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AMD Ryzen 9 7950X vs Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K: Comparison

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K separate most on l2 cache: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at 16 MB, Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K at 2 MB, 88% in favour of AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. L3 Cache splits them by another 75%, again favouring AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. They match on 7 other specifications, including form factor, market segment and efficiency cores. In Blender Cycles (CPU) the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 551 against 170 for the Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K, a lead of 69%.

Specs

Specification
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
Form FactorDesktopDesktop
CodenameRaphaelCoffee Lake Refresh
Release Year20222018
TDP105 W95 W
iGPUAMD Radeon Graphics (2 CUs, RDNA 2)Intel UHD Graphics 630
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
SocketAM5 (LGA 1718)LGA 1151
Socket StatusCurrentEnd of Life
Process Node5 nm14 nm
Performance Cores168
Efficiency Cores00
SMT Enabledtruetrue
P-Core Base Clock4.53.6 GHz
P-Core Boost Clock5.75.0 GHz
L2 Cache16 MB2 MB-87%
L3 Cache64 MB16 MB-75%
Base Power170 W95 W
Max Turbo Power23095 W
Memory TypeDDR5DDR4
Max Memory Speed52002666 MT/s
Memory Channels22
ECC Supporttruefalse
Integrated GraphicsYesYes
iGPU ModelAMD Radeon GraphicsIntel UHD Graphics 630
Copilot Plus Certifiedfalsefalse
PCIe GenerationPCIe 5.03.0
PCIe Lanes2416-33%
Launch MSRP699$488
Retail AvailabilityBoxed RetailRetail
ArchitectureZen 4 (7000 series)Coffee Lake Refresh, 9th Gen Intel Core

Benchmarks

Measured results, not specifications. Percentages are the gap to the leading product in each test.

Blender Cycles (CPU)

Blender 4.5, Blender Open Data (CC0). Median of monster + junkshop + classroom, combined samples/min.

Blender renders 3D scenes by tracing light through them, which loads every core at once. The score measures sustained multi-core throughput, so a chip that wins here can still lose at gaming, where one or two fast cores matter more. Figures come from Blender's Open Data project, which places no restriction on reuse, and we publish the median of every submission for that chip on the same Blender version.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X551n=246Best
Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K170n=56-69%

SPECrate® 2017 Integer (base), 1-chip

Best published 1-chip result on spec.org, retrieved 23 Sept 2026.

SPECrate 2017 Integer runs ten integer workloads, including a compiler, file compression, a chess engine and route planning, with one copy per hardware thread. The score is throughput against a fixed reference machine, so it reflects multi-core server and workstation work rather than gaming. Each figure is the best result a hardware vendor published on spec.org for a one-chip system, so the server, memory and compiler behind each chip differ.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X177Best
Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K51-71%

SPECrate® 2017 Floating Point (base), 1-chip

Best published 1-chip result on spec.org, retrieved 23 Sept 2026.

SPECrate 2017 Floating Point runs thirteen scientific and engineering workloads, including weather and climate models, fluid dynamics, molecular dynamics and ray tracing, with one copy per hardware thread. It rewards core count, vector units and memory bandwidth, which is why server chips with many memory channels lead it. Each figure is the best result a hardware vendor published on spec.org for a one-chip system, so the server, memory and compiler behind each chip differ.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X129Best
Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K42.9-67%

SPEC®, SPECrate® and SPECspeed® are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Copied by permission of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC). Results retrieved from www.spec.org on 23 Sept 2026.

Verdict

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

8.6 / 10 Expert Rating

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is a strong all-rounder for enthusiasts who want top clock speeds for both gaming and productivity.

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