say that it has been a busy launching season for AMD is an incredible understatement . Not only did we see the release of the high power , high performingRyzen 7000X Series , but we also dumbfound a full stack of lower powered , but still creditably performant processors in theRyzen 7000 Non - X Series . And lease ’s not forget a generational leap forRadeon GPUs !
In all of these releases , we have been waiting for AMD to juice up one of itsZen 4 juggernautswith that scented , sweet plot - changing 3D V - Cache we see in the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. For the expert , the V - Cache stack more memory board on a chip vertically . For everyone else , figure go up . What we ’re getting is three options – the Ryzen 7 7800X3D , Ryzen 9 7900X3D , and Ryzen 9 7950X3D.
Launching today ( February 28th , 2023 ) , the Ryzen 9 7900X3D and Ryzen 9 7950X3D are the first Ryzen 9 CPUs to get the V - Cache intervention . These CPU are propose at the gamer who also happens to be a content God Almighty . There is a twisting in that , but we ’ll mouth about it more later .
Photo: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
For this followup , we got to assure out the cream of the crop , the Ryzen 9 7950X3D – AMD ’s 16 - core , 32 - train of thought monstrosity of a CPU .
AMD Ryzen 7950X3D CPU
AMD ’s cache - raise Ryzen 9 marries Zen 4 magnate with 3D V - cache technology .
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
What is it ?
A 3D V - cache fit out CPU intend to enhance the gambling experience while providing business leader for productivity
cost
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
$ 699
Like
Solid carrying out - to - big businessman , Is a comely “ jack - of - all - trade ” for gaming performance and content creation
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
Dislike
Asymmetric design leans heavily on Windows to assign tasks to the correct cores , Little Phoebe - stash procedure were inconsistent
What is 3D V-cache?
Before we can get into the performance , we have to take a smell at pricing , the mainframe pattern , what 3D V - cache is , how extra cache benefit gaming , and how the heck this thing even work ! permit ’s put the cache on the table first .
AMD ’s 3D V - cache technology make the be Zen 4 cores , cut them down , and heap an excess layer of L3 cache on top of the chiplet without increase the overall Z ( or vertical ) height of the CPU . This design allows for a more dense connectivity between the C.P.U. die and the cache , providing a faster storage imagination than your garden variety organisation Aries .
In gaming , the extra cache help oneself the central processor in minute where quick access to random data is essential . For example , if you ’re play a compeer of Gambit in Destiny 2 , your C.P.U. does n’t know if you are kick the bucket to deposit those speck like The Drifter is yell about or if you are move to turn around and Thundercrash into an invading thespian . In other Word , instrumentalist - drive actions are random processes that require rapid figuring . In that moment , your C.P.U. is visit upon to recall textures , animations , game physics , eccentric placement , and more . When that come about , cache is king .
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
( you could incur AMD ’s partitioning of the technologyherefor a more detailed description . )
Moving on to pricing , AMD did something interesting here . At the top destruction of the Ryzen 7000 Series product stack , the Ryzen 9 7950X and 7950X3D are priced identically at $ 699 USD . Both CPUs are 16 - pith , 32 - ribbon central processor , but the 7950X deal 3D V - cache for overall debauched basis clock absolute frequency and a eminent power attraction to couple . As thing trickle down the hatful , we start seeing a $ 50 USD difference between counterparts and a much slimmer margin of difference . Where the big difference lies is in the design .
The 7950X , 7900X , 7950X3D , and 7900X3D each have a core complex dice ( CCD ) made up of two core complexes ( CCX ) . The X3D central processor also have two core complexes , but only one CCX is equipped with the 3D V - cache . AMD ’s official word on this is that , in its testing , the company did not see a noticeable enough uplift in performance to excuse the extra cost of putting it on both . reasonable enough , but is Windows smart enough to experience which core to use for what ?
