No 16-core AMD Ryzen AM4 Chips Till After 7nm EPYC Launch (2019)

During its Q2-2018 investors conference call AMD gave some hints of when it plans to launch its 3rd generation Ryzen processors, which will be based on the “Zen2” architecture. AMD CEO Lisa Su said in a Q&A portion of the call that the rollout of 7 nm Ryzen processors will only come after the launch of 7 nm EPYC. This basically means that we will not see the rumored 16-core Ryzen desktop processor till at least some time in 2019.

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AMD’s 2nd generation EPYC processors will be based on the 7 nm “Rome” silicon. As of now AMD has completed the tape-out of “Rome” and is sending samples out to its industry partners for further testing and validation. The first EPYC products based on this silicon will roll out in 2019. AMD is also using the 7 nm process for a new “Vega” GPU which it also has taped-out and the first enterprise-segment product based off it will launch within 2018.

With AMD’s “Zen 2” Ryzen products being slated for 2019 it does not appear AMD will be able to counter Intel’s upcoming 14 nm 8-core “Whiskey Lake” silicon. Although we have heard rumors of a yet to be released Ryzen 7 2800X.

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