Encoding and Rendering Performance
Handbrake is a popular application for encoding video and we've used it to convert a 4K H.264 video to 1080p using H.265 and recorded the average frame rate. Here the 7960XE managed 22.3 fps while the 7960X was actually 8% faster. The reason for this is down to utilization, HandBrake really only utilized about 70% of the 18-core CPU and because the 7960XE has a lower operating frequency the 7960X actually came out on top.
The Premiere Pro CC results interest me the most as I spend a lot of time rendering these 4K videos on my Core i7-6950X editing machine. I do plan to upgrade to Threadripper soon but I have to say the 7980XE and 7960X export times are enticing. That said, it will be interesting to see how many can justify spending 70% more on the 7960X to shave around 13% off the encode time.
It's also worth noting that once again the 16-core 7960X was faster than the 7980XE in this application due to Premiere not being able to fully utilize the 18-core CPU.
Moving on to the rendering tests we have Blender and first we're running the Ryzen Graphic 27 test. Here the 7980XE and 7960X both delivered similar results, taking about 12 seconds each and this meant at best they were 10% faster than the Threadripper 1950X.
The Gooseberry workload takes some serious firepower to complete in around half an hour and we see this as the 1950X turns in a time of almost 32 minutes, though the 7980XE and 7960X were mighty impressive here taking around 23 minutes. Again the 16-core 7960X outpaced the 18-core 7980XE.
The 7960X was a whopping 27% faster than the 1950X for this extreme Blender workload so that was impressive to see.
Corona comes as a standalone benchmark. It renders a fixed scene six times and we take the time it takes to complete the task. This application loves threads so the more the merrier.
Here the 7960X was 14% faster than the 1950X while the 7980XE was 20% faster and this is one of the better results we've seen for Intel. Still a 20% increase in performance for a 100% increase in price might be a tough sell.
POV-Ray is another ray-tracer, it's been around for many years and we're using the official benchmark. Here the 7980XE was just 11% faster than the 1950X while the 7960X was 7% faster. So while Intel new 16-core and 18-core parts are certainly quicker, it's not by much.