AMD Zen 4 Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 5 7600X Review: Retaking The High-End
by Ryan Smith & Gavin Bonshor on September 26, 2022 9:00 AM ESTTest Bed and Setup
As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance.
While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC-supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
The Current CPU Test Suite
For our AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 5 7600X testing, we are using the following test system:
| AMD Ryzen 7000 Series System (DDR5) | |
| CPU | Ryzen 9 7950X ($699) 16 Cores, 32 Threads 170 W TDP Ryzen 5 7600X ($299) 6 Cores, 12 Threads 105 W TDP |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE X670E Aorus Master (BIOS 813b) |
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo 2x16 GB DDR5-5200 CL44 |
| Cooling | EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB 360 mm AIO |
| Storage | Crucial MX300 1TB |
| Power Supply | Corsair HX850 |
| GPUs | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, Driver 496.49 |
| Operating Systems | Windows 11 21H1 |
As we are in a transitional period between our current CPU 2021 suite and data, and optimizing our CPU 2023 suite with different data comparisons required, we have included a varied selection of benchmarks for this review. This ranges from our traditional un-updatable Google Octane 2.0 web test, through a variety of rendering benchmarks such as CineBench R23 and Blender, to encoding, and all the way to our more scientific-related tests.
With our processor reviews, especially on a new generational product such as AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X, we also include SPEC2017 data to account for any increases (or decreases) to generational single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. It should be noted that due to the terms of the SPEC license because our benchmark results are not vetted directly by the SPEC consortium, we have to label them as ‘estimated’. The benchmark is still run and we get results out, but those results have to have the ‘estimated’ label.
Moving Foward to Our CPU 2023 Suite: What to Expect
Looking ahead to our updated CPU 2023 suite, we've updated some of our existing benchmarks to the latest and current versions (as of Sept 22) such as Blender 3.3. In terms of benchmarks from our CPU 2021 suite, we've included benchmarks such as Dwarf Fortress, Factorio, and Dr. Ian Cutress's 3DPMv2 and Crysis CPU benchmarks.
We've also added some completely new benchmarks and workloads to our suite, including an update to Blender (v3.3), C-Ray 1.1 rendering, as well as more scientific-based workloads such as SciMark 2.0 and Primesieve 1.9.0. We have also decided to add UL's latest Procyon suite which measures overall system performance when doing tasks such as office-based tasks, as well as video, and photo editing.
As it stands, we have also updated our pool of games going forward into 2023 and beyond, including the latest F1 2022 racing game, the CPU-intensive Total War Warhammer 3 real-time strategy, and the popular Hitman 3 assassin-based title.
Our aim is to provide varying levels of data points across a variety of different workloads, instruction sets, and tasks. Going forward, we will keep our CPU 2023 suite updated as frequently as possible, and when we have a consistent and suitable number of data points, it will feature on our Bench database as we continue testing new and older CPUs for varying data points.
Some of these new benchmarks will make an appearance in this review, while others won't. Our aim is to assess and subjugate our way through whatever CPUs we have on hand to add vital data points. However, some parts of our CPU 2023 suite are still under testing and it should make a full debut in our next CPU review.
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Silver5urfer - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
Intel won't sell new mobos. They already have Z690 saturation. Barely anyone will get Z790. AMD on the other hand will continue to sell new boards, the quarter is not based on the Client only. It will include the HPC. Intel lost money there, and AMD won't be losing because Genoa is on track and SPR XEON is delayed.AMD AM5 is not just hey this thing is fast and just for gaming. It will be a socket that is going to last until Intel Nova Lake launches that is next 2 Intel sockets. That is a huge advantage for a small price for paying customers now.
Also why is everyone chanting same BS that GN Steve did with AMD boards are too expensive, did you see how Z690 was at when it launched same thing it was expensive ? And DDR4 boards are worse quality and features than the premium cut DDR5. Then Intel launched B660 and AMD's B650/E is also coming. So nope that BS argument about Mobo pricing is too much thrown around. Once the B650 launches by that time 13th gen will hit Retail market and new GPUs as well. And it's November season and in America the Black Friday sales will kick in and see price cut for all products we are seeing now.
