[nextpage title=”Introduction: “]
After testing the Ryzen 7 9800X3D back in November, AMD is now officially launching two new processors, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D. In our opinion, the 9800X3D is still the best gaming processor around, so it will be interesting to see how these two new processors perform. We only had the chance to pick up a copy of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, so you’ll only see its performance in this review. Unfortunately, availability of the 9800X3D was very low at launch and, more importantly, prices skyrocketed in the face of the €529.90 ($479) launch price. Fortunately, prices have since become much more attractive again.
As far as the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is concerned, we already know the official price in euros: €772 while its little brother the 9900X3D will be priced at €661.
Thank you to AMD for making this copy of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D available to us. As part of this test, AMD also supplied us with an X870E motherboard, an SSD containing an image of Windows 11 and a G.SKILL 6000 MT/s CL28 memory kit. We’ll come back to these various components in the ‘Test protocol’ section.
[nextpage title=”The Ryzen 9 9950X3D:”]
Before starting our tests, we couldn’t do anything else than tell you about the new AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D processors. These are two new AMD processors featuring second-generation AMD 3D V-cache technology.
The main difference lies in the location of this cache. Previously, the 3D V-cache was superimposed on the “Zen 3” cores for the Ryzen 5800X3D and on the “Zen 4” cores for the Ryzen 7000X3D. With this second generation of AMD 3D V-cache, it has been placed below rather than above the processor cores. As a result, the main source of heat, the “Zen 5” cores, is taken care of directly by your cooling solution. The 3D V-cache memory is less sensitive to temperature than the processor cores, which is a considerable development for this second generation. Thanks to cooler temperatures, it should be possible to maintain higher operating frequencies in multithreaded tasks than with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D.
In terms of technical specifications, our AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has 16 cores and 32 threads, a boost frequency of up to 5.7 GHz, 144 MB of cache and a TDP of 170 watts. Finally, AMD has announced an average gain of around 8% compared with the previous generation, i.e. the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and 20% compared with the Intel i9 285K processor.
The Ryzen 7 9900X3D has 12 cores and 24 threads, a boost frequency of up to 5.5 GHz, 140 MB of cache and a TDP of 140 watts. Finally, AMD has announced an average gain of around 8% compared with the previous generation, i.e. the Ryzen 9 7900X3D.
[nextpage title=”Test protocol (to be read):”]
We’re pleased to introduce our new test protocol. It was time to update it and, above all, to expand the benchmark series we use. It was also an opportunity to update our test platforms with the arrival of the X870E and Z890 chipsets. We also took the opportunity to give our graphics a facelift to make them visually clearer. And don’t forget that we’re going to be adding even more in the coming weeks, with the addition of the Ryzen 7000 series as well as other 14th Gen Intel processors such as the i5 14500, i5 14400F and i3 14100.
We have also equipped our OBT Edition V2 benchmark table with the Benchlab measurement tool, which will now enable us to correctly measure the single voltage of the processor and soon also of the graphics cards via the Benchlab PR 1.0 software.
Test configurations :
Here are the details of the different test configurations that will be used for all the benchmarks :
- Intel motherboard: ROG Maximus Z790 APEX Encore (BIOS 1703) for Intel 14th GEN, ROG Maximus Z890 APEX (BIOS 0806) for Core Ultra and ROG Crosshair X890E HERO (BIOS 9951) for Ryzen 9000/7000.
- Processor: Intel Raptor Lake 14e GEN, Intel Core Ultra 200S and AMD Ryzen 9000/7000
- Memory: 48 GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 8000 MT/s CL40 and 32 GB G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal Neo 8000 MT/s CL38
- Graphics card: ROG Strix RTX 4090 OC
- Cooling system: Optimus V3 Intel or AMD waterblock with Alphacool Eiszeit 2000 chiller
- Power supply: be quiet! Dark Power 13 1000w
- Operating system: Windows 11 64-bit 24H2 (26100.2161) without optimisation
AMD’s press kit for the launch:
In addition to our copy of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, AMD provided us with a motherboard with the X870E chipset, a G.SKILL 6000 MT/s C28 EXPO memory kit and a 1 TB Samsung 990PRO SSD containing an image of Windows 11 for our tests. We didn’t use the memory kit because all our previous tests with AMD Ryzen 9000/7000 processors were carried out with an 8000 MT/s memory kit. So we wanted to keep our tests fair.
