AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D Gaming Performance CPU Review

[Peter_Brosdahl]

I heard rumors that Zen 5 is gonna be quite the difference in CPU architecture, while Zen 4 was still basically just an upgrade of the Zen 3 and 2 design.

Yep, I was kind of thinking about that yesterday when I posted. Seems to be the pattern that it's best to wait 2-3 years after a new gen is introduced anyway for the best value (PCIe gen 5/DDR5). I think I waited 3-4 years before I jumped into DDR4/PCIe Gen4.

I've only had one rig in the last two decades that didn't really run the gamut, a storebought floor model from BB Gateway FX7026 w/ a core2quad, radi0 out of the box, It was pretty awesome but was basically a stopgap when we were having to move a lot (due to multiple landlords having personal issues and selling the houses/trailers we were renting) and my budget and time was really tight and my P4 was really starting to show its age. I think I maybe got 3-4 years out of that rig. On that note. . .

1981 (maybe 82) - Atari 400. As mentioned in my BIO it was my 1st computer that I got via a deal from a friend of my dad. Upgraded and modded through the years and retired around 1987-88.

1986 (maybe 87) - Tandy 1000 Ex. A Christmas present from my parents. Did some upgrades to it (ram/math-co processor) over time. Retired around 1993-94.

2002 - Purchased a VPR Matrix 180R from BB, floor model w/ a 1.8 GHz P4. A few years later upgraded to a Prescott 3.4 GHz and by then I essentially replaced every component. This essentially became my first build after returning to PC gaming. It was retired around 2009-2010 (still in my closet though). I had a number of hand-me-downs from friends and family that I tinkered with before this between 2000-2002 but nothing that was really meaningful to surpass what I was experiencing with PS1/PS2 and N64.

2011 - 2600K build. My first true build with the then-next-gen components. 1st SLI, PCIe 3.0, USB 3.0, DDR3, and dual Raid0 setup. Firstime overclocking a CPU (cheated using builtin OC setting in BIOS - MSI Z68 GD 65) as well. Retired around 2021.

2013 - 4930K build. Some decent BF deals on Newegg were just too good to pass up and it became a somewhat legendary build for me. Dual Raid w/ extra drives, SLI w/ PhysX, non-quad core setup, and has now had 4 generations of many different NVIDIA GPUs in it. It was also the first time I began overclocking my GPUs and the first time manually overclocking a CPU with help from a good guy in the U.K. (shout out to you Ian M!), and still using those same settings.

 

[DrezKill]

I guess my point above is that the solution AMD is using is actually worse, for the moment.

Oh I completely agree. My bad, I wasn't being clear. I meant AMD's setup bothers me less hardware-wise. All that other bullsh1t associated with it to get it working properly, yeah I agree all that sh1t is f*cked.

AMDs approach is still half-baked from the end-user perspective

Yupz.

I feel the same way, I just don't think we're going to get what we want

No, I really don't think we are either...

 

[SmokeRngs]

I guess my point above is that the solution AMD is using is actually worse, for the moment. I get not liking Intel's approach; I've never really warmed up to big.little myself. But I can't deny that it works extremely well, and that AMDs approach is still half-baked from the end-user perspective. Nothing wrong with the hardware of course and when the software does its job, the gains are at least present when they're not outright impressive.

But, and that's a hard but, it's hard to imagine an optimal outcome. The 'logic' behind scheduling threads between the two CCDs gets complicated to describe, and seems like it'll be messy to implement.


I feel the same way, I just don't think we're going to get what we want

I don't know that AMD's solution is worse rather than more cumbersome and possibly prone to issues in the beginning. It also doesn't mean that the current requirement of using the Xbox bar or whatever will be the only solution but simply a stopgap solution for now.

It's also not really fair to compare it in the same way as Intel's big.little strategy. The only reason for the big.little architecture is power use. Intel has no choice but to go in this direction. Even with big.little the power use is staggering once you start to put a real load on the CPU.

At the moment Intel is basically back to the P4 era of inefficiency with no Core and Core2 architecture to pull out of their hat while AMD is closer to being that Core2 efficiency. A big part of this is due to manufacturing process differences but I don't think that's the whole story.

I should probably hit up Phoronix and check out their review of this CPU and see how it works under Linux. There's no Xbox game bar or whatever there to set priorities. That said, Linux has typically had fewer issues with Ryzen CPUs compared to Windows as long as you're running a somewhat recent kernel and also tends to have a bit better performance as well.

 

[Elf_Boy]

Looks like a good CPU for me. I rarely do anything, aside from games and benchmarks (another type of game?) that stress the system.

I was originally thinking 7800x3d - till the 'Core Parking' was fully explained.

Pretty much the same performance with 35% less CPU power is a big win for me. Now can we get an RX 8900XTX-3d to drop GPU power by 35%?

 

[Elf_Boy]

I always enjoy reading and find the reviews here helpful. With a complete system rebuild coming in 5-6 months knowledge is power -or- is it that knowledge is a lower power bill?

One feedback I have, partially abated by the inclusion of Forespoken, is the lack of tested games that I play. I am not against shooters but they are not the bread and butter of my gaming. I know MMO's, Huge RPG's (Hogwarts Legacy), and older games, all have unique challenges in getting reliable data and consistent results, however these other types of games do stress the system in different ways. Retro gaming is big look at all the flack Intel has had over its DX9 performance with its Arc GPU's.

An example I would put forth, though I get this game would/should be used, is City of Heroes, my rx6900xt would sometimes struggle at 4k in busy fights or things like Itrials/MotherShip raids. My 7900xtx chews though 4k just fine with COH. Ya 4k didnt exist when the game was coded, its not optimized for 4k, etc. Many of us play our old and favorite with the same kinds of issues.

So I dont ramble on too much (ya right) and TLDR - Great job on the reviews! Can anything be done to show a more diverse set of use cases rather than 90% shooters in order to better represent gaming across the board.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

Looks like a good CPU for me. I rarely do anything, aside from games and benchmarks (another type of game?) that stress the system.

I was originally thinking 7800x3d - till the 'Core Parking' was fully explained.

Pretty much the same performance with 35% less CPU power is a big win for me. Now can we get an RX 8900XTX-3d to drop GPU power by 35%?

I wouldn't count the 7800X3D out until the real tests come in. For gaming, it could be a real champ.

 

[Elf_Boy]

I wouldn't count the 7800X3D out until the real tests come in. For gaming, it could be a real champ.

It no doubt will be - still, I'll likely go to the 7950x3d.

 

[Riccochet]

It would be nice if tests with OBS were done to see how core parking effects streaming/recording.

 

[Brent_Justice]

It would be nice if tests with OBS were done to see how core parking effects streaming/recording.

I need to experiment with ways to do this, I'd like to add the tests for productivity section of testing, but I need to find a robust method I can replicate easily each time and record the data.

 

[Riccochet]

I need to experiment with ways to do this, I'd like to add the tests for productivity section of testing, but I need to find a robust method I can replicate easily each time and record the data.

Let me know if you want some ideas. I use OBS a lot. I've sure we could come up with a standardized test.