I. Introduction
At this stage, when it comes to gaming processors, the best choice without a doubt is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which can be considered the top option. However, the current premium on this processor is quite high, making it not the best time to purchase.
In this case, some may consider the previous generation flagship, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, which offers a better overall price-to-performance ratio and more cores and threads. If you want to know the actual gaming performance comparison between these two processors—who wins and by how much—this article will provide the answer through testing, for those interested.
II. Parameter Comparison
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D will be released on November 7, adopting the Zen 5 architecture and TSMC’s 4nm process. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.7 GHz and a maximum boost clock of 5.2 GHz. The L2 cache is 8MB, the L3 cache is still 96MB, and the total cache capacity is 104MB. The power consumption is 120W, and the suggested retail price is $479.
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D was released on January 4, 2023, using TSMC’s 5nm process, with 16 cores and 32 threads. It has 1MB of L1 cache, 16MB of L2 cache, and 128MB of L3 cache. The base clock is 4.2 GHz, with a maximum boost clock of 5.7 GHz. The power consumption is 120W, and the suggested retail price is $699.
III. Test Platform Configuration
The main configuration is as follows:
Processors: Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 7950X3D
Motherboard: MSI MPG X670E CARBON
Memory: 32GB DDR5 6400MHz
Graphics Card: GeForce RTX 4090
Storage: Two Samsung 970 EVO 1TB SSDs
Operating System: Windows 11
IV. Game Testing (Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Ryzen 7 9800X3D)
The following tests seven games, all using 1080P graphics settings. In the series of images, the left represents the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform, and the right represents the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
The first game is Ghostwire: Tokyo.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 212 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 156 FPS, frame time of 4.6ms, CPU usage at 21%, power consumption of 60W, temperature of 46°C, memory usage of 9.9GB, GPU usage at 97%, video memory usage at 5.4GB, power consumption of 259W, and temperature of 50°C.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform is 192 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 142 FPS, frame time of 5.3ms, CPU usage at 13%, power consumption of 65W, temperature of 61°C, memory usage of 10.5GB, GPU usage at 91%, video memory usage at 6.1GB, power consumption of 245W, and temperature of 43°C.
In this game, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform has 8% higher CPU usage, 0.6GB less memory usage, 6% higher GPU usage, and 0.7GB less video memory usage than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
In terms of average frame rate, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 20 FPS higher, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate 12 FPS higher. Frame times are essentially the same, with 5W lower power consumption and 15°C lower temperature.
The second game is Cyberpunk 2077.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 158 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 91 FPS, frame time of 5.6ms, CPU usage at 67%, power consumption of 96W, temperature of 60°C, memory usage of 12.0GB, GPU usage at 96%, video memory usage at 8.7GB, power consumption of 270W, and temperature of 52°C.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform is 143 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 80 FPS, frame time of 7.3ms, CPU usage at 45%, power consumption of 91W, temperature of 68°C, memory usage of 10.0GB, GPU usage at 84%, video memory usage at 8.1GB, power consumption of 248W, and temperature of 44°C.
In this game, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform has 22% higher CPU usage, 2.0GB more memory usage, 12% higher GPU usage, and 0.6GB more video memory usage than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
In terms of average frame rate, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 15 FPS higher, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate 11 FPS higher. Frame time is approximately 1ms lower, with 5W higher power consumption and 8°C lower temperature.
The third game is Spider-Man 2.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 100 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 57 FPS, frame time of 8.2ms, CPU usage at 76%, power consumption of 101W, temperature of 65°C, memory usage of 15.5GB, GPU usage at 91%, video memory usage at 11.9GB, power consumption of 190W, and temperature of 42°C.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform is 86 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 62 FPS, frame time of 11.6ms, CPU usage at 55%, power consumption of 96W, temperature of 66°C, memory usage of 15.0GB, GPU usage at 80%, video memory usage at 11.5GB, power consumption of 172W, and temperature of 36°C.
In this game, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform has 21% higher CPU usage, 0.5GB more memory usage, 11% higher GPU usage, and 0.4GB more video memory usage than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
In terms of average frame rate, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 14 FPS higher, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate 5 FPS lower. Frame time is approximately 3ms lower, with 5W higher power consumption and similar temperatures.
