With Zen 6, AMD is expected to improve the “1%low” metric, which is particularly useful for highlighting micro-stuttering during gameplay. To achieve this, the company will reportedly introduce a suite of technologies designed to dynamically adjust the clock speeds of the processor’s various cores. At the same time, the system should also be able to prioritize RAM bandwidth for the applications that need it most and reduce the bandwidth allocated to background tasks. In short, it looks pretty promising!
Zen 6: Improvements to the 1%low!
More dynamic clock speed adjustments:
As for operating frequencies, we’d see various technologies designed to optimize how the CPU adjusts its frequencies.
WithCollaborative Processor Performance Control (CPPC), the operating system and firmware coordinate the performance of each CPU core. Thus, depending on which cores are in use, Windows would prioritize them so they operate at their full potential and reach their maximum frequencies. To do this, tasks would be prioritized based on their importance, while higher frequencies would be allocated to the cores under the heaviest load.
Meanwhile, the FloorPerf feature would allow high clock speeds to be maintained on cores executing an important task when the processor reaches its power or temperature limits. The clock speeds of the other cores would be automatically reduced to preserve the performance of the main application as much as possible.
Next, we have the per-core EPP boost, which would allow certain cores to reach their maximum frequency without increasing the overall CPU frequency.
Improved memory management:
Finally, the company would introduce PQOS Global Bandwidth Enforcers, which would reduce the memory bandwidth allocated to tasks running in the background. At the same time, the bandwidth allocated to the main task would be maximized. In a video game, for example, this could improve FPS stability and limit micro-stuttering, which results in a momentary drop in the 1% low.
