As AMD's upcoming Zen5 and Zen5c architectures seem to push core counts to a new record, a snippet from well-known leakers suggests that 2024 will be an exciting year for CPU enthusiasts. The next series of EPYC server chips can even contain up to 1 core, 392 threads in one package.

This is due to the usual cohort of trusted leakers, Instlatx64, Kepler_L2, and Harukaze5719 (via Guru3D) who posted their claims on the Twitter thread. If some terms are a bit confusing, let me explain — AMD Cpus have multiple cores, all of which in a group called CCX (Core CompleX) accommodate the common CCX of the L3 cache, the chiplets are called CCD (Core Complex Die) and contain 1 or 2 Ccx, depending on the generation of the architecture.

The first design to be set this way, the Zen2, has two four-core CCXs per CCD. Desktop ryzen models, such as the Ryzen9 3950X, have 2 Ccd under the heat spreader, with a total of 16 cores, 32 threads. AMD's Zen2EPYC chip has up to 32 cores, 64 threads, up to 4 Ccd.

It has changed slightly due to the Zen3 and those chips, CCX consists of 8 cores. While the Ryzen model still tops with 2 Ccd (16 cores, 32 threads), the current Zen8EPYC processor, which AMD can have up to 8 Ccd (64 cores, 128 threads), has exactly the same architecture as the Zen3EPYC processor, last year AMD launched a compact version of its design called Zen4c. We have introduced a new version of the app.

The reduction in die area occupied by the CCXs meant that two of these could be packed into each CCD chiplet, so the Zen4c EPYC processor is still limited to eight Ccd, but the entire package has 128 cores and 256 threads.

And now it looks like AMD is trying to push the limit on the number of cores even further, with the EPYC model topped with a staggering 192 cores, 384 threads and 12Ccd. While there's no indication that the Zen5ryzen chip will exceed 16 cores, you might feel that AMD could steal some of Intel's thunder by offering a desktop CPU that exceeds 14900 cores, which is the amount of Core I24K.

Harukaze5719 and Kepler_L2 also claim that the Zen6, which is still in development, will have up to 32 cores per CCD, and even smaller 8-core and 16-core CCD variants.

Gaming PCs obviously don't need that much CPU core.Some modern consoles have all 8-core, 16-threaded processors, but mostly because it doesn't help that the game is heavily multithreaded. In terms of pure core count you have a high clock speed and a low latency cache pile to speed things up together, such as the excellent Ryzen7 7800X3D, AMD has Intel well and is the largest Xeon processor you can buy (Xeon Platinum8592+). Since "only" has 64 cores, 128 threads, Sir AMD EPYC9754 exceeds their number with 128 cores, 256 threads. If Zen5 and 5c are going to raise the bar again, Intel could lose more position to AMD in the lucrative data center industry. This year's Computex event is only 1 month away, so it probably won't be that long before AMD spills all the beans on the new design.