Hardware

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X & Ryzen 9 9900X CPUs Review: Zen 5 For High-End Desktops

Hassan Mujtaba • Aug 14, 2024 at 09:00am EDT

Product Info

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X / AMD Ryzen 9 9900X

15th August, 2024

Type

CPUs

Price

$499 / $649 US

AMD Ryzen 9000 CPU Family (Specs/Prices)

So as for the lineup, the AMD Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" family is composed of four SKUs to start. These include the Ryzen 9 9950X, Ryzen 9 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X and the Ryzen 5 9600X. Let's take a look at the specifications of these chips.

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 16-Core Desktop CPU

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X "100-000001277" CPU is the flagship offering with two Zen 5 CCDs and a single IOD. The CPU offers 16 cores, 32 threads, a base clock of 4.3 GHz, and a max boost clock of up to 5.7 GHz. It comes with 80 MB of cache (64 MB L3 + 16 MB L2) and has a TDP of 170W. Now in terms of clock speed, while the boost clock is identical to the Ryzen 9 7950X, the base clock is slightly dialed down by -200 MHz but we can expect a lot of efficiency coming out of this flagship product, especially in terms of multi-threaded performance.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X also packs 3 chiplets, two of which are the Zen 5 CCDs, each with 8 cores, 16 threads, and 32 MB of L3 cache while the third chiplet is the IO die or IOD which is based on the TSMC 6nm process node is nearly identical to the IOD we saw on the Ryzen 7000 chips but with a few minor adjustments. The IOD retains the same 2 compute units based on the RDNA 2 graphics architecture and comes clocked at 2200 MHz. The CPU comes with full support for overclocking on the CPU, & memory, & has all tech support for PBO2, Curve Optimizer, and support within the Ryzen Master utility. AMD also recommends a liquid cooler for optimal performance with this behemoth.

AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 12-Core Desktop CPU

Next, we have the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X "100-000000662" CPU, the 12-core and 24-thread variant. This chip has a base clock of 4.4 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.6 GHz with a 76 MB cache. The interesting thing with this chip is that it has a TDP of 120W much lower than the 170W of Ryzen 9 7900X chips.

Once again, while the chip retains the same boost clock speed as the Ryzen 9 7900X, the base clock sees a -300 MHz reduction which is once again to fit within the 120W power limit but once again, the 12-core should be able to boast some nice multi-threaded capabilities. Following are the TDP comparisons between the four chips of this generation with the prior one:

Ryzen 9 7950X (170W) -> Ryzen 9 9950X (170W)
Ryzen 9 7900X (170W) -> Ryzen 9 9900X (120W)
Ryzen 7 7700X (105W) -> Ryzen 7 9700X (65W)
Ryzen 5 7600X (105W) -> Ryzen 5 9600X (65W)

AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 8-Core Desktop CPU

For the more mainstream users, AMD has the Ryzen 7 9700X "100-000001404" which is an 8-core CPU with 16 threads, a base clock of 3.8 GHz, a boost clock of up to 5.5 GHz, 40 MB of cache (1 CCD with 32 MB L3 + 8 MB L2), and a low TDP of 65W which is also much lower than the 105W TDP featured on its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 7700X.

The Ryzen 7 7700X has a 105W part while the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X has a 65W part which is almost half its TDP and that means that the clocks do take a slight bit of hit with the base clock being -700 MHz lower but the boost clock is rated at +100 MHz. For the 65W SKUs, AMD recommends using a premium air cooler for optimal performance but even with such a low TDP, AMD is making sure that enthusiasts don't miss out on the OC and tuning features as the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 chips come with all the goodies as the higher-end Ryzen 9 SKUs based on the Zen 5 core architecture.

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 6-Core Desktop CPU

Lastly, the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X "100-000001405" CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads. This chip has a base clock of 3.9 GHz maximum boost clock of up to 5.40 GHz and packs 38 MB cache and the same 65W TDP. Only the AMD Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 CPUs see a clock bump over their predecessor while the Ryzen 9 chips retain the same clock speeds.

