New codename for AMD's rumored custom console APU Gonzalo throws up new conundrums

We have already reported on AMD’s rumored Gonzalo chip and its potential use in a PlayStation 5 console and the Xbox Scarlett family. Our report featured the codename “2G16002CE8JA2_32/10/10_13E9” for the purported Gonzalo APU, so it looks like there have been some changes over the last few months.

Noted leaker Tum Apisak shared the latest codename and simply titled his tweet “AMD Gonzalo”, so he at least seems convinced that this new series of letters and numbers relates to this potential Zen 2-based APU. The letter “Z” has replaced “2”, which means the component is now at the Qualification Sample stage. “1600” has become “1607” – this is believed to relate to the custom model name. Other numbers and letters refer to matters such as the TDP and cache size.

The important part for gamers and potential next-generation console buyers is the second half of the codename. “32” is for 3.2 GHz boost and the first “10” is for the 1.0 GHz base clock, so no changes there. The problem is decoding the “18_13F8” part. It was thought that the second “10” could be the iGPU clock, so 1.0 GHz. This would then mean that this has now been considerably raised to 1.8 GHz. But to further confuse matters, Apisak has stated a base clock of 1.6 GHz. “13E9” has been guessed at signifying Navi 10 “lite” – but this is now “13F8” in the new codename.

There is a suggestion that "13F8" refers to the teraflop compute performance of the GPU part of the APU. A 13.8 teraflop console would be a huge leap over what current consoles can manage; Google Stadia even boasted of its 10.7 teraflops of power being able to completely outpace the PS4 and Xbox One X. But it would make sense for next-gen consoles to challenge or even outperform Google’s gaming service, so even though many have dismissed the teraflop definition, it is a possibility. However, there’s even the chance that this AMD chip is not even destined for the PS5 or Xbox Two – Gonzalo could be for an entirely different console or gaming device.