AMD reiterates commitment to support AM5 through 2025

[Shawn Knight]

Forward-looking: System builders leveraging Socket AM5 can rest easy knowing AMD plans to support the platform for at least the next couple of years. In a recent interview with Overclockers UK, AMD corporate VP and GM of the client channel business, David Mcafee, reiterated that the company's statement regarding support for AM5 through 2025 still stands.

The executive said AMD believes the longevity of the AM4 platform was one of the biggest factors that led to the success of Ryzen. As they think about the future (2025 and beyond), AMD will think really carefully about moving to a next-gen socket.

In short, Mcafee said they know the impact that moving to a new socket can bring and they want to stay on AM5 for as long as possible. "We are firmly committed to 2025 and beyond and we will see how long that promise lasts beyond 2025," Mcafee said.

AMD introduced Socket AM5 last year alongside its Ryzen 7000 series CPUs. The platform supports DDR5 memory and, depending on the chipset, PCIe 5.0 for devices like high-speed SSDs (PCIe 5.0 GPUs aren't yet available).

This is great news for those who have recently invested in the AM5 platform or are thinking about doing so. I recently finalized my first new build in 12 years and went with AM5 in part because of this promised support window. I was able to buy a mid-range CPU now and when the time comes for a refresh, I'll have plenty of faster drop-in options to choose from that won't necessitate a new motherboard and RAM.

Mcafee also touched on support for memory scaling, noting that they are constantly looking for ways to improve signal integrity through the socket, the materials used in the boards, and the memory layout they work on with original design manufacturer (ODM) partners as they design motherboards around the AM5 socket.

"We want to continue to push the envelope," he added.

The full Overclockers UK interview is just over 22 minutes long and well worth the watch. In addition to the aforementioned topics, Mcafee covers AI, the new Threadripper chips, hardware deadlines, high core count issues, and more.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/101297-amd-reiterates-commitment-support-am5-through-2025.html

 

[Vulcanproject]

Sounds like good news to me. We expect Zen 5 next year and going by these interviews probably one more full generation after that.

I recently fitted a 5800X3D to an AM4 B450 chipset previously hosting an R5 2600. Brought a machine that was built five years ago up to date in gaming performance. Extending its relevance for at least another couple years yet I would expect.

 

[yRaz]

Sounds like good news to me. We expect Zen 5 next year and going by these interviews probably one more full generation after that.

I recently fitted a 5800X3D to an AM4 B450 chipset previously hosting an R5 2600. Brought a machine that was built five years ago up to date in gaming performance. Extending its relevance for at least another couple years yet I would expect.

I might skip AM5, AMDs lack of ECC support and limited PCIe lanes has me kind of ticked off. 256GB is too much ram to not have ECC and now that everything runs on PCIe you can really only fit a NIC, GPU and NVME drive before you run out.

 

[toooooot]

I find the most disappointing about AM5 that they withheld releasing CPUs with better graphics like they did in 3400g or 5600g.
Earlier 7000 had that other, much weaker graphics which is pretty much Intel quality.
It is 2024, and we are still waiting for RDNA3 graphics in desktop cpus.
So, by the time the 2025 ends, we will finally have a good choice of AM5 CPUs
with solid graphics, right at the end of the socket life.

 

[kiwigraeme]

Saw elsewhere -sounds plausible

AM4 , will get new stuff less DDR6
But if you want the newest of the new 2025/26 then need DDR6 +AM5

Let's be realistic the AM4 CPUs less DDR6 will still be amazing and be overkill for most people - unless 1080p gaming , or serious processing work - and at that stage at 1080p -457 fps vs 487 fps

also cost in 2026 new motherboard , new DDR memory ( less than you want ) new AM5 CPU - there is an extra $1000 easily - given enthuiasts want killer mother boards - MB $400, Memory $300, M3 4TB drive $400
compared with new not top but pretty top CPU for $500 on AM4

 

[godrilla]

Saw elsewhere -sounds plausible

AM4 , will get new stuff less DDR6
But if you want the newest of the new 2025/26 then need DDR6 +AM5

