AMD may introduce two new Zen 3 chips to a CPU-starved market. These two new processors are likely to be the Ryzen 9 5950X and the XT revision of the Ryzen 5 5600X, with the 5950XT boost clock reaching a peak of 5 GHz. If this rumor is true, this would be the first time AMD has released a chip capable of such a high frequency.

The rumor is based on a tweet by DevOps engineer Patrick Schur, who cites two processor model numbers for the B2 stepping: the 16-core chip is a direct replacement for the Ryzen 9 5950X, and the 6-core chip is looks similar to the Ryzen 5 5600X.

This B2 stepping indicates a minor silicon change to improve chip yields, which could lead to increased efficiency and thus frequency. [The base frequency of this 16-core chip is 3.4 GHz, which is equivalent to the existing 5950X, but the maximum boost clock of the existing chip is 4.9 GHz, while the new B2 stepping reaches 5 GHz.

The 6-core chip is in some ways more intriguing because its base clock and boost clock are the same as the existing Ryzen 5 5600X. Higher overclocking and more efficient use may be possible, but higher boost clocks are not offered; will AMD release this chip with a cooler or expect builders to use third-party options to achieve higher clocks? It will be interesting to see.

AMD released an XT version of its Ryzen 3000 chip last summer, but the high price tag and slight performance gains made it a fairly forgettable release; it was quickly overtaken by AMD's Ryzen 5000, which was released in September. This time, however, the situation is a bit different: demand for the Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 9 5950X is particularly high.

Although only two chips are listed, this "refresh" comes on the heels of rumors that AMD has shelved a full refresh of Warhol, which was scheduled to use TSMC's 6nm manufacturing process over the summer. Nevertheless, the casual update of two of AMD's most popular chips is welcome and should mean more silicon on the market for DIY builders. We are all for more chips becoming available for purchase.