“No-Compromise Processor”: Reviewers Praise AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

Tomorrow, sales of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor will start, which AMD itself describes as “the world’s best processor for gamers and creators.” And today, specialized media published reviews of the new product, in which they confirmed that AMD did not give the chip such a loud description for nothing. Here we will briefly describe the main conclusions voiced in the reviews.

Image Source: Computer Base

ComputerBase reviewers called the Ryzen 9 9950X3D a no-compromise processor, as it delivers “top-notch application performance, as well as very strong gaming performance.” Other reviewers also note that the new product performs equally well in “heavy” work applications and in any games, which makes it, albeit quite expensive, a universal processor.

There are some drawbacks, though. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D consumes much more power in games than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D — about 144 W on average versus 75 W. Apparently, the reviewers conclude, AMD has not taught the new chip to automatically put the second chiplet with cores, which is not equipped with a 3D V-Cache, into sleep mode. Interestingly, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D eventually gained the ability to automatically turn off half of the cores to save power, so this gives hope that the new product will have the same function with future updates.

However, in general, the power consumption of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is comparable to the Ryzen 9 9950X, which is quite normal for a 16-core processor. On average, the new product consumes 130 W in applications, and at maximum loads, consumption reaches 200 W. At the same time, 200 W is the maximum power consumption of this processor, which can only be exceeded with manual overclocking. Under load, when using all cores, the frequency is 5.3 GHz, according to TechPowerUp, and the declared maximum of 5.7 GHz is achieved only for one core. At the same time, ComputerBase noted that Ryzen 9 9950X3D often automatically overclocks to only 4.8 GHz across all cores.

Ultimately, users looking to get the most performance out of their Socket AM5 system have a choice. If the PC is designed purely for gaming, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D remains the best option. However, if high performance in work applications is also important, then the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the best choice thanks to its 16 Zen 5 cores. It outperforms the Ryzen 7 9800X3D by 55% in multi-core performance in applications, while remaining at the same level in games. However, such versatility comes at a price: the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is priced at $699, while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D will cost only $479.