VRMark & 3DMark
Test Notes
We used the same test platforms and settings outlined in our recent AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X Review. AMD's gaming performance is a moving target that continues improving over time. So, today's story reflects all processors re-tested with the latest chipset, BIOS, GPU drivers, and game patches.
Configurations | Local (NUMA) / Distributed (UMA) | Legacy Mode (On/Off) | SMT (Multi-Threading) |
Creator Mode | Distributed | Off | On |
Game Mode | Local | On | On |
Custom - Local/SMT Off | Local | Off | Off |
Custom - Local/SMT (on) | Local | Off | On |
VRMark & 3DMark
We aren't big fans of using synthetic benchmarks to measure game performance, but 3DMark's DX11 and DX12 CPU tests provide useful insight into the amount of horsepower available to game engines.
Futuremark's VRMark test lets you gauge your system's suitability for use with the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, even if you don't currently own an HMD. The Orange Room test is based on the suggested system requirements for current-generation HTC Vive and Oculus Rift HMDs. Futuremark defines a passing score as anything above 109 FPS.
VRMark responds well to high IPC throughput and frequency. Overclocking in Game mode yields the best performance, offering better results than overclocking under Creator mode.
The DX12 tests favors higher thread counts, so Creator mode becomes desirable.
Futuremark's threaded DX11 physics test responds well to the full complement of cores and threads, so the overclocked Local/SMT configuration dominates. Data locality, enforced through the Local setting, is the only difference between Creator mode and Local/SMT, so it appears the DX11 test favors this.
The API test also lends itself to high core counts. Both the Creator mode and Local/SMT configuration provides access to Threadripper 1950X's 32 threads. However, the Local/SMT configuration suffers during the DX12 and Vulkan tests.
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