AMD Ryzen 9 3950X Might Be Available Without Stock Cooler

By Zhiye Liu
published

A new OPN (Ordering Part Number) for the Ryzen 9 3950X processor, which has been delayed until November, suggests that AMD will offer the flagship chip with and without the AMD Wraith Prism cooler.

(Image credit: AMD)

Intel, for instance, has stopped including stock coolers for its unlocked Core i5, i7, and i9 processors for a while now. The general reasoning is that if you have the budget for a high-end chip, you most likely won't be using it with a stock cooler. However, a stock cooler still holds its value like when you need it to stand in the event that your aftermarket cooling solution fails and you need to RMA it. Unlike Intel, AMD might give its future Ryzen 9 3950X customers a choice to pick up the chip with the stock cooler or not.

(Image credit: Jumbo Computer Supplies)

The regular Ryzen 9 3950X, which is listed with the 100-100000051BOX OPN on AMD's website, comes with the fancy AMD Wraith Prism RGB cooler. The 16-core, 32-thread part is rated with a 105W TDP (thermal design power), so the Wraith Prism should be more than capable of keeping its operating temperatures under control.

If you don't plan on using AMD's stock cooler, the Ryzen 9 3950X that comes without the Wraith Prism cooler carries the 100-100000051WOF OPN, where the "WOF" suffix means without a fan.

AMD has already revealed that the Ryzen 9 3950X will have a $749 MSRP. It'll be interesting to see how the chipmaker prices the Ryzen 9 3950X without the Wraith Prism cooler. If the price difference is significant enough, consumers would definitely opt for the latter. Meanwhile, a Chinese retailer has listed the Ryzen 9 3950X that doesn't come with the cooler for 6,380 HKD (Hong Kong Dollars), which roughly translates to $814.

As per usual for these types of listings, these could just be placeholder values, so take the pricing with a grain of salt.

Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Gurg
    All the testing TH has done trying to get the AMD CPUs to perform up to their advertised boost has been done on at least an H115i closed loop cooler while TH gushed over AMD including the $43 Wraith Prism cooler in its CPU reviews.
    Reply
  • Alex/AT
    Pretty understandable, I wonder if there is anyone at all who wants to run 3950X with middle grade stock cooler. It is top CPU which would be utilized as such even in stock config, so decent cooling is mandatory.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    Intel, for instance, has stopped including stock coolers for its unlocked Core i5, i7, and i9 processors for a while now.

    Slight correction, the K series do not include a cooler. Per Newegg the normal 9700 for example has a stock cooler and fan.

    Gurg said:
    All the testing TH has done trying to get the AMD CPUs to perform up to their advertised boost has been done on at least an H115i closed loop cooler while TH gushed over AMD including the $43 Wraith Prism cooler in its CPU reviews.

    To be fair unless testing the stock coolers performance, TH never uses it. In order to give the CPU the best chance performance wise.

    However I agree that not including it is the best way to go. Very few enthusiasts will utilize it. Although it is a decent stock cooler its still no match for after market designs.
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    jimmysmitty said:
    Slight correction, the K series do not include a cooler. Per Newegg the normal 9700 for example has a stock cooler and fan.
    Article said:
    Intel, for instance, has stopped including stock coolers for its unlocked Core i5, i7, and i9 processors for a while now.
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    Gurg said:
    All the testing TH has done trying to get the AMD CPUs to perform up to their advertised boost has been done on at least an H115i closed loop cooler while TH gushed over AMD including the $43 Wraith Prism cooler in its CPU reviews.
    Err, what does this have to do with this article?
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    TJ Hooker said:

    Ahhh brain fart. Did not see that word for some reason.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    AMD could be paper-launching the fanless model in order to quietly raise the price, possibly due to the TSMC supply constraints that delayed the processor in the first place.

    I could see them charging $800 for the model with fan, $750 for the fanless so they can technically meet that initial promise.
    They all they would have to do is make nearly every processor they sell be a model that includes a fan. Most people won't even realize the switchup if they print a box and send a few hundred fanless models (that they were always going to give away free) to reviewers and whoever they sponsor on youtube. AMD can always point to overwhelming demand as the reason that model spends the rest of the year out of stock.

    That sounds like something a cynical Intel executive would do. Did AMD poach any of their non-technical "top talent" businessmen this year?

    There's also a chance they increase margins by selling the fanless model at a lower price -but not lower than the cost to include the fan- and sell most of their stock with out the fan. So if it costs them $20 to include the fan, they lower the price by $5. Or maybe AMD will just price them all the same like Intel did when they disabled integrated graphics.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    Giroro said:
    AMD could be paper-launching the fanless model in order to quietly raise the price, possibly due to the TSMC supply constraints that delayed the processor in the first place.

    I could see them charging $800 for the model with fan, $750 for the fanless so they can technically meet that initial promise.
    They all they would have to do is make nearly every processor they sell be a model that includes a fan. Most people won't even realize the switchup if they print a box and send a few hundred fanless models (that they were always going to give away free) to reviewers and whoever they sponsor on youtube. AMD can always point to overwhelming demand as the reason that model spends the rest of the year out of stock.

    That sounds like something a cynical Intel executive would do. Did AMD poach any of their non-technical "top talent" businessmen this year?

    There's also a chance they increase margins by selling the fanless model at a lower price -but not lower than the cost to include the fan- and sell most of their stock with out the fan. So if it costs them $20 to include the fan, they lower the price by $5. Or maybe AMD will just price them all the same like Intel did when they disabled integrated graphics.

    Disabling the IGP doesn't drop the base cost of the silicon as its still there and most likely was a CPU where the IGP either didn't work or was not functioning properly to pass their stress tests, Intel has some pretty high standards for passing. Although they should have dropped the price a bit.

    However what they are doing is what any business would do, especially since AMD is targeting enthusiasts and knows their stock cooler probably will not keep the CPU happy enough to reach the targeted boost speeds, especially 16 cores.
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    jimmysmitty said:
    Disabling the IGP doesn't drop the base cost of the silicon as its still there and most likely was a CPU where the IGP either didn't work or was not functioning properly to pass their stress tests, Intel has some pretty high standards for passing. Although they should have dropped the price a bit.
    Disabling part of the die should increase yields, and increased yields means the average cost per die should go down.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    TJ Hooker said:
    Disabling part of the die should increase yields, and increased yields means the average cost per die should go down.

    Yes and no. These were probably dies that didn't pass due to faulty IGPs and originally were not going to be sold. I don't disagree that costs should have gone down to put some incentive to buying it, although most people who did buy a top end CPU probably also would buy a top end board a lot of which don't even support the IGPU anyways.
    Reply