New AMD Ryzen Threadripper Has 32 Cores, 64 Threads

TAIPEI—AMD today showed off the second generation of its Threadripper CPUs for high-end desktops, which will be ready to purchase by the end of the year.

The most notable improvement for the second-generation chip is an increase in the maximum number of cores to 32. Threads also get a boost, up to a whopping 64 on the high end. Currently, the most powerful Ryzen Threadripper chip is the 1950X, which comes with 16 cores and 32 threads.

Like the current crop of second-gen Ryzen chips, the new Threadripper will be based on the 12nm Zen+ architecture. AMD decided not to change to a 10nm architecture for the second generation because it is working on a new Zen 2 architecture that will be based on a 7nm production process.

At Computex here, AMD CEO Lisa Su said the company's engineers have started testing the Zen 2 chips, and the first products based on them will be the second-generation Epyc CPUs for data center computing, which will arrive next year.

Other than the core and thread counts, AMD didn't share many more details about the second-gen Threadripper chips. The company did perform a demo on stage comparing the 32-core and 24-core versions with the Intel Core i9-7980XE. The 24-core Threadripper finished a 3D rendering of a video frame in 29 seconds, while the Intel chip hadn't finished by the time the demo was over.

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AMD also teased improvements to its Vega graphics chips. A new "nano" version of the Vega 56 graphics card made by PowerColor is now available for installation in smaller desktops, while an entirely new Vega architecture based on a 7nm production process will be available in server and workstation versions later this year.

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About Tom Brant

Deputy Managing Editor

I’m the deputy managing editor of the hardware team at PCMag.com. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of laptops, desktop PCs, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I’ve evaluated the performance, value, and features of hundreds of personal tech devices and services, from laptops to Wi-Fi hotspots and everything in between. I’ve also covered the launches of dozens of groundbreaking technologies, from hyperloop test tracks in the desert to the latest silicon from Apple and Intel.

I've appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rain forests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

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