AMD ThreadRipper Reviews [Aug 30 - Tom's 1920X]

[nathanddrews]

"Meta-Review" of many independent reviews @ 3DCenter.org

Spoiler: AMD ThreadRipper Hype Video

REVIEWS ALPHABETICAL

AdoredTV YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

Threadripper would be a total slam dunk if its gaming performance was better, but AMD has delivered amazing multithreaded performance for less than Intel.

Anandtech

Spoiler: Summary

"In our performance benchmarks, there are multiple angles to describe the results we have collected. AMD is still behind when it comes to raw IPC, but plays competitively in frequency. Intel still wins the single threaded tasks, especially those that rely on DRAM latency. AMD pulls ahead when anything needs serious threads by a large amount, and most of the time the memory arrangement is not as much of an Achilles heel as might be portrayed. If a user has a workload that scales, AMD is bringing the cores to help it scale as wide as possible."

Anandtech UPDATE GAME MODE

Ars

Spoiler: Summary

The good

• Better performance than the equivalent Intel chip for the price
• Fully featured platform across all chips
• While liquid cooling is a must, Theadripper is easier to tame than Skylake-X
• Huge improvements in production tasks over mainstream CPUs
• Competitively priced

The bad

• Overclocking remains limited
• Needs a suitably robust cooling setup and power supply
• Lags behind Intel in overall IPC performance

The ugly

• That you're seriously considering spending $1000/£1000 on a CPU now.

GamersNexus YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

Value, great for multithreaded workloads, ECC support, not the best for singlethreaded or gaming.

Guru3D

Spoiler: Summary

"At twelve or sixteen cores you also cannot beat the value that Threadripper brings to the table compared to team blue. If you decide to invest in one, it's going to last you so many years. And with software slowly getting more and more threaded, it might even be a wise investment. That said, purely for gaming and everyday usage this investment really doesn't make much sense. But let me throw another mindfrack at you; does it have to make sense?"

Hardware Canucks

Spoiler: Summary

Professionals, prosumers or even gamers who need their system to crunch through other tasks while they frag away will certainly benefit from what’s being offered here, especially with the 1920X. On the other hand, I can’t imagine ever recommending Threadripper for someone who wants to assemble a pure gaming setup. People running a single high-end graphics card will be infinitely better served by Ryzen 7 or even the extremely versatile Ryzen 5 processors.

Hardware.fr

Spoiler: Summary

En français.

Hardware Unboxed YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

Why would anyone buy the X299 platform?

[H]ard|OCP

Spoiler: Summary

"The AMD Threadripper CPUs have been a blast to work with for the last couple of weeks. I think we can surely say that the Threadripper is a high-end enthusiast CPU. One thing is for certain, and that is AMD is injecting excitement back into the CPU industry and holding Intel's lethargic feet to the fire. The Threadripper represents the pinnacle in the HEDT market."

Hot Hardware **Alienware System Review**

KitGuru KitGuru YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

Pros:

• Superb multi-threaded performance.
• 1950X is the highest-performance consumer CPU available and the 1920X is generally second-fastest.
• Excellent price versus performance even compared to Ryzen 7.
• Quad-channel memory support with high bandwidth results and high-capacity ECC compatibility.
• Performance-per-Watt based on Cinebench is very good for the 1950X and good for the 1920X.
• Good thermal performance given the power draw thanks to the well-designed, soldered heatspreader.
• Plenty of PCIe 3.0 connectivity from the CPU’s 60+4 lane counts.
• X399 looks to be a well-built platform with a good feature set.

Cons:

• Power draw is very high, albeit sometimes justifiable on a performance per Watt metric.
• Strong overclocking for high-core count CPUs but Intel’s 10-core i9-7900X at 4.6GHz remains a solid competitor.
• Intel’s Skylake-X i9-7900X is generally faster in frequency-driven or less heavily-threaded tasks.

KitGuru says: Offering superb multi-threaded performance while maintaining solid overclocking capacity and manageable thermals, AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper processors have taken the fight to Intel’s Skylake-X line-up and the 1950X has stolen the HEDT performance crown in the process. Factoring in AMD’s aggressive pricing, we are left exceedingly impressed by AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper. Highly recommended.

Linus Tech Tips YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

"No brainer for high core count workloads."

