The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K rivalry is a battle of flagships for the highest-end of the gaming market, however the chips take drastically completely different approaches to serving up main efficiency. The Core i9-13900K wields Intel’s Thirteenth-Gen Raptor Lake x86 hybrid structure to sq. off in opposition to AMD’s chiplet-based Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 chips, however AMD has a trick up its sleeve — the Second-Gen 3D V-Cache tech, which fuses on a 3D-stacked cache chiplet atop the processor to ship market-leading gaming efficiency. These two essentially completely different approaches have shaken up our record of the greatest CPUs for gaming, however every strategy has its respective strengths.
AMD’s $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D is geared particularly for avid gamers trying to blast by CPU-limited video games whereas nonetheless having the threaded heft of 16 cores that stay aggressive within the heaviest of productiveness workloads. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D does lag rivals in some productiveness apps as a result of tradeoffs related to the 3D chip-stacking tech, and it would not speed up all video games equally. Nevertheless, one factor is definite — it’s the quickest gaming chip available on the market.
The $589 Intel Core i9-13900K is Intel’s quickest gaming processor, and whereas it is not fairly as quick as AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X3D in gaming, it has a a lot friendlier price ticket and serves up ultra-competitive efficiency in each gaming and productiveness apps. Intel additionally continues to assist DDR4 reminiscence to supply a less-expensive path for builders, decreasing the bar for entry to flagship efficiency even additional. In the meantime, AMD’s resolution to assist solely DDR5 has confirmed to be a pricing ache level.
The completely different strengths of those two chips make for a troublesome resolution when you’re trying to choose one on your subsequent high-end construct. Under we have taken the Core i9-13900K vs Ryzen 9 7950X3D rivalry by a six-round faceoff to see which chips take the crown in our gaming and utility benchmarks, together with different key standards like energy consumption and pricing. Let’s have a look at how they stack up.Â
Options and Specs: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K
 | Road/MSRP | Cores / Threads (P+E) | P-Core Base / Enhance Clock (GHz) | E-Core Base / Enhance Clock (GHz) | Cache (L2/L3) | TDP / PBP / MTP | Reminiscence |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ryzen 9 7950X3D | $699 | 16 / 32 | 4.2 / 5.7 | Â | 144MB (16+128) | 120W / 162W | DDR5-5200 |
Core i9-13900KS | $699 | 24 / 32 (8+16) | 3.0 / 6.0 | 2.2 / 4.3 | 68MB (32+36) | 150W / 253W / 320W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
Core i9-13900K / KF | $589 (Ok) – $564 (KF) | 24 / 32 (8+16) | 3.0 / 5.8 | 2.2 / 4.3 | 68MB (32+36) | 125W / 253W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
AMD’s $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D comes packing sixteen Zen 4 cores and the corporate’s second-gen 3D V-Cache tech that unlocks 128MB of L3 cache, a combo that delivers the quickest gaming efficiency out there available on the market. The 7950X3D has the identical underlying design because the Ryzen 9 7950X with a central I/O die and two eight-core compute chiplets that present a complete of 16 cores and 32 threads.
In contrast to the usual 7950X, one of many 7950X3D’s compute chiplets comes with a further 3D-stacked L3 cache and boosts to five.25 GHz. In the meantime, the ‘customary’ compute chiplet with out cache boosts to five.7 GHz, the identical as the usual 7950X (particulars right here). Regardless of the decrease frequency, the cache-equipped chiplet gives the very best efficiency for video games, whereas the quicker chiplet is greatest for productiveness functions. As such, AMD designed an progressive new driver that helps steer threads for several types of workloads to the right chiplet.
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D brings all the facilities we’d count on from a contemporary processor, together with assist for DDR5, PCIe 5.0, and the most recent USB connectivity requirements. AMD has additionally added built-in graphics for a primary show out for the primary time, which is a plus if you want to troubleshoot. You possibly can see our iGPU testing right here.
The 7950X3D sips energy — it has a base TPD of 120W and a max 162W PPT, which is 68W decrease than the 170W/230W ranking for the usual 7950X. The decrease energy threshold will lead to much less efficiency in heavy functions, however you may nonetheless must plan for a 240mm to 280mm AIO (or higher) for the very best efficiency.
