AMD Ryzen 9 5900X Zen 3 CPU Review

1. Ryzen 9 5900X - The Sensible High-End Option2. Zen 3 Architecture and Changes3. Operating Frequencies & Overclocking4. Testing Methodology5. CPU Tests: Cinebench R206. CPU Tests: Blender and V-Ray Rendering7. CPU Tests: 7-Zip Compression & Decompression8. CPU Tests: Handbrake H264 & H2659. Memory Tests: Memory Bandwidth and Latency10. Gaming: 3DMark Time Spy11. Gaming: F1 202012. Gaming: Grand Theft Auto V13. Gaming: Metro Exodus14. Gaming: Red Dead Redemption 215. Gaming: Shadow of the Tomb Raider16. Gaming: The Division 217. Technical: Power Draw, Efficiency, Temperatures18. Value: Cinebench Performance per £19. Closing Thoughts20. View All Pages

Handbrake H264

Handbrake in our H264 test configuration struggles to leverage all cores on the 12- and 16-core parts. This brings architecture and boost clocks more into the picture and that is why we see very strong Ryzen 5000 performance numbers.

With the aforementioned architecture and clock comments in mind, we can see that the 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X roughly matches the 16-core Zen 2 3950X’s performance. Gains versus the 3900XT for the new Zen 3 12-core are 17%. And compared to Intel’s Core i9-10900K, the Ryzen 9 5900X is 31% slicker at stock.

Handbrake H265

Our Handbrake H265 test is more cache and clock speed sensitive as it often lingers at sub-60% core utilisation on a 16-core chip, for example. That is why we see Zen 2 struggle previously. Nevertheless, the architectural improvements for Zen 3 do a superb job at delivering new heights for our H265 test setup. This time, the performance leads versus Zen 2 and Coffee Lake are sizable for both the Zen 3 chips.

Become a Patron!