AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D power analysis: Counter-Strike 2, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 5.
The do-everything CPU from AMD.
AMD's Zen 5 processors all tend to be quite power efficient for the performance delivered, but how does the 9950X3D compare to the 9800X3D? To find out, we performed a basic at-the-wall power analysis.
We tested three games, taking measurements from a basic Kill-A-Watt-style mains plug to get a sense of the maximum power draw and a more typical load during the course of the benchmark. We also tested each title at three resolutions, giving a sense of how the comparison shifts as GPU power requirements are brought down and CPU grunt becomes the primary differentiating factor.
Fairly obviously, unlike our Core 285K versus 14900K power testing last time around, we used an identical setup here as both systems use the same platform - so that's the same motherboard, RAM, GPU, peripherals and power supplies.
| Counter-Strike 2 | 9950X3D (Max) | 9800X3D (Max) | 9950X3D (Typical) | 9800X3D (Typical) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 527W | 463W | 467W | 430W |
| 1440p | 544W | 495W | 500W | 440W |
| 2160p | 567W | 519W | 523W | 480W |
Our first title is Counter-Strike 2, which is heavily CPU-limited at and but, thanks to the omission of DLSS/FSR 2, is surprisingly GPU-limited at 4K, even on an RTX 4090. Here the 9950X3D eclipsed the 9800X3D in terms of power usage, even with the non-X3D CCD running basically idle with all CS2 usage on the X3D cores. The margins are significant, typically ~40-60W, though most high-end systems with a 4090 will be equipped with an 850W, 1000W or even larger PSU and we're still comfortably underneath that figure.
| Far Cry 6 | 9950X3D (Max) | 9800X3D (Max) | 9950X3D (Typical) | 9800X3D (Typical) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 444W | 405W | 410W | 365W |
| 1440p | 524W | 470W | 470W | 420W |
| 2160p | 563W | 517W | 530W | 490W |
Far Cry 6 shows higher performance for the 9800X3D than the 9950X3D, but the 9950X3D is still drawing more power than the single-CCD processor. The margin is again around 50W, with a noticeable power savings from running at versus or 4K where the GPU is working harder.
Finally, Forza Horizon 5 is relatively similar, with at most 45W in peaks and 40-50W in typical power draw, with a smaller step between and power usage as the game remains somewhat GPU-heavy even at these resolutions.
| Forza Horizon 5 | 9950X3D (Max) | 9800X3D (Max) | 9950X3D (Typical) | 9800X3D (Typical) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 448W | 418W | 430W | 380W |
| 1440p | 470W | 436W | 450W | 410W |
| 2160p | 510W | 466W | 490W | 440W |
Given the coarseness of our measuring equipment, we won't try to extract a deeper analysis here, but the broad trend is that the single-CCD 9800X3D is more efficient than the dual-CCD 9950X3D for gaming, at least in our setup. It's of course possible for both processors to shift their power usage significantly with overclocking, undervolting, etc, but expect the 16-core 9950X3D to consume around 30-50W more power than its eight-core counterpart in a standard gaming scenario.
Let's move onto the final page to discuss our findings overall.
AMD Ryzen 7 9950X3D analysis
- Introduction, test rig and content creation benchmarks
- Gaming benchmarks: Dragon's Dogma 2, Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield
- Gaming benchmarks: Flight Simulator 2020, F1 24, Forza Horizon 5
- Gaming benchmarks: Counter-Strike 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Crysis 3 Remastered
- Gaming benchmarks: Far Cry 6, Hitman World of Assassination
- Power analysis: Counter-Strike 2, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 5 [this page]
- AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D: the Digital Foundry verdict