I am sure fools will be thrilled. As someone who's gonna buy zen products by the dozens, I'd say AMD's "hip (not anatomical) wannabe" marketing is completely failing for me. But who am I to judge, maybe they will get more money off TR from silly kids than prosumers.
At least it is not as bad as intel's "big deal wannabe" marketing, which is even worse than lame - straight up sad story.
Also, what's with the second to last image, someone jizzed on it LOL. Sorry but I had to do it, this stuff outta be illegal. I mean showing off (high res at that) images of forbidden stuff (that is until the NDA is lifted).
You are one of the most negative people I have found on the internet and I don't think I have ever seen you post a positive comment on an Anandtech article.
I don't think it would be a good thing if I was in a state where I'd cheer and bias or mediocrity. I am not bitter thou, it is called cynicism, look it up ;)
So you will buy dozens of Zen processors, but think thermal paste looks like jizz. Come on ddriver, this kind of lame trolling is unforgivable. You should hold yourself to a higher standard.
Well, it certainly doesn't have the footprint of properly applied TIM. But hey, those may well be the testing guidelines, dictated by intel that your beloved site is paid to follow ;)
On most processors, you'd expect the thermal paste to have a little more coverage than that. Are the processors are so large that the standard Asetek cold plate only contacts 2/3 to 3/4 of the heat spreader? What's that going to do for thermals? Guess we'll find out at the next embargo.
I mean... its ddriver... this is sort of his 'thing', his 'style'. If he changed now then it would upset the balance of the universe and people like me would feel compelled to fill in the void that would be left behind by a cheery and happy ddriver.
If you want a really scary day, just wait until he posts something you actually agree with 100%. It is rare, but it happens, and it will make you question reality
Yeah, there's nothing more terrifying than coming in contact with actual objectivity, if even for a moment. Questioning reality? We certainly don't need that. Just take your pills and keep clapping hands at whatever program they shove down your throat. I am just a bad dream.
What I think is real funny is that some would think that cynicism is somehow a purer emotion/idea than any other emotion/idea. When it suffers from being abused, exaggerated, false...just like all the other emotions/ideas. People who are cynical are not any more "real" than people who are for the sake of this discussion, happy go lucky people. In fact, it could logically be argued that a person that camps in either side all the time is the one that is more likely to be unreal in their view points.
I'm curious to know how much are you paid to follow AMD CPU related articles and comment too much inessential, waste redundancies in order to divert readers' thought from the reality that lucidly shows AMD's success?
Considering that a lot of high-quality tech journalism websites have been denied review samples -- including a very well known site that *reports* about *technology* whose founder is currently an AMD employee and had very positive things to say about RyZen -- and considering the over the top gaudiness of this case... I'm expecting Threadripper to be a big letdown in real-world use cases.
I frankly don't care about some Cinebench score and all the compromises that presented issues with regular RyZen are going to be amplified in threadripper.
And you complain about it on Anandtech? The guys here are known to be very thorough with their testing and analysis, specially on the compute side of things (in opposition to sites which would rather focus on games on a 16 core HEDT CPU)
>I frankly don't care about some Cinebench score and all the compromises that presented issues with regular RyZen are going to be amplified in threadripper.
I think you might be confused about the purpose of this processor. If you want to try and set FPS scores in Crysis you're looking at the wrong product.
"Clearly there is no use for anything with more than four cores and eight threads. Waste of money. Testing the kinds of workloads you'd encounter while doing real work? Pointless numbers! The only thing that matters is average framerate in my favorite games!"
Why do you care about 16 core processors if you don't have any highly-threaded workloads? Just because you don't need something doesn't mean other people don't need it too.
You could just as easily say Intel's Xeon processors are a huge ripoff because 24-core Xeons cost a fortune and are outperformed by i3s in games.
Maybe take your fanboy glasses off for a bit and you'll be able to read. From TR's own article, "We expect to have review hardware soon, and we'll have as thorough a performance picture as we can get for those parts by the August 10 launch." How that translates into being "denied review samples," I'm not quite sure.
Presumably because AMD has refused to send them stuff before, but that happened even when Scott was in charge when the Fury Nano was being sent out to reviewers. HardOCP and TechPowerUp were also denied samples.
There are 250 review kits, some of which have the recipent's logo on the outside, some of which have it on both the outside plus the "CPU" inside the magnetic paperweight, and there are a LOT of tech reviewers (Linus Tech Tips, Hardware Unboxed and AdoredTV all got one, so YouTube channels are certainly included) so they can't send one out to everybody.
I suppose it's not entirely unreasonable to think that AMD have done it again, but as the first deliveries were only yesterday, it's also not entirely unreasonable to conclude that TR's review kit has just been delayed.
It would be rather funny if TR's review kit turned up and they had #1 of 250.
That wouldn't make any sense with Threadripper, because the cooler's cooling plate only covers the center of the IHS (as seen from where the thermal paste was). Why cover parts of it in paste that won't have the cooling plate on top of it?
The thermal paste footprint is interesting. Isn't there more than one Zen core inside the CPU? Either 2 or 4 cores, they are located anywhere but the center of the CPU. It is either one to each side or two to each side, and the thermal paste has to be on top of those areas not the center which supposedly is the intersection of all that amounts to the so called infinity fabric. The thermal paste should be spread all over the CPU to even start doing anything useful. The orange holder cou;d be designed with raised hollow edges to allow the thermal paste to spread and the rest gathered in the edges through holes. Or the thermal paste should be factory spread on the contact area of the head sink otherwise.
There are two *dies* (each with 8 cores) and two spacers of the same size under the heatspreader - located in a rectangular form and taking about half of the width (narrower) and 75% of the length (longer) of the CPU. There's a delidded Threadripper on guru3d - just disregard the misinformation about 4 dies: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/amd-ryzen-threadr...
To me, the spread of the thermal paste covered just about all of the dies.
You mean same size as the usable cores? your comment made me laugh if you take a closer look with some professional software e.g photoshop/lightroom, you can calculate the angle of the picture, you know the size of the cpu itself and there is no significant difference between the placeholders and usable ones, i mean both has the same dimension. if placeholders smaller in xzy dimension it would be breaking the die and twist to one direction when soldering the indium under the IHS... As der8auer stated: it is for keeping the die in one piece
I agree with versesuvius, vanilla_gorilla, Cooe, &ddriver. I'm looking at threadripper because of its multithreaded performance (expected), its quad channel memory, and it's 60+4 PCI-E lanes. Ian at least I would appreciate it if you could skip the unboxing in favour of a SINGLE photograph of threadripper with the location of the dies marked on it.
