AMD Begins Zen 5 Prep, Sends First Linux Patches

AMD has begun to enable its next-generation Family 1Ah, or Family 26 processors, presumably based on the Zen 5 microarchitecture, in Linux. The patch submissions come in preparation for a commercial launch in the coming quarters, reports  Phoronix . The initial  patches  reveal some of the first details about AMD's server CPUs based on the next-generation microarchitecture. 

The first three patches sent on Thursday add new PCI IDs for AMD's Family 26 (1Ah) processors models 00 to 31 and 64 to 79 (00h – 1Fh and 40h – 4Fh), thermal sensor support to the k10temp driver, and the EDAC AMD64 driver for memory error detection and correction. 

The EDAC driver for AMD's Family 26 processors reveals that they will have a maximum of 12 memory channels, which is in line with the number supported by AMD's Genoa and Bergamo CPUs. Meanwhile, we have no idea whether Zen 5-based processors will keep using AMD's existing server platform, or if they will adopt a new one. Meanwhile, keeping in mind the upcoming memory module standards like  MR-DIMMs  and  MCR-DIMMs  that will need support on the platform level, we would expect AMD's next-generation server platform to have some differences compared to the current generation. 

While the new patches hardly reveal many details about AMD's upcoming Ryzen and EPYC processors based on the Zen 5 microarchitecture, the very fact that AMD began to enable these CPUs in Linux indicates that the company is getting ready to test and then launch them commercially.

AMD has officially revealed that it's Zen 5-based processors will belong to the  Ryzen 8000 series  and will be released in 2024. The desktop versions of these Zen 5-powered CPUs in AM5 packaging have purportedly been internally labeled as  Granite Ridge , while the laptop variants are referred to as  Strix Point . These upcoming CPUs are thought to use Navi 3.5-based integrated GPUs.