AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D Game Performance with Ray Tracing
We are going to focus on the 4K, 1440p, and 1080p gameplay performance with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU on this page with Ray Tracing enabled in games. The common GPU used for every CPU is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition video card. For CPU comparisons we are including the Intel Core i9-13900K, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPUs. Each graph has all three resolutions on each CPU included, but the order and sorting do not change in each graph. You can look at the framerate between CPUs at each resolution. Games are in order from most recent, to least recent.
Returnal
Returnal was launched on the PC in February of 2023 and is based on Unreal Engine 4. The game supports real-time ray tracing effects, particle systems, and volumetric rendering. We utilize the graphics preset to set EPIC graphics settings with an unlocked framerate, and everything is enabled. For ray tracing tests we have enabled Ray Traced Shadows and Reflections at Epic settings. We use the built-in benchmark.
In Returnal, with both ray tracing options at Epic settings, we see a slight difference at 4K, and 1440p and the most changes at 1080p. At 4K the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Intel Core i9-13900K have the highest performance, which is about 2% over the 7950X and 5800X3D. At 1440p performance is also similar between the 7950X3D and 13900K. However, at 1080p we see some interesting results. The 7950X3D and 13900K have exactly the same performance, but we see a clear advantage over the 7950X and 5800X3D. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 4% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X and 10% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D.
Forspoken
Forspoken was released on January 24th, 2023, on the PC and uses the Luminous Engine. The game supports all upscaling methods, including NVIDIA DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS, and Ray Tracing. We are going to customize the settings and enable the highest graphics settings, including Ultra High Texture Memory. We are going to enable both Ray Tracing options, Shadows, and Ambient Occlusion. We use the built-in benchmark.
In Forspoken we have turned on both Ray Tracing options, and we only see about 1FPS difference at 4K, but a slighter one at 1440p and a more noticeable one at 1080p. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 3% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X at 1080p, and about 5% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. The Intel Core i9-13900K has the most benefit at 4% over the 7950X and 6% over the 5800X3D. It is 1% faster than the 7950X3D.
F1 2022
F1 2022 was released on June 28th, 2022 on the PC and uses Codemasters Ego engine. The game supports Ray Tracing, DLSS, AMD FidelityFX, and FSR. We are going to run the game with the highest quality settings of “Ultra High” and TAA+FidelityFX. We will enable all Ray Tracing options in the game to “On.” We will enable DLSS and FSR as needed at the Quality setting for both. We will utilize the built-in benchmark in the Imola track, in dry conditions with a far-chasing cam.
In F1 2022 we don’t see any difference at 4K, but there is a slight one in favor of the 7950X3D at 1440p. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 1% faster than the 7950X and 2% faster than the 13900K. The performance of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is about the same until we get to 1080p, and then it falls way behind the 13900K and 7950X3D. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a massive 26% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X at 1080p, which is pretty major. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is also 8% faster than the Intel Core i9-13900K at 1080p.
Chernobylite Enhanced Edition
Chernobylite was released on the PC in 2021, but the free Enhanced Edition update for the game was released in April 2022. The Enhanced Edition provides a visual overhaul of the game with better textures, plus introduces tessellation and ray tracing features. It features raytraced reflections, raytraced translucency, raytraced caustics, and raytraced dynamic diffuse global illumination. The game is based on Unreal Engine 4. For our Ray Tracing test, we have enabled the Ultra Ray Tracing option.
We experienced some massive performance improvements with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 7 5800X3D in this game at 1440p and 1080p. At 4K there is a lesser degree of change, however, it does still exist even at 4K. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 3% faster than the 7950X at 4K, 10% faster at 1440p, and a massive 16% faster at 1080p. This is the largest difference we have seen across all our games tested. While the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is on par with the Ryzen 9 7950X, the 7950X3D is the same degree as fast compared to the 5800X3D as it is to the 7950X. The Intel Core i9-13900K is also improved on performance over the Ryzen 9 7950X. The 13900K is up to 8% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X. This still puts the Ryzen 9 7950X over the 13900K by 8%.
