AMD has returned to challenge Intel for the PC gaming throne. The new Ryzen 9 7950X3D closes the performance gap for PC games after losing to the Core i9-13900K with its first Zen 4 processors. However, it does not appear to mimic the massive jump seen with the dominating Ryzen 7 5800X3D due to a pretty uneven bag of performance in the titles we've tried.
This new flagship Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU costs $699 and features 16 cores, 32 threads, and 144MB of cache. It competes with Intel's flagship Core i9-13900K, which has eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores for a total of 32 threads and costs roughly $589. While Intel's primary Core i9 processor is less expensive, AMD must also compete with Intel's new $699 Core i9-13900KS processor, which for the first time crosses the 6GHz barrier at stock speeds.
AMD has guaranteed that its X3D chips will outperform Intel's gaming and productivity capabilities while consuming less power. To find out, we pitted its flagship 7950X3D against Intel's Core i9-13900K and Core i9-13900KS processors. I've been putting AMD's 7950X3D, MSI's Meg X670E Ace motherboard, 32GB of G.Skill DDR5 6000 Memory, and Nvidia's RTX 4090 through their paces.
I ran a variety of workloads, synthetic benchmarks, and games on AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Intel's Core i9-13900K and 13900KS processors. All tests were performed on the most recent Windows 11 2022 Update with VBS security turned off, Resizable BAR enabled, and 1080p resolution. The tests are run at 1080p to eliminate potential GPU bottlenecks and to measure raw CPU performance.
In most of the games I tested, AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D caught up to Intel's Core i9-13900K. The 7950X3D has nearly equivalent frame rates to the 13900K and 13900KS at 1080p in Metro Exodus, and it's also comparable in Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Watches Dogs: Legion.
The only notable exceptions are Shadow of the Tomb Raider and F1 22, where the 7950X3D easily outperforms Intel's latest and brightest. Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran at 354fps in 1080p on the 7950X3D, 308fps on the 13900K, and 313fps on the 13900KS. In F1 22, AMD's 7950X3D achieved 423fps, with the 13900KS behind at 389fps.
Of the games we tested, Intel's primary edge was Gears 5, where the 13900KS averaged 237fps compared to 213fps on the 7950X3D. Nonetheless, it is evident from our modest sampling of games that AMD has closed the gap in this area.
In terms of simulated benchmarks and productivity, Intel remains far ahead. The 7950X3D falls short in PugetBench's Photoshop test but closes the gap in Premiere Pro. I observed that the 7950X3D also falls below both Intel's latest Core i9 CPUs in Geekbench 5 and Cinebench R23. However, it also lags far behind on the 3DMark Time Spy CPU test.
Both of Intel's latest chips hit slightly more than 250 watts at maximum turbo power and can go much higher if a motherboard is set to infinite power. For identical multithread loads, the difference between the 7950X3D and 13900KS can be as high as 200 watts. The 7950X3D also consumes much less power than Intel's Core i9-13900K, according to Digital Foundry.
Both AMD and Intel have recently increased thermal headroom. In our last review, the 7950X ran at roughly 95C amid strong multithread loads, whereas the Core i9-13900K approached 100C in identical workloads. During a multithread load, the 13900KS reached 101 degrees Celsius, whereas the 7950X3D reached 86 degrees Celsius. The same Corsair H150 Elite LCD cooler is used by both CPUs.
Here are some things to think about if you like the performance outcomes. The company's remarkable 3D V-Cache technology is used in AMD's latest 3D Zen 4 processors. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D was AMD's first desktop processor to utilize this technology, and it outperformed its own Ryzen 5900X and Intel's 12th Gen Core i9-12900K at PC gaming last year. Even when compared to the 13900K, it holds its own.
AM5-based motherboards enable DDR5 memory and up to 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes. While we're still waiting for the first PCIe 5.0 consumer SSDs, you'll most likely be pairing any AM5 motherboard with PCIe 4.0 SSDs for the time being. Current AM4 coolers should work perfectly, and like the 7950, I was able to use Corsair's H150 Elite LCD with no modifications. Check with your cooler manufacturer to ensure that existing AM4 units are compatible with these new AM5 motherboards.
I'm happy to announce that the sleep mode difficulties I encountered during my Ryzen 9 7900X review have been resolved. With the newest BIOS upgrades for the MSI Meg X670E Ace, I can finally resume sleep. For pure gaming, AMD may still have a more affordable choice for PC gamers that provides performance and power use benefits.
The 7950X3D will be available with the $599 7900X3D. Both chips will be available on February 28th, with the new Ryzen 7 7800X3D going on sale on April 6th for $449. Although AMD only provided the 7950X3D for testing, the 7800X3D could be a legitimate successor to the 5800X3D, which quickly became a popular option for PC gamers.
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