New Threadrippers rumored to arrive soon
 

There was a long-going saga about alternative platform (and extended lineup of 3rd gen Threadrippers) TRX80 that would eradicate the most annoying deficiency (at least for us, dealing with CFD problems) of current lineup: it would support 8 memory channels instead of current 4.

It was later stated that it was just a fake, and folks get used to it. Now, in a new twist, it seems that the rumors were true, and new Pro lineup will actually get 8 channels. Wow, it seems to be an absolute hell of workstation :eek: with basically EPYCs on steroids in terms of core frequencies and moderate trims to cache size
Leak comes from here

Still, the question of price is still looming..

I read the rumors too. A year ago, I might have been excited, depending on market positioning. But now...

To start with, it's just way too late. Even if they launch it next week, given AMDs recent track record in terms of actual availability, Zen3 will be right around the corner once you can buy this platform.
And it will be a whole new platform, with a very niche target audience. That means very few motherboards at exorbitant prices. So even if the lower core count variants were priced competitively -and that's a big if- the motherboards will make the whole build expensive.
Maybe it's just me, but I would rather use dual-socket Epyc Rome, even for a CFD workstation. Or just wait for Epyc Milan. Generational improvements will offset most, if not all of the clock speed advantage that a Zen2 Threadripper might have.

Yeah, Alex, all your points are valid.

The timing of announcement and all the conspiracy around this Pro series is so weird, to put it mildly.

And it is too early to guess what price we would see for both CPUs and motherboards. They may even turn out to be intended only for exclusive OEM partners like Lenovo, which would obviously be an upset.

Yet, I believe those machines can be a viable option as a CFD workstation. Obviously, it wouldn't outmatch double socket Rome systems in terms of carrying out parallel simulations - and probably, even lose to double-socket Naples setup. Their price tag is, let's say, 5k+. Main competitor for Pro Threadrippers would probably be systems based on 7302P or 7402P - with price tag of 2.5-3k. (and Xeon W systems, but they are a bit different story and pretty rare seen nowadays).

The main competitive advantage may be higher single-core or not-memory-bound performance, say, for meshing or post-processing. Those who have to rely on one machine for all CFD operations would surely appreciate that:) So, IMHO, if setup with 32 core CPU + MB + DRAMs will fit into 5k, it may be appealing for certain users.

And yep, physical retail supplies probably would be an issue (again). I'm afraid that EPYC Milan would also fall to this trap, so waiting for its purchase may take a little longer that roadmaps suggest :D. But we shall see, maybe AMD will make up for their past sins)

Don't give them any ideas :eek:
Lenovo already teasered a workstation launch next week, which hints at these CPUs.
With everything locked down by an OEM bios, most of the fun would be taken away from us.
I think Intel had similar intentions with Xeon W-3175X. If I recall correctly, it was initially aimed at system integrators/OEMs only. Resulting in end-user motherboard prices of up to 2000$.

But I guess you are right, as an all-in-one compromise, these CPUs might have their niche for CFD users. Since I am mostly into LES and DNS simulations, I don't mind slightly slower pre- and post-processing, if I get faster solver times in return.
But for people working mostly with RANS, the priorities might be weighed differently.

Ooof! Seems like Lenovo will be an exclusive channel partner at first. Availability is pushed back to late Q3 2020. And prices are still undisclosed. Oh, and the 12- and 16-core variants will most likely have half the memory bandwidth, only 64MB L3 cache is a strong indicator here.
That could have been better.

Toms hardware:

"The only pricing information we have for now outlines an entry-level ThinkStation P620 with a 12-core Threadripper Pro 3945WX with 16GB of memory, a 256GB PCIe 3.0 SSD, and an Nvidia Quadro P620 that commands a $4,599 price point":eek: