AMD’s 12nm Ryzen Refresh Coming in February 2018 Alongside 400 Series Chipset
AMD is reportedly only a few months away from launching Ryzen refresh built on a smaller node. This comes via DigiTimes which states that AMD has informed its motherboard partners of its plans to release the next-generation Ryzen CPUs, codenamed Pinnacle Ridge, in February of next year.
Pinnacle Ridge family of processors will be based on the company’s current Zen architecture, though it will use GlobalFoundries’ 12nm LP process technology. The report says AMD will kick things off with the top-end Pinnacle 7 in February, followed by mid-range Pinnacle 5 and entry-level Pinnacle 3 in March.
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We’re not sure if AMD will actually call Ryzen refresh chips Pinnacle 7, 5 and 3. They are to succeed Summit Ridge, which is the codename for current-gen Ryzen processors. Earlier reports suggested the new lineup would be marketed as 2000 series Ryzen processors.
Furthermore, AMD Ryzen refresh will stick to the AM4 socket; however, DigiTimes reports that the company will introduce a new 400 series chipset to go along these processors. Motherboards based on the new X470 and B450 chipsets are expected to to hit store shelves in March 2018.
The launch of Pinnacle Ridge fits within the timeline observed in a leaked AMD roadmap which surfaced a couple of days ago. The roadmap indicates that Pinnacle Ridge is planned for 2018, followed by Matisse CPUs in 2019. Matisse will be based on the Zen 2 core built using the 7nm FinFET process.
To me, that seems rather early for AMD to bring about the successor to a processor range which only launched in March of this year. That would put the Ryzen refresh coming in less than a year later.
There is no official statement from AMD regarding Pinnacle Ridge processors, and we doubt it would comment on any unreleased product. But, we’re keeping our eyes open and will update you when more information comes in.
