What CPU is equivalent to Ryzen 9 5950X?

What CPU is equivalent to Ryzen 9 5950X? Let's find out

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AMD’s previous Zen 3 flagship, the Ryzen 9 5950X processor, dominated the CPU industry for quite some time. It had an incredible 16 cores and 32 threads, making for unrivaled productivity and multitasking performance – something Intel’s CPUs simply couldn’t compete with due to their comparatively lower thread counts. Time to find out what CPU is equivalent to Ryzen 9 5950X?

Now Read: Best motherboard for Ryzen 9 5950X 

Of course, we now have newer and much stronger Zen 4 and Raptor Lake CPUs out and about, but the 5950X remains a very powerful processor. Let’s see whether Intel has produced something that can replicate its performance. 

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AMD Ryzen 9 5950X – processor specifications

Here’s an overview of the 5950X’s specs so you can get a better idea of what we’re working with. 

• 16 cores
• 32 threads
• Boost clock: 4.9GHz
• Base clock: 3.4GHz
• L1 cache: 1MB
• L2 cache: 8MB
• L3 cache: 64MB
• Default TDP: 105W
• Socket AM4

As previously mentioned, the 16-core 32-thread setup remained unmatched for quite some time. The clock speeds, while nothing exceptional by today’s standards, are at the very least decent. A 4.9GHz boost clock will make for a comfortable gaming experience. 

The process has a healthy 64MB L3 cache and is quite power efficient as well, consuming only 105 watts of power compared to the power-hungry 200 and 300-watt titans we now have available as consumer-grade processors.

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What CPU is equivalent to the Ryzen 9 5950X?

The Ryzen 9 5950X features a high thread count but a relatively low clock speed. As such, no CPU can offer completely identical performance across the board, but the Intel i9-12900K does come close. 

Intel core i9-12900K

A standard edition of the Alder Lake flagship, the core i9-12900K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor with a 5.3GHz boost clock. It features a hybrid architecture with 8 performance and 8 efficiency cores. 

The performance cores are able to boost all the way up to 5.3GHz, which affords the i9-12900 roughly 10 to 20% better single-core performance than the 5950X, according to various benchmarks.

The 400MHz higher boost clock translates to higher framerates in gaming when CPU-bound. Although, with processors these strong, it’s unlikely for you to ever end up CPU-bound. 

While both processors have an equal core count, the 12900K does have 8 fewer threads, so it loses to the 5950X in multicore performance by about a 10% margin. 

So, while the two CPUs do indeed have some differences, when you look at the fine details, you can expect them to offer you very similar performance as a whole. 

We’ve compared the two processors in-depth. 

Intel core i7-13700K

If you are searching for a 5950X alternative, the 12900K is a solid option for the reasons described above. However, it’s not your best option. 

That’s because you can get the new i7-13700K at the same price or even cheaper. The i7-13700K outperforms the i9-12900K across the board. It’s also compatible with the LGA1700 socket used by Alder Lake motherboards and DDR4 RAM, so I can’t think of a reason not to choose it over the 12900K. 

You get a newer processor with more performance, at a better price, and with the same compatibility features.