AMD Ryzen 9 5900X vs AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a high-end 12-core, hyperthreaded (SMT) Vermeer series desktop processor that can process 24 threads simultaneously. Introduced on October 8, 2020, the Ryzen 9 5900X is the fastest 12-core processor and is specified at 105 watts TDP. The top model, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, offers even more power and at the same time offers another 4 cores and 8 threads. 

The Ryzen 9 5900X clocks with 3.7 GHz base clock and reaches up to 4.8 GHz on one core in turbo mode. However, when all 12 cores are loaded, up to 4.5 GHz is still possible.

The performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is consistently excellent in all applications and significantly better than the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X. AMD has been able to significantly improve its single thread performance in particular and even beats the Intel Core i9-10900K in this discipline. The multi-thread performance could also be improved. In an in-house duel, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X can even take on an AMD Threadripper 2950X.

The internal structure of the processor has not changed fundamentally at first glance. The CCX structure has changed a bit compared to Zen2, because now a CCX consists of up to 8 CPU cores. So each individual core can access the complete L3 cache (32 MByte). Furthermore the CCX modules are connected to each other via the same I/O die, which we already know from Zen2. According to AMD, the Infinity-Fabric should now reach clock rates of up to 2 GHz, which in turn allows a RAM clock of 4.000 MHz without performance loss.

For the manufacturing processes, AMD also relies on TSCM for the Vermeer processors for the 7nm production of the CPU cores, although the I/O die is still supplied in 12nm by Globalfoundries. 

In games, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is convincing thanks to the significantly improved IPC. With the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, streaming can be done simultaneously with gaming. But if you only want to play games, you are well advised to take a closer look at the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X or the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a high-end desktop processor of the Raphael series with 16 cores and SMT (Simultaneous Multithreading), which means it can process up to 32 threads simultaneously. With the release in February 2023, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is AMD's fastest consumer processor and the new top model of the 7000 series. The CPU cores clock from 4.2 GHz (base clock) up to 5.7 GHz (single core Turbo). In addition, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D has a CCD with 8 cores that can access the fast 3D V-cache, which offers considerably more gaming performance.

The performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is consistently excellent in all applications tested. In addition, AMD was again able to increase the single-thread performance compared to the non-X3D models. Nevertheless, the lower base clock compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X means that a small drop in multi-thread performance has to be accepted.

The internal structure of the processor is comparable to the previous AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is also still based on the chiplet design consisting of two CCD clusters with 8 cores each. However, the two CCDs differ significantly from each other because one offers the fast 3D V-Cache, which primarily improves gaming performance. In testing, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D was able to put the Intel Core i9-13900K in second place and is the fastest gaming CPU on the market at the time of testing. 

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is an extremely energy-efficient CPU with up to 162 watts (PPT) and is significantly more frugal under load than an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (max. 230 watts).