Review AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review: Devastating Gaming Performance

[Cooe]

Appreciate the review. I literally just bought a Ryzen 9 7950X3D. I will be using it primarily for flight simulation at a flight school, with a secondary use as an office PC. Did I make a mistake? Should I return the 9 7950X3D for the 7 9800X3d?

​

Yes, IMO I would 110% return it!!!

Microsoft Fight Simulator 2020 (& likely 2024 as well) aren't particularly heavily multi-threaded (anything >=6c/12t is good), but ARE ABSOLUTELY as cache, IPC, & clock-speed hungry as games can basically get!!!

Aka, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is going to be notable better than your current Ryzen 9 7950X3D in literally every way that actually matters! 🤷 (Framerates, frame-times, performance consistency, future-proofing for future GPU upgrades, etc...)

If you absolutely NEED >8x-cores for something outside running flight simulators though, then you might not have any choice as the 16-core/32-thread Ryzen 9 9950X3D isn't coming out until January, but if you don't, THEN MOST DEFINITELY RETURN/EXCHANGE!!!

 

[atomicWAR]

Appreciate the review. I literally just bought a Ryzen 9 7950X3D. I will be using it primarily for flight simulation at a flight school, with a secondary use as an office PC. Did I make a mistake? Should I return the 9 7950X3D for the 7 9800X3d?

​

As someone who also just threw in a 7950X3D so I could pass along my 7950X to my nephew and as a long time PC nerd/builder...I can happily say your good with the CPU you have. As others have said there is ALWAYS something better coming. Plus as also pointed out the higher your gaming resolution the more the GPU becomes the bottleneck. I honestly did not plan on changing my CPU until my nephew needed something newer to replace his aging i7 6700K. Originally I had planned to wait for what ever ends up being AM5's last gen X3D parts to come down in price or what ever AM5 CPU has the best performance between games, video editing, file compression/decompression, file conversation and video conferencing/light streaming (my biggest use cases).

As a high res gamer you're getting a solid experience in most games/apps with any of AMD's higher end chips. Or Intel's for that matter, assuming your chip doesn't/hasn't melted and the patches hold long term which is still up for debate imho. Point being you should be solid for some time to come at such a high resolution. I'd wait for Zen 6 x3D and hope it drops on AM5 and then make the hard choices on whether to upgrade 'now' or hold out for a new platform. That is what I would recommend to anyone in your position unless you have a specific use case that demands the newest part. Enjoy your 7950X3D, I certainly love mine.

 

[helper800]

Is there any chance of putting this into an ITX case with a tiny pure lock LP type of cooler or the increased power draw makes this a nogo? Kinda thinking of pulling the trigger.

Easily, but it depends on the case you want and the exact 4090 card because some are too big for most iTX cases.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($479.99)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright AXP120-X67 59 CFM CPU Cooler ($28.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX X870-I GAMING WIFI Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard ($449.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Redline ST 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL30 Memory ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial T705 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 5.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($154.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Acer Predator GM7000 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($269.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GAMING X SLIM GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR200P V2 Mini ITX Desktop Case ($116.73 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair SF1000 (2024) 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1944.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-11-06 16:18 EST-0500

 

[Cooe]

No, AMD did a ~15% gen-on-gen gaming performance improvement. The 7800X3D was already ~15% faster than the 14900K, and the 9800X3D is ~15% faster than the 7800X3D. But yes, it's weird to see Intel tank gaming performance so badly with Arrow Lake. I still don't understand why it put the memory controller on a separate tile / chiplet, which increased latency and hurt performance.

Intel tried it because AMD's been able to successfully do it with SIGNIFICANT benefits & gains from doing so since literally 2019's Zen 2 split out the separate CPU core+cache only "CCD's" and memory controller, I/O, & un-core packing "I/O die", using nothing but cheap and relatively slow intra-substrate package links. 🤷

Intel had to figure that with a full blown 22nm Foveros silicon interposer connecting everything on their package that they should be able to at LEAST match AMD's efforts!...
... They could not lol. 🤷😂
And not even a second attempt (Arrow Lake after Meteor's 1st) could make it any better!

