AMD’s Ryzen 9000 series is now available, and gamers, power users, and professionals alike can grab one off the shelf. The newer CPUs benefit from the new Zen 5 architecture’s performance gains and efficiency offerings versus their now entrenched but outgoing Zen 4 counterparts.
Its most powerful CPU offering, the Ryzen 9 9950X is a premium-grade processor that trades blows with Intel’s 24-core Core i9 14900K, KF, and KS variants to get into the highest-end gaming PCs and workstations alike.
To compare AMD’s 9000 series flagship with Intel’s, one must take a deeper look at each CPU’s unique value proposition relative to their needs. It is important to consider value for money, performance in both productivity and gaming applications alike, and upgrade potential, all of which determine which CPU is the right choice for prospective buyers looking to pick up what are the most expensive consumer-grade CPUs currently available to end-users.
As both processors continue to fight it out as part of an increasingly competitive market, the team at Game Rant takes a closer look at both CPU offerings to determine which one is the best for a variety of use cases.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
16-Core Zen 5 Juggernaut
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X desktop CPU is the top-of-the-line offering in the latest Ryzen 9000 series of processors. It comes with 16 cores, 32 threads, and a boost clock speed of 5.7 GHz. The CPU has 64MB of L3 cache and a TDP of 170W. It delivers considerably higher multi-core and single-core performance than the Ryzen 9 7950X at the same power draw, which is a testament to its efficiency and IPC count gain claims.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is a 16-core, 32-thread CPU that offers the fastest gaming CPU performance of all Ryzen 9000 series CPUs to date (at least until its L3 cache-infused X3D flavor shows), offering higher clocks and a much higher core count than its peers.
The Ryzen 9 9950X capitalizes on significantly increased IPC counts (AMD claims 16%) across the board versus last-generation AMD CPUs while offering similar boost clocks, allowing for a significant performance bump as a result. It offers significantly better efficiency versus both the outgoing 7000 series CPUs it replaces (specifically the 7950X), and Intel’s Core i9 14900K/KF/KS that it competes with.
This also results in better thermals for similar performance to last-generation Zen 4 CPUs as well as power savings in play when running similar tasks. A big win for AMD with the 9000 series, in particular, is its performance with applications such as Blender and Handbrake that leverage the AVX-512 instruction set, which offers a considerable advantage, making the most of its 16-core, 32-thread offering.
The Ryzen 9 9950X is a relatively expensive proposition at $650, however, making it a somewhat less ideal comparison versus its competition from both AMD and Intel that clocks in at a sub-$500 price tag regularly, but it offers better efficiency than the former and more future-proofing than the latter even as it continues to find itself somewhat unsurprisingly beat when it comes to gaming versus AMD’s dominant 7000 series X3D CPU lineup.
Intel Core i9 14900K 24-Core, 32-Thread CPU
24 Cores of Unadulterated Power
The Intel Core i9 14900K 24-Core, 32-Thread CPU is Intel’s highest-end 14th generation CPU and offers the highest boost clocks for a consumer-grade CPU from Intel to date, clocking in at an impressive 6 GHz natively.It succeeds the limited-release Intel Core 13900KS as the first mainstream 6 GHz CPU, even as it brings a large power draw and thermal requirement to reach said clock speed.
Unlike the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X which sees benchmarks still rolling out from publications, the Intel Core i9 14900K is a known quantity in performance given its considerably longer time in the market. This is further solidified by the fact that it is effectively a slightly higher-clocked Core i9 13900K with Intel’s APO optimizations as well as its AI overclocking offerings, aiming to create a larger performance difference.
The 14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread affair but not all cores are equal in this configuration. It offers 8 performance-centric (2-thread) P-cores that are based on the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture in addition to 16 lower-clocked efficiency-centric (1-thread) Gracemont-based E-cores to deliver on its performance promise.
