AMD Ryzen 3000XT Zen 2 CPUs Get Official With Faster Clocks To Challenge Intel Comet Lake-S

Previous leaks were all over the place with respect to clock speeds for these new processors, but the chart below gives us a clear picture of what to expect:

As you can see, unlike what was stated with the previous leaked reports, there are no increases to the base clocks for these three new processors. Instead, we see mere 100MHz boost frequency increases for the Ryzen 5 3600XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT. The Ryzen 7 3800XT is the odd man out (in a good way) with a 200MHz increase in its boost frequency to 4.7GHz.

AMD is claiming an overall 4 percent uplift in single-threaded performance for these new processors (compared to their 3x00X counterparts), all while retaining the same TDP. The company attributes these gains to an “optimized 7nm manufacturing process”. AMD goes on to say that its new processors are 40 percent more power efficient than the Intel Comet Lake-S competition. This spec bump

“At AMD, we are committed to listening closely to our customers and the enthusiast community to deliver leadership products,” said Saeid Moshkelani, SVP and GM of AMD’s client business unit. “With AMD Ryzen 3000XT processors, we’re making additional optimizations to the 7nm manufacturing process to deliver industry leading single-thread performance and more choice and flexibility for enthusiasts.” 

It should be noted that only the Ryzen 5 3600XT will come with a cooling solution in the box; in this case the Wraith Spire. Unlike the Ryzen 7 3800X and Ryzen 9 3900X, the Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT forgo a stock cooler. AMD says that enthusiasts who choose these processors would prefer to use their own aftermarket cooling solutions so that they can push performance to the limit. We’ll take AMD’s word for it on this particular point, but it’s something that you should know before purchasing these processors.

AMD has posted a list of recommended coolers for the Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT, which you can find here.

Although enthusiasts will likely be pairing something like the Ryzen 9 3900XT with an X570-based motherboard, AMD today announced general availability for motherboards based on the new B550 mainstream chipset. And for those that need an even more economical motherboard with Ryzen 3000 support (and support for future Ryzen 4000 processors), the A520-based motherboards will make their way to the retail market in August.