The 5950X: Should YOU Buy It? 5900X Benchmark Comparison 

"what a time to be alive, computing is exciting" my thoughts exactly, coming from 386 and early pentiums running 1 core 100mhz to see 16 cores 5GHZ+. wow, just wow!

Level1Techs is like Linus Tech Tips, but with RTX turned ON.

All the prices are insane now. Twiddling thumbs and chugging beer seems like the reasonable alternative for a while. Unfortunately.

_Should_ I buy it? Probably not. Do I _want_ to buy it... Err, yes.

Idk why I haven’t watched L1T for a while now... I missed Wendell

That thumbnail! Wendell's the cool kid now. :)

For those of us that have a core/ram based workflow (rendering in my case) means that there are never enough cores, (or ram). Looking forward to getting one of these.

The title has a typo. It's "can you" instead of "should you".

Please please make a video detailing your curve optimization experience with PBO2 soon!! I'm just now playing with it myself with my 5950x on an asus x570i and would love as much info as I can get!!

Great video! I'm excited for the Curve Optimizer video =)

Please do the curve optimizer video I have found there to be a void on good information on it! Thanks for the great video already!

What about for Virtualization? Thinking about getting one of these to make a central server with multiple VMs, one of them as a passthrough for gaming

Thank you! I've been thinking if I should get either for an X470 PC.

Looking forward to the Level1Linux video on the 5950x!

How are your temps on the 5900X? when i do "all core" stuff i get 90°c in like 1 or 2 mins all of the time (ccx1 is about 82 and ccx hits 90). i changed the cooler reseated it a couple times and i doubt that lapping this thing will get much of a result. i use a arctic liquid freezer 2 360 V3 right now and had a be quiet silent loop 280 but both are kind of the same in temps. maybe silicon lottery? in cinebench runs it usually sits around 4.3xx ghz and gets around 21700 - 22200 points with r23

Which would be best for gaming and streaming though? I'm looking towards the 5900x right now, but it's hard to find benchmarks.

Great video and well presented..but I'm still debating if its worth the extra $250 for just 4 more cores when 12 seems like a fuck ton already for video editing.

Any RAM recommendations for 5050x and X570 board? 4x 32GB please?

4:24 I want to point out a difference between 5900x and 5950x in this benchmark. While firestrike physics score scale up to 32 cores and Timespy extreme up to 64 cores, Timespy cpu score takes advantage of 16 threads at maximum. So, if you disable the 5950x SMT, the score will go up to ~18000 points at stock because physical cores are more productive than logical cores.

Wait till the new ZEN 3 THREADRIPPER Wendell. Cant wait for you to review that. Hold on tight!

Right now you can build a BEASTLY PC on the AM4 platform. I just upgraded from a 3600 to a 5900x for about $300. You can also get a great deal on last gen Intel - I bought a bundle from Micocenter for my new TrueNAS/Plex build - Z690 Aorus Elite AX DDR 4 motherboard, i7-12700k CPU, and 16 gigs of G.Skill ripjaws for $350 USD. Yeah, you don't get ECC memory support but for a home NAS & Plex server (with amazing transcoding performance), it's a real deal. Personally I'd much rather buy high-end last generation equipment that you know is well supported, than to buy into the AM5 platform, or the 13th gen Intel platform. There are also awesome upgrade choices for people with PCs that are maybe 3 - 4 years old.

Does the outro imply that January‘s Threadripper 5000 series (speculation) is going to ship in a little box that is big enough to be used as a small child’s coffin with a little Intel tombstone as a bonus included?

Was the separate curve optimizer video ever released? I'm having trouble finding it

Got my 5800x and i've been messing around with curve optimizing, i really suck at fiddling with it, cannot wait for your video on it

I'm so waiting for that curve optimizer OC video!

Question for L1T what do you think is the possibility of backwards compatibility of Pcie gen 4 for intel 10gen CPUs on Z490? They where originally designed for gen4, and I have not seen any reason that the CPU hardware can not support it. Would be interested in your opinion. Cheers

Hey! I want to see the video about virtualizing on it! I just got one for an Unraid server and would love to learn more from your review and what not. Any link would be great!

Thinking of running a 5900X in an Asus Rack X570 mATX as my home server supporting some VMs, media server, and data storage. Thoughts?

