The Ryzen "ThreadRipper"... 16 cores of awesome

[Ancalagon44]

Most reports show a low of 10 cores in TR followed by 12, 14 and finally 16 cores. Nowhere did I find an 8 core TR.

Think about it - how can you have a ThreadRipper with 10 or 14 cores? Makes no sense.

We know that each CCX has 4 cores. Each ThreadRipper always has 4 cores. Total maximum number of cores is 16.

AMD will never disable an entire CCX. They will only ever disable cores in a CCX. They have also said that they will never use unbalanced CCXs. So, with Ryzen, a 6 core CPU is 3 + 3 - always. It is never 4 + 2. A quad core is always 2 + 2, never 3 + 1.

Taking this all together:
ThreadRipper has 4 CCXs - always. No CCXs will ever be disabled
Each CCX on a single threadripper must have the same number of CPUs, from 1 - 4.

Therefore, the total number of ThreadRipper cores is always 4X, where X is a number from 1 - 4. In practice I don't think we will see quad core ThreadRipper, but we will probably see 8 core ThreadRipper, which will still benefit from the quad channel memory and loads of PCI-E lanes.

 

[nathanddrews]

Think about it - how can you have a ThreadRipper with 10 or 14 cores?.

I think you're correct in your assessment, but the words "always" or "never" don't really mesh with AMD at this time.

 

[dnavas]

Possibly new Whitehaven (ThreadRipper) Engineering Samples CPUs

Source: Videocardz

Interesting. 3.4G is about what I would have expected, but 3.7 is surprisingly low for a single-core overclock.

 

[Topweasel]

I think you're correct in your assessment, but the words "always" or "never" don't really mesh with AMD at this time.

Correct. There is some documentation (though when pointed to it I couldn't find the reference) that AMD is unlikely to allow unbalanced CCX's on die. That limits TR to 4/8/12/16 cores on a low to high level. But we know that AMD tested and had working samples of 3+1 and 4+2 as late as December. Now it is entirely possible that the limitations they set on Ryzen had to do with them using core counts that they could already hit without unleveling the CCX's and decided it was best to just stick with balanced configurations. TR doing that only leaves them 2 really usable configurations and maybe those policies were specifically for Ryzen and not TR. We will find out when it is launched.

 

[nathanddrews]

I'd laugh pretty hard if we got a quad-core Threadripper with two two-core CCXs. :ROFL:

 

[scannall]

Correct. There is some documentation (though when pointed to it I couldn't find the reference) that AMD is unlikely to allow unbalanced CCX's on die. That limits TR to 4/8/12/16 cores on a low to high level. But we know that AMD tested and had working samples of 3+1 and 4+2 as late as December. Now it is entirely possible that the limitations they set on Ryzen had to do with them using core counts that they could already hit without unleveling the CCX's and decided it was best to just stick with balanced configurations. TR doing that only leaves them 2 really usable configurations and maybe those policies were specifically for Ryzen and not TR. We will find out when it is launched.

It may be that they want to remove headaches from retail outlets. You know that enthusiasts would figure out which configuration performed in whatever their favorite benchmark was. And exchange chips till they got that 4+2 they were after...

 

[VirtualLarry]

It may be that they want to remove headaches from retail outlets. You know that enthusiasts would figure out which configuration performed in whatever their favorite benchmark was. And exchange chips till they got that 4+2 they were after...

Wait until someone figures out how to unlock cores.

I think that it may be possible, with the right BIOS/UEFI init code.

HWMonitor shows, under "Utilization", "CPU #0"-"CPU #5", then skips a couple (for the 8-core Ryzen), and then continues with "CPU #8" - "CPU #13".

Which seems to suggest that the APIC startup tables includes spaces for all 8 cores, even on a 6-core Ryzen 5 1600.

Which leads me to think that it could, in theory, be re-enabled.

 

[tential]

Does streaming for twitch scale to the point where a threadripper machine would work?

 

[ashetos]

Does streaming for twitch scale to the point where a threadripper machine would work?

It doesn't sound like a scaling problem to me, sounds like multi-tasking. If encoding and gaming can be indeed considered independent tasks, then having many cores always helps, since multi-tasking is an embarrassingly parallel problem that always scales well.

This scenario also fits with the set-up of many professional gamers that use dedicated computers for encoding. Dedicating 8 cores to encoding and 8 cores to gaming sounds plausible to me.

 

[tential]

It doesn't sound like a scaling problem to me, sounds like multi-tasking. If encoding and gaming can be indeed considered independent tasks, then having many cores always helps, since multi-tasking is an embarrassingly parallel problem that always scales well.

This scenario also fits with the set-up of many professional gamers that use dedicated computers for encoding. Dedicating 8 cores to encoding and 8 cores to gaming sounds plausible to me.

