An AMD contractor has submitted compatibility testing results for the company's upcoming Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-series platform to SATA-IO, an organization that oversees and supports the SATA specification. While these aren't likely to rank among the best CPUs for gaming, the submission indicates that the launch of the platform is imminent.
AMD's Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-series CPUs are the company's next-generation processors for high-end workstations. The submission to SATA-IO (discovered by @Komachi_Ensaka) doesn't reveal much information about the upcoming platform, except some obvious things like SATA 6 Gbps support. But the very submission of the document indicates that AMD is on track to release its new processors for high-end workstations in the near future.
What's interesting is that AMD submitted test results of its next-generation Ryzen Threadripper Pro CPUs (which have already been listed on another occasion), but did not submit test results for its future regular Ryzen Threadripper processors. But there is an explanation for this.
AMD's Ryzen Threadripper and Ryzen Threadripper Pro processors have a lot in common, but they sit in completely different segments of the market. The regular Ryzen Threadrippers are aimed at the so-called extreme workstations that are either DIY-built or assembled by boutique PC makers. At present AMD does not have any rivals in this segment, which is why it feels rather comfortable sticking with its Ryzen Threadripper 3000-series CPUs based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture.
In contrast, AMD's Ryzen Threadripper Pro WX CPUs are aimed at OEMs, such as Lenovo, and compete against Intel's Xeon processors that have traditionally been strong contenders in the workstation segment. To better compete against these CPUs, AMD needs the best technology it has in its possession. That's likely why it's speeding up development and deployment of the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-series platform, and then it can follow up with non-Pro Ryzen Threadripper 5000 CPUs in the future — though we're speculating here.
AMD does not pre-announce its products or discuss them ahead of launch, so the company's actual plans for the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-series CPUs remain to be seen. Given CES 2022 is only a couple of weeks away, however, we wouldn't be surprised to hear more in January.
