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AMD Ryzen 9 3900X vs. Intel Core i9-9900Okay: Which Excessive-Finish CPU to Purchase?

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With the arrival of the primary Ryzen 9 processors this 12 months, AMD expanded its skill to rival the efficiency of competing chips from Intel. Should you’re available in the market for the last word high-performance, consumer-grade desktop CPU, the Ryzen 9 and Core i9 are each compelling choices.

You may nonetheless have to decide on one or the opposite, in fact. Even in the event you may swap them out and in of your desktop PC on the fly (and naturally, you’ll be able to’t; they use wholly totally different sockets and due to this fact motherboards), at $500 every for the flagship variations—the Ryzen 9 3900X and Core i9-9900Okay—shopping for each could be prohibitively costly. So let’s check out which of those chips comes out on prime, relying on how you intend to make use of your PC.

Evaluating Key Specs

The Ryzen 9 3900X has 12 cores to the Core i9-9900Okay’s eight, so it beneficial properties the higher hand proper from the start, at the least so far as uncooked specs are involved. All else being equal, the extra cores a chip has, the higher it is ready to deal with complicated workflows from trendy software program functions, lots of that are designed to assign duties to as many CPU cores as they’ll discover.

Each chips have multithreading help, which implies that every core can deal with two instruction threads from software program concurrently. So the Ryzen 9 3900X can deal with 24 instruction threads, whereas the Core i9-9900Okay can deal with 16. Once more, in case your software program of alternative is optimized to parcel out duties to as many processing threads as it could possibly, extra is healthier right here.

Backward Compatibility

Based mostly purely on core and thread depend, then, the Ryzen 9 3900X may doubtlessly be a more sensible choice than the Core i9-9900Okay for 3D animation work, video modifying, and different workflows depending on a chip’s core depend.

Many different duties, particularly widespread ones like enjoying older video games or looking the net, are closely influenced by different components, together with a chip’s clock pace or the scale of its cache, or different hardware comparable to your video card. The Core i9-9900Okay has a base frequency of three.6GHz and a most enhance frequency of 5GHz, in contrast with the Ryzen 9 3900X’s base three.8GHz pace and four.6GHz most enhance. Each will be overclocked.

The pace variations are small however important, though you’ll be able to’t strictly examine them one to at least one. Assuming you’ll be able to pair every chip with a cooling resolution that gives sufficient thermal headroom for sustained most clock speeds, the Core i9-9900Okay would possibly provide a slight benefit on “bursty” workflows like making use of a filter to a picture in Adobe Photoshop. After all, if pace on that very same activity could be offset by having extra cores and threads within the first place, that slight benefit in clock charges would possibly matter much less. All of it comes right down to the traits of the person program, and that’s the place extra granular benchmark testing is available in. (Extra about that in a minute.)

Past clock pace and core depend, many avid gamers may also wish to take note of a chip’s cache and its peak supported reminiscence pace, for the reason that efficiency of some video games will be depending on a CPU’s skill to entry reminiscence, particularly at display resolutions under 4K. (If you find yourself enjoying on the very highest resolutions and element settings, the GPU’s capabilities are usually the efficiency limiter greater than the CPU.)

Intel Core i9-9900K Box 2

Right here, at the least on pure specs, the Ryzen 9 3900X wins palms down. It comes with help for three,200MHz DDR4 reminiscence and a whopping 70MB L3 cache on the die. The Core i9-9900Okay has decrease peak official memory-speed help (2,666MHz) and a a lot smaller 16MB of L3 cache. However there’s extra to this argument than simply spec numbers.

Translating Specs to Actual-World Efficiency: CPU

Whereas a comparability of specs means that the Ryzen 9 3900X comes out on prime in a bunch of seminal areas, real-world efficiency does not all the time mirror this.

On our Cinebench R15 take a look at, which incorporates each single-core and multi-core workflows, the Ryzen 9 far outpaces the Core i9 when it is utilizing all of its cores and threads. That is a superbly pure end result, for the reason that Ryzen 9 has extra of them. (Once more, that is 12 cores/24 threads for the Ryzen 9, versus eight cores/16 threads for the Core i9.) However the AMD chip is definitely barely behind its Intel competitor relating to single-core efficiency.

