AMD's Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs come in two flavors, one with a single CCD design and the higher core count variants with dual Zen 4 CCDs. However, it looks like AMD might be shipping some AM5 Ryzen 5 & Ryzen 7 chips with two CCDs.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X CPU Spotted With Dual Zen 4 CCDs, Defective Ryzen 9 Chips or Actually Usable?
Recently, Der8auer posted a video showcasing his latest Delid Die Mate which can be used to delid the AMD Ryzen 7000 Desktop CPUs if you plan on using direct-die cooling. The overclocker used a Thermal Grizzly Direct Die Frame for this demonstration but upon delidding the Ryzen 5 7600X, an interesting discovery was made.
As soon as the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X CPU was delidded, Der8auer noticed that it featured two Zen 4 CCDs instead of one. The 7600X features 6 cores and 12 threads so it doesn't need the extra CCD. All AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs below the Ryzen 9 segment make use of a single CCD so it's definitely a bit interesting to see a dual Zen 4 CCD implementation on the PCB.
Since the chip was already delidded, Der8auer put the chip under a thermal probe and checked to see if the other Zen 4 CCD was active or not. Three tiny copper blocks were used that say on each chiplet (two Zen 4 CCDs and a single IOD). When booted, only the IO die, & a single Zen 4 CCD was shown to be active since they started producing heat. This means that the other die is not running.
So that brings us to the question as to why there are two Zen 4 CCDs on this particular AMD Ryzen 5 7600X CPU. There could be two reasons, first and foremost, AMD may simply be using defective Ryzen 9 chips that only have one working Zen 4 CCD and labeling them as Ryzen 5 & Ryzen 7 parts. This would suggest that the other die is totally defective and not usable. But there is also a small possibility that this die could've been artificially locked and there might be a bypass to enable it. It is known that AMD locks several features of its chips artificially such as the Ryzen 7 5800X3D OC that would soon be overcome. But actually enabling a whole CCD won't be as simple as it looks & even if this was a functional die, it would take someone with a lot of experience to bypass this.
Nevertheless, it is interesting to see AMD shipping dual Zen 4 CCDs on some of its Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 chips. There could be a lot more chips out there but unless you are delidding them (an actual risk that voids the warranty), you'll never know what lies under the hood of your CPU.
