Threadripper Lands August 10, AMD Unveils Pricing, Accessory Kit, New 8-Core Model

[Guest]

Threadripper lands on retail shelves on August 10 and pre-orders open tomorrow. AMD filled us in on additional details at its Capsaican event, including an unannounced processor, a new accessory kit, and Threadripper's XFR frequencies and TDP's.

Threadripper Lands August 10, AMD Unveils Pricing, Accessory Kit, New 8-Core Model : Read more

 

[falchard]

AMD sources Intel about the benefit of more PCI-e lanes.

 

[Steve_245]

Seems clear to me they're setting up the x399 for dual socket enthusiast boards. That would be a fun system to play with.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Quad channel with 8 core for 550 bucks? That's a great move. The 1900X is a great cpu for homebrew content developers.

 

[TechyInAZ]

Wow 4.2ghz XFR. How did AMD pull that off? There are only like 5 Ryzen CPUs in the world that can do 4.2ghz without overheating on regular cooling.

 

[InvalidError]

Seems clear to me they're setting up the x399 for dual socket enthusiast boards. That would be a fun system to play with.

Dual ThreadRipper doesn't make much sense as that would be about on par with a single socket EPYC and likely cost more. Also, since AMD designed EPYC to only be capable of dual-socket and decided to use a slightly different socket for TR, I'm guessing that pins that were dedicated to supporting multi-socket and extra IO on EPYC got re-purposed for something else on TR, such as extra power and ground pins to help support higher clock frequencies.

 

[InvalidError]

Wow 4.2ghz XFR. How did AMD pull that off? There are only like 5 Ryzen CPUs in the world that can do 4.2ghz without overheating on regular cooling.

One word: binning.

AMD likely set aside the very highest-clocking dies under 90W a piece for TR, which is why so few R3/5/7 manage to get beyond 4GHz on air cooling and reasonable TDP.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ could it also be due to the large surface area to cool that tr2 socket and hence more thermal headroom?

 

[hannibal]

Ryzen cores are b2, Threadripper cores are b3, so They Are later binnings.

 

[Olle P]

Wow 4.2ghz XFR. How did AMD pull that off? There are only like 5 Ryzen CPUs in the world that can do 4.2ghz without overheating on regular cooling.

Overheating while speeding up a single core? Really?

 

[msroadkill612]

For 100usd more~ than the top ryzen. enthusiasts who may also game, can get a real computer (albeit a "mere" 8 core) like the big budget guys.

Combined with a sibling vega gpu, quad channel ram, plenty of lanes & nvme ports... - its a very powerful foundation for serious work and play.

 

[bit_user]

They should've included a linux kernel compilation benchmark. Compilation should favor higher core count, and the linux kernel build involves almost no inter-core communication.

http://phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Ryzen-7-1800X-More-Data

IMO, Ryzen and Threadripper are perfect for people doing large software builds.

 

[Shotta06]

So, my question is should I pre-order or wait for reviews?.

 

[bit_user]

So, my question is should I pre-order or wait for reviews?.

Well, you can look at Epyc reviews, FWIW.

It really depends a lot on what you want it for. Some things will scale to multiple dies just fine, while others won't. If you're not sure and can't find comparable Epyc benchmarks, then play it safe and wait for the reviews.

 

[JimmiG]

Wow 4.2ghz XFR. How did AMD pull that off? There are only like 5 Ryzen CPUs in the world that can do 4.2ghz without overheating on regular cooling.

Overheating while speeding up a single core? Really?

XFR works with up to 2 cores. Still it's of limited use. If you're buying a 16-core CPU to run dual core workoads, you're doing it wrong.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

^ no, it can be useful if ur games use that 2 cores and the others are doing something like video rendering.

 

[Guest]

Let's be honest here. The best purchase here from performance (Gaming, General Content)/price point of view is this new 8 Core. You get Quad Memory Channel and 64 PCIe. Everything what is holding x1800 is in this platform and also gives you future proof rig for new CPUs.

My money goes to a new 8 core, and most people will buy that and this is where is AMD going to f. up Intel big time. It is not 12 or 16 Core...those can only few afford.

 

[Guest]

Speaking of performance of new 8 core. It will sit between new Intel 8 and 10 Core, close to 10 Core performance.

 

[dark_lord69]

For me, These CPU's seem more like a special use processors.
Most people don't need them and wouldn't use them to their full capability.

 

[SupaSped]

Does anybody know whether the 4 chipset PCI-E lanes mean we only(!) have 60 lanes to play with, or the CPU provides 60 lanes and the chipset provides 4, giving us 64?

 

[Duchess_1]

Just like ferrari's, most people dont need them and use them to their full capacity but everyone dreams of ownimg one

 

[Steve_245]

Seems clear to me they're setting up the x399 for dual socket enthusiast boards. That would be a fun system to play with.

Dual ThreadRipper doesn't make much sense as that would be about on par with a single socket EPYC and likely cost more. Also, since AMD designed EPYC to only be capable of dual-socket and decided to use a slightly different socket for TR, I'm guessing that pins that were dedicated to supporting multi-socket and extra IO on EPYC got re-purposed for something else on TR, such as extra power and ground pins to help support higher clock frequencies.

I agree, but there are always niche products like Skulltrail and the SR-2 that show up. Overly expensive compared to their usefulness, but still some market for them.

 

[rothbardian]

Does anybody know whether the 4 chipset PCI-E lanes mean we only(!) have 60 lanes to play with, or the CPU provides 60 lanes and the chipset provides 4, giving us 64?

I think it's 60 lines available to the user: Usually 48 for graphics cards (16 + 8 + 16 + 8, or 16 * 3) and 12 for NVME ( 4 * 3), up to motherboard manufacturer. The other 4 go to the chipset.

 

[ubercake]

A question I have about the substantial amount of PCIe lanes is... Are they all 3.0? Or is it 16 3.0 lanes and 48 2.0 lanes? There's no specific mention of all the PCIe lanes being 3.0?

 

[rothbardian]

A question I have about the substantial amount of PCIe lanes is... Are they all 3.0? Or is it 16 3.0 lanes and 48 2.0 lanes? There's no specific mention of all the PCIe lanes being 3.0?

All 64 lines out of the CPU are PCIe 3.0.
What is not clear is if the x399 chipset will offer PCIe lanes of its own. I imagine it will, to connect things like on board networking, sound cards, etc. Those will probably be PCIe 2.0, similar to x370, as those things don't need high bandwidth.