AMD may skip the Ryzen 4000-series naming altogether with its next-gen Zen 3 CPUs (aka Vermeer), recent database entries suggests. An 8-core processor has been spotted on the Ashes of the Singularity benchmark database bearing an unexpected name, AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, which suggests the next-generation of Ryzen CPUs will skip right onto the arguably more impactful 5000-series branding.
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The 8-core, 16-thread loadout of this processor (spotted by TUM_APISAK, who also provided a link to the entries) would likely see it launch as a direct successor to the Ryzen 7 3800X and Ryzen 7 3800XT, both of which offer an identical core count. The key difference, however, would be the use of the Zen 3 architecture, which has been promised as more of a complete redesign to the existing Zen 2 architecture as opposed to a simple refresh.
A familiar six-, eight-, 12-, 16-core CPU spread with Zen 3 is likely, although not yet confirmed.
What we can expect from a brand new architecture is an increase in the all-important performance metric, instructions per clock (IPC). Combined with a moderate clock speed bump and likely improvements to the cache topology, we could actually be eyeing up even more valuable performance gains for gaming and single-threaded performance.
Ashes of the Singularity is hardly a benchmark for comparative testing. For one, it's old, but even beyond that it's heavily optimised towards AMD technology. Comparatively, Intel's chips never fare quite as well in the benchmark, so perhaps that's why it is always among the first benchmarks to get out to the public ahead of a red team launch—almost like they want you to find it.
AMD will announce its Zen 3 processors, tentatively the Ryzen 5000-series, on October 8 at 12:00pm ET (9:00am PT, 5:00pm BST). Stay tuned for more on that live stream, and the Radeon RX 6000 event later that same month, October 28.