7-Zip software for Windows computers introduces the 'Threadripper Edition' for enhanced parallel processing, now capable of managing more than 64 threads - a significant development five years following the initial release of Threadripper.
In a recent report by Tom's Hardware, attention has been drawn to the significant advancements made by the latest version of the archive application, 7-Zip. According to the report, version 25.00 of 7-Zip offers superior multithreading support compared to the Windows built-in Zip folders, particularly for users with high core/thread count CPUs.
Historically, Windows built-in Zip folders, accessed via Windows Explorer or context menu, have provided very limited multithreading capabilities for compression and decompression tasks. Microsoft has not published specific details regarding updates to multithreading efficiency or thread count scaling in recent versions of Windows or its built-in Zip support. The built-in Zip functionality is designed for simplicity and compatibility rather than speed, typically utilizing only a few CPU threads and not leveraging the full capabilities of modern multicore CPUs.
On the other hand, 7-Zip version 25.00 represents a significant leap forward in multithreaded processing. It can now utilize more than 64 CPU threads for compression tasks (e.g., creating zip, 7z, or xz archives) and for its built-in benchmark. This update enables 7-Zip to fully exploit the capabilities of high-end CPUs such as AMD Threadripper Pro 9995WX (96C/192T) and Intel Xeon Platinum 8692+ (64C/128T), which were previously underutilized by archiving applications.
For systems with more than 64 CPU threads (requiring multiple processor groups in Windows), 7-Zip now distributes threads across these groups, improving performance on workstation and server-class hardware.
A comparison table illustrates the differences between the two:
| Feature | Windows Built-in Zip Folders | 7-Zip Version 25.00 | |-------------------------------|------------------------------|---------------------------------| | Built-in compression | Yes | Yes | | Multithreaded compression | Limited (few threads) | Yes (supports >64 threads) | | Thread management | Basic, not configurable | Advanced, uses processor groups | | Performance on high-end CPUs | Low | High | | Self-extracting archives | No | Yes |
The latest version of 7-Zip, version 25.00, also offers significantly faster bzip2 compression for all users, as well as improvements in standard zip performance, with deflate (zip/gz) compression speed increased by 1-3%.
Dave W Plummer, a Windows developer, has claimed that the Windows Zip folders code is underutilized, particularly on high-end processors. The developers of 7-Zip have introduced new multithreaded capabilities in version 25.00, allowing the application to distribute running CPU threads across different processor groups on systems with more than 64 CPU threads.
Tom's Hardware offers a newsletter with the best news and in-depth reviews, delivered to the user's inbox. To stay updated on the latest tech news, users can follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to receive updates in their feeds. It is important to note that the Windows built-in Zip folders feature remains single-threaded, even for Windows 11 users.
Technology has shown a marked improvement with the latest version of the archive application, 7-Zip. Unlike the Windows built-in Zip folders, 7-Zip version 25.00 can effectively utilize more than 64 CPU threads, particularly high-end CPUs like the AMD Threadripper Pro 9995WX and Intel Xeon Platinum 8692+ that were previously underutilized by archiving applications.