Core i9-9900K vs Ryzen 9 3900X Comparison (Cinebench)

Relating to encoding a 12-minute 4K video to 1080p utilizing the open-source Handbrake app, the distinction between the Core i9-9900Okay and the Ryzen 9 3900X is not any small distinction, both…

Core i9-9900K vs Ryzen 9 3900X Comparison (Handbrake)

The Ryzen comes out about 25 % forward. Past this head-to-head chart, much more essential on this take a look at are the relative variations in efficiency as you climb the product ladders of AMD’s and Intel’s mainstream chip traces. The Ryzen 9 3900X is predictably sooner than the Ryzen 7 3700X, and far sooner than the previous-generation Core i7-8700Okay and Ryzen 5 2600X. (Take a look at our full evaluation of the Ryzen 9 3900X for a extra detailed breakout of the scores versus different CPUs.)

The identical relative efficiency is borne out in our POV-Ray take a look at, one other CPU-burner that has each single-core and multicore facets…

Core i9-9900K vs Ryzen 9 3900X Comparison (POV-Ray)

As soon as once more, the Core i9 prevails on the single-core activity however falls a bit behind on the multicore one (although by a bit much less time, proportionally, than on Handbrake and Cinebench).

Lastly, a fast real-world activity: a exercise in 7-Zip, a generally used file compression/decompression program…

Core i9-9900K vs Ryzen 9 3900X Comparison (7-Zip)

Once more, a couple of 25 % benefit for the Ryzen 9. When the software program in query is maximizing using cores and threads, the Ryzen 9 usually will prevail.

Translating Specs to Actual-World Efficiency: Graphics

The efficiency image is extra nuanced relating to enjoying demanding 3D video games in live performance with these two killer CPUs. We examined the 2 chips with an Nvdia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti video card put in in our respective testbeds. The RTX 2080 Ti is the highest-end client video card accessible at this writing, used right here to eradicate, so far as doable, the graphics card as a efficiency bottleneck.

One key problem to lift right here. The Ryzen 9 3900X has no on-chip graphics and calls for a companion video card, full cease. The Core i9-9900Okay, in distinction, incorporates Intel’s light-hitting UHD Graphics built-in silicon, although, for avid gamers, will definitely be paired with a devoted video card. However in the event you simply need uncooked CPU muscle and do not have or need a video card, the Core i9-9900Okay is your chip between these two. (Observe: Intel additionally sells a barely cheaper variant of this chip, the Core i9-9900KF, that’s similar however has the built-in graphics disabled.)

One of many considerations with earlier generations of AMD Ryzen CPUs is that with sure combos of monitor decision and video card (notably, with high-end video playing cards at decrease resolutions, like 1080p), the Ryzens dealt decrease body charges versus utilizing the identical playing cards and settings with parallel Intel Core CPUs. This example improved with the second-generation Ryzen chips and is exhibiting additional narrowing with era three.

Here is a peek on the outcomes we noticed with the Ryzen 9 3900X versus the Core i9-9900Okay (in addition to two different chips of their class) with a number of video games on the RTX 2080 Ti and an artificial benchmark…

Ryzen 3rd Gen Gaming Performance Benchmarks

As you’ll be able to see, the outcomes at 4K decision on the video games are largely the identical throughout the CPUs. With the video games at 1080p, however, it is extra of a combination. That stated, on this particular take a look at set, the Core i9-9900Okay holds a commanding frame-rate lead in just a few conditions. For instance, on the latest AAA title Far Cry 5, the Ryzen 9 3900X scored 18 frames per second (fps) decrease than the Core i9-9900Okay did, a distinction of about 13 %. We noticed smaller deficits on older video games like Bioshock Infinite and Hitman: Absolution. In the meantime, on one traditional, less-demanding esports favourite, Counter Strike: International Offensive, the Ryzen 9 3900X outperformed its essential Intel competitor.

Generally, these small efficiency variations will not matter and will probably be edge circumstances. Each the Ryzen and Intel chips, paired with a high-end video card, are succesful, relying on the sport, of driving body charges in extra of the 120Hz, 144Hz, or 240Hz that even the highest-end gaming screens can show.

An fascinating wrinkle, too: Current testing by some fanatic retailers has famous that the third-gen Ryzens aren’t all the time capable of hit their peak rated clocks always with as many cores as initially touted. BIOS updates coming quickly for AMD motherboards may enhance the Ryzen 9 3900X’s clock speeds a bit on extra cores. That is largely of curiosity to excessive lovers and overclockers, however it’s a great reminder to all the time guarantee your software program and firmware is updated. It might have a modest impact on how the 3900X performs in each video games and basic functions.

Nonetheless, the variations we present in our testing are an essential reminder that specs alone do not inform the entire story whenever you’re evaluating two CPUs for gaming or content material creation.

