AMD Ryzen 9 9950X: At the very top, with both 1 and 32 threads

Average processor power draw

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X in detail

After the lower Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X models (these processors were released on August 8, 2024),the Ryzen 9s – 9900X and 9950X are also hitting stores on August 15. In the tests, we’ll focus on the more powerful model (R9 9950X) first and look at the R9 9900X later. The Ryzen 9 9950X is the successor to the Ryzen 9 7950X, with which it has a lot in common, but to which it also differs as well. What has changed is the new architecture (Zen 5), of which we also have a detailed analysis.

An increase in performance per clock, lower power consumption and the resulting higher efficiency compared to the previous generation (Ryzen 7000) was already revealed in the Ryzen 5 9600X test results recently. But now, in the case of the Ryzen 9 9950X, we’re at the other end of the offering, where there’s a push for maximum performance in which AMD wants to dominate the desktop processor market. “Maximum performance” here means how the processor performs in typically computational tasks, whether it’s a single-threaded or multi-threaded workload. Gaming-wise, the Ryzen 9 9950X doesn’t have the highest ambitions, those will only come with the 3D V-Cache processor models, which are still unsurpassed in their segment. Nothing about the dominant position of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in our gaming tests was changed, not even by the 32-threaded Ryzen 9 from the Granite Ridge family.

And now for the details of the R9 9950X which are the same as the R9 7950X. First of all, it’s still the AMD AM5 platform support, which so far only applies to models with “600 series” chipsets. The memory controller only supports DDR5 modules and is still dual-channel. The distribution of CPU cores is between two chiplets (CCD) in a balanced ratio of 8+8. The third silicon formation on the CPU substrate is the I/O chiplet, for which there have been no significant intergenerational changes. It is manufactured (except perhaps for some minor revisions that we do not know about) in the same way and also has the same properties.

The claimed TDP of the Ryzen 9 9950X is at 165 W (with a PPT of 230 W). So, the same as with Ryzen 9 7950X. But what’s notable is that in the specs, the new Ryzen 9 has a 200 MHz lower base clock speed for the all-core boost, “only” 4.3GHz.

Less clock speed throttling by temperatures

An important topic – cooling. It is expected to be better, or rather the minimum values of temperatures with which the board operates are lower at the same power consumption. This is mainly to set appropriate clock speeds, which also depend on the temperatures. Especially when it comes to the height of the single core boost. This was significantly hampered precisely by cooling performance with the Ryzen 9 7950X.

Even with the 360-millimeter Alphacool Eisbaer liquid cooler, across different motherboards, clock speeds in longer single-threaded loads average around 5500 MHz, about 200 MHz below the official maximum (or 300 MHz below the “unofficial” 5.85 GHz). The Ryzen 9 9950X also has this set at 5.7 GHz and it’s easier to get close to it now. You can get to higher SC boost clock speeds than the last generation Ryzen 9 even with a “weaker” or quieter cooler.

As with the other X models, a cooler is not supplied with the processor and you have to get one yourself.

Please note: The article continues in the following chapters.

* We have no certainty on this parameter. AMD does not specify the maximum resolution and maximum refresh rate in publicly available materials. However, it is possible that it will be the same as for Ryzen 7000, i.e. 3840 × 2160 px (60 Hz).

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Gaming tests

We test performance in games in four resolutions with different graphics settings. To warm up, there is more or less a theoretical resolution of 1280 × 720 px. We had been tweaking graphics settings for this resolution for a long time. We finally decided to go for the lowest possible (Low, Lowest, Ultra Low, …) settings that a game allows.

One could argue that a processor does not calculate how many objects are drawn in such settings (so-called draw calls). However, with high detail at this very low resolution, there was not much difference in performance compared to FHD (which we also test). On the contrary, the GPU load was clearly higher, and this impractical setting should demonstrate the performance of a processor with the lowest possible participation of a graphics card.

At higher resolutions, high settings (for FHD and QHD) and highest (for UHD) are used. In Full HD it’s usually with Anti-Aliasing turned off, but overall, these are relatively practical settings that are commonly used.

