AMD Ryzen 9 3950X - The flagship for the AM4 socket in review
We have already explained what the new Zen2 architecture is capable of in various reviews. With the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X, we now focus on the top model of the AM4 platform. The newly developed chip design allows AMD to accommodate up to 16 cores on one board. Two CCD clusters are fully equipped with two CCX modules each, which means there is a total of 16 active computing cores. Thanks to SMT, the Ryzen 9 3950X can handle up to 32 threads in parallel, which is especially beneficial for multithreaded applications. In comparison to the slightly smaller Ryzen 9 3900X, the 16-core processor only has a base clock speed of 3.5 GHz instead of 3.9 GHz. However, the 3950X boosts 100 MHz higher with a speed of up to 4.7 GHz, which is a small advantage for single-threaded applications.
With a TDP of 105 watts, the full configuration ranks on the same level as the 12-core processor. In practice, however, it quickly becomes evident that 105 watts isn't the end of the story if the restrictions in the UEFI are deactivated.
At the market launch in November last year, the price was around 820 Euros (~$887). Since then, it has dropped a bit, but at the time of conducting our review you still have to reckon with paying 770 Euros (~$833) for the top model. A decent substructure in the form of a motherboard with the X570 chipset should be available in order to be able to use the new features such as PCI Express 4.0.
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The AMD Ryzen processors at a glance
Model | Cores / Threads |
Base clock speed | Turbo clock speed | L3 cache | TDP | Launch price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryzen R9 3950X | 16/32 | 3.5 GHz | 4.7 GHz | 64 MB | 105 Watt | 819 Euros |
Ryzen R9 3900X | 12/24 | 3.8 GHz | 4.6 GHz | 64 MB | 105 Watt | 529 Euros |
Ryzen R7 3800X | 8/16 | 3.9 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 32 MB | 105 Watt | 429 Euros |
Ryzen R7 3700X | 8/16 | 3.6 GHz | 4.4 GHz | 32 MB | 65 Watt | 349 Euros |
Ryzen R5 3600X | 6/12 | 3.8 GHz | 4.4 GHz | 32 MB | 95 Watt | 265 Euros |
Ryzen R5 3600 | 6/12 | 3.6 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 32 MB | 65 Watt | 209 Euros |
Ryzen R3 3300X | 4/8 | 3.8 GHz | 4.3 GHz | 16 MB | 65 Watt | 129 Euros |
Ryzen R3 3100 | 4/8 | 3.6 GHz | 3.9 GHz | 16 MB | 65 Watt | 109 Euros |
Test system details - AMD vs. Intel
We use the following system for the subsequent benchmarks and tests:
- Raijintek Pean Benchtable
- AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
- Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero X570
- Alphacool Eisbaer 280 AiO
- Nvidia Titan RTX
- Corsair RM 1000X power supply
- G.Skill Trident Z Royal gold DDR4-3600 memory kit (2 x 8 GB), set to DDR4-3600 CL16-16-16-36
- Intel Optane 905P 480 GB PCIe SSD
- Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 64-bit (Version 1909)
We would like to thank Caseking at this point for providing us with the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X. The Raijintek Pean is from Caseking as well and was personalized by laser engraving. The motherboard and the RAM came directly from AMD and were included in the press kit for the release of the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X. As cooling we use the Alphacool Eisbaer 280, which Alphacool provided us with.
Processor benchmarks
If we take a closer look at the pure CPU benchmarks, it becomes clear that the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is once again significantly faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X. This is clearly due to its eight additional threads. But even in single-core performance, our test sample is a blink of an eye ahead of the 12-core processor. Nevertheless, Intel leads the popular Cinebench R15 benchmark with the Core i9-9900KS, closely followed by the Core i9-9900K. AMD is clearly superior to Intel in multithreaded applications due to the double number of computing units.
Cinebench R20 | |
CPU (Single Core) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
CPU (Multi Core) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
Cinebench R10 | |
Rendering Single CPUs 64Bit | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
Rendering Multiple CPUs 64Bit | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
Blender - v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X |
WinRAR - Result | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
Geekbench 5.5 | |
Multi-Core | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Single-Core | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X |
Geekbench 5.0 | |
5.0 Multi-Core | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
5.0 Single-Core | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X |
Geekbench 4.4 | |
64 Bit Single-Core Score | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
64 Bit Multi-Core Score | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance Physics | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - 4k Preset | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
R Benchmark 2.5 - Overall mean | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X |
LibreOffice - 20 Documents To PDF | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
WebXPRT 3 - Overall | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X |
3DMark | |
3840x2160 Fire Strike Ultra Physics | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Physics | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
2560x1440 Time Spy CPU | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
Intel Core i9-9900K | |
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
* ... smaller is better
With 16 cores in the Cinebench R15 multi-loop
Our test sample has no difficulties in the first extreme load test with the Cinebench R15 multi-loop. The built-in AiO with the 280-millimeter radiator has no problem cooling the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X reliably.
