AMD Ryzen 9 5950X Zen 3 CPU Review

1. Ryzen 9 5950X - the Zen 3 Flagship2. 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.

The 5950X takes a convincing position at the top of our chart by outperforming the 3950X to the tune of 11% at stock. Turn on PBO and the 16-core Zen 3 chip’s performance flies up by 8%.

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.

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