Ryzen 9000 CPU gaming performance has come a long way since launch, 7-10% according to new benchmarks

A couple of months have passed since AMD launched its latest Ryzen 9000 series desktop processors. At launch, they didn’t exactly get the best reviews, which can be attributed to delivering lower performance than expected. AMD pinned this on a few different reasons and has since been working to optimize and boost CPU performance, particularly for gaming.

That boost comes from a combination of Windows updates, the recent AGESA 1.2.02 update for motherboards, or the fact that the 9600X and 9700X can now be pushed to 105W, up from their 65W default TDP at launch.

New benchmarks show up to 10% performance increase

Thanks to new results sourced from ComputerBase, we can get a closer look at the gaming performance difference between the 9000 series at launch, and today. This comes following BIOS updates and Windows 11 24H2, the latter of which saw AMD claim an up to 13% increase (with the 9950X in Far Cry 6).

The results are taken from an average of two tests; average FPS and percentile FPS. This data is gathered across 15 different games including Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Star Wars Outlaws. As shown in the table above, the 9900X enjoys the highest performance uplift, jumping by up to +10.4%. The smallest difference of the Zen 5 CPUs was the 9950X at +7.3%.

ComputerBase also included benchmarks for rival Intel cards such as the 14600K and 14900K, neither of which, unsurprisingly, show any gaming performance increase since the 9000 series launch. Interestingly though, the fan-favorite 7800X3D (which recently came back in stock at Amazon) did benefit a little, but not to the extent of the newer Zen 5 chips.

Is the Ryzen 9000 series worth it?

We reviewed AMD’s new CPUs at launch, including the 9950X, 9900X, 9700X, and 9600X. We were not completely on board regarding value for money, and if you are looking for gaming performance, waiting for X3D always felt like the right thing to do. Especially now that the 9800X3D seems to be just around the corner, a chip that assumedly also benefits from the prior updates, it looks to be the new go-to for PC gamers.

Overall though, we do now think that the Ryzen 9000 series is worth it and these new benchmarks are a solid driving force for that. We don’t see much reason to upgrade if you’re already running an AM5 system but as the price will inevitably drop as the new generation ages, it will offer a strong choice for anyone on much older hardware.