Ryzen, a return to the glory days of overclocking?

Clock speeds and pricing have been leaked for AMD's entire Ryzen lineup

Ryzen, a return to the glory days of overclocking?

 
 
In recent years overclocking has been limited to only select CPU SKUs, with Intel locking overclock support behind select K-series CPU models which come with price premiums over their lower-end non-overclocking counterparts.  
 
In the past overclocking was possible on most CPUs using a CPU’s base clock, though not that is not a given, especially on Intel hardware. With recent CPU generations, Overclocking has been a pastime for only premium PC builders, locking out those who do not have the budget to build high-end PCs. 
 
Now with Ryzen, it looks like AMD will be bringing overclocking back to its roots, where PC builders will be able to overclock even budget-friendly hardware to achieve unparalleled price/performance levels. Recent leaks have shown that ASUS will have an overclocking-ready motherboard that costs $69 and that AMD’s low-end quad-core/quad-thread Ryzen R3 1100 will cost around $130, allowing PC builders to have an overclockable CPU/motherboard combo for under $200. 
 
Compare this to Intel who’s overclockable i5 CPUs typically cost over $200 on their own, with overclocking-ready Z270 motherboards command their own price premium. This places Ryzen in a position where it can offer a staggering amount of value for money, especially if Ryzen can overclock well. 
 
 
ASUS has announced their CROSSHAIR VI Hero AM4 Motherboard
 
 
Right now we do not know how well AMD’s Ryzen CPU architecture will perform, or how well the architecture will overclock, though if AMD can offer Haswell or higher levels of IPC and overclocks of around 4.5GHz or higher then the company will certainly thrash intel in terms of price/performance.   
 
At this time AMD has not announced their official launch date for Ryzen, or any indication on when professional reviews for the platform will go live, though it is likely to take place in GDC in late February or early march. 
 
 
You can join the discussion on Ryzen heralding a new age of budget-friendly overclocks on the OC3D Forums. 
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