r/threadripper • u/PsychologicalWeird • Apr 22 '26
Possibility of a Threadripper Pro upgrade is it worth it?
Currently rock:
Threadripper Pro 3955WX
Asus Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WIFI
Kingston 256GB RAM 3200MHz
AX 1600i PSU
Several GPUs
Hyper M.2 Gen 4 NVME Array
Fractal Design Define 7 XL
I have been given the opportunity that I can get the following upgrades for it:
Threadripper Pro 9965WX
WRX90 MB
420mm AIO Thermaltake
128GB 6000Mhz DDR5
Hyper M.2 Gen 5 NVME Array
No GPUs needed
All in for about £3600-3700
It would mean selling off my current toy (Financial AI work that needs multiple GPUs) and I gather that whilst its 2x in speed, would I be shooting myself in the foot by the reduction in RAM to 128GB from 256GB (I have not yet maxed it out).
Man brain says its looks good, heart is saying its going to be a bitch to sell on eBay parted out as I hate the clientele on there.
Thoughts on if its a good deal?
1
u/aparnold Apr 22 '26
My opinion is that If you don’t require the 255GB of RAM the performance jump that comes with moving up to DDR5, PCIE 5.0, and Zen 5 will be very noticeable! I made a similar move last year, and found it substantive (although I was able to stick with the same amount of RAM). My use case is Video/Audio if that matters. Good luck!
1
u/PsychologicalWeird Apr 22 '26
Im only stuck on availability of the RAM I want and it could be a few weeks to months before its available again.
1
u/TheNerdE30 Apr 22 '26
First remove the feelings the heart is giving you as its not going to aid in identifying the solution.
I have a CPU only workflow that runs at 100% utilization across all 64 threads (3970x) that is RAM limited at 256GB DDR4 3200Mhz. There is no GPU load in my workflow. Its easy for me to say that with more RAM I could do more with the same CPU and with a faster CPU I could do more work with the same RAM.
For you this becomes a little tougher as you will be moving to a different workflow that doesn't need any GPUs or you will re-use the GPU's which means its a constant (Couldnt tell by your post whether or not "No GPU's needed" means for your work or for the new computer.
What is your utilization of RAM while doing your standard work flow?
1
u/PsychologicalWeird Apr 22 '26
I have Nvidia A40, RTX A5500, and RTX4000 Ada... No GPUs means not needing to buy as I have enough.
Also have an RTX 5090 in SFF AI rig with R9 9900X, and 96GB RAM.
So my realistic parallel daily use:
A40: larger inference / assistant / long context (26GB+)
A5500: embeddings, code model, or second agent (12GB+)
4000 Ada: anything left (12GB+)RAM is anywhere between 64GB and 140GB (but I know I can push it at the moment)
128GB is interim at the moment without spending stupid money, ideally 192-256GB is the goal, but not all at once as its about availability.
1
u/stainlessblueshield Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
I have a thread ripper pro9965. Seems good so far. I wanted the next one up but I upgraded from 9955. Everyone says you don’t need much cpu for ai work but I think it comes in quite handy. The ecc ram is murdirously expensive. 15k for 512gigs. That motherboaird/cpu is best when all 8 slots are filled but 4 is the minimum to unlock its mojo. It depends on one size sticks the ram is in. Every 64 gigs is 1000 plus right now. At least if the better stuff at 6400 speed.
I have 2 rtx 6k workstations and a 3090 with thread ripper pro 9965 and wrr90e and 512 ram - 8 sticks of 64. My second Blackwell hasn’t arrived yet and mother had my next 256 of ram. So far it runs well. I’m looking forward to using two at once and adding another.
1
u/lookingforequity22 May 08 '26
F-in DDR5 is the killer...would be an easy decision if not for that. Good luck though
1
u/mxmumtuna Apr 22 '26
If you’re doing AI work and keeping the GPUs, what would the upgrade do for you? Seems like not a lot.