AMD's literally been doing MCM CPU's since Zen's development started around 2013. Intel thinking they could nail it all first try is classic Intel delusional hubris. Hence the rumors that Panther Lake's bringing the IMC back into the CPU tile for a single generation before they try to match 2019 AMD YET AGAIN w/ Nova Lake. 🤣

 

[PrazVT]

Let's see the numbers for 4k gaming. Anandtech used to run benchmarks at 4k, which it made it obvious that at that resolution there was almost no difference in performance. Hopefully someone will run those numbers for this CPU too. If there's no real difference, then I can chill with my 4080 / 7900 combo or at the very least, just wait for the RTX 5000 series. Still, for the 1080p/1440p crowd, this is very good.

 

[atomicWAR]

Yes, IMO I would 110% return it!!!

Microsoft Fight Simulator 2020 (& likely 2024 as well) aren't particularly heavily multi-threaded (anything >=6c/12t is good), but ARE ABSOLUTELY as cache, IPC, & clock-speed hungry as games can basically get!!!

Aka, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is going to be notable better than your current Ryzen 9 7950X3D in literally every way that actually matters! 🤷 (Framerates, frame-times, performance consistency, future-proofing for future GPU upgrades, etc...)

If you absolutely NEED >8x-cores for something outside running flight simulators though, then you might not have any choice as the 16-core/32-thread Ryzen 9 9950X3D isn't coming out until January, but if you don't, THEN MOST DEFINITELY RETURN/EXCHANGE!!!

If he doesn't have the need of 16 cores and just bought the chip in the last (insert return period)I can see this argument. But since they are at such a high resolution use case, even with MFS 2020 cpu demands, I think that may be overkill. Especially if they picked up their current chip when it was in the sub 500 pricing. If not...your argument gains a tinsy bit more traction. I prefer 16c parts for my uses. I would have loved to wait til the 9950X3D dropped but I got my 7950X3D on sale all while having it now. Plus ideally... stares into AMDs soul...if Zen 6 x3D parts drop in another year or so on AM5...again staring into AMD's soul... I will have that nice 'little' performance bump to look forward to. (seriously AMD stick to 3 gens per socket, its DIY builder bliss)

 

[Cooe]

Congratulations AMD, thought you were trash my whole life until Zen 2 in 2019.. and since then been rooting dor you hard.

With you taking the server market even more by storm you will be the goto choice. A lot of software will finally make AMD a priority when it comes to optimisations in general

This statement is absolute freaking nonsense... 🤦😑

AMD stopped being trash right from Zen 1 (Ryzen/Threadripper 1000) in 2017 as it COMPLETELY dismantled Intel's HEDT market position basically overnight w/ the 8-core Ryzen 7's, while also almost immediately killing off the 4c/4t i5 as the "default mainstream gaming CPU" with the 6-core Ryzen 5's! (While also dominating proper HEDT to boot, w/ Threadripper absolutely embarrassing the ridiculous mess that was Skylake-X!)

Anyone unlucky (& dumb, sorry, not sorry 🤣) enough to have bought a soon to be rapidly doomed 4c/4t i5-7600K on a dead-end platform over a already basically equivalent or better for gaming & better for basically EVERYTHING else 6c/12t Ryzen 5 1600/X on the legendary AM4 platform in early-mid 2017 absolutely HATES themselves for doing so nowadays, guaranteed! 🤷

The only way this statement could possibly be construed as being true is if "trash" somehow means "anything not super close in flagship high-end CPU gaming performance".

 

[gggplaya]

se some are too big for most iTX case

I'd wait for the Nvidia 5xxx series cards if doing an iTX build. With nvidia doing a new SFF certification branding, I think we'll see alot of SFF video card designs for the next generation.

 

[Cooe]

Appreciate the review. I literally just bought a Ryzen 9 7950X3D. I will be using it primarily for flight simulation at a flight school, with a secondary use as an office PC. Did I make a mistake? Should I return the 9 7950X3D for the 7 9800X3d?

​

So I just did some looking up and it seems like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 runs a whopping >≈+20% faster on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs the last-gen 7800X3D!!! 😳🤯

If that's actually the case, returning your current CPU is an absolute NO-BRAINER assuming you can potentially wait a bit to find a R7 9800X3D in-stock, if you can't snag one right at launch. 🤷

 

[helper800]

I'd wait for the Nvidia 5xxx series cards if doing an iTX build. With nvidia doing a new SFF certification branding, I think we'll see alot of SFF video card designs for the next generation.

