Threadripper vs X570 which would you buy in 2019

[kapone32]

I went from AM4 to TR4 for the goodies that TR4 offered vs the AM4 platform. The X570 chipset has now been launched and there are a ton of Motherboards available for purchase. I am no way saying that AM4 is not good. I just want to give my thoughts on why for someone already on AM4 to upgrade to TR4 instead of X570 (given the right circumstances). Let's look at what you get with each. Keep in mind that these prices are all in Canadian dollars and Canada is usually the most expensive country to buy tech from.

X570

Up to 3 NVME PCI_E 4.0 slots
up to 3 PCI_Ex16 slots running at PCI-E 4.0 16/8/4
Up to 10 USB 3.1 and 3.2 ports (including MB headers)
Up to 16 real phases VRM and up to 60A chokes
4 DIMM slots for up to 4133 MHZ (OC)
WIFI 6 adapters on some
1Gbit Internet port


TR4

3 NVME PCI_E 3.0 slots
Up to 5 PCI_Ex16 slots running at PCI_E 3.0 16/8/8/4/16
Up to 16 USB 3.1 and 3.2 ports (including MB headers)
Up to 14 real phases VRM and 70A chokes
8 DIMM slots for up to 3600 MHZ (OC)
1,2.5, 10 Gbit internet port(s)
Expansion cards including 10Gbit and NVME expansion cards.

That is really high level and does not get into the granular details for each platform. There are a ton of reviews out there for each. Let's do a cost analysis to see what it would cost you and why I am recommend it. Let's look at TR4.

AMD 1900X 8/16 core $328 CAD

Amazon.ca : AMd 1900x

AMD 1920X 12/24 core $386 CAD

Amazon.ca : AMd 1920x

AMD 2920X 12/24 core $559.99

AMD YD292XA8AFWOF Ryzen Threadripper 2920X (12-Core/24-Thread) Processor 4.3 GHz Max Boost 38MB Cache : Amazon.ca: Electronics

AMD YD292XA8AFWOF Ryzen Threadripper 2920X (12-Core/24-Thread) Processor 4.3 GHz Max Boost 38MB Cache : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

Now let's look at MBs

Gigabyte X399 Aorus PRO $359.99

GIGABYTE X399 AORUS PRO (AMD Ryzen Thread Ripper TR4/ATX /3X M.2/Front USB 3.1 Type C/Intel LAN/ALC1220/ Motherboard) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

GIGABYTE X399 AORUS PRO (AMD Ryzen Thread Ripper TR4/ATX /3X M.2/Front USB 3.1 Type C/Intel LAN/ALC1220/ Motherboard) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

Gigabyte Aorus Extreme $584.99

Amazon.ca

Asus ROG Strix X399 $450.75

Amazon.ca

Now let's look at AM4 Ryzen3

AMD 3800X 8/16 cores $718

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-core, 24-thread unlocked desktop processor with Wraith Prism LED Cooler : Amazon.ca: Electronics

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-core, 24-thread unlocked desktop processor with Wraith Prism LED Cooler : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

AMD 3900X 12/24 cores $699

AMD Ryzen 7 3rd Gen - RYZEN 7 3800X Matisse (Zen 2) 8-Core 3.9 GHz (4.5 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 105W 100-100000025BOX Desktop Processor - Newegg.com

Buy AMD Ryzen 7 3rd Gen - RYZEN 7 3800X Matisse (Zen 2) 8-Core 3.9 GHz (4.5 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 105W 100-100000025BOX Desktop Processor with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.ca

AMD 3700X 8/16 $459.99

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor with Wraith Prism LED Cooler : Amazon.ca: Electronics

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor with Wraith Prism LED Cooler : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

Unfortunately I could not find a listing for the 3900x on Amazon.ca so I used Newegg instead.

MBs: I looked for boards with 3 NMVE ports

Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master $506.34

GIGABYTE X570 AORUS Master (AMD Ryzen 3000/X570/ATX/PCIe4.0/DDR4/USB3.1/ESS 9118 Sabre HiFi DAC/Fins-Array Heatsink/RGB Fusion 2.0/3xM.2 Thermal Guard/Gaming Motherboard) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

GIGABYTE X570 AORUS Master (AMD Ryzen 3000/X570/ATX/PCIe4.0/DDR4/USB3.1/ESS 9118 Sabre HiFi DAC/Fins-Array Heatsink/RGB Fusion 2.0/3xM.2 Thermal Guard/Gaming Motherboard) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