Its high 6GHz single-core clock speed, as well as high IPC count versus Intel’s 12th-generation offerings, allow it to be great at gaming and productivity benchmarks that have a single-thread bias, but it also is no slouch in the multi-core or multithreaded department either, holding its own and occasionally beating AMD’s 7950X CPU even as it compares somewhat unfavorably versus the 9950X, especially when the latter is pushed with similar power made available to it.
The Intel Core i9 14900K does find itself in a bit of a controversy, however; Intel’s unlocked and enthusiast-grade CPUs are suffering from higher failure rates across the board and the 14900K is one of the prime parts affected due to what Intel states is a voltage issue that has largely been fixed by a microcode update for CPUs not already malfunctioning.
It does benefit, as a result, from a 5-year warranty, as Intel increased warranty coverage for all affected CPUs including its current flagship by an additional 2 years, making it a somewhat less tenuous buy than it would otherwise be. It works with existing LGA 1700 socket motherboards, so users upgrading from an existing 12th, 13th, or 14th-generation CPU can simply swap the chip in for an upgrade.
The 14900K is quite demanding in terms of thermals, however, and can easily overwhelm all but some of the best AIOs in the business when it is pushing clocks, especially in demanding multithreaded applications.
Intel Core i9 14900K
Intel 7 (10nm)
16
24 (8 P-Cores + 16 E-cores)
32
65W (253 W PL1/2)
4.3GHz
3.2GHz
5.7GHz
6GHz
16MB (1MB Per Core)
32MB (16MB + 16 MB Split)
64MB
36MB
DDR5 5600MT/s
5.0
$649
$589
~$625
~$550
~3500
~3250
~23500
~21000
Productivity Performance: It is A Zen World
Comparing the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X to the Intel Core i9 14900K is both a somewhat challenging but also a relatively straightforward process thanks to the fact that both CPUs are high-end 32-threaded CPUs that aim for the same enthusiast or power user class of consumer. On paper, the Ryzen 9 9950X decimates benchmarks thanks to its higher IPC count and ability to better sustain high all-core clocks, and when pushed, it still maintains the bulk of its efficiency credentials versus Intel’s power-hungry Core i9 14900K thanks to its newer underlying architecture.
At the same time, Intel’s Core i9 14900K holds its own by and large in terms of price-to-performance versus AMD’s higher-end CPU even as it works with existing LGA 1700 motherboards much like the AM5-based 9950X works with older AMD motherboards (with updated X870/X870E-based variants yet to launch formally).
The 9950X is faster in most productivity tasks thanks to its increased IPC count and high all-core clock speeds, allowing AMD’s flagship CPU to outperform its competition in both single-core and multi-core workloads with ease. The Core i9 14900K is slightly faster in some applications and the 14900KS, a slightly higher-clocked cherry-picked SKU might come close to matching the 9950X in terms of raw productivity performance, but AMD does have a sizeable lead over both, its 7000 series CPUs and Intel’s finest currently.
Gaming Performance: A Relevant Refreshed Raptor
Intel has significant performance gains to offer gamers thanks to a host of optimizations (Intel’s APO offerings for instance allow it double-digit performance gains in titles such as World of Warcraft). Its higher clock speeds also allow Intel to post benchmarks that are often higher in games even as it costs $100 cheaper.
You also need to consider that Intel’s 14900K is a beneficiary, at the time of writing, of the Intel Gamer Days promotion that is giving away a free copy of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows with current-generation Intel CPUs, making for an additional $70 in savings for users intending to buy the title at launch. This could move the needle for prospective buyers with Intel’s CPU effectively now under $500 once the bundle’s value is considered.
The 9950X does not match Intel’s offering convincingly in gaming to warrant the additional spend for inferior performance, making Intel’s offering a superior choice if one needs a high-core enthusiast-grade CPU that can game well. There are other options, however, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D that continues to hold its own as it ages well against both its peers in the 32-threaded CPU performance class.
