Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is racing ahead with the introduction of the latest processors that boasts more cores, improved architecture, enhanced performance, and higher clock speeds. The company introduced Zen 2 Ryzen processors (3rd generation), giving stiff competition to its rival Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC).
Ryzen 9 3900x chips
Advanced Micro’s mainstream 16 and 12 core Ryzen 9 3950X and 3900X chips compete with Intel’s i9-9900 series processors in terms of thread count. It grabs a large chunk of the workstation and gaming markets from Intel. To stay in the race, Intel introduced Cascade Lake i9-10980X CPUs at half the price ($999) of its earlier 9980XE model. Advanced Micro’s 3950X CPUs cost only $750 and match with the performance of Intel i9-10980X in several tests.
Bad news for Intel from Threadripper processors
High-end desktop chips – 24-core 3960X and 32 core 3970X offer better performance in 3D and video when compared to i9-10980X, the latest processor of Intel. With the launch of high-end CPUs, Advanced Micro made several of Intel’s Xeon CPUs obsolete. However, Advanced Micro is yet to launch its much-touted Threadripper 3990X, the 64-bit processors. Though Intel holds an edge in the gaming space, it will soon erode its market share with Advanced Micro progressing with the launch of Zen 3 processors.
Advanced Micro progressed at a significant pace after it launched Zen architecture more than three years back. Intel’s i7-6900 that costs $1,100 seemed to have all the cores to satisfy your needs at that time. Advanced Micro made Intel sweat with the launch of Ryzen 7 1800, an 8 core chip, at just $499, which is less than half the price of i7. It later unveiled Threadripper 1950X with not less than 16 cores. Though Intel introduced an 8 core chip already, its price is $1,999. Advanced Micro is relentlessly working to close the gap in the workstation market and making a dent in the profits of Intel.
Advanced Micro introduced the 32-core Threadripper 2990X at $1799 that offers performance on par with Intel’s 28-core Xeon W-3175X, the best workstation chip that costs $3,000. Intel has launched i9-9980XE several months later at $2,000 to offer better performance for applications like gaming and Adobe Creative Suite when compared to Ryzen 7 or Threadripper chips of Advanced Micro.
Intel still leads the race with the launch of Coffee Lake Refresh Chips (ninth generation), and its i9-9920X, i9-9900K chips, are still popular. It will also unveil Ice Lake Chips before the end of this year.
