Having released the initial Zen 5 based single Core Complex Die (CCD) 3D V-Cache-based Ryzen 7 9800X3D in November 2024, AMD announced the dual-CCD Ryzen 9 9000X3D variants, including the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, on January 6, 2025 ahead of CES 2025.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a high-performance desktop processor with 16 cores and 32 threads. It uses two CCDs, each containing eight cores. The processor also features 2nd generation 3D V-Cache technology, which significantly enhances performance by adding extra cache on the chip.
Each of the two CCDs in a Ryzen 9 9950X3D features 32 MB of L3 cache, and there is an additional 64MB of 3D V-Cache that is stacked under one of the CCDs. This extra cache significantly enhances the performance of tasks that benefit from larger cache sizes, especially gaming.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D became available on March 12, with a starting suggested price of $699.
2nd Generation 3D V-Cache
The new Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D feature 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache, but on only one of the two CCDs. Similar to their predecessors, the other core complex does not include 3D V-Cache. This design offers the best of both worlds: the first CCD with 3D V-cache optimized for latency, and the second CCD without it, optimized for the highest possible clock speeds and throughput for highly-multithreaded workloads that do not depend on L3 cache for performance.
AMD has advanced and optimized its 3D V-Cache technology, as we covered in our Ryzen 7 9800X3D review and now with the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D parts. This latest iteration, known as 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache technology, offers notable improvements in performance. The key difference lies in the cache placement. Previously, the 3D V-Cache was layered on top of the cores in the Ryzen 5800X3D and Ryzen 7000X3D processors.
In the Zen5-based Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9000X3D series, the 2nd Gen 3D-V-Cache is now positioned below the processor cores. This change allows the primary heat source, the CCD, to interface directly with the cooling solution. Since the 3D V-Cache is less sensitive to temperature, this results in up to 46% better thermal resistance, according to AMD. Cooler temperatures enable higher sustained clock speeds, both single- and multi-threaded.
AMD Provisioning Packages Service Update
The latest update to the AMD Provisioning Packages Service, which is included in the chipset driver update for Windows 11, brings significant improvements to the user experience. This service manages AMD provisioning packages, including processor and nonvolatile memory express (NVMe) power management.
Designed specifically for Ryzen 9 processors, the service optimizes CPU power and performance during gaming. It uses power/frequency optimization and core parking within the Windows Game Mode power profile. The service dynamically applies optimizations to specific power profiles when an application is launched. When gaming, it “parks” the cores on the second CCD that lacks the 3D V-Cache, making them temporarily unavailable to the OS. This ensures the game runs on the CCX. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 3DV features two CCDs (Core Chiplet Dies).
Each CCD in this processor contains a single CCX (Core Complex) with 3D V-Cache, improving the L3 cache hit rate and overall game performance and particularly bolstering critical elements such as the 1% low frames per second (FPS) rate.
If there are changes to the CPU name, core count, logical processor count, or L3 cache count, the service will automatically uninstall and reinstall the relevant AMD provisioning packages. AMD advises performing a clean installation of Windows when changing the processor to avoid potential configuration issues with other software. The time to complete provisioning changes is typically around two minutes after booting to Windows.
While there is no BIOS option for this feature, the AMD Provisioning Packages Service can be disabled in Windows Services settings. NVMe provisioning requires Windows 11 version 22H2 or later. The Windows 10 user experience remains unchanged.
Overall, this update enhances the predictability, performance, and efficiency of Ryzen 9 9000X3D V-Cache-enabled processors, particularly for gaming, by intelligently managing power and core usage.
AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer
The AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer enhances the performance of Ryzen 9 9000X3D 3D V-Cache processors in gaming and non-gaming tasks. It achieves this by dynamically adjusting the “favored” processor cores based on the current application. During gaming sessions, the OS prioritizes cores connected to the larger L3 cache. Conversely, for non-gaming tasks, it favors the cores with the highest frequency. Notably, the AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer does not “park” any cores.
This feature benefits desktop processors such as the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, Ryzen 9 9900X3D, Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and Ryzen 9 7900X3D. However, it does not provide advantages for single CCX X3D processors like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D or Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
Configuration options for this feature are available in the BIOS under AMD CBS/SMU Common Options/CPPC Dynamic Preferred Cores. The settings include:
– Auto | Driver: Allows the driver to decide which CPUs to prefer based on the active window.
– Cache: Always prefers CPUs in the 3D V-Cache CCX.
– Frequency: Always prefers CPUs in the highest frequency CCX.
Overall, the AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimizer significantly boosts the efficiency and performance of compatible Ryzen 9 processors by intelligently managing core usage based on the task at hand.
AMD Application Compatibility Database
The new AMD Application Compatibility Database, which requires both a new BIOS and chipset driver, is designed to address specific game titles that exhibit performance-limiting behavior not fully resolved by the AMD Provisioning Packages Service. These targeted optimizations reduce the thread pool size for the affected games, resulting in improved L3 cache utilization and higher FPS. This is achieved by repurposing the Windows Compatibility Toolkit’s ‘ProcessorCountLie’ feature, originally co-developed with Microsoft.
Users with Socket AM5 Platform Ryzen 9 9000 series and Ryzen 9 7000 series processors, both with and without X3D, can benefit from this new feature after a BIOS update. Currently, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D benefits from an AMD Application Compatibility Database File with optimizations for several games, including Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Dying Light 2, Far Cry 6, Metro Exodus, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (RT), Total War: Three Kingdoms, Total War: Warhammer III, and Wolfenstein: Young Blood.
