The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X and 3970X Review: 24 and 32 Cores on 7nm
by Dr. Ian Cutress, Andrei Frumusanu & Gavin Bonshor on November 25, 2019 9:05 AM ESTTest Bed and Setup
As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |
| AMD TR3 | Threadripper 3970X Threadripper 3960X |
| Motherboard | ASUS ROG Zenith II Extreme (BIOS 0601) |
| CPU Cooler | Thermaltake Riing 360 CLC |
| DRAM | Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 8x8 GB DDR4-3200 |
| GPU | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming 8G |
| PSU | Corsair AX860i |
| SSD | Crucial MX500 2TB |
| OS | Windows 10 1909 |
For our motherboards, we are using the latest firmware. It should be noted that our Intel tests do not have the latest Intel security updates for JCC and others, as the motherboard vendors for the models we used have not implemented them yet.
The latest AMD TR3 benchmarks were run by Gavin Bonshor, while I attended Supercomputing in Denver last week. Unfortunately both Intel and AMD decided to sample processors before the annual trade show conference, with launches only a couple of days after the show finished. As a result, our testing has been split between Gavin and myself, and we have endeavored to ensure parity through my automated testing suite.
Also, our compile test seems to have broken itself when we used Windows 10 1909, and due to travel we have not had time to debug why it is no longer working. We hope to get this test up and running in the new year, along with an updated test suite.
We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.
| Hardware Providers | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
Silverstone Coolers |
Silverstone Fans |
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Xyler94 - Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - link
Gotta love the "But what about this" with you fanboys.Did AMD beat Intel to the X86-64 Race? Yes
Did AMD beat Intel to the 1Ghz Race? Yes
Did AMD beat Intel to the true dual-core arc? Yes
Does AMD still continue to innovate and bring us better products, despite their peanut funding compared to Intel, while Intel just tries to weasel their way through the market? Of course. Do you honestly believe if TR3 wasn't so amazing, that Intel would have reduced their 18 core part to 1k out of the goodness of their heart? If you think that, you're more of a fanboy than I thought.
It is still known as AMD-64 today, because AMD found the way to do both 32bit and 64bit X86 at the same time, and Intel has to license that tech from AMD. Without AMD, Intel would not be releasing 8 core CPUs today. The reason for their shortages isn't really due to high demand, it's due to varying demand of their products. the 6-8 core silicon is different from their 4 core ones, and they needed to manufacture separate LCC and HCC core i9/Xeons, further hogging their supply chain. And there's also the fact the 9900k is also a legitimately great CPU, so people want it, further hurting the supply chain. Intel did this to themselves due to years of complacency, so I don't feel bad at all.
blppt - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
"Did AMD beat Intel to the X86-64 Race? Yes"They didn't beat Intel to anything---Intel was going with IA64, never going with x64, Then AMD threw a MASSIVE wrench into those plans, lol. Intel was forced to then copy AMD64 with EMT64 when Itanium flopped.
But make no mistake---if AMD didn't create x86-64, Intel wouldn't have either. We'd all be running Itaniums and Itanium clones.
Qasar - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
actually, for the most part, the industry didnt want ia 64, it would me a redo of most, if not all of the software just to use it, before they could even use it, with AMD64, you could keep using existing 32 bit software, and transition of 64 bit, when you can, or wanted to. amd just found a better, and quicker way to 64 bit then when intel was trying to cram down every ones throats."
But make no mistake---if AMD didn't create x86-64, Intel wouldn't have either." and chances are, we could be still using 32 bit cpus, as i said above, most, if not all of the industry didnt want to have to re compile all of the software we used then. and wasnt itanium slower then x86 over all ?
ahh yep.. it was slower : " By the time Itanium was released in June 2001, its performance was not superior to competing RISC and CISC processors. " from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IA-64
Qasar - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
would me a redo of most = would mean a redo of mostblppt - Monday, December 2, 2019 - link
One of the big reasons Itanium/IA-64 failed was that its "backwards compatibility" (i.e. x86 emulation) was much slower than the native x86 cpus out at the time.So, while they wouldn't need to redo all that x86 software, it wasn't exactly speedy while emulating.
To take full advantage of the IA64 architecture, yes, they would need to rewrite a lot of software, but it would have *run* without a rewrite.
And that's where x86-64 stepped in. 64 bit memory addressing, perfect x86-32 performance at a lower price.
But Intel was never going to create x64 by themselves unless the new EPIC/VLIW IA64 hit some kind of performance brick wall, or people just kept coding to x86 anyways (which Itanium would run, but slowly).
Bear in mind that part of the reason it was slow in 2001, x86 and Power had been extensively optimized compilers for a decade (or more for x86) and IA64 was in its nascent stages. Since it was never adopted by the mass public (include home users, etc), development of IA64 never came close to the level of development and optimization of x86.
Qasar - Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - link
either way you look at it, it seems AMD is doing more to move the cpu farther, then intel does. AMD seems to be the one that innovates, while intel sleeps. i know some who is a fan of intel, will refute this, but think about it... AMD improves the cpu, and moves it forward, while intel stagnates and stifles it..eva02langley - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
Desktop and HEDT is not Intel business anymore. Just a matter of time for server and laptop to eat the same bullet.eek2121 - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
I wouldn't say that AMD fans are wrong. Look at AMD's revenue years ago vs today. Do you think the growth came out of thin air? No, AMD is eroding Intel's marketshare. It hasn't begun to show yet, because the last reported earnings did not include Zen 2 eating into things. More and more people are buying AMD, and as long as AMD continues to execute as they have (and even more so: they have to get into bed with OEMs), Intel will gradually begin to suffer. They already HAVE suffered. Drastic price reductions on their highest end parts.eek2121 - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
Oh and I should add that Intel is in a lot more markets than AMD. In addition, Intel actually does a ton of fab work for other companies. Intel makes networking cards, storage, and much more. So in translation: Revenue is meaningless. Intel does not have endless amounts of cash to throw at creating new CPUs, GPUs (which are coming out in 2021), and chipsets. What matters is marketshare. For Intel, it's shrinking.tygrus - Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - link
AMD have taken market share from Intel but it's not uniform across all markets. Fancy brand names, servers and ultra notebooks are still dominated by Intel and where the end-user isn't making a choice. Enthusiasts using a local store to select parts & assemble are a small market that have swung to AMD.