AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X review: Cool, fast, and powerful

Performance and efficiency are key with this generation of chips and after some extensive testing with 9900X and 9950X, I'm pleased to report that AMD has accomplished what it set out to do. These processors are cheaper, more powerful, suck less power, and don't pump out as much heat. They may not be the massive upgrade many were hopeful from earlier leaks and being a new architecture but I would argue modern processors are good enough for what they will be used for inside desktop PCs.

About this review: AMD provided samples to XDA for this review but had no input to its contents.

Price, specs, and availability

Compared to previous-gen processors, the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 9 9950X are available at a discount, costing $499 and $649, respectively. Cores and threads are identical and clock speeds have been altered slightly. PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 RAM make a return with full support for all features on AM5 motherboards. New 800 series motherboards will be coming out with better RAM overclocking and connectivity, but any existing AM5 motherboard will do just fine. 77 MB of cache is present on the 9900X for storing everything locally and the 9950X bumps this up to 81 MB.

AMD uses TSMC's 4nm and 5nm manufacturing process for AMD Ryzen 9000 Zen 5 CPUs and two Radeon cores are available for providing video output. It could be difficult for the average Joe to notice a difference comparing these chips against older Ryzen processors.

• 	AMD Ryzen 9 9900X	AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
  Cores	12	16
  Threads	24	32
  Base Clock Speed	4.4 GHz	4.3 GHz
  Boost Clock Speed	5.6 GHz	5.7 GHz
  PCIe	5.0	5.0
  Cache	77 MB	81 MB
  RAM support	DDR5-5600	DDR5-5600
  Graphics	AMD Radeon Graphics (2 cores)	AMD Radeon Graphics (2 cores)
  Architecture	Zen 5	Zen 5
  Process	TSMC 4nm, 6nm	TSMC 4nm, 6nm
  TDP	120 W	170 W
  Power Draw	~162 W	~200 W

Latest Zen 5 CPUs

If you're unfamiliar with Zen 5, AMD is promoting more efficient processors with the latest TSMC manufacturing processes. Coupled with some notable architectural improvements, AMD has been able to produce new processors that draw less power and produce less heat, all without sacrificing performance. Although AMD didn't push these chips harder and faster like previous-gen CPUs to get as much out of them as possible, they're the better choice for anyone not wanting a CPU that regularly hits TJ Max (95 Celcius).

Intel's current line-up of 14th-gen processors is seriously power-hungry with the 14900K (as impressive as its performance is) capable of drawing more than 300W alone. Zen 5 is a massive undertaking by AMD with AVX-512 and VNNI computational capabilities implemented for machine learning and artificial intelligence. With everything factored in, AMD promises an instruction-per-clock (IPC) gain of 16% over previous-generation processors, which is excellent. Incredibly, AMD has measured an average of 22% performance-per-watt improvement across its 9000 series of chips.

From our in-depth 9600X, 9700X, 9900X, and 9950X testing, I can confirm such claims. As part of the Ryzen 9000 launch, AMD is pushing older motherboards to showcase lasting socket and platform support. Original AM5 motherboards launching with 7000 series chips will work with the new 9000 series without a BIOS flash. However, to get the most out of the new platform, new BIOS updates will be available with AGESA 1.2.0.0a, which includes tweaks and optimizations for newer CPUs. Support for faster memory will be available on 870-series motherboards, allowing the new 9000 CPUs to go to DDR5-8000 and beyond.

Performance and thermals

We'll be using the same test benches as our 9600X and 9700X reviews for putting both processors to the test. The first round of tests used a NZXT N7 B650E motherboard, running the latest BIOS (AGESA 1.2.0.0) available. 64GB of G.Skill's DDR5-7200 Trident Z5 Royal was installed with an Asus GeForce RTX 4060 Ti ProArt graphics card. This allowed us to collect data on a sub-optimal BIOS which put both chips just barely above their predecessors in the synthetic benchmark rankings. Our second text bench with the Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master has AGESA 1.2.0.0a, which is optimized for the new 9000 series.

