AMD Ryzen flagship CPU is the R7 1800X - 8C/16T at 4GHz

AMD is only weeks away from launching their next-gen Ryzen CPUs, and now we're hearing that there will be a massive lineup of new processors, with 17 chips in total. This is good news, rolling in off the back of AMD's impressive quarterly financial report.

We know that AMD is preparing a Ryzen CPU with 8 cores and 16 threads, at 4GHz - but we haven't known the model of this processor... until now. AMD will reportedly don the R7, R5, and R3 series of SKUs - with the flagship AMD R7 1800X processor 8C/16T, with the performance to reach the Core i7-6900K (which goes for $1037 on Amazon right now). We've been hearing about performance on the purported R7 1800X for a while now, but it seems like we can expect the X series models to be the "Black Edition" processors, primed for the enthusiasts.

AMD will have 5 processors in the Ryzen R7 family, which all feature 8C/16T of Zen goodness - led by the R7 1800X, and joined by the R7 PRO 1800, R7 1700X, R7 1700, and R7 PRO 1700. AMD will have its mid-range R5 series, which will come in 6C/12T variants, while the R3 will compete against Intel's new Pentium and Core i3 processors with 4C/4T.

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As for pricing, we can only estimate that AMD will price its R7 1800X at the $499-$699 market - and motherboards should be cheaper than the Intel alternative, as well as a $300-$500 saving from the Core i7-6900K. I think the Ryzen R5 series processors will be one of the best-selling CPUs of 2017, with 6-core/12-thread CPU performance and 3.5GHz base clocks to be impressive if AMD can hit up the $200-$400 market with these CPUs.

ETA? AMD will unveil these processors in a couple of weeks, with a larger launch at GDC 2017 in early March. We will be covering the new Ryzen CPUs as much as we can, with previews, reviews, and trade show coverage in the coming weeks.