AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (16 core, 32 threads) Review

Heavy Metal by AMD! AMD has released its new generation of Threadripper APUs following the successful launch of its second-generation Ryzen desktop APUs. The new Threadripper series not only makes incremental improvements over the last generation but also introduces Ryzen APUs with up to 32 cores and 64 threads. These new APUs are AMD’s shot at capturing the high-performance processor crown, something that will no doubt put pressure on Intel. We will be focusing on the Ryzen Threadripper 2950X in this review and establish whether this 16-core APU is worth the investment.

Sebastian Bade, 👁 J. Simon Leitner (translated by Alex Alderson), Published 08/11/2018 🇩🇪 🇸🇪 ...

AMD Ryzen Threadripper with up to 32 cores

Zen+ architecture innovations (Source: AMD)

Improved all-core boost clock speeds (Source: AMD)

There are two new series of Threadripper APUs with different use cases in mind (Source: AMD)

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2920X and 2950X (Source: AMD)

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and 2990WX (Source: AMD)

Last year’s Threadripper Zen architecture APUs brought a decent performance bump on previous AMD chips. These first-generation chips were built on the 14 nm FinFET fabrication process and included the 1950X, which was the first 16-core consumer-grade AMD APU. AMD followed this in April 2018 with nine Ryzen processors built on the new Zen+ architecture, including the Ryzen 7 2700X and the Ryzen 5 2600X. Zen+ is built with 12 nm processes, which should bring significantly better performance with the same power consumption as last year’s Ryzen APUs. The new Threadripper APUs also benefit from improved cache latencies and turbo boost functionality. These second-generation chips implement Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR2) and Precision Boost 2 (PBO), the combination of which should allow the APUs to graduate their clock frequencies as more cores are used. This should mean that these new APUs can maintain turbo clock speeds for longer than last year’s chips.

The second-generation AMD Ryzen Threadripper APUs will be available from the August 11, 2018. AMD will be releasing four Ryzen Threadripper models that are divided into two categories, the X series and the WX series. The X series is aimed at gamers while the WX series is designed with content creators and innovators in mind, with the former rated at up to 180 W thermal design power (TDP) and the latter up to 250 W TDP.

Prices start at $649, with the most expensive 32-core and 64-thread APU costing $1,799 at launch. The entry-level Threadripper APU is the Ryzen 2920X, which has 12 cores and 24 threads. This means that AMD has eliminated octa-core APUs from its Threadripper range, but the Ryzen 7 2700X fills this gap. Unfortunately, AMD has not released any budget options based on the X399 platform; last year’s Threadripper APUs should drop in price though.

The new Threadripper APUs come in stylish and elaborately designed packaging, which is impressive at first glance.

All APUs arrive without a heatsink. AMD and Cooler Master have collaborated to create the Wraith Ripper, a heatsink that is designed to cool up to 250W TDP APUs. The Wraith Ripper costs about 100 Euros (~$114).

Overview of the new AMD Ryzen Threadripper APUs

Model	Cores - Threads	Base Clock	Turbo clock	TDP	Launch Price
2nd generation
Ryzen Threadripper 2920X	12-24	3.5GHz	4.3GHz	180W	$649
Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	16-32	3.5GHz	4.4GHz	180W	$899
Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX	24-48	3.0GHz	4.2GHz	250W	$1,299
Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX	32-64	3.0GHz	4.2GHz	250W	$1,799
1st generation
Ryzen Threadripper 1900X	8-16	3.5GHz	4.2GHz	180W	$549
Ryzen Threadripper 1920X	12-24	3.5 GHz	4.2 GHz	180 Watt	€829
Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	16-32	3.4 GHz	4.2 GHz	180 Watt	€1,039

AMD has supplied us with the following hardware for our benchmarks and tests:

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X APU
ASUS ROG ZENITH EXTREME (BIOS 0064, Default Settings, XMP 1 for DDR4-3200
2 x G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR4-3200 kit (14-14-14-34)
Wraith Ripper heatsink
Enermax Liqtech TR4 240 - AIO liquid cooling

