Ryzen 9-5900x or 9-5950X ?

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Guarateed_12

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Currently running Ryzen 7 3700X with 32gb ram on an Asus X570 mobo. I am not a power user and not much of a gamer. Just an enthusiast. My most "demanding" software is Steinberg's Cubase. Even though my current configuration is doing everything I need it to do I would just like to add some headroom. I'm not ready to move up to AM5 platform.

I would like to Max out the CPU for this board. After updating the BIOS I should be able to install a one of these two CPUs (9-5900x or 9-5950X). Here's my question, which one do I want? Yeah I know that's sort of an ambibious question but every time I start to read about the differences between these 2 CPUs things start to get blurry. Since to 5900X is around $150 less I'd had to get the 5950X and find I really didn't need those features.
 
A 5900X is two BAD die's (2 cores disabled on each). The 5950X is two GOOD die's (all 8 cores enabled on each).

If it was me (and it was when I went AM4), I'd go with the 5950X and forget about it! Not to mention, it will last you a long time. I have some threads around here somewhere too if you dig around on how you can all core OC the 5950X, change some settings in the bios in regards to CPPC and if you tweak your memory too, it easily performs the same or better in games than a 5800X3D. Plus, it will run a hell of a lot cooler too with that type of overclock route and you get all the cores you will ever need.
 
Keljian said:
Put your wallet away. Put the money away. Whatever you buy will depreciate rapidly, you may as well hold onto the cash for a major upgrade later.
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I understand that this might not be the wisest upgrade but I expect my current build to last me another 4 years. Waiting and dumping more money into a AM5 config just doesn't make sense for what I do. This AM4 config is more than I should need for a long time to come. Throwing another $350 - $400 into it just extends my timeline out past the 4 year mark . I'd just like to get my rig loaded with a 59XX CPU, bump the memory to 64gb and I'm good for a long time.
 
Not that different of a situation than you (3900x on a nice enough x570) aslo just on 32 GB ram and considering a 5900x-5950x 64gb upgrade.

There is a reason you are asking (and it feel completely different to my reaction when the 5xxx series launched and I F5 trying to buy one, I had a 2600 at the time), the 3xxx to 5xxx numbers are not bad at all as CPU on the same family increase goes but are not crazy, so some human feedback of people that tried both is nice.

Even more so for the 5900x vs 5950x comp, if you do not have a clear use for the threads post 22, seem like the 5900x would be a good option.

That said the upcoming 8700x will probably beat the 5950x at everything clean, the 13600k beat it pretty much at everything and give you an nice iGPU.

How much more for an 13600K + a better motherboard + going DDR5 instead of buying more DDR-4 than what you have and will support the raptor lake refresh so a bit more life-upgrade path to it would it be than a 5950x ? And once you open that door you start to check AM5 again and you end up not upgrading the 3xxx yet in my experience.

A 3 m.2 slots DDR-5 with Wifi 6and PCIex16 slot + 13600k can be bought new at $470 right now, the cheapest new 5950x is around $424 and it tend to keep its value well used.

My feeling both the 5900x-7900x seem to be the sweat spot performance by dollars because they are in a hard spot-zone to sell, little sense to gamers, people that need thread-work-"best' go for the 50x or at least the significant price premium over the x900 for what it brings does not turn them down.
 
IMHO, in your use case, you'd be best served with a 5800X3D CPU. It's less expensive than either the 5900X or 5950X CPUs and your use case is apparently not heavily multi-threaded. Games are definitely not heavily multi-threaded. There aren't that many games that push a 6-core CPU right now, much less an 8 or more core one - 4 cores is pretty average. 8 Cores should cover you very well for quite a while, and the 3D cache makes the 5800X3D punch well above it's weight in most games. The 3D cache also mitigates the need for fast RAM to get your full performance out of the chip, and on AM4, it is STILL much easier to get 4 sticks running at lower speeds and at higher ones. (Mind you, I have a 5950X and a 7950X CPU myself, but that is because my PC is more workstation than gaming rig, and my workload utilizes all those threads - If my focus was gaming with light productivity, the 5800X3D and 7800X3D CPUs are where I'd be today)

In your use case, as I understand it, the extra cores on the 5900X and 5950X would mostly be sitting idle and drawing more power and making more heat doing that.
 
