New AMD Ryzen 3000 XT processors are coming one year after the originals

(Image credit: AMD)

AMD has announced that three all-new Ryzen 3000 processors will launch summer along with a new A520 chipset and expanded global offerings of B550 chipset motherboards. The three new Ryzen processors, the Ryzen 9 3900XT, the Ryzen 7 3800XT, and the Ryzen 5 3600XT, are the first AMD processors to carry the new XT branding.

"At AMD, we are committed to listening closely to our customers and the enthusiast community to deliver leadership products,” said AMD senior vice president and general manager of the client business unit, Saeid Moshkelani. 

“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.”

Ryzen 3000XT CPUs launching in July

These latest CPUs are a refinement of AMD's 3rd-generation's Zen 2 architecture, featuring optimized 7nm processing that increases the CPUs boost frequency and offers other general performance enhancements. The improved processing power reportedly comes in at the same thermal design points (TDPs) as earlier Ryzen 3000 processors.

The target audience for these processors looks to be more budget-conscious builders. The new Ryzen XT CPU's are specifically-designed to leverage additional 3rd-party cooling solutions to get the most performance possible out of the new CPUs, but the price points are fairly in line with what we saw with earlier Ryzen 3000s. The three processors will be released on July 7, 2020.

By the numbers
Ryzen 9 3900XT:
12 cores/24 threads, 3.8GHz (4.7GHz boost), 70MB cache, 105 TDP, $499 (about £395/AUS$721)
Ryzen 7 3800XT: 8 cores/16 threads, 3.9GHz (4.7GHz boost), 36MB cache, 105 TDP, $399 (about £316/AUS$574)
Ryzen 5 3600XT: 6 cores/12 threads, 3.8GHz (4.5GHz boost), 35MB cache, 95 TDP, $249 (about £197/AUS$359)

According to AMD, the 3900XT will offer a 4% increase in single-threaded performance over earlier Ryzen 3000 CPUs and up to "40% more power efficiency than the competition."

New 500 series motherboards expected in August

AMD will also be extending their AM4 socket architecture with the introduction of new A520 chipset motherboards and the global availability of B550 motherboards. 

The A520 chipset looks to be a more pared-back motherboard with the general-purpose user in mind. AMD says that there are more than 40 motherboard designs being developed for the new chipset from major motherboard manufacturers and that they are expected to start going on sale sometime in August.

The new A520 and B550 motherboards will be compatible with all 3rd generation Ryzen 3000 processors, including the new Ryzen 3000XTs. Additionally, the 3000XT CPUs will be compatible with any motherboard that runs a Ryzen 3000-ready BIOS, which includes the entire 500 series lineup.

John Loeffler
Components Editor

John (He/Him) is the Components Editor here at TechRadar and he is also a programmer, gamer, activist, and Brooklyn College alum currently living in Brooklyn, NY. 


Named by the CTA as a CES 2020 Media Trailblazer for his science and technology reporting, John specializes in all areas of computer science, including industry news, hardware reviews, PC gaming, as well as general science writing and the social impact of the tech industry.


You can find him online on Threads @johnloeffler.


Currently playing: Baldur's Gate 3 (just like everyone else).