The selection of games was made considering the diversity of genres, player popularity and processor performance requirements. For a complete list, see Chapters 7–16. A built-in benchmark is used when a game has one, otherwise we have created our own scenes, which we always repeat with each processor in the same way. We use OCAT to record fps, or the times of individual frames, from which fps are then calculated, and FLAT to analyze CSV. Both were developed by the author of articles (and videos) from GPUreport.cz. For the highest possible accuracy, all runs are repeated three times and the average values of average and minimum fps are drawn in the graphs. These multiple repetitions also apply to non-gaming tests.

Computing tests

Let’s start lightly with PCMark 10, which tests more than sixty sub-tasks in various applications as part of a complete set of “benchmarks for a modern office”. It then sorts them into fewer thematic categories and for the best possible overview we include the gained points from them in the graphs. Lighter test tasks are also represented by tests in a web browser – Speedometer and Octane. Other tests usually represent higher load or are aimed at advanced users.

We test the 3D rendering performance in Cinebench. In R20, where the results are more widespread, but mainly in R23. Rendering in this version takes longer with each processor, cycles of at least ten minutes. We also test 3D rendering in Blender, with the Cycles render in the BMW and Classroom projects. You can also compare the latter with the test results of graphics cards (contains the same number of tiles).

We test how processors perform in video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve Studio 17. We use a PugetBench plugin, which deals with all the tasks you may encounter when editing videos. We also use PugetBench services in Adobe After Effects, where the performance of creating graphic effects is tested. Some subtasks use GPU acceleration, but we never turn it off, as no one will do it in practice. Some things don’t even work without GPU acceleration, but on the contrary, it’s interesting to see that the performance in the tasks accelerated by the graphics card also varies as some operations are still serviced by the CPU.

We test video encoding under SVT-AV1, in HandBrake and benchmarks (x264 HD and HWBot x265). x264 HD benchmark works in 32-bit mode (we did not manage to run 64-bit consistently on W10 and in general on newer OS’s it may be unstable and show errors in video). In HandBrake we use the x264 processor encoder for AVC and x265 for HEVC. Detailed settings of individual profiles can be found in the corresponding chapter 25. In addition to video, we also encode audio, where all the details are also stated in the chapter of these tests. Gamers who record their gameplay on video can also have to do with the performance of processor encoders. Therefore, we also test the performance of “processor broadcasting” in two popular applications OBS Studio and Xsplit.

We also have two chapters dedicated to photo editing performance. Adobe has a separate one, where we test Photoshop via PugetBench. However, we do not use PugetBench in Lightroom, because it requires various OS modifications for stable operation, and overall we rather avoided it (due to the higher risk of complications) and create our own test scenes. Both are CPU intensive, whether it’s exporting RAW files to 16-bit TIFF with ProPhotoRGB color space or generating 1:1 thumbnails of 42 lossless CR2 photos.

However, we also have several alternative photo editing applications in which we test CPU performance. These include Affinity Photo, in which we use a built-in benchmark, or XnViewMP for batch photo editing or ZPS X. Of the truly modern ones, there are three Topaz Labz applications that use AI algorithms. DeNoise AI, Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI. Topaz Labs often and happily compares its results with Adobe applications (Photoshop and Lightroom) and boasts of better results. So we’ll see, maybe we’ll get into it from the image point of view sometime. In processor tests, however, we are primarily focused on performance.

We test compression and decompression performance in WinRAR, 7-Zip and Aida64 (Zlib) benchmarks, decryption in TrueCrypt and Aida64, where in addition to AES there are also SHA3 tests. In Aida64, we also test FPU in the chapter of mathematical calculations. From this category you may also be interested in the results of Stockfish 13 and the number of chess combinations achieved per unit time. We perform many tests that can be included in the category of mathematics in SPECworkstation 3.1. It is a set of professional applications extending to various simulations, such as LAMMPS or NAMD, which are molecular simulators. A detailed description of the tests from SPECworkstation 3.1 can be found at spec.org. We do not test 7-zip, Blender and HandBrake from the list for redundancy, because we test performance in them separately in applications. A detailed listing of SPECWS results usually represents times or fps, but we graph “SPEC ratio”, which represents gained points—higher means better.

Processor settings…

We test processors in the default settings, without active PBO2 (AMD) or ABT (Intel) technologies, but naturally with active XMP 2.0.

… and app updates

The tests should also take into account that, over time, individual updates may affect performance comparisons. Some applications are used in portable versions, which are not updated or can be kept on a stable version, but this is not the case for some others. Typically, games update over time. On the other hand, even intentional obsolescence (and testing something out of date that already behaves differently) would not be entirely the way to go.

