James Keller, a notable microprocessor engineer, helped build AMD, Apple, and Tesla microprocessors. Keller designed AMD's breakthrough Zen microarchitecture. Zen's performance boost helped AMD reclaim CPU market share.

During the RISC-V Enthusiasts' Summit in India, Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller presented performance forecasts for the company's internally-developed Ascalon RISC-V core, an 8-wide out-of-order execution processor, in comparison to potential rivals.. Tenstorrent anticipates that its Ascalon 1.9 and 2.2 SPEC2K17INT/GHz will achieve scores of 7.03 and 8.14 points, respectively, on the SPEC CPU 2017 INT Rate benchmark, a test which evaluates integer performance. These estimates outperform Intel's Sapphire Rapids and Nvidia's Grace but are not expected to surpass AMD's Zen 5, which Tenstorrent predicts will become the ultimate integer performance victor, outdoing its Zen 4 predecessor by 30%.

It is important to mention that these figures represent projections rather than actual or simulated benchmarks, based on Tenstorrent's evaluation of its CPU design and potential offerings from AMD. However, the Ascalon core is predicted to deliver leading integer performance-per-watt in the market, a critical aspect for the processor's target applications. Furthermore, Tenstorrent estimates that AMD's Zen 5 will operate at over 4.0 GHz with a TDP below 250W, while Ascalon is expected to run at roughly 3.80 GHz with a TDP of around 200W.

In conclusion, while Tenstorrent's Ascalon RISC-V core is anticipated to offer fierce competition against existing and forthcoming processors, AMD's Zen 5 is projected to reign supreme in terms of raw integer performance.

Keller Anticipates AMD Zen 5 to Lead Integer Performance in 2024-2025