Zen 6 Desktop Ryzen CPUs Reportedly Lack Integrated GPU

One of the advantages of AMD CPUs for the AM5 socket compared to the AM4 platform is that even the higher‑end chiplet models include an integrated GPU located in the IO chiplet. Thanks to this, these processors can be used in office PCs (or workstations that don’t require high GPU performance) without the needing a discrete graphics card. But the new generation with Zen 6 cores may lose this advantage, likely due to the AI hype.

Reports have now surfaced online claiming that AMD was apparently not satisfied with the current setup and that the new generation of processors with Zen 6 cores will no longer include an integrated GPU. This generation is supposed to use a new IO die, which should improve memory performance (for example, enabling higher transfer speeds than what Ryzen 7000 and 9000 can achieve). But AMD has allegedly removed the integrated GPU from this very chiplet.

This week, the news appeared on hardware sites after a user going by the nickname Gotou_3rd posted it on the former Twitter. However, the original source seems to be forum members on AnandTech (where the information appeared first). They sometimes have real insider knowledge, but sometimes they are only speculating. So it’s unclear whether the rumor is credible, but at the same time we still have no evidence that the iGPU will remain in the next-gen IO die—and Murphy’s law says that when a rumor is of pessimistic nature, it’s more likely to be confirmed.

The integrated GPU in the IO chiplet doesn’t have sufficient performance for any games except the simplest and very old ones (it contains only a minimal number of compute units), yet it still occupies a significant amount of die area—along with the video decoding and encoding engines. These may also require licensing fees for certain formats (H.264, H.265). The reasons for removing it would therefore be economic—reducing manufacturing costs. For desktop PCs based on these processors, gaming PCs are owerwhelmingly dominant percentage of the market and such PCs always include a discrete GPU, making the integrated GPU something that’s seldom actually used. It still does open an interesting possibility of suing laptop-style hybrid graphics switching on desktops, where you save power (and reduce heat and noise) by using the integrated GPU most of the time, powering the discrete GPU up only for games. But it’s something few gamers take advantage of.

Besides general cost reduction, the integrated GPU may also have fallen victim to the AI craze—specifically Microsoft’s push for so‑called Copilot+ PCs using an NPU in the processor. High‑performance desktop Ryzen CPUs were not compatible with Copilot+ PCs so far because they lack an NPU. But the new generation with Zen 6 cores reportedly adds an NPU to the IO chiplet. However, an NPU also consumes a considerable amount of die area, and AMD may have had to choose what to remove from the IO chiplet to prevent its size from growing too much.

GPUs Only in APU Processors?

Within the Zen 6 lineup, an integrated graphics adapter for connecting a monitor without a discrete card would therefore be something available just to the APU line of processors such as the Zen 5‑based Ryzen AI 300 and 400 “Strix Point” and “Hawk Point” chips—meaning models primarily targeted at laptops and only secondarily offered for desktop PCs. The downside is that APUs are often significantly more expensive, and AMD typically releases desktop models only with a long delay after the launch of the laptop parts—desktop APUs based on Zen 5 may eventually take nearly two years before they appear on socket AM5. And APUs also tend to have worse CPU gaming performance (which becomes apparent when paired with a discrete GPU), as they receive smaller L3 cache. They also usually do not support the faster versions of the PCI Express interface.

The following desktop generation with Zen 7 architecture, which will likely launch in 2028, will probably use the same IO chiplet as the Zen 6 generation, because AMD has so far followed this approach to simplify and reduce development costs. It is therefore possible that this policy—where integrated GPUs are available only in special APUs—will persist until the end of the AM5 socket’s lifespan.

Sources: Gotou_3rd, AnandTech Forum (1, 2)

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

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