The Full Nerd ep. 62: 2nd-gen Threadripper details, Intel 9000-series leaked, first QLC SSD reviewed

In this episode of the Full Nerd, Gordon Mah Ung, Brad Chacos, Alaina Yee, and Adam Patrick Murray get geeky over unprecedented PC gear and a fresh wave of processors.

Things start off with a robust discussion about the speeds, feeds, and pricing of AMD’s 2nd-gen Ryzen Threadripper CPUs, which were announced this week. A whopping 64 CPU threads and 64 PCI-E lanes for $1,800 seems awfully competitive when Intel’s rival chip tops out at 18-cores for $200 more. Look for a full review soon, and be sure to check out our Full Nerd special episode with AMD computing chief Jim Anderson to dive deeper into the backstory of 2nd-gen Threadripper.

AMD’s not the only CPU maker making waves. Rumors of incoming 8-core Intel chips keep swirling, and motherboard vendors keep announcing support for Intel 9000-series CPUs left and right—even though Intel hasn’t whispered a peep about new processors. Is the Core series getting an overhaul sooner than later?

Finally, we discuss our review of Intel’s SSD 660p—the first-ever quad-level cell SSD for consumers. QLC NAND lets SSD makers cram more capacity in at lower prices, and at $100 for 512GB or $200 for 1TB, the Intel 660p could be the first step towards killing hard drives off completely.

You can witness it all in the video embedded above. You can also watch The Full Nerd episode 62 on YouTube (toss us a follow while you’re there) or listen to it on Soundcloud if you prefer the audio alone.

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Have a PC- or gaming-related question? Email thefullnerd@pcworld.com and we’ll try to answer it in the next episode. Be sure to follow PCWorld on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch to watch future episodes live and pick our brains in real time!