Gameplay Performance
Now we come to the interesting testing we are sure you all can’t wait for. We were also anxious to get to this part and see how it all ends up for gaming performance. We are testing only at 1080p to isolate CPU performance. We are using an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition video card with driver version 591.74. All games are being run in their “Ultra” game settings, at native 1080p resolution, and with no ray tracing or upscaling.
Importantly, we are using ALL manual run-throughs for every game here except one. The one exception is Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. We are using the built-in multiplayer benchmark. However, for every other game, we are using long manual run-throughs in-game of actual gameplay.
Alan Wake 2
In Alan Wake 2, the new AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D takes the top spot in performance at 214.6 FPS, beating every CPU in this game; however, the result compared to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is minor, but still a technical win. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 1% faster than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and 3% faster than the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 21% faster than the Ryzen 7 9700X, showing the advantage of the 3D V-Cache capacity. The Intel Core Ultra CPUs get destroyed. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 44% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 50% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K.
Battlefield 6
In Battlefield 6, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D has a technical win again, beating every CPU in performance at 214.6 FPS (no, this isn’t a mistake; we got the same result in this game as we did in Alan Wake 2; performance was consistent). The Ryzen 7 9850X3D was barely 1% (.51% technically) faster than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in this game. Keep in mind, we are testing at the highest game settings. We are sure that if we dropped the game settings even lower at 1080p, there might be a bit more separation, as it would be even more CPU-dependent, but that would be rather extreme just to force a result.
The Ryzen 7 9850X3D was 2% faster than the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 5% faster than the Ryzen 7 9700X. This seems to indicate to us that we aren’t entirely CPU-bound in this game, even at 1080p at these game settings, or with this GPU. The Intel CPUs claw back performance in this game, again it might not be as CPU-dependent. This is the first time we’ve used this game for CPU testing, and further fiddling may be warranted, such as trying lower game settings below “Overkill.” At this game setting at 1080p, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 8% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 10% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
In Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D again tops the charts and is the fastest CPU for gaming. In this game, we are using the built-in multiplayer benchmark. We are testing at 1080p, but we do have the “Extreme” quality preset enabled, and Variable Rate Shading is turned: “Off.” The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 1% faster than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and 3% faster than the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 4% faster than the Ryzen 7 9700X.
The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 7% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 285K and 265K. This game may be similar to Battlefield 6 in that we aren’t as CPU-dependent as we think we are, or it just doesn’t benefit from 3D V-Cache. This is our first time using this game as well for CPU testing, and it warrants further analysis, perhaps also trying lower game settings even at 1080p. That said, there are sometimes games that just don’t benefit from extra L3 cache as much.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, we are running at 1080p, but we do have the “Epic” quality preset enabled, which is the game’s highest image quality setting. This game runs with ‘always on’ Ray Tracing on the UE5 engine, and thus is very GPU-dependent, even at 1080p on “Epic.” This is quite possibly why we are exhibiting the result we are seeing here, where the CPUs are more tightly packed, and we don’t see any huge advantages with extra L3 cache. This, like the last two games, may be one we need to explore further using lower in-game settings.
That all said, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is still the fastest CPU on this graph, providing the highest gaming performance. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 2% faster than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and 0.5% faster than the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 7 9700X. The Ryzen 7 9700X performs very high on the graph in this game, showing that 3D V-Cache isn’t really doing a whole lot for us right now in this game. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 5% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 265K.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 clearly shows a huge advantage for 3D V-Cache and a clear distinction between CPU performance. At 1080p “Ultra” settings, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D dominates performance, and Intel gets destroyed. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 6% faster than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the highest advantage we have experienced yet. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 5% faster than the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. What is more impressive is the 30% advantage compared to the Ryzen 7 9700X, showing the advantage 3D V-Cache makes in this game. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 39% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 42% faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K.