AMD is set to unleash a trio of Ryzen 7000 processors with 3D V-Cache tech including a mighty 16-core spin, and these chips are just around the corner according to a new rumor.
In fact, new 8-core, 12-core and 16-core 3D V-Cache CPUs will be launched at CES, according to Quasarzone, as @harukaze5719 explains on Twitter. Of course, we should take this with the usual skepticism that should be applied to hardware rumors, and it’s not clear if this will just be an initial reveal next month, or the processors will actually go on sale in January 2023 (we’ll come back to that).
They shared 3 exclusive Zen 4 3D info.1) Three Ryzen 7000X3D model is confirmed. 16/12/8C. But about 8C model, it isn’t determined model name whether7700X3D or 7800X3D2) Unlike Zen 3 3D, clock speed will be same or at least almost same.3) It is expect Jan 23. So CES.1/nDecember 2, 2022
These will presumably be the Ryzen 9 7950X3D (16-core) plus 7900X3D (12-core), but it’s apparently unclear whether the 8-core chip will emerge as the 7800X3D or 7700X3D. There will be no 6-core X3D processor according to the spillage shared here.
Quasarzone also insists that unlike the existing 5800X3D, where clock speeds were dialed back, the clocks of these Ryzen 7000 3D V-Cache products will be the same as their vanilla counterparts – or at least very close to the same. Which sounds like maybe some models will stick to the same frequencies, and others might dip very slightly – presumably we’re talking 100MHz, rather than the 400MHz slowdown imposed on the base clock of the 5800X3D.
Analysis: Faster CPUs inbound, but no more affordable option?
There are a couple of interesting things here, one of them being that a past rumor from an established leaker insisted that things could pan out quite differently. That speculation shared by ECSM just a few weeks back claimed that there would be 6-core and 8-core X3D processors, but nothing else.
So not only does this new rumor rubbish the idea of a 6-core chip, but it also floats the possibility that there will be a pair of high-end X3D models, including a 16-core flagship version. Which is exciting stuff on the face of it just to see the kind of performance gamers might get from that (the 5800X3D being well-known as a great chip for gaming, of course – and the same is expected from the 7000 series variants).
Then again, a Ryzen 7950X3D is bound to be very pricey, and so on the affordability front, a focus on beefier chips and the apparent lack of a 6-core option for 3D V-Cache is somewhat disappointing. Still, that’s not to say that AMD couldn’t eventually produce other X3D models such as a 7600X3D.
If Quasarzone is right with all this, one of the most tantalizing prospects is how early AMD is pushing out these refreshed CPUs. The aforementioned previous word from the grapevine was looking at April at the earliest for Zen 4 X3D chips to turn up – and indeed it could still be the case that even if we do get a reveal at CES, the processors may not be on sale until a while after.
That said, the suggestion here certainly seems to be a January launch, or at least that the X3D versions are pretty close to coming out. And in all honesty, that’s what AMD needs in terms of the necessity to bolster its Zen 4 ranks as soon as possible to compete with Intel’s Raptor Lake.
It’s worth noting that given the quite different angles taken by these two recent rumor dumps, we should probably be even more cautious around all this speculation for the time being. At least we don’t have long to wait now for CES to find out what AMD is going to reveal there.