Let's be realistic the AM4 CPUs less DDR6 will still be amazing and be overkill for most people - unless 1080p gaming , or serious processing work - and at that stage at 1080p -457 fps vs 487 fps

also cost in 2026 new motherboard , new DDR memory ( less than you want ) new AM5 CPU - there is an extra $1000 easily - given enthuiasts want killer mother boards - MB $400, Memory $300, M3 4TB drive $400
compared with new not top but pretty top CPU for $500 on AM4

True but with the zen 3d parts helps mitigate impact of slower memory. eg 5800X3D with ddr4 cl 14 @ 3.6 ghz was competing with i9-12900K with ddr4 ram @ 4.8 ghz
also 7800X3D with cl30 ddr5 @ 6ghz competes with i9 14900k with ddr5 @ 7.2 ghz.


With next gen Zen5 and 6 naturally will also improve the Infinity fabric clock speeds to take advantage of faster clocks. Which is not seen advantageous in current lineup past kit mentioned.

While the news is nothing new but it does make those early am5 adapters like myself happy for a potential zen6 3d compatibility. but I'm not holding my breath lol.

The biggest opportunity that I hope AMD tackles is delivering a very competitive rdna 5 parts to show all those potential IPC cpu gains. it's a shame that they are giving free advertisements for Nvidia with their 7800X3D cpu imo.

 

[WhiteLeaff]

I might skip AM5, AMDs lack of ECC support and limited PCIe lanes has me kind of ticked off. 256GB is too much ram to not have ECC and now that everything runs on PCIe you can really only fit a NIC, GPU and NVME drive before you run out.

Limited ?? If you use that many PCIe 5 lanes, you should use a TR.

 

[yRaz]

Limited ?? If you use that many PCIe 5 lanes, you should use a TR.

The problem comes from stuff that isn't PCIe5. If I was using all new hardware, that wouldn't be a huge problem. The thing is that I'm cheap so using my PCIe4 "legacy" devices eats up my PCIe5 lanes at a 1:1 ratio. So paying $1000 for a motherboard and $1500 for 24 cores I don't need just because I want to expand my PCIe lanes doesnt make any sense.

Me being cheap is only one side of it, though. The other side is that AM5 also doesn't support AM5. So we have tons of NVME drives 9n the market that don't even need PCIe gen 5, but they are also giving their "low end" platform enough RAM where if you actually use all of it, ECC makes a difference. It's not hard to make ECC optional on a platform, I have no idea why AMD does it aside from increasing threadripper sales. But we are also at this tipping point where EVERYTHING now uses the PCIe bus. So instead of just paying ~$400 for a motorcycle and an 8core CPU and spending the rest on ram and storage, I have to spend $1000 for a motherboard so I can put a $1500 CPU on it. TRX50 motherboards are over priced as it is. I'm not even saying that all AM5 chipsets should be able to support ECC or more PCIe lanes(although, that feature is chipset agnostic) I'm not against paying$4-500 for a high-end motherboard so that the 16 core CPUs they're selling can spread their legs with the new support for 256GB of RAM. If you have an application that requires that many cores and memory then ECC is basically a requirement. It just doesn't make sense to offer those on a platform without it.

AM5 is great for gaming, a 7800X3D with 64GB of DDR5-6000 or higher is an awesome platform. The problem starts when they're offering workstation hardware on a platform that doesn't have the backbone to actually perform. And without competition from Intel, we likely will never see things like ECC support or more PCIe lanes. I'm not even asking for a lot more, add 12 and that would meet the requirements of 99.9% of the people using AM5

 

[Uncle Al]

Great news! Any company that commits to supporting products well past their lifespan gets my vote .... and my $$ too!

 

[nnguy2]

I might skip AM5, AMDs lack of ECC support and limited PCIe lanes has me kind of ticked off. 256GB is too much ram to not have ECC and now that everything runs on PCIe you can really only fit a NIC, GPU and NVME drive before you run out.

Sounds like you want AM5 to be an enterprise platform but for the price of consumer platform.

 

[yRaz]

Sounds like you want AM5 to be an enterprise platform but for the price of consumer platform.

