Today, AMD introduced the third-generation of Ryzen Threadripper processors for creative professionals, starting at a whopping $1399. But if you don't need that much power, AMD also announced
the release date for the Ryzen 9 3950X CPU, which was announced in June and later delayed.
As the top-tier offering in the Ryzen lineup, the Ryzen 9 3950X has 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock speed of 3.5GHz that can boost up to 4.7GHz. It has 72MB of cache and 44 PCIe lanes in conjunction with an X570 motherboard. The TDP matches the Ryzen 9 3900X at 105W.
Just like the new Threadripper CPUs, the new AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is coming on November 25, and it will cost $749 - a significant step up from the 12-core 3900X, which cost $499 when it was announced.
For "mainstream" desktop computers, AMD also announced a new Athlon processor today, the Athlon 3000G. It's the first Athlon processor based on the Zen architecture that can be overclocked, and it also comes with Radeon Vega 3 graphics. It has two cores and four threads running at 3.5GHz. The TDP is just 35W and it will cost $49 when it launches on November 19.
Lastly, AMD announced a fascinating new platform feature called ECO Mode. Applicable to all socket AM4 processors that have "Zen 2" CPU cores (Ryzen 5 3500 and above), ECO Mode is essentially a cTDP (configurable TDP) implementation for the desktop platform. You flick a toggle in Ryzen Master, and the processor's TDP is capped at 65 Watts on-the-fly. So when not gaming or doing serious work, you can turn on ECO Mode and ensure your processor never draws more than 65 Watts. For the mighty Ryzen 9 3950X, ECO Mode offers 77 percent performance, but 44 percent lower power-draw, and 7C lower temperatures.
