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AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs Ryzen 9 5950X 

Which CPU is best? The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X or the Ryzen 9 5950X? Let's examine the two.

Updated: Nov 30, 2022 8:53 am
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs Ryzen 9 5950X 

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AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs Ryzen 9 5950X, which is better? AMD released its Zen 4 CPUs in September 2022. One of the CPUs on that list is the Ryzen 9 7950X. AMD’s new Zen 4 CPUs promise significant performance improvements of up to 35% in some cases over Zen 3, says AMD.  

LIVE NOW: AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs are on sale worldwide.

Ryzen 7000 series is available right now. Buy the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X now!

The Ryzen 9 7950X is one of the best processors money can buy, this is thanks to its massive core count and blistering core speeds. However, this comes at a cost, like any good piece of hardware.

Unfortunately, performance and cost go hand in hand. Especially when you have to cough up for a new motherboard, CPU, and DDR5 memory if you opt for the Zen 4 CPU. So is the Ryzen 9 7950X with it? Or is the 5950X still a better choice? 

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

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Cores

16

Threads

32

Base Speed

4.5GHz

Boost Speed

5.7GHz

Cache

64MB

Socket

AM5

We’re going to examine both CPUs and determine which one is objectively better based on the information we already have on the 7950X. 

The review embargo for Zen 4 CPUs is set as the 26th of September 2022, which suggests that we’ll be getting our review samples soon.


AMD Vs Intel

AMD as a whole has fallen a little short of intel this generation. Not only does AMD have the more expensive CPUs, but it also didn’t manage to hold its multi-core performance dominance, with the 13900K beating the 7950X in multi-core workloads, all thanks to its 8 extra cores. AMD has also lost its price great per performance title. Here’s all the information you’ll need on the battle of AMD vs Intel.


Latest Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 series news

AMD recently announced some performance metrics and the confirmed price of all Zen 4 CPUs. AMD hosted an event on the 29th of August detailing the Ryzen 7000 series lineup.

With only rumors to go off the last eight months, it feels great to get some official confirmation from AMD and CEO Dr. Lisa Su herself.

Zen 4 performance:

Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 series CPUs were unveiled scoring huge points and ultra-fast frame rates, in both synthetic and real-world benchmarks. We have a whole article covering the performance of the new Ryzen 7000 series CPUs in detail here: AMD unveils Ryzen 7000 series specs, price, and more.

The event focused primarily on the Ryzen 9 7950X and its huge lead over the competition’s i9-12900K. But snippets of the other three processors were sprinkled into the mix.

Not only is the Ryzen 9 7950X up to 62% faster than the 12900K, but it also delivers all this performance at much better power efficiency. The 7950X has been rated as 47% more power efficient than the Core i9-12900K. packing some serious performance into a relatively low TDP for these performance metrics.

Zen 3 was amazing, a true feat of engineering, and Zen 4 is here to blow it clean out of the water.

Geekbench scores:

Performance: Geekbench 5.4 single-thread performance vs 12900k

  • 12900K ~ 2040 points
  • 7600X ~ 2175 points
  • 7700X ~ 2225 points
  • 7900X ~ 2250 points
  • 7950X ~ 2275 points

Performance is the name of the game, and AMD seems to be delivering if what we’re seeing holds true upon release. Not only that but projected IPC improvements appear to be higher than even AMD predicted.

AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su explained during the event that, IPC increases are up to 13% over Zen 3 CPUs. The original prediction is that Zen 4 would have IPC increases of around 10%. This 3% jump is huge at core frequencies approaching 6GHz since the 7950X has been spotted running at a massive 5.85GHz.

Ryzen 7000 series Price:

Price: The price of each Zen 4 CPU is as follows:

  • Ryzen 9 7950X – $699
  • Ryzen 9 7900X – $549
  • Ryzen 7 7700X – $399
  • Ryzen 5 7600X – $299

Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 release date confirmed

Release date: The release date for the Rzyen 7000 series was on September 27th, 2022. The same day that Intel unveiled its new “Raptor Lake” CPUs.

There are much more details to be had on the page we created covering the event. Check it out if you want to learn more.


Ryzen 9 7950X vs Ryzen 9 5950X: Specifications 

When comparing any two components, it’s important to analyze the on-paper specifications of each and compare them. This will give us a good understanding of how the two components will perform in relation to one another. 

7950 vs 5950

Ryzen 9 7950X 

The Ryzen 9 7950X is the flagship Zen 4 CPU and promises to lead the charge on AMD’s domination of intel this CPU generation. There’s massive potential for this to be the fastest gaming CPU ever made. 

The Ryzen 9 7950X specifications are as follows: 

  • Cores: 16
  • Threads: 32
  • Base clock frequency: 4.5 GHz
  • Boost clock frequency: 5.7 GHz
  • L3 cache: 80MB
  • TDP: 170W
  • iGPU: RDNA 2

Ryzen 9 5950X 

The Ryzen 9 5950X is the flagship model Zen 3 CPU, breaking records in multi-threaded performance and only just beating the massively enhanced 5800X3D in some games, it just goes to show how much potential Zen 3 still has in its back pocket. 

