AMD Ryzen Threadripper is a really big processor, and here's what its underside looks like. A multi-chip module (MCM) of two eight-core "Summit Ridge" dies, it is also AMD's first client-segment processor to feature a land-grid array (LGA) socket interface, with the pins being located on the motherboard, and contact-points on the CPU package. Until now, AMD has limited large LGA sockets to its enterprise processors. The processor is based on the 4,094-pin socket SP3r2, which is increasingly being referred to by motherboard and cooler manufacturers as "TR4."

Given that it is an MCM of two dies, you can see a clear dividing line between two groups of the contact points that make up the total pin count of 4,094 pins. There are also two distinct ancillary cutouts which holds critical electrical components for the dies above. Something like this is lacking on the socket AM4 Ryzen "Summit Ridge" processors, where the cutout is blank, and the ancillaries are located around the CPU die, on the other side of the fiberglass substrate. AMD Ryzen Threadripper could be available from 27 July.