AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU With 5GHz+ Clock Rumored To Disrupt Intel Rocket Lake-S Launch
The CPU wars are heating up. AMD is on the offensive with its latest generation Zen 3 processors, while Intel is set to fire back with its upcoming 11th Generation Core desktop processors, otherwise known as Rocket Lake-S. Intel is promising big things from Rocket Lake-S, but AMD might be getting ready to counter with a Ryzen 5000 series desktop CPU cranked to 5GHz and beyond.
If true, that kind of speed ceiling would mark a new threshold for Zen 3. Here is a look at AMD's existing Ryzen 5000 series lineup...
- Ryzen 9 5950X: 16 cores / 32 threads, 3.4GHz to 4.9GHz, 64MB L3 cache, 105W TDP
- Ryzen 9 5900X: 12 cores / 24 threads, 3.7GHz to 4.8GHz, 64MB L3 cache, 105W TDP
- Ryzen 9 5900: 12 cores / 24 threads, 3.0GHz to 4.7GHz, 64MB L3 cache, 65W TDP
- Ryzen 7 5800X: 8 cores / 16 threads, 3.8GHz to 4.7GHz, 32MB L3 cache, 105W TDP
- Ryzen 7 5800: 8 cores / 16 threads, 3.4GHz to 4.6GHz, 32MB L3 cache, 65W TDP
- Ryzen 5 5600X: 6 cores / 12 threads, 3.7GHz to 4.6GHz, 32MB L3 cache, 65W TDP
There are not retail listings for the non-X variants (Ryzen 9 5900 and Ryzen 7 5800), but those SKUs do officially exist, with product pages on AMD's website. The highest clockspeed, however, belongs to the Ryzen 9 5950X—it is capable of boosting to 4.9GHz. As we saw in our Ryzen 9 5950X review, it is a dominating chip, with some overclocking potential to boot.
Interestingly, notable leaker Yuri Bubliy (@1usmus) posted a tweet saying, "Zen 3 & 5000MHz+. Announced on February 15." It is interesting for a couple of reasons. For one, a faster clocked chip would be a fun counter to whatever performance uptick Rocket Lake-S delivers for Intel (the company claims a 19 percent IPC boosts, and early leaks certainly look promising). And secondly, the timing of the supposed announcement.
February 15 is Presidents' Day in the US. It would not be entirely new for a company to announce a product on a holiday, but that is not the norm. In a followup tweet, Bubily said, "This is not an announcement from AMD," followed by a couple of emojis, so color us confused. Are they referring to the upcoming 5GHz+ announcement not being from AMD, or their own tweet?
They might be referring to another ClockTuner for Ryzen (CTR) update, or some kind of overclocking achievement. The thread is not very clear—when a user asked if the 5GHz+ clock was a single core boost, Bubliy replied, "Better,) so make of that what you will. The only concrete thing we have to go on is that it is related to Zen 3.
Even without a new Zen 3 chip that boosts to 5GHz or higher, AMD is in good shape with its current lineup. The Ryzen 5000 series has proven to be a formidable lineup, and of course by this time next year we will likely be discussing Zen 4's performance. Fun times.