I want to do VFIO pass through with my 3950x but not sure what the performance penalty is. Should I upgrade to 5950x before doing so? How many cores would you recommend giving the Windows virtual machine?

can you please do a video on the curve optimizer?

Thank you Wendel for another non BS review. Is the isolation that got to you or is that the regular mad scientist stuff going on in the outro. 🤔

Is the Background for the Graphs pre-rendered or is that a special programm?

you know a product is impressive when Wendell genuinely seems so excited about it. I am lucky enough to have received my 5900X, but I'm waiting on my RAM kit to arrive lol... the RAM is the one that's been and issue.... my 6800XT is also going to arrive someday, but I can definitely still live with my 1070 in the meantime. my FX-8350 on the other hand... yeah I need to get rid of that ASAP.

HAY DUDE.....thanks for the great video....I'm currently studying VFX and looking to eventually upgrade...I'll be using NUKE,,, PHOTOSHOP,,, MAYA and other vfx driven app....Do you think I'll need the extra 4 cores....???

Good video cheers man keep up the great content

We have a different version in my country since it launched. 5950X the coming soon edition, Pre order now!

I was interested in buying one but....where are the high end X570 motherboards ? I wanted an MSI X570 Creation for specific reasons and it has disappeared several of the other high-end MB also look like EOL..really weird, going to wait for the 5960x I guess....I hope it'll still be TRX40 compatible I sold my 3960x but kept the motherboard..which is now worth 150$ more than when I bought it lol

Can’t wait for your curve optimizer video!

I'd just buy a 5950x for the OpenMP madness. I'd start using it everywhere even where I don't need it. 16 core bubble sort, Hilarious!

Would be great to see how that new Precision Boost and override work. Thanks for this video!

Can't wait for your Curve Optimizer follow up!

I wonder what the benchmarks would look like at 2666 MHz speeds, because I'm planning on a Ryzen build with ECC RAM (for ZFS). I would like to have that great 5950X performance, especially for code compilation, but at 2666 MHz, the RAM might become a significant bottleneck. Exactly how much of a bottleneck would determine whether or not I go for a 5950X or something less powerful/expensive. Any thoughts?

Blessed to get a 5900x when I did (via pure strength and drive of sitting outside Microcenter like a _nerd_ ). B)

I got my 5950x for MSRP on launch day, coming from a i7-3770k this thing is on another level. The way prices are now, £899+ for 5950x and £649+ for the 5900x if you can find them in stock. I am happy.

Is it better at 4k gaming than the 10850k 5Ghz? Thanks!

Would have been very excited to see compiling benchmarks between the two.

I just love your excitement... tis fun watching

Realizing they have a two front war ... winning on cpu and doing extremely well on the gpu front. Taking on two way bigger, wealthier and market dominating companies, with these results, is a miracle in itself.

I loved this. How am I just watching this channel now? Answered a question I'm sure everyone is wondering about, especially with how impossible to get at MSRP the 5900x is.

GentooLTO with ~amd64 testing branch user I really would love to see the compiling performance of 5950X vs. 5900X. I would assume getting FCLK to 2000mhz and low latency 4000mhz memory manually tuned, would boost the performance like crazy. Though compiling with 32 threads needs some insane amount of RAM, what kind of timings and clocks can you achieve with 64GB would be nice to know too.

I bought ryzen 9 5900x and I have a big problem when render aby project the usage always 20% AND THE GPU 23% Before that, I had i7-8700k and the same GPU and it always reaches 100% CPU and GPU what is the problem is there a setting for ryzen or should o sell and buy i9 instead? thanks

I went for 5950x, definetley speeded up my 3d rendering.

Virtualization is the only reason I'm deeply considering the 5950X. I have various services I'd like to isolate with some hardware passthrough, while being able to give a Windows gaming VM its own 8 core CCD. There was noticeable performance loss in my main poorly threaded VR game on my 3900X that the IPC uplift should get past.

I upgraded from an i7-4790K to a R9 5950X, difference is night and day. My computer doesn't care anymore what I throw at it, it's very liberating.

please do a video on curve optimizer

I think Wendell "belled the cat" with that comment about AM5 memory performance.

