World-class but at a hefty premium

The Ryzen 9 7950X is the most recent and best providing from AMD. The chip was launched as a part of the Ryzen 7000 lineup. It straight competes with the Core i9 13900K for the efficiency crown.
AMD has slashed the value of the Ryzen 9 7950X, making it extra inexpensive than the competitors. Thus, many avid gamers may be trying at this high-end chip for his or her subsequent rig.

AMD not too long ago despatched us the Ryzen 9 7950X processor for evaluate. We ran it via its paces to check whether or not the chip is price avid gamers’ cash this vacation season.

Pre-delivery
A Ryzen Zen 4 chip (Image through Amazon)
The Ryzen 9 7950X is at the moment the best-in-class providing from AMD. This processor is predicated on the most recent Zen 4 structure. It packs 16 cores and 32 threads, making it a beast on paper.
The chip has a base clock of 4.5 GHz and might enhance as much as 5.7 GHz underneath load. It has a TDP of 170W.

Whether you’re enjoying the most recent titles or revisiting a traditional, the AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors are a gaming powerhouse with high-performance “Zen 4” cores. See what’s to come back: amd.com/ryzenWhether you’re enjoying the most recent titles or revisiting a traditional, the AMD Ryzen 7000 Series processors are a gaming powerhouse with high-performance “Zen 4” cores. See what’s to come back: amd.com/ryzen https://t.co/br29Ub1c1f
The Ryzen 9 7950X was launched for an MSRP of $699, making it one of many costliest chips cash can purchase.
Processor nameAMD Ryzen 9 7950XNumber of cores16Number of threads32Manufacturing course of nodeTSMC 5nm FinFETSocketAM5Connectivity PCIe Gen 5Base clock4.5 GHzBoost clock5.7 GHzTDP170WMemory supportup to DDR5-5200Integrated graphicsDual-core RDNA 2-based Radeon graphics @2200 MHz

Overall, it seems to be like a promising chip.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs the competitors
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the Core i9 13900K (Image through Sportskeeda)
The Ryzen 9 7950X competes towards Intel’s Core i9 13900K and the upcoming Core i9 13900KS, which can assist 6 GHz clock speeds out of the field. The 13900K is a powerhouse, identical to the 7950X.
The Team Blue processor packs 24 cores (8 efficiency+16 environment friendly) and 32 threads. It can enhance as much as 5.8 GHz, which is 100 MHz increased than that of the AMD competitor.

Processor nameAMD Ryzen 9 7950XIntel Core i9 13900KNumber of cores1624 (8P+16E)Number of threads3232Manufacturing course of nodeTSMC 5nm FinFET10nm Intel 7Base clock4.5 GHz2.2 GHz for Efficient cores3.0 GHz for Performance coresBoost clock5.7 GHz4.3 GHz for Efficient cores5.8 GHz for Performance coresTDP170W253WMemory supportup to DDR5-5200up to DDR5-5600Integrated graphicsAMD RDNA 2 Radeon [email protected] MHzIntel UHD Graphics [email protected] GHzPrice$699$589
We at Sportskeeda nonetheless have not acquired our 13900K pattern. Thus, we can’t straight examine the chips. However, trying at the efficiency metrics and different evaluations printed on the web, we will conclude that the 7950X has some critical competitors.

Unboxing expertise
Packaging of the AMD Ryzen 7000 processors (Image through Sportskeeda)

The Ryzen 7000 sequence processors observe a comparable packaging design all through the lineup.
The Ryzen 9 7950X’s field, nonetheless, is far bigger than the opposite chips. AMD has put a lot of labor behind its packaging. The cowl is held with magnets. It opens up seamlessly to disclose the processor inside.
The 7950X processor arrived in a clamshell (Image through Sportskeeda)
The chip is well-protected inside a clamshell. We additionally get some paperwork inside. However, the remainder of the field is simply a sponge block.
Overall, the Ryzen 9 7950X’s unboxing expertise is polished. It displays the premium value level of the chip.