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D requires an AM5 motherboard, so dear DDR5 reminiscence is the one possibility. Sadly, DDR5 continues to be rather more costly than DDR4 reminiscence. Granted, that pricing strain is not as a lot of a consideration on the excessive finish, however you must issue it into your buying resolution. The AM5 platform is new, so the Ryzen 7000 chips aren’t backward suitable with older AM4 motherboards. Nevertheless, AMD will assist the AM5 platform till 2025+.
AMD solely allowed overclocking the reminiscence and Infinity Cloth for the previous-gen 5800X3D, however the 7950X3D additionally provides assist for each the auto-overclocking Precision Enhance Overdrive (PBO) and the Curve Optimizer. Sadly, AMD nonetheless doesn’t enable direct frequency overclocking attributable to a voltage limitation for one of many chiplets.
Intel’s $589 sixteen-core Core i9-13900K comes with eight hyper-threaded P-cores and 16 single-threaded E-cores, for a complete of 32 threads. That is a rise of eight further E-cores over the previous-gen Core i9-12900K, equating to extra threaded horsepower. You can too avoid wasting money with the $564 Core i9-13900KF, which has similar specs however lacks the built-in GPU.
Intel nonetheless makes use of the ‘Intel 7’ course of node for Raptor Lake however leveraged a more recent revision of the silicon to push clock speeds increased whereas enhancing energy effectivity. The P-cores include a 3.0 GHz base, however, extra importantly, a 5.8 GHz enhance that is a whopping 600 MHz improve over the prior gen. In the meantime, the E-cores now have a 3.0 GHz base (+600 MHz) and stretch as much as 4.3 GHz (+400 MHz), that means that not solely do you get extra E-cores, however you additionally get extra out of every core.
The Core i9-13900K can also be geared up with 32MB of L3 cache and 36MB of L2 and drops into current 600-series motherboards or the brand new 700-series fashions. The chip comes with the built-in UHD Graphics 770 engine with 32 EUs that enhance as much as 1.65 GHz.
Intel’s chips now have a Processor Base Energy (PBP) worth as an alternative of a TDP metric, and a secondary Most Turbo Energy (MTP) worth that denotes the very best energy degree throughout enhance exercise. The 13900K comes with 125W PBP (base) and 253W MTP (peak) energy rankings, however remember that the chip can all the time function on the 253W MTP when it’s underneath load, although the precise energy use will fluctuate with utility depth. Intel permits full overclockability, however solely whenever you pair the chip with a Z-series motherboard.
Winner: Tie
The Core i9-13900K vs Ryzen 9 7950X3D battle yields a tie on this class. Each chips assist DDR5 and the PCIe 5.0 interface, that means neither has an inherent connectivity benefit.
Intel has the benefit of backward compatibility for DDR4 and the 600-series chipset, enabling lower-cost reminiscence and motherboards for worth seekers (caveats apply). Intel additionally has its Raptor Lake Refresh chips on the horizon, that means there can be yet one more era of upgrades for the LGA 1700 platform.
AMD’s new AM5 platform solely helps dear DDR5 and carries a premium over the Intel motherboard ecosystem, but it surely does afford prolonged ahead compatibility — AMD plans on supporting the AM5 platform till 2025+.
Given its new hybrid structure with two varieties of cores, Intel’s core counts aren’t straight akin to AMDs attributable to their completely different capabilities. Our efficiency outcomes will dictate the efficiency worth of the general designs.
Gaming Benchmarks and Efficiency: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K
Bear in mind, this text is an summary of our rather more in-depth testing in our AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D Evaluate. Under you’ll be able to see the geometric imply of our gaming checks with the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K at 1080p and 1440p, with every decision cut up into its personal chart. As common, we’re testing with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 to cut back GPU-imposed bottlenecks as a lot as potential, however variations will shrink with lesser playing cards or increased resolutions.Â
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D lives as much as its billing because the quickest gaming chip on the planet, beating out Intel’s flagship by spectacular margins in some titles. We additionally see the 7950X3D take a giant lead within the geometric imply of our take a look at suite, however remember that the 3D V-Cache doesn’t speed up all titles equally. Due to this fact, you must also have a look at the person sport benchmarks within the above album to evaluate the general pattern.
In our testing, the $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 12% quicker than the $589 Core i9-13900K at 1080p gaming at inventory settings, and 9% quicker when the chips are overclocked. The latter rating is discouraging for Intel — the 13900K consumes way more energy but nonetheless cannot beat the 7950X3D. As a reminder, Intel launched its limited-edition Core i9-13900KS as a preemptive strike in opposition to the 7950X3D, however regardless of its spectacular 6 GHz enhance clock and large price ticket, it provides mainly the identical gaming efficiency because the $589 Core i9-13900K. As such, it additionally falls behind the 7950X3D.
