AMD announces a new Threadripper GPU family

In general, AMD's current high-end desktop (HEDT) Threadripper family is no longer nearly as intriguing as it was before the recent introduction of third-generation Ryzen CPUs. After all, the Ryzen 9 3950X, which boasts 16 cores and 32 threads of computing power, is the pinnacle of the mainstream Ryzen lineup. The majority of people wouldn't consider those specs to be commonplace. Don't start writing Threadripper's obituary just yet, though.

Of course, we already knew this because AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su stated in May that Threadripper will "definitely" continue for at least one more cycle. As a follow-up to those remarks, Dr. Su responded to a question about Threadripper's status at this week's Hot Chips conference by initially stating that AMD will reveal more information "soon" before committing to a 2019 release date.

That does not imply that any new Threadripper CPUs will be shipping by the end of the year, but if Dr. Su keeps her word, we will at least have some idea of what to expect before 2020.

The difficulty AMD faces is creating a line of Threadripper CPUs that provides enough extra power to justify a price tag that is presumably higher than the most recent Ryzen processors.

Dr. Su previously stated, "If mainstream is moving up, then Threadripper will have to move up, up—and that's what we're working on."

We'll have to wait and see what AMD has to say later this year to learn exactly what that entails. More cores, extra features, or a combination of the two might be the solution. Currently, AMD does provide a 32-core/64-thread Threadipper chip built on its Zen+ architecture from the previous generation.

Dr. Su gave a much more ominous outlook for CrossFire, AMD's multi-GPU technology, even though Threadripper will continue to exist.

In response to a query about the technology, Dr. Su stated, "To be honest, the software is going faster than the hardware, I would say that CrossFire isn't a significant focus."

In other words, Threadripper has arrived, and CrossFire is (likely) finished for the day.

Now you know what all the fuss is about.