AMD unveils Zen cores and scraps x86-ARM project

AMD has released details about the upcoming Zen generation of cores. In addition, the group pulls the plug from Project Skybridge, with which the manufacturer wanted to combine x86 apus with ARM cores. AMD also confirmed the arrival of graphics cards with high bandwidth memory.

Zen is the new architecture for high-end processors in AMD’s FX line, which will be equipped with the new cores in 2016. It is a completely new design that should ensure that 40 percent more instructions can be handled per clock tick than the current Excavator cores can. The throughput should increase considerably due to what AMD calls Simultaneous Multithreading, which roughly boils down to what Intel’s HyperThreading does.

AMD FX processors with Zen cores should share the AM4 platform with upcoming generations of A-series desktop APUs, and both chip generations should be released in 2016. The chips will then be built on a FinFET process, which will bring efficiency benefits.

The unveiling of the Zen architecture happened at an analyst presentation in which AMD’s future plans were explained. AMD will invest less in low-end PCs, tablets and smartphones and focus more on gaming, data centers and embedded and custom chips.

The development of ARM cores also remains on the roadmap, but Project Skybridge has to clear the field. For this project, AMD wanted to combine ARM-A57 cores with Puma+ cores and a gcn GPU, but based on feedback from the market, the plans have been scrapped, AMD CEO Lisa Su said.

Finally, AMD confirmed that upcoming graphics cards will be equipped with high bandwidth memory. Rumors about this have been circulating for a long time. The accompanying graph shows that it is a so-called 2.5 and not ‘pure’ 3D method: the dram layers are stacked next to the processor and not on top of it. The dram layers are connected to each other and an interposer via vertical through-silicon via or tsv channels, which rest on a base layer. TSVs form paths through the silicon, as the name implies, thus ensuring short lines. According to AMD, the hbm compared to gddr5 will cause a threefold increase in performance per watt and a 50 percent decrease in consumption. AMD did not yet provide details about the cards that will be equipped with hbm.