Ryzen 9 7950X Vs Ryzen 9 5950X: Worth Upgrading?

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs. Ryzen 9 5950X are both popular processors from AMD. Both processors offer great performance, but which one is better?

The next-gen AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and previous-gen AMD Ryzen 9 5950X are high-end CPUs for gaming and other demanding tasks. The 7950X has a higher base clock speed, making it the better choice for those needing extra power. However, the 5950X is still a capable CPU and may be a better option for those on a budget.

The new AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is the company’s latest flagship desktop processor, offering a significant performance boost over the previous generation. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is also a powerful processor, but it falls short of the 7950X in several key areas. In this article, we will see how these processors compare. 

Key Takeaways

• AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is the company’s latest processor with a maximum boost clock speed of 5.7GHz is more than that of the previous generation having a maximum boost clock speed of 4.9GHz.
• Upgrading from AMD Ryzen 9 5950X to AMD Ryzen 9 7950X demands the latest memory and motherboard.
• The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X uses more energy than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor. The reason for this is that the 7950X has a higher TDP (thermal design power) rating than the 5950X.
• The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X supports a maximum of 128GB of DDR-5200MHz memory, while the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X supports a maximum of 128GB of DDR4-3200MHz memory. Both have two maximum memory channels.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X Specifications

• Former Codename: “Raphael AM5”.
• Launch Date: 27th of September, 2022.
• Architecture:  Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture with Socket AM5.

CPU Specifications

• Number of CPU Cores: 16
• Number of Threads: 32
• Base Clock: 4.5GHz
• Max. Boost Clock: Up to 5.7GHz
• Multithreading (SMT): Yes
• Default TDP: 170W
• Max. Operating Temperature (Tjmax): 95°C
• L1 Cache: 1MB
• L2 Cache: 16MB
• L3 Cache: 64MB
• Processor Technology for I/O Die: TSMC 6nm FinFET
• Processor Technology for CPU Cores: TSMC 5nm FinFET

Connectivity Specifications

• USB Type-C Support: Yes
• Native USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) Ports: 0
• Native USB 2.0 (480Mbps) Ports: 1
• Native USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Ports: 4
• Native PCIe Lanes (Total/Usable): 28/24
• Memory Channels: 2
• Native SATA Ports: 0
• Max. Memory: 128GB

Graphics Specifications

• Integrated Graphics: Yes
• Graphics Frequency: 2200 MHz
• GPU Base: 400 MHz
• Graphics Model: AMD Radeon™ Graphics
• USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode: Yes
• Graphics Core Count: 2

AMD Ryzen 9 5950X Specifications

• Former Codename: “Vermeer”.
• Launch Date: 5th of November, 2020.
• Architecture:  Zen 3 microarchitecture.

CPU Specifications

• Number of Threads: 32
• Number of CPU Cores: 16
• Base Clock: 3.4GHz
• Max. Boost Clock: Up to 4.9GHz
• Default TDP: 105W
• Max. Operating Temperature (Tjmax): 90°C
• Unlocked for Overclocking: Yes
• CPU Socket: AM4
• Thermal Solution (PIB): Not included
• L2 Cache: 8MB
• L3 Cache: 64MB
• Processor Technology for CPU Cores: TSMC 7nm FinFET

Connectivity Specifications

• System Memory Type: DDR4
• System Memory Specification: Up to 3200MHz
• PCI Express Version: PCIe 4.0
• Motherboards for Ryzen 9 5950X

Graphics Specifications

• Integrated Graphics: No
• Graphics Model: Discrete Graphics Card Required

Differences In Specifications

In this part, we’ll be comparing the configurations of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. By doing so, we’ll understand which CPU will perform better for gaming and other purposes.

Regarding computing power, AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 9 5950X are in a class of their own. Both processors have comparable performance, but some differences set them apart.

Both CPUs offer incredible performance, with the 7950X being slightly faster thanks to its higher clock speeds. However, the 5950X offers better value for money, which is ultimately the better choice for most people.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has a higher speed with a base clock speed of 4.5GHz and a boost clock speed of up to 5.7GHz, compared to that of AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, which has a base clock speed of 3.4GHz and a boost clock speed of up to 4.9GHz.

Both the  CPUs, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs. Ryzen 9 5950X, offer an impressive 16 cores and 32 threads. 

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is based on the company’s Zen 4 architecture and also features an L2 cache of 16MB, an L3 cache of 64MB, and a default TDP of 170W. While the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is based on Zen 3 microarchitecture and features an L2 cache of 8MB, an L3 cache of 64MB, and a default TDP of 105W(38 percent less).

Both processors are more than capable of providing a fantastic gaming experience.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X comes with a PLI version 5.0 with 24 PCI express lanes, while AMD Ryzen 9 7950X comes with a PLI version 4.0 with 24 PCI express lanes.

Memory

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X supports a maximum of 128GB of DDR-5200MHz memory, while the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X supports a maximum of 128GB of DDR4-3200MHz memory. Both have two maximum memory channels. So, if you need a lot of memory for your gaming or video editing rig, then the 7950X is the better option.

