AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation could be delayed until 2020

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX
Image credit: TechRadar

AMD’s next-generation Ryzen Threadripper high-end processors had previously been on the company’s roadmap for 2019, but they’ve now dropped off said official roadmap, so we could be looking at a delay here.

Techspot highlighted the latest incarnation of AMD’s consumer roadmap for this year, as provided to investors, which still flags 3rd Generation Ryzen processors coming in mid-2019 – but there’s no longer any mention of 3rd Generation Ryzen Threadripper on the roadmap (there was on the previous one).

While we can’t draw any firm conclusions about this, and AMD certainly hasn’t made any official comment, it would seem that unless this is some kind of a mistake – which seems unlikely to say the least – this could be an admission that the next mighty Threadripper CPUs won’t be arriving until 2020.

We’ve previously been expecting these chips to emerge in 2019, particularly given that the first and second Threadripper ranges were launched in August 2017 and 2018 respectively, so it would seem like the natural progression.

As for Ryzen 3rd Generation, it’s still on the roadmap as mentioned, and expected to launch in the third quarter, with a likely initial reveal at Computex later this month.

Feeling the squeeze?

As well as new 7nm Navi graphics cards also coming in Q3, don’t forget that AMD has 2nd Generation Epyc 7nm server processors which are entering volume production in that same quarter, and it’s possible that all this is putting the squeeze on Threadripper.

In other words, AMD may want to wait for a more opportune time and clearer window to launch 3rd Generation Threadripper, with the focus being on Epyc and consumer Ryzen 3000 for now, particularly given that yields and manufacturing processes may still need to be honed.

Ultimately, this is all speculation, though, and we’ll just have to wait and see. But the fact that we simply haven’t heard anything about new Threadripper chips, while 3rd Generation Ryzen, Epyc and Navi have been talked up a fair bit recently, would seem to be an indication that a delay is certainly a possibility.

When next-gen Threadripper does arrive, the hope is we might see a powerful beast of a CPU heading up the range – potentially a 64-core flagship, no less.

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).