The crazy thing is that I just ordered a 5950x so I can disable cores in bios and experiment with all combinations of cores since that experimenting is what I like to do. I couldn't emulate a 16 core with a 5900x

i can't find it anywhere is Brazil. I was going for a 5950x as an upgrade for my 3700x. I really want just the raw performance that i can use in anything i might throw at it(compiling) and also gaming. But can't find a non scalped in any way.

Is it any good for virtualization?

I love that gravity field background... i couldn't watch at the slides any more that I have seen this. It's awesome! ;)

Would the type of game matter? MSFS 2020, DCS, IL2? In VR? 5600x vs 5900x? Thanks.

Was planning on a 10900K until AMD released their new line. Now I'm debating holding out for a 5900X. But I really have no need or money for the 5950X. Still appreciate all of the info that has been helping me choose the parts for my new build. Planning a possible NAS as well, but that's another project I will have to wait on.

My 5900x Pre-order comes into stock in 11 days so I'll have a bc build to do over christmas. They seem to have reasonable supply though as all pre-orders at scan will be done by the end of the month with surpluss expected stock, unlike my GPU which is moving maybe 6 places a week.

This was a great teaser video, but what about that PBO and Curve optimizer performance? Hey, do not leave us hanging :-D And what about air cooling when you are overclocking?

So would you this may be a good route for an X299 user looking for something new and more powerful... well maybe the 7950X just bc new generation but you get what I am saying. I hope

Managed to find a 5950X. Can’t get a bloody decent PSU for love nor money though!

love the curve optimizer

Thanks. Validated my purchase of 5900

I bought a 3900X for 400 bucks right before this came out late 2020... just upgraded the 3900X to a 5950X today for 550 USD! All cores going at 4.4 GHz, surprisingly lower temperatures than the 3900X. Haven't felt it where it matters other than placebo... but when I upgrade my NVMe SSDs to PCIe Gen 4, I can't wait to let I/O rip. These things really do OC well. May shoot for a slightly higher all-core OC to 4.6 and lower the voltage as far as it can go, but that's WAY better than a 3900X all-core at less than 4.1 GHz. Went up in speed and cores!

I love how Wendel started getting visibly giddy by the end of this. LOL

Curve optimizer, never heard of it. Using 5950X + Asus Crosshair VIII Dark hero. Just slap precision overdrive on + and the new auto single/multithread changing ON with something like 75A limit gave pretty impressive numbers.

Question. Where the hell are you getting CL14 DDR4 4000?

It must be noted that those who are a bit uncertain on which Ryzen 09 CPU to get must be very focused on which applications are intended for making use of Sixteen Cores or better: This is why I keep urging more Techtubers to start showing Vegas Pro in their benchmarks, where we are able to see a situation where an application can make use of all the threads on a chip (up to 048 for CPU Only renders and up to 032 for CPU+GPU renders, in the case of Vegas Pro) but also notice how generational uplifts also impact how a project gets mastered; the 5900X is in a unique position because of this, as you are getting within very firm striking distance of the 3950X for Workstation performance but in a Twelve Core package, and with the 3950X now being sold online for anywhere between 05I7 and 0660$ USD in most online locations on both e~tailers and the Second Hand/Open Box market alike, the 5900X is basically a decent Budget Alternative if you need it for applications that you know won't make good use of Sixteen Cores while still getting 3950X~style performance that will help you get your work done well before Break Time or very well before you go off the clock for the day. Now, for those who are doing an In Socket upgrade of their Workstation from Zen II to a 5950X, this is the only instance where I would say that if you have a 3950X, keep it, only switch to a 5950X if you have a 3900X or lower and want to get the most out of your Socket AM4 platform after using your previous chip for about five to seven years; my reasoning for this recommendation is simply because of how well the 3950X will age for long term usage and also my anticipation of how the 5950X will depreciate in price for the Second Hand market when we approach 2027 to 2030 (though at that point, Single Nanometer Intel Core and AMD Ryzen CPUs may likely be more financially feasible for the performance that they'll bring), many Zen II users who want to upgrade to Zen III may be able to stay on the same system if the 5950X is available Used/Pre~owned or in Open Box for about 0300 to 0450$ and that will allow those who can't afford to build a new system outright to make optimal use of their current one for another good seven or so years before they have to upgrade to a new build outright; as a result of this, AMD effectively has delivered a way for consumers to keep an old system that will have ridiculously cheap high end parts in about half a decade and change from now, and it will allow for them to have a more economic experience so that there is a significant decline of e~Waste in the Desktop Hardware scene, truly a smart move on the part of Lisa Su and her team on this front and I know in my heart that this will benefit many users for many years to come. (:

Was the test done on Linux?

