AMD Ryzen 9 3950X vs AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

Processor comparisons 17-03-2021

   If you can't decide which processor to buy, you can make a choice after reading the full tests AMD Ryzen 9 3950X vs AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and understand which is better for games or normal use for machine learning, programming, streaming, video editing, rendering. Here is all information from real streaming and video editing tests or various benchmarks. A thorough review of all the technical characteristics, so that it can be easier to understand, is summarized in the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of parallel examination in synthetic type tests such as PCMark 10, Handbrake, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Blender, VeraCrypt, Gears 5, AIDA64, PassMark, MATLAB, 7zip, GeekBench 6, 5.2, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), Blender, 3DMark, RealBench, UserBenchmark, Prime95, SuperPi, Dolphin Emulator, WPrime, Furmark, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark.
   And how good the CPUs are in games:

Last Man Standing
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Warzone
Valorant
Halo Infinite
DOOM: Eternal
Fallout 76
Valheim
Rainbow Six Siege
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Red Dead Redemption 2
Apex Legends
Watch Dogs Legion
Death Stranding
Cyberpunk 2077
Grand Theft Auto V
Borderlands 3
Overwatch
Fortnite

After looking at the data of joint benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which processor is better to buy for gaming AMD Ryzen 9 5900X or AMD Ryzen 9 3950X.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
Processor Benchmark

Ryzen 9 3950X

61%

Ryzen 9 5900X

61%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Ryzen 9 3950X

58%

Ryzen 9 5900X

58%

The maximum result in this parameter is 100 percent, which is the performance of the most powerful processor at the moment. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because the cost of this processor reaches several tens of thousands of dollars. Therefore, if you think that the selected CPU has a small game result, just look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the summary table below.
List of less popular games in which processors were compared: Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Forza Horizon 4, Metro Exodus, Horizon Zero Dawn, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), League of Legends (LOL), Ghostrunner, Half-Life: Alyx, Battlefield V, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Hitman 3, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Monster Hunter World, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Control, NBA 2K20, DOTA 2A, Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	103.7	102.7
Valorant	117.9	116.7
Cyberpunk 2077	66.0	65.3
Apex Legends	110.8	109.7
Call of Duty Warzone	88.4	87.5
Overwatch	95.5	94.5
Red Dead Redemption 2	81.3	80.5
DOOM Eternal	58.9	58.3
Warzone	91.9	91.0
Assassin's Creed	99.0	98.0
Valheim	97.8	96.8

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the computer (RAM size and Video Card) and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Cinebench, GeekBench and Passmark becnmarks.
The computers participating in the comparisons not only were the equipped with different amounts of RAM and different video cards. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 4K, 2K or FullHD. Therefore, the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. To be sure exactly how much performance the processor will be in games, if you get acquainted with the benchmarks that are made with the same video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

Ryzen 9 3950X

40%

Ryzen 9 5900X

51%

To make a finishing resolution on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. It is clear that the newer the generation, the better the performance of the processor in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Ryzen 9 5900X is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 9 3950X as it consumes less power: 105W vs. 105W. Power consumption is particularly important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, it will be useful to know its TDP. It is necessary to count so that the TDP data specified in the cooler specification is greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

If you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for machine learning, programming, video editing or video rendering, streaming, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, to achieve maximum efficiency, the CPU turns on all threads and cores that it has. You will learn this data from the benchmark tables below. Before using the data from these tests, be sure to make sure that the program that you are going to use on your computer can work in multi-threaded mode. Since there are still many programs that use only one core to run, and all the advantages of multi-core mode are unused.

Cinebench 23, 20 an 15
The results of this benchmark show Single-threaded and Multi-threaded CPU performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Cinbench 15 Single-core	217	270
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	3897	3684
Cinbench 20 Single-core	531	637
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	9148	8468
Cinbench 23 Single-core	1371	1622
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	24050	21878

Passmark
This popular benchmark displays Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Single-Core	2718	3470
Multi-Core	39170	39428

GeekBench 6, 5.2
This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Single-Core	1286	1612
Multi-Core	15407	14387

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the processor release date and overclocking capability will be the most useful. The later the processor is released, the longer it will last in your computer. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system in the future. The same can be said about overclocking. When the processor can be overclocked, increasing its performance, then it will still be able to produce maximum FPS even in the newest games. It turns out that there is no longer a need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The economy are obvious!

	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Announcement date	October 01, 2019	November 05, 2020
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Socket	AM4	AM4
Core name	Matisse	Vermeer
Architecture	Zen 2	Zen 3
Generation	3	4
Turbo Frequency	4.7 MHz	4.8 MHz
Frequency	3.5 MHz	3.7 MHz
Cores	16	12
Threads	32	24
Bus rate
Bit	64	64
Lithography	7 nm	7 nm
Transistors count	7800 millions	9400 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	105 W	105 W
Memory type	DDR4	DDR4
Max. Memory
Memory Frequency	3200	3200
Memory bandwidth
L1 cache	1MB
L2 cache	8MB	6MB
L3 cache	64MB	64MB
Overclocking	Yes	Yes
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	100-000000051 100-100000051WOF	100-000000061 100-100000061WOF

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Ryzen 9 5900X is 5% better than Ryzen 9 3950X in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Ryzen 9 3950X has 4 more core than Ryzen 9 5900X. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 3950X is better: 19
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is better: 11
However, it should be realized that the summary data in the text above do not mean that taking them into account you should entirely trust a simple comparison of these figures. Better to watch the video tests and read the opinion of real owners of AMD Ryzen 9 3950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5900X before making a decision which CPU to buy for gaming and which not.

• AMD Ryzen 9 3950X specs and review.

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900X specs and review.