$499
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
As my review of the Ryzen 9 3900X showed, this is a game changer for video editors, as well as for those looking to build a rendering machine without spending a fortune. At $500 the 3900X is unrivaled, literally, there is currently no other 12 Core / 24 thread part with this level of performance on the market. My only reservations is the variance between chips, and the quirky X570 motherboard support. These are teething issues, of course, as this is a brand new architecture. This is one of the most disruptive products in technology in recent years.
Buy on Amazon$1000-$2000
AMD Threadripper 2990WX
With 32 cores and 64 threads this is for content creators who need extra PCIe lanes for peripherals and quad-channel ECC memory support. If you are considering buying the Apple Cheesegrater look no further than the 2990WX for an actual workstation class CPU that doesn’t cost you a fortune – and that performs.
Buy on Amazon$100-$200
AMD Threadripper 1950X
The first gen Threadrippers are really cheap right now, considering what you are getting. The 1950X will boost to 4.1GHz so it’s not exactly slow at single-threaded applications, but it’s in multi-threading that this makes a lot of sense, especially if you need the 64 PCIe (gen3) lanes and ECC memory support that you might not get with the similar upcoming 3950X (24 lanes).
Buy on Amazon$350-$400
AMD Threadripper 1920X
This is the poor man’s workstation CPU. 12 cores and 24 threads at only $366 is ridiculously cheap. 64 lanes of PCIe(3), quad channel ECC, and a boost to 4.2GHz with PBO. If you are looking to build a video editing/photoshop workstation that’s stable and affordable, this is the CPU to get.
Buy on Amazon