CAD isn’t a key target workflow for Intel ‘Sapphire Rapids’ or AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro. In fact architects, engineers and designers that only use bread-and-butter design tools like Solidworks, Inventor and Revit, will almost certainly be better served by 12th or 13th Gen Intel Core processors or AMD Ryzen 7000 ( read our comparison article).

The Xeon W-2400 Series is classified as a ‘mainstream’ workstation processor with eight models ranging from 6 to 24 cores and 4-channel DDR5 4800 memory. Of course, we tested thermal performance before we got benchmarking and everything looked good. After an hour of looping the Cinebench R23 benchmark we hit a peak temperature of 83C, which given the power usage is a good result. That said, it's unlikely to be optimal and if we look closely at the peak core complex die temperatures we see that only two peaked at around 80C, then two more which peaked in the mid to low 70s with what we assume are the four centrally located CCD's peaking at between just 57 and 61C. What We Learned Using the Pro The Threadripper Pro debuted in 2020 as a Lenovo exclusive in the company's ThinkStation P620 desktop workstation, which we reviewed at the link. We tested that machine with the 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen Threadripper Pro 3955WX. Though it was blisteringly fast for multi-threaded scenarios, we wished that first-generation Threadripper Pro had been based on AMD’s “Zen 3” architecture, which was brand new at the time. Intel has launched its long awaited ‘Sapphire Rapids’ workstation processors, but do they have enough to surpass AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper Pro? Greg Corke puts these high-end CPUs through their paces

CPU Mark Distribution for AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX

From our tests, however, Sapphire Rapids is not going to be the Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-Series killer we thought it might be, at least in the broader AEC sector. Our initial testing shows the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000 series has massive potential. More accurately, it has all the potential that the software you’re using gives it. In Rodinia, the Xeon w9-3495X outperformed the Threadripper Pro 5995WX by a whopping 101%. In WPCcfd, the lead was smaller but, at 13%, still significant. Performance of both processors were dwarfed by the dual Intel Xeon Platinum 8490H.

AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO Processors Support for 128 PCIe® 4.0 lanes, which delivers twice the I/O performance over PCIe 3.0.

Resources

Another workflow massively influenced by memory bandwidth is recompiling shaders in Unreal Engine 4.26 which uses all available cores. However, where Threadripper Pro 5995WX loses out in GB/sec it makes up for in cores and all-core frequency, as it still managed to beat the Xeon w9-3495X in our automotive benchmark. AMD's original Threadripper chips(and supporting motherboards) were geared for HEDT, meaning they came with higher core counts and access to more memory and PCIe connectivity than mainstream desktop PC chips. However, pricing was still mostly within reach for enthusiasts. After several generations, AMD released its Threadripper Promodels with twice the number of memory channels (eight) for professional users and unique motherboards, but the beefy chips carried the eye-watering pricing to match their incredible performance. But these days, CAD is often just one of many tools used by architects, engineers and designers, some of which do benefit from having more cores or higher memory bandwidth. So, it’s important to understand how ‘Sapphire Rapids’ performs in CAD. Computers are my lifelong obsession. I wrote my first laptop review in 2005 for NotebookReview.com, continued with a consistent PC-reviewing gig at Computer Shopper in 2014, and moved to PCMag in 2018. Here, I test and review the latest high-performance laptops and desktops, and sometimes a key core PC component or two. I also review enterprise computing solutions for StorageReview. For comparison we've included the Threadripper 3990X which was tested on the MSI Creator TRX40 motherboard using the same Team T-ForceDDR4-3600 memory at 3400. Then we have a few desktop CPUs for comparison: a Ryzen 9 5950X tested with dual-rank DDR4-3200 memory, and the Intel Core i9-12900K using DDR5-6400 memory. The graphics card used for all testing is the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. Let's get into the data... Benchmarks

Among the Intel Xeon W-2400 Series, the processors that stand out are the Xeon w7-2495X and w7-2475X which combine high core counts with the highest boost frequencies. The lower-end models may be suited to certain Finite Element Analysis (FEA) or other simulation tools that benefit from higher memory bandwidth but can’t necessarily take advantage of large numbers of cores. They can also provide a platform for multi-GPU workflows, such as GPU rendering.Another rendering benchmark is V-Ray and here the 5995WX was 15% faster than the 3990X, so not a huge performance gain, but about what we've come to expect for this sort of workload. Gen Intel Core and the AMD Ryzen 7000 Series have two memory channels, while the Intel Xeon W-2400 Series has four, and Intel Xeon W-3400 Series, 4th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable and Threadripper Pro 5000 Series all have eight. To get the full memory bandwidth, all memory channels must be populated with memory modules, as was the case with all our test machines.