AMD has responded to claims that some of its Ryzen 7000 series processors are experiencing performance issues when gaming. Multiple outlets including but not limited to, Tom’s Hardware, and Neowin, saw unusual instances where the new Ryzen 7950X processors actually had lower FPS than their predecessors or other CPUs lower in the current stack. Testing in 1080p, a resolution known for exposing CPU bottlenecks, showed the greatest amount of variances between the new processors. NVIDIA’s latest flagship GPU, the GeForce RTX 4090 was used as it has become the new king of maximum FPS in gaming.
AMD issued the following statement regarding these claims.
We have been made aware of reports of unexpected performance deltas in certain games with AMD Ryzen™ desktop processors as well as performance variances between Windows® 11 and Windows® 10 in certain game titles. We are currently investigating but based on testing to date have not observed a material difference in game performance between OS versions across a variety of operating scenarios and game titles.
Many factors affect gaming performance, including the game engine, CPU architecture, GPU selection and memory choices. As new architectures enter the market, we often observe performance anomalies which must be addressed by the component vendor or the game publisher. This is not a new phenomenon nor is it unexpected.
As we have done since the introduction of Ryzen, when these performance anomalies are brought to light we will use them to steer our partner engagements with game developers and ecosystem hardware partners to implement optimizations that eliminate the variations.
It seems that this issue is not exclusive to Ryzen 7000 series either. Hardware Unboxed also tested an R9 Ryzen 3950X where it compared the results to an R5 3600X. This comparison was made due to a similar single vs dual CCD design that is also used with the new Ryzen 7000-series.
Something interesting I've noticed as I updated all our CPU data with the RTX 4090 is that there are now many instances where single CCD Ryzen CPUs are faster (better for driving high fps). Previously the R5 3600X never really beat the R9 3950X for example, where as now it does.
— Hardware Unboxed (@HardwareUnboxed) October 15, 2022
Optimization issues
It is believed there could simply be optimization issues with select games such as F1, Total War: Warhammer 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Metro Exodus. Reports stated that lessened performance could be seen in both Windows 10 and 11 but in particular the latest Windows 11 version 22H2 release. The general consensus among those reporting it is that processors featuring a dual CCD design are not being properly utilized thus allowing their single CCD counterparts to outperform them. From games that are not optimized for more cores to slower dual-chiplet CPU clock speeds along with increased latencies associated with the dual-chiplet designs, there could be a number of factors at play. Tom’s Hardware has said that testing from it and AMD have debunked reports made via CapFrameX. Meanwhile, AMD has responded that is working with game developers and NVIDIA for potential driver updates and patches.