AMD is reportedly ready to finally move to a new gaming CPU socket in the next few years, with the first unconfirmed details about its future AM6 socket starting to leak out. The new AM6 design will reportedly feature a higher pin count, but will retain a very similar design, giving it compatibility with existing AM5 coolers.
We’re expecting to see AM6 appear with future Zen 7 gaming CPUs, with earlier AMD Zen 7 rumors pointing to a late 2027 or early 2028 launch date. It looks like you’ll need a new motherboard when Zen 7 launches, however, with existing designs in our best gaming motherboard guide all featuring the AM5 layout. With a higher pin count, cross-compatibility with older AMD chips won’t be an option.
Tech website Bits and Chips reports that, while the AM6 socket design will be similar to AM5, it will have a higher pin count, jumping to around 2,100 pins. That’s 382 more than the 1,718 pins found in the AM5 socket design that AMD has been using since 2022 for CPUs, including the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
However, there’s room to be skeptical, at least for now. Bits and Chips has shared a number of recent patent designs from AMD to back up its claim, but these designs seemingly show AMD’s SP5 socket design for its Epyc server processors. That’s not to say that AM6 isn’t taking inspiration from SP5, but with so little information to go on, we’d take this with a healthy grain of salt for now.
AMD hasn’t commented on the latest rumor, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the AM6 socket closely resembled AM5. After all, AM5 motherboards already offer broad compatibility with AM4 coolers thanks to a consistent mounting layout and retention system. A higher pin count for AM6 also makes sense, as it would allow for increased power delivery and bandwidth, which we’d expect for next-gen Zen 7 CPUs.
It’s very early days, so we’ll be keen to see what other information about the AM6 socket leaks out, along with the Zen 7 chips that are likely to use it, over the coming months and years. Until then, make sure to check out our best gaming CPU guide to see why Zen 5 AMD chips like the 9800X3D are currently the best for gamers right now.
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