AMD SP6 socket for next-gen Zen4 EPYC series has been pictured, same size as SP3

AMD SP5 socket has been confirmed

It didn’t take long for the rumors about AMD’s next-gen SP6 socket to already find a confirmation through newly leaked photos.  

Over at AnandTech forums one can find photos and schematics for the socket codenamed SP6. This socket has been explained in leaked slides as a platform for edge and telco systems, therefore, where power optimizations are just as crucial as performance. According to those slides, this socket would support up to 32-core Genoa (Zen4) EPYC processors and up to 64-core Bergamo (Zen4c) series. The power would also be limited to 225W, which is nearly half of what the full SP5 socket can support.

AMD SP6 (LGA4844), Source: SteinFG

The SP6 socket looks more or less the same as the SP3 socket for the current Milan series. In fact, the size is identical (58.5 x 75.4 mm), however the SP6 has a different LGA package with 4844 contact pins. That’s a significant reduction from 6096 for the SP5 socket.

• Socket SP3 – LGA 4094 -58.5 x 75.4 mm
• Socket SP5 – LGA 6096 – 76.0 x 80.0 mm
• Socket SP6 – LGA 4844 -58.5 x 75.4 mm

It goes without saying, but SP6, SP5 and SP3 processors will not be compatible with each other. This also means that AMD has to make two different EPYC Genoa/Turin series for each socket.

This document defines the requirements for a 4844-position, 0.94 mm × 0.81 mm interstitial pitch, surface-mount land-grid array (SM-LGA) socket—herein referred to as the Socket SP6—for use with the AMD 4844-position organic land grid array (OLGA) package that has substrate dimensions of 58.5 mm × 75.4 mm. The Socket SP6, shown in Figure 1, is designed to provide a reliable electrical interconnect between the printed circuit board (PCB) and the 4844 land pads of the OLGA package throughout the life of the product.

— SteinFG, AnandTech Forums

AMD SP6 (LGA4844), Source: SteinFG

One of our readers made a suggestion that 4th Gen EPYC series could now be divided into high-performance 7004 series and efficiency-focused EPYC 5004 CPUs, which makes a lot of sense. Furthermore, the latter option could open more possibilities for AMD to engage the consumer HEDT market.

Source: AnandTech Forums via @Olrak29_