AMD issues big price cuts to first-gen Threadripper processors

[Ulquiorra]

We've seen a handful of tantalizing deals on AMD's first generation Threadripper processors over the past several weeks and months, but those have all been related to sales. Now AMD has officially slashed the price of its first-gen parts.

This was first spotted by the folks at 3DCenter.org, who posted a slide of the new pricing. We reached out to AMD for confirmation on the price cuts, and sure enough, they're real. Here's a look at the new SEPs (suggested e-tailer prices):
 

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Compared to pricing back in January, the Threadripper 1950X is down 20 percent (from $999), the 1920X is down 50 percent (from $799), and the 1900X is down 33 percent (from $449).

Street pricing hasn't necessarily caught up with AMD's new price list, though all three first generation Threadripper chips are still trending well below January's SEPs. Here's a look:

Threadripper 1950X: $720 (Amazon)
Threadripper 1920X: $413.72 (NextWarehouse)
Threadripper 1900X: $310.34 (Amazon)

The Threadripper 1950X is selling for $79 below the new SEP, though the other two are slightly higher—$21 more for the 1900X, and around $15 more for the 1920X. The latter is bit hard to find in stock at the moment. A few of the vendors we looked at (including the one we linked) indicate they will order the chip from AMD only after you've placed an order, and that it could take two to four weeks before it arrives.

It's not clear if AMD and its retail partners are phasing these parts out completely, to make room for the second generation Threadripper family. So, it's somewhat of a gamble to hold out for potential sale pricing versus buying one at the newly reduced prices. You might be able to score a better deal down the road, or you could miss out.

We've mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating that you don't need a high end desktop (HEDT) chip strictly for gaming. You're still better off with a mainstream CPU, like one of AMD's second generation Ryzen 7 or 5 chips, or an Intel Coffee Lake processor. But if you can put those extra cores to use, a case can be made for buying a first-gen Threadripper chip at a discount.