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AMD's 16-Core Ryzen 9 3950X Chip Gets Delayed to November

The good news is that AMD has confirmed a third-generation Threadripper chip is also arriving in November. However, it'll land with 24 cores, not 32, as some might have hoped.

 & Michael Kan Principal Reporter

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PC gamers waiting for AMD's 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X chip will need to hold out a little longer. The company is pushing back the processor's release date from this month to November.

On Friday, AMD said it's currently preoccupied with "meeting the strong demand" for third generation Ryzen processors already in the market. The Ryzen 9 3900X, for instance, was launched in July to rave reviews, but retailers have struggled to keep the product in stock. What should be a $499 processor can now be found on sale for over $880 via online third-party dealers. To manufacture the silicon, AMD relies on Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC.

Amd Threadripper

There is some good news though. The company officially confirmed a third-generation Threadripper chip is in development, and will arrive in November as well. However, it won't be a 32-core behemoth that some leaks previously suggested it might be. Instead, the upcoming Threadripper processor will run only on 24 cores.

The chipmaker teased the new Threadripper in a photo, but refrained from offering any other details such as pricing. "We are confident that when enthusiasts get their hands on the world's first 16-core mainstream desktop processor and our next-generation of high-end desktop processors, the wait will be well worth it," AMD added.

AMD has dubbed the Ryzen 9 3950X as the "world first 16-core gaming CPU." It will feature 32 threads, a base 3.5 GHz clock speed, which can boosted to 4.7 GHz, and 72MB of total cache. Expect it to arrive for $749.

Meanwhile, the company's second-generation Threadripper chip line was priced from $649 up to $1,799 when it launched a year ago.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

  • My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
  • I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
  • The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
  • Xbox 360 FTW
  • The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
  • The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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