AMD is purportedly ready to unleash XT-branded refreshes of some Ryzen 3000 processors, and listings for the Ryzen 9 3900XT and Ryzen 5 3600XT have popped up on Amazon Italy, complete with alleged release dates and prices.
Of course, we should make it very clear upfront that all this remains speculation. The chips were highlighted by an eagle-eyed user on Reddit (as spotted by Tom’s Hardware), but as ever, the product listings have been taken down since they were reported.
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However, this is certainly another clue – and a more compelling one – adding to the weight of evidence that the XT CPUs are indeed coming (although note that AMD’s other rumored chip, the 3800XT, wasn’t listed by Amazon, which could suggest it won’t arrive with the initial batch).
The other main point with this nugget from the CPU grapevine is the revelation of alleged release dates, and that these line up exactly with what we’ve heard from the rumor mill previously. Namely that the processors are expected to be unveiled on June 16, early next week, and should go on sale come July 7.
The product listings do specify the boost speed (although not the base clock speed), with the Ryzen 9 3900XT reaching 4.7GHz, and Ryzen 5 3600XT hitting 4.5GHz boost. That’s 100MHz more than the standard 3900X and 3600X, a slight bump in boost – and disappointingly quite a lot less than was indicated by earlier rumors, which suggested increases of 200MHz or 300MHz.
Of course, it’s Amazon that might be wrong here – or indeed both sources for that matter. Also note that the stock clocks aren’t mentioned, and these may be considerably higher with the refreshed CPUs; plus previous speculation has also indicated that these XT chips will be better for overclocking too.
Knee-deep in salt
When it comes to the pricing quoted by Amazon Italy, well, we are truly knee-deep in salt here, as naturally these price tags are likely to be placeholders (assuming this leak is genuine anyway).
So bear that firmly in mind, but for what it’s worth, so to speak, the quoted prices at Amazon Italy were €569.69 (around $640, £510) for the top-end Ryzen 9 3900XT, and €284.84 (around $320, £255) for the Ryzen 5 3600XT. As Tom’s Hardware points out, compared to the current price of the 3900X, that’s about a 27% increase, and a 34% rise compared to the price of the existing 3600X.
That’s quite a sharp increase, but as we mentioned, we really wouldn’t put much stock in this particular element of the leak here.
Another interesting point to note is that the 3600XT is listed with AMD’s Wraith Spire cooler, whereas the 3900XT isn’t.
We should know much more about these processors – and the potential 3800XT – pretty soon, then, because if these reveal and launch dates (which have been consistently repeated) turn out to be correct, we only have a few days to wait now before we hear something official from AMD.
The theory with these ‘Matisse Refresh’ CPUs is that they represent a stopgap measure and extra ammunition to go up against Intel’s recently unleashed Comet Lake processors, before Ryzen 4000 desktop chips are launched later this year.
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