AMD Ryzen 7950x review: Fantastic performance on the verge of boiling

It probably won’t surprise anyone, but the new AMD Ryzen 7000 chips are the best processors a user can get right now. It’s all about cyclicality, because usually the new models of the “red team” surpass the latest generation Intel solutions in terms of power. However, this time it’s not just about performance – AMD, along with new processors, also introduced a completely new AM5 platform. Yes, this means you need to buy a fresh motherboard for the new line, plus AMD has said they plan to support AM5 until at least 2025. This means that over time, the user can simply replace the processor, remaining on the same motherboard.

And although buying a motherboard with a processor is never a pleasant process, there is a good reason for this – the new platform supports DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0, so it’s not just about the new socket (now it’s LGA). At the same time, I would like to note that during the testing of the Ryzen 9 7950X, I had serious problems – from time to time the computer simply rebooted without a blue screen and other notifications. And I was not able to fix the problem even with AMD. For a $699 processor, this is actually a serious problem.

Characteristics

• Number of cores: 16.
• Number of threads: 32.
• Clock frequency in Boost mode: up to 5.7 GHz.
• Base clock frequency: 4.5 GHz.
• L1 cache: 1 MB.
• L2 cache: 16 MB.
• L3 cache: 64 MB.
• Rated TDP: 170W.
• Process technology: TSMC 5nm FinFET.
• Overclocking function: present.
• Socket: AM5.
• Cooling system: not included in delivery.
• Maximum operating temperature: 95 °C.
• Number of memory channels: 2.
• Integrated graphics: AMR Radeon, 2 cores.
• Suggested retail price: $699

New motherboard requires new memory

It is worth emphasizing that the AM5 platform exclusively supports DDR5 RAM, while the latest generation of Intel processors also supports DDR4 RAM. This means that if you decide to buy a new AMD processor, then you will have to buy the chip itself, and the motherboard, and RAM.

Performance and Benchmarks

In Geekbench 5, which is purely a test of the capabilities of the processor, the theoretical performance of AMD’s new flagship chip looks quite impressive in both single-core and multi-core formats.

Test results in Geekbench 5 (single-core and multi-core modes):

Judging by the scores, the flagship of the “red team” significantly outperforms its main competitor in the face of the Core i9-12900K in the synthetic test – this was to be expected. And although Intel has already shown its 13th generation flagship, the processor has not yet reached the tests, so it is impossible to compare the Ryzen 9 7950X with a fresh flagship. However, the 13th generation of Intel chips does not have such a noticeable performance increase, so the picture will not change much.

Here I would like to clarify that the Ryzen 9 7900X processor does an excellent job with single-core performance, while the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X proved to be the real king of the multi-core test. Probably the reason is more cores. And, best of all, in Geekbench, you can easily look at the results of other processors that have been tested before. Accordingly, the Ryzen 9 5950X, the flagship of the previous generation, scored 1684 / 16477 points in the same benchmark – this means that the new generation really provides a performance boost in single-threaded mode. This is actually critical when running a lot of processes.

A similar situation is observed in the Cinebench R23 benchmark, which also specializes in testing processor performance, but focuses on rendering. Based on the results of the flagship chip, we can say that the Ryzen 9 7950X is currently the best choice in terms of multi-threaded performance on the market in the consumer segment of processors. At the same time, I would like to note that the processor under load in a multi-threaded test showed a temperature of 95 ° C. Yes, AMD claims that this is the operating temperature of the processor, after which it starts to drop frequencies in order not to overheat. This means that a potential buyer will have to allocate money also for a good cooling system.

Test results in Cinebench R23 (single-core and multi-core modes):

In other benchmarks that do a general system test, the advantage of the fresh AMD flagship is also noticeable – literally on all fronts, the Ryzen 9 7950X leaves the Core i9-12900K far behind. This advantage is maintained until the processor’s operating temperature exceeds 95 °C. If the temperature gets to this edge, the processor will reset clock speeds, and performance will decrease. However, this is a normal story for any chips.

Working with memory

In order to test the operation of the processor with RAM, the MaxxMEM2 test was used. And, as expected, the newer and faster memory turned out to be … faster. But more importantly, AMD is now using AMD’s Expo memory technology, which is something like its own version of Intel’s Extreme Memory Profile. Yes, this is XMP from AMD. Also, as with FreeSync, which was introduced to compete with NVIDIA’s G-Sync, AMD Expo is open to everyone.

Review

All four of AMD’s new processors were sent to me for testing, but the Ryzen 9 7950X is the only one I’ve had problems with. For example, I have occasional random reboots, but I can’t figure out what’s causing them – no Blue Screen of Death, but no items in the event viewer. I even contacted AMD – they said that maybe my 1200W PSU is the problem, so I need to make some adjustments to the system. And although I did everything that was recommended to me, none of it worked. A rather strange situation, although the overall performance of the flagship is certainly quite impressive.

✅ Benefits

• Fantastic performance.
• The AM5 platform offers long-term support unlike Intel.
• Quite reasonable price.

❌ Disadvantages

• Stability issues.
• A new motherboard is required.
• The Ryzen 9 7950X is more expensive than the Intel Core i9-13900K.

This is a translation of the XDA Developers review.

Source: Trash Box

Joyce

I am Joyce Corbett and I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years. My current role is as an author at World Stock Market, where I focus primarily on the tech section. My specialty is creating engaging content that helps to explain and demystify complex financial topics.