Additional hardware used in our test system:

XFX AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
Antec 1,200 W power supply
ADATA SX910 512 GB
Western Digital 2 TB USB 3.0 HDD

2 x G.Skill DIMM 16GB DDR4-3200 kit (14-14-14-34)

AMD Threadripper packaging (Source: AMD)

AMD Threadripper accessories (Source: AMD)

Processor benchmarks

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X vs Intel Core i9-7900X (Source: AMD)

We expected the Ryzen Threadripper 2950X to have excellent multithreaded performance because of its 16 cores, which is confirmed by benchmark scores. The 2950X is a clear improvement over the Threadripper 1950X and even outscores the 10-core Intel Core i9-7900X. Despite being similarly priced, the 2950X outperforms the Core i9-7900X in the Cinebench R15 multithread benchmark because of its superior core count. In practical terms, the 2950X performs about 45% better in multithreaded applications than the Core i9-7900X.

Unfortunately, the 2950X falls short on single-core performance. Our test APU is on par with the Ryzen 7 2700X and 10% behind the Core i9-7900X. AMD does not conceal this shortcoming either, with AMD presenting a similar comparison table in their product briefing. We have included their comparison tables above. These values were confirmed during our tests.

Please note: We conducted our benchmarks with the Wraith Ripper heatsink. Using AIO cooling would tease out a bit more performance without overclocking.

Performance Rating - Percent
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	47.3 pt
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	45.4 pt
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	43.2 pt
Intel Core i9-7900X ^-1! 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	41.9 pt
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	40 pt
Intel Core i7-8700K ^-2! 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	39.2 pt
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X ^-3! 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	36.9 pt
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X ^-4! 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	35.3 pt

Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	199 Points +13%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	192.7 Points +9%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	176 Points 0%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	176 Points
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	164 Points -7%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	163 Points -7%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	159 Points -10%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	152 Points -14%
CPU Multi 64Bit
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	3110 Points
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	2997 Points -4%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	2148 (2133.11^min - 2158.31^max) Points -31%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	1801 Points -42%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	1647 Points -47%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	1537 Points -51%
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	1405 (1375.04^min - 1405.28^max) Points -55%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	1341 Points -57%

Blender - v2.79 BMW27 CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	350 Seconds * -129%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	264 Seconds * -73%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	163 Seconds * -7%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	152.7 Seconds *

wPrime 2.10
32m
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	5.77 s * -38%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4.62 s * -10%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4.186 s *
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4 s * +4%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	3.8 s * +9%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	3.484 s * +17%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	3.34 s * +20%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	2.91 s * +30%
1024m
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	133.8 s * -152%
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	118.6 s * -123%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	109.8 s * -106%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	103 s * -94%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	96.6 s * -82%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	76 s * -43%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	55.1 s * -4%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	53.2 s *

X264 HD Benchmark 4.0
Pass 1
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	232 (229^min - 233^max) fps +15%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	226.7 fps +12%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	217 fps +7%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	207.4 fps +3%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	202.3 (200.47^min - 203.47^max) fps
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	195 fps -4%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	189.6 (188.03^min - 193.43^max) fps -6%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	174 fps -14%
Pass 2
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	144.9 (143.48^min - 145.54^max) fps
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	134.3 (133.84^min - 135.07^max) fps -7%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	121 fps -16%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	104.5 fps -28%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	95 fps -34%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	89.5 fps -38%
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	87.4 fps -40%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	80.5 fps -44%

WinRAR - Result
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	7120 KB/s +57%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	5918 KB/s +30%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4779 KB/s +5%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4599 KB/s +1%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4548 KB/s
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	4150 KB/s -9%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4120 KB/s -9%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	3457 KB/s -24%

