Threadripper, or Ryzen Threadripper, is a brand of HEDT (high-end

desktop A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

) and workstation

multi-core A multi-core processor (MCP) is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit (IC) with two or more separate central processing units (CPUs), called ''cores'' to emphasize their multiplicity (for example, ''dual-core'' or ''quad-core''). Ea ...

x86-64 x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

s designed and marketed by

Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a Information technology, hardware and F ...

(AMD), and based on the

Zen microarchitecture Zen is a family of computer processor microarchitectures from AMD, first launched in February 2017 with the first generation of Ryzen CPUs. It is used in Ryzen (desktop and mobile), Ryzen Threadripper (workstation and high-end desktop), and Epyc ...

. It consists of

central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor, or just processor, is the primary Processor (computing), processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes Instruction (computing), instructions ...

s (CPUs) marketed for mainstream and workstation segments, and as such comes in two line-ups, Threadripper and Threadripper PRO respectively.

Background

Threadripper, which is geared for high-end desktops (HEDT) and workstations, was not developed as part of a business plan or a specific roadmap. Instead, a small team inside AMD saw an opportunity to give AMD the lead in desktop CPU performance. After some progress was made in their spare time, the project was greenlit and put in an official roadmap by 2016.

Characteristics

Threadripper chips have higher core counts, increased power requirements, support faster memory, and more expansion opportunities. The Zen 4 core's pipelines use a high-density leading-edge 5 nm process, which allows for larger instruction and data caches, deepening buffers and queue

These chips use larger sockets such as Socket TR4, TR4, sTRX4,

sWRX8 Socket sWRX8, also known as ''Socket SP3r4'', is a land grid array (LGA) CPU socket designed by AMD supporting its Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3000 and 5000 series workstation processors, which are based on Zen 2 and Zen 3 platforms, respectively. ...

, and

sTR5 Socket sTR5 is a land grid array (LGA) CPU socket designed by AMD. It supports the Zen 4-based Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series, which launched in November 2023. Details sTR5 is a socket for both ''Ryzen Threadripper'' HEDT and ''Ryzen Thread ...

which support additional memory channels and

PCI Express PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a high-speed standard used to connect hardware components inside computers. It is designed to replace older expansion bus standards such as Peripher ...

lanes. When compared to non-HEDT CPUs: * Higher core count (up to 96 cores) * Higher power consumption * Additional memory channels * Increased RAM capacity * More PCIe lanes

Threadripper PRO

The Threadripper PRO line-up debuted with the 3000 series for workstations and adds support for increased RAM capacity (2TB vs 1TB) and memory channels (eight channels vs four channels) when compared to regular Threadripper. It is targeted at the workstation market.

List of Ryzen Threadripper processors

Desktop

Whitehaven (Threadripper 1000 series, Zen based)

Colfax (Threadripper 2000 series, Zen+ based)

Castle Peak (Threadripper 3000 series, Zen 2 based)

Chagall (Threadripper 5000 series, Zen 3 based)

Storm Peak (Threadripper 7000 series, Zen 4 based)

Shimada Peak (Threadripper 9000 series, Zen 5 based)

References

{{AMD CPU sockets AMD x86 microprocessors Computer-related introductions in 2017