AMD’s Niche CPUs: Excellent Gaming and Productivity Performance, But at a Price

A few weeks ago, AMD launched two new processors, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D. How do they fare, and will we recommend them in our PC build chart? Let us find out.

The R9 9950X3D is a $700 16-core CPU, with the “3D” denoting extra cache. The R9 9900X3D is a $600 12-core, with the same “3D” extra cache.

AMD’s goal with these 3D CPUs is the same as it was for previous 3D CPUs: Provide best-in-class gaming performance, without compromising productivity. Did they succeed?

 

The Good

• • The R9 9950X3D is excellent in gaming and in productivity. Overall, it is the second best CPU for gaming, and the best for productivity. That is a feat! With nothing else vying for the crown, the R9 9950X3D is the new king of desktop CPUs.
  • The R9 9900X3D is very good, placing third/fourth on gaming (depending on the game).
  • The R9 9900X3D is quite efficient for a high-end gaming CPU.

The Meh

• • The R9 9950X3D draws quite a bit of power. It is not as horrendous as some of the launches we have seen recently, but it is not good either.
  • The R9 9950X3D is priced really high. Its gaming performance roughly matches the R7 9800X3D ($200 cheaper), and its multithreaded performance is only slightly better than the R9 9950X ($100 cheaper). If you want the best of both worlds, the R9 9950X3D is clearly the choice and you need to pay to get the best… but the price is still high!

The Bad

The R9 9900X3D price is illogical at $600. You can get better gaming performance for cheaper (R7 9800X3D), and you can get better multithreaded performance for cheaper (R9 9950X, non-3D).

If you do not care about the price and want both, then the R9 9950X3D is the logical choice. With three alternatives available from AMD itself, covering all ordinary buyer priorities, someone over at finance needs to give the R9 9900X3D a serious price cut.

In Conclusion

Overall, the R9 9950X3D is a good choice, despite the high price. For those who want the best and are willing to pay extra, the R9 9950X3D is for you.

On the other hand, the R9 9900X3D is just not a good purchase when you look at its price and compare that to the alternatives.

Going Forward

In our main build chart:

• • We will be adding the R9 9950X3D to the Monstrous tier, and removing other options
  • We will offer three CPUs (R7 9800X3D, R9 9900X, R9 9950X) as options for both Enthusiast and Extremist
  • We will remove the R7 9700X as an option from Enthusiast

Here is hoping for more options and better prices from everyone in the rest of 2025!

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