AMD Zen 5 CPUs: Key Updates and Differences

Overview and Announcement

• Release Date: July 31st
• Presented News: Architecture, chipset differences, performance expectations
• Press Conference: Held by AMD in Los Angeles
• Self-funded event: Independent coverage by the presenting team

AMD Zen 5 Features

• Key Highlights:
  • On-the-fly memory tuning, memory changes within Windows without reboot
  • New curve shaper, builds on curve optimizer
  • Zen 5 architecture, new chipsets
• Memory Tuning: Supported without needing a reboot
• New Chipsets: X870, X870E, B850, B840
• Zen 5 Architecture: Advanced over Zen 4
• Thermal Improvements: Improved thermal resistance by 15%

Architecture Changes

• Instruction Execution: Wider execution pipelines
• Efficiency Gains: Improved cache, expanded execution window
• Fetch and Decode: More instructions fed to back-end, dual-port instruction cache
• Dispatch Engine: 8-wide dispatch, 6 ALUs
• Data Cache: Increased from 32KB (Zen 4) to 48KB (Zen 5)
• Floating Point Enhancements: Full 512-bit data path, 6 pipelines

IPC and Performance Uplift

• 16% Average Geomean Uplift: Versus Zen 4
• 35% Single-Core Uplift: AES XTS encryption
• Performance Claims: Benchmarked in Far Cry 6, Blender, Geekbench 5.4

Comparison with Competitors

• Against Intel:
  • 9900X vs 14900K shows AMD with significant performance gains
  • 9700X vs 14700K also shows AMD performance advantage
  • Detailed comparisons in handbreak, gaming benchmarks

Socket Longevity and Platform Support

• AM5 Socket: Ensuring longevity up to 7 years
• Platform Strategy: Aligns with DDR5 and PCIe generations
• Socket Comparisons: Addressing AM4 vs AM5

Chipset Details

• New Chipsets: Differences between X870, X870E, B850, and B840
• PCIe and USB Support: Gen 5 graphics and NVMe requirements
• B850: Gen 4 graphics optional, drops some USB 3.2 support
• B840: Reduced to PCIe Gen 3, USB 3.2 at 10 GB/s, no CPU overclock support

AMD Engineering Team Insights

• Mike Clark: Chief Architect, interviews and discussions on Zen development
• Platform Engineers: Discussing hardware and software integration

Future CPU Generations

• Zen 6 and Zen 7: Built on foundation of Zen 5 improvements
• Heterogeneous Cores: Discussion about AMD's approach

Final Notes

• AMD’s Strategic Goals: Enhancing user experience, power efficiency
• Next Steps: Await further reviews and benchmarks close to the launch date