AMD Zen 6 Powers "Medusa Point" Mobile and "Olympic Ridge" Desktop Processors

[Tek-Check]

the point is it's still a bit of a guessing game at the moment and it's been a very long time since Intel managed to deliver well on anything so I'm not holding my breath they will with Nova Lake but I'm crossing my fingers it could finally get very interesting in the CPU market with Intel winner in productivity with a 52 core Nova Lake CPU but with AMD almost certainly still keeping the gaming crown!

1. No reason to think that AMD would allow Intel to take back either performance or gaming crown, even if Intel brings 52 core CPU.
2. Imagine retail price of 52 core CPU ??? Ouch.
3. If AMD feels threathened by Nova Lake, they can create a halo SKU 12 C-core +16 c-core, which would bring 28 cores and 56 threads.

 

[THU31]

They are not "behind" because 16 cores provide overall higher performance in applications on 9950X than 24 cores on 285K. Also, 8 core 9800X3D is significantly faster in gaming than 24 core 285K. So, it's nonsense to say that they are "behind" in core count. It's not about core count.

You cherry-picked the top-end CPU, which obviously has the highest multi-threaded performance. The 6-core and 8-core Ryzens are drastically behind Intel in productivity.

And you're right, it's not just about core counts, it's about progress. AMD was offering cheap CPUs with early Ryzens, and the first few generations offered huge improvements in all aspects. Then they found themselves ahead of Intel with Zen 3, and they suddenly became greedy, which is what you do when you're ahead. The 9600X was still a 6-core CPU, the generational improvement was abysmal, but they still charged almost $300 for it.

As a consumer you should be advocating for progress. We had 4-core Intel CPUs in the mainstream for almost a decade when AMD had nothing. It's time to make 8 cores the baseline.

 

[Contra]

Multiple leaks are pointing to Nova Lake being a 52

I haven't seen a single one worth mentioning yet. Your sources are probably the same as "Arrow lake 8+32 20A process" or whatever that nonsense was. It all turned out to be a lie from start to finish. To this day, Intel is unable to release anything larger than 8P without melting the chip. What are you talking about?

 

[Zach_01]

I haven't seen a single one worth mentioning yet. Your sources are probably the same as "Arrow lake 8+32 20A process" or whatever that nonsense was. It all turned out to be a lie from start to finish. To this day, Intel is unable to release anything larger than 8P without melting the chip. What are you talking about?

Intel "Nova Lake" to Appear with up to 52 Cores: 16P+32E+4LPE Configuration

Intel's upcoming "Nova Lake" desktop processors are taking shape slowly, featuring a three-tier core design that could reach 52 total cores. Set for 2026, the flagship SKU combines 16 "Coyote Cove" P-cores with 32 "Arctic Wolf" E-cores, supplemented by 4 LPE-cores for background task management...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Contra]

Intel "Nova Lake" to Appear with up to 52 Cores: 16P+32E+4LPE Configuration

Intel's upcoming "Nova Lake" desktop processors are taking shape slowly, featuring a three-tier core design that could reach 52 total cores. Set for 2026, the flagship SKU combines 16 "Coyote Cove" P-cores with 32 "Arctic Wolf" E-cores, supplemented by 4 LPE-cores for background task management...

www.techpowerup.com

Thanks, I've seen this nonsense before. The source of the source of the source mixed up everything he could - 14A, TSMC and all this for the mobile level... Not to mention that this is another noname. As always, the community drives FOMO well in advance)

 

[Zach_01]

Thanks, I've seen this nonsense before. The source of the source of the source mixed up everything he could - 14A, TSMC and all this for the mobile level... Not to mention that this is another noname. As always, the community drives FOMO well in advance)

Just because someone is saying, or even Intel wants, doesn’t mean they will succeed to put together such a chip.
But in all fairness if the selected node is much better than the ArrowLake maybe they can do it. Maybe not 52 in total but 32-40.
AMD is rumored to preparing APUs up to ~40 mixed Zen6/6c cores. 8~12 Zen6 + more Zen6c, but I think those 6c will play different role than Intel’s E-cores.

 

[R0H1T]

The source of the source of the source mixed up everything he could

In other words MLID's back(?) side

 

[Tek-Check]

You cherry-picked the top-end CPU, which obviously has the highest multi-threaded performance. The 6-core and 8-core Ryzens are drastically behind Intel in productivity.