One thing I notice a lot of hype of this product - especially the fact that it code have 4 modules not two - some even stating that it could have up 32 cores not 16 in the futures. From what I can tell from your excellent images it only has 2 modules and limited on to 16 core. My thought is that other images showing 4 modules was all hype or possible leak of pre-production
One thing I though is funny in the crazy packaging is "RIP Here" - which could mean "Rest In Peace" as possible AMD's last effort for something. Just having fun... but I remember getting EVGA signature edition video card that had similar packaging. This was for my Dual Xeon 5160 and machine is still running and card has since been replace.
Packaging is cool - but the reality is that the market has change a lot, an desktops are a very small area of computers - mobile market is where the attention is. So I am curious why AMD focus on desktop, maybe just to say they have more cores.
This come from the same line as 32 core epyx workstatios chip. There only are two real Zen cores inside the heatspreader in this model and mother board for treathrippers does not have contacts for another two Zen cores. The another two are there to fill the empty space so that the core has better contact with the heatspreader and also to make it more durable.
These are based on the epyc line. So it most likely did not cost much more to develop TR, and the margins on these kinds of chips are very high compared to typical desktop chips, which are already pretty good.
So better question, why would AMD continue to allow intel to command the high margin market?
I wonder how long before we get a 1900X review. I think that has the potential to be a great CPU, probably the best Ryzen single threaded performance so far, while still getting more cores than we're used to, all of the IO goodies, and at a mainstream price.
How can they call it "Unlocked, Unconstrained and Uncompromising" if a) EPYC 7501 ($3400) and EPYC 7551P ($2100) contain the exact same hardware but the former contains a "magic 2P tax" not arguable with any technical difference? b) You can't freely choose to populate your 1P or 2P board with high-clock/low-core Threadripper 1950X ($999) or medium-clock/high-core EPYC 7551P?
It's the very same market segmentation Intel uses, only that in this case we all know that they vary nothing but the number of dies they put into the package.
They should either change the prices or the marketing, but this combination they are quite simply lying.
a) Remember EPYC CPUs on 2 sockets coordinate using Infinity Fabric. It's totally possible that the cross-socket Infinity Fabric on the "P" models does not pass QC, so they are prevented from being used in a 2-socket configuration.
b) TR CPUs have only 2 dies, not 4. Server boards expect there will be 4 dies, not 2.
a) You are obviously a nice person, expecting best intentions and behaviour from AMD.
And I agree, there is a marginal chance you'll have dies which fail on the fabric parts of a die, which tend to be higher area, because they are external links, even if they are low logic complexity.
But I think that that AMD is simply trying to make extra money from 2P when Intel is doing it, too, is the real motive. It's a logical conclusion and they are not even attempting to reason otherwise.
And being greedy is ok, when you *admit* to being greedy, like Jeff Bezos.
What irks me extra is if someone is broadcasting "moral superiority" but behaving just as selfishly as the rest of the "crowd".
b) AMD designed Zen to be flexible. What server boards "expect" was up for AMD to decide. Server boards expect a number of "channels" and these are negotiated to be either IF, PCIe or RAM. If AMD designed a 1P/2P split, that is a design decision, not "inevitable fate".
Huge money? They are only sending these to publications, it was maybe a $10,000 investment which gets you what in advertising? A 15 second commercial on a 2 AM broadcast? I think the money was well spent, as this overdone packaging will be seen millions of times. I think for once AMD's marketing group did something right.
"AnandTech in this respect is fairly old-school: we’d rather spend more time testing the product to give more data for our analysis and reviews, making sure our readers have the sufficient knowledge at hand to invest in a product."
I'd expect it to be better at single core than Ryzen. The 1900X has a 5-10% clock advantage over the 1800X based on both higher base and XFR, and likely more thermal overhead to run at turbo/XFR.
I think the question is a little flawed though, since you're not asking if it will be better than Ryzen but instead if it will be better than Intel's offerings, implying Ryzen wasn't. From what I've seen, it hasn't been stopping enthusiasts and gamers from choosing Ryzen. It's good enough or better in most situations.
Well you get two Ryzen dice instead of one. Single core performance per die should be more or less the same, because that's mostly power/heat limited and at 180Watts you have pretty much double budget. The real advantage of TR would then be that you can run two threads (one per die, two for the package) at maximum speeds instead of just one: DDOOUUBBLLEE everything.
I love the idea of Threadripper and the competition and choice that it brings to the CPU market, and I how that AMD do really well with it, but until AMD confirm the segfault issues are fixed I'll be giving all Zen-based silicon a very wide berth - there's no point saving money on something that doesn't work.
No, as it affects Windows and BSD too. It's doesn't appear to be anything specific to Linux, rather it's the type of workload which may be more common on Linux than other OS. This particular issue may be possible to downplay on Ryzen given it is targeted at the consumer/gamer (although I'd be pissed if I'd bought a CPU that couldn't reliably compile day in, day out) however Threadripper and EPYC are designed for and marketed at the kind of workloads that trigger the flaw so it's important to know if the flaw remains.
If Threadripper still has this flaw then Anandtech should report it, regardless of whether "it's a Linux problem".
I wonder what percentage of these will be Windows gaming machines vs workstations or compiling boxes for developers. If anything I'd think ThreadRipper will see more Linux than the average desktop processors.
"All processors have bugs" - totally agree with you, and that wouldn't be a problem if AMD hadn't gone into complete radio silence over the problem which has existed for months now and leaves CPUs incapable of performing the most basic tasks.
I compile all day long on an FX-8350 which is solid as a rock and I'd like to replace it with a Threadripper but simply cannot unless these issues are addressed - there's no point replacing a slow but reliable CPU with a blazing fast monster that is incapable of finishing the job half of the time.
Postmortem Examination There is a particular pattern in some Ryzen’s crashes. According to Hideki EIRAKU’s investigation, Ryzen seems to execute 64 bytes ahead instructions than where RIP register is pointing.
