i7-4790K vs Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX

VS

Aggregate performance score

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX
2018
24 cores / 48 threads, 250 Watt
20.04
+280%

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX outperforms Core i7-4790K by a whopping 280% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking2941204
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation6.400.92
Market segmentDesktop processorDesktop processor
SeriesAMD Ryzen ThreadripperCore i7 (Desktop)
Power efficiency7.315.46
Architecture codenameZen+ (2018−2019)Devil's Canyon
Release date6 August 2018 (6 years ago)June 2014 (10 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,299$339

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX has 596% better value for money than i7-4790K.

Detailed specifications

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores24 (Tetracosa-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads488
Base clock speed3 GHz4 GHz
Boost clock speed4.2 GHz4.4 GHz
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/s5 GT/s
Multiplier30no data
L1 cache2.25 MB64K (per core)
L2 cache12 MB256K (per core)
L3 cache64 MB8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography12 nm22 nm
Die size213 mm2177 mm2
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data72 °C
Number of transistors19200 Million1,400 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility+-
Unlocked multiplier++

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketSocket TR4FCLGA1150
Power consumption (TDP)250 Watt88 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)no data+
My WiFino data+
Turbo Boost Technologyno data2.0
Hyper-Threading Technologyno data+
Idle Statesno data+
Thermal Monitoring-+
FDIno data+
Precision Boost 2+no data

Security technologies

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXTno data+
EDBno data+
Secure Keyno data+
Identity Protection-+
OS Guardno data+
Anti-Theftno data+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K are enumerated here.

AMD-V++
VT-dno data+
VT-xno data+
EPTno data+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4 Quad-channelDDR3
Maximum memory size2 TiB32 GB
Max memory channels42
Maximum memory bandwidth93.867 GB/s25.6 GB/s
ECC memory support+-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card-Intel HD Graphics 4600
Max video memory-2 GB
Quick Sync Video-+
Clear Video HD-+
Graphics max frequency-1.25 GHz
Execution Units-20
InTru 3D-+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported-3
eDP-+
DisplayPort-+
HDMI-+
DVI-+
VGA-+

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

Max resolution over HDMI 1.4-3840x2160@24Hz
Max resolution over eDP-3840x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over DisplayPort-3840x2160@60Hz
Max resolution over VGA-1920x1200@60Hz

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX-11.2/12
OpenGL-4.3

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K.

PCIe versionno data3.0
PCI Express lanesno data16

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 20.04
+280%
i7-4790K 5.27

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 30669
+280%
i7-4790K 8066

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 1239
i7-4790K 1409
+13.7%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 7221
+64.1%
i7-4790K 4400

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 5241
i7-4790K 6520
+24.4%

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 37522
+49.6%
i7-4790K 25082

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 11073
+16.7%
i7-4790K 9485

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 4.16
+42.8%
i7-4790K 5.94

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 22
+136%
i7-4790K 9

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 4376
+417%
i7-4790K 846

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 173
i7-4790K 174
+0.6%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 1.9
i7-4790K 1.95
+2.6%

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 12.2
+144%
i7-4790K 5

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 117
+126%
i7-4790K 52

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 202
+6.8%
i7-4790K 189

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX 4261
i7-4790K 5534
+29.9%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 20.04 5.27
Recency 6 August 2018 on June 2014
Physical cores 24 4
Threads 48 8
Chip lithography 12 nm 22 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 250 Watt 88 Watt

Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX has a 280.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, 500% more physical cores and 500% more threads, and a 83.3% more advanced lithography process.

i7-4790K, on the other hand, has 184.1% lower power consumption.

The Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-4790K in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX and Core i7-4790K, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX
Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX
Intel Core i7-4790K
Core i7-4790K

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