TrueCrypt
AES Mean 100MB
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	19.5 GB/s
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	19 GB/s -3%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	12.1 GB/s -38%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	10.6 GB/s -46%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	9.6 GB/s -51%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	8.6 GB/s -56%
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	8 GB/s -59%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	8 GB/s -59%
Twofish Mean 100MB
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	2.9 GB/s 0%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	2.9 GB/s
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	2.1 GB/s -28%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	1.6 GB/s -45%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	1.5 GB/s -48%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	1.4 GB/s -52%
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	1.4 GB/s -52%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	1.2 GB/s -59%
Serpent Mean 100MB
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	1.8 GB/s 0%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	1.8 GB/s
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	1.2 GB/s -33%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	1 GB/s -44%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	0.945 GB/s -47%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	0.892 GB/s -50%
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	0.793 GB/s -56%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	0.78 GB/s -57%

Geekbench 4.4
64 Bit Single-Core Score
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	5937 Points +21%
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	5523 Points +13%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4999 Points +2%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4903 Points
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4706 Points -4%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	4304 Points -12%
64 Bit Multi-Core Score
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	40152 Points +11%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	36198 Points
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	28877 Points -20%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	25919 Points -28%
Intel Core i7-8700K 3700 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	25223 Points -30%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	21616 Points -40%

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance Physics
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X 3400 MHz, NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	17834 Points +4%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 3500 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	17222 Points
Intel Core i9-7900X 3300 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	15260 Points -11%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3700 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	15025 Points -13%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 3600 MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	14150 Points -18%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3600 MHz, AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	12074 Points -30%

* ... smaller is better

We have little to say on throttling, simply because there wasn’t any. Our test APU performed consistently in a loop of the Cinebench R15 multithreaded benchmark. The Wraith Ripper performed well too and kept the 2950X sufficiently cool throughout.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X Cinebench R15 CPU Multi loop

Gaming Performance

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X Game-Mode performance vs Stock (Source: AMD)

Typically, games benefit from better single core performance than a higher core count, which is where the new Zen+ architecture comes in. Overall performance has been greatly improved thanks to various cache latency changes and better turbo performance. Unfortunately, we cannot make an objective judgment as to the 2950X’s gaming performance because most games can only take advantage of a maximum of four or eight cores. AMD has sought to overcome this with a game mode option in their Ryzen Master Utility, which activates only eight of the 16 cores. This generally improves performance by around 8% in games. We left our test APU at default settings for our benchmarks.

Overall, the 2950X offers solid gaming performance when paired with an AMD Radeon RX Vega 64. The Vega 64 is a performance bottleneck though, particularly at high resolutions like 4K. The 2950X is 9% off the Ryzen 7 2700X in our benchmarks, but only because games currently cannot take advantage of the 2950X’s 16 cores.

While AMD classes the X series as gaming APUs, they extend this to simultaneous streaming and 3D rendering. So, the 2950X is ideal for those who game but also have streaming services like Twitch running in the background. The 2950X is simply unbeatable in this regard.

Performance Rating - Percent
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile ^-47! Intel Core i7-8700K	99.6 pt
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 ^-3! AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	96.8 pt
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal ^-44! AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	92.8 pt
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) ^-43! AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	92.5 pt
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 ^-3! AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	91.7 pt
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	89.2 pt
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) ^-47! AMD Ryzen 5 1500X	88.7 pt
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) ^-47! AMD Ryzen 5 1600	86.3 pt
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) ^-47! Intel Core i9-7900X	84.7 pt
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) ^-47! AMD Ryzen 7 1700X	78.5 pt

BioShock Infinite
1280x720 Very Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	308.4 (29.9^min - 784.2^max) fps +4%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	299.1 (29.9^min - 767.3^max) fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	297.3 (19^min - 869^max) fps
1366x768 Medium Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	289.1 (59.7^min - 743.3^max) fps +14%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	274 (59.5^min - 723.1^max) fps +8%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	254.7 (51^min - 744^max) fps
1920x1080 Ultra Preset, DX11 (DDOF)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile Intel Core i7-8700K	181.2 fps +11%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	170.7 (58.8^min - 296.1^max) fps +5%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	164.4 (57.2^min - 282.2^max) fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	163 (40^min - 344^max) fps