Dying Light 2
Dying Light 2 was released in February 2022 on the PC and uses Techland’s C-Engine. We have updated the game to patch 1.90. The game supports Ray Tracing, DLSS, and FSR2. This game supports Ray Tracing environmental effects including Ray Traced Soft Shadows, Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion, Ray Traced Global Illumination, and Ray Traced Reflections. We utilize the built-in preset option to set “HIGH-QUALITY RAYTRACING” which enables the game’s highest graphics settings plus the environmental effects explained above at the highest values. The game is run in DX12 Ultimate mode with ASYNC Compute turned on. We use the built-in benchmark.
In Dying Light 2 we are very GPU bound at 4K and even 1440p, except for the 5800X3D which falls off a bit under the other CPUs. At 1080p though, there are some differences. Interenstly the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is the one that falls behind a bit at 1080p, the 7950X is about on par, and the 5800X3D pulls ahead slightly. The better CPU at 1080p is the Intel Core i9-13900K which is 4% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D.
Far Cry 6
Far Cry 6 was released in October of 2021 and uses the Dunia Engine. We utilize the built-in benchmark for testing. We have the HD Texture pack installed and turned on. We utilize the “Ultra” graphics preset which sets all options to the highest game settings. This game supports Ray Tracing via two DXR settings, one for Reflections and the other for Shadows, we turn on both for testing. This game supports FSR upscaling.
Just like we saw without ray tracing, with DXR ray tracing enabled Far Cry 6 shows some clear advantages in performance between CPUs. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Intel Core i9-13900K perform the best at 4K, 1440p, and 1080p very well. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 4% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X at 4K, 18% faster at 1440p, and 17% faster at 1080p. These are very big differences, and we also see this continued over the 5800X3D. The Intel Core i9-13900K is right on par with 7950X3D performance using ray tracing in this game.
Crysis Remastered
Crysis Remastered was released in September of 2021. This game comes with an overhaul to graphics and supports Ray Tracing. We set the benchmark mode to “Very High” for graphics and Ray Tracing and test performance in the Island benchmark.
In Crysis Remastered performance for the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D falls behind and is only in line with the Ryzen 9 7950X. This is odd behavior as the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in our testing proved to provide a big boost to performance over the Ryzen 7 5800X in our previous testing. This game has always been a good one for seeing the benefits of CPU performance differences. The fact that the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is not performing as we’d expect, lends to the theory that it may not be partitioning the CCDs correctly for it. The Intel Core i9-13900K does very well here and is on par or faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X. The 13900K is 15% faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 was released in December 2020 and uses the REDengine 4. We have the game patched to version 1.61 and use the built-in benchmark. We test using the Graphics Preset option to set graphics settings. We use the Ray Tracing Graphics Preset of either: “Ray Tracing: Low”, or “Ray Tracing: Medium” or “Ray Tracing: Ultra” as indicated. This game supports DLSS and FSR2.
Cyberpunk 2077 is very GPU bound, and we see this at 4K and 1440p no matter what the CPU. Only at 1080p are the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Intel Core i9-13900K about 3% faster than the 5800X3D. Compared to the 7950X the 7950X3D is only 1% faster than the 7950X.
Metro Exodus Enhanced
Metro Exodus Enhanced is being run with Shading Quality at “Extreme” and Ray Tracing at “Ultra.” This is a demanding game, that heavily focuses on Ray Tracing utilization, including Global Illumination. We are utilizing the built-in benchmark.
In Metro Exodus Enhanced, we don’t see much difference at 4K, but there are some differences worth noting at 1440p and 1080p. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is falling behind the Ryzen 9 7950X in this game, and even behind the 5800X3D. We did have some odd stuttering behavior in this game on the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D which may be affecting performance. The game is pretty much unplayable, with these stuttering issues as they affect the feel of the game.
We tried turning off Windows Game Mode, and the game issues went away. We also tried a fresh installation of Windows (and not updating the XBOX Game Bar), and the issue was also not present. However, the performance did go down slightly even more. Therefore the issue is either related to XBOX Game Bar latest KGL version, or a combination of it and the Windows Game Mode when the 7950X3D CPU is installed. It should be noted that this issue did not occur on any other CPU, even with XBOX Game Bar updated and Game Mode turned on. It only occurred on the 7950X3D. There appears to be some bug, or issue with the 7950X3D and this game.
