Introduction
AMD is launching its new Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D CPUs, based on the Zen 5 architecture on the AM5 platform, featuring 2nd Gen AMD 3D V-Cache for Gaming and Content Creation. In this Ryzen 9 9950X3D review, we are going to focus purely on the gaming performance of the CPU. This is a gaming-oriented review, looking at the performance of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D versus the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, Ryzen 9 9950X, Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and Intel Core Ultra 9 285K.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D are launching and will be available on March 12th, 2025. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D sits at the top of the stack as the flagship CPU, priced with an MSRP of $699, while the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D sits below it with an MSRP of $599. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the big 16-core/32-thread CPU with a whopping 144MB of total cache, while the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is the 12-core/24-thread CPU with 140MB of total cache. Both CPUs feature AMD’s 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache, which flips the cache upside down to provide higher sustained clock speed and control temperatures to the processor cores.
The new AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the successor to the previous generation AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, which launched in February of 2023, exactly 2 years ago. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D also launched with an MSRP of $699; therefore, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D demands no price increase, maintaining the price for this segment of CPU, which is great to see.
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D is an AM5 platform CPU, but of course, it is based on the Zen 4 architecture, while the new AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is using the new Zen 5 architecture, similar to the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, which launched in August of 2024. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X launched with an MSRP of $649; therefore, the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D commands a $50 price premium for the extra 3D V-Cache for gaming.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core/32-thread CPU with a CPU clock frequency of 4.3GHz and a turbo clock of up to 5.7GHz. It has 128MB of L3 added 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache on board, which is what makes this an X3D CPU. It has a TDP of 170W and a PPT of 230W. The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core/24-thread CPU with a CPU clock frequency of 4.4GHz and a turbo clock of up to 5.5GHz. It also has 128MB of L3 added 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache on board. It has a TDP of 120W and a PPT of 230W.
3D V-Cache and Driver Package Updates
We first heard about 2nd Gen AMD 3D V-Cache back in November 2024 when the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D launched. That was the first CPU to debut with the 2nd Gen ‘flipped’ 3D V-Cache on a CPU from AMD; we explored what that means in that CPU review. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D are continuing SKUs of this technology, a follow-up with more CPU cores using dual-CCD configurations. However, an important key fact to remember, even with this new 3D V-Cache method, is that only one CCD still receives the 3D V-Cache on the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D.
Along with this updated 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache are some new chipset driver updates and optimizations. Since the Ryzen 9 9950X3d and Ryzen 9 9900X3D are dual-CCD CPUs, they do still rely on core parking, X3D optimizations, and the Windows Game Bar. AMD has updated the AMD Provisioning Packages Service, AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer driver, and added a new driver called AMD Application Compatiblity Database. These are all in an effort to help Windows figure out what to do with itself when it comes to gaming on an X3D CPU.
The AMD Provisioning Packages Service has been updated with automatic processor detection. This allows CPU changes to occur without having to re-install Windows when swapping out processors. Previously, this was a problem; if you were to swap out a CPU with or without the X3D 3D V-Cache, or between a dual-CCD and single-CCD CPU, it wouldn’t negotiate correctly and provide the right performance. With this update, it will re-provision the packages changing CPUs, so you can safely do this without having weird performance issues.
The AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer driver gets a minor update. The driver is updated to work properly in Windows 10 with VBS enabled, so this won’t affect Windows 11 users.
There is a new component being added, the AMD Application Compatiblity Database driver. The goal of this driver is to optimize specific game titles that may have issues not fully addressed by the AMD Provisioning Packages Service by reducing the thread pool size. This is a whitelist feature; AMD will have to add titles to this database, and you’ll have to perform chipset driver updates to get the new titles added. This is basically a last-resort feature to allow AMD to brute force problematic games that won’t work correctly with X3D chips. In the current game list, which isn’t many, we have one game in our testing suite we are using, Dying Light 2.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is similar to every other AMD AM5 platform Zen 5 CPU we have seen so far, with no deviation in the visuals, it has the typical engravings and markings. It fits into our AM5 socket well, and installation was simple. Below, you can see the HWiNFO64 and CPU-Z screenshots after installation.
