Power Testing
On this page, we are going to investigate the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D power draw. We are going to do this multiple ways, we are going to look at both the CPU Package Power, as well as the Total System Wattage (from the Wall) in Cinebench R23. We are going to look at full-load Wattage and temps in Cinebench R23, pushing all cores, and we are going to look at Wattage and temps while Gaming, measuring CPU package power. The Total System Wattage tests (from the Wall) are run with a KILL-A-WATT meter. CPU package power and temps are read with HWiNFO64.
CPU Package Power – Cinebench R23
In this graph, we are looking at full-load, all-core Cinebench R23 power utilization for 10 minutes reported by HWiNFO64. Remember, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 9800X3D have the same TDP of 120W and the same PPT of 162W, but will differ in power utilization due to core frequency differences. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is able to leverage higher frequencies and thus is able to utilize the socket power envelope that it is within more.
As you can see, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D comes in at 156W, which is technically 77% more power than the 7800X3D and 9700X (running at its default 65W TDP). At this power level, it is above the 7950X3D, and on par with the power utilization of the higher core count Intel Core Ultra 5 245K. However, it is lower than the 9900X, 9950X, and previous-generation Intel CPUs on power when all cores are running flat out. We are coming close to the 9800X3D’s maximum PPT, so we are achieving close to its power potential, but there is still more headroom to be had as well.
CPU Package Power – Gaming
Since the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is geared for a gaming CPU, this graph above is the most important, how much power does it pull while gaming? We can see that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D pulls 123W while gaming, which is 45% more power than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and 23% more power than the 7950X3D as well as 40% more power than the Ryzen 7 9700X. Now, of course, consider the performance difference the Ryzen 7 9800X3D offers over all of these CPUs with that higher power.
While gaming, at this power level, it was interesting that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D used 19% more power than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K, BUT, HUGE BUT, the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K performed horrendously in gaming performance. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D beat it quite a lot, so do consider the performance differences seen on the previous pages that you are getting for that power difference. At this power level, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is also well under the power of the 9900X, 9950X, and Intel Core Ultra 9 285K while gaming. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is more power efficient than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K while gaming.
CPU Package Power – Gaming
We also wanted to test total system power at the wall with all the CPUs, while running the all-core, full-load Cinebench R23 test. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D pulls about 46% more power than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 9700X. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D also pulled a bit more power than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D as well with overall system power. It was way, and I mean way under the power utilization of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K however, but did consume more power than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K.