Zen 2

AMD Zen 2
General information
Launched7 July 2019; 5 years ago (7 July 2019)[1]
Designed byAMD
Common manufacturers
CPUID codeFamily 17h
Cache
L1 cache64 KB per core:
  • 32 KB instructions
  • 32 KB data
L2 cache512 KB per core
L3 cache16 MB per CCX (APU: 8 MB)
Architecture and classification
Technology nodeTSMC N7[2][3]
TSMC N6[4]
Instruction setAMD64 (x86-64)
Physical specifications
Transistors
  • 5.89 billion (1× CCD) or
    9.69 billion (2× CCD)
    (3.8 billion per 7 nm 8-core "CCD" & 2.09 billion for the 12 nm "I/O die")[5]
Cores
    • 4–16 (desktop)
    • 24–64 (HEDT)
    • 12–64 (workstation)
    • Up to 64 (server)
    • 2–8 (mobile)
Sockets
Products, models, variants
Product code names
  • Matisse (desktop)
  • Rome (server)[3]
  • Castle Peak (HEDT/workstation)
  • Renoir (Desktop APU, mobile and embedded)
  • Mendocino (mobile and embedded refresh)
Brand names
History
PredecessorZen+
SuccessorZen 3
Support status
Supported

Zen 2 is a computer processor microarchitecture by AMD. It is the successor of AMD's Zen and Zen+ microarchitectures, and is fabricated on the 7 nm MOSFET node from TSMC. The microarchitecture powers the third generation of Ryzen processors, known as Ryzen 3000 for the mainstream desktop chips (codename "Matisse"), Ryzen 4000U/H (codename "Renoir") and Ryzen 5000U (codename "Lucienne") for mobile applications, as Threadripper 3000 for high-end desktop systems,[6][7] and as Ryzen 4000G for accelerated processing units (APUs). The Ryzen 3000 series CPUs were released on 7 July 2019,[8][9] while the Zen 2-based Epyc server CPUs (codename "Rome") were released on 7 August 2019.[10] An additional chip, the Ryzen 9 3950X, was released in November 2019.[8]

At CES 2019, AMD showed a Ryzen third-generation engineering sample that contained one chiplet with eight cores and 16 threads.[6] AMD CEO Lisa Su also said to expect more than eight cores in the final lineup.[11] At Computex 2019, AMD revealed that the Zen 2 "Matisse" processors would feature up to 12 cores, and a few weeks later a 16 core processor was also revealed at E3 2019, being the aforementioned Ryzen 9 3950X.[12][13]

Zen 2 includes hardware mitigations to the Spectre security vulnerability.[14] Zen 2-based EPYC server CPUs use a design in which multiple CPU dies (up to eight in total) manufactured on a 7 nm process ("chiplets") are combined with a 14nm I/O die (as opposed to the 12nm IOD on Matisse variants) on each multi-chip module (MCM) package. Using this, up to 64 physical cores and 128 total compute threads (with simultaneous multithreading) are supported per socket. This architecture is nearly identical to the layout of the "pro-consumer" flagship processor Threadripper 3990X.[15] Zen 2 delivers about 15% more instructions per clock than Zen and Zen+,[16][17] the 14- and 12-nm microarchitectures utilized on first and second generation Ryzen, respectively.

The Steam Deck,[18][19] PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S all use chips based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture, with proprietary tweaks and different configurations in each system's implementation than AMD sells in its own commercially available APUs.[20][21]

  1. ^ "AMD Unleashes Ultimate PC Gaming Platform with Worldwide Availability of AMD Radeon RX 5700 Series Graphics Cards and AMD Ryzen 3000 Series Desktop Processors". AMD (Press release). Santa Clara, California. 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  2. ^ Larabel, Michael (16 May 2017). "AMD Talks Up Vega Frontier Edition, Epyc, Zen 2, ThreadRipper". Phoronix. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  3. ^ a b Cutress, Ian (20 June 2017). "AMD EPYC Launch Event Live Blog". AnandTech. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  4. ^ Boshor, Gavin (20 September 2022). "AMD Launches Mendocino APUs: Zen 2-based Ryzen and Athlon 7020 Series with RDNA 2 Graphics". AnandTech. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Zen 2 - Microarchitectures - AMD". WikiChip. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b Cutress, Ian (9 January 2019). "AMD Ryzen third Gen 'Matisse' Coming Mid 2019: Eight Core Zen 2 with PCIe 4.0 on Desktop". AnandTech. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  7. ^ online, heise (27 May 2019). "AMD Ryzen 3000: 12-Kernprozessoren für den Mainstream". c't Magazin.
  8. ^ a b Leather, Antony (7 July 2019). "AMD Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 7 3700X Review: Old Ryzen Owners Look Away Now". Forbes. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  9. ^ Ridley, Jacob (27 May 2019). "AMD Ryzen 3000 CPUs launching July 7 with up to 12 cores". PCGamesN. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  10. ^ "2nd Gen AMD EPYC Processors Set New Standard for the Modern Datacenter with Record-Breaking Performance and Significant TCO Savings". AMD. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  11. ^ Hachman, Mark (9 January 2019). "AMD's CEO Lisa Su confirms ray tracing GPU development, hints at more 3rd-gen Ryzen cores". PCWorld. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  12. ^ Curtress, Ian (26 May 2019). "AMD Ryzen 3000 Announced: Five CPUs, 12 Cores for $499, Up to 4.6 GHz, PCIe 4.0, Coming 7/7". AnandTech. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  13. ^ Thomas, Bill (10 June 2019). "AMD announces the Ryzen 9 3950X, a 16-core mainstream processor". TechRadar. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  14. ^ Alcorn, Paul (31 January 2018). "AMD Predicts Double-Digit Revenue Growth In 2018, Ramps Up GPU Production". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  15. ^ Shilov, Anton (6 November 2018). "AMD Unveils 'Chiplet' Design Approach: 7nm Zen 2 Cores Meet 14 nm I/O Die". AnandTech. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  16. ^ Cutress, Ian (10 June 2019). "AMD Zen 2 Microarchitecture Analysis: Ryzen 3000 and EPYC Rome". AnandTech. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  17. ^ Walton, Steven (16 November 2020). "AMD Ryzen 5000 IPC Performance Tested". TechSpot. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  18. ^ Hollister, Sean (13 November 2021). "Steam Deck: Five big things we learned from Valve's developer summit". The Verge. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  19. ^ "Steam Deck :: Tech Specs".
  20. ^ Warren, Tom (24 February 2020). "Microsoft reveals more Xbox Series X specs, confirms 12 teraflops GPU". The Verge. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  21. ^ Leadbetter, Richard (18 March 2020). "Inside PlayStation 5: the specs and the tech that deliver Sony's next-gen vision". Eurogamer. Retrieved 18 March 2020.