AMD Zen5 to be Fabbed Using 3 Different Process Nodes from Samsung & TSMC, With 5 Possible Designs Under Consideration
There have been rumors that AMD will team up with Samsung Foundry to manufacture a few next-gen CPUs. A recent leak indicates that AMD is prepping a version of Zen5C, prepared using Samsung’s 4nm process technology. The keyword here here is ‘version’ since Zen5C will have many variants, made using silicon from both Samsung and TSMC.
Across the Zen5-Multiverse: 5 Possible Designs Using Different Nodes
To simplify, the upcoming Zen5 architecture from AMD will be divided into Zen5 (Performance) and Zen5C (Dense). MLID claimed that Zen5, the chief architecture, is going to feature a mix of both TSMC 4nm (Zen5) and 3nm (Zen5C) nodes. This is the first variant of Zen5C.
Moving on, let’s keep our focus on the dense counterpart of Zen5, Zen5C. Everest on X reports that AMD is working on a Monolithic version of Zen5C, built using Samsung’s 4nm node. This Samsung version is called Sonoma Valley and it replaces the Mendocino offerings from AMD.
In a very similar fashion, All The Watts alleged that Strix Point, comprising of both Zen5 and Zen5C features TSMC’s N4P node. And since this is a monolithic package, we can infer that this third Zen5C version is fabbed using TSMC’s 4nm (N4P) node. In other terms, AMD’s Zen5 (Zen5+Zen5C) uses 3 different process technologies.
Likewise, Zen5 features 5 different versions or designations. Each version is built for a different purpose, with some intended for servers, and some reserved for low-cost laptops. The performance core, Zen5, built using TSMC’s N4P is segmented into FP512 and FP256 versions. The former will go to servers as Turin and the latter is planned for the aforementioned Strix Point APUs.
Further down the stack, we have 3 Zen5C (Dense) versions. TSMC’s N4P built Zen5C for Strix Point, the N3B built Zen5C for Turin-Dense (Bergamo-Next), and the SF4 (Samsung Foundry) built Zen5C for Sonoma Valley. Confusing, right? But it sort of makes sense because budget options can be availed for cheaper, being built on an inexpensive node.
Release Date
Zen5 is slated to launch during the first quarter of 2024. Although not all of Zen5 will arrive at the same time. Strix Point and well almost all of Zen5 on the mobile side is scheduled for mid to late 2024. So we still have some time before we see all these products in action.
Source: Everest