The Ryzen 9 5950X specifications are as follows: 

  • Cores: 16
  • Threads: 32
  • Base clock frequency: 3.4 GHz
  • Boost clock frequency: 4.9 GHz
  • L3 cache: 64MB
  • TDP: 105W
  • iGPU: N/A

7950X vs 5950X: Specification comparison

Here we will compare the specifications of both the Ryzen 9 7950X and the Ryzen 9 5950X, to see how they both stack against each other on paper. This should help you make an informed decision when comparing any two types of PC components in the future. 

Core and thread count 

Both the 7950X and the 5950X have the same number of cores and threads. 

7950X VS 5950X DRAW

Core count 

A CPUs core count is imperative, as the more cores a CPU has, the better at multitasking it will be. There are a few factors that affect a CPUs ability to multitask, like core speed and cache. But the core count is the one that has the most effect on the CPU. There’s another measurement called IPC that we’ll get into later. 

CPUs with higher core counts are able to handle more CPU instructions simultaneously per core and avoid a system slow-down caused by a backlog of instructions. 

Thread count

Threads are similar to cores, but not the same. Threads are the names given to the second simultaneous instruction processed by the CPU core. When a CPU is multi-threaded, each CPU is given the ability to process two instructions at the same time per CPU core as opposed to one. 

CPUs with more cores will have more threads as long as each core is multi-threaded, and be better at multitasking as a result. Cores and threads attribute to better multi-core performance, whereas metrics like clock speeds lend their hand to single-core performance. 

Clock speed 

The Ryzen 9 7950X has a faster base core and boost speed. 

WIN 7950X VS 5950X

A CPU’s clock speed is a measure of how many times per second a CPU can perform a cycle under normal operating conditions. A CPU cycle consists of three actions, fetch, decode, and execute. These are the fundamentals that comprise basic CPU functions. 

The faster the clock speed the more instructions per second can be executed, making for a faster CPU.

CPU core speed has a direct impact on a processor’s single-core performance. 

Cache 

The Ryen 9 7950X has a much larger cache capacity than the 5950X.

WIN 7950X VS 5950X 1

A CPU cache is storage hardware built into a CPU, located much closer to processing cores than standard memory for speed and accessibility.

Only the most important instructions make it into the higher levels of cache. The cache is comprised of three levels and is structured as follows. 

  • L1
  • L2
  • L3

Level one cache is located closest to the CPU cores and has the fastest access speeds but also the smallest capacity. This is reserved for vital data that is accessed very frequently. 

Level two cache is a nice middle ground, with median capacity and median speed, reserved for less vital data.

Level three cache is where most of your frequently accessed data is stored L3 cache has a very large capacity in comparison to the other levels but is also magnitudes slower. 

Usually, CPUs with higher core counts have larger cache capacities to support the larger number of cores. For example, the Ryzen 7000 series has 1MB of cache per core. 

TDP

The Ryzen 9 5950X has a lower TDP.

7950X VS 5950X WIN

TDP stands for “Thermal Design Power” and it is the maximum amount of thermal energy A processor can output under normal operating conditions. 

Generally, a CPU with a lower TDP is better because it’s more power efficient. But this isn’t always the case.

However, in this case, the 7950X has a higher TDP because it’s much faster than the 5950X, so it consumes more energy. 

170W for a CPU that promises a performance uplift of around 35% – 40% over the same CPU of the previous generation is still pretty power efficient. It’s only an increase of 65W. 

Socket 

Both of our CPUs today belong to different motherboard sockets. The newer Ryzen 9 7950X belongs to socket AM5, and the older Ryzen 9 5950X belongs to socket AM4

7950X VS 5950X DRAW 1

CPU sockets can be thought of as jigsaw pieces, only a CPU and a motherboard with the same CPU socket type are compatible. 

You have to take into account the upgrades needed to make the 7950X compatible with your system, you’ll have to purchase a new motherboard and DDR5 memory. 

This is a disadvantage of sorts on the part of the 7950X, but it doesn’t take away from how phenomenal the CPU is shaping up to be. 

This is all thanks to AMD moving to the LGA socket architecture over the previous PGA architecture AM4 used for the last few years. 

Remember, the 7950X will NOT fit in your current AM4 motherboard, you need to purchase an AM5 motherboard. 

iGPU

The Ryzen 9 7950X comes equipped with an iGPU, whereas, the 5950X does not. 

WIN 7950X VS 5950X 2

All of the Ryzen 7000 series CPUs come equipped with an RDNA 2-based iGPU. This mainly helps the cost of building a whole new system by negating the need to buy a GPU for the system to work. Or you could just forget the GPU altogether 

We don’t know exactly how well the RDNA 2-based iGPUs will run just yet, but if the 5000 series APUs are anything to go off, we’re going to be impressed. 

AMD is famous for its fantastic APUs, so we expect great things from the RDNA 2 series iGPUs in the Ryzen 7000 CPUs. 

Conclusion 

We have to give the 7950X victory over the 5950X. From a performance standpoint, this thing is a beast on paper. With its massive cache, high base clock speeds, boost speeds, and power-hungry TDP, we know it’s going to make one heck of a CPU.

The 7950X may even take the cake as the best gaming CPU when it comes to light in September. 

The Ryzen 9 7950X isn’t going to be cheap, however, as the latest predictions give it an $800 or so price tag, plus the upgrading you have to do to make it compatible with your system. This CPU is not for the faint of heart or the budget gamer. 

Is the Ryzen 9 7950X worth the projected 35% performance improvement? 


Jack is a Tech and News Writer who has a vast and proficient knowledge of CPUs, Motherboards, and Computer technology.

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