So ultimately AMD is not going to lose money.
The biggest BS from a smart customer pov is with Intel LGA1700 EOL and the whole socket bending crap, it's like AM4's unreliable IMC and poor IODie with it's issues. AM5 needs to prove itself but given how they removed the IF from memory clocks I can bet it won't have the issues from AM4.
X3D is a niche market it won't be chart topper for sales at-least if it's again 7800X3D single SKU. Same for KS bin. It depends on how AMD will execute, idk why every single AMD fan says X3D is going to do something if AMD can clock it this high and also allow tuning then it will be a true gen refresh to compete vs Meteor Lake else it will be just a Gaming Juggernaut. Reply
nandnandnand - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
@Silver5urfer rumored to be 3 SKUs, including a 7900X3D, and +30% average performance instead of 15%. I guess that would be a result of improved latency, bandwidth, no voltage/clock decreases, etc. ReplySilver5urfer - Wednesday, September 28, 2022 - link
A 7950X3D means it will have extreme high heat because not only single cache stack you are adding 2 stacks atop the CCDs, how will AMD able to remove that ? Unless the way Cowos TSMC Stacking is technically changed OR they have to lap out the IHS internally to reduce the thickness and compensate the high heat transfer. The current IHS is thick due to many reasons one can assume - The LGA1718 stability, Chiplet integrity with high heat and pressure of HS and cooler compat and it causes the heat density increase, which is why 95C.I really think a 7800X3D is the only way for AMD even though rumors mention 3SKUs because a total SKU refresh totally cannibalize the entire 7000 lineup, because a 7600X is to get best gaming out of AM5 with cheaper option almost at more than 1/2 the price reduction vs a top end R9. And R7 7900X is basically an all rounder like 5900X best for gaming and production now you add the Cache block it would have to fight with 7900X.
Voltage reduction was done on Zen 3 because AMD shoved 1.4v through all Ryzen 5000 processors, insanely high and IODie was also on high voltage, causing all that instability add the 1.3v bin silicon, everything gets better including the heat density. Zen 4 TSMC 5N is much better because it's just 1.2v now at high clock rate. The voltage is not an issue anymore, the design of the Zen 4 itself is like this, how AMD intended to breathe fire at 95C even for 7600X is the hint. Reply
nandnandnand - Wednesday, September 28, 2022 - link
Heat was never the problem for the 5800X3D. It was only voltage, due to using an immature 3D (2.5D) chiplet technology that could not be run at the higher voltages. So I don't think the 7950X3D can't happen. If they have to drop voltages and clocks again, then hopefully the cache has improved.I think AMD should do at least a 7950X3D and 7800X3D. They can prevent cannibalization by giving it a healthy price bump. Probably +$100 to the 7950X3D, +$50 to the 7800X3D, and let the 7700X price drift lower. 7900X3D doesn't make sense, and people would love a 7600X3D but AMD would not. Reply
nandnandnand - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
@Hifihedgehog OP compared 7000X3D to the 13900KS, that's what I addressed. ReplyHifihedgehog - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
Wrong: the i9-13900K is less than $600. The 7950X is going to have to have its price lowered, especially with the price of DDR5 and the motherboards simply off the charts. And good too: Lisa Su needs to be running a price war and not pretend that her company has more market share. ReplyThe Von Matrices - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
A price war doesn't benefit AMD when they are supply constrained by TSMC and selling every chip they can manufacture. There's a reason that AMD doesn't offer any products in the <=$100 CPU market right now and it isn't because they don't want to make money. ReplyHifihedgehog - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
https://download.intel.com/newsroom/2022/2022innov... Replydwade123 - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
Overheated and overpriced. Don't let those scumbags tell you that "95C is normal" because it's not. Avoid at all cost! ReplyThanny - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
Running the memory at JEDEC speeds is definitely the wrong choice for a review. While it may be true that most people don't set the memory profile in the BIOS, none of those people read CPU reviews. Essentially every person who would read this reviews will be setting memory to the XMP/EXPO settings.So you're essentially invalidating your test results for the only people who see them. Reply