AMD Ryzen 9 3950X CPU Review

1. Ryzen 9 3950X: 16 Cores for the Mainstream2. Overclocking Ryzen 9 3950X3. Testing Methodology4. CPU Tests: Cinebench R15 & R20, Blender5. CPU & Memory Tests: 7-Zip, Handbrake x264 & x2656. Memory Tests: Memory Bandwidth and Latency7. Gaming 1: 3DMark, Ashes, Deus Ex, Far Cry 5, GTA V8. Gaming 2: GRW, Hitman 2, SotTR, The Division 29. 1440p Gaming: Deus Ex, Far Cry 5, & The Division 210. Technical: Power Draw, Efficiency, Temperatures11. Closing Thoughts12. View All Pages

We will be outlining the AMD Ryzen 9 3950X CPU's performance while using Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master motherboard. A 16GB (2x8GB) kit of 3200MHz CL14 DDR4 memory serves our test system.

Today's comparison processors come in the form of:

• Coffee Lake Core i7-9700K (8C8T), Core i9-9900K (8C16T), and Core i9-9900KS (8C16T).
• Skylake-X Core i9-9960X (16C32T) and Core i9-9980XE (18C36T).
• Matisse ‘Zen 2' Ryzen 9 3900X (12C24T) and Ryzen 7 3700X (8C16T).
• Zen+ Ryzen Threadripper 2950X (16C32T).

Each processor is tested at its default out-of-the-box settings. We also include reasonable overclocking performance data where relevant. For the Intel CPUs, forced turbo is enabled by default when XMP is enabled and, in most scenarios, cannot be disabled. As such, we test using the forced turbo frequencies with the Intel processors. All-core load frequencies for the tested chips are as follows:

• Core i9-9900KS = 5.0GHz.
• Core i9-9900K = 4.7GHz.
• Core i9-9980XE = 3.8GHz (without AVX2/AVX-512 reductions).
• Core i9-9960X = 4.0GHz (without AVX2/AVX-512 reductions).
• Ryzen Threadripper 2950X = Around 3550-3600MHz.
• Ryzen 9 3900X = Around 4050MHz (F7b BIOS, AGESA 1.0.0.3ABBA).
• Ryzen 7 3700X = Around 4050MHz (F7b BIOS, AGESA 1.0.0.3ABBA).
• Ryzen 9 3950X = Around 3800-3950MHz (F10a BIOS, AGESA 1.0.0.4).

CPU Test System Common Components:

• Graphics Card: Gigabyte Aorus RTX 2080 Ti XTREME (custom fan curve to minimise thermal throttling).
• Memory: 16GB (2x8GB) G.Skill 3200MHz 14-14-14-34 DDR4 @ 1.35V (4x8GB for quad-channel systems).
• CPU Cooler: Corsair H100X with 2435 RPM SP120L fans.
• Games SSD: Aorus 2TB PCIe Gen 4 M.2 SSD & Crucial MX300 750GB SATA SSD.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Prime Titanium 1000W.
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit 1903 Update.

LGA 1151 Rev. 2 System (i9-9900K, i9-9900KS):

• Core i9-9900K CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K ‘Coffee Lake' 8 cores, 16 threads (4.9GHz @ 1.3V overclocked).
• Core i9-9900KS CPU: Intel Core i9-9900KS ‘Coffee Lake' 8 cores, 16 threads (5.2GHz @ 1.375V overclocked).
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 Aorus XTREME (LGA 1151 rev. 2, Z390, F7 BIOS).
• System Drive: Plextor M9Pe 512GB.

AM4 System (Ryzen 7 3700X, Ryzen 9 3900X, Ryzen 9 3950X):

• Ryzen 7 3700X CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X ‘Matisse' 8 cores, 16 threads (4.25GHz @ 1.35-1.375V overclocked).
• Ryzen 9 3900X CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X ‘Matisse' 12 cores, 24 threads (4.25GHz @ 1.35-1.4V overclocked).
• Ryzen 9 3950X CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X ‘Matisse' 16 cores, 32 threads (PBO + Auto OC 200MHz).
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master (AM4, X570, F10a BIOS, AMD AGESA Combo-AM4 1.0.0.4).
• System Drive: WD Black SN750 500GB.

TR4 System (Ryzen Threadripper 2950X):

• Ryzen Threadripper 2950X CPU: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X ‘Colfax' 16 cores, 32 threads (PBO overclocked).
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X399 Gaming 7 (TR4, X399, F12h BIOS, AMD AGESA SummitPI-SP3r2-1.1.0.2).
• System Drive: ADATA XPG SX950 240GB.
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Wraith Ripper.

LGA 2066 System (i9-9960X, i9-9980XE):

• Core i9-9960X CPU: Intel Core i9-9960X ‘Skylake-X' 16 cores, 32 threads (4.5GHz @ 1.2V overclocked).
• Core i9-9980XE CPU: Intel Core i9-9980XE ‘Skylake-X' 18 cores, 36 threads (4.5GHz @ 1.175V overclocked).
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X299X Designare 10G (LGA 2066, X299, F3a BIOS).

Software:

• GeForce 440.97 VGA drivers.

Tests:

Productivity-related:

• Cinebench R15 – All-core & single-core CPU benchmark (CPU)
• Cinebench R20 – All-core & single-core CPU benchmark (CPU)
• Blender 2.79b – All-core rendering of the BMW benchmark (CPU)
• HandBrake x264 – Convert 1440p60 H264 video to 1080p60 H264 using the YouTube HQ 1080p60 preset (CPU)
• HandBrake x265 – Convert 4K30 100Mbps H264 video to 1080p30 40Mbps H265 using the H.265 MKV 1080p30 preset (CPU)
• 7-Zip – Built-in 7-Zip benchmark test (CPU & Memory)
• SiSoft Sandra – Memory bandwidth and Cache & Memory Latency Test (Memory)
• AIDA64 – Memory bandwidth, memory latency, memory & cache latency (Memory)

Gaming-related:

• 3DMark Time Spy – Time Spy (DX12) test (Gaming)
• Ashes Escalation – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Crazy quality preset, CPU-Focused Test, DX12 (Gaming)
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Ultra quality preset, no AA, DX12 version (Gaming)
• Far Cry 5 – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Ultra quality preset, DX12 (Gaming)
• Ghost Recon: Wildlands – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Ultra quality preset, DX12 (Gaming)
• Grand Theft Auto V – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Maximum quality settings, Maximum Advanced Graphics, DX11 (Gaming)
• Hitman 2 – Built-in benchmark tool – Mumbai scene, 1920 x 1080, Ultra quality preset, DX12 (Gaming)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Highest quality preset, no AA, DX12 version (Gaming)
• The Division 2 – Built-in benchmark tool, 1920 x 1080, Ultra quality preset, no AA, DX12 version (Gaming)

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