Rise of the Tomb Raider
1024x768 Lowest Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	263.7 (256^min - 276^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	262.2 (252^min - 300^max) fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	258.9 (230^min - 274^max) fps
1366x768 Medium Preset AF:2x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	189.7 (178^min - 203^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	178.5 (166^min - 197^max) fps -6%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	174.7 (162^min - 200^max) fps -8%
3840x2160 High Preset AA:FX AF:4x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	51.2 (47^min - 58^max) fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile Intel Core i7-8700K	50.6 fps -1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	50.4 (45^min - 57^max) fps -2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	44.6 (40^min - 50^max) fps -13%

Battlefield 1
1280x720 Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	199.1 (182^min - 201^max) fps +15%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	181.4 (141^min - 194^max) fps +5%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	173 (161^min - 185^max) fps
1366x768 Medium Preset AA:FX
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	197.5 (188^min - 201^max) fps +22%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	164.7 (150^min - 187^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	162 (153^min - 177^max) fps
3840x2160 High Preset AA:T
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	65.2 (58^min - 71^max) fps +7%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	61.4 (56^min - 64^max) fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	61.2 (55^min - 69^max) fps

Battlefield 4
1024x768 Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	200 (190^min - 202^max) fps +4%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	200 (192^min - 201^max) fps +4%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	191.8 (178^min - 200^max) fps
1366x768 Medium Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	200 (179^min - 202^max) fps +6%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	200 (195^min - 201^max) fps +6%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	188 (181^min - 194^max) fps
3840x2160 High Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	77 (70^min - 92^max) fps +5%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	76.4 (69^min - 91^max) fps +4%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	76.4 (69^min - 91^max) fps +4%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	73.4 (63^min - 89^max) fps

Assassin´s Creed Origins
1280x720 Very Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	81 fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	76 fps -6%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	68 (34^min - 93^max) fps -16%
1920x1080 Medium Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	76 fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	71 fps -7%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	64 (27^min - 93^max) fps -16%
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	34 (25^min - 55^max) fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	34 fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	33 fps -3%

Final Fantasy XV Benchmark
1280x720 Lite Quality
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	145.6 (94^min - 177^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	143 (98^min - 201^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	133.6 (88^min - 191^max) fps -7%
1920x1080 Standard Quality
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	88.2 (58^min - 118^max) fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	88.1 (61^min - 116^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	87.7 (62^min - 118^max) fps 0%
3840x2160 High Quality
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	41 fps +46%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	28 (19^min - 40^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	27.9 (20^min - 42^max) fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	27.9 (20^min - 42^max) fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	27.7 (13^min - 43^max) fps -1%

Star Wars Battlefront 2
1280x720 Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	198.3 (108^min - 201^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	198.3 (190^min - 201^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	193.7 (163^min - 200^max) fps
1920x1080 Medium Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	160.7 (145^min - 187^max) fps +10%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	150.8 (134^min - 173^max) fps +3%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	146.7 (126^min - 166^max) fps
3840x2160 Ultra Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	42.7 (38^min - 48^max) fps +17%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	42.3 (37^min - 47^max) fps +16%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	36.5 (30^min - 41^max) fps

Deus Ex Mankind Divided
1280x720 Low Preset AF:1x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	115.9 (34.5^min - 180.5^max) fps +3%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	114.5 (80.2^min - 178.2^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	112.8 fps
1366x768 Medium Preset AF:2x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	122.6 (83.3^min - 191.2^max) fps +14%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	109.1 (69.7^min - 165.9^max) fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	107.9 fps
3840x2160 High Preset AF:4x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	37.5 (29^min - 47.2^max) fps +6%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	36.2 (29.3^min - 45.7^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	35.5 fps

