I’ve reviewed three generations of 3D V-cache processors, and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the best there is
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AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d: Two Minutes of Comments
so AMD Given the strength of AMD’s first Zen 5 3D V-CACHE chip, the Ryzen 9 9950x3d has a high standard to clear Ryzen 7 9800x3dBut after spending a week testing this chip, I can clearly say AMD has produced Best processor Once made for the consumer market.
Whether it’s gaming, creation or general productivity work, the Ryzen 9 9950x3d won’t suffer the same hangup activity as its predecessor AMD Ryzen 9 7950x3dfrom completely dominating the competition among previous generation processors.
Like its predecessor, the Ryzen 9 9950x3d was sold at $699/$699/au $1,349 when it started on March 12, 2025. This makes it the most expensive consumer processor on the market, so be sure to invest in this chip, especially if you invest from one chip, especially if you are upgrading, especially if you are upgrading. Intel or AMD AM4 system. As an AM5 chip, you need to upgrade some major components, including the motherboard and possible RAM.
Unlike nearly all other X3D chips except 9800x3d and 9900x3d, the Ryzen 9 9950x3d can do more X3D chips can’t do more thanks to AMD’s research, i.e. the way 3D V-CACHE is on Compute Die.
This includes beating the current best gaming CPU champion in most games, while also providing fairly better general and creative performance, thanks to multiple machining cores.
This doesn’t mean that the AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3D is perfect, as there are some things to be aware of here (I’ll go deeper below), but as a whole package you simply won’t find a better CPU in the market, which now lets you do very well and you can still do any solution that you want a more reasonable coolant. Just be prepared to pay a premium for all performance.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d: Price and Availability
- how much does it cost? US MSRP is $699/£699/AU $1,349
- When will it be available? It will be sold on March 12, 2025
- Where is it available? It will be released in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia
The Ryzen 9 9950x3d is on sale on March 12, 2025, with US MSRP of $699/£699/au $1,349 in the US, UK and Australia, respectively, making it the most expensive processor on the market.
It costs the same price as its predecessor, the Ryzen 9 7950x3d, which is $100 more than the Ryzen 9 9900x3d launched the same day.
This is also $200 more than the Ryzen 7 9800x3D, which has nearly the same gaming performance (over 9950x3d in some cases), so if you’re strictly looking for a gaming CPU, 9800x3d might be a better value.
Compared to Intel’s latest flagship processor, the Ryzen 9 9950x3d is over $100 more than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, although if you’re from an Intel LGA 1700 chip, you’ll need a brand new motherboard chipset, like the Intel Core Core I9-12900K, so it can represent a bigger investment.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d: Specifications
- 128MB L3 cache (96MB + 32MB)
- Completely overclocked
- Not all processing kernels have access to 3D V-CACH
| Header Unit – Column 0 |
AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d |
AMD Ryzen 9 7950x3d |
AMD Ryzen 7 9800x3d |
|---|---|---|---|
|
price |
$699 / £699 / au $1,349 |
$699 / £699 / au $1,349 |
$479/£449.99/au $799 |
|
architecture |
AMD ZEN 5 (TSMC N4X) |
AMD ZEN 4 (TSMC N4) |
AMD ZEN 5 (TSMC N4X) |
|
Kernel |
16 |
16 |
8 |
|
Thread |
32 |
32 |
16 |
|
Basic clock |
4.3GHz |
4.2GHz |
4.2GHz |
|
Increase the clock |
5.7GHz |
5.5GHz |
5GHz |
|
DDR5 memory support |
5600MHz |
5600MHz |
5200MHz |
|
L3 cache |
128MB (96MB + 32MB) |
128MB (96MB + 32MB) |
96MB |
|
TDP |
170W |
120W |
120W |
|
Motherboard socket |
AM5 |
AM5 |
AM5 |
There doesn’t seem to be much change compared to the ryzen 9 7950x3d, but there are a lot of changes under the hood here.
First, the 3D V-CACH sits on the 9950x3d on the CCX different from the 7950x3d in that it sits under the machining mold, not above it.
This means that now the processing core is in “direct” contact with the cover and cooling solution of the chip, thus allowing the 9950x3D to be fully overclocked, while the V-CACHE in the 7950x3D sits between the cover and the processed core, thus allowing careful thermal design and limiting necessary and limiting necessary and excluding excessive locking.
The L3 cache for 9950x3d does keep the same two-module split as the 7950x3d, so only one of the octa-core CCX in the chip can actually access the added V-CACH (32MB + 64MB) while the other can access 32MB.
This has some benefits for more dedicated, direct access to a single kernel that uses more caches. In the last generation, the results of this honesty were somewhat mixed compared to the 7800x3d, which did not separate the V-CACHE, resulting in high gaming performance for the 7800x3d.