Overall, the AMD Application Compatibility Database enhances gaming performance by intelligently managing thread pool sizes and improving cache utilization for a smoother and more responsive gaming experience.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D for Productivity
Rendering is a good example of productivity. The choice between CPU and GPU rendering hinges on a project’s specific needs and constraints. While GPUs excel in parallel processing and are often faster for many rendering tasks, some studios and creators still prefer CPUs. CPUs can handle larger amounts of system memory, offer better price-performance ratios compared to professional GPUs with limited VRAM, and provide high precision and stability. Additionally, CPUs are usually certified by most ISVs to run their applications smoothly without issues. This makes CPUs a reliable choice for many rendering workflows, even if they take more time.
For the first-generation implementations of AMD Ryzen 3D V-Cache, the cache tile being placed on top of the CCD limited the potential for higher clock frequencies and headroom increases due to thermal constraints. This meant that while certain workloads such as gaming saw big performance increases with 3D V-Cache enabled CPUs, highly-threaded, productivity-centric applications could see worse results with the lower frequencies on the 3D V-Cache-enabled CCD.
With the cache tile being placed underneath the CCD in second-generation 3D V-Cache parts, the CPU frequency is able to boost to higher frequencies, helping make these parts much more comparable in performance to the standard, non-3D V-Cache CPUs on highly multi-threaded workloads. This capability gives demanding users the best of both worlds of gaming and productivity.
Blender Benchmark
Blender Benchmark version 4.3.0 was used to assess the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D processor’s rendering performance. With a score of 613.88, the processor’s performance ranked among the top 37% of benchmarks running the same workloads. Given the inclusion of GPU results, the CPU performed brilliantly in proportion to its core count.
Compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X (non-3D V-Cache) that we reviewed last year, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D achieved an average benchmark performance that was 17% faster.
IndigoBench
IndigoBench v4.4.15 is another standalone benchmark based on Indigo 4’s rendering engine and the industry-standard OpenCL.
The processor scored an impressive 19.048 million samples per second on IndigoBench, ranking it among the top 30 CPU results. This was achieved with normal settings and no overclocking. Many of the top scores were from high-end server CPUs like the AMD EPYC 9654 96-Core Processor.
The processor outperformed the Ryzen 9 7950X again by 17%, thanks to its cooler operation and faster core speed of 5.2GHz on all cores under load.
Overclocking
We enabled Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), which remains the best method for overclocking while maintaining optimal power efficiency. It is important to note that PBO is an advanced overclocking feature that may void the warranty, according to AMD. In the BIOS, under the Advanced settings, we set the limits to “Motherboard” and adjusted the CPU Boost Clock override to “+200MHz.” We incrementally adjusted the Curve Optimizer, starting at -10 and achieving stability at -20 on all cores, verified through Cinebench 2024 testing.
The single core boost hit 5.9GHz, while all cores under load consistently ran between 5.15 and 5.2GHz. Thanks to the be quiet! Silent Loop 2 280mm water cooler, temperatures remained below 80°C. In Cinebench 2024, the default settings yielded a score of 2,190 points. However, with PBO enabled, we achieved a 9.5% performance boost, raising the score to 2,399 points at a lower voltage. This was also 15% better than the Ryzen 9 7950X CPU, which scored 2,094 using PBO boost settings.
Besides overclocking manually in the motherboard’s BIOS, users can also use the Ryzen Master tool to fine-tune performance. This flexibility allows advanced users and overclocking enthusiasts to fully explore and enjoy the capabilities of this chip.
Final Words and Conclusion
The second-generation AMD 3D V-Cache, which places the cache tile underneath the CCD die, helps overcome the biggest limitations of the original generation, allowing better heat transfer and sustained higher clock speeds. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D boasts the fastest Zen 5-based 3D V-Cache-enabled CCDs, reaching up to 5,550 MHz, compared to 5,450 MHz for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. This not only helps the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D have a better gaming performance due to the higher clock speeds of the 3D V-Cache CCD; it also also closes the multi-thread performance gap on highly multi-threaded workloads, as the clock penalty of the 3D V-Cache is much smaller than the prior generation 3D V-Cache CPUs.
3D V-Cache has been proven to work very well overall, but it is not the whole story. Looking to the future, and particularly with the prevalence of AI-enhanced workloads coming down the pipeline, we would suggest that AMD considers focusing on improving memory performance and capacity as a differentiator. With DDR5, supporting large memory capacities with four DIMMS spread across two channels normally requires dropping the memory transaction speeds significantly to achieve reliability. This usually means that many customers prefer to populate only one DIMM per channel to maximize memory throughput, which can limit the installed DRAM capacity.
Doubling the number of DRAM memory channels from two to four and providing only a single DIMM slot per memory channel in future platforms will allow the DRAM to run at maximum transfer rates for all DIMM slots to support the higher demands of dual CCD CPUs. It will also enable the use of four DIMMs per system for maximum memory capacity at a cost-effective price. A single DIMM slot per memory channel will also help to reduce electromagnetic interference issues, simplify engineering, and increase reliability and performance compared to having an empty second DIMM slot on a memory channel. This would allow for greater upgradability and significantly enhanced performance in creative applications, without compromising memory bandwidth and speed.
Related Reviews: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Processor Review: Gaming Performance Redefined