Ryzen 9 7950X Sets Overclocking Records With AIO Cooler

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16 cores of pure Zen 4 power

Zen 4 CPU
Zen 4 CPU (Image credit: AMD)

Who said you need exotic cooling to break overclocking records? A group of overclockers have taken AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X Zen 4 (Raphael) processor, touted as one of the best CPUs, and set four new overclocking records for the 16-core processor category. The fascinating part of the feats is that the overclockers used a conventional 280mm AIO liquid cooler.

The Ryzen 9 7950X hit 5.4 GHz on all 16 cores to score 40,498 points in Cinebench R23 to outpace the Core i9-12900KS, the previous record holder. For comparison, the Core i9-12900KS had to reach 7 GHz under liquid nitrogen (LN2) to rake in 40,412 points. Although the margin of difference was minimal, it was impressive to see the Ryzen 9 7950X came out on top with a 23% lower clock speed. It just goes to show Zen 4 has a tough cookie to beat.

AMD's Zen 4 flagship also took home the trophy as the fastest 16-core chip in Cinebench R20. Surprisingly, the Ryzen 9 7950X only achieved an all-core clock speed of 5.35 GHz. Nonetheless, it was enough to beat the Ryzen 9 5950X, which had previously set the record at 6 GHz with LN2 cooling.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
BenchmarkScoreAll-Core (GHz)MotherboardMemory
Cinebench R2340,4985.4ASRock X670E Taichi32GB DDR5-4800 C40
Cinebench R2015,7715.35Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master32GB DDR6-6000 C30
Cinebench R156,9005.5Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Hero16GB DDR5-6000 C30
7-Zip228,9925.45MSI MEG X670E Ace32GB DDR5-5800 C38

The Ryzen 9 7950X had its best performance in the older Cinebench R15 benchmark, which soared to 5.5 GHz on all cores. As a result, the chip scored 6,900 points to beat the Ryzen 9 5950X's 6,832 points. The latter had accomplished the mark with a 6 GHz clock speed under LN2.

The last record pertained to 7-Zip, where the Ryzen 9 7950X attained a 5.45 GHz all-core clock speed to put up 228,922 MIPS. Admittedly, it was the most significant delta out of the four records. The Ryzen 9 7950X outperformed the Ryzen 9 5950X at 5.24 GHz (LN2) by a 4.4% margin.

The overclocking records today are just a preview of what's to come. AMD is working with renowned extreme overclockers to push Zen 4 into new heights with LN2. In addition, expect the Ryzen 9 7950X to disrupt the overclocking scene very soon.

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Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Michael Nager
    You seem to be shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, about the performance of the 7950X.

    The only way you can be shocked is if in the previous three years you have been either too incompetent or too lazy to actually learn how to configure Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen CPUs.

    You see, some of us - well me - actually put in the effort to find out how Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen works and then put out a guide about how to optimally configure ANY Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen CPU on ANY motherboard optimally within about five minutes - including the BIOS.

    The thing is you geniuses, I predicted the performance of the 7950X MONTHS ago and to prove it, here is something I talked about to a friend of mine on Discord on the 13th of June 2022 (I had worked it out before that, but that is the first time I had written it).

    If you want to dispute the veracity of my statement or the time I made it, I do have a screenshot that I cannot post here, but can easily make available to you.

    So here is the evidence for my Svengali-like prescience or as I put it:

    Using simple arithmetic and my experience with Ryzen I can tell you almost exactly what performance to expect from a 7950X (or whatever they choose to call their Zen4 16 Core/32 Thread CPU.

    All core frequency between 5.15 and 5.2 GHz
    Optimal voltage around 1.05 Volts
    CineBench R23 performance around 39,500.
    Maximum temp with a good cooler around 75 degrees Celsius with an all core load on a warm day.

    To point four, because I have had two spine operations and suffer from spinal arthritis, I have to keep the temperature of my room at 30 degrees Celsius - which is at least ten degrees Celsius higher than anyone else tests their CPUs at, so the 75 Degrees Celsius temp has to be considered with that in mind. Remember I am extrapolating from my experience with my 3600X, then 3950X and then 5950X in my own environment.

    So what I can deduce from your being shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, with regard to the performance of the 7950X you have seen, is that:

    a) You guys can't do simple arithmetic.
    b) You guys haven't bothered your backsides in three years to find out anything about Ryzen CPUs.

    My guide to configuring 3rd/4th Gen Ryzen CPUs on any motherboard has been public for a long time now. I originally published it on AMD's site and have refined it as my experience with different environments informed me, to the latest version that I published here:

    You might want to just boot up some random Ryzen 3rd or 4th Gen system you have lying about, apply my guide, and see just how much performance you scrubs have been missing out on for over three years.

    <Moderator edit for self promotion>
    Reply
  • drivinfast247
    Michael Nager said:
    You seem to be shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, about the performance of the 7950X.

    The only way you can be shocked is if in the previous three years you have been either too incompetent or too lazy to actually learn how to configure Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen CPUs.

    You see, some of us - well me - actually put in the effort to find out how Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen works and then put out a guide about how to optimally configure ANY Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen CPU on ANY motherboard optimally within about five minutes - including the BIOS.

    The thing is you geniuses, I predicted the performance of the 7950X MONTHS ago and to prove it, here is something I talked about to a friend of mine on Discord on the 13th of June 2022 (I had worked it out before that, but that is the first time I had written it).

