Linux patch suggests AMD Zen architecture supports up to 32 cores

Dresdenboy noticed there's a new Linux kernel patch that confirms the existence of an AMD processor codenamed Zeppelin. There's not a lot to go on, but if he's right the Zen architecture will support up to 32 cores, which is in-line with previous rumors. One important caveat though is that this is not a consumer-class chip, but it's interesting nonetheless.

"Core complex" should be similar to "compute unit" and has been used in some AMD patents already. The expression marked in red means a shift right by 3, which equals a division by 8. So with two logical cores per physical core due to SMT, a core complex should contain four Zen cores and a shared LLC.

The next line shows the socket ID being shifted left by 3, leaving 3 bits for the core complex ID, which suggests a maximum number of eight core complexes per socket, or 32 physical cores. This number should first be seen as a placeholder, but we've already seen rumours mentioning that many cores.