Following on from the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and Ryzne 9 7950X, it shouldn't be surprising to learn that the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 9 9950X are two powerful processors. Running the two processors through our benchmark suite, we saw impressive numbers against AMD's own chips, as well as competitor SKUs from Intel. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X trades blows with the Intel Core i9-13900K, 14900K, and 14900KS in scores across the board. AMD does trail behind Intel with direct comparisons and the same was the case with the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X.

This is by design. AMD's processors have fewer cores and threads. They also don't clock as high as Intel processors with default settings. That said, AMD's Ryzen 9000 is seriously capable and comes up close to the established Intel processors. Efficiency is particularly noteworthy because who wants to rave about slower components? The Ryzen 9 990X is a 120W TDP processor and the Ryzen 9 9950X is just 170W. The two processors will draw up to around 160W and 200W, respectively. factor this in with the recorded results and you have two processors with higher performance per watt.

AMD's processors have fewer cores and threads. They also don't clock as high as Intel processors with default settings. That said, AMD's Ryzen 9000 is seriously capable and comes up close to the established Intel processors.

Looking at the obtained results, the 9950X has slightly more performance than the 7950X by between 5% and 10% but draws 50W less power. Because the 7000 and 9000 series share the same platform, the newer chips are the better choice, but those with older AM5 processors may not feel the immediate need to upgrade unless migrating between families. For gaming, even with the best graphics cards, I didn't find a notable improvement over the 7000 series. I recommend the Ryzen 5 9600X, Ryzen 7 9700X, or any AMD X3D processor for playing PC games unless you make use of the additional headroom.

This also affects temperatures, recorded at 77 Celcius and 87 Celcius for the Ryzne 9 9900X and 9950X during a multi-core Cinebench 2024 run. These readings include a room ambient temperature of 21 Celcius and both chips were running with a be quiet! Dark Rock 5 cooler. This is outside of spec for what AMD recommends for both Ryzen 9 processors. Install an AIO and you can find a further reduction in temperatures with the 9950X matching the 77 Celcius average of the air-cooled Ryzen 9 9900X. That's impressive for a 200W processor running a heavier load than typical.

Should you buy the AMD Ryzen 9 9990X and Ryzen 9 9950X?

You should buy the AMD Ryzen 9 9990X and Ryzen 9 9950X if:

• You have an AM5 motherboard and want a valid upgrade over 7000 series CPUs.
• You want some of the most efficient AMD processors available on the AM5 platform.
• You plan on upgrading from AM4 hardware and want to build a gaming PC.

You shouldn't buy the AMD Ryzen 9 9990X and Ryzen 9 9950X if:

• You want the best gaming CPU.
• You don't care for lower temperatures and power draw.
• You don't need the most powerful AMD processors.
• You own a 14th-gen Intel chip and only care for performance.

Whether you're into video editing, gaming, or simply browsing some websites, there's an AMD Ryzen 9000 series chip for you. I'm impressed by how efficient the 9000 series from AMD is shaping up to be and it's great to see a move to draw less power and produce less heat. Although it's the current flagship, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X doesn't draw anywhere near as much power as the Intel Core i914900KS, yet manages to trade blows with the processor in select tests. For real-world usage, it's not quite as positive with the 9900X being the better of the two.

I'm impressed by how efficient the 9000 series from AMD is shaping up to be and it's great to see a move to draw less power and produce less heat.

The 9900X is a great choice for anyone building a new AM5 system and requires one of the best AMD has to offer. Four fewer cores and a slightly lower max boost than the 9950X do mean you lose out when running heavier software, but for general computing, gaming, and other lighter tasks, it's a solid workhorse. For everyone else, the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X are two great value choices. These two chips won't please everyone, including those expecting higher improvements, but they're worth considering for your next build.

We still have some time to pass before Intel showcases what the company has to answer AMD's new chips. But one thing's for sure, the 15th-gen series cannot get any hotter or draw more power.