Our recent predictions were correct, it wasn’t long before we saw leaked benchmark results for the upcoming Ryzen 9000 series CPUs after they fell into the hands of reviewers. These latest leaks reveal a potential 14% uplift in single-core performance, something the previous generation was pretty strong in. With that being said, these are still leaks, so they should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The issue we have is that the Multi-core performance uplift does look a little light in this situation, with the power Zen 5 has over Zen 4, and the uplifts it produces in single-core workloads, we expected a little more out of the multi-core benchmarks. But, this is only one application, and this is likely pre-driver optimization.
Zen 5 vs Zen 4 benchmarks in Geekbench 6
Today’s leaks have been compiled by 3dcenter, showcasing a few of the latest Geekbench Ryzen 9000 series leaks, and how they compare to the performance of the Ryzen 7000 series. This is the Zen 5 vs Zen 4 showdown we all wanted to see.
| CPUs (Zen 4 to Zen 5) | TDP | Geekbench 6 single-core | Geekbench 6 multi-core | Cinebench R23 multi-core |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 9 7950X -> Ryzen 9 9950X | 170W -> 170W | +14.2% | +6.6% | – |
| Ryzen 9 7900X -> Ryzen 9 9900X | 170W -> 120W | +14.1% | +9.8% | +12.9% |
| Ryzen 7 7700X -> Ryzen 7 9700X | 105W -> 65W | +13.7% | +7.6% | – |
| Ryzen 5 7600X -> Ryzen 5 9600X | 105W -> 65W | +14.5% | +13.7% | – |
As you can see, power efficiency has been increased drastically in the lower-end SKUs, along with Single-core performance in Geekbench 6. This is a reputable benchmark platform with plenty of data to compare these cards again, but it is only one benchmark, and that alone is not a good sample size to base the performance of the chip as a whole.
With that being said, we have to talk about the Multi-threaded performance of the Ryzen 9000 series CPUs, though the 9600X has done a decent job at the very least.
Has AMD done enough to stay competitive in the multi-core performance category?
If you were to take these benchmarks alone (something we just told you to not do) it would seem like AMD has all but abandoned the Multi-core potential performance increases entirely. AMD seems to be going for efficiency and gaming performance over anything else.
According to another table published by 3dcenter, the Ryzen 9 9950X doesn’t even beat the current Intel flagship, the 14900K, in multi-core benchmarks. This presents a certainty that Intel will demolish the multi-core performance capabilities of the Ryzen 9000 series with the upcoming Arrow lake-S CPUs.
These results have unfortunately led many to consider Zen 5 and the Ryzen 9000 series to be “just a refresh”.
With that being said, there’s still some chance for redemption on the AMD front. Geekbench 6 is not the be-all-and-end-all of benchmark software, and there’s no telling whether the new chips have been fully optimized to run on the current motherboard platform. We don’t even know if the current CPU chipset drivers are fully equipped to handle the new Zen 5 cores.
Energy efficiency is key
One thing is for sure though, if you’re worried about your energy bill, AMD is the way to go. Intel has received a lot of criticism over the last few generations regarding power consumption. Most notable was the 14900KS hitting 376 watts which is completely absurd.
It seems that AMD has focused on power efficiency this time around, with a maximum TDP of the 9950X reported at 170W, but the PPT will likely be a little higher than that. However, it’ll not even graze 376 watts. The PPT of the 7950X (which also has a TDP of 170W) was 230 watts, but the new x870E motherboards will likely allow it to flex a little higher than that. But we’ll see more on that upon release.
Decreasing the TDP will likely result in better cooling advantages, and mean that users will not have to upgrade cooler when going for the next generation of AMD processors, which is a plus for consumers that not a lot of people think about. AMD CPUs don’t usually have the habit of running as hot as Intel CPUs, but it’s always nice when components are cooled easily.
But don’t turn your fans to quiet mode just yet, we don’t yet know how PBO and overclocking will affect the power consumption and thermal efficiency of the Ryzen 9000 series.
