Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX, 2970WX, 2950X, 2920X owners club

cdawall · Dec 8, 2019

So it has been a while since I posted in here, figured I would drop in and give some insight for those looking at these processors and the different boards as they go EOL for the 3xx0 series releases. We are at like 15 months of ownership and I am seeing the wear on the VRM section without a doubt. The BIOS updates have brought my CPU voltage way down however so it somewhat balances out in the long run. Without a doubt I cannot recommend anything with the standard 60A and 8 phase design for overclocking a 2990WX. AVX load and 4.1ghz easily overloads the VRM section. Without at minimum active cooling the VRM section cooler becomes too hot to touch. On an interesting note you can actually hear the VRM section go into low power mode when it flips between 4.1ghz and 55x mhz as safeties built into the motherboard hit. With the VRM section temperature dropped with cold air coming across it (40F actively cooled) I can get the chip a lot higher clock wise with the current BIOS. A proper VRM section could have the better binned chips to at least 4.3 all cores.

With some very heavy CPU tweaking this is what I found to be the max 24/7 stable setting I could pull of assuming I could keep the VRM section cool. Very good performing combo when combined with b-die. There is a lot more ability left in this ram I have not had a chance to even push it yet. I could easily have another 300-500 points locked away in that.

I do hope to see a TRX40 MATX board to replace my current setup when the time comes, but am not holding my breath.

bogdi1988 · Dec 16, 2019

cdawall said:
So it has been a while since I posted in here, figured I would drop in and give some insight for those looking at these processors and the different boards as they go EOL for the 3xx0 series releases. We are at like 15 months of ownership and I am seeing the wear on the VRM section without a doubt. The BIOS updates have brought my CPU voltage way down however so it somewhat balances out in the long run. Without a doubt I cannot recommend anything with the standard 60A and 8 phase design for overclocking a 2990WX. AVX load and 4.1ghz easily overloads the VRM section. Without at minimum active cooling the VRM section cooler becomes too hot to touch. On an interesting note you can actually hear the VRM section go into low power mode when it flips between 4.1ghz and 55x mhz as safeties built into the motherboard hit. With the VRM section temperature dropped with cold air coming across it (40F actively cooled) I can get the chip a lot higher clock wise with the current BIOS. A proper VRM section could have the better binned chips to at least 4.3 all cores.

With some very heavy CPU tweaking this is what I found to be the max 24/7 stable setting I could pull of assuming I could keep the VRM section cool. Very good performing combo when combined with b-die. There is a lot more ability left in this ram I have not had a chance to even push it yet. I could easily have another 300-500 points locked away in that.

I do hope to see a TRX40 MATX board to replace my current setup when the time comes, but am not holding my breath.

I had my MSI Creator board fail a year after I got it. Machine would boot but in a low frequency/voltage state at 600MHz per core with .75Vcore. I would have to manually set up the voltage in bios for it to post normally. Definitely some issues with the VRM/electrical distribution of the board.

ugotd8 · Dec 18, 2019

Hi all. This is some data from the https://opendata.blender.org/ site which is compiling blender benchmark statistics when uploaded. They have a 'top50 cpu' list and some other data but they also have 'raw data' available for download. It's a JSON file with every entry ever submitted. I wrote some python code to pull out information on the recent AMD HEDT and high core count mainstream procs from the raw data to help me decide which processor to upgrade to. (footnote: I know the 2990WX did better in linux but I don't run linux so this list is purely windows results)

Blender Opendata 'QUICK' benchmark data for recent AMD processors on Windows

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X (4 entries): fastest: 253 average: 261 (55.15% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X (8 entries): fastest: 310 average: 349 (40.03% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX (63 entries): fastest: 296 average: 373 (35.78% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX (18 entries): fastest: 383 average: 471 (18.93% speedup)
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X (23 entries): fastest: 444 average: 488 (16.04% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (50 entries): fastest: 573 average: 636 (-9.39% slower)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (295 entries): fastest: 593 average: 665 (-14.53% slower)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X (102 entries): fastest: 538 average: 673 (-15.74% slower)

The speedup percentage above is relative to my 'old' 1950X overclocked to 3.9Ghz all core which scored 584 on this test. The math is done against the average,not the fastest for each CPU. All scores in seconds, lower is obviously faster.