"Drastically behind"? This is total nonsense. Have another cup of coffee and check the reviews.
1. 12-core 9900X is on par on average in applications with 20-core 265K
2. 8-core 9800X3D is 4-5% faster on average in applications than 14-core 245K and only 12% slower than 20-core 265K
3. 6-core 9600X is only 13% slower on average in applications than 14-core 245K
12-13% is a "drastic" difference on small core count CPUs, indeed...

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review - The Best Gaming Processor

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D establishes AMD as the leader in gaming performance. This Zen 5-based X3D chip is not only fast, it also comes with full support for overclocking. Besides gaming, application performance is considerably improved over the 7800X3D, but that comes at a price.

www.techpowerup.com

The 9600X was still a 6-core CPU, the generational improvement was abysmal, but they still charged almost $300 for it.

You started with dubious core count narrative, now you introduce other variables, such as uplift and price. You need to decide what your narrative is actually about, because you are now suddenly spinning several balls in the air, not just core count.

As a consumer you should be advocating for progress. We had 4-core Intel CPUs in the mainstream for almost a decade when AMD had nothing. It's time to make 8 cores the baseline.

I always advocate for progress, but 8 cores does not need to be "the" baseline because consumers have complained for a long time that entry CPUs are not that common. There need to be entry CPUs too, such as R5 9600 or R5 8500G, and those do not need 8 big cores. With Zen6, 8 cores might become the new entry point CPU, but we will need to see how this pans out. I still prefer to see 6-core SKUs too, so that devices like NAS are not artificially more expensive, where more than 6 cores is not needed to run such a product.

However, as published recently by Passmark, both AMD and Intel CPUs have flattened in performance uplift with the last generation of desktop CPUs, excluding X3D, somewhat. So, yes, it looks like we have reached the plateau with current architectures and features on retail CPUs, but this is not an analogy for "4-core era". Zen6 and Nova Lake should bring progress in several segments and features beyond higher core count. Both companies push forward, as they should.

 

[pjl321]

Intel is unable to release anything larger than 8P without melting the chip. What are you talking about?

You have seen Intel make 8p16e dies right? Well as I said in my post, it's 2 x 8p16e tiles connected together, it's really not that hard to believe.

 

[THU31]

I still prefer to see 6-core SKUs too, so that devices like NAS are not artificially more expensive, where more than 6 cores is not needed to run such a product.

There's a reason why there were no 4-core Zen 3, 4 or 5 CPUs (apart from some OEM APUs), it was not cost-effective to make them. For the same reason there would be no sense in disabling half the cores in a 12-core chiplet. Even if they had severe yield issues, it's unlikely only the compute parts would be affected.

8 cores have been the baseline for AMD's design since 2017. It's definitely time to move up after 8 years, those chiplets have gotten really tiny. Core counts need to be raised across all tiers, no question about it.

 

[Tek-Check]

There's a reason why there were no 4-core Zen 3, 4 or 5 CPUs (apart from some OEM APUs), it was not cost-effective to make them. For the same reason there would be no sense in disabling half the cores in a 12-core chiplet. Even if they had severe yield issues, it's unlikely only the compute parts would be affected.

Correct. No need to disable half of cores in a 12-core CCD. New Zen6 chiplets with 12, 16 and 32 cores will be used on forefront devices.
They will still have a plethora of other core configuration options for different segments: 4+4 Kracken and 4+8 Strix refresh for lower power devices, as well as 8-core chiplets for embedded and edge segments. Plenty of options for diverse usage cases.

 

[csendesmark]

All 12 of these cores are part of a single CPU core complex (CCX)

YaaaY
Finally 16+ cores on a "regular" desktop CPU at AMD

 

[Super XP]

MLID has been spot on or close enough more often then not. He's come out with information that would eventually be altered or changed by AMD themselves, that is how early he gets some of these design leaks. Grain of salt and all, but ZEN6 is looking pretty good. Who's excited lol

Correct. No need to disable half of cores in a 12-core CCD. New Zen6 chiplets with 12, 16 and 32 cores will be used on forefront devices.
They will still have a plethora of other core configuration options for different segments: 4+4 Kracken and 4+8 Strix refresh for lower power devices, as well as 8-core chiplets for embedded and edge segments. Plenty of options for diverse usage cases.

