AMD EPYC Zen4 “Genoa” 16-core processor with 3.7 GHz boost and DDR5/PCIe Gen5 support spotted

Following a leak from last week , we have received a new set of photos featuring AMD’s yet unreleased EPYC processor.

AMD server CPU stack is about to get even more interesting as the company is set to launch its Zen4 based products by the end of this year. The processor series codenamed Genoa will be intruding entirely new socket type known as SP5 (LGA-6096).

AMD EPYC Genoa Zen4 Sample, Source: VideoCardz

This particular sample is a 16-core EPYC Genoa processor with a 3.7 GHz boost clock and TDP of 195W. Our source does not know if those are the final specs of this SKU.

The rear of the processor is divided into four groups each featuring around 1520 pads, which is even more than AM4’s total 1331 pins. Overall, the SP5 package offers 2002 more pads than AMD’s SP3 which is used by the current generation of EPYC processors. An increased number of connectors was required to support more bandwidth for DDR5 and PCIe Gen5 connected devices. The same approach is being implemented into AMD AM5 desktop consumer CPUs .

Things get a bit more interesting as we get a glimpse of what is under the large heat spreader. Only two out of twelve possible CCDs are present, which means that each CCD offers 8 cores, while the full 12-CCD implementation can support up to 96 cores. The X-ray appears to match AMD’s render from “AMD Accelerated Data Center Premiere Keynote” where the company had shown its first 5nm server products.

AMD EPYC Genoa Zen4 X-ray & AMD official render, Source: VideoCardz/AMD

Detailed information of the SP5 socket along with the mounting mechanism, pinmaps, and thermal characteristics has been leaked last year when documents from hacked Gigabyte servers began to surface. Some of those documents were published by Wccftech :

AMD SP5 CPU and socket, Source: Wccftech

AMD Genoa is on track to later this year, just before the company launches is EPYC Bergamo processor for cloud servers featuring 128 Zen4c cores. The SP5 socket is to support AMD EPYC 7005 Turin series which are expected to launch somewhere in-between 2023 and 2024.