AMD Zen 4 Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 5 7600X Review: Retaking The High-End
by Ryan Smith & Gavin Bonshor on September 26, 2022 9:00 AM EST
During AMD’s ‘together we advance_PCs’ event at the end of August, the company unveiled its Ryzen 7000 series of desktop processors, with four SKUs aimed at the mid-range and high-end market segments. After whetting the audience's appetites with that announcement, tomorrow AMD will be officially releasing their long-awaited next-generation CPUs.
The launch of the Ryzen 7000 series brings a lot to digest, for casual fans and hardcore hardware enthusiasts alike. For their newest lineup of chips, AMD has given their desktop CPU platform a top-to-bottom update, not only releasing new CPUs, but releasing an entirely new platform, socket AM5 around it. As a result, for the first time in a few generations these chips are not drop-in compatible with existing AMD motherboards. But at the same time it has allowed AMD to deliver on a collection of platform improvements, ranging from DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support to improved power management capabilities. AMD has even managed to sneak an entry-level Radeon RDNA2 architecture-based iGPU into the chip.
The Ryzen 9 7950X: 16 Cores, 32 Threads, New 170 W TDP: $699
We'll start, as always, with the CPUs themselves. AMD's flagship for this generation is the Ryzen 9 7950X, a 16 Zen 4 core CPU that AMD is looking to top the charts with for both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads. The Ryzen 9 7950X has a base frequency of 4.5 GHz and a peak turbo clockspeed of 5.7 GHz, which makes it the highest clocked desktop x86 CPU to hit the market yet.
But don't think AMD's Zen 4 architecture is just about clockspeeds. AMD has also improved the IPC of their CPU architecture by an average of 13% – primarily relying on the addition of AVX-512 instruction support and comfortably larger caches and buffers throughout the CPU – which means that the Ryzen 7000 chips can deliver some significant performance improvements in a variety of single-threaded workloads.
As for multi-threaded workloads, AMD has been able to improve performance there as well, albeit with a reliance on both architecture improvements and higher TDPs to allow for higher sustained clockspeeds. One of the enabling factors here is that the AM5 platform allows for higher chip TDPs – up to 170W in the case of the 7950X – which is some 65W higher than the max TDPs on AMD's fastest 16 core Ryzen 5000 parts. As a result AMD is in a good position to deliver on the "leadership" class performance that the company is after, but not entirely for free.
The Ryzen 9 7900X, Ryzen 7 7700X, and Ryzen 5 7600X
Moving one down the stack is the Ryzen 9 7900X, which is a 12C/24T and 170W TDP part; it has a higher base frequency than the 7950X of 4.7 GHz, but with a slightly lower boost frequency of up to 5.6 GHz.
Below that, AMD has launched one Ryzen 7 part designed for mid-range desktop computing, the Ryzen 7 7700X. This is an 8C/16T SKU, with a boost frequency on a single core of up to 5.4 GHz, and a base frequency of 4.5 GHz. Notably, unlike the Ryzen 9 parts, this part has a more typical-for-AMD TDP of 105W.
Finally, also aimed at the mid-range market and the cheapest member of AMD's new product stack, we have the Ryzen 5 7600X. Offering 6C/12T with a TDP of 105W, the 7600X is Zen 4 at a more reasonable price point. The chip runs at a base frequency of 4.7 GHz, with a modest (compared to Ryzen 9) boost frequency on a single core of 5.3 GHz.
