AMD will release Threadripper 3990X with 64 cores next year

AMD will add a third Threadripper 3000 processor to its lineup in 2020. It is the 3990X with 64 cores. The price is not yet known and it is also unclear when the chip will be released. AMD will release the 3960X and 3970X on Monday, CPUs with 24 and 32 cores.

The Threadripper 3990X gets 288MB cache. That is twice as much as the 3970X which has 32 cores and so the amount of cache per core is the same. The tdp is also the same at 280W. AMD isn’t giving details on clock speeds yet, but it’s likely that the 3990X will get a maximum clock speed similar to that of the 3970X and 3960X. The number of cores is not a limitation on the maximum clock speed in AMD processors due to the multi-chiplet construction. The base clock, the speed the processor achieves with all cores active, will probably be lower than that of the models with fewer cores.

According to AMD, the Treadripper 3990X with 64 cores works just like the 24 and 32 core variants on the TRX40 motherboards. Earlier, it was rumored that a TRX80 motherboard would be required for the 64-core processor. Those motherboards would have eight memory channels. It is theoretically possible that such motherboards will come, but AMD has not yet commented on it. The current chipset and socket support at least the 3990X processor.

AMD says it will provide more details about the Threadripper 3990X in the coming months. For now, the manufacturer only lets you know that the processor will be released next year. When that will be and how much the CPU will cost is not yet known.