AMD Continue Assault On Intel, Unveiling 16-Core Gaming CPU

American chip maker AMD has announced an ultra-efficient 16-core 7nm gaming CPU, just weeks after shirt-fronting Intel with a range of new processors at Computex.

AMD unveiled the new chip at its Next Horizon Gaming event ahead of the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles this week.

The company claims its new Ryzen processor targeted at gamers is faster, more efficient, and cheaper than comparable Intel offerings.

The Ryzen 9 3950X has a claimed thermal design power of 105 watts, well below the 165W of Intel’s 16-core processors.

Unlike Intel, AMD’s new chip uses the same AM4 motherboard socket introduced in 2016 as the rest of its Ryzen chips, making it an easy upgrade for existing AMD users.

AMD claims a 3.5GHz base clock that boosts up to 4.7 GHz, with 32 threads and a 72MB cache.

The company claims the 3950X is the world’s first 16-core “gaming CPU”.

AMD already made 16-core and even a 32-core, 64 thread CPU under its “Threadripper” label, but it reportedly underwhelmed in its gaming performance and was geared more towards creative tasks using demanding software.

While the “gaming CPU” qualifier may be more market positioning than actual innovation, the large cache and high clock speeds are expected to provide noticeable improvements for gamers.

AMD also claims the new chip will allow better live-streaming of games via Twitch when compared with Intel processors.

The Ryzen 9 3950X is expected to release in the United States in September for US$749.

Local pricing and release is still to be confirmed.