This second-generation Ryzen Threadripper takes the best of the first iteration and fixes minor flaws. The result is a chip with particularly interesting application performance – significantly above the 7th generation Core i9s. And while it doesn’t match the best Intel chips in gaming, it gets close enough to it that we don’t really care. We are nevertheless disappointed by the small practical difference that we note between this Threadripper 2990WX and its predecessor, the Thredripper 2950X. To choose between the two, you might as well take the cheaper one.
General Info
| Threadripper 2990WX | Threadripper 2950X | |
| Price | CHECK PRICE | CHECK PRICE |
| CPU Model | Threadripper 2990WX | Threadripper 2950X |
| Manufacturing Process | 12 nm | 12 nm |
| Maximum CPU Configuration | 1S | 1S |
| Number of PCIe Lanes | 64 Lanes | 64 Lanes |
| Unlocked | Yes | Yes |
| Weight | 907.18 g | 875.43 g |
| Release date | – | – |
AMD recovered in 2017 by offering a successful and finally competitive CPU architecture. The company continues its momentum and offers the second revision of its Ryzen Threadripper chips by adding some small retouching and improved engraving finesse. What to increase the number of hearts on certain references which aim, finally, more the professional sector than the informed users.
Performance
| Threadripper 2990WX | Threadripper 2950X | |
| Number of Cores | 32 Cores | 16 Cores |
| CPU Threads | 64 | 32 |
| Base Clock Speed | 3.0 GHz | 3.5GHz |
| Maximum Boost Speed | 4.2 GHz | 4.4GHz |
| L3 Cache | 64MB | 32MB |
| CPU Speed | DMI3 (8 GT/s) | DMI3 (8 GT/s) |
| CPU Temperature | 100°C | 100°C |
The Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX model has 32 cores and has SMT, therefore, allowing 64 threads to be displayed on its counter. The SMT is a system similar to Intel’s HT (Hyper-threading) and allows performance to be optimized in certain types of applications (audio/video/rendering in particular). The base frequency is 3 GHz and it is possible to reach 4.2 GHz via the Boost mode. Its thermal envelope is 250 watts. Considering the number of cores of this chip, it turns out to be slower in many consumer software.
The Ryzen Threadripper 2950X model has 16 cores and has SMT, therefore, allowing 32 threads to be displayed on its counter. The SMT is a system similar to Intel’s HT (Hyper-threading) and allows performance to be optimized in certain types of applications (audio/video/rendering in particular). The base frequency is 3.5 GHz and it is possible to reach 4.4 GHz via the Boost mode. Its thermal envelope is 180 watts.
Memory Support
| Threadripper 2990WX | Threadripper 2950X | |
| Maximum Capacity | 64 GB | 64 GB |
| Memory Support | DDR4 2933 MHz | DDR4 2933 MHz |
| ECC Memory | No | No |
| Channel Architecture | Quad Channel | Quad Channel |
| Maximum Memory Bandwidth | 41 GB/s | 41 GB/s |
Benchmarks
| Threadripper 2990WX | Threadripper 2950X | |
| PassMark result (single) | 32196 | 30676 |
| Cinebench R20 (single) result | 2334 | 2460 |
| Geekbench 5 result (multi) | – | 12576 |
| Geekbench 5 result (single) | – | 1059 |
Conclusion!
Threadripper 2990WX
This second-generation Ryzen Threadripper takes the best of the first iteration and fixes minor flaws. AMD is now in a position to produce a 32-core / 64-thread chip, but this is clearly not for everyone. Advanced users – the famous “power users” or “enthusiasts” – are therefore not the target, which turns out to be the professional world of video editing, rendering and 3D modelling. In this type of application, the performance is simply bluffing, AMD managing to leave far behind the best chip from Intel at the time of this writing, the Core i9-7980XE.
Threadripper 2950X
This second-generation Ryzen Threadripper takes the best of the first iteration and fixes minor flaws. The result is a chip with particularly interesting application performance – significantly above the 7th generation Core i9s. And while it doesn’t match the best Intel chips in gaming, it gets close enough to it that we don’t really care. We are nevertheless disappointed by the small practical difference that we note between this Threadripper 2950X and its predecessor, the Thredripper 1950X. To choose between the two, you might as well take the cheaper one.