| AMD Ryzen 7000 versus Ryzen 5000 | |||||||
| AnandTech | Cores Threads |
Base Freq |
Turbo Freq |
Memory Support |
L3 Cache |
TDP | MSRP |
| Ryzen 9 7950X | 16C / 32T | 4.5GHz | 5.7GHz | DDR5-5200 | 64 MB | 170 W | $699 |
| Ryzen 9 5950X | 16C / 32T | 3.4 GHz | 4.9 GHz | DDR4-3200 | 64 MB | 105 W | $799 |
| Ryzen 9 7900X | 12C / 24T | 4.7GHz | 5.6GHz | DDR5-5200 | 64 MB | 170 W | $549 |
| Ryzen 9 5900X | 12C / 24T | 3.7 GHz | 4.8 GHz | DDR4-3200 | 64 MB | 105 W | $549 |
| Ryzen 7 7700X | 8C / 16T | 4.5GHz | 5.4GHz | DDR5-5200 | 32 MB | 105 W | $399 |
| Ryzen 7 5800X | 8C / 16T | 3.8 GHz | 4.7 GHz | DDR4-3200 | 32 MB | 105 W | $449 |
| Ryzen 5 7600X | 6C / 12T | 4.7GHz | 5.3GHz | DDR5-5200 | 32 MB | 105 W | $299 |
| Ryzen 5 5600X | 6C / 12T | 3.7 GHz | 4.6 GHz | DDR4-3200 | 32 MB | 65 W | $299 |
Comparing apples to apples, so to speak, between the new Ryzen 7000 series parts to the previous-generation Ryzen 5000 series parts, Ryzen 7000 has made some big overall improvements to the chips' capabilities. All of the Ryzen 7000 chips offer significant increases in both base and boost frequencies, which bodes well for overall performance. The worst we can say is that AMD hasn't increased their core counts at any price point/market segment, so all of the performance gains we'll see here today are entirely from architecture and clockspeeds, rather than the more immediate MT gains of throwing more silicon at the matter.
AMD's performance gains have been made possible in part through the Zen 4 architecture's superior power efficiency. While the Zen 4 architecture is modest refinement of Zen 3, delivering a 13% IPC improvement, it also gets the big advantage of being produced on TSMC's 5 nm process node, a full node's shrink from the TSMC 7nm process that was used for Ryzen 5000/3000. This efficiency has allowed AMD to boost clockspeeds without breaking the power bank, with the 105W TDP 7700X seeing a 700MHz improvement for no change in TDP. And multi-threaded performance is not left out in the cold, either; by increasing their top TDP to 170W, AMD is able to keep the CPU cores on their 12C and 16C parts at higher sustained turbo clocks, delivering much better performance there as well.
Of course one of the key arguments here is that more power calls for more cooling, which is very much true for the Ryzen 7000 series. Ryzen 7000’s TjMax for its Precision Boost Overdrive technology stands at 95°C, which means that the CPU will use all of the available thermal headroom right up to that point in order to maximize performance.
Although this can be overridden when manually overclocking, none the less the top-end Ryzen 7000 chips call for better cooling than their Ryzen 5000 counterparts. Users will need to employ more premium and aggressive coolers to squeeze every last drop of performance from Zen 4, as most of us are wont to do. AMD for their part has accounted for all of this with their design choices and product marketing, clearly advising Ryzen 9 79x0 owners to use a liquid cooler with these chips. Still, this does mean that AMD is not bundling their own CPU coolers with their retail SKUs, instead directing buyers to fairly powerful third-party coolers.
New AM5 Socket: AM4 Coolers will Support AM5 Too
AMD has also transitioned to a new platform for Ryzen 7000, named AM5. Along with AM5 also comes a new socket, the titular socket AM5, a LGA-1718 socket that is AMD's first use of the LGA form factor for mainstream desktop CPUs. Now what’s interesting is AMD has specified that most AM4 coolers will support the new AM5 socket, which is great for keeping compatibility with existing coolers.
This also means that AM4 is slowly on its way to becoming a thing of the past. While AMD is still (many) months away from replacing their complete Ryzen 4000/5000 stack with Ryzen 7000 parts, today is the first day and the first step to doing so. None the less, AM4 does offer some incredible deals right now (e.g. 5800X3D), as well as support for cheaper DDR4 memory. This sits in contrast to the AM5 platform, which is entirely DDR5-only. Though when it comes to memory AMD does have a small advantage over Intel; whereas Intel's 12th Gen Core chips only support a maximum (JEDEC) speed of DDR5-4800, the Ryzen 7000 chips are officially rated for DDR5-5200.
