AMD Zen 7: CPUs produced with TSMC A14 process and new packaging solutions?

Rumors about the next generation of AMD's x86 CPUs outline an increasingly aggressive roadmap regarding manufacturing processes and architectures. According to sources from the Taiwanese supply chain, the Zen 7 project, codenamed "Grimlock," is already in preliminary planning stages, despite Zen 6 not yet being on the market.

The Zen 7 project is expected to be tied to TSMC's A14 manufacturing process, a technology referred to as class 1.4 nm and anticipated for the 2028 period. The Taiwanese company is reportedly preparing a pilot production around this technology for 2027.

The A14 process is set to go head-to-head with future Intel solutions, particularly with the 14A and 18A-P technologies, amid increasing competition among foundries for acquiring strategic customers in the HPC and AI sectors.

According to reported information, Lisa Su recently met with various supply chain partners during a visit to Taiwan, including operators specializing in advanced packaging. Among these is Powertech Technology Inc., with whom AMD is reportedly evaluating solutions based on Fan-Out Panel-Level Packaging (FOPLP), designed to increase density and integration.

These technologies fit into a broader strategy aimed at improving performance per watt and scalability of chiplets, which are becoming increasingly central in AMD's CPU ecosystem.

From an architectural standpoint, Zen 7 “Grimlock” is expected to introduce a new design for the CCD (Core Complex Die), with configurations of up to 16 cores. One of the most relevant aspects concerns the expansion of the L3 cache, which in configurations with 3D V-Cache could reach up to 224 MB per single CCD. The evolution of 3D V-Cache technology would therefore represent another step forward compared to current generations, with anticipated benefits especially in gaming, HPC, and highly parallelized workloads.

For the server segment, Zen 7 is expected to integrate new capabilities related to AI processing, with updated engines and extended support for optimized data formats. This confirms the growing centrality of the AI market in the positioning of general-purpose CPUs.