AMD: Big gains still to come for Zen 4 and RDNA 3

While AMD took the lead in terms of performance (according to their own figures) with Zen 3 and RDNA 2, the brand may well widen the gap further in the future.

Indeed, big gains are still expected with the next Zen 4 and according to Rick Bergman, Executive Vice President of AMD, answering TheStreet’s question.

A major architectural change for Zen 4

With the Ryzen 5000 and Zen 3, AMD has managed to push performance even further, while still keeping power consumption down. By proposing a 19% increase in the IPC and frequencies that can exceed 5 Ghz, the reds have thus allowed themselves to overtake Intel on one of the last grounds favourable to Intel: video games.

Zen 4: the end of the AM4 socket

For the Zen 4, AMD would have planned to bring once again big gains, with a list of changes as big as for Zen 3. This new generation will be accompanied by a change of engraving, going from 7nm to 5nm, offering 80% higher theoretical density and 15% more performance or 30%less power consumption.

This next generation will also benefit from a new socket, thus providing a new basis for the introduction of new technologies. PCIE 5.0 or DDR5, see AVX512 are thus announced and probably an increase in the number of cores thanks to 5nm.

+50% performance per watt for RDNA3?

Let’s move on to GPUs, and first of all to the RDNA2range. As with Zen 3, AMD has delivered very good gain, with +54% performance per watt compared to RDNA. By doubling the number of Computer Units and with a 30% increase in frequency, all this while keeping the same engraving (AMD did not use the 7nm EUV), the progression is spectacular.

The current goal of this generation is to offer 4K without compromise and to have good performance in ray tracing, at least in 1440p. AMD therefore promises very good performance on average with this technology and the support of many games, especially thanks to the consoles also using RDNA2.

The RX 6000, a simple step in AMD’s long journey.

AMD has been very aggressive on RDNA2 and has set itself the same goal with RDNA3. Thus, the reds want to offer once again +50% performance per watt, in engagement made possible with the switch to 5nm. In its justification, AMD explains that they are looking to have ever more efficient GPUs, without having to use expensive cooling solutions or buy more powerful power supplies (the subliminal message is clear).

To read the full article, direction thestreet.com