If, like me, the announcement of the 2nd generation Ryzen processors from AMD pricked your ears with excitement, you've no doubt been scouring the web for as much information as you can find.
The majority of the online reviews have focused on the range-topping Ryzen 7 2700X, but for a lot of people that's the one they're most interested in. I haven't taken delivery of my own yet (boy am I looking forward to rebuilding my PC), so I'm yet to experience it first hand.
But there's plenty of smart people out there who have. Here's what some of them are saying about the latest from AMD.
Tom's Hardware
The folks at Tom's Hardware give a worthy shoutout to the stock cooler that AMD is now including with the Ryzen 2700X, the Wraith Prism, and its RGB lighting.
AMD's Ryzen 7 2700X is another big step forward for AMD. The improved boost algorithms add to Ryzen's performance advantage in heavily-threaded applications, while the increased frequency and reduced memory latency provide a boost to a wide range of workloads. AMD delivered on the pricing front, too, and the bundled LED cooler and storage tiering software adds to the value.
They found a worthy performance improvement over the Ryzen 7 1800X at a lower price, and extra brownie points for being backward compatible with X370 motherboards.
Linus Tech Tips
Why wouldn't you review a processor in a kitchen? Linus Tech Tips took a look at both the 2700X and the Ryzen 5 2600X, even doing a touch of overclocking. Because you know you want to overclock your Ryzen.
Trusted Reviews
The Trusted Reviews team are fairly grounded on Ryzen's 2nd generation chips, in so far as they're not quite the game changers that their predecessors were. But did they really need to be anything more than just a good upgrade?
The new Ryzen 2 processors aren't quite the revelation of the first-generation chips – but faster clock speeds, greater overclockability, AM4 motherboard compatibility and competitive pricing make them well worth a look.
Improved overclocking gets a big thumbs up, but it's worth highlighting the added power draw over the 1st generation and that in outright gaming performance, it's still a little behind Intel.
Hardware Unboxed
The 2700X is exciting, as is the 2600X, but what about one of the cheaper 2nd generation Ryzen processors? Hardware Unboxed takes a deep dive into the Ryzen 5 2600, potentially a terrific $200 processor.
Hexus
The Hexus review also takes in the new top-end Ryzen 5 processor, the 2600X, and highlights some important points. Namely that it's pretty much impossible now to buy a bad consumer CPU.
What it really boils down to is your main usage scenarios. For a fixed financial outlay, content creators ought to favour 2nd Generation Ryzen - it's Zen done right - others may see the light-load and lower-res gaming virtues of Intel as winning attributes. Whatever you choose, they will all provide a good, solid platform.
The consensus seems to fit with other reviewers that if you want the best outright gaming performance, you're still going to be best with an Intel Core i7-8700K. Content creators and those that are OK with sacrificing a few FPS in their PC games will love the Ryzen 7 2700X.
Hardware Canucks
Eber over at Hardware Canucks hasn't just focused on whether the 2700X is good, but how good it is compared to its predecessor.
PC World
The PC World review team has high praise indeed for the latest Ryzen processors.
Higher clock speeds and a massive multi-threading advantage push AMD's CPU performance to new highs. The bundled Wraith Prism cooler and overall polish push it over the top. In the battle of Intel and AMD's flagship processors, the clear winner today is the Ryzen 7 2700X.
Again, it's interesting to see the included cooler get some positive attention, along with the obvious, and necessary, comparisons to Intel.
Your reviews
If you've managed to get your hands on a new 2nd generation Ryzen processor yet and have your own thoughts to share on it, be sure to drop them into the comments below!