Paul's Hardware YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

Great bang for the buck.

PC Perspective PC Perspective YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

"If you content creation is your livelihood or your passion, Ryzen Threadripper is targeted directly to you and is provides a competitive solution that AMD has been unable to offer in over a decade. Threadripper puts AMD back in the driver seat, offering the highest performance, highest core-count CPU for the high-end market today."

PCWorld YouTube

Spoiler: Summary

This is a really funny video. Multithreaded or GTFO

TechSpot

Spoiler: Summary

Pros: The Threadripper 1920X offers more performance, uses less power and runs cooler than the Core i9-7900X. It also supports ECC memory (Intel's X299 platform doesn't). Compared to the Ryzen 7 1800X, the 1920X touts quad-channel memory support and more PCIe lanes.

Cons: The $1,000 Threadripper 1950X is competitively priced but nonetheless comes at a hefty premium. Threadripper falls a tad behind when it comes to gaming.

Tom's Hardware

Spoiler: Summary

"If you need Threadripper, you’ll know it. Heavy multitaskers, streamers, those who regularly use heavily threaded applications or have heavy PCIe requirements will all experience competitive performance. The recommendation comes with a caveat, though; if you’re looking strictly for the best gaming performance, you are better served with other alternatives."

Toms' Hardware 1920X

 

[krumme]

PCworld for some fun way to do it:
https://youtu.be/m1h_0KYP_Zg?t=3m36s

 

[Markfw]

About all as expected, and what I bought one for.

 

[nathanddrews]

PCworld for some fun way to do it:
https://youtu.be/m1h_0KYP_Zg?t=3m36s

That's freaking hilarious! Paper graphs!

 

[Bouowmx]

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X: 3.6 GHz on all cores. What I needed to know.

Also, any reviews with coolers that fully cover processor surface? Like ARCTIC Freezer 33 TR, Noctua NH-U14S TR4, or ENERMAX LIQTECH TR4?

 

[formulav8]

An MT beast as expected. Not near the best in games as expected. (Edit: @ 1080p). Not that many who would buy it for games anyways.

 

[IEC]

An MT beast as expected. Not near the best in games as expected. (Not that many who would buy it for games anyways).

At 1080p, sure. At 1440p and 4K it's competitive.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X: 3.6 GHz on all cores. What I needed to know.

Also, any reviews with coolers that fully cover processor surface? Like ARCTIC Freezer 33 TR, Noctua NH-U14S TR4, or ENERMAX LIQTECH TR4?

The Enermax is the only AIO I am aware of with full TR4 IHS coverage, and it is releasing "end of August". EK is supposed to be shipping their custom water blocks on the 18th...

So it looks like my 32GB of Samsung B-die will sit here systemless until the end of the month.

 

[formulav8]

At 1440p and 4K it's competitive.

True

 

[Shivansps]

Petty much as i expected, good on MT, not so good in games, thats why no one run games on a multi socket system.

 

[Markfw]

I have not read all of the reviews yet, but did anyone benchmark with 3600 ram ?

Edit: I just saw HardOCP reviewed Intel with 3600, but AMD with 3200, what a load of crap !

 

[Kenmitch]

I didn't read reviews yet either. Did anybody do some gaming while streaming, etc testing? Seems like straight up gaming wouldnt be best use scenario for such beastly chips.

 

[psolord]

OP add http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-review,1.html guru3D if you want.

Sorry mobile screwed up.

 

[Bouowmx]

I didn't read reviews yet either. Did anybody do some gaming while streaming, etc testing? Seems like straight up gaming wouldnt be best use scenario for such beastly chips.

Comparison to Intel Core i9-7900X in double encoding (to remote stream and local recording) for Counter-Strike: GO, and Dota 2

 

[Markfw]

OP add http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-review,1.html guru3D if you want.

Sorry mobile screwed up.

This is what I agree with end their final conclusions section:

"but still, AMD is king and rules the HEDT market with these prices"

 

[nathanddrews]

OP add http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-review,1.html guru3D if you want.

Sorry mobile screwed up.

Thanks! I added a few more like AdoredTV, Paul's HW, etc.

