Conclusion
In today’s CPU performance review, we compared the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D versus AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in application and system benchmark performance. We’ve already tested gaming performance thoroughly on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and now it was time to see how the CPUs compare given the fact that AMD devised this hybrid CPU with the idea of giving creators who want 16-cores/32-threads of multi-threaded performance to also retain the highest gaming performance.
The new AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D incorporates a very large 128MB of 3D V-Cache, but only one of the 8-core CCD dies. The other 8-core CCD die, does not have this cache, and therefore can boost up to 5.7GHz, the same as the Ryzen 9 7950X. However, when more than 8-cores are needed, up to the 16-cores max, then you will always be held back by the weakest link, which in this case is a lower boosting 3D V-Cache laden CCD. This is what we wanted to find out in today’s review, we wanted to know how much performance you will have to sacrifice in regular computing workloads, or office work, to get the benefits of better gaming performance with high-end GPUs.
Therefore, we put the Ryzen 9 7950X3D up against the Ryzen 9 7950X in synthetic benchmarks testing multi-threading and single-threading performance, to see where they are the same, and where they are different. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is $699.00 compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X which is now $599.00 on AMD.com.
Performance
We started with PCMark 10’s Express benchmark, which runs a series of office-related applications that a normal office workload would run. We found right off the bat that the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D performs under the Ryzen 9 7950X, in this case by 2%, but this certainly grew in other benchmarks that pushed all the cores harder. In Geekbench 6, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D was 1% slower than the Ryzen 9 7950X in multi-core but did have the same single-core performance. In 3DMark 10’s CPU Profile testing pushing all threads and cores to the max, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D fell behind the Ryzen 9 7950X by 10%, which is a very decent and noticeable difference. However, in single-thread testing performance was the same.
Rendering performance was much like 3DMark’s performance testing. In Cinebench R23 multi-core the Ryzen 9 7950X3D fell behind the Ryzen 9 7950X by 6%, meaning it will produce slower rendering performance when all cores are utilized. However, on the single-core performance, they are similar. In Blender, we consistently saw the Ryzen 9 7950X3D fall behind the Ryzen 9 7950X in every render scene, by 4%, or 2%, or 5%. In V-Ray 5 benchmark we saw the Ryzen 9 7950X3D fall behind by 5% as well. Finally, in HandBrake, we lost performance on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D when rendering H.264 or AV1 videos. Your render time will be longer with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D versus the Ryzen 9 7950X.
Final Points
In summary, when it comes to single-core or single-thread performance, or anything under 8-cores of utilization, the performance of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 9 7950X will be the same. AMD has succeeded in making a CPU that can boost the same as the Ryzen 9 7950X, but this boost is limited to 8-cores or less of utilization. When the CPU needs to utilize more than 8-cores and reach into that other CCD with up to another 8-cores, for 16 total, that is when your performance will always fall under what the Ryzen 9 7950X can offer.
That means, for maximum core usage, or all-core usage, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D will fall behind the Ryzen 9 7950X in performance. Your renders will take longer, your encodes will take longer, and your content creation will be slightly slower. At maximum, we saw a 10% degradation in performance, this is probably the worst-case scenario. On average it was closer to 5% of a disadvantage in performance. However, you should take note that it can be as bad as 10% in the worse case scenarios. This is simply due to the CCD with 3D V-Cache, while it is great for games with a high-end GPU, it still cannot boost as high as the CCD without 3D V-Cache, and thus there is a small sacrifice in office, work, content creation applications versus the Ryzen 9 7950X. Make sure to check out our gaming review of this CPU to see how good it was at gaming.
Considering the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is now $100 more expensive than the Ryzen 9 7950X (7950X3D at $699, 7950X at $599) you have to ask yourself if that extra $100 is worth the benefits for gaming, with a slight loss in other performance when not gaming. However, if your primary goal is application performance, content creation, or even moderate gaming, the better value is the cheaper Ryzen 9 7950X at $599, which still of course offers you top-notch gaming performance. You are not losing a lot of gaming performance if you game at a high resolution like 1440p or 4K. Therefore, the Ryzen 9 7950X is a really great value right now at $599 on AMD.com.