I'm confused as to why they don't have a 4 core variant given that chip itself looks to be two 4 core units laid out next to each other. To me, a cheap, and hopefully higher clock 4 core could be something interesting for regular users and gamers. Little uses more than 4 cores effectively so if they could bring the price down and MHz up with a 4 core chip it could be a real consideration vs a 7000 series Intel.
 
As it stands I'm with Jim in that I am having a hard time to recommend this. For gamers it isn't a good choice. You are better off getting a 7700k for the same money or a 7600k for $100 less. Ya you only have 4 core instead of 8 but seriously, games need clock speed not core count. Many games won't even use more than 4 cores and of those that do, almost none seem to really make much use of the extra cores. One or two will be hit hard, the rest will be low usage.
 
For things like audio production, latency is key and it seems that Intel has the latency edge, which has been the case in the past generally (I remember back when quad cores were becoming a thing and the inter-core latency on AMD chips was a good deal worse). Unless you are in a situation where your effects need a ton of power and you don't have the money for an Intel HEDT chip, it doesn't seem like a win.
 
For normal desktop use, well all that chips are way overkill. Regular desktop usage doesn't really even need 4 core, much less 8. A low end quad core, or even a nice dual core would be the way to go, save some money.
 
That leaves only really things like video rendering in the solid win category. There is is faster per dollar, no question. So if that's your thing then it is worth a look.
 
Thus while it isn't a bad chip, I just find it being in a position where I don't find many people I'd recommend it to.

I've been very happy with my old AMD Phenom II 6-core for several years and it will handle a surprising amount of stress in the form of multiple Kontakt instances and orchestral samples. However, recent months of Neutron, Adaptiverb, Diva and Hofa IQ-Reverb have really taken their toll. I wanted Ryzen to work. But I handed the 1800x back in today and came home with an i7-6800k along with the usual goodies. I really appreciate the information in this thread and how it helped me decide.

metz
I've been burned from chosing the AMD-route so not going there unless they are delivering something exceptionally good. More exited that this might kick Intel in the crotch so they have to deliver something even better.
 
PS
/I'm sure AMD is fantastic these days (so no need for a processor war here), it was quite a long time ago when I had my AMD processor that I could fry my breakfast eggs on...

I agree 100%. It has been a long while since I had any AMD's but with the issues I experienced I am really gun shy about them now. Even if a crash may not be caused by the processor or system board, the thought that the AMD is the issue would always lurk in the back of my mind. I just can't trust them now. Some may say the same about intel...