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

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.

Intel criticizes AMD’s processor naming. Image: Intel

“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.

Intel really isn’t happy with AMD’s Ryzen 5 7520U. Image: Intel

But what Intel, conveniently, doesn’t discuss in its presentation is its own history of confusing processor naming schemes and architectures. Intel launched its Core i9 11900K in 2021, which dropped the core count from the 10 found on the 10900K back to just eight. This confusing move came after years of Intel using 14nm, 14nm+, and 14nm++ naming schemes for what effectively was a method for Intel to rebrand the fact it was still on the 14nm process. Intel eventually gave up on process node naming altogether in 2021, opting to refer to its third-generation 10nm chips as “Intel 7” instead so they sounded more competitive next to AMD’s products that were based on TSMC’s 7nm node.

Intel’s attack also comes just weeks after the company launched 14th Gen desktop processors that feel like overclocked 13th Gen ones. There are no big architecture changes from 13th to 14th Gen, and they’re simply refreshed chips. The main exception is the Core i7 getting more cores, but reviewers have widely criticized Intel for its naming scheme here given this isn’t really a new generation of desktop CPUs.

None of this pot versus kettle intrigue stopped Intel from producing its latest presentation, but the widespread attention it received has clearly made the company think twice. It mysteriously disappeared from intel.com yesterday, but everyone knows you can’t really delete anything from the internet.