Skip to main content

How to watch AMD’s Zen 3 launch event

Where Gaming Begins | AMD Ryzen™ Desktop Processors

Though AMD has not confirmed the official branding for its next-generation desktop processors, the company has a lot of news in store. On October 8, the company is slated to unveil its new processors based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture, while new Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards are expected to be unveiled later this month. These products will help AMD take on Intel on the CPU side and fend off competition from Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards.

Recommended Videos

Given the continued impact of the global pandemic, AMD’s launch events — including the Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 — will be hosted online, a departure from glitzier media events in the past. The good news is that with online-hosted events gamers and fans of AMD’s silicon will also be able to tune in live.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

How to watch the Ryzen 5000 unveiling

AMD Ryzen 9 3900x
Dan Baker/Digital Trends

Following AMD CEO Lisa Su’s teaser on Twitter, the company confirmed that it will be hosting two events this month, with the first event dedicated entirely to its Zen 3 architecture used in the next-generation CPUs. This event will take place on October 8 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time, or noon ET.

You can watch the event on AMD’s home page, or on AMD’s YouTube channel and, most likely, AMD’s Twitch channel.

For its part, AMD has not confirmed the Ryzen 5000 name, and earlier rumors suggested that the company could launch its new desktop processors by continuing the Ryzen 4000 family. However, more recent leaks indicate that AMD may be putting the Ryzen 4000 moniker behind it and moving on to new branding, given that these processors will be using a brand-new Zen 3-based microarchitecture, whereas the Ryzen 4000 family was based on Zen 2.

What to expect from AMD’s event

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Given that the company had already revealed that it will showcase Zen 3-based processors, there should be few surprises. Aside from some uncertainty over the final branding — there is still debate whether the processors will be part of the Ryzen 4000 family or move into an entirely new Ryzen 5000 launch — AMD is also expected to reveal the performance improvements that Zen 3 will deliver in both synthetic tests and real-world use.

The new Ryzen 5000 desktop family could include the Ryzen 5 5600X, Ryzen 7 5800X, Ryzen 9 5900X, and Ryzen 9 5950X products, though it’s uncertain if all the CPUs will be available at once or if AMD will resort to a staggered release cycle.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The company will likely showcase a number of benchmarks, showing both generational improvements between Zen 2 and Zen 3, as well as comparisons between its architecture and that of rival Intel. The enhanced 7nm+ node is expected to deliver approximately a 10% reduction in power consumption and 20% more transistor density compared to the prior generation, according to Wikichips.

Though unlikely, AMD could also reveal more details about its future plans and roadmap as it fends off competition in the space. More recent rumors suggest that Zen 3 designs could be available to purchase later this month, according to Kitguru, with availability on October 20 or October 27.

Stay tuned to Digital Trends for more all the latest news and information about AMD’s next-generation processors.

Chuong Nguyen
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
AMD brings back 3D V-Cache chips for gaming laptops
The AMD Fire Range laptop CPU announced at CES 2025.

AMD just announced over a dozen new laptop CPUs, which will appear in over 150 new laptops being announced at CES 2025 and later this year, including a new 3D V-Cache chip for gaming laptops and some really impressive graphics in its new Ryzen AI Max+ halo chips.

Let's start with Fire Range. These chips are for high-end gaming laptops, a successor to Dragon Range line, catering to enthusiast gamers and, so far, only enthusiasts are going to be happy, as those laptops likely be quite expensive. On the other hand, the CPUs sound mighty powerful. The lineup includes, first and foremost, the next big 3D V-Cache chip, dubbed the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D.

Read more
How to watch AMD’s CES 2025 keynote today
AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su holding up a chip at Computex 2024.

CES 2025 is almost upon us and one of the most exciting keynote speeches of the show is AMD's. How will it build on the success of its Ryzen 9000 X3D CPUs? How will it combat Nvidia's impending RTX 5000 generation? Will RDNA4 excite, despite not offering a flagship card?

If you want to watch the keynote speech live to get the first news on what AMD's plans are for 2025, here's how.
How to watch AMD's CES keynote today
AMD at CES 2025

Read more
How to watch Nvidia’s big RTX 50-series GPU launch today
how to watch nvidias ces 2025 keynote screenshot

Update: Nvidia's keynote is ongoing, but the RTX 50-series graphics cards have already been announced, starting with the RTX 5090.

Looking to buy a new high-end graphics card in 2025? It might be worth watching Nvidia's CES 2025 keynote, as it may have all the details for the RTX 50-series, which could well be your next-gen upgrade. Even if you aren't planning to buy any time soon, though, it may still be worth checking out, as Nvidia is expected to blow the doors off GPU performance with its next-gen designs, and show off more besides.

Read more