Whereas the 7950X3D is 12% quicker than the 13900K on this number of titles, it additionally prices 19% extra. As talked about above, you can even equip the 13900K with DDR4 to save lots of much more money, however remember that you’re going to lose a number of proportion factors of gaming efficiency on common (see our testing right here).
Transferring over to 1440p pushes the bottleneck extra in the direction of the GPU, so the distinction between the chips shrinks. For instance, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 8% quicker than the Core i9-13900K at 1440p, and that shrinks to a 3% distinction after each chips are overclocked. It is logical to imagine that almost all high-end gaming methods will use higher-resolution displays, so the variations may very well be slight, however the 7950X3D will provide you with extra headroom for future GPU upgrades.
Bear in mind that enormous deltas in particular person sport titles, as we see with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, affect cumulative measurements. You possibly can see examples of that in titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2021, Far Cry 6, and F1 2021. Our take a look at suite closely favors the enhancements from 3D V-Cache, so we additionally included a desk under with outcomes from a further 5 video games that we don’t usually take a look at. You’ll additionally discover AMD’s personal benchmarks in a broad vary of titles on the finish of the above album to provide you an concept of efficiency beneficial properties in different titles. As with all vendor-provided benchmarks, take AMD’s slides with a grain of salt.
As all the time, the AMD vs Intel competitors can fluctuate based mostly on the title and the GPU you employ, so it is best to make an knowledgeable resolution based mostly on the varieties of titles you play regularly.Â
Tom’s {Hardware} – 1080p Extras | Ryzen 9 7950X3D | Core i9-13900K | 7950X3D vs 13900K |
Grand Theft Auto V | 182.4 fps | 185.5 fps | -1.7% |
Venture Automobiles 3 | 357.6 fps | 295 fps | +21.2% |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 332.2 fps | 274.6 fps | +21% |
Borderlands 3 | 231.6 fps | 186.4 fps | +24.3% |
Horizon Zero Daybreak | 264.7 fps | 218 fps | +21.4% |
Winner: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
On common, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is the quickest gaming chip cash should purchase. In our take a look at suite, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 12% quicker than the Core i9-13900K at 1080p gaming and eight% quicker at 1440p. After overclocking, these deltas shrink to 9% and three% at 1080p and 1440p, respectively.
These gaming outcomes include a number of caveats: The 7950X3D would not speed up all video games, and the Core i9-13900K prices 19% much less earlier than we consider its a lot decrease total platform prices. Nevertheless, you may all the time pay a disproportionate premium for main efficiency, and on the finish of the day, a win is a win.
As all the time, we do not advocate chips on this worth vary when you’re solely desirous about gaming — you may discover lower-priced options from each AMD and Intel which might be a much better worth for gaming. Nevertheless, there’ll all the time be these decided to construct the completely quickest gaming system no matter price, and the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is the quickest gaming chip presently out there for these high-end builds.
In the meantime, the remainder of us ought to most likely wait to see how the eight-core $449 Ryzen 7 7800X3D fares when it arrives in April. This chip will possible provide practically the identical gaming efficiency because the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, however at a a lot lower cost.Â
Productiveness Efficiency: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K
We will boil down efficiency in productiveness apps into two broad classes: single- and multi-threaded. The primary slide above exhibits the geometric imply of efficiency in a number of of our most necessary checks within the single-threaded class, however remember to have a look at the expanded ends in the above album.
The Core i9-13900K is 17% quicker than the usual Ryzen 9 7950X3D configuration in single-threaded work. We’ve two overclocked configs right here for the 7950X3D — the auto-overclocked PBO, and PBO mixed with undervolting (PBO UV). Notably, the PBO UV config narrows the 13900K’s lead in single-threaded work to 11%.Â
Naturally, these efficiency deltas will not carry over to each sort of workload. Nevertheless, flipping by the album of take a look at outcomes reveals that the Core i9-13900K excels in single-threaded work, which might in the end present snappier efficiency than the 7950X3D in mild functions. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D does lead within the AVX-512 y-cruncher benchmark, however Intel leads all different lightly-threaded benchmarks.Â
The primary slide within the above album comprises a geometrical imply of efficiency in a number of of our multi-threaded benchmarks. In multi-threaded work, the $589 Core i9-13900K is 4% quicker than the $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D at inventory settings, and a mere 1% quicker after overclocking. Each of those chips serve up loads of efficiency in this sort of work, but when gaming is not as necessary and also you’re searching for the utmost efficiency in threaded apps, the usual Ryzen 9 7950X is the higher alternative.
