Intel might have unveiled their new Core i9 range of processors at Computex 2017, led by the flagship Core i9-7980XE processor and its 18C/36T of power. Except, that monster will not see the light of day until 2018 according to an ASUS representative.
"Raja@ASUS" on the ASUS ROG forums replied to someone asking about the benefits of Intel's new 18-core CPU, to which he responded with: "The 18-core CPUs are not scheduled until later this year. Won't have them for a while. Either way, unless you're using the rig for rendering or encoding to make a living, no need".
I don't think we'll see the Core i9-7980XE until early 2018, which will let AMD have plenty of time to get ThreadRipper into the hands of consumers with the full 16C/32T of power and a full 64 PCIe 3.0 lanes compared to the 44 PCIe 3.0 lanes on X299 from Intel.
