Leaker Momomo has found some listings for new Ryzen 3 CPUs based on what appears to be Zen 2, the R3 3100 and R3 3300X. These CPUs clock in at 3.9 and 4.3 GHz respectively and feature 18 MB of cache, which is presumably 16 MB of L3 plus a combined total of 2 MB for the L1 and L2 cache. Just like previous generation R3 CPUs, these are quad cores but have SMT. Given that old hex core CPUs such as the 1600 are dominating the low end, it’s hard to see where exactly these new quad cores are supposed to slot in. It’s going to be hard to beat the value of the $85 1600AF even with potentially better gaming performance.
We reached out to our sources about this and confirmed that these CPUs would be using the new Matisse 2 die, which we previously speculated could be a refresh but now appears to be something more. We speculate that Matisse 2 only has a single CCX and thus only scales to 4 cores, essentially half of a 3700X. The reason why AMD would believe designing a new, smaller die is worthwhile is because selling the original Matisse die with only 4 cores wouldn’t have great margins or performance and would eat into supply for other, more lucrative CPUs they could sell. Also consider that making quad cores out of dies with 2 CCXs is very difficult without spreading the 4 cores evenly over 2 CCXs (in a 2+2 configuration), which increases latency; using just one CCX keeps latency low. It is unclear whether or not Matisse 2 is monolithic or chiplet based.
Additionally, we were also informed that B550 has been delayed due to some sort of manufacturing issue. AMD was unhappy with the end result of the first B550 boards and decided to delay the chipset to mid June. Those waiting for B550 boards will have to keep waiting or buy an X570 or an older B450 or X470 board.
