AMD confirms Zen 6 and Zen 6c will arrive in 2025 — but Intel is set to grab the fastest CPU server spot for the first time in a decade within weeks

AMD outlined its future plans at a recent event in Los Angeles, providing details on three architectures set for release in 2024: Zen 5, RDNA 3.5, and XDNA 2.

The Zen 5 architecture, which is the next generation of AMD’s CPU cores, is expected to offer a 16% improvement in instructions per clock (IPC) and a 33% increase in core count. It features improvements in several technical areas, including fetch and decode processes, as well as wider dispatch and execution engines coupled with enhanced cache bandwidth.

AMD plans to offer both performance-oriented Zen 5 and area-optimized Zen 5c cores, pushing cost efficiency and simplified system management.

Zen 6 in 2025

In terms of graphics, RDNA 3.5 offers a big update to the Radeon 780M with a performance boost of 19-32% compared to previous-generation Ryzen CPUs. ServeTheHome says, “The AMD RDNA 3.5 is a significantly faster GPU IP block that takes learnings from AMD’s license of GPU IP to Samsung for its mobile phones and brings that efficiency to the new integrated GPU.”

Additionally, AMD is pushing forward in the AI space with its XDNA 2 NPU built on Xilinx technology and integrated into the Ryzen AI 300 series of mobile processors, which also benefit from the new Zen 5 architecture and RDNA 3.5 graphics.

AMD’s dominance in the CPU server market faces a huge challenge from Intel, however. Its archrival is poised to take the lead there for the first time in a decade with its upcoming launch of the 128 P-core Granite Rapids-AP line, perhaps in time for Intel Innovation in September.

Although we don’t have confirmation yet, AMD’s Turin family, underpinned by Zen 5 and Zen 5c, will likely arrive in time for Supercomputing 2024 in November. ServeTheHome points out that, “This will be the first time in seven years that AMD and Intel will be at P-core count parity in the data center.”

AMD didn’t have anything of note to say at the LA event about its next-generation Zen 6 processors first mentioned at Computex 2024. We still don’t know much about the Zen 6 and Zen 6c architectures at the moment, only that they are still on track for a release in 2025.