The Ryzen 6000 APUs will use Zen 3+, a name we stopped reading and hearing months ago that would have returned to define the differences between the two generations of laptop processors. What are the differences between the standard version and the plus version of third generation Zen? Will we see them on desktop processors or is AMD’s roadmap different?
The configurations of AMD Zen 3 processors are quite complicated, apart from the standard model we have the so-called Zen 3D whose particularity is the use of V-Cache. Well, apparently we are going to have a new variant and that is that AMD would not have ruled out the name of Zen 3+, after all, it would not be in the sense that we were talking about ourselves.
Zen 3+ for AMD Ryzen 6000 APUs
We know that the formerly Rembrandt APUs are going to appear under the Ryzen 6000 brand and will be presented at CES by Lisa Su. Until a few months ago, the rumor mill confused Zen 3+ cores with the recently introduced CCX CCDs with V-Cache under the name Milan-X and that name was forgotten for some time.
Ultimately, AMD could resurrect the name Zen 3+ in its Ryzen 6000 APUs, however, most in the name would come from things like DDR5 memory support and the inclusion in memory of a Integrated GPU RDNA 2. Although it should also be added the possibility that the amount of L3 cache increases, giving the IPC a little boost, taking advantage of the higher density offered by the 6nm variant of TSMC.
AMD president is expected to present the new laptop APUs along with new models of RX 6000 laptop GPUs in a few weeks. The war between Intel and AMD in laptops is therefore already served. Will a simple update of its Zen 3 be enough for AMD to cope with the Intel Core 12 for laptops? Who knows, what we do know is that we won’t see the V-Cache in them.
In conclusion, Zen 3+ will not be a truly improved kernel, but rather a marketing maneuver that will take advantage of improvements from one generation to the next to sell an improved version that does not exist. Fortunately, the new APUs will bring news beyond their CPU and these are very significant changes.
Ryzen 6000 on the desktop?
Another of the big doubts facing CES is the existence of the AMD Ryzen for desktop, if we recap the rumors we will realize that a successor to the AMD Ryzen 5000 Vermeer has been speculated under the name of Warhol. Months later, Lisa Su showed us an AMD Ryzen that was using a CCD with V-Cache in the middle of a presentation, as you can see in the image above.
At the moment, the only Zen 3 based CPU with V-Cache has been Milan-X, the upgraded version of AMD EPYC based on Zen 3, but as the CCD CCX is the same and there is no need to ‘make changes to the IOD that accompanies them to train the processor, then no doubt AMD would not be difficult to launch and present a new range of its Ryzen for desktop, which for marketing reasons would make sense that it is ‘calls Ryzen 6000 to match its launch with the Rembrandt APU.
In any case, we don’t think AMD is using the Zen 3+ brand for its new desktop processors, leaving that to the APUs that will be released for laptops. It will have to be seen how DDR5 memory (Rembrandt) and a greater amount of L3 cache end up affecting the performance of Zen 3 cores and whether V-Cache on the desktop (Warhol) will suffice as an answer to Intel Core 12.
In addition, and finally, Rembrandt with Zen 3+ will mark the launch of the first AM5 motherboards with DDR5 support, paving the way for Zen 4 (Raphael) and its new processors that will compete for the performance crown of gaming novices.
The post This is what AMD will launch in early 2022: CPU and APU? first appeared on HardZone.