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
Sort of , but I can only speak for the 7950X3D ( while making some educate shot on the 7900X3D ) . Because of this , the CPU is dependent on processes like the Game Bar to park the CCX without the 5 - memory cache while “ whitelisting ” or give up play processes to access that CCX with the V - cache . The hit rate for the V - cache CCX can be negatively touch if you have other backcloth processes running . It will be interesting to see if this is the same with the 7800X3D once it releases .
Same Ryzen 7950X Hood, Slightly Different Hardware
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a 16 - core , 32 - thread ( 16C/32 T ) C.P.U. with a base clock upper of 4.2 GHz and max boost speeds up to 5.7 GHz . While the center and train of thought counting are the same as the Ryzen 9 7950X , the groundwork clock is somewhat ( ~300 MHz ) slower . cornerstone clock speeding is n’t the only thing that ’s lower , though , as the 7950X3D sink 50W off of the TDP , dropping the Ryzen 9 down from 170W TDP to 120W TDP . That means it draws less power .
At the same time , the 7950X3D has a 128 MB L3 memory cache , dual that of the 7950X.
Now , in all of this , the comparison between the Ryzen 9s does get a bit slick . think back , we have two CCX modules – one with the 3D atomic number 23 - cache and one without it .
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
There’s Always a Cache
Unfortunately , we ’re going to be see the 7950X3D in closing off from the other X3D CPUs . For our purposes , we are going to show some comparisons with the current flagship CPUs from both sides of the gangway .
In our productivity tests , we used data from the entire Ryzen 7000 Series mint as well as Intel ’s 13th Generation Core i5 - 13600 K and Core i9 - 13900K. We also included data collect by Joanna Neilus from ourRyzen 9 5950X reviewas a reminder of how far things have kick upstairs across a single multiplication .
In gambling , however , we narrowed the compare to the current kings – theCore i9 - 13900Kand theRyzen 9 7950X. This data was take in utilizing as standardised a testing environment as potential , but , as always , your mileage may vary .
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
As always , we tried to keep our methodological analysis simple in order of magnitude to give the clear picture of the performance that the average user can expect to get out of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D. In other Book , these numbers represent box - to - build up carrying out with no tweaks . The only vantage we gave them is that we enabled an AMD EXPO profile for low memory latency and focal ratio . We offered the same thoughtfulness to our Intel political program by enable XMP .
Here is the ironware we used to collect our information from the Ryzen 7000 Series central processing unit :
– Gigabyte X670E AORUS MASTER motherboard – NVIDIA RTX 3090 Founders Edition GPU – AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX GPU – 32 GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 - 6000 RAM – 2 TB SK hynix Platinum M.2 NVMe SSD – NZXT C1200 Gold 1200W power supply – NZXT Kraken Z73 360 mm all - in - one liquidity cooler with three 120 mm fan – NZXT H9 Elite mid - tower personal computer case with two 140 mm fans as well as three 120 mm sports fan .
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
You may note that we list two GPUs in our test bench – there is a very right reason for that : we bottlenecked our RTX 3090 in our 1080p play trial . We are going to include these numbers for equivalence , but we go away back and ran the same tests on the 7950X and 13900 K using the Radeon RX 7900 XTX for a more exact video of operation overall . I love that sound wild , but wait until you see the difference of opinion !
Does More Cache Equal More Productivity?
In our productivity psychometric test , we ran a suite of software benchmarks to foreground single and multi screw thread performance in scenario designed to test how each CPU performed under various computational loads .
Here is what we found :
In Geekbench 5 , we account the operation of single yarn tasks such as range of a function and text compression , web piloting , machine learning , and .PDF interpreting . In this benchmark , the Ryzen 9 7950X3D did put on a unassailable show , but somewhat underperformed when compared to the 7950X and the 7900X. Even so , it still carry off to edge out the Core i9 - 13900 K by a slim margin in single core execution . These numbers , however , are within a close enough margin that I would n’t necessarily declare one of them a winner .
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
In multi nitty-gritty performance , this is where we see the 7950X3D jail a spot behind its counterpart from the Ryzen batting order while falling further behind the Core i9 . It is potential the overall frequency and park CPU core could be causing this performance delta , or this could be a scenario where the superfluous cache just does n’t keep back any office . That being said , the 7950X3D give birth on its power to be a firm contender in multi substance tasks .