Given the issue noted above, that puts the Intel Core i9-13900K currently offering the best gameplay experience and the highest performance at every resolution.
Discussion (19 replies)
Join Discussion →Thank you Brent for the wonderful article. Kinda glad I stuck with my 7700X for my office machine. It's a very nice CPU for what I use it for. Going with the 7800X3D wouldn't be that much of a bump at all it would seem.
We don't know how the 7800X3D will be yet. Considering it only has 1 CCD to worry about, it could be much more efficient, with less latency, and just the bees knees ?♂️ My prediction will be it will be very power efficient. I do worry about the frequency difference, however, for productivity.
Seems like if you're already on a 5800X3D it's not much, if at all, an upgrade. At least for gaming at 1440 or 4K.
Thanks @Brent_Justice for the great review and now I can't wait until the one for the 7800X3D.
I forgot to bring this up in the review, so I'll add it here:
This CPU may potentially not be a good CPU for multi-tasking while gaming, for example, streamers or content creators recording gameplay and streaming at the same time. Since it parks cores while gaming, this could potentially reduce the multi-tasking ability while gaming. Streaming and recording performance could be affected. The entire point of a 16-core CPU could be compromised under such circumstances. My addendum to this is that I have not tested this scenario, and I have no proof that this is true. It is a theory and subject worth discussing.
Really looking at this cpu/motherboard/ram upgrade requirement to come from a previous gen... this gen just feels like a skip for me. My 5900x is trucking along just fine and not feeling like a bottleneck at 1440p at all.
The power usage is the most impressive part but other than that it is a bit of a meh. Why spend the cash to help AMD and MS beta test this scheduler stuff in win10/11? Much like with e-cores of 12th gen Intel last year.
Power usage is impressive, but are we really impressed? It's turning off cores, and running at lower frequencies, and is capped at a lower temp of 89c, and has a lowered TDP, should a lower power profile really surprise or impress under those circumstances? If it could maintain the same clock as 7950X, and keep all cores running at the same time, and still have less power, I'd be more impressed by that.
Minimum FPS always determines playability. In games that benefit from the added cache, the 5800X3D showed much of its benefit in min FPS. We can't draw a conclusion on Zen4 X3D without mins.
I wonder how much MS paid AMD to gimp their CPU by making it rely on XBox Game Bar. Inexcusable.
I think this will depend significantly on what 'streaming' means. The combination of layout tools, audio tools, endpoints, GPU hardware and GPU acceleration used, all would factor in.
For the 'pros', having only eight cores enabled while streaming is probably not going to be an issue. They'll have a workflow set up that leverages hardware processing before (audio equipment with DSPs for major processing steps, to limit VST use in OBS, for example), and after (using an external/secondary box for recording and streaming live). For these folks quality, ease of use (though not necessarily setup and troubleshooting), and reliability are paramount.
If there's a limitation to be found, I expect it to be found first by those trying to do all of this on the same box, 'in the box'. I'd balance that with the knowledge that a 7600X is plenty fast for 'gaming', so a 7950X3D with one CCD disabled or the future 7800X3D will both probably have enough grunt to spare, especially if GPU encoding is leveraged properly.
Since AMD is able to keep performance up while reducing power usage - well, that's impressive. They did so while adding cache and increasing complexity.
Granted there's a pretty clear line drawn from decreased clockspeeds and voltages to lower power usage, and it looks like the 3D V-cache CCD is being binned for lower leakage, which should result in better efficiency at lower clockspeeds. So not inexplicable, but going in the right direction.
No need for conspiracy theories - AMD has been open about working with Microsoft to implement appropriate scheduling behavior for games on their dual-CCD parts that have one 3D V-cache-bearing die. From the benchmarks we've seen, while not perfect at launch (what is?), the solution is certainly working as intended, when it's working as intended.
Also note that AMD needs a software-based solution, since their scheduler isn't implemented in hardware (like Intel's P+E core solution), and that Intel still needed to work with OS developers to ensure that the P+E core arrangement was also supported.
For a personal example, while trying to run the FSPR Handbrake benchmark, I found that my 12700K running on Windows 10 last year would not properly schedule the Handbrake encode. This resulted in performance over an order of magnitude slower than expected, and I begrudgingly upgraded to Windows 11. I believe that this functionality has been backported to Windows 10 since, but as I've made 11 work for my needs, I haven't gone back and tested it.
