AMD reportedly preparing Threadripper and next-gen APUs with 3D V-Cache

3D V-Cache reportedly coming to new products

Threadripper, next-gen APUs. 

This is a follow-up to our news coverage regarding a feature we learned about from one of our readers in the ASUS WRX90 motherboard. The manual states that there is an option to control the 3D V-Cache stacks being used, but there is currently no Threadripper CPU that utilizes 3D V-Cache.

While this is not a direct confirmation of anything, there are significant connections between the EPYC and Threadripper platforms, with the former available with X3D. However, the WRX90 officially supports only Threadripper CPUs.

According to hardware leaker “zhangzhonghao” from Chiphell, who has a solid track record, the current information from supply chain sources confirms that AMD is indeed working on a Threadripper with 3D V-Cache. The leaker adds that this cache would apply to all CCDs, not just one as seen in the consumer Ryzen series.

The ZEN5 Threadripper is getting an X3D version

Today, I saw news that ASUS’s TRX motherboard BIOS manual mentioned Vcache, so I checked with the supply chain, and it’s true that it will be released. Additionally, the next generation will start stacking 3D on the APU (to enhance the CPU and GPU). The technology and costs are already in place, but current information suggests this will be limited to laptops, specifically for high-end models.

— zhangzhonghao, Chiphell (translation)

Furthermore, it is reported that the next-generation APUs will also feature 3D V-Cache, but this feature will be limited to the “Halo” series. Importantly, this does not apply to Strix Halo but rather to the generation succeeding the soon-to-be-released Zen 5 design. In other words, it would not be part of the Ryzen AI 300 Max series but its successor.

The addition of 3D V-Cache has proven to be extremely effective for gaming; however, it is a complex and expensive technology. As a result, AMD has not implemented more than one stack of 64MB of 3D V-Cache in Ryzen CPUs. There have been, however, Ryzen mobile CPUs with 3D V-Cache as part of the Dragon Range series, which reviewers have claimed are among the best gaming CPUs on the market.

Clearly, 3D V-Cache has been a game-changing technology that has been battle-tested and is now reportedly expanding into new products. The upcoming Ryzen 9000X3D launch will be the first product featuring the “Second Generation of 3D V-Cache,” which places the cache under the CCD (Core Complex Die).

Source: Chiphell