Compatible coolers and Ryzen Master Software

Compatible coolers

AMD will release the Threadripper processor with what we already mentioned earlier last week, an Asetek mounting bracket, at launch that makes TR compatible with 20 Liquid cooling setups as well as there will be heat-pipe cooling solutions available and thus compatible with the products. By including a mounting kit users could use all closed loop water-coolers from Asetek themselves and partners. That would include coolers from NZXT and a part of the Corsair Hydro (H100i v2 and H115i) coolers as well. This means a lot of popular LCS kits will be able to be used on Threadrippers TR4-socket. And that would save your money reinvesting in a new LCS or heatpipe cooler. The included Asetek mounting / retention bracket can be used for compatible LCS kits. We tested it on an NZXT Kraken X42 which worked fine. WEe also tested it on a Corsair Hydro H105, that one was a bit more difficult to get installed. But they both did work fine.  It enables compatibility with the following 18 closed-loop cooling (CLC) units as of August 1, 2017. Just remove the bracket(s) included with your kit, then install the one provided by AMD, and your cooler will be Threadripper-ready:

• Arctic Liquid Freezer 120
• Arctic Liquid Freezer 240
• Arctic Liquid Freezer 360
• Corsair Hydro Series H115i
• Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2
• Corsair Hydro Series H105
• Corsair Hydro Series H80iv2
• Cryorig A80
• Cryorig A40 Ultimate
• Cryorig A40
• EVGA CLC 280
• NZXT Kraken X62
• NZXT Kraken X61
• NZXT Kraken X52
• Thermaltake Riing 3.0 RGB 360
• Thermaltake Riing 3.0 RGB 240
• Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate
• Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme

If you need purchase a new one: what cooler to buy for the 4094-pin sTR4 socket on the AMD X399 motherboards?  As of August 1, 2017, there are also another 9 Threadripper-ready coolers on the way that do not use the AMD-provided mounting bracket. Please confirm with the manufacturer or retailer before purchase, as some of these models pre-date Threadripper and are being updated in production to include the sTR4 hardware:

• Arctic Freezer 33
• Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
• TBA EKWB waterblock for DIY loops
• TBA EKWB CLC
• Enermax Liqtech TR4 360
• Enermax Liqtech TR4 240
• Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 (air)
• Noctua NH-U12S TR4-SP3 (air)
• Noctua NH-U9 TR4-SP3 (air)
   

All Ryzen Threadripper processors have an Asetek bracket bundled

What about cooling surface coverage?

The physical contact surface area is not an issue.

Looking a little deeper. So above you can see a Threadripper, the processor is in full stress with the AIDA stress test on CPU/FPU and memory channels. The thermal image above is a little arbitrary, but merely demonstrates that heat, or in specific heat leaking away from the water-block is a non existing thing. I already told you that when I touch the out edge of the heatspreader with my finger, it gets lukewarm at best. This is confirmed with the Thermal image, M1 would be that precise spot where you can see a bit of that heatspreader. The hottest measured spot is the SP3 Socket retention to the left on M5, reaching 47 Degrees C. We used the Corsair Hydro 105 LCS kit here.

AMD Ryzen Master Utility

Tweaking and overclocking can be managed in two ways. Standard traditional tweaking can be managed in the BIOS of course. I assume 99% of you guys will do just that. However, AMD will be updating their Ryzen Master Utility as well. You might recognize the design as the tool is styled in the very same way as Radeon Crimson drivers, it works the same and feels the same. The tool has been designed to tweak and overclock the basics like your clock frequency, voltages, memory and core parking. Once you OC above 3.7 GHz, the protection will switch off and stuff like XFR is automatically disabled for you to gain maximum performance. 
 

 
You may expect that an ALLcore overclock on threadripper processors (all models) is the same as on Ryzen, that's up-to 12 cores at ~4 GHz. AMD uses the best binned dies (threadripper is a selection of the companies 2% best binned dies placed onto the package) and as such all cores can reach 4. GHz. These should get you at that 4 GHz range with only 1.325~1.350 Volts, and yes again that's for all 16 cores. You can also select UMA, e.g. distributed memory modes and NUMA, local memory modes. To add to confusion, AMD created even more labels here, creator and game modes.