AMD Ryzen 4000 Zen 3 samples cannot reach 5.0 GHz; 16 core successor to the Ryzen 9 3950X in development

The Intel Comet Lake-S may have just arrived, but igor'sLAB has already received information about its upcoming competitor, Vermeer. The codename for Ryzen 4000 desktop processors, Vermeer is based on the Zen 3 architecture. Unlike the Ryzen 4000G series, Vermeer processors will not feature integrated GPUs. In short, igor'sLAB has confirmed that AMD is currently sampling at least 8 core and 16 core Vermeer processors.

According to igor'sLAB the 16 core sample has a higher base clock than the Ryzen 9 3950X, but a lower boost clock. Specifically, the sample has a 3.7 GHz base clock and can boost to 4.6 GHz, giving it a 200 MHz higher base clock than the Ryzen 9 3950X but also a 100 MHz lower boost clock. Additionally, igor'sLAB claims that an 8 core sample has a 4.0 GHz base clock and a 4.6 GHz boost clock.

It is worth keeping in mind that these samples are A0 revisions, so they do not necessarily reflect the specifications of final chips. Hence, retail 8 core and 16 core Vermeer processors could have higher base clocks than these samples do. A 400 MHz increase would be quite an increase; hopefully, we are proven wrong by the time that AMD releases retail chips. 

If AMD is planning to directly replace the Ryzen 3000 desktop series with Ryzen 4000 processors, then the 16 core sample will be the successor to the Ryzen 9 3950X  Similarly, the 8 core sample will succeed either the Ryzen 7 3700X or Ryzen 7 3800X. By this logic, AMD has some 6 core Vermeer processors in development, too.

The Vermeer architecture has been rumoured to have 15-17% IPC gains over current Zen 2 processors, too. AMD is expected to launch the Ryzen 4000 desktop series in September.