AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU

As a last gasp for Socket AM4 you have two options: The 5800X3D which excels in gaming, and beats the 5950X, and nothing else, or the 5950X which is no slouch in gaming and has 16 cores. I went with the latter, since I have no interest in upgrading to a new socket for a long time to come. To say that this thing is fast is an understatement, and the ability to do heavy multitasking, such as video encoding WHILE gaming or working with virtual PCs without any slowdown is a big benefit. There are some downsides though. It does run hot, so you will need a beefy cooler to handle it, a Corsair H150i or better. It draws a lot of power at full load, so your motherboard will need to be capable of at least 170w of delivery. The real downside though, and the reason for the ... MoreAs a last gasp for Socket AM4 you have two options: The 5800X3D which excels in gaming, and beats the 5950X, and nothing else, or the 5950X which is no slouch in gaming and has 16 cores. I went with the latter, since I have no interest in upgrading to a new socket for a long time to come. To say that this thing is fast is an understatement, and the ability to do heavy multitasking, such as video encoding WHILE gaming or working with virtual PCs without any slowdown is a big benefit. There are some downsides though. It does run hot, so you will need a beefy cooler to handle it, a Corsair H150i or better. It draws a lot of power at full load, so your motherboard will need to be capable of at least 170w of delivery. The real downside though, and the reason for the negative star, is that the all core boost speed is a fairly pathetic 4.3ghz, and the single core boost speed never hit advertised speed, even with enhanced PBO limits and a per-core curve optimizer and with a single threaded load. Overall this is the best processor you can get for a long haul on Socket AM4.

The Ryzen 9 5950X is an astonishing processor that delivers excellent multi-threaded performance at the consumer level. You have a basic high end desktop (HEDT) without the accompanying high end price. It's an expensive CPU, but in the context of its performance it's a bargain. There are plenty of other reviews out there that attest to this. The main issue I would like to highlight are the thermals. I upgraded from a first generation Ryzen 7 1700 which used an AIO 240 water cooled setup. This was fine for the 1700 but it cannot cope with the 5950X when it is running with all its cores. The temperature rapidly rises to 90 deg C and then thermal throttling kicks in to declock the processor cores and reduce the temperature. I'm very impressed because I had run into ... MoreThe Ryzen 9 5950X is an astonishing processor that delivers excellent multi-threaded performance at the consumer level. You have a basic high end desktop (HEDT) without the accompanying high end price. It's an expensive CPU, but in the context of its performance it's a bargain. There are plenty of other reviews out there that attest to this. The main issue I would like to highlight are the thermals. I upgraded from a first generation Ryzen 7 1700 which used an AIO 240 water cooled setup. This was fine for the 1700 but it cannot cope with the 5950X when it is running with all its cores. The temperature rapidly rises to 90 deg C and then thermal throttling kicks in to declock the processor cores and reduce the temperature. I'm very impressed because I had run into heat issues with the 1700 at one time (I think there was a bubble in the water loop) and that CPU would just shut down rather than declock. I'm not at all disappointed. I had purchased with an open mind knowing that an upgrade to the CPU cooling might be necessary -- but not before I installed it to see whether it really was needed or not. This review is to let others know that if you want the best, you've got to be prepared to support it with some quality cooling.

I'm very aware that my review is a small sample and my situation is a rare one, and yet this is as honest as I can be. I built my pc back in 2020, and though it was my first pc I've built, it was glorious (trust me, the guys at microcenter said so too lol). I researched, planned, cable managed, updated drivers, didn't horde data, didn't even game on it (used it for streaming), and yet one day I was surprised to some startup issues. I also want to mention that I take care of all my devices, as I usually pass them down to family and friends as if they were brand new. One day, I start the pc and it just wont get to the home screen. I try it, over and over, I call Microcenter and they let me know "eh its probably a bad update", welp I try again and to my surprise Im hit ... MoreI'm very aware that my review is a small sample and my situation is a rare one, and yet this is as honest as I can be. I built my pc back in 2020, and though it was my first pc I've built, it was glorious (trust me, the guys at microcenter said so too lol). I researched, planned, cable managed, updated drivers, didn't horde data, didn't even game on it (used it for streaming), and yet one day I was surprised to some startup issues. I also want to mention that I take care of all my devices, as I usually pass them down to family and friends as if they were brand new. One day, I start the pc and it just wont get to the home screen. I try it, over and over, I call Microcenter and they let me know "eh its probably a bad update", welp I try again and to my surprise Im hit with this big blue screen. Now if you read this far you probably over looked me mentioning how "this is my first built pc", but it was also my first PC, as Im an apple guy (built a pc to stream on). Well, this blue screen took me down a journey that can be known as my villain back story and tarnish my love of PC's, and before anyone mentions "well it was your first" "your a novice in the pc game"- no no NO! I had to take my PC to Microcenter to get it fixed where I had to buy a WHOLE NEW CPU!? I was told that it wasn't anything I did or didn't do, but that these things just "happen". I was out of warranty, got the CPU when it first launched so Microcenter (where I purchased it) couldn't help. I was forced to buy another one. So, this CPU is amazing but the fact it can randomly just die, because of a bad batch, has turned me into a "scorned review leaver".