We see a interchangeable story in Handbrake :
While deliver a 4 K video down to 1080p30 , the 7950X3D hangs closely with the 7950X while taking an 11 second lead ahead of the 7900X. It still trails behind the 13900 K , but when you take care across the landscape painting , the 7950X3D does well for itself .
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
That border got a whole slew slim when rendering an image of everyone ’s favorite , shiny violent BMW in Blender . This image took the 7950X3D just over a minute to turn in , putting it within 3 seconds of the Core i9 ’s finishing time and 4 seconds aside from the 7950X. Not too ratty at all !
Overall , we did not see an upthrow in carrying out in our productiveness benchmarks . However , whether V - cache was leveraged or not , the 7950X3D still performed well overall thanks to the brawny Zen core .
3D V-cache in gaming
I ’m not extend to mince words : this is where matter get eldritch .
When we start running the 7950X3D through our gaming tests , we want to keep our testing data like to our most recent central processing unit reviews . So we used NVIDIA ’s RTX 3090 Founders Edition in our testing bench , like before .
As we got into our benchmarking , we were n’t noticing a difference between it and the 7950X. Not only that , there were actually place where it underperformed . This was frankly put off – especially after go through what AMD ’s 3D V - cache did for the 5800X3D.
Graphic: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
It is important to mention that these tests were function at 1080p . While a GPU can bear on performance at this solution , there is much more of a burden on the CPU . Going even lower to 720p would have really pushed the CPU , but this solving is largely irrelevant to the modern user alfresco of handhelds .
After doing some excavation into the data and reaching out to AMD , we wondered if we were hitting a wall somewhere . As it turn out , we were . So , we take in theRadeon RX 7900 XTX , and this is the difference we saw :
It would seem as though the 7950X and 7950X3D both benefited from some of the redundant headroom that the 7900 XTX provided . In some cases , we saw a jump of 26 % performance in frames per secondly after swapping GPUs ! With that tip discover , we moved on to the rest of our gaming benchmarks .
Photo: Damien Gula / Gizmodo
In a number of our examination , we saw the Ryzen 9 7950X3D overshadow its non V - stash Ryzen opposite number . However , it did n’t quite beat out the Core i9 - 13900 K in our mental testing .
Again , this was weird to me , so we did a bit more digging , and we think we have an response .
We mentioned a few things earlier that call for to be taken into account when looking at these numbers . Remember , the 7950X3D is a complex buffalo chip made up of two chiplets – one with the 3D quintuplet - cache , and one without . The V - stash can help with quicker calculation of random player - driven activeness , but performance utilizing the V - cache equipped core is qualified on the processes actually using those cores . This means some cores are parked while Windows sends job on to the V - cache equipped core .
Before doing anything , we made certain that all the appropriate software and microcode were up to appointment . We also ensured that any redundant screen background task were killed or complete before continue with collecting our data . After spend prison term running multiple benchmarks and monitoring the core carrying out , we see a few benchmarks that either were not full park the non quintet - stash cores , or that needed us to force Windows Game Bar to whitelist a game .
Interestingly , this was the case for Far Cry 6 – an AMD partner championship . There was a ~10 % divergence in performance after manually differentiate Windows Game Bar to think the title of respect . Before whitelisting , the mean functioning was ~181 physical body per second , which , you may notice , falls shy of the 7950X. It was only after thump at Game Bar that we see that figure increase to 200 frames per second .
This was n’t the only oddity , though . In our Metro Exodus benchmarks , we construe the non atomic number 23 - cache cores fight to abide parked throughout the run . When we test to force them to park , we did see an overall boost in inning per second gear , but the game ’s functioning was full of stuttering .
That being say , while range the 7950X3D outside of testing , I did not notice any stuttering in execution that I could assign to the CPU . It performed well in tandem bicycle with both the RTX 3090 and Radeon RX 7900 XTX in unremarkable use , include gaming and light-headed video product .
