AMD Announces The Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000 WX Series For What Should Be Great On Linux

[phoronix]

Phoronix: AMD Announces The Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000 WX Series For What Should Be Great On Linux

It's been well over two years since AMD introduced the Ryzen Threadripper 3000 series and subsequently introduced the Threadripper PRO 3000WX series as workstation-focused parts. Today AMD is introducing the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5000 WX Series as the first Zen 3 based Threadripper processors.

https://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=30954

[kylew77]

Seems weird to announce ZEN 3 Threadrippers on the practical eve of ZEN 4 coming out. Why not just wait and release ZEN 4 threadrippers?

[mlau]

Why not just wait and release ZEN 4 threadrippers?

and what should amd announce in 1 year from now? zen5 threadrippers?!

[EvilHowl]

Seems weird to announce ZEN 3 Threadrippers on the practical eve of ZEN 4 coming out. Why not just wait and release ZEN 4 threadrippers?

Well, creating SKUs takes time and wafer allocations. AMD Genoa is much, much, much more important than Threadripper and that's the reason why they go first. In an ideal world with no supply constraints, every Zen 3 product would have been released at the same time.

[cb88]

Well, creating SKUs takes time and wafer allocations. AMD Genoa is much, much, much more important than Threadripper and that's the reason why they go first. In an ideal world with no supply constraints, every Zen 3 product would have been released at the same time.

Likely true, however there are reasons to stagger launches at least a little even with no supply constraints... early revisions of hardware can only support a subset of features, and later features enabled in a stepping revision etc... and various other reasons not directly related to supply constraints but just maximizing profit.

[tildearrow]

Hmmm... no details on performance compared to the previous Threadripper. I wonder if it is a bit faster at the very least or not (under the same clock speed).

[otoomet]

Likely true, however there are reasons to stagger launches at least a little even with no supply constraints... early revisions of hardware can only support a subset of features, and later features enabled in a stepping revision etc... and various other reasons not directly related to supply constraints but just maximizing profit.

A major reason for staggered launch is just squeezing more money out of customers. The simplest example are good old books--you first get the expensive hardcover version, and a year later the paperback at maybe 1/3 of the price. It is not because hardcover is more expensive to produce, but because you want to get more money from those who want it early and are willing to pay. And you do some tiny changes, like the type of cover.

In hardware world, you first launch the more expensive "enthusiast" versions (e.g. 12900k cpu/z690 mobo), so you can skim the cream (well, money) from enthusiasts and early adopters, and offer the more affordable versions later. If you launch everything at the same time, many of your customers may think that a mid-range affordable product is just good enough. Better let some of them to wait, and the others to open their wallet.

How much the producers can get away with it depends on how much competition is there.

[zephyrhawk]

Hmmm... no details on performance compared to the previous Threadripper. I wonder if it is a bit faster at the very least or not (under the same clock speed).

I think the answer is undoubtedly, yes. I would expect the differences to be similar to EPYC Milan vs. Rome, which is around 15-20% IPC uplift.

[linuxgeex]

Hmmm... no details on performance compared to the previous Threadripper. I wonder if it is a bit faster at the very least or not (under the same clock speed).

4.5GHz peak clock vs 4.3/4.2; 100MHz uplift in base clock for all but 64-core SKU. 19% IPC uplift in the core. New 48-core SKU. Unspecified memory bandwidth uplift, though motherboards tend to be the true bottleneck there.

Level1Techs has a nice overview.

Anandtech just published a shallow-dive.

These aren't really Threadripper SKUs. They're EPYC chips in Threadripper's clothing, on an EPYC motherboard with Threadripper branding and HEDT IO options which wouldn't make sense in a dedicated server mobo. The Threadripper is dead. Long live the WEPYC.

[middy]

A major reason for staggered launch is just squeezing more money out of customers. The simplest example are good old books--you first get the expensive hardcover version, and a year later the paperback at maybe 1/3 of the price. It is not because hardcover is more expensive to produce, but because you want to get more money from those who want it early and are willing to pay. And you do some tiny changes, like the type of cover.

