AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review

AMD just released its flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor, a 16-core, 32-thread beast of a CPU that leverages its stacked cache architecture and high clock speeds for improved gaming performance. This caliber of CPU doesn’t come cheap, but if you’re building or upgrading a PC and want the best gaming performance and outstanding effectiveness in content creation as well, it’s the silicon to choose.

Specifications

Current Price: $699 (Amazon)

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D - Design and Highlights

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the company's latest flagship, promising top-tier performance in both gaming and productivity alike. It follows multiple iterations on the X3D design, and after testing it for myself, I believe it's the best implementation yet. This processor features 16 cores and 32 threads with an impressive 5.7GHz boost clock speed. It's designed to push frame rates in a way its traditional processors are unable to. And though it doesn't come cheap at $699, it accomplishes its goal and then some. It’s AMD’s most impressive consumer CPU to date. 

The design of this chip is similar to other X3Ds that came before it, with several improvements. It features two Zen 5 core complexes (CCXs) connected over an I/O die. One of these CCXs has a second layer of L3 cache stacked vertically for faster, lower latency access. This directly benefits gaming performance because more data can be stored and rapidly accessed than with traditional caching topologies. It's this technology that has allowed the X3D processors to become the go-to options within the Ryzen family if you are primarily a PC gamer.

This generation, AMD has made an important change by placing this additional vertical 3D V-Cache below the processor cores. Last generation, the cache was stacked on top in direct flow of the heat path. This caused it to be more thermally limited and unable to run at its full frequency for long periods of time. This new design is now able to run faster overall with an improvement to its boost clock, but it's also able to push higher multi-core speeds more consistently as well.

A render of the Zen 5 die on the Ryzen 9 9950X3D

A chip of this caliber requires quite a bit of power and generates a lot of heat.Interestingly, under maximum load, it actually uses a bit less than the original Ryzen 9 9950X, which debuted last year. That CPU was widely reported to hit up to 230 watts of total socket power. Here, the 9950X3D reaches only 200 watts, despite offering better performance. This does mean that you'll need a great air or water cooler to use it with. But even so, you should expect to hit its peak temperature of 95C. 

Many of the facts and figures with this generation remain the same as the rest of the 9000 series. This chip runs on the AM5 platform, so you won't necessarily need a new motherboard if you already have a Ryzen 7000 CPU. The processor itself offers 28 PCIe lanes to support multiple SSDs and a powerful video card, while the chipset provides up to 12 more depending on which you’re using. It also supports PCI Express 5.0, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 connections, and up to 192GB of DDR5 memory. 

As has been the case for a while, the best balance of speed and support will come from using two sticks, though four is possible at lower speeds. AMD quotes 3600 MT/s compared to 5600MT/s with two sticks of dual rank memory. Of course, you may be able to push this higher depending on your motherboard and the exact memory kit you use, and you’ll find plenty of overclocked two-stick memory kits (opt for EXPO memory if possible), but since it’s early in the generation, I recommend checking your motherboard’s DRAM compatibility list thoroughly to ensure everything will work as intended. 

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D - Performance

AMD Test System: Gigabyte X870E AORUS  Master, 360mm Corsair Elite LCD XT AIO CPU cooler, 32GB DDR5-6000 memory, 2TB Samsung NVMe SSD, Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 GPU

Intel Test System: Gigabyte Z890 AORUS WIFI7 ICE motherboard, 360mm Corsair Elite LCD XT AIO CPU cooler, 32GB DDR5-6000 memory, 2TB Samsung NVMe SSD, Asus ROG Strix RTX 4090 GPU

Before getting started, I wanted to note that I am updating our process for getting started, I wanted to note that I am in the process of retesting quite a bit of hardware to make sure our benchmarks are up-to-date. For this review, you'll notice some similarities and some differences in the components that I've used compared to past reviews. Because of this, I've chosen to only include the most relevant comparative CPUs.

Starting with a selection of whole system tests, the 9950X3D comes in shot from a cannon. As you might expect, any test that leverages multicore performance really allows it to excel. In the PCMark10 Extended Test, as well as its overall score and 7-Zip compression and decompression benchmark that benefit really becomes evident. The 9950X3D's additional cache in the architectural emphasis on multithreaded performance has real-world benefits, even when compared to last generation’s 7950X3D, but against Intel’s current flagship, the Core 9 Ultra 285K, it’s no competition. 

Moving on to creative applications, I tested the processor with Cinebench R23 and PugetBench for Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro. Single-performance in Cinebench surprised me in an impressive way. While it didn’t quite beat the Intel Core 9 Ultra 285K, it was so close that you could justifiably call it a draw. Multicore performance was expectedly great with substantial improvements over last generation and Team Blue. If you’re on a prior generation or running an Intel processor, upgrading could net you some time savings throughout the creative process in Premiere Pro in particular. 

Moving on to gaming, I first ran the processor through a series of synthetics using the 3DMark suite. It led the pack with a significant lead in Time Spy  while falling down to third place in Fire Strike. Steel Nomad was a hair's breadth behind the 285K. The performance is good overall but does feel a bit mixed when looking purely at these three benchmarks.

When it comes to real-world games, however, the 9950X3D absolutely shines. There wasn't a single title I tested that it didn't lead the pack in. This is a result of the high clock speed, more consistent multicore clock speeds, and the 3D V-Cache architecture.Clearly, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a killer gaming CPU.

So, perhaps the more accurate statement would be that the 9950X3D is a killer CPU, period. While it doesn't win every single matchup it performs close enough where it falls short that it truly stands as one of the highest performance consumer processors available today its single core performance, relative to multicore, is better than it's ever been. For productivity and creative applications, it's a monster. For gaming, it leaves little to nothing on the table. Remember, interviews like this one, we set the resolution to 1080p to remove any kind of GPU bottleneck. The performance you're seeing lies on the shoulders of the processor and the 9950X3D absolutely cooks.

Final Thoughts - Should You Buy It?

This is where things get a little tricky. There is no question that the 9950X3D is a fantastic processor. It's also a pricey one at $699. It's a mix of creative prowess and gaming performance puts it firmly in the enthusiast category, but not just that. It puts it in the enthusiast category for gamers that also want the very best creative performance. If you're doing a lot of photo and video editing, compressing and parsing big files, or other heavy workloads, it can be a good choice. If you don't need all of that overhead, you could save a significant amount of money by stepping down a level without seeing major drawbacks in pure gaming frame rates.

Still, it's hard to see the Ryzen 9 9950X3D as anything other than a major success for AMD. It's a performance champion that also manages to feel exceptionally well rounded. If you are looking for top tier performance, essentially for just about anything you would like to do, look no further. This processor delivers.

The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.