A glimpse into the future: AMD is said to be working on a data center CPU with one stacked die at a time, with potentially huge core density and inter-core/memory bandwidth.

Two prominent AMD leakers (@patrickschur_ and @execufix) have posted information about the new chip, known as Milan-X. For reference, Milan is the codename for AMD's latest Epyc server chip based on the Zen 3 architecture. [Or is the Milan part a reference to the Epyc chip generation rather than a direct reference to Zen 3 in the data center? Rumor has it that Zen 3 will probably play some role in the new stacked chips.

Either way, it is a very exciting prospect, if not for gaming PCs.

I say "not yet" because it is certain that stacked die will eventually find its way into gaming rigs. First and foremost, it makes sense for this technology to increase bandwidth and core count capabilities in data centers, but with both AMD and Intel looking at 3D stacked technology, it seems inevitable that it will be in desktops as well.

The latest Epyc Milan processors offer up to 64 Zen 3 cores, split into eight compute chiplets, all connected to a central I/O chip; Videocardz sources claim this shift is a move to increase bandwidth However, if it is indeed planned and properly cooled, the stacked die could produce a much higher core count with even fewer cores.

Stacked chips can be much closer together than many chips side-by-side, and can be intrinsically connected to each other or to other critical silicon through a 3D packaging process such as TSV (Through Silicon Vias). Thus, more bandwidth is available and latency between core and memory can be lower.

In most cases, stacked dies tend to place a high-performance die on top of less-performing silicon, but the door is open for further applications and combinations if the thermal load can be properly managed. Heterogeneous chiplet computing offers many possibilities for stacked technology. [In a recent JP Morgan event recording, CEO Dr. Lisa Su stated: "3D chip stacking is definitely on the roadmap. This means.

Intel is also working on innovative packaging technologies, and its Intel Xe HPC chip, Ponte Vecchio, uses multiple 3D stacked (Foveros) dies.

In gaming, speed tends to be more important than more cores and bandwidth, but that doesn't mean that people don't want to use even more cores and features on their desktops. Currently, the Ryzen 9 5950X's highest core count is 16 cores, which is just about right.