AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Review - It’s OK, just too pricy

[@KitGuruTech]

Be sure to report spam if you see it, its an ongoing issue. Let us know your thoughts in the comments - are you buying a new CPU this year? moving from Intel to AMD or upgrading? let us know. And if you missed yesterday's 9900X review, it's over here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaTXnHWZj8l8nas

[@SergejusOrlovasTrismegistos]

Moving from Intel 14900K due to crashes but still undecided 7950X3D or 9950X as still asking me what is more important productivity or games :/

[@byrondubois_za]

Worth the jump from a 5900x?

[@jamey-pl4ez]

Leo flying the flag high for quality journalism and old school values

[@Raul-id9gp]

A lot of logic behind Leos thoughts - even if i cant always get to where he is, I admire the ethics and viewpoints

[@evalangley3985]

I need to agree with you on this ones after digesting yesterday reviews from others. If you are not doing any rendering or compute over on Linux, then the price is not justified. If you remember well, AMD dropped their price on their x series mere weeks after the release of Zen 4 in 2022. We might see the pattern repeating itself.

[@Francioslusi-kg6cx]

Forgot about that !

[@Everychillitsjustlife-cz8zz]

Let us hope so. I wonder how long they will wait for the update on the 3D processors.

[@Phaevryn]

They don't really have any competition atm so it's less likely.

[@PanchoGDMKWii]

Its literally $50 cheaper than when the 7950X got released

[@michaelangst6078]

I believe the 9000 series can run the RPCS3 emulator significantly better because of full AVX 512 support which the 7000 series didn't have, but someone has to confirm this with testing

[@huxley3775]

7950X3D is dominating the power per watt by some distance - cant wait for the new 3D parts

[@KitGuruTech]

Us neither!

[@huxley3775]

@@KitGuruTech

[@weirdodude1173]

Thumbs up for on-point reviews!

[@buyingastairwaytoheaven5252]

Well said 👌🏻

[@spstatus916]

Good content all week Leo and KG, thanks for the hard work! I am sticking with my 7800 for the time being - nothing has made me want to move yet, maybe the 9800X3D will!

[@KitGuruTech]

Thanks, appreciate it!

[@DarwinBrookes-ss6on]

Can I just put out a 'good job leo' here, after so much drama and trending nonsense to get hits, I have admired the content Level1Techs, Kitguru and Anandtech have put out. Good old values!

[@Wyatt775]

Leo - well done this week and bravo for not trying trend ‘tactics’ like some others

[@user-ko2tk9gp7k]

I am going to order a 9900X, thanks for the reviews, found them very mature and focused on the topics at hand

[@hothardwareforthewin-he4fz]

Good choice man

[@TheDaveyd29]

doing the same but i may wait for the next bios update

[@mdqmusic9]

Leo thanks for all the work in recent weeks - good job all round !

[@KitGuruTech]

No worries!

[@mdqmusic9]

@@KitGuruTech Right!

[@Austin023]

The curve optimiser is a great tool, They put some effort into creating those tools for the user which is excellent

[@KitGuruTech]

Agreed, it delivers great results here, much better than manual overclocking

[@Austin023]

@@KitGuruTech Yes you are Right!

[@RainbowSunset-uq2hs]

9950x seems like a solid CPU, its a bit overpriced based on the 9900x which seems the sweet spot for performance

[@JynxedKoma]

About time someone stood in it's corner rather than slating it. Yes, we all know it's best in productivity, but that doesn't discount it's potential in games. LOTS of people still use 1440p, so not having almost 300fps as one would with something like the 7800x3D isn't going to be a massive loss (if any). You're still going to get over 100FPS in 4K games, so what's there to complain about? You're literally getting best of both worlds.

[@gamingcomputers7485]

​@@JynxedKomaexactly everyone should have the right to get a cpu that is good in both ofc not as fast as a x3d chip but still.

[@PanchoGDMKWii]

Its $50 cheaper than the 7950x on launch

[@daj246]

@JynxedKoma Thank you so much for recognizing the Zen 12core variants are very good balance/value. I still currently am a proud 3900X owner since it released and even though $ drops are inevitable, on launch imo the 9900X is *only* one that has decent $ for wat ur getting perf./value wise.

