Workstations, by definition, are special computers that are designed for professional and technical work. These computers offer high performance than mainstream personal computers and are often fitted with more powerful CPUs, GPUs, among other components. While there are a ton of powerful processors out there that can be used inside workstations, there’s a select few from AMD and Intel that are especially worth buying. There hasn’t really been a lot of updates in the workstation CPU space, so your options — at least for now — are fairly limited. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the best workstation CPUs you can buy in 2022.
Best overall workstation CPU: AMD Threadripper Pro 5975WX
The 32-core Threadripper Pro 5975WX, having launched alongside the rest of the Threadripper 5000 Pro series in 2022, is the best overall workstation CPU right now. Although 32 is a somewhat midrange core count for a workstation CPU these days, this chip has strong points in its large 128MB L3 cache, its new Zen 3 architecture, and its support for 8 memory channels.
Compared to 32-core EPYC Milan server CPUs (which are almost identical from a hardware perspective), the 5975WX and Threadripper 5000 Pro CPUs in general have higher clock speeds. For comparison, an EPYC 7543 server CPU has the same core count as the 5975WX, but a boost clock of only 3.7GHz. The 7543 and other EPYC CPUs do have some advantages; it can support up to 4TB of RAM as opposed to Threadripper 5000 Pro’s 2TB, and some EPYC motherboards can support two CPUs. However, the higher clock speed is generally going to be more useful in a workstation.
One important upgrade over last generation Threadripper 3000 CPUs is the support for eight-channel memory, which means much more memory bandwidth when all eight memory channels are populated. Previous generation Threadripper CPUs only had four memory channels, which could cause memory bottlenecking on the higher-end 3970X and 3990X CPUs in specific workloads. Threadripper 5000 Pro also has double the lanes, 128 of PCIe 4.0 versus just 64 on Threadripper 3000.
Perhaps the biggest advantage Threadripper 5000 Pro has over its predecessors is its Zen 3 architecture, which not only introduced faster cores, but also unified the L3 caches of each chiplet. What this means for Threadripper is less latency for core-to-core and core-to-cache communications, and on a CPU with 32-cores that happens quite frequently.
Unfortunately, Threadripper 5000 Pro has a pretty potent weakness: its price. The 32-core 5975X costs almost as much as the 64-core 3990X when it launched. This is a natural consequence of AMD not offering a non-Pro version of Threadripper with less PCIe lanes and less memory channels, features which not all workstation users might need. We would just continue recommending the 3990X instead of the 5975X, but these days it sells for almost double its launching price, making it more expensive than Threadripper 5000 Pro.
The Threadripper Pro 5975WX is a step back in terms of value for performance, but at least the higher price tag comes with more PCIe lanes and memory channels. It’s still better than anything Intel has to offer, too.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5795WX
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5795WX lands in the middle of the Threadripper 5000 Pro series with its 32 cores, 64 threads, and large 128MB L3 cache. It comes with 128 PCIe 4.0 lanes and support for eight-channel memory, putting it on par with even the fastest server CPUs for datacenters.
Alternate best workstation CPU: AMD Threadripper Pro 5995WX
The Threadripper Pro 5995WX is the 64-core version of the 5975WX. That’s double the cores, but also double the L3 cache (256MB versus 128). Although the 5995WX is much more expensive than its 32-core counterpart, it’s also significantly faster, so it gets a recommendation from us. If you know you need this many cores for whatever you’re working on and your time is worth quite a bit, then the 5995WX is worth picking up.
The advantages of Threadripper 5000 Pro over Threadripper 3000 (non-Pro) are pretty significant when we compare the 5995WX to the 64-core 3990X from last generation. If you have 64 cores and need to use them, odds are you probably need more memory too. The 3990X only supports 256GB of RAM, which is downright paltry in comparison to the 5995WX’s support for 2TB of RAM. Plus, the 5995WX has eight memory channels against the 3990X’s four.
Then there’s also PCIe lanes. The 5995WX has 128 of them, double that of the 3990X. Even an extremely high-end workstation using the 5995WX will have a hard time using all of those lanes, but on the other hand 64 is pretty low to support a CPU that’s almost top-end. It’s very easy to imagine how someone might quickly run out of PCIe lanes on a 3990X; three 16x devices and four NVME SSDs alone uses up all 64 lanes available.
Finally, there’s the architectural advantage the 5995WX has. Zen 3 not only has faster cores than Zen 2, but a unified L3 cache, which means lower core-to-core and core-to-cache latency on average. For large multi-core workloads where cores have to communicate within and across the many chiplets these CPUs have, reducing latency is a big deal for achieving consistently good performance.
The 5995WX is almost twice the price of the 3990X when it came out, but on the other hand it’s not constrained by RAM or PCIe lane limitations, not to mention it’s significantly faster. If you have the money for a 5995WX and you’re working on visual effects, or large amounts of data, or some other massive multi-core workload, this is the CPU for you.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX with 64 cores is effectively an overclocked EPYC server CPU, making it the fastest workstation CPU in the world and ideal for any multi-core workload that needs to be finished as soon as possible.
Best value workstation CPU: AMD Threadripper 3960X
While Threadripper 5000 Pro is undeniably the fastest CPU on the market, there’s no denying that the Threadripper 3000 was once the crème de la crème of the high-end desktop market. This was the go-to option for those who needed lots of cores on the cheap. Every single Threadripper 3000 CPU out there is basically out of stock, with one exception: The 3960X. It’s not the best most powerful Threadripper out there right now, but it certainly is one of the best value workstation CPUs that you get your hands on.
