AMD Threadripper processor: 16 cores, awesome name
Threadripper. Aggressive tailor or a murderer who preys on lone women in the East End and uses a garrote? Well, neither. Threadripper is the name given to AMD’s latest beast of a CPU (central processing unit).
AMD has finally unveiled its 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen CPU that will take on Intel’s recently leaked Core i9 in one of its key markets: high-end desktop CPUs.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper
The Ryzen Threadripper has now gone official and is backed by a release date. AMD say that the Zen-based CPU will arrive by summer of 2017.
The company seems to want to get the jump on Intel who are planning to announce their new 12-core Core i9 chip and new X99 HEDT (high-end desktop) platform very soon – possibly at Computex.
AMD has yet to show its full hand though. Intel and AMD generally have different strengths. AMD chips are usually better at multi-threaded-friendly tasks like video editing or motion graphics, whereas, Intel is the go-to brand for gaming.
AMD’s other strength, however, is pricing. Intel’s current flagship desktop chip, the 10-core i7-6950X Extreme Edition, costs over $1,700.
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AMD has revealed that the chip, which uses the current 14-nanometer Zen architecture, is also coming with an all-new HEDT platform. This includes expanded memory and bandwidth. “Ryzen Threadripper is targeted at the absolute ultra high-end of performance in
According to AMD Senior VP Jim Anderson
Ryzen Threadripper is targeted at the absolute ultra high-end of performance in desktop,”
AMD Graphics
As for graphics, AMD will soon ship its first board based on Vega architecture, the follow-on to Polaris. This is expected sometime in June this year.
However, the first model, the Radeon Vega Frontier Edition, is aimed at data scientists and engineers rather than enthusiasts or gamers.
That doesn’t mean that regular consumers are being overlooked. The next-gen quad-core, 8-thread Ryzen mobile chips, pitched as being launched in the second half of 2017, will integrate Vega graphics and offer 50% better CPU performance, 40% better graphics and half the power consumption.
Good news
AMD is really stepping up to Intel by the looks of things. This can only be good news for us. Not only will this give consumers more options but it’s likely to drive down chip prices overall.
More news about the AMD and Intel chips as I get it.
