AMD Ryzen 9 9950X vs AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
► remove from comparison
The Ryzen 9 9950X is a very, very powerful desktop CPU of the Granite Ridge product family that features 16 Zen 5 cores (32 threads), PCIe 5 support and a basic iGPU. The Ryzen was launched in June 2024, with sales slated to start in August.
The 9950X shares some of the specifications with the mighty Zen 4-powered Ryzen 9 7950X, including (but not limited to) the 16 MB L2 cache, the 64 MB L3 cache, the 5.7 GHz top clock speed and the 170 W long-term TDP.
Architecture and Features
Just like Strix Point APUs, Granite Ridge processors make use of the new Zen 5 microarchitecture. However, there are no efficient cores here; all of 9950X's cores are full Zen 5 cores. Furthermore, Granite Ridge is a multi-die design with only the CPU cores produced using a fairly modern 4 nm TSMC process. Strix Point processors are a single-die design, from what we know.
According to AMD, Zen 5 delivers a 16% IPC improvement over Zen 4 thanks to branch prediction improvements and other refinements.
Elsewhere, the 9950X has an impressive 64 MB of L3 cache and 24 direct PCIe 5 lanes (3.93 GB/s throughput per lane) with up to 12 additional PCIe 4 lanes available depending on the motherboard. It supports DDR5 RAM as fast as 5,600 MT/s (up to 8,000 MT/s if overclocked).
The 9950X is unlocked for overclocking. Naturally, the AM5 socket CPU supports Windows 11, 64-bit Windows 10 as well as many Linux distros.
Performance
According to early July leaks, its multi-thread performance is about as good as that of the 24-core Core i9-14900K Intel CPU. We'll definitely update this section once we get our hands on a system powered by the 9950X.
Graphics
The Radeon 610M comes equipped with just 128 unified shaders running at up to 2,200 MHz. Its gaming performance is slated to be extremely low and only just sufficient for pre-2020 games in resolutions such as 1024x768.
Power consumption
The CPU cores are built with TSMC's N4P process for good, as of mid 2024, power efficiency. (Apple is the leader in this regard with the second-generation 3 nm process.)
The Ryzen 9's long-term TDP is 170 W. It'll probably consume up to 250 W when under heavy short-term loads. If overclocked, the power consumption figures will increase significantly.
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
► remove from comparisonThe AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an upper mid-range desktop CPU of the Granite Ridge product family that sports 8 Zen 5 cores (16 threads) running at 3.8 GHz to 5.5 GHz, along with PCIe 5 support and a basic RDNA 2 architecture iGPU. The Ryzen was launched in June 2024, with sales slated to start some time in August.
Architecture and Features
Like Strix Point APUs, Granite Ridge processors make use of the new Zen 5 microarchitecture. However, there are no efficient cores here; all of 9700X's cores are full Zen 5 cores with a "proper" Zen 5 implementation, not the simplified mobile version that has a lower AVX-512 performance. Furthermore, Granite Ridge is a multi-die design with only the CPU cores produced using a fairly modern 4 nm TSMC process. Strix Point processors are a single-die design, from what we know.
According to AMD, desktop Zen 5 delivers a 16% IPC uplift over Zen 4 thanks to branch prediction improvements and other refinements.
Elsewhere, the 9700X has 32 MB of L3 cache and 24 direct PCIe 5 lanes (3.93 GB/s throughput per lane) with up to 12 additional PCIe 4 lanes available depending on the motherboard. It supports DDR5 RAM as fast as 5,600 MT/s (up to 8,000 MT/s if overclocked).
The 9700X is unlocked for overclocking. Naturally, the AM5 socket CPU fully supports Windows 11, 64-bit Windows 10 as well as many Linux distros.
Performance
In our review, the Ryzen 7 delivered multi-thread benchmark scores very close to those of the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and 375, as well as the Core i7-12700 and i7-12700K.
Graphics
The Radeon 610M comes equipped with just 128 unified shaders running at up to 2,200 MHz. While this certainly isn't a gaming GPU, it's fast enough to run some competitive titles such as Counter-Strike 2 (~50 fps at 1080p / Low) as well as older (pre-2019) titles.
It can HW-decode many popular video codecs including first and foremost AVC, HEVC, VP9, AV1.
Power consumption
The CPU cores are built with TSMC's N4P process for a good, as of mid 2024, power efficiency. (Apple is the leader in this regard with the second-generation 3 nm process.)
The Ryzen 7's long-term TDP is either 65 W or 105 W, with each user free to make their own choice. If overclocked, its power consumption figures will increase significantly.
| Model | AMD Ryzen 9 9950X | AMD Ryzen 7 9700X | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Codename | Granite Ridge | Granite Ridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series | AMD Granite Ridge (Zen 5, AM5) | AMD Granite Ridge (Zen 5, AM5) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series: Granite Ridge (Zen 5, AM5) Granite Ridge |
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| Clock | 4300 - 5700 MHz | 3800 - 5500 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L1 Cache | 1 MB | 512 KB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L2 Cache | 16 MB | 8 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L3 Cache | 64 MB | 32 MB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cores / Threads | 16 / 32 16 x 5.7 GHz AMD Zen 5 | 8 / 16 8 x 5.5 GHz AMD Zen 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TDP | 170 Watt | 65 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology | 4 nm & 6 nm | 4 nm & 6 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| max. Temp. | 95 °C | 95 °C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Socket | AM5 | AM5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | DDR5-5600 RAM, PCIe 5 + PCIe 4, SMT, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A | DDR5-5600 RAM, PCIe 5 + PCIe 4, SMT, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| iGPU | AMD Radeon 610M ( - 2200 MHz) | AMD Radeon 610M ( - 2200 MHz) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | x86 | x86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announced | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | www.amd.com | www.amd.com |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen 9 9950X → 100% n=44
Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen 7 9700X → 78% n=44
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
