Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D worth buying for gaming?

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the highest-end 3D V-cached chip from Team Red. The processor has been filled to the brim with the latest Zen 5 hardware and baked to a gaming-ready state. It has an added 128 MB of L3 cache to reduce latency in intense graphics-heavy workloads, where more assets can be stored on the chip itself instead of relying on the main memory.

The chip is fairly costly, however, launching at $699. It is getting cheaper by the day, with current prices dropping by $50.

We tested AMD's new best-in-class consumer-grade offering in a few benchmarks. Read on to find out how it fared against its Nvidia counterparts.

---

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread beast

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the highest-end chip from Team Red (Image via Sportskeeda)

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the highest-end flagship offering from Team Red. The chip packs every innovation from Team Red in the past few years: fast Zen 5 technology, 3D V-cache, the latest 4 nm process, and support for the fastest DDR5 memory.

This is complemented with a staggering maximum boost clock of 5.7 GHz, and a whopping 16 cores with 32 threads. All of this makes it fairly premium and overkill for the regular user.

The improvements in single-core performance over, say, a Ryzen 5 9600X are minimal as it's the same Zen 5 architecture. The point of this chip is the extra multi-core performance it can deliver, which is several times that of the six-core alternative.

For the most part, this chip only makes sense if you have the appropriate use case for it — affordable server-grade systems, creative professionals, and AI enthusiasts will have a fantastic time with the added performance the 9950X3D is capable of. AMD targets this chip at that market.

Here's the detailed specs sheet:

Specification	Details
Architecture	Zen 5 (Granite Ridge)
Cores / Threads	16 Cores / 32 Threads
Base Clock	4.3 GHz
Max Boost Clock	Up to 5.7 GHz
L3 Cache	128 MB
Total Cache (L2 + L3)	144 MB
TDP (Thermal Design Power)	170W
PPT (Package Power Tracking)	230W
Socket	AM5
Process Node	4nm (TSMC)
Transistor Count	16.63 billion
Die Size	2x 70.6 mm² CCDs
Memory Support	DDR5-5600 MT/s, Dual-channel, ECC support
PCIe Support	PCIe 5.0, 24 lanes
Integrated Graphics	Radeon Graphics
Unlocked Multiplier	Yes (Overclocking supported)
Launch Date	January 6, 2025 (Retail availability: March 12, 2025)
MSRP	$699
Bundled Cooler	None
Chipset Compatibility	X870E, X870, B850, B840, X670E, X670, B650E, B650, A620

---

Testbench

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D was tested on the Prime X870-P motherboard (Image via Sportskeeda)

We tested the 9950X3D with 32 GB of DDR5-6000 RAM on the Asus Prime X870-P motherboard. The Cooler Master Atmos 240mm liquid cooler was employed to handle the temperatures on the CPU, and it did a fantastic job despite not having a more standard 360mm radiator. We recorded the CPU hit 5.5-5.6 GHz under load, close to the maximum turbo speeds of 5.7 GHz.

Here are the details of the testbench:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
• Motherboard: Asus Prime X870-P WiFi
• RAM: 2 x G.Skill Trident Z DDR5-6000 16 GB
• Storage: 1 x Gigabyte Gen 4 NVMe 1 TB, 1 x Patriot P300 M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x 4 128GB
• Cooler: Cooler Master Atmos 240mm liquid cooler
• Storage: Cooler Master MWE 1050W 80+ Gold
• GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming RX 9070 XT 16 GB

---

Synthetic benchmarks

For starters, let's look at the performance of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D in some synthetic benchmarks. As a gaming-focused CPU test, we chose the 3DMark CPU profile for starters. It tests the capabilities of the chip with various thread combinations applied. 1, 2, and 4-thread numbers are more representative of how video gaming performance will scale, as most titles don't utilize any more than that.

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D takes the crown in our leaderboard as it's the only flagship current-gen CPU listed. The 1, 2, and 4-core improvements over the 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X are slim, hinting that framerates won't be significantly better with the extra investment. The chip flexes its muscles when we allow the benchmark to utilize all of the hardware it bundles, showing clear gains for workstations.

Next, let's record performance on Cinebench R23, a quintessential CPU benchmark. In the single-core test, the 9950X3D reports thin gains over the 12-core 9900X. However, do note these numbers aren't representative of gaming performance and focus on raw computational (realistic rendering, specifically) prowess.

The benchmark doesn't give the 9950X3D any brownie points for the extra 3D V-cache it ships with (as 2D rendering doesn't benefit significantly from the extra L2 and L3 memory).

We note significant gains over the last generation Ryzen 9 7950X3D, hinting at the major gen-on-gen uplifts with Zen 5.

In the multi-core test, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is the chart topper, yet again. The chip is significantly faster than the last-gen Ryzen 9 7950X3D and the Ryzen 9 7950X, hinting at the added multi-tasking and productivity capabilities.

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D comes out at the top of our leaderboards. However, we would like to note the lack of Intel chips in our test suite. These comparisons are only legible with the last generation offerings from Team Red.

---

Gaming benchmarks

For our gaming tests, we ran benchmarks with the AMD RX 9070 XT, the highest-end offering from Team Red so far this generation. Together, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the 9070 XT are the best all-AMD system you can build. We report framerate numbers logged at 1440p and 2160p resolutions, followed by an analysis of how the CPU impacts performance.

