AMD, Microsoft working on Threadripper, Epyc performance

January 15, 2019 | 10:56

Tags: #coreprio #epyc #non-uniform-memory-access #numa #numa-dissociater #ryzen #scheduler #threadripper #threadripper-2990wx #zen

Companies: #amd #bitsum #level1techs #microsoft

AMD has confirmed that it is working hand-in-hand with Microsoft to address performance issues brought around by the use of non-uniform memory access (NUMA) in its high-end many-core Threadripper and Epyc processors under the Windows operating system.

Boasting 32 physical cores and 64 logical threads, AMD's Threadripper 2990WX - based on the server-oriented Epyc 7551 - should have been a chart-topping part for the high-end desktop (HEDT) and workstation market. Reviews, however, highlighted some serious issues in its real-world performance - particularly a failure to scale as you'd expect from the lower-end 16-core 32-thread part. An investigation by Level1Techs and Bitsum, though, found the source of the problem: a glitch in the Windows scheduler which could be worked around using a simple software tool, near-doubling the performance available to certain highly-threaded applications.

Now, AMD has spoken to Anandtech on the matter and brings glad tidings: The company is working closely with Microsoft to address the flaw, which it describes as 'very close' to the conclusions drawn by Level1Techs. AMD has promised it will make a public announcement once a patched scheduler or other update is available and that it will also bring additional performance improvements above and beyond those available using the Coreprio 'NUMA Dissociater' mode - though the company hasn't detailed exactly what these are nor how much real-world impact they will have.

In the meantime, the advice remains the same: Those running Windows on 32-core Threadripper or Epyc chips should use Coreprio's NUMA Dissociater mode to work around the issue.


Discuss this in the forums
YouTube logo
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review

October 14 2021 | 15:04

TOP STORIES

SUGGESTED FOR YOU