AMD shared its official pricing with us for its Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-series processors, at the same time effectively marking the end of what we would consider the company's traditional HEDT lineup — AMD isn't releasing non-Pro Threadripper processors anymore, and Threadripper Pro pricing is far out of reach for the overwhelming majority of enthusiasts.
AMD originally announced the Threadripper Pro chips back in March, and as usual for this series of chips, they came exclusively in Lenovo's OEM ThinkStation systems. As such, AMD didn't release chip pricing. Last week AMD announced the Pro chips would come to other OEMs later this year and that they would come to retail as a standalone chip to also serve the DIY/enthusiast crowd — and that the company would unify the non-Pro and Pro versions of Threadripper.
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX SEP is $6,499
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5975WX SEP is $3,299
- AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5965WX SEP is $2,399
Here's the official Threadripper Pro pricing that AMD shared with us today, and it's clear that these chips are priced far above what we would expect for the traditional definition of the HEDT segment.
AMD's original Threadripper lineups were geared for the consumer-oriented high end desktop (HEDT) market entirely, but several generations down the line, the company released its enhanced Threadripper Pro 3000-series models that came with more memory channels (eight), thus gearing the chips, and their price tags, for professional workstation users.
The standard and 'Pro' Threadripper lineups existed separately, but AMD's announcement last week explicitly states that these two will now be one and the same. "[...] There will be one set of Threadripper processors to choose from, with one CPU socket and chipset, and every processor will be based on AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO silicon."
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Cores / Threads | MSRP/SEP | Base / Boost (GHz) | L3 Cache (MB) | TDP | PCIe |
| Threadripper Pro 5995WX | 64 / 128 | $6,499 | 2.7 / 4.5 | 256 | 280W | 128 |
| Xeon W-3375 | 38 / 76 | $4,499 | 2.5 / 4.0 | 57 | 270W | 64 |
| Threadripper Pro 3995WX | 64 / 128 | $5,489 | 2.7 / 4.2 | 256 | 280W | 128 |
| Threadripper 3990X | 64 / 128 | $3,990 | 2.9 / 4.3 | 256 | 280W | 72 |
| Threadripper Pro 5975WX | 32 / 64 | $3,299 | 3.6 / 4.5 | 128 | 280W | 128 |
| Xeon W-3365 | 32 / 64 | $3,499 | 2.7 / 4.0 | 48 | 270W | 64 |
| Threadripper Pro 3975WX | 32 / 64 | $2,749 | 3.5 / 4.2 | 128 | 280W | 128 |
| Threadripper 3970X | 32 / 64 | $1,999 | 3.7 / 4.5 | 128 | 280W | 64 |
| Threadripper Pro 5965WX | 24 / 48 | $2,399 | 3.8 / 4.5 | 128 | 280W | 128 |
| Xeon W-3345 | 24 / 48 | $2,499 | 3.0 / 4.0 | 36 | 250W | 64 |
| Threadripper 3960X | 24 / 48 | $1,399 | 3.8 / 4.5 | 128 | 280W | 64 |
This is how Threadripper Pro pricing compares to both AMD's previous-gen Pro chips, the non-Pro Threadrippers, and competing models from Intel. As a reminder, AMD's Suggested Etail Price (SEP) is akin to an MSRP.
The 64-core 128-thread Threadripper Pro 5995WX weighs in at $6,499, a $2,509 markup over the last Threadripper that was positioned for what we consider a traditional HEDT platform, the 64-core Threadripper 3990X. That's also a $1,100 increase over the previous-gen Pro equivalent, the 64-core Threadripper Pro 3995WX.
For the 32-core Threadripper Pro 5975WX, there's a $1,300 markup over the previous-gen HEDT model, the Threadripper 3970X, and a $550 markup over the previous-gen Pro equivalent.
Finally, the 24-core Threadripper Pro 5965WX at $2,399 represents a $1,000 markup over the HEDT-geared 32-core Threadripper 3960X. (The previous-gen Threadripper Pro lineup didn't have a 24-core model.) Notably, the two lower-end Threadripper Pro models, the 16-core 5955X and the 12-core 5945X, won't be available at retail — you'll only find them in pre-built OEM systems.
A Farewell Ode to HEDT
AMD's decision to unite the Threadripper and Threadripper Pro lineups into one family effectively brings an end to any enthusiast-geared HEDT processors from AMD.
Make no mistake, the Pro chips carry pricing premiums not only in the silicon but also in the platform. You'll pay more for the motherboards and shoulder the cost of populating eight memory channels as opposed to the four memory channels found on the non-Pro models. Sure, you could simply not populate four of the memory channels to save some cash, but regardless, you're still paying the premium for eight channels in the chip and motherboard pricing, so that seems a waste.
AMD's decision to eliminate the non-Pro Threadripper family wasn't all too surprising, though. AMD's previous-gen Threadripper halo, the 3990X, cost a whopping $3,990 and was really a specialized chip for professional users anyway, as opposed to what we would consider a HEDT chip in the traditional sense. Luckily, there were still Threadripper models with lower core counts and pricing that made them within reach of some enthusiasts, but even then, AMD itself was already blurring the lines between HEDT and mainstream PCs.
Now the lowest bar for entry to the Threadripper Pro 5000 series is the 24-core Threadripper Pro 5965WX at $2,399. However, AMD's consumer-geared Ryzen family now stretches up to 16 cores, bringing what we would have previously considered HEDT-class performance to the mainstream desktop PC. The arrival of Ryzen 7000 promises to push the performance of those 16 cores to even higher levels, and its support for DDR5 will lessen the impact of having only two memory channels instead of the four found on HEDT platforms.
AMD has also divulged that Ryzen 7000 will have a peak 170W TDP, a significant increase over the current 105W TDP limit with the Ryzen 5000 processors, and a peak power consumption (PPT) of 230W, another increase over the previous 142W limit. These higher power levels will allow the chips to deliver explosive performance gains in multi-threaded work, meaning they'll be even closer to what we would have previously considered HEDT-class performance.
All of these things have apparently contributed to the end of the standard Threadripper lineup, and although it makes perfect sense, we're sad to see it go. The original arrival of the Threadripper 1950X in 2017 with a then-mind-blowing 16-cores was a stunning and awesome show of force as AMD began the process of quite literally muscling Intel out of contention in the enthusiast HEDT market, a feat that you can see reach its completion in our Intel Core i9-10980XE Review: Intel Loses its Grip on HEDT article from 2019.
Threadripper became a symbol of AMD's sheer dominance. In fact, 2019 was the last time Intel released an HEDT chip geared for enthusiasts. That's a long time in the dog years of the semiconductor industry, and three years later we're still hearing rumblings of Intel's rumored Fishhawk Falls, a HEDT chip based on Sapphire Rapids. However, Intel hasn't said anything about the chips and we're not sure if they will actually be geared toward enthusiasts, or if they will also be more targeted at the OEM workstation crowd.
Sure, part of AMD's reasoning to kill off the non-Pro Threadripper line probably resides in the margins from its Pro and EPYC chips, but in fairness, HEDT simply wasn't making much sense anymore. For now, we've seen the end of the enthusiast-geared HEDT era. Maybe Intel will revive it now that it doesn't have to worry about facing a non-Pro Threadripper HEDT competitor anymore.
- MORE: Best CPUs for Gaming
- MORE: AMD vs Intel
- MORE: How to Overclock a CPU
