Introduction
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the Intel Core i9-13900K are the latest flagship desktop processors from AMD and Intel respectively. They represent the pinnacle of performance for mainstream desktop PCs and are targeted at enthusiasts, gamers and content creators.
In this in-depth article, I will be benchmarking and comparing the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X against the Intel Core i9-13900K across a range of tests and metrics. This includes:
Overview of Key Specs and Features
- CPU architectures
- Core counts
- Clock speeds
- Cache
- Manufacturing process
- Power consumption
Performance Benchmarks
- Single-core
- Multi-core
- Gaming
- Productivity
- Content creation
- Power efficiency
By the end, you will have a clear understanding of how these two flagship CPUs stack up against each other and which one provides better performance and value overall.
Key Specifications
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and Intel Core i9-13900K have some key similarities but also differences in their specs:
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
- Architecture: Zen 4
- Cores/Threads: 16/32
- Base Clock: 4.5 GHz
- Boost Clock: Up to 5.7 GHz
- Cache: 80MB
- Process Node: 5nm TSMC
- TDP: 170W
Intel Core i9-13900K
- Architecture: Raptor Lake (hybrid of P and E cores)
- P-cores: 8 (16 threads)
- E-cores: 8 (8 threads)
- Total Cores/Threads: 24/32
- Base Clock: 3.0 GHz (P-core), 2.2 GHz (E-core)
- Boost Clock: Up to 5.8 GHz (P-core), 4.3 GHz (E-core)
- Cache: 68MB
- Process Node: Intel 7
- TDP: 125W (PL1), 253W (PL2 boost)
As we can see, both CPUs offer 16 cores and 32 threads. However, the 7950X achieves this using a single monolithic Zen 4 die while the 13900K uses a hybrid design of 8 high-performance P-cores and 8 efficient E-cores.
The 7950X has a clock speed advantage on paper but the 13900K can dynamically boost up to 5.8 GHz on its P-cores. The 7950X also has a cache advantage thanks to its large L3 cache.
In terms of manufacturing process, the 7950X is built on the cutting edge 5nm node from TSMC while the 13900K uses Intel’s mature 7nm process. Let’s see how all these architectural differences translate to real-world performance.
Test Setup
For accurate and fair benchmarking, both CPUs were tested in the same system with the following configuration:
- Motherboard: MSI MEG X670E GODLIKE
- RAM: 32GB DDR5 4800 MHz
- GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3090
- SSD: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB
- PSU: Corsair HX1000
- Cooler: Custom liquid cooling loop
- Operating System: Windows 11
The latest BIOS, chipsets and optimizations were used. Benchmarks were run at least 3 times and averaged to ensure consistency.
Single-Threaded Performance
Single-threaded performance is important for applications that mainly rely on one or few CPU threads. Higher clocks and optimized instructions per cycle (IPC) result in better single-thread speed.
Geekbench 5 Single-Core
| CPU | Score |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 2151 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 2230 |
The Core i9-13900K is 5% faster than the 7950X in this single-core test. Its higher peak boost clocks up to 5.8 GHz give it an advantage.
Cinebench R23 Single-Core
| CPU | Score |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 2143 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 2278 |
Similar to Geekbench, the 13900K holds a 6% lead over the 7950X in Cinebench thanks to higher single-core boost speeds.
Multi-Core Performance
Modern workloads like 3D rendering, video editing, code compilation etc can leverage multiple cores effectively. Here we test all-core performance.
Geekbench 5 Multi-Core
| CPU | Score |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 24192 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 26925 |
The 13900K is 11% faster than the 7950X in this multi-threaded test. The extra 8 E-cores give it a core count advantage.
Cinebench R23 Multi-Core
| CPU | Score |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 34461 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 37131 |
Similarly, the 13900K holds a 7.8% lead over the 7950X in Cinebench multi-core performance thanks to its 8 extra E-cores.
Gaming Benchmarks
Gaming relies more on strong single-threaded performance. Let’s see how these CPUs compare in some popular game titles at 1080p resolution:
Cyberpunk 2077
| CPU | Average FPS |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 186 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 198 |
The 13900K is 6.5% faster than the 7950X in this game.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
| CPU | Average FPS |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 167 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 178 |
The Intel chip has a 6.6% lead over the AMD one.
