It may be that time of the year again when AMD starts refreshing its Ryzen processors if Twitter user Patrick Schur's information is accurate. There is a precedent of AMD refreshing its Ryzen processors, nevertheless, we recommend you approach the news with caution.
Unless AMD pulls a rabbit out of its hat, the new Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) processors will in all likelihood acquire the XT moniker, following in the footsteps of the prior Ryzen 3000 XT-series. Everything should remain unchanged under the hood. The processors will continue to come out of TSMC's 7nm oven and arrive with the same, powerful Zen 3 cores that bring an impressive 19% IPC uplift.
AMD's last refresh has shown us that the amount of cores, L3 cache and TDP (thermal design power) limits remain intact. Instead, the refreshed Ryzen 5000 chips will likely offer marginal boost clock speed improvements. Once again, the chips will slot into the AM4 socket so existing AMD motherboards should only require a small and simple firmware upgrade to leverage the fresh Ryzen parts.
AMD Ryzen 5000 XT Specifications
| Processor | Cores / Threads | Base / Boost Clock Speeds (GHz) | L3 Cache (MB) | TDP (W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 9 5950XT* | 16 / 32 | 3.4 / 5.0 | 64 | 105 |
| Ryzen 9 5950X | 16 / 32 | 3.4 / 4.9 | 64 | 105 |
| Ryzen 5 5600XT* | 6 / 12 | 3.7 / 4.6 | 32 | 65 |
| Ryzen 5 5600X | 6 / 12 | 3.7 / 4.6 | 32 | 65 |
*Specifications are unconfirmed.
Schur referred to the two mysterious Ryzen processors as being the B2 stepping for Vermeer. There are two codenames that are being thrown around. Given the specifications, the 100-000000059-60_50/34_Y is probably the Ryzen 9 5950XT, while the 100-000000065-06_46/37_Y likely alludes to the Ryzen 5 5600XT. Assuming that AMD follows the same path as the previous XT-series, we should see a Ryzen 7 5800XT as well. However, that might not be the case. AMD skipped the Ryzen 9 3950X last time, and it appears that the chip maker might give the Ryzen 9 5950X the XT treatment this time around. AMD is clearly switching things up.
The Ryzen 9 5950XT may just arrive with a 5 GHz boost clock, 100 MHz higher than the standard Ryzen 9 5950X. The thing is that many Ryzen 9 5950X samples can already reach or surpass the 5 GHz barrier through AMD's Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) technology. Therefore, we're unsure how the Ryzen 9 5950XT would fit in the picture. Furthermore, Schur listed the Ryzen 5 5600XT chip with a 4.6 GHz boost clock, which is the same for the existing Ryzen 5 5600X. These are probably specifications for early engineering samples, though, so don't take them to heart.
AMD launched its Ryzen 3000 XT-series lineup last year in the month of June. If the chipmaker respects the same time frame, then we could see the Ryzen 5000 XT-series as early as next month. If we were betting men, the processor launch would possibly be accompanied by the X570S motherboard announcement.
