Skip to main content

Why AMD Zen 5 chips are going to be such a huge deal

AMD’s Zen 4 chips aren’t even out yet, and the hype for Zen 5 has already started. New details about the Zen 5 architecture that have leaked foretell big changes and huge performance leap over Zen 4.

Leaker RedGamingTech said in a YouTube video that AMD’s Zen 5 chips will indeed use a similar hybrid architecture as both Intel and Apple. This would presumably mean a mixture of performance-oriented Zen 5 cores and more efficient Zen 4 cores. He also mentioned that the top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 will simply have all performance Zen 5 cores while APUs will still contain Zen 4 cores.

AMD CEO LIsa Su showing off new Ryzen 6000 CPU.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

RedGamingTech also claims that Zen 5 processors will have modified architecture affecting all three caches. The L1 cache, which is built into the CPU itself and is the fastest (and smallest) to access, will be drastically increased. The L2 will face changes and be unified across the core complex (CCX) similar to how the L3 cache is for Zen 3.

Speaking of the L3 cache, that will allegedly be stacked in order to lower latency and reduce the size of the die. This likely builds on top of the stacked V-Cache that improves performance with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

Finally, RedGamingTech talks performance, citing IPC gains of about 30% for single-threaded tasks. The core counts for Ryzen 8000 will also double in number, with high-end processors getting up to 32 cores. For comparison, the current Ryzen 9 5950X has 16 physical cores.

As with all leaks, it’s wise to take all of this with skepticism, but it’s easy to see why many people are excited about Zen 5. RedGamingTech claims that AMD is actually more excited about Zen 5. The increased cache sizes plus IPC improvements could have AMD back on top as the performance king over Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs.

Looking at the upcoming Zen 4 release, those chips could see an overall performance increase of 40% over Zen 3. AMD already showed off a preproduction Ryzen 7000 CPU running Halo Infinite at 5GHz on all cores. Granted, the company didn’t show what graphics card was being used, but it does provide a tantalizing glimpse into what’s possible.

Between AMD’s Zen 5 chips and Intel’s Raptor Lake architecture, it looks to be a great time for PC enthusiasts, especially as graphics card prices continue to drop.

Editors' Recommendations

David Matthews
David is a freelance journalist based just outside of Washington D.C. specializing in consumer technology and gaming. He has…
This AMD GPU could have destroyed Nvidia, but we might never see it
Radeon logo on the RX 7900 XTX.

Rumor has it that AMD may have decided not to launch any high-end GPUs in the next generation of graphics cards, meaning RDNA 4. However, this freshly leaked diagram gives us some insight into what could have been -- or perhaps, what will be -- if AMD's best graphics card of the next generation was made. It appears that AMD's next-gen architecture is a lot more complex than RDNA 3.

The diagram comes from YouTuber Moore's Law is Dead, who, as always, cites his own anonymous sources. It's only a partial diagram, but even that quick look into the architecture of RDNA 4 tells us a lot. While not sure which GPU this is, Moore's Law Is Dead refers to it as Navi 4C, and all signs point to it being AMD's top GPU for the next generation. Still, it's unclear if this new naming convention refers to Navi 41 or perhaps Navi 42, as Navi X and Navi M have also been mentioned recently.

Read more
AMD might admit defeat, but it’s for the best
RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT on a pink background.

Rumor has it that AMD might be stepping away from the idea of making high-end graphics cards in the next generation. Instead, it appears that its upcoming Radeon RX 8000 series GPUs might be tailored to fit the mainstream segment, with no high-end options to match the level of the RX 7900 XTX and beyond.

For generations, PC gamers have gathered in their camps to trade blows on if Nvidia or AMD is better, and most of that conversation centers around the most powerful GPUs these brands have to offer. If AMD decides to ditch that fight, though, it might be the best move Team Red has ever made.
Change of plans?

Read more
Intel just made a huge comeback, and it’s bad news for AMD
Intel Core i5-13600K installed in a motherboard.

Although the client CPU market hasn't been in great shape in recent months, the latest results from Jon Peddie Research tell us that it might be bouncing back -- and the biggest gains definitely belong to Intel. According to the market figures, Intel's share saw a significant increase in the last quarter, while AMD suffered a loss.

Overall, the PC market hasn't been doing great after the unexpected heights it reached during the pandemic. The current state of the world economy has taken its toll on CPU and GPU sales. For Intel, things have been especially bad, as the company recently suffered the largest loss in history: $2.8 billion during the first quarter of 2023. However, at least as far as shipments go, things are looking up.

Read more