III_Slyflyer_III said:
A 5900X is two BAD die's (2 cores disabled on each). The 5950X is two GOOD die's (all 8 cores enabled on each).

If it was me (and it was when I went AM4), I'd go with the 5950X and forget about it! Not to mention, it will last you a long time. I have some threads around here somewhere too if you dig around on how you can all core OC the 5950X, change some settings in the bios in regards to CPPC and if you tweak your memory too, it easily performs the same or better in games than a 5800X3D. Plus, it will run a hell of a lot cooler too with that type of overclock route and you get all the cores you will ever need.
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Yup, here's one of the thread in question: https://hardforum.com/threads/anyon...x3d-for-gaming.2022818/page-6#post-1045681605

Been running my 5950X like this for a while and it works really well.
 
I would buy one used. Skip the RAM, unless you legitimately NEED 64GB. Don't forget to update your motherboad bios, before you install the new CPU!
 
I went from a 3900X to a 5950X
For my workload its been amazing, tons of time saved, tons of threads to be used. I routinely have all 32 threads maxed out for multiple hours a day, multiple days every week.
Unless you KNOW of a reason why you need 32 threads (A workload that your 3900X was struggling with.) You don't need 32 threads.

For your workload - Go with the 5800X3D. It'll likely serve you better.

That said, given the difference in price, if you must get a 5900X or a 5950X, just spend the little more to get the 5950X.
 
5900X owner here. I'd say get this CPU. It's got more threads/cores than a 5800X(3D) so you'll be served better in encoding and rendering, productivity, etc. Best of both worlds if you ask me, and you save around $100 (last time I looked) which can be put into other things. It more or less crushes every task I throw at it compared to my old X99 machine I upgraded from.

If you need top gaming speed, get the 5800X3D. If you need the threads for work and not just play, get the 5950X as others have said. You wanna do both? 5900X. I've been extremely happy with mine.
 
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OP-
If you feel your use of the most demanding applications aren't going to struggle on 8 cores for you, go 5800X3D.
If money could be spent better else where (software/monitor/GPU etc..) but your demanding apps could use more cores go 5900X.
If the money saved on a 5900X isn't important but you have a use case for cores then go 5950X.
 
You want the 5950x, but you will have to decide if the extra CPU power is worth it. The question you need to ask yourself is if you can actually make full use of the 5950x or if most of the time the 5900x would be sufficient and how much does the price difference matter to your wallet. For some 150$ is not a lot for others it is a significant sum. If you are in the last category then the 5900x makes more sense.
 
freeagentt said:
Not true. 5900X boosts to 5150Mhz, 5950X boosts to 5250MHz..
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My fault, then. I got the higher base clock of the 5900X confused with turbo. That said, I'm not losing sleep over 100MHz. It's still a great CPU for the money...
 
Cool, cool. (y)

I routinely see the 5900X turbo up to 4.2-4.4GHz even under a heavy load across all cores. It will do 4.8 or 4.9 like you said in mostly single threaded stuff. This CPU eats my old i7 6900K for breakfast. And then it asks for seconds. :ROFLMAO:

I'm glad the 5900X was on sale when I had the money to buy. No regrets. I just wish I was able to buy a duplicate of my motherboard NIB before stock dried up. I forgot to register the board with ASUS for the warranty within the window to do so... /facepalm
 
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As a 5950x owner transitioned from a 3950x, the clock speed bumps alone are worth (if AM5 / full swap is not in the picture).

You will indeed get 4.1-4.3 all-core, with 4.8/4.9 single core, at least as what i've seen.

Zen 2 was nice (especially vs. Zen 1) with the IPC / clocks, but Zen 3 dialed that advantage up and then some.
 
A superior at almost everything 13600k and motherboard with 3x m.2 slots, wifi-6 and a nice integrated GPU is not that much more expensive than a 5950x.