Far Cry Primal
1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:SM
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	114 (85^min - 138^max) fps +31%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	106 (76^min - 128^max) fps +22%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	87 (66^min - 106^max) fps
3840x2160 High Preset AA:SM
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	50 (46^min - 56^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	49 (45^min - 54^max) fps -2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	48 (44^min - 52^max) fps -4%

For Honor
1280x720 Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	285.6 (158.1^min - 368.9^max) fps +100%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 5 1500X	271 (193^min - 400^max) fps +90%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	263.8 (104^min - 311^max) fps +85%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 5 1600	250 (187^min - 317^max) fps +75%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	230 (187^min - 300^max) fps +61%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1700X	185 (149^min - 230^max) fps +30%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) Intel Core i9-7900X	155 (129^min - 180^max) fps +9%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	142.8 (107^min - 160^max) fps
3840x2160 High Preset AA:T AF:8x
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1700X	78.2 (63^min - 91^max) fps +58%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) Intel Core i9-7900X	78 (62^min - 105^max) fps +58%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 5 1500X	77.8 (63^min - 89^max) fps +57%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 5 1600	77.1 (62^min - 89^max) fps +56%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	77 (62^min - 91^max) fps +56%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	50.4 (42.4^min - 58.1^max) fps +2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	49.5 (39^min - 59^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	49 (40^min - 58^max) fps -1%

Ghost Recon Wildlands
1280x720 Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	127.6 (109^min - 146^max) fps +12%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	113.5 (93^min - 131^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	110 (95^min - 126^max) fps -3%
3840x2160 Very High Preset AA:T AF:8x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	37.6 (27.6^min - 42.9^max) fps +4%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	36.7 (28^min - 42^max) fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	36.2 (27^min - 42^max) fps

Kingdom Come: Deliverance
1280x720 Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	152 (111^min - 195^max) fps +25%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	126.3 (88^min - 160^max) fps +4%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	121.4 (103^min - 145^max) fps
1920x1080 Medium Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	128.4 (107^min - 149^max) fps +15%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	111.4 (74^min - 151^max) fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	111.3 (90^min - 131^max) fps
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	36.5 (31^min - 40^max) fps +35%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	34.6 (29^min - 38^max) fps +28%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	27.1 (22^min - 31^max) fps

The Division
1280x720 Low Preset AF:1x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	236.1 fps +15%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	205.3 fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	205.1 fps
1366x768 Medium Preset AF:4x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	185.1 fps +6%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	174.7 fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	171.4 fps -2%
3840x2160 High Preset AF:8x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	50.9 fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	50.6 fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	50.3 fps

The Witcher 3
1024x768 Low Graphics & Postprocessing
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) Intel Core i9-7900X	349 (260^min - 392^max) fps +17%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	318.2 (289^min - 352^max) fps +7%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	298.7 (259^min - 354^max) fps
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	297 (267^min - 336^max) fps -1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	258.5 (219^min - 295^max) fps -13%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 5 1600	254 (237^min - 292^max) fps -15%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 5 1500X	250 (226^min - 287^max) fps -16%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1700X	247 (226^min - 273^max) fps -17%
1366x768 Medium Graphics & Postprocessing
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	222.3 (196^min - 246^max) fps +1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	220 (207^min - 247^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	201.1 (176^min - 227^max) fps -9%
3840x2160 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile Intel Core i7-8700K	53.4 fps +7%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	49.7 (42^min - 56^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	49.1 (44^min - 54^max) fps -1%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	47.7 (43^min - 53^max) fps -4%

Watch Dogs 2
1280x720 Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	115.7 (87^min - 146^max) fps +17%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	99.3 (75^min - 124^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	98.3 (14^min - 133^max) fps -1%
1366x768 Medium Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	102.4 (76^min - 131^max) fps +16%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	92.3 (65^min - 121^max) fps +5%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	88 (67^min - 110^max) fps
3840x2160 High Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	37.8 (34^min - 42^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	36.9 (32^min - 42^max) fps -2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	36.2 (32^min - 40^max) fps -4%