The fourth game is Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 102 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 71 FPS, frame time of 9.3ms, CPU usage at 46%, power consumption of 86W, temperature of 60°C, memory usage of 23.0GB, GPU usage at 98%, video memory usage at 9.9GB, power consumption of 241W, and temperature of 49°C.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform is 75 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 36 FPS, frame time of 12.3ms, CPU usage at 29%, power consumption of 81W, temperature of 67°C, memory usage of 23.2GB, GPU usage at 81%, video memory usage at 10.8GB, power consumption of 217W, and temperature of 42°C.
In this game, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform has 17% higher CPU usage, 0.2GB less memory usage, 17% higher GPU usage, and 0.9GB less video memory usage than the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
In terms of average frame rate, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 27 FPS higher, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate 35 FPS higher. Frame time is approximately 3ms lower, with 5W higher power consumption and 7°C lower temperature.
The fifth game is Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 135 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 105 FPS, frame time of 6.7ms, CPU usage at 75%, power consumption of 106W, temperature of 67°C, memory usage of 16.1GB, GPU usage at 83%, video memory usage at 12.0GB, power consumption of 272W, and temperature of 44°C.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform is 120 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 94 FPS, frame time of 8.1ms, CPU usage at 52%, power consumption of 94W, temperature of 69°C, memory usage of 15.9GB, GPU usage at 78%, video memory usage at 12.1GB, power consumption of 262W, and temperature of 45°C.
In this game, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform has 23% higher CPU usage, 0.2GB more memory usage, 5% higher GPU usage, and similar video memory usage compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
In terms of average frame rate, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 15 FPS higher, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate 11 FPS higher. Frame time is approximately 1ms lower, with 12W higher power consumption and 2°C lower temperature.
The sixth game is Stalker 2.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 131 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 93 FPS, frame time of 6.3ms, CPU usage at 36%, power consumption of 73W, temperature of 54°C, memory usage of 16.0GB, GPU usage at 97%, video memory usage at 7.0GB, power consumption of 236W, and temperature of 49°C.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform is 126 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 87 FPS, frame time of 8.9ms, CPU usage at 22%, power consumption of 77W, temperature of 68°C, memory usage of 16.9GB, GPU usage at 96%, video memory usage at 7.2GB, power consumption of 237W, and temperature of 42°C.
In this game, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform has 14% higher CPU usage, 0.9GB less memory usage, similar GPU usage, and 0.2GB less video memory usage compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
In terms of average frame rate, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 5 FPS higher, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate 6 FPS higher. Frame time is approximately 2ms lower, with 4W lower power consumption and 14°C lower temperature.
The seventh game is Hogwarts Legacy.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 64 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 48 FPS, frame time of 15.3ms, CPU usage at 32%, power consumption of 67W, temperature of 54°C, memory usage of 20.8GB, GPU usage at 50%, video memory usage at 11.3GB, power consumption of 174W, and temperature of 39°C.
The average frame rate of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform is 54 FPS, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate of 37 FPS, frame time of 17.8ms, CPU usage at 19%, power consumption of 77W, temperature of 66°C, memory usage of 20.0GB, GPU usage at 42%, video memory usage at 11.4GB, power consumption of 162W, and temperature of 38°C.
In this game, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform has 13% higher CPU usage, 0.8GB more memory usage, 8% higher GPU usage, and similar video memory usage compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D platform.
In terms of average frame rate, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D platform is 10 FPS higher, with a minimum instantaneous frame rate 11 FPS higher. Frame time is approximately 2ms lower, with 10W lower power consumption and 12°C lower temperature.
V. Comparison Conclusion
The comparison results are clear. If we simply compare the final gaming performance, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is indeed slightly superior.
On the other hand, the overall performance of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is also not bad. Although its final gaming performance is lower than its competitor’s, its CPU usage is noticeably lower. The stronger gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D comes at the cost of higher CPU usage.
In conclusion, the final judgment of this article is: both processors have their strengths. If you’re a purely gaming-focused user, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is more suitable. If you’re another type of professional user (who heavily relies on multi-threaded processor performance), the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is the better choice.
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