What some may find to be the most compelling processor option among AMD's second generation Ryzen Threadripper lineup, the Threadripper 2950X, is now available to purchase. Should you buy it, though? That depends on what you use your system for.
The Threadripper 2950X wields 16 cores and 32 threads to throw at CPU intensive workloads. It has a 3.5GHz base clock, 4.4GHz boost clock, and 32MB of L3 cache. And of course it sports all of the architectural optimizations inherent in AMD's "Zen+" microarchitecture.
High end desktop (HEDT) chips are mainly primed for content creation chores and various professional tasks that hammer the CPU. For gaming, there isn't much to be gained from going with a Threadripper chip (or Core i9) instead of a less expensive second generation Ryzen processor or Coffee Lake CPU.
That said, the Threadripper 2950X is a compelling option among the various HEDT options. Priced at $899, it comes in $100 less than what the previous generation Threadripper 1950X launched at last year.
The Threadripper 2950X is one of four announced second generation Threadripper SKUs. As of this moment, though, the 32-core/64-thread Threadripper 2990WX is the only other one available.
Compared to that chip, the Threadripper 2950X offers half the cores/threads, and costs half as much. Incidentally, AMD also recently slashed its first generation Threadripper pricing. If you're in the market for a Threadripper chip, now is a good time to go shopping.
You can find the Threadripper 2950X on Amazon and Newegg. Note that the CPU does not come with a cooler.
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