Apple M1 Ultra vs AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900

Processor comparisons 21-10-2022

   For example you can't decide which processor to buy, you can make a choice after reading the detailed tests Apple M1 Ultra vs AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900 and understand which is better for games or normal use for machine learning, streaming, programming, rendering, video editing. Here you can find all information from many benchmarks or real video editing and streaming tests. A careful review of all the technical characteristics, to make it easier to understand, is presented in the form of the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint testing in special test applications like 7zip, MATLAB, Gears 5, Furmark, DaVinci Resolve Studio, RealBench, UserBenchmark, PCMark 10, Dolphin Emulator, AIDA64, SuperPi, 3DMark, PassMark, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), Blender, GeekBench 6, 5.2, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, Blender, VeraCrypt, WPrime, Prime95, Handbrake.
   Gaming performance of CPUs in:

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

After looking at the data these benchmarks and videos, you can already make an briefed decision about which CPU is better to buy for gaming AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900 or Apple M1 Ultra.

Summary benchmark results

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

M1 Ultra

68%

Ryzen 9 PRO 3900

59%

The number of this parameter shows the performance of the processors in single-threaded and multi-threaded mode. In this comparison, M1 Ultra is 13% better than Ryzen 9 PRO 3900. The data source is several popular tests. More detailed information of the benchmarks is below.

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

M1 Ultra

64%

Ryzen 9 PRO 3900

56%

For the maximum in this test, the results of the most powerful processor in the site database are taken. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because this processor costs 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 final table below.
List of other games in which processors were compared: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, DOTA 2A, League of Legends (LOL), Ghostrunner, Monster Hunter World, Hitman 3, Battlefield V, Horizon Zero Dawn, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Metro Exodus, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Forza Horizon 4, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Control, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Half-Life: Alyx, NBA 2K20.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	113.1	99.7
Valorant	128.6	113.3
Cyberpunk 2077	72.0	63.5
Apex Legends	120.8	106.5
Call of Duty Warzone	96.4	85.0
Overwatch	104.1	91.8
Red Dead Redemption 2	88.7	78.2
DOOM Eternal	64.3	56.7
Warzone	100.3	88.4
Assassin's Creed	108.0	95.2
Valheim	106.7	94.1

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: 2K, FullHD or 4K. 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

M1 Ultra

272%

Ryzen 9 PRO 3900

64%

To make a finishing choice 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 M1 Ultra is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 9 PRO 3900 since it has less power consumption: 20W vs. 65W. Power consumption is particularly important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, you must 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

For example you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for programming, machine learning, streaming, video rendering or video editing, then the main parameter for you is its performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, to achieve maximum performance, the CPU includes all cores and threads that it has. You will find out this data from the benchmark tables below. Before using the data from these tests, be sure to make sure that the software that you are going to use on your computer can work in multi-threaded mode. Because there are still many programs that can use only one core to run, and all the advantages 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

	Apple M1 Ultra	AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900
Cinbench 15 Single-core	555	202
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	3252	3007
Cinbench 20 Single-core	1103	499
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	5583	6987
Cinbench 23 Single-core	4240	1182
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	21959	17436

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

	Apple M1 Ultra	AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900
Single-Core	9611	2663
Multi-Core	62194	31704

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

	Apple M1 Ultra	AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900
Single-Core	1637	1252
Multi-Core	24642	11494

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the processor release date and overclocking capability will be the most useful. The newer the processor, the longer it will last in your computer. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system in the future. 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. It turns out that there is no longer a need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The savings are obvious!

	Apple M1 Ultra	AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900
Announcement date	April 09, 2022	September 30, 2019
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Socket	M1	AM4
Core name	16x Firestorm and 4x Icestorm	Matisse
Architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE)	Zen 2
Generation	1	2
Turbo Frequency		4.3 MHz
Frequency	3.2 MHz	3.1 MHz
Cores	20	12
Threads	20	24
Bus rate
Bit	64	64
Lithography	5 nm	7 nm
Transistors count	114000 millions	7800 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	20 W	65 W
Memory type	LPDDR5 - Up to 6400MHz	DDR4
Max. Memory	128 Gb
Memory Frequency	6400	3200
Memory bandwidth	818 GByte/s
L1 cache	4MB	768KB
L2 cache	48MB	6MB
L3 cache	96MB	64MB
Overclocking	No	No
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	APL1W06	100-000000072

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here M1 Ultra is 3% better than Ryzen 9 PRO 3900 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that M1 Ultra has 8 more core than Ryzen 9 PRO 3900. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which Apple M1 Ultra is better: 30
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900 is better: 6
Although it should be understood that all the figures that you have looked at here do not mean that taking them into account you should undividedly trust a simple quantitative comparison. Better to watch the testing video and read the reviews of real owners of Apple M1 Ultra and AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900 before making a choice which processor to buy for gaming and which not.

Apple M1 Ultra - all data

• Cinebench r15 score
• Cinebench r20 score
• Cinebench r23 score
• GeekBench 6, 5.2 score

• Apple M1 Ultra specs and review.

• AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 3900 specs and review.