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X sees a 100 MHz boost clock improvement over its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 7600X but comes with a lower base clock of -800 MHz.

AMD Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" Desktop CPUs Specs:

CPU Name	Architecture	Cores / Threads	Base / Boost Clock	Cache	Graphics (Integrated)	Memory Support	TDP	Price (MSRP/Current 6/14/25)
Ryzen 9 9950X3D2	Zen 5	16/32	4.3 / 5.6 GHz	192 MB L3 + 16 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	200W	$799?
Ryzen 9 9950X3D	Zen 5	16/32	4.3 / 5.7 GHz	128 MB L3 + 16 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	170W	$699 / $699 US
Ryzen 9 9950X	Zen 5	16/32	4.3 / 5.7 GHz	64 MB L3 + 16 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	170W	$599 / $520 US
Ryzen 9 9900X3D	Zen 5	12/24	4.4 / 5.5 GHz	128 MB L3 + 12 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	120W	$599 / $599 US
Ryzen 9 9900X	Zen 5	12/24	4.4 / 5.6 GHz	64 MB L3 + 12 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	120W	$469 / $376 US
Ryzen 9 PRO 9945	Zen 5	12/24	3.4 / TBD GHz	64 MB L3 + 12 MB L2	2x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	65W	TBD
Ryzen 7 9850X3D	Zen 5	8/16	4.7 / 5.6 GHz	96 MB L3 + 8 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	120W	$400-$500?
Ryzen 7 9800X3D	Zen 5	8/16	4.7 / 5.2 GHz	96 MB L3 + 8 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	120W	$479 / $472 US
Ryzen 7 9700X	Zen 5	8/16	3.8 / 5.5 GHz	32 MB L3 + 8 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	65W/105W	$329 / $304 US
Ryzen 7 9700F	Zen 5	8/16	3.8 / 5.5 GHz	32 MB L3 + 8 MB L2	N/A	DDR5-5600	65W	$249 US?
Ryzen 7 PRO 9745	Zen 5	8/16	3.8 / TBD GHz	32 MB L3 + 8 MB L2	2x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	65W	TBD
Ryzen 5 9600X3D	Zen 5	6/12	TBD	96 MB L3 + 6 MB L2	2x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	65W	TBD
Ryzen 5 9600X	Zen 5	6/12	3.9 / 5.4 GHz	32 MB L3 + 6 MB L2	2 x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	65W/105W	$249 / $179 US
Ryzen 5 PRO 9645	Zen 5	6/12	3.9 / TBD GHz	32 MB L3 + 6 MB L2	2x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	65W	TBD
Ryzen 5 9600	Zen 5	6/12	3.8 / 5.2 GHz	32 MB L3 + 6 MB L2	2x RDNA 2 CUs	DDR5-5600	65W	$189 / ?

Sweet Spot DDR5-6000 Again But Upper Limit Enhanced To 6400 MT/s With Over 8000 MT/s OC Modules Easily Support

First of all, the integrated memory controller for the AMD Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" CPUs is similar to the Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" CPUs but comes with slight refinements. We have been told that the CPUs will be able to support DDR5-5600 by default and up to DDR5-6400 memory at a 1:1 fabric clock. The sweet spot is still going to be DDR5-6000 1:1 but on both X670 and X870, the upper limit will be set at 6400 MT/s.

As we already know, the AMD Ryzen Desktop CPUs feature three distinct clock speeds as a part of their internal memory structure, these include:

Infinity Fabric Clock (FCLK): Governs how quickly CPU cores can communicate across CPU dies and with SOC controllers (e.g. PCIe, SATA, USB)
Memory Controller (UCLK): Governs how quickly the memory controller can ingest/exgest commands from RAM.
Memory Clock (MCLK): The frequency of your main system memory.

For those who want to push things higher, the X870E and X870 motherboards will offer a great OC design that is specifically geared towards memory overclocking with new and improved DRAM OC features. AMD's board partners fine-tuned the DDR5 support on existing AM5 motherboards, making them scale past the 10,000 MT/s barrier with ease which wasn't possible at launch.

