Test Methodology
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX Specification |
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Intel Core Processor Configurations |
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| CPU | Core i9-7980XE |
Core i7-8700K |
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| CPU Base Clock | 2.6GHz |
4.2GHz |
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| CPU Turbo Clock | 4.4GHz |
4.5GHz |
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| CPU Cache | 24.75MB |
8MB |
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| CPU Cores / Threads | 18 / 36 |
4 / 8 |
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| CPU TDP | 165W |
95W |
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| Integrated Graphics | - |
HD 630 |
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| IGP Base Clock | - |
350MHz |
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| IGP Turbo Clock | - |
1,150MHz |
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| Socket | LGA 2066 |
LGA 1151 |
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| Lithography | 14nm |
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| Motherboard | Asus Prime X299-A |
Asus Maximus V Hero |
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| BIOS | 0802 |
0801 |
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| Memory | Corsair Dominator 32GB DDR4 |
Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR4 |
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| Memory Config | 4x8GB |
2x16GB |
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| Memory Timings | 16-17-17-36-2T |
16-16-16-39-1T |
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| Memory Speed | 2,666MHz |
2,400MHz |
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| Disk Drive | SK hynix Canvas SC300 (512GB) |
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| Power Supply | be quiet Dark Power Pro 11 (1,000W) |
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| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FE (391.35) |
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| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15S |
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| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
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AMD Ryzen Processor Configurations |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Threadripper 2990WX |
Threadripper 1950X |
Ryzen 7 2700X |
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| CPU Base Clock | 3.0GHz |
3.4GHz |
3.7GHz |
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| CPU Turbo Clock | 4.2GHz |
4.0GHz |
4.3GHz |
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| CPU L3 Cache | 64MB |
32MB |
16MB |
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| CPU Cores / Threads | 32 / 64 |
16 / 32 |
8 / 16 |
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| CPU TDP | 250W |
180W |
105W |
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| Integrated Graphics | - |
- |
- |
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| IGP Base Clock | - |
- |
- |
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| IGP Turbo Clock | - |
- |
- |
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| Socket | TR4 |
TR4 |
AM4 |
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| Lithography | 12nm |
14nm |
12nm |
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| Motherboard | Asus X399 Zenith Extreme |
Asus Crosshair VI Hero |
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| BIOS | 0078 |
5704 |
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| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32GB DDR4 |
Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR4 |
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| Memory Config | 4x8GB |
4x8GB |
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| Memory Timings | 16-17-17-36-1T |
16-17-17-36-1T |
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| Memory Speed | 2,933MHz |
2,666MHz |
2,933MHz |
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| Disk Drive | SK hynix Canvas SC300 (512GB) |
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| Power Supply | be quiet Dark Power Pro 11 (1,000W) |
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| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FE (391.35) |
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| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Wraith Ripper |
Noctua NH-D15S |
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| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
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Benchmark Suite |
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| CPU Benchmarks | ||||||||||||
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places | |||||||||||
| Blender 2.79c | Using all available cores, we run the BMW CPU_Blend benchmark and Victor benchmark | |||||||||||
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores | |||||||||||
| Corona 1.3 | Using the high-performance renderer's default benchmark that stresses all cores | |||||||||||
| Keyshot 7.3 | Using ray-tracing and global illumination that scales across all cores. | |||||||||||
| Arnold via Maya 2018 | Using the model village scene rendered via Arnold at 2,616x1,952px. Scales across all cores | |||||||||||
| HandBrake 1.1.0 | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores (64-bit) | |||||||||||
| Memory Benchmarks | ||||||||||||
| AIDA64 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency | |||||||||||
| Gaming Benchmarks (Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti) | ||||||||||||
| 3DMark | Graphics benchmark run using Fire Strike and Time Spy tests | |||||||||||
| F1 2017 | 1,920x1,080 and 3,840x2,160, ultra settings | |||||||||||
| Middle-earth: Shadow of War | 1,920x1,080 and 3,840x2,160, ultra settings | |||||||||||
| Total War: Warhammer 2 | 1,920x1,080 and 3,840x2,160, ultra settings | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous Benchmarks | ||||||||||||
| Power Consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record system-wide mains power draw when idle, when encoding video via HandBrake and while playing Middle-earth | |||||||||||
Notes
We've tested a number of platforms from each performance group. The Intel Core i9-7980XE is the obvious many-core competitor while the Core i7-8700K is the mainstream champ. We've also got Threadripper 1950X, ostensibly to show the performance uplift from the best of the previous TR generation and, going mainstream again, the Ryzen 7 2700X.
The graphics card has been upgraded to a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FE and we've also kept to the maximum supported memory frequency on each platform.
You'll note that we have added a number of professional apps in the CPU tests to better reflect how the Threadripper 2990WX is most likely to be implemented.