In short, just take into account that the accuracy of the results you are comparing decreases a bit over time. To make this analysis easier for you, we indicate when each processor was tested. You can find this in the dialog box, where there is information about the test date of each processor. This dialog box appears in interactive graphs, just hover the mouse cursor over any bar.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Methodology: how we measure power draw

Measuring CPU power consumption is relatively simple, much easier than with graphics cards. All power goes through one or two EPS cables. We also use two to increase the cross-section, which is suitable for high performance AMD processors up to sTR(X)4 or for Intel HEDT, and in fact almost for mainstream processors as well. We have Prova 15 current probes to measure current directly on the wires. This is a much more accurate and reliable way of measuring than relying on internal sensors.

The only limitation of our current probes may be when testing the most powerful processors. These already exceed the maximum range of 30 A, at which high accuracy is guaranteed. For most processors, the range is optimal (even for measuring a lower load, when the probes can be switched to a lower and more accurate range of 4 A), but we will test models with power consumption over 360 W on our own device, a prototype of which we have already built. Its measuring range will no longer be limiting, but for the time being we will be using the Prova probes in the near future.

The clamps are properly reset before each measurement and connected to a Keysight U1231A multimeter, which samples the current values during the tests via the IR-USB interface and logs them to a spreadsheet at one-second intervals. From this we can then create line graphs of power draw curves. However, we always write the average values in the bar graphs. Measurements are taken in different load modes. The lowest one is idle Windows 10 on the desktop. This measurement takes place on a well “cooled down” system.

Audio encoding (FLAC) represents a higher load, but processors use only one core or one thread for this. Higher loads, where more cores are involved, are games. We test power consumption in F1 2020, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Total War Saga: Troy in 1920 × 1080 px. In this resolution, the power consumption is usually the highest or at least similar to that in lower or higher resolutions, where in most cases the CPU power draw rather decreases due to its lower utilization.

Like most motherboard manufacturers, we too ignore the time limit for “Tau”, after which the power consumption is to be reduced from the PL2 boost limit (when it exceeds the TDP) to the TDP/PL1 value, recommended by Intel, in our tests. This means that neither the power draw nor the clock speed after 56 seconds of higher load does not decrease and the performance is kept stable with just small fluctuations. We had been considering whether or not to respect the Tau. In the end, we decided not to because the vast majority of users won’t either, and therefore the results and comparisons would be relatively uninteresting. The solution would be to test with and without a power limit, but this is no longer possible due to time requirements. We will pay more attention to the behavior of PL2 in motherboard tests, where it makes more sense.

We always use motherboards with extremely robust, efficient VRM, so that the losses on MOSFETs distort the measured results as little as possible and the test setups are powered by a high-end 1200 W BeQuiet! Dark Power Pro 12 power supply. It is strong enough to supply every processor, even with a fully loaded GeForce RTX 3080, and at the same time achieves above-standard efficiency even at lower load. For a complete overview of test setup components, see Chapter 5 of this article.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Methodology: temperature and clock speed tests

When choosing a cooler, we eventually opted for Noctua NH-U14S. It has a high performance and at the same time there is also the TR4-SP3 variant designed for Threadripper processors. It differs only by the base, the radiator is otherwise the same, so it will be possible to test and compare all processors under the same conditions. The fan on the NH-U14S cooler is set to a maximum speed of 1,535 rpm during all tests.

Measurements always take place on a bench-wall in a wind tunnel which simulates a computer case, with the difference that we have more control over it.

System cooling consists of four Noctua NF-S12A PWM fans, which are in an equilibrium ratio of two at the inlet and two at the outlet. Their speed is set at a fixed 535 rpm, which is a relatively practical speed that is not needed to be exceeded. In short, this should be the optimal configuration based on our tests of various system cooling settings.

It is also important to maintain the same air temperature around the processors. Of course, this also changes with regard to how much heat a particular processor produces, but at the inlet of the tunnel it must always be the same for accurate comparisons. In our air-conditioned test lab, it is currently in the range of 21–21.3 °C.

Maintaining a constant inlet temperature is necessary not only for a proper comparison of processor temperatures, but especially for unbiased performance comparisons. Trend of clock speed and especially single-core boost depends on the temperature. In the summer at higher temperatures, processors may be slower in living spaces than in the winter.