F1 2017
1280x720 Ultra Low Preset
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	230 (178^min - 266^max) fps +22%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	208 (167^min - 238^max) fps +10%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	189 (145^min - 197^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	189 (145^min - 197^max) fps 0%
3840x2160 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	95 (81^min - 112^max) fps +73%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	91 (79^min - 108^max) fps +65%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	55 (48^min - 65^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	55 (48^min - 65^max) fps 0%

Far Cry 5
1280x720 Low Preset AA:T
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	125 (99^min - 171^max) fps +25%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	122 (97^min - 162^max) fps +22%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	115 (90^min - 157^max) fps +15%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	100 (82^min - 133^max) fps
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	96 (77^min - 116^max) fps -4%
1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:T
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	110 (89^min - 142^max) fps +22%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	106 (86^min - 144^max) fps +18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	105 (83^min - 143^max) fps +17%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	90 (73^min - 122^max) fps
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	88 (72^min - 115^max) fps -2%
3840x2160 Ultra Preset AA:T
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	53 (46^min - 64^max) fps +18%
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop) AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	51 (44^min - 61^max) fps +13%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	45 (38^min - 60^max) fps
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	44 (37^min - 56^max) fps -2%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	44 (38^min - 56^max) fps -2%

The Crew 2
3840x2160 Ultra Preset
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	49.7 (44^min - 58^max) fps +17%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	42.3 fps
1280x720 Low Preset
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	60 fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	60 fps
1920x1080 Medium Preset
NVIDIA Titan X Pascal AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X	60 fps 0%
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X	60 fps

Threadripper 2950X

	low	med.	high	ultra	4K
BioShock Infinite (2013)	297.3	254.7	233.3	163
Battlefield 4 (2013)	191.8	188	190	136.3	73.4
The Witcher 3 (2015)	298.7	220	136.8	80.9	49.7
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016)	258.9	189.7	120.5	105.7	51.2
Far Cry Primal (2016)	97	87	79	74	50
The Division (2016)	205.1	174.7	122.7	98.9	50.3
Deus Ex Mankind Divided (2016)	112.8	107.9	97.3	53.3	35.5
Battlefield 1 (2016)	173	162	150.4	135.6	61.2
Watch Dogs 2 (2016)	99.3	88	82.1	68.5	37.8
For Honor (2017)	142.8	139.9	139.8	127.7	49.5
Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017)	113.5	85.4	82.9	52.6	36.2
F1 2017 (2017)	189	178	161	129	55
Assassin´s Creed Origins (2017)	81	76	75	67	34
Call of Duty WWII (2017)	187.2	184.9	122.9	115.5	61.1
Need for Speed Payback (2017)	121.9	115.3	113	110.4	49.6
Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)	193.7	146.7	124.2	107.6	36.5
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018)	143	88.1	59.8		28
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018)	121.4	111.3	86	67.3	27.1
Far Cry 5 (2018)	100	90	86	80	45
The Crew 2 (2018)	60	60	60	60	42.3

Application Performance

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X PCMark 10 performance

The 2950X performs exceptionally well in PCMark 10 and is clearly ahead of the Core i9-7900X. By contrast, our test APU is only 4% ahead of the Ryzen 7 2700X in these benchmarks. Overall, our 2950X test system is fast and latency free.

AMD also offers its StoreMI tool for free for all X399 motherboards following the launch of its new Threadripper APUs. StoreMI combines the advantages of an SSD and an HDD by generating a drive from two physical drives and 2 GB RAM. The tool then analyses user behavior and stores frequently used programs on this faster virtual drive for improved system performance.

