AMD’s Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 16-Core, 8-Core CPUs Break Cover

Ryzen 7000 Processor
Ryzen 7000 Processor (Image credit: AMD)

AMD stole the show at CES 2022 when the chipmaker gave the world a sneak peek at the company's upcoming Ryzen 7000 (Raphael) processors that will soon vie for a spot on our list of Best CPUs for gaming. It didn't take long for hardware sleuth Benchleaks to dig up two of AMD's Zen 4 5nm chips, so it won't be long before we know how these chips will stack up on our CPU Benchmark hierarchy. 

The alleged Ryzen 7000 processors showed up on the MilkyWay@Home project on the BOINC platform. It's a weird way to appear since the platform isn't a benchmark. Instead, the MilkyWay@Home project consists of users coming together and using their combined computing power to create a three-dimensional model of the Milky Way galaxy.

The BOINC platform erroneously lists "number of processors," but it should be the number of threads. So, for example, the Ryzen 9 5950X shows up with 32 "processors" when in reality, those are threads. Secondly, the platform also exposes the "Cache" for each processor. Although the tool doesn't specify the cache level, it correlates to the L2. Once again, we can verify that metric by looking at the Ryzen 9 5950X, where it appears with 512KB, which we know is the L2 cache.

The first chip out of the two emerged with the 100-000000666-21_N codename and carried eight cores. Assuming that these are Ryzen desktop processors and AMD doesn't rework the model names, the obscure octa-core part may be the Ryzen 7 7800X, the successor to the Ryzen 7 5800X. The other processor has the 100-000000665-21_N codename and wields 16 cores. It has the specifications to be the Ryzen 9 7950X, making it the direct replacement for the existing Ryzen 9 5950X.

According to Benchleaks, the CPUIDs for the two Ryzen processors correspond to AMD's Zen 4 desktop chips. Of course, these are engineering samples. We don't know the clock speeds of the processors; however, the system description does reveal what appears to be the L2 cache.

As a quick refresher, AMD's current Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer), which employs Zen 3 cores, has 512KB of L2 cache per core. The report from BOINC shows Zen 4 with 1,024KB of L2 cacher per core. If the information is accurate, AMD would have effectively doubled the L2 cache for each core on Zen 4.

AMD has committed to launching Ryzen 7000 in the second half of 2022. The next-generation processors will slot into the brand-new AM5 socket that transitioned from a PGA (Pin Grid Array) design to LGA (Land Grid Array). The chipmaker also confirmed that AM5's lifespan would be similar to AM4. More importantly, Ryzen 7000 will usher in DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support to level the playing field with Intel's 12th Generation Alder Lake army.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

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

  • wifiburger
    "AMD stole the show at CES 2022 when the chipmaker gave the world a sneak peek "

    what !? we must of watched different shows

    hey look, stock dropped 20$ since CES 2022
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    Doubled cache sizes are nice, but I'm highly disappointed core counts aren't increasing if these indeed turn out to be the top end Ryzen 7 and 9 series chips. If Zen 4 based EPYC, and presumably Threadripper, chips are going to see large core count increases, one would expect AMD to have increased the core count per CCX, and therefore Ryzen chips should see more cores.

    Not that most home users need more than 8 and few need more than 16 (home users defined as non-professional users), but if Intel's strategy of increased overall core counts drives more of the market to favor multi-core scaling over IPC the way their strategy of IPC over core count drove the market to per-core performance for so many years, AMD may end up on the losing end.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    Alvar Miles Udell said:
    I'm highly disappointed core counts aren't increasing
    thats not AMD's goal.
    Zen 1 brought core count.
    Zen 3 brought IPC.
    Zen 4 looks to bring faster clock speeds.

    and honestly if you need more cores they have TR for that.
    Gaming specifically has no use for more cores as only a small amount even support 8.


    Do Like to see they say AM5 will last like AM4 as gives long term upgrades. (assume 2 generations)
    Reply
  • NightHawkRMX
    More cores won't do a lot if software can't use it. Game makers need to focus more on that instead of trying to suck the user's wallet dry with DLC etc.
    Reply
  • JayNor
    Dr Su said at CES zen4 is "in the lab".

    Intel announced sampling of Alder Lake beginning in Oct 2020 (see their q3 2020 earnings call transcript). Parts shipped a yr later.

    So, realistically, how far out is a shipping zen4 product?
    Reply
  • sgh55fg
    JayNor said:
    Dr Su said at CES zen4 is "in the lab".

    Intel announced sampling of Alder Lake beginning in Oct 2020 (see their q3 2020 earnings call transcript). Parts shipped a yr later.

    So, realistically, how far out is a shipping zen4 product?

    AMD confirmed Zen4 Genoa was already sampling to hyperscalers in the last earnings call at the end of October. Zen4 desktop could probably launch at Computex in June.
    Reply
  • saltweaver
    sgh55fg said:
    AMD confirmed Zen4 Genoa was already sampling to hyperscalers in the last earnings call at the end of October. Zen4 desktop could probably launch at Computex in June.
    Summer sale is not very lucrative for a big company like AMD. Sept, Oct is more likely launch.
    Reply
  • NightHawkRMX
    Zen2 was released in July.
    Reply
  • saltweaver
    NightHawkRMX said:
    Zen2 was released in July.
    Alder Lake and Zen 3 was released in November.
    Reply
  • NightHawkRMX
    I can see either release times as likely
    Reply