AMD Threadripper Pro Review: An Upgrade Over Regular Threadripper?
by Dr. Ian Cutress on July 14, 2021 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- AMD
- ThreadRipper
- Threadripper Pro
- 3995WX
Conclusion
Threadripper Pro is designed to fill a niche in the workstation market. The workstation market has always been a little bit odd in that it wants the power and frequency of a high-end desktop, but the core count, memory support, and IO capabilities of servers. AMD blurred the lines by moving its mainstream desktop platform to 16 cores, but failed to meet memory and IO requirements – Threadripper got part of the way there, going up to 32 cores and then 64 cores with more memory and IO, but it was still limiting in support for things like ECC. That’s where Threadripper Pro comes in.
The whole point of Threadripper Pro is to appeal to those that need the features of EPYC but none of the downsides of potentially lower performance or extended service contracts. EPYC, by and large, has been sold only at the system level, whereas Threadripper Pro can be purchased at retail, and the goal of the product is to be ISV verified for standard workstation applications. In a world without Threadripper Pro, users who want the platform can either get a Threadripper and lament the reduced memory performance and IO, or they could get an EPYC and lament the reduced core performance. Speaking with OEMs, there are some verticals (like visual effects) that requested versions of Threadripper with Pro features, such as remote management, or remote access when WFH with a proper admin security stack. Even though TR Pro fills a niche, it’s still a niche.
In our testing today, we benchmarked all three retail versions of Threadripper Pro in a retail motherboard, and compared them to the Threadripper 3000 series.
AMD Comparison | |||||||
AnandTech | Cores | Base Freq |
Turbo Freq |
Chips | L3 Cache |
TDP | Price SEP |
AMD EPYC (Zen 3, 128 PCIe 4.0, 8 channel DDR4 ECC) | |||||||
7763 (2P) | 64 / 128 | 2450 | 3500 | 8 + 1 | 256 MB | 280 W | $7890 |
7713P | 64 / 128 | 2000 | 3675 | 8 + 1 | 256 MB | 225 W | $5010 |
7543P | 32 / 64 | 2800 | 3700 | 8 + 1 | 256 MB | 225 W | $2730 |
7443P | 24 / 48 | 2850 | 4000 | 4 + 1 | 128 MB | 200 W | $1337 |
7313P | 16 / 32 | 3000 | 3700 | 4 + 1 | 128 MB | 155 W | $913 |
AMD Threadripper Pro (Zen 2, 128 PCIe 4.0, 8 channel DDR4-ECC) | |||||||
3995WX | 64 / 128 | 2700 | 4200 | 8 + 1 | 256 MB | 280 W | $5490 |
3975WX | 32 / 64 | 3500 | 4200 | 4 + 1 | 128 MB | 280 W | $2750 |
3955WX | 16 / 32 | 3900 | 4300 | 2 + 1 | 64 MB | 280 W | $1150 |
3945WX | 12 / 24 | 4000 | 4300 | 2 + 1 | 64 MB | 280 W | OEM |
AMD Threadripper (Zen 2, 64 PCIe 4.0, 4 channel DDR) | |||||||
3990X | 64 / 128 | 2900 | 4300 | 8 + 1 | 256 MB | 280 W | $3990 |
3970X | 32 / 64 | 3700 | 4500 | 4 + 1 | 128 MB | 280 W | $1999 |
3960X | 24 / 48 | 3800 | 4500 | 4 + 1 | 128 MB | 280 W | $1399 |
AMD Ryzen (Zen 3, 20 PCIe 4.0, 2 channel DDR) | |||||||
R9 5950X | 16 / 32 | 3400 | 4900 | 2 + 1 | 64 MB | 105 W | $799 |
Performance between Threadripper Pro and Threadripper came in three stages. Either (a) the results between similar processors was practically identical, (b) Threadripper beat TR Pro by a small margin due to slightly higher frequencies, or (c) TR Pro thrashed Threadripper due to memory bandwidth availability. That last point, (c), only really kicks in for the 32c and 64c processors it should be noted. Our 16c TR Pro had the same memory bandwidth results as TR, most likely due to only having two chiplets in its design.
