AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X vs Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)

CPU comparison

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X or Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X has 32 cores with 64 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.50 GHz. Up to 2048 GB of memory is supported in 4 memory channels. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X was released in Q4/2019.

The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) has 12 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.06 GHz. The CPU supports up to 36 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) was released in Q4/2023.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper (13) Family Apple M series (25)
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000 (3) CPU group Apple M3 (6)
3 Generation 3
Castle Peak (Zen 2) Architecture M3
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX Predecessor Apple M2 Pro (12-CPU 19-GPU)
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X is a 32 core processor with a clock frequency of 3.70 GHz (4.50 GHz). The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) has 12 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz).

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X Characteristic Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
32 Cores 12
64 Threads 12
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? No
3.70 GHz (4.50 GHz) A-Core 0.70 GHz (4.06 GHz)
6x P-Core
-- B-Core 0.74 GHz (2.75 GHz)
6x E-Core

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X Characteristic Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 35 TOPS
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

no iGPU GPU Apple M3 Pro (18 Core)
GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.40 GHz
-- GPU Generation --
Technology 3 nm
Max. displays 3
-- Compute units 288
-- Shader 2304
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 36 GB
-- DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

no iGPU GPU Apple M3 Pro (18 Core)
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 Decode
No Codec AVC Decode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X supports a maximum of 2048 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) can connect up to 36 GB of memory in 2 memory channels.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X Characteristic Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
DDR4-3200 Memory LPDDR5-6400
2048 GB Max. Memory 36 GB
4 (Quad Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
51.2 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 153.6 GB/s
Yes ECC No
16.00 MB L2 Cache 36.00 MB
128.00 MB L3 Cache --
4.0 PCIe version 4.0
64 PCIe lanes --
126.0 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X has a TDP of 280 W, that of the Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) is 35 W.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X Characteristic Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
280 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 35 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
95 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X has a 144.00 MB cache, while the Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) cache has a total of 36.00 MB.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X Characteristic Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
7 nm Technology 3 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3 ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
TRX4 (sTRX4) Socket --
AMD-V, SVM Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems macOS, iPadOS
Q4/2019 Release date Q4/2023
1969 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 3.3 stars (4 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (217 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 3 CPU benchmarks
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X (60%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 4 CPU benchmarks
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X (99%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) (61%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 4.50 GHz
1324 (69%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
1928 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
44502 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
15061 (34%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 4.50 GHz
1274 (55%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
2314 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
22727 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
15235 (67%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 4.50 GHz
1724 (55%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
3152 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
14637 (94%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
15619 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
63440 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
27304 (43%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 4.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
142 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 4.50 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
1059 (100%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 4.50 GHz
509 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
17105 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
Apple M3 Pro (18 Core) @ 1.40 GHz
6390 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
710 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
44.5 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.70 GHz
21066 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.70 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 4.50 GHz
209 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 4.06 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.80 GHz
7398 (100%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 3.80 GHz
0 (0%)

AI performance (NPU)

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
32C 64T @ 3.70 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU) Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
12C 12T @ 0.70 GHz
35 (100%)

Devices using this processor

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X Apple M3 Pro (12-CPU 18-GPU)
Unknown Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2023)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2023)

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