Here is my coredump of bash. Let’s check the coredump.
Current program counter rip was 0x4370d0.
rip 0x4370d0 0x4370d0 <execute_builtin+720> SIGSEGV was raised while copying [rsp+0x8] to eax immediately after returning from run_unwind_frame.
0x00000000004370cb <+715>: call 0x465ef0 <run_unwind_frame> => 0x00000000004370d0 <+720>: mov eax,DWORD PTR [rsp+0x8] The stack pointer rsp was 0x7ffe79c8f4d0.
rsp 0x7ffe79c8f4d0 0x7ffe79c8f4d0 Here is the stack dump:
(gdb) disassemble run_unwind_frame Dump of assembler code for function run_unwind_frame: 0x0000000000465ef0 <+0>: cmp QWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a78],0x0 # 0x70e970 <unwind_protect_list> 0x0000000000465ef8 <+8>: je 0x465f17 <run_unwind_frame+39> 0x0000000000465efa <+10>: push rbx 0x0000000000465efb <+11>: mov ebx,DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a83] # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately> 0x0000000000465f01 <+17>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a79],0x0 # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately> 0x0000000000465f0b <+27>: call 0x465aa0 <unwind_frame_run_internal> 0x0000000000465f10 <+32>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a6e],ebx # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately> 0x0000000000465f16 <+38>: pop rbx 0x0000000000465f17 <+39>: repz ret pop rbx was executed just before returning this function. This value has been recoded in the stack. [rsp-16] was 1. And rbx was 1.
rbx 0x1 0x1 The stack and th registers look consistent. But, SIGSEGV was raised. It’s a Mystery!
Let’s use the hypothesis here. The return address was 0x4370d0 and current rip was 0x4370d0. But, if Ryzen would execute 64byte ahead instructions, what would happen? The address was 0x437090. Here is the disassembled instruction.
(gdb) x/i 0x437090 0x437090 <execute_builtin+656>: add BYTE PTR [rax],al rax was 0. If this instruction was really executed, 0 was the address where this SIGSEGV was occurred.
(gdb) p $_siginfo._sifields._sigfault.si_addr $3 = (void *) 0x6dfb44 Unfortunately, It was 0x6dfb44. Surprisingly, no registers stores this value. I don’t know where this value came from.
Anyway, the hypothesis doesn’t seem to match in this case.
After writing above text, he posted his investigation of my coredump. He guesses rip was slipped to 0x465f10 which is in run_unwind_frame.
(gdb) disassemble run_unwind_frame Dump of assembler code for function run_unwind_frame: 0x0000000000465ef0 <+0>: cmp QWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a78],0x0 # 0x70e970 <unwind_protect_list> 0x0000000000465ef8 <+8>: je 0x465f17 <run_unwind_frame+39> 0x0000000000465efa <+10>: push rbx 0x0000000000465efb <+11>: mov ebx,DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a83] # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately> 0x0000000000465f01 <+17>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a79],0x0 # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately> 0x0000000000465f0b <+27>: call 0x465aa0 <unwind_frame_run_internal> 0x0000000000465f10 <+32>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a6e],ebx # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately> 0x0000000000465f16 <+38>: pop rbx 0x0000000000465f17 <+39>: repz ret This mov instruction is about to copy ebx to [rip+0x2a8a6e]. rip was 0x4370d0, rip+0x2a8a6e is 0x6dfb3e, and this mov instruction size is 6, 0x6dfb3e + 6 is 0x6dfb44. Bingo!
Both least six significant bits of rip (0x4370d0) and slipped destination address (0x465f10) are equal.
## So, some overzealous cache prefetching gets accidentally executed *(?) when the instruction pointer loses track of where it's supposed to be? = a Ryzen bug. Microcode fix in weeks, done.
PCIe lanes supported by CPUs are historically quoted as those that can form PCIe slots for add-in cards. Four are for the chipset, as we have stated a dozen times here at AnandTech. We're not changing the way of quoting PCIe lanes, as it leads to confusion.
I don't think anybody has mentioned this before, but there is a switch at the top of the case that, when activated, shines a light through the two Threadripper boxes, highlighting the Ryzen swirl. I'm not sure if it affects the paperweight.
So, if nothing else, you now have an expensive case with a light in it so you can see its contents a little easier. :)
B3an that heatsink compound looks a bit fishy to me as well. I should think the entire top should be covered or at least the area over the dies which are evidently on the diagonal...
The heatsink itself doesn't cover the whole top of the processor. I'd like to see how the heatsink aligns with the die and the thermal compound pattern.
Brilliant move by AMD's marketing to send those packages. And a financial effort, since I assume that the 2 cpus, the case, the glass encapsulated marked cpu and the Zenith motherboard, RAM, water cooling kit plus PSU, etc... worth around 3,000$.
Now I can hardly wait to see Ian's "open PDF" benchmark when Threadripper will be crushed by an i3... And, of course, RAM at 2400, instead of 3200.
On a serious note, I think heat will be the most important issue: I didn't see any cooling solution that can cover all the IHS, just the central part, leaving some area above the Zeppelins naked.
Ian, please do at least a 7zip decompression besides the compression test. Ryzen seems to be disproportionately better in decompression than compression.
Scanning the QR code on the label says it's not valid and tells you to contact your sales representative :P. Counterfeiters are getting really good these days!
So, basically like all other AMD processors this thing will take double the cores to do the same cumulative benchmark as a similiarly priced Intel running half the cores, and then a bunch of ITT graduates who know how to overclock will make up reasons why you need 8 or more cores to get efficient multi-tasking on a desktop. Yeah...ok
Intel finally has real competition again, Intel doesn't have as large strides to step ahead of AMD as Nvidia does so it'll be neck-to-neck fight for a while in the CPU department, unfortunately Nvidia can move ahead without breaking a sweat at any given time.
May be letting other generate the Hype then? I like it Old School, Classic, Traditional Way. Even though I knew there are other reviews out there before Anandtech i dont even bother reading them anymore. I wait for Anandtech's review, and if there are any missing pcs of info that was not answered I will go to other site.
And normally if the reviews contains some unfavourable results to certain people, they will be in comment to show where i should go next.
And by the way, when was the last time we had a CPU that is as hyped as AMD? Intel has been giving us shit year after year and most people are much more interested in SoC then Desktop CPU.
