Recall that Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 9 5900X are respectively 16 and 12-core models of AMD’s new family of processors based on the Zen 3 architecture. The first operates in the frequency range from 3.4 to 4.9 GHz, the second – from 3.7 to 4.8 GHz. Geekbench 5 results hint that under special conditions and cooling, both chips are capable of operating outside the upper bounds of official AMD technical specifications.

In Geekbench 5 tests, the maximum recorded frequency of the Ryzen 9 5950X model was 4.987 MHz, the Ryzen 9 5900X model showed a value of 4.947 MHz. Both chips turned out to be only a few tens of megahertz from the 5 GHz psychological mark. In any case, the result is very impressive, especially for a 16-core processor model.

The conditions under which the tests were conducted are unknown. It is very likely that it was not without AMD Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) technology, which allows you to automatically increase the processor frequency beyond the official declared frequencies in the presence of an effective cooling system. Intel’s equivalent is Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology.

In terms of performance results, the Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 9 5900X scored 1575 and 1605 points in the Geekbench 5 single-core test, respectively. This difference between the older and younger models in favor of the latter can be explained by different versions of motherboards, the AGESA microcode, the calculation error of the benchmark itself, and much more. No one can say for sure yet, since there is only one result for each processor in the Geekbench 5 database.

For comparison, in the same Geekbench 5, the Ryzen 9 3950X and Ryzen 9 3900X models in a single-core test score 1292 and 1280 points, respectively. Thus, the Ryzen 9 5950X is 21.9% faster than the flagship of the previous generation, and the Ryzen 9 5900X is 25.3% faster than its predecessor. This result even surpasses the claims of AMD, which has promised a 19% increase in IPC (instructions per clock) for the new chips.

Both Zen 3 processors also showed better performance in the Geekbench 5 single-core test than the competitor’s flagship Intel Core i9-10900K. Although the latter is limited to ten cores, its base frequency is 3.7 GHz, and in automatic overclocking mode, including due to Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology, it can be increased to 5.3 GHz. The Intel processor scores 1412 points in the single-core test. This suggests that the Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 9 5900X are 11.5 and 13.7% respectively faster than the blue flagship solution. The superiority of AMD chips in the multi-core test is also obvious.

Ryzen 5000 series processors will go on sale on November 5. For the Ryzen 9 5900X and Ryzen 9 5950X models, the manufacturer has stated prices at $ 549 and $ 799, respectively.