Getting on the PCI Specific Practice

In addition to uncooked specs and efficiency benchmarks, there are a number of variations within the function units for the respective Ryzen 9 and Core i9 platforms that ought to issue into your shopping for determination.

All of AMD’s third-generation Ryzen chips embody help for PCI Specific four.zero. This cutting-edge system-level bus presents added bandwidth for video playing cards (which is of no rapid significance) and storage parts like SSDs (extra related right now). The primary new SSDs to help the brand new PCI Specific four.zero commonplace are already available on the market, which may make the Ryzen 9 3900X a greater choose in the event you’re additionally planning on upgrading your storage drive within the close to future, or are constructing a PC from scratch with a watch towards future-proofing.

Observe: To realize help for PCI Specific four.zero, you will additionally want a brand new AMD X570-chipset-based motherboard alongside together with your Ryzen 9 3900X chip. An older AMD AM4-socket board could help this new CPU, however it will not allow PCI Specific four.zero speeds on its growth slots or M.2 slots.

Energy Efficiency

Though the Z390 motherboard platform that debuted in live performance with the Core i9-9900Okay does not help PCI Specific four.zero, some boards do combine the Thunderbolt three interface for connecting exterior peripherals at speeds of as much as 40GBps. That is one thing the Ryzen 9 3900X lacks (Thunderbolt three will not be a core factor on AMD desktop platforms), and it could possibly be a deal breaker if you’re an expert content material creator with numerous Thunderbolt three peripherals.

Additionally observe that future Intel CPU platforms will nearly actually get PCI Specific four.zero help, whereas future AMD CPUs will simply as probably get Thunderbolt three, each of which ought to happen in the middle of new supporting chipsets rolling out within the years to come back. So, if you actually need help for each, it might be value ready.

Pricing It Out

A lot of the comparisons above presuppose that you just’re excited about shopping for one in all these chips by itself, to put in in a brand new PC or to improve an present one. Lots of the comparisons additionally apply in the event you’re looking to buy a pre-built system with a Ryzen 9 3900X or Core i9-9900Okay, nevertheless.

As with most issues in life, cash is maybe crucial level of distinction whether or not you are upgrading, constructing from scratch, or shopping for pre-built. With their $500 checklist costs, each of those CPUs are costly in absolute phrases. (Positive, you will discover server-grade and fanatic CPUs that price properly greater than $1,000, however these are outdoors the realm of consideration for many buyers.) And since they’re priced identically, neither has a transparent benefit right here.

Chances are you’ll have to issue within the worth of a brand new motherboard and cooler to help these chips, nevertheless. The Core i9-9900Okay requires a Z390 motherboard, which you in all probability do not already personal and could possibly be a tad costlier than boards primarily based on the older Z370 chipset, relying on the mannequin. The Ryzen 9 3900X works with most AM4-socket motherboards (older ones, solely after a BIOS improve), however you will want a new-generation one primarily based on the AMD X570 chipset one to unlock all of its options, together with PCI Specific four.zero help. (X570 boards at this writing began at round $150.)

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 8

The CPU cooling is a key distinction, as properly, and a doable price booster. The Ryzen 9 3900X comes with AMD’s inventory cooler within the field, a nifty, RGB LED-ringed cooler known as the AMD Wraith Prism, pictured above. It isn’t a elaborate liquid cooler, however it’s included in the price of the CPU. The Core i9-9900Okay, however, comes because the chip alone, with no CPU cooler within the field. You may want so as to add your personal, and Intel usually recommends a liquid cooler.

Should you do not personal one, you are $75 to $100 for a primary single-fan, sealed-loop all-in-one liquid cooler, and you may wish to make certain your case has the room for putting in it. A number of makers, comparable to Noctua, provide air coolers rated to maintain the Core i9-9900Okay cool. However if you wish to run it (or the Ryzen 9, for that matter) at peak speeds for sustained intervals or overclocked, you will wish to go liquid.

Backside Line: For Most, the Ryzen 9

Factoring in specs, efficiency, worth, and ancillary options, neither chip leaves the opposite in its mud relating to gaming and graphics efficiency. We might nonetheless give a slight edge to the Core i9-9900Okay if sheer sport body charges are all that drives you. On the uncooked CPU-muscle facet of issues, although, for functions that may hit all cores, the Ryzen 9 3900X does have an edge in lots of circumstances, which is why it is our present Editors’ Alternative for greatest high-end CPU.

With extra cores and help for extra addressable threads, increased reminiscence speeds, and a bigger cache, this CPU has a bonus on paper, and certainly is the only option in the event you can leverage these additional cores for no extra cash.

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