Well that's one way to do it yes. I just want to know where I can see testing/reviews?
Searching doesn't help. This is the HEDT platform of AMD, it wo \uld do good for AMD to provide some tests for this. If I was in AMD's position, I would definitely be providing some canned benchmark scenarios that I know are favorable for threadripper. If 8c/8c for encoding and gaming was one of those.... you bet your candy butt I'd be the devil telling reviewers that's how you test my CPU (10c/6c?)

From my subjective reading on here, it sounds like you twitch streamers use high end intel HEDT CPUs because that was the only option for many cores. When TR releases, I hope this is tested extensively in a way that I can easily discern the data.

 

[imported_ats]

It doesn't sound like a scaling problem to me, sounds like multi-tasking. If encoding and gaming can be indeed considered independent tasks, then having many cores always helps, since multi-tasking is an embarrassingly parallel problem that always scales well.

This scenario also fits with the set-up of many professional gamers that use dedicated computers for encoding. Dedicating 8 cores to encoding and 8 cores to gaming sounds plausible to me.

Encode computer is often just the last machine they had, either 4c or 8c, both are more than enough to encode and broadcast.

 

[tential]

Encode computer is often just the last machine they had, either 4c or 8c, both are more than enough to encode and broadcast.

Wait so they're using two pcs? One to encode and one to play? Why?

 

[maddogmcgee]

Gaming at max settings at a MINIMUM 60/120 FPS, while encoding on the fly would take a beefy single PC. If they are competitive, they need to avoid any FPS dips when lots of thing are going on.

I thought dedicated video capture cards were the go to solution?

 

[tential]

Gaming at max settings at a MINIMUM 60/120 FPS, while encoding on the fly would take a beefy single PC. If they are competitive, they need to avoid any FPS dips when lots of thing are going on.

I thought dedicated video capture cards were the go to solution?

I mean, it's a game like league or cs how hard is it to stream that at high fps without dips on a high end setup?

I thought I needed a capture card for things like my wii u or something.

 

[imported_ats]

Wait so they're using two pcs? One to encode and one to play? Why?

Generally, yes, that is the go to solution for professional streamers. It allows them a lot more flexibility in production that you just can't get on a single computer, and if you are upgrading every 2 years or so, the old PC is a perfectly viable encode/production machine.

Gaming at max settings at a MINIMUM 60/120 FPS, while encoding on the fly would take a beefy single PC. If they are competitive, they need to avoid any FPS dips when lots of thing are going on.

I thought dedicated video capture cards were the go to solution?

Yeah, they use 1 or more video capture cards generally as well as use the second box for full time record. Going the capture card route allows them easy switching between PCs and Xbox/PS as well. Also makes it easier to use full screen and interact with chat on the other box. And as you say, it allows them to dedicate the gaming PC completely to gaming resulting in much better performance and more stable performance.

 

[imported_ats]

I mean, it's a game like league or cs how hard is it to stream that at high fps without dips on a high end setup?

I thought I needed a capture card for things like my wii u or something.

They play at lot more games than just league or CS. For example, one of the current popular games is Player Unknown's Battlegrounds which can be a fairly heavy load on both CPU and GPU.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I apologize if I missed this, but do we have a date when AMD will officially announce the TR models and availability? I'm getting anxious to pull the trigger on a build.

 

[scannall]

I apologize if I missed this, but do we have a date when AMD will officially announce the TR models and availability? I'm getting anxious to pull the trigger on a build.

AMD says it's a "Summer Release". Rumors from motherboard manufacturers has early August, or late August depending on whose rumor you want to believe. That doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

 

[tamz_msc]

First AM4 motherboards were showcased at CES and Ryzen launched two months later. So an early August launch for Threadripper seems plausible.

 

[Elixer]

Alienware announced Area 51 Threadripper edition. 200W of liquid cooling...
Comes factory O/C'ed

 

[stockolicious]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/dell-area-51-desktop-amd-ryzen,news-55968.html#xtor=RSS-141

Threadripper sighting - I guess Dell has dibs until the end of 2017

 

[ddogg]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/dell-area-51-desktop-amd-ryzen,news-55968.html#xtor=RSS-141

Threadripper sighting - I guess Dell has dibs until the end of 2017

Didn't see the article mentioning anything about Dell having dibs until the end of 2017?

 

[Phynaz]

The new Area 51 will be the only device to ship with Threadripper in 2017—you can buy Threadripper CPUs on their own, but Alienware is the first and only device maker to integrate them into a product in 2017.

Exact pricing for the Threadripper-powered Area 51 hasn't be announced, but it will be available starting July 27

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...rds-and-monitors-plus-a-threadripper-area-51/

 

[stockolicious]

Didn't see the article mentioning anything about Dell having dibs until the end of 2017?

it is true - might not have been from Tom's article but a bunch of articles covered it. interesting thing though - im thinking maybe AMD was wanting to get in the door with a big OEM as they have not played in that space in a while and said they would give 1 OEM supply if the others were not biting?

 

[.vodka]

Not yet.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/6gw8f6/dell_announces_alienware_area51_threadripper/