AMD has explained that AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors have eight sets to prevent the HIS cover from bending when we install the processor on top.

It is only a few days until AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors hit the market. Last week we saw a delidded processor, which was dead since it is soldered. The data indicated that the Threadripper had eight CCX modules and that therefore, in the most powerful processors, those with sixteen cores, only two cores of each CCX module were operational. It seems that the need for the existence of these four sets of two groups of CCX cores is due to a question of stability of the encapsulation.

Threadripper processors have four arrays with two CCX groups in each cluster. What the four groups allow is stability in terms of the encapsulation, making it uniform and having great stability, preventing it from bending and reducing the overall surface area. This is one reason why AMD does not use a 2 + 2 system, although there are more reasons and that is that using a 2 + 2 system would increase latency and affect performance in games, although this processor is not intended for games and the reason is Infinity Fabric, which works fine, but not as well as AMD expected. What's more, tests performed using the Ryzen 7 1800X indicate that in 2 + 2 or 4 + 0 configurations, they would have a fairly limited impact on performance.

It should be noted that Threadripper modules are not apparently dead or defective chips. Apparently they are structural inserts to support the HIS and support the heatsink, therefore, they would not be EPYC processor with defects or recycling of processors, as expected. OC3D has further explained that the active sets of the Threadripper are diagonal to each other, to improve communication as much as possible.

Source: OC3D