AMD’s Ryzen 9 series has built a reputation for producing high-performance processors that appeal to gamers, multimedia makers, and enthusiasts alike. The Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 9 9950X carry on this heritage by pushing the limits of desktop computing with an emphasis on multi-core performance, power efficiency, and affordability in the high-end processor market. Both chips are based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture and have additional capabilities tailored to professionals and gamers who demand the best. Let’s look at what these two processors bring to the table in the last quarter of 2024.
If you have not read our review on the Ryzen 7 9700X click here to know more.
The Target Audience
Specifically, the Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 9 9950X are aimed at individuals who want to achieve higher resolution and framerate in gaming (as long as they have a powerful GPU in the system) with the goal of long-lasting gameplay that will continue for a few years. Aside from that, this is ideal for intensive content production and rendering tasks, such as video editing and rendering, as well as CAD/CAM applications, because the core and thread will efficiently drive the required productivity.
Processor Specifications and Features
| Model | Cores/Threads | Boost / Base Frequency | Total Cache | TDP | Graphics | NPU |
| AMD Ryzen™ 5 9600X | 6C/12T | Up to 5.4 GHz / 3.9 GHz | 32MB | 65W | AMD Radeon™ Graphics | N/A |
| AMD Ryzen™ 7 9700X | 8C/16T | Up to 5.5 GHz / 3.8 GHz | 32MB | 65W | AMD Radeon™ Graphics | N/A |
| AMD Ryzen™ 9 9950X | 12C/24T | Up to 5.6 GHz / 4.4 GHz | 64MB | 120W | AMD Radeon™ Graphics | N/A |
| AMD Ryzen™ 9 9950X | 16C/32T | Up to 5.7 GHz / 4.3 GHz | 64MB | 170W | AMD Radeon™ Graphics | N/A |
- AMD Zen 5 Core Architecture (4nm process)
- AMD VR Ready Premium processor
- Supports Native USB 4 (40Gbps) Ports
- Supports up to 5600Mhz DDR5 Memory module and above
- ECC Memory Support (With Compatible ECC RAM of course)
- AMD EXPO and XMP 3.0 Memory Ready, and Most Non EXPO RAM are compatible as well
- PCI-E 5.0 Ready
- Precision Boost 2, automatically raises processor frequencies for performance when needed most.
- Built in iGPU for basic purpose display use (but we do recommend to have a dedicated GPU)
Test Setup
Below is the hardware used and to compare with some of the 7000 series processor in the performance benchmarks, no overclocking is set and all will be in default settings. We will also be running all the settings with only the dedicated GPU as part of the benchmark to reflect the results.
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 7700X AMD Ryzen 5 9600X AMD Ryzen 7 9700X |
| Motherboard | ASUS ProArt X870E Creator WiFi |
| System Memory | Kingston Fury Renegade RGB 16GB X2 DDR5 (running at 6800MT/s) |
| Primary Drive | NVME SSD 500GB (Gen3 X4) |
| Secondary Drive | Kingston NVME 4×4 SSD, 1TB + Kingston NV3 2TB SSD |
| PSU | DarkFlash 750w PSU (Bronze 80 Modular) |
| Operating System | Windows 11 64bit Professional 23H2 |
| Graphics Card | AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT |
| Cooling | AMD Wraith RGB Standard Cooler |
Performance, Synthetic Benchmarks
*do take note that we are still backwards furnishing some data for PugetBench PS on previous Processor reviews.
Because to its high core count and innovative design, the Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X perform exceptionally well in multithreaded applications. The additional threads make a major difference for content creators who use video editing tools such as Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, speeding up render times and allowing for easier multitasking.
The Ryzen 9 9950X stands out in benchmarks because to its 16-core, 32-thread design. This suggests that it can perform well in heavily threaded applications such as 3D rendering and simulations, offering a considerable performance improvement over its predecessors and even outperforming competing high-end rivals. This makes the 9950X ideal for people working in creative sectors or scientific computing, which require exceptional processing power.
While the Ryzen 9 9900X is slightly less powerful, it is still a capable processor. It finds a mix between gaming and content creation, providing more than adequate power for the majority of users who want rapid processing in a variety of tasks, including gaming and multitasking across creative apps such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Blender.
Gaming Benchmarks and Performance
Although productivity requires multi-core performance, the Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X also offer excellent gaming performance. When combined with a strong GPU, both processors can easily handle high frame rates in AAA games. Games operate easily thanks to the high boost clock speeds (5.6 GHz on the 9900X and 5.7 GHz on the 9950X), especially in situations where single-core performance is essential.
Because of its greater core and thread count, the Ryzen 9 9900X outperforms the Ryzen 9 9950X in gaming benchmarks, while the difference is negligible in the majority of gaming scenarios. Gamers who stream content or handle other chores in the background while playing will value the additional power these CPUs offer. A number of games, including Call of Duty: Warzone, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Cyberpunk 2077, benefit from the CPUs’ capacity to handle background tasks like recording and streaming at high frame rates.
Verdict and thoughts
Now to be fair, both of the Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 9 9950X is much more towards seeking for the ultimate speeds that it holds, and it is pretty much proven its point. However if you are buying it purely for gaming only, then getting a Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 9000 series should suffice for the purpose. If you are wanting something that last real long in years without worrying about upgrade, delved in intense rendering, gaming and heavy productivity combined, then this is the best that you can get within the whole AMD Processor lineups. On the other hand, if you are relying much on AI first, you should be looking towards the Ryzen 8000 series of line-up, not to mention, the processors that we reviewed here requires higher power and better PSU.
Special Thanks to ASUS, Kingston for the providing the components and AMD for loaning the processors