AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor with 3D V-Cache technology, 16 cores/32 skewed threads, Zen 4 architecture, 144MB cache, 120W TDP, up to 5.7GHz boost frequency, Socket AMD 5, DDR5 & PCIe 5.0

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The latest CPUs in the AMD Ryzen 7000 Series are here. Teased at CES 2023, the X3D Ryzen 9 models are finally hitting the shelves!As of April 6 th, we now also have an X3D Ryzen 7 model too! Starting with the Ryzen 7000 series, AMD began adding low-power IGPs to all of its Ryzen desktop processors. (Before, it was limited to the subset known as the G-series.) But this has been a bittersweet change since its introduction.

Curious as to what games are struggling to run on PC and also what PCs are struggling to run games? Also, are those affected games also having issues on consoles?Synthetic single and multi-core benchmarks test the performance of specific instruction sets and processor operations like floating-point calculations using benchmark tools like GeekBench, Cinebench, and PassMark. If we're talking about this being AMD's take on the perfect gaming processor, we need to step outside of the 1080p gaming environment. We traditionally test at this lower resolution for our CPU game benchmarking so we are able to highlight the difference in performance down to the actual processors. As you go higher in the resolution scale you end up relying ever more on the power of the graphics card, to the point where you cease being able to discern meaningful performance deltas between chip architectures.

AMD’s decision to add extra cache to only one of these chips is somewhat unconventional, as the two CCXs will have different performance characteristics as a result, but there’s a logical reason behind it. The added cache chip and its position on top of one of the CCXs introduce power and heat considerations to the CPU that didn’t exist before. My PC runs every game that I play without issues. And with the recent GPU upgrade I'll be happy for another year or so and will upgrade when needed. Finally, the last major difference is the lower TDP on the 7950X3D compared to the 7950X (120W to 125W). This is mostly from the lower frequency on the 3D V-Cache cores (as well as some other optimizations), meaning that the 7950X3D can use less power overall to get the same or better performance. Testing a processor is arguably one of the most involved processes of any component I review because there are so many things to measure and quantify.Creative performance is a measure of how well the processor performs in several popular creative workloads like Handbrake, Blender, and Adobe Photoshop. Where possible, I explicitly disable GPU accelerated operations or test rendering using the CPU by itself. On the other hand, when a game like Total War: Warhammer III is running, energy efficiency on the 13900K goes right out the window and you start getting power draw above 330W just for the processor. This allows the 13900K to eke out up to 68 more fps than the 7950X3D (or 532 minimum fps for the 13900K to the 7950X3D's 464 minimum fps), but it literally needs almost 2.5 times as much power to accomplish this.

By this measure, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D outperforms the 7950X by about 10% and the 13900K by about 6% when I average out all of the degrees of difference between the three chips, across every test. But even then, the demonstrably better performance of the 7950X3D can be somewhat obscured, since Intel especially benefits from much higher synthetic benchmark scores that don't really translate cleanly into actual real-world performance where the 7950X3D is simply the better processor overall. This difference is even more telling when it comes to gaming performance. Compared to the 7950X, the 7950X3D performs like it is fully one to two generations ahead of its non-3D V-Cache counterpart with roughly 20% to 25% better gaming performance at 1080p. Likewise, when it comes to the Intel Core i9-13900K, the 7950X3D lands about 16% to 19% faster on average, but some games will perform substantially better, and the 7950X3D is never that far behind the 13900K when it does occasionally lose out. Or maybe the Ryzen 9 7900X3D or Ryzen 7 7800X3D might be. I've yet to test the other cache-heavy chips, but if they can deliver the same gaming and efficiency uplifts as this one then they're going to make more sense to a PC gamer. The 7900X3D has the same asymmetrical chiplet layout, so has the same compromises for productivity, but the 7800X3D is a pure 3D V-Cache gaming beast. If you ain't rendering in Blender, that's likely to be the best of the bunch for you. You can refer to the spec table below to see how the full Ryzen 7000 lineup compares. Note that UK prices weren't included in the press release we received, but we're following up with AMD about this and will add this information if we get it.The lower power consumption measured during Adobe Premiere and Cinebench gives the Ryzen 9 7950X3D better overall performance per watt and slightly better overall energy efficiency. This is hurt by the high idle power consumption, however, which never drops below 97W with the system sitting idle at the desktop for prolonged periods. This latter issue may be resolved with a BIOS or driver update, though.

The Xbox Game Bar contains a KGL (known good list) of games that it detects when active, thus triggering Game Mode (you can also instruct the game bar to recognize unknown games and/or other applications as games). The driver communicates with the Windows Game Mode feature, which becomes active when the Xbox Game Bar detects a game is running. Cache has been an essential and highly influential part of computers for decades now, and its importance is unquestionable. What is questionable, however, and what has been questioned since the beginning, is how much cache is enough. Some argue that you can never have enough, but this is illogical. More cache means a larger, or in this case, an extra, chip—and that leads to higher costs. Past a certain point, it becomes questionable if the CPU will even be able to use or take advantage of all the cache you have. In short, this makes the Ryzen 9 7950X3D not particularly competitive against any of Intel’s competing processors either. In almost every test, the Core i9-13900K is simply faster while also costing less. Gaming Tests AMD's Ryzen 7000X3D gaming-focused processors finally have a release date - or rather, two release dates. The Ryzen 9 7900X3D and 7950X3D will debut on February 28th, with the 7800X3D arriving on April 6th. The score in 3DMark obtained by the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is slightly lower than the one obtained by the Ryzen 9 7950X, but by so slim of a margin that it's essentially a tie. These two chips tie in other tests as well but, in F1 22, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D holds a decisive advantage over its similarly named counterpart while also narrowly passing the Intel competition.

While a higher TDP usually relates to higher performance, the inclusion of the added 3D V-cache means that the processor can access a larger pool of superfast cache memory, which is even more useful when gaming than just throwing raw power at the problem. With its own dedicated extra cache, there are fewer fetch operations to the PC's main memory, so the chip runs more efficiently, and potentially cooler under load. Only fusing the SRAM onto one CCD also reduces manufacturing costs, as the hybrid bonding process and additional chiplet make this an expensive technology. AMD also says that using two V-Cache chiplets doesn’t provide enough performance uplift to justify the extra costs. PlaneInTheSky said:The cons just weigh too heavy for me to even consider the CPU or the AM5 platform. When trying to come to an overall assessment of these chips' relative performance, it's better to look at the measurable performance gains between chips across different tests. This makes for a much more sensible average when all is said and done than averaging absolute scores where one CPU test with one very large result can badly skew a final average. Stress testing tools like Cinebench R23 push the processor to its engineered limits in terms of power use and operating temperature, and I use these to make sure that every chip is pushed to full 100% CPU utilization under load to determine the minimum and maximum amount of power the processor uses (measured in watts) and the minimum and maximum temperature recorded (measured in Celsius).