AMD Launches the Threadripper Platform

AMD released the first Ryzen Threadripper processors in August 2017, bringing up to sixteen Zen cores and thirty-two threads to high-end desktop systems.

Threadripper used multiple CPU dies in one package, borrowing ideas from AMD’s EPYC server design. This chiplet-like approach let AMD reuse smaller dies instead of manufacturing one enormous monolithic processor. The platform also offered large numbers of PCI Express lanes, which appealed to users with several GPUs, NVMe drives, capture cards, or high-speed networking.

The product changed expectations for desktop workstations. Tasks such as 3D rendering, video encoding, software compilation, and scientific computing could use many cores without moving to a full server platform. Intel responded with higher-core-count Core i9 models, intensifying the competition.