Ryzen 7000 “Zen 4” Desktop Processors & AM5 Platform Revealed By AMD

At their Computex keynote AMD unveiled their next-generation Ryzen 7000 desktop processors, which are based on the AM5 platform. Ryzen 7000 will be the first series to use the new “Zen 4” microarchitecture. AMD is claiming a 15% single-threaded uplift over “Zen 3”. AMD will also be doubling the per-core L2 cache to 1MB (up from 512 KB). Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs will be able to boost up to 5.5 GHz. With the introduction of the LGA1718 AM5 socket AMD will be bringing DDR5 and PCI-Express Gen 5 for both the graphics card and M.2 slot attached to the CPU socket.

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The Ryzen 7000 “Raphael” desktop processor is a multi-chip module (like its predecessors) with up to two “Zen 4” CCDs (CPU core dies), and one I/O controller die. These CCDs are built on the 5nm silicon fabrication process, while the I/O die is built on the 6nm process. This is a big upgrade as previous-generation I/O controller dies were built on 12nm. Going to 5nm for the CCDs means that AMD is able to pack in 16 “Zen 4” cores per socket and these are all “performance” cores. These processors will feature an iGPU based on the RDNA2 graphics architecture, so most like Intel processors most Ryzen 7000 chips will have integrated graphics.

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Moving on to the AMD platform it is capable of up to 24 PCI-Express 5.0 lanes from the processor. You’ll have 16 of these being for PCI-Express slots (PEG), while four are for an NVMe slot attached to the CPU. The processor features dual-channel DDR5 memory support just like we have on Intel “Adler Lake”, but there is no DDR4 support. AMD is also retaining cooler compatibility with AM4 so if you have a cooler running on your current Ryzen system it will be compatible with AM5.

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The platform will give you up to 14 USB 20 Gbps ports including Type-C. Since we are getting integrated graphics here motherboards will feature up to four DisplayPort 2 or HDMI 2.1 ports. WiFi 6E + Bluetooth will be standard on motherboards and this tech is being developed with MediaTek, in an attempt to move motherboard designers away from Intel-made solutions.

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At launch there will be thee motherboard chipset options which include AMD X670 Extreme (X670E), the AMD X670, and the AMD B650. The X670 Extreme will be an “all Gen5” platform, which means all of the expansion slots and M.2 slots are Gen5. The AMD X670 (non-extreme) is more then likely an X570 rebadge so you’ll get the Gen5 lanes from the CPU and then you’ll have 20 Gen 4 PCIe lanes from the chipset. With B560 you get Gen 4 PCIe PEG, Gen 5 CPU-attached NVMe, and likely Gen 3 connectivity from the chipset.

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AMD is planning to launch Ryzen 7000 series processors and accompanying chipsets in Fall 2022, which means between September and October. Expect more details on the “Zen 4” microarchitecture and Ryzen 7000 processors in the coming weeks. You can watch AMD’s entire Computex 2022 presentation below…

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