AMD Zen 4 may be set to steal the best gaming CPU crown, as new claims hint that the next-gen chips will trump the Ryzen 7 5800X by up to 24%. The performance increase whispers follow Raphael gaming PC processor leaks that indicate a 10% bump above the current-gen chip.
Sources close to Moore’s Law is Dead say AMD Zen 4 CPUs boast a 15-24% IPC (instructions per cycle) increase over Zen 3. In addition, the chips will supposedly arrive with a 14% clock speed uplift, while single-thread abilities could be enhanced by up to 37%. The new specs are accompanied by “massive” I/O upgrades above Zen 3, including DDR5 RAM compatibility and PCIe 5.0 support.
Potential performance aside, MLID’s latest video includes new release windows. The insider claims that Ryzen 7000 Raphael chips are scheduled to show up in the second half of 2022, while Dragon Range and Phoenix are set to arrive in Q1 2023. Threadripper 7000 Storm Peak is included in AMD’s release date lineup, it’s further back in the queue with a potential first half of 2023 slot.
As with any leaks, it’s probably best to take any new AMD Zen 4 whispers with a grain of salt. That said, if the information holds true, we’ll see a proper Zen 3 successor launch fairly soon, and its specs will help it challenge Intel Alder Lake.
Even if the next-gen chips fall short, both companies are already planning ahead. MLID’s update touches on potential Zen 5 and Zen 6 chips, with the former offering an additional IPC increase over and above Zen 4. The blue team also teased Intel Meteor Lake gaming CPU packages at its recent Vision event, with a new four tile die design that paves the way for easier to implement variants.