AMD’s upcoming Zen 5 CPU is rumored to be the largest jump in AMD processing power since the original Zen cores were launched, according to new information from YouTube channel RedGamingTech. According to their analysis, the new Zen 5 CPU architecture will leave its predecessor, the Zen 4, in the dust with a 30% increase in pure performance.
That jump in performance equates to a result of roughly 49,000 points in Cinebench R23’s multi-thread tests for the 16-core variant of the Zen 5, compared with the Zen 4 Ryzen 9 7950X’s still respectable result of 38,000. This level of increase is also present in the 12, eight, and 6-core variants of Zen 5 as well, making the entire range a sizeable upgrade over the previous generation.
Single-threaded performance was similar, with results landing in the mid to high-2,000s, compared to results in the low 2,000s for Ryzen 7000 chips — again landing within a 20-25% increase.
It’s also worth noting that these rumors confirm the Zen 5 range won’t be increasing the number of cores on offer, and they also don’t seem to be including a "hybrid" design, where smaller Zen "c" cores would be used in desktop configurations to increase efficiency and reduce footprint, while cutting back on raw power. At the moment it seems we won’t be seeing these cores making their way to desktop Zen CPUs until Zen 6 is released.
But even with that in mind, Zen 5 is looking sure to be an enormous hit, with the new CPUs looking likely to offer the biggest upgrade in years for Ryzen users. Interestingly, it looks as if all the increased power is coming purely from Zen 5’s rumored 20-25% increase in instructions per clock (IPC), since there are no additional cores, and not much in the way of an increase in clock speed, with 200MHz being mooted as the potential increase for most of the CPUs in question.
There was no mention of a release date for the Zen 5 CPUs, but previous roadmaps from AMD have painted broad brush strokes of 2024 as a release timetable.