RyzenThreadripper 3960X Processor (24C/48T, 128MB cache, 4.5GHz Boost)

I am writing this review not to tell you how impressed I am by the fact that one can actually have 64 cores / 128 threads in one CPU die twice as cheap as the competition and do it gracefully, not overheating or anything like that (well, excuse my Kaby Lake that started overheating after running full load for a couple of days). I am writing to point out that one does not need to try to overclock the new generation AMD CPU's because modern motherboards compete by *safely* overclocking modern CPU's in their default mode, even in the energy saving 'ECO' mode that is! After installing my Ryzen Threadripper (3990x) I was certainly cautious whether the AIO cooling solution provided by the dedicated Corsair MasterLiquid ML360R special edition for 3990x would be adequate for this powerful CPU running at full load 24/7. So I was running test after test with different load patterns (16/32/64/96/128 threads) as well as different fan settings, with the aim of finding an elusive "sweet spot" for the 'just right cooling at minimal noise' from the fans.Eventually I also tried to overclock the CPU moderately (up to 3.6 GHz) and see how the CPU die temperature and the noise from all the fans (6 in total) would interplay. I should say, I was pretty much amazed at the result! It appeared that at default ECO settings the BIOS (i.e. the motherboard) acted like both a very efficient overclocking wizard (behind the scene; many people would not notice even) but also as a shield for the CPU not to overheat while still providing just the correct level of power for any particular load. To my big surprise(!), if I wanted to overclock manually by setting the CPU frequency precisely, I would definitely go into a dangerous regime of uncontrolled (over-) heating, albeit masked by the time it would require to manifest, depending on the frequency I opted for - the higher the frequency the shorter the time. Long story made short, If you try to overclock such a powerful CPU, beware that the BIOS will (unduly!) maintain precisely the preset frequency that you chose in the BIOS settings, no matter what - that is, irrespective of the actual load, i.e. in the idle state too! This is an easy way to unduly overheat and, by doing so, ware out the CPU beyond its actual capacity (like a battery that is never given a chance to properly recharge in full). On the contrary, if you leave it to the BIOS (motherboard) to decide on the overclocking regime depending on the actual load (by opting for the default settings), you will (a) prolong the CPU life (while staying under warranty!), (b) will be using exactly the power needed for the load at the time, (c) save some quid/dollar on your electricity bill as the wattage spent will be exactly proportional to the load your CPU (and PC) is using (i.e. the over- or under- clocking done by the motherboard). As an extra bonus, your ears (and perhaps the climate in your family) will be healthier! :) That's all I wanted share, based on my extensive tests for over two weeks of running this CPU under different loads and cooling. About the cooling regime, by the way, if you don't definitely overclock beyond what is necessary for your tasks (well, games for some), you will find that no special regime is required, just auto-tune your fans and maybe you will be able even to reduce the primary CPU (Corsair in my case) fans to run at lower speeds most of the time, unless the CPU die T goes over 70 C.

pro: knowing any bottlenecks in system are not the CPU. Cons: Finding that almost no software, not Windows, nothing, is. capable of using the CPU past about 4 percent, because most software is HIDEOUSLY under-threaded. Pathetic to watch 1 or 2 cores do all the work while 30 or 31 others do, evidently, NOTHING. withb64 gigs of 3600MHz RAM, correctly installed in the four A channels, and a blistering fast Samsung Evo SSD, liquid cooling and twontop-line video cards, I now realize that the software is woefully, pathetically, criminally under-threaded. When you have a computer like this, the whole WORLD is the bottleneck, the black hole of speed. The low point. Your computer is a shining ray of laser light on a hill, and you look down and see all the world is lying in darkness. On the plus side, 6922 score on the Valley benchmark, at Max HD, which was, of course, GPU limited. The CPU sure wasn't breaking a sweat. I replaced the three fans on the liquid cooler with Noctua redux's and added three more to evacuate the case. As I said this CPU proves the rest of the world is the problem. It's like having a supercharged Hemi engine that has to breathe through a hole the size of a drinking strae., the hole being the lazily-developed software, that like much of the world, isciasting on last millennium's sales figures, and failing to invest the money to STAY CURRENT. Note :this includes the Big Two CAD/CAM programs.

This threadripper has completely chaned my workflow. I do renders for architects and interior designers. I work with 3DS Max, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Corona renderer, V-Ray, etc., and I could never use a computer which doesn't have the power of a threadripper again. It's sped up my workflow massively and I get renders out of my computer quickly.

The CPU arrived in a cardboard box, not original packaging. Clearly it has been used as you can see scratches across the metal plate. For the price of a new 3970x I bought a used and damaged product. Very disappointed.

this thing is a beast, i use it for work in vfx and not only games, and it easily wins benchmarks against crazy setups. one minor thing that was annoying, was having one or two features in some plugins im using not working properly, as they do on my intel machine, but those are very specific and minor things, and value for money wise this one is hands down a winner.

I have been looking for a computer that can handle me streaming naughty videos while being able to open paint-ms and pretend to write notes about the videos With 64gb ram & M.2 SSd I have just enough computing power to get me to the moon and back. I haven't actually managed to bottleneck my cpu yet, the highest I've reached so far is 20% while ram usage was at max.

Game changer for multi processing tasks. My config's Geekbench and Cinebench benchmark tests show (multi) CPU performance identical to 3970x or even some 3990x.

Brilliant! Absolute beast.

