The AMD Threadripper 3990X is the most impressive desktop processor ever released, with 64 cores, 128 threads, a 4GHz+ boost clock, 288MB of combined cache, and all at a respectable TDP. These aren't just numbers on a specification table, either, as now that the 3990X is out in the wild, it's breaking all sorts of records for CPU power.
Alongside more fun experiments, like running the original Crysis entirely in software mode on the CPU alone, the 3990X has taken the world records for wPrime 1024m, Cinebench R15, GPUPi for CPU, and Geekbench3, multi-core. In doing so it's not only beaten out the efforts of other Threadripper CPUs, like the 3970X and 2990WX, but it's also beaten out every single Intel CPU in its class, including dual socket Xeons, and even 128 core dual-AMD Epyc CPUs.
That's not to say that the 3990X is the best CPU for every job out there. The Intel Core i9-9900K is still the best gaming CPU in the world, AMD's high-end Epyc processors for servers still win in scenarios where their eight-channel memory can be put to good use, but in major multi-threading tasks, the 3990X is is in a class of its own. That's thanks to the combination of so many cores with a relatively high clock speed. When all 64 cores are thundering away, you'll still see a 3GHz+ clock speed across all cores on all chiplets. That's an amazing achievement and puts the final nail in Intel's HEDT coffin. It will be years before Intel comes back from this.
Check out all the records that the 3990X is breaking on the HWBOT record database.