AMD Confirms AM5 Socket Will Extend to 2026, Zen 5 to Use RNDA 3.5 GPUs

AMD has delivered an updated roadmap for its Zen CPU platform that includes interesting information about the future integration of its RDNDA GPU architecture. Though several nuggets of info are contained in a new slide straight from AMD, the most prominent is that the company has extended AM5's lifespan by one year, pushing it out to 2026. It has also revealed better-integrated GPUs for its upcoming CPUs, which might be a nothing burger for many of our readers but shows AMD's intent on taking the fight to Intel in this realm.

The new slide was reportedly presented by AMD in a recent Meet the Expert webcast, according to Twitter user @harukaze5719. The slide confirms AMD will stick to the anticipated Ryzen 8000 naming for Zen 5, which is due in 2024. More importantly, though, it ensures a four-year lifespan for its AM5 socket, which should warm the cockles of its customers' hearts. When AM5 launched, AMD seemed unsure how long it would support it, saying only it would last until "2025+." Though that's not quite as long as AM4's unprecedented six-year lifespan, it's certainly better than the two years Intel has offered for its most recent platforms.

Even more intriguing is the roadmap confirms AMD will be adding RDNA 3 GPUs to Zen 4 desktop CPUs this year, a significant change. Its current 7000 series include RDNA 2 GPUs, which is fine if you're using a discrete GPU. It currently only offers RDNA 3 iGPUs in some of its high-end mobile chips, namely its Phoenix APUs. That will change this year, as it sounds like the company is planning a mid-cycle refresh for Zen 4, with upgraded GPUs and possibly a clock bump across the board.

The company will also continue with that strategy for Zen 5, adding what it calls RDNA 3.5 GPUs to the architecture. As Videocardz notes, it was planning on delivering next-gen APUs called Strix Point for laptops, and now those same features look like they're also coming to the desktop in 2024. We don't know much about Zen 5 just yet, other than it will probably continue to offer a 16-core, 32-thread flagship CPU with a 170W TDP but made on a more advanced node than those utilizing TSMC's 5nm process. It seems likely AMD will move to TSMC N4 or even N3 for both Zen 4 refresh in 2023 and Zen 5 in 2024.