AMD's 4-core Ryzen CPUs ready to take on Core i3/i5 CPUs

AMD has reportedly begun sampling its new 4-core Ryzen CPUs, the SKU that has multi-threading disabled - these new Ryzen processors will take on Intel in the Core i3/i5 segment.

The new 4-core Ryzen CPUs will have unlocked multipliers, so you'll be able to overclock your heart away - and considering that Intel locks overclocking away on most of its lower/mid-range CPUs, AMD has a good chunk of the market that will be happy with an unlocked quad-core Ryzen processor.

We should expect the quad-core Ryzen CPU to have a base clock of 3.4GHz, with AMD's exciting new SenseMI technology to handle the overclocking on its own - depending on the cooling used. Stock cooler? It won't boost much. AIO cooler? Now we're talking. Custom water cooling? Yeah, baby. LN2? The sky is the limit. Obviously there's a 45W TDP in your way, but I'm sure we should expect a mainstream price on the 4-core Ryzen CPU when it launches in March.