Computex 2019 | AMD Ryzen 3rd generation signals deep trouble for Intel

AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su kicked off Computex 2019 with a highly anticipated keynote detailing about AMD's next generation datacenter, graphics, and client CPU products. Apart from showing a preview of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 GPU based on the latest Navi architecture, Dr. Su also showcased the latest Ryzen 3000-series 7nm mainstream desktop CPUs. The new Ryzen 3000-series are based on the Zen2 architecture and will be the first to offer support for PCIe Gen 4 standard.

AMD said that up to 15% IPC gains can be expected from Ryzen 3000 thanks to double the cache size and double the speed for floating point calculations. Dr. Su talked about three processors in the new series — two Ryzen 7s and a new Ryzen 9.

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X — 8C/16T with 4.4 GHz boost and 65W TDP

First up is the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X. This is an 8C/16T part with a 3.6 GHz base, a 4.4 GHz boost, and 36 MB L3 cache. The Ryzen 7 3700X is being pitted against the Intel Core i7-9700K (8 core vs. 8 core) where it was shown to have a 28% performance benefit in multi-core over the latter in Cinebench R20 whilst still maintaining comparable single-core performance. Another advantage of the 3700X is that it is able to achieve this performance with just 65W TDP compared to the 9700K's 95W thereby clearly proving the benefits of transition to a 7nm architecture. The Ryzen 7 3700X will retail for an MSRP of U$329.

AMD Ryzen 7 3800X — 8C/16T with 4.5 GHz boost and 105W TDP

Then, we have the AMD Ryzen 7 3800X. This is again an 8C/16T part with a 36 MB cache but with higher base and boost clocks than the 3700X (3.9/4.5 GHz). The 3800X increases the TDP to 105W to allow for the higher clocks. Compared to the 9700K, AMD demonstrated a multi-core performance uplift of 37% in Cinebench R20 and a 3% improvement in the single-core test.

Alongside the Cinebench R20 test, AMD also demonstrated the benefits of PCIe Gen 4.0 by comparing the performance of an Intel Core i9-9900K and NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti combo (PCIe 3.0) with an AMD Ryzen 7 3800X and Radeon RX 5700 running on PCIe Gen4 using 3DMark's upcoming PCIe Feature test. The AMD combo posted a huge 69% uptick in performance (25 fps) compared to Intel's PCIe Gen3 setup (14 fps). In effect, AMD is pushing for a composite Ryzen 7, Navi, and PCIe Gen 4 ecosystem than focusing just on individual processors. The Ryzen 7 3800X is all set to retail for an MSRP of U$399.

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X — 12C/24T with 4.6 GHz boost and 105W TDP

Finally, we have the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X — the flagship processor in the Ryzen 3000 lineup. The Ryzen 9 3900X is equipped with a staggering 12-core 24-thread configuration and offers 3.8 GHz base, 4.6 GHz boost, and a mammoth 70 MB L3 cache. When AMD briefly showed off the first Ryzen 3000 sample at CES 2019, it was evident that there was space to accommodate one more 6 or 8-core chiplet. The 3900X confirms that AMD indeed intended to make the best use of TSMC's 7nm manufacturing abilities. 

Interestingly, the 3900X is also rated at a 105W TDP. AMD showed off a Blender benchmark comparing the socket AM4 Ryzen 9 3900X with a US$1,200 165W Intel HEDT Skylake-X Core i9-9920X (12-core vs 12-core). The 3900X finished the rendering in about 32 seconds versus the 9920X's 38 seconds resulting in an 18% faster performance. In Cinebench R20, the 3900X gained an impressive 14% boost in single-thread and a 6% bump in multi-thread performance over the 9920X. Thanks to its enticing price of US$499, the Ryzen 9 3900X also stands to gain a competitive advantage over many HEDT CPUs in the market.

All Ryzen 3000-series CPUs can support 40 lanes of PCIe 4.0 connectivity on the X570 chipset and are slated to be available from July 7.

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