The 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen 9 5950X is an impressive workhorse. It sits at the top of AMD’s latest Zen 3 based, 5000 series of CPUs and sends a clear message that AMD can beat Intel in terms of raw performance and core count. The 5950X has a boost clock speed of up to 4.9 GHz, a massive 72 MB cache and a TDP rating of 105W. Despite the “gaming” focus of AMD’s 5000 series launch marketing, the 5950X does not efficiently leverage all its 16 cores in gaming (as demonstrated by similar effective speed scores compared to the 12-core 5900X,8-core 5800X and 6-core 5600X.) 16 cores are only suitable for professional use cases that have CPU processing needs which cannot be more efficiently met by a GPU or other dedicated hardware. There is no Intel equivalent with this number of cores, and the 5950X’s uniqueness is reflected in its $799 USD price tag, 45% more expensive than the 5900X. Gamers will get far higher FPS per dollar by allocating a higher proportion of their budget towards a better GPU rather than blowing $799 USD on the 5950X. Professional users that plan to use 32 concurrent threads at 100% load will find value in the 5950X. On the other hand, workstation users that rarely exceed 20 concurrent threads at 100% should consider the 10850K for around half the money.[Nov '20CPUPro]
I loved this thing, so much nostalgia, any sort of cpu intensive game ran like crap and any modern game will. But god, after an overclock, it really tells you how far ryzen has come on their single core, aka no where. This thing is a cheap beast, going for like $45. Don’t ever really buy it though, just get like a FX-6300, 6 cores, 6 threads versus 1 core, 2 threads at $90 (+$45 more). If you’re truly set on a $50 CPU, buy a A8 6600K. Saw those floating for the same price as this but with quad core. Overall making this product obsolete, but still no where near the worst of old tech. Especially a 6 year old product that still arguably has a fight and a half left in it. I mean it is extremely unlikely you’ll find a use for it, but under the right circumstances, I.E a strictly single core game, after a pushy overclock and in theory you would get the same FPS as a modern ryzen, as in 2020 product.
P.S.
Over clock the absolute hell out of this thing for the real performance. [Jan '21ThatGuyRandomly]
We calculate effective speed which measures real world performance for typical users. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top CPUs. [CPUPro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.