AMD May Be Preparing New Zen 2 CPUs. But Why?

AMD's Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) processors are among the best CPUs currently on the market. However, it would seem that the chipmaker has an excess of leftover Zen 2 dies as a new USB-IF listing (via Komachi_Ensaka) has exposed three unreleased Zen 2 processors.

The submission mentions the Athlon Gold 4100GE, Ryzen 5 4500 and Ryzen 3 4100 processors with the A1 revision. We don't know for certain if the trio of AMD chips are wielding Zen 2 cores. Since AMD's utilizing the Ryzen 5000 branding for Zen 3 products, it's unrealistic to think that the chipmaker would use Zen 3 outside of the moniker.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor, RAM Reviewer & SSD Technician

Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • JWNoctis
    Would've been much more interesting, if they had revived the Sempron name.
    Reply
  • Neilbob
    JWNoctis said:
    Would've been much more interesting, if they had revived the Sempron name.

    Duron is where it's at.
    Reply
  • CerianK
    Neilbob said:
    Duron is where it's at.
    I think they should secure naming based on LOTR for a future elite product family.
    I would buy a Galadriel 9 Series CPU.
    Reply
  • Eximo
    Ah Duron, everyone's favorite CPU that sounds like a home improvement product or a sensible fabric to make tarps with.
    Reply
  • JWNoctis
    CerianK said:
    I think they should secure naming based on LOTR for a future elite product family.
    I would buy a Galadriel 9 Series CPU.
    In keeping with the tradition, it might actually be Ancalagon 9. That gotta be hot enough for everyone.
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    Probably had a lot of chips that didn't meet the requirements for an existing SKU, so instead of destroying them, sell them under a new SKU, to the OEM market, at the very least.
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    Eximo said:
    Ah Duron, everyone's favorite CPU that sounds like a home improvement product or a sensible fabric to make tarps with.
    It didn't just sound like it, it actually was. Duron was/is a material used in commercial bathroom stall partitions. It also used to be a paint company.
    Reply
  • Joseph_138
    If all they promise is slightly higher clocks than their predecessors, they shouldn't bother. They will likely be released to OEM's only, in which case, I would be very careful of buying prebuilts that contain these chips if the price difference between these and the 5000 chips is only minimal.
    Reply