The advantage that a 1:1 brings to the table is that it will allow for lower latencies and a balanced speed while a higher ratio will allow for better overclocking, & faster data transfer rates but will also lead to poor latencies.

AMD Ryzen 3000 "Zen 2" Sweet Spot - DDR4-3800
AMD Ryzen 5000 "Zen 3" Sweet Spot - DDR4-4000
AMD Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" Sweet Spot - DDR5-6000
AMD Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" Sweet Spot - DDR5-6000 (Upper Limit - 6400 MT/s)

AMD will also be adding some new overclocking features which we will see on existing 600-series and upcoming 800-series motherboards such as Memory Optimized Performance Profiles or OPP, and "Curve Shaper" for CPU overclockers and tuners.

AMD Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" Desktop CPU Performance

AMD also shares a few performance figures for its upcoming Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" Desktop CPUs. The Ryzen 9 9950X has been compared against the Intel Core i9-14900K. It offers up to a +56% leap in productivity performance (+29.8% average uplift) and up to a +23% leap in gaming performance (+13.2% average uplift), a significant jump over Intel's flagship CPU. The performance was done on an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU so it will be interesting to see how these chips fare with the RTX 40 series which loves extra CPU performance.

In gaming, the Ryzen 9 9950X should end up considerably faster than its Ryzen 7000 predecessors but we can expect Zen 5 3D V-Cache to further take this leap forward. AMD states that the improvement in game performance comes from the reduced latencies associated with the chip.

Also, it should be mentioned that AMD has also clarified that while Zen 5 is much faster than its older Zen 4 parts and the competition, Zen 4 3D V-Cache SKUs are likely going to remain the king but the difference between the last-gen X3D and the newest Non-X3D parts will be thinner this time which is great to hear since you can expect 3D V-Cache performance and faster multi-threaded capabilities out of these new Zen 5 chips.

This can be seen in the benchmark above where AMD uses the 5800X3D for comparison against the 9700X. The 5800X3D is based on the Zen 3 architecture and the Ryzen 7 9700X offers an average 12% faster performance than that chip. This would suggest that the Ryzen 7800X3D would still end up faster in gaming versus the 9700X.

Once again, the Ryzen 9000 3D V-Cache CPUs are also expected to launch later this year so for those who are only aiming for faster gaming numbers, it might be better to wait a bit more. AMD also recently updated its 3D V-Cache optimizer suite in the latest Ryzen chipset drivers ahead of the next-gen launch so it looks like the groundwork for them is already being laid out.

Another key area where AMD shows Zen 5's improvements is power and temperatures. We have already reported how Ryzen 9000 CPUs will be cooler and consume lower power than Ryzen 7000 "Zen 4" chips and that is confirmed by AMD. The Ryzen 9 9950X should offer a 22% uplift at the same 170W TDP, the Ryzen 9 9900X will offer 16% higher performance at a 50W lower TDP, the Ryzen 7 9700X will offer an 11% uplift versus the Ryzen 7 7700X at a 40W lower TDP while the Ryzen 5 9600X will offer a 17% improvement over the 7600X at a 40W lower TDP.

Ryzen 9 9950X (170W) vs Ryzen 9 7950X (170W) = +22% Performance
Ryzen 9 9900X (120W) vs Ryzen 9 7900X (170W) = +16% Performance
Ryzen 7 9700X (65W) vs Ryzen 7 7700X (105W) = +11% Performance
Ryzen 5 9600X (65W) vs Ryzen 5 7600X (105W) = +17% Performance

AMD says that the Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" CPUs feature a 15% improvement in thermal resistance, leading to 7C drop in temperatures at the same TDP.

AMD also states that the Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" Desktop CPUs make for the ultimate content creator AI platform with a 100% uplift in graphics bandwidth thanks to dedicated PCIe 5.0 lanes which the current Intel lineup lacks and a 20% AI acceleration in LLMs such as Mistral. Do note that AMD isn't incorporating an NPU on its Ryzen 9000 Desktop CPUs but the new architectural improvements lead to better AI performance than the competition.