For Intel processors, we register the maximum core temperature for each test, usually of all cores. These maximum values are then averaged and the result is represented by the final value in the graph. From the outputs of single-threaded load, we only pick the registered values from active cores (these are usually two and alternate during the test). It’s a little different with AMD processors. They don’t have temperature sensors for every core. In order for the procedure to be as methodically as possible similar to that applied on Intel processors, the average temperature of all cores is defined by the highest value reported by the CPU Tdie sensor (average). For single-threaded load, however, we already use a CPU sensor (Tctl/Tdie), which usually reports a slightly higher value, which better corresponds to the hotspots of one or two cores. But these values as well as the values from all internal sensors must be taken with a grain of salt, the accuracy of the sensors varies across processors.

Clock speed evaluation is more accurate, each core has its own sensor even on AMD processors. Unlike temperatures, we plot average clock speed values during tests in graphs. We monitor the temperature and clock speed of the processor cores in the same tests, in which we also measure the power consumption. And thus, gradually from the lowest load level on the desktop of idle Windows 10, through audio encoding (single-threaded load), gaming load in three games (F1 2020, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Total War Saga: Troy), to a 10-minute load in Cinebench R23 and the most demanding video encoding with the x264 encoder in HandBrake.

To record the temperatures and clock speed of the processor cores, we use HWiNFO, in which sampling is set to two seconds. With the exception of audio encoding, the graphs always show the averages of all processor cores in terms of temperatures and clock speed. During audio encoding, the values from the loaded core are given.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Test setup

* We use the following BIOSes on motherboards. For the B650E Aorus Pro X USB4 we use F4c, for the Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi we use v0502, for the MSI MEG X670E Ace we use v1.10NPRP, for the MEG X570 Ace we use v1E, for the MEG Z690 Unify we use v10, for the MAG Z690 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4 we use v11, for the MEG Z590 Ace we use v1.14 and for the MEG Z490 Ace we use v17.

Note: The graphics drivers we use are Nvidia GeForce 466.77 and the Windows 10 OS build is 19045 (22H2) at the time of testing.

Processors from other platforms are tested on the motherboards MSI MEG Z690 Unify, MAG Z490 Tomahawk WiFi DDR4, Z590 Ace a Z490 Ace, MEG Z690 Unify (all Intel) and MEG X570 Ace, MEG X670E Ace (AMD).

On platforms supporting DDR5 memory, we use two different sets of modules. For more powerful processors with “X” (AMD) or “K” (Intel) in the name, the faster G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo (2×16 GB, 6000 MHz/CL30) memory. In the case of cheaper processors (without X or K at the end of the name), the slower Kingston Fury Beast (2×16 GB, 5200 MHz/CL40) modules. But this is more or less just symbolism, the bandwidth is very high for both kits, it is not a bottleneck, and the difference in processor performance is very small, practically negligible, across the differently fast memory kits.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

3DMark

We use 3DMark Professional for the tests and the following tests: Night Raid (DirectX 12), Fire Strike (DirectX 11) and Time Spy (DirectX 12). In the graphs you will find partial CPU scores, combined scores, but also graphics scores. You can find out to what extent the given processor limits the graphics card.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Low; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset Low; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: low; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Ultra High; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Borderlands 3

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Very Low; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: None; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Ultra; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Counter-Strike: GO

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; lowest graphics settings and w/o Anti-Aliasing, API DirectX 9; test platform script with Dust 2 map tour.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; high graphics settings and w/o Anti-Aliasing, API DirectX 9; test platform script with Dust 2 map tour.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; high graphics settings; 4× MSAA, API DirectX 9; test platform script with Dust 2 map tour.

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; very high graphics settings; 4× MSAA, API DirectX 9; test platform script with Dust 2 map tour.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Cyberpunk 2077

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Low; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: custom (Little China).

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: custom (Little China).

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: custom (Little China).

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Ultra; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: custom (Little China).

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

DOOM Eternal

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Low; API Vulkan; extra settings Present From Compute: off, Motion Blur: Low, Depth of Field Anti-Aliasing: off; test scene: custom.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset High; API Vulkan; extra settings Present From Compute: on, Motion Blur: High, Depth of Field Anti-Aliasing: off; test scene: custom.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API Vulkan; extra settings Present From Compute: on, Motion Blur: High, Depth of Field Anti-Aliasing: on; test scene: custom.

