AMD Ryzen 9000 Zen 5 CPU Launch Allegedly Revealed: When And What To Expect

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In the last seven years since the launch of Ryzen, AMD has completely reversed its fortunes, and now you'll find Ryzen processors in a huge number of hardware enthusiasts' systems. This is thanks to consistent generational improvements year after year, and the next generation of AMD's most successful CPU family is about to hit in July, if the rumors are true.

The latest leak comes from a well-known though not-necessarily-accurate source: wjm47196, posting at their usual haunt, ChipHell. The Chinese-language ChipHell forums are a favorite place for leakers in Asia to post their news, and wjm47196 has posted many leaks with about a 50% hit rate overall—although some of that can be chalked up to the extremely early nature of many of their leaks.

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This time around, wjm47196 tells us that "Ferrari's new engine has the same number of cylinders as the previous generation." Wait, weren't we talking about Ryzen CPUs? The boys over at ChipHell like to mask their leaks a bit given that the site quickly removes posts when they don't, so the whole discussion is cloaked in automotive terminology. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what wjm47196 means, though: Zen 5 is coming at the end of July in six-, eight-, twelve-, and sixteen-core models.

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There's a lot of discussion in the thread as to the relevance of this decision, but further posts in the thread say that earlier rumors about Zen 5 using a hybrid core architecture aren't accurate, at least for the desktop models. That lines up with what we've seen elsewhere, too; while Strix Point and perhaps Strix Halo will use a combination of Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores, Granite Ridge appears to be entirely Zen 5 "big" cores.

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Image: AOOSTAR Discord, via Videocardz

So what about the mobile parts, then? Are they coming in July, too? Apparently not, according to a representative of AOOSTAR, a micro manufacturer of mini-PCs. Speaking on the company's public Discord server, "AOOSTAR-Liang" says that AMD's BGA processors, which may include anything from the 16-core Strix Halo down to the lightweight Kraken Point, will start showing up from "big brands" in August, while smaller vendors like AOOSTAR will have to wait until October.

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It has historically been the case that AMD has launched new architectures on the desktop before bringing out mobile chips with the same design, but usually the gap is more like six months, not "one". Along with rumors (from reliable source Kepler_L2) that Zen 5 parts with 3D V-Cache will appear at CES, it looks like the next six months will be busy for AMD's CPU business—to say nothing of what's happening in its graphics brand. We'll be on site at Computex next week, so stay tuned for all the news.