In hardware world, you first launch the more expensive "enthusiast" versions (e.g. 12900k cpu/z690 mobo), so you can skim the cream (well, money) from enthusiasts and early adopters, and offer the more affordable versions later. If you launch everything at the same time, many of your customers may think that a mid-range affordable product is just good enough. Better let some of them to wait, and the others to open their wallet.

How much the producers can get away with it depends on how much competition is there.

threadripper costs more than regular am4 zen 3. also, with 12th gen series from intel, intel released the mid range 12600 during the full launch. amd also released the 5600x during the release of zen 3 as well.

most early adopters go for the more premium stuff. not the lower end stuff. someone who can only afford say a $200 cpu is not going to buy a $600 cpu. likewise, someone wanting a $800 gpu are not seeking to buy a $200. and then even with the premium level not all want the most expensive. going back to the launch of nvidia's 3000 series, many people went for the 3080 over the 3090. someone buying a $700-800 gpu are not going to be buying a $1500 gpu. i was in a ton of discord channels with bots that had thousands of people in the channels waiting for stock notifications and the vast majority of them had no interest in the 3090 because of its price. they didn't care how long they had to wait for a 3080. the amount of impatient buys for the 3090 was very minor and honestly the ones that failed for it would be the same type of person standing in a micro center isle staring at a 3080 and a 3090 box struggling to decide.

i had an easier time buying my 6900 xt over a 6800 xt because the 6900 xt had more stock at the time when i got it because no one wanted them. which was fine for me, because i wanted the 6900 xt. not a 6800 xt. but most people wanted the 6800 xt and waited for it. more people wanted the 3080, and waited for it. likewise, people waited for the 3070 and 3060. going back to previous releases, on enthusiast forms, many people waited for the 780 ti to buy over the regular 780. people are willing to wait to buy something they want. my buddy sat in the evga que for his 3090 FTW from november 2020 till december 2021 when it finally shipped for him. he didn't want any other 3090 or anything lesser.

i do know people try the value game to get people to buy the tier above because its a better value. take the 5800x vs the 5900x release msrp's. performance+price the 5900x was better. but again, someone who could only afford a 5600x, were not the target of that value dilemma. they would wait for the 5600x if they had to.

yes there are some impatient people, but they don't make up the bulk of purchasers. right now with supply shortages, yes more than usual may now be buying what they can get but they still have limits. but also many are just not buying at all if they don't have to because they don't want to spend the money. i've seen a lot of people just completely forgo any upgrades for the last two years now because they don't want to spend the money.

if a staggered launch is a conspiracy to increase sales, i doubt it improves sells that much overall. there are still other factors and other things that balance out those impulse / impatient buys. i'm fairly sure for amd, if they could, they would have launched threadripper, the more costing platform to adopt, more money platform, at zen 3 launch. likewise, i'm sure intel would have launched the 12400 during the 12th gen launch since its more mass market and more overall sales than a 12900k which is a pain for them to bin. i watched buildzoids overclocking binning video for the 12900k and its a lopsided bin. while the 12700k is a more even for binning. implies its easier for intel to pump out. and more sells over the 12900k since its cheaper and they can bin more of them out easier.

rather i think they just release what they do initially because they know those parts are more likely popular for the target audience they are aiming for. which are mainstream enthusiast. who don't want a 12400 but rather a 12600 or a 12700. a 5600x or a 5900x. enthusiast are the ones who are more willing to be early adopters and take the risk. people who go for a the likes of something like a lower end series like a 12400 are probably more likely to be people willing to wait and hold off. they don't want the risk. they rather wait for bug fixes and any issues that pop up. they want a stable platform and not really enthusiast. threadripper is more premium. its targeted more for above average workstation users who don't want eypc but don't want am4. they want more stability. so they are willing to wait for that. well that ends my rant.