Talking about the socket of the two CPUs, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X comes with an AM5 CPU socket, while AMD Ryzen 9 7950X comes with an AM4 CPU socket. You can read our guide on AM5 vs. AM4 to understand this better. Make sure to check out the best RAM for Ryzen 9 5950x as well. 

Price Differences

The AMD 7950X is available for $700 USD. On the other hand, 5950X can be purchased for $550 through different retailers. 

This will change over time, so check current prices whenever you are thinking of buying one. So with a $150 higher price tag, it begs the question, is the 7950X worth paying more for compared to AMD’s older and cheaper 16-core CPU? You’ll figure this out by going down through this article.

Clock Speeds

Power Draw And Efficiency

Temperatures

More power generally equals more heat, and the 7950X reached TJMax at 95 degrees Celsius in this test, even with a large 360 all-in-one liquid cooler. Now AMD notes that with the new AM5 socket and higher TDP, 95 degrees Celsius is expected when under heavy multicore load and that this is intended and by design.

So basically, AMD doesn’t consider 95 degrees Celsius as hot. Zen 4 will intentionally try to go to this temperature as much as possible to squeeze out as much performance as possible.

This is not much of an issue, as 95 degrees Celsius is pretty standard stuff. It seems like you’ll want a good cooler to pair with the 7950X in order to get the most out of it.

Ryzen 9 7950X Vs. Ryzen 9 5950X Gaming Performance

One of the most effective methods to compare two processors is by carrying out performance tests. The gaming benchmarks of AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X will be compared. We’ll compare them by seeing the gaming benchmarks of 12 games played at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolution done by YT/Jarrod’sTech.

Test PC Specs

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3950X/5950X
• GPU: MSI GEFORCE RTX 3090 TI Gaming X TRIO
• MOBO(AM5): GIGABYTE AORUS X670E MASTER
• SSD: MSI SPATIUM M480
• CASE: NZXT H700I
• MOBO(AM4): MSI X570S CARBON WIFI
• RAM(AM5): 32GB DDR5-6000 CL30
• RAM(AM5): 32GB DDR4-3200 CL14
• THERMAL PASTE: NOCTUA NT-H2
• POWER SUPPLY: CORSAIR HX850I
• COOLER: MSI CORE LIQUID S360 AIO

Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered

Let’s start the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs. Ryzen 9 5950X comparison with Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, which is a classic console game that was upgraded for the PlayStation 5 and is now available on the PC.

At 1080p, the 7950X was coming out 28% ahead compared to the 5950X. The gaps are also clear at the higher 1440p resolution; there’s still a clear lead with the 7950X.

By the time we get to the highest 4K resolution, the differences between the 7950X and 5950X are basically nothing, as we’re GPU bound now.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator was tested in the Sydney landing challenge at high resolutions of 1080p, 1440p, and 4k.

Looking at the 4K resolution benchmarks, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X are not having a real, measurable difference having almost the same FPS.

The gaps are noticeable at 1440p and 1080p, where the CPU difference matters more. At 1440p, we’re seeing a lead of almost 17% by AMD Ryzen 9 7950X compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

It was sort of similar at 1080p there is only a difference of 3.39 FPS, obviously with AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in the lead.

Total War: WARHAMMER III

Now moving to Warhammer 3, we can see that it showed no difference at all between AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processors at 4K.

Even 1440p showed no differences between the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. At 1080p, the 5950X was providing most of the gains, as the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is only 3% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, having a difference of only 5.52 FPS.

Halo Infinite

The next game at which we will see the benchmark results between AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is Halo Infinite, a free single and multiplayer game. We saw no change between AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPUs at 4K.

At 1440p, there is also a negligible difference between the two processors, as the difference is almost 1 FPS. The biggest differences were seen at 1080p, where the 7950X was 16% ahead of the 5950X – but had less than a 20 FPS boost.

Call of Duty Warzone

The next game on our list is Call of Duty Warzone, which is a more CPU and RAM-intensive game. Things start looking changed in Call of Duty Warzone. The difference between the processors is smaller, and the 5950X was a little ahead at 1080p.

Talking about the results at 4K resolution, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a little ahead then the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. But the difference is not significant. In the case of 1440p resolution, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X also leads AMD Ryzen 9 7950X with a difference of almost 11 FPS.

The results in the case of 1080p resolution are also similar to those at other resolutions, as AMD Ryzen 9 5950X leads AMD Ryzen 9 7950X by almost 11 FPS.

Apex Legends

Heading towards our next game, Apex Legends, which is more of a GPU-intensive game.

The difference between the processors is smaller, as AMD Ryzen 7950X is leading AMD Ryzen 9 7950X with almost 7 FPS at 4K. Regarding the results at 1440p resolution, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is a little ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

In the case of 1080p resolution, there is a significant difference of almost 13 FPS between AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

Fortnite

Fortnite being an online video game, has good CPU utilization. The game was released in 2017 by Epic Games.

