With the launch of its slightly faster, slightly better, exactly-the-same-price Ryzen 3000 XT processors this week, AMD became just a bit more like Intel…and Nvidia. More importantly, I suspect these new CPUs may exist to set the stage for removing a key AMD value proposition from next-gen “Zen 3� Ryzen CPUs.
Whither goest thou, Wraith?
Most Ryzen XT reviews landed, well, not with a thud necessarily, but at least a loud “meh�—though Gamers Nexus did say, “we think the sand could have been better put to use elsewhere,� when promoting its Ryzen 7 3800XT review. But the general sentiment is that they’re fine. Ryzen XT processors offer mild 100MHz to 200MHz clock speed increases over their non-XT namesakes, and a higher overall level of silicon quality, meaning they can hold those faster clocks for longer and overclock better. Cool stuff! Yet not cool enough generally to recommend, given their steep $80ish price premium over the standard X-series chips, which remain on the market.