AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processors are launching right into a hostile atmosphere—and thru no fault of theirs. These CPUs, based mostly on AMD’s new Zen 4 structure, boast clock speeds over 5GHz, powerhouse multithreaded efficiency, and higher energy effectivity than the competitors.
The flagship Ryzen 9 7950X and its fellow launch chips (Ryzen 9 7900X, Ryzen 7 7700X, and Ryzen 5 7600X) additionally mark the daybreak of the AM5 era. This new motherboard socket platform permits quicker speeds throughout the board, not only for the processors themselves. Support for DDR5 reminiscence and PCIe 5 imply PC builds with RAM, storage, and discrete graphics playing cards that can scream, now and sooner or later.
Intel doesn’t need you to concentrate to AMD’s advances, in fact. Not lengthy earlier than the Ryzen 7000 launch, Team Blue dropped a number of juicy info about its upcoming 13th-generation Raptor Lake processors, like clock speeds up to 6GHz and a 24 core, 32 thread chip.
But it’s best to preserve your eyes firmly on AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X. It’s a ferociously spectacular CPU—and one which each solutions and raises questions on the way forward for desktop PCs.
What are Ryzen 7000 and Zen 4?
You can learn up on Ryzen 7000 in our initial report following AMD’s announcement, however most vital is realizing these chips signify a number of firsts for AMD: the primary to make use of Zen 4 structure, the primary on 5nm, the primary with built-in graphics, and the primary constructed for the corporate’s new AM5 socket.
AMD
They’re additionally the corporate’s first shift to LGA desktop processors, which strikes the pins from the CPU to the socket. Using an LGA socket permits increased energy supply to Ryzen 7000 processors, which interprets to chips able to higher efficiency. It additionally means a extra disturbing repair in case you bend or break a pin within the motherboard socket. On the flip facet, the transfer means AMD has turn out to be as sturdy an possibility as Intel for smugglers strapping CPUs to their bodies.)
As you may anticipate, extra electrical energy working to Ryzen 7000 processors equals increased TDP scores—or an anticipated wattage drawn beneath load. But don’t confuse the default TDP with the utmost wattage drawn. The high two Ryzen 7000 processors could also be rated at 170W, for instance, however their socket can present them as a lot as 230W. Intel’s chips presently function in an identical method, with Team Blue even altering its naming system to mirror this. TDP is now known as “Processor Base Power,” and a “Maximum Turbo Power” can also be now listed as a part of processor specs. For the Intel Core i9-12900Ok, the Ryzen 9 7950X’s main rival, that works out to 125W and a peak of 241W, respectively.
This flexibility means massive boosts in efficiency when the system requires it, and as you’ll see within the benchmarks, the web result’s a wholesome soar up from the earlier technology of Ryzen chips—but with decrease energy consumption than Intel and Ryzen 5000 in some key areas. In truth, energy effectivity is so good you could manually restrict the facility working to Ryzen 7000 CPUs with minimal efficiency loss.
How we examined
For our checks, we spun up three completely different check methods to check our Ryzen 9 7950X pattern in opposition to its important Intel competitor, the Core i9-12900K, in addition to the now-superseded Ryzen 9 5950X.
PCWorld
Each benchmark PC had completely different motherboards (for apparent compatibility causes) and reminiscence producers (attributable to accessible tools readily available). In the curiosity of an excellent comparability, reminiscence pace for each DDR5 methods (7950X, 12900Ok) was set to 6,000MT/s—AMD recommends this pace as the present candy spot for reminiscence overclocking. All machines had been in any other case geared up with the identical CPU cooler, storage, graphics card, energy provide, and working system for uniformity.
Machine 1 (AMD)
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
- Motherboard: Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master (bios ver. 813b)
- RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 (EXPO 1 profile)
Machine 2 (Intel)
- CPU: Intel Core i9-12900Ok
- Motherboard: Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero (bios ver. 1720)
- RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6000 (XMP 1 profile)
Machine 3 (AMD)
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
- Motherboard: MSI MEG X570 (bios ver. 1.10)
- RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR4-3600 (AMP2 profile)
All methods
- CPU Cooler: Corsair H150i
- (Manual fan pace of two,000RPM; “Extreme” pump pace [2600])
- SSD: SK Hynix Gold P31 2TB 2000GM
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Founders Edition (driver ver. 516.94)
- PSU: Corsair HX1000 1000W 80+ Platinum
- OS: Windows 11 Home 21H2 (22000.878)
Performance-boosting options (Intel Thermal Velocity Boost, Intel Multi-Core Enhancement, AMD Core Boost Performance, AMD Precision Boost Overdrive) had been left on automated. This default setting permits the system to manage speeds and energy draw to squeeze probably the most out of the chips, and was stored as such to imitate the everyday person expertise. Resizable bar (aka AMD’s Smart Access Memory) was additionally flipped on, whereas encryption in Windows 11 was turned off.