Blender Opendata 'COMPLETE' benchmark data for recent AMD processors on Windows

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X (1 entries): fastest: 959 average: 959 (55.35% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X (2 entries): fastest: 1207 average: 1219 (43.23% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX (19 entries): fastest: 1260 average: 1449 (32.51% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX (6 entries): fastest: 1580 average: 1757 (18.17% speedup)
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X (6 entries): fastest: 1620 average: 1761 (18.02% speedup)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (12 entries): fastest: 2154 average: 2304 (-7.28% slower)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (71 entries): fastest: 2135 average: 2382 (-10.91% slower)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X (27 entries): fastest: 1979 average: 2443 (-13.76% slower)

The speedup percentage above is relative to my 'old' 1950X overclocked to 3.9Ghz all core which scored 2148 on this test. The math is done against the average, not the fastest for each CPU. All scores in seconds, lower is obviously faster.

I think the most interesting thing from this data is how the 3950X is virtually tied with the 2970WX of last gen.

Granted these are small sample sizes, the 3000 procs haven't been out that long and not everyone is submitting complete runs to blender opendata site.

Hope some find this information useful, it's not the whole picture but how these do in Blender is at the top of my list.

cdawall · Dec 21, 2019

bogdi1988 said:
I had my MSI Creator board fail a year after I got it. Machine would boot but in a low frequency/voltage state at 600MHz per core with .75Vcore. I would have to manually set up the voltage in bios for it to post normally. Definitely some issues with the VRM/electrical distribution of the board.

Well I have not beaten this poor board up that bad yet, but I am sure my 24/7 clock is not doing it any favors. This runs cooler and at lower voltage over letting PBO do it's thing.

cdawall · Dec 31, 2019

Putsing around with some good memory today. I am curious if I can get a 4 dimm load fully stable at this speed, but these Bdie sure make a world of difference.

Roy360 · Apr 23, 2020

Never realized PBO would draw so much voltage.... (1.46V for a average turbo of 4.15GHz)
Should I manually tweak the voltage? CPU is at 60C during stress tests

I also want to raise the max turbo speed. Is there a way to keep PBO enabled while raising the turbo speed?

Looking at AMD's website it looks like the Max Boost Clock is supposed to be 4.3GHz.
I wonder why my CPU stopped at 4.15GHz even though I max'd out EDC, TDP, and PPT.

Keith Myers · Apr 28, 2020

I never could get any kind of decent all-core turbo speed out of my 2920X with Auto or PBO settings. Just runs way too much voltage for no gains in performance and a ton more heat because of the elevated voltages. I get much better results manually setting an all-core OC with a fixed voltage or a simple offset at much less voltage and a lot less heat.

the_game_master · Oct 10, 2021

Hi everyone! First time poster, long time observer.
I noticed it's been more than a year since anyone made a post in this 2nd gen Threadripper thread, and I was curious if anyone here have moved their system to the new Windows 11 OS.

I did so with the purpose to see if Microsoft made any improvements to it's processor scheduler and it's operation with NUMA based TRs.
To my surprise there is a performance improvement in some areas.
In Geekbench 5 testing, my Windows performance jumped significantly, where it's now closer to Linux in performance than it was under Windows 10.

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The only drawbacks is Windows 11's L3 cache latency issue that's affecting all Ryzen CPUs, but I only seem to be effected by this when it comes to decompressing ZIP files.

As far as configuration in both OS, I kept the 2990WX configured close to it's reference 3.0GHz base/ 4.2GHz boost with the Precision Boost Overdrive set in Ryzen Master and PBO set to Manual 500W in the BIOS since my power supply is 1200W, Scalar set to 4X using a 360mm AIO to cool it. AMD Cool & Quiet Enabled. Spread Spectrum OFF. Everything else set to AUTO.
Memory is HyperX Predator CL16 3200, with the timings tightened to CL14.

