AMD has revealed its new lineup of Ryzen 5000 processors for desktop PCs. These are the first CPUs to make use of the company's Zen 3 architecture and are, as you would expect, the most powerful processors to date. AMD even goes on to claim that the Ryzen 5900X is the "world's best gaming CPU."
Lower end models will be available and starting at $299 (USD) starting November 5. The new lineup begins with the entry-level Ryzen 5 5600X, which is the one priced at $299. Next is the 8C/16T Ryzen 7 5800X, priced at $449. Then comes the Ryzen 9 5900X with 12 cores and 24 threads at $549, and the cream of the crop Ryzen 9 5950X at $799 with its 16C/32T.
These prices are about a $50 increase over the original prices on the current generation Zen 2 CPUs. All of these Zen 3 CPUs will be available starting on November 5.
When compared to the top of the line Intel offering, the Core i9-10900K, AMD's Zen 3 chips will have better power efficiency and a higher core and thread count. Where Intel still excels, at least for now, is having a higher boost clock than any of AMD's chips. We will obviously have a better idea about how much better (or worse) these processors are compared to Intel's offering when third-party benchmarks are released in the months ahead.
AMD will have a separate event for their Radeon RX 6000 "Big Navi" GPU on October 28. However, that did not stop them from teasing it slightly today. These new cards are supposed to be AMD's response to the recently released Nvidia 3000 GPUs. AMD promises that their new cards will be able to pump out great frames at 4K, with teases suggesting 60fps benchmarks for games like Borderlands 3, Gears 5, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare at ultra settings.
Even if performance isn't quite up to the high benchmarks set by Nvidia's 3000 series, it could gain a huge advantage just by being readily available for purchase, a problem that Nvidia is having a hard time tackling.
For the sake of comparison, here is a look at how the Zen 3 processors compare to the current Zen 2 processors. Shout out to PC Gamer for this handy chart.
| CPU | Ryzen 9 5950X | Ryzen 9 5900X | Ryzen 7 5800X | Ryzen 5 5600X | Ryzen 9 3950X | Ryzen 9 3900XT | Ryzen 7 3800XT |
| Cores/threads | 16/32 | 12/24 | 8/16 | 6/12 | 16/32 | 12/24 | 8/16 |
| Base clock (GHz) | 3.4 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Boost clock (GHz) | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| L2 + L3 Cache | 72MB | 70MB | 36MB | 35MB | 72MB | 70MB | 32MB |
| Package | AM4 | AM4 | AM4 | AM4 | AM4 | AM4 | AM4 |
| Process node | TSMC 7nm | TSMC 7nm | TSMC 7nm | TSMC 7nm | TSMC 7nm | TSMC 7nm | TSMC 7nm |
| TDP | 105W | 105W | 105W | 65W | 105W | 105W | 105W |
| Price | $799 | $549 | $449 | $299 | $749 | $499 | $399 |