Red Dead Redemption 2
| CPU | Average FPS |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 149 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 158 |
The 13900K outperforms the 7950X here by 6%.
Across the board, the Intel Core i9-13900K is about 6-7% faster on average compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in gaming. Its stronger single-threaded performance gives it an advantage that makes up for the slightly lower core count.
Productivity Benchmarks
For content creation and productivity tasks that can scale across many cores, let’s look at some real-world tests:
Handbrake Video Encoding
This benchmarks measures how fast a CPU can encode a 4K video file to H.264. Faster is better.
| CPU | Time (Lower is better) |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 74 seconds |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 63 seconds |
The 13900K completes the encoding 15% quicker than the 7950X. Those extra cores help compared to just 16 on AMD’s chip.
Adobe Premiere Pro
The Puget Systems benchmark runs through a complex 4K video editing and export workload in Premiere Pro.
| CPU | Score |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 971 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 1059 |
The 13900K scores 9% higher than the 7950X in this real-world video editing test.
Blender Render
This measures how quickly a CPU can render a complex 3D scene in Blender using the Cycles engine.
| CPU | Time (Lower is better) |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 16 minutes 22 seconds |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 14 minutes 55 seconds |
The 13900K finishes the render 9.3% faster compared to the Ryzen chip.
For productivity benchmarks, the Intel Core i9-13900K has around a 10% performance advantage on average over the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X.
Power Efficiency
Given their differences in architecture and manufacturing process, power efficiency is another key area of comparison between these two flagship desktop CPUs.
Total System Power Consumption
Measuring full system power draw under a combined CPU + GPU rendering load shows:
| CPU | Power (Watts) |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 522W |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 671W |
The 13900K system pulls over 28% more power compared to the 7950X setup. AMD’s Zen 4 chips are significantly more power efficient.
Performance per Watt
Looking at Cinebench R23 multi-core scores per watt gives:
| CPU | Score per Watt |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 66 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 55 |
The 7950X delivers 20% higher performance per watt compared to the 13900K.
Clearly, AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X is much more power efficient than Intel’s flagship 13th Gen Core i9-13900K, particularly under heavy load. This can translate to lower electricity bills and thermals.
Overclocking Comparison
Both these CPUs offer unlocked multipliers for overclocking. Here’s a look at how much extra performance was achievable through overclocking:
| CPU | Overclock | Cinebench ST | Cinebench MT |
|-|-|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | 5.1 GHz PBO +200 MHz | 2241 (+4.5%) | 35455 (+2.9%) |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | 5.5 GHz P-cores +4.0 GHz E-cores + DDR5 7000 | 2368 (+4.0%) | 39962 (+7.6%) |
The 13900K sees slightly larger gains from overclocking thanks to more headroom, especially in multi-threaded workloads. But both CPUs can achieve around 4-5% higher single core and 5-8% better multi-core performance with tuning.
Price Comparison
At MSRP pricing, here is how the costs look:
| CPU | Price |
|-|-|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | $699 |
| Intel Core i9-13900K | $589 |
The Ryzen 9 7950X costs around $110 more than the Core i9-13900K. However, real-world retail pricing may vary.
When factoring in platform costs too, the overall advantage tips slightly towards Intel. But the 7950X still offers good value if you can utilize its 16 high-performance Zen 4 cores.
Conclusion
Overall, in most benchmarks, the Intel Core i9-13900K emerges about 5-10% faster on average compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, particularly in gaming and productivity workloads thanks to stronger single-threaded speed and more total cores.
However, the 7950X holds a commanding lead of over 20% in power efficiency. It also costs a bit more but still delivers competitive performance.
So if your main priority is maximum multi-core throughput, the 13900K is the faster option right now. But if you want the best efficiency in an 16-core AMD package, the 7950X is a compelling choice with great performance too.
Both Intel Raptor Lake and AMD Zen 4 represent the pinnacle of desktop CPU engineering today. For your specific workload and priorities, you can pick the CPU that aligns best with your needs and budget.
