AMD to release 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X in September for $749

AMD will release a 16-core Ryzen 3000 processor in September. The top model has a clock speed of 3.5GHz with a turbo of 4.7GHz. The TDP is 105 watts, just like the models with twelve and eight cores.

AMD’s CEO Lisa Su unveiled the 16-core processor during a press conference at the E3 game show. At the end of May, AMD already presented six CPUs in the Ryzen 3000 series, but a model with sixteen cores was missing, even though it was already clear that the Zen 2 architecture would make such a processor possible. According to Su, AMD has always had the intention to release the CPU with sixteen cores. The top model seems to have been kept in reserve for the presentation at E3.

The Ryzen 9 3950X will be released in September. That is two months later than the other CPUs in the Ryzen 3000 series. The top model runs at 3.5GHz and has a turbo speed of up to 4.7GHz. The maximum turbo speed when using all cores has not been disclosed. The processor uses the AM4 socket and works on motherboards with the new X570 chipset.

AMD also showed benchmarks in its E3 presentation comparing some of the new Ryzen processors to Intel counterparts of the same price. The Ryzen 3000 processors based on the Zen 2 cores perform in games about the same as the Intel CPUs, while they have more cores and therefore perform better in other programs.

AMD also announced that all new Ryzen 7 and 9 processors will now come with the Wraith Prism cooler with RGB lighting. The new Ryzen processors will be released on July 7, with the exception of the 16-core version that will have to wait until September.

AMD also announced two new Ryzen processors with integrated GPUs: the Ryzen 5 3400G and the Ryzen 3 3200G. Although the processors also fall into the Ryzen 3000 series in terms of naming, they are second-generation processors with Zen+ cores, which are still made on the 12nm process. The new apus are the successors of the Ryzen 5 2400G and the Ryzen 3 2200G. The new models have higher CPU and GPU clock speeds.

It is not yet known whether AMD will also make processors with igpus based on the Zen 2 architecture. Since AMD is now releasing new APUs in the 3000 series that are still being made at 12nm, it is likely that APUs with the new architecture will not come out in the short term.