AMD made the surprise announcement that it is releasing the new Ryzen 5 2500X and the Ryzen 3 2300X processors, but they are only available in new OEM systems. The Ryzen 5 2500X is available now in the Acer Nitro N50-100 desktop PC, which retails for $900, but the company hasn't announced availability for other OEM systems.

AMD also included the unannounced Ryzen 7 2700E and Ryzen 5 2600E in its press release, but did not provide further information. These models are obviously the low power versions of the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600X.

AMD tells us that the chips will not come to the retail market at the current time, though it might bring them to retail in the future. The press release states:

We encourage you to work with your local system builders to discover the options that are available, as these will be available in OEM and SI systems only, and when further systems become available, AMD will update shop.amd.com for quick, easy reference.

As expected, the Ryzen chips come bearing the Zen+ optimizations that include 12nm manufacturing, improved memory and cache latency, higher clock rates, and enhanced multi-core Precision Boost frequencies.

Ryzen 5 2500X Ryzen 5 1500X Ryzen 3 2300X Ryzen 3 1300X Ryzen 2700E Ryzen 2600E TDP 65W 65W 65W 65W 45W 45W Architecture Zen+ Zen Zen+ Zen Zen+ Zen+ Process 12nm 14nm 12nm 14nm 12nm 12nm Cores / Threads 4 / 8 4 / 8 4 / 4 4 / 4 8 / 16 6 / 12 Frequency Base / Boost 3.6 / 4.0 3.5 / 3.7 3.5 / 4.0 3.5 / 3.7 2.8 / 4.0 3.1 / 4.0 Memory Speed DDR4-2933 DDR4-2667 DDR4-2933 DDR4-2667 DDR4-2933 DDR4-2933 Memory Controller Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Dual-Channel Cache (L3) 8MB 16MB 8MB 8MB 16MB 16MB Integrated Graphics No No No No No No Unlocked Multiplier Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? MSRP N/A $174 N/A $124 N/A N/A

AMD says the new Ryzen 5 and 3 models still feature Zepplin's dual-CCX design, but only one die is active. That results in only 8MB of cache for the Ryzen 5 2500X, while its predecessor featured 16MB. These changes should result in somewhat different performance characteristics for both processors due to the elimination of communication between the CCXes over the Infinity Fabric. AMD says the chips are eight to ten percent faster in single and multi-threaded workloads than the previous-gen models.

AMD also improved boost clock frequencies by 300 MHz for both models, but the Ryzen 3 2300X has the same base frequency while the Ryzen 5 2500X receives a 100MHz bump. Both processors feature the same 65W TDP and support DDR4-2933, which is a step up from the previous-gen's DDR4-2667 support.

AMD also added support for Precision Boost 2 and XFR 2 boost algorithms, along with Precision Boost Overdrive, which is an automated overclocking feature that officially debuted with the second-gen Threadripper processors. However, this feature is widely available on newer X470 motherboards.

AMD's decision to bring these processors to OEM system only, at least at launch, is somewhat surprising, especially because the company stopped distributing the Ryzen 3 1300X processors to the retail market earlier this year when it announced the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G APUs. That model has slowly disappeared from several retailers. The Ryzen 5 1500X soldiers on and is still available at retail outlets, so it wouldn't be surprising to see its successor come to the retail market in the coming months.