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Ultra Nightmare; API Vulkan; extra settings Present From Compute: on, Motion Blur: High, Depth of Field Anti-Aliasing: on; test scene: custom.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

F1 2020

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Ultra Low; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: off, Anisotropic Filtering: off; test scene: built-in benchmark (Australia, Clear/Dry, Cycle).

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: off, Skidmarks Blending: off; test scene: built-in benchmark (Australia, Clear/Dry, Cycle).

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: TAA, Skidmarks Blending: off; test scene: built-in benchmark (Australia, Clear/Dry, Cycle).

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Ultra High; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: TAA, Skidmarks Blending: off; test scene: built-in benchmark (Australia, Clear/Dry, Cycle).

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Metro Exodus

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Low; API DirectX 12; no extra settings test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Extreme; API DirectX 12; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Disclaimer: The performance of this game changes and improves frequently due to continuous updates. We verify the consistency of the results by re-testing the Ryzen 7 5900X processor before each measurement. In case of significant deviations, we discard the older results and start building the database from scratch. Due to the incompleteness of the MFS results, we do not use MFS to calculate the average gaming performance of the processors.

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Low; API DirectX 11; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: off; test scene: custom (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air Traffic: AI, February 14, 9:00) autopilot: from 1000 m until hitting the terrain.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset Low; API DirectX 11; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: off; test scene: custom (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air Traffic: AI, February 14, 9:00) autopilot: from 1000 m until hitting the terrain.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 11; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: TAA; test scene: custom (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air Traffic: AI, February 14, 9:00) autopilot: from 1000 m until hitting the terrain.

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Ultra; API DirectX 11; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: TAA; test scene: custom (Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Air Traffic: AI, February 14, 9:00) autopilot: from 1000 m until hitting the terrain.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Lowest; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: off; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: off; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: TAA; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Highest; API DirectX 12; extra settings Anti-Aliasing: TAA; test scene: built-in benchmark.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Total War Saga: Troy

Test environment: resolution 1280 × 720 px; graphics settings preset Low; API DirectX 11; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 1920 × 1080 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 11; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

Test environment: resolution 2560 × 1440 px; graphics settings preset High; API DirectX 11; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

strong>Test environment: resolution 3840 × 2160 px; graphics settings preset Ultra; API DirectX 11; no extra settings; test scene: built-in benchmark.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Overall gaming performance

To calculate average gaming performance, we normalized the Intel Core i7-11900K processor. The percentage differences of all other processors are based on this, with each of the games contributing an equal weight to the final result. To see exactly what the formula we use to arrive at each value looks like, see „New average CPU score measuring method“.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Gaming performance per euro

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

PCMark

Geekbench

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Speedometer (2.0) and Octane (2.0)

Test environment: We’re using a portable version of Google Chrome (91.0.472.101) 64-bit so that real-time results are not affected by browser updates. GPU hardware acceleration is enabled as each user has in the default settings.

Note: The values in the graphs represent the average of the points obtained in the subtasks, which are grouped according to their nature into seven categories (Core language features, Memory and GC, Strings and arrays, Virtual machine and GC, Loading and Parsing, Bit and Math operations and Compiler and GC latency).

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Cinebench R20

Cinebench R23

Blender@Cycles

Test environment: We use well-known projects BMW (510 tiles) and Classroom (2040 tiles) and renderer Cycles. Render settings are set to None, with which all the work falls on the CPU.

LuxRender (SPECworkstation 3.1)

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Adobe Premiere Pro (PugetBench)

Test environment: set of PugetBench tests. App version of Adobe Premiere Pro is 15.2.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

DaVinci Resolve Studio (PugetBench)

Test environment: set of PugetBench tests, test type: standard. App version of DaVinci Resolve Studio is 17.2.1 (build 12).

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Graphics effects: Adobe After Effects

Test environment: set of PugetBench tests. App version of Adobe After Effects is 18.2.1.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

HandBrake

Test environment: For video conversion we’re using a 4K video LG Demo Snowboard with a 43,9 Mb/s bitrate. AVC (x264) and HEVC (x265) profiles are set for high quality and encoder profiles are “slow”. HandBrake version is 1.3.3 (2020061300).

x264 and x265 benchmarks

SVT-AV1

Test environment: We are encoding a short, publicly available sample park_joy_2160p50.y4m: uncompressed video 4096 × 2160 px, 8bit, 50 fps. Length is 500 frames with encoding quality set to 6 which makes the encoding still relatively slow. This test can make use of the AVX2 i AVX-512 instructions.