Future-Proofing And Other Factors
On the PCI-E lanes front, the 9950X has a clear lead thanks to simply having more PCI-E 5.0 lanes on offer when paired with X670E and B650E motherboards, both of which allow for PCI-E 5.0 GPUs as well as a single PCI-E 5.0 SSD to be used simultaneously. On the other end of the spectrum, Intel’s offerings are capped at 16 lanes shared between the two slots, making it perfectly fine in today’s world with PCI-E 4.0 GPUs and PCI-E 5.0 SSDs at the high end, but that could change with next-generation GPUs that leverage the higher bandwidth 5.0 standard.
Both CPUs come with entry-level iGPUs but AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X is approximately 10-15% faster in most light gaming or 3D applications that one might choose to run in a GPU-less environment. This might not be a concern for gamers or users with a discrete GPU option, but it is relevant for those who skip one or have used the onboard GPU from time to time.
Why The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Feels More Future-Proof
AMD also has stated that Windows 11, in its current iteration for most users, does not perform up to speed with its newer 9000 series CPUs and attributes this to the current Windows 11 build (23H2 for most users) not having optimizations to its scheduler to handle Zen 5’s performance gain offerings properly. This is evidenced by both Windows 11’s significant jump in terms of performance when updating to the insider preview version (24H2) as well as a much larger gap available to users currently sporting Linux on their PCs.
This means that users stand to benefit directly from an upcoming Windows update that should further push the gap between the two CPUs in AMD’s favor, eroding much of Intel’s minor lead in gaming and cementing AMD’s productivity performance even further. At the same time, AMD’s Socket AM5 is here to stay, versus Intel’s LGA 1700 offering being phased out for a newer socket (and chipset) with upcoming Lunar Lake CPUs.
This will directly result in increased costs for future upgrades, requiring a new motherboard and potentially a different CPU cooling bracket for existing AIOs at a time when modern GPUs effectively cost more than the rest of a PC put together and inflation continues to limit buying power for users. At the same time, Intel’s CPU being nearly $100 cheaper also plays well for those users looking to build once instead of aiming to upgrade over time and gamers looking to stick to a particular motherboard/platform for at least a few years without a CPU upgrade might find the 14900K a slightly better purchase.
All in all, there are no bad choices here, but you need to decide if you need an upgrade path with a more efficient CPU via AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X or a cheaper CPU that does arguably better in modern titles currently while offering relatively close productivity performance to AMD’s finest. The choice depends on how much of one’s workload consists of gaming and/or productivity, as well as how frequently they upgrade their PC.
AMD Ryzen™ 9 7950X3D 16-Core, 32-Thread Desktop Processor
Zen 4 With 3D V-Cache
The 16-core, 32-thread desktop AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor is AMD’s answer to a resurgent Intel 13th generation processor lineup as it attempts to wrest back the gaming crown with the same technology that made the last generation 5800X3D such a powerful CPU.With 128MB of L3 cache on offer, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D leverages its 3D V-Cache muscle in gaming as well as its powerful new Zen 4-based cores in productivity to make for a potent enthusiast-grade CPU in the offing.
For gamers on the fence about an upgrade, it might be time to reconsider the vanguard of AMD’s all-round creator-centric CPU offerings, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, which offers 16 Zen 4 cores in a 32-thread offering with additional L3 cache available to one of its two CCDs, allowing it to emulate the fastest gaming CPU available currently, the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D fairly well in most titles.
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D trades at a sub-$150 discount over MSRP at the time of writing and often dips even lower while coming with a 2-game bundle from AMD at the time of writing consisting of Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 and Unknown 9: Awakening for gamers, making it an arguably better purchase for gamers and creators who game regularly versus those that need a productivity CPU currently.
FAQ
Q: What is the TDP of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X?
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X has a TDP of 170 W and a PPT of 230 W.
Q: Does the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Work With Existing AMD Motherboards?
All current-generation AMD AM5-based motherboards that have had their BIOS updated should support the new AMD Ryzen 9 9950X CPU.
