AMD, GlobalFoundries Focus on Path to 7 nanometers

Zen Expectations

AMD showed off some of its new Zen-based silicon in San Francisco last month and talked up the new high-performance cores. The next-gen microarchitecture design, led by renowned chip architect Jim Keller, is said to enable a 40 percent improvement in instructions per clock over Zen’s predecessor, Excavator.

The “Zen”-based “Summit Ridge” desktops will utilize the AMD AM4 socket, a new unified socket infrastructure that is compatible with 7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors – previously codenamed “Bristol Ridge” – for exceptional performance and connectivity scalability required by AMD partners and customers. The first desktop systems featuring 7th Generation AMD A-Series processors and new AM4 sockets are scheduled to ship in the second half of 2016 in OEM PC designs.

With dedicated PCIe® lanes for cutting-edge USB, graphics, data and other I/O, the AMD AM4 platform will not steal lanes from other devices and components. This allows users to enjoy systems with improved responsiveness and benefit from future-ready technologies that the AM4 platform provides with a powerful, scalable and reliable computing solution.

SOURCES – AMD