To go with the new AM5 platform and provide motherboards for their new CPUs, AMD has unveiled four(ish) new chipsets. These are the B650 and X670, as well as their "Extreme" variations, the B650E and X670E. The top-end X670E series will feature both PCIe 5.0 lanes to the top PEG slot and support for PCIe 5.0 NVMe storage devices. The regular X670 chipset, on the other hand, foregoes the mandatory PCIe 5.0 speeds for the PEG slot in favor of easier-to-implement PCIe 4.0. In either case, both versions of X670 are intended to offer a plethora of I/O options, and in keeping with the general tiered structure of AMD's AM5 chipsets, X670 boards will generally offer better designs, better controllers, and better specifications.
The B650 chipsets, meanwhile, are designed to be more affordable, doing away with some of the I/O lanes and overall I/O flexibility the X670 chipsets enjoy. Like the Extreme X670, the B650E is intended for boards that will offer PCIe 5.0 to the PEG slot and NVMe storage. Otherwise, the lowest-tier B650 chipset dials that back to PCIe 4.0 for the PEG slot as well.
For this week's launch, only the X670/X670E boards will be available. Buyers looking for the cheaper B650/B650E boards will need to hold out until October.
New I/O Die: TSMC 6nm For Ryzen 7000
Last, as has been the case for the last couple of Ryzen desktop generations, for the Ryzen 7000 series AMD is constructing their CPUs out of chiplets. All Ryzen 7000 desktop chips are built from an I/O Die (IOD) as well as either one or two core complex dies (CCDs) depending on the SKU. The IOD hosts all of the PCIe 5.0 lanes, the DDR5 integrated memory controller (IMC), and new for Ryzen 7000, an integrated GPU based on AMD's Radeon RDNA2 GPU architecture. All things considered, the IOD used for the Ryzen 7000 is a pretty significant overhaul compared to AMD's previous IOD, with AMD implementing several new performance and power-saving features, as well as further cutting down on power consumption thanks to TSMC's 6nm process.
It’s time to dive deep into all of AMD’s new improvements and changes for its Zen 4 microarchitecture. Over the following pages we’ll, be going over the following:
- Ryzen 7000 Overview: Comparing Ryzen 7000 to Ryzen 5000 specifications
- Socket AM5: The New Platform For Consumer AMD
- More I/O For AM5: PCIe 5, Additional PCIe Lanes, & More Displays
- AM5 Chipsets: X670 and B650, Built by ASMedia
- DDR5 & AMD EXPO Memory: Memory Overclocking, AMD’s Way
- Ryzen 7000 I/O Die: TSMC & Integrated Graphics at Last
- Zen 4 Architecture: Power Efficiency, Performance, & New Instructions
- Zen 4 Execution Pipeline: Familiar Pipes With More Caching
- Test Bed and Setup
- Core-to-Core Latency
- SPEC2017 Single-Threaded Results
- SPEC2017 Multi-Threaded Results
- CPU Benchmark Performance: Power, Web, & Science
- CPU Benchmark Performance: Simulation and Encoding
- CPU Benchmark Performance: Rendering
- CPU Benchmark Performance: Legacy Tests
- Gaming Performance: 720p and Lower
- Gaming Performance: 1080p
- Gaming Performance: 4K
- Conclusion
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emn13 - Monday, September 26, 2022 - link
The geekbench 4 ST results for the 7600x seem very low - is that benchmark result borked, or is there really something weird going on? Replyemn13 - Monday, September 26, 2022 - link
Sorry, I meant the geekbench 4 MT not ST results. The score trails way behind even the 3600xt. ReplySilver5urfer - Monday, September 26, 2022 - link
Good write up.First I would humbly request you to please include older Intel processors in your suite, it will be easier to understand the relative gains for eg the old 9th gen, 10th gen as a reliable place I see things all over on other sites, AT is at-least consistent so would be better if we have a ton of CPUs in one spot. Thanks
Now speaking about this launch.
The IOD is now improved by a huge factor so no more of that IF clock messing with the I/O controller and high voltage on the Zen 3 likes it's all improved so I think the USB fallout issues are fixed on this platform now. Plus the DP2.0 on iGPU is a dead giveaway on RDNA3 with DP2.0 as well.
