The 16-core AMD Ryzen 3950X will be available on November 25th, alongside 3rd Gen Threadripper processors. Rounding off the 3rd Gen Ryzen family, the Ryzen 9 3950X, first announced at E3, comes equipped with the highest clock speeds and core count of the entire lineup to date, which AMD says will make it the best gaming CPU it’s ever made.
Initially the Ryzen 9 3950X had been planned for earlier in the year, but was delayed in September as the company focused on “meeting the strong demand” for its existing Ryzen 3000 processors. The wait is soon to be over, however, and this AM4-compatible chip will soon be available for purchase at $749.
The Ryzen 9 3950X will feature a boost clock of up to 4.7GHz, and a base clock of 3.5GHz across its 16 cores. It comes equipped with a total of 64MB of L3 cache, split across its twin, eight-core a piece, CCD chiplet layout. It will also support PCIe 4.0 as is the standard across all Ryzen 3000 processors when paired with an X570 motherboard.
Just a word of warning to all would-be owners, you’ll need to update your BIOS to AGESA 1.0.0.4 in order for the Ryzen 9 3950X to operate. And you’ll need to provide your own cooler as there’s not one in the box with this behemoth chip.
Also launching on November 25, 2019 will be AMD’s HEDT Zen 2 offering, 3rd Gen Threadripper. With up to 32 cores of 7nm chiplet power today, these processors are set to take on Intel’s newly-renewed Intel Cascade Lake processors. Intel’s 10000-series chips recently launched with a severe price cut to pre-existing models, and that’s once again set to revitalise the competition with AMD’s existing and upcoming Threadripper chips.
The AMD Threadripper 3970X features 32 cores and 64 threads, a boost clock of 4.5GHz, a base clock of 3.7GHz, and 144MB of cache. This will set you back $1,999, although you will need to pick up a new motherboard that supports the sTRX4 socket in order to use it.
There’s also the $1,399, 24-core 3960X, a slightly cheaper option with near-enough as much CPU grunt as its bigger sibling.
Both Threadripper chips feature 88 PCIe lanes, and utilise the full compliment of four Zen 2 CCDs with varying core counts switched on per CCX within.
Last, but certainly not least, AMD has announced a brand new 3000-series Athlon chip, the AMD Athlon 3000G. This unlocked chip features just two cores and four threads, but will clock to 3.5GHz and will be available from November 19, 2019 for just $49.