AMD details Ryzen Threadripper pricing, availability and specs

AMD's high-end desktop (HEDT) Ryzen Threadripper processors are now available for pre-order ahead of retail availability starting August 10.

The enthusiast additions to the Ryzen range extend the reach of the Zen architecture from $109 for the Ryzen 3 1200 right the way up to $999 courtesy of the new Ryzen Threadripper 1950X. AMD's range-topping part has been on the cards for some time, as has the second-rung Ryzen Threadripper 1920X, and the manufacturer is now revealing some of the finer details including TDP and cache size, as well as confirmation of a third HEDT chip, the $549 Ryzen Threadripper 1900X, due August 31.

Introduced as high-power solutions for developers, content creators and mega-tasking gamers, the trio of Threadripper CPUs makes use of the new TR4 package and, as expected, carry a 180W TDP.

AMD's CPU product range has been transformed in the space of just five months and now features a dozen models encompassing every conceivable usage scenario. At the top of the stack, Ryzen Threadripper aims to restore innovation and excitement to the HEDT marketplace by offering more cores, threads, cache and PCIe lanes than the closest Intel alternative, at a lower or equivalent price point.

The arrival of Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and 1920X as the world's first 16- and 12-core desktop consumer processors reaffirms AMD's resurgence in the CPU arena, and a full ecosystem of supporting X399 motherboards is expected at launch. Compatible air and liquid coolers will be available from popular brands such as Corsair, Noctua and Cooler Master, and AMD has also confirmed that an adapter will be included in the Threadripper retail package to enable compatibility with a selection of existing Asetek-based all-in-one liquid coolers.

Turbo clock, unsurprisingly, is on par with the existing Ryzen 7 1800X at 4.0GHz, though AMD isn't yet ready to divulge details regarding Threadripper's XFR headroom which, going by other parts in the Ryzen range, could afford an extra 200MHz with a suitable cooler in place.

On paper, the Threadripper specification appears dominant alongside Intel's recently announced Core X Series range. With half-a-dozen extra cores, Threadripper 1950X claims to be 38 per cent quicker in Cinebench than the Core i9-7900X available at the same price point, though Intel's superior IPC performance will continue to give Core X processors an advantage in single-thread workloads.

Performance and power consumption will be scrutinised in great detail in the coming weeks, yet what really sets Ryzen Threadripper apart from the competition is the available feature set. Whereas Intel has historically chosen to deactivate certain processor capabilities for anything other than the range-topping part, AMD has ensured that all Ryzen Threadripper CPUs are multiplier unlocked and able to offer a full compliment of 64 PCIe lanes.

Plenty of cause for optimism, yet Threadripper's multi-die approach to CPU design does result in a few interesting characteristics. Details on how the chip combats latency to deals with particular workloads will be revealed in the weeks ahead, and we're intrigued to see how Threadripper fares with real-world workloads. Our benchmarks are about to begin in earnest, so check back on August 10 for the definitive HEXUS review.