As for the SSD, and therefore the pre-installed OS, we chose not to use it. In regards to our protocol, we preferred to use the same components as for other AMD processors. Referring to AMD’s review guide on the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, our various tests coincided with what we were entitled to expect from its performance. If we had experienced performance issues, we would have used this SSD to find out what the problem was. Thanks to AMD for making this complete kit available to us.
[nextpage title=”Frequencies achieved:”]
As with every new processor test, our first idea is to check whether the advertised frequencies are actually achieved. To do this, we’re going to use the Cinebench R23 benchmark. Two scenarios will be used: a single-core benchmark and a multi-core benchmark. The idea is to be able to judge the frequency achieved and compare it with what Intel has announced in its slides.
Remember that the Boost frequency in the bench differs according to the processor. As Intel points out, when we talk about Max Turbo frequency, we are talking about the maximum frequency achievable by one of the processor cores running a single-core (mono-threaded ) workload. This frequency varies according to several factors: the load, the cooling system and therefore the temperature of your processor. It’s important to keep this in mind.
The first step is to activate only the XMP I profile in the BIOS before running the tests under Cinebench R23. As with all other processors, the power management mode under Windows 11 is high performance.
Test with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D :
As we begin this first series of tests, we can’t do without thinking about the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and its operating frequencies. It reached a frequency of 5725 MHz on single-core tasks. With our Ryzen 9 9950X3D, a frequency of 5725 MHz is reached on core #9, which works alternately with core #10.
As far as multi-core tasks are concerned, when the 16 cores of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D were called upon, the frequency varied between 4800 and 4900 MHz.
So we can indeed see that frequencies have improved, whether on single-core or multi-core tasks. Now that we know that our Ryzen 9 9950X3D is fully operational, it’s time for our various tests!
[nextpage title=”AIDA64 and CPUZ:”]
First of all, if you haven’t already done so, we invite you to read the page dedicated to the protocol in order to understand the different profiles present in the BIOS of our ROG Maximus Z890 APEX concerning the 14th Gen Intel processors as well as the new Core Ultra 200S. The idea behind choosing our benchmarks is mainly to be able to run them at home so that you can compare your readings with ours.
AIDA 64 :
This is a piece of software capable of providing you with a great deal of information about your configuration, but above all it has a memory benchmark. This calculates the read, write and copy speeds, as well as the latency, of your memory kit. It is often used to compare memory kits. It’s an excellent tool if you want to compare the performance of your memory kit with those we’ve already tested. The version used for testing is v7.35.7030 beta.
There’s nothing surprising in the results: we’re talking about performance that is equivalent to or slightly better than that of the Ryzen 9900X and 9950X.
CPUZ 17.01.64 benchmark :
Using it couldn’t be easier: just download the latest version of CPU-Z, which is currently version 2.11. Then go to the ‘ Bench ‘ tab to check single-thread and multi-thread performance. The benchmark version we used is 17.01.64.
For the various benchmarks, we’ll be taking a look at the performance of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, as well as the Ryzen 9 9950X. The single-core score has improved significantly, and the multi-core score has risen from 15748 to 17261 on this new generation.
[nextpage title=”Cinebench and Geekbench:”]
Cinebench R23:
How does this version differ from its predecessors? Firstly, it’s more realistic in terms of the score obtained depending on the processor used. As a reminder, Cinebench only tests the capabilities of your processor in single or multi-thread mode. But the main difference is that the benchmark lasts 10 minutes by default! MAXON’s idea with Cinebench R23 is to offer a benchmark that provides a degree of stability in terms of temperature and boost frequencies. Here we’ll be testing the fast version in Single Core and Multi Core.
As with CPU-Z, the single-core score is identical, but our Ryzen 9 9950X3D does better than the 9950X, perhaps thanks to the latest driver and chipsetupdates.
Cinebench R24:
As you might expect, this is the latest version of MAXON’s Cinebench benchmark. It was released in September 2023 to provide more accurate testing for current and next-generation CPUs. You’ll see straight away that the scores are lower, the benchmark lasts longer and it’s also possible to evaluate your graphics card.
Our Ryzen 9 9950X3D moves up the rankings in multithreading, but still lags well behind the Intel U9 285K.
Geekbench 3.4.4 :
This is a benchmark available in several revisions, with version 5 being used more and more in recent months and often used for CPU performance leaks, although the latest version is slowly taking over. It allows you to obtain two scores: one in single core and the other in multi-core. To take full advantage of this benchmark, you will need a licence. Even if this benchmark is no longer really up to date, it is still very often used by overclockers to highlight the memoryscore .
