Not content with resting on its laurels in the consumer PC and server space, AMD is pushing into the erstwhile Intel-dominated workstation market. AMD has unveiled a brand new line-up of 7nm process workstation CPUs, dubbed the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3000-series.
Aimed directly at workstation users, the new Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3000-series stands to rival Intel Xeon-W line-up with four different models expected in upcoming workstations from OEM partners starting this September.
As arguably the world’s fastest workstation platform, the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3000 line-up doubles the core/thread count, PCIe lanes, and 8-channel memory support of Intel’s workstation offering. AMD is also packaging in its PRO Technologies, first introduced with the Ryzen 4000 PRO line-up, namely AMD Secure Processor, AMD Memory Guard, and integrated manageability features. AMD also revealed that it is working hand in hand with over sixty independent software vendors to retool their workstation software to accommodate the new Threadripper PRO chips.
In terms of core design, the Ryzen Threadripper PRO family borrows its nomenclature from the Threadripper chips as well as certain facets of its architecture while also tapping into its EPYC server line-up, notably in PCIe and memory capacity. Features include PCIe Gen 4 support, 128 PCIe Gen 4 lanes, 8 channel DDR 4 3200 MHz memory support, and support for up to 2 TB of memory.
Topping the new family is the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX. It features 64 cores, 128 threads, 2.7 GHz base clock speed, 4.2 GHz boost clock speed, 288 MB L2+L3 cache, 128 PCIe 3.0 lanes, a 280 W TDP, and up to 2 TB of memory.
Stepping down a notch, we have the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX with 32 cores, 64 threads, 3.5 GHz base clock speed, 4.2 GHz boost clock speed, 144 MB L2+L3 cache, 128 PCIe lanes, 280 W TDP, and support for up to 2 TB of memory.
Next up is the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3955WX. This model features 16 cores, 32 threads, 3.9 GHz base clock speed, 4.3 GHz boost clock speed, 72 MB L2+L3 cache, 128 PCIe lanes, 280 W TDP, and support for up to 2 TB of memory.
Rounding off AMD’s newest workstation family is the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3945WX with its 12 cores, 24 threads, 4.0 GHz base clock speed, 4.3 GHz boost clock speed, 70 MB L2+L3 cache, 128 PCIe 3.0 lanes, 280 W TDP, and max 2 TB memory support.
According to test results published by AMD, the PRO family trumps Intel’s competitor Cascade Lake Xeon models on both CPU and GPU fronts, despite Intel’s higher clock speeds line-up. Benchmarks suggest a 12% higher single-thread performance and a 28% higher multi-thread performance.
Among the first workstations to implement the new AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO chips is the Lenovo ThinkStation P620. It features a Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX alongside 1TB of DDR4-3200 MHz memory, support for up to two NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 or four RTX 4000 graphics cards, and up to 20 TB of storage.
There’s no word of pricing quite yet from Lenovo. We can several other OEM’s to announce workstation with Threadripper PRO CPUs in the months ahead, which should give a sense of what these workstations will cost. AMD has promised it is working with OEM, integrator, and channel partners to ensure PRO 3000-series workstations remain competitively priced.
These processors aren’t really targetted towards typical or even enthusiast consumers, rather for various different workstation context. These are the kinds of processors that will be used in certain professional settings, in server backends, and in education and research contexts. You can check out our guide for the best processors for gaming over here. Perhaps in the not too distant future, we might see consumer level chips that can match some of these specs.