*If* they do 16 core Ryzen this generation, and it is a big if in my view, there is no way in hell it's only a $100 premium.
I would expect it to be minimum $200 premium, and wouldn't really expect it to be below $750.
Why? Why charge Threadripper money? This isn't a HEDT chip, so why charge HEDT prices? Plus, if 4 more cores than a 3900X commands $200 minimum premium, why does 4 more cores than a 3800X only command a $100 premium. Or to put it another way, if 8 to 12 cores costs $100 more, why should 12 to 16 core cost
more than $100?
I think they'd be silly to launch it though. Higher binned dies (and they will be short of dies) should be going to EPYC and TR4. Margins are way higher, and additional market share gained on enthusiast will be minuscule, from having a 16 core (given they already have 12 and Intel only have 8).
But no, not really. EPYC gets the most power efficient chiplets by necessity of server requirements, so the best silicon will be diverted to servers of course. But Threadripper really doesn't need the "best" silicon any more, does it. Threadripper traditionally has the best or joint best clocks of the Ryzen family, yeah? Based on what's confirmed so far that'll be 4.6GHz, so we realistically can expect a 32c/64t 4.6GHz boost Threadripper.
Chiplets come off the wafer with only half the cores working, but those cores are still capable of 3.8/4.6GHz. That's arguably junk silicon. Yet, strap 8 of those together and suddenly you have a 32c/64t Threadripper that still matches the top Ryzens in clocks, as it's always done.
The notion that Threadripper needs the best silicon no longer applies to Zen 2.
Now, as to whether the 16 core Ryzen with a 4.7GHz boost will come out is still a valid argument, but it should be compared to the 3800X, not EPYC or Threadripper. Arguably the 2nd best 8 core chiplets will be going into the 3800X, yet 2 of those chiplets will be required for the 16 core -
releasing the 16 core will actually eat into resources for the 3800X, which is likely to be the bigger seller of the 2 products.