Whew! I finally got a chance to order this beast! It took some serious dedication! It kept selling out everywhere! Being that Best Buy's product page had newly launched (~11-27-2019), I decided to focus solely on it. Periodically (sometimes obsessively) refreshing the page for days was well worth the time. On the morning of 11/30/2019 at approximately ~8:21am, I was shocked when the "Sold Out" button briefly turned into "Add to Cart." When it happened, I was nearly floored! I immediately thought, "How many more people are seeing this with me?!" My anxiety levels went into overdrive! I have never clicked through the checkout process so quickly in my life! Had I been using the Best Buy app on my phone, I probably would have dropped it. Lol.
Anyhow, like everyone else interested in this processor, I had been reading/watching all of the reviews for it. The results are astounding! It's unlike anything we've seen in the mainstream consumer space before. I have no reservations in saying that the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is nothing short of spectacular! No matter the task (gaming, content creation, streaming, etc), the 3950X rises to the occasion, and will continue to do so for many years to come.
I was actually leaning towards a Threadripper 3960X as I wasn't sure if the amount of PCI-E 4.0 lanes on the AM4 platform were going to be enough. Once the 24/16 lane count from a combination of the CPU/X570 chipset were confirmed, I knew that a total 40 lanes would suit me just fine.
This new rig is replacing my build from March 2017. Over the last two and a half years, the only parts I've upgraded on it are the power supply and graphics card, both of which I'll be carrying over to the new build. I purchased everything else I needed for the new build week ending 11-23-2019. The processor was all that remained. I got lucky!
Best Buy estimated it to be delivered on Wed 12-4-2019, but UPS had it at my local facility on Tue 11-3-2019, scheduled for delivery the same day! Best Buy sent me a very festive email, excitedly proclaiming that my package was arriving a day earlier! Things couldn't get any better! I waited and waited until, boom, the UPS truck arrived at 12:20pm! I was at the door waiting patiently. He walked up and delivered my new tower, second NVMe drive, and nothing else. I asked if there were any more packages. He said those are the only items set for delivery to my address. As he walked away, my heart sank. I immediately brought up the app. The 3950X was still scheduled for delivery. All was not lost!
After waiting for around thirty minutes or so, I opened the app again. An exception occurred at 12:23pm. As I read the status of my package, it felt like time stood still. "Due to operating conditions, your package may be delayed." Dang it. That was the last thing I was expecting to see. Oh, well. I called UPS to find out what was going on. The first guy I talked to told me that the scans I see on the website and app are just labels, and that UPS doesn't have physical possession of my package. Wait. What? You cannot be serious. How so? He said the package is considered lost, and didn't seem interested in discussing it any further. He actually insisted that we file a report.
I was sick to my stomach at the thought of my CPU being lost, and the claims process ahead of me. I couldn't accept that answer, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was finally connected to someone with access to more information. She reassured me that UPS was indeed in possession of my package. She went on to say that it was left at the facility by the driver and would be delivered the next available business day. I told her that I would be more than happy to go pick it up myself. She went ahead requested a same day hold for me. I drove over to the local facility (~9 minutes) and talked to someone. Turns out, my package was there, but on a truck that was waiting to be unloaded/sorted. There was no way I could get the package that day. Sigh. I returned home. I reasoned that it wasn't the end of the world. Besides, it was a day early anyway.
So, after a minor setback, I received my package today (12-4-2019). I'm excited and can't wait to get started. Sorry for such a long story. Thanks for reading.
Good luck to everyone else trying to get their hands on this elusive part.
Old Rig:
MB: ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Professional Gaming
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X @ 4.1 GHz
GPU: MSI Radeon VII 16GB HBM2 1901 MHz
Mem: 32GB G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series F4-3200C14D-32GVR
Storage: 3x 250GB Samsung 960 EVO Series NVMe M.2 RAID0
PSU: CORSAIR AX1600i Digital ATX 1600w (CP-9020087-NA)
Cooling: Alphacool Eisbaer 360 CPU Water Cooler (11286)
Case: Thermaltake Level 10 GT (VN10001W2N)
New Rig:
MB: ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming X
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
GPU: MSI Radeon VII 16GB HBM2 1901 MHz
Mem: 32GB G.SKILL Flare X Series F4-3200C14D-32GFX
Storage: 2x 1TB Sabrent Rocket NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 RAID0
PSU: CORSAIR AX1600i Digital ATX 1600w (CP-9020087-NA)
Cooling: Cougar HELOR 360 Liquid Cooling
Case: Rosewill Nighthawk Z-RGB