IMC is also improved looking at it AMD operated with synchronized clocks with DRAM now they can do it without that since IF is now at 2000MHz and the IMC and DRAM are higher at 3000MHz to match the DDR5 data rates. Plus the EXPO is also lower latency, however the MCM design causes the AIDA benchmark to have high latency vs Intel even though Intel is operating at Gear 2 ratio with similar Uncore decoupled. Surprisingly the inter core latencies did not change much, maybe that's one of the key to improving more on AMD side gotta see what they will do for Zen 5.
The CPU clocks are insane, 5GHz on all 16C32T is a huge thing, plus even the 7600X is hitting 5.4GHz. Massive boost from AMD improving their design, plus the TSMC5N High Performance node is too good. However AMD did axed their temps and power. It's a very good move to not castrate the CPU with power limits and clocks now that's out it gets to spread it's wings. But the downside is, unlike Intel i7 series Ryzen 6 also gets hot meaning the budget buyers need to invest money in AIO vs older Zen 3 being fine on Air. That's a negative effect for AMD when they removed the Power Limits like Intel and let these rip to 250W.
Chipset downlink capping at PCIe4.0x4 was the biggest negative I can think of it, because Intel DMI is now 4.0x8 on ADL and RPL, RKL had it at 3.0x8 CML at 3.0x4. AMD is stuck to 4.0x4 from X570. Many will not even care, but it is a disadvantage when you pay top money for X670E they should have given us the PCIe5.0x4, AMD will give that in 2024 with Zen 5 X770 chipset that's my guess.
The ILM backplate engineering is solid that alone and the LGA1718 AM5 longevity itself is a major PLUS for AMD over LGA1700's bending ILM and EOL by 13th gen. Yes the 12th gen is a better purchase given how the Cooling requirement for i7 and i5 is not this high like R6 and R7 and the cheaper board costs plus 13th gen is coming and AMD's platform is new as well you would be a guinea pig. Depends on what people want and how much they can spend and what they want in longevity.
Performance is top notch for 7600X and 7950X absolute sheer dominance but the pricing is higher when you see the % variance vs Zen 3 and Intel 12th gen parts, and added AIO mandatory because they are hot. The gaming performance is as expected not much to see here and the 5800X3D still is a contender there but to me that chip is worthless as it cannot match any processor in high core count workloads. Although 7600X is a champion 6C12T and it beats 12C24T in many things and the 10C20T 10th gen Intel too. IPC is massive in ST and MT workloads as expected. AMD Zen 4 will decimate ARM, Apple has only one thing lol muh efficiency all that BGA baggage, locked down ecosystem is free.
RPSC3 perf at TPU's Red Dead Redemption is weird as I do not see any gains over Intel, given how much of a beast this AVX512 is on Zen 4 with 2x256Bit without AVX offset that too maybe they are not using AVX512. Plus their AMD Zen 3 gauging is also bad because they do not work well vs Intel 9th gen even, I wish you guys cover Dolphin emu, PCSX2, RPCS3 and Switch Emulators.
I think best option is to wait for next year and buy these parts as they will drop, right now no PCIe5.0 SSD in high capacity. no PCIe5.0 GPU even that Nvidia skimped on it. No use of the new platform unless one is running a super damn old CPU and GPU setups.
Shame that OC is totally dead, Zen 3 was hamfisted with its Curve Optimizer and Memory tuning becoming a head ache due to how AGESA was handled and the 1.4v high voltage and lack of documentation. Zen 4 it's even 1.0-1.2v still no OC because AMD's design basically is now pushed to maximum with it's Core TJMax temps and how it works on the basis of Core temperatures over everything else. There's no room here, AIO is saturated with 90C here. Too high heat density on AMD side similar to Intel 11th and 12th gen. Although Intel can go upto 350W and hit all cores at higher vs AMD 250W max. Well OC was on life support, only Intel is basically keeping it alive at this point after 10th gen it became worse and 12th very hot and high heat and now 13th gotta see if that DLVR regulator helps or not.