Ryzen 7950X3D Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance
When the Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs were announced , one of the full point that we acknowledge immediately on the product infographic was a low-down overall TDP . consider the bound we watch in power drawing card from both side of the gangway and the performance of the Ryzen 7000 Series non - X processor , we were singular how a halfway - of - the - road power hooking would impact these CPUs .
In most of our benchmark , the 7950X3D drew a significantly lower amount of overall power than the 7950X and the i9 - 13900K. On first glance , these numbers are pretty impressive , but these numbers might not be telling the whole narration .
call up : the 7950X3D parks some of its central processing unit cores while they are not in use . We did not mention whether or not that was the case with the other C.P.U. , so it ’s hard to make a definitive statement here . However , if the 7950X3D is performing at a importantly lower big businessman draw and hitting the number it is , I ’d call that an overall win .
When it come to thermal performance , things are spread out a second .
In our productiveness benchmarks , the 7950X3D stayed significantly cooler than the 7950X and the 13900 K in some cases , but was still warmer than the Core i9 . In gaming , there is a mediocre degree of competition across the card , but , overall , the 7950X3D kept the heat under mastery , thanks to NZXT ’s Kraken Z.
It is also important to notice that , while we seek to keep our trial environment as logical as possible , the climate that I am testing in is fighting between being in the bowels of third wintertime and what we would call motley fool ’s spring . taste as I may , keeping our test benches in a space that hold a well-heeled 23.3C has been tricky .
A Cache-Conscious Conclusion
It is significant to place out the intent of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D while drawing our conclusions about it . This central processing unit in particular is meant for the gamer who also uses their rig for productivity purposes . When you ’re trying to be a jack - of - all - trades , sometimes there are via media or grant you have to make .
When talk purely about performance , the 7950X3D hangs tight to its fellow Ryzen 9 in productivity , but meanwhile slenderly behind the competition . In gaming , when we see the V - cache at work , the uplift is fantastic . When it does n’t quite hit on those central processor cores , it is n’t terrible , but it is n’t as impressive as it could be . This , however , could change as the software age to support it .
We also need to talk for a moment about the GPU situation we ran into . frankly , I was pretty dazed by this discovery . From one head of view , you could look at the 7950X3D as a hefty taskmaster , pushing last - gen juggernauts to their full potential . On the other side of this point of view , running anything less than an RTX 3090 would mean that the 7950X3D is not living up to its potential . The RTX 3090 is already more powerful than what mostPC gamers on Steamare ply , think that there ’s a good chance your system is n’t warm enough to fully utilize the 7950X3D. If that ’s the vitrine , buying it might leave you with standardized performance to a cheaper , lesser microprocessor chip unless you go for dear upgrades to accompany it . Given how expensive and late the RTX 3090 is , that ’s asking a fortune .
So , at $ 699 USD , is the Ryzen 9 7950X3D a good steal ?
That solvent depends on a few factors .
Are you wait for behemoth - like functioning with no concern for power efficiency ? The 7950X3D is hefty , but if you ’re looking at dollar - to - performance , you should believably look elsewhere . Are you building a multipurpose rig with a high-pitched - goal , current coevals GPU and need a CPU to keep up with it ? The 7950X3D would definitely agree that bill . Do you need to get every ounce of functioning out of a last gen GPU with headway for succeeding ontogenesis ? The 7950X3D could be pretty appealing here .
All of this come with a vast caveat : we have yet to see how the Ryzen 7 7800X3D performs . Unfortunately , we will have to wait until April to find that out .
No matter what finish you draw from our testing and review , the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a pretty impressive feat in its own right . AMD created a integrated C.P.U. break with asymmetrical chiplets and a healthy amount of stash . There is little doubtfulness that this is a powerful central processor with way to mature .
Like any fresh leap in technology , there are go to be some singultus along the means . Our promise is that , with some fourth dimension and maturity , we will see the 7950X3D better as more system and software take reward of the engineering .
AMDNvidiaRyzen
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and civilisation news program in your inbox daily .
word from the futurity , rescue to your nowadays .
You May Also Like
