AMD has already confirmed that it plans to launch a similar amount of CPUs in 2018 as it did last year and this means a full range of Ryzen mainstream desktop CPUs as well as high-end desktop Threadripper CPUs. However, recently leaked slides show that the company also plans to continue using the TR4 and AM4 CPU sockets till at least 2020.
This is great news for PC enthusiasts as it means that if you already own motherboards and coolers based on current AMD hardware, you'll likely be able to buy and use AMD's future third-generation CPUs too. This is all speculative, of course, and we've seen with Intel's recent shenanigans that just because a CPU socket is physically identical doesn't mean future CPUs will be supported - just look at Coffee Lake's incompatibility with Z270 motherboards.
However, I'm hopeful here given AMD's reputation of providing extremely long compatibility timelines with its products that we will indeed be able to use not only second-generation Ryzen and Ryzen Threadripper CPUs due this year in current motherboards, but that even as far as 2020 with potentially fourth-generation products, we may still be able to use the same motherboards and coolers that we do now.
Ryzen Second Generation Specifications - everything we know so far:
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | AMD Ryzen 7 2700 | AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
| Release date | April 2018 | April 2018 | April 2018 | April 2018 |
| Base Freq | 3.4GHz | 3.6GHz | 3.2GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Max Boost Freq | 3.9 GHz | 4.25 GHz | 4.1GHz | 4.35GHz |
| Cores/Threads | 6/12 | 6/12 | 8/16 | 8/16 |
| Cache | 19MB | 19MB | 20MB | 20MB |
| TDP | 65W | 95W | 65W | 105W |
| Price | $199 | $249 | $299 | $369 |
Ryzen First Generation comparisons:
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 1600 | AMD Ryzen 5 1600X | AMD Ryzen 7 1700 | AMD Ryzen 7 1700X |
| Base Freq | 3.2GHz (200MHz slower) | 3.6GHz (same) | 3GHz (200MHz slower) | 3.4 GHz (300MHz slower) |
| Max Boost Freq | 3.65GHz (250MHz slower) | 4.1 GHz (150MHz slower) | 3.75GHz (350MHz slower) | 3.9GHz (450MHz slower) |
| Cores/Threads | 6/12 | 6/12 | 8/16 | 8/16 |
| Cache | 19MB | 19MB | 20MB | 20MB |
| TDP | 65W | 95W | 65W | 95W |
The above tables show information from various leaked slides we've seen over the last few days and while the cache and TDP levels are mostly identical, it's the frequencies that are very interesting indeed. I've added the comparisons to the second table and as you can see, only the base frequency on the Ryzen 5 1600X remains unchanged at 3.6GHz - every other frequency is higher, significantly so in some cases.
For instance, the Ryzen 7 2700, which appears to be the replacement for the Ryzen 7 1700 0n of the best-value Ryzen CPUs, has a boost frequency that's a massive 400MHz higher than the 3.7GHz of its predecessor and a base frequency 200MHz higher. Big gains are also looking likely for the Ryzen 5 2600, which could see a 300MHz increase to the boost frequency compared to the Ryzen 5 1600 while the Ryzen 7 1700X's base frequency of 3.4GHz pales compared to the 3.7GHz of the Ryzen 7 2700X.
This is all speculation of course as the slides, at least for the CPU specifications, do appear somewhat suspect and I know from covering information leaks last year prior to Ryzen's launch that frequencies varied wildly and were largely inaccurate compared to the final specifications. However, we are expecting noticeable frequency increases across the board and if the above information turns out to be true, AMD is going to be even stronger in 2018 than it was last year.