ECC support has been standard on Intel platforms for over a decade. And I'm not asking for 100PCIe lanes, I'm asking for enough PCIe lanes so that the ports they put on a motherboard make sense. Why put 4 NVME ports on an AM5 motherboard if you can't use all of them? we've had this PCie lane limit since it was basically originally introduced. People don't use PCI or SATA(much) anymore. if everything is going to start utilizing the PCIe bus then having the same amount of lanes we've had for the last 15 years doesn't make sense.

 

[HardReset]

ECC support has been standard on Intel platforms for over a decade. And I'm not asking for 100PCIe lanes, I'm asking for enough PCIe lanes so that the ports they put on a motherboard make sense. Why put 4 NVME ports on an AM5 motherboard if you can't use all of them? we've had this PCie lane limit since it was basically originally introduced. People don't use PCI or SATA(much) anymore. if everything is going to start utilizing the PCIe bus then having the same amount of lanes we've had for the last 15 years doesn't make sense.

Zen4 does have ECC support, motherboard support is another question just like with Intel. Except that with Intel you need K parts.

For PCI Express, we must understand AM5 is still consumer platform. Everything costs money and on consumer products price do matter unless you are brainwashed iSheep.

With that in mind, AM5 platform can offer following x4 lane NVMe setup without major sacrifices:

- 2*PCIe 5.0
- 1*PCIe 4.0 from first chipset
- 1*PCIe 4.0 from second chipset

For those who want more, PCIe 5.0 add on card on PCIe x16 slot offers 8 lanes more but after that video card is limited x8 5.0.

That is more than enough for consumer platform. I have setup described above and motherboard cost is already around 500 bucks. Adding more lanes would drive cost even more but those willing to pay can go for Threadripper platform

For comparison, for LGA1700 NVMe setup looks following:

1*PCIe 4.0
More PCIe 4.0 from chipset

AMD is miles ahead here, no contest. While you have Some point, you also must understand consumer grade platform is always balancing between features and price. And this time AMD has made great job.

 

[yRaz]

Zen4 does have ECC support, motherboard support is another question just like with Intel. Except that with Intel you need K parts.

For PCI Express, we must understand AM5 is still consumer platform. Everything costs money and on consumer products price do matter unless you are brainwashed iSheep.

With that in mind, AM5 platform can offer following x4 lane NVMe setup without major sacrifices:

- 2*PCIe 5.0
- 1*PCIe 4.0 from first chipset
- 1*PCIe 4.0 from second chipset

For those who want more, PCIe 5.0 add on card on PCIe x16 slot offers 8 lanes more but after that video card is limited x8 5.0.

That is more than enough for consumer platform. I have setup described above and motherboard cost is already around 500 bucks. Adding more lanes would drive cost even more but those willing to pay can go for Threadripper platform

For comparison, for LGA1700 NVMe setup looks following:

1*PCIe 4.0
More PCIe 4.0 from chipset

AMD is miles ahead here, no contest. While you have Some point, you also must understand consumer grade platform is always balancing between features and price. And this time AMD has made great job.

Zen4 does have ECC support, motherboard support is another question just like with Intel. Except that with Intel you need K parts.

For PCI Express, we must understand AM5 is still consumer platform. Everything costs money and on consumer products price do matter unless you are brainwashed iSheep.

With that in mind, AM5 platform can offer following x4 lane NVMe setup without major sacrifices:

- 2*PCIe 5.0
- 1*PCIe 4.0 from first chipset
- 1*PCIe 4.0 from second chipset

For those who want more, PCIe 5.0 add on card on PCIe x16 slot offers 8 lanes more but after that video card is limited x8 5.0.

That is more than enough for consumer platform. I have setup described above and motherboard cost is already around 500 bucks. Adding more lanes would drive cost even more but those willing to pay can go for Threadripper platform

For comparison, for LGA1700 NVMe setup looks following:

1*PCIe 4.0
More PCIe 4.0 from chipset

AMD is miles ahead here, no contest. While you have Some point, you also must understand consumer grade platform is always balancing between features and price. And this time AMD has made great job.

