AMD’s Threadripper 3990x is still - sadly - the cheapest 64-core CPU you can buy

AMD’s flagship CPU saw a rise in price thanks to tight supply

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AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X - $3,949.99 at NeweggIf you have a task that requires sheer raw compute power, then there’s hardly anyone that can compete with the 3990X in this price range. AMD’s top Threadripper processor still packs a powerful punch despite being launched 20 months ago.

With new Zen 3 processors expected to be launched before the end of 2021,AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper 3990X, the firm’s mighty 64-core (128-thread) processor, has received an unwelcome price bump that pushed its price back to almost its original suggested retail price of $3,999.

Not bad for a product launched in February 2020. Newegg sells it - with a limit of two per customer - for $3949.99, far lower than Microcenter’s shocking $4999.99 price tag for the same product.

AMD can charge such astronomic prices because (a) it can (b) demand is booming while supply remains very tight (c)Intelhas yet to catch up (d) the Threadripper Pro 3995WX is even more expensive with a 50% premium.

That’s assuming, of course, you can make use of the serious multi-core performance on offer with this 64-core beast. The average consumer is unlikely to need this level of firepower, unless they’re into content creation,3D modellingorvideo editing.

The 3990X is based on AMD’s EPYC 7702P server processor (used in data centers) and supports ECC memory as well as PCIe 4.0. Its onboard cache (256MB) and TDP (280W) means it requires powerful cooling to get its 64 cores humming.

Note that while it can boost to up to 4.3GHz, its base clock speed is only 2.9GHz. It can also support up to four DDR4 channels (compared to eight for the EPYC 7702P).

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Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled inwebsite buildersandweb hostingwhen DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.

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