New PC Build AMD Ryzen 7950X VS 7960X

[Creathiv]

Hi there!

I'm currently in the process of purchasing a new PC, and I'm facing a dilemma regarding the choice between two processors:

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7960X

My budget for this PC is 6000 Euros.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7960X

Pros:
-This processor boasts a performance improvement of up to 20%-30% compared to the 7950X, which would significantly enhance rendering times.

Cons:
-It comes with a higher price tag.
-Requires more expensive components such as the motherboard and ECC RAM.
-Cooling efficiency is comparatively slower.
-It might necessitate downgrading to a slower graphics card like the RTX4070 within this budget.

AMD Ryzen 7950X

Pros:
-Based on my research, the AMD Ryzen 7950X is easier to cool and more cost-effective. Moreover, it allows for an upgrade in 2026 when the new version of this processor is released, utilizing the same motherboard that supports AM5. This processor also enables the use of more affordable components like the motherboard and DDR5 RAM modules.
-With this choice, I can allocate funds towards a higher-tier graphics card like the 4090RTX, ensuring top performance across all components, although I primarily intend to use it for rendering in 3DSMAX with Corona Renderer.

Cons:
-It offers slightly lower performance compared to the 7960X.

I'm genuinely torn between the two options. Do you think the next version of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X will surpass the current 7960X in terms of performance?

[Aram Avetisyan]

I would say if the price difference "covers" the 20-30% of performance boost (I would say this is not so significant, you feel "real" difference starting from 40-50% in my experience, e.g. 5950x vs 7950x with fast DDR5) then go for it.
Keep in mind that with 7950X there are more chassis options than with 7960X.

I don't know what is your previous CPU, but you can calculate the real performance with Corona using the benchmark scores page.
Check the average default results (e.g. 5th page from 10) for your previous CPU, then for the new one (unfortunately there are no 7960X results but there are for 7970X), and decide accordingly.
If upgrading, say, from 3900X to 7950X, you won't "feel" much difference compare to from 3900X to 7960X, this is what I mean, and price increase would not justify it in my opinion.

[Creathiv]

Hi! Thank you for the fast reply. My actual build has an AMD 2950X THreadripper, it does its job but is a little bit outdated.
Exactly, the difference between those two 7950X and 7960X isn't that significant. I've checked the benchmarks, but on the 7960X there are still no values.
Should I try to make a new configuration with a 7970X, but that one is more expensive than the other ones?

[Aram Avetisyan]

Well, there is a significant difference between 7950X and 7970X, so if budget is not a problem, go for it.
I do wish every Corona user has as powerful PC as possible :)

[Juraj]

7960X wouldn't justify the cost of motherboard and RDIMM memory as you correctly identified. Also the next Ryzen later this year through IPC gains will catch up to it at less cores (and much faster single-thread).
Memory amount is no longer issue either, as even mainstream platforms like Ryzen support 192GB memory. So the Threadripper only matters if you do a lot of rendering on your workstation (I for example don't as I offload everything longer than 5 minutes tests onto dedicated farm node. And with IR Denoising, the multi-thread advantage isn't felt either).

Now 7950X and 7970X would be different discussion, but it will introduce a magnitude of cost different to those two builds. Threadripper is now simply as costly as any previous server builds used to be.

It's quite tough choice honestly today. Easy to build lot of arguments for one or other, but in the end, it's mostly money question.

[Jens]

bit late to the party, but i'd go for the setup with the 24gb 4090gpu. Ai is getting better and better, to the point where I in some projects have been able to render out the image in only 2k res and at a certain detail level- Then add details if needed in stablediffusion (mostly vegetation and people) elsse just a straight upscale to 4k px in either topaz/gigapixel or also in stabledif. For the more "advanced and detailed images", we still have to detail in 3D and then render out in 4k as the Ai is still very hard to control in terms of keeping the correct dimensions/details in architecture (even through use of controlnet etc).