We would like to highlight the importance of 0.1% and 1% low numbers in our charts for studying the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Average FPS is more GPU-dependent and quite subjective to accurately study for the current task.

Let's start our analysis with Counter-Strike 2, the most visually forgiving game we tested (hence, a prime option for studying CPU limitations). Here are the numbers we logged:

• 2160p: 71/78/118 FPS (0.1%/1%/avg)
• 1440p: 81/121/234 FPS

Going from 2160p to 1440p, the average framerate almost doubled (118→234 FPS). 0.1% lows barely improved (71→81). This indicates that at 1440p, the CPU is struggling to maintain consistent frame delivery during complex scenes, even though the GPU has plenty of headroom for higher average performance.

We aim to log the average gap in 0.1% lows for a clear view into how the chip impacts gaming performance. The average 0.1% low improvement from 2160p to 1440p is +14.5 FPS (54.2% improvement).

Game	2160p (4K) 0.1% Low	1440p 0.1% Low	Difference	% Improvement
Counter-Strike 2	71 FPS	81 FPS	+10 FPS	+14.1%
Black Myth Wukong	52 FPS	51 FPS	-1 FPS	-1.9%
Monster Hunter Wilds	24 FPS	26 FPS	+2 FPS	+8.3%
Spider-Man 2	19 FPS	54 FPS	+35 FPS	+184.2%
Cyberpunk 2077	42 FPS	75 FPS	+33 FPS	+78.6%
Fortnite	19 FPS	27 FPS	+8 FPS	+42.1%

We observe that open-world games with complex simulation systems, such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Spider-Man 2, are more likely to hit CPU limitations during demanding scenes. Black Myth Wukong, a graphics-heavy title, sees a decrease in 0.1% low numbers, suggesting a severe GPU bottleneck at 4K.

The 0.1% low metric is particularly valuable here because it captures those momentary stutters that occur when the CPU can't keep up with the workload, which directly impacts the gaming experience.

---

AI benchmarks

The 9950X3D is great for sequential tasks like language model inferencing. Here are some benchmark numbers against the Ryzen 9 9900X:

Task	Ryzen 9 9900X	Ryzen 9 9950X3D	Improvement
DeBERTa Inference	0.7947 s	0.6674 s	+19%
Granite Vision 3.2 2B 4-bit (image+text input)	32.4109 s	30.5195 s	+6.2%

---

Power draw and temperatures

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D was tested with a 240 mm liquid cooler. Hence, our numbers represent a resource-constrained scenario. Despite this limitation, the 9950X3D maintained consistent performance, hitting over 5 GHz and maxing at 5.6 GHz (close to the rated maximum of 5.7 GHz) in our tests.

When stressed with the AIDA64 torture test, the chip consistently maintained a 4.98-5.02 GHz core clock on average across all 16 cores.

X3D chips generally report slightly poorer average clock speeds as one of their core complexes is limited by the added V-cache. Regardless, the high operating speeds that it sustained on a 240 mm liquid cooler are impressive.

This is a significant improvement over the 7950X3D, which only maintained a 4.5 GHz sustained speed under synthetic stress.

Power draw has gone up with this generation, however. While the 7950X3D drew 110W under synthetic load, the 9950X3D averaged around 145W. However, this is just how Zen 5 works as AMD has pushed better packaging of 3D V-cache and the cores to enable the chip to stay stable while drawing extra power, slowly converging on the behavior of the 9950X.

CPU temperatures remained under control despite being stressed with a 240mm liquid cooler. We recorded a maximum of 86°C and an average of 83°C, with no thermal throttling. These temperatures are well below the rated 95°C Tjmax, allowing the 9950X3D to perform at its best on a fairly budget setup.

Ambient temperature for the test: 21°C

Synthetic torture tests only tell us about the theoretical maximum we can push a CPU to. In real-world workloads such as gaming, CPUs generally draw much less power and resources (as the workload is GPU-heavy). In Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K, for instance, the chip drew a maximum of 112W and stabilized around the 80W mark for the majority of the test.

Operating temperatures are significantly better while gaming, suggesting that a decent 240mm liquid cooler is more than enough for the chip. We recorded a maximum of 80°C, with temperatures settling around the 67°C mark for most of the test.

The low power draw and clock speeds might suggest the Ryzen 9 9950X3D could have dialed down its operating clock speeds. However, that isn't the case as the chip hit a maximum of 5.56 GHz and stabilized around the 4.9 GHz mark (typical for a GPU-heavy workload like 4K gaming).

---

Overall, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a solid improvement over the last generation in terms of performance, efficiency, and operating characteristics. Higher operating clock speeds and improved temperatures are good news for overclockers. While the chip can be prohibitively expensive for many, it's a well-positioned alternative to entry-level Threadrippers and Xeons.

The extra core count on the Ryzen 9 9950X3D helps specifically if you have high-end workloads in mind. While the 12-core 9900X caused frequent system freezes when I tested it with parallel LLM inferences on multiple 16 GB GPUs, that isn't the case with the 9950X3D.

The extra computational and parallelization capability of the 9950X3D ensured the system stayed responsive and performed a tertiary task without a BSOD.

This is significant for creative professionals and AI enthusiasts, where multitasking is critical. The extra investment in this high-end chip will be worthwhile for those who have the requirements.