Ryzen 7 9800X3D Vs Ryzen 9 9950X: We’re Shocked

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Uzair Qureshi

At Tech4Gamers, I proudly wear the title of Comparisons Specialist. Focused on CPUs and GPUs, I bring forth a wealth of hands-on experience and a keen eye for detail to provide our audience with the latest insights and analyses.

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Pros And Cons

Comparison Table

Architectural Differences

1. Core Count: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has 8 cores and 16 threads, half the number of the 9950X’s 16 cores and 32 threads.
2. Clock Speed: The 9950X has a base clock of 4.3GHz and a boost clock of around 5.7GHz. The 9800X3D, however, has a base clock of 4.7GHz and a boost of up to 5.2GHz.
3. Cache: The 9800X3D’s headline feature is the L3 cache, which has 96 megabytes on its die, while the 9950X only has 64 megabytes.
4. Process Node: Both these processors are based on a 4nm manufacturing process, which is to be expected as they are based on the same architecture.
5. TDP: The 9950X has a much higher 170-watt TDP than the 120-watt TDP of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

AMD has been the scrappy underdog of the CPU industry for a while now, and nothing has solidified their products more than their X3D line of chips, but how much better are they than their vanilla counterparts? Let us find out in the Ryzen 7 9800X3D Vs Ryzen 9 9950X comparison!

Gaming Benchmarks – 1080p

Having looked at the specs of these chips, we now come to the time when we must evaluate them based on their performance in games. To do this, we have devised a tailor-made test bench, the specs of which are written below:

Test Bench

• OS – Windows 11 
• CPU Cooler – Enermax LiqMaxFlo 360mm
• Graphics Card – GIGABYTE RTX 4090 Gaming OC 24G
• SSD – XPG Gammix S50 Lite
• Power Supply – ENERMAX REVOLUTION D.F. X 1050W Review
• Mobo (AMD) – ASRock X870E Taichi Lite

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

• This comparison started with a bang. The 9800X3D’s average framerate in this game was 234 FPS, 47% higher than the 159 FPS supplied by the 9950X.
• The 1% lows also differed by around 50%, with the 9800X3D hovering around 206 FPS, whereas the 9950X had a much lower framerate of 138 FPS in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

The Last Of Us Part 1

• We saw a more modest 14% difference in this game, with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D getting a framerate of about 208 FPS, while the Ryzen 9 9950X stuck closer to 182 FPS.
• The 1% lows were around 155 FPS on the newer chip, whereas the 9950X took a 30% loss in framerate with a minimum of 119 FPS.

Cyberpunk 2077

• Testing Cyberpunk 2077 on both processors highlighted a difference of around 37%, with the Ryzen 7 getting an average of 219 FPS while the Ryzen 9 got around 160 FPS.
• The minimums were around 148 FPS on the X3D chip in our testing, while the Ryzen 9 9950X matched the lows of the last game with a framerate of 119 FPS, leading to a 24% loss compared to its rival.

Assetto Corsa Competizione

• This game hovered around 269 FPS on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, while the Ryzen 9 9950X hit an average of 160 FPS in our testing, leading to a difference of about 56%.
• The minimum framerates were also starkly dissimilar between the two processors. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D got lows of 223 FPS, while the 9950X struggled to keep up with 145 FPS.

Remnant 2

• The Ryzen 9 closed the gap with this game, getting an average framerate of 123 FPS, which was around 28% lower than the 158 FPS of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
• The 1% lows brought the difference even lower, with the 9800X3D hovering around a framerate of 122 FPS, while the Ryzen 9 9950X got a framerate closer to 99 FPS.

Homeworld 3

• In our test of Homeworld 3, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D achieved 135 FPS, while the Ryzen 9 9950X reached 92 FPS. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D was ahead by around 47%, which is a significant difference.
• In the 1% lows, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D held steady at 63 FPS, compared to 45 FPS on the Ryzen 9 9950X, giving the X3D chip a 40% lead.

