Skip to main content

AMD may unveil Zen 3 CPU architecture details at CES 2020

AMD is expected to make several big announcements at CES 2020, one of which could well be the unveiling of its next-generation CPU architecture called Zen 3. Building upon the extremely strong showing of Zen 2 CPU cores in its Ryzen 3000 processors, AMD is planning another major inter-generational performance improvement with Zen 3, boosting clock speeds, efficiency, and infinity fabric speeds with a brand-new design.

Although the red team has been more successful with its CPUs than its graphics cards recently, it’s still on quite the successful tear after years of stagnation in both major portions of its business. CES 2019 brought us Zen 2 CPU details and the unveiling of the Radeon VII, the first high-end GPU AMD had released in nearly two years. CES 2020 is expected to see big CPU and GPU reveals from AMD once again, with potential product launches taking place shortly after.

Related Videos

Outside of Ryzen 4000 mobile CPUs and RX 5000-series GPUs though, we may get a glimpse of what’s coming later in 2020 with the Zen 3 architecture. According to a Taiwanese newspaper, via WCCFTech, AMD’s CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, will make a formal address discussing AMD’s plans for the CPU space, including its next-generation architecture.

This is an exciting prospect too, as Zen 3 is said to be a brand new architecture, and not the classic “tick-tock” style updates that the CPU space has been known for. It will go beyond what we saw with Zen and Zen+, and more in line with the overhaul from Zen+ to Zen 2. We expect the chiplet design model to continue, but beyond that, there’s a lot up in the air.

Taiwan newspaper:

"AMD CEO Lisa Su may disclose more details about Zen 3 architecture at a press conference during CES…." pic.twitter.com/1g9ypTtr2a

— RetiredEngineer® (@chiakokhua) January 1, 2020

Rumors of high instructions per clock (IPC) increases have been swirling for weeks now, and though we’d be surprised if we saw an increase above that of Zen 2’s 15% jump, 10% isn’t outside the realm of possibility. Factor in some slight clock speed increases too, and Zen 3 could be a viable upgrade for all Ryzen CPU owners. It would also put even more pressure on Intel, which is expected to bring only incremental improvements to its CPUs with the upcoming Comet Lake release.

Further improvements are expected to be made to AMD’s Infinity Fabric — the interconnect between the CPU dies and the I/O die — which should bring performance enhancements of its own. One way overclockers have been able to enhance Zen 2 CPUs has been overclocking the Infinity Fabric, so it’s likely we’ll see higher clocks there with Zen 3.

CES 2020 starts on January 7. Follow along with our live updates for full coverage of all the exciting announcements.

Editors' Recommendations

CES 2023: AMD’s next-gen laptop GPU could beat a desktop RTX 3060
AMD's CEO showing off the RX 7600M XT at CES 2023.

In AMD's CES 2023 keynote address, it debuted its next-generation RDNA3 mobile graphics chips, and their performance and efficiency look to be incredibly impressive. We don't have details on the entire range yet, and we want to conduct our own testing to verify performance, but AMD's bold claims leave us rather excited for the year ahead, especially when these chips are launched alongside impressive onboard GPU performance in next-generation AMD laptops.

The AMD RX 7600M XT and non-XT versions will feature up to 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit memory bus, with support for AMD's smart power and tuning technologies, and are built on a 6nm process. AMD makes major claims about the performance of these GPUs, with the XT model reportedly able to deliver greater gaming performance than even an Nvidia desktop-grade RTX 3060 12GB. We'll need to test that ourselves to verify it, but if true, next-generation mobile gaming laptops are going to be incredibly impressive.

Read more
CES 2023: AMD Ryzen 7000 laptops CPUs go up to 16 cores
AMD CEO holding the Ryzen 7040 series processor.

AMD announced the upcoming release of its Ryzen 7000 mobile processors during its CES 2023 keynote. With a strong focus on performance and efficiency, these CPUs will soon arrive in some of the best gaming laptops, but AMD is not just targeting gamers.

The lineup includes processors made for all kinds of laptops, and today, AMD gave us our first glimpse at the Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" and the Ryzen 7045 "Dragon Range." Here's everything you need to know about them.

Read more
AMD’s new Ryzen 9 7950X3D is up to 24% faster than Intel’s best
AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su showing the Ryzen 9 7950X3D at CES 2023.

AMD is starting off its CES strong with the introduction of new 3D V-Cache Ryzen 7000 CPUs. Unlike the previous generation, AMD isn't restricting its 3D V-Cache to just a midrange CPU, and is instead introducing three chips that match most of AMD's current-gen lineup.

AMD introduced the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, Ryzen 9 7900X3D, and Ryzen 7 7800X3D during its CES keynote today. The flagship chip, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, tops out with 16 cores, a 5.7GHz boost clock speed, and 144MB of cache.

Read more