AMD may have very good Electronic Engineers, from what I've seen so far their packaging engineers are awful. Even though most of the reviewers could build a PC in their sleep, I haven't seen one unboxing that the reviewer did't have an issue figuring out how to get the CPU out of the package.
Good thing they moved the pins to the Socket because there are going to be a lot of CPU's hitting the ground with this packaging.
Nothing Intel about it, if any I would say you might trace the origins back to whoever had their first inventory for semi-automated production. Who knows, maybe even the Egyptians on which stone had to go where in the pyramid. The phrase is later defined, but the principle is older than the road to Rome ;)
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
131 Comments
Back to Article
jabber - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Looks like AMD have finally got a marketing team!ddriver - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I am sure fools will be thrilled. As someone who's gonna buy zen products by the dozens, I'd say AMD's "hip (not anatomical) wannabe" marketing is completely failing for me. But who am I to judge, maybe they will get more money off TR from silly kids than prosumers.At least it is not as bad as intel's "big deal wannabe" marketing, which is even worse than lame - straight up sad story.
Also, what's with the second to last image, someone jizzed on it LOL. Sorry but I had to do it, this stuff outta be illegal. I mean showing off (high res at that) images of forbidden stuff (that is until the NDA is lifted).
jordanclock - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
You are one of the most negative people I have found on the internet and I don't think I have ever seen you post a positive comment on an Anandtech article.Why are you always so sour?
ddriver - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I don't think it would be a good thing if I was in a state where I'd cheer and bias or mediocrity. I am not bitter thou, it is called cynicism, look it up ;)fanofanand - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
So you will buy dozens of Zen processors, but think thermal paste looks like jizz. Come on ddriver, this kind of lame trolling is unforgivable. You should hold yourself to a higher standard.ddriver - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Well, it certainly doesn't have the footprint of properly applied TIM. But hey, those may well be the testing guidelines, dictated by intel that your beloved site is paid to follow ;)B3an - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
It looks EXACTLY like thermal paste that's had a cooler removed. Which it has. You retarded twat.BurntMyBacon - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
On most processors, you'd expect the thermal paste to have a little more coverage than that. Are the processors are so large that the standard Asetek cold plate only contacts 2/3 to 3/4 of the heat spreader? What's that going to do for thermals? Guess we'll find out at the next embargo.krazyfrog - Monday, August 7, 2017 - link
Exactly. The coolers right now are not big enough to cover the entire Threadripper so it only looks like a small spot in the middle.Reflex - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Hint: He's not going to buy dozens of Zen processors. He'll be lucky if he can afford one.Hurr Durr - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Something something cnc mill.Reflex - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Hahaha, yes that was comedy gold!WinterCharm - Tuesday, August 8, 2017 - link
Ah, that explains it. He's always bitter and angry because he cannot afford any hardware!CaedenV - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I mean... its ddriver... this is sort of his 'thing', his 'style'. If he changed now then it would upset the balance of the universe and people like me would feel compelled to fill in the void that would be left behind by a cheery and happy ddriver.If you want a really scary day, just wait until he posts something you actually agree with 100%. It is rare, but it happens, and it will make you question reality
ddriver - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Yeah, there's nothing more terrifying than coming in contact with actual objectivity, if even for a moment. Questioning reality? We certainly don't need that. Just take your pills and keep clapping hands at whatever program they shove down your throat. I am just a bad dream.tuxRoller - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
It's actually terrifying that you think you have access to such a thing.raschmidt - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
ddriver watches too much Donald TrumpCaedenV - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Oh man, I almost forgot to take my pills! Thanks for the reminder; that could have ended badly.Hunter777 - Saturday, August 5, 2017 - link
What I think is real funny is that some would think that cynicism is somehow a purer emotion/idea than any other emotion/idea. When it suffers from being abused, exaggerated, false...just like all the other emotions/ideas. People who are cynical are not any more "real" than people who are for the sake of this discussion, happy go lucky people. In fact, it could logically be argued that a person that camps in either side all the time is the one that is more likely to be unreal in their view points.WithoutWeakness - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
He is Anandtech's resident comments section troll. You'll learn to ignore him sooner or later.tamalero - Saturday, August 5, 2017 - link
Problem is, is he really a troll?or he is just really that pathetic in real life that he has to bring such negativity and BS to the forum?Gothmoth - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
because he has no life and no job and lives in his parents cellars..that´s true for 80% of these trolls.Hurr Durr - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I love how you absolutely have to flaunt your wage slavery.Reflex - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Good point, its better to flaunt your familial dependence I guess...Gothmoth - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
too much lead iny our drinking water or were you born that way?at80eighty - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
it's a good thing your rather absurd opinion is inconsequential to themNetmsm - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
I'm curious to know how much are you paid to follow AMD CPU related articles and comment too much inessential, waste redundancies in order to divert readers' thought from the reality that lucidly shows AMD's success?edlee - Monday, August 7, 2017 - link
looks like anandtech skimped out on the thermal paste, shouldnt it cover the surface more?Samus - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Indeed. If not a little overboard. I mean a Pelican case!? That's like a $300 case.jabber - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
You get to write such stuff off against tax.at80eighty - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
this is an r/iamverysmart grade postat80eighty - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
irony. this wasnt meant for you jabberCajunArson - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Considering that a lot of high-quality tech journalism websites have been denied review samples --including a very well known site that *reports* about *technology* whose founder is currently an AMD employee and had very positive things to say about RyZen -- and considering the over the top gaudiness of this case... I'm expecting Threadripper to be a big letdown in real-world use cases.
I frankly don't care about some Cinebench score and all the compromises that presented issues with regular RyZen are going to be amplified in threadripper.
