With the launch of AMD Ryzen 7000 processors around the corner are rumors circulating about the exact release date of the new CPUs. Today an interesting fact has been brought to light that many have not considered before: AMD may not want to rush the release too much.
According to a new report, AMD may be doing a little slow not to overshadow Ryzen 5000 too soon with its successor. When can we expect the next-gen processors and is delaying the launch really a good idea?
While many rumors about the release date of the upcoming AMD Ryzen 7000 processors are doing the rounds, September in particular seems to be the safest bet. It’s popped up in several leaks, and today’s reveal only serves to prove it further, so it’s not exactly sensational — but the reasoning behind the September release date makes this rumor interesting.
According to a report by DigiTimes, motherboard manufacturers are currently making new boards for the next-gen AM5 socket for Zen 4 processors. Sources related to those manufacturers support the claim that AMD is gearing up to release the processors around mid-September. Now comes the interesting tidbit: This decision may have been a conscious choice by AMD, and reportedly not based on production times, at least not entirely.
According to DigiTimes anonymous sources, AMD chose the September release of Ryzen 7000 to give Ryzen 5000 a little more time to shine. With the release of the next generation, the demand for the current generation of Ryzen 5000 processors will of course decrease for a while as most people will try the best CPUs currently available to them.
Before AMD (along with its customer base) moves to its next-generation Zen processors, there are still plenty of current-gen CPUs in stock — so much so that they’re called “surplus.” This implies that AMD may have been ready to launch Zen 4 earlier, but chose to wait until September to give the stock Ryzen 5000 a good chance to sell.
Is it a good idea for AMD to delay Ryzen 7000?
This brings us to the question: if AMD is really waiting to launch Ryzen 7000 after the expected time frame, is that a good choice? It’s hard to say with any certainty. However, it’s important to note that AMD is already a bit behind Intel as things stand, as Intel Alder Lake was released in 2021. The platform was very successful and produced some of the best intel processors we’ve seen in a while. It also introduced DDR5 RAM and PCIe Gen 5, although storage options for the latter are still limited and DDR5 memory is still too expensive.
The fact that AMD failed to beat Intel with Alder Lake is obvious, but it kept busy releasing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D – arguably one of the best processors for gaming. However, given how long it has been since a new generation of AMD processors hit the market, it seems crucial that Team Red manage to beat Intel this year. This means releasing Zen 4 before Intel Raptor Lake is rather important, as it would allow impatient gamers to turn their attention to AMD instead of marching straight to Intel if it were to hit the market first.
Luckily for AMD, Intel Raptor Lake itself might not hit the market in September — most rumors point to an October release. If so, then AMD might just have the pie and eat it too – Ryzen 5000 will have its last hurray, and Ryzen 7000 will still arrive before Intel’s next-gen CPUs arrive fight for the spotlight† We’ll just have to wait.
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