AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-core, 32-thread unlocked desktop processor

My current PC came with a 12-core AMD 3900X with a base speed of 3.8 GHz and max clock speed of 4.6 GHz. This new 5950X has a base clock speed of 3.4 GHZ and max rated speed of 4.9 GHz.

The 5950X replaced the 3900X using the same motherboard, case and cooler. The 5950X runs faster, peaking at 5 GHz but usually averages at 4.45 GHz. my old 3900X would peak at 4.2 GHz and average at 3.9 GHz. What is more amazing is that the 5950X runs a lot cooler than the 3900X. The 5950X peaks at 80 degrees C but averages 72 degrees. My old 3900X peaked at 95 degrees and averaged at 85 degrees. Add the fact that the 5950X draws less power than the 3900X to boot! You can even reduce power consumption by going into Power Options in Control Panel and select Power Saver mode. It will drop the idle CPU speed from 3.5 GHz to 1.7 GHz. But you must revert to AMD Ryzen High Performance or Balanced profiles for the CPU to perform at peak speed and the Power Saver mode throttles the CPU under most cases. Power Saver mode will drop the idle temps from 50+ degrees down to 35-40 degrees.

I use my PC for rendering videos. Unfortunately, the software I use does not scale too well with additional cores, but it still makes a difference. What used to take 45 minutes now takes about 35 minutes, so about a 20% increase in speed. Other than rendering, there is not much difference with the new CPU as the 3900X is pretty fast as it is.

The big question is whether the 5950X is worth the additional $250 over the 12-core 5900X. If you are using software that takes advantage of the additional four cores, then yes. But for most people, the 12-core 5900X will suit them perfectly, as the 5950X is only about 10-15% faster than the 5900X but at a bump of 30% in price. The 5900X is a better value than the 5950X. It would be interesting to see what AMD will do now since the new Intel 12900K CPU outperforms the AMD at a $150 lower price.

But the Intel requires a new motherboard (and the boards are quite expensive), new DDR5 memory (which is REAL expensive) and a heavy-duty cooler since the Intel draws nearly double the power than the AMD and generates a lot more heat, hitting 95 degrees easily. All this means that the Intel, while a cheaper CPU, will cost a few hundred dollars more because the supporting components are a lot more expensive.

I love it , works perfectly I am getting over 360 Fps on Forza Motor sports with an a low of only 340fps , and in cyberpunk 2077 I am getting average of 236fps. My Pc specs are :

MSI Godlike EATX mother board

240gigs of ram ,

RedDevil 6950xt gpu

2000 watt power supply

MSI GPU water cooler ,,

3 82cm screen MSI 4k curved main monitors

Before when I had just an 8 core CPU I was only getting 200fps on Forza motor sports and only 140fps on Cyberpunk 2077 so this CPU is a power house that is if you have a proper setup ,,,,,,,, The AMD 5850x paired with a RedDevil 6950xt is a match made in heaven

A faulty/defective processor arrived but they gave a swift replacement. Amazon service is one of the world’s best.
Believe me this processor is a beat and monstrous.
You will definitely need a high tier 240mm or any 360mm Aio.
To undervolt the processor go to the Pbo settings set the PBO limits off and curve optimiser to negative and put 10 (start tweaking from here).

I am happy from my purchase. Thanks Amazon and seller I was nervous when order turned out to be faulty but they replaced it three days. Thanks

Excellent cpu 2 years ago

I had two reservations about buying this processor. First, I didn’t think I would see much improvement over the Ryzen 7 3700X. I was wrong, I believe the performance has increased at least 50%. My average boot time is now about 18-20 seconds versus 35-40 seconds with the 3700X. I now run my Webroot program in four minutes 8 seconds max vs. 5-9 minutes. Still other programs have run in half the time of the 3700X. Second, I was worried that my Dark Rock Pro 4 air cooler couldn’t handle this processor. I was wrong again. After removing the Dark Rock Pro 4 cooler and blowing out the dust and cat hair and installing Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Grease on the 5950X, it now runs cooler than the 3700X. With the ambient room temperature of 66 degrees, my idle temps are 23 Celsius (73 F) to 29 Celsius (84 F). When running software, I have not seen temps above 63 Celsius. I am sure temps will increase as summer is coming but I will be happy if I can keep it below 70 Celsius as Thermal Grizzly says the thermal grease is good to 80 Celsius. Don’t believe all the reviews that say you have to have a liquid cooler. I have never been a fan of putting a liquid in my computer. I saw a video review of the 5950X processor with the Dark Rock Pro 4 air cooler installed and then I ordered my 5950X.

Now for the bad news.

If you have Windows 10 and are upgrading to this processor then it should be a walk in the park provided you have a bios version that supports 5000 series processors.

If you have Windows 11 Pro like I have, you will have problems after the install. Windows 11 does not like hardware or bios changes. Their security feature checks everything on startup and when it finds changes it now makes you change your pin. If you don’t have your password that you had when you installed Windows, you are dead in the water. Not only do you have to have your password, Windows 11 requires you to confirm a security key with a second email address requiring you to have another computer to get to that code. I hadn’t used my computer I built in 2010 in over a year. Luckily it booted up and I was able to retrieve my second security code and now it let me change my pin. However, I still have a problem with one website after the new install. It takes me about 5 minutes to log on because my pin number has changed and doesn’t want me to logon to that site.

I wanted to get the Ryzen 9 5950X before they are gone. I believe the price will increase shortly due to tariff increases. Get one before it goes up. I missed last year’s Black Friday sale price of $292.00 and I didn’t want to miss this one.