AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X review

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Conclusion

Final Words 

It is nothing short of amazing what AMD brings to the table. The new 3000 series has been updated and overhauled, new processor cores based on ZEN2 bring in that extra IPC. Next to that, you need to acknowledge the fact that AMD is applying some pretty sweet base clocks for the two processors released. I mean, 3.8 and 3.7 GHz base clocks is on par with the 'regular' Ryzen 3000 series. Next to that, the 4.5 GHz Turbo bin is also really interesting. AMD brought Threadripper what it needed, an even higher IPC and with 7nm it made it possible to cram it all into that package, at reasonable voltages as well. The conundrum of it all is simple, last year I did not expect a 32- and 24-core part but they did release it. It's now a year later and, where most people had some reservations with ZEN and ZEN+, people really started to embrace ZEN. More viable for the majority of us end-users is the 8-core Ryzen, which is all we need. As you have been able to see, you can game fine with the new Threadrippers, however, you'd be foolish to spend money on them for the sole reason of gaming. You need to reverse that thinking, it's a processor series that will rip a hole in any threaded workload, whilst offering you the ability to game on it as well. For sure, this is not intended to be a gaming processor, period. The fact that you can is a big bonus. If you are a gamer, really, get yourself a nice Ryzen 3000 series 6 or 8-core processor and please do save yourself a lot of money. So who's the clientele for AMD? Well, those that need to perform video editing or developers that need to virtualize multiple containers, that's where this is a golden CPU as it offers a great balance of both worlds (gaming/pro workloads). Never, ever has any consumer been able to purchase a 12, 16, 24 or let alone a 32-core processor in this price range as that was exclusive to a very expensive server market dominated by Intel. For content creation, virtualization, animation, video editing, modeling, and raytraced rendering the answer is simple, Threadripper 3960X and 3970X. 

Performance

If the software application supports 48 or 64 threads, there's nothing stopping this processor series ripping away in threads and spitting out serious numbers that will make your eyebrows frown, and then some. The base clock is superb and remember, last year's Threadripper parts had the base clock at 3.0 GHz, that's now 700 and 800 MHz higher, on all cores. Add to that a 300 MHz extra boost in that Turbo and yeah, what can compare really? Never ever has my testing been this fast, I mean threaded software like VRAY and Cinebench take mere seconds to finish, it's just wonderful and a little daunting to see, I admit. 

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TRX40 and PCIe Gen4 all the way

The downside, of course, is that you have to purchase a new motherboard and TRX40 will not be cheap. Knowing AMD, they really have tried to keep the Gen 3 processor on X399, however, PCIe 4.0 was just not possible. So they designed a new chipset and overloaded anything and everything with PCIe Gen 4.0, including a quadruple, interconnect in-between the chipset and CPU. With that PCIe 4.0 x8 interlink, that is just unheard of and unprecedented even in the server segment. A Threadripper 3000 processor brings 64 PCIe Gen 4 lanes to the table, 8 of those have been reserved for the chipset link and then the chipset link brings in a further 24 PCIe Gen 4 links to the table with 8 reserved for that interconnect. That's 88 lanes PCIe Gen 4 lanes in total and thus 72 lanes available to the end-user. 

Stability

I am happy to report that, with the latest BIOS and the motherboard tested, we really did not run into any significant enough issues. The memory compatibility and stability was truly good. If you pick your memory right, you will not have any issues as the initial Ryzen/Threadripper releases have already removed the launch issues. In the BIOS simply enable the XMP SPD profile and you'll boot straight into Windows with your new timings and frequency. Current memories that work on Gen 2 Ryzen will work just as well on Threadripper. The new Dynamic memory toggle works well and helps to assign the best memory mode required while switching unnoticed in the OS.

Gaming 

Gaming then; at defaults, it's all pretty good really. But please do realize that there will be games out there that will not even start up with 48 or 64- threads fired off at them. The software has got no clue what it is looking at. Luckily with AMD's Ryzen Master software, you can switch to a game mode and have limited cores enabled allowing you to open up compatibility with all and any game(s). The performance itself is good, but surely not the reason why you would buy such a many-core processor. But yeah... very decent framerates. 

The Memory

We mentioned DDR4 memory a couple of times already; the latest AGESA based BIOSes have improved a lot in the past year. Threadripper fully supports most memory even starting at 3200, 3466, 3600 Mhz and upwards. We do recommend you to stick to 3600 Mhz max with some tight timings. Also remember you now have quad-channel memory available, doubling up system bandwidth. So memory-wise you'll benefit a bit more from faster latency memory opposed to faster frequency memory. Please do check your motherboard QVL list for recommended memory. You can run it, but if you do not need ECC memory, we can recommend the G.Skill FlareX or latest NEO series memory as these have been deeply tested by AMD and the motherboard partners. On my end, I have had no issues with it. Pop it in, enable XMP and you're up and running. 

