This 64-core, 128 thread CPU has been out since March but, until recently, it was only available to big name OEMs and, for much of the intervening period, only to Lenovo.
However, in the past month the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 series has gone mainstream and that means we at G2 Digital, have been able to use the 5995WX to build it into our 2U PC workstation.
Unsurprisingly, the reviews have been laudatory, praising its unmatched threaded work performance, industry-leading core counts and connectivity that put all competitors in the shade.
Key attributes include Zen 3 architecture, clock speeds up to 4.5 GHz, 128 lanes of PCIe 4.0, and eight DDR4 memory channels that deliver unmatchable workstation performance.
AMD’s original Threadripper chips and supporting motherboards were geared for High-End DeskTop(HEDT) and came with higher core counts and access to more memory and PCIe connectivity than mainstream desktop PC chips.
After several generations, AMD released the Threadripper Pro models with twice the number of memory channels (eight) for professional users. These professional grade motherboards and chips carried a heftier price tag to match their increased performance and professional centric features.
After releasing two line-ups – One for consumers and one for professional workstations, each with its own pricing tier – the Threadripper 5000 WX-series has now unified output with only a single line of chips and motherboards for both OEM workstations and DIYers — Threadripper Pro 5000 Series and the WRX80 platform.
COOLING
One issue not covered extensively in the reviews – which we believe worthy of further inquiry – is cooling, so we decided to conduct our own tests.
While there’s no suggestion the 5995WX is particularly susceptible to overheating, methods of cooling can play a key role in how it will perform.
It is also perhaps worth mentioning that last year, Dell announced a recall of its Precision 7865 tower – which is now powered by the 5995WX, after several fires were reported due to overheating. According to some of the subsequent forum chatter, people who had paid $20k for their computers were left nonplussed.
The familiar beeping sound of an overheating warning can be heard in the unlikeliest of settings, in a room where the ambient temperature is in the low twenties °C, with an unobstructed air flow and the computer’s fans running normally.
At G2 Digital, we are offering the 5995WX in smaller units than any of our competitors and, given that it’s such a high performing processor, we felt it would be useful to be able to provide data on how it performs. The 5995WX can be included in G2 Digital’s custom water and air-cooled Rackmount 2U Workstations.
PEAK PERFORMANCE
After 30 minutes of looping the Cinebench R23 benchmark, we hit a peak temperature of 66.3°C for our air-cooled PC which, given the power usage, was a pretty good result. This compared with a peak temperature of 51.3°C for the water-cooled version of the 2U.
It was no great surprise that the water-cooled version ran cooler, but that the air-cooled version did not even come close to overheating, we considered an impressive – and slightly surprising – outcome.
On the same benchmark, the air-cooled version scored 70,767 for speed on a multi-core test, faster than the water-cooled PC, which scored 70,576. Both of which very much in line with the expected results for the 5995WX.
The air-cooled PC was also faster on a single core test, with a speed of 1,493, compared with 1,385 for the water-cooled version. This is Likely due to variance and something we intend to test more extensively.
In an overall performance test, the water-cooled PC scored highest, with an overall CPU mark of 104,754, compared with 104,693 for the air-cooled version.
The water-cooled version recorded a compression score of 2,066,797, compared with 2,057,419 for the air-cooled PC.
Its CPU single threaded score was 3347, compared with 3339; it recorded a Floating Point Math score of 347,025 (348,315); and Extended Instructions score of 125,980 (125,693); 135,726 for Encryption, (compared with 135,139); 211081 for Sorting (209,169) and a Cross Platform mark of 335,697 (334,867).
In Conclusion
As you can see the overall performance of the machine is not vastly different with either cooling set up. Water cooling does have some benefits over Air:
Lower core temperatures lead to greater chip longevity. The ability to operate in environments with higher ambient temperatures. A water-cooled system is also able to run quieter under load.
We are fully confident in both solutions meaning that should you be unable introduce water cooling into your cabinet or need to be able to ship or fly frequently with your system you can still benefit from the Threadripper 5995WX’s extreme performance in G2’s space sensitive 2U PC.
