AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX Review: 24 Cores on a Budget
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Far Cry 5, GTA: V and Hitman
Far Cry 5
Intel's Core i9-9900K is fastest in Far Cry 5. But Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX is also impressive after a bit of overclocking. Really, though, there aren't big differences between most of our test field.
While Far Cry 5 is one of the most repeatable metrics in our suite with a variance of less than 0.5 FPS between runs, we did notice some oddities after enabling Dynamic Local Mode. For instance, the results alternated between 60 and 65 FPS. This repeatable phenomenon persisted after several retests. We also recorded much lower 99th percentile frame rates and uneven gameplay with the feature active. AMD tells us that Dynamic Local Mode is still being optimized for a broader selection of applications and games, so our observation will likely by rectified in the future. For now, Game mode is the go-to choice, as evidenced by the test results.
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V favors Intel architectures and, more generally, multi-core designs with high clock rates.
An overclocked Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX slides past the Core i9-7900X, while the 2990WX doesn’t benefit as much from tuning. Once again, Game mode proves to be the obvious choice for gaming (despite a larger gain from Dynamic Local Mode this time around).
Hitman
Our Hitman benchmark was rendered almost useless by a patch that imposed a 90 FPS performance cap. A subsequent update restored our test to its prior glory.
Hitman responds well to high core counts and clock rates, so it isn’t surprising to find the overclocked Core i9-7960X in first place. The Core i9-9900K is impressive even in stock form, and the Ryzen 7 2700X proves to offer great bang for the buck.
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Paul Alcorn is the Managing Editor: News and Emerging Tech for Tom's Hardware US. He also writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage, and enterprise hardware.
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Peter Martin Threadripper and Cake or Death!Reply
I'll have the Threadripper please.
Very well! Give him Threadripper!
This would be ideal for me, but it is pricey for now. -
1_rick Basin Falls may be soldered, but considering that the solder in the 9000-series doesn't seem to do as much as people had hoped, we should be prepared for there not to be a lot of OC headroom.Reply -
kinggremlin If you can't afford it, you don't need it. Anyone who can make actual use of this CPU is using it in a business which is generating the money necessary to pay for it.Reply -
g-unit1111 21441427 said:If you can't afford it, you don't need it. Anyone who can make actual use of this CPU is using it in a business which is generating the money necessary to pay for it.
Exactly, if I were in a business to generate content I would take the 24 core TR4 CPU over the 18 core Intel equivalent for less money any day of the week. Not everything is made to play games on it. -
Dorian Kunch Why he is the internet IT god, bow to it it it it one one one oneReply
Give it the Threadripper.
Give it! -
Peter Martin I would be able to make some money with that for sure. fine, now where is that business plan?Reply