Apple M2 vs AMD Ryzen 9 3900

Processor comparisons   20-10-2022
   Perhaps you can't decide which processor to buy, you can make a decision by looking at the Apple M2 vs AMD Ryzen 9 3900 tests and decide which is better for games or simple use for rendering, streaming, machine learning, programming, video editing. Here is useful information from real streaming and video editing tests or various benchmarks. A step-by-step analysis of all the technical characteristics, so that it can be easier to read, is made by the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint testing in synthetic type tests such as Gears 5, Handbrake, VeraCrypt, WPrime, SuperPi, RealBench, UserBenchmark, 7zip, Dolphin Emulator, GeekBench 6, 5.2, Blender, MATLAB, AIDA64, PCMark 10, DaVinci Resolve Studio, PassMark, 3DMark, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, Furmark, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), Blender, Prime95.
   And how good the processors are in games:

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

After reading the results these benchmarks and videos, you already be able to know which CPU is better to buy for gaming AMD Ryzen 9 3900 or Apple M2.

Summary benchmark results

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

59%

Ryzen 9 3900

59%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

55%

Ryzen 9 3900

57%

The maximum result in this parameter is 100 percent, which is the performance of the most powerful processor currently available. And it is clear that 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 little game result, 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: Ghostrunner, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Hitman 3, Horizon Zero Dawn, Half-Life: Alyx, Battlefield V, Monster Hunter World, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Forza Horizon 4, League of Legends (LOL), Control, Metro Exodus, DOTA 2A, NBA 2K20, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	97.4	101.6
Valorant	110.7	115.5
Cyberpunk 2077	62.0	64.7
Apex Legends	104.1	108.6
Call of Duty Warzone	83.0	86.6
Overwatch	89.7	93.5
Red Dead Redemption 2	76.4	79.7
DOOM Eternal	55.4	57.7
Warzone	86.4	90.1
Assassin's Creed	93.0	97.0
Valheim	91.9	95.9

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 video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, 4K 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 compare it in one assembly with the video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

535%

Ryzen 9 3900

67%

To make a final resolution 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 M2 is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 9 3900 as it consumes less power: 12W vs. 65W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, you need to know its TDP. 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 programming, machine learning, video editing or video rendering, streaming, then the main parameter for you is its performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, the processor includes all threads and cores that it has to the maximum to achieve maximum efficiency. You will learn 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 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

	Apple M2	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Cinbench 15 Single-core	298	196
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	1586	2922
Cinbench 20 Single-core	558	485
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	2699	6789
Cinbench 23 Single-core	2057	1149
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	10520	16943

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

	Apple M2	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Single-Core	4095	2627
Multi-Core	29665	30807

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

	Apple M2	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Single-Core	1929	1324
Multi-Core	9243	13362

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the most useful will be the the possibility of overclocking it and release date of the processor. The later the processor is released, 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 even 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 M2	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Announcement date	October 18, 2022	September 30, 2019
Type	Laptop	Desktop
Socket	M2	AM4
Core name	4 x Avalanche and 4 x Blizzard	Matisse
Architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE)	Zen 2
Generation	2	2
Turbo Frequency		4.2 MHz
Frequency	3.49 MHz	3.1 MHz
Cores	8	12
Threads	8	24
Bus rate
Bit	64	64
Lithography	5 nm	7 nm
Transistors count	20000 millions	7800 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	12 W	65 W
Memory type	LPDDR5 - Up to 6400MHz	DDR4
Max. Memory
Memory Frequency	2400	3200
Memory bandwidth
L1 cache	2MB	768KB
L2 cache	12MB	6MB
L3 cache	16MB	64MB
Overclocking	No	No
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number		100-000000072

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here M2 is 11% better than Ryzen 9 3900 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Ryzen 9 3900 has 4 more core than M2. 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 M2 is better: 10
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 3900 is better: 23
However, it should be realized that all the figures in the table above do not mean that taking them into account you should completely trust a simple comparison of these numbers. Be sure to watch the testing video and read the opinion of of people who bought Apple M2 and AMD Ryzen 9 3900 before making a selection which processor to buy for gaming and which not.

Apple M2 - all data

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

• Apple M2 specs and review.

• AMD Ryzen 9 3900 specs and review.