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AMD’s 2nd-gen Ryzen Threadripper 2950X Hits Store Shelves Today
It might be a little depressing that we’re leaving summer behind to head into September, but AMD has some good news to lighten the mood: its 2nd-gen Ryzen Threadripper 2950X is now available. As promised, it’s priced at $899, which is $100 less than the 1950X’s original price tag when it launched last year.
If you’ve read or watched our review of the new Threadrippers, there’s nothing to be surprised over now. While the focus in our launch article was largely on the 32-core 2990WX, the 16-core 2950X proved to be a nice upgrade over the chip it’s replacing.
If you already have a 1950X, there’s no reason at all to upgrade to the 2950X. It’s largely a speed-boost upgrade, but adds 2nd-gen Ryzen perks like Precision Boost 2, and StoreMI. It also supports the new Precision Boost Overdrive, which will allow overclockers to eke even more performance out of the chip by giving it unlimited power (OK, it’s not really unlimited, but it’ll be sufficient).
Overall, though, speed-boosts can either be interesting, or boring. Often, they’re boring, but with the 2950X, I actually found myself surprised at the gains. On paper, a 100MHz boost doesn’t suggest very large gains, but other 2nd-gen optimizations apparently help it inch just that much further ahead.
| AMD’s Current-gen Ryzen Processor Lineup | ||||||
| Cores | Clock (Turbo) | L2+L3 | Memory | TDP | Price | |
| Threadripper WX-series | ||||||
| 2990WX | 32 (64T) | 3.0 GHz (4.2) | 16+64MB | Quad | 250W | $1799 |
| 2970WX | 24 (48T) | 3.0 GHz (4.2) | 12+64MB | Quad | 250W | $1299 |
| Threadripper X-series | ||||||
| 2950X | 16 (32T) | 3.5 GHz (4.4) | 8+32MB | Quad | 180W | $899 |
| 2920X | 12 (24T) | 3.5 GHz (4.3) | 6+32MB | Quad | 180W | $649 |
| Ryzen 7 | ||||||
| R7 2700X | 8 (16T) | 3.7 GHz (4.3) | 4+16MB | Dual | 105W | $329 |
| R7 2700 | 8 (16T) | 3.2 GHz (4.1) | 4+16MB | Dual | 95W | $299 |
| Ryzen 5 | ||||||
| R5 2600X | 6 (12T) | 3.6 GHz (4.2) | 3+16MB | Dual | 95W | $219 |
| R5 2600 | 6 (12T) | 3.4 GHz (3.9) | 3+16MB | Dual | 65W | $189 |
| R5 1600X | 6 (12T) | 3.6 GHz (4.0) | 3+16MB | Dual | 95W | $219 |
| R5 1600 | 6 (12T) | 3.2 GHz (3.6) | 3+16MB | Dual | 65W | $189 |
| R5 1500X | 4 (8T) | 3.5 GHz (3.7) | 2+16MB | Dual | 65W | $174 |
| R5 1400 | 4 (8T) | 3.2 GHz (3.4) | 2+8MB | Dual | 65W | $169 |
| Ryzen 3 | ||||||
| R3 1300X | 4 (4T) | 3.5 GHz (3.7) | 2+8MB | Dual | 65W | $129 |
| R3 1200 | 4 (4T) | 3.1 GHz (3.4) | 2+8MB | Dual | 65W | $109 |
| Ryzen w/ Radeon Vega Graphics | ||||||
| R5 2400G | 4 (8T) | 3.6 GHz (3.9) | 0.5+4MB | Dual | 65W | $169 |
| R3 2200G | 4 (4T) | 3.5 GHz (3.7) | 0.5+4MB | Dual | 65W | $99 |
The 32-core 2990WX is without question a niche product. It’s not suggested for anyone who plans to take gaming seriously. For those who can actually take regular advantage of 32-cores and 64-threads, it’s a great choice. But for those high-end enthusiasts who want the best of both worlds, that’s where the 2950X comes in. It still offers solid gaming performance, but also gives you enough cores to tear through complicated workloads. For those who weigh gaming above everything else, Ryzen 7, or especially Intel’s Core i7-8700K, would make for better choices.
It’s hard to believe that a mere 16 months ago, the biggest enthusiast desktop CPU was a 10-core part. And now, we’re seeing the second release of a 16-core AMD chip. I can’t help but love the amount of action going on in the CPU market right now.
Rob Williams
Rob founded Techgage in 2005 to be an 'Advocate of the consumer', focusing on fair reviews and keeping people apprised of news in the tech world. Catering to both enthusiasts and businesses alike; from desktop gaming to professional workstations, and all the supporting software.
