Alright, this is a bit of a speculative posting, however the thesis behind it sounds plausible. According to new rumors AMD will not release hexacore (6 core) processors or even dual-core processors. AMD will release an 4 and 8-core model with and without hyper-threading.
The info comes from Thai based zolkorn. The idea here is that AMD only can release 4- and 8-core models both with and without hyper-threading. The explanations is as follows, the Ryzen processors are build out of partitions that each have 4 physical cores in one module. Traditionally they had a dual-core setup so an 8-core version had four of these which could be activated and disabled per module.
Now it might very well be that AMD can somehow disable laser-cut two cores in a 4 core module, no idea there. But it also could very well be that there will be no 2 and 6 core models as to date there has not been any mention such models from the AMD side.
One thing is certain, we’ll see four and eight core models with SKU differences in HT, clock frequencies and TDPs. At least all mainstream and higher specced parts will get unlocked multipliers. At the end of this month more info should become available with a launch in March.
