A couple of months ago we saw AMD announce the 64C/128T 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper 3990X processor. Straplined the "one CPU to rule them all in 2020," this was indeed a beefy HEDT workstation processor which is essentially a consumer version of the Epyc 7702P which is currently available to the server market in a slightly different configuration (the Epyc CPU has more memory channels, enterprise features but a lower clock speed and TDP).
The highly anticipated AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X is compared against other 3rd Gen Threadrippers and the consumer Ryzen 9 3950X in the table below:
CPU |
Cores/ |
Base Clock |
Turbo Clock |
DRAM channels |
L3 Cache |
PCIe Lanes |
TDP |
MSRP |
Threadripper 3990X |
64/128 |
2.9GHz |
4.3GHz |
4x 3200 |
256MB |
64 |
280W |
$3,990 |
Threadripper 3970X |
32/64 |
3.7GHz |
4.5GHz |
4x 3200 |
128MB |
64 |
280W |
$1,999 |
Threadripper 3960X |
24/48 |
3.8GHz |
4.5GHz |
4x 3200 |
128MB |
64 |
280W |
$1,399 |
Ryzen 9 3950X |
16/32 |
3.5GHz |
4.7GHz |
2x 3200 |
64MB |
24 |
105W |
$749 |
One more thing: video embedded above, 40mins 50sec in
In her presentation of the 64C/128T 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper 3990X processor on stage at CES, CEO Lisa Su boasted that she needed to use three screens to fit the performance bar chart across due to the extra performance on offer. There's a new performance metric for you - how many projector screens can it span?
In a more meaningful example of what kind of performance is on offer, Su showed two systems rendering a scene in V-Ray. One system packed the appropriately priced $3,990 Ryzen Threadripper 3990X, while another packed dual Xeon Platinum 8289 CPUs for a combined 56C/112T (which would set you back about $20,000). As you can see from the embedded slide, the AMD CPU was 30 per cent faster completing the hefty task in an hour and three minutes, while the Xeons soldiered on for an hour and a half.
Wrapping up the presentation Su said that the 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper 3990X would be available globally on 7th Feb. As mentioned above, it will retail at a smidgeon under US$4,000.
We didn't get any info or teasers about Zen 3 or big Navi during AMD's keynote at CES 2020.