AMD RYZEN 9 3950 X - Red Sixteen-headed Dragon

As promised, the next part of the Marleson ballet. We already managed to get to know the heart of our system, the motherboard from GIGABYTE. Now is the time to take a closer look at her brain center. And to tell you honestly, at first I was not sure that I could get such a beast, but miracles do happen and now, in my hands, probably, the dream of almost any fan of AMD products is the RYZEN 9 3950 X processor. Zen 2 generation flagship and processor , which can handle any tasks, from games to video rendering and streaming.

The moment of exciting expectation passed and in my hands was a modest bundle in a little bubble with AMD’s original packaging strips. Inside was the hero of the occasion and the reference Radeon RX 5700 XT in case you need a video card. The powerful assembly on the Tsar’s motherboard received the Tsar’s processor, and you could start to launch all this magnificence.

It should be said that AMD RYZEN 9 3950 X is a kind of apotheosis of the current philosophy of the company, which consists in providing users with a large number of cores at a reasonable price. Already the twelve-core RYZEN 9 3900 X was a powerful argument in the showdown with the “blue” giant, but AMD decided to conduct a full-fledged control in the head.

In general, if earlier AMD partially compensated for the weaker performance cores relative to the competitor by their number, then in the case of ZEN 2 there is another story. The power of the cores has already become equal, but their number is clearly in favor of the “red” team. What do we have as a result? We have a powerful processor with a bunch of productive cores on a standard socket and for consumer boards in general.

It can be said, the RYZEN 9 3950 X is located between two worlds. On the one hand, it is a powerful consumer processor that is ready to cope with anything, on the other hand, its power at the moment for everyday use is even somewhat redundant. But he has already partially entered the zone in which Threadripper processors and their analogues were previously located. Moreover, in the field of specialized computing, it feels great and will obviously be enjoyed by those who do not want to bother with a specialized socket, motherboards, etc. A little revolution, you know.

Thanks to TSMC’s state-of-the-art 7-nm process technology and chip design, even such a multi-core monster as the RYZEN 9 3950 X shows very commendable energy efficiency and does not reduce operating frequencies. If we examine in more detail, we will see that, unlike the younger brothers and by analogy with the 3900 X, our patient has a three-chip architecture. And here AMD made a compromise. The universal cIOD chipset, which contains the memory and PCI-E controllers, SoC elements and the I / O functions, is executed on a classic and well-mastered 12-nm technical process. And now a couple of other CCD chipsets with eight processing cores in each are executed in the new 7-nm process technology. All this is connected using the Infinity Fabric bus, which connects each of the 7-nm CCD chipsets to the 12-nm clOD chipset. The crystals themselves are not interconnected with nuclei. And since all the logic of the Infinity Fabric is found in a 12-nm chipset, all cores are absolutely equal in rights and the latency when working with memory is the same for all cores.

Read This Now: ASIC Miner A5 Dashmaster - Review | Hashrate | Profit | Specs

There is, of course, a fly in the ointment in a barrel of honey. The frequency and productivity are growing, and, accordingly, heat dissipation with energy consumption. Physics is a very stubborn thing. And being under the heat-distributing cover of the chipsets of different process technology added a headache. But AMD basically did not want to make a large-area space heater out of its flagship. Therefore, AMD had to make a lot of efforts so that this multi-core processor could reach high frequencies and at the same time not require a freezer for cooling.

And there was only one way out. Sample selected crystals. Because of this, in fact, there was a shortage of 12- and 16-core AMD processors. And even now, it is still felt, although not as clearly as before. Still, progress does not stand still and the production technology is being optimized, making it possible to obtain in the end a larger number of selected crystals. In the end, it’s not so easy to produce a multi-core processor of such a performance and keep it within the declared heat package of 105 watts.

But AMD did it. And with this they can be congratulated. Competition is always good, both for the market and for the end user. You are probably already at risk of falling asleep, but wait a little longer. First of all, I understand that we are a gaming portal, and games are at the forefront. “Spoiler” a bit, with games the AMD RYZEN 93950 X is doing well. It will perfectly reveal the potential of any current video card in any modern game. But let’s admit, such a monster as just a game processor is already a little fat and overkill. No one, of course, forbids you to do this, but before touching on the games, let’s still dive a little into synthetics and working applications. And before that, some technical information.

To begin with, the RYZEN 93950 X has a 64 MB L3 cache, consisting of four 16 MB parts distributed over four Core Complex, and also offers 24 PCI Express 4.0 lines, 16 of which are allocated to the video card, 4 lines are allocated to NVMe- drive and 4 more to connect to a set of system logic. Here is a little CPU-Z.

Immediately dispel some myths. No, for this processor it is not necessary to buy an X570 motherboard. It is only important to have a good enough power supply system on the motherboard, a power supply unit from 700 W and above, and, of course, the latest BIOS firmware. X570 motherboard and power supply for 850 W, as in my case, with two 8-pin 12V lines, this is, let’s say, a recommendation, but not a prerequisite for use. Therefore, be calm, everything is purely voluntary.