IanHagen - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
And you complain about it on Anandtech? The guys here are known to be very thorough with their testing and analysis, specially on the compute side of things (in opposition to sites which would rather focus on games on a 16 core HEDT CPU)vanilla_gorilla - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
>I frankly don't care about some Cinebench score and all the compromises that presented issues with regular RyZen are going to be amplified in threadripper.I think you might be confused about the purpose of this processor. If you want to try and set FPS scores in Crysis you're looking at the wrong product.
ddriver - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Yeah, just get an unlocked i3 and STFU, right?Cooe - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Lol translation - "All I do with my PC is play video games so that's all I care about, and therefore all that's important"Gothmoth - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
i wonder what compromises this clown speaks about.. i bet he has not even touched a ryzen system!IanHagen - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
That would be 11 FPS less on the average playing at 1080p in some "competitive professional e-sport" game, I reckon.Alexvrb - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
"Clearly there is no use for anything with more than four cores and eight threads. Waste of money. Testing the kinds of workloads you'd encounter while doing real work? Pointless numbers! The only thing that matters is average framerate in my favorite games!"xype - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
"and considering the over the top gaudiness of this case... I'm expecting Threadripper to be a big letdown in real-world use cases"Top notch technical analysis, there, old chap, you should looking into starting up a tech review publication!
Troll_Slayer - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
"compromises"? CLOWN you know nothingFlunk - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Why do you care about 16 core processors if you don't have any highly-threaded workloads? Just because you don't need something doesn't mean other people don't need it too.You could just as easily say Intel's Xeon processors are a huge ripoff because 24-core Xeons cost a fortune and are outperformed by i3s in games.
Gothmoth - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
yeah or maybe you are just a a grumpy person.Goty - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Maybe take your fanboy glasses off for a bit and you'll be able to read. From TR's own article, "We expect to have review hardware soon, and we'll have as thorough a performance picture as we can get for those parts by the August 10 launch." How that translates into being "denied review samples," I'm not quite sure.silverblue - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Presumably because AMD has refused to send them stuff before, but that happened even when Scott was in charge when the Fury Nano was being sent out to reviewers. HardOCP and TechPowerUp were also denied samples.There are 250 review kits, some of which have the recipent's logo on the outside, some of which have it on both the outside plus the "CPU" inside the magnetic paperweight, and there are a LOT of tech reviewers (Linus Tech Tips, Hardware Unboxed and AdoredTV all got one, so YouTube channels are certainly included) so they can't send one out to everybody.
I suppose it's not entirely unreasonable to think that AMD have done it again, but as the first deliveries were only yesterday, it's also not entirely unreasonable to conclude that TR's review kit has just been delayed.
It would be rather funny if TR's review kit turned up and they had #1 of 250.
Hurr Durr - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Look at all the AMD asshurt, great comment CajunArson!tamalero - Saturday, August 5, 2017 - link
You sound sadly bitter.Did they deny you a review sample and you got butthurt or something?
These processors are not exclusive to gaming anyway.
If you only review gaming stuff, then you're a moron.
FireSnake - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Awesome! Printed logo ... how smooth :)tipoo - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I love the opposite of clickbait title :P"These are pictures, it is what it is"
Hul8 - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I wholeheartedly agree. Must give kudos to Ian and AnandTech for saying it up front.Troll_Slayer - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
AnandTech is a straight shootercygnus1 - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Dang, what's old is new again, this thing's as big as a Pentium ProTheinsanegamerN - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
They make them like they used to!tipoo - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
That thermal paste picture kind of shows why I don't really like the blob method that seems widespread now.A few years ago it seemed common advice was to spread it with a credit card so it covers the whole surface.
Cooe - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
That wouldn't make any sense with Threadripper, because the cooler's cooling plate only covers the center of the IHS (as seen from where the thermal paste was). Why cover parts of it in paste that won't have the cooling plate on top of it?tipoo - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I didn't know that, in that case it's different of course. But I mean coolers that touch the whole IHS.StevoLincolnite - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Threadripper has been available for sale in Australia since yesterday. So just waiting on Anandtechs review. Sooner the better.Ian Cutress - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
For sale and shipping, or pre-order? Pre-orders are everywhere.Cooe - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
That's pre-orders online. Became available for everyone yesterday.HollyDOL - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I kind of feel most curious about paperweight cpu, after all it's one and only of it's kind :-)Mr Perfect - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
For sure. The first thing I would do is plug that thing in.My guess is the paperweight is a brick though...
silverblue - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
The paperweight is magnetic and opens up, but it's just a fake CPU (of course).T1beriu - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Cold plate contact with IHS area for the die location doesn't look great. It seems to cover about 80% of the die.versesuvius - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
The thermal paste footprint is interesting. Isn't there more than one Zen core inside the CPU? Either 2 or 4 cores, they are located anywhere but the center of the CPU. It is either one to each side or two to each side, and the thermal paste has to be on top of those areas not the center which supposedly is the intersection of all that amounts to the so called infinity fabric. The thermal paste should be spread all over the CPU to even start doing anything useful. The orange holder cou;d be designed with raised hollow edges to allow the thermal paste to spread and the rest gathered in the edges through holes. Or the thermal paste should be factory spread on the contact area of the head sink otherwise.Hul8 - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
There are two *dies* (each with 8 cores) and two spacers of the same size under the heatspreader - located in a rectangular form and taking about half of the width (narrower) and 75% of the length (longer) of the CPU. There's a delidded Threadripper on guru3d - just disregard the misinformation about 4 dies: http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/amd-ryzen-threadr...To me, the spread of the thermal paste covered just about all of the dies.
Hul8 - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
*Actually closer to 85% of the length.Dosi - Friday, August 11, 2017 - link
You mean same size as the usable cores? your comment made me laugh if you take a closer look with some professional software e.g photoshop/lightroom, you can calculate the angle of the picture, you know the size of the cpu itself and there is no significant difference between the placeholders and usable ones, i mean both has the same dimension. if placeholders smaller in xzy dimension it would be breaking the die and twist to one direction when soldering the indium under the IHS...As der8auer stated: it is for keeping the die in one piece
drajitshnew - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I agree with versesuvius, vanilla_gorilla, Cooe, &ddriver. I'm looking at threadripper because of its multithreaded performance (expected), its quad channel memory, and it's 60+4 PCI-E lanes.Ian at least I would appreciate it if you could skip the unboxing in favour of a SINGLE photograph of threadripper with the location of the dies marked on it.
HStewart - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
One thing I notice a lot of hype of this product - especially the fact that it code have 4 modules not two - some even stating that it could have up 32 cores not 16 in the futures. From what I can tell from your excellent images it only has 2 modules and limited on to 16 core. My thought is that other images showing 4 modules was all hype or possible leak of pre-productionOne thing I though is funny in the crazy packaging is "RIP Here" - which could mean "Rest In Peace" as possible AMD's last effort for something. Just having fun... but I remember getting EVGA signature edition video card that had similar packaging. This was for my Dual Xeon 5160 and machine is still running and card has since been replace.
