AMD Zen 6 Could Double Multi-Threaded Ryzen Performance

Remember when I said AMD's next-generation Ryzen 10000 CPUs looked set to deliver the biggest upgrades since first-generation Ryzen? The situation is looking even more promising, as we've now seen the first performance figures for AMD's next-generation Zen 6 architecture. This information didn't come from an anonymous leaker or someone with an uncertain track record.

Instead, it came from 1usmus, the developer behind the DRAM Calculator for Ryzen and the Hydra software. He's a known software developer who previously worked with AMD and received samples for development. If someone outside AMD has information about next-generation Ryzen processors, he could know more than the average leaker.

Major Increase in CPU Performance

In a new post on X, the developer responded to a Cinebench benchmark showing a couple of processors with their identities hidden. He initially guessed that the scores belonged to a 12-core Zen 6 chip. That's notable because the scores seemed close to the upper end of what a 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D can achieve.

Someone then pointed out that the color indicated the processor was still a Ryzen 9 9950X3D. The developer admitted his guess was wrong, then explained why. He said a 12-core Zen 6 processor gets surprisingly close to those scores and suggested the leaks wouldn't take much longer to arrive.

Notice that he didn't simply say a 12-core Zen 6 chip might get close to those results. Instead, he said it with confidence. If the information is accurate, this could be a significant development, particularly because the claim comes from a developer with a history of working with AMD. Apparently, Zen 6 could deliver enough performance for a 12-core processor to get close to a current-generation

The benchmark scores reportedly fell toward the high end of the 9950X3D's performance range, making the comparison more interesting. To put that in perspective, the figures suggest a potential per-core performance increase of roughly 33%. That would make it one of the largest generational improvements since first-generation Ryzen.

Zen 6 Could Increase Core Counts to 24 Cores

The performance increase could be only part of the story. The next-generation Ryzen lineup is also expected to increase core counts for the first time in several years. In his initial response, the developer mentioned a 12-core chip with a single CCD. This suggests that next-generation Ryzen processors could feature 12 cores per CCD instead of the eight cores found in current designs.

If that configuration reaches the desktop lineup, we could see processors with up to 24 cores in the next generation. That would be a 50% increase in core count over a 16-core processor. When we calculate the potential performance increase, these improvements multiply rather than simply add together.

You wouldn't just be getting 50% more cores. Each core could also deliver around 33% more performance, based on early figures. Combining a 50% increase in core count with a 33% increase in per-core performance could more than double multi-threaded performance under ideal scaling conditions.