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AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D Gaming Benchmarks — The TLDR
We'll start with the high-level view of gaming performance, using the geometric mean of our 16 gaming benchmarks at 1080p, which is then followed by our individual benchmarks further down the page. We're testing with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 FE to reduce GPU-imposed bottlenecks as much as possible, and differences between test subjects will shrink with lesser cards or higher resolutions and fidelity.
As expected, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D beats Intel's competing chips easily. The 9900X3D is 28% faster on average in 1080p gaming than Intel's current-gen Core Ultra 9 285K and 18% faster than Intel's fastest gaming chip, the previous-gen Core i9-14900K. That cements the entire Ryzen 9000X3D lineup as comfortably in the gaming performance lead over Intel's competing chips. However, the Core i9-14900K costs $155 (26%) less for roughly 15% less performance in gaming, giving it some room as a value alternative — albeit with higher power use that can eat into the pricing difference over time.
For those interested solely in gaming, the Ryzen 9 9800X3D remains the best value in the X3D lineup — this chip costs $120 less than the 9900X3D but is roughly 8% faster. It's also the fastest gaming chip on the market, by the slimmest of margins against the 9950X3D. If you don't need more heavy lifting in productivity apps or don't commonly do heavy multitasking during gaming (e.g. recording, encoding on the CPU, etc.), the 9800X3D remains the best overall choice.
If you need more grunt power, the Ryzen 9 models come into focus. If you look solely at the fps-per-dollar metrics, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D has a slight lead over the 16-core 9950X3D; the 9950X3D is 7.3% faster but costs 17% more, skewing the calculation in the 9900X3D's favor. However, the 9950X3D does hold the performance lead over the 9900X3D.
The Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 7 9800X3D are both faster in gaming because AMD's thread-targeting mechanisms make them operate as eight-core processors during gaming, whereas the 9900X3D operates as a six-core chip. That means the 9900X3D isn't as future-proof for gaming in titles that effectively utilize heavier core/thread counts, calling into question the wisdom of spending $600 for what's essentially a six-core chip for gaming.
The difference between the two Ryzen 9 X3D processors is more important in productivity applications, especially given the target market and the slim pricing difference. As you'll see on the following page, there's a much larger difference in heavily-threaded applications that makes it hard to select the 9900X3D over the 9950X3D — the latter is 27% faster in threaded applications, but only costs 17% more. If you're already willing to spend $600 for a gaming-optimized chip that's also great at productivity work, earmarking an extra $100 for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which is faster in both gaming and applications, is a no-brainer.
The 9900X3D is 20% faster than the comparable previous-gen Ryzen 9 7900X3D, an impressive gen-on-gen gain. It's also 12% faster than the previous-gen flagship, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, backing up AMD's claims.
AMD has finally brought full overclockability to its X3D series, but we tested with AMD's simple auto-overclocking Precision Boost Overdrive feature (marked with 'PBO' in the chart). It delivered an imperceptible sub-1% gain in gaming, so we left that entry out of the individual game tests below. However, PBO is more impressive in the heavily threaded workloads in our productivity benchmarks, as you'll see on the following page. More targeted tuning might yield better results in gaming, but as always, your mileage will vary.
Our gaming suite is heavily skewed toward CPU-limited titles, and our selection is also very 3D V-Cache-friendly, though not all games will benefit equally. The competition between AMD and Intel chips can vary based on the title (particularly with X3D models) and the GPU you use. It's best to make an informed decision based on the types of games you frequently play, so be sure to check out our individual game tests below. (Our lab isn't as temperature-controlled as we would like, so consider the gaming temperature measurements a rough guide.)
The results below are very repetitive, so we'll skip most commentary on the individual titles. We've also included AMD's benchmarks with a broader range of 40 titles at the end of this page to provide a more balanced view of the impact of 3D V-Cache in some titles that don't benefit from the extra L3 capacity.
A Plague Tale: Requiem Benchmarks
This is one of the bigger deltas in favor of AMD's other chips. The 9900X3D places third, but it's only barely faster than the prior gen 7800X3D.
Baldur's Gate 3 Benchmarks
Cyberpunk 2077 Benchmarks
Cyberpunk 2077 can be an incredibly GPU-heavy game with ray tracing, so we're opting for the more CPU-constrained ultra (non-RT) settings without upscaling. Note that none of our CPU gaming tests have upscaling of any form enabled.
F1 2024 Benchmarks
We tested F1 24 with the ultra preset, which does enable some RT effects. The game is relatively lightweight compared to other games, and we're still hitting 200+ FPS on most CPUs.
Far Cry 6 Benchmarks
Far Cry 6 is an AMD-promoted game that responds incredibly well to 3D V-Cache.
Final Fantasy XIV Benchmarks
Hitman 3 Benchmarks
Hitman 3 leverages Intel's E-cores for certain game functions, but it also likes Ryzen X3D's voluminous L3 cache. We enabled ray tracing effects for this title to further tax the CPUs, but as you can see, the RTX 5090 still chews through this title easily if the CPU keeps it fed.
Hogwarts Legacy Benchmarks
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Benchmarks
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 obviously benefits from L3 cache — the Ryzen X3D chips are incredible in this title. We've added the newer version of this game to our benchmark suite, too, but we'll keep this one around as well due to its popularity.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Benchmarks
We've also begun testing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This title relies heavily on data streaming and has a unique game engine, so it's time to start poking at it. As you can see, it inherits Flight Simulator 2020's love for 3D V-Cache (perhaps even more so).
Minecraft — AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
Monster Hunter Wilds
Spider-Man 2 Benchmarks
Starfield Benchmarks
The Last of Us, Part 1
Watch Dogs Legion Benchmarks
Watch Dogs Legion closes out our testing with mundane scaling instead of the typical large deltas we see with the X3D chips.
AMD's Ryzen 9 9900X3D Gaming Benchmarks
As mentioned, performance can vary based on the title. AMD shared its own benchmarks to highlight what you should expect in various titles, so this is useful information — especially given that our test suite is 3D V-Cache-friendly. As with all vendor-provided performance data, view it with the appropriate skepticism. AMD's test notes are on the final slide.
- MORE: Best CPU for gaming
- MORE: CPU Benchmark Hierarchy
- MORE: Intel vs AMD
- MORE: How to Overclock a CPU
