AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX Processor Review

By Nathan Kirsch

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX 32-core, 64-thread processor is a trailblazer and gives consumers more cores than ever before. When you fire up an application that is properly coded to support this many threads the performance is unreal. This processor is clearly aimed at designers and content creators. If render times impact your income a $1,799 processor like the 2990WX starts to make sense. If you do heavy virtualization, software compiling, raytracing or work with 4K or 8K video, AMD is able to save you time and help you get projects done as fast as possible.

The only problem with that is that the cores are ahead of the software once again. Application developers need to properly code to support 64-threads and right now there isn’t a good published list of what is and isn’t supported. Many big name applications and projects/workloads don’t work with this many threads. We had problems with Adobe Dimension opening up projects and found with SMT disabled on the 2990WX those projects would open just fine. The only issue there is that we lost 32-thread of processing power. We also noticed HandBrake was only putting the 2990WX at 40-50% load and performance as it wasn’t fully loading many of the cores. Our power consumption test was using Handbrake for load results as it would put most all processors at 100% load for long periods of time. We’ll no longer be able to use HandBrake for power measurements since it’s not putting 32-core, 64-thread processors at full load.


Even popular multi-threaded benchmarks like x264 HD Benchmark appear to only support up to 32 threads. With a processor like the 2990WX you need to look at the main applications you run and see how they perform with SMT enabled and disabled. This takes a bit of time though as the system has to restart to switch modes. The same can be said for gaming as you need to enter gaming mode for a good gaming experience and you must reboot the system for that as well. AMD is working with Microsoft to better optimize Windows applications to scale with all these cores and developers will eventually spend more time supporting many-core CPUs.

The Ryzen Master 1.4 utility shows that AMD is doing the best they can to put as much control in the users hands as possible. This utility looks complex, but it allows you to disable Simultaneous MultiThreading (SMT) and even run in Legacy Compatibility mode where only half or a quarter of the processor cores as active.

It should be noted that the 2990WX only runs in Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) mode and you can’t change that for this particular model. You can also use the utility to enable Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) to give you more controller over the processors power envelope than ever before.

At the end of the day the performance of the Threadripper 2990WX was amazing in workloads that are ready for 32-core, 64-thread processors. This processor chews up compute intensive workloads that are multi-threaded for a snack! Right now the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX 32-core, 64-thread processor is available for $1,799.00 shipped. The 2990WX isn’t going to be a CPU for the masses, but for a small group of people this processor is really going to change they way they get work done.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX Pricing

AMD Ryzen 2000 Series CPU Pricing:

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX is not a processor for everyone. You’ll need to switch between Creator Mode and Game Mode in the Ryzen Master Utility when you want to game and for many applications you’ll need to disable SMT for better performance. That means you’ll have to reboot the system and obviously close everything you have open each and every time you switch modes. AMD X399 platforms aren’t known fast booting systems, so that might be annoying to some. It stands out as the biggest gripe to us, but we are slightly jaded as we just got done benchmarking this platform over the past few days. We lost track of how many times we rebooted this system due to all the benchmarks, but in real life those reboots wouldn’t happen so often. If you are considering purchasing the 2990WX for $1,799.00 shipped we highly suggest seeing how many threads your most used applications support. If they don’t support 64-threads then ask the developer to get to work and to fully support processors like Threadripper!

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX Processor

We recommend the 2990WX to all those that want the most cores possible and are looking to get workloads done as quick as possible since time is money. We’ll have a review on the more budget friendly AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X around when it launches on August 31st! The Threadripper X-series is aimed at gamers and enthusiasts.

LR Recommended Award

Legit Bottom Line: The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX is the fastest processor we’ve ever tested and has insane multi-threaded performance if the application it is running properly supports 64-threads.