AMD targets "insane" clock speeds "well above 6 GHz" with Zen 6 Ryzen - leaker claims

[WYP]

AMD's reportedly aiming for clock speeds "well above 6 GHz" with its Zen 6 Ryzen CPUs.​

Read more about AMD's plans to push Zen 6 "well above 6 GHz."

 

[Dicehunter]

I can already get 5.54GHz stable on my 9800X3D using PBO and Curve Optimizer, and being able to do a bios update and drop in a Zen 6 X3D with even higher clocks would be quite nice.

 

[WYP]

I can already get 5.54GHz stable on my 9800X3D using PBO and Curve Optimizer, and being able to do a bios update and drop in a Zen 6 X3D with even higher clocks would be quite nice.

That's pretty good. The standard boost on that is 5.2 isn't it?

Even a boost of 6.0 on a hypothetical 10800X3D would be a boost of over 15%. That would be massive. Add on expected chiplet design changes and faster memory support. Then add the benefits of 12-core CCXs/CCDs. Exciting stuff, assuming this all pans out.

In many ways, Zen 5 was dissapointing, but its design was always said to lay down the groundwork for bigger changes. With Nova Lake bringing big changes on the Intel side, 2026 will be an exciting time for the CPU market.

 

[robbiec]

Desmo might just about be bedded in by the time this arrives - 6k+ has to run pretty hot, 3 rads should do it

 

[Excalabur50]

That's pretty good. The standard boost on that is 5.2 isn't it?

Even a boost of 6.0 on a hypothetical 10800X3D would be a boost of over 15%. That would be massive. Add on expected chiplet design changes and faster memory support. Then add the benefits of 12-core CCXs/CCDs. Exciting stuff, assuming this all pans out.

In many ways, Zen 5 was dissapointing, but its design was always said to lay down the groundwork for bigger changes. With Nova Lake bringing big changes on the Intel side, 2026 will be an exciting time for the CPU market.

Can you imagine just how fast a 10800X3D is going to be if this pans out? I so want one

 

[WYP]

Can you imagine just how fast a 10800X3D is going to be if this pans out? I so want one

It could be incredible. A lot of smaller changes coming together to create something incredible. Zen 6 could bring some of the biggest changes to Ryzen since Zen 2 and Zen 3.

That said, Intel also has some big changes coming. Nova Lake should use Intel's 18A node. In other words, it won't be using TSMC (at least for its CPU cores) and TSMC will not be sucking away Intel's margins. That allows Intel to be more aggressive on pricing if they need to be. That an the rumoured core count increases could be HUGE. That said, I prefer the idea of having stronger cores to simply having more of them.

Neither AMD nor Intel is sitting on its laurels ATM. That is a good thing.

I really hope that we can see the price of higher speed DDR5 come down a little. Next-gen CPUs will push for higher-speed memory support. Right now, pricing shoots up once you go past DDR5-6000/6400 speeds.

 

[Dicehunter]

That's pretty good. The standard boost on that is 5.2 isn't it?

Even a boost of 6.0 on a hypothetical 10800X3D would be a boost of over 15%. That would be massive. Add on expected chiplet design changes and faster memory support. Then add the benefits of 12-core CCXs/CCDs. Exciting stuff, assuming this all pans out.

In many ways, Zen 5 was dissapointing, but its design was always said to lay down the groundwork for bigger changes. With Nova Lake bringing big changes on the Intel side, 2026 will be an exciting time for the CPU market.

Yep 5.2, On 1 of the cores it goes to 5.3 but then with PBO and Curve Optimizer I can get all cores stable to 5.5 but temps go up by 15'c+ so it's not something I run 24/7.

 

[Excalabur50]

It could be incredible. A lot of smaller changes coming together to create something incredible. Zen 6 could bring some of the biggest changes to Ryzen since Zen 2 and Zen 3.

That said, Intel also has some big changes coming. Nova Lake should use Intel's 18A node. In other words, it won't be using TSMC (at least for its CPU cores) and TSMC will not be sucking away Intel's margins. That allows Intel to be more aggressive on pricing if they need to be. That an the rumoured core count increases could be HUGE. That said, I prefer the idea of having stronger cores to simply having more of them.

Neither AMD nor Intel is sitting on its laurels ATM. That is a good thing.

I really hope that we can see the price of higher speed DDR5 come down a little. Next-gen CPUs will push for higher-speed memory support. Right now, pricing shoots up once you go past DDR5-6000/6400 speeds.

Yeah the battle between Intel and AMD should be interesting this time around, MLID seems to think Intel might pip the work crown whilst AMD the gaming crown, next yhear's going to be exciting!

 

[NeverBackDown]

I'm just waiting for them to launch their Zen 7 so I can buy a used Zen 6 chip from someone

 

[WYP]

Yeah the battle between Intel and AMD should be interesting this time around, MLID seems to think Intel might pip the work crown whilst AMD the gaming crown, next yhear's going to be exciting!

It will be interesting. While the added cores will help Intel with work applications, it must be said that not all "work" workloads use all cores. If they both can deliver strong single-threaded performance on their strongest cores, things will be very interesting.

2026 is going to be an exciting year for CPUs. I just hope that pricing will not go completely insane.

I'm just waiting for them to launch their Zen 7 so I can buy a used Zen 6 chip from someone

It's hard to beat the used market sometimes.

 

[Excalabur50]

It will be interesting. While the added cores will help Intel with work applications, it must be said that not all "work" workloads use all cores. If they both can deliver strong single-threaded performance on their strongest cores, things will be very interesting.

2026 is going to be an exciting year for CPUs. I just hope that pricing will not go completely insane.



It's hard to beat the used market sometimes.

Somehow I think both will be expensive though mate as Intel are using N2P and AMD N2X which are both cutting edge TSMC nodes, the 9800X3D still isn't MSRP here in Aus, at $898, so a 10800X3D has got to be close to, if not a grand here next time I'm sure.