[@lovingthehardwarethisyea-py1xp]

Thanks Leo for the coverage, enjoyed all the reviews - some level headed non drama based content - refreshing !

[@KitGuruTech]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@evalangley3985]

@@KitGuruTech HU and GN coverage made me go back to Anandtech.

[@Simplyswish-xx6wr]

Agree ❤❤

[@LucyME-mo9rl]

Will be interesting to see how intel responds.

[@mehck-gk9yn]

I'm more interested to see how their lawyers respond to the pending Class-Action lawsuit lurking

[@pham3383]

dont know if ture,but moore law is dead said 15th gen is very delayed(technical issue),maybe until end of march 2025

[@Ernest3834]

The 14900k still does well in the tests - I am very very interested to see what Intel do in the coming months with their new releases - its almost feeling like a last chance for them now

[@mehck-gk9yn]

Who is gonna buy Intel? I bought Intel for 20+ years and I'm not buying anything they sell ever again. So, who is gonna buy the new Intel chips if lifetime users refuse to buy?

[@Ernest3834]

@@mehck-gk9yn Hmm!

[@evalangley3985]

After HU and GN not missing an opportunity to trend on Zen 5 topics, it is refreshing to see an actual review.

[@nathangamble125]

HU and GN did make "an actual review" though.

[@Berserkism]

​@nathangamble125 they made click bait "reaction face."

[@harleylover9446]

It’s all such a snore now

[@user-uv8qn1br8q]

I’m surprised the click bait works still. A whole lot of sheep about.

[@hothardwareforthewin-he4fz]

Sometimes I want a simple analysis without being drilled into some great big conspiracy. It’s tiring.

[@georgebrown2974]

hold on for 9800X3D! wont be long coming now

[@jxblack34]

£610 is not TOO bad really by todays market but its certainly a hefty price

[@KitGuruTech]

I guess it's all relative - if you have an RTX 4090 it may not seem so bad!

[@jxblack34]

@@KitGuruTech I do have!

[@sandraLopez901-h9g]

So much click bait stuff, like linus doing ‘STOP INTELS dead’ and GN and HUB releasing so many videos just beating a dead horse the other way. Thanks Leo and thanks Wendell and thanks Anandtech

[@stevenbryant8445]

Not sure that is worth the £150 premium over the 9900X as you say Leo

[@bhangarebhangare4589]

I like leos reviews always on point and no Bsing around like a diva

[@Eleanora577]

Good content leo last 2 weeks, you must be shattered

[@GAMER_kartik551]

Thanks for all the work and efforts put into this, been a busy few weeks for everyone. Waiting for intel launches soon, then 3D processors. will wait as you advised yesterday

[@KitGuruTech]

Thanks appreciate it!

[@BlaiseMiller14]

AMD should be really happy with all the content - some really good reviews

[@ryanrichardson7285]

Intel - waiting to see what they do, their processors are always great for gaming, even if they are unpopular now with some people

[@freddieholmes5581]

9900x is the sweet spot so far, but none of these are giving you what the 3D range does - AMD need to update this range but will not do it too quickly to cannibalise sales - need to wait people !

[@fletcher3431]

9900x is the one I like the most, has plenty of cores for a variety of tasks, and hits a decent price point. This 9950x feels like a cheap threadripper to me, which in itself might target an audience!

[@DavidLeBon-qq9vr]

7950X3D results in these graphs should be all people need to see to wait for new 3D parts coming soon. Zen 5 hasnt overly impressed me, but its not been terrible regardless of the gang mentality - the 9900x is a pretty good processor overall for all round use if you have a budget of £500. Leo when are you doing some new motherboard tests? id love to get some info on high bandwidth memory support

[@KitGuruTech]

New boards aren't official yet but the rumour mill suggests it may even be next month

[@jameskane6273]

16 core Zen 5 for £610 seems not bad to me, but I spend a lot of money on a new CPU every 2 years so I am probably the target market for this, the 9900X seems to be much cooler running however, so its tempting to upgrade my 12th Gen Intel now

[@SahadebOda]

Leo you have done a great job in the last two weeks creating all this content, some good reviews and details - without any dramas. thank you

[@KitGuruTech]

Much appreciated!