Winner: Intel Core i9-13900K
The Core i9-13900K provides a extra balanced profile in each single- and multi-threaded productiveness functions than the 7950X3D, delivering strong efficiency in each disciplines. In distinction, whereas the Ryzen 9 7950X3D stays inside placing distance in threaded functions, it loses fairly a little bit of steam in single-threaded work. Not solely does that lead to slower efficiency in lighter workloads and fewer responsiveness, however it may well additionally hamstring efficiency in typical real-world productiveness workloads — these usually embody each lightly-threaded and multi-threaded parts within the workflow, and considerably slower efficiency in both class hampers total efficiency.
AMD’s Ryzen 7950X3D does profit from {hardware} acceleration to hurry AVX-512 workloads, a bonus over the 13900K in an growing variety of heavily-threaded duties, however these proceed to be pretty uncommon for almost all of customers. Given its total superior mix of efficiency in productiveness functions, the Core i9-13900K takes the win.Â
Overclocking: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K
We’ve lengthy since reached the land of diminishing returns for overclocking the highest-end chips from AMD and Intel, just like the Ryzen 9 and Core i9 households. As a result of AMD has pulled Intel right into a dogfight for efficiency superiority on the excessive finish, a lot of the overclocking frequency headroom is rolled into customary inventory efficiency. Nevertheless, there are nonetheless no less than some beneficial properties available, and each Intel and AMD expose tunable parameters and complex software program overclocking utilities, like Intel’s XTU and AMD’s Ryzen Grasp.
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D would not assist overclocking through the CPU multiplier, so you’ll be able to’t change the core clocks straight. You additionally can not regulate CPU voltage straight. Nevertheless, you’ll be able to overclock the reminiscence and material. AMD has additionally added assist for altering the ability limits (PPT, TDC, EDC) by the auto-overclocking Precision Enhance Overdrive (PBO) characteristic, and you can even now undervolt the X3D chips utilizing the Curve Optimizer. These options weren’t supported on the previous-gen mannequin. You’ll discover loads of examples of the PBO and PBO+UV settings in our 7950X3D assessment.
In the meantime, the Intel Core i9-13900K exposes each knob potential for tweaking and tuning. Nevertheless, its aggressive out-of-the-box energy and boosting algorithms already eat a lot of the overclocking headroom you would obtain with standard cooling. Sub-zero overclockers with unique cooling options can attain a lot increased with the 13900K than the 7950X3D, however that is not as worthwhile to the overwhelming majority of customers.Â
Overclocking %age acquire over inventory | Intel Core i9-13900K @ 5.6 | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D PBO |
Gaming (1080p) | +5.5% | +2.65% |
Single-Threaded | -2.5% | +2% |
Multi-Threaded | +3% | +2% |
As common, overclocking efficiency beneficial properties can boil all the way down to your luck within the silicon lottery. As you’ll be able to see above, overclocking with standard cooling for each the Intel and AMD processors ends in pretty minimal beneficial properties in functions. In reality, the 13900K truly suffers from decrease efficiency in single-threaded work as a result of its 5.6 GHz overclock is decrease than its inventory 5.8 GHz enhance. The Core i9-13900K does acquire 5.5% in gaming, the next proportion acquire than the 7950X3D, but it surely nonetheless lags behind the 7950X3D’s peak gaming efficiency.
Winner: Tie
The payoff for overclocking is extraordinarily restricted with as we speak’s excessive finish chips. Nonetheless, each platforms have a wealth of tunable parameters for fans, their respective overclocking benefits, and a set of auto-overclocking and software program utilities. In fact, devoted tuners may discover bigger efficiency boosts by overclocking the core, material, and reminiscence extra aggressively than we’ve, however keep in mind that you just’re all the time on the whims of the silicon lottery with regards to overclocking.
AMD’s 3D V-Cache know-how prevents direct voltage and frequency manipulations, however AMD has unlocked reminiscence, material, Precision Enhance Overdrive, and undervolting through the Curve Optimizer, all of which mix to offer loads of avenues for enhancing efficiency through varied tuning strategies. In reality, the 7950X3D usually delivers an identical quantity of efficiency uplift because the Core i9-13900K, displaying the worth of its considerably unconventional approaches.
