AMD’s Threadripper CPUs return with a 96-core monster chip

theverge.com:

By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.

AMD is bringing its Threadripper CPUs back with two brand-new classes and two new chipsets. There’s a Pro series of Threadripper chips that are designed to be part of the very top workstations for professionals, and there’s a non-Pro series for high-end desktop (HEDT) PCs and “prosumers” who don’t need manageability features, eight-channel memory, or huge amounts of PCIe Gen 5 lanes.

Both the Pro and HEDT chips are based on AMD’s Zen 4 architecture, with access to the latest PCIe Gen 5 high-speed storage. At the very top of the Threadripper Pro chips is the 7995WX, which offers 96 cores and 192 threads, a max boost of 5.3GHz, up to 384MB of L3 cache, and 128 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. AMD is offering six Threadripper Pro chips, with the entry-level 7945WX shipping with 12 cores / 24 threads.

The Threadripper HEDT chips are the more realistic options for anyone working in design, manufacturing, architecture, engineering, and media. AMD will offer three Ryzen Threadripper chips here, but they won’t come cheap. The flagship 7980X offers 64 cores / 128 threads, a 5.1GHz boost, and 320MB total cache, all for an eye-watering $4,999. Here’s the full lineup:

If you’re considering a new Threadripper for a workstation, you’ll also have to think about what memory and motherboards to pair it with. Threadripper 7000-series chips will only support registered memory, so unbuffered dual in-line memory module (UDIMM) isn’t supported here.

AMD is introducing TRX50 motherboards for the HEDT chips and WRX90 motherboards for the Pro platform. Interestingly, the TRX50 motherboards