AMD has leaked a performance benchmark for its imminent monster 32-core Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor, which shows it blazing past Intel’s Core i9-7980XE flagship chip.

According to details which were apparently accidentally posted on the AMD France web page, as spotted by Wccftech.com, it’s billed as the ‘most powerful desktop processor in the world’, and in the Cinebench R15 CPU benchmark it hit 5,099 on average.

That compares to a score of 3,335 for the Intel Core i9-7980XE (which is an 18-core processor), and it means that the AMD chip is 53% faster than its rival flagship. Of course, while the 7980XE might be the beefiest chip in the Core series right now, its core count is considerably less than the Threadripper 2990WX.

While Intel does have a 28-core beast on the horizon – capable of running at a gobsmacking 5GHz – that particular processor is going to cost a fortune, and won’t be destined for consumer PCs (but rather enterprise outfits with deep pockets).

It’s also worth noting that AMD ran this particular Cinebench test on June 26, so it was a while back, and used a sample 2990WX chip; meaning the finished production version of the processor will run even more speedily.

Since we originally posted this news, AMD has officially unveiled the first four new processors in its Ryzen Threadripper 2nd Generation lineup.

Spec spillage

Spec details of the Threadripper 2990WX have already been spilled, and the chip is expected to be able to achieve a base clock of 3GHz with boost to 4GHz across its 32-cores. And it will drive a little further on a single core, reaching up to 4.2GHz boost.

Rumor has it that the price for this AMD offering will be pitched at $1,799 (around £1,390, AU$2,440), and that will undercut the Core i9-7980XE by a couple of hundred bucks. In the light of this benchmark, that’s pretty impressive stuff from Intel’s rival. And doubtless it will provoke some sort of response on the pricing front…

If you don’t want to spend quite that much on a processor, AMD’s Threadripper 2nd Generation will obviously include some cheaper options, and as we saw last week, the 24-core Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX will be the next step down, allegedly weighing in at $1,299 (around £1,000, AU$1,760).

The least wallet-damaging chip will be the Threadripper 2920X 12-core processor at $649 (around £500, AU$880).