PC enthusiasts have been facing an all too familiar problem with supplies of the new AMD Ryzen 5000 processors. The first of the 7nm Zen 3 Vermeer CPUs have been snapped up by eager PC builders and upgraders, and that has lead, predictably, to little or no availability at PC components retailers. We saw the same sad story unfold with Nvidia RTX 30 Series graphics cards – but is it the same – was Ryzen 5000 a 'paper launch'? AMD Chief Architect of Gaming Solutions & Marketing, Frank Azor, says no – and there are encouraging statements about stocks from retailers too.
Back in September, Azor replied to a Tweet taunt suggesting that AMD's upcoming products would be 'paper launches' similar to the Ampere GeForce graphics cards. Azor publically accepted a $10 wager, assuring many that any upcoming AMD products would be available to buy without too much effort.
Fast forward to the launch of the first AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and many enthusiasts were left in queues, waiting lists and so on – unsatisfied but ready to part with their hard earned cash. On Sunday the lack of availability caused one Twitter user to chirp that the CPU launch actually was "a paper launch though". The AMD exec took exception to this by explaining that "There's a big difference between a "paper launch" and shipping tons of units but demand exceeds supply."
Azor's point is debatable, and will probably be judged on how well supplies are replenished over the coming week or two. One of the UK's biggest computer and components retailers, Scan, provides some indication of the scale of supply AMD needs to satisfy in order to ensure this isn't remembered as a paper launch.
Joining its Nvidia RTX 30 Series Status pages, Scan has created a new tab for AMD Ryzen 5000 Series processors. At the time of writing it has approx 2,600 pre-order customers patiently awaiting stock. The table should update shortly.
Scan provides some interesting background to its Vermeer sales experience. It said that this was the "fastest selling CPU launch we have ever seen," and other UK retailers experienced the same. Looking forward, the retailer says that "AMD assures us that there is lots of stock coming through over the next 2 weeks so we will update this table each time we get more information". Scan operates a pre-order queuing system.
The next big PC component launch for your calendars will be another AMD one: the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (XT) graphics cards are set to be released on Wednesday 18th November, with the RX 6900 XT to follow on the 8th December.
