Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) launched Zen 3 on Oct. 8 and the specifications are very impressive. The chip supplier, whose main contender is Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), will offer a 19% increase in performance, on average.
To pay for the research and development costs, AMD will increase the price of the chip by $50. For example, customers will get a Ryzen 9 5950X CPU running at 3.4 GHz. The boost frequency will top 4.9 GHz. But the chip will cost $799 MSRP. The previous generation chip cost $749 MSRP.
The 5900X, which costs $549, competes with Intel’s i9-10900K, which costs $529. This is bad news for consumers. AMD previously offered more performance at a lower cost. The price matches that of Intel, who gets more marketing and channel support from partners. Plus, Intel could cut the price of the Core i9 to gain back market share.
AMD’s desktop offering has plenty of performance enhancements. Supporting PCIe 4.0 at 24 lanes is unchanged from the last generation. Fast storage from the NVMe and SATA will encourage consumers to upgrade to this generation of chips.
Your Takeaway
For $50 more, customers get a 19% performance boost. Now, if it increases advertising to promote the latest Zen chip, sales will grow at a brisker pace.