Version: SVT-AV1 Encoder Lib v0.8.7-61-g685afb2d via FFMpeg N-104429-g069f7831a2-20211026 (64bit)
Build from: https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases
Command line: ffmpeg.exe -i “park_joy_2160p50.y4m” -c:v libsvtav1 -rc 0 -qp 55 -preset 6 -f null output.webm

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Audio encoding

Test environment: Audio encoding is done using command line encoders, we measure the time it takes for the conversion to finish. The same 42-minute long 16-bit WAV file (stereo) with 44.1 kHz is always used (Love Over Gold by Dire Straits album rip in a single audio file).

Encoder settings are selected to achieve maximum or near maximum compression. The bitrate is relatively high, with the exception of lossless FLAC of about 200 kb/s.

Note: These tests measure single-thread performance.

FLAC: reference encoder 1.3.2, 64-bit build. Launch options: flac.exe -s -8 -m -e -p -f

MP3: encoder lame3.100.1, 64-bit build (Intel 19 Compiler) from RareWares. Launch options: lame.exe -S -V 0 -q 0

AAC: uses Apple QuickTime libraries, invoked through the application from the command line, QAAC 2.72, 64-bit build, Intel 19 Compiler (does not require installation of the whole Apple package). Launch options: qaac64.exe -V 100 -s -q 2

Opus: reference encoder 1.3.1, Launch options: opusenc.exe –comp 10 –quiet –vbr –bitrate 192

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Broadcasting

Test environment: Applications OBS Studio and Xsplit. We’re using the built-in benchmark (scene Australia, Clear/Dry, Cycle) in F1 2020, in a resolution of 2560 × 1440 px and the same graphics settings, as with standard game performance tests. Thanks to this, we can measure the performance decrease if you record your gameplay with the x264 software encoder while playing. The output is 2560 × 1440 px at 60 fps.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Adobe Photoshop (PugetBench)

Test environment: set of PugetBench tests. App version of Adobe Photoshop is 22.4.2.

Adobe Lightroom Classic

Test environment: With the settings above, we export 42 uncompressed .CR2 (RAW Canon) photos with a size of 20 Mpx. Then we create 1:1 previews from them, which also represent one of the most processor intensive tasks in Lightroom. The version of Adobe Lightroom Classic is 10.3.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Affinity Photo (benchmark)

Test environment: built-in benchmark.

Topaz Labs AI apps

Topaz DeNoise AI, Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI. These single-purpose applications are used for restoration of low-quality photos. Whether it is high noise (caused by higher ISO), raster level (typically after cropping) or when something needs extra sharpening. AI performance is always used.

Test environment: As part of batch editing, 42 photos with a lower resolution of 1920 × 1280 px are processed, with the settings from the images above. DeNoise AI is in version 3.1.2, Gigapixel in 5.5.2 and Sharpen AI in 3.1.2.

XnViewMP

Test environment: XnViewMP is finally a photo-editor for which you don’t have to pay. At the same time, it uses hardware very efficiently. In order to achieve more reasonable comparison times, we had to create an archive of up to 1024 photos, where we reduce the original resolution of 5472 × 3648 px to 1980 × 1280 px and filters with automatic contrast enhancement and noise reduction are also being applied during this process. We use 64-bit portable version 0.98.4.

Zoner Photo Studio X

Test environment: In Zoner Photo Studio X we convert 42 .CR2 (RAW Canon) photos to JPEG while keeping the original resolution (5472 × 3648 px) at the lowest possible compression, with the ZPS X profile ”high quality for archival”.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

WinRAR 6.01

7-Zip 19.00

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

TrueCrypt 7.1a

Aida64 (AES, SHA3)

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Y-cruncher

Stockfish 13

Test environment: Host for the Stockfish 13 engine is a chess app Arena 2.0.1, build 2399.

