AMD Threadripper TR4 Platform: Processors and Motherboards

At first glance, the AMD 1900X processor, the youngest of the Threadripper, practically does not differ from the Model 1AMD Ryzen 7 Summit Ridge 1800X BOX , representing the lower-ranked Ryzen 7 family. The same eight physical cores and sixteen SMT threads. Unless the guaranteed frequency of the 1900X is 200 MHz higher, which, however, is highly likely compensated by manual overclocking. By itself, the 1900X is only 10 percent more expensive, but taking into account the motherboard with a specific TR4 socket and the absence of a cooler in the kit, the overpayment is as much as 60 percent. But in fact, the functional differences are much more serious.

Firstly, the Threadripper 1900X has not a two-channel, but a four-channel memory controller. This not only improves system performance, but also allows you to install a maximum of 128 GB of RAM instead of 64 (eight DDR4 modules of 16 GB each). However, in the case of using such numerous memory strips, and even a two-rank one (with two virtual channels), the frequency will automatically decrease from the original 2667 to 1866 MHz.

Secondly, even the junior Threadripper 1900X supports 64 PCI-E 3.0 lines. Four of them are responsible for synchronization with the chipset of the X399 motherboard, while the rest can be distributed at your discretion: on a bundle of four video cards (x16+x16+x8+x8) and a RAID array of several high-speed NVMe SSDs-storage devices. As a result, Threadripper 1900X could be recommended to everyone as an alternative to Ryzen 7 1800X, if not for the expensive motherboards for the TR4 socket. With this in mind, you should buy the 1900X only if you need more than 64 GB of RAM and two or three full–speed video cards. Or if you plan to upgrade to a 12-core Threadripper 1920X or 16-core 1950X in the future, which will remain relevant for many more years.

The 1920X processor is an intermediate model with 12 cores and 24 virtual threads. This is far from a record for the Threadripper family, but it is already significantly more than that of Ryzen 7. And most importantly, the Threadripper 1920X is one and a half times cheaper than its direct competitor from the Intel camp — also a twelve-core Intel Core i9 Skylake-X i9-7920X BOX .

For a gaming PC, even with a bundle of two or three video cards, the 24-thread Threadripper 1920X is clearly redundant. His lot is professional batch photo processing, three—dimensional modeling and especially video editing. After all, the widespread opinion that video editing is now carried out by the forces of a graphics card (CUDA, OpenCL, NVENC and VCE technologies) is only partially true. The graphics card does noticeably speed up video editing, but the processor performs the lion's share of operations, as before. Moreover, professional software, unlike games, is well parallelized into numerous computing threads.

To create large-scale projects, for example, a multi-hour video with 4K resolution and numerous special effects, just 128 GB of RAM may be required, the installation of which is supported by Threadripper 1920X. Even though motherboards for the Intel LGA2066 socket are less expensive than AMD TR4 (both platforms do not have a box cooler), the Threadripper processor and motherboard kit is still a quarter more profitable. And with such numerous cores and threads, the higher performance of each of them is almost completely leveled by Intel.

The flagship of the AMD Threadripper line was the 1950X processor. It has 16 cores and 32 threads, that is, twice as many as Ryzen 7, and exactly half of the Epyc server chip (32 cores, 64 threads). The maximum amount of RAM (128 GB) and the number of PCI-E lines (64 pcs) are the same as the younger Threadripper models.

But what makes the 1950X different from the younger Threadripper is heat generation and heating. Theoretically, the same 180 watts are claimed for it as for the 1900X and 1920X. But in the case of younger chips, the TDP indicator is overestimated for reinsurance, while the real heat dissipation is much lower. The flagship of the 1950X is really heated at all 180 watts. And given the relatively low critical temperature of 68 °C (for comparison, Intel has up to 100 °C), to choose a cooler (there is no box included) it is worth taking seriously. The 1950X will require a dropsy or an air supercooler with a heat sink of 200 + watts (conventional coolers are designed for only 150 watts) and a TR4 socket mount. Many famous manufacturers of coolers offer to send a mount by mail for free, if the old version of the cooler did not have it.

It turns out that assembling a PC based on Threadripper 1950X is not an easy and troublesome task, but it is definitely worth it. The fact is that the 1950X renders videos faster than the top-end GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card with almost the same price ($1000) and even more power consumption (250 watts). And a competing 16-core Intel processor — Intel Core i9 Skylake-X i9-7960X BOX — costs almost $2000.

Motherboards for AMD Threadripper processors turned out to be extremely expensive — from $ 350. This is even more expensive than the motherboards of Intel's competing professional platform Basin Falls.

Like other motherboards with eight RAM slots (four to the left and right of the processor), the ASUS Prime X399-A is made in the E-ATX format, that is, it is not only long, but also wide. Because of this, it may not fit in some cheap or old MidiTower cases.

You need to be extremely careful when installing the Threadripper processor into the TR4 socket. This is the first AMD platform in the history when the contact legs migrated from the processor to the motherboard. In addition, the pins have become thinner, and their number is greater (4094 versus 1331 for the AM4 socket). ASUS engineers have announced support for RAM overclocking to a frequency of 3600 MHz, but this bar will most likely be taken only if one memory module is installed (maximum 16 GB). Whereas Threadripper-based PCs are assembled most often for the sake of a large amount of RAM (64 + GB, that is, at least four modules). Video cards can be installed three pieces according to the scheme x16 + x16 + x8, that is, the third will work half-heartedly.

The large radiator of the chipset performs two additional functions at once: it cools the M.2 drive and glows with all the colours of the rainbow (Aura Sync RGB technology). The second M.2 SSD is installed vertically, a metal support is provided for it in the kit. Perhaps, over time, more affordable TR4 models will appear, but for now the ASUS Prime X399-A is the minimum "ticket" to the world of multi-core Threadripper processors.

Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7 is a representative of Gigabyte's Aorus gaming series. Although the AMD Threadripper platform is not de jure designed for gamers, but there will definitely be avid computer enthusiasts who want to assemble not only a super-performant, but also a very beautiful gaming PC. With X399 Aorus Gaming 7, this is easy to do.

The motherboard itself glows like a Christmas garland (the chipset radiator, the back panel casing, as well as RAM and PCI-E slots received customizable illumination). Plus, there are connectors for additional external LED strips, the power supply of which, according to Gigabyte engineers, is enough for 300 LEDs.

There are five PCI-E 3.0 slots: four for video cards and a fifth for a PCIe drive. However, for SSD it is much more convenient to use M.2 connectors, of which there are three pieces and all with radiators. RAM and processor overclocking is supported, although it is not particularly relevant for the first generation of Threadripper, since processors by default operate at the frequency limit. Perhaps overclocking will become relevant for the second generation of Threadripper, if, of course, they are compatible with the current models of mothers. In fact, the Gigabyte X399 AORUS Gaming 7 turned out to be an ultimatum motherboard, sharpened primarily for PC modding. The only thing you can find fault with is the connection scheme of the x16+x16+x8+x8 video cards, which is slightly limited by the video memory bandwidth. However, only highly specialized server processors and motherboards have more PCI-E lines.