644835 · Oct 10, 2021

the_game_master said:
Hi everyone! First time poster, long time observer.
I noticed it's been more than a year since anyone made a post in this 2nd gen Threadripper thread, and I was curious if anyone here have moved their system to the new Windows 11 OS.

I did so with the purpose to see if Microsoft made any improvements to it's processor scheduler and it's operation with NUMA based TRs.
To my surprise there is a performance improvement in some areas.
In Geekbench 5 testing, my Windows performance jumped significantly, where it's now closer to Linux in performance than it was under Windows 10.

View attachment 2528280

View attachment 2528279

The only drawbacks is Windows 11's L3 cache latency issue that's affecting all Ryzen CPUs, but I only seem to be effected by this when it comes to decompressing ZIP files.

As far as configuration in both OS, I kept the 2990WX configured close to it's reference 3.0GHz base/ 4.2GHz boost with the Precision Boost Overdrive set in Ryzen Master and PBO set to Manual 500W in the BIOS since my power supply is 1200W, Scalar set to 4X using a 360mm AIO to cool it. AMD Cool & Quiet Enabled. Spread Spectrum OFF. Everything else set to AUTO.
Memory is HyperX Predator CL16 3200, with the timings tightened to CL14.

If you wish to push the benchmark a bit further, you can run the SPEC's Benchmarks suite.
To get a broader view of which workload would be impacted, and which one would get a performance uplift.
In this way, you can also weight Linux vs Win10 vs W11 kernels.

the_game_master · Oct 23, 2021

1devomer said:
If you wish to push the benchmark a bit further, you can run the SPEC's Benchmarks suite.
To get a broader view of which workload would be impacted, and which one would get a performance uplift.
In this way, you can also weight Linux vs Win10 vs W11 kernels.

Recommend a different benchmark. I checked their site out, and you can't even download their software. Their evaluation links are all dead and no way in hell am I going to spend $2000 for their commercial versions.

SamuelL421 · Oct 28, 2021

the_game_master said:
Hi everyone! First time poster, long time observer.
I noticed it's been more than a year since anyone made a post in this 2nd gen Threadripper thread, and I was curious if anyone here have moved their system to the new Windows 11 OS.

I did so with the purpose to see if Microsoft made any improvements to it's processor scheduler and it's operation with NUMA based TRs.
To my surprise there is a performance improvement in some areas.
In Geekbench 5 testing, my Windows performance jumped significantly, where it's now closer to Linux in performance than it was under Windows 10.

View attachment 2528280

View attachment 2528279

The only drawbacks is Windows 11's L3 cache latency issue that's affecting all Ryzen CPUs, but I only seem to be effected by this when it comes to decompressing ZIP files.

As far as configuration in both OS, I kept the 2990WX configured close to it's reference 3.0GHz base/ 4.2GHz boost with the Precision Boost Overdrive set in Ryzen Master and PBO set to Manual 500W in the BIOS since my power supply is 1200W, Scalar set to 4X using a 360mm AIO to cool it. AMD Cool & Quiet Enabled. Spread Spectrum OFF. Everything else set to AUTO.
Memory is HyperX Predator CL16 3200, with the timings tightened to CL14.

Thanks for sharing that, I'm still on Win10 on my X399 and was reluctant to switch. I'll have to get some benchmarks pre and post Windows 11 install and then report back.

the_game_master · Nov 6, 2021

SamuelL421 said:
Thanks for sharing that, I'm still on Win10 on my X399 and was reluctant to switch. I'll have to get some benchmarks pre and post Windows 11 install and then report back.

No problem. Performance got even better once AMD + Microsoft released the update patches that address the L3 cache latency issue.