The latest Ryzen 9000Xs are the most productive in single-core mode, although the rankings return to a more logical order when we move on to the multi-core score. The new Ryzen 9 9950X3D comes in second place, just a few points behind the Intel U9 285K.
Geekbench 5.2.5 :
Like the version above, version 5 of Geekbench allows you to test memory and processor performance. We’ve decided to add this extra benchmark, but why? The CPU benchmark uses new tests that more closely simulate the tasks faced by processors in recent applications. Geekbench 5 also increases the memory used during the benchmark to better reflect the impact of this parameter on the CPU results.
As with version 3.4.4, AMD dominates the single-core segment, although things are more complicated for our Ryzen 9 9950X3D in multi-core.
Geekbench 6.3.0 :
We recently received a key for version 6 of Geekbench. So we took advantage of the change in configuration to add this new benchmark to our test suite. This is the latest benchmark and is intended to be more representative of current configurations. Primate Labs also assures us that the scores displayed by Geekbench 6 are more accurate in relation to the various existing devices and platforms. The test is also much longer than the other two versions we use.
With this latest test, the gaps have narrowed and it’s our Ryzen 9 9950X3D that dominates the single core. No problem in multi-core, where it does almost as well as the i9 14900KS.
[nextpage title=”V-Ray 6, Corona and Blender:”]
V-Ray 6 :
A new benchmark in addition to those we use to test our processors. The V-Ray 6 benchmark is produced by the company Chaos to enable users to quickly evaluate the rendering speeds of this benchmark for both your processor and your graphics card. We’re also thinking of adding this benchmark to our next GPU tests.
The advantage of this benchmark is that it’s free and can be downloaded directly by following this link. You can then compare your score directly with those below or directly online on the Chaos page.
The domination of our Ryzen 9 9950X3D is total in this benchmark, as our example is the only one to break the 50K barrier!
Corona 10:
This is another benchmark from Chaos, which can be downloaded by following this link. The advantage of these two benchmarks is that you can measure the performance of your system by rendering a scene, but without having to run (or even install) any other software, as will be the case for the next test.
The profile of this graphic doesn’t change and offers an identical place, i.e. first, to our Ryzen 9 9950X3D, even overtaking the Core Ultra 9 285K.
Blender 4.2:
Blender is a free software package for modelling, computer animation and 3D rendering. We have chosen to download the rendering of “BMW27”. The principle of this benchmark is to calculate the rendering of the image. We will evaluate the performance of the different processors according to the time needed to complete the rendering. As you can see, the faster the better! You can download Blender and the BMW27 renderer free of charge to test this benchmark.
To finish off with the rendering benchmarks, our Ryzen 9 9950X3D still has an excellent position in the graphics. The best-performing Ryzen 9000 shows its supremacy in all three benchmarks.
[nextpage title=”7-Zip 19.0:”]
7-Zip 19.0:
This benchmark is an integral part of the Benchmate software, which we also use for Cinebench tests. The advantage of this tool is that it is validated by Hwbot and can therefore be used to encode your scores directly onto the platform.
7-Zip, as its name suggests, is a file compression and decompression benchmark. You can either use the one available directly in the 7-zip utility, which will give you a compression score and a decompression score. Here, with 7-Zip 19.0, the result is an overall score that takes into account compression and decompression performance. Here too, Benchmate is free, so you can evaluate your score with your configuration.
The score obtained with our Ryzen 9 9950X3D once again puts it in first place!
[nextpage title=”3DMark:”]
Let’s start with a series of synthetic tests that we use regularly. We’ve opted for the CPU scores of the benchmarks in the 3DMark series. The idea is to isolate only the CPU score by creating a custom test.
Here are the results for Fire Strike and Time Spy. In Fire Strike, the physics (CPU) test is identical for both the ‘standard’ and ‘ultra’ versions. As a result, you’ll only see the Fire Strike score. For Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme, on the other hand, the tests are different, so you’ll get both scores. These scores are of great interest to overclockers, so they can choose the platform with the best performance to break as many records as possible. We’ve also decided to add the ‘CPU Profile’ benchmark, retaining only the max-threads score.
3DMark CPU Profile :
The 3DMark CPU Profile introduces a new approach to CPU benchmarking. Instead of producing a single figure, the 3DMark CPU Profile shows you how your CPU’s performance changes and evolves according to the number of cores and threads used. The 3DMark CPU Profile includes six tests that help you evaluate and compare CPU performance for gaming and other activities. Run all six tests to get a more complete picture of CPU performance.
