The test configuration:
Preparing your configuration for the Ryzen 9 7950X3D:
We received a lot of instructions, not always obvious for the common man, to prepare our OS and our configuration to test this Ryzen 9 7950X3D. Some of our colleagues turned to AMD and asked if this would be within the reach of future Ryzen 7000X3D buyers? We share with you here the answer of AMD France.
“We have received feedback that, based on the user guide for the press, the configuration process for end customers can be difficult. At launch, AMD will publish a blog post with simple steps to get ready for X3D processors. The process should be very similar to any other upgrade or configuration of a freshly assembled PC: update the system BIOS and chipset driver.
This is the only mandatory step.
Run all Windows and Microsoft Store updates – including the Xbox Game Bar application. Windows and Microsoft Store updates are enabled by default. Make sure Windows Game Mode “Settings > Games > Game Mode” is enabled.
Game mode is enabled by default in Windows 11, but it’s worth checking. Reboot and wait a few minutes for the scheduled tasks to run at login. Clients will need to update the BIOS and chipset driver, but all other software will be updated automatically over time.”
For our part, we used the latest BIOS for our ROG Crosshair X670E Gene motherboard, namely BIOS 0922 which supports AGESA in version 1.0.0.5 patch C. For the rest, we followed AMD’s recommendations and used the latest chipset driver compatible with Ryzen 7000X3D.
The different test configurations :
All the results that you can discover in the following pages have just been updated during the month of September. We have replayed all the processors at our disposal in order to have results realized with the latest BIOS from the manufacturers as well as the latest drivers, especially for the chipset, whether it be the Z690 or the X570.
The question of the memory kit:
Yep, which memory kit should we use for our comparative tests? This is a question we asked you on our Discord. Whether it is for DDR4 or DDR5, we are on memory kits composed of two 16 GB strips for a total of 32 GB. For our tests using DDR4, it is a Corsair Vengeance LPX kit clocked at 3733 MHz in 18-22-22-42. For the AMD platform in DDR4, the FCLK is 1866 MHz in order to keep a 1:1 ratio. The rest of the BIOS settings are in auto mode.
For DDR5 on the Z690 platform, we used our Teamgroup 6400 MT/s CL34 kit which we set to 6000 MT/s in 30-38-38-96. Why this choice? The kit delivered by AMD for the tests on the X670E chipset is a GSKill Trident Z5 NEO 6000 MT/s in 30-38-38-96. So we have two kits with almost identical performances on the two platforms AMD X670E and Intel Z690.
Here is a summary table of the four configurations we used for these comparative tests. Each test is of course carried out several times to ensure the accuracy of our results.
Finally, as far as the operating system is concerned, we chose Windows 11, which is the latest version. You should know that we have noticed that for benchmarks, overall the results are always slightly better under Windows 10.