See the twitter thread I posted here of showing some examples of TR2 performance with Win11 vs Win10

RAINFIRE · Nov 24, 2021

I was wondering if anyone can save me some time? I'm about to put an AMD 2970WX into an ASRock X399 Taichi. Anyone know what the fastest RAM speed and latency, as large as possible (16GB sticks) & only 4 sticks that works in that mother board. Fast and cost saving (no rgb needed) is my priority. Please don't answer this post if you are only guessing and haven't done it on an X399 Taichi,. I see I will have to do a 2-step BIOS Update for the mobo.

the_game_master · Nov 29, 2021

One last thing I'll note with testing with Win11 is that you don't need the Dynamic Local Mode option in Ryzen Master anymore. I disabled it and re-ran a Geekbench and confirmed the Windows 11 scheduler is managing the NUMA Threadripper like a champ now.

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RAINFIRE said:
I was wondering if anyone can save me some time? I'm about to put an AMD 2970WX into an ASRock X399 Taichi. Anyone know what the fastest RAM speed and latency, as large as possible (16GB sticks) & only 4 sticks that works in that mother board. Fast and cost saving (no rgb needed) is my priority. Please don't answer this post if you are only guessing and haven't done it on an X399 Taichi,. I see I will have to do a 2-step BIOS Update for the mobo.

The best way to find out is check the memory compatibility list on the manufactures site.

That's what I did with my MSI Creation board, which led me to CL16 3200 Hyper-X Predator 64GB dual ranked Quad memory, that I was easily able to set to CL14 with 1Usmus DRAM Calc. No blue-screen issues at all.

SamuelL421 · Nov 30, 2021

RAINFIRE said:
I was wondering if anyone can save me some time? I'm about to put an AMD 2970WX into an ASRock X399 Taichi. Anyone know what the fastest RAM speed and latency, as large as possible (16GB sticks) & only 4 sticks that works in that mother board. Fast and cost saving (no rgb needed) is my priority. Please don't answer this post if you are only guessing and haven't done it on an X399 Taichi,. I see I will have to do a 2-step BIOS Update for the mobo.

2933-3200, latency depends on how much you're willing to spend on the memory, how much tweaking makes sense for you, and a bit of luck. Even with the Ryzen memory calculator, my Corsair 64gb kit can't do decent stable timings at 3200 but can do low latency 2933 (can remember specifics offhand).

J7SC · Dec 1, 2021

SamuelL421 said:
2933-3200, latency depends on how much you're willing to spend on the memory, how much tweaking makes sense for you, and a bit of luck. Even with the Ryzen memory calculator, my Corsair 64gb kit can't do decent stable timings at 3200 but can do low latency 2933 (can remember specifics offhand).

FYI, I've had great results with GSkill 'GTZR' Samsung B-die in either 32GB or 64GB on almost anything (Intel or AMD) I run it on. On my X399 Creation TR 2950X (below), it's perfectly happy at DDR4 3466 CL14 14 14 w/o WHEA or any other issues. Irony is, that particular RAM wasn't even on the QVL list for the MSI X399 Creation at the time I added it, but I've yet to come across any DDR4 board / chipset where the GSkill GTZR did not work beyond spec, HEDT or desktop, AMD or Intel.

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uazzamerican · Dec 22, 2021

Hello everyone,
I was looking on the net for 2990wx owners forum and found this resource. Happy to be here.
Basically I obtained a 2990wx for free and a Zenith Extreme for cheap.
I am thinking on selling it, but the more I see it, the more I want to keep it.
Using the pc for some rendering and time to time gaming, I am sure I can easily live with something else, but it’s so sexy…

the question is, how can I optimise this beast to make it ok in gaming without blowing up my electricity bill? Can it be undervolted?
I do not care about OC records, really.

As a ram I can decide between 32gb of Kingston Predator 4000mhz and 64gb of Corsair lpx 3000.

the_game_master · Dec 23, 2021

uazzamerican said:
Hello everyone,
I was looking on the net for 2990wx owners forum and found this resource. Happy to be here.
Basically I obtained a 2990wx for free and a Zenith Extreme for cheap.
I am thinking on selling it, but the more I see it, the more I want to keep it.
Using the pc for some rendering and time to time gaming, I am sure I can easily live with something else, but it’s so sexy…

the question is, how can I optimise this beast to make it ok in gaming without blowing up my electricity bill? Can it be undervolted?
I do not care about OC records, really.