I understand where you're coming from, but a setup like a 7950x, x670mobo and 128gb of ram quickly totals $1500 which is hardly a consumer price. Go with base model threadripper 7000 and you're looking at $2700+ for just the CPU and mobo. Then you have the issue of populating all 4 RAM slots on an AM5 motherboard makes it very difficult to run it at full speed.

AM5 does bring a lot to the table but it is far from perfect. I also feel choosing between 28 lanes on AM5 or 90 for the base model threadripper shows that AMD knows how import PCIe is. I'm not asking for 90 lanes, just enough to populate all the ports the provide they give you on your $400+ motherboard.

Frankly, it's cheaper to go Epyc/SP3 than threadripper if you need lots of PCIe and ECC which ends up being a real head scratcher to me

 

[HardReset]

I understand where you're coming from, but a setup like a 7950x, x670mobo and 128gb of ram quickly totals $1500 which is hardly a consumer price. Go with base model threadripper 7000 and you're looking at $2700+ for just the CPU and mobo. Then you have the issue of populating all 4 RAM slots on an AM5 motherboard makes it very difficult to run it at full speed.

AM5 does bring a lot to the table but it is far from perfect. I also feel choosing between 28 lanes on AM5 or 90 for the base model threadripper shows that AMD knows how import PCIe is. I'm not asking for 90 lanes, just enough to populate all the ports the provide they give you on your $400+ motherboard.

Frankly, it's cheaper to go Epyc/SP3 than threadripper if you need lots of PCIe and ECC which ends up being a real head scratcher to me

AM5 platform on high end side is fairly close to HEDT platform and $1500 is justified price as easily seen when comparing against Threadripper. There were 48GB sticks and now 64GB ones are available, so no real need for 4 slots on AM5 unless really needing much more than 100 GB memory. Again, HEDT platforms are for high memory amounts. Consumer products are rarely made for tiny minority.

Problem with your logic is this: more PCIe lanes supported, more customers expect them to be used also. Imagine how much trash motherboard manufacturer would receive if PCIe lanes offered by CPU are NOT used. It's very hard to find ATX sized AM5 motherboard where all CPU lanes are not used.

Another important thing is cost. Even with 28 lanes, AMD just had to make different requirements chipsets when it comes to PCIe 5.0 usage. That is because PCIe 5.0 is very expensive and they had to cut costs somewhere. More lanes would mean even more expensive motherboards and then AM5 would be even closer to Threadripper and people would complain about that too. Even now people are complaining about how expensive AM5 motherboards are. But hey, PCIe 5.0 is expensive, there is nothing AMD can do about it. Like said, AM5 is for masses. And if masses do not want to pay, AMD must cut costs somewhere.

Compared against Intel, AM5 have very generous amount of PCIe lanes. I agree that even more PCIe lanes for AM5 would be nice to have but at same time that's just unrealistic to expect more than 28 lanes.

 

[yRaz]

AM5 platform on high end side is fairly close to HEDT platform and $1500 is justified price as easily seen when comparing against Threadripper. There were 48GB sticks and now 64GB ones are available, so no real need for 4 slots on AM5 unless really needing much more than 100 GB memory. Again, HEDT platforms are for high memory amounts. Consumer products are rarely made for tiny minority.

Problem with your logic is this: more PCIe lanes supported, more customers expect them to be used also. Imagine how much trash motherboard manufacturer would receive if PCIe lanes offered by CPU are NOT used. It's very hard to find ATX sized AM5 motherboard where all CPU lanes are not used.

Another important thing is cost. Even with 28 lanes, AMD just had to make different requirements chipsets when it comes to PCIe 5.0 usage. That is because PCIe 5.0 is very expensive and they had to cut costs somewhere. More lanes would mean even more expensive motherboards and then AM5 would be even closer to Threadripper and people would complain about that too. Even now people are complaining about how expensive AM5 motherboards are. But hey, PCIe 5.0 is expensive, there is nothing AMD can do about it. Like said, AM5 is for masses. And if masses do not want to pay, AMD must cut costs somewhere.

Compared against Intel, AM5 have very generous amount of PCIe lanes. I agree that even more PCIe lanes for AM5 would be nice to have but at same time that's just unrealistic to expect more than 28 lanes.