[@parker3715]

I love Zen 5, very good few weeks of reviews on selected channels like level 1techs and kitguru

[@Wilfred4815]

9800X3D is the one I want, if its as good as the last one with more optimisations and new AMD software support

[@oliverh1920]

Thanks Leo ! one to watch this weekend when I get the kids to sleep and the wife drunk and quiet

[@Hudson234]

The curve software looks like a great move forward for customers - takes all the hassle out of tuning the CPU for you. I wonder if people still tweak the CPU’s themselves, I stopped that years ago

[@Blake846]

Thanks Leo, great coverage and while I have not agreed with all of it from Kitguru, I respect your reviews and understand the points you are making

[@KitGuruTech]

Thank you! We appreciate that

[@Blake846]

@@KitGuruTech Welcome!

[@samshawn4887]

Drama sells - nice to see some channels dont live on clickbait

[@jamest484]

Solid processor, but very expensive for what you get

[@sblantipodi]

always nice to see KitGuru review ;)

[@nightcorepeter]

Thanks Kitguru - keep flying the flag for UK !

[@KitGuruTech]

Always!

[@nightcorepeter]

@@KitGuruTech Ya You are Right!

[@riccardo9280]

This one looks hard to cool - 9900x would suit me more, but i want to see what intel do soon along with the AMD 3D chips

[@Itsameamario-ns3se]

I am sure Leo doesn’t get time to read comments but if you do. Just a thanks for the efforts. I use your reviews all the time for info. 🏆

[@KitGuruTech]

I appreciate that!

[@Alex-pc2gt]

I prefer Intel to AMD, always haev. always will. AMD never last long. Intel and Nvidia, hard combo to beat

[@ShaighJosephson]

Even after half of intel's CPUs started crashing and needed to be "patched"... Hate to break it to you, but AMD has much better architecture over intel... Truth hurts .. lol...

[@luckylukas3506]

Great test. First with Curve Optimizer that I've seen. Thanks. My 9950X is tommorow here🎉 I use it to work.

[@dwarvengamesmith9726]

Looking for a new build to replace my aging 3900x but definitely waiting to see what the 9 series 3d chips have to offer

[@Nelson-gv1mc]

The Core to Core latency stuff is interesting - didnt Apple have a similar issue with the M2 Ultra over the M2 max?

[@CatherineMitchell-br8dx]

I dont think ive ever bought something without checking if you guys have reviewed it first, keep the videos going 🤩

[@KitGuruTech]

We will!

[@ThomasKlyhnChristensen]

it's interesting you are the first person to show the 9950x stock as my experience, also getting around the same score in CB23 at stock / auto but all the reviews seems to claim it getting 44.000, and 2300 in CB24, which for some reason mine just fails at, its running slower than my old 7950x and I have no idea why. everything looks fine, good temps, bios and so on, nothing looks wrong but it just doesn't perform as many reviews claim

[@sanvi7183]

I think as a threadripper alliterative on a budget this might tick some boxes for people. I dont know.

[@scarletartem5987]

That curve optimiser is just magic.

[@mehck-gk9yn]

Swapping that Z790 Gigabyte board out for another mfg to retest would have been the icing on the cake. Still great job though.

[@KitGuruTech]

Thanks, we can always aim for next time, it was just very tough with four CPU launches in a week!

[@Linuxdistro15-ih8ox]

Thanks Leo for definitive window’s reviews and Wendell for Linux.

[@KitGuruTech]

Pleasure

[@sselim]

No clickbait... clear review

[@billy9245]

I like liked the reviews here at at Level1Tech - old school tech reviewers just cutting through the clickbait thumbs, shocked faces and nonsense

[@KitGuruTech]

Thanks!

[@billy9245]

@@KitGuruTech Welcome!

[@Paradigmfusion]

Im sticking with my 7950x3d right now, its still the king as far as the Ryzens go.

[@Mkchotamastan302Mastan]

The power per watt graph was interesting, the 7950 does really well in that test

[@rotemlv]

Thankfully I have no issue waiting a long time, so the price is not that bothersome. It is very good news indeed to see efficiency *gains* from overclocking here. I only hope the 3D equivalent won't reach a $1000 tag.

