AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

The Zen 3 architecture packing Ryzen 9 5900X moves AMD out of Intel’s shadow to take centre stage. Jarred Wilton and Alan Dexter are impressed.

- Jarred Wilton and Alan Dexter

SPECS

Socket: AM4 Arch Zen 3, 64-bit

Cores: 12 Threads: 24

Process: 7nm TSMC

Clock: 3.7GHz (4.8GHz turbo)

Cache: L1 768KB, L2 6MB, L3 64MB

Memory: 128MB max, twochannel, DDR4 3200MHz, Non-ecc

PCIe: v4.0, 20 lanes

TDP: 105W Cooler: None

Since the launch of its first Zen architecture back in 2017, AMD has shown time and time again, with each generational advancement of its processors, that it’s got more than enough clout to take on Intel on the grand stage of CPU dominance. And with this latest third-generation architecture, it’s aiming its sights squarely on Intel’s IPC crown.

AMD’s CPU team is firing on all cylinders, making Intel’s 14nm designs like Comet Lake look increasingly outdated. AMD’s Ryzen 9 3950X was already making short work of Intel CPUs in just about every discipline – except gaming. Zen 3, also called Vermeer, aims to take on Intel in its last refuge, and the architectural changes required to do so aren’t even that significant. Like Zen 2, Zen 3 uses TSMC’s 7nm N7 process for the CPU chiplets, and 12nm FinFET for the IO chiplet. However, a few smart adjustments are set to make a significant difference.

At a high level, AMD says the new Zen 3 CPUs boost IPC (instructions per cycle) by 19 per cent across a broad suite of test applications. That might not seem like much when new GPUs come out that improve performance by 30 to 50 per cent, but IPC affects everything. What’s more, AMD says that these IPC gains will be realised without having to change power targets relative to Zen 2, which means the top chips will still have a 105W TDP.