The big picture: When AMD announced the 9900X3D and 9950X3D earlier this month, many gamers anticipated that these processors would deliver even better performance than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which was widely hailed as the best gaming CPU upon its release last year. However, Team Red has since confirmed that the new chips may not outperform last year's model in most gaming scenarios.
In an interview with VideoGamer, AMD's product and business development manager, Martijn Boonstra, revealed that the 9950X3D and 9900X3D will deliver "similar overall gaming performance" to the 9800X3D.
Boonstra explained that while the new chips will be slightly faster in some games that can take advantage of the additional cores, they may lag behind the older chip in other titles. Overall, the experience will be "comparable" to that of the 9800X3D, he added.
The Ryzen 9 9950X3D features 16 cores, while the Ryzen 9 9900X3D has 12 cores. On paper, this compares well with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which offers just eight cores. While the extra cores give the new chips an advantage in certain games, the 9800X3D can outperform them in others because it processes everything on a single CCD.
In addition to the extra cores, the new Ryzen 9 CPUs also feature higher clock speeds than the 9800X3D. The 9950X3D has a boost frequency of up to 5.7GHz, while the 9900X3D offers a maximum boost speed of 5.5GHz. In comparison, the 9800X3D tops out at 5.2GHz. However, the 9800X3D holds an advantage in terms of TDP: it is rated at 120W, like the 9900X3D, whereas the 9950X3D is rated for a significantly higher 170W.
AMD unveiled the 9900X3D and 9950X3D earlier this month at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, touting a 20 percent gaming performance uplift compared to Intel's flagship Core Ultra 200S Arrow Lake processors.
According to benchmarks released by AMD, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D outperforms Intel's Core Ultra 9 285K by 20 percent in 40 popular games. These include Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XIV, Far Cry 6, Hogwarts Legacy, Starfield, Space Marine 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, and more.
AMD has yet to disclose the retail prices for the 9950X3D and 9900X3D. However, rumors suggest they will be priced at $729 and $629, respectively. At those price points, they may struggle to compete with the older Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is currently available for just $479 at retailers like Best Buy and Microcenter.