[@domenico7561]

Ryzen 7 i quite liked contrary to the cult following from HUB and GN - but thats just me I guess !

[@ShaighJosephson]

I'm specifically waiting for the 9950X3D... Rumor has it that it will be released pretty soon... No way in hell will I go with Intel after 50% of their CPUs started crashing and needed to be "patched"... AMD has the better architecture, but the intel fan boys would rather die than admit it... 🤣

[@Edward001]

These CPUs are great, I dont care what some people say - people just love to whinge now

[@mehck-gk9yn]

They're not as good as they should be is the issue. They should completely stomp 14th gen and they don't. They beat it, but they don't stomp. That being said, I bet they'll last longer than 6 months unlike my 13900k.

[@antoniocepaj7544]

With these prices in mind ( tax included), what would you pick for gaming, and casual 3D modeling ? 9950X = 800€, 7950X = 620€, 9900X = 560€, 7900X = 430€. I planned to have single 34"inch QHD IPS 1440p monitor, 64GB ram, and possibly pair with 4070, or 4080 GPU. ❤

[@michaelangst6078]

None.. either wait for future CPU'S that actually offer good improvements, or go with a 7000 series CPU at a great price

[@lucasw4766]

I wouldnt touch this one myself, 9900x makes more sense to me.

[@PaulRoneClarke]

What is amazing is that for gaming the 9600X is an absolute monster. Beating out newer chips with more cores. I had one for a while (gave it to my daughter) and it got to 6.02 Ghz under load with temps around the mid 70's I might wait for the X3d or the inevitable price cuts and code updates. The last gen had price cuts 8 weeks after launch.

[@JamesYoung24]

Thanks for giving me more information than I can absorb.

[@Andrew-ks7zj]

I like old school coverage like Kitguru and Anandtech - i am not a fan of the drama based stuff from GN and HUB

[@KitGuruTech]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed our review

[@Andrew-ks7zj]

@@KitGuruTech Welcome!

[@nadtz]

Considering TR prices I think there will be a decent audience who want/need as many fast cores as they can get but don't want to spend Threadripper money if they don't need the PCIE lanes. 9900X does seem to be the sweet spot until X3D chips launch for most though.

[@RobertWilliams776-c9k]

KZbin comments - full of absolute nonsense from fanboys on both sides. some good videos though, just ignoring the comments

[@puffnstuff12]

I'll hang on to my z790 13900k rig a little longer and see if we get a 9950x3d version with dual ccd stacking next year.

[@PoonamGupta-ux4ew]

I might try linux myself after seeing wendells latest video on this - thanks Leo and wendell for the good reviews without nonsense and clickbait garbage. I wish youtube wouldnt promote that crap

[@kusumayogi7956]

The real winner in cpu race is arm with apple m4 as champion It has 27 percent single core improvement over m3 and beat all arm and x86 CPU in single core score!!!

[@luckylukas3506]

But loose in Multicore 🤷‍♂️

[@SimonBennett-fw6zq]

I was hoping for a more significant architectual change with Zen5 but the efficiency improvements are still impressive!!

[@iamahappybunny7640]

Excellent ! Good coverage Leo last few weeks thanks 👍🏻

[@KitGuruTech]

No problem 👍

[@EvaMorris3718-g2z]

Great end to a work day seeing a kitguru video! 😁

[@CatherineMitchell-br8dx]

Agreed !!

[@KitGuruTech]

🍺

[@joemarconi8375]

Worth looking again at AMD after this iterative improvement.

[@Matori-fc7gf]

Cant imagine running this overclocked when curve optimiser is available

[@rufusmctavish1164]

Really good stuff thanks Leo

[@KitGuruTech]

My pleasure!

[@maximilianRodriguez7917]

You reckon people who want threadripper but cant afford one would be interested in this ?

[@KitGuruTech]

Yeah possibly, I guess it's the next best thing if you have a lot of computational work to get through

[@maximilianRodriguez7917]

@@KitGuruTech Oh Okay!

[@benimadhv3888]

I like this CPU, its a good option if you want a threadripper but dont want to pay all the extra money. 16 cores is good

[@stevenanderson3205]

2 generations old the 5800X3D is still doing very well.

