AMD's new Ryzen 7 1800X: 8C/16T @ 4GHz for $499

We heard about the price of the Ryzen 7 1800X quite a while ago, where we reported the very early rumors of the $499 pricing - and I still remember AMD asking me "do I really think my report on $499 pricing is correct" - and I always backed it up.

Now we're here at the launch of Ryzen, with a 52% improvement in IPC performance - led by the flagship Ryzen 7 1800X. AMD's new Ryzen 7 1800X has 8C/16T of CPU performance with Base and Boost clocks of 3.6GHz and 4GHz, respectively.

We have their SenseMI technology, something we've gone into detail with - with AMD using a smarter CPU architecture that is actually smarter. It adaptively controls your CPU for lower power consumption, but will ramp right up with Precision Boost - overclocking your Ryzen processor in 25MHz increments (100MHz with Intel) on-the-fly.

Then we have Extended Frequency Range (XFR) which offers an interesting new direction on CPU overclocking, with clock speeds scaling with the cooling used. For gamers using an AIO watercooler from the likes of Corsair, then you're going to have higher Boost clocks than someone with a standard cooler. For the professional overclockers using LN2, XFR also reaches into the super cold - with water cooling sitting in between.

Better yet, it's all automated... awesome, right?

Ryzen is the biggest technology leap in CPU technology in years, with Neural Net Prediction - AMD teasing perfectly as a "true artificial network" inside of every Ryzen processor. This AI tech builds a model of what you do every day with your PC, and tuning it on-the-fly for the prediction of your next moves in the OS.

So if you were using the 16-threaded Ryzen 7 1800X with a CPU intensive application like Adobe After Effects, then it will better predict and pre-load the information needed in your next moves - every piece of software you use during your time on that particular boot into Windows. AMD has told us privately that it retains the information from that boot into Windows, flushing what it learns when the system reboots.