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The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is the highest-end flagship entry in the Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 lineup of processors. The chip packs sixteen cores and 32 threads and delivers a performance like no other Team Red chip ever made.
Following low demand and poor sales of the latest AMD chips, the company has slashed the prices of all Zen 4 chips, making the 7950X more affordable than ever. However, the processor faces serious competition from Intel, which launched multiple high-end chips — the Core i9 13900K and the 13900KS — to claim the performance crown.
At its price point, we have to consider both pricing and performance. These high-end chips only make it to the most powerful gaming PCs that cost thousands of dollars. Thus, gamers building a PC in this range will not consider cutting corners to save $50.
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Let's dissect the 7950X and determine whether gamers should consider the AMD chip for their next high-end system.
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has several positive points, but the competition is pushing hard.
There is no denying that the 7950X is a powerful chip. However, a quick look at the competition may favor Team Blue. A glance at the on-paper specs reveals a bunch about these CPUs.
Specs
The Ryzen 9 7950X is a decked-out chip. It packs the latest innovations in the CPU computing space. It combines that with a new socket that handles high-power draws and faster communication between system memory and expansion cards.
However, Intel's chips are not short of impeccable. The Core i9 13900KS is the first chip to hit 6 GHz clock speeds out of the box. Both i9 chips pack a higher core count than the Team Red offering. In addition, the efficient 'E' cores allow the processor to draw lesser power when the chip is not under load.
A detailed spec comparison is listed below. These chips are among the fastest that money can buy today.
Performance comparison
Both the Ryzen 9 and Core i9 chips deliver a spectacular performance. In the Cinebench R23 test, all the chips broke the 2,000-point barrier in single-core performance. However, we can see that the 7950X trails the Core i9 chips by a solid margin.
A similar story is repeated in the multi-core test, where the Core i9 13900KS broke the 40,000-point barrier. The Ryzen 9 7950X is substantially behind, with a score of 37,556.
Straight off the bat, AMD is fighting a losing game. These numbers get accentuated in the gaming test.
When paired with an RTX 3090, the AMD chip consistently registers lower framerates than the 13900K and the 13900KS.
However, the difference between the special edition launch and the original Core i9 chip ranges from unnoticeable to massive, depending on the title. This further proves that the 13900KS is just an overclocked 13900K.
Gamers should not get the wrong idea. The Ryzen 9 7950X is not a weak chip in any respect. However, as compared to the competition, it falls apart.
Pricing
The pricing of the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X and Core i9 chips is the final nail in AMD's coffin. The Ryzen 9 7950X is currently selling for $598 on Newegg, following the price deductions.
In contrast, the Core i9 13900KF is priced at $568, and the 13900K can be picked up for $579. The slight price difference could have been neglected if the 7950X had been faster. However, the Intel chip defeats the AMD processor, costing about $30 less.
If they want to cut corners, Intel users can side with the cheaper 600-series motherboards and potentially get away with DDR4 memory.
Thus, the Intel flagship seems the way for this generation.
In conclusion, the Ryzen 9 7950X is not a slow chip. Gamers with the CPU in their rig need not worry about Intel's slight lead with its 13900K. However, those looking for a new PC in the market should side with Team Blue.
