Reviews

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D establishes AMD as the leader in gaming performance. This Zen 5-based X3D chip is not only fast, it also comes with full support for overclocking. Besides gaming, application performance is considerably improved over the 7800X3D, but that comes at a price.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
Our AMD Zen 5 Memory Scaling Review examines six different DDR5 memory speeds, including DDR5-8000, DDR5-6400 1:1, DDR5-6400 CL28 and others. We looked into how these speeds impact performance in gaming at four resolutions and a wide range of application workloads.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
With 16 cores and 32 threads, the Ryzen 9 9950X, powered by AMD’s Zen 5 architecture, is the fastest desktop processor we've ever tested. In our review, it breezed through application workloads and delivered high FPS rates in gaming. But at $650, it doesn’t come cheap.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The Ryzen 9 9900X, with its 12-core/24-thread design, is designed for those looking to go beyond eight cores. It delivers solid gaming performance and benefits from a 120W TDP. Despite its performance, the $500 cost is high, especially when considering similar products in its category.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
Reviews of AMD’s Zen 5 processors this week surprised many, with lower-than-expected results. After some investigation, we discovered that turning off Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) can yield notable performance gains, particularly in gaming. This article presents our findings, including comparisons with the 7800X3D and 7700X with SMT turned off.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X boasts a robust eight-core design and exceptional single-threaded performance with great power efficiency. In our review we saw good gains with PBO overclocking and TDP increases. Unfortunately, the $360 price tag is steep, and there are several good alternatives available.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X excels in energy efficiency and single-threaded performance. It offers great FPS for gamers and solid application performance. Our review confirms: at just $280, the 9600X is a compelling option against the pricier 7800X3D.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The AMD Ryzen 5 8500G is a highly affordable Socket AM5 processor. It features the Phoenix 2 core, which combines the Zen 4 and Zen 4c architecture, for improved energy efficiency. In our review we test gaming performance with both integrated graphics and a discrete graphics card.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
AMD has finally shared technical details for their next-gen Zen 5 microarchitecture, which will power the new Ryzen 9000 desktop processors and the Ryzen AI 300 Series laptop CPUs. We detail all the technical innovations, including overclocking, and how AMD achieved +16% IPC.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
In this exclusive interview, we talk to the AMD Vice President who's responsible for AMD processors, both on desktop and mobile. Of course we had to ask about AI, but we also learned more about AM5 APUs, core counts, chiplets, Hybrid Architectures, Zen 5 and Intel's x86s proposal.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D is everything that gamers want: eight fast cores, in a single CCD, with 3D VCache stacked on top at a price point of $450. In our review we can confirm that 7800X3D is indeed the fastest gaming CPU available, beating Intel's 13900K and even the 7950X3D.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
With the Ryzen 9 7900, AMD is offering a more affordable version of their powerful 12-core processor. Our review confirms that the performance difference to the 7900X is small, yet the 7900 non-X consumes less than half the power compared to its big brother.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is the spearhead of the AMD Zen 4 X3D lineup. In our performance review we test AMD's new 16-core flagship with dozens of applications and 14 games at up to 4K, to see whether AMD can take the performance crown from Intel, how power consumption is affected, and what can be expected from overclocking.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
Ryzen 7 7800X3D will be the most affordable Zen 4 X3D processor, but it doesn't release until April. We reconfigured the Ryzen 9 7950X3D to match the specs of the 7800X3D and ran it through our test suite, which includes 14 games at 720p, 1080p, 1440p and 4K. Results are impressive.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The Ryzen 7 7700 is AMD's most affordable eight-core Zen 4 processor. For $330 you even get a good cooler included that features RGB illumination. Performance data in our review confirms that the 7700 non-X offers pretty much the same performance as the 7700X.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
Ryzen 5 7600 is AMD's most-affordable Zen 4 processor. It retails for only $230 and even comes with a heatsink. The testing in our review confirms that the performance difference to the more-expensive 7600X is minimal, and gaming performance even beats the 5800X3D.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
High temperature seem to be an issue on the new Ryzen 7000 processors. We're pairing a Ryzen 9 7950X with a $10 stock cooler, a Noctua air-cooler and a 420 mm AIO to get a feel for what the differences are like in terms of °C, MHz and performance in both applications and games.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The Ryzen 9 7950X is a monster CPU. When paired with the right workload it will eat even the 12900K for breakfast. As our review shows, the performance uplifts can be massive: +30-50% gen-over-gen is totally possible. What makes things complicated though, is that keeping the beast cool is almost impossible.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
With the Ryzen 7 7700X, AMD is introducing their fastest Zen 4 processor for gamers. In our review we found out that gaming on the 7700X runs better than the 7900X and 7950X, thanks to the single CCD design of the 7700X. Just like on other high-end AM5 CPUs, temperatures are a problem though.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
Ryzen 5 7600X is the company's most affordable offering for the Zen 4 family. Our review of the 7600X confirms that this new $300 CPU offers huge performance gains over Zen 3, and can even beat the Ryzen 5800X3D in gaming. In applications, the 7600X is faster than the Intel Core i9-11900K.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The Ryzen 9 7900X is a creator's dream. It offers 12-cores and 24-threads that perform fantastic not only in highly-threaded workloads, but single-threaded performance is also there. Priced at $550 it sits right in the middle between Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 7 7700X.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
With the Ryzen 7 5700X, AMD is finally offering a more affordable 8-core processor. In our review, we take a close look at how this $265 CPU performs against the Ryzen 7 5800X, and also compare it to Intel's Alder Lake lineup, including the i5-12600K and i7-12700K.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
AMD's Ryzen 5 5600 is a great choice for the value-oriented buyer. It actually offers the best price/performance ratio of all Ryzen 5000 processors on the market. Thanks to recent BIOS updates, you can easily install this processor in first-generation Ryzen systems, making it a super affordable upgrade option.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
AMD just announced their new Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 desktop processors. We sat down with AMD's Robert Hallock and asked him a load of technical questions to learn more about what to expect from the new platform, its highlights, and capabilities.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is the company's new flagship gaming processor. It introduces 3D V-Cache, a dedicated piece of silicon with additional L3 capacity. In our review, we're testing how much the larger cache can help intensive gaming workloads and applications and compare it to the Intel Core i9-12900KS, too, of course.
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Author:W1zzard
In:Processors
Nov 30th, 2024 14:37 EST change timezone

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