Hardware leaker TUM_APISAK has unearthed a UserBenchmark result of an unidentified AMD 16-core processor. Judging by its specifications, the chip appears to be one of AMD's upcoming Threadripper 3000-series processors (codenamed Castle Peak).

(Image credit: AMD)

In a recent sitdown with AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su, she reiterated the company's commitment to the HEDT market and implicitly hinted that the chipmaker is preparing its third-generation Threadripper chips. Su didn't reveal a concrete launch date for the new multi-core monsters. However, if AMD follows recent norms, it could release them next month. Looking back at Threadripper's history, we can recognize a fairly consistent pattern. AMD launched the first-and second-generation Threadripper processors in August 2017 and 2018, respectively. There's a good chance AMD could continue that trend.

Price (USD) Cores / Threads TDP Base Clock Boost Clock L3 Cache PCIe Lanes Memory Support *AMD 100-000000011-12 ? 16 / 32 ? 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz ? ? ? AMD Threadripper 2950X $899 16 / 32 180W 3.5 GHz 4.4 GHz 32MB PCIe 3.0 x64 Quad DDR4-2933 AMD Ryzen 9 3950X $749 16 / 32 105W 3.5 GHz 4.7 GHz 64MB PCIe 4.0 x24 Dual DDR4-3200

*Specifications in the table are unconfirmed

(Image credit: UserBenchmark)

Ryzen Threadripper 3000-series processors will use AMD's latest Zen 2 processor microarchitecture, so they will probably come out of TSMC's 7nm FinFET stove and support the PCIe 4.0 interface. The new parts will likely work on existing X399-based motherboards through a BIOS update. However, AMD might introduce a new chipset to take advantage of the PCIe 4.0 functionality.

The leaked AMD 100-000000011-12 sample has the OPN (Ordering Part Number) in the codename, which implies the specifications are very close to what we can expect from the final product. UserBenchmark detects the processor with 16 cores, 32 threads, 3.6 GHz base clock and 4.05 GHz average boost clock. The benchmark identifies the system as AMD Sharkstooth and recognizes the motherboard with an SP3r2 (TR4) socket with quad-channel memory support.

Although UserBenchmark isn't our preferred benchmark tool, some valuable data proves useful. The unknown part is seemingly up to 11% faster than the current Threadripper 2950X in single-core and quad-core tests. When it comes to multi-core workloads, the chip performs up to 18% faster than second-gen Threadripper.

On the other hand, the AMD 100-000000011-12's performance is on par with the Ryzen 9 3900X when it comes to single-core and quad-core workloads. As expected, the Threadripper sample beats the Ryzen 9 3900X by up to 35% in multi-core workloads.

The Threadripper 3000-series lineup will be an exciting lineup for sure. We can't wait to see what AMD has up its sleeves.

