
AMD blows minds with a 16-core 7nm gaming CPU that works like any other Ryzen - elijahparker
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/10/18660213/amd-ryzen-9-3950x-16-core-gaming-cpu-processor-e3-2019
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paranoidrobot
Maybe I missed this, but what makes these "gaming" CPUs?

They don't seem to have any specific feature (other than just generally good
performance) that would make them specifically better for gaming.

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Nexxxeh
It's largely the lack of anything specific that marks it as a gaming part. The
Ryzen chips are AM4 socket and have 24 PCIe lanes and dual channel RAM.

It's slightly smooshing the line between Consumer/Desktop parts and High-End
Desktop (HEDT) parts, but AMD's HEDT/Workstation CPUs are Threadripper on the
TR4 socket and have 64 PCIe lanes and quad channel RAM, and its
Workstation/Server are Epyc on the SP3 socket with 128 PCIe lanes and 8
channel RAM.

(There may also be more specific stuff WRT how it handles threads and memory.
Threadripper has a specific gaming mode that basically shuts off half the chip
to simplify threading and optimize memory access for software, at the expense
of having less resources available overall. Not seen a hands-on with the Ryzen
3000 chips that covers NUMA/UMA etc, but as it's only dual channel I don't
think it'll be required. YMMV, IANAL.)

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paranoidrobot
Ah, good explanation, thanks.

