For almost a decade, AMD has maintained a static designs across its CPUs. It’s easy to forget but the likes of Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 9 9950X are rocking the same amount of cores and threads as their earliest predecessors, namely Ryzen 5 1600X and Ryzen 9 3950X. However, this could all change with the company’s Zen 6 architecture as rumours suggest Team Red is planning to increase core counts across its stack in tandem with higher amounts of L3 cache.
Leaker Zhangzhonghao took to Chiphell to share a cryptic message regarding Zen 6 CPUs that another user unpacked shortly afterwards. In their post, they claim that AMD plans to launch future Ryzen processors with up to 12 cores per CCD (Core Complex Die). Better still, L3 cache pools will also receive a boost. Currently, each non-X3D CCD can hold 32MB but the new architecture will increase this by 50% to 48MB, rising to 96MB on dual CCD chips. However, this only covers CPUs using standard Zen 6 cores.
According to the user, AMD plans to launch Zen 6c variants with a higher amount of cores per CCD, rising from 12 to 16. Cache would also increase, from 48MB to 64MB. Team Red has previously shipped Zen 4c cores in the likes of Ryzen 5 8500G but there are no Zen 5c equivalents available for now.
Having such large L3 caches in standard Ryzen SKUs naturally leaves the door open to go even further with X3D variants. As Ryzen 9 9950X3D shows, the technology can prove transformative in certain circumstances but particularly boosts gaming performance.
As for when these Zen 6 processors will materialise, you shouldn’t expect them to show face until 2026 at the earliest. However, some suggest that they may not materialise until early 2027. Here’s hoping that prices don’t soar along core counts and that AMD keeps these new CPUs backwards compatible with Socket AM5 motherboards.
