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CPU Rendering, Scientific & Engineering Computations, & HPC Performance
CPU Workstation Performance
The 3D graphics performance we just measured isn’t all that matters to professional rendering software. Applications run many other tasks (like simulations, compute jobs, preview rendering) on the CPU simultaneously. The full picture’s only achievable by looking at both of them together.
Many modern suites include modules that are based exclusively on computing and simulations. This means we need to go beyond just 3D workstation performance to form our opinion of these high-end CPUs.
Threadripper offers solid performance in applications that respond well to IPC throughput and frequency, so the Threadripper 1920X leads its counterpart in the SolidWorks and Creo Composite tests. 3ds Max 2015's CPU Computing test benefits from both frequency and parallelism, rewarding the 1950X with a first-place finish when it's overclocked.
CPU Performance: Photorealistic Rendering
Final rendering doesn’t require a CPU that's good at everything. Rather, this task wants efficiency and fast parallel computation.
Nothing beats AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper when it comes to rendering in 3ds Max 2015. Core count is much more important than clock rate, which yields a predictable pecking order.
Most of the Blender tests naturally respond well to Threadripper's array of execution resources.
IPC throughput and clock rate become a factor during the "Blenderalla" workload, so Intel's Skylake-X processors assume the lead.
Overall, the Threadripper products are great for semi-professional use and rendering workloads. Even when they don't win absolutely, they still offer performance that's competitive with Intel's similarly-priced models.
Scientific & Engineering Computations, & HPC Performance
For these tests, we use the SPECwpc benchmark suite for workstations with its wide variety of tasks. It runs a number of different mathematical computations optimized for parallelization. They typically make heavy use of available memory bandwidth and cache, plus expose issues with latency.
The convolution benchmark consists of an operation performed on two functions that results in a third function. Performance scales similarly well with core count and clock rate, allowing the Threadripper architecture to shine.
CalculiX is based on the finite element method for three-dimensional structural computations. In this test, Ryzen Threadripper 1950X bests Intel's -7900X, while the 1920X leads the rest of the field.
SRMP algorithms are used for discrete energy minimization, and none of the AMD entrants handle them well, suggesting the benchmark might be latency-sensitive.
The Kirchhoff Migration test plays well with AMD's Threadripper design, though, so the company's highest-end chips lead the field by an impressive margin.
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