AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Pre-Launch Sample Overclocked at 6 GHz

[Nomad76]

Despite the postponement of the Ryzen 9000 launch announced by AMD on Wednesday, early engineering samples used by motherboard makers reached some users (mainly overclockers). As it is the case with a pre-launch sample of AMD's flagship Ryzen 9 9950X. This CPU is equipped with 16 cores, 32 threads, a base clock frequency of 4.3 GHz with a 5.7 GHz max boost, 80 MB cache (64 MB L3 + 16 MB L2), and a TDP of 170 W.

A user overclocked the 9950X sample to 5.953 GHz using an ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E motherboard equipped with 32 GB DDR5-6000 memory. (Note: There's no information on whether air or water cooling was used.) The user then posted new results in Geekbench 5 and Geekbench 6, which demonstrate impressive performance gains for the 9950X. It's worth noting that AMD also overclocked the processor to 6.6 and even 6.7 GHz, however, they used liquid nitrogen.





GeekBench 5 scores

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X Zen 5 processor, running at 6.0 GHz, achieved 2795 points for single-core and 30050 points for multi-core performance. These results represent improvements of 10% in single-core and 13% in multi-core performance compared to the CPU's stock configuration. When measured against the non-overclocked Intel Core i9-14900K, the overclocked Ryzen 9 9950X demonstrated a 12% advantage in single-core performance and a 16% lead in multi-core performance.

GeekBench 6 scores

The processor achieved Geekbench 6 scores of 3706 points in single-core and 26047 points in multi-core tests. These results show a 10% improvement in single-core and a 20% boost in multi-core performance over its stock configuration. When compared to the non-overclocked Intel Core i9-14900KS, this chip outperforms it by 16% in single-core and 19% in multi-core benchmarks.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[kapone32]

Wow that is impressive almost 4000 ST performance is actually insane.

 

[thesmokingman]

Geekbench aside, that's looking pretty good.

 

[JWNoctis]

Very interesting.

Once upon a time, there was a 3.5GHz wall. Now it looked like a 6GHz wall. Processors currently aren't getting much faster than that in general use.

Would it get much faster still before some hard physics limit?

 

[natr0n]

Very interesting.

Once upon a time, there was a 3.5GHz wall. Now it looked like a 6GHz wall. Processors currently aren't getting much faster than that in general use.

Would it get much faster still before some hard physics limit?

Imagination is the limit...which in turn means there is no limit.

 

[Hyderz]

by early benchmarks it looks pretty good and now amd has to give it a good launching price

 

[Nordic]

Is a 6ghz 9800x3d too much to dream for?

 

[Minus Infinity]

Is a 6ghz 9800x3d too much to dream for?

Almost certainly. Still it should clock higher than 7800X3D and will fully support OCing.

 

[Tomgang]

That looks good. Specially if that is 6 ghz on all 16 cores. My guess is that water cooling is used. I doubt that is possible with an aircooler.

But i think the cpu most are waiting for, is the 3D variants, especially gamers. Rumors also subject that for the first time 3D variants should be fully unlocked for overclocking and that was my main reason why i would not chose a 3D cpu because i love to tinkerband oc a cpu. But is fully unlocked, i se no reason for why i should not get a 3D variant if i was to replace my 5950X witch i do not plan to do yet

But a 6 ghz all core 9950X3D yes please

 

[thesmokingman]

I might splurge for a 16 core X3D this time...

 

[Darksword]

I might splurge for a 16 core X3D this time...

I'm waiting until they can put 16 cores on one CCD instead of two.

That, with 3DV-cache, would be ideal.

 

[Sunny and 75]

Sustainable 6GHz all core will only become viable once AM6 comes out. By sustainable I mean, not degrading the chip beyond the normal rate.

 

[JohH]

If they had made it to 6GHz stock it'd be a worthwhile upgrade.
As-is I'll wait for Zen 6...

 

[Hyderz]

speaking of speeds i remember now that it was AMD athlon that was first to reach 1ghz

 

[ratirt]

that is some improvement and all looks great. Power draw concerns me. If AMD pulls Intel in power draw I will pass. Also, price is a key here if I consider swapping my system to the new Ryzen.
I'm also curious about the boards cost. The AM5 seems holding on to the higher price for motherboards and it is quite upsetting.

