Apple M1 Pro vs AMD Ryzen 9 3900

Processor comparisons   21-10-2022
   For example you are thinking about choosing a CPU, you will be able to make a choice by looking at the Apple M1 Pro vs AMD Ryzen 9 3900 tests and decide which is better for games or normal use for streaming, rendering, programming, video editing, machine learning. Here is 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 summarized in the table.
   From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint testing in software tests like 7zip, MATLAB, PCMark 10, Furmark, Dolphin Emulator, Blender, Blender, Gears 5, WPrime, UserBenchmark, 3DMark, GeekBench 6, 5.2, SuperPi, VeraCrypt, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Prime95, PassMark, AIDA64, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, RealBench, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), Handbrake.
   And how good the CPUs are in games:

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

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

Summary benchmark results

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

M1 Pro

59%

Ryzen 9 3900

59%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

M1 Pro

57%

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

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	101.0	101.6
Valorant	114.8	115.5
Cyberpunk 2077	64.3	64.7
Apex Legends	107.9	108.6
Call of Duty Warzone	86.1	86.6
Overwatch	93.0	93.5
Red Dead Redemption 2	79.2	79.7
DOOM Eternal	57.4	57.7
Warzone	89.5	90.1
Assassin's Creed	96.4	97.0
Valheim	95.3	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 that were in the comparisons not only did they have different video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, 4K 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 compare it in one assembly with the video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

M1 Pro

358%

Ryzen 9 3900

67%

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 M1 Pro is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 9 3900 since it has less power consumption: 16W vs. 65W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, it will be useful to know its TDP. It is necessary to calculate 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 video editing or video rendering, streaming, programming, machine learning, then the main parameter for you is its performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, the processor includes all cores and threads that it has to the maximum to reach maximum efficiency. 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. 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

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Cinbench 15 Single-core	304	196
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	1716	2922
Cinbench 20 Single-core	590	485
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	2936	6789
Cinbench 23 Single-core	2233	1149
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	11512	16943

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

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Single-Core	5046	2627
Multi-Core	32596	30807

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

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Single-Core	1723	1324
Multi-Core	12737	13362

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 you. 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, thereby increasing its performance, then it will continue to maintain maximum FPS even in new games. The savings are obvious! Accordingly, there is no longer a need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer.

	Apple M1 Pro	AMD Ryzen 9 3900
Announcement date	October 07, 2021	September 30, 2019
Type	Laptop	Desktop
Socket	M1	AM4
Core name	8x Firestorm and 2x Icestorm	Matisse
Architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE)	Zen 2
Generation	1	2
Turbo Frequency		4.2 MHz
Frequency	3.2 MHz	3.1 MHz
Cores	10	12
Threads	10	24
Bus rate
Bit	64	64
Lithography	5 nm	7 nm
Transistors count	34000 millions	7800 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	16 W	65 W
Memory type	LPDDR5 - Up to 6400MHz	DDR4
Max. Memory	32 Gb
Memory Frequency	6400	3200
Memory bandwidth	208 GByte/s
L1 cache	4MB	768KB
L2 cache	24MB	6MB
L3 cache	24MB	64MB
Overclocking	No	No
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	APL1103	100-000000072

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here M1 Pro is 3% better than Ryzen 9 3900 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Ryzen 9 3900 has 2 more core than M1 Pro. 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 Pro is better: 14
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 9 3900 is better: 22
All the number in the text above do not mean that taking them into account you should totally trust a simple quantitative comparison. Be sure to watch the video tests and read the opinion of of people who bought Apple M1 Pro and AMD Ryzen 9 3900 before making a selection which of the processors to buy for gaming.

Apple M1 Pro - all data

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

• Apple M1 Pro specs and review.

• AMD Ryzen 9 3900 specs and review.