AMD’s “Medusa” lineup of client CPUs skips past RDNA 4 for RDNA 5 iGPUs

Summary

• AMD reportedly will skip the entire RDNA 4 lineup entirely as it does not offer much performance boost over RDNA 3 or 3.5
• The upcoming “Medusa” lineup of client CPUs will contain Zen 6 CPUs with RDNA 5 iGPUs in a 2.5D organization.
• Zen 6 will offer higher bandwidth and lower latency, which packs quite a punch when combined with RDNA 5.

Every big company is switching up the vocabulary for their SKUs now, and AMD seems to have hopped onto the train, following their fierce competitor, Intel.

Reputed hardware leaker @Olrak_29 has revealed on Twitter that Medusa is the codename for AMD’s next-gen client, Ryzen CPUs, and will feature two new core architectures featuring next-gen Zen 6 CPU architecture. At the same time, the GPUs will have RDNA 5 iGPU, skipping RDNA4.

Most Team Red fans wonder why no new RDNA 4 or Zen5 lurks around. Zen6 will be the next big thing, with more significant upgrades than Zen5.

The CPU will come in a new packaged layout, boosted by 2.5D interconnection. This gives the chipset a much higher bandwidth, eliminating specific CCD/IOD interconnections.

These “lossy” interconnections cause latency bottlenecks, familiar with the current Zen 4. The Zen 6 is rumored to leverage 2nm process technology, one of the first in the segment.

As for the iGPUs, RDNA 4 will continue to serve the high-end gaming segment, while the newer RDNA 5 iGPU will mark the return of AMD to the enthusiast market.

This news was welcomed by overjoyed fans worried about the future of AMD’s iGPUs after the company was rumored to drop various high-end die configurations and shift the RDNA 4 focus to toned-down chip designs.

Commitment has already been made for 2025 to the AM5 socket, and Medusa will probably be the last CPU release on the platform. However, as we know, the lifespan of a socket depends on its popularity, so it’s subject to change.

About Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

AMD develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. AMD’s main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations, personal computers and embedded system applications.