AMD’s enthusiast-class Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X are the highest performance Zen 5 processors in the line-up, and here’s how they perform.
AMD Ryzen 9 9900X — $499, Ryzen 9 9950X — $549AMD’s enthusiast-class Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X are the highest performance Zen 5 processors in the line-up, and we’ve got the full scoop. Strong All-Around PerformanceBetter Power EfficiencySocket + Cooler CompatibilityForward Looking ArchitectureSingle-Thread Performance UpliftLower Introductory PricingGaming Perf Essentially FlatSame IO Die
AMD’s launch plans for its Ryzen 9000 series of desktop processors based on the Zen 5 architecture didn’t go quite to plan, but as of today, the initial line-up is complete. Last week, we posted our take on the more mainstream Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X, six and eight-core processors, and today we get to play with their top-end Ryzen 9-branded counterparts. The flagship AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 16-core and Ryzen 9 9900X 12-core processors launch today, and we’ve got a full set of numbers to share.
These higher-end Ryzen 9-branded parts differ from the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X in a few meaningful ways, which we’ll get to shortly. All of the processors are based on the same architecture and are compatible with the exact same platform and cooling hardware, but there are a handful of subtleties that differentiate these processors from their counterparts. Their specs tell much of the story, so let’s start off there.AMD Granite Ridge Ryzen 9000 Series DeliddedThe AMD Ryzen 9000 Series Processor Line-UpThe initial lineup of AMD Ryzen 9000 series processors will consist of four SKUs: the Ryzen 9 9950X, Ryzen 9 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X. Like previous-gen Ryzen 5000 and 7000 series processors, the top-end Ryzen 9 9950X maxes out at 16-cores / 32-threads, and core counts and cache decrease as we work our way down the stack. The Ryzen 7 9900X is a 12-core / 24-thread part, the Ryzen 7 9700X is 8-cores / 16-threads, and the Ryzen 5 9600X is 6-cores / 12-threads.Find AMD Ryzen 9000 Series Processors @ Amazon
If you read our earlier coverage of the Ryzen 9000 series, you’ll know AMD made some tweaks to the TDPs for these processors.
