AMD launched the Ryzen 5000 processor with Zen 3 architecture this year. Although the 7nm process is still used compared with the previous generation, the performance is indeed greatly enhanced. After 7nm, the next generation of AMD processors will definitely adopt the 5nm process. Not surprisingly, 5nm will usher in its own explosive period in 2022.
Although both TSMC and Samsung’s 5nm have been mass-produced, Apple’s A14 and M1 chips, Samsung’s Exynos 1080/2100 chips, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chips, and Huawei’s Kirin 9000 chips all use the 5nm process, but they They are all chips of ARM architecture. For 5nm to continue to grow, the core hardware of the PC is essential, such as the processor and graphics core.
Looking at it now, in 2021, AMD has a high probability that no new products will appear. Even with Zen 3+ processors, it is only possible to continue to use the 7nm process. However, from AMD's previous plan, Zen 3 will become Zen 4, and there is no plan for Zen 3+.
and AMD is currently complementing its Zen 3 product line. Early next year there will be a mobile version of the Ryzen 5000 processor and server version Milan EPYC, and in the future there will be a Zen3 architecture Ryzen TR thread tearer, etc. The desktop version will also have Ryzen 5000 APU, more Ryzen 5000, etc. These will have to wait for 2021. We estimate that AMD will launch a chicken blood version of Zen 3 at most next year, and will not launch an improved processor architecture.
But the latest news indicates that AMD’s Zen 4 processor will be available in the second quarter of 2022. Zen 4 processor will not only use 5nm process, but also support DDR5 memory. In addition, considering that Zen 3 can improve IPC performance by nearly 20% without changing the chip manufacturing process, Zen 4's performance is indeed worth looking forward to after using the new architecture and new technology.
At the same time, in addition to AMD's processors, the graphics card parts AMD and NVIDIA are also actively deploying new processes. In this year, RTX 30 series graphics cards and RTX 6000 series graphics cards were launched. AMD and NVIDIA adopted TSMC’s 7nm and Samsung’s 8nm processes respectively. In particular, AMD’s graphics cards have stayed on the 7nm process for two years, and it is time to move forward. .
Since both companies will launch new graphics cards at the end of 2020, in 2021, AMD and NVIDIA are likely to complement the product lines and no new generation of products will come out. However, two years later, the two A generation of graphics cards will use the 5nm process, AMD will certainly continue to cooperate with TSMC, NVIDIA may also let Samsung and TSMC produce their own 5nm graphics core together.
Therefore, in 2022, the entire industry will basically enter the 5nm era. As for 4nm and 3nm, they may only be used on some ARM chips, such as Apple or Qualcomm. If you want to say who will lag behind the times, I am afraid there is only Intel. Intel's desktop processors will only enter the 10nm process next year. Considering the properties of Intel's toothpaste squeeze, I am afraid it will stay on 10nm for a long time.