Aida64, FPU tests

FSI (SPECworkstation 3.1)

Kirchhoff migration (SPECworkstation 3.1)

Python36 (SPECworkstation 3.1)

SRMP (SPECworkstation 3.1)

Octave (SPECworkstation 3.1)

FFTW (SPECworkstation 3.1)

Convolution (SPECworkstation 3.1)

CalculiX (SPECworkstation 3.1)

Poznámka: V prípade, že pri nejakom procesore chýba výsledok z testov SPECworkstation, je to preto, že ho aplikácia z nejakého dôvodu nedokázala urobiť. Vtedy je do tabuľky namiesto číselnej hodnoty zapísaný „error“.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

RodiniaLifeSci (SPECworkstation 3.1)

WPCcfd (SPECworkstation 3.1)

Poisson (SPECworkstation 3.1)

LAMMPS (SPECworkstation 3.1)

NAMD (SPECworkstation 3.1)

Note: If there’s a missing SPECworkstation test result for a processor, it’s because the application was unable to execute it for some reason. In this case, “error” is written to the chart instead of a numeric value.

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Memory tests…

… and cache (L1, L2, L3)

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Note: The L3 memory results, at least with our component configuration, could not be measured in AIDA64, the corresponding application windows remained empty. Tested with older versions as well as with the latest one (6.60.5900).

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Processor power draw curve

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Disclaimer: For big.LITTLE-based processors, the result is missing in some tests. This is because they didn’t scale properly with P cores and the achieved performance was too low. In such cases it is indeed possible to force performance on all cores, but this does not happen by default at the user level. To avoid creating the illusion in some cases that measured results such as those presented in the graphs are normally achieved, we omit them. However, these are a negligible fraction of the total set of test results.

Average processor power draw

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Performance per watt

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Disclaimer: For big.LITTLE-based processors, the result is missing in some tests. This is because they didn’t scale properly with P cores and the achieved performance was too low. In such cases it is indeed possible to force performance on all cores, but this does not happen by default at the user level. To avoid creating the illusion in some cases that measured results such as those presented in the graphs are normally achieved, we omit them. However, these are a negligible fraction of the total set of test results.

Achieved CPU clock speed

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Disclaimer: For big.LITTLE-based processors, the result is missing in some tests. This is because they didn’t scale properly with P cores and the achieved performance was too low. In such cases it is indeed possible to force performance on all cores, but this does not happen by default at the user level. To avoid creating the illusion in some cases that measured results such as those presented in the graphs are normally achieved, we omit them. However, these are a negligible fraction of the total set of test results.

CPU temperature

The most powerful AMD Zen 5 CPU is the fastest not only multi-threaded (when all cores are involved), but also single-threaded. It usually beats the competing Core i9-14900K processor quite clearly. Although, this may not always be the case and there are situations where the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X is weaker. I mean, speed-wise. The efficiency (due to the lower power consumption) may already be on its side.

Conclusion

The new Ryzen 9 9950X can be considered the fastest desktop processor available today, excluding Threadrippers. It outperforms its predecessor (R9 7950X) by 12–14% in heavy 3D rendering workloads. The lead over the Core i9-14900K is already a little smaller – 5% – but this with 16% lower power consumption. This makes the Ryzen 9 9950X 27% more efficient. However, the R9 9950X already trails the R9 7950X by 4% in efficiency, although the newer model is faster. When encoding x264 video in Handbrake, the difference in efficiency (in favor of the Ryzen 9 9950X) is already greater – 10%.

The top-notch performance for x264/x265 encoding is also well suited for video editing programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve Studio. The Ryzen 9 9950X also made its way to the top spot in Topaz Labs AI photo restoration apps. Compared to the competing Core i9-14900K, the AMD processor is as much as two and a half times faster. It owes this to the very efficient implementation of the AVX-512 instruction set with VNNI support.

The R9 9950X also ranks at the top in Affinity Photo tests, in Zoner Photo Studio X (converting uncompressed photos to JPEGs). For batch editing in XnViewMP, the Intel CPU (Ci9-14900K) is still faster, which usually has the upper hand in Adobe Photoshop as well. Exporting RAWs or generating thumbnails (1:1) in Lightroom is already quite even.