MSI Enthuiast Gaming $499.99

MSI Enthusiast Gaming AMD Ryzen 2ND & 3rd Gen X570 AM4 DDR4 PCIe 4 M.2 USB 3.1 CFX SLI WiFi 6 Dual LAN ATX Motherboard (Meg X570 Ace) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

MSI Enthusiast Gaming AMD Ryzen 2ND & 3rd Gen X570 AM4 DDR4 PCIe 4 M.2 USB 3.1 CFX SLI WiFi 6 Dual LAN ATX Motherboard (Meg X570 Ace) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

I used 2 boards that are in the same price bracket for each socket. PCI_E 4.0 and WIFI 6 are good but there is actually no use case for them right now. Here is why I say that. As far as I know all TR4 boards support lane splitting on the PCI_E bus. Some X570 boards should support it but you already need the 16 wired slot for the GPU. At most you would be limited to x8 on the 2nd slot. PCI_E 4.0 is naturally faster than 3.0 but with TR4 you can use an expansion card to get even faster throughput, you have lanes at your disposal even after installing GPU(s) PCI_E 3.0 NVME in RAID 0 is currently faster than any single PCI_E 4.0 drive. X570 has WIFI 6 adapter cards but to get the benefits you need a WIFI 6 router to see the performance improvement.

https://www.amazon.ca/Nighthawk-4-S...+6+router&qid=1564072808&s=electronics&sr=1-3

Threadripper has been called a workstation platform and is not recommended for strictly gaming due to cost. The Ryzen3 chips are faster than the TR4 chips in gaming and some programs. Would you not want the most bang for your buck when making a purchase? I actually bought a 3700x on Sunday that I am returning today to pull the trigger on either the 1920x or 2920x, Those prices are uber attractive and having used the platform for about 1 year I am really impressed. I actually installed the 3700X and everything but the bare desert the X470 board looked like vs my X399 board had me change it back 1/2 hour later.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

FYI:

 

[eidairaman1]

Air coolers are very slim pickings on TR4.

Id wait till TR 3000 comes out.

 

[Tomgang]

Either you look at x570 and get that amount of cores you need as zen 2 now offers up to 16 cores with the ryzen 9 3950X comming september this year and with pcie gen 4 that shut make it pretty future prof. I'll say X570 pair with an Ryzen 9 3950X 16 core/32 thread cpu that shut be the best mix between a combined gaming and workstation rig and that is the combo i am going for when 3950X launch.

Or you wait for threadripper 3 if you need more cores or maybe more pcie lanes. Also threadripper 3 will have the same chiplets cores as ryzen 3000 has. So the same ipc and if needed a much better cpu for gaming than 1 and 2 gen threadripper because of the new way amd has build zen 2 up.

Unless you can get 2 gen threadripper for a really good price, i would not go for the older threadripper cpu's, specially if you also want to game once a while. 1 and 2 gen is not a great gamer cpu. They are much better used only for workstation and videoconverting use and like whise heavy use. Also 1 gen threadripper and ryzen for that matter has a pretty weak ipc and single core performance.

 

[eidairaman1]

Either you look at x570 and get that amount of cores you need as zen 2 now offers up to 16 cores with the ryzen 9 3950X comming september this year and with pcie gen 4 that shut make it pretty future prof. I'll say X570 pair with an Ryzen 9 3950X 16 core/32 thread cpu that shut be the best mix between a combined gaming and workstation rig and that is the combo i am going for when 3950X launch.

Or you wait for threadripper 3 if you need more cores or maybe more pcie lanes. Also threadripper 3 will have the same chiplets cores as ryzen 3000 has. So the same ipc and if needed a much better cpu for gaming than 1 and 2 gen threadripper because of the new way amd has build zen 2 up.

Unless you can get 2 gen threadripper for a really good price, i would not go for the older threadripper cpu's, specially if you also want to game once a while. 1 and 2 gen is not a great gamer cpu. They are much better used only for workstation and videoconverting use and like whise heavy use. Also 1 gen threadripper and ryzen for that matter has a pretty weak ipc and single core performance.

Gen 1 served a purpose and it knocked intel on their laurels.

 

[Tomgang]

Gen 1 served a purpose and it knocked intel on their laurels.

