AMD Ryzen 9 7950X review - Introduction

Ryzen 9 7950X / ASRock X670E Taichi review
AMD's fastest 16-core processor runs fast and hot

The year is 2022, and the ZEN4 edition of the Ryzen processor has arrived. We examine and benchmark the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in this review. With 16 (Big) CPU cores on that revised processing architecture, as well as a completely new platform that supports PCIe Gen 5, DDR5, and a processor that easily exceeds 5 GHz. AMD recently already announced its first ZEN4-based Ryzen 7000 processors. While some updated graphics cards have been released this year, not much else has been released in the component hardware arena.  However, the year will close with a bang, with new products from AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA. Over the summer, nearly all specifications leaked the products you see launched today. Today is about the processor and motherboards.

The new 5nm FinFET fabrication technique, the first in a desktop CPU, and enhanced performance combined with higher power efficiency are among the primary highlights of the new processor generation. More information on AM5 motherboards for these models can now be provided, as well as AMD EXPO, a new automatic RAM overclocking standard (in reality an SPD). The AMD Ryzen 7000 series is available today and launches based on the Ryzen 9 7950X and 7900X, the Ryzen 7 7700X, and the Ryzen 5 7600X. The base and boost clock speeds are greatly increased in the four new CPU types compared to their predecessors. Zen4 has no hybrid design and solely big/P(erformance) cores. It remains to be seen whether AMD will ever launch a hybrid (big/small) core design. And yes, you can argue that design, as it requires significant work on the Windows scheduler for Windows 11, workloads do not easily lend themselves to a hybrid design, even on mobile platforms where efficiency is a major goal. A non-hybrid design, such as the Zen4, is strongly favored in this regard for desktop users and PC gamers.

The flagship Zen4 desktop CPU Ryzen 9 7950X will have 16 cores and 32 threads and is priced at rather attractive at USD 699. The Ryzen 9 7900X with 12 cores and 24 threads with a boost speed of up to 5.6 GHz will cost USD 549. Probably the most popular processor will be the 8-core Ryzen 7 7700X priced at USD 399; closing the lineup, for now, is the Ryzen 5 7600X proceed USD 299. On September 27th, 2022, all four CPUs are now available. The Ryzen 7000 series will offer a 13% increase in IPC over its predecessors and up to a 29% increase in single-thread performance. This is mostly due to the higher clock speeds, which now reach 5.7 GHz on the flagship model, a staggering 800 MHz increase over the existing series.  This is largely attributable to the upgraded Zen 4 architecture and smaller TSMC 5nm manufacturing process.

A first in a long time is a new processor socket, which allows for features like DDR5 and PCIe 5.0, and necessitates the purchase of new motherboards. The 600-series chipsets are built into these (X670E, X670, B650E, and B650). All the processors include an integrated RDNA2 GPU and PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 compatibility (E suffix is Extreme) In this review, we'll test the mighty Ryzen 9 7950X and pair it with a ASRock X670E Taichi motherboard.