AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Review: Zen 5 at Full Power

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AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
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AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Gaming Performance — The TLDR 

Intel has released new microcode to address instability issues with its 13th and 14th Gen processors. We’ve retested the Intel chips with the new microcode and used the company’s highest recommended power limits within the new guidelines. Intel’s gaming results are higher in this review than we recorded with the restrictive power guidelines imposed before the patch arrived, but those improvements stem from moving to a higher power limit and not from the microcode update.

We encountered more variability in our Ryzen 9 9950X and 9900X gaming tests than we’re accustomed to, and we think an issue we identified with the core parking tech could contribute to the inconsistent results. See our test setup page for more details, but in addition to our results below, you should check multiple reviews to get a broader view of gaming results. We’re re-validating our Zen 5 gaming results and will update as necessary.

Below, you can see the geometric mean of our gaming tests at 1080p and 1440p, with each resolution split into its own separate chart. We tested with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 to reduce GPU-imposed bottlenecks as much as possible. Still, differences between test subjects will shrink with less powerful cards or higher resolutions. We removed the Watch Dogs Legion benchmark from our suite for the time being — the benchmark is now delivering odd results with Intel processors that aren’t reflective of our prior testing. As such, these cumulative results are different than those seen in our Ryzen 5 9600X review. You'll find game-by-game breakdowns further below.

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Ryzen 9 9950X
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The immediate takeaway is that if you’re looking for the fastest gaming chips on the market, look no further than AMD’s previous-gen Ryzen 7000X3D models. The company also has its Ryzen 9000X3D processors slated for release in the future, so those in pursuit of the leading edge might be best served by waiting. These chips do have some performance tradeoffs in applications due to their unique design, and they don’t accelerate all games equally, so do your research before you buy.

AMD’s ‘standard’ non-X3D models lag the gaming-optimized models significantly, but we did see at least some generational uplift with the Ryzen 9 9950X. In our cumulative measure of 1080p gaming, the Ryzen 9 9950X was ~8% faster than the prior-gen Ryzen 9 7950X.

The competition is stiff, though. The $550 Core i9-14900K is 10% faster in 1080p than the $650 Ryzen 9 9950X, while the $400 Core i7-14700K is 5% faster. Engaging PBO and EXPO memory overclocking gives the 9950X another 5% of performance, but bear in mind that the Intel chips will also profit from overclocking and maintain their leads over the 9950X.

The $500 Ryzen 9 9900X delivered disappointing results in our benchmarks — even the $300 Core i5-14600K is faster at stock settings. The Ryzen 9 9900X was only a scant 2% faster than the previous-gen Ryzen 9 7900X, which is close enough to call a tie.

The deltas in these charts can be slim, and large deltas in individual game titles, as we see with the 5000X3D and 7000X3D chips, can have a big impact on cumulative measurements. Also, the competition between AMD and Intel chips can vary based on the title and the GPU you use. It's best to make an informed decision based on the types of titles you frequently play, so be sure to check out the individual game tests below and consult our GPU benchmarks hierarchy to see where your particular graphics card lands.

  • Ryzen 9 9950X: Default power limits, DDR5-5600
  • Ryzen 9 9950X PBO: Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) — advanced motherboard, 10X scalar, +200 MHz CPU clock, -10 Curve Optimizer, DDR5-6000 EXPO profile (fabric 2000 MHz, mclk/uclk 1:1)
  • Ryzen 9 9900X: Default power limits, DDR5-5600
  • Ryzen 9 9900X PBO: Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) — advanced motherboard, 10X scalar, +200 MHz CPU clock, -20 Curve Optimizer, DDR5-6000 EXPO profile (fabric 2000 MHz, mclk/uclk 1:1)

Borderlands 3 on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

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Ryzen 9 9950X
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Cyberpunk 2077 on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

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Ryzen 9 9950X
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

F1 2023 on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

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Ryzen 9 9950X
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Far Cry 6 on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

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Ryzen 9 9950X
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Hitman 3 on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

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Ryzen 9 9950X
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2021 on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

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Ryzen 9 9950X
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Paul Alcorn
Paul Alcorn
Managing Editor: News and Emerging Tech

Paul Alcorn is the Managing Editor: News and Emerging Tech for Tom's Hardware US. He also writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage, and enterprise hardware.

77 Comments Comment from the forums
  • codex5600x
    Disappointed 🤮🤮🤮
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    codex5600x said:
    Disappointed 🤮🤮🤮
    What you expect from AMD :) next gen will be better
    Reply
  • HideOut
    Your story mentioned the USB 4.0 60GB/s with 3rd party chips, is that a new feature? its 40GB/s and then the newest standard of Thunderbolt is 80/80 (or 120 if you change one of the channels to make it asymetrical). There is no such thing as 60

    And pretty much like every other enthusiest on here, I think th is is the most disapointing AMD launch...ever
    Reply
  • PaulAlcorn
    HideOut said:
    Your story mentioned the USB 4.0 60GB/s with 3rd party chips, is that a new feature? its 40GB/s and then the newest standard of Thunderbolt is 80/80 (or 120 if you change one of the channels to make it asymetrical). There is no such thing as 60

    And pretty much like every other enthusiest on here, I think th is is the most disapointing AMD launch...ever
    Good eye. Typo, fixed!
    Reply
  • btmedic04
    While this isn't like 6 generations of skylake, it sure feels a bit like it. This is why we need a competitive product from both companies in both performance and power
    Reply
  • Gururu
    It gets so confusing when the performance of new products falls between products from the past generation. Just make one chip with a true generational difference and charge $600.
    Reply
  • NinoPino
    Very disappointing the single thread and gaming results. Anyway I find suspicious results on some benchmarks.

    There are regressions respect 7950X in games like "Far Cry 6" and "Hitman 3".

    Regression also in Outlook score vs 7950X.

    I found abnormal also the NAMD score that for the 9950X is 0.6328 days/ns while Phoronix achieved a 3.14 ns/day that is about twice the performance, for comparision the 14900k is in line with Phoronix.

    I suspect there is something to analyse and refine on these benchmarks.

    Agree that the driver problem with core parking feature is something unacceptable. But the need to reinstall the OS seems to me something exaggerated, must exist a better solution.

    Also is historical the surpass in Adobe benchmarks.

    Thanks for the review.
    Reply
  • redgarl
    There is obviously something fishy with Windows when you look at the results on Linux.

    "The Ryzen 9 9950X was 33% faster than the Intel Core i9 14900K performance overall and even the Ryzen 9 9900X was 18% faster than the Core i9 14900K. For those still on AM4, the Ryzen 9 9950X was delivering 1.87x the performance of the Ryzen 9 5950X processor. These are some great gains found with the Ryzen 9 9900 series."

    -Phoronix

    Reply
  • jeremyj_83
    Anyone know if Zen 5 will allow for a mclk/uclk 1:1 with DDR5-6400 RAM or will that max out at 6000 again?
    Reply
  • Blastomonas
    Whilst it maybe disappointing for some, it simply appears that AMD are continuing to separate out their gaming CPU range from their productivity range.

    This appears to be a very powerful and efficient chip for multi core workloads that will likely get better when some of the usual teething problems are ironed out.

    Nothing groundbreaking, just a bit better.
    Reply