Question Thread 5000/7000: Decide between Zen 4 Architecture or additional RAM?
Question Thread 5000/7000: Decide between Zen 4 Architecture or additional RAM?
I am planning to set up a Threadripper Pro system. I don’t currently use creative software, CAD, video editing, animation, or heavy data science tasks. My main focus is on extreme multitasking—typically managing thousands of browser tabs and at least 30 programs simultaneously. I also run some virtual machines, so my needs lean toward maximizing RAM usage rather than CPU performance.
Therefore, I intend to install either 256GB or 512GB of RAM in a Threadripper system.
My main considerations are:
1. My question now is whether to purchase the older generation (Zen 3) or the newer generation (Zen 4).
2. The price should be similar since I’m buying budget chips and motherboards/ram are comparable.
3. However:
- I can’t get 512GB RAM in the newer 7000 chips (the lower tier only offers 4-channel RAM and barely has 128GB modules yet).
- But the new architecture is Zen 4, which will be a big upgrade.
4. If I get a 5000 CPU, it can support 512GB RAM (8-channel memory), but it will still run on the older Zen 3 architecture.
On the consumer AMD side, the Zen 4 architecture represents a significant improvement.
In short, does anyone have an opinion on choosing between:
- Doubling RAM with an older Threadripper 5000 model, or
- Getting new DDR5 RAM and the updated Zen 4 platform with a Threadripper 7000?
Of course! The Threadripper 7000/Zen 4 DDR5 will only work with ECC RAM, while the 5000/Zen 3 DDR4 will support non-ECC. Still, it hasn't clarified whether more RAM or the Zen 4 design is the better choice.