Due to time constraints and pattern availability, we additionally seemed on the knowledge graciously offered by our colleague Sebastian Schenzinger of PC Welt, who examined the Ryzen 9 7900X and Ryzen 5 7600X. While our focus will stay on the 7950X, his check outcomes present a glimpse into the broader context (and impression) of the Ryzen 7000 launch.
Performance
When you spend $699 for a flagship processor, you possibly can safely assume that’s the perfect efficiency the corporate has to supply at launch. AMD doesn’t let customers down right here—when it wins massive in opposition to the Intel Core i9-12900Ok, the Ryzen 9 7950X is unapologetic about how a lot better it’s.
But make no mistake: The 12900Ok doesn’t roll over within the struggle. In some battles, Team Blue nonetheless skirts forward. Unlike with AMD’s Ryzen 5000 launch, there’s no full trouncing right here of the competitors. (For a deeper dive into the benchmarks, remember to watch the video embedded above.)
Production
Bragging rights apart, you don’t purchase a flagship client desktop processor for gaming. These days, you choose one up since you want a chip that can tear by way of heavy workloads quick. That places the emphasis on multithreaded efficiency, and on this entrance, the Ryzen 9 7950X delivers in spades.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
When rendering and encoding, the Ryzen 9 7950X whomps on the Core i9-12900Ok, with a cushty, chunky double-digit lead throughout our multithreaded benchmarks. How comfy? As a lot as 60 %. The smallest win hits the books at 37 %. The 7950X additionally leaves the Ryzen 9 5950X consuming its mud, with the positive aspects reaching as excessive as 48 %.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Blue represents higher Intel efficiency. Red bars point out higher AMD efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Blue represents higher Intel efficiency. Red bars point out higher AMD efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
But AMD’s new high chip isn’t fully invulnerable to the 12900Ok. The subscores of checks like Geekbench point out areas the place Intel may nonetheless retain a bonus. (For instance, machine studying and encryption.) Also, peek on the distinction in single-core efficiency and also you’ll see the 12900Ok holding its personal. It cedes the highest spot to the 7950X by a slim margin of just some proportion factors in our rendering checks.
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
That small distinction in efficiency, plus software program optimizations, imply that the 12900Ok—or extra seemingly its upcoming successor, given the rumors in regards to the Core i9-13900Ok’s imminent launch date—will nonetheless be the higher alternative for some people. AMD merely can’t win the battle in Adobe Premiere Pro, for instance. Premiere’s use of QuickSync to spice up video encoding pace gave Intel an almost 20 % edge in our PugetBench benchmark outcomes.
That mentioned, not everybody makes use of Adobe Creative Cloud, neither is keen to surrender the AMD ecosystem. If you’re upgrading from a 5950X, you’ll get tangible positive aspects throughout the board, each for single-core and multithreaded work.
In brief, in case you’re looking for an absolute beast of a chip, the 7950X can preserve your tasks steaming full pace forward—however Intel may be a greater possibility in choose purposes.
Gaming
Real speak: Unless you might have cash you need to burn (and truly lighting it on fireplace is just a bit too wasteful), buying a Ryzen 9 7950X for gaming alone is impractical. But gaming continues to be a preferred solution to consider chips, particularly since flagship chip homeowners generally play after work is over.
In the battle between the 7950X and the 12900Ok, the wins largely went to the 12900Ok, with the general common of our 9 1080p benchmarks displaying AMD underperforming Intel by about 1.5 %. With single-core efficiency nonetheless vital for a lot of video games, this consequence isn’t a shock—the 7950X’s outcomes listed below are much like our different single-core benchmarks. But in real-world phrases, this loss is a reasonably minimal one. You’re usually a distinction of 3 to 12 frames per second at already excessive body charges.
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
But what about 720p benchmarks, you say? We selected to deal with 1080p benchmarks for sensible causes—a PC with a 7950X sometimes runs video games at 1080p or increased. But in case you should know what occurs when additional isolating CPU efficiency, you will get an thought of Ryzen 7000’s habits at 720p by way of our sister web site PC Welt’s check outcomes, which examines how the lower-cost Ryzen 9 7900X and Ryzen 5 7600X evaluate in opposition to quite a lot of competing chips.
