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AMD "Zen 6" Processor Families to Use a Mix of TSMC N2 and N3 Nodes

AleksandarK

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AMD's upcoming Zen 6 CPU family will leverage a combination of TSMC's N3 and N2 process nodes, according to slide decks shared with engineers at three leading motherboard vendors. These documents outline five distinct silicon lines set to arrive in late 2026 across servers, desktops, and notebooks. On the server front, the EPYC "Venice" lineup splits into Venice classic for general‑purpose deployments and Venice dense for high‑density cloud racks. Both variants use TSMC's custom‑tuned N2P process, offering an 8-10% clock‑speed boost over today's N3E. At the same time, each classic die grows to 12 Zen 6 cores, and each dense die houses 32 Zen 6c cores, enabling up to 256‑core, 512-threaded dense packages when eight dies are interconnected via the existing organic interposer.

For client systems, AMD has adopted codenames that hint at their intended usage profiles. "Olympic Ridge" will drive the Ryzen 10000 desktop series on the N2P node, while "Gator Range" targets gaming laptops exceeding 55 W. The mainstream thin‑and‑light segment will be served by "Medusa Point," featuring a hybrid design that pairs an N2P compute tile with an N3P I/O tile, with entry‑level models opting for a cost‑efficient monolithic N3P die. A more detailed "Medusa Halo" and the budget‑oriented "Bumblebee" series are also in the roadmap, though their process assignments remain under review. AMD and TSMC's close co‑optimization of metal layers and libraries means the final silicon closely resembles an "N2‑AMD" stack rather than a standard N2P node. First silicon is expected back from the fab before Christmas, with volume ramps timed for the back‑to‑school 2026 notebook cycle and a subsequent server refresh wave.



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If rumors are true about this CPU, this might be a decent upgrade for gamers. However, some of the rumors seem to be too good to be true, we shall see.
 
I'm curious how the new core line-ups would be with a 12c Complex. Would the 12c replace the "#800" as the top single-CCX on Ryzen? Or would they just redo the entire numbering/naming scheme, since previously 16c was the "top" of the Ryzen stack, which already ended at #900X or #950X.
 
Why are they using Venice again? They used that on 939 did they not?

And Gator Range is right up there with Alligator Alcatraz in my mind.. god I hate the internet sometimes lol.. but if it were me I would change that name..
 
And Gator Range is right up there with Alligator Alcatraz in my mind.. god I hate the internet sometimes lol.. but if it were me I would change that name..
At least you didn't think of Gatorade. I did.
 
from what i understand, the low cost 8 core and under apus will be single die like current laptop chips and the dual ccd chips will use the 12core dies.
 
“At the same time, each classic die grows to 12 Zen 6 cores, and each dense die houses 32 Zen 6c cores, enabling up to 192‑core or 256‑core packages when eight dies are interconnected via the existing organic interposer.”

@AleksandarK I don’t think the math checks out on this for non-dense configs, chief. You may want to reword this. And it would also be a downgrade compared to Turin since that already has 16x8 configs.
 
If rumors are true about this CPU, this might be a decent upgrade for gamers. However, some of the rumors seem to be too good to be true, we shall see.
whats wrong with current amd cpus? they are not capable run the game? :/ "7800x3rd 9800x3d" iam still on 5800x and happy with this cpu.
 
If rumors are true about this CPU, this might be a decent upgrade for gamers. However, some of the rumors seem to be too good to be true, we shall see.

its that sorta conclusion why I hate rumors and speculation, its completely useless nonsense.
 
this might be a decent upgrade for gamers

The gamers have always needed graphics cards, not central processors. You can game at 4K on a potato CPU, without much of a or any difference in the framerate. .
Graphics cards where, unfortunately, AMD is very weak and lost momentum and focus.
 
Maybe base core count will be 8 with 12 being the next single-chiplet iteration and 16 & 24 being the dual-chiplet ones. More expensive for sure, huge performance jump also. But Zen5 is still more than enough and will have lower prices than now when Zen6 lands. So, win-win both for enthusiasts and for budget gaming.
 
More expensive for sure, huge performance jump also.

It depends on several factors - power consumption, IPC, default clocks.
If AMD decides to return to the 65 - 95 W TDPs, you say bye to the "huge" performance jump.
 
Upcoming? 9000 series is only just out the door.
 
The growth of the CCD to 12 cores instead of 8 will remove that as a "limitation". It will be interesting to see what the increase will be on X3D with the shrink of the node.

It will be nice to see what the IO die upgrades get moving to 3nm from 6nm. Hopefully the ability to use CUDIMM and being able to use 9000mhz DDR5 is going to be essential to feed the extra cores per CCD otherwise those extra cores are going to be handicapped by the lack of memory bandwidth.

I hope the APUs are on 2nm so they get the most performance out of the possible GPU being equipped on those dies! I am just waiting for 24 core 2048+ Shaders and LPCAMM possibly in a Steamdeck format. I personally would be tempted with a 12 core 1536 shader part myself as I believe that would be enough for handhelds/emulating for a couple of years.
 
The growth of the CCD to 12 cores instead of 8 will remove that as a "limitation". It will be interesting to see what the increase will be on X3D with the shrink of the node.

It will be nice to see what the IO die upgrades get moving to 3nm from 6nm. Hopefully the ability to use CUDIMM and being able to use 9000mhz DDR5 is going to be essential to feed the extra cores per CCD otherwise those extra cores are going to be handicapped by the lack of memory bandwidth.
A 12 core X3d on a single die would be a very tempting upgrade for things like BeamNG. I think the 9Ghz+ memory speeds are going to end up requiring the move to DDR5X memory in the future, the efforts to make CAMM2 work have been lackluster.
I hope the APUs are on 2nm so they get the most performance out of the possible GPU being equipped on those dies! I am just waiting for 24 core 2048+ Shaders and LPCAMM possibly in a Steamdeck format. I personally would be tempted with a 12 core 1536 shader part myself as I believe that would be enough for handhelds/emulating for a couple of years.
I got bad news for ya, if there are 2nm APUs, they'll be mobile exclusive. Guarantee it.

Even then theyll be hard to find. HX370 laptops with DDR5X memory are like hens teeth, as are mini PCs.
 
240w on Zen 5 gets me into the upper 80s to lower 90s, 270w gets me straight to 95 and stays there lol.

These will not be easy to cool.
 
240w on Zen 5 gets me into the upper 80s to lower 90s, 270w gets me straight to 95 and stays there lol.

These will not be easy to cool.
Maybe they'll finally change the package and slim down the insanely thick IHS.

Making their socket backwards compatible with AM4 coolers was the dumbest thing AMD did here....
 
Might have some crush issues with the high clamp pressure some coolers offer.
Socket AM4 and intel sockets managed fine.

AM5's IHS is absurdly think, done to preserve socket AM4 compatibility and its the single biggest thing holding thermals back.
 
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