Packaging is cool - but the reality is that the market has change a lot, an desktops are a very small area of computers - mobile market is where the attention is. So I am curious why AMD focus on desktop, maybe just to say they have more cores.
haukionkannel - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
This come from the same line as 32 core epyx workstatios chip.There only are two real Zen cores inside the heatspreader in this model and mother board for treathrippers does not have contacts for another two Zen cores. The another two are there to fill the empty space so that the core has better contact with the heatspreader and also to make it more durable.
TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
These are based on the epyc line. So it most likely did not cost much more to develop TR, and the margins on these kinds of chips are very high compared to typical desktop chips, which are already pretty good.So better question, why would AMD continue to allow intel to command the high margin market?
silverblue - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
"One thing I though is funny in the crazy packaging is "RIP Here" - which could mean "Rest In Peace" as possible AMD's last effort for something"It could just be a play on ThreadRIPper.
Troll_Slayer - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I want one of those personalized paperweights!!! AMD pulled out all stops, as they should, especially for AnandTech.AnandTech has the first, best, and most thorough review of EPYC and Skylake-SP
http://www.anandtech.com/show/11544/intel-skylake-...
I expect another great review from them.
Manch - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Ian,Can I have the pelican case? :D
sor - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I wonder how long before we get a 1900X review. I think that has the potential to be a great CPU, probably the best Ryzen single threaded performance so far, while still getting more cores than we're used to, all of the IO goodies, and at a mainstream price.abufrejoval - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
How can they call it "Unlocked, Unconstrained and Uncompromising" ifa) EPYC 7501 ($3400) and EPYC 7551P ($2100) contain the exact same hardware but the former contains a "magic 2P tax" not arguable with any technical difference?
b) You can't freely choose to populate your 1P or 2P board with high-clock/low-core Threadripper 1950X ($999) or medium-clock/high-core EPYC 7551P?
It's the very same market segmentation Intel uses, only that in this case we all know that they vary nothing but the number of dies they put into the package.
They should either change the prices or the marketing, but this combination they are quite simply lying.
pepoluan - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
a) Remember EPYC CPUs on 2 sockets coordinate using Infinity Fabric. It's totally possible that the cross-socket Infinity Fabric on the "P" models does not pass QC, so they are prevented from being used in a 2-socket configuration.b) TR CPUs have only 2 dies, not 4. Server boards expect there will be 4 dies, not 2.
TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
TR has 4 dies, however 2 of them are speculated to be dummy dies that have no functionality and solely serve as braces for the IHS.abufrejoval - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
a) You are obviously a nice person, expecting best intentions and behaviour from AMD.And I agree, there is a marginal chance you'll have dies which fail on the fabric parts of a die, which tend to be higher area, because they are external links, even if they are low logic complexity.
But I think that that AMD is simply trying to make extra money from 2P when Intel is doing it, too, is the real motive. It's a logical conclusion and they are not even attempting to reason otherwise.
And being greedy is ok, when you *admit* to being greedy, like Jeff Bezos.
What irks me extra is if someone is broadcasting "moral superiority" but behaving just as selfishly as the rest of the "crowd".
b) AMD designed Zen to be flexible. What server boards "expect" was up for AMD to decide. Server boards expect a number of "channels" and these are negotiated to be either IF, PCIe or RAM. If AMD designed a 1P/2P split, that is a design decision, not "inevitable fate".
DanGer1 - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I am for sharp packaging but this is a little overdone. That that it is huge money but I'd rather see it go to R&D.fanofanand - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Huge money? They are only sending these to publications, it was maybe a $10,000 investment which gets you what in advertising? A 15 second commercial on a 2 AM broadcast? I think the money was well spent, as this overdone packaging will be seen millions of times. I think for once AMD's marketing group did something right.Hurr Durr - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Seen and laughed at. Which is nothing new for them anyway!Mugur - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
The retail value of the package is around 3,000$. They sent 250 packages, so this means 750,000$.Gothmoth - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
funny to see that 70-80% of the techtubers are too stupid to do a proper unboxing of threadripper.pepoluan - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Nobody reads the manuals anymore... so sad :-(d0ogie - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
"AnandTech in this respect is fairly old-school: we’d rather spend more time testing the product to give more data for our analysis and reviews, making sure our readers have the sufficient knowledge at hand to invest in a product."Always, always stay this way. Thank you!
Chaser - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
Question of the month, will single core performance be better with TR compared to Ryzen? If not Intel will keep most gamer enthusiasts.sor - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I'd expect it to be better at single core than Ryzen. The 1900X has a 5-10% clock advantage over the 1800X based on both higher base and XFR, and likely more thermal overhead to run at turbo/XFR.I think the question is a little flawed though, since you're not asking if it will be better than Ryzen but instead if it will be better than Intel's offerings, implying Ryzen wasn't. From what I've seen, it hasn't been stopping enthusiasts and gamers from choosing Ryzen. It's good enough or better in most situations.
abufrejoval - Saturday, August 5, 2017 - link
Well you get two Ryzen dice instead of one. Single core performance per die should be more or less the same, because that's mostly power/heat limited and at 180Watts you have pretty much double budget. The real advantage of TR would then be that you can run two threads (one per die, two for the package) at maximum speeds instead of just one: DDOOUUBBLLEE everything.alin - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
"Who has #1 ?"Probably INTEL :)
serendip - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
That would be one heck of a troll from AMD, especially if they used a dummy chip with nothing inside but sand.CityBlue - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
It's not a paperweight, it's a "tombstone" or "deal toy".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_toy
CityBlue - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
I love the idea of Threadripper and the competition and choice that it brings to the CPU market, and I how that AMD do really well with it, but until AMD confirm the segfault issues are fixed I'll be giving all Zen-based silicon a very wide berth - there's no point saving money on something that doesn't work.Perhaps Anandtech can run the tests discussed in this thread: https://community.amd.com/thread/215773?start=570&...
