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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darwi - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
certainly 60 PCIe4 lanes is best than 48 PCIe3.since SLI is not next best thing for the moment this is quite enough for the most currents setup.
But filling up all those 48 PCIe could be possible with mulitiple storage+network and GPU.
However my main point is that the 10980Xe doing an "ok job" and for some users a 500$ or 1k$ bill is a steep step to jump to the first step of the TR4 lineup.
on the other hand the CM Chipset / Socket instability is a major pain point belonging to intel so far
We will see since Milan is the last iteration of this architecture family before a major architecture revision which certainly require a new socket (according to published roadmaps)
the TR4
blppt - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
I shouldnt have to keep posting this, but your 7980XE Geekbench MT score is highly inaccurate.I don't overclock anything, and i get 52,000+ consistently.
You either have completely disabled turbo or have some other problem that prevents the cpu from going higher than 2.6 base, because 31K is pathetic.
https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/14797740
Korguz - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
blppt is geekbench even reliable ? a quick search.. seems to point in the direction, that it isnt.blppt - Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - link
What difference does it make whether or not GB4 is 'reliable'? They shouldn't be getting such ridiculously low scores for the 7980XE/9980XE, which means that there is something wrong with their configuration.Especially since literally every other cpu result in their chart is within the margins for what everybody else gets in GB4.
Slash3 - Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - link
It may have to do with their memory speed and timings. Reviews specify that the platforms are tested at JEDEC timings for each platform, but have never (to my knowledge) listed the specific subtimings used. For X299, this could easily mean from 2666 CL17-17-17 up to 2666 CL20-20-20. If you're running at, say, 3200 CL14-14-14 it may account for at least some of the difference.blppt - Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - link
Nope. 2666, you can see in the link I provided. Secondly, ram speed would not come close to making up a 20,000 point deficit. Something is wrong with their 18-core Intel setup.prime2515103 - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
Lisa Sue is my hero. When the day comes that she leaves AMD I am going to cry like a little girl.prime2515103 - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
oops... Su... lolpeevee - Tuesday, November 26, 2019 - link
She gave Zen architecture to Chinese. Why would she do that, when AMD could have sold them the CPUs? Gaving our the most precious IP you have? Sounds like treason.yeeeeman - Monday, November 25, 2019 - link
I like a these Steven Spielberg type of users commenting here about the cataclysm that is striking Intel. Intel is doomed. Intel doesn't know anything. Intel is this, Intel is that. Intel has only one weakness now, its Fab. Otherwise, we can't know if chiplets were included in their plans for 10 or 7nm. We don't know yet what uarch they have in the pipeline. We see that ice lake is already a better core than zen 2. Probably Zen 3 will close the gap in ipc. Tiger lake brings another 10%. So Intel has responses. But they need to fix their Fab issue...