AMD's next-generation Ryzen Desktop CPUs codenamed Raphael which will feature the Zen 4 core architecture are rumored for launch in Q4 2022. The rumor comes from Twitter user, Sepeuwmjh (via Videocardz) who has hinted at the possible unveil and launch dates of the next-gen AMD Ryzen CPU lineup.
AMD's Next-Gen Raphael Ryzen Desktop CPUs Featuring Zen 4 Core Architecture Rumored For Q2 2022 Launch
The user has been actively posting information regarding AMD CPUs and GPUs and even reported on the Strix Point APUs before everyone else did. Now, the user is reporting that AMD's Ryzen line of desktop processors will be getting the Zen 4 architectural update in late 2022. As per the rumor, AMD is expected to unveil its Raphael line of Zen 4 Ryzen Desktop CPUs around Q3 2022 & a hard launch is expected no sooner than Q4 2022 or two years after the launch of the Zen 3 based Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs.
https://twitter.com/sepeuwmjh/status/1389074452801986561
There have recently been rumors that AMD might have canceled its intermediate AM4 refresh but that may not be the case if these dates are true. We have been getting a Ryzen update almost every year now, some major and some minor. The AMD Zen 1, Zen 2, Zen 3 based Ryzen Desktop CPUs delivered the major performance increments while Zen+ and Zen 3 refresh offered slight boost and optimizations over their predecessors.
This generation's Ryzen refresh would have been Warhol which was rumored to feature the Zen 3+ core architecture but reports suggested it might not happen. Now there are conflicting reports that suggest AMD will be launching a refresh that would not be based on Zen 3+ (since the codename was never confirmed by AMD themselves), but an optimized version of Zen 3. The Zen 3 refresh will offer a slight performance jump and might be the last chips for either the AM4 platform or if AMD wants to push out its next-gen DDR5/PCIe5 platform fast against Intel's Alder Lake, would be based around the AM5 platform.
Here's Everything We Know About AMD's Raphael Ryzen 'Zen 4' Desktop CPUs
The next-generation Zen 4 based Ryzen Desktop CPUs will be codenamed Raphael and will replace the Zen 3 based Ryzen 5000 Desktop CPUs that are codenamed, Vermeer. From the information we currently have, Raphael CPUs will be based on the 5nm Zen 4 core architecture & will feature 6nm I/O dies in a chiplet design. AMD has hinted at upping the core counts of its next-gen mainstream desktop CPUs so we can expect a slight bump from the current max of 16 cores and 32 threads.
The brand new Zen 4 architecture is rumored to deliver up to 25% IPC gain over Zen 3 and hit clock speeds of around 5 GHz.
‘Mark, Mike, and the teams have done a phenomenal job. We are as good as we are with the product today, but with our ambitious roadmaps, we are focusing on Zen 4 and Zen 5 to be extremely competitive.
‘There will be more core counts in the future – I would not say those are the limits! It will come as we scale the rest of the system.’
AMD CEO, Dr. Lisa Su via Anandtech
AMD's Rick Bergman on Next-Gen Zen 4 Cores For Ryzen CPUs
Q- How much of the performance gains delivered by AMD’s Zen 4 CPUs, which are expected to use a 5nm TSMC process and might arrive in early 2022, will come from instructions per clock (IPC) gains as opposed to core count and clock speed increases.
Bergman: “[Given] the maturity of the x86 architecture now, the answer has to be, kind of, all of the above. If you looked at our technical document on Zen 3, it was this long list of things that we did to get that 19% [IPC gain]. Zen 4 is going to have a similar long list of things, where you look at everything from the caches, to the branch prediction, [to] the number of gates in the execution pipeline. Everything is scrutinized to squeeze more performance out.”
“Certainly [manufacturing] process opens an additional door for us to [obtain] better performance-per-watt and so on, and we'll take advantage of that as well.”
The Raphael Ryzen Desktop CPUs are also expected to feature RDNA 2 onboard graphics which means that just like Intel's mainstream desktop lineup, AMD's mainstream lineup will also feature iGPU graphics support. As for the platform itself, we will be getting the brand new AM5 platform which will feature support for DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0. The Zen 4 based Raphael Ryzen CPUs aren't expected till late 2022 so there's still a lot of time left in the launch. The lineup will compete against Intel's Raptor Lake 13th Gen Desktop CPU lineup.
AMD Zen CPU / APU Roadmap:
| Zen Architecture | Zen 7 | Zen 6C | Zen 6 | Zen 5 (C) | Zen 4 (C) | Zen 3+ | Zen 3 | Zen 2 | Zen+ | Zen 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Codename | TBA | Monarch | Morpheus | Nirvana (Zen 5) Prometheus (Zen 5C) | Persphone (Zen 4) Dionysus (Zen 4C) | Warhol | Cerebrus | Valhalla | Zen+ | Zen |
| CCD Codename | TBA | TBA | TBA | Eldora | Durango | TBC | Brekenridge | Aspen Highlands | N/A | N/A |
| Process Node | TBA | 3nm/2nm? | 2nm/3nm | 3nm | 4nm | 6nm | 7nm | 7nm | 12nm | 14nm |
| Server | TBA | EPYC Venice (6th Gen) | EPYC Venice (6th Gen) | EPYC Turin (5th Gen) | EPYC Genoa (4th Gen) EPYC Siena (4th Gen) EPYC Bergamo (4th Gen) | N/A | EPYC Milan (3rd Gen) | EPYC Rome (2nd Gen) | N/A | EPYC Naples (1st Gen) |
| High-End Desktop | TBA | TBA | TBA | Ryzen Threadripper 9000 (Shamida Peak) | Ryzen Threadripper 7000 (Storm Peak) | N/A | Ryzen Threadripper 5000 (Chagal) | Ryzen Threadripper 3000 (Castle Peak) | Ryzen Threadripper 2000 (Coflax) | Ryzen Threadripper 1000 (White Haven) |
| Mainstream Desktop CPUs | TBA | TBA | Ryzen **** (Olympic Ridge) | Ryzen 9000 (Granite Ridge) | Ryzen 7000 (Raphael) | Ryzen 6000 (Warhol / Cancelled) | Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) | Ryzen 3000 (Matisse) | Ryzen 2000 (Pinnacle Ridge) | Ryzen 1000 (Summit Ridge) |
| Enthusiast Mobile CPUs | TBA | TBA | Ryzen **** (Gator Range) | Ryzen 9000HX (Fire Range) | Ryzen 7000HX (Dragon Range) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Mainstream Desktop . Notebook APU | Ryzen AI 500 (Sound Wave)? | Ryzen AI 500 (TBA) | Ryzen AI 400 (Medusa Point / BB) | Ryzen AI 300 (Strix Point) Ryzen *** (Krackan Point) | Ryzen 7000 (Phoenix) | Ryzen 6000 (Rembrandt) | Ryzen 5000 (Cezanne) Ryzen 6000 (Barcelo) | Ryzen 4000 (Renoir) Ryzen 5000 (Lucienne) | Ryzen 3000 (Picasso) | Ryzen 2000 (Raven Ridge) |
| Low-Power Mobile | TBA | TBA | TBA | Ryzen *** (Escher) | Ryzen 7000 (Mendocino) | TBA | TBA | Ryzen 5000 (Van Gogh) Ryzen 6000 (Dragon Crest) | N/A | N/A |
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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