No matter what the problem with 7950x3D of 9950x3D is there, there are still some slap, but I will find it in the Performance section.
Beyond that, the 9950x3D has a slightly higher base and a higher clock speed, as well as a higher TDP, but its 170W TDP is not completely out of control, especially next to Intel’s competitive chips.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d: Performance
- almost First-class gaming performance
- Strong overall performance
While the ryzen 7 7800x3d is undoubtedly better than the ryzen 9 7950x3d, I’m very curious about how this affects this chip on 9800x3d, I’d be happy to do a full calculation throughout the process and it’s well calculated throughout the process, which is general.
In terms of synthesis, the multi-core performance of the Ryzen 9 9950x3d and the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K to toe the toes, accounting for an average of less than 2% of Intel’s best, 10% stronger than the single-core result of the 285K.
Compared with its predecessor, 7950x3D, the 9950x3D has more than 15% faster multi-core and single-core performance, and it has hardly lost the Ryzen 9 9950x in terms of multi-core performance.
The octa-core difference between the two does show up in the results compared to the Ryzen 7 9800x3d, while the 9950x3d has a 61% improvement in multi-core performance and a 5% better single-core score compared to the 9800x3d.
Creatively speaking, the 9950x3D outperforms everything else in the AMD Ryzen lineup I’ve tested overall (once I have the chance to test the chip), everything else in the AMD Ryzen lineup I’ve tested (how we’ll get the fare for the 9900x3D), although it’s worth noting that the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is still a better processor for video editing to work.
While the AMD Ryzen X3D series is all about gaming, here, the Ryzen 9 9950x3d releases the best gaming performance of all the chips tested, with a warning.
exist Total War: Warhammer III Crazy Mirror For benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9950x3d scores are only a few fps higher than the non-X3D Ryzen 9 9950x (331 fps to 318 fps respectively), and the score in the same benchmark standard is also significantly lower than the 506 fps score of the 9800x3d. This is the display speed of 9950x3d about 35%, and roughly given the position of the non-X3D chip score, it’s obvious, it’s obvious Total War: Warhammer III Run on one of those kernels that don’t have access to the extra V-CACH.
This is a problem with the Windows Process scheduler and may be fixed in time to run the game on the correct kernel to take advantage of the extra cache available, but this does not guarantee the 9800x3D way, which makes all kernels accessible to their added V-CACHE, so there is no similar problem.
This may be a pretty rare situation, but if your favorite game does take advantage of the extra cache you’re spending a lot of money, that could be a problem unless you have a non-X3D 9950x that conveniently tests the way I do it, you probably won’t know.
With that in mind, if all you want is a gaming processor and you really don’t care about these other performance categories, 9800x3D may be better off serving you better, because you get guaranteed gaming performance improvements even if you don’t get the same boost in other areas.
While that’s a big warning, it can’t get rid of the overall performance profile of this chip, which is almost shocking.
If you want the best processor overall, even if there is occasional fragmentation, especially since it runs much cooler than Intel’s chips, and a mid-sized PC can manage it with more power.
Should you buy AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d?
|
value |
It’s not cheap, but it’s a very enthusiastic chip, so the price isn’t that important to me, although I’m glad to see that they didn’t raise the price of the previous generation. |
3.5 / 5 |
|
Specification |
With 128MB of cache, faster clocks and more advanced process nodes, there are plenty to love for this chip specification, although it does drink more features so it does. |
4.5 / 5 |
|
Performance |
While not the absolute best performance in any category, its performance is almost a first-class category, but there is no other competitive chip in the market that can’t be explained now. |
4.5 / 5 |
|
Final score |
While it’s so expensive, given the goal of this chip is so expensive, it’s really not a lot. Audiophiles will definitely like this chip because they are looking for comprehensive performance, but game-specific buyers may be better off using the 9800x3d. |
4.5 / 5 |
Buy AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d If…
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How do I test AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d
- I’ve been in AMD Ryzen 9 9950x3d for a few days
- I used the chip as my main workstation processor and measured its performance using the updated benchmark
- I use it for general productivity, creativity and gaming workload
I spent about a week on the Ryzen 9 9950x3d as my main workstation CPU where I ran basic compute workloads along with a wide range of creative work like Adobe Photoshop.
I also spent as much time with chip games, including similar titles Black Myth: Wukong and Civilization VII. I also used an updated suite of benchmark tools including industry standard utilities such as Geekbench 6.2, Cyberpunk 2077and Pugetbench for Creators.
I’ve been reviewing Techradar’s components for three years, including over a dozen processor reviews from the time, so if you’re looking for the best processor to suit your needs and budget, you can trust my testing process and suggestions.
- First reviewed March 2025
