Intel Core i9 vs AMD Ryzen Threadripper – South African pricing
AMD and Intel recently launched their latest high-end desktop processors aimed at professional users and hardware enthusiasts.
AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper and Intel’s Core i9 chips are compatible with the new X399 and X299 chipsets respectively, and offer next-generation multi-core processing.
The Threadripper 1950X and 1920X are available in South Africa, while the only Intel Core i9 chip currently on the market is the Intel Core i9-7900X.
More powerful Intel Core i9 processors are expected to launch later this year, including the Intel Core i9-7980XE – which boasts 18 physical cores with 36 threads.
To see how they compare, we looked at their local pricing, specifications, and performance – as detailed below.
Pricing
While Intel’s Core i9 7900X processor only features 10 cores, compared to the Threadripper 1950X’s 16 cores, it has the same international recommended retail price – and is available for slighlty less than its AMD competitor in South Africa.
The specifications and South African prices of the desktop chips are below.
Architecture
The new processors are much larger than their mainstream desktop counterparts and boast power consumption close to that of modern graphics cards.
In order to accommodate the larger die size, increased power consumption, and multi-tasking features of the Threadripper, AMD released an X399 chipset which features a specifically-designed TR4 CPU socket.
Intel has done the same for its Core i9, which is compatible with its X299 chipset and LGA 2066 socket.
The processors also don’t include any integrated graphics, as they will not be implemented in consumer notebooks and desktops.
All AMD Ryzen chips, including the Threadripper, are based on its Zen CPU architecture – which boasts a performance improvement of over 50% compared to its predecessors.
Intel’s Core i9 processors are built on the company’s Skylake-X CPU architecture, which is based on the same 14nm manufacturing process used in its 6th and 7th-gen CPUs.
Performance
AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper and Intel’s Core i9 processors are incredibly powerful, aimed at users who need multitasking, rendering, and computational performance for professional applications.
A compilation of CPU performance data from AnandTech’s benchmark database detailing the real-world computational power of the chips is below.
| Benchmarks | Core i9-7900X | Threadripper 1920X | Threadripper 1950X |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7-Zip Combined | 52,584 | 55,428 | 67,361 |
| AES Encoding | 11.0 | 15.2 | 19.1 |
| HEVC Encoding | 42.0 | 35.4 | 41.3 |
| Cinebench 15 Multi-threaded | 2,169 | 2,423 | 3,004 |
| CineBench 15 Single-threaded | 191 | 167 | 167 |
| LuxMark CPU C++ | 6,632 | 4,554 | 6,905 |
Gaming
While AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper and Intel’s Core i9 processors are complete overkill for gamers, it will not hurt your rig to have one installed.
PC Gamer conducted tests on the processors’ gaming performance at a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 when paired with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card.
The processors are separated by a narrow margin in most cases, but Intel’s single-core performance sees the Core i9-7900X edging out a victory.
It should be noted that the Threadripper 1950X has a dedicated “Game Mode” which modifies performance, providing a small boost for gaming in certain cases.
The benchmark data below excludes scores with “Game Mode” enabled.
| FPS @ 1080p | Core i9-7900X | Threadripper 1920X | Threadripper 1950X |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battlefield 1 | 160.9 | 152.3 | 153.6 |
| Civilization VI | 75.1 | 75.7 | 77.7 |
| Dawn of War III | 116.8 | 90.5 | 91.9 |
| Dishonored 2 | 128.3 | 99.2 | 98.0 |
| The Division | 105.7 | 99.2 | 98.6 |
| Fallout 4 | 126.8 | 103.6 | 106.4 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 124.7 | 110.0 | 115.8 |
| Hitman | 159.0 | 118.7 | 121.4 |
Now read: Big price increase for graphics memory
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