AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X 32-Core, 64-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor

The monster has been unleashed and will rip through multitasking or heavily multithreaded programs with the greatest of ease! I've mostly used this CPU for automating routines that would otherwise take much longer on other CPUs with fewer cores. With all 64 hardware threads in use, I'm seeing 3.8 GHz clock speeds though that increases to 4.2 GHz with one thread in use based on default settings. (I know I could push that a little more if I wanted.) Threads past 32 seem to be 1/4 as fast so using all 64 threads versus 32 yields a 25% net speed increase. Still, with all 64 threads in use, what would normally take an hour on a typical quad-core CPU will be done in about 8-9 minutes on this beast!The stability has been solid. I've never experienced any slow down issues, crashes, blue screens, or anything. I haven't gotten into overclocking much, but I've been using Ryzen Master to monitor temps and clock speeds and have considered overclocking for some tasks.If you're into gaming, this isn't quite the best CPU to get, unless you're wanting to stream your game play as well where the extra cores will allow for faster, higher quality encoding without affecting the game's frame rate.Installing the CPU was rather interesting. It comes with a piece attached on the sides that sticks out meant for holding it so that you don't touch the CPU itself at all. You basically just align it with the CPU slide-in opening on the motherboard and gently slide it down then secure it with the included specialty torque screwdriver that will let you know when you get to 13.5 in-lbs of torque as it will click.Do note that this CPU does not come with a cooler. For as much power as it draws and as much cooling as it'll need, I strongly recommend a liquid cooling setup. An applicable heat sink fan setup is just going to be much too bulky and cause problems with future upgrades.The 3970X requires a lot of power. With my system idling, I see that my UPS is reporting about 160-180 watts of power usage (30W from display excluded). With this CPU under full load doing just number crunching with all 64 threads in use, I see it jump to about 400-430W. If you get a single high end video card to go with it, that'll increase still more. You'll definitely want at least a 750W PSU at bare minimum, preferably 850W to 1000W.The main weak point, of course, is the price. However, for what this CPU can do and how much processing power it has, it's well worth the cost if you're the type that does heavy multitasking or use heavily multithreaded programs a lot.

I currently use this processor for Rosetta@home protein structure simulation, running at 100% utilization, 24/7. It sits in a Gigabyte TRX40 Designare along with 128GB of G.Skill Ripjaws 3600-CL16, cooled by a Noctua NH-U14S TR4-SP3, and powered by a Seasonic 850W Platinum power supply. I dropped in a Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe with dual boot for Windows and Linux Mint.I enabled XMP and had Ryzen Master do an AutoOverclock with PBO +200 (the only reason for the Windows installation). Other than that, I always run the system in Linux Mint for increased stability and increased processing performance.I could forgo Windows and Ryzen Master but I didn't want to spend the time figuring out Gigabytes convoluted BIOS. I am no longer a seasoned overclocker.Having followed CPUs closely over the past 20 years, AMD has been really impressive over the last year! The Ryzens' ability to shift workloads around from core to core on the fly is impressive! Lets say you are running a 4-core task at 100%. As the 4 individual CPU cores heat up, eventually they will throttle back the boost to keep cool. But, before that happens, the Ryzen just instantly switches the tasks to 4 other cores! The result is that you can keep your 4 core task in boost the entire time. That is what amazingly allows the 3950x and 3970x to do so well in single thread tasks and gaming performance.Taking a look at dozens of benchmarks and reviews, the AMD 3950x is the perfect gaming CPU and the next logical step up, the 3970x trades a slight amount of gaming performance with massive amounts of multi-threading performance. I am fortunate enough to be able to afford both so my gaming/work computer is the 3950x and I have essentially donated the 3970x to COVID-19 research on Rosetta@home. If Rosetta ever runs out of work, it will then be donated to Folding@home.