Impressive achievement given a first-generation Zen core derivative.
–
The C86-4G, designated with the OPN 3490, features 16 cores, 32 threads, and 32MB of L3 cache. If the specifications appear familiar, it is because Hygon licensed AMD’s Zen IP through a joint venture several years prior. Current speculation suggests that Hygon employs the Zen core design in the C86-4G, despite the company’s latest roadmap indicating that the C86-4G utilizes a “new, self-developed microarchitecture.” The C86-4G operates at a clock speed of 2.8 GHz, which is lower than AMD’s first-generation Zen processors.
The C86-4G supports cutting-edge technologies, including DDR5 and PCIe 5.0. Neither was supported on Zen, but Hygon may have identified a method to transfer AMD’s Zen chiplets to a more recent I/O Die (IOD) equipped with a DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 controller.
More significantly, the C86-4G is an x86 processor, so it’ll run Microsoft Windows and compatible applications and games, unlike other Chinese domestic processors based on Arm or RISC-V architectures. This represents a significant advancement for China, as the C86-4G can be readily used beyond gaming without worrying about compatibility or translation layers.