AMD is banking on the popularity and success of its third-generation Ryzen family by expanding the Ryzen 3000 series of chips with new silicon carrying the XT branding. Targeting gamers and PC enthusiasts, the AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT, Ryzen 7 3800XT, and Ryzen 5 3600XT promise to deliver faster boost frequencies while introducing the XT moniker for the first time to the Ryzen family. Previously, XT has only been used for AMD’s graphics cards.
Compared to the non-XT variant, the Ryzen 9 3900XT delivers up to a 4% increase in single-threaded performance, AMD claims, while being up to 40% more power efficient than the competition.
Like the current Ryzen 9 3900X, the XT model features a similar design with 12 cores and 24 threads. Both chips have the same 3.8 GHz base clock speed. However, the Ryzen 9 3900XT goes up to 4.8GHz with boost, which is 0.1GHz faster than the 3900X. The Ryzen 7 3800XT comes with eight cores and 16 threads and has a boost speed of 4.7GHz, while the Ryzen 5 3600XT has a design with six cores and 12 threads that can reach 4.5GHz boost speeds. If you need ultimate performance, you’ll still want to turn to AMD’s Threadripper processors.
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All of AMD’s XT series processors maintain compatibility with the company’s AM4 platform. AMD recommends an all-in-one cooling solution with a minimum 280mm radiator for optimal performance.
“Building upon the legacy established by the 3rd-gen AMD Ryzen processor family, the 3000XT Series processors elevate the world-class ‘Zen 2’ architecture with an optimized 7nm manufacturing process technology to offer higher boost frequency and increased performance at the same [thermal design power] of their Ryzen 3000 counterparts,” AMD said in a statement.
The new XT series will be available starting July 7. Pricing for the Ryzen 5 3600XT starts at $249. The Ryzen 7 3800XT will retail for $399 and the Ryzen 9 3900XT will cost $499. The 3000XT series are compatible with all Ryzen 3000-ready boards.
The introduction of the XT series comes at an interesting time for AMD. Though it had been previously reported that the company will launch its Ryzen 4000 CPUs later this year, DigiTimes suggested more recently that the launch had been postponed due to strong demand of the existing Ryzen 3000 line and little competition from rival Intel in the enthusiast space. The XT launch could be part of AMD’s strategy to squeeze more life out of its Ryzen 3000 series now that the 4000 series has been postponed.
AMD also announced its new A520 chipset that’s compatible with the AM4 socket. The AMD A520 motherboards will be available in August from partners like ASRock, Asus, Biostar, Colorful, Gigabyte, and MSI.