The first AMD Zen 6 patch for the Linux kernel has been queued up for submission soon to the mainline kernel.

This first patch isn't exciting by itself but is kicking off the process for unblocking other AMD Zen 6 kernel patches to begin their trek to the upstream kernel ahead of AMD Zen 6 processors expected to debut in 2026.

This first patch is simply adding the synthetic feature flag of "X86_FEATURE_ZEN6" that other kernel patches can use for gating functionality by depending upon this feature flag if intended checking for Zen 6 CPU cores.

This X86_FEATURE_ZEN6 patch does confirm that Zen 6 CPUs will appear in the Family 1Ah (Family 26) like with Zen 5 processors. Zen 6 processors are Family 1Ah and Model IDs from 0x50 to 0x5f, 0x90 to 0xaf, and 0xc0 to 0xcf.

[1]The patch is queued up into tip/tip.git's "x86/urgent" branch. With it going the route of the "urgent" branch, it's likely to be submitted as part of "fixes" for the current Linux 6.15 cycle as opposed to waiting around for the Linux 6.16 merge window opening in a few weeks.

So while this X86_FEATURE_ZEN6 patch isn't particularly exciting by itself, it now opens the door for further AMD Zen 6 Linux kernel patches to come. Stay tuned to Phoronix to hear about more Linux changes coming for AMD Zen 6 that is sure to be very exciting upon the next-gen Ryzen and EPYC processors next year.



[1] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip.git/commit/?id=24ee8d9432b5744fce090af3d829a39aa4abf63f