It's a big day, it's AMD Ryzen 5000 (opens in new tab) day, and today we'll find out just what Dr. Lisa Su and Co. have planned for the next-gen Zen 3 gaming processors. We're liveblogging the Zen 3 announcement (opens in new tab), so check that out for the very latest updates once the show starts.
The AMD Ryzen 5000 livestream, dubbed 'Where gaming begins', kicks off today at 9am Pacific, 12pm Eastern, or 5pm UK time, and you can watch it live right here.
AMD's popular CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, will be running the event today, along with a select bunch of other senior execs, and will be introducing us to the new Ryzen 5000 lineup, the desktop gaming chips powered by the new Zen 3 CPU architecture.
It’s been so much fun getting ready. Looking forward to sharing what's next for @AMDRyzen. 😊 Join me tomorrow - October 8 at 11 CT https://t.co/hLv7CGFuQi #GameOnAMD pic.twitter.com/2sNd5IOFGhOctober 7, 2020
But what are we expecting to find out about the new processors today? Obviously there should be a firm release date for at least the first Ryzen 5000 CPUs, and hopefully prices too, but we're also likely to see some gaming performance numbers too.
This new generation of AMD processors is expected to move the game on, both figuratively and literally, because the Zen 3 architecture is promising some serious IPC gains. With a slightly updated 7nm production node, and a new design we could be looking at 10 - 15 percent higher IPC, with some rumours suggesting a 20 percent uplift.
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Along with an expected bump in clock speeds that could put the new AMD Ryzen 5000-series CPUs in the driving seat when it comes to gaming performance, and mean the red team has the lead over Intel for the first time in years. Given that's the only place Intel could realistically claim the win, having lost the core-count battle and process node superiority, the Zen 3 chips really could represent a true changing of the gaming guard.
I'd say that Intel will definitely be paying attention. The announcement yesterday that the 11th Gen desktop processors, code-named Rocket Lake (opens in new tab), would be launching early in 2021, with Alder Lake also following later in the year, is likely no coincidence of timing ahead of AMD's big announcement.
We've only heard tell of a pair of AMD Zen 3 CPUs so far—the Ryzen 5800X (opens in new tab) and 5900X—and it's possible those are going to be the first chips to hit the shelves. But there are sure to be more following, a full family to usher in a new era of gaming CPUs. And that starts today.
