Is there something better than the 3990x coming out next year?

[Basshunter]

With new CPUs to be released next year, I wonder if getting a 3990x right now is still the best choice.
Is there something better on the horizon?

[romullus]

I don't think you will see anything new to be released this year, maybe you meant next year? ;]

[Basshunter]

Yeah, I meant next year. I'll fix the thread.

[GraceKellyPerfect]

Yes, AMD will  release Threadripper 5995WX Pro in month or two. Same number of cores/threads but much more powerful Zen 3 cores. Should be atleast 25% more powerful overall.
As for Intel, they also plan to release their Sapphire Rapids HEDT cpu with up to 56c/112t. Intel current cores (Golden Cove) are even more powerful than anything AMD has at the moment so in theory Intel top Sapphire Rapids CPU might be even better than best 5000 series threadripper.

[Nejc Kilar]

Well, there's gossip about the Zen 3 Threadrippers coming out but apparently the leaker community is split on what we can expect - if anything at all. From the looks of it there might be Pro Threadrippers coming out like for example the 5995wx and the like but with those I'd personally expect a higher price tag - so the perf per dollar proposition might get worse. Especially so considering that the 3990x and 3995wx (Pro) have a grand and something between them already. If you don't need the Pro features (more PCI-E lanes is one thing) then I think the price tag might be quite steep.

Then again there seem to be some consensus that we might not get any Threadrippers at all until the next next gen. That's how it goes with "leaks" I guess, hard to plan things :)

Above is just my personal view and speculation obviously. It might just as well happen that we get Non-Pro Threadrippers that'll cost less than the current parts although I think we can all agree that in the current chip shortage climate that'd be kind of... Near impossible? :)

Just my 5 cents.

edit:
Not hearing much about Sapphire Rapids in early 2022 although I might be completely wrong. If these are planned for say Q3 and Q4 then they'll kind of have to compete with Zen 4 Threadrippers potentially and based on Zen 4 Epyc those _might_ go up to 96 cores but that's a problem for tomorrow. If Sapphire Rapids aren't scheduled for 1H 2022 then you know... It's a bit further down the road :)

[Nejc Kilar]

Aaaaand this is just in... https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-confirms-threadripper-pro-5000wx-series-through-sata-io-filing

So given the chatter it might actually be that we get Zen 3 Threadrippers in Q1 next year but if these are indeed going to be Pro models I think it might be smart to be thinking about a noticeable price increase compared to say a non-Pro 3990x.

[Basshunter]

So 3990x is still the choice for me I guess. Do you think is there any possibility that the price drops after the new AMD releases? It $6,000 right now in USA 😭

[hurrycat]

For some reason the prices have risen a lot recently, and availability in the 30 day territory. From ~2000€ a month ago to 2700€ for the 3970x.

[Nejc Kilar]

So 3990x is still the choice for me I guess. Do you think is there any possibility that the price drops after the new AMD releases? It $6,000 right now in USA 😭

Yas, I'm noticing pricing upticks in European stores as well although the cheapest 3990x deal I was able to find is still 4000€ which is on point with the MSRP (100€ more seems downright trivial compared to all the price hikes lately lol).

@Hurrycat
I wonder if that is because we're getting new parts and the old ones might get discontinued? Although that seems unlikely since there's only Pro Threadrippers seemingly coming out in the next 6 months.

On the topic of new Threadrippers, new leaks!
https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-threadripper-pro-5000-specifications-have-been-leaked

Based on the leak above the 5995wx will get 200mhz extra on the single core and -200mhz on the all core boost. I don't doubt it won't be faster than the 3990x but if I may think out loud the 3990x might still be completely competitive. Although it is true that we still don't know whether these will be Zen 3 parts or Zen 3 V-Cache parts plus who knows if the actual boost clocks will end up being like that anyway. Let's see if they really do unveil these at CES :)

edit:
Didn't properly read the specs. If those leaks are true then these aren't fitted with V-Cache, not that it should matter much because it's been widely speculated it wouldn't help much outside of gaming and a few niche(r) tasks.