During its Next Horizon event, AMD confirmed that its new professional-grade EPYC processor will be sporting a 7-nanometre design, signalling the strong possibility that the upcoming Ryzen 3 processors could follow suit with the architectural shift next year.
The ‘Zen 2’ architecture will initially only feature in processors aimed at professionals, with the first being an ultra-powerful server chip codenamed ‘Rome’ that’s capable of combining the power of eight 7nm chiplets via a 14nm I/O die. AMD’s new processor will also support 8-channel DDR4 memory and PCIe 4.
AMD says the new ‘Rome’ CPU offers twice the performance power per socket and four times the floating point performance when compared to the current EPYC lineup. This is likely thanks to the switch over to the new Zen 2 architecture. However, AMD did not provide any clock speeds to back up its claim.
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If AMD’s assertions are accurate though, it could mean that the upcoming Ryzen 3 consumer CPUs could see a huge improvement on the current Ryzen offering. While AMD has not officially confirmed that the Ryzen 3 processors will feature the new Zen 2 architecture, it’s a very strong possibility following this reveal.
Such an upgrade would be substantial in AMD’s contest with Intel, with the latter of the two companies still struggling to manufacture processors with 10nm architecture. With the Ryzen 3 CPUs likely launching next year, its expected that the clock speeds will be more competitive than ever before with the Intel Core range.
AMD also unveiled the world’s first 7nm graphics cards in the Vega-based Radeon Instinct MI60 and MI50 during its Next Horizon showcase. Again, these GPUs are aimed at professionals rather than consumers, but such a reveal suggests gamers won’t have to wait too long until they see 7nm graphics cards becoming available for mass market.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
