AMD Zen 6 could deliver a full 32-core chiplet, with Zen 5c reportedly set to offer its own 16-core CCX

Snippets from well-known leakers are suggesting that 2024 is going to be an exciting year for CPU enthusiasts, as AMD's forthcoming Zen 5 and Zen 5c architectures look like they'll be pushing core counts to new records. The next series of EPYC server chips could even have as many as 192 cores, 384 threads in a single package.

That's according to the usual cohort of reliable leakers, InstLatX64, Kepler_L2, and Harukaze5719 (via Guru3D), who posted their claims on a Twitter thread. If some of the terms are a bit confusing, then let me explain—AMD's CPUs have multiple cores, all sharing a common slice of L3 cache, in a group called a CCX (Core CompleX). The chiplet that houses the CCX is called a CCD (Core Complex Die) and contains one or two CCXs, depending on the generation of architecture.

The first design to be set out like this, Zen 2, has two four-core CCXs per CCD. Desktop Ryzen models, such as the Ryzen 9 3950X, have two CCDs underneath the heat spreader, for a total of 16 cores, 32 threads. AMD's Zen 2 EPYC chips have up to four CCDs, for a maximum of 32 cores, 64 threads.

That changed slightly for Zen 3 and for those chips, the CCX comprises eight cores. Ryzen models still topped out at two CCDs (16 cores, 32 threads) but AMD increased the limit for Zen 3 EPYC processors, which can have up to eight CCDs (64 cores, 128 threads). The current Zen 4 architecture is exactly the same but last year AMD introduced a compact version of that design called Zen 4c.

The reduction in die area taken up by the CCXs meant that two of these can be packed into each CCD chiplet, so though Zen 4c EPYC processors are still limited to eight CCDs, the overall package is home to 128 cores, 256 threads.

And now it looks like AMD is going to push the core count limit even further, with EPYC models topping out at 12 CCDs for a staggering 192 cores, 384 threads. There's no sign that Zen 5 Ryzen chips will have more than 16 cores but you never know, as AMD may feel that it could steal