(Credit: PCMag)
AMD has aggressively pushed its workstation hardware to ever-higher performance levels for years, and the company hopes to do it all over again with new Zen 5-based Threadripper processors for workstations and home desktops.
Dropped during Computex 2025, these new chips augment AMD’s existing Zen 5-based Epyc portfolio by providing more performance and lower power ratings. A new Radeon AI Pro R9700 workstation graphics card will launch alongside these, the first based on AMD’s new RDNA 4 graphics architecture.
Epyc and Threadripper Receive the Zen 5 Upgrade
With the workstation and server markets hot in recent years, AMD didn’t hesitate to update its Epyc product line with models based on its new Zen 5 microarchitecture. The first of these was announced shortly after the Zen 5 made its debut, and several Zen 5-based Epyc processors shipped out last fall. However, AMD’s Threadripper line didn't get an update before this, and now will also receive the Zen 5 boon.
(Credit: AMD)AMD's new Threadripper processors aren’t intended to replace any of its Epyc CPUs; instead, these new chips augment the line with different SKUs featuring improved specs. For example, the top new CPU AMD announced is the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 9995WX, which has 96 CPU cores, 192 threads, a max boost clock of 5.4GHz, and a 350-watt (W) thermal design power (TDP) rating.
(Credit: AMD)Compared with the current top Epyc processors, like the AMD Epyc 9965, the Threadripper Pro 9995WX lags. This difference is because the Epyc 9965 has twice as many CPU cores, double the number of threads, and an unsurprisingly higher TDP of 500W. The Threadripper Pro 9995WX compares quite favorably with the AMD Epyc 9655. This CPU also has 96 cores and 192 threads, just like the Threadripper Pro 9995WX, but it has a lower boost clock of 4.5GHz and a 400W TDP.
On paper, at least this shows that the Threadripper Pro 999WX is a more alluring option over the Epyc 9965. The other new Threadripper Pro processors are all similar and tend to provide better overall specs than their closest Epyc counterparts.
Threadripper Consumer Returns With Zen 5
AMD also announced a series of Threadripper processors for home PCs. The most significant difference is that these processors do not support AMD Pro technologies, which are meant to provide greater security and stability features for AMD processors. Otherwise, their specs match those of models in the Threadripper Pro line.
(Credit: AMD)These processors are likely best suited for someone with heavy compute needs who doesn’t require the added security or stability that the AMD Pro technologies provide. If you do a lot of content creation or programming work from home or as a hobby, you sound like the target audience for the consumer-grade Threadrippers.
RDNA 4 Revs Up the AMD Radeon AI Pro R9700
AMD won't wait any longer to bring its new RDNA 4 architecture to workstations and servers either. The new AMD Radeon AI Pro R9700 is based on the RDNA 4 architecture and likely uses the same GPU core as AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 XT. AMD hasn’t confirmed this, but every generation we see the top AMD graphics chip end up in the top AMD workstation card, so it’s a safe bet.
(Credit: AMD)This would give the card 64 compute units, 4,096 stream processors, and 128 AI accelerators. AMD confirmed the R9700 would indeed have 128 AI accelerators, which makes using the same GPU as the RX 9070 XT all the more likely. It would also mean the card has a 256-bit wide memory interface. AMD didn’t report the clock speed that the R9700 would operate at, but it has 32GB of GDDR6 and a 300W TDP.
(Credit: AMD)According to AMD, leveraging that large 32GB memory pool, the R9700 can outperform Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5080 in several AI-related workloads. Of course, performance will vary between applications, but AMD’s reported performance numbers are impressive if true.
Coming Soon, But No Pricing for Now
(Credit: AMD)AMD intends to ship its Threadripper Pro, Threadripper, and Radeon AI Pro R9700 products in July 2025. At this time, we don’t have any idea how much these products will cost. The new Threadripper parts will likely be priced below their Threadripper Pro counterparts as they have fewer features, but their prices could still land just about anywhere.