AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Review – Not Team Red’s Finest Hour

Zen 5 is finally here, and with it comes the new lineup of desktop processors (that once again skips the even number). The Ryzen 9 9950X will lead the lineup with its 16-core layout, so let’s see how it compares to Intel’s current best in the form of 14th Gen Core i9.

Specifications & Comparison

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

This table lists the spec comparison between AMD’s latest flagship, its predecessor, and Intel’s current top chip:

Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X	AMD Ryzen 9 7950X	Intel Core i9-14900K
Core Configuration	16 cores / 32 threads (2 CCDs)		8P+16E / 32 threads (monolithic)
Process Node	CCD: TSMC N4P IOD: TSMC N6	CCD: TSMC N5 IOD: TSMC N6	Intel 7
Microarchitecture	Zen 5 “Granite Ridge”	Zen 4 “Raphael”	Raptor Lake Refresh P-Core: Raptor Cove E-Core: Gracemont
Boost Clock	5.7GHz		P-Core: 6.0GHz E-Core: 4.4GHz
Base Clock	4.3GHz	4.5GHz	P-Core: 3.2GHz E-Core: 2.4GHz
Cache (L2+L3)	16+64MB		32+36MB
TDP	170W (200W PPT)	170W (230W PPT)	125W (PBP) 253W (MTP)
Memory Support	DDR5-5600 192GB dual-channel	DDR5-5200 192GB dual-channel	DDR5-5600 DDR4-3200 192GB dual-channel
Onboard Graphics	AMD Radeon Graphics 2 CUs (RDNA2) @ 2.2GHz		Intel UHD Graphics 770 32 EUs @ 1.65GHz
Usable PCIe Lanes	24x PCIe 5.0		16x PCIe 5.0 4x PCIe 4.0
Socket Type	Socket AM5 (LGA1718)		LGA1700
Chipset Support	AMD 600, 800 series		Intel 600, 700 series

What’s New?

So here’s what AMD claimed back in Computex this year: Zen 5 is, on average, set to bring 16% worth of instructions per clock (IPC) improvement over Zen 4. On paper, that’s still a considerable jump in single-core performance, and this is done by increasing the bandwidth of various cache levels, the usual improvement of branch prediction, and more.

The new lineup will be best paired with the X870/X870E series motherboards, which is only just revealed by motherboard makers (we’ve taken an early look at this one). That said, all Ryzen 9000 processors will remain compatible with existing AMD 600 series motherboards, provided that you’ve installed the appropriate BIOS update on your motherboard.

Test System

CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux 30th Anniversary Edition Cooler Master MasterGel Maker
Motherboard	GIGABYTE B650 AORUS ELITE AX ICE
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Founders Edition
Memory	Kingston FURY BEAST DDR5-6000 CL36 (2x16GB)
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX 1TB
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 1250 V2 Full Modular 1250W
Case	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis)
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 23H2

Benchmarks

All tests are conducted in out-of-the-box configuration unless otherwise specified. All Intel processors tested follows default power limits of 253W MTP.

Note: During the process of testing the CPUs, AMD published an update on its testing methodology which addresses the lack of gen-on-gen performance uplift. One of the process involves using a special administrator mode that can create significant security risk for normal users, though AMD has made it clear that such a workaround will not be needed in the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update. As the 24H2 update is not yet officially released for all Windows systems, our results is produced on version 23H2 to reflect the current performance.

Cinebench

In both single-core tests of two versions of Cinebench, we observed a 13-16% of improvement, which is right in line with AMD’s claims. However, multi-core tells a different story: in Cinebench R23, the uplift is only 8%, whereas Cinebench 2024 measured a 6.4% increase. Why so? Zen 5’s power scaling behavior seems to be a lot different than Zen 4, which we’ll explain in a bit.

Instructions Per Clock

Zooming into the single-core performance, we compare the different architectures using instructions per clock (IPC) by locking all processors to max out at 4.0GHz. Cinebench R23’s results tells us the 9950X is 17% faster than 7950X at the same clock speed – given that both CPUs have the same 5.7GHz boost clock, it is reflected equally in the single-core test we just mentioned. The newer Cinebench 2024 shows an 8% difference between the two, for reference.