CityBlue - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
s/how/hopeMakaveli - Thursday, August 3, 2017 - link
That issue looks like it affects linux only not going to be a show stopper for many!CityBlue - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
No, as it affects Windows and BSD too. It's doesn't appear to be anything specific to Linux, rather it's the type of workload which may be more common on Linux than other OS. This particular issue may be possible to downplay on Ryzen given it is targeted at the consumer/gamer (although I'd be pissed if I'd bought a CPU that couldn't reliably compile day in, day out) however Threadripper and EPYC are designed for and marketed at the kind of workloads that trigger the flaw so it's important to know if the flaw remains.If Threadripper still has this flaw then Anandtech should report it, regardless of whether "it's a Linux problem".
sor - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
I wonder what percentage of these will be Windows gaming machines vs workstations or compiling boxes for developers. If anything I'd think ThreadRipper will see more Linux than the average desktop processors.Outlander_04 - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Looks like a linux issue rather than ryzenwindows_reindeer - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
It seems to a be Opcache issue with the way Ryzen is handling it, so a Ryzen implementation bug.But this bug only seems to affect linux AFAIK under very specific high load synch conditions.
All processors have bugs. Early adopters find the commonly found ones. That's sausage making.
CityBlue - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
"All processors have bugs" - totally agree with you, and that wouldn't be a problem if AMD hadn't gone into complete radio silence over the problem which has existed for months now and leaves CPUs incapable of performing the most basic tasks.I compile all day long on an FX-8350 which is solid as a rock and I'd like to replace it with a Threadripper but simply cannot unless these issues are addressed - there's no point replacing a slow but reliable CPU with a blazing fast monster that is incapable of finishing the job half of the time.
windows_reindeer - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
https://fujii.github.io/2017/06/23/how-to-reproduc...Postmortem Examination
There is a particular pattern in some Ryzen’s crashes. According to Hideki EIRAKU’s investigation, Ryzen seems to execute 64 bytes ahead instructions than where RIP register is pointing.
Here is my coredump of bash. Let’s check the coredump.
Current program counter rip was 0x4370d0.
rip 0x4370d0 0x4370d0 <execute_builtin+720>
SIGSEGV was raised while copying [rsp+0x8] to eax immediately after returning from run_unwind_frame.
0x00000000004370cb <+715>: call 0x465ef0 <run_unwind_frame>
=> 0x00000000004370d0 <+720>: mov eax,DWORD PTR [rsp+0x8]
The stack pointer rsp was 0x7ffe79c8f4d0.
rsp 0x7ffe79c8f4d0 0x7ffe79c8f4d0
Here is the stack dump:
(gdb) x/32g 0x7ffe79c8f450
0x7ffe79c8f450: 0x0000000000000001 0xe375df75c9fcd400
0x7ffe79c8f460: 0x0000000000000000 0x00000000018da5c8
0x7ffe79c8f470: 0x00000000004659c0 0xe375df75c9fcd400
0x7ffe79c8f480: 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000
0x7ffe79c8f490: 0x0000000000000001 0x0000000000000000
0x7ffe79c8f4a0: 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000
0x7ffe79c8f4b0: 0x0000000000484d10 0x0000000000465f10
0x7ffe79c8f4c0: 0x0000000000000001 0x00000000004370d0
0x7ffe79c8f4d0: 0x00000000018dd548 0x0000000000000000
0x7ffe79c8f4e0: 0x0000000000000001 0x000000000180e5c8
0x7ffe79c8f4f0: 0x0000000000000000 0x000000000180e5c8
0x7ffe79c8f500: 0x0000000000484d10 0x0000000000000000
0x7ffe79c8f510: 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000000000
0x7ffe79c8f520: 0x0000000000000000 0x0000000000439426
0x7ffe79c8f530: 0x0000000000000001 0x00000000ffffffff
0x7ffe79c8f540: 0x00000000018ddea8 0x00000001008dc8c8
[rsp-8] was 0x00000000004370d0. This was the return address which the preceding call pushed.
Here is the code of run_unwind_frame:
(gdb) disassemble run_unwind_frame
Dump of assembler code for function run_unwind_frame:
0x0000000000465ef0 <+0>: cmp QWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a78],0x0 # 0x70e970 <unwind_protect_list>
0x0000000000465ef8 <+8>: je 0x465f17 <run_unwind_frame+39>
0x0000000000465efa <+10>: push rbx
0x0000000000465efb <+11>: mov ebx,DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a83] # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately>
0x0000000000465f01 <+17>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a79],0x0 # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately>
0x0000000000465f0b <+27>: call 0x465aa0 <unwind_frame_run_internal>
0x0000000000465f10 <+32>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a6e],ebx # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately>
0x0000000000465f16 <+38>: pop rbx
0x0000000000465f17 <+39>: repz ret
pop rbx was executed just before returning this function. This value has been recoded in the stack. [rsp-16] was 1. And rbx was 1.
rbx 0x1 0x1
The stack and th registers look consistent. But, SIGSEGV was raised. It’s a Mystery!
Let’s use the hypothesis here. The return address was 0x4370d0 and current rip was 0x4370d0. But, if Ryzen would execute 64byte ahead instructions, what would happen? The address was 0x437090. Here is the disassembled instruction.
(gdb) x/i 0x437090
0x437090 <execute_builtin+656>: add BYTE PTR [rax],al
rax was 0. If this instruction was really executed, 0 was the address where this SIGSEGV was occurred.
(gdb) p $_siginfo._sifields._sigfault.si_addr
$3 = (void *) 0x6dfb44
Unfortunately, It was 0x6dfb44. Surprisingly, no registers stores this value. I don’t know where this value came from.
Anyway, the hypothesis doesn’t seem to match in this case.
After writing above text, he posted his investigation of my coredump. He guesses rip was slipped to 0x465f10 which is in run_unwind_frame.
(gdb) disassemble run_unwind_frame
Dump of assembler code for function run_unwind_frame:
0x0000000000465ef0 <+0>: cmp QWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a78],0x0 # 0x70e970 <unwind_protect_list>
0x0000000000465ef8 <+8>: je 0x465f17 <run_unwind_frame+39>
0x0000000000465efa <+10>: push rbx
0x0000000000465efb <+11>: mov ebx,DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a83] # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately>
0x0000000000465f01 <+17>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a79],0x0 # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately>
0x0000000000465f0b <+27>: call 0x465aa0 <unwind_frame_run_internal>
0x0000000000465f10 <+32>: mov DWORD PTR [rip+0x2a8a6e],ebx # 0x70e984 <interrupt_immediately>
0x0000000000465f16 <+38>: pop rbx
0x0000000000465f17 <+39>: repz ret
This mov instruction is about to copy ebx to [rip+0x2a8a6e]. rip was 0x4370d0, rip+0x2a8a6e is 0x6dfb3e, and this mov instruction size is 6, 0x6dfb3e + 6 is 0x6dfb44. Bingo!