Starfield

• With 140 FPS on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and 111 FPS on the Ryzen 9 9950X, the 9800X3D was around 26% faster in our testing of Starfield.
• The 1% lows showed a similar story, with the 9800X3D at 115 FPS versus 88 FPS on the 9950X, which comes out to a 31% improvement for the X3D chip over its vanilla older brother.

Watch Dogs: Legion

• Running at 217 FPS on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, compared to 170 FPS on the Ryzen 9 9950X, the 9800X3D led around 28% in the final test of our gaming suite.
• In the 1% low framerates, the 9800X3D maintained 160 FPS, while the 9950X held at 122 FPS, giving the 9800X3D a 31% edge in Watch Dogs Legion.

Productivity Benchmarks

Now that we have reviewed the specs and gaming benchmarks for these new chips, we can highlight their gaming performance. To do this, we used the same test bench for the gaming tests.

Cinebench 2024

• In the single-core test, we noticed a 4% difference in performance between these chips. The 9800X3D scored 135 points, while the 9950X held closer to 141 points.
• The multi-core score showed a much bigger difference, with the 9950X scoring 2342 points, which was around 70% higher than the 1384 points that the Ryzen 7 had accumulated.

7-Zip

• In our 7-Zip compression test, we noticed a difference of around 38% between the two chips, with the Ryzen 7 scoring 138 points and the 9950X scoring 191 points.
• Decompression was a much different story, with the newer chip getting a score of 145 points, whereas the 9950X had an 89% lead with a score of 274 points.

Photoshop

• The Pudget Systems test showed very similar results between the two chips, indicating that real-world performance might vary from that in synthetic benchmarks.
• The 9950X had a score of around 11915 points, while the 9800X3D came in around 5% ahead with a score of 12549 points.

Overall Performance

Average Framerate

The performance of the 9800X3D was exceptional in our testing, coming ahead of the 9950X without fail in the games that we tested. We measured a difference of around 35% across the average framerates of our benchmark tests.

1% Lows

The great performance of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D spilled over to the 1% lows. Here, we measured a difference of about 36%, which had noticeable effects on the gaming experience. The 9800X3D consistently felt smoother to game on in our testing.

Productivity

Productivity was not the strong suit of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, at least in the synthetic benchmarks we tested. However, testing Photoshop did yield noticeably better results than the 9950X, likely because of the extra legroom our graphics card had because of this processor.

Temperatures

Temperatures were very similar between these chips, with the 9950X being only 1.2% hotter than the 9800X3D. This difference could easily be chalked up to the margin of error. Both chips had manageable temperatures in our testing, and this metric did not factor into our evaluation of these processors.

Power Consumption

As we expected, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D had excellent power management in our testing. Not only did it beat the 9950X game after game with a significant margin, but the 9800X3D also took around 54% less power than the 9950X.

Price And Availability

In our web search for prices, we saw that the Ryzen 9 9950X has not dropped in price at all since its launch MSRP. This leaves a 48% difference in price between the two chips, with the 9800X3D being around 200 USD cheaper than its competitor.

What We Recommend

Ryzen 7 9800X3D: AMD’s improvements with this chip are commendable. It has a lower power draw than its older brother while having better performance, all on top of a lower price tag. The one chip on its shoulder is its lower performance in multi-threaded compute-heavy workloads.

Ryzen 9 9950X: This chip was not remarkable when released and does not break any records now. If you want a processor that has as many cores as possible crammed into it, go ahead with the 9950X, but it’s not great for much else, which is a point exacerbated by its rival for this comparison.

AMD has made this comparison easy for us. We can recommend the 9800X3D to anyone looking for the best gaming performance possible, while the 9950X should only be bought by consumers who require the extra cores it offers.

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Uzair Qureshi

[Comparisons Specialist]

I’m a passionate computer hardware expert specializing in CPUs and GPUs. With a lifelong curiosity for hardware and extensive hands-on experience, I provide valuable insights, practical advice, and in-depth analysis on these components. Engaging with the hardware community, I exchange knowledge and stay at the forefront of technological advancements.

Get In Touch: uzair@tech4gamers.com