In the end, that’s what TR Pro is there for – features that Threadripper doesn’t have. If you absolutely need up to 2 TB of eight-channel memory over 256 GB, you need TR Pro. If you absolutely need memory with ECC, then TR Pro has validated support. If you absolutely need 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0 rather than 64, then TR Pro has it. If you absolutely need Pro features, then TR Pro has it.
The price you pay for these Threadripper Pro features is an extra 37.5% over Threadripper. The corollary is that TR Pro is also more expensive than 1P EPYC processors because it has the full 280 W frequency profile, while EPYC 1P is only at 225W/240W. EPYC does have 280 W processors for dual-socket platforms, such as the 7763, but they cost more than TR Pro.
The benefit to EPYC right now is that EPYC Milan uses Zen 3 cores, while Threadripper Pro is using Zen 2 cores. We are patiently waiting for AMD to launch Threadripper versions with Zen 3 – we hoped it would have been at Computex in June, but now we’re not sure exactly when. Even if AMD does launch Threadripper with Zen 3 this year, Threadripper Pro variants might take longer to arrive.
98 Comments
View All Comments
Thanny - Thursday, July 15, 2021 - link
Your Blender results for the 3960X are off by a lot. I rendered the same scene with mine in 173 seconds. That's with PBO enabled, so it'll be a bit faster than stock, but not 20% faster.My guess is that you didn't warm Blender up properly first. When starting a render for the first time, it has to do some setup work, which is timed with the rest of the render, but only needs to be done once.
I'd expect a stock 3960X to be in the neighborhood of 180 seconds.
29a - Thursday, July 15, 2021 - link
"Firstly, because we need an AI benchmark, and a bad one is still better than not having one at all."I 100% disagree with this statement. Bad data is worse than no data at all.
arashi - Saturday, July 17, 2021 - link
But but but what about the few (<10) clicks they'd lose for not having lousy CPU based AI benchmarks!willis936 - Thursday, July 15, 2021 - link
Availability of entry level ECC CPUs (AMD pro and Intel Xeon E-2200/W) is really low. It's unfortunate. People don't have the cash for $10k systems right now but the need for ECC has only gone up. I hope for more editorials calling for mainstream ECC.Threska - Thursday, July 15, 2021 - link
Linus is mainstream enough.https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/linus-torv...
Mikewind Dale - Thursday, July 15, 2021 - link
At least mainstream desktop Ryzens tend to support ECC, even if not officially validated.What frustrates me is that laptop Ryzens don't support ECC at all - not even the Ryzen Pros.
Every Ryzen Pro laptop I've seen lacks ECC support, and some of them even have non-ECC memory soldered to the motherboard.
If you want an ECC laptop, it appears you have literally no choice at all but a Xeon laptop for $5,000.
mode_13h - Friday, July 16, 2021 - link
> laptop Ryzens don't support ECC at all - not even the Ryzen Pros.It probably depends on the laptop. If its motherboard doesn't have the extra traces for the ECC bits, then of course it won't.
Mikewind Dale - Saturday, July 17, 2021 - link
It depends on the laptop, yes. But I haven't found a single Ryzen Pro laptop from a single company that supports ECC.AMD's website ("Where to Buy AMD Ryzen™ PRO Powered Laptops") lists HP ProBook, HP EliteBook, and Lenovo Thinkpad. But none of them support ECC.
mode_13h - Saturday, July 17, 2021 - link
> I haven't found a single Ryzen Pro laptop from a single company that supports ECC.Thanks for the datapoint. Maybe someone will buck the trend, but it's also possible they judged the laptop users who really care about ECC would also prefer a dGPU and therefore won't be using APUs.
mode_13h - Friday, July 16, 2021 - link
> I hope for more editorials calling for mainstream ECC.You'll probably just get inferior in-band ECC.