(Caveat: This knowledge can’t be straight in contrast with the gaming benchmarks above, attributable to key element variations between PCWorld and PC Welt’s check machines. Different CPU, GPU, reminiscence pace, and working methods had been used for testing [7950X vs 7900X & 7600X; RTX 3090 vs RX 6900 XT; DDR5-6000 vs DDR5-5200; Windows 11 vs 10].)
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
PC Welt
When you drop all the way down to 720p, AMD’s newest chips trades blows with Intel’s flagship processor—in actual fact, the 7900X, not the 7950X, is the one which ceaselessly tops the Core i9-12900Ok in PC Welt’s sport benchmarks. When averaged out, AMD’s second-best chip takes the lead by 4.4 %. Keep in thoughts, although, particular person 720p sport outcomes fluctuate and generally by a large quantity. For instance, the 7900X beat the 12900Ok by 25 % in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, whereas in Watch Dogs Legion, it’s a scant 1.51 % distinction.
As for gen-on-gen enchancment, the 7950X outpaces by 5950X at 1080p by as a lot as 16 %, although in a handful of video games, it’s roughly a draw. At 720p, PC Welt’s knowledge exhibits the 7900X pulling forward of the 5950X by a median of 12 %. Overall, particular person benchmarks fluctuate—so your particular person expertise will fluctuate, too.
Real-world duties
When new chips are introduced, folks not often speak about how briskly they’re going to be in Microsoft Office apps or browsers like Chrome. But these apps are everybody’s day by day life blood, and in the case of quantity crunching particularly, some folks’s full livelihoods. Performance positive aspects matter right here, too.
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
The fast model is that for Microsoft Office apps, the 7950X gives an honest bump in efficiency versus the 12900Ok—a median of virtually 10 %. You’ll see double-digit positive aspects for Excel and PowerLevel, whereas Outlook posts a minimal 2 % lead. The consequence is extra thrilling within the showdown with the 5950X; the rise in efficiency averages over 20 %, with as a lot as a 42 % soar for Word.
(Note for folk who recurrently sling big units of knowledge: Our hard-hitting Excel eSports benchmark didn’t work correctly throughout our checks, so sadly we lack our standard knowledge for chip efficiency in heavy spreadsheets.)
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
As for internet looking, the 7950X is usually the quickest chip, although Intel is best at rendering in Chrome (aka graphics efficiency). For duties associated to Javascript, HTML, internet apps, and extra, the 7950X comes out forward—extra modestly in opposition to the 12900Ok, however by a large quantity in comparison with the 5950X. Compared to the latter, the 7950X posts double-digit enhancements that attain as excessive as 33 %.
Power draw & Eco mode
Discussing energy draw was once extra of an educational train. You’d check to see who had higher effectivity and to get a normal thought of energy consumption, however sometimes the outcomes weren’t of enormous concern.
In simply the final couple of years, that’s modified. As talked about earlier, chips have began to eat extra energy. Ryzen 7000 joins that development. While the Ryzen 9 5950X and 5900X had TDP scores of 105W, the Ryzen 9 7950X and 7900X now enter the lists at 170W.
TDP scores have additionally turn out to be a baseline for energy utilization beneath load, fairly than an anticipated most. Today’s chips have far more variability and might pull down significantly extra electrical energy whereas chasing increased efficiency. For the Core i9-12900Ok, that works out to a base of 125W and a peak of 241W. The 170W Ryzen 9 7950X’s max is its socket energy ranking, or 230W.
Combine this increased energy consumption with rising electrical energy charges, and each energy draw and energy effectivity are now not mental considerations. Benchmarks spell out how arduous a chip will hit your checking account every month.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
The excellent news is that Ryzen 7000 lives as much as AMD’s claims of higher energy effectivity in multithreaded duties—that’s, the power to squeeze extra efficiency from every watt used. It’s additionally extra vitality environment friendly, too, as you possibly can see in our first batch of energy draw benchmarks. The 7950X renders about 33 % extra frames than the 12900Ok in Cinebench R23’s 10-minute multithreaded benchmark. And it does so whereas consuming about 25W much less in whole system energy than the 12900Ok all through.