Fortnite had fewer issues; technically, the 1% lows were slightly higher on the 5950X compared to the 7950X for some reason. But otherwise, the 7950X was always the winner when it came to average frame rates.

Like some of the other games, though, the 7950X wasn’t actually that far ahead of the 5950X.

Both AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X have almost similar results at 1440p and 4k resolutions, but there is a difference of almost 13 FPS in the case of 1080p, which is not a lot. 

CS:GO

CS: GO is a more CPU-oriented eSports game. CS: GO was seeing some of the biggest boosts with AMD Ryzen 9 7950X out of all other games tested. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X reached a 19% higher average FPS compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X at 1080p. Because we’re hitting such high frame rates here, this means more than 70 FPS extra.

At 1440p, the significant difference between AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is clear, with AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in the lead with almost 70 average FPS. And at 4K, 5950X was also behind the 7950X. 

Cyberpunk 2077

Moving on to our next game Cyberpunk 2077, it was benchmarked at high resolutions of 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. We can expect some interesting results as it is among the most demanding modern hardware games.

Talking about the performance, Cyberpunk 2077 had no major differences at 4K or 1440p as we’re hitting GPU limits. Again like some of the other games, the 7950X only had a small 3% boost to average FPS compared to the 5950X. 

Red Dead Redemption 2

One of the most stunning and detailed open worlds ever created is found in the action-adventure Red Dead Redemption 2. The game is a mix of GPU and CPU intensive according to the area of the game. 

Both the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X saw no difference in the average FPS at 4K gameplay.

There was a bit more difference at 1440p this time, but 5950X and 7950X aren’t too different at all.

The 7950X was 12% faster than the 5950X at 1080p. Not exactly a change that makes you want to run out and upgrade to AM5.

The Riftbreaker

The Riftbreaker is both a CPU and GPU-intensive game but is comparatively intended to be more hard on your CPU.

The Riftbreaker was tested using the game’s own CPU benchmark option, and there was a bit more of a difference between AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs. Ryzen 9 5950X processors at 4K now, at least compared to most other games tested.

The gaps are much bigger when we talk about the 1440p and 1080p resolutions. They have a difference of almost 70 when we talk about the average FPS.

Watch Dogs Legion

Watch Dogs Legion was tested with the game’s benchmark, and like most others, there weren’t any differences at 4K.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X was 23% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X at 1080p, while the 7950X led with almost 28 of average FPS.

The same is in the case of 1440p, where AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is again leading the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor.

Productivity Benchmarks

Continuing the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X comparison, we’ll see the performance of both processors while performing tasks on different applications.

We’ll compare their benchmark scores to know which one is faster for different applications. The setup is the same that was used to perform the gaming benchmarks.

Blender Open Data

Blender was tested with the Open Data benchmark. We have included the results in all three modes: Monster, Junkshop, and Classroom.

Observing the results, we get to know that the results of AMD Ryzen 9 7950X are much higher than AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has almost 52% percent in classroom tests.

The results show that AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is much more efficient for “Blender” than AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

V-Ray

The V-Ray benchmark is another heavy multi-threaded rendering workload. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has again performed excellently in this case, with a good performance difference as compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

The performance of V-Ray with AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has its biggest lead over the AMD Ryzen 9 4950X here, scoring 49% higher. A great single-generation performance boost, but again don’t forget about the extra power needed to pull this off.

Corona Renderer

The Corona benchmark likewise uses the processor to render out a scene, but rendering times are now faster. AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is again leading as it has lower time in seconds than AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

This workload had one of the smallest differences out of all applications tested, with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X being 24% faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

Adobe Premiere

Adobe Premiere was tested with the Puget Systems benchmark tool, which tests video editing tasks like exporting, playback, and more. Again the latest generation processor AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, is in the lead as it has scored higher in the benchmark test.

Don’t forget the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X adds integrated graphics for the first time now, so this could, in part, be responsible for some of the performance uplift here as Premiere can leverage integrated graphics.

Adobe Photoshop

Now using Adobe Photoshop to get a performance comparison between the two processors. Photoshop does better with more single-threaded performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has some nice gains here. It’s scoring 29% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X.

GeekBench

The Geekbench tests various workloads, some of which benefit from AVX512 instructions, which the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has hardware support for and explains the above-average gains.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is scoring 51% higher than the 5950X in the multicore test, the second biggest difference from all workloads we have tested. The biggest was in the case of the blender.

Conclusion – Which Is Better? 

Heading toward the conclusion, we would say that between AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is certainly a capable option for gaming.

But upgrading from AMD Ryzen 9 5950X to 7950X would be an expensive option because, with this upgrade, you also have to change some hardware, like buying a new memory and motherboard. If you need the best productivity performance in applications, then the 7950X does start making more sense.

Upgrading from the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X to 7950X could be a great option, as we have seen the 7950X leading the 5950X in the gaming and productivity performance tests. Also, in many of those multicore tests. Just make sure you pair it with a good cooler to get the most out of it! 

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: [email protected]