Alleged AMD Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 CPU Cranks The Voltage In An MSI B650 AM5 Motherboard
Now that AMD has unleashed its Ryzen 7 5800X3D with a stack of 3D V-cache to boost gaming performance, the next big launch is presumably Zen 4. That's expected to take place sometime in the second half of this year. A good sign that AMD remains on track is an uptick in related leaks, the latest one being a fuzzy screenshot purportedly depicting a Zen 4 processor running in an MSI Mag M650 motherboard.
Notable leaker @9550pro (HXL) posted the screenshot to Twitter with the caption, "AM4 has completed its historical mission, a new era is coming," with a smiling emoji tacked on the end of the tweet. A large portion of the screen is clipped out of view, but assuming it's real and has not been altered, there's enough show to extrapolate a few details. Here's a look..
Starting at the top, the "MAG B65" designation is presumed to be a next-generation MSI MAG B650 motherboard rocking an AM5 socket. AMD previously confirmed some details about its AM5 socket, including that it will make a switch to a Land Grid Array (LGA) form factor like Intel's been using for quite some time, with 1,718 pins (LGA 1718) for Zen 4. This is contrast to the AM4 socket and Zen 3, where the pins are on the CPU.
AMD has also confirmed that AM5 motherboard will be compatible with socket AM4 coolers. In addition, AMD went on record saying its socket AM5 and Zen 4 platform will support PCI Express 5.0 and DDR5 memory (and apparently is looking to make a big splash with DDR5 overclocking), both of which Intel embraced with its Alder Lake launch, and "much, much more" (to quote AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su).
The next item down in the supposed screenshot is an "AMD Eng" processor. Given the other details, we can reasonably assume this is an engineering sample for a Ryzen 7000 series CPU based on Zen 4.
Underneath the CPU designation is a memory size label, though that's completely cut off. Just as interesting, though, is the vCore that sits directly underneath. The screenshot shows the Zen 4 part running at 1.532V.
That's definitely on the high side. Zen 3 doesn't ramp up that high at stock settings and that's a tough ask with mainstream cooling. We don't want to speculate too much though, because who knows what we're really looking at. This could be an altered screenshot, or it could be under extreme cooling. Being an early ES chip could factor into things as well.
Anyway, we'll take this as a positive sign that Zen 4 is progressing nicely. It sets the stage for an interesting cage match with Intel's Raptor Lake CPUs, with the real winner set to be us, the consumers.