[@KitGuruTech]

Great cpu 👍🏻

[@sarikajori8934]

Thanks leo, you must be sick looking at graphs at this stage, I know I am lol

[@zanashiakallis7307]

Looks like they are on to a winner with this platform.

[@seoesale8814]

Glad these dont run so hot. Wont have to spend a fortune on cooling for these.

[@amigatommy7]

I am behind on cpus since they are moving so fast. I'll take a5950x for the backup machine and a 9950x for the main machine. Have solar at the house so power draw is not high on my list. Good thing these things don't cause weight gain..

[@PCPro2017]

AMD's focus on power efficiency is a refreshing change, especially after intel's recent issues with over volting.

[@abaj006]

Going with the 9950X, as you mentioned, its much cheaper than a Threadripper, and already faster than the low end Threadripper CPUs. Just because its not the fastest gaming CPU in the world, does not make it useless for gaming (some KZbin reviewers are painting it that way).

[@tehehe5929]

Threadripper's main advantage is amount of PCIe lanes compared to what's available to AM5

[@ZaPirate]

ordered my 9950x today. will see how that goes.

[@KitGuruTech]

Keep us posted 👍🏻

[@IcaniCorrono]

After seeing this review I really impressed about the 5950x (that I would change too) 130W of pure efficiency, nice to see AMD moving back to efficiency again, sad to see that strange performance. I really think that something is weird and probably we will see a performance uplift soon. Probably not huge, but at least to put it above the previous 7950X in any scenanario as should be. That said, grat review as always, point out the bad of it but without riding the horse of blaming/hate for more views ❤

[@KitGuruTech]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts !

[@memewalabaccha934]

This one is a bit pricey for what you get, I agree. the Ryzen 7 is good value, 7000 series is better on todays market but I like the 9700x as well

[@Guna_Shanmugapriya]

Thanks for the review and content lately, i am awaiting for Intels next range of cpus to see what they aer going to do next

[@KitGuruTech]

More to come!

[@blackmennewstyle]

My daily driver for programming/compiling/gaming is also a Ryzen 9 3950X ☺

[@tyleroy90]

The video is very detailed but I didn't understand one thing. The question of consumption and temperatures. The 7xxx generation (not 3d) had obvious issues with temperatures. Whatever heatsink you put on they were always at 95 degrees. How do these behave? If one wanted to make a workstation (particularly for blenders) how should one dissipate it and what should one expect? Above all, would it be manageable with air? Maybe with a peerless assassin?

[@MalTon-ip9us]

Great amount of detail thanks for this.

[@KitGuruTech]

Glad it was helpful!

[@weston1701]

AMD really need to push memory bandwidth - not useful for gamers really, but people buying these processors should really not be gamers as such anyway

[@Kapono5150]

At least this channel still assumes X870E will bring improvements. Everyone else says X870E won’t make a difference as USB 4 is the only difference

[@KitGuruTech]

Can’t really comment until we test them. 👍🏻

[@bloodcarver913]

The memory controller is IN the CPU itself so why should it be better?

[@Kapono5150]

@Dr_b_ how did you confirm this when the board aren’t out yet ?

[@muaathe78]

It's pretty good; such a professional and honest review

[@Daniel-zl9im]

9900x seems the 9 sweet spot. its sub £500, runs about 5-6c cooler and will be fine for most people

[@GregM]

Buying a new CPU in the coming months and going AMD rather than Intel due to their 13th and 14th gen fiasco. Due to budget constraints and non-gaming will be probably going with 7700x. I certainly can not afford $500 to $700 CAD +12% taxes for 9700x - 9900x. The poor gaming performance may be a Windows11 Adminstrator account issue per HUB video but that does not affect me

[@Writing_tech]

14900k was the one I wanted, but I hear intel are releasing a new range of CPUs soon. might hang fire till end of the year and make do with my old 11th gen system

[@gillbahona]

This is a hefty beast in need of a big a$$ cooler - at least you used a good 360mm AIO

[@PriyanshiRaut]

I almost dropped the money for this, but think its best waiting for 3D processors to hit soon

[@KitGuruTech]

Yup we agree, especially for gamers!

[@luckylukas3506]

​​@@KitGuruTechMostly for gamers. For work non3D are better in many cases.