AM5 socket and DDR5 assist
Socket AM5 in MSI B650 Tomahawk motherboard (Image through Sportskeeda)
With the brand new Ryzen 7000 lineup, AMD has launched a new socket: AM5. This marks the corporate’s shift from pin grid array (PGA) to land grid array (LGA), one thing Intel has been doing for nearly a decade now.
The new socket comes with 1718 pins and might ship a complete of 230W to the put in chip.
Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5200 CL40 reminiscence (Image through Sportskeeda)

With Zen 4, AMD has shifted to supporting DDR5 reminiscence solely, not like Intel. Team Blue helps each DDR4 and DDR5 RAM modules with their LGA 1700 sockets. However, AMD has reduce off older reminiscence requirements to make sure constant efficiency.

A more in-depth look at the Zen 4 chip design
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X processor (Image through Sportskeeda)
The Zen 4 chips appear to be nothing Intel or AMD has provide you with up to now. They pack an built-in warmth spreader (IHS) with eight legs that connect it to the underlying PCB.

In between these legs, AMD has rigorously positioned the SMDs. These are usually positioned on the again of the chip in Intel’s designs.
This transfer permits AMD to maintain the IHS comparable in dimension to the AM4 chips. Thus, AM4 coolers can be utilized with AM5 sockets effortlessly.
The Zen 4 chips are based mostly on a PGA format (Image through Sportskeeda)
Behind the chip, one can see the gold pads for contact with the pins on the motherboard.
Overall, an LGA Ryzen chip is welcome. This reduces the danger of pin bending or injury, which is frequent with older AM4 processors.

Test bench
Test bench used for recording the benchmarks of the Ryzen 9 7950X (Image through Sportskeeda)
Before we dive into the benchmark outcomes, let’s look at the check bench used within the evaluate.
ProcessorAMD Ryzen 9 7950XMotherboardMSI B650 Tomahawk WiFiMemory2x 16 GB Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-5200CoolerLian Li Galahad 360 AIOStorage1x Crucial MX500 1TB SATA1x Gigabyte Aorus 1TB NVMe Gen4Graphics cardNvidia Geforce RTX 4090 Founder’s EditionCaseOpen-air check benchPower supply1x Deepcool DQ750M 750W 80+ Gold1x Cooler Master MWE 550W 80+ Bronze

Synthetic benchmarks
We ran a number of artificial benchmarks that pushed the processor to its most and examined its productiveness efficiency. The Ryzen 9 7950X carried out fairly effectively in the entire benchmarks.
However, we don’t but have the efficiency numbers of the rivals to check it towards since that is the primary CPU evaluate on this web site.
Ryzen 9 7950X single core efficiency numbers (Image through Sportskeeda)
In the Cinebench R23 single-threaded benchmark, the processor scored 2,011 factors when examined with the fan speeds set to default. The chip, nonetheless, scored 2,039 factors when the fan speeds have been ramped as much as 100%.

Ryzen 9 7950X multi-core efficiency benchmark rating (Image through Sportskeeda)
With the fan speeds set to the default curve, the Ryzen 9 7950X scored a whopping 37,556 factors on the Cinebench multi-core benchmark. The rating is derived primarily due to the excessive thread rely of the chip.
With the followers pushed to 100%, we achieved 37,642 factors within the multi-core benchmark.
Blender benchmark scores (Image through Blender)

The Ryzen 9 7950X additionally impressed us within the Blender benchmark. The particular person scores for every of the benchmarks are listed beneath:
Monster: 291.01Junkshop: 171.45Classroom: 139.90
V Ray Render benchmark scores of the 7950X (Image through Sportskeeda)
The V-Ray render benchmark measures the rendering prowess of the chip. The 7950X broke the 30,000-point margin on this benchmark, proving that it’s a nice choice for video modifying and 3D modeling workloads.
7 Zip benchmark scores of the 7950X (Image through Sportskeeda)