 

[nathanddrews]

The most significant part of TR that I was not aware of is this dedicated Creator vs. Game mode. Unlike Vega FE, I'm amazed by the difference:

​

Gaming Mode Gain over Creator Mode:

Average​

1080p +4.6%
4K +1.1%
​

99th​

1080p +26.5%
4K +10.9%​

 

[Bouowmx]

If I wanted to use AMD Ryzen Threadripper to run multiple instances of a single-thread app (BOINC distributed computing), to maximize total processor throughput, I would not select either of the preset Creator or Game modes, but rather set SMT `on` and memory mode `NUMA`, or in "marketing spiel", Legacy compatibility `off` and memory access `Local`.

 

[nathanddrews]

Wow, lots of reviews. It's odd though as many reviews show comparable system power draw between TR and KLX, but some show TR being much higher...

 

[urvile]

At 1080p, sure. At 1440p and 4K it's competitive.

Good thing I game at 1440p. On another note turns out the Corsair RAM I bought runs micron chipsets and apparently that comes in at second worst for overclocking (just in front of hynix). At least with ryzen 7. Oh well. At least I know it's compatible. Now I just have to wait until christmas and I should get my hardware.

 

[Zucker2k]

I have not read all of the reviews yet, but did anyone benchmark with 3600 ram ?

Edit: I just saw HardOCP reviewed Intel with 3600, but AMD with 3200, what a load of crap !

Threadripper downclocks a notch to compensate for the extra power draw from the memory controllers. So you actually lose performance if you go crazy on the ram overclocks. Ouch!

 

[Markfw]

Threadripper downclocks a notch to compensate for the extra power draw from the memory controllers. So you actually lose performance if you go crazy on the ram overclocks. Ouch!

Do you have a link ? They said nothing about that. I will have one Monday, so I can verify. I have 3600 samsung bdie to test, rated at 3600.

 

[Zucker2k]

Do you have a link ? They said nothing about that. I will have one Monday, so I can verify. I have 3600 samsung bdie to test, rated at 3600.

"The key element to this graph is the 1950X running at DDR4-3200. Because the faster DRAM requires the memory controller to draw more power, it leaves less power for the CPU cores, potentially resulting in a lower turbo core frequency. So while the faster memory might guarantee faster performance in memory limited scenarios, the core frequency might end up lower given worse performance overall. It’s an interesting thought, so we plotted the per-core power for the 1950X at DDR4-2400 and DDR4-3200."
http://www.anandtech.com/show/11697/the-amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-and-1920x-review/19

Almost all the reviews I read mentioned it.

 

[Ajay]

"The key element to this graph is the 1950X running at DDR4-3200. Because the faster DRAM requires the memory controller to draw more power, it leaves less power for the CPU cores, potentially resulting in a lower turbo core frequency. So while the faster memory might guarantee faster performance in memory limited scenarios, the core frequency might end up lower given worse performance overall. It’s an interesting thought, so we plotted the per-core power for the 1950X at DDR4-2400 and DDR4-3200."
http://www.anandtech.com/show/11697/the-amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-and-1920x-review/19

Almost all the reviews I read mentioned it.

Based on the graphs, it's not clear to me that any conclusion can be drawn (at least for the AT review). Plus, this was only tested on Prime95. Jury still out, IMHO.

 

[Markfw]

"The key element to this graph is the 1950X running at DDR4-3200. Because the faster DRAM requires the memory controller to draw more power, it leaves less power for the CPU cores, potentially resulting in a lower turbo core frequency. So while the faster memory might guarantee faster performance in memory limited scenarios, the core frequency might end up lower given worse performance overall. It’s an interesting thought, so we plotted the per-core power for the 1950X at DDR4-2400 and DDR4-3200."
http://www.anandtech.com/show/11697/the-amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-and-1920x-review/19

Almost all the reviews I read mentioned it.

hmmmm I missed that. But the question is, was that with all 8 slots filled ? And overclocked ? I will be at 4 ghz, and 3600 and try to run tests at that and 3200 and see what happens. Since Ryzen/EPYC/Threadripper are so sensitive to memory speed, I would guess that 3600 could make a huge difference in benchmarks.... We will see next Monday if I get it in time to test. Or Tuesday.

Edit: The other thig I disagree with is the comment that faster memory only helps in memory limited scenarios. From that I have read, since the zen core talks to all cores at memory speed, ALL things run faster with faster memory.

 

[KentState]

Seems promising, but looking forward to some higher core count models from both Intel and AMD.