Die CPU wurde schnell und gut Verpack geliefert. Es ist schon ein echt massives Teil. Was mir sehr gut gefallen hat das ein Imbusschlüssel mitgeliefert wurde der die Montage im Sockel vereinfacht in dem er auf richtige Drehmoment begrenzt. Generell wirkt die CPU und das Zubehör sehr hochwertig. Aber bei dem Preis erwartet man sowas. Performance und Leistung: Der Umstieg von einem Intel 3820 (4 Cores @ 3,6Ghz) zu diesem "Monster" brachte einen tatsächlichen WOW Effekt. (wie HDD--> SSD) Gerade für div. Anwendungen wie etwa Unreal Engine 4.XX brachte einen extremen Boost. Was früher 1 Minute gedauert hat ist jetzt in 4 Sek erledigt. Das spart am Tag Stunden an Wartezeit ein !!! Spiele Performance: Hier ist wie erwartet der Performance Zuwachs ausgeblieben. Meine RTX 2070 Super brachte ca. 20-30% mehr Performance im Vergleich zu meinem alten 3820er. Spiele profitieren nur in seltenen fällen von den vielen Cores. Wer also NUR zocken will sollte da eher zu einer günstigeren CPU greifen. Strom und Verbrauch: die angegebenen 280 Watt habe ich noch nicht gesehen (max. 235 Watt) aber ich hab auch nicht übertaktet. Was mir massiv aufgefallen ist, das die CPU extrem schnell heiß wird von 40 auf 75 Grad in wenigen Sekunden. Das liegt wohl daran das so viele Cores gleichzeitig viel Wärme produzieren. Ich habe diesmal nicht auf eine AIO (Wasserkühlung) von Corsair sondern auf eine von Deepcool mit einem 360er Radiator gesetzt und die ist unter vollast schon richtig im Stress. Empfehlung: Bei Wasserkühlung/AIO mindestens 1 360er Radiator und nicht weniger. Nicht falsch verstehen, die AIO macht einen super Job um man merkt die Leistung wenn es oben wie aus einem Heizlüfter herausbläst, das ist abartig. Bitte die 280 Watt Abwärme nicht unterschätzen, wer ein kleines Zimmer ohne Klimaanlage hat wird im Sommer stark ins schwitzen kommen! Es ist eine Sache die Wärme von der CPU weg zu bekommen, aber aus dem Zimmer wieder eine andere. FAZIT: Für einen reinen Gaming PC ist das Geld 1000-mal besser ein einer 2. oder 3. Grafikkarte investiert. Diese CPU ist nur dann sinnvoll wenn man die entsprechenden Anwendungen dafür nutzt, dann macht sie aber einen großartigen Job. Wem es das Geld Wert ist und die richtigen Anwendungen hat sollte zugreifen.

The retail packaging is rather elaborate and seems rather more for jewellery (which it shares the price with). However the chip is delivered well protected. It is supplied with a torque wrench to ensure that the bolts locking down the holder on the mainboard are not overtightened. The chip is not supplied with a cooler, so you must find one yourself and ensure that you have the right thermal paste. For gaming it is great but possibly not the best value for money now. Where it excels are apps with lots of threads so graphics/video processing as well as AI/ML. For best performance, you need the right motherboard, I went for the Aorus TRX40 Master and the bios supported this processor out of the box

Great for video editing in DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro. I've noticed a good performance boost when using it to create motion graphics inside the Fusion tab of Resolve, much faster than the Intel i9 9920x I was using. It also renders out projects very fast which is great in case I need to go back and render something out again. My first AMD processor and I couldn't be happier. The only thing to look out for is the heat this thing generates, using a Noctua NH-U14S, but it's not the recommended fan cooler for this CPU. The only coolers on the recommended list for this CPU are liquid coolers to my knowledge (as of 2/22/2020). Excellent CPU, worth the $$$ and switch to AMD.

Works well. Used conductonaut compound on it with a Noctua (dual fan) cooler and it runs at 60C under full load with the fans basically running silently. The huge surface area of the package probably helps.

I currently use this processor for Rosetta@home protein structure simulation, running at 100% utilization, 24/7. It sits in a Gigabyte TRX40 Designare along with 128GB of G.Skill Ripjaws 3600-CL16 , cooled by a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3 , and powered by a Seasonic 850W Platinum power supply . I dropped in a Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe with dual boot for Windows and Linux Mint. I enabled XMP and had Ryzen Master do an AutoOverclock with PBO +200 (the only reason for the Windows installation). Other than that, I always run the system in Linux Mint for increased stability and increased processing performance. I could forgo Windows and Ryzen Master but I didn't want to spend the time figuring out Gigabytes convoluted BIOS. I am no longer a seasoned overclocker. Having followed CPUs closely over the past 20 years, AMD has been really impressive over the last year! The Ryzens' ability to shift workloads around from core to core on the fly is impressive! Lets say you are running a 4-core task at 100%. As the 4 individual CPU cores heat up, eventually they will throttle back the boost to keep cool. But, before that happens, the Ryzen just instantly switches the tasks to 4 other cores! The result is that you can keep your 4 core task in boost the entire time. That is what amazingly allows the 3950x and 3970x to do so well in single thread tasks and gaming performance. Taking a look at dozens of benchmarks and reviews, the AMD 3950x is the perfect gaming CPU and the next logical step up, the 3970x trades a slight amount of gaming performance with massive amounts of multi-threading performance. I am fortunate enough to be able to afford both so my gaming/work computer is the 3950x and I have essentially donated the 3970x to COVID-19 research on Rosetta@home. If Rosetta ever runs out of work, it will then be donated to Folding@home.