Power Draw

Here’s some pretty interesting part to know about the Ryzen 9 9950X: despite it sharing the same “170W” TDP rating from AMD, its actual power draw has been taken down a notch from its predecessor. You can see the value in the Ryzen Master software – in Ryzen 9 7950X’s case, the PPT limit is 230W; whereas the Ryzen 9 9950X’s PPT limit has been lowered down to 200W. As such, it no longer thermal throttles (95°C is still the limit), and this also provides extra headroom for PBO if you need more performance.

Speaking of which, the second chart above shows the power scaling behavior of all three processors – the Ryzen 9 9950X, Intel Core i9-14900K, and the Ryzen 7 7950X. We can see that the Intel chip scales the best, whereas the Zen 4 chip doesn’t scale well even when you dump tons of power into it (in this case, about 210W at maximum). The Ryzen 9 9950X sits in between the two, though that means it is also less efficient at lower power levels.

Thermals

One big upgrade AMD does bring to the table is the thermals. Ryzen 7000 was criticized for its high temperature despite its relatively lower power draw compared to Intel’s counterparts, and this is solved in this generation thanks to reduced thermal resistance between the silicon to the IHS (integrated heat spreader).

The biggest difference lies in the “105W” test (both Ryzen chips pulls 142W from socket per PPT sensor data), where the 9950X managed to drop a whopping 12 degrees over the same Cinebench 2024 multi-core test. Note that we tested all chips using the high-end Cooler Master 360mm AIO, so your mileage may vary depending on the type of cooler you choose – but you should be able to get away with lower fan speeds for the same thermal performance, at least.

7-Zip

Moving on to other tests, we have 7-Zip. Unfortunately, Zen 5 doesn’t seem to improve much in terms of compression and decompression performance, netting just 1.5% of uplift in this workload.

3DMark Time Spy (CPU)

Another oddity: the Ryzen 9 9950X has in fact slightly regressed in performance in 3DMark Time Spy’s CPU test. We had to test it multiple times to make sure this isn’t a fluke, but the results are indeed consistently behind AMD’s last-gen flagship. Perhaps the new and reworked architecture just isn’t as friendly in games, which demands low latencies from the processors – something that AMD has traditionally fallen behind Intel’s monolithic design due to its chiplet designs.

Handbrake

Next is Handbrake, a popular open-source tool used for video transcoding. We’re seeing a roughly 7% reduction in rendering times, though it’s also 2 seconds off from Intel Core i9-14900K on the same test.

Gaming

Finally, gaming is a bit of a mixed bag – while the majority of the games tested here are GPU-bound for the most part, our new Hitman test pushes CPU the hardest. We observed only a small uplift when comparing 9950X to 7950X, but in both cases they’re significantly behind the Core i9. (We also tested the 7950X3D which averaged at 220FPS in this game.)

Other games, like Forza Horizon 5, can still benefit with a faster CPU – but we don’t see any discernible improvement on 9950X’s part compared to its predecessor. Given the results of the 3DMark test we performed, it looks like the new Zen 5 architecture does struggle to gain performance in games.

Verdict

AMD’s Zen 5 was originally expected to be a reasonable spec bump, given its claims of a rather healthy +16% IPC boost in its first party tests. However, our tests showed that there is some discrepancy between what is claimed by the chipmaker and the real-world results, and the company has indeed clarified on this by using a different test setup that is not safely replicable for most people, as it involves the use of a hidden “administrator” account in Windows that can only be activated by executing a special command.

To be fair, AMD did say you don’t have to do this when Windows 11 24H2 update arrives – but the same update is also bringing performance boosts over Zen 3 and Zen 4 processors. Given that there is very little to gain for Zen 4 users (likely even with the 24H2 update), the Ryzen 9 9950X and Zen 5 architecture in general might just be the most underwhelming Zen generation to ever debut from Team Red.

The MSRP of $649 / RM3,399 also doesn’t help the case, given that Ryzen 9 7950X can be had for just slightly over $500 / RM2,500 today. Value-wise, Ryzen 9 9950X simply doesn’t make sense for users to make the upgrade, be it existing AM5 users or users hanging onto the legacy AM4 systems.

The silver lining, at least, is that AMD may be further investing into the 3D V-Cache lineup, which might be introduced in the coming months. They have promised “some really, really cool updates” on the cache-laden chips, so let’s hope the next lineup will make the upgrade a worthwhile one.

Special thanks to AMD Malaysia for providing the Ryzen 9 9950X and associated parts for testing during this review.