In the meantime, Intel provides much more overclocking performance and the very best peak frequencies you will get from direct tuning. Nevertheless, a lot of that functionality is already uncovered proper out of the field through the corporate’s aggressive boosting applied sciences and sky-high energy limits, thus decreasing its worth to informal overclockers.Â
Energy Consumption, Effectivity, and Cooling: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is extremely energy environment friendly, drawing far much less energy than both the usual 7950X or the competing Core i9-13900KS, thus delivering excellent energy effectivity that ranks among the many greatest we’ve ever examined. A fast look on the HandBrake renders-per-day-per-watt metric exhibits that the effectivity competitors is not even shut — the 7950X3D is the hand’s down winner.
AMD’s Ryzen chips have glorious energy and effectivity metrics, however the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is much more environment friendly as a result of it has a decrease 120W TDP ranking. This implies the chip is much like a 7950X working barely above the 105WÂ Eco Mode. In distinction, Intel’s chip consumes way more energy in each sort of workload, leading to increased thermal output.
Winner: AMD
Intel has made loads of progress in decreasing its energy consumption metrics, however the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is rather more energy environment friendly. Not solely does the 7950X3D eat far much less peak energy, but it surely additionally delivers extra work per unit of energy consumed. That ends in a win in energy consumption, effectivity, and thermal output, in the end providing you with a cooler and quieter system.
Neither of those chips comes with a bundled cooler, however Intel’s increased energy consumption means you may want extra aggressive, and thus dearer, cooling to extract the height efficiency.Â
Pricing: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K
Tom’s {Hardware} – Decrease is Higher | {Dollars}-per-fps — Chip Solely | {Dollars}-per-fps — Chip, board, reminiscence |
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D | $3.09 | $4.73 |
Intel Core i9-13900K | $2.95 | $4.14 (DDR4) — $4.37 (DDR5) |
The Core i9-13900K has spectacular efficiency for its $598 price ticket, and you may even go graphics-less to avoid wasting money with the $564 Core i9-13900KF mannequin. That is exceptionally aggressive pricing in opposition to AMD’s $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D, but it surely does lag in peak gaming efficiency. Normalizing the efficiency values to a dollars-per-fps metric exhibits that they’re fairly intently matched by way of gaming worth, however as you’ll be able to see after we issue within the whole platform price above, there are different components at play.Â
Each the 13900K and the 7950X3D are greatest suited to high-end motherboards, however AMD’s X670/E motherboards presently begin at roughly $80 greater than Intel’s Z790. The Core i9-13900K can also be suitable with previous-gen motherboards if they’ve the precise BIOS, and efficiency would be the identical between 600- and 700-series if the ability supply is similar. Which means you would select a DDR5 Z690 motherboard that gives practically all the identical facilities because the Z790 and have loads of lower-cost choices that prevent much more money.Â
Pricing for an appropriate reminiscence equipment may be a sticking level. To avoid wasting money, you’ll be able to go along with DDR4 with the 13900K and sacrifice a number of proportion factors of gaming efficiency whereas retaining the total efficiency in productiveness functions. The financial savings are steep: You will pay round $60 bucks to begin with 32GB of DDR4, however pricing begins at $105 for 32GB of DDR5. That DDR5 tax is unavoidable for Ryzen 9 7950X3D customers. Moreover, maybe the very best reminiscence equipment is the one you don’t have to purchase — many upgraders possible have already got a DDR4 equipment, which is a plus.
Winner: Intel Core i9-13900K
The $589 Core i9-13900K has a lower cost tag than the $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D, however the fps-per-dollar contest is a wash if we solely consider chip pricing.Â
Nevertheless, the excessive price of AMD’s X-series motherboards provides additional price to your construct in comparison with Intel’s Z790 platform. Moreover, you’ll be able to go for a previous-gen Z690 to save lots of much more money on a 13900K construct (remember to guarantee BIOS compatibility).
The excessive worth premium for DDR5 additionally continues to be a sticking level even for a higher-tier Ryzen 9 construct. You will pay practically twice as a lot for DDR5 reminiscence than DDR4 reminiscence, and DDR5 is a strict requirement for AMD’s 7950X3D. General, these components mix to make the Ryzen 9 7950X3D a a lot pricier construct, giving the Core i9-13900K the lead within the pricing class. Â Â
Backside Line: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Intel Core i9-13900K
Row 0 – Cell 0 | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D | Intel Core i9-13900K |
Options and Specs | X | X |
Gaming | X | Row 2 – Cell 2 |
Productiveness Purposes | Row 3 – Cell 1 | X |
Overclocking | X | X |
Energy Consumption, Effectivity, and Cooling | X | Row 5 – Cell 2 |
Pricing | Row 6 – Cell 1 | X |
Whole | 4 | 4 |
The Core i9-13900K vs Ryzen 9 7950X3D battle ends in a four-to-four tie, however the contest is not as shut because the rating implies. In the long run, every of those processors has its personal distinct benefits and downsides relying in your goal use case.
