AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Review

A processor like the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is going to be a beast no matter what – strapped with 16 cores and 32 threads, this CPU is basically built for hardcore creative workloads. However, because it can also boost up to 5.7GHz and has 64GB of speedy L3 cache, it’s also a powerhouse for gaming – even if it’s a bit overkill for your average gaming rig.

The Ryzen 9 9950X does arrive after the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X fell a little flat when compared with their predecessors, but it doesn’t share the same problems. In fact, in many of my tests, the Ryzen 9 9950X has proven to be the fastest CPU on the market right now – which definitely makes the $649 asking price a little easier to swallow.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor built on the same Zen 5 architecture as the Ryzen 9 9900X. This time around, power efficiency is king, with the 9950X sucking up a bit less power than its predecessor while delivering a significant performance uplift.

With a TDP (thermal design power) of 170W and a default power limit of 200W, the Ryzen 9 9950X seems like a power-starved piece of silicon. However, compared to its predecessor, with its default power limit of 230W, it’s actually a bit more conservative, though not by as much as other Ryzen 9000 processors. In my testing, the Ryzen 9 9950X stuck to this power limit, too, reporting a maximum of 200W, compared to 228W on the 7950X and 253W on the Intel Core i9-14900K.

However, 200W is still a lot of power to channel into the CPU, so the lower temperatures of the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X are nowhere to be found here. In fact, the Ryzen 9 9950X maxed out at around 93C, which is about the same as the 95C reached by the 7950X. That’s to be expected with this class of CPU, however, and you’re going to need a beefy cooler to run the Ryzen 9 9950X efficiently.

Even with the slightly lower power target, though, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X maintains the 5.7GHz boost clock. And as you’ll see in the next section, the 9950X is able to do more with that clock speed than its predecessor, especially in heavily threaded creative workloads.

The Ryzen 9 9950X uses the same AM5 socket as the Ryzen 7000 series processors, which means all existing AM5 motherboards will support the Ryzen 9 9950X with a BIOS update. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend anyone with a Ryzen 7000 chip make that upgrade, but AMD claims it’ll support the AM5 socket until at least 2027, which means you should be able to get another CPU upgrade out of whichever motherboard you pair with the 9950X.

Last week’s launch of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X was a bit of a disappointment – it was faster than its predecessor, but not by much. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, however, does not have that same problem, and is significantly faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X.

This is especially true in creative workloads. When it comes to 3D rendering, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is the fastest processor on the market right now, scoring 40,818 points in Cinebench and 265 samples per minute in Blender. The Ryzen 9 7950X, in those tests, scores 37,870 points and 244 samples per minute, respectively. That’s a 7-8% improvement over its predecessor.

The 9950X also beats the Core i9-14900K in the same tests, with Intel’s chip scoring 37,181 points in Cinebench and 230 samples per minute in Blender. This means Team Red now enjoys around a 10-15% lead over Intel.

For the less extreme creative workloads, however, the story shifts somewhat. In the PugetBench test for Adobe Premiere, the Ryzen 9 9950X scores 15,045 points. That does beat the 7950X’s 14,644 points, but it falls short of the Intel Core i9-14900K’s 15,208 points – though just by a smidge. The Ryzen 9 9950X does still enjoy a 8% lead in Photoshop over its predecessor, however.

In gaming, on the other hand, it’s a bit of a wash. While most current-generation PC games are multi-threaded, they still won’t use 32 threads simultaneously, making the uplift in gaming performance less pronounced than in creative workloads. For instance, in the 3DMark Speed Way test, which simulates a DirectX 12 game with ray tracing, the Ryzen 9 9950X scored 9,989 points, less than the Ryzen 9 7950X’s score of 10,073. It’s barely a difference, to be sure, but it’s still technically a regression.

This is echoed in the actual gaming benchmarks, too. Both in Cyberpunk 2077 and in Total War: Warhammer 3, the Ryzen 9 9950X falls behind the Ryzen 9 7950X and Intel Core i9-14900K. This isn’t where you should be dumping your money when building your gaming PC.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is an absolute powerhouse for creative workloads, and should be able to significantly cut down on production times. However, this isn’t the most price-effective processor to buy if all you want to do with your PC is play PC games.

I know, I know, it can be extremely tempting to pair your expensive RTX 4080 graphics card with the most expensive processor on the market, but unless you’re doing work that can actually make use of the extra CPU threads, it’s going to be a total waste. Don’t get me wrong, the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X will hold up in games for years to come, but the same is true of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D or the Intel Core i7-14700K. In fact, those processors will probably be better for gaming than this more expensive chip.

The only gaming rigs that the Ryzen 9 9950X should be in, are those that are used for gaming and work. That way, you can cut down on the time your PC is occupied with non-gaming tasks, giving you more time to play your games.