It is quite adjusted by the market (used or new) of how more convenient and top of the AM4 line it is, otherwise it would never be sold for more money than a significantly superior at everything 7900x
 
LukeTbk said:
A superior at almost everything 13600k and motherboard with 3x m.2 slots, wifi-6 and a nice integrated GPU is not that much more expensive than a 5950x.

It is quite adjusted by the market (used or new) of how more convenient and top of the AM4 line it is, otherwise it would never be sold for more money than a significantly superior at everything 7900x
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A 6c/12t (I don't count e-cores) core part... When the discussion is for 12c/24t-16c/32t parts? You sound exactly like someone I know on Discord who opted for the same CPU over better alternatives...
 
A couple of years ago when no one had a 5900X I was posting on HWBOT, and my CPU running Pi32M at 5150MHz was faster than a 6GHz 8700K..
 
Mr. Bluntman said:
A 6c/12t (I don't count e-cores) core part... When the discussion is for 12c/24t-16c/32t parts? You sound exactly like someone I know on Discord who opted for the same CPU over better alternatives...
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Not sure why would one count or look at core much, what matter is multithread performance, lower the core count the better at the same multithread performance no (as you are more likely your application will be able to use it)?

End of the day, 7900x and 13600k tend to be faster than a 5950x, which is all that matter:
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relative-performance-cpu.png
 
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Mr. Bluntman said:
A 6c/12t (I don't count e-cores) core part... When the discussion is for 12c/24t-16c/32t parts? You sound exactly like someone I know on Discord who opted for the same CPU over better alternatives...
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I don't know why you don't count e-cores. The e-cores are as good as 9 series skylake cores, and for running stuff in the background or when you need a lot of cores, they work great.
 
Keljian said:
I don't know why you don't count e-cores. The e-cores are as good as 9 series skylake cores, and for running stuff in the background or when you need a lot of cores, they work great.
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I'm not denying they don't have purpose, or function well for their intended use cases. Both you and LukeTbk aren't wrong in kinda calling me out on this. Would either of you begrudge me if I said that in all honesty it's just personal preference, as silly as that may be? :p
 
Mr. Bluntman said:
I'm not denying they don't have purpose, or function well for their intended use cases. Both you and LukeTbk aren't wrong in kinda calling me out on this. Would either of you begrudge me if I said that in all honesty it's just personal preference, as silly as that may be? :p
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You can think and preference whatever you want, be comfortable in your preferences. Where I draw the line though is calling an apple and rhubarb crumble, just an apple crumble. It’s so much better for the rhubarb!

Some people preference plain apple crumbles, personally I reckon they are missing out, but that doesn’t change the fact that an apple and rhubarb crumble has rhubarb in it.

Don’t get me started on ice cream!
 
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I am running a 5900X, 570 MB, 64gig of ram and a 3070 with of all things a Wraith Spire, and I have a Peerless Assassin still sitting in the box. Agreed it is in an old highly ventilated Corsair Air case but I never have any overheating, my fan doesn't rev up and I don't run into problems with games up to the limit of my 3070. This rig came together due to funding, or actually lack of funding but I feel as if I will get at least another two years, maybe three, but not four, to include one vid card upgrade before I ever run into the limits of this rig when not trying to brag on benchmarks or play competitive online gaming. Save your cash, upgrade your vid when you can and you will save money and gain more with a better vid card than a 5950 or a 5800X.
 
narsbars said:
I am running a 5900X, 570 MB, 64gig of ram and a 3070 with of all things a Wraith Spire, and I have a Peerless Assassin still sitting in the box. Agreed it is in an old highly ventilated Corsair Air case but I never have any overheating, my fan doesn't rev up and I don't run into problems with games up to the limit of my 3070. This rig came together due to funding, or actually lack of funding but I feel as if I will get at least another two years, maybe three, but not four, to include one vid card upgrade before I ever run into the limits of this rig when not trying to brag on benchmarks or play competitive online gaming. Save your cash, upgrade your vid when you can and you will save money and gain more with a better vid card than a 5950 or a 5800X.
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OP clearly stated they aren't a gamer. So what is he improving with an old CPU with new GPU?
 
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