So I never really saw the point in AMDs 70 series motherboards. I don't see anything that a 70 series board does that a 50 series board can't do for $100 less. I also think threadripper is artificially overpriced. Epyc/SP3 platform is cheaper than threadripper and has all of those features. Sure, clocks are lower so single threaded permance takes a hit, but it ends up making more sense for my homelab. the SP3platform is the perfect example of just how inflated threadripper priced are. I can get a board from super micro that costs the same as your x670 with all the features of a threadripper pro.

 

[HardReset]

So I never really saw the point in AMDs 70 series motherboards. I don't see anything that a 70 series board does that a 50 series board can't do for $100 less. I also think threadripper is artificially overpriced. Epyc/SP3 platform is cheaper than threadripper and has all of those features. Sure, clocks are lower so single threaded permance takes a hit, but it ends up making more sense for my homelab. the SP3platform is the perfect example of just how inflated threadripper priced are. I can get a board from super micro that costs the same as your x670 with all the features of a threadripper pro.

What you are saying makes no sense. Since 70-series motherboards offer more PCIe lanes, 50-series motherboards simply cannot offer equal features if talking about high end ones. Comparing:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mR2WGX/asus-proart-x670e-creator-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-proart-x670e-creator-wifi

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4Bwypg/asrock-b650e-taichi-eatx-am5-motherboard-b650e-taichi

Price difference is around $100. For extra $100, notable differences include:

- 4*M.2 slots (two 5.0) vs 3*M.2 slots (one 5.0)
- 10G+2.5G LAN vs 2.5G LAN
- Dual USB 4 vs single USB 4

Basically 50-series cannot do same as PCIe lanes just run out.

Threadrippers have usually higher single core clock speeds and usually Threadripper motherboards have much more overclocking options. Both mean more motherboard cost.

 

[yRaz]

What you are saying makes no sense. Since 70-series motherboards offer more PCIe lanes, 50-series motherboards simply cannot offer equal features if talking about high end ones. Comparing:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mR2WGX/asus-proart-x670e-creator-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-proart-x670e-creator-wifi

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/4Bwypg/asrock-b650e-taichi-eatx-am5-motherboard-b650e-taichi

Price difference is around $100. For extra $100, notable differences include:

- 4*M.2 slots (two 5.0) vs 3*M.2 slots (one 5.0)
- 10G+2.5G LAN vs 2.5G LAN
- Dual USB 4 vs single USB 4

There is a problem inherent to m.2 drives that isn't talked about very often which makes me feel running a 5.0 nvme drive semi-pointless. Due to how SSDs work you can't sustain those high write speeds for very long and I tend to ignore them in all but the most expensive drives. Read speeds are often a different story but still not immune to those issues. I do feel this will change in the future but as things stand now, I don't think cost associated with PCIe5.0 is justified. I'd rather more 4.0 lanes.

Basically 50-series cannot do same as PCIe lanes just run out.

So this is the basis of my "more 4.0 lanes" argument. If 4.0 devices didn't eat up 5.0 lanes at a 1:1 ratio I would have nothing to complain about, but they do.

Threadrippers have usually higher single core clock speeds and usually Threadripper motherboards have much more overclocking options. Both mean more motherboard cost.

This is definitely true, the higher clocks of Threadripper CPUs do give a significant boost in single threaded performance. I, personally, don't bother with overclocking anymore. It's my experience that modern CPUs are already clocked as high as the silicon will allow with overclocking being a feature mostly for hobbiests. The extra heat and power consumption don't justify, to me, the slight increase in performance you gain from overclocking. Just look at the X3D chips, they have class leading performance without the ability to overclock and people aren't complaining.