Yes it sure dit make intel panic with there ruched launch of there first 14, 16 and 18 core cpu's. No douts there. But compared with current intel or amd cpu first gen ryzen whas weak in the ipc area and as far i remember even my old i7 980X oc to 4.4 ghz whas pretty close to a stock ryzen 5 1600 cpu in performance and my cpu at the time whas all ready 7 year's old. Dont get me wrong ryzen whas fine, but i whas not impressed by the first gen ryzen at launch as zen 2 has impress me. Amd has come a long way in just 2 years from first gen ryzen to ryzen 3000 series.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Found this interesting. This is on Linux:

https://openbenchmarking.org/embed.php?i=1907064-HV-CPUBENCHM63&sha=432aff7&p=2

 

[kapone32]

Air coolers are very slim pickings on TR4.

Id wait till TR 3000 comes out.

Even though there are not a lot what is on offer is enough for most people. If you are not into RGB the Noctua 12s or 14s TR4 works great and if you are into RGB the Cooler Master Wraithripper. The only probelm is unless you use super low or no heat spreaders it is impossible to use all 8 DIMMs.

Either you look at x570 and get that amount of cores you need as zen 2 now offers up to 16 cores with the ryzen 9 3950X comming september this year and with pcie gen 4 that shut make it pretty future prof. I'll say X570 pair with an Ryzen 9 3950X 16 core/32 thread cpu that shut be the best mix between a combined gaming and workstation rig and that is the combo i am going for when 3950X launch.

Or you wait for threadripper 3 if you need more cores or maybe more pcie lanes. Also threadripper 3 will have the same chiplets cores as ryzen 3000 has. So the same ipc and if needed a much better cpu for gaming than 1 and 2 gen threadripper because of the new way amd has build zen 2 up.

Unless you can get 2 gen threadripper for a really good price, i would not go for the older threadripper cpu's, specially if you also want to game once a while. 1 and 2 gen is not a great gamer cpu. They are much better used only for workstation and videoconverting use and like whise heavy use. Also 1 gen threadripper and ryzen for that matter has a pretty weak ipc and single core performance.

The 2920X for $559.99 is a great price in Canada. It usually lists for over $750. Meanwhile the 1920X is only $386 currently. I was doing a comparison between, is it better to get into TR4 now with the cost of the platform being cheaper than AM4 vs going with the new AM4 that has some new tech and innovations. I know that Ryzen3 is faster than TR4 and seems to make more sense from most perspectives. I will use an analogy. Would you rather buy a 2020 Ford Fusion with all of the available accoutrements for $50000 CAD or a 2018 or 2019 Lincoln MKZ for $50000 CAD that has more accoutrements standard.

 

[eidairaman1]

It would come down to which sheet metal you like.

It's like a Chevy Tahoe vs a Cadillac Escalade.

Heres the other point though. A R3900/3950 will work on certain X370 or Higher B350 boards, same with B450 and X470, X570 have minor improvements and pcie 4. In a few months platform prices should come down. I just hope TR 3000 is a great part.

 

[kapone32]

It would come down to which sheet metal you like.

It's like a Chevy Tahoe vs a Cadillac Escalade.

Heres the other point though. A R3900/3950 will work on certain X370 or Higher B350 boards, same with B450 and X470, X570 have minor improvements and pcie 4. In a few months platform prices should come down. I just hope TR 3000 is a great part.

Indeed you are right. Looking at the comparison on older AM4 boards makes it seem for lack of a better word stupid. The way I was looking at it was extreme in terms of what you get on the board. There is no B350, 450, X470 or even A320 board that has as many accoutrements as even the lowest end X570 but they are all wored at 16/8/4. Would you not think that when new TR4 boards are released that the X399 boards will also come down in price but also through BIOS updates support PCI_E 4.0? The Gigabyte X399 Designaire was a $1000 board at launch and is now $489 CAD everywhere. The new TR4 as posted here already will most likely be made using the 7nm chiplet process. We could potentially see a bigger increase in IPC and gaming performance if these chips are indeed the top 5% (closest to the center of the wafer usually) binned just like the previous TR4 chips.

 

[vega22]

Keep in mind when tr4.2 comes out it will have the cream of the zen 2 chips.

While it does look like and are eating their babies, new am4 CPU Vs old tr4, those zen 2 chiplets will soon be coming to tr4. They just need time for the fabs to make enough of the top bin chips to make it viable.

 

[eidairaman1]

Keep in mind when tr4.2 comes out it will have the cream of the zen 2 chips.

While it does look like and are eating their babies, new am4 CPU Vs old tr4, those zen 2 chiplets will soon be coming to tr4. They just need time for the fabs to make enough of the top bin chips to make it viable.

The older TRs and Ryzens have their place with users.

Heck im still on FX and with life I may only be upgrading when TR 5000/6000 are out.