Application performance
Many applications do not benefit from this amount of cores as is shown in our test. The AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is almost on par with the Intel Core i9-9900KS. The same applies to the synthetic 3D benchmarks. These don't benefit from the additional cores of the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X either. Even the recently tested AMD Ryzen 3 3300X can keep up very well with the flagship here.
Performance Rating - Percent | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
PCMark 10 - Score | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
PCMark 8 | |
Work Score Accelerated v2 | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Creative Score Accelerated v2 | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Home Score Accelerated v2 | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X |
3DMark 11 | |
1280x720 Performance | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1280x720 Performance GPU | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X |
3DMark | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Score | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
3840x2160 Fire Strike Ultra Score | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
3840x2160 Fire Strike Ultra Graphics | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
2560x1440 Time Spy Score | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
2560x1440 Time Spy Graphics | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X |
SPECviewperf 12 | |
1900x1060 Solidworks (sw-03) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
1900x1060 Siemens NX (snx-02) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1900x1060 Showcase (showcase-01) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
1900x1060 Medical (medical-01) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1900x1060 Maya (maya-04) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1900x1060 Energy (energy-01) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1900x1060 Creo (creo-01) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1900x1060 Catia (catia-04) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
1900x1060 3ds Max (3dsmax-05) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
SPECviewperf 13 | |
Solidworks (sw-04) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Siemens NX (snx-03) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Showcase (showcase-02) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Medical (medical-02) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
Maya (maya-05) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Energy (energy-02) | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
Creo (creo-02) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
Catia (catia-05) | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X | |
3ds Max (3dsmax-06) | |
Intel Core i9-9900KS | |
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X | |
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
Energy consumption - Efficient on stock settings
That the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is not an energy-efficient processor should quickly become clear when looking at the technical data. Nevertheless, AMD specifies a TDP of only 105 watts for the flagship processor just like with the Ryzen 9 3900X. However, this is usually exceeded and in the stress test, which we carried out with Prime95, the CPU alone allowed itself up to 140 watts. This is in line with the manufacturer's specifications for the entire CPU package. For the entire system without a monitor, we measured just under 199 watts in the stress test, which is significantly less than with the Intel Core i9-9900KS (about 260 watts).
The AMD system is also a full 35% more economical in the popular Cinebench R15 Multi test, although our AMD test system consumes almost 50 watts more energy without load. However, we've seen this more often in other models of the AMD Ryzen 3000 series. The manufacturer needs to make improvements in the future in this respect in order to beat Intel. Our test system with the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is the hungriest for power when playing games, however, and it strains the power supply with almost 424 watts. The two Intel counterparts are a bit more economical here, even if not by very much.
In terms of temperatures under load, you should definitely use a powerful cooler. Even the AiO we used can't prevent the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X from heating up to 84 °C (~183 °F) in our open test setup. But this is only the peak value during the stress test. On average, the CPU temperature sat at a pleasant 68 °C (~154 °F).
Note: The determined energy consumption always refers only to the test system without monitor.
* ... smaller is better
Overclocking - Destruction of efficiency
The AMD Ryzen 9 3950X can also be overclocked with a few simple steps. We did it with the Ryzen Master tool and were able to achieve a stable operation at 4.2 GHz on all 16 cores. As a result, you get between 5% and 10% more power, but this also results in the power consumption increasing exponentially. In our case, this means a 100-watt higher power consumption in the Cinebench R15 Multi test.
Because PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive) is disabled by overclocking, the processor doesn't boost to 4.7 GHz anymore, which can be achieved on stock settings when one core is loaded. If you still want to overclock your AMD Ryzen 9 3950X, you should be aware that this will void the processor's warranty and that a very powerful cooling solution is needed. From a pure user's point of view, it doesn't make sense to overclock the already very fast processor.
Pros
Cons
Verdict - 16 cores - It's better to have than to need
The AMD Ryzen 3000 family scores overall with good energy efficiency when the processors are operated within their specifications. With the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X, AMD has introduced a 16-core processor for the popular AM4 socket, which can even be used on older X370 motherboards. Users who decide to lay just under 770 Euros on the table (~$833) for the processor will be rewarded with top performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 3950X scores points especially in multithread applications, but it also masters games very well, and the gap to Intel can be increasingly closed.
Intel is still the first choice when it comes to pure gaming performance. But in times when anyone can quickly become a content creator with Twitch and YouTube, the AMD processor is once again a step ahead since gaming and streaming on one PC can be done without issues thanks to the 16 cores and 32 threads.
Those who can call the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X their own can sit back and relax while they confidently skip the next CPU generation.
The same is possible with the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X with 12 cores and 24 threads. But if you want that little bit of extra performance, the only option is the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X. The latter is a bit faster in the tests. In the end, users need to decide for themselves what they want to do with their PC to make a purchase decision. With an AMD Ryzen 9 3950X in your hands, you'll be able to bridge the next few years well to then be able to make a sensible leap to Zen4.