I don't think Threadripper deserves the HEDT nomenclature. People interested in the platform are professionals or businesses. The AM5 chips with 12 and 16 cores are being held back. From a tech enthusiast perspective, I think it's really cool. From a user perspective, I find it frustrating that AM5 is as limited as it is. Limited isn't really the right word, but the TRX50 platform isn't the middle ground(from a cost perspective) that we need. This is even more frustrating to me because my sources at AMD are telling me that there are 32 core AM5 CPUs in development for the ryzen 9000 series. They are moving from 8 core CCDs to 16 core CCDs. And while my friends there can't and don't tell me everything, there is a discrepancy in what I'm being told if the CCDs are going to be 12P4E core type architecture or just 16P cores. I do know AMD is working on an E-core architecture but how that will be implemented I have no idea.

 

[HardReset]

There is a problem inherent to m.2 drives that isn't talked about very often which makes me feel running a 5.0 nvme drive semi-pointless. Due to how SSDs work you can't sustain those high write speeds for very long and I tend to ignore them in all but the most expensive drives. Read speeds are often a different story but still not immune to those issues. I do feel this will change in the future but as things stand now, I don't think cost associated with PCIe5.0 is justified. I'd rather more 4.0 lanes.

That's not PCIe 5.0 problem. That is SSD technical problem. In other words, NAND flash basically sucks. But since NAND flash is cheap, it has been and will be around long time. Optane was good try but it started with hype and underdelivered.

Anyway while 16-core CPU will likely be enough for long time, PCIe 4.0 won't. So PCIe 5.0 is crucial for platform longevity.

So this is the basis of my "more 4.0 lanes" argument. If 4.0 devices didn't eat up 5.0 lanes at a 1:1 ratio I would have nothing to complain about, but they do.

? Difference between those platforms is amount of PCIe 4.0 lanes. Not much difference elsewhere (50 has enough USB ports anyway).

This is definitely true, the higher clocks of Threadripper CPUs do give a significant boost in single threaded performance. I, personally, don't bother with overclocking anymore. It's my experience that modern CPUs are already clocked as high as the silicon will allow with overclocking being a feature mostly for hobbiests. The extra heat and power consumption don't justify, to me, the slight increase in performance you gain from overclocking. Just look at the X3D chips, they have class leading performance without the ability to overclock and people aren't complaining.

I don't think Threadripper deserves the HEDT nomenclature. People interested in the platform are professionals or businesses. The AM5 chips with 12 and 16 cores are being held back. From a tech enthusiast perspective, I think it's really cool. From a user perspective, I find it frustrating that AM5 is as limited as it is. Limited isn't really the right word, but the TRX50 platform isn't the middle ground(from a cost perspective) that we need. This is even more frustrating to me because my sources at AMD are telling me that there are 32 core AM5 CPUs in development for the ryzen 9000 series. They are moving from 8 core CCDs to 16 core CCDs. And while my friends there can't and don't tell me everything, there is a discrepancy in what I'm being told if the CCDs are going to be 12P4E core type architecture or just 16P cores. I do know AMD is working on an E-core architecture but how that will be implemented I have no idea.

Threadripper is advertised as overclocking capable. Naturally motherboard manufacturers will offer good overclocking options with it. While overclocking is pretty much pointless, enthusiasts will still want to be at least able to overclock. Those who don't want to overclock can go with Epyc. Overclocking 3D chips is pretty pointless but power consumption is another question. AMD Eco mode (88 watts) is only few percent slower than default (170 watts). Pretty much no brainer.

While Ryzen has reached pretty much HEDT status, we can still consider Threadripper as HEDT. It's not server and it's too expensive for casual user. Middle ground would be nice yeah but again, four platforms is just too much. We already have Ryzen, Threadripper and Epyc. There is no room for "Ryzen +" platform that goes between Ryzen and Threadripper. And therefore 28 PCIe lanes just makes sense, while I gladly would take more.

AMD already has "E-core", Zen4c. There will also be Zen5c. I heavily doubt AMD will make dedicated "E-core" any more, like Jaguar or something. Zen5c will be small enough making dedicated "E-core" not worth it. Smaller cores with same architecture but lower clock speeds, aka "c-cores" will be AMD "E-cores" at least some time.

 

[yRaz]

That's not PCIe 5.0 problem. That is SSD technical problem. In other words, NAND flash basically sucks. But since NAND flash is cheap, it has been and will be around long time. Optane was good try but it started with hype and underdelivered.

