AMD announced that the second generation of Ryzen processors, Zen+, would be hitting shelves in Q2 2018, and in anticipation, prices are being cut on almost all first gen models. Luckily, for PC gamer who have wanted to start an AMD build, the processors with the highest price cuts are at the top-end of the first generation Ryzen line-up.
The Ryzen 7 1800X and 1700X see the most significant reductions in price, with the 1800X MSRP now being 30% lower. However, even with the 1800X lowering to a retail price of $349, most gamers are still better off getting an i7-7700K which is available at the same price. Unless you use a lot of programs that can take advantage of the superior number of cores and threads available on the 1800X, the 7700K is the better choice. It has around 30% better single-core speed than the 1800X and 15% better quad-core speed.
| Processor | Cores/Threads | Old Price | New Price | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Threadripper 1950X | 16/32 | $999 | – | N/A |
| Threadripper 1920X | 12/24 | $799 | – | N/A |
| Threadripper 1900X | 8/16 | $549 | $449 | -18.20% |
| Ryzen 7 1800X | 8/16 | $449 | $349 | -30.10% |
| Ryzen 7 1700X | 8/16 | $399 | $309 | -22.50% |
| Ryzen 7 1700 | 8/16 | $329 | $299 | -9.10% |
| Ryzen 5 1600X | 6/12 | $249 | $219 | -12.00% |
| Ryzen 5 1600 | 6/12 | $219 | $189 | -13.70% |
| Ryzen 5 1500X | 4/8 | $189 | $174 | -7.90% |
| Ryzen 5 2400G | 4/8 | – | $169 | N/A |
| Ryzen 2 1300X | 4/4 | $129 | $129 | N/A |
| Ryzen 3 2200G | 4/4 | – | $99 | N/A |
The lower-end CPUs, the Ryzen 5 1400 and Ryzen 3 1200 are likely to be discontinued in favor or the Ryzen G APU line which will premiere with Zen+. Since they haven’t been marked for a reduced MSRP, it’s likely AMD doesn’t plan to ship more.
I’d love to see AMD put up some stiff competition, but continuing supply problems and lower performance in comparison to Intel’s products makes choosing AMD a hard sell. The Zen+ chips are expected to have at least a 10% increase in production over 1st gen Ryzen CPUs, so even though this price reduction might be tempting, it may be best to wait.
Some retailers (mostly in the UK) are already setting prices to the new MSRP. You can expect the rest to follow suit shortly.
