AMD has been busy, not only did we just have their first RDNA 4 based GPUs launched last week with the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 but they also announced on Friday that their latest Radeon 9 X3D CPUs would be hitting stores on March 12th. Well, today the performance embargo lifts on those and I’ve got the AMD Radeon 9 9950X3D on hand to put to the test before they hit stores tomorrow. Back in November, I took a look at the Ryzen 7 9800X3D that we liked enough to use with our GPU test bench. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D takes the already very capable Radeon 9 9950X with its 16 cores and 5.7 GHz max boost and adds in the 2nd generation AMD 3D V-Cache. A lot of gamers will recognize the X3D model designation because AMDs 3D V-Cache CPUs have been dominating the market when it comes to gaming for a few generations now. The 9950X3D brings that technology up to the top of their CPU product stack for those who want great gaming performance but also need the highest-end CPU capabilities as well.
Product Name: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
Review Sample Provided by: AMD
Written by: Wes Compton
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What is the Ryzen 9 9950X3D
Before getting into the specifications for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, I did want to touch on 3D V-Cache as a whole for anyone who hasn’t seen anything about it for the last few generations of AMD CPUs. In short, it is stacking the L3 cache right with the CPU core. Both having additional L3 cache and having it so close to the CPU offers significant performance improvements in cache-dependent workloads. One of the biggest that sees an improvement is gaming. With past generations of Ryzen CPUs with 3D V-Cache, they did this by putting it right on top of the core which worked but does have a few big downsides. It isolates the CPU core from the heatspreader making cooling harder. With that, they had to be more conservative with clock speeds, voltages, and those CPUs didn’t support overclocking. With the Zen5-based 9000 Series of CPUs, they have moved the 3D cache to under the CPU core which has helped with those issues. The core is in direct contact with the heatspreader and we now see higher clock speeds on these CPUs including the Ryzen 9 9950X3D.
One other aspect to keep in mind with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D, like their non-X3D brothers and the previous generations 7900X and 7950X these CPUs with their higher core count have two CCX’s aka core complex. That split configuration means that to do 3D V-Cache on that configuration they would have to put twice as much. To keep costs from getting completely out of control they only run 3D V-Cache on one of the two CCXs. To make this perform correctly they do have to run what they call the AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer on top of the AMD Provisioning Packages Service that they already run to optimize gaming on Ryzen 9 CPUs.
With that in mind, I have listed out the specifications for both the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D which are both being launched today. Along with that, I have the previous generation CPUs that match and the previously tested 9800X3D as well. Except for the cache and sometimes the power ratings the X3D CPUs have the same specifications as their non-X3D brothers. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core and 32-thread CPU which isn’t changed from the 7950X3D, the 9900X3D is a 12-core and 24-thread CPU, again unchanged from the previous generation. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D has a max boost of 5.7 GHz and the 9900X3D has a max boost of 5.5 GHz, again unchanged which is a surprise given the changes in the 3D V-Cache location. In fact, most of the specs haven’t changed, especially with the 9900X3D which specification-wise only the Tjmax has changed. For the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, when compared to the 7950X3D it has a higher TDP, default socket power, and max current in addition to the higher Tjmax. Both CPUs are mostly relying on the changes in the Zen 5 architecture for improvements. If you were curious how the 9800X3D compared to the 9950X3D, not only does it have half as many cores, it also has a lower max boost clock speed but does have a higher base clock.
For testing did send over a motherboard to test the Ryzen 9 9950X3D along with the CPU, an SSD, and RAM. We run G.Skill memory in most of our test rigs so there isn’t anything different there. The memory is a Trident Z5 Neo RGB 6000 MHz 2x16GB kit which hits the sweet spot for memory clock speed and support EXPO for an easy setup. You can’t go wrong with Samsung SSDs and the X870E Aorus Master motherboard is a monster as well that isn’t going to have any trouble with the higher power requirements of the 9950X3D.
The Ryzen 9 9950X3D comes in the same packaging that you would get any other Ryzen CPU. While this is their flagship, they aren’t doing anything special or over the top for it. You have the black box with silver and orange accents that highlight that this is a Ryzen 9 CPU and point directly to the window on the front that shows the CPU itself. Because this is a 3D V-Cache CPU the left arrow has that inside in orange. Inside the CPU comes in a clear clamshell tray along with a Ryzen 9 case sticker. If you haven’t seen any of the AM5 CPUs you might be a little surprised when you see that the CPU doesn’t have any pins, they have moved to an LGA socket with the pins on the motherboard which helps prevent CPU damage but it does also mean that damaging your expensive motherboard is a lot easier as well. The heatspreader has that unique X-like shape that likes to hold on to some of your thermal paste but you won’t miss it when you see the CPU anywhere. Then on top, they have the AMD Ryzen branding etched in a large font with the full model name just below it.
