AMD Confirms Zen 4 will Transition to 5nm Node Design

It’s hard to deny that since the launch of AMD Ryzen back in 2017, Team Red’s decision to transition to increasingly smaller node designs has proven to be a remarkably smart move. Particularly as Intel continues to struggle to move away from their (exceptionally dated) 14nm platform.

With the launch of Zen 3 expected later this year, however, we will (moderately surprisingly) see AMD stick with the 7nm node design for a little longer yet (despite unfounded rumors that a last-minute 5nm swap might have happened). In a report via TechPowerUp though, Dr. Lisa Su has confirmed that Zen 4 (expected around 2021/2022) will be transitioning to a 5nm platform!

AMD Zen 4

As part of their Q2 2020 financial review, one of the biggest slices of information given is that, based on their current roadmap, AMD Zen 4 processors will transition to a 5nm design. Better still, it seems that Team Red feels more than a little confident that supplies are good and, as such, the transition should be a pretty smooth ride.

“Over the past couple of quarters what we’ve seen is that they see our performance/capability. You can count on us for a consistent roadmap. Milan point [is] important for us, [we] will ensure it ships later this year.

[We’ve] already started engaging people on Zen4/5nm. We feel customers are very open. We feel well-positioned.

“Zen 4 [is in] the lab and looking good.”

What Do We Think?

With Intel’s ‘Tiger Lake’ platform set to launch later this year, it looks pretty much set to go toe-to-toe with AMD’s Ryzen 4000 (Zen 3) desktop platform. Based on the history of the last few years, however, you still feel that between the two, Team Red is still probably more likely to come out on top with consumers, even despite the fact that it’s sticking with a 7nm design and Intel will, of course, be hoping that it’s integrated ‘Xe’ graphics adaptor might be enough to sway a few over.

We are, however, at a very critical moment here for both companies. Put simply, if AMD continues to play their cards right, we could see the overall market share finally topple over into their favour. And, let’s be honest, who would’ve predicted that 4 years ago when it was (about) 10-15%?

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!