Both least six significant bits of rip (0x4370d0) and slipped destination address (0x465f10) are equal.
## So, some overzealous cache prefetching gets accidentally executed *(?) when the instruction pointer loses track of where it's supposed to be? = a Ryzen bug. Microcode fix in weeks, done.
YazX_ - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
hold on, aren't TR CPUs support 64 PCIEx lanes?! if yes, then why it is 60 in the table above?sohowsgoing - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
I recall reading that 4 PCIe lanes are reserved for the chipset, leaving 60 available.Ian Cutress - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
PCIe lanes supported by CPUs are historically quoted as those that can form PCIe slots for add-in cards. Four are for the chipset, as we have stated a dozen times here at AnandTech. We're not changing the way of quoting PCIe lanes, as it leads to confusion.silverblue - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
I don't think anybody has mentioned this before, but there is a switch at the top of the case that, when activated, shines a light through the two Threadripper boxes, highlighting the Ryzen swirl. I'm not sure if it affects the paperweight.So, if nothing else, you now have an expensive case with a light in it so you can see its contents a little easier. :)
sebacorp - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Pease show me please WinRAR benchmark score for all 3 Threadrippers!! Thank youlakedude - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
B3an that heatsink compound looks a bit fishy to me as well. I should think the entire top should be covered or at least the area over the dies which are evidently on the diagonal...https://www.extremetech.com/computing/253416-amd-e...
sor - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
The heatsink itself doesn't cover the whole top of the processor. I'd like to see how the heatsink aligns with the die and the thermal compound pattern.haplo602 - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
waiting for a 95W Zen APU ... I hope it will be a 4/8 CPU part with 30W of GPU ... even a 125W 65W/60W config would be great ...Mugur - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Brilliant move by AMD's marketing to send those packages. And a financial effort, since I assume that the 2 cpus, the case, the glass encapsulated marked cpu and the Zenith motherboard, RAM, water cooling kit plus PSU, etc... worth around 3,000$.Now I can hardly wait to see Ian's "open PDF" benchmark when Threadripper will be crushed by an i3... And, of course, RAM at 2400, instead of 3200.
On a serious note, I think heat will be the most important issue: I didn't see any cooling solution that can cover all the IHS, just the central part, leaving some area above the Zeppelins naked.
Mugur - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Ian, please do at least a 7zip decompression besides the compression test. Ryzen seems to be disproportionately better in decompression than compression.Ian Cutress - Monday, August 7, 2017 - link
Our 7-zip is both - we take a combined comp/decomp numbercharleski - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Scanning the QR code on the label says it's not valid and tells you to contact your sales representative :P. Counterfeiters are getting really good these days!spikespiegal - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
So, basically like all other AMD processors this thing will take double the cores to do the same cumulative benchmark as a similiarly priced Intel running half the cores, and then a bunch of ITT graduates who know how to overclock will make up reasons why you need 8 or more cores to get efficient multi-tasking on a desktop. Yeah...okcryosx - Saturday, August 5, 2017 - link
At a much cheaper price point. I'll take it.Ian Cutress - Monday, August 7, 2017 - link
Plenty of workstation-like workloads are highly parallel.Teknobug - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Intel finally has real competition again, Intel doesn't have as large strides to step ahead of AMD as Nvidia does so it'll be neck-to-neck fight for a while in the CPU department, unfortunately Nvidia can move ahead without breaking a sweat at any given time.iwod - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
May be letting other generate the Hype then? I like it Old School, Classic, Traditional Way. Even though I knew there are other reviews out there before Anandtech i dont even bother reading them anymore. I wait for Anandtech's review, and if there are any missing pcs of info that was not answered I will go to other site.And normally if the reviews contains some unfavourable results to certain people, they will be in comment to show where i should go next.
And by the way, when was the last time we had a CPU that is as hyped as AMD? Intel has been giving us shit year after year and most people are much more interested in SoC then Desktop CPU.
Fijinees - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
Copyright 2016??????silverblue - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
I think you'll be hard-pressed to find any CPU with a copyright year matching the current one.Xerukai - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
AMD may have very good Electronic Engineers, from what I've seen so far their packaging engineers are awful. Even though most of the reviewers could build a PC in their sleep, I haven't seen one unboxing that the reviewer did't have an issue figuring out how to get the CPU out of the package.Good thing they moved the pins to the Socket because there are going to be a lot of CPU's hitting the ground with this packaging.
tamalero - Saturday, August 5, 2017 - link
I dont know about you, but I found Intel's cheap end (pentium) processors boxes very annoying to open.claunia - Friday, August 4, 2017 - link
I would like to see how many Intel 8088 can you fit in the area of a single threadripper...supdawgwtfd - Monday, August 7, 2017 - link
Oi!Your shitty ads are piping up in android as bad.
Fuck then off already.
Its bad enough being forced on to then but when they aren't even checked properly?
supdawgwtfd - Monday, August 7, 2017 - link
And WTF is Purch? Christ... Contact us link just goes to them.Writer's Block - Tuesday, August 8, 2017 - link
Well, that was less dull than expected.In all seriousness, seeing how its packaged is useful.
... But we want performance details.
Martin84a - Tuesday, August 8, 2017 - link
AMD SKUs? Correct me if I'm wrong but SKU is an Intel thing used in their naming of CPUs.https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors...
Freaky_Angelus - Thursday, August 10, 2017 - link
You're wrong; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_keeping_unitNothing Intel about it, if any I would say you might trace the origins back to whoever had their first inventory for semi-automated production. Who knows, maybe even the Egyptians on which stone had to go where in the pyramid. The phrase is later defined, but the principle is older than the road to Rome ;)
plonk420 - Tuesday, September 19, 2017 - link
i just realized how weird that socket setup/area is. one part is Foxconn and the other is LOTES