New information from a well-known IT forum suggests that AMD will use TSMC’s N3E process for most of its next-generation chips. SoCs for future home consoles could also take advantage of 3D stacking to maximize their performance.
What is AMD preparing for us for 2026? The question remains unanswered, but some first elements of the answer enlighten us. On the specialized Chiphel forum, the leaker Zhanzhonghao spoke about the technologies potentially used by AMD for its future CPU and GPU architectures.
The person, who has been right several times in the past, was also able to obtain interesting information about the APU chips of our future game consoles.
As a reminder, these rumors come the day after a series of announcements, official this time, having been made by AMD as part of CES. At the beginning of January, the firm notably presented new Strix Halo and Z2 mobile chips, but also two new Radeon graphics cards.
3 nm engraving, 3D stacking: what’s new for 2026?
In 2026, AMD will therefore rely on two completely renewed architectures: Zen 6, which will take the place of the current Zen 5 design (introduced in 2025); and UDNA, which will notably replace the RDNA4 graphics architecture.
On the CPU side, Zhanzhonghao understands that the Zen 6 chips (codenamed Medusa Ridge) will be able to count on cores engraved in 3 nm via TSMC’s N3E protocol. These new generation processors would also rely on a die input and output (I/O) engraved this time using the N4C process (more efficient than current N4P technology). This change of die would then be the first operated by AMD since the launch of the Zen 4 architecture in 2022. This would therefore be an important step forward.
-Other rumors also suggested that future AMD Zen 6 “Medusa Ridge” processors would still rely on the AM5 socket, which would allow many users to keep their current motherboard. Expected in 2026 or early 2027, this new range would also include up to 32-core CCDs (Core Complex Die).
On the GPU side this time, the unified UDNA architecture would take the place of the current RDNA and CDNA designs. It would also use TSMC’s 3nm N3E engraving protocol. We also learn that the UDNA chips will seek to complement the Radeon 9000 (RDNA4) offering by venturing back into the premium/high performance segment.
This UDNA architecture, the start of production of which is expected in the second quarter of 2024, should notably benefit new generation consoles such as the PlayStation 6.
Enough to ensure a very natural transition to the final batch of information from Zhanzhonghao. THE leaker believes that the “Halo” APUs of our future home consoles will be able to rely on 3D stacking to maximize their performance both in terms of CPU and GPU. At this stage, however, it is unknown what 3D stacking technology will be used precisely.