 

[fevgatos]

Oced 14900k get around 3500 and some change, so overall a 5-6% increase in ST performance.

 

[ARF]

Only 13% performance difference between Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 9 9950X clearly shows that AMD has made a strategic mistake to keep with the 8-core CCDs.
This is too little, too late, and will render the whole Ryzen 900 series as DOA, and not worthwhile purchase.
No buy.

 

[Gigaherz]

Once upon a time, there was a 3.5GHz wall.

When was that ever a thing?

 

[JWNoctis]

When was that ever a thing?

I am currently under the impression that clocking a Pentium 4 Prescott above 3.5GHz is not unlike clocking any current-generation processor above 6GHz now: Fast but not much faster, rather hot, and probably die young.

My own P4 Prescott 2.93GHz in those days was actually not all that hot with an OEM stock cooler, but it did not scale. That's before frequencies generally went back to and below 3GHz for Core/Core 2 generations.

 

[stimpy88]

250MHz It's not much of a feat really, is it! Especially when thinking about the exotic cooling used, access to AMD engineers, special BIOS, hand-picked hardware/samples etc...

 

[ARF]

I am currently under the impression that clocking a Pentium 4 Prescott above 3.5GHz is not unlike clocking any current-generation processor above 6GHz now: Fast but not much faster, rather hot, and probably die young.
My own P4 Prescott 2.93GHz in those days was actually not all that hot with an OEM stock cooler, but it did not scale. That's before frequencies generally went back to and below 3GHz for Core/Core 2 generations.

The pentium 4s clocked around 4 GHz and up to 5 GHz with relative ease.

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 4.00 GHz, 2M Cache, 1066 MHz FSB - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 4.00 GHz, 2M Cache, 1066 MHz FSB quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

To Overclock Pentium 4 (3.0ghz) Upto 4.8ghz

HELLO EVERYBODY, I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO OVERCLOCK PENTIUM 4 (3.0GHZ) UPTO 4.8GHZ USING CORSAIR COOL WATERCOOLING SYSTEM. MY CURRENT CONFIG. IS PENTIUM...

forums.guru3d.com

 

[Wirko]

Only 13% performance difference between Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 9 9950X clearly shows that AMD has made a strategic mistake to keep with the 8-core CCDs.
This is too little, too late, and will render the whole Ryzen 900 series as DOA, and not worthwhile purchase.
No buy.

AMD's life shouldn't and doesn't depend on enthusiasts who buy every single generation of CPUs. Those are just a tiny cherry on the (big) cake.

The CCD we know has been designed and optimised for the Epyc. When AMD's simulations show that a 12-core die is the best for the many-many-core CPU performance and cost, they'll move to 12 cores. (for Zen 6, 12 cores + 48 MB L3 seems the most probable to me but don't listen to me, I also predicted 10-12 cores for the Zen 5 CCD)

 

[JWNoctis]

The pentium 4s clocked around 4 GHz and up to 5 GHz with relative ease.

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 4.00 GHz, 2M Cache, 1066 MHz FSB - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor supporting HT Technology 4.00 GHz, 2M Cache, 1066 MHz FSB quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

To Overclock Pentium 4 (3.0ghz) Upto 4.8ghz

HELLO EVERYBODY, I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO OVERCLOCK PENTIUM 4 (3.0GHZ) UPTO 4.8GHZ USING CORSAIR COOL WATERCOOLING SYSTEM. MY CURRENT CONFIG. IS PENTIUM...

forums.guru3d.com

"Not in daily use with typical performance cooling setup of the day" was my impression. Extreme edition started at 3.4GHz, and things got very hot for their time. Maybe the wall was actually at 3.8GHz.

What came next was leagues above.

 

[Gigaherz]

at 3.4GHz, and things got very hot for their time. Maybe the wall was actually at 3.8GHz.

Thats not a wall if you can go across it with better cooling.... 8ghz on XOC was an actual wall for quite a while.

 

[JWNoctis]

Thats not a wall if you can go across it with better cooling.... 8ghz on XOC was an actual wall for quite a while.

Again, I meant general use, not world record under exotic cooling. Intel's most recent attempt at that just made headline days ago, and I could see why AMD did not make that 6GHz+ overclock stock.