I miss Optane, if Intel didn't try to make it so proprietary(or even made competitive products) then I think it would still be around. 5.0 is necessary but AMD has publicly stated they're only really supporting AM5 into 2025 but from what I've heard, AMD has no idea how long they will support it for. It will be a nice feature to have down the line, but it likely won't be relevant until after AMD stops making new CPUs for it. I see low end graphics cards being 8x 5.0 instead of 16x 4.0 but that ends up creating problems for older systems where they're like to be used. I don't think AMD should have made the RX7600 8x5.0. I also believe the 4060 is 8x5.0. Lower end cards are more likely to be put in older machines and benchmarks have shown that these low end cards take a performance hit when running at 8x4.0 instead of 8x5.0.

Threadripper is advertised as overclocking capable. Naturally motherboard manufacturers will offer good overclocking options with it. While overclocking is pretty much pointless, enthusiasts will still want to be at least able to overclock. Those who don't want to overclock can go with Epyc. Overclocking 3D chips is pretty pointless but power consumption is another question. AMD Eco mode (88 watts) is only few percent slower than default (170 watts). Pretty much no brainer.

While Ryzen has reached pretty much HEDT status, we can still consider Threadripper as HEDT. It's not server and it's too expensive for casual user. Middle ground would be nice yeah but again, four platforms is just too much. We already have Ryzen, Threadripper and Epyc. There is no room for "Ryzen +" platform that goes between Ryzen and Threadripper. And therefore 28 PCIe lanes just makes sense, while I gladly would take more.

AMD already has "E-core", Zen4c. There will also be Zen5c. I heavily doubt AMD will make dedicated "E-core" any more, like Jaguar or something. Zen5c will be small enough making dedicated "E-core" not worth it. Smaller cores with same architecture but lower clock speeds, aka "c-cores" will be AMD "E-cores" at least some time.

Most people who buy threadripper aren't going to overlook it. For the production studios and researchers who are actually going to be using it, stability and the warranty on the platform are more valuable than the 200mhz you might get out of it. Triple 120 fan radiators can barely keep up with the stock TDP of 350watts. Without overlooking it and allowing the CPU to boost itself, threadrippers have been shown to hit 540+watts and quickly start to thermal throttle.

 

[HardReset]

I miss Optane, if Intel didn't try to make it so proprietary(or even made competitive products) then I think it would still be around. 5.0 is necessary but AMD has publicly stated they're only really supporting AM5 into 2025 but from what I've heard, AMD has no idea how long they will support it for. It will be a nice feature to have down the line, but it likely won't be relevant until after AMD stops making new CPUs for it. I see low end graphics cards being 8x 5.0 instead of 16x 4.0 but that ends up creating problems for older systems where they're like to be used. I don't think AMD should have made the RX7600 8x5.0. I also believe the 4060 is 8x5.0. Lower end cards are more likely to be put in older machines and benchmarks have shown that these low end cards take a performance hit when running at 8x4.0 instead of 8x5.0.

Optane had rough start and Intel tried to market it as RAM replacement, ie. much more RAM per slot. That didn't end well.

AMD probably supports AM5 until DDR6 is widely available so Zen5 is surely AM5 stuff. Zen6 is another question. Since AMD usually releases desktop and server chips first, they may well go with DDR5 and mobile parts that come later may be DDR6. Desktop parts then gets "refresh". At least 2 years to go so much can happen.

Reason for only 8 lanes is cutting costs and push modern PCIe standards. Makes sense but of course those who put them on older machines are out of luck. You cannot please everyone.

Most people who buy threadripper aren't going to overlook it. For the production studios and researchers who are actually going to be using it, stability and the warranty on the platform are more valuable than the 200mhz you might get out of it. Triple 120 fan radiators can barely keep up with the stock TDP of 350watts. Without overlooking it and allowing the CPU to boost itself, threadrippers have been shown to hit 540+watts and quickly start to thermal throttle.

Overclocking looks good on marketing and releasing "enthusiast" platform with no overclocking is not very wise. Intel also supported overclocking on HEDT parts when they still had them. Heat is surely issue but with 96 cores high heat output cannot be avoided anyway.