The Blender benchmark expresses this benefit differently—when not tied to a fixed-length benchmark, the 7950X merely finishes quicker, dropping the system all the way down to decrease electrical energy consumption for longer intervals.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
This clear benefit diminishes as you progress into single-threaded and calmly threaded purposes. Here, the 12900Ok usually outperforms the 7950X in vitality effectivity—which, when paired with its efficiency wins in some purposes, implies that the scorecard might tip in favor of Intel relying in your sport buy and standard software program.
Longer bars point out higher efficiency.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Or will it? If you reside someplace that has painfully excessive electrical energy charges, AMD’s Eco mode might sway you again towards the 7950X. You may name it AMD’s ace up its sleeve—this setting provides a flourish to its boasts about energy effectivity.
It’s a easy, simple solution to set energy limits on a chip; no want to enter the BIOS. Via AMD’s Ryzen Master software program, you possibly can drop a 170W chip all the way down to 105W or 65W, with a reasonably minimal hit to efficiency in single-core and calmly threaded duties. Just check out the Cinebench R23 single-core outcomes for our 7950X. Its rating stayed all however locked in the identical spot, at the same time as we dropped the TDP from to 105W after which even additional to 65W.
For further context, you possibly can hop again to PC Welt’s gaming checks. The 7900X and 7900X Eco mode outcomes are sometimes inside a % or so of one another at 1080p; the hole widens by just a few extra proportion factors at 720p. (Note: the 7900X was dropped to 65W for PC Welt’s benchmarks.) At each resolutions, the winner per sport see-sawed between the inventory profile and Eco mode.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Of course, Eco mode does hamper efficiency in multithreaded duties, however that’s no shock—you want the extra energy to let the chip run at full capability. But the choice is there, in case you’ll want to preserve a decent leash on energy draw.
Final ideas
The Ryzen 9 7950X is a powerful begin to the AM5 period. Zen 4 gives vital, tangible efficiency advantages for multithreaded duties and energy effectivity, and it’s backed by AM5’s bleeding-edge speeds for different system elements. If you make full use of what the 7950X brings to the desk, you possibly can’t go unsuitable. To emphasize the purpose, simply have a look at how its relative efficiency scales in opposition to the Core i9-12900Ok and last-gen Ryzen 9 5950X as you contain an increasing number of threads.
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
Gordon Mah Ung / PCWorld
At the identical time, Ryzen 7000 stands on unstable floor. Its spot within the winner’s circle isn’t as safe as when Ryzen 5000 launched. It should take care of each Intel 12th-generation chips and the near-term prospect of 13th-gen Raptor Lake, too. In truth, Intel might spill the beans about Raptor Lake at its Intel Innovation 2022 occasion on September 27th, the very date that Ryzen 7000 hits streets. That realistically provides 7950X and its siblings however a day of centered consideration within the highlight.
But don’t learn the state of affairs as bleak for AMD. Ryzen 7000’s launch is extra just like the opening to a revamped theater present: Before AMD and Intel took clear turns, with lengthy pauses between every act. Now the story’s getting complicated, with quicker pacing, an intricate plot, extra actors on stage, and fixed motion within the background.
So positive, Intel has teased gen-on-gen enhancements of 15 % for single-threaded efficiency and a whopping 41 % improve for multithreaded. But the rumors additionally recommend Intel’s Raptor Lake chips can shoot previous 300W for energy consumption whereas boosting—not a shock, given the claims of 6GHz clock speeds. And that would find yourself problematic for Team Blue.
PCWorld
One of the best issues AMD did for the PC was taking high-octane computing and put it into the arms of the plenty. Before Ryzen launched, an 10-core, 20-thread processor value a painful $1,723; an 8-core, 16-thread processor got here in at just below $1,110. Team Red put the stuff of desires (and server rooms) into arms of customers. AMD is the rationale we now take processors with greater than 4 cores as a right.
With electrical energy quickly changing into costlier worldwide, high-wattage components—even ones that boast insane specs—begin to float again up into the stratosphere. Power payments are rising, with some studies out of Europe indicating dramatic value jumps or anticipation of coming ones. CPUs might now not be as reasonably priced they as soon as had been (notably on the high-end) due to secondary prices.
And so AMD’s deal with energy effectivity might find yourself being the following vital struggle with Intel. But how that performs out—and the place that performs out, given the recognition of laptops—stays to be seen. It’ll be revealed in time, throughout the subsequent acts of the AMD vs Intel present. In the meantime we’re going to have loads to debate on the subsequent intermission, and it’s coming in a little over 24 hours. No matter how the battle seems, the Ryzen 9 7950X stands as a ferocious begin to AMD’s subsequent chapter.