AMD StoreMI performance improvements (Source: AMD)

PCMark 10 | PCMark 8

PCMark 10 - Score
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	7764 Points +4%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	7451 Points
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	7337 Points -2%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	7285 Points -2%
Intel Core i9-7900X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	6432 Points -14%
Intel Core i7-8700K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	6150 Points -17%

PCMark 8
Work Score Accelerated v2
Intel Core i9-7900X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	5325 Points +12%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4891 Points +3%
Intel Core i7-8700K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4821 Points +2%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4750 Points 0%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4735 Points
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	4520 Points -5%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4511 Points -5%
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4324 Points -9%
Creative Score Accelerated v2
Intel Core i9-7900X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	8794 Points +12%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	8217 Points +5%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	8166 Points +4%
Intel Core i7-8700K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	8110 Points +3%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	7948 Points +1%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	7859 Points
Home Score Accelerated v2
Intel Core i9-7900X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	5239 Points +20%
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4746 Points +9%
Intel Core i7-8700K NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4648 Points +7%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4483 Points +3%
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4392 Points +1%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X NVIDIA Titan X Pascal	4367 Points 0%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	4359 Points
AMD Ryzen 7 1700X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (Desktop)	4350 Points 0%

Emissions

Our test APU performed well during our stress tests. The Wraith Ripper easily cooled the 180 W APU, which should be expected as the heatsink supports up to 250 W chips. We ran our stress tests without putting our test system in a case. APU core temperature reached 64 °C in this test scenario with the air-cooled Wraith Ripper. The APU operated at between 3.7 and 3.8 GHz during our stress tests, which is exactly what AMD promises.

We would recommend pairing such a strong APU with liquid cooling for best overall performance. AMD provided us with the Enermax Liqtech 240 for our testing, which delivered an overall better experience than the Wraith Ripper. While the APU still reached 62 °C under load, fan noise is considerably lower at idle when using the Liqtech 240 rather than the Wraith Ripper.

Temperatures - CPU Temperature Prime95
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	71 °C +11%
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	70.5 °C +10%
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	64 °C

Heatsinks

All new Threadripper APUs come without a heatsink. AMD has provided us with the air-cooler Cooler Master Wraith Ripper and the liquid-cooled Enermax Liqtech 240 for our tests.

Before we go any further, both heatsinks performed well throughout testing. Starting with the Wraith Ripper, this cooler is equipped with a 120 mm fan and RGB lighting. The size of the Wraith Ripper should not be underestimated though. The Wraith Ripper blocked the first PCIe slot on the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme's motherboard and made installing RAM modules tricky. The modules provided to us still fitted, but there isn’t enough clearance to use RAM modules with large RGB heat spreaders.

On a separate note, the weight of a test system is a whopping 3.6 kg.

The Wraith Ripper is so large that it blocks the first PCIe on our test motherboard

The Enermax Liqtech 240 cools the APU more effectively and works more quietly than the Wraith Ripper. The liquid cooler is plug and play and does not obstruct either the PCIe slot on the ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme's motherboard or the RAM modules. We would recommend this heatsink over the Wraith Ripper if you have room in your case.

Enermax Liqtech 240 TR4 – what’s in the box

Power Consumption

The 2950X is not designed to be a power-efficient APU with its 180 W maximum TDP. The APU is relatively economic in idle though, with our test APU averaging 83 W. This is only 9 W higher than the Ryzen 7 2700X. This rises to 262 W during Cinebench R15 multi and to a maximum of 269 W during a Prime95 stress test.

We also looked at the power consumption of our entire test system. Our test system averaged 410 W while running The Witcher 3. There are a few caveats here though. Firstly, it is worth considering the power consumption of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64. Secondly, we conducted this test with the Liqtech 240 heatsink cooling the APU. Finally, we did not connect our test system to a display during this test.

AMD Threadripper 2950X power consumption - At idle

AMD Threadripper 2950X power consumption – Cinebench R15 Multi benchmark

AMD Threadripper 2950X power consumption – Prime95 stress test

AMD Threadripper 2950X power consumption – The Witcher 3

Power Consumption
Cinebench R15 Multi (external Monitor)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	263 Watt *
1920x1080 The Witcher 3 ultra (external Monitor)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X AMD Radeon RX Vega 64	411 Watt *

* ... smaller is better

Overclocking

Overclocking remains an option for getting the most out of hardware, and the 2950X is an easy APU to overclock. We managed to overclock our test APU to 4.2 GHz across all cores with the Liqtech 240. Core temperatures reached 74 °C under load, but we could not achieve stable clock speeds beyond 4.2 GHz.

