AMD is really hitting out of the park with its new processors. The Ryzen 9 lineup looks amazing, and how you can pick up a powerful processor for a lot less money.
Take a look at the super 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 3900X processor. This is one of the best processors out there before you need to start spending crazy amounts of money.
The processor normally retails for $499, but you can now pick it up for only $420. This gives you 12 cores/24 threads in a single package, and it hums along at the base clock speed of 3.8GHz, with 4.6GHz of boost in the background for tough tasks.
For this price, you also get the excellent Wraith Prism cooler, which does an amazing job at keeping the cool no matter what workload you throw at it. And if you want to take things further and carry out some crazy overclocking, there are plenty of examples out there of people being able to get some serious overclocking from this chip (but you'll also need serious cooling).
Disclosure: ZDNet may earn an affiliate commission from some of the products featured on this page. ZDNet and the author were not compensated for this independent review.
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X Processor (12C/24T, 70MB Cache, 4.6 GHz Max Boost)
RRP: $499, down to $420

A great processor at a fantastic price.
- 12 cores, 24 threads
- 3.8GHz/4.6 GHz boost clock
- 105W TDP
- Compatible with 500 & 400 chipset Series AM4 motherboards
- Wraith Prism Cooler included
An equivalent Intel chip -- say the Core i9-9920X -- would cost you over $1,000.
Must read: Coronavirus, flu and other nasties: What if your job involves handling other people's dirty gadgets?
There are other good processor deals out there worth taking a look at. For example, you can pick up an 8-core Ryzen 7 3800X that normally retails for $399, for only $340, while the 6-core Ryzen 5 3600X is discounted by $50, priced at $200.
Want to spend a crazy amount of money on a workstation? Here's my recommendation for building a $7,000 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X system.
See also:
- Flagship Android smartphones lose their value twice as fast as iPhones
- Work from home: Essential gadgets and gear for productivity and good health
- Why coronavirus will mean no Apple WWDC 2020
- iPhone tips and tricks: How to use gestures and controls
- Don't waste your money on these Apple products: March 2020
- Still using Google Authenticator? Here's why you should get rid of it today
- Intel takes on AMD the only way it can
- iPhone and iPad apps can snoop on everything you copy to the clipboard
Join Discussion