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I really expected a 16C/32T Ryzen 9 though.
by auvi 7y ago
I really expected a 16C/32T Ryzen 9 though.
- DuskStar 7y agoI wouldn't be surprised to see that come out as a mid-generation bump, personally. But I imagine they ran hard into thermal/TDP issues adding the extra four cores - especially if the dies used for the 3900X are highly binned.
- klingonopera 7y agoWouldn't that be the domain of ThreadRipper?
- DuskStar 7y agoNot if AMD's looking to remove ThreadRipper from their product stack, and segment their server chips a little more.
- klingonopera 7y agoAre they actually planning to? I just recently looked into "modern" hardware (was out of the fold for some years) and it would be a shame to retire the relatively new TR4 platform so soon...
- liuliu 7y agoUnlikely though. TR is AMD's only HEDT presence (qual-channel, high core count). X570 chipset will likely s be dual-channel memory, limiting to 64GiB, seems still positioned for mainstream. Intel currently have very high price HEDT offering, hard to see how AMD is going to give up that market. Probably after Rome?
- martinpw 7y agoThreadRipper is not going away: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-threadripper-roadmap-removal,39460.html https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-threadripper-roadmap-r... Quote: You will definitely see more Threadrippers from us
- wmf 7y agoMaybe ThreadRipper 3000 will have 24/32/48 cores.
- dis-sys 7y agothe problem is new TR is not on their 2019 roadmap PPT
- ericd 7y agoThat's too bad, it's a really neat chip line. More PCI-E lanes than a Xeon E5 without the ridiculous premium.
- dis-sys 7y agoThere are rumors that AMD is not happy with TR2's memory performance as the 4 channel memory controller is the bottleneck, they are probably looking at 8 channel memory option for TR3. ;)
- ericd 7y agoHa well I wouldn’t complain if they did that. The higher core count TR2s have a bit of a weird performance profile because of the memory channel setup - two of the chiplets have to hop through another chiplet for memory accesses. Is that what you’re referring to?
- dis-sys 7y ago> Is that what you’re referring to? yes, they had to introduce that extra hop to workaround the fact that it has 4 less channel compared to the regular 8 channel EPYC.
- ericd 7y agoAh yeah, I think I remember reading that. That's why I ended up with the 16 core TR2. I briefly considered the EPYC, but for my uses (prepping data for a couple GPUs training models), 16 seemed like (and has been) enough.
- sq_ 7y agoUsing PCPartPicker as a reference [0], it looks like ThreadRipper bottomed out at 8c/16t with the 1900X. So I guess there's general overlap between Ryzen and TR in AMDs lineup there? [0] https://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu/#s=63 https://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu/#s=63
- klingonopera 7y agoYeah, I'm guessing the general overlap is because Ryzen and TR run on different sockets (AM4 and TR4, respetively). The 1900X is an economic solution to get your own TR4 platform running and then you can upgrade it to some monster 32C beast of a processor, when you really need the extra CPU power.
- sq_ 7y agoGood point. I'd forgotten about TR4 and its absolute behemoth of a socket.
- makomk 7y agoSomewhat, though bear in mind that even the 1900X ThreadRipper has 4 memory channels and a ridiculous number of PCIe lanes whereas Ryzen is 2 channel and has much less PCIe.
- treeevor 7y agoIts going to come after intel has a chance to try and respond to the 12 core. Let intel think they have a chance and finally bury them
- jlawer 7y agoPotentially is a yield issue / segmentation issue. Releasing the top SKU as a 12 core instead of 16 core part gives AMD: 1.) Still the highest core count "Mainstream" part. I would expect Intel to fire back with a higher IPC / thread performance part rather then try and ramp core counts. Outside of productivity, content creation and server workloads I really don't see the need for anything past 6-8 cores right now. 2.) Lets AMD keep the flawless chiplets for Ryzen 7 where there will be high demand. While providing a way to move more 6 core chiplets. They can change the product mix once yields improve. I would imagine that there is likely better margin on Ryzen 7 (1x chiplet) rather then the R9 (2x chiplet). 3.) Keeps more of the Threadripper line viable for those that need high cores (especially if you don't require the extra memory bandwidth). 4.) Sells a bunch of CPUs now, while keeping the ability to quickly respond to Intel if needed (or as a spoiler around the Intel 10nm release)
- kristianp 7y agoThanks for this analysis, although I wouldn't agree that R9 profit margin is lower than Ryzen 7. It would depend on the yield though, so if yields are low for 8 core chiplets, the R7 would cost more to make than if yields are higher.
- tmd83 7y agoIt's interesting though that Ryzen 9 is almost the highest clocked part of the bunch.
- effie 7y agoAMD did not want to release the expected 16 core yet, but had to release some "monster" to get at those hype-affected buyers. So they clocked/binned those 6-core chips accordingly, to make this core-lacking monster more attractive. It also makes sense to sell as many silicon chips in Ryzen 9 package as possible, instead of selling them in Ryzen 5 package - more luxurious, better margin. Of course, anybody who cares about value and does some research before buying expensive high-end parts will wait for the Intel-AMD exchange to play out, or for the 16-core to be announced, and only then buy the best option.
- 7y ago
- TazeTSchnitzel 7y ago16C is probably coming later once Intel responds.
- PixyMisa 7y agoIntel are planning a 10 core desktop part, so the moment it pops its head up AMD will drop their 16 core chip on it.
- topspin 7y agoYeah, that's almost a given isn't it? If AMD has really closed the single-thread performance gap then Intel is in for a hard few years in this market. Looking forward to independent benchmarks.
- bryanlarsen 7y agoMy guess is that bandwidth and cooling limitations meant that 16C/32T Ryzen wouldn't have been much faster than 12C/24T. It sounds like the 12C/24T outperforms the 12C/24T Intel; if they had released the 16C/32T reviewers would compare it against an 18C/36T Intel chip, which it may not do as well against.
- dethac 7y agoProbably saving golden 8 core dies for Epyc. It'll come whenever the market needs it, but right now they're doing fine without it.