AMD unveils second-generation Threadripper offering 32-core, 64-thread CPU on 12nm

A day after Intel trails 28-core Core i9, AMD goes more than one better

AMD's second-generation Threadripper workstation CPU will offer up to 32 cores and 64 threads, the company revealed at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan today.

The launch trumped Intel's keynote yesterday, which tantalisingly promised that Intel's forthcoming Core i9 CPUs would offer up to 28 cores and 48 threads.

The launch of the 32-core second-generation Threadripper came alongside a 24-core, 48-thread Threadripper 2. Both these parts will be sold alongside the first-generation Threadripper 1920X and Threadripper 1950X.

While Intel could only promise that its 28-core Core i9 CPU would be ‘coming soon-ish', AMD has been more specific: the second generation Threadrippers will be launched in the third quarter, which means that the devices could be available within a month.

Based on the Zen+ microarchitecture that AMD debuted with its more mainstream Ryzen 2 CPUs earlier this year, the Threadrippers will be manufactured to Globalfoundries' 12nm FinFET process.

The new Threadrippers will be compatible with the TR4 X399 motherboards AMD released last year, so enthusiasts can rip out their old Threadrippers and slot-in a new one, if they wish.

However, upgraders will need to examine their motherboard's spec sheet closely: the TDP of Threadripper 2 is specced at 250 watts, according to AMD, as against 180 watts for the first generation Threadrippers (and 65-95W for Ryzen and Ryzen 2 CPUs).

The new parts will clock at a base frequency of 3GHz, with a turbo frequency of 3.4GHz. Other specs, such as PCIe lane counts, should be the same as first-generation Threadrippers.

According to Anandtech, AMD is able to increase the core count by activating two of four cores on its Zeppelin dies.

"AMD's Zeppelin silicon has eight cores, and the first generation Threadripper uses two of them to get to the top-SKU of 16-cores. Inside the CPU however, there are four pieces of silicon: two active and two inactive.

"For this second generation of Threadripper, called Threadripper 2 or the Threadripper 2000-series, AMD is going to make these inactive dies into active ones, and substantially increase the core count," it explains.

AMD's Threadripper line-up, therefore, will now feature four parts - the existing Threadripper 1920X and Threadripper 1950X, and two new Zen+ Threadripper 2 parts: one featuring 24 cores and the other, the 32-core monster.