The 7-zip benchmark is a check of information compression. The processor scored a large 213,227 MIPS on this benchmark, making it one of many quickest choices in the marketplace.
Y-cruncher 5B benchmark outcomes (Image through Sportskeeda)
The Y-cruncher benchmark counts constants like pi and others to billions of digits after the decimal mark. This exams the computing efficiency of the 7950X. The chip computed as much as 5 billion locations after the decimal level inside 74.534 seconds underneath inventory PBO.
Geekbench 5 benchmark scores of the 7950X (Image through Sportskeeda)

We additionally obtained spectacular leads to Geekbench 5. The processor scored a whopping 2242 factors within the single-core benchmark and 22,881 factors within the multi-core check.
While it’s laborious to digest artificial benchmarks with out context, the numbers achieved by the 7950X put it among the many quickest processors in the marketplace.

Gaming benchmarks
The Ryzen 9 7950X is a stable gaming processor. It can push a ton of frames when paired with a respectable graphics card.

Since that is the primary processor we’re reviewing, we wouldn’t have framerates to check the outcomes we obtained on the 7950X. However, the processor dealt with the RTX 4090 fairly effectively. Almost each recreation we examined was GPU sure at 1440p.

Thermal effectivity and clock speeds
The new Ryzen processors attain 90 levels whatever the cooler getting used. When harassed with the Prime95 torture check, the 7950X maintained a secure 90+ levels with out throttling.

The Ryzen 7000 chips preserve boosting to increased frequencies and draw extra energy than they’re rated for if they’ve thermal headroom. However, our chip boosted to five,360 GHz but shortly scaled all the way down to round 4,860 MHz and stabilized.
Even the high-end Galahad 360 AIO cooler, working at 100% fan pace, failed to keep up the 7950X at its highest clock speeds. Users who go for this processor should spend a premium on their cooling.

Overall, the design of the Ryzen chips doesn’t make them very thermally environment friendly chips. Users should make investments massive time in cooling, or the chip won’t ever carry out to its fullest.

Power effectivity
As talked about earlier, the Ryzen 9 7950X scales past its 170W rated energy draw. The AM5 socket can ship as much as 230W, which is the utmost the 16-core chip can scale to.

Our evaluate unit hit a most of 236W after which scaled down and stabilized across the 216W margin.
The processor shouldn’t be environment friendly. It’s probably the most power-hungry chips on the market. However, it attracts lesser energy than the Core i9 13900K, as reviews say.

Integrated graphics efficiency
Specs of the iGPU within the 7950X (Image through AMD)
AMD has packed an iGPU with each Ryzen 7000 sequence chip beginning this era. Until the Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 lineup, solely accelerated processing models (APUs), specifically the Ryzen 5 5600G and the Ryzen 7 5700G, used to pack built-in graphics processors.

The 7950X packs a dual-core RDNA 2-based iGPU, the identical structure that powers the Radeon 6000 sequence GPUs. It has a base clock of 400 MHz and might scale as much as 2,200 MHz underneath load.
The 7950X packs a number of RDNA 2 options like {hardware} encoding, assist for the most recent video codecs, driver assist, and extra.

However, customers ought to notice that the iGPUs filled with the X-class processors usually are not highly effective. In the video games that we examined, the processor might barely hit 60 FPS within the lowest settings of a number of the least demanding esports titles.

Value
The Ryzen 9 7950X processor in a gaming rig (Image through Sportskeeda)
The Ryzen 9 7950X is among the costliest processors at present. It was initially launched for a hefty $699 price ticket. However, following low demand volumes, AMD has revised the pricing. These days, it may be purchased for round $573. This makes the high-end Ryzen chip round $50 cheaper than the Core i9 13900K.
In our testing, we discovered the Ryzen 9 7950X to be a gaming and productiveness powerhouse. It is a stable choice for anybody seeking to purchase a high-end chip for his or her gaming rig.

ConclusionThe Ryzen 9 7950X is a stable processor but has a few caveats (Image through Sportskeeda)Product: AMD Ryzen 9 7950XRelease date: September 2022Core and thread rely: 16-cores and 32-threadsSocket: AM5Box contents: Ryzen 9 7950X processor, paperworkMemory assist: as much as DDR5-5200

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