Zen 5 CPUs are on track for release in the second half of 2024, AMD rep confirms

AMD's Zen 5 processors, the next-gen silicon for the desktop, are on track for release in the second half of 2024, we've been told.

Paul Alcorn (Managing Editor at Tom's Hardware) tweeted to tell us that an AMD representative had "confirmed that Zen 5 is on track" for a consumer release in H2 2024.

Earlier this week, YouTuber and regular leaker Moore's Law is Dead (MLID) suggested that AMD's Zen 5 chips won't likely be out until after the summer, so again, into the second half of the year - but that they were originally intended to come out in the first half of 2024.

Another YouTuber, RedGamingTech (RGT), also recently floated the idea that Zen 5 might just arrive in Q2 (in a best-case scenario), but now we have official word from AMD about an H2 2024 launch remaining on course, we can put paid to any such speculation (although to be fair, RGT did couch the idea in speculative terms).

Of course, the second half of the year could still mean a July launch, but the likelihood is that it'll be a bit later than that, especially if MLID's talk of having issues with hammering out and finalizing Zen 5 is on the money.

The better news from MLID in that video from earlier this week is that 3D V-Cache chips may be involved with the initial Zen 5 announcement, meaning we could see X3D processors in a bit more of a timely manner than before.

That seems like a reach, though, especially given another recent rumor from leaker Kepler on X indicating that the next-gen X3D launch will take place at CES 2025.

Add large amounts of seasoning with all this, as ever, and the only thing we can be sure of is the assertion direct from AMD that Zen 5 is coming in the second half of this year.

Mind you, the tweet only says Zen 5, and not Ryzen desktop specifically - but we think it's a fair enough assumption that it refers to Ryzen 8000 (or 9000) desktop silicon, as opposed to APUs (Strix Point, which are also built on Zen 5).

We're told (again by MLID) to prepare ourselves for a reasonable step forward with Zen 5 desktop, but not a major leap. We're talking about an IPC uplift of around 10% to 20%, which is still perfectly respectable - and internally, AMD is apparently happy that these next-gen Ryzen offerings will compete with Intel's Arrow Lake.

As Arrow Lake isn't expected until late in 2024, it's still likely that, as has been expected for a long time now, Zen 5 processors will hit the shelves before Team Blue's next-gen CPUs.