AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX vs Intel Core i9-9990XE

Processor comparisons 17-03-2021

   If there are difficulties with the choice of a CPU, you will solve them by reading the detailed tests AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX vs Intel Core i9-9990XE and understand which is better for games or normal use for machine learning, programming, video editing, streaming, rendering. Here is useful information from different benchmarks or real streaming and video editing tests. A careful analysis of all the specifications, so that it can be easier to understand, is made by the table.
   From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint testing in software tests like WPrime, Blender, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), MATLAB, 3DMark, Gears 5, GeekBench 6, 5.2, Handbrake, PCMark 10, 7zip, PassMark, Prime95, RealBench, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Blender, Dolphin Emulator, UserBenchmark, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, Furmark, SuperPi, AIDA64, VeraCrypt.
   And how good the CPUs are in games:

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

After reading the results of joint benchmarks and videos, you can already make an briefed decision about which CPU is better to buy for gaming Intel Core i9-9990XE or AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX.

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 5900HX

57%

Core i9-9990XE

59%

This shows the performance of the processors in single-threaded and multi-threaded mode. In this comparison, Core i9-9990XE is 3% better than Ryzen 9 5900HX. The data source is several popular tests. More detailed information of the benchmarks is below.

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Ryzen 9 5900HX

55%

Core i9-9990XE

59%

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. And if it seems to you that the selected CPU has a low game result, just look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the final table below.
List of other games in which processors were compared: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Hitman 3, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, DOTA 2A, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon 4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Ghostrunner, NBA 2K20, Half-Life: Alyx, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Control, Horizon Zero Dawn, Battlefield V, League of Legends (LOL), Metro Exodus, Monster Hunter World.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	97.6	104.6
Valorant	110.9	118.9
Cyberpunk 2077	62.1	66.6
Apex Legends	104.3	111.7
Call of Duty Warzone	83.2	89.1
Overwatch	89.9	96.3
Red Dead Redemption 2	76.5	82.0
DOOM Eternal	55.5	59.4
Warzone	86.5	92.7
Assassin's Creed	93.2	99.8
Valheim	92.1	98.6

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 that were in the comparisons not only did they have different amounts of RAM and different video cards. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 4K, 2K or FullHD. So the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. You will get more accurate information about how powerful 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 5900HX

115%

Core i9-9990XE

16%

To make a finishing choice on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. The newer the processor generation, the better its performance in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Ryzen 9 5900HX is more energy efficient than the Core i9-9990XE as it consumes less power: 45W vs. 260W. Power consumption is particularly important for laptops. And TDP should be taken into account when choosing a processor cooling system. You need to buy a cooler that has the TDP data specified in the specification was greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

If you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for video rendering or video editing, programming, machine learning, streaming, then the main parameter for you is its performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, to achieve maximum performance, the processor uses all cores and threads that it has. You will find out this data from the benchmark tables below. Before you take into account the data from these tests, be sure to check whether the software you are going to use on your computer supports multi-threaded mode. Because there are still many programs that can use only one core to work, and all the benefit of multi-core mode turns out to be unnecessary.

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

	AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX	Intel Core i9-9990XE
Cinbench 15 Single-core	223	199
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	2160	3215
Cinbench 20 Single-core	571	455
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	5536	7457
Cinbench 23 Single-core	1344	1115
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	12051	22765

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

	AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX	Intel Core i9-9990XE
Single-Core	3340	3072
Multi-Core	23829	31845

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

	AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX	Intel Core i9-9990XE
Single-Core	1561	1308
Multi-Core	9439	16263

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the most useful will be the release date of the processor and the possibility of overclocking it. The newer the processor, the longer it will last you. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system later. The same benefits from the presence of overclocking. If the processor can be overclocked, increasing its performance, then it will still be able to produce maximum FPS in new games. Accordingly, you do not need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The savings are obvious!

	AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX	Intel Core i9-9990XE
Announcement date	January 12, 2021	April 01, 2020
Type	Laptop	Desktop
Socket	FP6	LGA2066
Core name	Vermeer	Skylake
Architecture	Zen 3	x86
Generation	3	9
Turbo Frequency	4.6 MHz	5.2 MHz
Frequency	3.3 MHz	4.2 MHz
Cores	8	14
Threads	16	28
Bus rate		8 GT/s
Bit	64	64
Lithography	7 nm	14 nm
Transistors count	9400 millions	8600 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	45 W	260 W
Memory type	DDR4 - Up to 3200MHz	DDR4-2666
Max. Memory		128 Gb
Memory Frequency
Memory bandwidth		85 GB/s
L1 cache
L2 cache	4MB
L3 cache	16MB	32 MB
Overclocking	Yes	Yes
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	100-000000300

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Core i9-9990XE is 21% better than Ryzen 9 5900HX in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Core i9-9990XE has 6 more core than Ryzen 9 5900HX. 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 5900HX is better: 10
The number of parameters for which Intel Core i9-9990XE is better: 25
Although it should be understood that all the number in the article above do not mean that taking them into account you should undividedly trust a simple comparison of these numbers. Be sure to watch the testing video and read the opinion of real owners of AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and Intel Core i9-9990XE before making a choice which of the CPUs to buy for gaming.

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX specs and review.

• Intel Core i9-9990XE specs and review.