AMD removes 3rd Generation Threadripper from their 2019 Client Roadmap

  

What is worth noting here is that AMD can include or exclude products from their roadmap as they see fit. For example, AMD’s Navi series of graphics products are not present within both their March and May 2019 roadmaps, despite the fact that AMD has committed themselves to a Q3 2019 release timeframe. 

AMD doesn’t need to include Threadripper on their early 2019 roadmaps to launch in 2019, AMD may have removed references to 3rd Generation Threadripper products to focus investors on the company’s upcoming 3rd Generation Ryzen processors. We already know that AMD’s 3rd gen Threadripper processors won’t launch in Q2. Simply put, any controversy surrounding Threadripper’s removal from AMD’s roadmap is purely speculative. 

  

Are AMD’s 3rd Generation EPYC processors delayed? Who knows, but what we will say is that an edited roadmap isn’t by any means a confirmation of a delayed product launch. Simply put, AMD’s new slide is designed to focus on AMD expected growth of Ryzen system sales in 2019, giving AMD little reason to include Threadripper within their slide. 

With regards to system sales, AMD’s late 2019 launch of 3rd Generation Threadripper would have a minimal impact on system sales, giving them little reason to include it in their investor presentation. Context is key. Note that AMD’s new investors slide focuses on client systems, where their older roadmap only focused on product launches. 

So what can we expect from Threadripper 3rd Generation?  
 
For starters, we can expect AMD to utilise the same 7nm Zen 2 cores as both Ryzen 3rd Generation and EPYC 2nd Generation, complete with a separate 14nm I/O chiplet. At this time it is unknown how many cores Threadripper 3rd Generation will offer, but the modular nature of AMD’s designs could allow up to 64 cores to be delivered on TR4, the same core count as AMD’s EPYC 2nd Generation products. 

AMD could release Threadripper 3rd Gen with the same core count as 2nd Gen, utilising AMD’s Zen 2 architecture and higher clock speeds to offer the bulk of its performance improvements, though it is also possible for AMD to deliver an intermediate core count boost. A 48 core model seems likely, with AMD saving a full 64 core offering for a later date. Does AMD really need 64 cores to beat Intel’s HEDT offerings in 2019? 

With Threadripper using the same CPU socket as EPYC, AMD can easily offer the same core counts as EPYC 2nd Generation. The question now is, will they?

You can join the discussion on AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation processors on the OC3D Forums.