AMD announced two new HEDT CPUs in November as part of the third generation Ryzen Threadripper lineup: the 3970X and the 3960X, with 32-cores, 64-threads and 24-cores, 48-threads respectively. The Ryzen Threadripper 3970X has the same number of cores as the most powerful second generation Ryzen Threadripper, the 2990WX. While AMD are yet to officially unveil the flagship third-gen Ryzen Threadripper, the 3990X, its release has now officially been confirmed.
The Ryzen Threadripper 3990X is coming in 2020, as confirmed by Videocardz. This monster HEDT CPU will have 64 cores and 128 threads, which will effectively make it the most powerful consumer range CPU in history.
In this article we will discuss all that we know about the specs, the price and the release date of the Ryzen Threadripper 3990X.
Let’s get going!
Ryzen Threadripper 3990X: Specs
AMD hasn’t shared an awful lot about its flagship Threadripper yet. So far, all that we know is that the 3990X will have 64 cores and 128 Threads. This will make it the world’s first 64-core consumer HEDT CPU. The 3990X will have a total cache memory of 288MB and like it’s siblings, the 3970X and the 3960X, it will have a TDP (thermal design power) of 280W. While a lower TDP would definitely have been desirable, 280W seems reasonable considering the 3990X’s massive 64-core processing power.
AMD has already been knocking Intel out of the park in every class of CPUs. But with the 3990X, the company will definitely rise to a new height and could effectively dethrone Intel as the top CPU manufacturer in the world.
While there is nothing more we know about the Ryzen Threadripper 3990X yet, AMD are expected to announce its official specs, price and release date during CES 2020. CES 2020 will be held in Las Vegas between Tue, Jan 7, 2020 and Fri, Jan 10, 2020. We will keep you updated.
Ryzen Threadripper 3990X: Release Date
We weren’t even 100% certain if AMD was planning on releasing the 3990X until this revelation by Videocardz.
I saw it on a Chinese social media app pic.twitter.com/jDwP40Rz9E
— brolyx (@brolyx5) November 25, 2019
But as of now we know for sure that the 64C/128T Ryzen Threadripper 3990X is coming in 2020. AMD will most likely announce more details regarding the HEDT CPU during CES 2020.
If we look at AMD’s previous release cycles, if a product is announced at the beginning of the month, it will be released during the end of it. This was true for the most recent releases, like the Ryzen 9 3950X and the Ryzen Threadrippers 3960X & 3970X. They were revealed on November 7 and released later on November 25.
MSI’s leak
Rumors of the 3990X have been floating around for a while now and there have been previous leaks. Last month, around the same time the Third Gen Threadrippers were announced along with the latest chipsets, MSI had posted a video showcasing their TRX40 Creator motherboard. The video showed an unnamed Threadripper processor and a TRX40 motherboard hard at work. But then they opened the task manager. And in an instant it was clear to all hawk-eyed enthusiasts watching the video that the task manager showed 8 vertical tiles and 16 horizontal tiles. That equals a total of 128 Threads.
And there it was. The world’s first glimpse of the 64C/128T Ryzen Threadripper 3990X at work.
MSI later deleted the video.
Ryzen Threadripper 3990X: Price
Now this is a bit of a headscratcher. All initial estimates seem to be in agreement that the 64-core Ryzen Threadripper 3990X will have a price tag of $2999. This would make it the most expensive consumer CPU in history.
But could the 3990X really cost that much?
On the one hand, the 3990X is practically in the frontier. It has no competition in this market segment and AMD knows this very well. Intel are highly unlikely to rebrand their Xeon processors as a consumer HEDT, so for at least the next year or even more, AMD has total control over this market segment.
But could the price be as low as $2499?
The recently released Ryzen Threadrippers, the 3960X and the 3970X were priced at $1399 and $1999 respectively. So optimistically, the price for the 3990X could be set as low as $2499.
We will have to wait till CES 2020 to find out. We will keep you updated.
The Third Generation Ryzen Threadripper
2019 has truly been the year of AMD. With the release of their 7nm Zen 2 architecture based CPUs, they have effectively surpassed Intel as the best CPU manufacturers in the world. It wasn’t that long ago when everyone thought of Intel as being the better CPU makers and AMD as Intel’s cheaper and less powerful alternative.
