AMD continues laying the groundwork for the Zen 5’s upcoming arrival on Linux in the form of Linux kernel “x86/urgent” patches addressing four numerical ranges of AMD Family 26 CPUs, aka Zen 5 CPUs. These ranges, as corroborated byPhoronix, are from 0-15, 32-47, 64-79, and finally 112-127. Each number could theoretically correspond to its own CPU or CPU range (e.g. Strix Point for mobile,Granite Ridgefor desktop), though the existence of pre-release CPUs, development-only CPUs, etc., means that not all of these will be released — and some may never be used.
The timing of these patches in proximity to Zen 5Strix Point Geekbench resultsuncovered yesterday on Twitter adds yet more fuel to speculation that Zen 5 could be arriving sooner rather than later. We’ve also previously reported on Zen 5-related updates to Linux’sGCC compilerandPMC driver. Unfortunately, besides knowledge of the model number ranges, the latest Linux patches don’t really teach us anything new about Zen 5 or its upcoming CPUs.
Based onthe information we do have, though, we can expect significant improvements to AI performance and iGPU performance thanks to XDNA 2 and RDNA 3+, respectively. XDNA 2 is expected to deliver over 70 TOPS in AI performance, which is nearly twice the40 TOPS requirementfor “next-gen AI PCs.” We don’t quite know what to expect from the RDNA 3+ improvements yet, but AMD’s track record has kept RDNA 3 on top of the iGPU market despite competition from Intel, so AMD still seems strong there.
In any case, the latest Zen 5 Linux kernel patches at least point toward AMD wanting lots of room to work with.
In total, there are 64 potential Zen 5 CPU model numbers being placed into the code now (16 per 4 ranges) to account for future development and/or releases. That seems like a lot of room for experimentation with things such as handheld-tailored APU designs, more powerful desktop integrated graphics, and so on. Other leaks point toward AMD’s Strix Point mobile CPUs adoptingZen 5C cores, as well.
Edit 08-07-2025 3:25am PT:Clarified title to denote the new family applies to all Zen 5 models.
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Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.
