Oh, hello Threadripper Pro 7995WX — AMD launches world’s fastest desktop CPU ever but things are about to get very, very confusing for power users
AMD has unveiled not one, but seven new workstation/HEDT CPUs, including the most powerful of them all, the Zen 4-based Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7995WX, with 96 cores and 384MB of L3 cache.
Three other Threadripper Pro (TRP) processors make up the WX family with different core numbers (24, 32, 64), L3 cache and, for those who want some single-threaded action, a decreasing base speed (4.2 GHz to 2 .5 GHz for the 96 core champion).
A surprising addition to the lineup is a trio of Threadripper (non-Pro?) processors, something absent from the previous 5000 generation, which are positioned as HEDT (High End desktop) CPUs, with a bias towards gaming.
The most powerful desktop processor?
The apparently non-Pro new offering (with 24 cores, 32 cores and 64 cores respectively) will go on sale from November 21 and will cost $1499, $2499 and $4999 respectively.
Their Pro brethren, which also offer more PCIe 5.0 lanes (150% extra), more memory channels (2x), and AMD Pro enterprise technologies, won’t go on sale yet and will likely be prioritized for OEM and partners like HP, Lenovo or Dell.
Where it gets interesting is that both sets of Threadripper processors will compete with the same three Intel CPUs: the Xeon w7-3455 (24 cores), w9-3475 (36 cores), and w9-3495 (56 cores). What is striking is that they have more memory channels and PCIe lanes than the normal Threadripper, but fewer compared to the Pro versions.
Compared to the 5000 Zen-3 series, the 7000 WX series has higher single-thread performance, 50% more threads, higher bandwidth/memory efficiency (thanks to DDR5) and up to 60% more cache per node (remember these single-threads are). socket systems). It also has a higher TDP (350W compared to 280W) thanks to much higher base/turbo frequencies. When paired with a WRX90 motherboard, the Threadripper Pro can handle up to 2 TB of system memory, as opposed to 1 TB when paired with a TRX50 motherboard.
I don’t have access to independent performance reviews for now, but there was no doubt that Threadripper Pro would beat Intel’s top Xeon processor when it comes to productivity benchmarks. The 7995WX comes alive in multi-threaded tasks like Chaos V-Ray, where it is up to 123% faster than the w9-3495X CPU.
Where it gets interesting now is that on the one hand AMD also has a traditional Ryzen CPU range that goes up to 16 cores, a high base clock, up to 144 MB cache and a relatively low TDP (useful for mobile workstations) and on the other hand half a dozen Epyc processors with 96 cores or more, at least one of which has an incredible amount of cache (and a significant price tag).
Vendors of Challenger workstations like Puget Systems or Titan computers have built workstations with both consumer-grade Ryzen (they offer great performance per core, says Puget Systems) and Epyc (they’re built for flexibility, performance and security, says Broadberry). The latter offers dual socket (up to 256 cores), up to 4TB of memory and the ability to connect eight (yes, eight) Geforce-class GPUs; no surprise that they have some of the best workstation pcs all around. And that may be the biggest threat to AMD’s fastest Threadripper Pro processor.