I think I'm a minority, but I would love to have a 65W or at least 95W Threadripper, mainly for the PCIe lanes. I'm running a TR1900X which has enough Oomph on the CPU-side, primarily because I needed about 32 or 36 PCIe lanes. I know that lanes (and memory channels) are the expensive parts in terms of TDP, and I know that the Snowy Owl EPYC 3xxx exist, but those aren't consumer parts, or at least I can't seem to find a EPYC 3251 CPU on its own.
Considering that the Infinity Fabric and other uncore parts on the 1920X in my partner's workstation easily pull 70W by themselves I don't think that is possible withouteither shedding lanes or downclocking the IF link - which would make this kind of pointless. Of course the situation with Zen2 and an I/O die would be different, but 65W is likely not possible no matter what. As for 95W, I don't think there is enough of a market to sell 95W HEDT CPUs just for the I/O in consumer channels. The vast majority of consumers - even those who can make use of workstation-grade hardware - have more need for a fast CPU than massive I/O.
You don't have to run your TR at stock multiplier - it runs perfectly fine with lower multiplier setting, significantly reducing power consumption ("TDP"). There is a reason plenty of server-grade stuff runs in high 1.x-2.x GHz range.
But... doesn't PCIe lanes being expensive in terms of TDP rule out a low-power Threadripper?
The linked document places the difference with the 'consumer' 32C product at 140W vs. 280W. Even if you take out everything on that side - including all the cores - you're left with 140W. You could probably downclock it, but are you truly better with two slower lanes than one faster one?
Yeah, though the EPYC 3251 offers 32 PCIe 3 lanes, dual channel memory, and 8x 2.5 GHz cores at 50W TDP - so compromises are doable. The EPYC 3301 does 64 PCie 3 Lanes, 12 Cores at 2 GHz, and Quad Channel memory at 65 W TDP. Both also have 4x 10 GBit Ethernet.
Seriously, the EPYC 3xxx CPUs are perfect, but they aren't sold as single CPUs, but meant to be soldered on a mainboard, and the mainboards with this are lacking in features. But once I'm due to upgrade my existing TR, I'll definitely keep an eye out for an EPYC Embedded system instead.
When AMD gives a Wattage that is at maximum. If you are not pushing the CPU, your power use will be much less. Intel presents their Wattage differently.
The big boards and lots of memory will eat some Watts too, though.
I think the same thing. I want pcie lanes too. I don't want my storage/ network/ tb3/ or any other connection to be limited. Personally I think there is a large market for lower power, small, workstation/ server systems, but they don't realize it. Especially if they can get hardware compatibility list with Windows and Linux.
Hopefuly these are just 3960x and 3970x. If either of these chips is above that model number this will be a pass for me. We know the potential for 64 cores exists, give us what we want!
It also leaves room for Intel to continue to compete with their 28-core CPU. Even if Intel's price is higher, that's offset by better workstation vendor support.
I think AMD is a victim of their own success right now: they can't make enough 64 core Epyc parts to meet demand. Only reason for a 64 core TR right now is that they have a slew of binned 64 core Epyc parts that don't fit into their allocated TDP.
Launching a 48 core part, especially with a single NUMA node now, will provide a pretty big leap over the previous 32 core part. We'll likely see a 64 core part eventually for TR but it wouldn't surprise me if they held that back for awhile to focus on Epyc.
People are going to be pissed if these require a new motherboard for them. lol I know a few people who build low end systems this month with hope of swapping out for this when it comes out.
I doubt they can deliver that. PCIe 4.0 across all those lanes will require expensive new motherboards. Look at all the first and seconds generation TR products still on Newegg and Amazon. They just don't sell out, and like bad produce ... keep losing value. AMD fans are not spending the big bucks.
The whole multiple CPU generations across one socket thing is stupid. If you can afford to buy a new CPU every year, you can afford a new motherboard. I'd rather see progress, like adding more CPU PCIe lanes to the regular desktop Ryzen chips.
Maybe if you buy a high-end motherboard (for all the additional and potentially useful features they have) you want to hold on to it for longer. You may want to buy a first gen. CPU and then in 2-3 years a last gen. CPU on the same socket.
AMD CPUs these days still bring a sizeable improvement YoY. There's no good reason to force people to switch to a new MoBo every CPU cycle. Saying that if you can afford %this% you can afford %that% is pretty stupid if you consider it could be extended to anything.