He already has a 4090 he said he was willing to use for the iTX PC.

 

[Kulkiet]

what is the point to test this set up in 1080 p? bragging about 30-50% increase at full hd resolution

how many of you has full hd monitor ? im at 4 k where cpu is not limiting factor and i doubt 1440p changes much too 14900 vs 9800 3xd at 1440p and 4k is barely 1-3 % difference. save your money .we will need another few generations to see progress

 

[valthuer]

It will be very interesting to see the gaming performance of a 9800X3D + 5090 combo.

 

[DavidLejdar]

Sounds nice.

what is the point to test this set up in 1080 p? bragging about 30-50% increase at full hd resolution

how many of you has full hd monitor ? im at 4 k where cpu is not limiting factor and i doubt 1440p changes much too 14900 vs 9800 3xd at 1440p and 4k is barely 1-3 % difference. save your money .we will need another few generations to see progress

57.32% of Steam survey participants are at 1080p. Some of them sure on laptops. But it is actually a thing e.g. for CS:GO players, to game with a lower resolution.

Myself, I may not see a huge boost with the 9800X3D in my current setup. But improved 1% lows already sounds cool. And with next-gen GPUs, the amount of FPS is likely to increase also for higher resolutions, meaning more need for a proper CPU to avoid a CPU bottleneck. Or as mentioned in the review: "...if the 5090 proves substantially faster — as we suspect it will — the gaps we're seeing here at 1080p would then extend into the 1440p and even 4K range." Let alone, when planning to run the CPU for at several years. But there sure are gaming use-cases where such a CPU is overkill.

 

[Phaaze88]

im at 4 k where cpu is not limiting factor and i doubt 1440p changes much too 14900 vs 9800 3xd at 1440p and 4k is barely 1-3 % difference. save your money .we will need another few generations to see progress

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98RR0FVQeqs

 

[stuff and nonesense]

what is the point to test this set up in 1080 p? bragging about 30-50% increase at full hd resolution

how many of you has full hd monitor ? im at 4 k where cpu is not limiting factor and i doubt 1440p changes much too 14900 vs 9800 3xd at 1440p and 4k is barely 1-3 % difference. save your money .we will need another few generations to see progress

Testing at 4k the GPU is the bottleneck. You won’t see more fps than that device can process.
At 1080 the GPU should be able to process anything thrown at it and have processing time to spare.

So assuming that the GPU is effectively transparent and all the components are equivalent (CPUs excepted) you can test the CPUs to see scaling based on CPU throughput. You make the CPU the bottleneck.
When a new GPU comes out e.g. 5090 … 6090 … you will begin to see processor scaling with those devices at 4k using a selection of processors. The 1080 tests are an indication of what can happen when the GPUs get faster with the same CPUs.

I agree, it’s a crazy waste of money to use a 9800x3d and 4090 at 1080p.

It wasn’t so long ago that 1080 was high end and 1440 was extreme.

 

[CaptRiker]

even though already built my 7950x3d system a year ago... if the 9950x3d has 3d cache on both ccd's, I'd be tempted to upgrade lol. Else I'd prolly just upgrade from my 4080 to a 5090.

 

[Mama Changa]

Damn, after reading this review and wathcing a few others, I'm even more determined to wait for 9900/9950X3D reviews. If v-cache is really over both ccd's maybe even the 9900X3D won't suck and could probably beat 7800X3D by a tad, and utterly destroy it and even the 9800X3D in productivity. This would be the ultimate compromise for be, very strong gaming and very good productivity. 9800X3D finally gives us an 8-core X3D cpu that doesn't suck at productivity and trashes my 5800X senseless in all benchmarks. But I'm greedy and want to move beyond 8 cores, but not 16 cores. 9950X3D will be over $1200 in Australia for sure, so 9900X3D would be nice tweener.

If Intel could de-suckify 265K gaming performance, I would probably consider it for probably $500 less than 9900X3D. No it won't get close to even 9900X3D in gaming, but if it's like 9700X at least that's still good and it'll probably have better 1% lows overall.

 

[PC4CAB]

Thanks to everyone for the excellent replies to my 9950x3D -vs- 7 9800X3D. I appreciate all the help!

 

[usertests]

Paul Alcorn: the 9800X3D is labeled as $320 in some places