All in all a good CPU but has some downsides to it. Not much worth for existing 2020 class HW folks at all. Better wait when DDR5 matures even further and more PCIe5.0 becomes prevalent. Reply
Threska - Monday, September 26, 2022 - link
Maybe people will start delidding.https://youtu.be/y_jaS_FZcjI Reply
Silver5urfer - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
That Delid is a direct die, it will 100% ruin the AM5 socket for longevity and the whole CPU too. That guy runs HWBot, ofc he will make a video on his bs delid kits. Nobody should run any CPU completely blowing the IHS off. You will have a ton of issues with that. Water leak, CPU silicon die crack due to Thermodynamics and the pressure differences over the time, Liquid Metal leak. Total bust of Warranty on any parts once that LM drops on your machine game over for $5000 worth rig there.AMD should have done some more improvements and reduced the max TJ Max to say 90 at-least but it's what it is unfortunately (for high temps and cooling requirements) and fortunately (to have super high performance) Reply
Threska - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
There are some in the comments both wondering if lapping would achieve the same and the thicker lid was giving some room for future additions like 3D cache, etc. Replyabufrejoval - Wednesday, September 28, 2022 - link
I'm not sure that PCIe 4.0 "DMI" downlink capping is a hard cap per se by the SoC, but really the result of negotiations with the ASmedia chipset, which can't do better. I'd assume once someone comes up with a PCI 5.0 chipset/switch, there is no reason it won't do PCIe 5.0. It's just a bunch of 4 lanes, that happen to be connected to ASmedia PCIe 4.0 chips on all currrent mainboards.Likewise I don't see why you couldn't add the second chipset/switch to the "NVMe" port of the SoC or any of the bifurcated slots: what you see is motherboard design choices not Ryzen 7000 limitations. That just has 24 PCIe 5.0 lanes to offer in many bundle variants. It's the mainboard that straps all that flexibility to slots and ports.
I don't see that you have to invest into AIO coolers, *unless* you want/need top clocks on all cores. E.g. if your workloads are mixed, e.g. a few threads that profit from top clocks for interactive workloads (including games) and others that are more batch oriented like large compiles or renders, you may get maximum personal value even from an air cooler that only handles 150 Watts.
Because the interactive stuff will rev to 5.crazy clocks on say 4-8 cores, while for the batch stuff you may not wait in front of the screen anyway (or do other stuff while it's chugging in the background). So if it spends 2 extra hours on a job that might take 8 hours on AIO, that may be acceptable if it saves you from putting fluids into your computer.
In a way AMD is now giving you a clear choice: The performance you can obtain from the high-end variants is mostly limited by the amount of cooling you want to provide. And as a side effect it also steers the power consumption: you provide 150 Watts worth of cooling, it won't consume more except for short bursts.
In that regard it's much like a 5800U laptop, that you configure between say 15/28/35 Watts of TDP for distinct working points in terms of power vs. cooling/noise (and battery endurance).
Hopefully AMD will provide integration tools on both Windows and Linux to check/measure/adjust the various power settings at run-time, so you can adjust your machine to your own noise/heat/performance bias, depending on the job it's running. Reply
Dug - Monday, September 26, 2022 - link
"While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS"This is getting so old. Your assumption is incorrect which should be obvious by the millions of articles and youtube videos on building computers. Not to mention your entire article is not even directed to "general public" but to enthusiasts. Otherwise why write out this entire article? Just say you put a cpu in a motherboard and it works. Say it's fast. Article done.
Why not test with Curve Optimizer? Reply
Oxford Guy - Tuesday, September 27, 2022 - link
This text appears again and again for the same reason Galileo was placed under house arrest. Replysocket420 - Monday, September 26, 2022 - link
Could someone, preferably Ryan or Gavin, please elaborate on what this sentence - "the new chip is compliant with Microsoft’s Pluton initiative as well" - actually means? This is the only review I could find that mentions Pluton in conjunction with desktop Zen 4 at all, but merely saying it's "compliant" is a weird way of wording it. Is Pluton on-die and enabled by default in Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs? Reply