The Tweak

You can tweak the processor, but you will also understand the complication of running 24 to 32 cores in an all-core overclocked mode. That will generate heat and tremendous power consumption. Surely you are not willing to mess up that 1399 or 1999 USD processor that already runs so very fast. Yes, we're not going to recommend any overclocking. But if you want to, it'll take patience, serious cooling and a lot of effort. 

 

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The conclusion

Six, eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty-four and thirty-two. Yeah, AMD has got your threaded needs covered. We've been staggered by the 3970X and are equally impressed with the 3960X at 24 cores. In fact here and there is will perform even slightly better in less threaded workloads, thanks to a slightly higher base-clock. ZEN2 brings AMD a lot of advantages, first and foremost each and every one of the 24 cores get that ZEN2 design IPC benefit, and that makes them fast cores. AMD managed to fire off really high base and turbo bins at these processors. Think Ryzen 7 3800X level performance quadrupled. Add to that the fact that UMA/NUMA memory configurations are a thing of the past. Meaning even gaming-wise the Threadrippers now put out very mature numbers. That said, not all games and software will like 24 or 32 cores though we have been able to apply the entire test suite without any problems. 

Ironically, the new architecture also allows for proper gaming. Now you're not going to buy a 24- or 32-core processor to play games on with its 6 to 8 used threads (if even that), but the fact that you can is, again, not just impressive but also very handy as the platform as an entirety is wide and diverse on features and options. Power consumption. As you've noticed from the 280W TDP, AMD needed more power to use all the many PCIe 4.0 lanes and, of course, four dies. If you take the 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X it serves you extremely fine at a 105W TDP. Ergo logic dictated to me that the Threadripper 3970X with double the amount of cores would sit in that 210W region. Yep, it needs an extra 70 Watts on top, that's due to reasons of PCIe Gen 4.0 everywhere and anywhere in massive numbers (88 lanes in total for the platform), but also the usage of four dies and the fact that AMD wanted such a high base-clock on all the processor cores. So yes, you will need to take that for granted. But if you look at used Wattage per core under load, the numbers actually are pretty good. It's just that the accumulation of it all brings the energy consumption numbers into a realm we're not used to anymore.

Cooling and temperatures then, we've seen all cores stressed bringing a load temperature sitting in the 80 to 85 Degrees C domain. That is a safe number but granted, high. This we also need to relate back to the TDP, you need at least a 280W capable cooler. Given the fact that the wattage has more than doubled, you'll need cooling to cope with that thermal dynamic as well. Ergo with this proc, Heatpipe cooling, IMHO, is not an option. Please go for a very capable LCS cooler with plenty of thermal capacity to spare as Thredripper Gen3 is a beast that needs to be tamed. Of course, the new processor came with a new chipset, TRX40 aka T-REX. It's massive and will last you a long time. It is the new basis for AMD with so many PCIe gen4 lanes that, no matter what you do, you're not going to run out of bandwidth anytime, anywhere for the next couple of years. 

All that said and done, Threadripper processors serve the smallest portion of the market, but have the biggest effect in that same market. It tickles everything including Intel, who now is shifting up a gear in order to get competitive with AMD again. For us common folk, Threadripper processors may not even make any sense, I mean you can get one for bragging rights and fun if you wanted to, nobody would hold it against you. The reality is however that procs like shown today are pure GOLD for the companies that need highly threaded PCs for their workloads. And, despite its price tag, the value that these companies get out of Threadripper 3000 is ginormous. I'll state it again, Threadripper is for the professionals, developers and video crunchers that need 32 or 24 cores to fire off at huge workloads. Anything with 6, 8, running towards 16 cores is obviously plenty sufficient for us common folk! Of course.

My conclusion is not any different from the 3970X, if you are dreaming about a hyper-tasking processor or you actually have the workloads available to tame this beast then, combined with TRX40, your best bet is a 3960X/3970X as it is just brilliant stuff. We do think that in this price segment and the amount of money needed for a TRX40 platform (you need an expensive motherboard and memory as well), that most people will simply opt for the 32-core part. Then again, the 3970X costs 1999 USD whereas the 24-core part is 1399 USD. For the price difference, you can pick up that mobo and memory alone. So yes, it's all relative based on budget and needs. Regardless of your choice, you'll love it. 

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