AMD will be announcing their next-generation Ryzen Threadripper 3000 series processors this week on 7th November, reports Videocardz. The report also includes all of the embargo dates which were set by AMD for their upcoming 3rd Gen Threadripper lineup.
AMD Next-Gen Ryzen Threadripper Enthusiast CPUs Being Announced on 7th of November
Packing tons of cores and double the threads, the first two installments of Ryzen Threadripper series left us all in shock and awe. The first generation Ryzen Threadripper series offered us an insane 16 core and 32 thread beast in the form of the Ryzen Threadripper 1950X, something that the HEDT market had never seen before, prompting Intel to release their own answer in the form of the Core i9-7980XE, an 18 core and 36 thread chip. But Intel's first spot in the core count race was short-lived with AMD releasing their second installment of the Threadripper lineup, featuring 32 cores and 64 threads on the Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor.
Once again, Intel tried to offer their best but couldn't keep up with the core count that AMD managed to deliver. Intel only managed to offer a 28 core and 56 thread chip known as the W-3175X. But once again, AMD won not only the core count war but the pricing war too since their 32 core chip was priced $1000 less compared to Intel's flagship part.
Now, AMD will be releasing their 3rd installment of the Ryzen Threadripper family. One which will offer stunning core counts of up to 64 cores and 128 threads along with 256 MB of cache and 128 PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes. But for those waiting for these high-end desktop processors, there's a little delay which I am sure most of you can manage since you have already waited a year since the last release.
According to Videocardz, the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors were originally planned to be announced today but that has changed. The latest announcement plans are now scheduled for the 7th of November which is this Thursday. The actual sales embargo is planned to lift at least two weeks later between 19th-25th November. This is around the same time Intel would also intro and launch their 10th Gen X-series processors which are aiming to deliver competitive pricing this time against AMD's lineup.
AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper Processor SKUs
| CPU Name | CPU Cores | CPU Thread | CPU Predecessor | Base Clock | Boost Clock | Cache | TDP | Price | Retail Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X/WX | 64 Core | 128 Thread | AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX (32 Core / 64 Thread) | 2.9 GHz | 4.3 GHz | 288 MB | 280W | $3990 US | 7th February 2020 |
| AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3980X/WX | 48 Core | 96 Thread | N/A | TBD | TBD | TBD | 280W | $2499-$2999 US | 2020 |
| AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X/WX | 32 Core | 64 Thread | AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX (24 Core / 48 Thread) | 3.7 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 144 MB | 280W | $1999 | 25th November 2019 |
| AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X | 24 Core | 48 Thread | N/A | 3.8 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 144 MB | 280W | $1399 | 25th November 2019 |
The embargo slide also shows that it would be the Ryzen Threadripper 3970X 32 core / 64 thread and the Ryzen Threadripper 3960X 24 core / 48 thread processors which will go on sale first. The Ryzen Threadripper 3990X 64 core / 128 thread processor will also be announced but only in the form of a teaser, just like the Ryzen 9 3950X which was kept in wraps while the rest of the Ryzen 3000 family was introduced. The Ryzen Threadripper 3990X processor will be fully unveiled and launched for retail in January 2020. In the meanwhile, AORUS has started posting teasers of their flagship TRX40 AORUS XTREME motherboard which features the sTRX4 socket for full compatibility with the new Ryzen Threadripper processors, you can learn more about the motherboard here.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Series CPUs - Here's What To Expect In Terms of Price, Specs, and Performance
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000 series family is internally known as “Castle Peak” and is stated to bring dominant leadership in the HEDT market. The family will prove to be a new watermark in performance and overall efficiency while new platform features will be introduced on the new and enhanced sTRX4 motherboards which are rumored to feature a revised socket and a new chipset
Currently, reports state that there will be two separate platforms for enthusiasts and workstation chips, the TRX40 and WRX80. The details of these platforms are listed below.
AMD TRX40 'Enthusiast' Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Processors
The TRX4 HEDT platform would feature quad-channel memory, UDIMM memory support with 2 DIMMs per channel and up to 256 GB of capacity per channel. This means that the platform will support up to 1 TB of memory. There would also be support for 64 Gen 4 PCIe lanes with 16 lanes switchable with the SATA interface. There also seems to be info regarding TDPs and we can also notice the segmentation here too. The Group 'A' series processors, which are the HEDT lineup for the TRX40 platform with 280W TDP, Tcase Max temperature of 60C and Tctl Max of 100C.
AMD WRX80 'Workstation' Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Processors
Now coming to the WRX80 series, we are looking at a pure workstation lineup. Even the processors built around this platform are spec'd similar to the EPYC 7002 variants, featuring 8-channel DDR4-3200 support in UDIMM, RDIMM, LRDIMM flavors. The platform would support 1 DIMM/channel featuring support for up to 2 TB of memory. There wouldn't be any OC support like the TRX40 series but you get 96-128 Gen4 PCIe lanes with 32 switchable lanes to SATA. The Group 'B' series processors which are the workstation lineup for the WRX80 platform will also feature a 280W TDP but different temperature range of Tcase Max temperature of 81C and Tctl Max of 100C.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper Generation Comparison:
| Family Name | AMD 1st Gen Ryzen Threadripper | AMD 2nd Gen Ryzen Threadripper | AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Architecture | Zen 1 | Zen+ | Zen 2 |
| Process Node | 14nm | 12nm | 7nm |
| Max CPU Cores | 16 | 32 | 64 |
| Max CPU Threads | 32 | 64 | 128 |
| PCIe Support | PCIe Gen 3.0 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | PCIe Gen 4.0 |
| Max PCIe Lanes | 64 | 64 | 72 |
| Max L2 Cache | 8 MB | 16 MB | 32 MB |
| Max L3 Cache | 32 MB | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Socket | TR4 | TR4 | sTRX4 |
| Chipset | X399 | X399 | TRX40, TRX80, WRX80 |
| Launch | 2017 | 2018 | 2019-2020 |
Considering that AMD would want to remain in a dominant position with the Threadripper 3000 series, we will be looking at some spectacular amounts of multi-threaded performance numbers which will only get better with the added clock speeds thanks to the 7nm process node. The CPUs will also be getting major core bumps, but AMD would like to keep prices close to current levels.
Some of the leaker performance benchmarks that we have seen so far (#1, #2, #3) put the 32 core variants up to 70% faster than the existing Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX 32 core chip with an average bump of 35% in performance.
AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su:
“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,” Su said, speaking to a small group of reporters following her keynote. “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.”
If we look at the trend with AMD's jump from Ryzen Threadripper 1000 to Ryzen Threadripper 2000, we saw that the new processors with core parity of the previous generation were priced around the same with a $200-$300 shaved off from their previous price tag. The 1950X became 2950X and cost $200 US less. The higher core count parts were at a different market tier entirely, costing north of $1200 US but at the same time, much cheaper than their Core-X competitors.
In terms of raw performance output, the new die layout remains to be tested, but since it is more refined over the previous two generations with a stronger interconnect between them, the cache and latency performance may end up giving a bigger boost to total system responsiveness. AMD will definitely be aiming for both LGA 2066 and LGA 3647 lines with their new chips. Intel has said that their upcoming Core-X series will offer a much better value proposition with 2x better perf per dollar compared to Skylake-X, but that remains to be seen in real-world benchmarks and reviews.