    If you want to dispute the veracity of my statement or the time I made it, I do have a screenshot that I cannot post here, but can easily make available to you.

    So here is the evidence for my Svengali-like prescience or as I put it:



    To point four, because I have had two spine operations and suffer from spinal arthritis, I have to keep the temperature of my room at 30 degrees Celsius - which is at least ten degrees Celsius higher than anyone else tests their CPUs at, so the 75 Degrees Celsius temp has to be considered with that in mind. Remember I am extrapolating from my experience with my 3600X, then 3950X and then 5950X in my own environment.

    So what I can deduce from your being shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, with regard to the performance of the 7950X you have seen, is that:

    a) You guys can't do simple arithmetic.
    b) You guys haven't bothered your backsides in three years to find out anything about Ryzen CPUs.

    My guide to configuring 3rd/4th Gen Ryzen CPUs on any motherboard has been public for a long time now. I originally published it on AMD's site and have refined it as my experience with different environments informed me, to the latest version that I published here:

    Definitive Guide to Configuring 3rd/4th Gen Ryzen CPUs on any Ryzen Motherboard
    You might want to just boot up some random Ryzen 3rd or 4th Gen system you have lying about, apply my guide, and see just how much performance you scrubs have been missing out on for over three years.

    Cool story, bro!
    Reply
  • Gam3r01
    Michael Nager said:
    You seem to be shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, about the performance of the 7950X.

    The only way you can be shocked is if in the previous three years you have been either too incompetent or too lazy to actually learn how to configure Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen CPUs.

    You see, some of us - well me - actually put in the effort to find out how Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen works and then put out a guide about how to optimally configure ANY Ryzen 3rd/4th Gen CPU on ANY motherboard optimally within about five minutes - including the BIOS.

    The thing is you geniuses, I predicted the performance of the 7950X MONTHS ago and to prove it, here is something I talked about to a friend of mine on Discord on the 13th of June 2022 (I had worked it out before that, but that is the first time I had written it).

    If you want to dispute the veracity of my statement or the time I made it, I do have a screenshot that I cannot post here, but can easily make available to you.

    So here is the evidence for my Svengali-like prescience or as I put it:



    To point four, because I have had two spine operations and suffer from spinal arthritis, I have to keep the temperature of my room at 30 degrees Celsius - which is at least ten degrees Celsius higher than anyone else tests their CPUs at, so the 75 Degrees Celsius temp has to be considered with that in mind. Remember I am extrapolating from my experience with my 3600X, then 3950X and then 5950X in my own environment.

    So what I can deduce from your being shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU, with regard to the performance of the 7950X you have seen, is that:

    a) You guys can't do simple arithmetic.
    b) You guys haven't bothered your backsides in three years to find out anything about Ryzen CPUs.

    My guide to configuring 3rd/4th Gen Ryzen CPUs on any motherboard has been public for a long time now. I originally published it on AMD's site and have refined it as my experience with different environments informed me, to the latest version that I published here:

    You might want to just boot up some random Ryzen 3rd or 4th Gen system you have lying about, apply my guide, and see just how much performance you scrubs have been missing out on for over three years.
    Nothing in this article gave the impression of the author being "shocked", its just a report of clock speeds and benchmark results. No analysis.
    Additionally, if you would like to post images please upload them to imgur and post the link, thats typically the best way with our forum software.
    Reply
  • Michael Nager
    Gam3r01 said:
    Nothing in this article gave the impression of the author being "shocked", its just a report of clock speeds and benchmark results. No analysis.
    Additionally, if you would like to post images please upload them to imgur and post the link, thats typically the best way with our forum software.

    I take it you didn't look at the title of the article which was:

    Ryzen 9 7950X Sets Overclocking Records With AIO Cooler
    Reply
  • Michael Nager
    drivinfast247 said:
    Cool story, bro!
    Yeah, unfortunately the link to my guide was deleted because of "Self Promotion".

    So that was a big Eff-You to anyone wanting to actually get something for literally nothing.

    BTW if you run your 3rd/4th Gen Ryzen at stock then you will degrade it significantly within a few months.

    I have posted the results of my findings on the AMD Red Team forum with regard to that, but again I cannot post a link here because that too would be "Self Promotion".
    Reply
  • Michael Nager
    Gam3r01 said:
    Nothing in this article gave the impression of the author being "shocked", its just a report of clock speeds and benchmark results. No analysis.
    Additionally, if you would like to post images please upload them to imgur and post the link, thats typically the best way with our forum software.

    Speaking to you as a moderator, I spent eight months seven days a week, many hours a day finding out how to configure first 3rd Gen and by extension 4th Gen Ryzen.

    My guide has NO links to PayPal, Patrion, or any other "Gimme your effing money" sites. So I don't see how my linking it has any connection to any kind of "Self Promotion".

    I linked to my guide here out of a sense of sharing and not pernicious panhandling.

    I am an old school techie, my first overclock was an 8088 from 4.77 MHz to 6 MHz and I remember the people that invested time in me to teach me how to do it all without not just not asking for any penny, but that they would have felt insulted if I had offered them money.

    I am 63 now and I cannot pay those guys back, but I can pay it forward.

    By deleting the link to my guide it is YOU who have succumbed to the rot which is monetization, not I.
    Reply