In terms of specification, the AMD Threadripper 3960X comes with 24 cores and 48 threads with 4.5GHz boost clock. The clock speed is on par with current gen Threadripper 5000 Pro, though the 3960X does have an architectural disadvantage as it uses the older Zen 2 design. Compared to the 5965WX which uses Zen 3, the 3960X is slower in both single- and multi-threaded workloads, usually by a 10-20% margin. Still, that doesn’t make the 3960X obsolete.
The 3960X is limited to just 256GB of RAM, four memory channels, and 64 PCIe lanes, which is significantly less than other Threadripper 5000 Pro CPUs, but for a value oriented workstation with just 24 cores, this limitation won’t likely be a problem. The biggest bottleneck in a workstation using the 3960X is likely to be the lack of cores, not the RAM or memory bandwidth.
The single most important weakness of the 3960X is its lack of an upgrade path. The TRX40 chipset only supports Threadripper 3000 CPUs, and both the 3970X and the 3990X are ridiculously expensive. If you choose the 3960X, you are probably locking yourself into a dead-end and will have to replace the CPU and the motherboard if you want to upgrade to something faster.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X
The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X is a midrange workstation CPU aimed towards enthusiasts who need lots of cores but not much else. It’s limited by supporting just 256GB of RAM and only four memory channels, but it’s still excellent for those who just need its high-performance cores.
Best Intel workstation CPU: Intel Xeon W-3365 (OEM)
The Intel Xeon W-3365 is a part of the Xeon W-3000 family that’s outlined by the once-popular Xeon W-3175X processor based on the Skylake family. Intel followed the original W-3100 family with 3200 series with more PCIe lanes and increased frequencies, but the latest W-3300 family offers a sizeable gen-on-gen bump performance improvement against the older Intel chips on the market thanks to its new Ice Lake architecture. The W-3365 isn’t the fastest Ice Lake workstation CPU but it provides a good balance between performance and price.
In terms of specifications, the Intel Xeon W-3365 offers 32 cores and 64 threads with a base frequency of 2.7GHz and a turbo boost frequency of up to 4.0GHz. To put things into perspective, the top-of-the-line chip W-3375 offers 38-cores and 76-threads with a base frequency of 2.5Ghz and a boost frequency of 4.0GHz. The W-3375 is certainly faster, but also costs about $1,000 more.
The Intel Xeon W-3365 processor supports 64 lanes of PCIe 4.0, eight-channel DDR4-3200 memory with 256 GB LRDIMMs up to 4 TB per socket. All chips in the W-3365 also get 1.5 MB of L3 cache per core. These chips all use the same LGA4189 socket as the mainline Xeon Scalable platform but they require the new generation of C621A chipset for select features like WiFi 6E and Thunderbolt 4 expansion on the motherboard. In terms of performance, the Xeon W-3365 falls a little behind the Threadripper Pro 5975WX.
Without getting into many details, it’s safe to say that this is one of the best options from Intel in the workstation space. You also step up to the more powerful W-3375 processor, although that’ll cost you an additional $1,000 for a slither of more performance on the table. It’s also worth pointing out that the Xeon W-3365 pushes ahead of the general performance of the Skylake W-3175X processor in most of the tests. We’re not looking at a huge difference but it’s convincing enough to put the new chip under the spotlight for those looking to shop for Intel chips in the workstation space.
Since the W-3300 series isn’t available at retail, it’s pretty expensive, making competing Threadripper 5000 Pro and older Skylake-X Xeon chips generally a better value. Intel’s Xeon Ice Lake server chips are also a potential alternative as they can be bought at retail, but lack the high clock speed of their workstation counterparts.
Best high-performance value CPU: AMD Ryzen 7950X
There’s no doubt that high-end desktop (or HEDT) chips can offer incredible performance. However, they’re way more expensive than a mainstream part. In addition to the processor cost, you also have to consider buying compatible high-performance components including motherboards, more memory sticks, a high-end cooler, and more. All these components add up to further increase the overall cost of the build. Some of the best mainstream CPUs can be good for workstations, and this is where the Ryzen 9 7950X comes in.
The Ryzen 9 7950X only has 16 cores, which is significantly less than most workstation CPUs, but it makes up for that with its new Zen 4 architecture and high clock speed. It can hit up to 5.7GHz, which is over 1GHz more than the next fastest CPU on this list. For single threaded workloads, the 7950X is faster than any workstation CPU on the market. It also supports PCIe 5.0 when no current gen workstation platform has support for it. Another key feature of Ryzen 7000 is its support for error-correction or ECC memory, which is essential for workstations.
While AMD’s Threadripper processors are significantly better in terms of multi-core performance, a workstation using the 7950X is much cheaper and lowers the barrier to entry. The 7950X is ideal for any user that doesn’t need more than 16 cores, or lots of RAM, or simply needs the lowest price possible for a workstation PC. We should also mention that Intel’s Core i9-13900K has similar performance and features to the 7950X, but didn’t get our ultimate recommendation since it has fewer PCIe 5.0 lanes; it’s still one of Intel’s best CPUs however.
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
AMD’s latest flagship is a perfect CPU for creators who need a lot of cores for intensive workloads. It’s not too bad for gaming, either.
Best workstation CPUs: Final Thoughts
That brings us to the conclusion of this particular list of the best workstation CPUs you can check out in 2022. While newer CPUs have brought more features and performance to the table, prices are also much higher. Perhaps the era of cheap workstation CPUs we saw from 2017 to 2020 was just a flash in the pan. The list, as you can see, is also heavily crowded with AMD options with very limited processors from Intel, which has been struggling to introduce new CPUs, especially for workstations.
If you are looking to build a new PC, then we suggest you check out some of our other collection articles including the best CPUs and the best motherboards list. And if you are on the lookout for more Intel chips, then be sure to stop by our collection of the best Intel CPUs page to see what Intel’s been cooking in the mainstream category.
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