AMD’s Rockstar CEO Lisa Su debunked any rumors regarding the future of the Threadripper during her recent keynote:
“You know. it’s very interesting, some of the things that circulate on the Internet. I don’t think we ever said that Threadripper was not going to continue. It somehow took on a life of its own on the Internet. You will see more [Threadripper] from us; you will definitely see more. If mainstream is moving up, then Threadripper will have to move up, up, and that’s what we’re working on.”
Third Gen
AMD released the first two Third-gen Threadrippers, the 3960X and the 3970X last month, in November. The senior vice president and general manager at AMD Client Compute, Saied Moshkelani, gave the following introduction in AMD’s official release note for the products:
“With our 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors, AMD is once again raising the performance bar significantly for creators, developers, and PC enthusiasts. 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper processors combine leadership performance and energy efficiency to create the ultimate high-end desktop solution. We are extremely excited to expand our leadership high-end desktop processor family and deliver the world’s fastest processors.”
In their release note, AMD compared the performance of the 3970X to it’s “competition” (possibly Intel’s Core i9-10980XE), claiming that the Threadripper outperforms it in all sorts of intensive workload:
- Cinebench R20 nT1: Up to 90% faster
- Adobe Premiere 4: Up to 47% better performance
- V-Ray 4: Up to 49% better performance
- Chromium Release 78 Compile 5: Up to 43% better performance
- Unreal Engine 5: Up to 36% better performance
AMD claims that the 3970X can deliver all this while also simultaneously achieving a 66% improvement in power efficiency.
In the following section, we will list the specs of all Threadripper SKUs currently offered by AMD.
Current Lineup of HEDT SKUs by AMD:
3rd Generation Threadripper
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
- Architecture: Zen 2
- Number of Cores: 32
- Number of Threads: 64
- Base Clock Speed: 7 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4.5 GHz
- Process Node: 7nm
- Socket: sTRX4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 4.0
- TDP: 280W
- Launch Date: Nov 25, 2019
- Current Price: $1,999
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X
- Architecture: Zen 2
- Number of Cores: 24
- Number of Threads: 48
- Base Clock Speed: 8 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4.5 GHz
- Process Node: 7nm
- Socket: sTRX4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 4.0
- TDP: 280W
- Launch Date: Nov 25, 2019
- Current Price: $1,399
2nd Generation Threadripper
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX
- Architecture: Zen+
- Number of Cores: 32
- Number of Threads: 64
- Base Clock Speed: 3 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4.2 GHz
- Process Node: 12nm
- Socket: sTR4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 3.0
- TDP: 250W
- Launch Date: Aug 13, 2018
- Current Price: $1,999
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX
- Architecture: Zen+
- Number of Cores: 24
- Number of Threads: 48
- Base Clock Speed: 3 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4.2 GHz
- Process Node: 12nm
- Socket: sTR4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 3.0
- TDP: 250W
- Launch Date: October, 2018
- Current Price: As little as $1000
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X
- Architecture: Zen+
- Number of Cores: 16
- Number of Threads: 32
- Base Clock Speed: 5 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4.4 GHz
- Process Node: 12nm
- Socket: sTR4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 3.0
- TDP: 180W
- Launch Date: Aug 31, 2018
- Current Price: As little as $650
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2920X
- Architecture: Zen+
- Number of Cores: 12
- Number of Threads: 24
- Base Clock Speed: 5 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4.3 GHz
- Process Node: 12nm
- Socket: sTR4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 3.0
- TDP: 180W
- Launch Date: October, 2018
- Current Price: As little as $500
1st Generation Threadripper
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X
- Architecture: Zen 1
- Number of Cores: 16
- Number of Threads: 32
- Base Clock Speed: 4 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4 GHz
- Process Node: 14nm
- Socket: sTR4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 3.0
- TDP: 180W
- Launch Date: Jul 31, 2017
- Current Price: As little as $500
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X
- Architecture: Zen 1
- Number of Cores: 12
- Number of Threads: 24
- Base Clock Speed: 5 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4 GHz
- Process Node: 14nm
- Socket: sTR4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 3.0
- TDP: 180W
- Launch Date: Jul 31, 2017
- Current Price: As little as $300
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1900X
- Architecture: Zen 1
- Number of Cores: 8
- Number of Threads: 16
- Base Clock Speed: 8 GHz
- Boosted Clock Speed: Up to 4 GHz
- Process Node: 14nm
- Socket: sTR4
- PCI Express Support: PCIe 3.0
- TDP: 180W
- Launch Date: Aug 31, 2017
- Current Price: As little as $250