For those who’re constructing a no-holds-barred gaming rig and pricing is not a priority, the $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D is your chip. The 7950X3D is 12% quicker than the Core i9-13900K in our number of gaming benchmarks. In fact, that comes with the caveat that its 3D V-Cache tech would not speed up all video games evenly, so the lead may fluctuate relying in your gaming choice. In both case, this chip is the present gaming champ, and it usually is not an in depth contest, particularly in sure sport titles, as we see with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2021 and F1 2021.
The $589 Core i9-13900K is not as enticing for a gaming-focused construct when you’re going with DDR5 reminiscence, but it surely turns into rather more compelling with DDR4 when you’re trying to entry flagship-class efficiency at a lower cost level. You’ll sacrifice a number of proportion factors of gaming efficiency with DDR4, however you would save fairly a bit of cash for different system components. Nevertheless, when you’re strictly targeted on flagship-level gaming at a extra inexpensive worth, the less-expensive $409 Core i7-13700K provides practically the identical gaming efficiency because the 13900K.
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is aggressive in most varieties of apps, however its decrease efficiency in lightly-threaded duties may very well be a sticking level when you’re targeted on productiveness work with complicated workflows. For productivity-focused methods, or when you’re typically searching for a strong all-rounder, the Core i9-13900K is the higher alternative.
The 7950X3D holds the benefit in all energy consumption metrics, together with peak energy and effectivity, that ranks among the many greatest we’ve ever examined. That ends in extra forgiving cooling necessities and a cooler and quieter system. On the opposite finish of the spectrum, overclocking is changing into more and more much less fascinating on the excessive finish for many fans — you may get a greater payoff within the mid-range and low-end of the market. The Intel and AMD processors each present no less than some uplift after overclocking, making that contest a wash.
On the pricing entrance, the $699 Ryzen 9 7950X3D carries a hefty premium that, mixed with the excessive motherboard and reminiscence pricing, limits it to the highest-end gaming machines. However there’ll all the time be efficiency addicts prepared to pay high greenback for the very best; for these, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D provides the quickest gaming efficiency cash should purchase. We additionally count on that the 7950X3D will see steep reductions over time. In the meantime, the Core i9-13900K slots in as a extra inexpensive possibility and a greater all-rounder in productiveness functions.
We sometimes do not advocate spending this a lot on a chip if gaming is your main objective — you will discover higher lower-cost choices from each camps. As an alternative, avid gamers ought to wait to see how the eight-core $449 Ryzen 7 7800X3D pans out when it arrives on April 6, 2023. AMD says it’ll practically match the 7950X3D whereas delivering Core i9-13900K-beating efficiency at a a lot lower cost level.Â
Intel Socket 1700 DDR5 (Z790) | Core i9-13900KS, Core i9-13900K, Core i7-13700K |
Motherboard | MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WiFi |
RAM | G.Ability Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6800 – Inventory: DDR5-5600 | OC: XMP DDR5-6800 |
AMD Socket AM5 (X670E) | Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 7950X, 7900X, Ryzen 7 7700X |
Motherboard | ASRock X670E Taichi |
RAM | G.Ability Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 – Inventory: DDR5-5200 | OC/PBO: DDR5-6000 |
AMD Socket AM4 (X570) | Ryzen 9 5800X3D, 5800X, 5950X |
Motherboard | MSI MEG X570 Godlike |
RAM | 2x 8GB Trident Z Royal DDR4-3600 – Inventory: DDR4-3200 | OC/PBO: DDR4-3800 |
All Programs | 2TB Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, Silverstone ST1100-TI, Open Benchtable, Arctic MX-4 TIM, Home windows 11 Professional |
Gaming GPU | Asus RTX 4090 ROG Strix OC |
Software GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti FE |
Cooling | Corsair H150i, Inventory Cooler |
Overclocking word | All configurations with overclocked reminiscence even have tuned core frequencies and/or lifted energy limits. |