I know this is an old video. With that said, since this is a 105 watt TDP processor, will a NH-L12S work? My plan is to Couple this with an Nvidia A2000, and build a VERY POWERFUL 2U work station that is whisper quiet.

Anyone have a link to the memory he is talking about at min 2:50

I am a programmer and I can easily use more cores, also this translates to measurable time savings. While single (monolitic) apps can't use them properly, not only I often use multiple greedy apps, a lot of compiling/test runs will easily use all the cores at once. I do agree that for gamers or casual users 16 cores won't help much.

But how fast can I build my docker images

3:30 the 5950X has 33% more cores than the 5900X (or 5900 has 25% less), you mathed backwards lol

I'm glad this processor is dropping below $550 USD, i'm thinking about picking one up to replace my 3950x, and using that 3950x to upgrade my Truenas box from R5 Pro 4650G with 128GB of RAM, to the 3950x, and switch to TrueNAS Scale, now that it has docker/kubernetes and easily passes through hardware, i can run plex, photoprism, pi-hole, and many other containers off of this one box.

I just got my 5900x today, woohoo

Thanks Wendell needed the fix.

I upgraded to the 5950x because it was a top of the and Ryzen stack. My 5900x is now going into a VR rig.

Appears 5000 series is normalising in the US only. Here in the UK the only place you can get them is either scalpers on ebay, "boutique" prebuilt PC makers or from US suppliers where the price is OK but postage and import duty make the price far too high.🤨😒

What heavy load computing task can I put to the 5950x? I am thinking RU-vid in 12k

So the 3900x box has that cutout as well, but I see I am not the only one to wonder if there is something bigger coming to the AM4 platform on Zen3.

i don't doubt the performance of AMD cpu's what always worries me is the memory compatibility issues.. a while back i tried to figure out what mem i could buy if i would build a threadripper machine looking at the qvl list i could only find sticks that went up to 64gig or something like that but not for the 128gb and more that i wanted in my build.. The one thing that always works on intel cpu / motherboard is the mem.. it's time for AMD to put down good rules for mem standards so that we consumers know what to look for..

I was able to purchase a 5950X for $505 a few days before the 5800X3D was released. Thanks for the hint that they might come out with one more chip on the platform.

I'd buy either if I could find them in stock in Australia.

Got a new Ryzen 7 3800x and I think it’s more than I need. But the 5000 series looks great

I have a 3950x, and while the 5950x is tempting, I’ll wait for the 5nm ddr5 next gen ryzen.

well I don't see a AM4 Ryzen 6995x coming but it would nice to get one on 2266 pin socket

I have just purchased a RYZEN 9 5900x in 2023 off Amazon for £245.00 Sterling, nice upgrade from a RYZEN 5 3600xt. It boosts way above the 4.8 at factory settings.

5950X got few days ago. I never see sunlight again after this for few years...

It's quite strong thend I think to have pc with more core's and as it continues we see more applications optimization for more core's. Game's included if market won't start stagnate at 6-8 core's. Remember 3-4 years before zen 4 core's was most you needed and most applications didn't even ready for 8-16 core's

already in line to get a 5900X to upgrade from my venerable 2700X. but it looks like it's gonna be a while until i get the chip.

Managed to snag a 2950X Threadripper for $380-ish, built a Proxmox to play around with converged virtualisation box for media server, cloud and other virt goodness. Also got a 2nd-hand 1070 for like $50 and patched the drivers and can run unlimited NVENC streams with passthrough to the media server. All in all quite impressed with the horsepower, although Proxmox ZFS GUI management is kinda anemic.

1:12 overclocking voids your warranty?

Computing is getting exciting!

The 5950X has come down to around 250-300€ on the used marked in Germany. Thr new generation of Ryzen CPUs really has driven the price down. I'll wait another few months and if this trend continues I'll have a 5950X for 200€ before the end of the third quarter.