AMD posts document with new information on its Threadripper lineup.
Threadripper 3000 CPU Listed With 32 Cores, Possible New Socket : Read more
Threadripper 3000 CPU Listed With 32 Cores, Possible New Socket : Read more
How is having 3 HEDT chipset options a concern? Intel's current mainstream desktop chips alone have way more than that, with H310, B360, B365, H370, Q370, Z370 and Z390, each with differing feature-sets. Then there's their two HEDT/Workstation chipsets for the LGA 2066 socket, X299 for Core-i9s and C422 for Xeon Ws, with the latter offering support for different memory configurations with ECC and additional PCIe lanes.From the sounds of it I think there is going to be a bit of a mess to get clarified from AMD on TRs future. 3 chipsets and word of different memory configurations make this one to wait and see the official announcement.
Not necessarily. Typically some pins are left unused on a socket for future expansion. TR4 has 4094 pins, and there's high likelihood that a number of them are unused. So, it's certainly possible that the same chips could run in quad-channel mode on existing motherboards, while utilizing previously unused pins for eight-channel memory support on the new boards. In fact, AMD's EPYC server processors already use a physically identical SP3 socket while offering not only eight-channel memory, but also double the PCIe lanes, so the pins are clearly already there to make that happen.If AMD is planning to add memory channels then there would need to be a new socket to add more pins to support the additional channels. However they could still have cheaper CPUs that run half the memory channels supported much like Intel did with the Kaby Lake LGA 2011 CPUs that were pointless.
How is having 3 HEDT chipset options a concern? Intel's current mainstream desktop chips alone have way more than that, with H310, B360, B365, H370, Q370, Z370 and Z390, each with differing feature-sets. Then there's their two HEDT/Workstation chipsets for the LGA 2066 socket, X299 for Core-i9s and C422 for Xeon Ws, with the latter offering support for different memory configurations with ECC and additional PCIe lanes.
Logically, based on the names, one might assume TRX40 would support quad-channel memory, while TRX80 and WRX80 would offer eight-channel memory support. The WRX chipset will probably target the Xeon W market, while the other two will likely be aimed more at the Core-i9 HEDT market. Not everyone needs eight-channel memory, so making a lower-priced offering available without it seems reasonable.
Not necessarily. Typically some pins are left unused on a socket for future expansion. TR4 has 4094 pins, and there's high likelihood that a number of them are unused. So, it's certainly possible that the same chips could run in quad-channel mode on existing motherboards, while utilizing previously unused pins for eight-channel memory support on the new boards. In fact, AMD's EPYC server processors already use a physically identical SP3 socket while offering not only eight-channel memory, but also double the PCIe lanes, so the pins are clearly already there to make that happen.