New powerful AMD Threadripper CPUs introduced

AMD has added three new powerhouses to its Ryzen CPU line up, namely the 3rd gen Threadripper 3960X (24 Cores), Threadripper 3970X (36 Cores) and Ryzen 9 3950X (16 Cores). All three are based on the chip maker’s 7nm Zen 2 architecture which has improved performance and power efficiency over previous generation processors.

Built for intensive workloads, the Threadripper chips boast 88 PCIe 4.0 lanes and 144MB cache. AMD claims that they are the fastest CPUs in the performance desktop market, which is quite a bold claim considering how competitive this market can be. A new socket called sTRX4 has been launched alongside these chips to improve their future scale-ability.

Compared to the second gen Threadrippers, these 3rd gen ones offer 4x more bandwidth for peripherals such as SSDs and GPUs. The news of a new socket will definitely infuriate those hoping for prolonged support for current hardware. But taken for what it is, TRX40 offers quad channel DDR4, up to 12 native USB 3.2, up to 20 SATA ports, 2×4 NVMe ports and a whole host of others.

For a better comparison, here are the specs of all three chips:
Threadripper 3960X: 24 cores/48 threads, 3.8GHz base clock/4.5GHz boost, 280W TDP ($1,399)
Threadripper 3970X: 32 cores/64 threads, 3.7GHz base clock/4.5GHz boost, 280W TDP ($1,999)
Ryzen 9 3950X : 16 cores/32 threads, 3.5GHz base clock/4.7GHz boost, 105W TDP ($749)

In addition to these processors, AMD also launched the Athlon 3000G, an unlocked 2 core/ 4 thread CPU with a frequency of 3.5GHz. This entrant is aimed at budget conscious segement of the market. It’s based on the Zen architecture and like Ryzen, is compatible with the AM4 platform. AMD claims that this processor is capable of productivity tasks and demanding gaming titles, though this has yet to be proven.