As for 'why the Xbox Game Bar', well, I guess we should ask, how else should they have done it? How should it be exposed to gamers?
The AMD Chipset driver is required - that seems to be a good place for it.
I go to AMD Adrenalin software for my AMD video card settings. AMD has Precision Boost Overdrive for CPUs. None of that requires any XBox bullshit from Windows.
I'm still keeping an eye on this one but I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I was before. Here's hoping some updates, wherever they need to be, help it reach more of its potential. Since most of my builds end up running close to 10 years a pop I was hoping this, or the 7900X3D would be the platform to build my next with. The 7800X3D is sounding promising but I just don't know. Meanwhile, prices to do something with a 13900K keep dropping.
There's not an urgent benefit for you to upgrade from your 5800X3D. At least according to current benches. A couple titles it's better, but for the most part at 1440 and 4k there isn't much of a difference.
Unless productivity apps are more important to you. In which case, yeah, a huge improvement.
It's all good. I was thinking of a completely new build to replace the 4930K rig with but the intent is that whatever comes next is built to perform as needed for the next 7-10 years.
Here's the house layout:
1. 5800X3D is the main rig in the living room.
2. 3700X is in the bedroom
3. 4930K is in the cave.
Basically whatever comes next will push 5800X3D to the cave and it'll go in the living room as the new main rig. GPU-wise, the jury is totally out until we hear more about what's next.
@Brent_Justice Thanks for the great review. I noticed on page 2 that your screenshot of the Xbox Game Bar overlay menu is from a camera. Yeah, I ran into the same issue as well. You can't take screenshots of the Game Bar. Pretty annoying. Gotta grab your phone or another camera and literally take a picture of your display's screen.
I agree 100%. I'm kinda disappointed only one CCD gets the 3D cache. The CPU I would most likely get for myself would be the 7900X3D, but that has the same issue as the 7950X3D, with the 3D cache only being on one CCD. I don't like asymmetrical designs. Intel can f*ck off with their big.LITTLE P-core/E-core bullsh1t. Like I think most enthusiasts, I'm excited to see how the 7800X3D turns out. Although Brent brought up a good point in his review, the 3D cache has far less impact compared to the regular 7950X than the 5800X3D did compared to the 5800X. We still need to see how the 7900X3D and 7800X3D turn out, but I think overall the 3D cache matters a lot less for Zen 4 than it did for Zen 3. I don't think the price jump over the non-3D CPUs is worth it, at least for the 7950X3D.
I usually keep Xbox Game Bar disabled, but I guess if I had one of these Zen 4 X3D CPUs I would have to re-enable it.
AMD software to make sure the OS and applications are using the right CCDs appropriately reminds me of AMD's Dual Core Optimizer software back when they came out with their first dual-core CPUs. I had to use that software on my Opteron 165 system. I remember back then also having to disable one of the cores for some games, cuz games at the time would get confused when they saw two cores (or two physical CPUs), which would result in worse performance, crashes, or odd behavior.
TechPowerUp said in their review: "It seems that the game detection failed in some titles like Spider-Man and God of War, which post higher numbers when we override the AMD software and use the 'prefer cache' BIOS setting. If you encounter such a case, it's really easy to fix though. Press Win+G to open Microsoft Game Bar overlay, click on settings and tick the 'remember this is a game' checkbox. Done! No fiddling with executable names or the registry. Still, I suspect that a vast majority of people will not be aware of this solution, or even the fact that the game detection might not work on all games, that's why AMD must ensure they track down these cases and fix them quickly."
So I assume you can do the same thing with a new game that is not in the KGL game list, and just add it yourself.
I heard rumors that Zen 5 is gonna be quite the difference in CPU architecture, while Zen 4 was still basically just an upgrade of the Zen 3 and 2 design. Maybe you should wait to check out the Zen 5s, if you want to build a system to last 10 years. I hope all Zen 5 CPU models get 3D cache, and on all CCDs. My current system is the first one that I kept using for almost a decade (gonna be 9 years old this coming Fall), usually I move to a new system after about 4 years. I didn't plan things that way though, it just kinda happened cuz I'm broke! LAWLZ