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[LordOfChaos]

AMD is 'working actively on really cool differentiators' to make the next generation of 3D V-cache 'even better'

X3D versions of Ryzen 9000-series chips won't be announced for a good while, though.

www.pcgamer.com

PC enthusiasts know that if you want the best gaming CPU, then you really can't go wrong with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Its mighty gaming chops are helped in no small way by the additional 64MB of 3D V-cache, so when AMD announced its new Zen 5 architecture, many hoped there would be some info on Ryzen 9000X3D models. That never happened, but AMD did tell us that it's "working actively on really cool differentiators" to make 3D V-cache "even better."

While at Computex 2024 in Taiwan, we chatted for a while with Donny Woligroski, AMD's senior technical marketing manager. When we got around to talking about plans for 3D V-cache versions of Zen 5 chips, he was especially enthusiastic about the technology.

"The X3D stuff, we have a lot to say about it. The best part about it is we're not just resting on laurels. We're improving what we can do with X3D, it's really exciting and I'm super looking forward to talking to people about that."

Woligroski couldn't go into any specifics, but he did continue talking about what AMD is doing regarding 3D V-cache. "It's not like, hey, we've also added X3D to a chip. We are working actively on really cool differentiators to make it even better. We're working on X3D, we're improving it."

 

[Bojji]

They are sending 9xxx series to die, everyone (gamers) is waiting for 3D chips.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

What they really mean is the 9000 series 3D chips are going to be very expensive.

 

[Kadve]

Intel is currently working on their own more advanced take on V-cache, so yea not become complacent is a good idea.

 

[Ozriel]

Hopefully that’s work to ensure the chips aren’t behind when it comes to productivity workloads.

The 7800x3d is excellent for gaming, but less impressive if you’re doing other tasks

 

[hybrid_birth]

What they really mean is the 9000 series 3D chips are going to be very expensive.

They going to condition the masses to love it with an Everybody Loves Inflation Sitcom.

 

[SantaC]

They are sending 9xxx series to die, everyone (gamers) is waiting for 3D chips.

They are still the 9xxx series

 

[intbal]

They going to find some way to embed them in a mesh rather than place them on top?
I don't know what else could make it better.

 

[analog_future]

Between the 9800X3D and the RTX 5090, early 2025 is going to be freaking expensive for me.

 

[BattleScar]

They going to condition the masses to love it with an Everybody Loves Inflation Sitcom.

If gamers are happy to spend $1500 for a top-of-the-line GPU, why not too for a CPU?

 

[hinch7]

It kind of has to (innovate).. the generational gap is rather incrimental, at least for gaming for current X3D owners. They'll need something really special for it not to be modest upgrade.

 

[Celcius]

I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I'm still on my 5800X3D, surprise me AMD, give me a reason to splash out for a new CPU

 

[Codeblew]

I hope they have Infinity cache for both CCD's of the 9950X3D. I need the extra 8 cores for my dev work otherwise I would just go for the 9800X3D.

 

[Kadve]

They going to find some way to embed them in a mesh rather than place them on top?
I don't know what else could make it better.

Intel: Our 3D V-Cache Tech Will Take a Different Approach Than AMD

The company plans to use the chip-stacking tech for Intel processors and offer it to third-party customers contracting with Intel's foundry business.

www.pcmag.com

Sounds like Intel is planning something like that anyway.

“But in our roadmap, you’re going to see this idea of the 3D silicon, where we’ll have cache on one die, right? And then we’ll have CPU compute on a stacked die, on top of it,” Gelsinger said.

That sounds different than AMD, which has been using the chip-stacking tech to place added memory on top of its CPU dies. According to Gelsinger, Intel wants to do the opposite and stack the CPU on top of the memory.

Although Intel’s CEO was light on details, he said the company plans on connecting the chip dies vertically using its EMIB and Foveros processes, allowing the silicon to communicate together in a single package. “So we feel very good that we have advanced capabilities for next-generation memory architectures,” he added.

 

[Xyphie]

Having V-cache extending into the L2 cache seems possible? Vias inside the CPU core's L2 cache extending into the cache die and extending it from 1 MB into 2 MB or something like that. Stacking multiple dies on top of each other is another option, so e.g. 64+64+32 L3 for a 3-Hi configuration. Eventually we'll probably see only the CPU logic ship on new nodes, and the SRAM on the n-1 node for scaling reasons.