This guide provides an overview of the differences between the generic and optimized builds of Zen, so you can make an informed decision on which version to use.
Info
This guide only applies to the Linux and Windows versions of Zen.
Supported CPUs for optimized builds
Warning
If your computer’s processor doesn’t belong to any of the following processor families, the optimized version won’t work on your device. Please install the generic version instead.
AMD
- AMD Family 15h (Excavator)
- AMD Family 17h (Zen, Zen+, Zen 2)
- AMD Family 19h (Zen 3)
- AMD Family 19h (Zen 4 / Zen 4c)
- AMD Family 1Ah (Zen 5 / Zen 5c)
Intel
- Intel 4th Gen Core (Haswell)
- Intel 5th Gen Core (Broadwell)
- Intel 6th Gen Core (Skylake)
- Intel 7th Gen Core (Kaby Lake)
- Intel 8/9th Gen Core (Coffee Lake)
- Intel 10th Gen Core (Comet Lake)
- Intel 12th Gen (Alder Lake)
- Intel 13th Gen (Raptor Lake)
- Intel 14th Gen (Raptor Lake Refresh)
- Intel 15th Gen (Lunar / Arrow Lake)
- Intel 6th Gen Core (Skylake X)
- Intel 8th Gen Core i3 (Cannon Lake)
- Intel Xeon / 10th Gen Core (Ice Lake)
- Intel Xeon (Cascade Lake)
- Intel Xeon (Cooper Lake)
- Intel 3rd Gen 10nm++ (Tiger Lake)
- Intel 4th Gen 10nm++ (Sapphire Rapids)
- Intel 5th Gen 10nm++ (Emerald Rapids)
- Intel 11th Gen (Rocket Lake)
Which family does my CPU belong to?
A useful website to learn more about your computer’s processor is WikiChip
Differences between the optimized and generic builds
The optimized version of Zen leverages Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2), a CPU instruction set that enhances performance for certain computational tasks. This instruction set is only available on modern processors.