AMD launched the Ryzen 3000 lineup last year, cornering Intel in what turned out to be the biggest CPU launch of the decade. Now, team red is gearing up to release the successor to the insanely popular Matisse lineup. The Zen 3 chips have already been taped out and are ready for volume production. They will leverage TSMC’s 7nm+ enhanced node and should be launched either in Q4 2020 or Q1 2021. Today, WCCFTech shared a post claiming that the Ryzen 4000 CPUs along with the Navi 2x GPUs will be announced in Q3 with a hard launch in October. It’s time we revisit our Zen 3 speculations post:
4th Gen AMD Ryzen 4000 (Vermeer) Specifications
Zen 3 Core Architecture: The 4th Gen Ryzen lineup will be based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture. As per AMD’s higherups, like Zen 2, Zen 3 will also be a new design. As such, we can expect healthy IPC gains, potentially pushing AMD’s single-core performance ahead of Intel’s.
Faster die-to-die interconnect: AMD will likely also improve the speed and latency of the Infinity Fabric connecting the various CCDs. This should result in major performance boosts in latency-sensitive applications, most notably gaming. There’s also a chance that the peak operating speed of the IF will be raised from 1800MHz to 2000MHz or higher.
Enhanced 7nm+ Node: The 4th Gen Ryzen lineup will leverage the improved version of the 7nm node. We can expect higher boost clocks (at least by 100-200MHz), better yields and at the same time a lower power draw. It should also lead to better overclocking potential. These three factors together should lead to significant performance uplifts in gaming workloads. Keep in mind that this isn’t TSMC’s 7nm EUV process, just a more mature form of the existing N7 node.
Core Counts: With the 4th Gen Ryzen lineup, the core clocks will most likely remain the same. AMD has Intel beat in terms of multi-threaded performance on all fronts. The company will now focus on the IPC and single-threaded side of it.
SMT4: There have been many rumors on SM4, i.e, four threads running simultaneously on one core but according to what I’ve heard, that won’t happen, at least not the consumer space. The Epyc Milan range might get the feature, but that’s about it.
AM4: AMD has already said that it plans on retaining the AM4 socket for another generation, so there’s a chance that those of you with a B450 motherboard will get a chance to upgrade to the 4th Gen Ryzen lineup. X570 and B550 boards will almost certainly be retained.
The server-range Epyc parts have got a more detailed roadmap. Zen 3 based Milan is expected in early 2021 while its successor Genoa will probably be announced in late 2021 with a launch in 2022. Unlike Milan and Vermeer, Genoa and the Zen 4 processors will be fabbed on TSMC’s 5nm node. As such, we can expect even more efficient chips with a healthy performance upgrade.
Milan is expected to retain the same socket as Rome along with DDR4 support, however, Genoa will most likely adopt DDR5 and a new socket, and maybe even PCIe 5. Similarly, the desktop Zen 4 counterparts will also use a new socket (AM5) and existing users will have to retire their boards if they want to upgrade.
