The world of motion graphics covers everything from simple 2D animations to highly complex visual effects, and choosing the right CPU depends heavily on the type of work you do. With the release of AMD’s Threadripper 9000 processors, many artists are asking whether these chips provide real advantages or whether they are more power than most projects require.
When it comes to design tools such as Photoshop, Threadripper’s many cores do not deliver much benefit. Tests show that even the 24-core Threadripper 9960X is not significantly faster than AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which is available at a much lower price. For professionals who spend the majority of their time inside Photoshop, the extra expense of a Threadripper system simply does not make sense.
After Effects offers a different perspective because it uses multi-frame rendering to split work across multiple cores. Here, the Threadripper 9000 series does show strong results, outperforming standard consumer processors. However, the difference between the 24-core, 32-core, and 64-core models is minimal, which means that investing in the highest-end option may not translate into better real-world performance. While Threadripper is faster than consumer alternatives in After Effects, the improvement may not justify the premium price for many artists.
Fusion highlights another limitation. Since Fusion relies primarily on single-core speed, Threadripper’s massive core counts offer no clear advantage. Mainstream CPUs like Intel’s Core Ultra 9 or AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D actually perform better in this type of workload, and they do so at a fraction of the cost. That said, if Fusion is just one part of a broader DaVinci Resolve workflow that involves color grading or editing, the expanded memory and I/O capabilities of Threadripper may still provide value.
Applications like Nuke show where Threadripper begins to flex its muscles. Although many Nuke processes are sequential, rendering output nodes and managing large caches can make use of multiple cores and high memory capacity. In projects that rely on heavy caching or deal with very large compositions, Threadripper’s resources can help reduce re-render times and improve playback performance.
Houdini represents perhaps the best case for Threadripper 9000. The software blends the need for fast single-core interaction with highly scalable simulations that thrive on many cores. Threadripper excels here by delivering both strong clock speeds and high core counts. This combination not only improves simulation performance but also allows multiple iterations to be run in parallel, making it an appealing option for advanced procedural workflows.
In the end, Threadripper 9000 is not a universal recommendation for motion graphics professionals. For those whose work depends mostly on lightly threaded applications like Photoshop, Fusion, or even certain tasks in After Effects, high-end consumer CPUs will deliver better value. On the other hand, artists working in Nuke, Houdini, or similar environments that demand large memory pools and heavy parallelism will find that Threadripper provides meaningful benefits.
At GamerTech, we specialize in building high-performance workstations tailored for creative professionals. Our systems already feature powerful AMD Threadripper processors, and we will soon be integrating the new Threadripper 9000 series into our workstation lineup. For creators ready to take on the heaviest workloads with cutting-edge technology, GamerTech offers reliable, future-proof solutions. You can explore our workstation lineup here: https://gamertech.ca/pages/workstations.
