The first two generations of Ryzen CPUs made a huge impact for anyone with a need for more cores -- and I think that's most of us here on these forums. It's definitely me :)

I don't know if the next generation will have quite the same impact. After all, it's hard to repeat game-changing events like dropping the cost of 8c/16t CPUs from USD1.5K+ to USD300. But here's what I'm looking forward:

• The first increase in core count for non-Threadripper CPUs since Ryzen 1
  
• Drastically improved AVX performance
  
• A generational jump in power and clock due to the move to 7nm
  

This is what we know will happen, thanks to AMDs own presentations (or, in the case of increased core count, from Lisa Su's nudge-nudge wink-wink comments about empty space on chiplet packaging) . What we don't know is what the individual CPUs will look like:

• How many cores to each SKU?
  
• What clocks will those SKUs be capable of?
  
• How will power savings vs. clock increase play out in TDPs?
  

There's been an almost nonstop series of leaks in recent months. AMD has said nothing.

My personal hope was for a 12c/24t part which operated in the same 65W TDP envelope as all the non-X Ryzen 1 and 2 CPUs. All the people dropping leaks are saying that things will swing the other way: process improvement will lead to higher clocks at the cost of increased TDP.

AMD still isn't talking :)

On a personal note, AMD's production of low cost/high core CPUs has led to me getting completely addicted to volunteer computing. I've broken into the top 1500 teams with a personal cluster of just 4 machines: two 2700s and two 1600s. That's pretty cool. Just three years ago it would have been impossible to crunch this many WUs with only 4 tiny, quiet machines.

But I'm also very close to stalling out; this is near the limit of what my hardware can churn out compared to larger/better equipped teams. To keep climbing the ranks and do more science faster, I need upgrades. I don't have the space or power for additional machines :)

Use this thread to talk about what you're hoping for, and/or for sharing Zen 2 news!