AMD Zen 6 Leaks points towards 6+ GHz clock speeds for Ryzen

AMD’s Zen 6 Ryzen CPUs to feature up to 26 cores and clock speeds of over 6 GHz – Leaker claims

The YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead has revealed that AMD’s upcoming “Olympic Ridge” (Zen 6 Ryzen) CPUs may feature TSMC 2NX silicon for their CPU CCDs (Core Complex Dies). This change will reportedly allow AMD to achieve 6+ GHz clock speeds on its next-generation Ryzen CPUs. These CPUs also reportedly target 10%+ IPC gains alongside clock speed increases.

The leaker also reconfirmed that AMD will be using 12-core Zen 6 CCDs with its next-generation Ryzen CPUs. These CCDs will reportedly feature 48MB of L3 cache. Additionally, AMD can stack two layers of L3 V-Cache onto these CCDs, adding more L3 cache to the mix. Whether or not they will do this remains to be seen.

With AMD’s new Zen 6 CCDs, AMD will have 50% more cores and 50% more L3 Cache per CCD. This is great news for gamers, as games benefit from larger cache pools. Additionally, having more cores per CCD will allow AMD users to have higher core count PCs while retaining the benefits of single-CCD chips (no added latency from chiplet-hopping).

How will Zen 6 achieve 6+ GHz clock speeds?

AMD has reportedly opted to use TSMC’s N2X lithography node for its Zen 6 CCDs. That’s a significant leap from the TSMC 4nm (N4) node used for today’s Zen 5 CPUs. If true, AMD is skipping TSMC’s 3nm (N3) node and their 2nm (N2) node. N2X is a refined version of N2 that should be able to reach higher clock speeds.

With a larger-than-normal lithography node transition, AMD should be able to boost the performance of its next-generation CPUs significantly. The new node should make higher clock speeds easier to achieve. Additionally, the node shift should allow AMD to pack more transistors into their designs. Both of these changes can enable higher levels of CPU performance.

More than 24 cores for AMD’s next-gen Ryzen CPUs?

Moore’s Law is Dead has stated that AMD may release 26-core Zen 6 Ryzen CPUs. This is because AMD is reportedly working on an IOD (IO Die) that features two “Zen 5 LP” (Low Power) CPU cores. While these CPU cores will be weak, they should enable lower levels of idle power draw. However, it remains to be seen if this leak is legitimate. AMD has never mixed core architectures with its mainline Ryzen desktop CPUs before, and doing so now would be a major change for the company.

AMD reportedly plans to release its Zen 6 desktop CPUs in the second half of 2026. That means that PC builders will have to wait for more than a year for AMD’s next-generation Ryzen CPUs.

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