Overall and Final Verdict
When you want the biggest and best PC build, there isn’t just one solution that is going to cover everything. AMD recognizes that, and you can see that even just in their mainstream CPU lineup with a wide range of options, even before mixing in their X3D lineup as well. That is exactly why they have their Threadripper lineup sitting in between the top of their regular Ryzen lineup and below the Threadripper Pro line. Their new 9000 Series Threadripper CPUs refresh what they had previously with the Threadripper 7000 Series CPUs, but with Zen 5 architecture, a bump in max clock speeds, more PCIe 5.0 lanes, and faster memory support as well. The best part is that they are still utilizing the same chipset and socket as the previous generation. In fact, all three CPUs slot in at the same price points and with the same core/thread counts as before. So if you already had a Threadripper build and were considering an upgrade, these will work. The flagship of this lineup is the Threadripper 9980X with 64 cores and 128 threads. It dominated in all of the benchmarks we put it through that could handle that high of a thread count. There were some situations where having twice as many cores as the 9970X wasn’t utilized, and in those specific situations, the higher base clock speed of the 9970X helped it stand out. That said, which CPU is ideal for you depends entirely on how you are using it. In the tests that could handle the 9980X, it dwarfed the rest of the CPUs tested, including the 9950X3D, which is a monster in its own right.
Both the 9980X and 9970X do have a few downsides, the biggest, of course, is going to be just how much power you need to push this kind of power. CPU power demands have been growing quickly over the years, but these push things to their limits. Which should be no surprise given their performance, but the motherboards were ready, with our Asus board also supporting dual power supplies to make sure power needs were covered. All of that power means a lot of heat, and because of the large CPU size, you will also need a Threadripper-specific cooler. Well, the CPUs do come with an adapter for Asetek AIO water coolers, but I myself would prefer having a cooler with a full-sized contact surface that can handle the Threadripper CPU size, and you want to go with the biggest cooler you can get.
Both the Threadripper 9980X and the 9970X are monsters, dominating any test that could fully take advantage of them, there is no question there. But how much does it all cost? Well, if you normally are shopping in the mainstream CPU market, these prices will come as a surprise. The 9980X has an MSRP of $4999, and the 9970X is $2499. Those are crazy prices for sure, but normally to get CPUs like this you need to go with server CPUs or the Threadripper Pro lineup, both of which have prices that make the 9980X and 9970X pricing look like a value, and the truth is, for those customers it is. If you don’t need the Pro-specific features or 8-channel memory, you can save money by going with a TRX50 motherboard and a new 9000 Series Threadripper CPU. All I know is that with these hitting the market, there are going to be some new monster systems built, and I’m all for that. I just hope you and the application you are planning on using it with are ready for all of that power!
Live Pricing: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9980X
Live Pricing: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 9970X
