Ryzen 9 9950X3D vs 9950X: Gaming Power Compared

01

Introduction

At present, for those looking to build a high-end AMD platform, there are two popular processor options worth considering: the Ryzen 9 9950X and the Ryzen 9 9950X3D.

Generally speaking, the 3D-Vcache series processors are designed with gaming performance in mind. However, this is not the case with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D (and Ryzen 9 9900X3D), as most games are unable to fully utilize the advantage of their higher core and thread counts.

To verify this point, this article will compare the actual gaming performance of the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, for the reference of interested readers.

02

Specification Comparison

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D was released on January 6, 2025. It is built on TSMC’s 4nm process and features 16 cores and 32 threads. It has 1MB of L1 cache, 16MB of L2 cache, and 128MB of L3 cache. The base clock speed is 4.3 GHz, with a maximum boost clock of 5.7 GHz. It has a default TDP of 170W and a suggested retail price of $699.

The Ryzen 9 9900X was released on August 15, 2024. Also built on TSMC’s 4nm process, it features 12 cores and 24 threads. It has 512KB of L1 cache, 8MB of L2 cache, and 64MB of L3 cache. The base clock speed is 4.4 GHz, with a maximum boost clock of 5.6 GHz. The TDP is 120W, and the suggested retail price is $499.

03

Test Platform Configuration

The main configuration is as follows:

The processors are Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, the motherboard is MSI MPG X670E CARBON, the memory is 32GB DDR5 6000MHz, the graphics card is a GeForce RTX 4090, the storage consists of two Samsung 970 EVO 1TB SSDs, and the operating system is Windows 11.

04

Game Testing (Ryzen 9 9950X3D vs 9950X)

Seven games were tested at 1080P resolution. In the comparison images, the left represents the Ryzen 9 9950X platform, and the right represents the Ryzen 9 9950X3D platform.

1st Game: Ghostwire: Tokyo

• Ryzen 9 9950X: Avg FPS 193, Min FPS 145, Frame Time 4.8ms, CPU Usage 12%, Power 118W, Temp 65°C, RAM 12.5GB, GPU Usage 84%, VRAM 6.3GB, GPU Power 218W, Temp 49°C
• Ryzen 9 9950X3D: Avg FPS 193, Min FPS 166, Frame Time 5.3ms, CPU Usage 13%, Power 87W, Temp 61°C, RAM 10.4GB, GPU Usage 80%, VRAM 5.2GB, GPU Power 212W, Temp 45°C
• Result: Same avg FPS, 9950X3D has 21 FPS higher min FPS, slightly better stability and lower hardware usage overall.

2nd Game: Red Dead Redemption 2

• Ryzen 9 9950X: Avg FPS 202, Min FPS 123, Frame Time 4.7ms, CPU 22%, Power 115W, Temp 68°C, RAM 13.4GB, GPU 89%, VRAM 5.3GB, GPU Power 305W, Temp 53°C
• Ryzen 9 9950X3D: Avg FPS 208, Min FPS 144, Frame Time 5.1ms, CPU 18%, Power 89W, Temp 59°C, RAM 14.1GB, GPU 91%, VRAM 5.3GB, GPU Power 300W, Temp 53°C
• Result: 9950X3D outperforms with 6 FPS higher avg and 21 FPS higher min FPS, slightly better performance.

3rd Game: Cyberpunk 2077

• Ryzen 9 9950X: Avg FPS 106, Min FPS 87, Frame Time 9.1ms, CPU 35%, Power 130W, Temp 77°C, RAM 12.7GB, GPU 62%, VRAM 9.0GB, GPU Power 208W, Temp 47°C
• Ryzen 9 9950X3D: Avg FPS 151, Min FPS 110, Frame Time 6.3ms, CPU 35%, Power 104W, Temp 65°C, RAM 13.0GB, GPU 83%, VRAM 8.9GB, GPU Power 256W, Temp 51°C
• Result: 9950X3D is ahead by 45 FPS avg and 23 FPS min, with significantly lower frame time and better overall performance.

4th Game: Microsoft Flight Simulator

• Ryzen 9 9950X: Avg FPS 80, Min FPS 62, Frame Time 12.0ms, CPU 24%, Power 111W, Temp 69°C, RAM 19.6GB, GPU 67%, VRAM 10.8GB, GPU Power 192W, Temp 47°C
• Ryzen 9 9950X3D: Avg FPS 108, Min FPS 86, Frame Time 9.4ms, CPU 26%, Power 95W, Temp 63°C, RAM 20.0GB, GPU 91%, VRAM 10.3GB, GPU Power 235W, Temp 52°C
• Result: 9950X3D shows 28 FPS higher avg, 24 FPS higher min, and ~3ms lower frame time—clear lead.

5th Game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

• Ryzen 9 9950X: Avg FPS 80, Min FPS 50, Frame Time 12.0ms, CPU 26%, Power 124W, Temp 77°C, RAM 17.5GB, GPU 69%, VRAM 7.7GB, GPU Power 184W, Temp 44°C
• Ryzen 9 9950X3D: Avg FPS 99, Min FPS 60, Frame Time 9.4ms, CPU 26%, Power 102W, Temp 65°C, RAM 18.1GB, GPU 84%, VRAM 7.7GB, GPU Power 202W, Temp 46°C
• Result: 9950X3D has 19 FPS higher avg and 10 FPS higher min, ~3ms lower frame time—slightly better.

6th Game: Hogwarts Legacy

• Ryzen 9 9950X: Avg FPS 60, Min FPS 39, Frame Time 16.7ms, CPU 13%, Power 94W, Temp 63°C, RAM 21.2GB, GPU 47%, VRAM 12.3GB, GPU Power 181W, Temp 43°C
• Ryzen 9 9950X3D: Avg FPS 75, Min FPS 49, Frame Time 12.9ms, CPU 14%, Power 89W, Temp 61°C, RAM 21.0GB, GPU 57%, VRAM 12.1GB, GPU Power 200W, Temp 44°C
• Result: 9950X3D outperforms with 15 FPS higher avg, 10 FPS higher min, ~4ms lower frame time.

7th Game: Starfield

• Ryzen 9 9950X: Avg FPS 121, Min FPS 103, Frame Time 8.9ms, CPU 40%, Power 145W, Temp 81°C, RAM 13.9GB, GPU 72%, VRAM 6.6GB, GPU Power 208W, Temp 44°C
• Ryzen 9 9950X3D: Avg FPS 161, Min FPS 130, Frame Time 6.4ms, CPU 40%, Power 125W, Temp 72°C, RAM 13.3GB, GPU 92%, VRAM 6.3GB, GPU Power 245W, Temp 48°C
• Result: 9950X3D shows 40 FPS higher avg, 27 FPS higher min, ~3ms lower frame time—strong lead.

05

Conclusion

Overall, the comparison results are mostly in line with expectations. Compared to the Ryzen 9 9950X, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D does show a “notable” advantage in gaming performance—for example, generally higher GPU utilization—but the gap isn’t dramatic.

In this context, for gamers, there’s no need to opt for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. The Ryzen 9 9950X is sufficient. The 9950X3D is better suited for high-end users focused on productivity, where its advantages in multi-core and multi-threaded performance can be fully utilized.

Related:

1. RX 7900 GRE vs RTX 5070: Gaming Showdown!
2. RTX 2070 vs RTX 5070: Performance Benchmark Test Results
3. Core i5 12400F and RTX 5070 Ti: Can They Match in Games?
4. RTX 3060 Ti vs 5070: Is the Upgrade Worth It?

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