The 64 Core Threadripper 3990X CPU Review: In The Midst Of Chaos, AMD Seeks Opportunity
by Dr. Ian Cutress & Gavin Bonshor on February 7, 2020 9:00 AM ESTAMD 3990X Against $20k Enterprise CPUs
For those looking at a server replacement CPU, AMD’s big discussion point here is that in order to get 64 cores on Intel hardware is relatively hard. The best way to get there is with a dual socket system, featuring two of its 28-core dies at a hefty $10k a piece. AMD’s argument is that users can consolidate down to a single socket, but also have better memory support, PCIe 4.0, and no cross-memory domain issues.
| AMD 3990X Enterprise Competition | |||
| AnandTech | AMD 3990X |
AMD 7702P |
Intel 2x8280 |
| SEP | $3990 | $4450 | $20018 |
| Cores/Threads | 64 / 128 | 64 / 128 | 56 / 112 |
| Base Frequency | 2900 | 2000 | 2700 |
| Turbo Frequency | 4300 | 3350 | 4000 |
| PCIe | 4.0 x64 | 4.0 x128 | 3.0 x96 |
| DDR4 Frequency | 4x 3200 | 8x 3200 | 12x 2933 |
| Max DDR4 Capacity | 512 GB | 2 TB | 3 TB |
| TDP | 280 W | 200 W | 410 W |
Unfortunately I was unable to get ahold of our Rome CPUs from Johan in time for this review, however I do have data from several dual Intel Xeon setups that I did a few months ago, including the $20k system.
This time with Corona the competition is hot on the heels of AMD's 64-core CPUs, but even $20k of hardware can't match it.
The non-AVX verson of 3DPM puts the Zen 2 hardware out front, with everything else waiting in the wings.
When we add in the AVX-512 hand tuned code, the situation flips: Intel's 56 cores get almost 2.5x the score of AMD, despite having fewer cores.
Blender doesn't seem to like the additional access latency from the 2P systems.
For AES encoding, as the benchmark takes places from memory, it appears that none of Intel's CPUs can match AMD here.
For the 7-zip combined test, there's little difference between AMD's 32-core and 64-core, but there are sizable jumps above Intel hardware.
Verdict
In our tests here (more in our benchmark database), AMD's 3990X would get the crown over Intel's dual socket offerings. The only thing really keeping me back from giving it is the same reason there was hesitation on the previous page: it doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from AMD's own 32-core CPU. Where AMD does win is in that 'money is less of an issue scenario', where using a single socket 64 core CPU can help consolidate systems, save power, and save money. Intel's CPUs have a TDP of 205W each (more if you decide to use the turbo, which we did here), which totals 410W, while AMD maxed out at 280W in our tests. Technically Intel's 2P has access to more PCIe lanes, but AMD's PCIe lanes are PCIe 4.0, not PCIe 3.0, and with the right switch can power many more than Intel (if you're saving 16k, then a switch is peanuts).
We acknowledge that our tests here aren't in any way a comprehensive test of server level workloads, but for the user base that AMD is aiming for, we'd take the 64 core (or even the 32 core) in most circumstances over two Intel 28 core CPUs, and spend the extra money on memory, storage, or a couple of big fat GPUs.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
279 Comments
View All Comments
darealist - Saturday, February 8, 2020 - link
$4000 to ripoff their loyal fanbase. All the shillz be liek "it's a steal!" while typing on their 1600x build ROFL.levizx - Saturday, February 8, 2020 - link
what a stupid dipshitSpunjji - Monday, February 10, 2020 - link
*facepalm*It *is* a steal - for a 64 core CPU.
I can't afford one, I'd never have any use for one, and I don't think anyone who qualifies as AMD's "loyal fanbase" would either. It's basically an industrial tool - the people who need this will buy it based on that need.
StuntFriar - Saturday, February 8, 2020 - link
While it's a little specific, it would be cool to benchmark some Unreal Engine 4 game developer workflows, such as doing a full rebuild/repackage of a game (for Windows, Android, iOS and consoles), rebaking the lighting for a level, importing assets, etc...I'm suggesting UE4 because Epic already has a bunch of freely available demo projects (some are graphical showcases, others are actual playable games that will pass certification on some consoles with a little work) so it's easy to set up a test that other folks can try at work for themselves - which would make it far easier to decide if a CPU upgrade would be worth it.
For fun, you could even do the same tests on Windows, MacOS and Linux to see if there's a tangible difference between operating systems (though the vast majority of developers would be using Windows regardless).
The UE4 Editor seems to be highly parallel in most of its building/compiling tasks and I do wonder they scale up proportionately past 16 cores.
Probably worth doing some Unity Engine benchmarks too since that's the most popular engine on the planet. Haven't used it in over a year, but it seemed to favour higher single-threaded performance for a lot of the building and asset import tasks. But again, it's fairly easy to set up benchmarks that users can replicate at work.
Cheers.
Betonmischer - Saturday, February 8, 2020 - link
Hi Ian! I'd like to chime in on the difference between the Pro and the Enterprise versions of Windows 10 in regards to 128 thread management. Are you absolutely sure that your Pro test system is up to date? I see 2 sockets on the screenshot, which shouldn't happen on either version. Here's the picture of what it looks like on my colleague's test bench. It's Windows 10 Pro, and it's detecting a 128-thread CPU as a single socket. We found no impact on performance either, including the benchmarks that you specifically listed on page 3.https://imgur.com/G2VqgoU
realbabilu - Saturday, February 8, 2020 - link
Since this is targeted to very segmented market like render farm. A bench single cpu tr4 3990x vs clustered cheaper several ryzen 3950x will be fascinating.msroadkill612 - Monday, February 10, 2020 - link
I sometimes fantasise about clusters/arrays of Renoir apuS, each w/ a 2TB NVME of "edge" data, for rendering and AI.What do folks think?
hammer256 - Sunday, February 9, 2020 - link
Hm, I wonder if AMD would release a higher clocked EPYC 7702p variant for workstation use, raise the TDP to say 320W, have threadripper clocks, and sell it for $5-6K. For the 64 core use cases I can't imagine an extra $1-2K would matter for the target audience. For those people I imagine 8 channels of registered memory would matter a lot more for the bandwidth, ECC, and capacity, but still want the high clocks.B3an - Sunday, February 9, 2020 - link
In your Handbrake test, could the 3960X/3970X both be scoring lower than the 3950X because you're also using Windows 10 Pro? Why else would they be scoring lower considering that the 3990X scores quite significantly higher than all those CPU's when using Windows 10 Enterprise?Betonmischer - Monday, February 10, 2020 - link
Windows 10 Pro in this review's case is highly likely out of date. Otherwise it would present the 3990X as single-socket like Windows 10 Enterprise did.