We have chosen to isolate only the max-threads score, which represents the full performance potential of the CPU when using all available threads.
Unsurprisingly, performance is very similar, with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D performing much better than the previous-generation Ryzen 9 7950X3D.
CPU score at Fire Strike :
Let’s start with 3DMark Fire Strike, which is one of the most widely used benchmarks today. It consists of two graphics tests, a CPU test and a fourth test that combines GPU and CPU. Don’t forget to disable the demo, which makes no difference to the final score and (unnecessarily) prolongs the benchmark.
This benchmark has problems with processors with many cores. In fact, when you’re looking for the best performance, you need to disable some of them. Despite this, our Ryzen 9 9950X3D remains in third place.
CPU score in Time Spy :
The second test is 3DMark Time Spy. Although this one is performed in 1440p, its main feature is that it uses DirectX 12. It consists of two graphics tests and a CPU test. As with Fire Strike, don’t forget to disable the demo. These first two benchmarks are provided by UL Benchmark.
Unsurprisingly, if you look from time to time, it’s the Intel i9 14900KS and U9 285K processors that dominate. Our Ryzen 9 9950X3D is third, but the gaps are quite wide.
CPU score at Time Spy Extreme :
The second test is 3DMark Time Spy. Although this one is performed in 2160p, its main feature is that it uses DirectX 12. It consists of two graphics tests and a CPU test. As with Fire Strike, don’t forget to disable the demo.
This final test is similar to the previous ones, with the two Intel processors ahead, although here the differences are smaller.
[nextpage title=”Games in 1080p:”]
For the gaming section, we made do with 1080p definition in order to compare the different processors. We didn’t use 720p definition, because even though it sometimes shows greater differences between processors, it is of course useless. As for 1440p definition, there are still slight differences, and in 2160p, or 4K, it’s the graphics card that is the central element, and the differences between the different processors are insignificant most of the time.
We chose to use the benchmarks built into these different games.
Why have we done this? Quite simply to allow you to compare your results if you also have a copy of one of these games. It’s a thought-provoking idea that will allow you to compare your results with ours. Of course, the games selected are those we use for our graphics card tests.
Now that all our test platforms are fully up to date, we will be adding the other processors in the Intel Core Ultra 200S and Ryzen 9000X ranges over the coming weeks. The presence of the Core Ultra 7 265K would have been interesting, but at the time of writing we still hadn’t been able to get our hands on it. As for the Ryzen 9 9950X, we weren’t able to keep our copy, so it’s not included in our graphics.
Borderlands 3:
Let’s get started with the Borderlands game. The graphics options are set to ” Brutal “. It’s worth noting that Borderlands 3 is quite greedy and that this choice of settings has quite a strong impact on FPS. It’s a game that’s very often praised when new graphics cards are announced, and precisely in this ‘Brutal’ mode.
Here we go with the first game, and the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D is already in the lead. The gain with the Ryzen 9 9950X is 5%.
Red Dead Redemption 2:
Second and by no means least, the sublime Red Dead Redemption II. The advantage of this opus is that you can test the integrated Vulkan benchmark. We’re opting for the ‘ ultra ‘ graphics options.
Second game and, here, our three X3D processors are neck and neck, with the Intel CPUs slightly behind.
Far Cry 6:
Far Cry 6 supports DXR as well as FSR from AMD. You’ll also find it on the next page. For our benchmarks, we opted for ‘ ultra ‘ graphics quality.
This is the first game where the differences are really significant at 1080p. The two new latest-generation X3Ds are at the forefront.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage :
With a fairly recent integrated benchmark, we decided to add Assassin’s Creed Mirage to our tests.
The differences between the different processors are less pronounced here, although for the first time the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is outperformed by an Intel processor.
Cyberpunk 2077:
A staple of CPU and GPU tests, let’s move on to Cyberpunk 2077 with ‘ultra’ graphics quality.
We put our R7 9800X3D back in the limelight with first place in 1080p and the Ryzen 9 9950X3D in third place.
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3:
We couldn’t do without adding Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 to our CPU tests, with graphics quality for the various benchmarks selected as ‘ Extreme ‘.
AMD processors have an undeniable advantage when it comes to 1080p definition.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider:
Certainly one of the most widely used benchmarks, as it’s completely free. For our benchmarks, we opted for ‘ very high ‘ graphics quality.
