The 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 9900X desktop processor has been tested in Geekbench and has seen impressive gains over Intel’s 14th generation processors.
AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 12-Core CPU Delivers 16% Single-Core Performance Increase Over 7900X, Crushes Core i9-14900KS in Geekbench Benchmark
The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X “100-000000662” CPU is a 12-core and 24-thread variant. This chip has a base clock of 4.4 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.6 GHz with a cache of 76 MB. The interesting thing about this chip is that it has a TDP of 120W, much lower than the 170W of Ryzen 9 7900X chips.
While the chip maintains the same clock speed as the Ryzen 9 7900X, the base clock is reduced by -300MHz, which again fits within the 120W limit, but again the 12-core should be able to boast some nice multi-threading capabilities. Below are the TDP comparisons between the four chips of this generation versus the previous:
- Ryzen 9 7950X (170W) -> Ryzen 9 9950X (170W)
- Ryzen 9 7900X (170W) -> Ryzen 9 9900X (120W)
- Ryzen 7 7700X (105W) -> Ryzen 7 9700X (65W)
- Ryzen 5 7600X (105W) -> Ryzen 5 9600X (65W)
As for the performance benchmark, the chip was tested in the Geekbench 6 benchmark on an ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Gene motherboard with 32 GB of DDR5 memory. The chip ran at a peak frequency above 5.6 GHz (5664 MHz). In terms of performance, the Ryzen 9 9900X scored 3,401 points in the single-core test and 19,756 points in the multi-core test.
This puts the single-core performance of the 12-core AMD Ryzen 9 9900X CPU ahead of the current fastest chip, the Intel Core i9-14900KS, which scores around 3250 points in the single-core test, and even the multi-core test is pretty decent. phenomenal for this 12-core part, which is almost on par with the Core i9-14900K, which averages around 20,500 points. Compared to the 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X, the Ryzen 9 9900X delivers a 16% increase in the single-core and an 11% increase in the multi-core test.
We should also remember that the Intel Core i9 processors here were tested with the “Intel Baseline Default” setting, which further reduces the performance of the chips to ensure better stability. These new profiles can result in up to a 15% performance reduction over the default settings.
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These are some impressive performance numbers that, if ultimately true, really showcase the strong edge in single-core performance that the Zen 5 processors offer. Of course, Geekbench is just one synthetic benchmark, so we can’t really base its overall performance on a single test, but as we mentioned before, expect the final numbers to be great for the AMD Ryzen 9000 desktop processors. According to AMD themselves, Geekbench is one of the best case scenarios for increasing Zen 5’s IPC which saw up to 19% increase over Zen 5 as shown in the screenshot below:
A few days ago we also looked at the Cinebench R23 performance numbers, which showed an impressive efficiency of the same chip, although it was a technical sample, while this new result seems to be a proper retail chip.
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AMD’s Ryzen 9000 “Zen 5” desktop processors, including the 12-core Ryzen 9 9900X, will hit shelves again later this month on the AM5 platform, so stay tuned for some action.
AMD Ryzen 9000 “Granite Ridge” Desktop Processor Specifications:
| The name of the CPU | Architecture | Cores / Threads | Base / Boost Clock | Caches | Graphics (integrated) | Memory support | TDP | Price (MSRP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 9 9950X3D? | Zen 5 | 16/32 | TBD | 128 MB L3 + 16 MB L2 | 2 x RDNA 2 CU | DDR5-5600 | TBD | TBD |
| Ryzen 9 9950X | Zen 5 | 16/32 | 4.3 / 5.7 GHz | 64 MB L3 + 16 MB L2 | 2 x RDNA 2 CU | DDR5-5600 | 170W | $649? |
| Ryzen 9 9900X3D? | Zen 5 | 24. 12 | TBD | 128 MB L3 + 12 MB L2 | 2 x RDNA 2 CU | DDR5-5600 | TBD | TBD |
| Ryzen 9 9900X | Zen 5 | 24. 12 | 4.4 / 5.6 GHz | 64 MB L3 + 12 MB L2 | 2 x RDNA 2 CU | DDR5-5600 | 120W | $549? |
| Ryzen 7 9800X3D? | Zen 5 | 8/16 | TBD | 96 MB L3 + 8 MB L2 | 2 x RDNA 2 CU | DDR5-5600 | TBD | TBD |
| Ryzen 7 9700X | Zen 5 | 8/16 | 3.8 / 5.5 GHz | 32 MB L3 + 8 MB L2 | 2 x RDNA 2 CU | DDR5-5600 | 65W/120W? | $399? |
| Ryzen 5 9600X | Zen 5 | 6/12 | 3.9 / 5.4 GHz | 32 MB L3 + 6 MB L2 | 2 x RDNA 2 CU | DDR5-5600 | 65W | $299? |
News source: Benchleaks