Read This Now: Asik Innosilicon A10 Pro+ 7GB Mining: Hashrate (750 mh / s) | Ethereum | Profit ($50-$100)

(On the topic of revolving turntables. AIDA brazenly breshet, I personally checked even when the fans stopped with the remote control, it still showed 2k revolutions and the CPU current was spinning. Perhaps due to the separate control of all turntables through the reobafrom.)

What about cooling. Yes, the processor is hot against the background of younger brothers and AMD itself recommends a CBO system from 280 mm. Let’s just say this is also a recommendation. With my GAMDIAS CHIONE M2 240R SVO system (there will be a review about it), whose size, as you might guess, is 240 mm, the processor felt very good. In stress tests with maximum load, the temperature did not exceed 80 degrees. At the same time, all cores and threads were clogged at 100%, but neither throttling nor frequency reset occurred. In idle temperature it was around 36-40 degrees. For such a beast, generally excellent performance.

Of course, I did not have the opportunity to try out air cooling, because there were no towers suitable at hand, but something tells me that, for example, the Noctua NH-D15S will also perform well and in places even a little better, so those who doubt about SVO, they can do with more familiar and powerful air cooling.

PC configuration:

Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 3950 X

Motherboard: GIGABYTE X570 AORUS MASTER (AM4)

RAM: 16Gb DDR4 3600MHz HyperX Fury (KHX2666C16 / 8G) (2x8Gb KIT)
16-18-18-18-38

Video card: RADEON RX 5700 XT (8G)

BP: ABCONCORE TENERGY GOLD 850W MODULAR

Cooling: CBO GAMDIAS CHIONE M2 240R

Case: ABCONCORE HELIOS 500G SYNC

Software:

OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 1909 (18363.476)

Graphics Card Driver: Adrenalin 11/19/3

But alright, enough lyrics, go ahead for the tests.

As we see in specialized applications, this processor shows itself perfectly. You are engaged in graphics, video editing, rendering. This reliable processor won’t let you down for a minute.

This processor may also be interested in streaming fans. Yes, I know very well about the traditional chip with two streaming machines. But in case you decide to stream using the Ryzen 9 3950X, well, you will definitely not experience disappointment. This “red” killer rushing ahead and in the same OBS can easily and effortlessly stream quality in Full-HD at 60 FPS with slow quality encoding settings. Already with the slowest encoding settings, the frame rate drops, albeit almost to an acceptable value, but it is no longer the 60 desired FPS, and therefore even the 16-core processor has not been taken out here.

Well, now the long-awaited games. Today I picked up a game with a good appetite. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Final Fantasy XV, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Total War: Three Kingdoms.

All games were launched with processor-dependent settings in Full HD.

Odyssey is a rather voracious game, but managed to squeeze 62 frames out of it at maximum settings.

The fifteenth of “Finals” felt great and did not fall below 80 frames.

Adventures of Ingrik in the world of Bohemia is still a game with an appetite, but a calm 60 frames are available.

The newest game from the historical branch of Total War, with a scene in ancient China. We have 98 frames even in large batches.

What can I say. You see for yourself. “Pulls” perfectly. This “stone” drags everything like a diesel locomotive and will allow your top-end video card to reveal completely. What do we have as a result?

Read This Now: Hiveon ASIC firmware: Cryptojacking | Hashrate Theft | Mining on Hive OS (Safe?)

I would still not recommend purchasing this processor if you plan to use it only in games. He is corny for this. Yes, and there are more balanced options from the same AMD. Of course, who am I to decide for you what to spend money on. If you are an enthusiast or guided by the principle, why not, go ahead. For such a processor, a price of just over $ 700 is actually quite affordable.

But my purely IMHO is that this processor can be useful to those who are engaged in rendering, graphics and video on a professional or semi-professional basis. Because most of all he spreads his wings precisely in working applications. It is a good option for streamers who do not want to worry about assembling the second system, but this is again purely personal preferences of each individual person.

In overclocking, this stone showed itself not in the best way to re-open on all the cores, I managed to only it up to 3.9 GHz. There was no longer any talk of any stability. On the other hand, the automatic factory boost works like a clock and does not cause any complaints. The main thing is to take care of good cooling.

Be that as it may, the processor made an indelible and good impression on me. For such a powerful “stone”, such an affordable thermal package and price is a very pleasant surprise, and high performance in specialized applications and games only add points to it. In general, everyone will decide for himself whether he needs such a many-headed dragon or not, but I will say one thing: if you decide to purchase it, then you certainly won’t feel disappointed or deceived. The processor justifies itself at 100%. And deserves a reward.

And that’s all for me. I flew with you on the RYZEN 9 3950 X Iron Garruk. Until we meet again and play good games on the right hardware.

So the second review from the composite large review ended. Next time we will get to know more closely the peripherals and the case from Abconcore, which contain an excellent processor and motherboard, and we will not forget the very pleased CBO from GAMDIAS. To be continued.