(De)encryption in TrueCrypt is already dominated again by the Ryzen 9, where the Core i9-14900K sometimes runs at half the speed. This is the case, for example, in the Serpent tests. This is probably related to the fact that the L1 and L2 caches of Zen 5 cores have twice the data width and thus twice the theoretical throughput, which is confirmed by tests in Aida64. The benefit from this may not always come, in fact it is quite rare, but sometimes it does show up. Performance during (de)compression is like a seesaw, sometimes the R9 9950X has a bit of an edge, other times the Ci9-14900K does.

The gaming performance is stagnant. It can be a hair higher in one game only to be a hair lower in another game. But the average is comparable, with the caveat that if you’re after even the smallest differences, you’ll probably get better results in terms of framerate with the Core i9-14900K in most cases. In terms of efficiency, the latest Ryzen 9 – Granite Ridge – is the best of the trio (Ci9-14900K and R9 7950X and R9 9950X). Its power consumption in games is the lowest, also shaped by the lowest all-core boost clock speeds.

But in heavy multi-threaded workloads, the Ryzen 9 9950X already consumes more power than its predecessor, unless you tone down its power supply. The increase here is at about 30 W, with which it’s still some 50 W below the Core i9-14900K.

However, the power consumption in a single-threaded workload is already higher compared to the Ci9-14900K, even compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X, by about 20%. Here, however, it’s good to know that single-core boost clock speeds are heavily dependent on the temperature. And since that’s been reduced, or at least lower temperatures are being reported, there’s more headroom than there used to be (with the R9 7950X). On average, with the same cooling performance (of the Noctua NH-D14S cooler), we are thus at 150 MHz higher SC boost clock speeds (approx. at 5650 MHz). From these, the elite performance in single-threaded applications is then derived. Be it encoding of audio recordings, the responsiveness of the web environment (Google Chrome) or work in office applications. These are tasks where it can be noted that the Ryzen 9 9950X currently has no competition. The single-threaded performance is very high indeed, albeit at the expense of relatively higher power consumption.

Some more findings on temperature: remarkably, the processor stays below 95 °C even under very heavy load. This creates better room for tuning coolers compared to the last generation and the possibility of using cheaper models. Although, there probably aren’t many reasons to skimp on a cooler with a processor like the Ryzen 9 9950X. The more powerful the better. It’s just that with this processor there is more margin for cooling optimizations, for example, with a view to running a quieter high-performance PC build.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
+ Extreme multi-threaded performance surpassing the Core i9-14900K...
+ ... at a significantly higher efficiency
+ Highest single-threaded performance we've ever seen in tests
+ Top-notch gaming performance
+ "Versatile" processor, fits every usage scenario
+ 16 cores and 32 threads on a mainstream platform
+ Very high performance per clock (IPC)
+ State-of-the-art 4nm manufacturing node
+ Very high clock speeds given the new manufacturing node
+ DisplayPort 2.0 support
+ Favorable price/performance ratio for a high-end CPU
+ Lower temperatures than previously (with Ryzen 9 7000)...
- ... temperature-wise the processor still lands high and a more powerful cooler is suitable
- Need for a very powerful cooler to achieve maximum single-threaded performance
Approximate retail price: 649 EUR

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We would like to thank the Datacomp e-shop for their cooperation in providing the tested hardware

Special thanks also to Blackmagic Design (for DaVinci Resolve Studio license), Topaz Labs (for licenses to DeNoise AI, Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI) and Zoner (for Photo Studio X license)

Continue: Performance per watt

• Contents
• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X in detail
• Methodology: performance tests
• Methodology: how we measure power draw
• Methodology: temperature and clock speed tests
• Test setup
• 3DMark
• Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
• Borderlands 3
• Counter-Strike: GO
• Cyberpunk 2077
• DOOM Eternal
• F1 2020
• Metro Exodus
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Total War Saga: Troy
• Overall gaming performance
• Gaming performance per euro
• PCMark and Geekbench
• Web performance
• 3D rendering: Cinebench, Blender, ...
• Video 1/2: Adobe Premiere Pro
• Video 2/2: DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Graphics effects: Adobe After Effects
• Video encoding
• Audio encoding
• Broadcasting (OBS and Xsplit)
• Photos 1/2: Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom
• Photos 2/2: Affinity Photo, Topaz Labs AI Apps, ZPS X, ...
• (De)compression
• (De)encryption
• Numerical computing
• Simulations
• Memory and cache tests
• Processor power draw curve
• Average processor power draw
• Performance per watt
• Achieved CPU clock speed
• CPU temperature
• Conclusion