AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review

Just a few months after the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D graced us with its presence, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D brings its 3D V-Cache technology to a 16-core, 32-thread gaming processor that’s absolutely overkill for most people, but will have no problem keeping up with powerful graphics cards like the Nvidia RTX 5090 or whatever comes next.

However, all of those cores come with a high $699 asking price and a 170W power budget, making this processor hard to recommend to anyone who isn’t already building an incredibly powerful (and expensive) gaming PC. For anyone else, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D just makes more sense.

Specs and Features

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D essentially takes the same Zen 5 cores behind the regular 9950X and pairs them with the new 2nd-generation 3D V-Cache found in the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. That means you still get excellent multi-core performance, but paired with better gaming performance thanks to a more capacious cache.

Unlike the Ryzen 9 7950X3D that preceded it, though, the 3D V-Cache is now physically located below the actual CPU cores, rather than above them. This seems like a minor change, to be sure, but it ends up making a major difference in thermal performance. Because the CCD, or Core Complex Die, is what produces most of the CPU’s heat, having it closer to the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS), means it’s able to dissipate heat more easily. And with AMD’s performance algorithm taking thermal headroom into account, those lower temperatures mean the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is able to run faster, longer.

The physical location of the cache is about more than just temperatures, though. Because it’s directly under the CPU cores, there is less distance for the data to travel, which cuts down on latency. Plus, because the cache gets more space, AMD was able to shove in a ton of it, with the 9950X3D having 144MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. That’s the same amount as in the last-generation Ryzen 9 7950X3D, but it’s still much more than you’re going to find in any non-X3D processor.

Both the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and 9950X3D have the same 170W TDP, though the original 9950X has a higher potential PPT. Though, in my testing, I found that both processors ended up peaking at 200W. Though, the 9950X3D did have a lower peak temperature, only reaching 79°C during the test suite – though it was tested on a different cooler than the original 9950X.

Luckily, because the 9950X3D isn’t using a new chipset, it’s compatible with any AM5 AMD motherboard. AMD has come out and said it would support this socket until at least 2027, so you won’t have to worry about getting locked into a dead platform.

Performance

Before I dive into performance results, I have to note that all CPUs were tested on the same hardware, with one exception: the Ryzen 9 9950X. That was tested on an Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Hero motherboard with a Corsair H170i 360mm AIO cooler. This difference in hardware will have an impact on performance, but it’s not likely to be a major difference, especially since everything is tested at stock settings.

This happened largely because one of the mounting screws for the Asus ROG Ryujin III 360mm cooler I was using snapped when swapping to the 9950X. I will retest the processors in the coming weeks, and if anything is significantly different I’ll be sure to update this section.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread gaming processor with an absolutely ridiculous 144MB of cache, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that it’s incredibly powerful. Even in creative benchmarks, where the 9800X3D fell behind, the 9950X3D has no problem keeping up with the most powerful chips on the market.

What’s surprising is how well the 9950X3D holds up against 9800X3D in single-core workloads. For example, in Cinebench 1T, the 9950X3D gets 2,254 points, compared to 2,033 points, making for a 10% improvement. Then, in the 3DMark CPU Profile test, the 9950X3D scores 1,280 points, which comes in striking distance to the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K’s 1,351 points.

Of course, in multi-threaded workloads, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is really able to stretch its legs, scoring 40,747 points in Cinebench’s multi-core test. Just like the 9800X3D, the 9950X3D does lose some top-end performance in multi-threaded applications, falling short of the 41,123 points from the 9950X and 42,245 points from the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, but it’s worth it for the boost in gaming performance.

In Total War: Warhammer 3 at 1080p with Ultra settings, the 9950X3D is able to get 274 fps when paired with the RTX 4090. Compared to 254 fps from the 9800X3D and 255 from the Core Ultra 9 285K, the 9950X3D easily takes the crown here. However, in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p with the Ultra preset and ray tracing disabled, the 9950X3D delivers 229 fps, down from 240 fps from the 9800X3D. That’s a disappointing result, but it’s still way faster than the 165 fps from the competing Intel processor.

Overkill?

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D might be the most powerful gaming processor on the market right now, but that doesn’t mean it has a de facto lead on every other chip on the market. Most people will have no problem getting by with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which just so happens to be much much more affordable at $479.

Instead, the 9950X3D is geared towards gamers that both play games and use creative apps like Photoshop and Premiere, the latter of which sees a 15% performance improvement over the 9800X3D. For a pure gaming PC build, though, you’re probably better off saving that extra $220 for a better graphics card.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra