Question Cost Being Equal - Threadripper 1950X or Ryzen 7 3700X?

[Atif]

Hello Everyone!

Some quick context, I posted a thread over in the motherboards forum regarding the content creation rig I'm building for my sibling and the feasibility of running 64GB of RAM (dual rank, 4 sticks) at speeds in excess of 2933 on the AM4 platform. What I gathered is I'll have to wait for the X570 boards to hit the market to really run that sort of configuration on AM4.

With that said, one of the suggestions was to explore the TR4 platform because it'll easily support 64GB of RAM (though speeds in excess of 2933 might be hit or miss) and excel at the Adobe video and photo editing applications it'll almost exclusively be used for.

So the entire build list for this new machine is set/in hand, except for the CPU and motherboard. Given some of the open box deals available in my area, I think the price of admission to the TR4 platform will be about the same as a brand new X570 motherboard. Along those lines, Micro Center has the Threadripper 1950X available for $399, which isn't that far off from the $329 MSRP for the Ryzen 7 3700X. So, with that all said and keeping in mind absolutely no gaming will be happening on this machine, is the Threadripper 1950X (today) or the Ryzen 7 3700X (next month) the better choice for this build?

Rest of the build list:

Videocard - MSI AERO ITX GeForce GTX 1070

RAM - G.SKILL Ripjaws V F4-3000C14Q-64GVK (4 x 16GB double sided Samsung B Die kit)

Primary SSD - ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe NVMe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 1TB SSD (ASX8200PNP-1TT-C)

Power Supply - Corsair RM1000i 1000W

Operating System - Microsoft Windows 10 Professional

Thank you for any insights you can share!

 

[maddie]

Definitely the TR option if I was choosing, also an upgrade path to TR with Zen2 cores will exist later.

 

[Markfw]

1950x is cheap now, but you will get better memory support and speed if you go 2950x or 2970wx. 2970wx at $700 or less Here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-Thread...44:g:Sg0AAOSwIMlc3hEz&LH_BIN=1&frcectupt=true

 

[Atif]

Thank you for your input! @Markfw , what motherboard + memory timings are you running at in those TR 1950X machines in your signature?

 

[Markfw]

Thank you for your input! @Markfw , what motherboard + memory timings are you running at in those TR 1950X machines in your signature?

stock speed, ASTock Taichi, most are running 3600 cl15 @ 3466.

 

[Atif]

That speed/those timings sound great to me! That's the same motherboard we'd be looking to get so that's encouraging.

With regards to your suggestion about the meatier TR, I'm considering my sister's budget and the fact that she's coming from a 6 core Phenom, and feel like we could start with the 1950X and then hopefully the platform persists far enough in the future to where we could pick up a Zen 2/3 based TR on the cheap as an incremental upgrade when/if this setup gets a little long in the tooth.

 

[Markfw]

I just suggested that 2970x, as thats a great price, and with make offer to boot !

 

[Atif]

Thank you all for your feedback and input. I went with a Threadripper 1950X and ASRock X399 Taichi motherboard. Currently have the G.SKILL dual rank 4 x 16GB kit at 3133 doing 14-14-14 stable in a quad channel configuration. Hopefully I can continue tuning and get to that 3200 goal for this quad channel kit.

Very happy thus far with what we are seeing!

 

[Atari2600]

That'll serve you well.

In a few years time, you should be able to drop in a Zen2 based Threadripper for reasonable prices and probably see a doubling of performance.

I see also talk that the X399 platform *can* support more than 128GB - it just needs the mobo OEMs to do a bit with the bios. Not sure if that is relevant for you or not, but the flexibility can never hurt.

 

[Atif]

That'll serve you well.

In a few years time, you should be able to drop in a Zen2 based Threadripper for reasonable prices and probably see a doubling of performance.

I see also talk that the X399 platform *can* support more than 128GB - it just needs the mobo OEMs to do a bit with the bios. Not sure if that is relevant for you or not, but the flexibility can never hurt.

Absolutely it's relevant. We are hoping that AMD keeps this socket around for at least one more generation if not two so that we can capitalize on the upgrade potential you just mentioned. It would be AWESOME if it ends up being that easy when this 1950X really does get long in the tooth.

 

[Atari2600]

Absolutely it's relevant. We are hoping that AMD keeps this socket around for at least one more generation if not two so that we can capitalize on the upgrade potential you just mentioned. It would be AWESOME if it ends up being that easy when this 1950X really does get long in the tooth.

Well, I proved out platform stability and use for me on a 1900X, then jumped to a 2950X when I was sure it could do what I wanted it to. Very easy to upgrade.

 

[Atif]

So after reading some reviews of the new Ryzens, I am definitely excited at the prospect of picking up whatever new Threadripper they announce based on the new Zen core (in the future). Until then, I think we will sit tight with the 1950X and X399 Taichi we picked up a few weeks ago at steep clearance discounts.

Moreover, I think getting four sticks of dual sided dual rank RAM to 3133 in a quad channel config would be about as good as what we would've been able to eke out even on a new X570 board.

This was the final build:

https://leenabutt.com/halal-recipes/leens-mean-dream-machine

Thank you all again for your input and support!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Wow, 1950X for $399? Yeah, that's pretty-much a no-brainer for a content-creation type rig. Good job! And best wishes with the Halal cooking website too.

 

[B-Riz]

Interestingly enough, Zen2 / X570 now supports 128GB of memory.

I also have an X399 Taichi bought on sale and it is a great board (waiting for Threadripper 3 also!).

Cheers!

 

[B-Riz]

So after reading some reviews of the new Ryzens, I am definitely excited at the prospect of picking up whatever new Threadripper they announce based on the new Zen core (in the future). Until then, I think we will sit tight with the 1950X and X399 Taichi we picked up a few weeks ago at steep clearance discounts.

Moreover, I think getting four sticks of dual sided dual rank RAM to 3133 in a quad channel config would be about as good as what we would've been able to eke out even on a new X570 board.

This was the final build:

https://leenabutt.com/halal-recipes/leens-mean-dream-machine

Thank you all again for your input and support!

"Then there’s the ASRock motherboard, which is basically the Le Creuset dutch oven of motherboards. "

LOL

Nice build!