’s older Zen 2 architecture, not the company’s latest Zen 4 one.

“The Ryzen 5 7520U is built on dated Zen 2 architecture released in 2019!” exclaims Intel in its presentation. “AMD’s old architecture is hidden in plain sight!” Intel also includes a slide that very clearly compares AMD’s processor naming to selling snake oil, a phrase used to describe deceptive marketing.

Luckily VideoCardz managed to capture the entire presentation before Intel deleted it following press attention this week. Intel’s slide deck is the type of brazen attack on AMD that we haven’t seen in years, but it’s hard to argue against some of the points Intel is raising here. AMD’s naming scheme is obviously designed to mislead consumers into thinking they’re getting the very latest CPUs in a laptop, as most won’t be aware what the 2 in 7520U actually stands for.

But what