Ryzen processor family

The ZEN4 CPU  

Zen 4 CPU core-based products will power Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs (codenamed "Raphael"), high-end mobile processors (codenamed "Dragon Range"), thin & light mobile processors (codenamed "Phoenix"), and Epyc 7004 server processors (codenamed "Genoa" and "Bergamo"). A lot has been said and spoken about ZEN4; AMD single and multi-threaded performance has been excellent overall, but with competition from Intel heating up, they have a new design with lots more cache and turbo frequencies moving upwards to 5.5 GHz. Overall, Intel was king in High turbo clock frequencies but a notch weaker in IPC. On the other hand, AMD has been very strong on IPC but less so in absolute peak clock frequencies. That gave intel an advantage in many games with enthusiast performance graphics cards. In the past, a solution to bypass any performance degradation in gaming is to eliminate inter-core and inter-CCX latencies. Initially, ZEN2 addressed that to some extent, with a few efficiency solutions found at cache levels. However, getting rid of the inter-core complex partition latencies is another thing. Zen 4 will continue to use an MCM (multi-chip module), or chiplet design; it will use up to two 8-core CCDs and one I/O die. There will only be one CCX per CCD, and this CCX will consist of eight cores. The Zen 4 core's key architectural advancements include higher data TLBs for the L1 and L2 caches and a doubling of the size of L2 cache per core, from 512KB to 1MB. A translation look-aside buffer (TLB) is a memory cache that stores the most recent virtual memory to physical memory translations. It is used to speed up access to a user's memory location. 

What is X3D?

It's all about added extra L3 cache. The AMD 7000X3D processor features a unique 3D V-Cache technology. This technology stacks an additional layer of cache on top of the CPU's chiplet, increasing the cache capacity. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D will feature 16 cores and gets 144 MB of cache accumulated, (16+64+64 MB)=144MB of L2+L3 cache, with thus that additional 64MB of 3D V-Cache. The caches are interesting, the Dual-CCD 7900X3D and 7950X3D were demonstrated, with respective (accumulated) caches of 140 MB and 144 MB. And that means one CCD has that 64 MB L3 cache on-die, and the other is a standard planar CCD. X3D does not imply lower turbo clock rates. At the very least, the two larger models no longer lose the maximum turbo clock when compared to their X siblings: AMD continues to specify the Ryzen 9 7950X at up to 5.7 GHz and the Ryzen 9 7900X3D at up to 5.6 GHz. Basically, one CCD gets preferred cores (fastest cores assigned), and the CCD with the added L3 cache is clocked a notch slower. 

Say Whatt?

AMD has also established a TDP of 120 watts for all three X3D CPUs. This is more than the Ryzen 7 7700X's 105 watts, but less than the two existing Ryzen 9s' 170 watts out of the box. The PPT/PL2 status for the processor is set at 162 Watt, which means it may utilize those wattages for a set amount of time before balancing back towards that PL1 TDP of 120 Watt. 

Software dependency on the 7900 series

As previously mentioned, the chiplet containing the X3D cache will feature slower cores, while the regular chiplet will have faster cores. This adds complexity as games tend to favour speedier processor cores. However, with the release of the 7000X3D series, AMD's chipset divers, in collaboration with Microsoft Windows features, will aid in addressing this challenge, which works well but is a bit of a hindrance as it is quite a procedure. The 7800 or lower series does not have this challenge as it uses just one CCD.