Our test APU scored 3,585 points in Cinebench R15 multi when overclocked, which is 475 points higher than it scored at stock speeds. Our test APU scored two points fewer in the Cinebench R15 single-core benchmark than it did at stock speeds. This is more likely to be regular fluctuations in results than overclocking resulting in worse single-core performance.

Manually overclocking the 2950X disables both XFR2 and PBO. This is a major downside as the APU can only reach 4.4 GHz with XFR2 enabled.

Another factor to consider when overclocking is the increased power consumption. Power consumption increases by around 120 W when running Prime95, for example. Overall, our test APU averages 390 W under load when overclocked. This is incredibly high and something that we would advise against doing unless you can properly cool the APU.

Please note: All attempts at overclocking are at your own risk and voids any manufacturer warranty. AMD Ryzen Master Utility displays a corresponding warning message before allowing you to overclock your APU.

Stress test power consumption at 4.2 GHz using the Enermax Liqtech 240 heatsink

Verdict

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X. Test processor courtesy of AMD.

AMD has now released its new series of Threadripper APUs following its Zen+ architecture refresh of its other Ryzen APUs this spring. All four of the new Threadripper APUs are based on the 12 nm FinFET manufacturing process and bring a series of improvements over their predecessors. AMD has not only increased clock speeds but also ramped up core count too; the 24 and 32-core WX series chips are real workhorse workstation APUs.

The new top APU for enthusiasts and gamers is the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X, which succeeds the Threadripper 1950X APU. The 2950X is a 16-core chip with 32 simultaneous threads and a 180 W maximum TDP. AMD has increased the clock speed between generations too and implemented both XFR2 and PBO to better regulate turbo clock speeds under load. The 2950X automatically adapts clock speeds in 25 MHz increments for more precise clock speed adjustments.

Overall, the 2950X works is a strong performer in both games and in wider applications. AMD has priced the 2950X attractively and offers significantly more performance than the Intel Core i9-7900X for the same money.

The second generation of AMD Ryzen Threadripper APUs is considerably more powerful than their predecessors. AMD has brought the first consumer level 32-core processors to the market, chips which have only previously been found in servers. These new APUs, specifically the Threadripper 2950X, have a strong price-to-performance ratio that puts Intel under serious pressure.

AMD has a well-known upgrade policy that has a good reputation. If you already own an X399 motherboard, then you can upgrade to the latest generation of Threadripper APUs with just a BIOS update. This even applies to the 250 W WX series Threadripper APUs.

Those who cannot or will not do without the power of 16 cores will be rewarded with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X, particularly because of its performance in multithreaded optimized applications. Intel currently offers no comparable CPU at this price with this level of performance, which is why the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X gets a clear recommendation from us.

Review AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2920X (12 cores, 24 threads) 12/12/2018

Linux seems to do a better job of scaling up to the Threadripper 2990WX's 32 cores. (Source: Engadget)

The AMD Threadripper 2990WX shows even higher numbers when benchmarked on Linux 08/14/2018

Read all 1 comments / answer

Loading comments

Comment on this article

Translator: Alex Alderson - Senior Tech Writer - 9942 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2018

Prior to writing and translating for Notebookcheck, I worked for various companies including Apple and Neowin. I have a BA in International History and Politics from the University of Leeds, which I have since converted to a Law Degree. Happy to chat on Twitter or Notebookchat.

contact me via: @aldersonaj

Please share our article, every link counts!

> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (16 core, 32 threads) Review

Sebastian Bade, 2018-08-11 (Update: 2018-08-13)