keeping socket compatability is a good thing.. if you are happy with the mobo you have, but the cpu is getting old.. then its an easy upgrade... if not.. go buy intel... they will happily force you to buy a new mobo every 2 or 3 years
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MenhirMike - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
I think I'm a minority, but I would love to have a 65W or at least 95W Threadripper, mainly for the PCIe lanes. I'm running a TR1900X which has enough Oomph on the CPU-side, primarily because I needed about 32 or 36 PCIe lanes. I know that lanes (and memory channels) are the expensive parts in terms of TDP, and I know that the Snowy Owl EPYC 3xxx exist, but those aren't consumer parts, or at least I can't seem to find a EPYC 3251 CPU on its own.hnlog - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
+1 I'm also need low-power and many-PCIe platform.Valantar - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
Considering that the Infinity Fabric and other uncore parts on the 1920X in my partner's workstation easily pull 70W by themselves I don't think that is possible withouteither shedding lanes or downclocking the IF link - which would make this kind of pointless. Of course the situation with Zen2 and an I/O die would be different, but 65W is likely not possible no matter what. As for 95W, I don't think there is enough of a market to sell 95W HEDT CPUs just for the I/O in consumer channels. The vast majority of consumers - even those who can make use of workstation-grade hardware - have more need for a fast CPU than massive I/O.Arnulf - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
You don't have to run your TR at stock multiplier - it runs perfectly fine with lower multiplier setting, significantly reducing power consumption ("TDP"). There is a reason plenty of server-grade stuff runs in high 1.x-2.x GHz range.GreenReaper - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
But... doesn't PCIe lanes being expensive in terms of TDP rule out a low-power Threadripper?The linked document places the difference with the 'consumer' 32C product at 140W vs. 280W. Even if you take out everything on that side - including all the cores - you're left with 140W. You could probably downclock it, but are you truly better with two slower lanes than one faster one?
MenhirMike - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
Yeah, though the EPYC 3251 offers 32 PCIe 3 lanes, dual channel memory, and 8x 2.5 GHz cores at 50W TDP - so compromises are doable. The EPYC 3301 does 64 PCie 3 Lanes, 12 Cores at 2 GHz, and Quad Channel memory at 65 W TDP. Both also have 4x 10 GBit Ethernet.Seriously, the EPYC 3xxx CPUs are perfect, but they aren't sold as single CPUs, but meant to be soldered on a mainboard, and the mainboards with this are lacking in features. But once I'm due to upgrade my existing TR, I'll definitely keep an eye out for an EPYC Embedded system instead.
Noodle-Naut - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
When AMD gives a Wattage that is at maximum. If you are not pushing the CPU, your power use will be much less. Intel presents their Wattage differently.The big boards and lots of memory will eat some Watts too, though.
Dug - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
I think the same thing. I want pcie lanes too.I don't want my storage/ network/ tb3/ or any other connection to be limited.
Personally I think there is a large market for lower power, small, workstation/ server systems, but they don't realize it. Especially if they can get hardware compatibility list with Windows and Linux.
techguymaxc - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
Hopefuly these are just 3960x and 3970x. If either of these chips is above that model number this will be a pass for me. We know the potential for 64 cores exists, give us what we want!twtech - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
It also leaves room for Intel to continue to compete with their 28-core CPU. Even if Intel's price is higher, that's offset by better workstation vendor support.Kevin G - Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - link
I think AMD is a victim of their own success right now: they can't make enough 64 core Epyc parts to meet demand. Only reason for a 64 core TR right now is that they have a slew of binned 64 core Epyc parts that don't fit into their allocated TDP.Launching a 48 core part, especially with a single NUMA node now, will provide a pretty big leap over the previous 32 core part. We'll likely see a 64 core part eventually for TR but it wouldn't surprise me if they held that back for awhile to focus on Epyc.
nandnandnand - Tuesday, October 22, 2019 - link
Leaks suggest 24 and 32 core Threadripper in November, 48 and 64 core in January.There's no kill like overkill.
imaheadcase - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
People are going to be pissed if these require a new motherboard for them. lolI know a few people who build low end systems this month with hope of swapping out for this when it comes out.
TEAMSWITCHER - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
I doubt they can deliver that. PCIe 4.0 across all those lanes will require expensive new motherboards. Look at all the first and seconds generation TR products still on Newegg and Amazon. They just don't sell out, and like bad produce ... keep losing value. AMD fans are not spending the big bucks.DigitalFreak - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
The whole multiple CPU generations across one socket thing is stupid. If you can afford to buy a new CPU every year, you can afford a new motherboard. I'd rather see progress, like adding more CPU PCIe lanes to the regular desktop Ryzen chips.close - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
Maybe if you buy a high-end motherboard (for all the additional and potentially useful features they have) you want to hold on to it for longer. You may want to buy a first gen. CPU and then in 2-3 years a last gen. CPU on the same socket.AMD CPUs these days still bring a sizeable improvement YoY. There's no good reason to force people to switch to a new MoBo every CPU cycle. Saying that if you can afford %this% you can afford %that% is pretty stupid if you consider it could be extended to anything.
Korguz - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
keeping socket compatability is a good thing.. if you are happy with the mobo you have, but the cpu is getting old.. then its an easy upgrade... if not.. go buy intel... they will happily force you to buy a new mobo every 2 or 3 yearstamalero - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
16 core? thank god! 24 cores are a bit excessive for my user needs and I would prefer higher boosts.TennesseeTony - Monday, October 21, 2019 - link
So, today the 'details' we learned are 16/24/32 cores and up to 280W TDP.Thanks for the excellent news flash....we all suspected they were going to release LESS cores than current gen, I am sure. Gawd I miss Anand. :(