AMD announces A520 chipset and Ryzen 3000XT processors; no Wraith Prism RGB LED cooler included and negligible clock speed improvements

AMD has announced three additions to its 3rd generation Ryzen desktop processor family. Collectively known as the Ryzen 3000XT series, the new processors comprise of the Ryzen 5 3600XT, Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT. The processors offer a 100 MHz higher boost clock than predecessors and are no longer bundled with a Wraith Prism RGB LED cooler. AMD includes a Wraith Spire as a replacement with the Ryzen 5 3600XT, but it has chosen not to include a cooler with the Ryzen 7 3800XT or Ryzen 9 3900XT.

According to AMD, the Ryzen 9 3900XT offers up to 4% increased single-threaded performance compared to the Ryzen 9 3900X. Additionally, AMD boasts that the Ryzen 9 3900XT offers up to 40% improved power efficiency "than the competition" A footnote in the company's press release clarifies these claims as:

Testing by AMD performance labs as of May 28, 2020, using the Cinebench R20.06 1T benchmark to test an AMD reference motherboard with Ryzen 9 3900XT processor, DDR4-3600C16 memory, and a Noctua NH-D15S cooling solution vs. a similarly configured Core i9-10900K and Ryzen 9 3900X processor. The Core i9 scored 534 according to PCgamer.com on 07/03/20; these results have not been verified by AMD. The 3900XT scored 546 and the 3900X scored 528.

Essentially, only a modest boost clock increase and the lack of a Wraith Prism RGB LED cooler separates the Ryzen 3000XT series from the Ryzen 3000X series. The Ryzen 5 3600XT, Ryzen 7 3800XT and Ryzen 9 3900XT will be available starting July 7. We have included an overview of the differences between the Ryzen 3000X and Ryzen 3000XT series below.

The arrival of the Ryzen 3000XT series coincides with the worldwide availability of the B550 chipset. Additionally, AMD has announced the A520 chipset. The company has confirmed that over forty A520 motherboards are in development. These will be released starting in August by partners including ASRock, ASUS, Biostar, Colorful, Gigabyte and MSI.