Agreed, if AMD plays its cards right, they will stick to the 12-Core CCD configuration and not disable them. 12-Cores should be the new standard anyways.

 

[Zach_01]

Correct. No need to disable half of cores in a 12-core CCD. New Zen6 chiplets with 12, 16 and 32 cores will be used on forefront devices.
They will still have a plethora of other core configuration options for different segments: 4+4 Kracken and 4+8 Strix refresh for lower power devices, as well as 8-core chiplets for embedded and edge segments. Plenty of options for diverse usage cases.

No doubt we may see a lot more combinations on core counts than ever before on Zen6, but just some clarification.
If 12core CCDs are actually true then that will be the main full chiplet at least for desktop.
Just wanted to say that because the way you phrase it looked like they are preparing chiplets of 12, 16, 32.

Desktop CCDs will be 12core, and CPUs up to 24cores with 2x full 12core CCDs.
If let’s say they will go down to 8cores (4 disabled, 33%), it will give AMD the opportunity to cook CPUs with combinations of 8,10,12 cores with a total of 8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 cores. All full Zen6 cores. 6/6c mix for the APUs and that will be a different story.
Not saying that they will use all these for desktop, but they can if they want depending on fab yields.

I’m down!

 

[codex5600x]

I hope in 2027 come ryzen6 for desktops

 

[Tek-Check]

If 12core CCDs are actually true then that will be the main full chiplet at least for desktop.
Just wanted to say that because the way you phrase it looked like they are preparing chiplets of 12, 16, 32.

Yes, 12 big core CCD for desktop and mobility, and 12, 16 and 32 core CCDs for EPYCs, though they might have some 8-core configurations too in edge space. For small c core based CCDs, we still don't know whether they would continue with 16 core CCD design from Turin Dense and release both 16 and 32 core versions on EPYC Venice, or just 32 core CCD. We shall find out in a few months.

Desktop CCDs will be 12core, and CPUs up to 24cores with 2x full 12core CCDs.
If let’s say they will go down to 8cores (4 disabled, 33%), it will give AMD the opportunity to cook CPUs with combinations of 8,10,12 cores with a total of 8, 10, 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 cores. All full Zen6 cores. 6/6c mix for the APUs and that will be a different story.
Not saying that they will use all these for desktop, but they can if they want depending on fab yields.

Yes, 12 core CCD opens up diverse and rich segmentation, as you pointed out, like never before.
I'd introduce Ryzen R4, R6, R8 and R10. No reason to have SKUs with odd numbers only, to mirroiw what Intel does.
Also, it looks like there would not be mixed Zen6/6c for APUs. They seem to have abandoned mixed design for Zen6. Again, we will more once more leaks emerge and corroborate this info.

Zen 6 will have GMI links with enough bandwidth to not starve 12 cores, so it makes logical sense to have 2 GMI links for 24 full fat cores.

GMI, or Infinity Fabric, will be replaced by Infinity Link, which is evolved version of what we can see on Navi 31 as the interconnect between MCD and GCD. Infinity Link will bring multiple times more bandwidth, lower latency and much better power efficiency. Zen6 shapes to be "Zen2" moment in improvements.

 

[efikkan]

And once again there is a lot of speculation stirred up from some obvious mockups, please stop falling for these. :facepalm:
(And no, making them blurry and having washed out colors doesn't make the more credible…)

Consoles need to start using these CCD's. It' time we move on from 8C/16T standard.

Why?
Because core count needs to increase every few years because someone said so?
Don't you know that there are diminishing returns with increasing core count (except for async batch workloads, mostly server loads), with a fairly sharp drop-off around ~8 cores. And in the event that you want to really put sustained load on lots of cores you need headroom in power and thermals too, like on a Threadripper.

Let's say someone managed to release a 4-core with 2x the core speed over current gen CPUs, would you buy that over an 8-core?
Most will say no, but that only tells us how little most people know about software scaling.
While that kind of difference may not be realistic in one generational jump, it illustrates a point about how extremely opinionated most enthusiasts are without any real basis in facts.

Readying?!! What time span is being implied here? Zen 5 is still in early days. If Zen 6 ships this year then I doubt Zen 7 will be a new socket at all.

If these were genuine marketing slides, it would imply the final product was only a few months away. Somehow I doubt that…