AMD Zen 7 Rumors: Three Core Classes, Bigger Caches, and TSMC’s A14 Node

With Zen 5 just around the corner and Zen 6 still in the pipeline, AMD is already laying groundwork for what comes after. Early details on Zen 7 have surfaced via Moore’s Law Is Dead, pointing toward some interesting design decisions that extend AMD’s multi-class core strategy.

Three Types of Cores

Starting with Zen 4c, AMD began experimenting with denser, efficiency-oriented cores alongside its standard performance designs. Zen 7 is expected to go one step further, offering three distinct core classes:

• Performance cores (P-cores): the traditional high-clock designs.

• Dense cores (C-cores): optimized for maximum throughput, often used in data-center or virtualized workloads.

• Low-power cores (LP-cores): a new addition, targeting energy-efficient tasks in a similar vein to Intel’s LP/E-Cores.

There are also mentions of “PT” and “3D” core types, though details are scarce. AMD’s modular design approach makes this feasible—pipeline modules and instruction libraries can be swapped or tweaked to optimize each core for its intended role, whether that’s cloud VMs or edge-based AI inference.

Manufacturing and Packaging

Zen 7 compute chiplets (CCDs) are expected to leverage TSMC’s A14 process, which includes backside power delivery—a feature previously associated with TSMC’s N2 node before it was shifted into the A16/A14 lineup.

For cache, AMD is staying conservative. The stacked 3D V-Cache SRAM is tipped to remain on TSMC’s N4 node, even though TSMC has already signaled N2-based SRAM chiplets as part of its advanced packaging roadmap. AMD is likely sticking with a proven process to reduce risk.

More Cache Per Core

Cache sizes are expected to grow across the board:

• L2 Cache: doubled to 2 MB per core.

• L3 Cache: could expand to 7 MB per core using V-Cache stacking.

• Standard CCDs (no V-Cache): likely to continue with 32 MB shared L3.

A particularly bold rumor suggests an EPYC SKU with 33 cores per CCD, allowing up to 264 cores across eight CCDs—though such figures should be treated as highly speculative at this stage.

Timeline and Availability

Zen 7 is said to be targeting tape-out in late 2026 or early 2027, which would put retail availability closer to 2028 or later. Given how early these leaks are, there’s a strong chance AMD’s final Zen 7 roadmap could differ significantly once it solidifies the lineup.