Last but not least, Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, a benchmark we use very often, enabled our Ryzen 9 9950X3D to take second place.
The average performance of our 7 games :
For the games average, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D was chosen as the benchmark to compare with the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D. The other processors score either higher or lower depending on their performance against this model.
At the time of the online presentation of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, AMD announced an average gain of 8%, but we ended up with 6.4%. So the new Ryzen X3D processor does slightly better, even if you have to bear in mind that its frequencies are higher. Compared with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, AMD announced an average gain of 20%, but here we’re on 19.7%, which is right on target. Bear in mind that these differences are clearly noticeable at 1080p, but will be virtually non-existent at 2160p, where it’s the graphics card that will make most of the difference.
[nextpage title=”Overclocking: “]
Good news as far as overclocking is concerned, as things will be totally different from what we encountered with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D. AMD has confirmed that the Ryzen 9 9950X3D will benefit from the same overclocking options as the other processors in the 9000X range. So we’ll be able to take advantage of the free multiplier to try and push our sample to the limit!
As a reminder, with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, we could only modify the BCLK frequency, with fairly limited gains and, above all, a processor that became a veritable mini-oven. Here, we’ll confine ourselves to an initial series of light aseez tests before moving on to more comprehensive tests. Once again, the timing of the releases of the various graphics cards has changed, and today sees the arrival of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor.
Overclocking our Ryzen 9 9950X3D :
Go to Windows 11 to use the AMD Ryzen Master software. If you’re a regular visitor to our site, you’ll be familiar with this software. It will allow us to modify the multiplication coefficient of each core independently. This is the strong point of this Ryzen 9 9950X3D compared with the previous generation. During our frequency tests, we noticed that when all 16 cores are used, the frequency is 5800/58500 MHz. The idea is to exceed this frequency. As usual, we’re going to start with a test at stock frequencies.
Under Cinebench R23, we obtain a score of 42311 points with a temperature of 60°C and a power consumption of 200 watts. This information is taken directly from BenchMate. We’re now going to start our tests at 5000 MHz on all the cores, with 100 MHz steps, and keep the voltage in Ryzen Master at 1.15 volts.
After a series of tests, we were able to reach 5300 MHz on all 16 cores with a voltage of 1.15 volts. Our Cinebench R23 score went from 42311 to 46370 points, a gain of 9.5%. Temperature is 68°C and power consumption 232 watts.
Our Ryzen 9 9950X3D seems to have a very interesting overclocking margin, which we’ll need to fine-tune over the coming days. We’ll be writing a dedicated article in the coming weeks.
[nextpage title=”The last word:”]
Our first impressions of this Ryzen 9 9950X3D are very good, as was already the case with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The advantage of this model is that it delivers higher performance in synthetic benchmarks, thanks to its 16 cores.
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D :
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D unquestionably has a number of advantages over the previous generation. This new processor performs better, heats up much less and, above all, has excellent overclocking potential, as our tests have confirmed. So it’s easy to imagine a further performance gain of between 5 and 10%, without having a hotter processor or one that consumes much more power. So this is a point to bear in mind if you want to buy one.
As far as price is concerned, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was advertised at 529.90 ($479) euros and can currently be found for 540 euros on Amazon. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is priced at $699, and 772 euros on AMD’s website. Note that the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is still priced at 759 euros in Germany.
Even so, as with the R7 9800X3D, we’re still a little disappointed. When we compare its gaming performance with that of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, we could have hoped for more than a 6% gain on average. However, our other readings of the 1% low FPS show a more interesting gain for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. But it’s still one of the three best-performing processors for gaming, along with its little brother, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and most certainly the Ryzen 9 9900X3D.
Graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA used a Ryzen 9 9800X3D processor to showcase the performance of its RTX 5000s at CES 2025, abandoning Intel processors for the first time. To make things even more special, in the review guide for the RTX 5090, NVIDIA indicated that a Ryzen 9000X3D processor should be used for the best performance.
In the end, if the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is indeed the new king of gaming, this Ryzen 9 9950X3D does just as well, but will offer better performance in synthetic benchmarks, thanks to its 16 cores. So the choice is up to you, depending on how you use it. If your objective is purely gaming, then the Ryzen 7 9800X3D will be your best companion and there will be no need to invest in the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Now, if you need an extra 8 cores for synthetic tasks, then yes, this new processor is the one for you! Thanks to AMD France for making this copy of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D available.