As a ram I can decide between 32gb of Kingston Predator 4000mhz and 64gb of Corsair lpx 3000.

If you want to make something of that setup, you're going to need to find the most compatible RAM for that Zenith Extreme motherboard. I looked at the RAM compatibility that ASUS listed for it and the pickings are slim. https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/.../ASUS/mb/socketTR4/ROG_ZENITH_EXTREME/ROG_Zenith_Extreme_memory_QVL2133-....pdf

For best gaming on ZEN+ Threadripper, You need RAM that is least 3200MHz speed, and will allow you to tight the timings to CL14.

It looks like G.Skill Flaire-X or the G.Skill Trident-Z are the best choices from ASUS compatible list and they are DDR4 3200 CL14.

Amazon has one of the kits listed on their site, if I were you I would snatch that up right away since you will know off the bat that particular RAM is 100% compatible with your board. https://www.amazon.com/G-Skill-3200MHz-PC4-25600-Channel-F4-3200C14Q-32GFX/dp/B0758Z7Q31

The Trident-z that are RGB are pricier. https://www.amazon.com/G-SKILL-TridentZ-288-Pin-3200MHz-F4-3200C14Q-32GTZR/dp/B01N5OCOYG

Those 4 sticks will give you Quad Channel support which is another thing you want to have your Threadripper capable of.

Next would be the operating system. I recommend Windows 11 install, plus the latest chipset drivers from AMD so that there is no L3 cache issue (that was a brief problem at Win11 initial launch)

Configure your ASUS bios for Precision Boost Overdrive, you can try the manual/motherboard PBO which used the max PPT EDC TDP of your motherboard's VRMs.

Get a decent 360mm AIO, Cooler Master has a dedicated TR4 cooler that's rarely in stock https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Maste.../dp/B08W2JL94D/ref=pd_ybh_a_23?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XN49NYHCXG3YP8VPG8KM

I personally use MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R AIO for my TR, the heatspreader is not as big as the one from CoolerMaster though.

I'm curious if the Non-Alpha Zenith Extreme board would be capable of boosting the 2990WX to it's 4.2GHz max boost with just 11x phases (8, 3). I know my previous MSI SLI Plus board only had 13x phases (5+5, 3) and could only max boost the 2990WX to 3.9GHz. These are largely 1st generation X399 boards targeted for the Threadripper 1000. Where as the TR 2000 boards MSI's MEG Creation and ASUS Zenith Extreme Alpha have much larger phases.

uazzamerican · Dec 23, 2021

Thank you for the detailed answer.
Actually I am wondering if I can optimise the setup, undervolting it, not boosting it.
When gaming I would use 8 cores only, (one node only), and for productivity I would let PBO off.
Are you saying that with only 8 cores active this monster would draw power as it was 32?

J7SC · Dec 23, 2021

...not much to add what the_game_master advised. You might also want to consider turning SMT ("hyper threading") off for everything but render work - that would still leave you with 32 cores but save you some power & help temps a bit. Turning off nodes instead might have some other unintended consequences, ie. on RAM and possibly GPU, given the load distribution and RAM linkage per node.

...I would also invest in good cooling, as already suggested. If you don't fancy custom cooling, a beefy AIO with a coldplate that actually covers the TR IHS is important. In addition, that 1st gen Zenith needs all the VRM cooling w/ a TR 2990WX you can give it - even helper fans aimed at the VRMs will be beneficial, while not expensive.

Once you have decent quad channel RAM and put your system together, you can optimize whatever RAM you got with the > 'Ryzen DRAM calculator' - well tuned TR 29xx quad channel RAM can have read and write speed more or less competitive with the latest DDR5 Alder Lake.

Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX, 2970WX, 2950X, 2920X owners club

cdawall

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