Being part of the Ryzen family, Threadripper processors are just that; CPUs based upon Ryzen architecture. While a lot of IO changes have been made to facilitate it, basically on-die you'll spot up-to four 8-core Ryzen processors, much like the Ryzen 7 2700X has two CCxes, each with four cores. When we go all the way back to one CCX, each of them have 4 cores enabled. For the 12-core parts that means per 4-core cluster (CCX), one core is disabled and that means these processors are set up in a 6+6+6+6 (12+12) fashion. Other than that, again, these are physically similar to the 8-core Ryzen design, it is the very same die that is used, however, binned for high performance. Last year's eight-core ZEN architecture was called 'Summit Ridge', the updated revision 12nm Zen+ series dies got the development name 'Pinnacle Ridge'. In April 2018, AMD now launched new SKUs in the Ryzen 2000 series. Among them, the Ryzen 7 2700 and 2700X. The 2000 numbering in the series is obviously a euphemism and recognition point for generation 2 of the Zen architecture-based processors, now called Zen+. AMD is using the top 5% of binned ASICs. So as the 8-core Ryzen die is similar, that also means and invokes corresponding caches. And before you ask, yes, Threadripper processors are all SMT threaded (the acronym is Hyper-threading) and yes, you get that sweet unlocked multiplier as well. For the Ryzen Threadripper series, processors up-to 16 cores have a 180W TDP and, up to 32 cores, a 250 Watt TDP.
The Ryzen processor family
On the market, you will spot Ryzen series 3, 5, 7 and now Threadripper processors. It’s plain and simple and, as always, that works out as the best way to understand product positioning compared to the Intel line-up. We’ll go into more detail on the next few pages, of course.
